Post by spiderfan on Sept 24, 2019 9:26:58 GMT -8
Well hello there, people of the Sports Coast to Coast forum, it is I, Spiderfan. If you've been here before, ya know what I am about to say, if not then it is time for me to tell you, that it is time for the Week 3 edition of Web of Football. This week was actually kinda lame, nonetheless, here are my attempted ramblings!
Stupid NFL coaches doing stupid things
In Las Vegas, Nevada there a lot of things. There are the Golden Knights hockey team, there are lots of shows both family friendly (or not), there are pretty lights, and there are soon to be the Raiders. But what is the main thing, about Las Vegas? Gambling. Why am I rambling about Las Vegas and gambling? Because if John Harbaugh, Pete Carroll, and Freddie Kitchens were to go to Vegas and bet money, they would lose ALL of it.
Against the Chiefs, the Ravens went for it on 4th down a number of times, some were successful and some weren't. They also went for 2 multiple times in odd scenarios. Example? They went for 2 on the opening series, which because the Chiefs are THAT good, put the Ravens immediately in a hole. Then later when the Ravens were down in the 2nd half, the Ravens went for 2 again, this time to cut the deficit down to 9? Yeah, instead of making it a 10 point game (also known as TD + FG) John Harbaugh was like "naw man I want it to be 9 point game". This of course backfired and put the Ravens in an 11 point deficit (also known as TD + 2pt + FG). Being that the Ravens were down multiple scores at that point making the game harder to win is not something you want to do. Bad gamble.
Against the Seahawks, the Seahawks went for it on 4th down a number of times, and weren't even as successful as the Ravens were. Example? The Seahawks went for it on 4th and long inside their own territory with plenty of time left in the 4th quarter. They didn't convert and that set up a game clinching TD by the Saints. Earlier in the game, they had the ball inside Saints territory with 4th and 5 and didn't kick the FG, thus keeping points off the board. Bad gambles like those are why the Seahawks lost.
Against the Rams, the Browns went for it on 4th and 9 late in the 4th quarter and called a run play. The 4th down was set up because on the previous play, the Browns did not challenge a pass interference call which because of offsetting penalties would have made it 2nd down and 9. Instead it was 3rd and 9 and after an incomplete pass, which set up the aforementioned run play. Bad coaching and bad gamble.
Finally against the Bears, the Redskins went for two to cut the deficit down to 17 instead of 18? After that failed, they went for 2 again to make the deficit 11 instead of 12? Seriously, this was worse than the Ravens because late in the game the Redskins would have had the opportunity to cut it to a one score game with a FG, which they couldn't do because the aforementioned failed 2 point coversions. Case Keenum fumbled, game basically over. Terrible, awful, no good gamble.
How about going for it when it is 4th and short or when the game is absolutely on the line? Going for it unnecessarily can really hurt your team in the long run, and that was my biggest takeaway of the week.
And so the legend begins
Sometimes, the football world is crazy. The Original Eli Manning knows that better than anyone else with 2 of the most improbable Super Bowl runs ever. But, there comes a time in some guys careers where they are benched. Sometimes it is blatant because they are playing poorly (i.e. Blake Bortles or Jameis Winston last year) and other times they are quietly benched because they are injured and they never gain their job back (i.e. Drew Bledsoe or Tony Romo). The Original Eli Manning was benched because Pat Shurmur thought it was time to go to Eli Manning 2.0 (also known as Daniel Jones). I said this last week:
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.
People of the Sports Coast to Coast forum, I was wrong. There was improvement and even after being down by 18 points, the Tinys didn't shrink. In fact with Eli 2.0 they grew and grew and grew to become Giants once again. Eli 2.0 had 4 total TDs and over 300 total yards. After his game winning TD run I said to myself "And so the legend begins". Original Eli, you have done more for the New York Football Giants then any other QB in their history and deserve a HoF bust to go along with your big brother. It is now Eli 2.0's time to shine.
The 2015 Texas A&M Spring Game
This Sunday may have been the first time most of you have ever heard of Kyle Allen. It wasn't for me. Why? Let me to tell ya a story. Kyle Allen was a 5 star recruit who committed to Texas A&M and he succeeded 4 star QB Kenny Hill who had transferred to TCU (where he is now a Grad Assistant). Allen didn't pan out at A&M and transferred to University of Houston where he was inconsistent in the 3 games and was benched. For some reason, he decided to declare for the NFL Draft and after being undrafted was picked up by the Panthers. After spending most of last year on the bench he played in Week 17. Which fasts forwards us to now.
Against the Cardinals and other former 5 star Aggie transfer Kyler Murray (I still want to know what Kevin Sumlin did to make all those guys transfer) Kyle Allen played fantastic. Nearly 300 yards passing, a near perfect QB rating, and 4 passing TDs. Kyler meanwhile didn't play so great with a couple INTs, a couple TDs, and not even 200 yards passing. Even though the Cardinals were better in the red zone this week, that wasn't enough and the Panthers won handily.
I must say that I was extremely impressed by Kyle Allen and with Cam out indefinitely, I think that Allen will lead to the Panthers to wins. Some guys are just late bloomers and Kyle Allen appears to be one of those guys.
Zone Coverage
-Enjoy your put upon banishment from the NFL, Antonio Brown!
-It should not surprise most of you reading this that Gardner "The Mustache" Minshew played well against the Titans and it doesn't surprise me that the Titans are on a losing streak.
-The Cowboys offense looks good. I want to see it against a good defense and see what happens before I'm a full on believer in what Kellen Moore is doing.
-The Browns O-line sucks.
-The Bears D-line is great.
-It looks like Carson Wentz is not going to win MVP this year.
-That Saints-Seahawks game wasn't as close as the score suggests, the Saints really handled the Seahawks. Curious to see how both teams play going forward.
-The Texans pulled out another game. Why do the football gods love them again?
ROAD TO 0-16
This is the segment I do, celebrating the very worst the NFL has to offer. After week 3 the 0-for teams are:
Denver Broncos
New York Jets
Miami Dolphins
Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Redskins
Well whaddya know? The Steelers offense is still bad. That doesn't surprise me, nor does the Jets loss. The Dolphins have lost all 3 of their games by a record margin? That is kinda crazy. The Broncos defense not having a sack or turnover? That is really crazy. But what to me sticks out the most is how the Redskins got here. I think picking them to win the division is one of my colder takes in my time as NFL analyst. The teams that are most likely to 0-16 IMO are the Broncos, Steelers, and Dolphins.
ROAD TO 16-0
This is the segment I do, celebrating the very best the NFL has to offer. After week 3 the undefeated teams are:
New England Patriots
Buffalo Bills
Kansas City Chiefs
Dallas Cowboys
Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Green Bay Packers
How bout those Bills? I wouldn't have expected them to start the season out on this list. Same with the 49ers, but here we are. Because the Chiefs beat the 2-0 Ravens soundly (the score doesn't reflect the beating it was) they are still on this list. IMO the Chiefs along with the Patriots are best candidates to go undefeated.
So, those are attempted ramblings of Week 3 of the National Football League season. As always, I hope ya enjoyed and I hope to see ya again next week. This is spiderfan out.