Post by spiderfan on Oct 11, 2021 20:53:07 GMT -8
Aloha SCtoC, I am Spiderfan the official NFL analyst of this great forum and today I bring the you the fifth edition of the 2021 Web of Football column series. Without further ado, let us begin!
And the Bills sopped up the Chiefs
Yes, I'm using the same clip again, but it fits! Not only was it rainy, but the part where Pooh Bear is falls into a honey pot and onto the flooded waters of the Hundred Acre Wood and is floating aimlessly, is an accurate metaphor for the Kansas City Chiefs and their game against the Buffalo Bills.
As someone who has watched nearly every game of the Patrick Mahomes era, I can confidently say that the Chiefs loss against the Bills was the worse of said Patrick Mahomes era. Now, points wise the Super Bowl 55 loss was still the worst, but at least the Chiefs had the legitimate excuse of starting multiple backup offensive lineman against the best defensive line in the NFL. Sunday night against the Bills? That excuse was not in play.
The offense was a turnover riddled mess that looked completely unprepared to play (whether that is on Andy Reid, Eric Bieniemy, the various other offensive position coaches or all the above I'm not sure) and the defense was mind-bogglingly bad. While the Chiefs played an absolutely terrible game, the Bills do deserve credit, because unlike other times where the Chiefs have played poorly and either come from behind and won or made the game close, the Bills did not let the Chiefs do that. The Bills played aggressively on offense and defense and made one of the best teams in the NFL over the last few years into a floating aimless bear.
The Bills have a pretty easy schedule from here so barring any significant injuries they are going to be highly seeded in the AFC playoffs. Will the road to the Super Bowl go through Buffalo? At this point I wouldn't bet against it.
The Unitas Bowl
In what was by far the best game of the week, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football. To sum up the game in one word: Comeback. To use more words the Colts had a really good first 70% percent of the game. Their defensive coaching staff came ready to stop the Ravens run game and ended the 100 yard rushing streak that Broncos HC Vic Fangio so bitter about. The Colts offense took advantage of holes that still exist in the Ravens secondary and made Colts QB Carson Wentz look better than he actually is. Add in a key fumble by Ravens QB Lamar Jackson near the goal line and you have the recipe for a 22-3 Colts lead.
The thing is, the Ravens made the offensive adjustment to start passing the ball, and especially to TE Mark Andrews. Add on injuries to the Colts secondary and you have a recipe for a dominant passing offense by the Ravens in the second half that put up WAY more than 3 points. The Ravens couldn't complete the comeback without defense though and the Ravens defense kept the Colts out of the end zone after they went up 22-3 late in the 3rd quarter. That doesn't mean the Colts didn't get into FG range though, in fact the Colts would try 3 field goals... and only make one of them.
See after making their first FG to keep their lead (at that point it was 25-9), their second FG would be be blocked Ravens DE (and my pick for 2017 NFL DPoY) Calais Campbell. This is notable because at that point it was 25-17 and the block kept it a one possession game. Then after the game was tied at 25 (and something I will talk more about in the segment below) Colts K Rodrigo Blankenship had an opportunity to give the Colts the win AND... it was wide. The Ravens won the coin toss and won the game in OT.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson now has the single game passing yardage record for the Ravens in a performance that would be sure to make the late Johnny Unitas proud. More importantly the Ravens are now 4-1 and are at first place in the AFC North, meanwhile the Indianapolis Colts are now 1-4 and being that the Texans are 1-4 and the Jaguars are on the ROAD TO 0-17, the Tennessee Titans will probably win the division with a 9-8 or 8-9 record.
We Need More Video Review!
What that set up the potential game winning for the Colts? A personal foul on Ravens CB Tavon Young which happened after he shoved Colts TE Jack Doyle, a shove that happened because a cheap shot, to the head no less, of Tavon Young by Jack Doyle. The old saying (which was repeated by the MNF announcers) "They always call retaliation on the second guy, don't retaliate".
Here is the thing: By rule that should be an offsetting penalty because both guys committed personal fouls. "But Spiderfan, we as the NFL can't review such a thing" says the NFL. Why not? Why can everyone see on a nationally televised broadcast in 4K with all sorts of different angles a blatant cheap shot and nothing be done by the booth? Because we have the technology and the NFL has the staff to do it. They won't because they are lazy and any other excuse that the league office puts out is is pure baloney.
Other thoughts:
-Y'know I really enjoyed the 30 second period where it looked like Geno Smith had actually made the Seahawks offense good and was going to lead a Cinderella comeback. But then I remembered "oh yeah... that's Geno Smith"
-The Saints are head straight for a 8-9 or 9-8 record and out of the postseason aren't they?
-The Panthers aren't all that good after all? Who would have thought? Yeah, me.
-Roger Goddell sucks and should have been fired years ago. Hey look! I said that without using offensive language. I'll be your interim coach Raiders!
-Don't kid yourself though, the reason those emails were leaked was because Roger Goodell and NFLPA DeMaurice Smith were personally offended and wanted to get even, not because either of those guys actually care about anyone else. At least that's my take on it.
-The Broncos aren't all that good after all? Who would have thought? Yeah, me... I just said that 3 times in a row, that is obnoxious.
-The Packers are actually good after all? Who would have thought? Oh, yeah... not me.
-I'd pick on the Tinys, but they had so many injuries they were basically an XFL team on the offensive side of the ball. So, no picking on them this week.
-There are no moral victories, but I have to say I am proud of the Houston Texans and effort they put forward against the Patriots.
-The Chargers are winning close games. That alone makes them a dangerous team considering their record in such contests in recent years.
-The fact that Tom Brady had arguably his best statistical game as a NFL quarterback at this point in his career, further reinforces my first segment of the year. The Tommy Bay Buccaneers are special.
ROAD TO 0-17
2 teams are currently 0-5. I will keep doing this segment until every team has a win or a tie. Teams currently without a win or tie are:
Jacksonville Jaguars
Detroit Lions
Prevent defense is the football equivalent of looking at a bunch of Legos on the floor in front of you and your bare feet and saying "This will end with with me getting to the other side of the room, just fine". The fact that the Lions thought that after taking the lead on a 2 point conversion, and with the Vikings having both timeouts and only needing a FG to win that calling prevent defense was a good idea, completely validates my Lego analogy and shows that they did not deserve to win the game. So here they are still in this segment.
As for the Jaguars, they have a couple of games coming up the Dolphins and Seahawks respectively and I'll think they'll win one or both of them. If they can't win either of those? I'm not sure when or if they'll win a game this season.
ROAD TO 17-0
1 team is currently 5-0. I will keep doing this segment until that team has a loss or a tie. The team that is currently without a loss or tie is:
Arizona Cardinals
I personally think the statement "Defense wins championships" is overrated and exaggerated because you do need offensive production to put up points and win a championship. However, when you have a great defense, pressure is taken off the offense to score a LOT of points and if the offense happens to score a LOT of points? Pure domination. The Cardinals have now shown they can do both. Dominate games and win a defensive slugfest. Their record ain't overrated one bit. Even in the high likelihood the Cardinals don't go undefeated, they'll still be THE team to beat in the NFL, at least in the regular season.
With all of that said, as always I hope ya enjoyed and I sincerely hope ya join me again next week. This is Spiderfan out.
