Post by spiderfan on Dec 5, 2022 20:30:41 GMT -8
Aloha SCtoC, Spiderfan here, back with the Week 13 edition of Red Hot Gridiron. Like usual there is plenty to talk about when it comes to week that was in the National Football League, so without further ado let us begin!
Deshaun Watson's Return
A lot has changed since the column I wrote detailing the road to the Texans drafting Deshaun Watson. At the time, the Texans were contenders looking for the missing piece that would get them to the Super Bowl. The closest they ever got was being up 24-0 in the 2019 AFC Divisional Round against the Chiefs. Since that game? The Texans have a record of 9-35-1 and 4 head coaches (3 if you don't count Romeo Crennel who was the interim in 2020 after Bill O'Brien got fired). Faces of the franchise like Brian Cushing, DeAndre Hopkins, Jadaveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, and JJ Watt amongst others are long gone. The founder of the Houston Texans, the man who brought NFL football back to Houston Bob McNair has passed away as well. After O'Brien left the team in disastrous condition and was finally fired, the only thing notable about the Texans was the fanbase's hated of now former Executive VP of Football Operations Jack Easterby, who was brought there BY O'Brien and who got the flack that O'Brien deserved, but never got because the Texans fanbase never truly hated O'Brien like they should have.
Watson himself went through a scandal that I won't talk about this family friendly forum, but suffice it to say, his reputation at this point may very well never recover. The Browns ignored the scandal, as they wanted to rid themselves of Baker Mayfield, which considering Mayfield's horrendous play for the Panthers may have actually been a good decision by the Browns front office. Regardless of the moral and football arguments for trading away the future for Deshaun Watson, the Browns did and so after an eleven game suspension, Watson returned in a game the Texans should have won, but didn't.
I want to take this opportunity to retract my statement from last week's Other Thoughts segment where I said "Outside of the Georgia Bulldogs, I'm not sure the Texans would beat anyone this point." The currently #1 ranked and favorites for the College Football Playoff National Championship University of Georgia Bulldogs would beat the Houston Texans.
The Cleveland Browns won by a final score of 27-14. TWENTY ONE of those points were from non-offensive touchdowns. Meaning that barring a fumble at the 1 yard line on a botched QB sneak, a pick six, AND a kick return TD, the Texans would have won. The Texans defense, just like in the old days did their job. The offense on the other hand was downright embarrassing. To think there was a time when I was talking about a Kyle Allen bandwagon. At this point my hype for Kyle Allen is my second worst take of all time (My worst being Josh Allen is going to be the next Jamarcus Russell before the 2018 draft).
In the end despite the boos and being rustier than a car at a Lightning McQueen meet and greet, Deshaun Watson came out with a 1-0 record as the Browns QB.
The Other Big AFC Rematch
For all the hype earlier in the year about the Bills facing the Chiefs in a rematch of the 2022 AFC Divisional Round, there was not nearly as much hype when it came to the Bengals playing the Chiefs in a late season rematch of last year's AFC Championship Game, probably something to do with partially NYC sports media complex having some idea where Buffalo is and having no idea where Cincinnati is. Speculation of regional bias aside, Sunday's game between the aforementioned Chiefs and Bengals was a very competitive game between two very good teams. The difference ended up being who missed the most opportunities to create separation from the other. The answer turned out to the Chiefs.
Early on the Bengals jumped out to a 14-3, a lead that in retrospect should have been solidly maintained. The Bengals had a chance to up 21-10 or even 17-10 at the end of the first half, instead of scoring a TD or kicking a FG, the Bengals went for it on 4th and 1 from inside the 5 yard line and didn't convert. First drive of the second half, the Chiefs scored a TD which gave them the lead. A lead the Bengals had a chance to retake except Bengals WR Tyler Boyd dropped a wide open TD pass, leading the Bengals to take the tying FG instead. Then after the Bengals got the ball trailing again this time 24-17, the Chiefs defense held them to a field goal.
This is where after all the missed opportunities, the Chiefs had the ability to take a commanding 11 point lead in the 4th quarter. A potential lead that while not impossible to overcome, certainly would have been difficult for the Bengals to overcome. After not being targeted all game Chiefs TE Travis Kelce fumbled the ball around midfield. The Bengals took advantage of the short field and scored the go-ahead TD.
The Chiefs then had the opportunity to tie the game or take the go-ahead lead themselves. Because of the Bengals holding the Chiefs to a FG, the Chiefs did not take the lead. Because of a botched hold on a 55 yard FG attempt, the Chiefs did not tie the game. Because of Chiefs HC Andy Reid's decision to use all the Chiefs timeouts prior to the 2 minute warning, the Bengals were able to chew up the rest of the clock.
