#NFL2021 - Week 7

 Welcome to the Week in Review - now with free shipping!

 JaguarGator9 over on YouTube called this week "The worst Sunday of football in NFL History."  Damn if doesn't have an argument...

(TNF)  Broncos 14, Browns 17

I get the sneaking suspicion Teddy Bridgewater might just be a mediocre quarterback.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still rooting for the guy to catch fire and deliver on the promise he showed before his leg got snap'd, crackle'd and pop'd.  But it didn't happen when he returned in Minnesota, kinda sorta happened in New Orleans (where he had both the best roster and best coach of his pro career), did not happen AT ALL in Carolina (where it is looking more and more like that might just be a QB black hole without Run CMC) and it's not happening here.  Could be just that Teddy Ballgame is one of those QBs who is as good as his supporting cast (See: New Orleans).  That one seems most plausible, since the skill positions in Denver rate as "Okay At Best" across the board.

Not helping him are the defense and run game that were supposed to be the team's backbone.  The former got shredded on the ground by whodat supreme D'Ernest Johnson (22-146, 1 TD).  The latter was a no-show, in a game where Denver never trailed by more than 10 points (14-41 as a team). 
Playing through foot and quadriceps injuries probably doesn't help, either.

Dare I say the Broncos might be better served going to Drew Lock, at least until Teddy B heals a bit?

Bengals 41, Ravens 17

 

There are four¹² instances where you see the backup QB in the regular season - three of which are bad

1. The starter is hurt
   
2. The stater was benched for bad play
   
3. The starters were pulled because you're down by forever.
   
4. The starters were pulled because you're up by forever.

 On the bright side, Tyler Huntley didn't enter the game for Baltimore beuase Lamar Jackson stank.  For all the good it ultimately did.   Put it this way:  RB8 put up 257 and 2 through the air and another 88 on the ground.  No turnovers.  They still lost by 24. 

Put this one on a defense that absolutely could not stop Joe Burrow from playing pitch-and-catch with Ja'Marr Chase (Chase went for a Bengals rookie record 201 yards on just 8 catches).

Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and say "You were the better team today."

With the win, not only does Cincy take full control of the AFC North, but with Buffalo on bye, they take over the #1 seed.  Buffalo and Cincy at the top of the AFC.  That's just weird.

In the words of Bomani Jones:  I am not prepared for a world where the Cincinnati Bengals are good!

1. I suppose a fifth would be "Starter was ejected", but when's the last time you saw that? 
2. I suppose "Gimmick Play"would count as a sixth. I wouldn't count that because "gimmick."
   

 

 

WTF 10, Packers 24

 

 'Nuff said.

 

Falcons 30, Dolphins 28

Tua Tangyvanilla has his best game of the season.  (32/40 for 291, 4 TDs, 2 INTs).  Miami still loses.

To Atlanta.

The Dolphins are a goddamned trash fire.

And this, folks, was one of only three games this week (besides TNF and one further down) that didn't have (at least) a 2-score margin of victory. #Spoilers

 

 

Jets 13, Patriots 54

Speaking of trash fires... 

Mac Jones had his best game as a pro (24/36 for 307, 2 TDs).  Damien "who?"  Harris added aother two scores on 106 rushing.  The Pats scored on their first six possessions.  This, my friends, was a good ol' fashioned woodshedding.  I don't remember even Adam Gaze's teams get whooped like this.

 

Until it was announced that  Zach Wilson will be out 2--4 weeks with a sprained ankle (and the Jets sent a conditional 6 to Philly for Joe Flacco), I was convinced Wilson faked his injury, because he knew where this game was going.

 

Panthers 3, Giants 25

 Because close games just aren't in the cards this week, have another embarrassing blowout!

All the good vibes Sam Darnold generated in Weeks 1-3 have faded to myth and legend, as he keeps getting worse as the year goes on.  It's no wonder Carolina has emerged (with Miami) as the top contenders to land Deshaun Watson before the trade deadline.

Matt Rhule has stated that Darnold is still QB1, despite getting benched for PJ Walker on Sunday.  But that has to change if he lays another egg like this (16/25 for 111, 1 INT), right?

On the other side of the ticket: I'm not curious to see what Daniel Jones could do with some skill position players that can actually stay on the field.

Chiefs 3, Titans 27

 

So basically, Brady and the Bucs stole KC's mojo and they still haven't gotten it back.  Cool.

Elsewhere:

Them:  "MVP is a QB's award."
Derrick Henry:  "Oh, word?  Bet..."

 

Eagles 22, Raiders 33

Week 2 of the "We Do Not Talk About Chucky" era passed with Vegas looking even better than they did last week.  Derek Carr continues stealthily on a record pace¹ (31/34 for 323,  2 and 1, for the day,.  2269, 12 and 5 for the year).  The run game bumped up their production by half (120 for the game,).  The Eagles did the rest.  And by that, I mean "basically sucked."

