Overreacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Sunday afternoon games of week 6 …
Things that made me dizzy
Steeler’s Punch That Brown’s O-line in the face: Again and again. And over and over and over again. Then they gave them a vertebra, a wedge, and the dreaded rear admiral. My point is, what the Steelers Defense did to the Browns from the front bordered on profanity, and if things got worse the FCC had to step in.
Bears D delivers the splash plays Chicago needs: One of their three food stalls was a present from Mike Davis in the open field – less a strip and more Davis forgetting he was holding a soccer ball. But in Carolina, the defense had two picks and four bags of Teddy Bridgewater that pestered them all day. The 5-1 record feels a little more real when the defense has a day like this (although it still doesn’t feel real because the offense is so lousy).
Derrick Henry saves Christmas: Ryan Tannehill was a great fit for this titans’ offense and devised a beautiful game-bond ride, but the quarterback almost knocked her over on Sunday with his two freebies. It was Henry who won this game. There was the 94-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. And the fact that the Titans hit Henry in the Wildcat with a third-and-goal from the 5 in overtime says a lot about what they think of their runback and quarterback.
Todd Bowles just ate Aaron Rodger’s soul: That was the first time Rodgers hesitated this season, and that was the case for most of the day on Sunday.
Carlton Davis came to play: Especially soccer. He was questionable, but ultimately made it the # 1 corner of the Bucs and was a differentiator, specifically forcing Aaron Rodgers’ second intercept in the second quarter.
Jamel Dean is also coming: He had one Rough Rookie campaign and no one is afraid to choose him, but he held up against Chicago two Thursdays ago and after Sunday he gets to tell his grandchildren that he had a pick-six from Aaron Rodgers. Although I don’t think he has any grandchildren yet.
Joe Judge is on the board !: Good to him, and now there’s no need to call the roster to run Gassers at 3 a.m. tonight.
Brady to Gronk is back, apparently: They brought it into the field too, with five catches, 78 yards and a TD.
Julio Jones plays soccer again: Eight catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns on his return to the line-up when the Falcons jumped at the Vikings early. The following game is goofy, from Matt Ryan, bordering rookie CB Jeff Gladney, to the questionable decision by rookie CB Jeff Gladney to try rollerblading for the first time in his life during an NFL game but Julio is stiffly armed Linebacker Eric Smith and staying within limits while he does it is reminiscent of the good ol ‘days.
Philip Rivers Rallies: It was the Junior Ranger kit, but after last week’s breakdown in Cleveland (which had a lot to do with the absence of LT Anthony Castonzo, who was back on Sunday) it was good to see the Colts go down 21-0 climbed back deficit to avoid a disaster against the Bengals on Sunday. Rivers finished 29-for-44 for 371, 3 TDs and an INT.
Bud Dupree will be a rich man: Having lost two sacks and two tackles, he repeatedly brought freshman LT Jedrick Wills to school. Dupree also had a play in which he chased Austin Hooper on a second and long day and stripped him from behind – just one of those surprisingly violent tackles. But back to the original point: Dupree will have the option to post his own price this off-season if he continues like this, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t.
Tua is perfect !: 2-for-2, for 10 yards (and the Dolphins’ only third-down conversion) on mop-up duty.
Dolphins convert a third down, lose sales battle: And win with 24 points.
Daniel Jones’ first TD pass since St. Swithin Day: The heat he’s taken this year has been largely unjustified – he’s made progress and it is reasonable that he could establish himself as a franchise QB before his rookie deal runs out. But it was nice to see Abracadaniel complete a series without a TD in four games by missing a touchdown on Darius Slayton in the first quarter.
Brandon McManus makes two thirds of the way to the number of the beast: The Broncos ultimately needed their six-on-six on field goals. (I’m also not sure how a kicker would statistically get 6-6-6. Maybe 6-for-66? Or 6-for-6 with a 66-yarder?)
Carson Wentz: Tell everyone who is waiting for a Superman / that they should try to hold on as tightly as possible / He didn’t drop her, forgot her, or anything / It’s just too hard for a Superman to lift. (Another absurd performance by Wentz against a defense where his unit was heavily unmanned. The Eagles were a two point conversion to force overtime against Baltimore.)
* * *
Regrets
Just one of these days for Aaron Rodgers: He’s played great on schedule this year, but the Bucs heated him up in a way that nobody did in the first four games of the season. Other than that, he only missed a few throws. The pick-six was thrown too late, and the other interception was just defense, surpassing its number one receiver. As strange as it is to see Rodgers so amazed, he’ll probably be fine.
