Oct 311 min read

Expect The Unexpected

This NFL campaign is turning into a theme of expect the unexpected. Dan Quinn has the Commanders balling to start... riding his offense (and staff), rather than his defense. Patrick Mahomes is oddly playing quite poorly, despite the defending champion Chiefs being one of two squads left with a zero going into WK-5. Leading to more unexpected... the other squad? Sam Darnold and the Vikings, who are currently runnin' a top-10 offense with wins over the 49ers, Texans, and Packers. That's just a couple of examples, still plenty more of unexpected vibes going on.

I shall get my Spagz on to run a blitz of the further unexpected; as well as other notable notes from what was a solid week-four on the griddy. All around the spectrum vibes on this blitz here. First, I have two quick talking points I want to bring nails to. Nails like Skubal on the mound yesterday for the gritty Tigers. Two points that need some spittin' cha heard.

Darius Slay and Micah Parsons buddy-buddy

There officially seems to be little to no rivalries left in football. I'm talkin' real, to the bone, professional hatred. Seems to be no will left in stars wanting to win and be better than the opposition. It's just about dancing, podcasting, dressing, painting nails, and dying hair. Bunch of teddy bears in pads. The roar of the bear goes away when the ink reaches the paper; and the paper reaches the account. Too much friendship in pro football. Too much nappy boy, fake ass trash-talking. Too much insecure softies. Time for a rant.

We have cornerbacks emoting drops/bad throws near seconds after being ripped in a route or failing to execute a coverage plan. Sorry ass tacklers constantly tweeting and posting IG lives with All-Pro talk just to be a meme on Sundays. Wide-receivers cramping on potential game-winning drives, then a day later hoppin' on a podcast talkin' about another team winning or losing. It's nasty yah, and now the nasty has reached the pinnacle with Darius Slay and king-podcaster himself; Micah Parsons gettin' all buddy-buddy with one another; spittin' about teammates in the middle of the season on a podcast. A pure slap to the face to the guys who built the Eagles & Cowboys rivalry.

Seeing a leader for each the Eagles and Cowboys sit and be on a podcast together in the middle of the season is one of the most disgusting things I have seen. Former Eagles trench-protector Tra Thomas put it best:

Former Eagles OL Tra Thomas on Darius Slay

Not just a bias take, I feel the same way with the St. Browns and whoever gets on with Deebo Samuel (and Parsons). This podcast crap is ruining the masculinity and success of the game- it has to stop. These star players do not care about winning if they are gaming (streaming) or on podcasts throughout the week. It's beyond silly, and the fact people sit and watch it; makes it worse. Imagine Ed Reed saying "let me hop on a podcast so I can tell this player how I am game-planning Peyton Manning". It's just outrageous. I mean come on, Avonte Maddox and the Eagles secondary is gettin' thrashed in a landslide, and this corny cat is asking an opposition about video games... in the middle of a damn butt-whoopin:

video via @ThePhillyPod//X

No wonder Darius Slay is the captain of that secondary. Slay has now rubbed the Eagles fan base the wrong way on numerous occasions. It's guys like Darius Slay that are the reason I couldn't stand working in the corporate world. He's the cat that shows up to work just to goof around, have fun, and get a paycheck. The comfortable entry level that has no interest in moving up or being a factor to success. In this case, Slay is the comfortable veteran who has already made a bankroll and is settling. Corporates have lots of them... they do the most damage!

Slay wearing a C is crazy for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. I can understand him being a captain for a Panthers or Jaguars type of squad, but not for a team that wants to win. I don't know how a player like Jalen Carter doesn't take his head off. CJ Gardner-Johnson brings the same energy (even worse). Gardner-Johnson is nothing more than a Jalen Mills again for the Eagles. He is always on social media chirpin' and always has the gall to be talkin' on the field; with no real get back. Somehow players reach a tier of talking "too much". You know, when all you do is talk, but can't back it up on the field. Gardner-Johnson leads that cult for the NFL heads. Not the type of player you want young talent around. We are seeing the energy reflect off CJGJ and hit Quinyon Mitchell. Nasty behavior. To be clear, all this is a reflection of Sirianni. That locker-room is a mess. I feel bad for Brandon Graham.

Doug Pederson has Jacksonville a dumpster fire

Can't talk a mess without the Jaguars being the head of the discussion. Dougie P has officially set the Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence on fire, and doesn't look to have an extinguisher to put out the flames... sound familiar?

