NFL Week Nine Takeaways
I Usually Write a lot Then Cut Down To Still lot But Not As Much, This Week I Emptied The Clip And included a Few Of My Takeaways From The Trade Deadline. Don’t Let The Obnoxious Size Of My Works Dissuade All Of These Serve To Support My Larger Efforts To Bring My Thoughts And Insights To A Grander Level.
Commanders Vs. Patriots
Come The Trade Deadline All Eyes Around The League Set Their Attention on the Commanders And The Talented Commanders' Defensive Line. One Of The Two Edge Rushers Would Have To Go If The Defense And The Team Would Hope To Function in the Future. Chase Young And Montez SWEAT. Both Edge Rushers Posses Uber Talent At The Position, But together, They're Redundant and NO ONE CAN evaluate them because Their Skillsets Almost Cancel Out Each other Because They Win Pass Rush Snaps The Same Way. Both Have Proven Feirce to Block Against But are manageable If You Slide Against One And Force The Other Off A Direct PAth To The Quarterback. Both Sweat and Young HAve Big Laboring Frames That Need To generate More Force To Get Moving In Different Directions. Washington Would Trade One And Transition The Other Into The Off-season, Apply The Franchise Tags And Take Further Considerations. The Commanders Traded Both Stars' Ends In A Move That Felt Felicitous As Well As Shocking. First Montez Sweat Landed In Chicago For 2nd Round Pick. Chicago Desperately Needs Pass Rush And Even On A Down Year Sweats Provide A Boost To Their Defensive Front Seven. I Thought The Commanders Could've Gotten A first For Chase Young, Who's In The middle of Career Resurgence, But They Ship Him To The 49ers For A Third Pick. The Commanders Took The Home Town Product 2nd Overall Over Tua, Justin Herbert And Justin Jefferson. The Commanders Sending Chase Young Away To The 49ers For A Third-Round Pick Indicates A Team Somewhat "Disillusioned" By What They've Seen From Young Thus Far In His Career. He's A Talent, But His Engagement Wanes, Coupled With Young's Injury History. The Commanders Can't Invest Millions Into A Talent Who You Can't Rely On Consistently.
The Commanders Felt Some Of The Lost In The Front Four Against The Patriots, At Least For One Play. As The Patriots' Rhamondre Stevenson Breaks Free Into The Open Field For 64 Yards And A Touchdown, The Patriots' Offense Biggest Play Of The Game. The Patriots' Passing Attack Looked A Lot More Modern. Mac Jones Worked The Vertical and found success. Jones Only Completed 54.5% Of His Passes, With An Adjusted Complete Percentage To Account For Drops, but His 9.2 Average Depth Of Target Ranked As His Second Best Mark Of The Year. Offensively, The Patriots Again Struggle To Keep Drives Alive. The Pass Catchers Suffered From 10 Drops On The Game(Only Their Sixth Worst Mark Of The Year), Offensively The Offense Doesn't Have Enough Options. Jones Finished 24/44 For 220 Yards Of Almost Eye Correcting Production. The Commanders Quarterback Sam Howell Needed Only One More Pass Attempt Than Mac Jones To Put Up 325 in His Third 300 Yard Game. Howell Also Generated 27 Yards On The Ground, 24 On A Big Third, And 23 23-yard scramble Where The Patriots Almost Stop Him Short, But He Breaks A Tackle And Continues To Break The Line To Gain. I've Never Seen The Patriots' Defense Show This Lack Of Toughness And Want. Of Course, he Finishes The Drive-By by Throwing a Baffling Interception in The Red Zone As The Half Comes To A Close With The Commanders Faced with a 4-point deficit. "Probably One Of The Worse Plays I've Made In My Whole Career." Howell Said
Howell More Than Made Up For The Error With Loads Of Big Time Throws, Especially In The Third Quarter When The Commanders Took the Three Point Lead. Neither Team Scored From The 1:52 Mark of The Third and Into The Fourth Quarter. Howell Doesn't Possess A Howitzer For An Arm, but He's a Talented Passer.
Both Teams Suffered Through Some Messes. The Commanders Finished 1-4 In The Red Zone, And Converted 9-17 On Third. The Patriots Turned The Ball Over Twice, Including The Game Ending Interceptions, And Converted Just 3/12 On Third Down. Commanders Rookie Corner Emmanuel Forbes Had A Good Game In Pass Protection. The Rookie, Who Struggled A Lot This Season, Broke Up Two Passes That Nullified Patriots' Drives And Kept the Commanders Ahead. The Patriots Now Own The Worse Record In The AFC And Need To Hit The Reset Button Once Again.
I Can't See The Commanders Squeezing Themselves Into The NFC Playoff Picture, 4-5, Without Running The Table, But The Organization Has A Lot Of Talent To Work Along Into The Future. Former First-Round Pick Jamin Davis Has Come Along This Season. Jahan Dotson, Another First Rounder, Hauled In A Beautiful Shoulder Catch For 33 Yards To Tie The Game For The Commanders. Brian Robinson Fumbled The Ball and Only Averaged 3.8 Yards Per Carry, But He's Still A Stellar Rushing Talent.
Antonio Gibson Catching passes Out Of The Backfield And Converting. However, I Don't Think Ron Rivera Survives Into Next Season As Coach If The Commanders Miss The Playoffs. "defensively, We Can't Give Up Explosive As We Did," Rivera Said After the Game, "But Guys Came Out And Played Hard." The Commanders Have Made the Playoffs Once In The Rivera Era, And The Team Looks Headed For Some Form Of Overhaul Or New Direction.