Baker Mayfield on Third Downs: Why yes, I wrote about it in Football Things. The Browns Offensive impacts early downs with a combination of zone rushing attack and play-action boot material that allows Mayfield to venture out into those vast spaces. This offense – and Mayfield in particular – has issues in obvious situations (and you could point out the Steelers’ rib injury or excellent defense, but it’s been a problem all year). Mayfield’s movements in a traditional pocket – sliding to find cast marks, the subtle movements that make Drew Brees into Drew Brees, for example – are not nearly as sharp as they are for a 6-foot quarterback. You can’t point out that field vision is a problem for an undersized quarterback without being told you love Brock Osweiler, but field vision is an obvious problem with Mayfield who is completely hopeless after snapping both interceptions against the Steelers has deciphered blurry cover. During their four-game winning streak, Cleveland benefited from early takeaways that generated large leads. They didn’t get that in Pittsburgh. They went 9-1 in third while Mayfield was in the line-up. With the investment they made in the sideline, Mayfield can’t be such a limited quarterback. We’re good as long as we get three takeaways is not a formula for beating good opponents.
Cam is back (but no better than ever): Whenever you lose as a 10 point home favorite, that’s what it comes down to. What is of particular concern, however, is the fact that Josh McDaniels had a need to resort to multiple gadget games during the fourth quarter. The Patriots don’t plan on playing from behind often, but they didn’t seem to be able to do so on Sunday.
Kirk Cousins starts badly and stays bad: Cousins made some brutal mistakes against the Falcons early on, and the Vikings just aren’t really equipped to play from behind.
Drew Lock’s return: It was nice to see him again! And expectations of a trip to Foxboro had to be reasonable. But he made things unnecessarily interesting in a game the Broncos played comfortably throughout.
As, Everything About the jaguars: Don’t worry, there are plenty of good young talent who will flourish in a few years, just in time to be alienated from the front office, then franchise tagged and traded in for picks for day 2.
The Jets and Dolphins won’t convert anything, thanks: The teams went together for the third 3-26 defeat. When my 8-year-old noticed there were fans in the stands, she asked why. I told her because Florida is letting in some fans during the pandemic. She said, “No, I mean why would anyone want to go to a Jets game.”
* * *
Moments that we will tell our grandchildren about
Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Rodgers talk to each other: Multiple times. Suh shot Rodgers cheaply in the second quarter – or at least shot him late, it wasn’t such a huge hit and probably doesn’t make Suh’s biggest hit compilation. At the end of the first half, this suh-sack was like … a very tall man knocking a shorter but still tall man to the ground. I have no idea what they were saying to each other, which makes this whole blurb very anti-climactic:
Gronk scores first touchdown since December 2018: And just throw the ball on the floor? What … what the hell was this celebration?
Matthew Stafford as Kent Tekulve: To be clear, I’m not really with myself because even I am too young to have seen Kent Tekulve. But I know he threw like that. Did i ruin the joke? Was there a joke to ruin at all? Anyway, good litter.
JJ Arcega-Whiteside is on the board: We give him a lot of flack around these parts, but this is a big hustle and bustle game on the downfield block and then he’s rewarded with the fiddly rest in the end zone. Good to him.
* * *
What we’re going to talk about this week
Yes, the Eagles will be fine: Sunday wasn’t nice, but they were overstaffed by that raven defense too. The Eagles are back to back by the Steelers-Ravens at a time when their offensive is still finding its way. The cowboys aren’t going anywhere with the NFC East and Philly is getting Giants-Cowboys-Giants. Give them a 72% chance of winning the division.
I’m good with Romeo Crennel for two: The Texans had taken a seven point lead and tried to extend it to nine. If they got it, it would be game over. They didn’t and the Titans were able to tie it with a touchdown plus PAT at the end of regulation (instead of having to go for two). I thought the way the Texans coped with a tired Titan defense was cool. So Coach Crennel has that to himself.
At some point in the next off-season it will be one thing: But are the Browns exercising Baker Mayfield’s option for the fifth year? My guess is yes – the bigger question is long-term commitment afterwards.
Gregg Williams makes the least controversial comments of all time: The jets defense is bad indeed. But did people think that the crime ranks last in every major category? was not place the defense in difficult places?
This is what the bucs look like if not marked for 1,000 penalties: Five hundred of them were phantom sentences, as happened two Thursdays ago when the Chicago officers took over. Just keep them away from Alex Kemp’s crew.
Whoever had the Bucs No. 3 in the power rankings this week has to be very smart: And probably handsome too, with a lovely musk. (Just ignore who is in number 1.)
• Question or comment? Write us an eMail.
.