Jaguars are the final winless team remaining after an upsetting close-game loss on the road in Houston. The defense is rough; ranking 30th in total defense, and the offense is a dumpster fire as the once hailed "generational" QB now looks like a project QB. Ryan Nielsen is proving he can't cut it as a DC early on, and Press Taylor is nothing but Dougie P's right-hand man when it comes to starting fires and destroying QB talent. Everything going bad in Jacksonville right now; is because of Pederson, despite him wanting to point some fingers at his own bloody players:

video via @Schultz_Report//X

Pederson is a spokesperson for people who can't take accountability. I am beginning to believe that not accepting accountability is a cut and dry personality trait. Very rarely have I known someone, or seen a public figure, improve in that regard. Pederson spewed that nonsense a minute after being bamboozled over a question regarding his hot seat. The guy is so bad at being a head coach; that he can't even see it. Of course you are on the hot seat, you goofball.

The fingers are to be pointed at Pederson, plain and simple. Jaguars have no business being 0-4, and Trevor Lawrence has no business looking as bad as he does under center. This is ugly in Jacksonville, the T-Law situation being the worse part. Lawrence isn't just playing bad, he has completely regressed, and looks like a lost puppy out there. A $275M lost puppy. Taylor and Pederson ruined '17 Wentz, and now have looked to have ruined Lawrence, the second-highest paid player in the entire league (tied with Burrow). These prices we are seeing, are prices the Eagles and Jaguars (will) have to pay for trusting a glorified backup to develop "generational" QB talent already inked to mega-mega contracts.

Dougie P is on a one-way ride to asking Andy Reid for a Quality Control position by December. The only rightful place for him in the NFL. Pederson is only worth a penny if he's somewhere low on Reid's staff. Being OC in KC for those three years meant nothing, god willing he left before Mahomes got there. Anywhere away from Reid, and the cat proves he doesn't belong at this level. There is not belonging, then there is what Pederson is doing- completely setting fire ablaze to well-built teams, setting them back in the future ($). I'd be shocked if the Jaguars season wasn't already over. It's week-5 and I am saying that. Just despicable work by Pederson; he doesn't belong as a head coach in the NFL.

I won't call no Super Bowl win a fluke, in his regard, it was a matter of having a special team with strong coordinators, and a one-and-done legend that had a playoff run unlike any other (Foles). Pederson is nothin' but a Don McCafferty, or a bootleg Gary Kubiak. This second chance went up in smoke, go figure. When he is canned, I don't want the cat ever getting a head coaching opportunity in the NFL again. Make sure Press Taylor goes out the exit door with him.

King Henry Has Risen:

King Henry is officially back after loggin' in consecutive performances with game-breaking moments and an elite box-line. Going into WK-5, Henry is the NFL's leading rusher with 480 yards (+33); is tied with Kamara for the most rushing tuddies (5); leads the NFL with 6 big play runs (20+); and has rushed for the 2nd-most first downs. Henry at 30, looks to still be going strong in the tail-end of his prime, after being one of the highest produced runners of the past near-decade. He's not near being done slaughtering defenses.

If Derrick Henry keeps up this production, he can surely be that missing piece for the Ravens; that missing piece Lamar Jackson and the flock have been desperately waiting on. Ravens have now won back-to-back games against elite comp in the Bills and Cowboys to get back to .500 and put the 0-2 start in the rear-mirror. Doing so by riding the rushing attack led by King Henry.

Henry slaughtered a Bills D that went into the week as a top defense; both in confidence and production. Not only are Henry's previous two performances great for winning; they are great examples to prove that Henry is still in his prime with his remarkable burst and speed still being near full-bar. The evidence:

video via @NFL//X

Game-breaking Henry is back, elevating the Ravens to the top total offense in the league through five weeks, with the top rushing attack (51% of the O). Henry is without a doubt the missing piece for the Ravens offense; now he has arrived to make the filling. With Orr and the defense starting to progress without Macdonald (13th total), I think all is up from here for Baltimore barring any injuries or further setbacks. The flock travels to Cincy next for a big time divisional game against the Cats. Bengals can't afford to go 0-3 at home.

Commanders Offense Stays Hot:

Dan Quinn has the Commanders off to its best start since 2011, shockingly doing so behind a top-ranked offense, as the defense struggles with the basement of the league (27th). Hats off to Kingsbury and the offensive staff. It's been a great start. Commanders currently have the 6th-best total offense, with the 3rd-ranked rushing offense. Jayden Daniels continues to improve and impress; he is on pace to climb out of the 'Project' tier at the same rate as C.J. Stroud.

Now we get the pleasure to ask Washington if they are legit, and find out how they answer. Washington has Cleveland next before they get the call against the flock in Baltimore. After that test, there is a solid stretch of easement going all the way up to the middle of November when Washington will face the only brute part of its schedule (I don't agree with PFB's SOS). Sitting at 3-1 and looking at the schedj, the Commanders have a solid chance to build this into a remarkable season. First, we need to see if they are ready for that step. You have to like what we are seeing from Washington. Expect the unexpected.

