What a weekend of football. As we start the back 9 of the NFL season teams are now reaching the make or break stage. With the trade deadline now behind us, teams are now set as they were either loading up for a late season push, or sellers as they realized it’s probably time for a rebuild. The 49ers for example made headlines even on their bye week as they acquired edge rusher Chase Young from the Washington Commanders to bolster their defensive line. The Packers whom I love so so much, traded away cornerback Rasual Douglas to the Buffalo Bills because right after a player tells the Packers they love playing for the team, they IMMEDIATELY trade them away for future picks. But with teams buying or selling their futures, the most important part of football is still winning the games. So like always, we’ll go through each matchup and give a quick recap starting all the way back in Pittsburgh.
Thursday:
- Did the Titans lose? Yes. Did Will Levis play all that well? No. Is he the Titans’s future? Absolutely. Move off of Tannehill you have your next franchise QB. The Steelers have a lot of things going for them. Great skill position players, an elite defense, and a hall of fame head coach. They just have one small glaring issue: Quarterback play. Kenny Pickett looks miserable for 85% of most games and the offense feels like getting a first down is a miracle at times. Is it OC Matt Canada’s fault or does the blame lie with Pickett? One thing is for sure, without the offense figuring it out, The Steelers don’t have a shot at the Super Bowl.
Sunday Abroad:
- The Dolphins: 5-0 against teams under .500. The Dolphins against teas with a winning record: 0-3. With loses to the Bills, Eagles, and now Chiefs, the Dolphins seem to be unable to beat real contenders. Leaving them, until proven otherwise, pretenders. The Chiefs are weird man. They are still technically the top dog of the AFC and potentially the league but man do they leave meat on the bone. They go up and dominate all the first half, then just kinda coast. Many of us, myself are still having trouble realizing this is the most different Chiefs team we’ve seen in the Mahomes era. A team that is actually led by a dominant defense, with the best QB in the league to close out games.
Sunday In Merica’:
- Back stateside, we got to see the good, the bad, and the Raiders play the Giants. Aiden O’Connell looks way more in control of the Raiders offense compared to Jimmy G. The team look revitalized with Josh McDaniels out as head coach. For the Giants, it’s sad to see Daniel Jones tear his ACL. He has been under the microscope ever since he was given a new deal and man does it look like that deal is going to bite the Giants in the long run. Raiders are somehow a game under .500 and with new motivation and team morale at an all time high, watch out for the Raiders. Never thought I’d say that.
- Seahawks Ravens Man do the Ravens beat people up. Playing some of the best football in the league right now, the Ravens at home seem unstoppable when they get the run game going. Lamar Jackson is still an electricity factory, they have a three-headed running back monster with Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell, and Gus Edwards aka the “Gus Bus,” a great tight end, and a mean defense. As of right now, the Ravens might be the best team in the NFL…. not named the Chiefs. As for the Seahawks, this was a rough one to watch. Now I won’t say abandon ship, seeing as they’re still a playoff team as of now, but there has to be discussions about Geno Smith. The Geno renaissance was incredible to see last year, but getting blown out to the 49ers in the playoffs, the Bengals in a very winnable game, and now getting routed in Baltimore, it feels the Seahawks could have a potential Dolphins problem. Dependable against bad teams, but could vanish against the top teams in the NFL. If they can manage to win the division that would be the difference maker with arguably the best home field advantage in the NFL. The Seahawks on the road though? Tough to trust.
- Cardinals Browns: The Cardinals did Josh Dobbs a favor trading him to the Vikings, more on him later, as they got dog walked in Cleveland. The Browns defense is incredible and while that’s easy to say against the Cardinals, they have no weakness when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. The offense still has its issues, even with Desean Watson back in the starting lineup. Sure this game was a blowout, but it wasn’t a pretty one, which I guess is something Browns fans are just gonna have to deal with. Ugly games are good games for the Browns. Run the ball, beat teams up on defense, hope Desean plays, and when he does, hope he plays average or better.
- The Bears are bad, like really bad, but that doesn’t mean they don’t play hard with Tyson Bagnet playing QB. He’s faster than defenses give him credit, has a good dynamic with tight end Cole Kmet, and solidified himself as a solid backup QB. That doesn’t mean he can save the Bears season. This team is bad, really bad, which at this point in their season is good, so go Bears? The Saints finally got to a positive record this weekend. The defense is solid, Alvin Kamara is still an elite running back, and when Derrick Carr isn’t turning the ball over or yelling at teammates, they look like a tough team to beat. Given how bad their division is, a few more wins could solidify them as the division winners in the upcoming weeks.