Putting on my Chiefs fan bias for a second, while I'm disappointed by the loss, I'm not too bummed considering the Chiefs and Bengals will probably play again in the postseason. That is certainly a matchup I'm looking forward to not only as a fan, but as an analyst.
Abolish all ties! (No matter what size!)
I was eagerly looking forward to doing my usual in depth play by play Reducto clip fueled analysis of the Commanders-Tinys game. Because the game ended in an anticlimatic fashion, I don't feel the same creative juice to write about it. By the end neither of the teams deserved to win. So because my aformentioned lack of creative interest and downright laziness (although is it lazy if a good segment from the past is still relevant?) here is my segment giving my thoughts on ties from Week 10 of last year, which was used in the Week 1 edition of this year because of the Colts anticlimatic tie against the Texans.
The ROAD TO 0-17 is now over because the Detroit Lions tied the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here is a totally related (and also unrelated) fact. Did you know of the 4 major North American professional sports leagues the NFL is the only to have ties? Because it is. It should not be. Ties are something that is reserved for little league sports because the parents want to go home, not for the very highest levels of professional athletics. I propose that the NFL officially adopt college football OT rules.
Both teams get the ball at the 25 yard line and depending on what happens, the game ends or continues into a 2 OT where if a team scores a TD, they must go for 2 points. If the game is still going after 2 OTs, then the game goes into a 2 point conversion shootout, where whoever makes a 2 point conversion and keeps the other team from making one wins. If college football can do it, why not the NFL? The NFL should be embarrassed that college football has a better OT system than they do. The game should ALWAYS continue until someone wins.
Both teams get the ball at the 25 yard line and depending on what happens, the game ends or continues into a 2 OT where if a team scores a TD, they must go for 2 points. If the game is still going after 2 OTs, then the game goes into a 2 point conversion shootout, where whoever makes a 2 point conversion and keeps the other team from making one wins. If college football can do it, why not the NFL? The NFL should be embarrassed that college football has a better OT system than they do. The game should ALWAYS continue until someone wins.
-How is that everyone outside of Bill Belichick, someone who mind you has won 6 Super Bowls, knew that having a former defensive coordinator calling offensive plays was a bad idea, and yet Belichick thought it was a good idea?
-Even with a bad record and numerous injuries Aaron Rodgers STILL owns the Bears.
-I think my view of the Raiders from the incredibly short lived "Will the Raiders Go 0-17?" segment was accurate: "I get the sense that they'll be the type of team to suck for the first half and then win a bunch of kinda meaningless games down the stretch to keep their draft stock from being high."
-I think also this take from Week 5 aged well: "I want to say that the Steelers will turn out to be one of the worst teams in the league by the end of the year, but they'll be one of those teams that starts terrible and wins a bunch of meaningless late season games to reduce their draft stock and make people talk about how good Mike Tomlin is."
-Mike White played a heck of a game for the Jets, but the Vikings won because Jets WR Bexton Berrious dropped pass in the endzone. Reminded me of the old old saying in football that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
-The Jaguars followed up their biggest win in years by being completely blown out by the Lions. Suffice it to say, the Jags have a LONG way to go before they are good again.
-The Eagles continue to show week in and week out that they are the best team in the NFL. If/when the Eagles end up with the best record and if Jalen Hurts is healthy, he should get the MVP.
-Outside of the Georgia Bulldogs and Houston Texans (who they barely beat), I'm not sure the Broncos are going to win another game this season.
-The three quarters where it looked like the Colts would pull off the upset against the Cowboys sure were fun weren't they? Totally deserving of not being flexed out in favor of another game! (Sarcasm)
-Because Lamar's injury didn't turn out to be serious, I think the Ravens postseason chances are still pretty good.
-The Seahawks gave me a scare there. Geno and DK came in clutch though, so instead of bitter unhappiness, I experienced sweet happiness.
-Because (as I detailed last week) I think Kyle Shanahan is overrated instead of the "49ers beating Dolphins even with Jimmy G hurt prove the 49ers are Super Bowl contenders" take, I'll take the petty take and ask the question "Are the Dolphins really as their record shows?"
-Speaking of Jimmy G's injury, I feel bad for him. It looked like he was going to lead the 49ers into the playoffs once again and create doubt amongst 49ers brass as to whether or not to keep him. Now, they'll likely miss the playoffs (I watched Brock Purdy at Iowa State he's nothing to write home about) and his whole free agency is going to be consumed with talk of how "he is injury prone" and questions as to whether or not he'll be able to play at a high level after his most recent foot injury.
-There are only a handful of quarterbacks in the history of football where the team can suck for 55 minutes and with 5 minutes left you go "They're gonna win this game aren't they?" Tom Brady is one of them and he's the best of the bunch. The Buccaneers are going to be a dangerous team in the postseason.
And with all of that Week 13 of the National Football League 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.