Two Zeroes Remain:

Vikings and Chiefs have the final two remaining zeroes with both teams getting to 4-0 in opposite of ways. The defending champions being 4-0 isn't much of a surprise, but no one had predicted Sam Darnold to be playing like a top-QB while leading the Vikings to a 4-0 start. Not just an undefeated start; Skol has wins over the Niners, Texans, and Packers on the stretch. Despite blowing a large lead against the Pack, it still has been a picture perfect start.

Will either team have its zero going into this time next week? Vikings defense faced some major punishment in the 2nd-half against the Packers; so major they now rank 23rd in total. That defense looks to prove it was a fluke and return to weeks 1-3 form as they battle Rodgers and the Jets (22nd ranked O) in London. It's important the defense puts last week behind them, Darnold and the O go up against the 3rd-rank defense. I am pumped for the Jettas and Sauce Gardner matchup, as well as the 2-ranked pass defense try and attempt to contain 18. Darnold has gotten Jefferson more involved in the past two games, targeting him 8 times in each; that has to go up even higher. Jefferson should not rank 19th in targets. Tough matchup; I can see New York takin' that zero.

Chiefs keep winning against the best comp', despite playing quite poorly all-around... especially Mahomes. Losing targets left and right won't help as Rashee Rice has joined Pacheco on the IR shelf. Chiefs are set up for a MNF banger next against the Saints; could be a tough game in Arrowhead. Spagz and the defense will need to be the X-Factors; can’t let Kubiak and co. run up the scoreboard with the offense facing some struggles and injuries. I can see the Saints takin' the Chiefs zero. Lets see if one, or both of the zeroes can survive another week.

Goff Has Money Game On MNF:

Jared Goff finally had himself a "good" game to lead the Lions to their best win early on against the Seahawks to snatch a zero. Goff had struggled in the three games prior, but logged in a damn near perfect game on MNF: 18-for-18 with two passing tuddies, and 292 passing yards. The cat even reeled in a receiving touchdown for the heck of it.

Goff's 18 completions were the most thrown while finishing with a 100% completion rate. He also became the only player in NFL history with a 75+% completion percentage, 200+ passing yards, and a receiving touchdown. Couldn't ask for a better performance from Goff, who gave Detroit everything they needed to keep Geno Smith and the Seahawks behind on the scoreboard in the 4th quarter. A big time game for him to get back into his groove. That being the most important takeback; Goff needed that kind of performance. Lets see if he can build off it during the bye week as the Lions are prepped for consecutive road battles in Dallas and Minnesota to follow.

Dak Continues His NFC East Winning:

Dak Prescott had the same energy as Goff, as he too recorded the best game of his campaign to lift the Cowboys over the Giants in a close game that saw several defensive pillars for Dallas go down with injuries (Parsons, Lawrence). Dak improved to 13-0 over the G-Men, dating back to 2017, and has pushed his total record against the NFC East to 33-8.

It was a big time game for Dak to get back on track while getting the Cowboys back in the win column. A needed win not just to end the two-game losing skid, but to get that win with all the injuries starting to pile up. Losing three in a row would have been brutal with how the fall schedule amps up in comp for them moving forward. With Lawrence now on IR with Bland, and Parsons in a walking boot and more worried about his podcast; Dak will have to keep building off his WK-4 performance. He has to play like he did last season, or the Cowboys won't survive this upcoming stretch in good numbers. Last week was a good start.

QB Power Rankings:

The QB play is starting to improve in shades since WK-3. In WK-4, we saw even more cats eclipse 300 yards in the air, Goff's perfect outing, and saw cats like Fields open up their game to create the right production. Far better play compared to the opening two weeks, but still a significant gap between good and bad; with the bad still outweighing the good.

Sam Darnold keeps his groove going to snag the top spot going into WK-5. Josh Allen wasn't awful by any means in the blowout loss to the Ravens, but surely not good enough, he looks up at Darnold. Burrow is playing more to value, despite the Bengals record; Fields looks sharp for the Black & Yellow; Baker keeps playing well despite pressure; and Geno Smith stays in the top-10 despite TD-INT ratio. Here are my current ranks:

Will we continue to get unexpected vibes across the league this weekend? I'd bet on it. The slate is solid; a few good matchups on paper. Bills traveling to H-Town is a good one; I also am pumped for the Cowboys/Steelers matchup on SNF primetime. We also have a nice London matchup between the Jets & Vikings to enjoy with our coffee here in the States. Not an off the walls exciting slate of games, but NFL action is NFL action, cha heard. Leave here with my latest Power Rankings update, and enjoy some football on this fall vibin' weekend coming up: