Post by spiderfan on Nov 6, 2023 20:42:29 GMT -8
Happy week after Halloween Sports Coast to Coast. Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween, and without further ado, as your official NFL analyst it is time for me to begin!
The Football Galaxy Centers on Frankfurt
During the existence of NFL Europe, the Frankfurt Galaxy was the most popular team in the league. So with NFL Europe's demise in 2007 and with the NFL's dedication for having regular season games played internationally for the last 15+ years now, on a macro-level with historical context in mind, I was surprised that it took this long for the NFL to have a game played in Frankfurt, Germany. But as I'm sure the enthusiastic fans in Frankfurt would probably tell you, better late than never. Speaking of better, Frankfurt couldn't have gotten a much better game than the one they got, with the 6-2 Miami Dolphins playing the 6-2 Kansas City Chiefs. A Sunday Night Football matchup indeed... night matchup in Frankfurt that is, here in the United States we got it early in the morning. Usually the early morning international games are lame matchups between lame teams, so this was a real treat.
Putting aside the records and the hype and the history and shifting gears to talk about the actual game, it was kinda underwhelming. The score was close and it did have compelling final moments, but the game as a whole was not of high quality. The Chiefs had a whopping two offensive scoring drives in the whole game, both of which came in the first half, so the rest of the time they were ineffective. The Dolphins also had a whopping two offensive scoring drives and those didn't happen until the second half. Credit where credit is due to the defenses for stifling both offenses, although that feels a little bit misleading to say considering the Dolphins' losses have all come when their offense is stifled and they can't get anything going, and the Chiefs passing game (as I have previously discussed in previous weeks) consists of future HoFer Travis Kelce and a bunch of guys who wouldn't even be the best WRs in the XFL, so their lack of offensive production isn't surprising.
Ultimately the play that decided the game was when late in the 2nd quarter Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill tried to break a tackle by doing his signature juke move (yeah it was as stupid of a thing to do as it sounds) and fumbled the ball which led to a fumble recovery by Chiefs S Mike Edwards who then made a 10000000 football IQ play and lateraled it to teammate Brian Cook who returned it for a TD. Since the final score was 21-14, even if the Dolphins hadn't scored any points themselves on that drive, the fact that they gave the Chiefs 7 points proved costly, especially considering they were in FG range on 2 of their late 4th quarter possessions. If Hill doesn't fumble that ball, I don't think it is a stretch to say that the Dolphins would have won. But hey, maybe the Chiefs would have found a way to pull it out, we'll never know.
What we do know is that the Chiefs are 7-2 along with the Baltimore Ravens, meaning that as of right now, the Chiefs are more viable in the chase for the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs than the 6-3 Dolphins who are now in a tight division race in the AFC East and may end up being a wild card team when all is said and done.
A Different Viewing Experience
On Sunday, I had the opportunity to bet on the NFL, as I was in a locale where that is legal. I had never bet on the NFL before because my area does not have legal sports betting. I'm familiar with the main betting lingo (spreads and over/unders), as even before I started this column, I've listened to various NFL podcasts discussing betting (and I even listened to a couple of different podcasts discussing college football until the ones I liked stopped existing). Because I was finally in a locale where I could partake in betting, it was quite the exciting thing for me. The sportsbook I was at had helpful staff, a lot of TVs, and a lot of comfy chairs so it was a welcoming environment.
The viewing experience after having made the bets was unlike any other football viewing experience I've ever had. The 4 bets I placed, were the Raiders to cover the 1.5 point spread against the Tinys, for the Tinys-Raiders game to have less than 39 total points scored, the Cowboys-Eagles game to have more than 46.5 points scored, and the Bengals to cover the 2 point spread against the Bills.
The Bills-Bengals game was the least tense as the outcome wasn't really much in doubt from the get go. Cowboys-Eagles was the most fun to watch as my fellow bettors had clearly all bet on the Cowboys-Eagles game in some form or fashion as the reactions were noticeable. There was a lot of clapping and even some cheering. As for the most tense game it was Tinys-Raiders. While the actual outcome was even less in doubt that Bills-Bengals, because I bet the under, and because of the Raiders scoring output, my bet was totally in doubt. What that ended up leading to was a game that was a blowout that would have otherwise been the least compelling game in the late window being as compelling as a, to use the word for the third time in this sentence, truly compelling game. Reflecting on it now, it really was a different viewing experience, and one that I am glad to have gotten the chance to have experienced.
Please remember to gamble responsibility, as irresponsible gambling is VERY VERY VERY VERY bad.
Other thoughts:
-The fact that both the Steelers and Saints continue to be just good enough to win, yet aren't good enough to impress anyone outside of their respective buildings is kind of astounding.
-Congratulations to Josh Dobbs for leading the Vikings to a win only a few days after being traded from the Cardinals! The Vikings don't appear to be done yet!
-Beating a Matt Stafford-less Rams team is not impressive, even so, Jordan Love has got to be happy that, at least for a week, he can take some of the pressure off of himself.
-It is certainly possible that Mac Jones undergoes a career renaissance somewhere that is not New England, he did make a Pro Bowl after all. It is almost certain that he isn't going to experience it in New England.
-The idea of Bill Belichick coaching the Commanders is interesting. Even so, if he has choices (which despite how bad the Patriots are currently he still is going to have in all likelihood), I can't imagine the Commanders being his choice over say the Bears or Chargers. With his history there, Belichick seems like a perfect fit for the Tinys. If anybody could make them Giant at this point, it is probably Belichick.
-Daniel Jones is not elite by any means and he is wildly overpaid. Having said that, I don't think it is unrealistic to say that the Tinys won't win another game this season. I can't see Brian Daboll surviving that.
-When Lamar Jackson has been healthy, the Ravens have been a dominant regular season ball club. They haven't had the postseason success they would have hoped for during the Lamar era, but with the Chiefs and Bills being weaker that they've been in previous years, and the Jaguars being entirely unproven at this point, I don't think it is a stretch to say that the Ravens are the favorites in the AFC.
-And here is my weekly: The Seahawks need to bench Geno Smith. I will speak it into existence, or at least try to, until it happens.
-I feel bad for Baker Mayfield, last week he threw a Hail Mary that should have been caught, and this week he leads the Buccaneers to a super clutch lead taking drive only to be on the losing end AGAIN.
-Deshaun Watson played in a football game for once, how about that?
-It is easy to say play woulda coulda shoulda, but if Bryce Young doesn't throw two pick sixes, it is kinda hard to say the Panthers wouldn't have at least had an infinitely better chance of winning, if not won outright.
-The Eagles have Jalen Hurts. The Cowboys have Dak Prescott. There is your difference as to who is leading and will continue to lead the NFC East.
-Brandon Staley got to keep the LA based sports media complex off his back for a week. Good for him!
And that is all for this week's edition of Red Hot Gridiron. As always I hope ya enjoyed and I hope to see ya again next week. My experience at the sportsbook made me remember that football is the greatest game in the world. This is spiderfan out.