- Commanders Patriots Even after trading away some of their best defensive players, the Commanders still managed to make enough plays to win this game. Commanders QB Sam Howell may make mistakes, but he is fun to watch, and given a proper chance, I think could be a stud going forward. For the Patriots, this was a bad game to lose. Another day, another Mac Jones game sealing interception. Though it is sad to see players struggle, it is also hard to feel sympathy for a franchise that had the greatest dynasty in American sports.
- Vikings Falcons: This game ROCKED. Atlanta starting their backup QB, The Vikings starting their backup QB, only to then have to use their brand new third string QB Josh Dobbs. Dobbs got into Minnesota this past week and didn’t even know all of his teammates’ names. After a shaky start, Dobbs popped off on Atlanta. The Vikings started 1-4 and are now 5-4 with all the momentum in the world. The Falcons are just gonna Falcon. No lead is safe with this franchise. They had every opportunity to put this game away, and yet in typical Atlanta fashion, they blow another lead in the fourth quarter and lose a game that was theirs for the taking.
- For what feels like the first time in an eternity, I don’t have to dedicate a whole essay on my frustration with the Packers. For the first time in 5 weeks, the Packers managed to score more than 3 points in the first half. A whopping 7 this past weekend. Now that the offense is firing on all pistons look out NFC, the era of Love is back on. As long as Aaron Jones doesn’t get hurt and averages 20 plus carries each and every week. The Rams without Matthew Stafford were hopeless. The defense actually made this a game until the 4th quarter but sadly for LA they just couldn’t move the chains.
- Texans and Buccaneers can only be described as peak football. CJ Stroud and Baker Mayfield put on a fireworks show this past Sunday. So much so that as of right now, I’ll say it was best game of the year. Baker Mayfield was dishing out dimes left and right and got the Bucs the lead to seemingly ice the game… until former Buckeye and runaway Rookie of the Year CJ Stroud said “Hold my beer.” All season Stroud has been impressive, but this was some Tom Brady S**t right here. With less than a minute left, down 4, Stroud was surgical as he diced the Bucs’s secondary to throw his fifth touchdown of the game to Tank Dell with 00:06 remaining on the clock. With a total of 470 passing yards and 5 TDs, it is safe to say CJ Stroud is set to have a long and successful career, so long as the Texans don’t waste talent. Homelander your thoughts?
- Okay so I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch the Panthers and Colts, and neither did Redzone. So…
- An NFC Divisional that lived up to the hype. Cowboys vs Eagles was a classic as these teams were trading blows all game. Dak Prescott looked great with 374 yards and 3 TDs, until he had one of his “lose a game” plays stepping out of bounds on a pivotal 2-Point Conversion. The Eagles are weird, much like the Chiefs, are at the top of their conference, and yet still don’t feel like they’re playing their best ball. Jalen Hurts is a stud, the offense and defensive lines are still elite, and the receivers are some of the best in football. With that said they have a serious secondary issue. Plus if Jalen continues to suffer from a, albeit minor, knee injury, the Eagles could be facing tough sledding ahead.
Sunday Night:
- A rematch from last year’s regular season game and playoff game, the Bills and Bengals both looked unstoppable on their first drive. The Bengals kept that energy up for a good portion of the game. The Bills, well they didn’t look that good until about 5 minutes left in the game. The Bills are a flawed team. An injured defense, a head coach who doesn’t have a feel for offense, and an offense that is so dependable on Josh Allen he has to lead the team in passing and rushing. Until the Bills can set up an actual run game, this team is in trouble. The Bengals are back and are putting the league on notice. The defense gets after you, the offense is surrounded by weapons, and Joe Burrow is back and healthier than ever. They’ve beat the Seahawks, routed the 49ers, and just man handled the Bills all in the last 3 weeks. If there is one team you don’t want to see right now, it’s the Cincinnati Bengals.
Monday Night:
- Look I get it, we want to root for the Jets. They’re overachieving more than anyone gave them credit for after Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles. We like rooting for a team that no one gives a shot that play hard week in and week out. The defense is a top 5 defense with elite cornerbacks, awesome defensive lineman, and a solid linebacker core. but then you get to this offense. No it isn’t an offense, it is an OFFENSE to make fans watch this, especially in primetime. The Jets shouldn’t be given another primetime slot until Rodgers is back. So until then, please NFL, PLEASE flex them off Sunday night football. Chargers win a game they definitely needed. Justin Herbert didn’t really have to do anything as the opening special teams score was enough to win them the game. Austin Ekeler was solid, the pass rush destroyed the Jets abysmal offensive line, and could basically cruise to the finish line in MetLife Stadium.
And there you have it. We are now on our way to week 10 with the race to the playoffs picking up speed. The weather is about to get to proper football weather as rain, snow, and winds will start to pick up across the league which gets every football fan excited. But what if your team sucks like mine? Easy you get the watch your team get one step closer to the NFL Draft.
Until next Tuesday!
Blog Count: 24/52 Almost halfway there…
