Post by spiderfan on Sept 22, 2020 13:30:19 GMT -8
I'm Spiderfan, the official NFL Analyst for SCtoC and Week 2 of the NFL Season is behind us, so let us jump right in and discuss what happened.
Sunday Night Classic
The first thing to discuss this week was the instant classic on Sunday Night Football between the Russell Wilson led and Pete Carroll coached Seattle Seahawks and the Cam Newton led and Bill Belichick coached New England Patriots. The game opened up with former FOX XFL lead color commentator and Seahawks TE Greg Olson dropping what was a perfectly good pass by Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, which led to a pick six by Patriots CB Devin McCourty leading to an early Patriots 7-0 lead. But because Russell Wilson has decided to be a Gordon Ramsay level cook (get it cause #LetRussCook? Bad joke? I'm sticking with it) he led the Seahawks down the field with a long touchdown scoring drive with tying the game 7-7. Then Cam Newton looking like his former self, leads an awesome drive down the field with a touchdown run and retakes the lead this time, 14-7. But that lead would not last long as the incredible physical specimen and future best WR in the NFL, Seahawks WR DK Metcalf destroyed Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore tying up the game 14-14. Cam Newton would again then lead another effective drive that resulted in a short FG by Patriots K Nick Folk which meant the score was 17-14. That lead would again, not last long because Russell Wilson would throw a spectacular TD pass to WR David Moore and make the score 21-17. This looked like the turning point of the game as from that point onward the Seahawks would be in control despite efforts from the Patriots efforts to say otherwise which meant that late in the 4th quarter the score was Seahawks 35 Patriots 23. That is when things would become interesting again.
So with around 5 minutes to go and all 3 timeouts, Cam Newton would lead an effective and awesome drive with yet another rushing touchdown(See how I used those words again? Ok, that is actually a bad joke on my part.) which would result in the game being brought within a single possession 35-30. This would then lead to a botched possession by the Seahawks because they would go three and out at the worst possible time. See, the Patriots managed to score right before the 2 minute warning thus leading to them only having to use 1 of their 3 timeouts before a critical 3rd and 1 for the Seahawks. Instead of running the ball on 3rd and 1, a deep pass play would be called because apparently Seahawks OC Brian Schottenheimer decided that was a good idea for some reason. That pass would result in an incompletion and a punt leaving a little less than 2 minutes and 2 timeouts for the Patriots needing a touchdown to take the lead. The Patriots would get down the field with little resistance until there was one last play which was a QB keeper that would stopped at the 1 yard line with no time left. Seahawks win.
I mentioned the awesome play of both Cam Newton and Russell Wilson both of whom had incredible nights, the earlier having over 400 total yards to his name and 3 TDs, and the latter having 5 TD passes and over 350 total yards, but I do want to mention that Patriots WR Julian Edelman had a career night of 179 receiving yards. Despite their loss, both Cam Newton and Julian Edelman look far from washed up, in fact they both look they want to make another deep postseason run and it won't surprise me at this point if they do, which is not something I would found myself saying 2 weeks ago. Russell Wilson is now an obvious MVP candidate and someone that will be absolute must watch TV this season, which he never really has been despite his very good play over the last near decade.
Justin Herbert makes his debut?
In one of the more surprising things to happen on Sunday, the No. 6 overall pick and Rose Bowl MVP for the Oregon Ducks made his debut for the Los Angeles Chargers at quarterback. Apparently, incumbent quarterback of the Chargers, Tyrod Taylor had injured ribs and thus Herbert made the sudden start and he played well for the most part. 2 total TDs, over 300 yards passing and only 1 INT which we'll talk about later. Herbert looked poised throughout and absolutely looked like someone who was deserving of being that high of a draft choice. Also, in his favor was the fact that just like the week before, the Chargers defense was ferocious and determined to cause havoc for the offense. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was clearly frustrated and was way out of sync. The Chargers were the better team throughout... that was until Justin Herbert thew his 1 INT. See, the Chargers had the ball up 8 late in the 3rd quarter with a chance to go up 2 scores and didn't after Herbert threw a deep pass into triple coverage that was intercepted by rookie Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed.
That interception gave the Chiefs the momentum they needed and after some incredible passes by the GORN himself (That is Greatest of Right Now) Patrick Mahomes the game was tied at 17. Now, to give the Chargers credit, they took an insane amount of time off the clock in the 4th quarter (over 10 minutes!) however to CBS lead color commentator Tony Romo's credit, he pointed out that the Chargers needed a TD if they wanted to win the game. They ended up with a FG. The Chiefs would then go down the field, tie the game at 20, force a 3 and out in overtime, and win on a 58 yard FG by Harrison Butker. It was Butker's second 58 yard FG of the game and technically his 3rd, because the Chargers iced him.
My biggest takeaway from this game is that the future duels between Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert are actually going to be really great and will be a treat for football fans for a long time.
Other thoughts:
-The Tinys almost had an awesome comeback and then shrunk. Feel bad for Saquon too.
-The 49ers need a new strength and conditioning staff because this is yet another year of bad injuries for them.
-The Cardinals are looking nice.
-Congrats to Tom Brady on his first win as the QB of the Tommy Bay Buccaneers!
-Congrats to the Las Vegas Raiders for their first win in Allegiant Stadium!
ROAD TO 0-16
11 teams are currently 0-2. I will keep doing this segment until every team has a win or a tie. Teams currently without a win or tie are:
New York Jets
Miami Dolphins
Denver Broncos
Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans
New York Tinys
Philadelphia Eagles
Minnesota Vikings
Detroit Lions
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons had a 29-10 halftime lead capitalizing in one form or another on number Dallas Cowboys turnovers and all around poor play. The were in firmly in control of the second half as well even having a 9 point WAY late into the game capitalizing on horrendous coaching decisions by Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy such as going for 2 instead of making the game an 8 point game with an extra point and challenging a 2nd and 4 run play which at best would have been a 3rd down and 1 with a successful challenge. The Cowboys were obvious losers... and they won. See, the Cowboys managed to score a TD in the closing minutes AND recover an onside kick because apparently the Falcons had no idea that they could touch the ball before it went 10 yards. Cowboys then kick a FG and win the game 40-39. This was the biggest blown lead by the Falcons since... Super Bowl 51.
Yeah, I am going to go on record as saying that the 2020 Atlanta Falcons are going to be like the 2019 Cincinnati Bengals in that they are going to be the worst team in the league despite not trying to be that bad and having various players on the roster that are known names to football fans.
Speaking of the Cincinnati Bengals they actually played a competitive game against the Cleveland Browns, however like the prior week they lost the turnover battle and thus lost the game. Hang in there Joe!
Teams most likely to 0-16 IMO are Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, and Atlanta Falcons.
ROAD TO 16-0
11 teams are currently 2-0. I will keep doing this segment until every team has a loss or a tie. Teams currently without a loss or tie are:
Buffalo Bills
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tennessee Titans
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams
Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears
The Baltimore Ravens are a really good football team. I'm looking forward to seeing them go against the also really good Chiefs on Monday Night. Hopefully, the Stars will have won the Stanley Cup by then.
Teams most likely to 16-0 IMO are whoever wins the Chiefs-Ravens game and the Seattle Seahawks.
That does it for this week, there should be plenty to talk about next week, so I hope to see ya again next week! This is spiderfan out.
Graphic courtesy of David.
