Post by spiderfan on Sept 19, 2022 20:43:05 GMT -8
Salutations SCtoC, it is I, Spiderfan the official NFL analyst of this great forum back with yet another edition of Red Hot Gridiron, this time to discuss Week 2 of the NFL season. Without further ado let us begin!
HE'S BAAAAAAAAAAACK!
Arguably the biggest storyline in the NFL offseason and even preseason was the fate of 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo. He was destined to be replaced by Trey Lance, so the question became where his new home would be. What complicated matters was his contract, which while not guaranteed was sizable (25 million bucks originally). There was talk of a trade to the Panthers and then there was talk he would be cut altogether and end up with the Seahawks. As we now know, he ended up staying with the 49ers on a restructured contract (6.5 million with incentives and a chance to be a free agent next year). Keeping Jimmy G appears to one of the best decisions that 49ers GM John Lynch has done in his time as GM. Why? Because Trey Lance suffered a season ending ankle break, thus giving the team back to its original starter Jimmy G.
Longtime readers will know that I've always thought Jimmy G has been underrated. He may not be elite, but he has won a lot of games with the 49ers, including playoff games. Without him, the 49ers have outright sucked. So, with that being the case, the 49ers is not only not over, one could argue (and apparently there as some in the organization that do argue: bleacherreport.com/articles/10049431-49ers-rumors-some-with-sf-think-team-is-better-with-jimmy-garoppolo-than-trey-lance) that the 49ers will actually be better because they don't have to make up for Lance adjusting to the NFL game, and Shanahan trying to win with a QB not named Jimmy G, something that he has failed to do over his time as the 49ers HC.
Instead of a quasi-rebuilding team, the 49ers are legit playoff contenders at this point and should be taken seriously as such.
20+ point comebacks?!
It isn't very often that you see NFL teams comeback from 20+ point deficits. It is even less common to see multiple comeback from such deficits in the same day, but they did on Sunday.
First, you had the Miami Dolphins come back from a 21 point hole with 12 minutes to go in the game against the Baltimore Ravens. I had originally planned (as tends to happen when writing these columns) to discuss the efficiency and excellency of the Baltimore Ravens offense. To be fair they did score 38 points in the game... the problem is they only scored 3 points the entire second half. That wouldn't have necessarily been a problem if not for the fact that the Ravens defense ended up being a well cooked duck. Seriously, giving up long bomb TDs late in a game that you are winning by a massive margin is inexcusable, not only by the players themselves, but by the defensive coordinator Mike McDonald.
When Tryeek Hill is given open space, either because he is covered one on one or there is a lack of coverage, he is going to score touchdowns. Same goes for Jaylen Waddle. You can't always count on Tua sucking. Sure, Tua has been a disappointment as an NFL player, but there was a reason the Dolphins tanked to get him and it wasn't because he sucked at the college level.
Secondly, you had the Arizona Cardinals come back from a 20 point hole at halftime to win against the Las Vegas Raiders. I had originally planned (yes, I used that phrase choice again) to talk about how the Cardinals were the most shocking disappointment of the season thus far. Well, they showed why at least on paper why they are one of the better teams in the NFL. Offensively and defensively they made the plays they absolutely had to make, whether it was Kyler Murray coming with a clutch TD and 2 point conversion at the end of regulation of Isaiah Simmons forcing the fumble that was ultimately returned for the game winning touchdown in overtime.
The Giants continued be Giant?
Last week, at the end of my segment discussing the Giants win over the Titans I pondered if their clutch performance was a sign of things to come and if the Giants would remain Giant. That pondering continued well throughout their contest with the Carolina Panthers. It was a close game, but the Giants had control. I kept waiting for the inevitable shrinking to occur. Whether it be a Panthers scoring run or a terrible turnover or a defensive breakdown or bad clock management or a missed field goal or something. None of those things occurred and the Giants held on to win 19-16, in what for the second week in a row was the most surprising outcome to yours truly. Once again kudos to Brian Daboll for getting his guys ready to play and ready to win.
Other thoughts:
-The key thing to beat the Chargers is to contain Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa. While that is easy said that done, because the Chiefs did just that they won.
-I don't want to do a Week 2 overreaction and say the Patriots are back, but I gotta say them beating the Steelers did surprise me.
-How about Joe Flacco playing the best he has played in a LONG time and leading the Jets to a last second win against the Browns?
-Frank Reich won't get fired immediately after being blown out by the Jaguars (this isn't college football where coaches get fired crazy early in the season), but it isn't a good sign that he won't get fired after the season.
-I don't know how the whole Tom Brady-Gisele thing is going to end up in the end. What I do know is that Tom Brady can still play at a high level.
-How about Jared Goff playing the best he has played in a LONG time and leading the Lions to win against the Commanders?
-I feel bad for Falcons fans every time there is even a mention of the score 28-3 ... oh wait, I just mentioned it. Sorry.
-Remember that first half where Geno Smith looked like a Pro Bowler and it looked like the Seahawks might actually be a good team this year? I remember and I already miss that period of time.
-The fact that the Broncos offense, especially Russell Wilson played worse against an arguably worse opponent that the Seahawks is not a sign of good things to come for the Broncos.
-With as much money as he has made and considering the exquisite meme potential it would bring, Aaron Rodgers should by a literal piece of Chicago Bears ownership. He owns them on the field, why not off the field also?
ROAD TO 0-17
5 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:
Las Vegas Raiders
Cincinnati Bengals
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
The three teams that I thought looked truly bad last week the Patriots, 49ers, and Cowboys all won on Sunday leaving a batch of teams that I did not expect to be in this position. The obvious standouts are the Bengals, who are clearly experiencing a Super Bowl hangover and the Titans after being the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs last year, looked absolutely horrendous on Monday Night Football. The Raiders and Titans play each other next week, so whoever loses that game is IMO the team most likely to 0-17.
ROAD TO 17-0
6 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:
Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills
Kansas City Chiefs
Philadelphia Eagles
New York Football Giants
Tommy Bay Buccaneers
The Eagles and Bills both looked positively superb in their respective Monday Night Football contests and I've already talked about the Dolphins and Giants respective surprising performances. Even still, as I said last week as long as Tom Brady is the quarterback of the Bucs and Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback of the Chiefs, those teams will have a chance to have to go undefeated. Therefore they are STILL the teams that IMO are most likely to undefeated.
With all of that said, it is time to move onto Week 3. As always I hope ya enjoyed and hope to see ya again next week. And remember, football is the greatest game in the world. This is spiderfan out
