Post by spiderfan on Sept 17, 2019 11:38:16 GMT -8
Kon'nichiwa SCtoC, it is I Spiderfan the Official National Football League Analyst for this great website and today I bring you the 2nd edition or issue or volume or chapter or whatever of my column or blog or whatever. Enough stalling, let us begin!
A changing of the guard?
The top story of this week has to be the injuries of Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees. First, Roethlisberger injured his elbow against the Seahawks in what appeared to be a no-contact injury. What does this mean for the Steelers? For one thing it means that Big Ben is gone for the year, which means former Oklahoma St. QB Mason Rudolph will play in his stead for the rest of the year. Rudolph was good in Stillwater, but the problem he is not set up to succeed because the Steelers are terrible offensively. Even if the Steelers reverse course and start to play good, that will be bad news for Big Ben, because if the young gun plays well? Well, we know what usually happens to the old guy. Just ask Tony Romo or Drew Bledsoe or Big Ben.
What is also possible is that the Steelers are terrible this year and they end up picking someone in the draft, Tua, Jake Fromm, Justin Herbert and Big Ben is still replaced. The injury also means that Steelers HC Mike Tomlin probably has job security because this season could be wrote off by him. He should still be fired anyway, but knowing how organizations like the Steelers work it is safe bet to say that he won't.
Second, Brees injured his thumb after Aaron Donald hit his hand. What does this mean for the Saints? It means that Brees is going to miss at least 6 weeks with his injury, which means that former Minnesota Viking Teddy Bridgewater will play. Now, future Dallas Cowboys HC Sean Payton has put in a bunch of effort to make it clear that Bridgewater is next in line, so if Bridgewater plays good that accelerates that process. If he or the Saints at large play bad then their season is sunk and frankly after all obnoxious whining that has come from Burboun Street, it is about time they get humbled some. ThE REfs MIssEd a CaLL In dA Nfc TitLE GAme aND Den DIS week AgAiNsT Da RaMs. Seriously, a fumble in the 2nd quarter doesn't mean much when the game ends being a blowout.
Getting back on track, one thing is clear with both franchises, the guard has the potential to change in a big way over the coming months effecting the league for years to come for better or for worse. Let us see what happens.
LAST MINUTE UPDATE: Eli Mannning has now been benched in favor of Eli Manning 2.0 (you may know him as Daniel Jones), which means the guard has fully changed for the Tinys. Surprised it happened this early in the season and I'm curious to see if all the Eli 1.0 haters actually have a point in saying he made the team worse. Considering they are the Tinys it wouldn't surprise me if there is little to no improvement at all.
May I reiterate
Patrick Mahomes is the Greatest of Right Now. He is the best QB in the NFL right now. He is best player in the NFL right now and there is no contest. Yes Brady has rings. Yes Drew Brees has the passing yards. Yes JJ Watt has the most DPOY's in a generation. But Mahomes makes season highlight throws multiple times a game. Mahomes makes it so that there is only one way to beat the Chiefs. Win a shootout. The Chiefs lost only 4 games including the postseason last year and every team that beat the Chiefs at least scored 29 points. Most teams wish they could score that much and despite the Chiefs defense still being suspect, I see the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes winning a lot of games and producing incredible highlights for a long time. And to think there were people (not me, I knew Mahomes was special) that actually thought that Mahomes couldn't play pro ball. For shame.
NBC Presents Sloppy Joe Football
Have ya ever had a Sloppy Joe sandwich? Y'know how it is just a pile of bbq meat that ends causing a mess and really shouldn't be worth eating, but it is? That is how I would describe the Eagles-Falcons game. Ya had turnovers, almost turnovers, a lot of missed opportunities by both teams and it was low scoring for 3 quarters and was only close because neither team had a handle on the sandwich. However after both Matt Ryan and Carson Wentz decided to stop spilling bbq sauce everywhere the 4th quarter became surprisingly interesting.
The Eagles had a crazy long drive that gave them the lead with a little over 2 minutes to go. Then on 4th and 3 from around midfield, the Falcons got away with an illegal block in the back penalty resulting in Falcons WR Julio Jones running past the entire Eagles defense and scoring what would ultimately be the game winning TD. The Eagles had another opportunity and actually managed to get inside the red zone, however they came up a yard short of getting 1st and Goal and previously spoiled the game was over. As Al Michaels mentioned repeatedly the previous matchups between these two teams had resulted in close games. One thing that was not mentioned in the broadcast that I will mention here is that in the 2 previous games Nick Foles was the QB of the Eagles. They won. This time, Carson Wentz was the QB of the Eagles. They lost. A little for food for thought.
Zone Coverage
-Cam Newton is in bad shape. That was clear on Thursday.
-Congrats to the Bears for finally finding a good kicker!
-Maybe Kellen Moore isn't a Scott Linehan clone after all.
-If the Cardinals can get their red zone offense figured out, they'll be REALLY scary. Might I recommend using more RPOs in the red zone?
-So, you mean to tell me that the $90 million dollar man Kirk Cousins choked in a big spot? I wouldn't have dared to think such a thing could happen. NOTE: The sarcasm is thick enough to spread on toast.
-So, you mean to tell me that historically clutch Matt Stafford was clutch? I wouldn't have dared to think such a thing could happen. NOTE: Oh, you get the joke.
-The football gods love the Texans and I don't know why.
-Clemson would beat the Dolphins and if you don't agree with me watch Clemson and watch the Dolphins and tell me that I'm wrong.
-Every defensive coordinator who uses the prevent defense in end game situations needs to black balled from the NFL.
-The Jets sure are gonna give the Dolphins a run for worst team in the league, not fully surprised by that, just surprised how it has come about.
-Believeland has reason to believe.
ROAD TO 0-16
This is the segment I do, celebrating the very worst the NFL has to offer. After week 2 the 0-for teams are:
Denver Broncos
New York Jets
Miami Dolphins
Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers
Jacksonville Jaguars
New York Football Tinys
Washington Redskins
Carolina Panthers
Of these teams the teams that are IMO most likely to 0-16 are the Dolphins, the Steelers, and the Broncos.
ROAD TO 16-0
This is the segment I do, celebrating the very best the NFL has to offer. After week 2 the undefeated teams are:
New England Patriots
Buffalo Bills
Kansas City Chiefs
Baltimore Ravens
Dallas Cowboys
Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers
Of these teams that teams are IMO most likely to 16-0 are the Ravens, Chiefs, and Patriots.
Folks those are my thoughts or feeling or whatever on Week 2 of the NFL season. I hope ya enjoyed reading them and hope to see ya next week. Special thanks to Monika for the new graphic, it is awesome. This is spiderfan out.