Las Vegas Raiders Vs. New York Giants
The Raiders Fired Josh McDaniels Last Week, Which Seemed Like The Only Recourse After The Pitiful Showing His Raiders Team Displayed All Season. Honestly, I'm Surprised The Loss To The Bears Didn't Cost Him His Job Two Weeks Ago But The Raiders' Ownership Hung On For Another Week Until a 26-14 Beatdown By The Lions, Where The Only Produced 7 Points, Finally Broke The Raiders' Will. McDaniels Never Got To The Point Where His Vision, His Image For The Raiders Came Into Reality. The Biggest Problem With McDaniel Image For The Team: Nothing About The Vision Looked Like Visible. McDaniels Couldn't Have to Pick A Worse Time Because The Raiders Will Face The Lowly Giants, A Great Redemptive Win(presumably). The Raiders also Benched Jimmy Garrapolo In A Move That Signifies Ousting The King And Sending Away The King's Hand.
The Raiders Have Become A New Tale Of Franchise Mismanagement. The Contracts For Josh McDaniels, Jon Gruden, Jimmy G, And Chandler Jones, Who The Raiders Cut Earlier This Year, Add Up To Over 110+ Million Dollars—an Astronomical and Odious Cost For Men Who No Longer Contribute To The Team's Success.
"It's a new day," Pierce said. "It's a new chapter. It's a new era. It's a new mindset." interim Head Coach Antonio Pierce Said In a This Week Press Conference. If You Follow The Raiders, Even Casually, You Know They Enter A "New Day," A "New Era" Every Other Season.
My Debut Coaching Job In The NFL Would Go Great If I Faced Off Against Brian Daboll's Giants Squad. Every Coaching Debut Would Look Good If They Only Faced The 2023 Giants.
Daniel Jones Returned To The Lineup For The First Time Since Week 5, But He Wouldn't Last In This Game. After Going Down With an Apparent Knee Injury, Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll Confirmed That Jones Will Miss The Rest Of The Season With A Torn ACL. Jones virtually Losses A Year In Which He Needed To Prove He Could Sustain. The Success Of A Season Ago And Make Good On The Giants 140 Million Dollar Investment In Him. The Dour Outlook For The Giants Season Now Turns To Full Gloom. On The Positive Side, Jones Probably Extends His Career, Not Playing Behind This Train wreck Of An Offensive Line That Gave Up Eight Sacks On The Day To The Raiders' Pass Rush, Six To Tommy Devito, and Two For Daniel Jones. Devito Thrusted Into Action, He Threw Two Interceptions Before Finishing Just 15/20 175 PASSING yards and 3.6 QBR.
The Raiders Take This One Much Going Away. Aidan O'Connell Played Functional Football. Everyone On The Raider Entered Starting A "New" Offense, And O'Conell Just Needed To Move The Ball, 16/25 209 Passing Yards, 8.4 Per Attempt, 90.2 Passing Rating. Josh McDaniels's Firing Didn't Change Much For Davante Adams, Just 4 Catches, 34 Yards. Josh Jacobs led The Raiders Offense. Last Year's Rushing Leader, Jacobs, Hasn't Shaken Off Those Early Season Struggles, But He Recorded Two Touchdowns, 98 Yards On 3.8 A Carry. The Grab A Nice, Academic Ceremonial Of Victory On A Season Marred With Frustration and Ineptitude.
Chargers Vs. Jets
If Someone Had Told You Back Before The Season Started, Perhaps The Person Has Clairvoyance That By Week 9, The New York Jets Would Find Themselves In Familiar Territory. The Jets Have The Chance To Fight For A Playoff Spot Despite Not Looking Great But Always Seeing The Big Picture. Without Aaron Rodgers, Starting Zach Wilson, With A Record above .500, Mostly Predicated On The Strength Of The Defense. The Jets Face The Chargers On Monday Night Football. Two Roughly Unlucky Franchises And The Jets Holding A Game The Lead Over THE Chargers In The Playoffs Standing. DVOA Ranks The Chargers 8th In Power Rankings Compared To The Jets At 29th On The Scale, So The Two teams feature A Big Gulf For A Matchup That "Feels" Even At The Get Go.
Last Week, The Jets Stared Across At Their Murky "Fate" As The Offense Struggled To Muster Points In A Game They Couldn't Afford To Lose. In The End, The Unlikeliest Of Hero Stepped Up.
"Zach was incredible," Jets Tight End Conklin said. Rare Air For Wilson Earning Praise From Anyone, Including His Teammates, But In A Short 24-Second Drive The Former Number Two Overall Pick Gave Credence To His Title. Wilson Played Spiritedly Last Week In The Jets-Giants assault On Modern Offense. Even With The Crucial Chargers Game Dawning, Nobody Could Escape The Moments Of The Final In That Giants Game. Reporters Swooned Wilson Over His Timely Step Up.
"Things Rarely Happen On Time." Zach Wilson This Week. I'm Intrigued To Witness Zach Wilson's Career Trajectory After This Season. For All The Ridiculed He's Absorbed In His Stint As The Jets Starting Quarterback, He's Also Shown A Lot Of Skill And Talent. Wilson Often Gets Over Anxious To Flee The Pocket, But He Completes A lot Of Big Throws On The Run. However, Turnovers, Today Two Lost Fumbles, Crushed Drives For The Jets. As A Team, New York Fumbled Four Times and lost Three. The Jets Rushing Attack Only Provided 3.2 Yards In Protest To The Chargers Fast Charging Pass Defense.
Zach Wilson Took 8 Sacks On His Way To 33/49 263 Passing Yards With A Passer Rating Of 80.4. Maybe Wilson Hasn't Reached His Peak Just Yet. "I Feel Like I'm A Different Player," Wilson Said To The Media On His Progression, Year To Year, "I Feel I'm Ready To Be Out There Competing."
Speaking Of The Chargers' Passing Defense, This Week, The Chargers's GM Tom Telesco Apologized For The Failed Signing Of Star Cornerback JC Jackson.
