Post by spiderfan on Oct 31, 2022 18:40:16 GMT -8
Happy Halloween Sports Coast to Coast, it is I, Spiderfan back with a spooky edition of Red Hot Gridiron. Week 8 produced a number of things to be talked about, so without further ado, let us begin!
The Most Disastrous Penalty of the Season
Penalties are never good. Especially in late game situations as they can put the other team in position to win the game. On Sunday though, we saw the rare penalty that is such a bad penalty, such a poor decision, that the team lost the game because of it. The team? The 2-5 Carolina Panthers who despite having fired the overpaid and underqualified Matt Rhule for having a terrible tenure, despite the once promising (and likely XFL bound) Baker Mayfield entering the football purgatory that is injured reserve, despite trading the post Cam Newton face of the franchise Christian McCaffrey, AND despite being led by interim HC Steve Wilks and one time third string quarterback (and XFL legend) PJ Walker, were in position to be tied for first place in the NFC South, putting themselves in the playoff conversation when not too long ago the conversation was about having the #1 pick in the NFL Draft. The other team? The 3-4 Atlanta Falcons, a team that has overperformed the low preseason expectations and managed to put themselves in position to be in first place in the NFC South with a victory.
The Falcons held a 34-28 lead with less than 30 seconds to go in the game. That's when Panthers QB PJ Walker threw a deep ball all the way down the field to WR DJ Moore. A Hail Mary type play that was actually completed! It looked like the Falcons would at yet another humiliating choke to their decades long history of humiliating chokes. The tide had been turned on the Panthers season! Celebration! DJ Moore threw off his helmet... which you can't do as it counts as unsportmanlike conduct, which is a 15 yard penalty, meaning that instead of the game winning extra point being a 33 yard attempt, it was a 48 yard attempt. The kick was up and...... NO GOOD!
Meaning that instead of an epic miraculous season changing memorable play, DJ Moore single handedly lost the Panthers the game. Yes, the Panthers did have a chance to win the game in overtime, HOWEVER they would not even been in overtime if it wasn't for Moore's penalty. A penalty that without a doubt is the most disastrous of the season in my mind. If there was one that worse, feel free to share it with me.
Congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons for being on the winning end of a humiliating choke! Who knows? Maybe this is a turning point for the Falcons, and they become a playoff team.
The Super Teams That Everyone Outside Of The Their Own Coaching Staffs And Players Thought Would Suck But Actually Are Good Bowl
There was one game in Week 8 of the National Football League season that was between two above .500 teams. A game that should have been in more markets but wasn't, which is outright ridiculous in my opinion, but I digress. I already went in depth on my thoughts on the Tinys overachieving last week, so I won't repeat all of that here. As for the Seahawks, I really haven't talked about them outside of Other Thoughts so I'll do that now.
I was convinced (as were most people) that the Seahawks were outright going to tank. I had no belief in Geno Smith or Drew Lock as the starting quarterback and after last season's dreadful 7-10 season (which felt worse than 7-10 because not only was it the end of an era, but because most of those wins came against teams that would lose to high ranked SEC teams), I had no belief that the Seahawks as a team would be any good. Sure, they had a good draft and it would be fun to see guys like Heisman runner up Kenneth Walker III put up numbers for a bad team and give hope for the future, but there is no way he would putting up numbers for a serious playoff contender... right?
Even with the emotional win over the Broncos, the Seahawks through the first few weeks of the season looked every bit as bad as thought they would be. Coming into the game against the Tinys, the Seahawks had won 3 of their last 4 with their only loss being a highly competitive and high scoring loss to the the Saints. Geno Smith turned into a Pro Bowl caliber QB, the defense went from awful to solid even with the absence of defensive leader Jamal Adams, and Kenneth Walker III showed why he was the runner up for the Heisman Trophy.
And so brings us to the The Super Teams That Everyone Outside Of The Their Own Coaching Staffs And Players Thought Would Suck But Actually Are Good Bowl as I have so cleverly and not at all stupidly (sarcasm) coined it.
For me the game itself can be incapsulated into the performance of two players. Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett and Tinys WR/return specialist Richie James.
