Each week I’m going to try and do this column. This will be just some random observations that I noticed during the current week of the glorious 2018 NFL football season. There will be 6 observations and an extra point. So you’re essentially getting a touchdown’s worth of football hot takes from me. Enjoy.
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1. The Bills absolutely annihilating the Vikings was the biggest upset I’ve seen in years and I think I know what went wrong
As many of you saw, the highlight of the day was when the Buffalo Bills absolutely thrashed the Minnesota Vikings in a game that nobody saw coming. The Vikings were 16.5 point favorites in this matchup.
Now, I know there are many theories as to what went wrong in the game but here’s mine: The Vikings failed to convert on 8 field goals that would have won the game. Now you may be thinking, “the Vikings didn’t even attempt any field goals!” While that statement is true, a wise man by the name of Michael Scott once said that you miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take.
By the Vikings failing to even attempt those 8 field goals they failed their team, their fans, and everyone in my survivor pool who took them this week (including me).
2. The Green Bay Packers need their bye week very badly to get Aaron Rodgers healthy
It’s no secret that Aaron Rodgers is playing with a knee that is nowhere close to 100%. This is hampering his ability to make as many plays as his team needs to win.
I had a thought that if the Bills got beaten badly again this week that the Packers may rest Aaron Rodgers next week to try and nurse his knee back to 100% but that obviously didn’t happen. I also don’t think that Rodgers would ever sit out a game unless he absolute had to.
Regardless, the Packers are a very unusual 1-1-1 and they’ve got some work to do. Their bye week doesn’t come until week 7. Anyway, enjoy your scotch tonight, Mr. Rodgers.
3. Jimmy Garoppolo has torn his ACL and the 49ers have 5 primetime games left on their schedule which is bad news for everyone
Speaking of quarterbacks with bad knees, Jimmy Garoppolo has torn his ACL and he’s likely out for the season. That’s a brutal blow for a San Francisco 49ers team that had so much hype surrounding them before this season. This means that CJ Beathard is going to be taking over the quarterback duties for the remainder of this year.
It’s also bad news for NFL fans because the 49ers have 5 more primetime games scheduled out of their remaining 13 games. Here are their remaining scheduled primetime games:
Week 6 at Green Bay (MNF)
Week 7 vs LA Rams (SNF)
Week 9 vs Oakland (TNF)
Week 10 vs NY Giants (MNF)
Week 13 at Seattle (SNF)
At least the Seahawks game can be flexed out for a better game since it looks like both the 49ers and the Seahawks will be a massive disappointment this season but those other four games could be brutal to watch.
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4. I still don’t believe in the Miami Dolphins even though they’re 3-0
Look, I may be called a Dolphins hater by the few Miami Dolphins fans that actually exist but this team isn’t good. I’m going to come out right now and say that there’s a zero percent chance that this team makes the playoffs (cc: @freezingcoldtakes).
They’ve beaten a pathetic Titans team (they’re somehow 2-1 even though they suck), a Jets team with a turnover-prone rookie quarterback, and a Raiders team that is in shambles at a 1:00 pm ET start time for a west coast team. You SHOULD be 3-0 if that’s your schedule. Every year a team starts hot and fades down the stretch. This year’s team is the Miami Dolphins and you heard it here first. ZERO percent chance they make the playoffs.
5. If Deshaun Watson doesn’t change his play style then he’s going to struggle to stay healthy enough to have a productive career
As a Giants fan, I watched the entire Giants vs Texans game today (shoutout to my Giants for getting their first W of the season). Anyway, DeShaun Watson is an interesting quarterback to watch play. He has a lot of potential and he can extend a lot of plays which turns something into nothing.
The reason I’m not 100% sold on Watson is because the way he plays the game is extremely risky. He takes unnecessary hits that are going to cost him games due to injury. He doesn’t have the frame of a Cam Newton to be able to take big hits all game. His style of play isn’t sustainable and he needs to change it so that way he can be available to his team as much as possible.
6. “The Battle of LA” doesn’t feel like a real rivalry at all
The Rams and Chargers played today in one of the three (dull) late games in what has been dubbed as “The Battle of LA.”
It honestly looked like your standard non-conference game matchup. It seemed like there was no extra juice. I didn’t feel any extra flair. There’s virtually no animosity between fanbases.
If this is going to be a real crosstown rivalry then we need brutal fist fights in the parking lots like they have in the San Francisco/Oakland rivalry. They literally had to cancel the annual preseason game between those two teams because the fanbases literally murder each other.
On a lesser scale, it should also tear families and neighbors apart like the Giants/Jets rivalry does. Until then, it’s just another football game that happens once every 4 years.
Extra Point: The Eagles are a few plays away from being 0-3
The Philadelphia Eagles record currently sits at 2-1. However, they’re a few plays away from being 0-3. If Matt Ryan and Andrew Luck converted in goal-to-go situations on 4th down then the tone would be much different in Philadelphia.
That being said, they won the two close games and that’s what separates them from from your average NFL team. They win the close games. Each week is a game of inches and there’s more parity in this league than most people realize.