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We are getting deeper into October and things on the gridiron are beginning to get spooky. A nasty potion of injuries; a sharp thorn of inconsistency; and jugglin' of superiority has spread mystery and spookiness throughout the NFL. Within the newly formed mysteries, there is one certainty: the noise will continue to get louder.
The undefeated club is no more as the 49ers and Eagles both drop their goose eggs in week six. We saw some statements be made from the likes of the Lions; Rams; and Jets. We also saw high level defensive play that reduced the quantity of offensive explosions by skill players. Week six had a great menu of noise, I am sure that week seven will follow suit.
49ers and Eagles lose as last remaining unbeatens
Lions cruise past the Bucs in statement win
Browns drop another defensive statement with win over SF
Raiders knock the Patriots to 1-5
Stafford-Kupp back to being elite
Jaguars beat the Colts to gain AFC South superiority
Ravens stay atop the AFC North with bounce-back win in London
NFC South goes 0-4 in WK-6
Bills continue inconsistency with near loss to the Giants at home
We did have an unfortunate theme of star players go down to injury in week six. High level players that when absent, hurt their team drastically. That is not an understatement. In Baseball, everyone raves about the sabermetric stat "WAR", acronym for Wins Above Replacement. In a language for all readers: it simply evaluates what player is most important to a team. The NFL has a few characters that hold a high value in that category and unfortunately they are gettin' hurt, allowing their teams to prove it.
We saw it in the opening week with the Chiefs and DT Chris Jones. Jones being off the field completely destroyed the Chiefs defense in terms of execution. He is the nucleus; and the anchor for that defense. Hands down one of the most valuable players in the league. Luckily for Kansas City, Jones' inactivity was only due to a holdout. The Chiefs smartened up and got him back on the field. That won't be an option for teams like the 49ers; Eagles; Jaguars; and Bears.
Chicago and Jacksonville saw their quarterbacks Justin Fields & Trevor Lawrence get knocked out of both team's week six matchups. They both don't have long term injuries but, they each could miss time as well as come back banged up. Obviously losing their starting quarterbacks is killer. Each player is vile to their teams' success. We can only hope the injuries don't become severe, and that those cats heal back to full form to get keep helpin' their squads win. Jaguars evaded early season miscues to build a solid heatwave as they sit atop the AFC South. They need Lawrence at full health to keep things going. For Chicago, they finally had things cookin' on offense in weeks four and five as they saw Justin Fields produce in huge ways. Week six was massively depleting for the Bears. To all the Fields haters: the Bears won't win games without Justin Fields.
Eagles and 49ers lost their goose eggs in week six after big time defensive performances from the Jets and Browns. Both teams lost all their prestige and confidence after star players went down, allowing their oppositions to beat them in all fashions. All it took for Brock Purdy to lose his first regular-season game was for WR Deebo Samuel and RB Christian McCaffrey to both go down to injury against the Browns. McCaffrey has proven his contract value time and time again but, now he has really proven his value in full view. With McCaffrey off the field, the 49ers offense was seemingly abysmal. Everything from the production to the formations, and to the diversity. Browns defense dominated. Thankfully, McCaffrey's injury has been ruled to not be long term, though it can still be a bother for him moving forward. Brock Purdy as figured was a complete different quarterback when he was forced to be the main difference maker with the rock. Purdy had his worst NFL game going 12 of 27 for 125 yards with a touchdown and his first interception of the season. It's obvious the 49ers need all their stars on the field for maximum success. The hope in San Francisco is for the injury bug to be a one week head-cold.
Breaking loose for long touchdowns and dominating the highlight reels makes guys like McCaffrey and Samuel's absences on the field seem the most damaging. In reality, there is some guys on the d-line and o-line that hold more impact like the previously mentioned Chris Jones and the Eagles' superstar offensive tackle Lane Johnson. If there was anyone to be named the Mike Trout of the NFL as a WAR reference it would be Lane Johnson. The Eagles can not win or have a good offensive game without Lane Johnson. I mean sh** even the Chiefs could score with Chad Henne in for an injured Mahomes!
