The fourth Sunday of the NFL season is in the books so here are the different thoughts and opinions I have on various things I witnessed this past weekend. I spent the weekend in Concord, NC attending the NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway so I'm running a little late this week with my post. Had a good a time even though the race wasn't very good. Stupid "roval". Just remember I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and I'm extremely biased. Feel free to agree or disagree about anything mentioned here. All comments are welcome.
They're not pushovers like the Patriots
You know your team's season is off to a rough start when Detroit is coming to town and you're not feeling confident about it. Yet we've seen anything can happen this year in the NFL and what do you know, my Cowboys came to play!
The Cowboys settled for too many field goals in the red zone and zeke nearly cost them again by fumbling near the goal-line, but overall the offense was much improved against a Lions D that held New England in check last week. Then again the Lions did get torched by the Jets so I'm not getting too optimistic.
Dak Prescott spread the ball around to various receivers and showed composure in the pocket even after getting the ball swatted from his hands. Recovering that fumble saved the day for Dallas. The Cowboys D looked good despite the fact LB Sean Lee was out. Usually they fall apart without Lee, but DeMarcus Lawrence had a monster game (8 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 QB hits, 3 tackles for a loss) to make up for a few blown coverages on Golden Tate. I noticed Tate likes to strut into the endzone. I hope he had fun strutting onto the plane after this loss.
Ties are simply a waste of time
I think it's stupid NFL games can end in a tie. Why play the damn game if nobody wins? Screw tie games, both teams should show a loss. Thankfully some head coaches feel the same way.
With the Philadelphia Eagles holding a 23-20 lead in overtime, the Tennessee Titans could have settled for a tie after facing a 4th and 2 on the Eagles 32-yard line with only a little more than minute left in overtime. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel showed guts by sending his offense back out to face a do or die situation. The Titans converted and scored a game-winning TD a few plays later. I love it. The fact that it was the Eagles who lost is just the icing on the cake.
In Indianapolis, the Colts were tied 34-34 with the Texans when they faced a 4th and 4 on their own 43-yard line with only 27 seconds left on the clock in overtime. Colts head coach Frank Reich could have settled for a tie by punting, but rolled the dice by going for it. Unfortunately the Colts couldn't convert and Houston managed to get in position for a game-winning field goal.
Now the media & fans are hailing Vrabel as a gutsy winner and lambasting Reich as a stupid loser. WRONG. They are both winners in my book for refusing to accept a lame-ass tie as an acceptable conclusion to a football game. Everybody loses in a tie-game.
You're damn right Coach Edwards.
Raiders couldn't beat the Browns, but the Refs sure could
Somebody seriously needs to be fired after the atrocious calls that robbed a victory from the Cleveland Browns against the Oakland Raiders.
Lets start by taking a look at the picture to the left. It sure looks to me like Browns Linebacker Genard Avery knocked the ball out of Derek Carr's hands with a strip-sack. Fumble right? Nope. The refs ruled Carr's progress had been stopped and blew the play dead. Of course the whistle came after the ball was on the ground and recovered by Cleveland, but hey why the let the facts get in the way. With all the replays available to overturn a bad call, when the whistle blows to stop a play it is not eligible for review. Good job NFL. Everybody in the country saw 800 replays of Carr fumbling, but the refs weren't allowed to see one.
Then again the replay crew wasn't exactly having a good day either. Late in the game Cleveland faced a 3rd and 2 on their 17-yard line. A first down would let the Browns take a few knees to kill the clock and seal the victory. Carlos Hyde appeared to gain the necessary yardage on a run play that was ruled a first down by the officiating crew. Game over, Cleveland wins two in a row! Not so fast.
The replay official in New York buzzed down to the field to let the refs know they were going to review the play. To the shock of everyone the play was overturned and it was now 4th down. Of course the Browns being the Browns let the Raiders score a last second touchdown and two-point conversion to force overtime where the Raiders finally prevailed 45-42.
Did Carlos Hyde get the first down? It's hard to tell on the replay, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Yet the refs on the field ruled the play a first down and their decision is only supposed to be reversed if there is indisputable evidence to the contrary. And there was no such evidence. The league office claims by piecing several replays together they had "a view and perspective" Hyde didn't cross the first down line. What a crock. They didn't have one single replay that showed the call was wrong so it shouldn't have been changed.
The Raiders were the victims of a few poor calls as well, so it wasn't a one-sided affair. Yet it sure feels like Cleveland got robbed in this one. Hey congrats Oakland. You only needed a few awful calls and overtime to beat Cleveland at home. I'm sure the Chargers are shitting their pants with you guys going to LA next week.
I didn't know the Seahawks were #1
Earl Thomas made a lot of headlines this past offseason by holding out of training camp with the Seahawks in an attempt to force a trade and receive a new long-term contract. His hold-out was unsuccessful so he reluctantly returned to Seattle.
On Sunday Thomas broke his leg during a game with the Cardinals and decided to flip the Hawks bench the bird as he was carted off the field. Since he hasn't publicly stated for whom the gesture was intended, I assume he meant it for the Seattle front office. Most people seem to side with Thomas and think Seattle screwed him. But did they?
In 2014 Thomas was entering the final year of his first NFL contract when he signed a 4 year, $40 million dollar extension with Seattle due to end after the 2018 NFL season. At the time the deal made him the highest paid safety in the league. Of course as the years go by salaries continued to rise and Thomas fell to the 6th highest paid safety entering this season. Thomas wanted a new contract extension from Seattle or to be traded to a team that would give him one so he held out most of the pre-season.
The Seahawks were under no obligation to meet either request. Thomas is still under contract, a contract he gladly signed four years ago. His negotiating leverage was zero point zero, which is why Seattle simply ignored his holdout and waited for him to show up if he wanted to be paid this year. Thomas tried to force his way into free agency a year early and failed. He's obviously still pissed, hence the finger.
I'm a firm believer in football players getting as much as they can while they can. It's a dangerous sport. But I also believe if a player signs a contract he should honor it. You can't have it both ways. I don't think Thomas will have any trouble landing a new deal in free agency.
Random Stuff
Is Patrick Mahomes now the best right-handed and best left-handed QB in the NFL? Talk about getting the job done by any means possible. Tremendous comeback in a tough environment. I'll feel bad for him when the Chiefs collapse later this season. They always do.
When I returned back to my hotel after the race and saw the Bears scored 48 points I thought wow they must have had several defensive scores. Then I found out Trubisky threw 6(!) TD passes. It's taken nearly 70 years, but maybe the Bears have finally found a replacement for Sid Luckman.
Remember the Purple People Eaters? No? Apparently the modern day Vikings don't either. What the hell happened to that defense?
The Giants drafted the awesome Saquon Barkley with the #2 pick in the draft and gave him ten carries against the Saints. Through four games Barkley only has 56 rushing attempts despite averaging 4.6 yards per carry. What are the Giants doing, saving him for the playoffs?
Buffalo had me worried after their big win in Minnesota. Nice to see them revert back to normal in Green Bay. Maybe they were just stunned into submission by having to look at those putrid Packer throwback uniforms.
The Steelers are going to need a helluva of a lot more than Leveon Bell coming back to save this season. They better find out what Jack Ham and Mel Blount are up to these days.
Let me know your thoughts on Week Four.
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