Lockett struggled for most of the game. He fumbled at the 2 yard line giving the Tinys fantabulous field position, which was an extra good thing because the Tinys offense had produced next to nothing up until Lockett's fumble. Later, Lockett dropped a sure touchdown catch which forced the Seahawks to kick a FG instead. The game was closer because of Lockett's failures. However, Lockett would be the one to give the Seahawks the lead in the 4th quarter with a go-ahead TD catch.
As for Richie James he had 2 fumbles on kick returns both of which resulted in points for the Seahawks. The first helped to get the Seahawks the lead in the first half and the second put the Seahawks in position to seal the game, which they did after an epic run by the previously mentioned Kenneth Walker III. I would usually take this opportunity to show a clip of Reducto and mock the Tinys, but Richie James suffered a concussion and I feel about using his failures for mocking material. Besides, the Seahawks were clearly the better team and the game shouldn't have been in doubt for as long as it was anyway.
Other thoughts:
-I'll go there: Was Urban Meyer really the problem in Jacksonville? I'm aware his assistant coaches hated his guts and that the sports media complex hated the idea of him coaching in the NFL, but let's get real, the Jaguars aren't any better than they were last year.
-Even though they lost on Thursday, I still firmly believe that the Buccaneers will turn things around. They are too talented and NFC South is too bad for them to not make a run and make the playoffs.
-I'm supposed to be impressed that the Broncos beat a bad Jaguars team? Because I'm not.
-I see the Vikings getting flexed into SNF here pretty soon, because their record is too good for them to be relegated to regional TV.
-The Cardinals aren't great, the thing is, Kliff Kingsbury got an extension, GM Steve Keim got an extension, and Kyler Murray got an extension, so unless Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill intends to buy them all out, I don't see much changing.
-I'm supposed to be impressed that the Cowboys beat a Bears team? Because I'm not. (Look at me I repeated the same line!)
-The Saints blowout win over the Raiders was one of the more impactful wins of the NFL season because it kept the Saints alive in the playoff hunt, meaning that Alvin Kamara isn't going to be traded. Kamara not being traded means an actual championship contender doesn't get one of the better running backs in the league.
-The Patriots beating the Jets is my "least surprising win" of the week.
-You wouldn't believe it by watching them, but there was a time not too long ago when the Texans had a Super Bowl caliber roster. Now? Ugh....
-Taylor Heinicke is the next Fitzmagic. He's not elite, he's not going to have a great record as a starter, but he's fun to watch and will make otherwise bad teams competitive and worth watching.
-A receiving touchdown, a passing touchdown, AND a rushing touchdown in only his second game as a 49er?! I think the 49ers are pleased that they traded for Christian McCaffrey.
-My thoughts on the Packers are exactly the same as they were a couple weeks ago: "-Wouldn't ya know it, trading your #1 receiver makes your team worse? I would feel kinda bad for Aaron Rodgers, except it is clear from the MASSIVE extension he got that he didn't ultimately care whether the Packers were any good or not."
-I hate to be that guy, but I'm not feeling the Josh Allen hype. In past years I've felt it, but this year it feels forced and not natural. As long time readers know I resist such things.
-The Browns beating the Bengals is my "most surprising win" of week.
-Roquan Smith is a very good linebacker and with the Ravens being an up and down type team, Smith is the type of player who (at least on the defensive side of the ball) will help the Ravens be more up than down. Solid trade.
Will The Philadelphia Eagles Go 17-0?
Great teams win trap games. Despite sucking, the Steelers have been scrappy and the two games they won they probably shouldn't have. The Eagles are flying high (no pun intended) and going into the week it seemed like the matchup between the two Pennsylvania teams could become a "there is nothing real in the world anymore" type game. The Eagles were clearly aware of this and stomped the Steelers accordingly. Props to them for doing so, because it shows me that they are a well prepared and well coached team to not fall into the trap of "eh these guys will suck we don't have to play good". The Eagles played good and won big.
Right now my MVP front runner is Jalen Hurts. He's the putting up the best numbers (16 total TDs to only 2 turnovers) and he's the best player on the best team in the NFL in my opinion.
And with all of that said Week 8 of the NFL season is now in the books. As always I hope ya enjoyed and hope to see ya again next week. Remember, football is the greatest game in the world. This is spiderfan out.