Not the Eagles with Johnson, who have seen everybody from Nick Foles to Carson Wentz to Gardner Minshew, and now Hurts rapidly decline once Johnson has gone down injured. On Christmas Eve last season, after Hurts was sidelined, Minshew and the offense had scored 27 points on the Cowboys before Lane Johnson went down in the fourth quarter. Minshew threw an interception on the very next play, and on the final snap of the game, Dante Fowler Jr. bullied replacement right tackle Jack Driscoll to pressure Minshew and force a wild incompletion. Here was Jack Driscoll again last week against Jermaine Johnson II:
The Jets blitzed Hurts 16% of the time, which is about half the typical blitz rate we've seen against Hurts this season. They still managed to pressure him 40% of the time, which is tied for the second-highest pressure rate we've seen against Hurts in a game since the start of last season. Bryce Huff and Jermaine Johnson II had monster games. Huff generated a career-high 9 pressures on 28 pass rushes against the stout Eagles' o-line.
Lane Johnson has proven to be one of the best all around offensive lineman year in and year out but, his importance to Philadelphia's success is what truly shows his value- and a reason he got the massive bonus for one season of play. It has been earned. Now all the Eagles can do is hope the injury doesn't get worse as he evaded a serious ankle injury after the MRI results came back.
Spookiness is a blaze as the injury bug is starting to come back around in the NFL and it needs to stop. Now it's tryin' to take the most valuable and entertaining players in the game. Not cool. Good deal that none of the injuries for McCaffrey; Johnson; and Samuel are season ending. Hopefully week seven will end that bug.
Speaking of value. We are seeing that in big bunches from the Dolphins' Tyreek Hill. No one seeing it better than his fantasy football owners and teammates. The Cheetah has been set LOOSE and is dismantling secondaries, speeding to a goal that has never been seen before: 2K receiving yards.
Hill is off to the greatest start in a campaign in NFL history. Cheetah's 814 receiving yards are the most yards by a player in the first six games, ever. Shreddin' secondaries as the only cat to post four 150+ yard receiving games in his team's first six games in a season. Hill sits at 12 career 150 yard games, needing only 5 more to pass Lance Alworth (16) for the most in NFL history. Tyreek has been the game's most dangerous difference maker on offense this season and now realistically looks as if he can smash Calvin Johnson's all-time season receiving record (1,964 - '12) as he has eyes set on 2K.
Hill had the best offseason of his career and we are seeing it in full light. Deciding not to rely on just his speed as a receiver, Hill used his elite acceleration to sharpen his route-running and also added to his tree. In full, Hill put things all together. Look at the RESULTS. The cat is unreal. In the past, the QB needed some time to let Cheetah hit his slipstream up the field. Hill now puts himself anywhere on the field in a snap of the finger and has burned defenses with a variety of routes. The peak of the prime is now and 2K can absolutely happen if he plays 17 games. I have my eyes set on watching the Cheetah try and achieve history. If you have been under a rock and haven't noticed Hill's stardom in full view; recognize:
The No Fun League narrative struck again when the league fined Hill for his celebration. Can't let the players (and fans) have fun. Would you like to know what else makes us fans not have fun? Poor a** officiating deciding games. We saw that again in the Sunday Night Football showdown between the Giants and the Bills.
The game ended on a goal-line defensive stand by the Bills on triple zeroes. One on one between Darren Waller and Taron Johnson with loads of contact by each and no flag(s). A controversial play from all views. Take a view of the play in full speed:
video via NFL/X
The refs have three options on this play: offensive pass interference; defensive holding; or no call. Zoomed in screenshots give the best understanding on the options:
I am positive that each option has someone out there choosing it. The screenshots show most the blame on Taron Johnson, if you watch the full speed you notice Waller's illegal contact with the hands to the face. Johnson and Waller both illegally contacted with arm play with Johnson having an obvious hold as trump. If I'm a stripe, I say the contact (hand play) offsets but, I flag the hold. That's a defensive hold, cmon. Johnson also held prior to Waller's illegal contact. You have three officials in different positions to make the right call here. You have the Back Judge; Field Judge; and Line Judge in position and they dropped the ball. By they I really mean the Field Judge Tom Hill and the Back Judge Brad Freeman.
Back Judge is in great position in front of the field-goal post but may not see the white glove pull the white jersey behind Waller's large frame and the position of the ball. Sometimes that positioning isn't good enough to be the primary decider. Back judge also had a 1v1 to eye on the side of Waller. The Line Judge had the furthest distance and easily could have sent focus to the other 1v1 matchup as well as the blockers at the sticks. I drew out each responsibility:
I have huge problems with Brad Freeman and especially- Tom Hill. If you run the tape, Freeman actually had his back to the post with his body positioned right at the play on the ball. Freeman missed the call, plain and simple. Was quick to throw the incomplete sign and clock out. But Hill? Hill needs to be fired. From the get-go he acted nonchalantly and showed no interest in doing his job with a hand in the pocket and laxed posture.