The Chargers' Free Agent Splash From Two Years Ago Didn't Translate, To Say The Least, After The Chargers Made The Former Patriot Jackson The Highest Paid Defender On The Team. The Chargers Defense Also Employs One Of The Most Expensive Edge Rushing Crews In The League, With Joey Bosa And Kahlil Mack In The Top 10 Salary At Their Position. Neither Two Star Rushers Have Played Especially Up To The Standards We've Come To Associate With Their Skill, Especially Joey. Mack Did Notch That Six-Sack Game Against The Raider Over A Month Ago. The Chargers Pass Rush Beat Up Zach Wilson For Eight. Watching Wilson Strive To Escape Almost Felt Unfair, Like Watching A Horror Movie Villian Get The Drop On A Hopeless Straggler. Wilson Escaped a lot of Pressure Throughout The Game, so that Number Could've Ballooned Even More Given The Right Circumstances.
With Minimal Impact From Justin Herbert And The Passing Game. Herbert Didn't Have Much To Handle. He Finished 16/30 For 136 Passing Yards. This Jets Defense Forced The Chargers 6 Times In The First Half, and If Not For All Those Jets Fumbles This Game Could've Looked Closer. By The Seven Minute Point Of The First Quarter, The Jets Already Gave The Ball Away Twice. "Too Many Self Inflicted Wounds," Wilson Said, "Don't Know What Else To Say."
The Chargers Got On The Board With A Punt Return For A Touchdown By Rookie Derius Davis, Who Looked More Like a Pop Warner Player Running Down The Sideline. Austin Ekeler Punched In The Chargers' First Offensive Touchdown Of The Night. Three Chargers Finished With at least two Sacks, Including Joey Bosa, Kahlil Mack, And Tuli Tuipulotu.
Keenan Allen Caught 8 Passes For 77 Yards Including A Dazzling One Hander Down The Field, The Only Sign Of Life For The Chargers' Passing Offense. The Play On The Ball By Allen Wowed Everyone Watching But For Herbert, Thats Routine Allen.
"I'm Not Surprise By The Plays He Makes," Justin Herbert Said, "We See That All The Time In Practice." The Final Score Read 27-6, But The Chargers Struggled, Considering How Advantageous A Situation They Fell Into With The Jets's Turnover Woes. Neither Team Has Playoff Standing Right Now, And Neither Projects To Make The Playoffs Heading Into Week 10.
Bengals Vs. Bills
The Bengals And The Bills Have Something Of A Rivalry Going On And The Embers Flared Two Years When The Bills Lost To The Chiefs In The Divisional. The Chiefs Outlasted The Bills Over Time In A Late Fast And Furious Offensive Finished.
Everyone in Football Wanted A Rematch Between The Two AFC Opponents. The Only Thing Standing In Buffalo's Way was the Team That Beat The Chiefs In The AFC Championship Game, The Bengals. Those Bengals Started The Season 0-2 And Didn't Look Like A Threat To Bills, But The Bengals Emerged Victorious And Moved To Face The Chiefs Once Again. That Divisional Round Loss Set The Bills Into Something Of a Spiral, An Existential Crisis.
The Stefon Diggs Saga Spurred From The Loss, And The Bills Looked As Though They'd Fallen Apart. After The Week One Loss To The Jets Those Off Season Concerns Gained Firmament. The Bills Hold To The Conviction That The Elements And The Elements Alone Contributed To The Loss. The Bills Hold A Grunge On The Matter, But The Bengals won't Bow Out.
"We're here now, so we're going to see the outcome," Boyd told Pro Football Talks.
That Playoff Matchup Feels Flippant Compared To The Osmium Level Weight Of This Week 9 Matchup. This Game Could Define Each Team's Season. The Bengals Can Lose Ground To The Browns, Steelers, Or Even The Jets, And Cincinnati Can Only Hope To Catch Baltimore.
After The Bengals Beat The Niners, All Of the Football space Started Buying Stock On The Bengals As Returned Contenders; I Held Reserved My Reservations Despite Joe Burrow And The Bengals Notching Their Biggest Win Of The Season.
After The Bengals Beat The Bills, I No Longer hold my Acknowledgment Of The Bengals as full-fledge contenders In The AFC. The Bills Can Again Have The Weather To Call On As The Frost Of The Cincinnati Chill Ripple across The Sunday Night Screen. The Bengals Again Have Only The Cold Shoulder To Offer. The Bengals Offense Came Out Roaring To The Tune Of 21-7 Lead. The Two AFC Power Houses Traded Early Touchdowns Has Neither Defense Could Find A Stop On The First Two Drive. The Bengals Went 14-7 On A Joe Mixon Shot Gun Run That Ate Up 11 Plays 69 Yards. A Josh Allen Interception In The Second Quarter Gifted The Bengals Another Possession, But Cincy Can't Turn The Fortune Into Anything Tangible. Two Drives Later A Short Field, A 7 Play 45 Yard Drive, top Off By A 22 Yard Catch And Run Touchdown By Drew Sample Gifts The Bengals A 21-7 Lead By Half Time And The Bengals Never Looked Back. The Bills Offense Score 11 Eleven Points In The Second Half Compared To Just 3 For The Bengals In The Half, But the Comeback Would Never Materialize. Josh Allen Connected With Stefon Diggs For A Late 17 Yard Touchdowns And The Duo Again Combine For The Two Point Conversion that Pulled The 24-18 With 3:32 Left On The Clock.
The Bills Lost The Turnover Battle, The Offense Simply Didn't Have Enough Answers Today. Josh Allen Racked Up 258 Passing Yards, 26/38 While Adding 44 Yards On The Ground.
In The Passing Game, The Bengals Could Almost Do No Wrong. Joe Burrow Generated 17 1st Downs Passing The Ball, While 31/44, 348 Passing Yards, Two(2) Touchdowns And a 108.9 Passer Rating. Burrow Connected With Eight Different Receivers. They operated Like They Possessed The Floor Plans To The Bills' Defense. An Entry Way Always Appeared When The Offense Needed A Big Conversion.