Put it this way:  Between Jalen Hurts' 10th pass (midway through the second quarter)  and his 11th (about a full quarter alter), the score went from a 7-7 tie to 24-7 Raiders.  (the Raiders got a Josh Jacobs TD on the possession after said 10th pass.  Philly fumbled on the first play of their next possession, then tried an ill-conceived onside attempt coming out of the half, giving LV 10 points off the short fields).  About the only thing that has consistently worked for Philly all season, offensively, is Hurts using his legs (61 on 13 carries).

Which means, of course,  he's going to get smoked sooner or later, if that keeps up.

 

1. Hard to stand out that much when you're behind Tom Brady in every stat that matters, even if you're behind ONLY Tom Brady.

 

Lions 19, Rams 28

Oh, look:  The coaching hire everyone said looked like a potential train wreck is turning into an actual train wreck.

 

Seriously, Dan Campbell is like the worst parts of Matt Patricia, Mike Tice and Jeff Fisher somehow merged into a coaching uber-douche.

 

Let's not forget the Rams basically spotted Detroit a 10-0 lead here.

 

On the flip side:  Matt Stafford (28/41 for 334 and 3) seems to be the only one of the myriad of veteran QBs who changed teams in the off-season to actually be thriving in his new home.   I don't know if they're on the same level as Dallas or Tampa.¹  But they're definitely looking like a playoff team.

1. Absolutely not as sold on Green Bay as the talking heads are.

 

 

Texans 5, Cardinals 31

 Speaking of teams I'm not sold on...

 

'Zona came out like Daylight Savings Tme was over and they hadn't reset theri clocks yet.   Their first three posessions went: Punt (five plays), Punt (3-and-out, -12 yards net), Safety (one play).  After tacking on another field goal, the Texans realized they were actucally competing and proceeded to give up 31 unanswered.

AZ's rematch with the Rams, at SoFi, should be an interesting one.

Also interesting will be what happens when Tyrod Taylor is cleared to play:  Will they turn back to Taylor and try and salvage to season, or will they stay with Davis Mills and let him show for sure that he doesn't really belong in teh NFL (or at a minimum, could benefit from an NFL Europe type minor league.)?

 

 

Bears 3, Bucs 38

 Matt Nagy should be fired yesterday.  That is all.

(SNF) Colts 30, Niners 18

 

When watching highlights of your game and nearly all of the one for your team are of your rookie RB, either he beasted out or the rest of your team was ass.

Elijah Mitchell did not beast out (18-107, 1 TD).

Jimmy G was "Jimmy Geez" (16/27 for 181,  1 TD,   2INTs), to the point where Shanahanigans The Younger spent most of his post-game presser reiterating that Garappalo was his QB1.  A fact that would surely be a less-settled question if Trey Lance were active and likely to play next week.

To be fair, the rainy conditions in Santa Clara made for a sloppy game on both sides, resulting in six total turnovers (though four were on SF).  But really, if you were a Niner and your name wasn't Mitchell or Deebo Samuels, you did not have a good day.

On the flip side, while Carson Wentz wasn't that superior on the stat line (17/26 for 150,  2 TDs), he also lacked the turnovers of Jimmy G and spread the ball around more (Four Colts had at least three catches, while Saumels had more (7) than his next three teammates combined).

I am loathe to say this was a "turn around" game for Indy, but it's a start.

(MNF) Saints 13, Seahawks 10

And we end this week with a big bowl of bland broth, with one spicy dumpling left in.

Seattle started out this game hot, with Geno Smith hitting DK Metcalf for a career-long (for boh of them, I think) 84-yard catch and run.

They spent the rest of the game looking like the Northwestern Chiefs.  Take away that long strike to Metcalf¹ - which was his literal first pass of the game - Smith went 11 of 21 for 83 yards.  Pete Carroll spent the game looking like a mental patient who had no idea where he was.

Not that the Saints were all that better.  I had thought coming in that Sean Payton didn't trust Rapey McCrablegs.  Outside of the occasional deep shot, his play calls have been ultra vanilla.²  But watching that, plus Alvin Kamara's struggles, my thoughts have shifted to "He doesn't trust his O-line."  Seriously, these two teams, Philly and Chicago may be competing for the NFC's worst line.

Seattle's gonna have to do something, or there's not going to be a season for Russell Wilson to come back and save.

1. Let's be honest: That play was more due to bad Saints DB play than Smith and Metcalf's efforts.
2. You'd think "The Swiss Army Knife", Taysom Hill, would be be more heavily utilized.³
3. I can only assume Payton his saving him for QB duty.  Because he refuses to give up on his pet project.