Thoughts On The NFL: Week 6

Denver vs. San Diego

The Hunter Henry show is on full time now. Rivers and Henry connected all night long. The Denver secondary was surprisingly bad this game. I was shocked with how many passes they let Rivers complete and even more shocked with the overall lack of pressure their defense was getting. Denver is still probably the SB favorite (outside of Minnesota) right now but they will need their offense and Trevor Siemian to step up.

Philadelphia vs. Washington

The Redskins dominated both sides of the ball for a large part of the afternoon against the Eagles. Kerrigan got the party started off right and really set the tone for the defense which had at least 5 sacks on Carson Wentz. On the other side of the ball, the Skins offensive line was excellent. Matt Jones, Robert Kelley, and Chris Thompson ran all over the Eagles and it felt so good. Kurt Cousins made a brief appearance with a bad throw off his back foot but Kirk Cousins showed up later and steadied the ship for the rest of the game. Awesome, awesome win. This Redskins team can win the final two games before the bye.

Dallas vs. Green Bay

Ok, maybe Dallas is better than I initially thought going into the season. They currently pose the biggest threat to our division title hopes. Dak Prescott is kinda playing out of his mind. As all the pundits have lamented already his level of understanding and calm in the pocket is unparalleled at least from any rookie QB I’ve seen. The Cowboys came into Green Bay and dominated. It’s shocking. I still think we should have won the week 2 matchup.

Green Bay is definitely not themselves. Aaron Rodgers in the past few weeks has lost some of his magic luster. Will he get it back when he plays us?

Atlanta vs. Seattle

If you like defense and running this was the game for you. The Seahawks ran all over the Falcons with Christine Michael and Alex Collins. Matt Ryan picked apart the Seahawks defense putting up over 300 yards passing and chucking three touchdowns. Seattle’s defense still comes up big in crucial situations though and this game was no exception. They caused a crucial fumble on a strip sack of Matt Ryan and an interception later in the game. The most controversial play of this game also came on defense with a terrible pass interference no call on Richard Sherman as he hooked Julio Jones going upfield.

Miami vs. Pittsburgh

The Dolphins won? That’s weird. By now we’ve probably heard about Big Ben’s torn meniscus and it obviously affected his play this game as he was off target the rest of the day. Ryan Tannehill looks a bit closer to his 2014 self which should be encouraging to Dolphins fans. It was a little late but this game was Jay Ajayi’s coming out party. The Dolphins will unfortunately, need contributions close to the one he put up this game for them to remain competitive the rest of the season.

Baltimore vs. New York (Giants)

Odell Beckham may be an annoying whiny man child but his talent is undeniable. He was bound to get back on track eventually and he did that in a big way against Baltimore. He absolutely smoked those dudes. John Harbaugh must be mad as hell about the performances his defense has put up over the past few weeks.

Oakland vs. Kansas City

Kevin Harlan Voice “Dontari Poe!”. Poe’s touchdown catch was definitely one of the many highlights of this game and Kevin Harlan’s call made it that much more enjoyable. Color me surprised but I thought the Raiders would come out with more fight in this game. Their defense got ran over by Spencer Ware and Jamal Charles (“He’s baaaaack!”). Derek Carr played a somewhat sloppy game in the rain and the Raiders could get nothing going on the ground.

#KevinHarlanAppreciationMustWatchCauseNFLWon’tLetMeEmbed

Los Angeles vs. Detroit

Well, I left Kenny Britt on the bench in fantasy this week. So there’s that. Aside from that first world problem I enjoyed the competition between these two teams. Whouda thunk there would be a gunslinger show between Case Keenum and Matt Stafford. I’ve already lamented Matt Stafford’s ability to put the team on his back a few times now in these recaps. Let’s take the Lions seriously next week ok? They are 3-3 but all of their losses have been by 7 points or less. I saw a commenter already refer to this game as a trap. It could be if the Redskins aren’t fully prepared.

San Francisco vs. Buffalo.

Good God. The 49ers run defense is horrid. Shady McCoy torched them and is putting together a hell of a season so far. Mike Gillislee even got in on that action. The 49ers are still a bad team but they are slightly less bad with Kaepernick playing. Not sure that provides any comfort to 49ers fans.

Cleveland vs. Tennessee

The Browns are sad. When I watch that team it feels like half the team is trying while the other half are showing up and collecting the checks. Prescott and Wentz get all the attention for being good rookie QBs but I have to say I’ve been very surprised by Cody Kessler. I thought he was criminally over drafted but the dude can play a bit. His team is garbage and offer him little support a lot of the time but the 3rd round rookie might be the future of the Browns*.

*Until another 1st round pick is spent on a QB

Mariota was throwing bombs all day. I forgot that Kendall Wright is good and he just needs someone to get him the ball on time and accurately (which was still a slight issue in this game but it worked out). Is Mariota “developing”? I don’t know but if he can perform like that with any semblance of consistency, he and Demarco Murray on the ground could put a up a few wins and be competitive in battling or the division against the Texans.

Jacksonville vs. Chicago

Brian Hoyer played better than Blake Bortles. Bortles is not the QB he was last year. Both these teams are so bad it was slightly painful watching this. The deciding factor was Tracy Porter’s incompetence level being on 10000 because he never touched the man he was covering down who got up and scored the game winning TD. I’m surprised there wasn’t more of this after the loss.

New England vs. Cincinnati

Can we all agree Vontaze Burfict is a dirty player? Dude can ball so I’m not sure what's up with the knee shots on the TE who isn't even getting the ball. The other TE, one Rob Gronkowski, did get the ball a lot last Sunday and he is looking like the 2nd best TE in football outside of Jordan Reed. The Cincy defense has definitely taken a step back this season. They are not getting the pressure they once were from their front four and it shows.

Indianapolis vs. Houston

Sucks to suck. It also sucks to be a Colts fan right now. I have no idea how they managed to blow this one but they did. The Colts offense and defense (cue audible gasp) kept this one in check until the final 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. Then everything imploded for Indy. The defense stopped playing and gave up two ridiculous TD passes by Brock Osweiler to time the game. The first was due to piss poor tackling and technique the second was due to piss poor coverage. Houston wins in OT by a FG and is atop the AFC South while the Colts are last.

New Orleans vs. Carolina

It was an old-fashioned shootout. Brees and Newton were slinging the ball all game. Brees picked on Carolina’s rookies in the secondary and Newton picked on New Orleans secondary because it isn't much better. Just about every receiver was involved in this game with the most impressive touchdowns coming from the Saints TE’s Coby Fleener and Josh Hill. I think the Saints are playing at the level most people expected but what a fall for the Panthers. They are looking severely outmatched in the secondary and every Pathers fan should be asking why didn’t they keep Norman on the franchise tag this year while letting his eventual replacements learn from the bench.
Oh, by the way, the release of Bene Benwikere didn’t work out for them either.

New York (Jets) vs. Arizona

The Jets and Fitzpatrick are struggling mightily. Fitz even got himself benched Monday Night for his play. For all his throwing the Jets just can’t seem to move the football up the field to score touchdowns in any competitive or consistent manner. The Jets offense has been one dimensional outside of the first couple games of the season though. The rushing attack or lack thereof is horrendous which is surprising seeing as the combo of Matt Forte and Bilal Powell ought to yield results. The Cardinals don’t have that problem right now. David Johnson ran all night to the tune of over 100 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. It was a pitiful effort by the Jets defense. I know it’s only 6 games in but Todd Bowles ought to be on the hot seat right about now, nothing is working for the Jets.