Like Batman Recovering From A Broken Back In The Dark, The Bengals Return To Form Looks Nearly Complete. The Bills Suffered Two Turnovers And The Bengals Only Won By One Score. The Bills Needed More Than Josh Allen, But After Falling Two Scores, They Had Few Other Options.
Browns Vs. Cardinals
The Cardinals Never Get Tired Of Playing "Guess Who Will Start At Quarterback for Us." Not Exactly "Hang Man" Or "Twenty Question" Or Any Of Your Favorite Guessing Games, Head Coach Jonathan Gannon Holds Of The Answer To Cardinals's Quarterback Question Until The Last.
Gannon Employed This Tactic To Begin The Season Before The Dial Eventually Landed On Josh Doubs, who Started Every Game This Season, including the team's Only Win Against Dallas, Before The Cards Benched and Traded Doubs And A Seventh Round Pick In 2024 in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round Pick. The Last We Saw Of Kyler Murray Running The Cardinals's Offense The Air Raid Under Kliff Kingsbury Look Like An Offense That Had Just Crawled Out Of a Cave And Into A 30th Century NFL. The Cards Ranked 26th In EPA, Last In 26 Games Kyler Started, Compared To This season's Ranking 21st Thus Far With Josh Doubs. The Cards Need To Get A Long Look At Kyler Under New Offensive Coordinator Drew Petzing And His Offense. The Cards Also Have The second-worst defense. Gannon Came Over From Philly With A Defensive Background, But Background Doesn't Always Hold, and Because The Defense Can't Stop Anyone, The Cards Stand In Line To Earn The Number Pick At This Rate.
The Cards Could Draft A Quarterback, Drake Maye or Caleb Williams. Either One Would Make The Selection The Third Top Ten Quarterback Drafted In Five Years. From That Point, The Cardinals Will Have To Navigate The Rivers And Pathways Of Kyler's Massive Albatross Of A Contract Extension That Kicks In Next Year and Pays 43 Million Per Year.
With Josh Dobbs Off To Save The Vikings Season, the Browns Take THe "Gimme" Win Away From—the Cardinals. Deshaun Watson's Return To Action, The Browns's Offense Struggles To Sustain Drives Early Until Watson Completed Two big Passes To Amari Cooper, And The Browns Win This One Going Away 27-0.
"It Feels Good." Watson said Postgame, "This Is What I've Been Preparing and Training To Get Back To… To Be Back To Myself," Watson Finished 19/30 For 219, Two Touchdowns, And A Passer Rating of 107.5. Watson Didn't Look "Back To Himself" If He Could Return, But His Big 59-Yard Completion To Amari Cooper In The Fourth Opened Some Eyes. "It's Not A Confidence Boost, I Already Know I Could Do That." Watson Added. Amari Caught 5 Passes For 139 of Cleveland's 219 Passing Yardage And Snagged A Tipped Ball Out Of THE air For A Touchdown.
The Cardinals Have Hung Tough and Played Their Best Ball Against Many Good Teams This Season. However, They've Suffered Their Worse Loss Getting Shut Out By The Browns's Defense.
"When You Get Outscored By How Many Yards We Got Outscored By, You Won't Win Too Many Games," said Jonathan Ganon.
The Browns Dominated This Game, and They Had To Take Home This Win. The Bengals Have Charted A Course Back To The Top of The Division, And All Four AFC North Teams Holding Playoff Positions, Every Game Counts Double For The Browns.
Texans Vs. Bucs
"If It Were Easy, Everyone Would Do It," CJ Stroud Said, "The Trials and Tribulations, God Doesn't Give You Stuff Right Away. You Have To Build Those "Callouses"… You Get What You Need."
Stroud Has passed through The Trials, And He's Arrived At The Mountain Top Of The Game.
Whoever Invented the Quarterback S2 Test, They're Rethinking Their Interior Course In Professional Life. After The Loss To The Panthers And The Worse Game Of His Career, Stroud Look Spent. Rookies, No Matter How Hot, Usually Regress To The Mean Of The Expectation. Stroud Has Played The Game To The Level Of The Best In The Game; No one Would Scoff At Him For Tailing Off. How Would He Respond To His Worst Week Of Quarterbacking With His Best Game And Record-Breaking Game? Stroud Threw For 470 Yards, The Most Passing Yards Thrown This Season Any Quarter Back. Stroud Now Has Two Of The Top 7 Passing Yard Games Of The NFL Season.
Stroud Needed One More Drive Fir 75 To Complete The Career Game. With The Texans Down Four Points and needing A Touchdown, Stroud Steps Into The Moment With 0:43 Seconds Left On The Clock. Stroud made two Of The Best Throws on the field This Season. Area With Texans Drive Stroud Hit Fellow Rookie Tank Dell Into The Boundary For 25 Yards. Dell, Who Entered The Draft With One Of The Least Physical Relative Profiles Of Any Football Player At 5'9, 160-(Ish) Pounds Came Up Big To Flip The Field For The Texans.
Dell Secured The New Downs In The Red Red Zone with 0:06 Left On The Clock. How CJ Stroud Strikes Him In The Back Of The End-Zone With Only A Silver A Window Amazed. Dell's Size Makes Him Easy To Loose For Defenders In The Back Of The End-Zone. "Tanks's Route Was Nasty," Stroud Said, "I Didn't Get To Watch; I Just Threw It."
Stroud Cooked Tampa's Secondary All Game. The Rookie Threw Five Touchdowns; The Texans Scored On 5 Of Their 6 Drives In The Second Half(4 Touchdowns, 1 FG). Stroud Finished 30/42, 11.2 Per Attempt, And 147.8 Passer Rating.
Dell Finished With 6 Catches For 114 And Two Touchdowns. Noah Brown Not Let Dell's Also Produced A Career Game As Well. Brown, The Former Cowboy, Caught Six Passes For 153 Yards And One Touchdown. Dalton Shultz, Another Former Cowboy, had 10 Catches, 130 Yards, and a Touchdown. Tampa Bay's Secondary Could Defend Nobody.