I need that dude in a basketball stance with Homelander vision and his damn hand outta his pocket: sh** at least try to act like you care! I am not mad on a no-call, I am mad by Hill blatantly not caring about making the best call. By Hill not caring about doing his job. Watch it again and look at the Field Judge (top corner pylon). Just nasty. That type of movin' is perfect for him to have workin' a drive-thru, not workin' a pro game with hundreds across the nation betting real currency on. Hill was done and wanted to go home. Didn't care about doing the job to the fullest; I bet he was butthurt they called a PI on the 4th down prior to give the Giants another shot. That or he had his money on the Bills. Unfortunately Roger Goodell will continue to not show accountability, as he's rubbin' off to his new contract extension. This kind of crap is bad for the sport and just continues to intensify that as fact with the new era of sports betting. Get better.
Getting better isn't something we see with the NFL execs but, we do see it every week with the Jets; Browns; and Bills defenses. All fours teams won in week six thanks to their mighty defenses. The front sevens for the four teams are reeking havoc on offenses.
The Browns move to 3-1 at home on the season with a big time win over the the undefeated 49ers as they snatched that goose egg. Outside of the week four thumbing from the Ravens, the Browns defense has been superb and in all fashions. We know and see what Myles Garrett continues to do to bolster that defensive line but, the secondary for Cleveland has stepped up and then some. Cleveland is allowing the lowest ESPN QBR (7.5), yards per attempt (4.7) and completion rate (44%) when playing man coverage this season. The third-down numbers have been the most impressive and are a big reason they sit 3-2. The Browns have allowed opponents to convert on third down just 23.1 percent of the time! Drive killas as they have only contended the redzone on 9 occasions, the lowest in the league. I expect this Browns' defense to cause fits for Gardner Minshew and a mid Colts' offense in WK-7.
Despite how impressive the Browns' defense has looked, the Jets are the ones who really have stole the attention. It's close with the Browns but, the Jets may have the best defense now that the 49ers; Eagles; and Lions' defenses have either declined or been getting banged up. After the Aaron Rodgers' injury, everyone felt the Jets to be doomed and an easy whoopin' every week for teams. Outside of week two against the Cowboys, that hasn't been the case. Zach Wilson has been playing better than he has but the defense is the reason this team didn't implode.
The Jets now have wins over the once undefeated Eagles; the Bills; and a near win against the Chiefs. Playing and beating the best teams from last season. Bryce Huff (!); Jermaine Johnson II; and the Williams bros, Quinnen and Quincy have been playing SUPERB to elevate the Jets. The secondary has been as advertised around DJ Reed and Sauce Gardner with a big push from the safeties Whitehead and Adams. The depth is solid too as the Jets beat an Eagles team with Brown; Smith; and Goedert without their star corners Reed and Gardner.
Jets defense forced Philadelphia to commit four turnovers, as they secured four tackles for loss, swatted 12 pass deflections, and reeled in three interceptions. Bryce Huff got to Jalen Hurts for 1.5 sacks, being a disruptive against the best offensive line in football. This defense is playing special, and is ready for the league to recognize. The Jets can use a powerful defense to get to the playoffs, without a doubt. From the looks of it, Aaron Rodgers is going demon time to try and reduce his recovery time to be a knight in shining armor in case the Jets' defense can do it. What a tale it would be.
If the Jets defense remains the top dawg and gets a Zach Wilson led team to the playoffs then the front office needs to give them all bonuses for saving their jobs and the Rodgers investment. Spooky season is in full go mode for NFL offenses that have to try and score on these defenses.
Players of Week 6:
Power Rankings After Week 6:
You already know the October spookiness will continue into week seven on the gridiron. We can keep the injury bug in the past. That can be RIPd. Now, haunting defenses can continue to spread fear across the league. That kinda spooky can continue. Skill players slashin' blood down the middle of the field? Good spooky. Coaches branding evil personal warfare (McDermott/Daboll)... of course we can vibe to that. Just no more injuries; inconsistency; and bloody awful officiating!
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