The third week of this ever so odd NFL season had one central theme to it, and that was its lack of defensive structure, commitment and consistency. This Sunday,nearly every losing team conceded more than 30 points, a statistic that will give defensive coordinators around the country Herculean headaches. Indeed, it is an evolving league with scores only rising. That being said, is it so hard to just play some defense every now and then? Come on, just play a nickel, dime or special edition Gerald Ford dollar coin formation. Here is your recap of some of Sunday’s games.
Saint Nick is back!
The aura and mysticism surrounding former Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback and notorious 2018 Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles took the field Sunday as a member of the Chicago Bears. It is the third team he has played for in the last three years, as he was traded just one year after signing that mega contract with the ever quality Jacksonville Jaguars. He started on the bench, as Mitchell Trubisky, the team’s divisive starting quarterback, began the game. The game was against the Atlanta Falcons, a team coming off a shambolic collapse against the Dallas Cowboys. The game started just like it did in the previous week for the Falcons, with an explosive and efficient three-play drive that ended with a touchdown. Trubisky wasn’t necessarily bad to start, not in the way he was against the Detroit Lions in Week 1, but long drives without much to show for left Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy to make the gutsy call and put his Super Bowl MVP backup into the game, a storyline that Foles has come to be defined by.
Foles entered into the game in the middle of the third quarter with his Bears down 26–10. But on his first drive, with the Bears marching, he threw an interception right into the endzone, leaving the entire team feeling helpless.However, must we forget the sickness that has always plagued the Atlanta Falcons? As if it is the only thing they know how to do when holding a lead, the Falcons crumbled, again. A missed field goal started the demise of the Falcons, with Foles on the next drive nearly scoring on a fourth and goal from the 17-yard line. Yes, you read that right. Though they came up empty handed, the momentum was obvious, proof again of just how disastrous the ensuing Falcon collapse proved to be. A strong defensive stand meant the Bears immediately had the ball again. After a massive fourth down conversion, in just a matter of minutes they were down just 10. The next Bears drive saw a miraculous Allen Robinson touchdown, and with over four minutes to go, Foles and the Bears turned the game around and were only down by three. More offensive apathy from Matt Ryan and the Falcons meant that Foles had a chance to win the game, which they did, scoring a touchdown on their third drive in a row. In total, it was a 20-point fourth quarter, and in just a quarter and a half, Foles finished with 188 passing yards and a win. Somehow, someway, the Bears are 3–0 while the Falcons, with all their brilliance for the first three quarters of every game, are 0–3. Final score: Chicago Bears 30, Atlanta Falcons 26.
NFC East, my GAWD
Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFC East with a record of 9–7 in the last week of the season. As a whole, it was a division that averaged only six wins. Many pundits deemed it the worst division in the history of football. Could it get any worse? At the present moment, the answer seems to be yes. It indeed can get worse. This season, the NFC East is shaping up to be its usual juggernaut, but one covered in garbage displays on the field. The division went winless on Sunday, with the Washington Football Team still on top of the division. All teams have been defined by an utter lack of creativity on the offensive side and inconsistency on the defensive side. Whether they find their footing remains to be unknown, but based off of current displays, rosters and history, there seems to be no hope for improvement for all four teams. Each have been masters in demoralizing its fans, setting up a long, long season for some of the NFL’s biggest teams.
The weekend started with its poorest and most irrelevant teams taking the field for losses. We’ll start in the Midwest where the Washington Football Team lined up against the Cleveland Browns, and despite a big third quarter which ended with them up by three, they gave up a whopping 17 points in the fourth to lose 34–20. Meanwhile the Saquon Barkley-less New York Giants put on a show on Sunday, that is if you are into shows of pure disappointment and tragedy. They played the defending NFC champions San Francisco 49ers, a team without its three biggest players, and still could only put up nine points. In the end, the 49ers pummeled them, winning 36–9.
We’ll move on to this week’s Eagles watch where the defending division champions Philadelphia Eagles are still yet to be found. Might it be time to hire a rescue party? They were at home to the NFL’s worst team last year, the Cincinnati Bengals. On Sunday, Wentz seemed to have disappeared, being thoroughly outplayed by rookie Joe Burrow. The game went to overtime after Wentz scrambled to find the end zone with less than 20 seconds left in the game. In overtime, neither team could find the scoreboard, resulting in a 23–23 tie, a damming and humiliating scoreline for a team with playoff aspirations.