The Defense Surrendered 496, 8 Yards Per Play, and 9.8 Per Pass.
Neither Team Deserved To Lose This Game. Baker And The Bucs Played One Of Their Game Better Games On Offense. The Bucs Faced A 33-30 Deficit Late In The Fourth. With The Ball at midfield and Bodies Of Defenders Swarming All Around Him, Mayfield Steps Up and Completes Three Big Passes. On 3rd And 23, Mayfield Hits Trey Palmer For 21 Yard Before Converting The Fourth With His Legs. On The Next Play, Mayfield Hits Palmer Again. Planer Fumbles The Ball, But Somehow, Mike Evans Rips The Ball Out Of A Defender's Clutch, And Tampa Keeps Possession. In A Flurry Of Some Of His Best Passes As A Pro, Baker Mayfield Put The Bucs Offense In The Red Zone And Ahead 37-33. As Baker Pass Glided So Gently Into Cade Otten's Hands, I Thought The Bucs Left Too Much Time On The Clock, And In The End, That Proved True. The Bucs Have Played Well Enough To Win Several Games This Year. However, They've Just been Along The Line Of Not Good Enough. The Loss Drops The Bucs To 3-5, Not Out Of The NFC South Picture Just Yet, But The Saints Won, Which Pits The Bucs a Game and A Half Behind. The Win Keeps The Texans In The Playoff Picture In The AFC, But The Picture In The AFC Remains Crowded. At Least The Texans Won't Surrender A Top Ten ten-pick to Cardinals At This Stage Of The Season.
Vikings Vs. Falcons
The Joshua Doubs Journey Through The NFL Stellar Space Continues. Playing In His Fourth Jersey Of The Year, Doubs Didn't Enter Week 9 Expecting To Play For Anyone. The Cardinals Benched Him, and The Vikings Traded For Him After Kirk Cousins's Injury Diagnoses, But With Only A few Days To Ingest The PlayBook, He'd Backup Jaren Hall, The In-line To Take Kirk's Place In The Line. Hall Went Out With a Concussion Early In The Game; Doubs Steps in Thrusted Into Action. Unexpectedly, Doubs Played his Game. He Leads All Quarterbacks In Rushes Of 20 Yards Or Better, And His Paper Thin Frame Of All Legs And Heart Would Not Let A Tough Start And Forceful Falcons Defense Break Him. Doubs Has Limbs Like Mr. Fantastic, Long, And Lanky, Incredibly Hard To Carrol, And He Showcases His Stretchy Improvisation Skills Late Against The Falcons. This Game Featured Two Backup Quarterbacks; You Can't Find Two More Similar Souls Than Taylor Heinicke and Josh Doubs. Both Quarterbacks Live On The Edge Of the Brained Extremed, And This Game Feature Tons Of Explosive Plays. I Could Imagine Them Forming A Hardy Boyz Extreme Rules Tag Team.
Heinicke Praised Doubs After The Game. "When His Numbers Called, He Goes Out There And Plays Well." People Respect Dobbs Because He's A Symbol Of Resilience And Fortitude. The Vikings Have Had To Thrust A Lot Of Players Into Action Unexpectedly. Brandon Powell, Who Caught The Game Winning Touchdown From Josh Dobbs, Stepped Into The Receiver Two Role With KJ Osborn Down.
Falcons Tight End Jonnu Smith Take A Short Pass Into The Flat And Take The Pass For 61 Yards Into The End Zone. Taylor Heinicke, In His First Start This Season, Produced 268 Yards In The Passing Game And Added 20 More Yards On The Ground With Scrambles. Heineicke Put The Falcons In a Position To Win This Game, But Back Turnovers In The Second Half With The Lead Allowed A Minnesota Team, Playing With No Expectations, To Push ahead and Win The Game. "We Can't Sugar Coat It Or Make Excuses. We Had Our Chances and Didn't Get It Done." Said A Discontented Falcons Coach, Arthur Smith. The Falcons Offense got A lot Of Help From A Defense That Played Well, If Also Dangerous—Knocking Two Vikings Players Out Of The Game— but Only Mustering Field Goals In Short Field Situations Hurt The Outcome Of The Game. "We Moved The Ball Well the Whole Game," Falcons Quarterback Taylor Heinicke Said, "But Not Punching It In Once Hurt."
Josh Doubs Minted His Arrival In Minnesota By Introducing Himself To The Press, Expressing His Values On A Team Win Given The Unusual Situation He Found Himself Thrust Into. "Tremendous Game, Team Effort." Doubs Said, "I'm Excited To Be Here In Minnesota." Most Doubs Feel For His Teammates and His Receivers Came In Pregame.
Doubs described The Team's Play On The Field With Phrases" Learn As You" " and "Hold Onto Your Seat." Playing This Off Kilter Type Of Ball Cost The Vikings Some Points; Dobbs Suffered A Safety On His First Drive Of The Game, a Sack Fumble On The Ensuing Drive After Before He Also Fumbling Again On The Vikings's Initial First Half Drive, all Turnover Atlanta Turned into Point Albeit Field Goals. Doubs Put The Vikings Touchdown On The Board with His legs, Scrambling For 11 Yards On The Box Score But 55.6 On The Next Gen Tracking To Pick Up A Vikings First Down At The Goal Line On 3rd And 10.
One Doubs Got His Feel For The Game He Made Good Use Of The Elements Of The Skillset That Brought Him To This Point On His Rise Short Rise In His Career. Those Legs are Impossible To Cut Down, Even On A Crucial Fourth Down, Dobbs Slips Away And Escapes For 20 Plus Yards To Set The Vikings Up In The End. In the Passing Game, He Performed Just Good Enough, Hitting Jordan Addison On A Big Out Route As Addison Continues To Emerge Into The Light As Minnesota's Top Receiver With Justin Jefferson Out. The Vikings Looked Like Sellers At The Trade Line; They Make An Innocuous Move For A Backup Quarterback Falling Out Of Favor In One Spot, And The Move Delivers A Defining Victory Of The Season.
