Post by spiderfan on Nov 22, 2021 22:35:23 GMT -8
Thanksgiving is almost upon us SCtoC! Before you can eat Turkey and do Black Friday shopping, kindly read this edition of Web of Football. Let us begin!
Superman: Heinicke Attacks!
In one of the most storyline filled games of the whole season, the Carolina Panthers led by former and now current quarterback Cam Newton versus the Washington Artists Formerly Known As Redskins led by former Panthers HC Ron Rivera and former Panthers backup QB Taylor Heinicke. For every single one of them it was their return to place that each of them called home, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
With the storylines set, how did the actual game go? Well, the Panthers defense despite being a Top 5 defensive unit gave up 27 points and gave up more total yards (369 to 297) and first downs (24 to 18 than Washington's defense did. The Panthers defense also allowed both 4th down conversion attempts by Washington, one of which was horribly botched pass rush play that because it was late in the 4th quarter, gave Washington momentum which they would use to win the game. See, up to that point it had been a back and forth game and was 21-21 with less than 8 minutes left. If the Panthers defensive line sacks Heinicke like they should have, the Panthers would have gotten the ball near midfield, likely would have scored and the outcome probably would have been different. Because what ended up happening was Washington kicked a FG, to a 24-21 lead and the Panthers ended up going for on 4th down in their own territory in desperation mode once they got the ball back.
To be fair, the Panthers defense didn't give up a TD and it was 27-21 and the Panthers still had a chance. But because the Panthers defense allowed Washington to chew clock and put the offense in a desperate situation, the likelihood of actually winning was decreased. Nonetheless, Washington showed up and played well on both sides of the ball and considering they beat the Tommy Bay Buccaneers last week, the Arists Formerly Known As Redskins are making it clear to the NFL that they are not tanking.
While I have been knocking the Panthers defense, the Panthers offense showed signs of life and as I said, even Cam at this point in his career is still better than Sam Darnold. Sunday validated that opinion and even with the loss the Panthers are still in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt. Washington has now entered it too.
The Cowboys passing offense is as a shallow as a kiddy pool
I use the term shallow because you'll often hear something like "the Cowboys have SO many weapons" when the Cowboys passing offense is talked about on the talking head shows or other columns inferior to mine (egotistical, I know). The Chiefs defense showed that without Amari Cooper the Cowboys passing game is as shallow as a kiddy pool. You would think this would mean the Cowboys would run the ball more, but Cowboys OC Kellen Moore's gimmicky offensive system will not allow for run plays. Because Dak Prescott is still not fit for that offense (the Jones' giving Dak an absurd amount of money and wishing that he was hasn't made things better) things only went downhill.
I would like to give the Chiefs defense more credit than I'm giving them because they did play well against the Cowboys, just like they did against the Raiders and Packers before, but I'm never surprised or impressed when Kellen Moore's offense falters.
A Titanic Upset!
Yet another top seeded AFC team lost this week. This time it was the Tennesse Titans losing to the Houston Texans. The Titans were better than the Titans in every stat except one: turnover differential. The Titans had 5 TURNOVERS compared to the Texans 0 turnovers. So the Texans despite barley producing offensive and at times playing really bad defensively, won the game. Ryan Tannehill hasn't played this bad as a Titans and his 4 INTs reminded of me of his Miami tenure which is something which everyone likes to forget due the shear mediocrity to poor play that was Tannehill's Miami tenure.
I would say good for the Texans, but at this point the more games they win, the worse their draft pick is, so is it really winning?
Other thoughts:
-You know what 28-3 is? 25. Which is exactly what the Patriots beat the Falcons by. 25. Football is weird.
-Congrats to the Ravens' Tyler Huntley for first start and win as a NFL QB!
-The Vikings won a close game? This gets weirder and weirder by the game.
-Of course the Colts blow out the Bills the week after I say the Colts aren't going to make the playoffs. I still stand by my prediction though. My anti-Colts bias aside I do congratulate Johnathan Taylor for the best game a Colts RB has ever had!
-Y'know that Jalen Hurts guy is pretty good.
-The Lions lead on the #1 pick grows every week.
-The Dolphins like the Texans and Artists Formerly Known As Redskins are also determined to not tank. I guess that's admirable. Maybe.
-The Raiders collapse continues! One of these years they won't collapse and they'll win a Super Bowl. Until then, this year will end up being another lost one.
-It really does feel the beginning of the end of an era for the Seahawks.
-Hey wouldn't ya know? The Steelers aren't the same without their best defensive players.
-Is there a single play that incapsulates the Tinys more than Daniel Jones horrific interception to Steve McLendon. If there is one that I haven't seen or forgotten about please post it below.
That is it for this week's Web of Football folks. As I always I hope ya enjoyed and I hope that everyone has a safe and satisfying Thanksgiving. This is spiderfan out.