Finally, we move to America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys. With a team loaded with weapons and a roster seemingly devoid of any salary cap, they took the field against MVP front-runner Russell Wilson and his Seattle Seahawks. With star running back Ezekiel Elliott running for only 34 yards, they relied on their aerial prowess to win the game. However, this was not only matched by the Seahawks but surpassed, as Russell Wilson dropped an inconceivable five touchdown passes. Muddled in disappointment and disillusion, the Cowboys fell to the Seahawks by a score of 38–31.
A battle of AFC royalty
Monday night saw the two previous MVPs, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, battle it out in a highly anticipated matchup as the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to the Old Line State to play the Baltimore Ravens. The game was akin to a seesaw in the first half. The teams went back and forth with their explosive offenses, trading field goals and a touchdown. The game was perhaps at its closest when returner Devin Duvernay of the Ravens, fresh from conceding a touchdown of their own, took the kickoff 93 yards to the end zone to make the game 13–10 in favor of the Chiefs. However, that was the closest it would get. From then on out, it was one-way traffic in favor of the Chiefs as they ended the first half with two touchdowns to make it 27–10. The game stayed that way, with the Chiefs consistency stifling any hope of a Raven comeback. Of note was the difference in passing yards for both teams as the two MVP quarterbacks could not have had a more antithetical night. While Mahomes threw for a bludgeoning 385 yards, Jackson only finished with a feeble 97. It was business as usual for the defending Super Bowl champions and a disappointing night for the Super Bowl aspirants of the Chesapeake Bay. Final score: Kansas City Chiefs 34, Baltimore Ravens 20.
Other scores from around the NFL
The Los Angeles Rams traveled to the near opposite corner of the country on Sunday to play against a young and rising Buffalo Bills team. From the start, the Bills looked like they would blow out the Rams as they went up 21–3 in the third quarter. However, this is a Rams team with offensive firecrackers, and on its day, the team has the offensive capability to be one of the best in the NFL. By the third quarter, the Rams paid their homage to Drake’s opening track on Scorpion and simply flipped a switch. They scored 29 unanswered points over the course of both the third and fourth quarters, putting themselves up 32–28 late into the game. The Bills had the ball with a minute left to go, hoping that ascending quarterback Josh Allen could channel his former division rival Tom Brady and lead them to a last-minute victory. The game looked up in the air as the Bills were marching, but on a fourth and eight with 20 seconds to go, a defensive pass interference on the Rams bore new life into the Bills as they turned their impossible dream into a reality, scoring on the very next play. A topsy turvy one, with the Bills barely coming out with the win. Final score: Buffalo Bills 35, Los Angeles Rams 32.
Sam Darnold continues to prove how costly a mistake he was for the entire New York Jets organization with a near disgraceful performance on Sunday. Playing against a new-look Indianapolis Colts team with first-year familiar Phillip Rivers at the helm, Darnold had only 168 passing yards, with three interceptions to go along with it. It was an awful game from start to finish, and this is once again shaping up to be a dreadful season for both Jets players and fans. Final Score: Indianapolis Colts 36, New York Jets 7.
The Tennessee Titans have quietly followed up on last season’s incredible run to the AFC championship, bouncing to a 3–0 start. They played a struggling Minnesota Vikings team who continued to make costly mistakes as talisman Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions while running back Dalvin Cook had a fumble of his own. Derrick Henry continues to plow through NFL teams as he had over 100 yards as the Titans squeezed out the victory. Final Score: Tennessee Titans 31, Minnesota Vikings 30.
In New England news, Cam Newton and his New England Patriots put up numbers this weekend, scoring a mega 36 points while cruising to a 36–20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. The game was won on the ground as Tufts’ hometown NFL team ran for 250 total yards. Meanwhile, Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers eased their way to a 28–10 victory over the Denver Broncos. Brady had a monster game, passing for nearly 300 yards and throwing three touchdowns. Let’s hope we’re all this athletic by age 43.