Ravens Vs Seahawks
The Seahawks Paid A Hefty Price To Pull Big Man Leonard Williams Away From The New York Giants. The Seahawks Sent A 2nd Rounder and A Fifth Round Pick For Leonard's Expiring Deal And His Run Stuffing Services and Just In Time To Face The Vaunted Ravens. The Seahawks' Defense Ranks Fourth In Rushing Success Rate, But Last Week, The Browns Took Seattle To Task Up The Gut Of The Defense. Seattle's Defense Came Thru With A Forced Fumble, three sacks, two interceptions, Including The Game Saving Interception At The End Of The Game, six pass breakups And Swung The Matchup In Seattle's Favor After The Offense Lost Consistency In The Second Half. Williams's Play On The Inside Of The D-Line Has Dipped This Season From His Career Upper Echelon Standards The Seahawks Hoped They Acquired The Williams From A Season Ago.
Lamar Jackson Wanted To Get ODELL Beckham Jr. A Touchdown. The Former Giants' Receiver Hasn't Hauled In A score Since The Super Bowl Two Years Ago, And Beckham, Amid A Down Year Coming Back From Surgery, Has Force A lot Of pass Interference Penalties But He Couldn't Breech The End Zone. Lamar Didn't Deliver on Sunday Against The Seahawks; Backup Tyler Huntley Delivers Beckham The Ball In The Back Of The End Zone As Odell records his First Touchdown As A Raven As Baltimore On Beckham's 31st Birthday No Lesss As The Rolls The Seahawks In This Bird Battle, 37-3. The Ravens Didnt Roll This Game From Start To finish, This Game Felt More Slow Burned Or A slow Roast. The Ravens's Offense Produced 29 First Downs compared to Just 6 By The Seahawks. In Total Yardage, The Ravens Almost Leaped Over The Seahawks By 400, Including 298 On The Ground Compared To Just 28 On The Ground By The Seahawks, 3-6 In The Red Zone. Even When The Ravens Took A Two Score Lead Into The Half, Turnovers(Two Fumbles) Made The Game Feel In Range. Baltimore Continued To Dominate Time Of Possession While The Seahawks Could Not Sustain Any Drive Or Momentum. All the worst aspects Of The Seahawks's Offense: Struggles To Run The Ball, Contain Pressure, And Sometimes Catch The Ball All Showed Up With The Time, Explosive Play, and Tough Deliveries.
The Seahawks Lose Their Spot Atop The NFC West, But They Retain A Playoff Position. The Ravens Keep Pace With The Chiefs For The Number One Seed In The AFC.
"I wouldn't say We're Far Or We're Close, Just Keep Doing What We're Doing. Keep Stacking them," Lamar Jackson said. Credit The Ravens' Defense, They Looked Prepared To Face Everything The Seahawks Could Throw Out On Offense. "Our Job Is To Stack Wins" Ravens Head Coach Jon Harbaugh Said After The Game.
Titans Vs. Steelers
The Ryan Tannehill Era In Tennessee Took Off After He Replaced An Underperforming Marcus Mariota Some Five Years Ago. Tennessee Enjoyed The Peak Of Tannenhill's Skill At Quarterback And Will Levi's Will Takes Over In A Similar Vein With Tannenhill Down. I'll Curve Away From The Crowd On Levis. The 24- Year-Old Rookie needs a Few More Strong Games To Dispel Some Of the Pre-Draft Narratives About His Accuracy, Anticipation, And Technique Breaks Levis Also Puts Mayo In His Coffee The Titans Decided He Could Prove Worth The Risk Despite The Question Mark.
TJ Watt couldn't Wait To Introduce Himself To Levi's. The Steelers EDge RuHer Pinned Levi's Into The Ground, But Levi's Had Already Released The Ball—I Got The Sense That Tannenhill Would Have Taken The Sack— But The Force Of The Rush Generated A Penalty To Get The Titans First Drive Moving. Focus On Using Tempe Steelers Ferocity Against Them, The Titans Employed A lot Of Misdirection, Wild Cat Formations, To Move The Ball Into The Red Zone. Regardless, TJ Watt Gets His Man, and A Sack Of Levis Cancels The Titan's Drive, That Featured A Fourth Down Conversion Short Of The Goal Line. Watt Had His Helmet Ripped Off, But Doesn't Carr, Quarterback First, Headache After. Speaking Of Head.
The Steelers's Offense Got Off To A "Spotty" Start. Najee Harris Punched In A Red Zone Touchdown, But Kenny Missed Multiple Open Receivers High And Wide. The Second Year Quarterback Threw Balls That Sailed Over The Heads Of His Intended Receiver By Wide Margins. The Hand Size Of Pickett Stuns His Accuracy. But One Or Two Completions Created Healthy Movement For The Offense To Set Up In The Red Zone.
The Next Two Drives, Pickett Throws A Flurry Of "Incompletions," 0-4 Through Two Drives. The Much Maligned Matt Canada Decides To Get The Ball Out Of Pickett's Hand Faster.
The Steelers Wide Receivers, Especially Diontae Johnson, released a lot Of Yardage After The Catch. Johnson Cathy 4 Passes For 55 Yards Only In The First Half.
Levis Got Off To A Slow Start, Just Taking Short Passes, But Then He started Swinging Out Some Big Passes Downfield. Levis Averaged 8.9 Intended Air Yards Per Attempt. He Leads The Titans To A Late Field Goal At The Half To Give Tennessee The Lead. The Titans Look Like A Viable Offense, And Levis Looked Like A Legitimate Quarterback Who Could Read Defenses And Throw Windows Open, As Displayed On a Big 24 Pass To Kyle Phillips Over The Middle Of The Defense. Levis Still Took Three Sacks, But The Titans Looked Justified For Holding To Derrick Henry And De'Andre Hopkins. Even Treylon Burks, The Wide Receiver Infamously Traded For AJ Brown, Suddenly Looks Better With Levis Behind The Center.
Even With The Steelers' Offense Driving the Ball, Pickett Would Miss Any Throw That Required Him Having To Put Air Under The Ball. Then He tossed a 32 32-yard pass To Diontae Johnson In The Fourth Quarter. Pickett's Mercurial Arm Range Leaves Fans And Analysts Perplexed; He Misses So Many Throws Throughout The Game But Suddenly Converts Bigger Passes As The Game Comes Into Focus. Pickett Connects With Diontae Johnson To Give the Steelers The Lead 19-16 In A Game. The Offense Looked Mostly Class Despite Gaining The Titans At The 4 Minute Mark Left In The Fourth.
In The end, The Steelers' Defense Down Clamps Up De'Andre Hopkins, which Forces Levis To Throw Deep Into The Arms of Treylon Burks, Who Fails To Haul In The Big Catch And Gets Injured On The Play. Levis Looked A Bit Nervous Before Taking The Snap Late Into The Play Clock And Pulling The Trigger On The Pass. The Steelers Clamped Down On Hopkins In The Second Half, Holding The Tennessee Star Wide Receiver Without A Catch For The Second Half. Hopkins, However, Did Force A Holding Penalty, Using His Veteran Savvy Against The Rookie Joey Porter Jr., That Extended The Titan's Final Drive. In The End, The Steelers Sealed The Game, As Will Levis Throws The First Interception Of His Career. Levis Had A Good Game. The Steelers Delivered A Ton Of Pressure On Levis, But The Tennessee Quarterback Displayed His Immense Passing Talent. Throwing Off Platform, Easy Side Passes, However, His Play Tailed Off In The Second Half. Blessed With A 130 Passer Rating In The First Half, Levis Ended With a Mid-60s Rating. Once The Steelers Keyed In On Preventing DeAndre Hopkins From Taking The Game Over, Levis Struggled To Connect With Other Receivers—Hopkins Caught Four Of His Eleven Targets For 60 Yards, All In The First HALF. The Steelers Get The Veritable Come Back Win After Trailing Into The Half and In The Fourth Quarter. The Steelers Win A Ugly Game, How They LIKE their Games.
Levis Finished 22/39 For 262 Passing Yards, 6.7 Per Attempt, And one Interception, and Took Four Sacks. Levis Look Refreshing Compared To The Humdrum Of Tannenhill These Past Two Years. This Game Passed By Pretty Fast. In a flash, The Two Hour Program Just Ended. Each Team Possessed The Ball 9 Times, Neither Team Averaging Better Than 5.4 Yards Per Play.
Pickett Finished 19/30, But I swear, His Passing Felt Like 13/35 Or Something. So Much Of The Steelers' Offense Look Predicated On Diontae Johnson's Ability To Get Open. Johnson Got Open All Game, and When Pickett Connected With Him, Good Things Happened. Johnson Caught 9 Balls For 90 Yards and 1 Touchdown(His First Touchdown Since Ben Rothlisberger Retired Two Years Ago). Running Back Jaylen Warren Took 14 Touches(11 Rushes, 3 Catches) For 113 Scrimmage Yards. George Pickens, Usually Quiet Until The Turns Late, Never Saw The Light, Two Catches For -1 Yards. Pickens Couldn't Keep His Foot In Bounds and Cost Himself And Nearly The Team a Touchdown. Johnson Took Home His First Touchdowns In Over 600 Days.
The Steelers' Easy Schedule and Let's Face The Fact, Their Timely Offense Helped Them Stay A Foot With The Ravens, The Number One Team In The NFL. The Titans Appear To Have Uncovered The Solution To Their Quarterback Woes For At Least Another Three, Even With This Season heading nowhere. The Late Interception Blemished A Strong Day, "The last one, I was just trying to make a play…" Levi's Said. Instead Of Putting The Ball In, Play On That Four Verts Concept In The Red Zone. The Offensive Coordinator Made The Right Call Against A Cover Three Look. Still, Levis Should've Aimed Head Into The Back Of The End zone, And The Titans Another Down Or Waited For The Middle Defender To Commit Before Pulling The Trigger. Tennessee's Offense Finished 1/4 the red Zone And settled for a Field Goal Most Of Their Productive Offensive Drives. "Opportunities Missed and Their Ability To Make A Play When They Needed." Titans Coach Mike Vrabel Said Somberly After The Loss. "You Try To Learn From Every Experience."
The Steelers Love To Play Football In Close Combat. Opponents Of The Steelers Never Appear Able To Shake-Away Too Far From On The Scoreboard. "
Dolphins Vs Chiefs
No Contender Will Ever Have A Perfect Resume, But I Still Think The Chiefs Have The Best Team And Shot At The Super Bowl Despite The Eagles Landing In At Number One On Almost Every Power Ranking This Week And Despite A Light Paddling On Behalf Of The Broncos In Week 8. The Chiefs Have The Chance To Reclaim The Acclaim Against The Dolphins In A Game That Feels Like A Waste. The Two AFC Play In Germany—A Place I Have No Problem With, I'd Love To Visit—But Imagine Tua And Mahomes Playing The Heat Of Miami And Not A Presumably Bad Weather Game In Germany. The Chiefs Ranks A Lite Beneath The Dolphins The Chiefs Defense Ranks Top Five Compared To The Dolphins Somewhere In The Top 20 But Rising." Any Opportunity For Us To Play A Team Thats Been To The Super Bowl." Tua Said To The Media" That's Always A Great Challenge, A Chance To See We're At." Where Are The Dolphins At? Still Number In Touchdowns Per Drive, Yards Per Drive, and Rushing Yards Per Attempt. Tyreek Said, "It Doesn't Matter" Where The Dolphins And KC Link Up, Although In Kansas City Would Have Proved More Gratifying For The Former Chiefs' Receiver Looking To Give His Former Team That "Work." Tyreek Hill Also Has The "All-Time" Receiving Yards Record On His Mind As He Enters The Second Of The Season On Pace To Smash The Record.
Tyreek May Run Out Of Room To Run, A Rare Statement To Make Of Him, In Chasing Calvin's Record After The Chiefs Defensive Strategy Took Hill And The Dolphins Passing Game Out Of The Affair Early.
Honestly, I didn't expect A Track Meet In This Matchup, But The Amount Of First Pings shocked me. The Dolphins Crossed midfield once and Gained More Than 15 Yards On A Drive That One Time. The Chiefs's Defense Speak For Itself, The Chiefs Secondary Moatly Cloaked Tyreek Hill, Forcing Fumbles, Defense Then Converted The Fumble Into 7 Points The Opposite Way, Going 59 Yards In The Process And A Three Score Lead. When Tyreek Left The Chiefs Two Years Ago, The Team He Departed. Didn't Have This Much "Oomph," This Much Energy On Defense, And The Chiefs Brought The Work To Tyreek's Door Step. The Dolphins Didn't Score In The First Half, Couldn't Score In The First Half.
Against The Dolphins, Most Opposing Teams Aspire To Keep The Amount Of Possessions In The Game Low To Prevent The Miami Offense From Really Hitting The Tarmac.
On Offense For The Chiefs, Outside Of A Few Down Field Passes, One To Sky Moore and Another To MARQUES Valdez-Scantling To Get The Game Started And Set Up The Touchdown, Patrick Mahomes Looked Averaged. Mahomes's 4.4 Completed Air Yards And His -2.5 Air Yards To The Sticks(Numbers Through The Third Quarter) indicate how Mahomes Relied More On His Play Makers To Create Gains Rather Than The Quarterback's Arm Strength Alone. Mahomes Hit Most Of His Targets In The 0-9 Range And Scrambling To Keep Drives Alive.
What Observers Have To Adore About The Dolphins Offense: Even If The Winds Don't Blow In Their Favor, They Never Change Direction, "Bombs Away." On 2nd Down Mid away Through The Third, On The Dolphins Second Drive IN Chiefs Territory(the 31 Yard Line), Tua Looks Off Tyreek Streaking Across The Field And Connects With Cedric Wilson, Gently Separates From Chiefs Cornerback Trent McDuffie Over The Top To Put The Dolphins On The Board.
The Dolphins, Who Couldn't Move The Ball At All In The First Half, Needed 8 Plays To Eat 80 In Five Minutes.
The Dolphins' Defense Returns The Favor To The Chiefs By Stripe Sacking Patrick Mahomes Getting The Ball Back To The Offense, Who Proceed To Take The Short Field To Score. We've Seen Mike McDaniel's Dolphins Teams Come Back From Even The Most insurmountable Of Leads. With The Defense Pitching A shut Against The Chiefs's Offense In The Second Half, The Dolphins' Offense Stalls Out On A 12 Play Drive that got Into Kansas City Territory But Ended With Two Negative Plays And Missed Passes, Forcing the Dolphins backward. The Dolphins Punt, But An Error By Chiefs' Returner Mecole Hardman Put The Chiefs Offense In A Disadvantageous Position. Hardman Fields The Ball Near The End Zone and Runs Back For Only 7 Yards To The Chiefs' 10. Patrick Mahomes And The Chiefs Offense Found Themselves Lost Of Offensive Direction; They Couldn't Cross Mid Field, Couldn't Sustain Drives, And Couldn't Connect On Big Passes, And Stall Out Within Three Plays Before Punting The Ball Back To The Dolphins. With Little Over Two Minute Left, The Dolphins Got One More Drive To Tie The Game. The Drive Started Promising With Two Big Runs By Raheem Mostert, One Run Of 25 Yards Another Of 19 Yards Put The Dolphins In CHIEFS. Tua Simply couldn't Handle The Ball And Couldn't Handle The Moment. With First And 10 From The Chief's 31, Tua Throws Three Straight Incompletions, Then Fumbles A Snap On Fourth, Perhaps Focusing Too Much Attention On The All Out Blitz Heading His Way. The Chiefs Win A "Ugly" Game. I Didn't Expect a Track Meet, But This Punt-A-Thon Baffled Me. The Dolphins Offensive Script And Passing Coordination Look Like A Reflection Of Itself In A Fun House Mirror. The Offense Just Looked "Funky". Tua, Who Looked Like The Best Passer In The League Early In the Season, Couldn't Complete The Simplest Out Routes.
With All Of The Motion And Misdirection, The Chiefs' Defense Read Those Out Like They'd Seen Them In A Dream From God. Spagnola Put His Players In Position To Play Gap Sound Football.
Tua Finished 21/34, 193 Yards, One Touchdown, Three Sacks, And a Passer Rating Of 87; One Pass Completions Over 20 Plus. At No Point Did He Look Like An MVP Candidate—the Passes Fell Short by Miles. Mahomes Faired A Little Better, Going 20/30 For 185 Yards And Two Touchdowns Again Moments Later That Looked Like An MVP Mahomes And This Dolphins' Defense Came In Ranked 22nd Overall.
Mahomes Faired Better With Three (3) Explosive Plays In The Passing Game But Those Big Play Came Scattered. The Chiefs Found Some Success on The Ground For 93 Yards, Including a Couple of Mahome scrambles. You Have To Admire The Tough Running Style Of Isiah Pacheco, who's Always Good For A Tough Run where He Carries A Pile Of Defenders With Him Into A First Down.
The Chiefs Avoid Losing Back-To-Back Games This Season, The Dolphins, On The Other Hand, Avoid Earning Their First Win Over A Winning Team.
