By Lucas Camacho
Now that the Dodgers have won the World Series (ha-ha to all the Yankees fans), we can get back to America’s other past time: football. It was an exciting week in the NFL. Everyone was playing except for the Steelers and the 49ers (who very much needed a bye week). Let’s take a look at how everyone else did (which team cost their coach his job this week).
RAMS 26 – SEAHAWKS 20
Los Angeles fans thought they were done with walk-off wins after the Dodgers won the World Series over the Yankees. However, the Rams, not wanting to be outdone, beat the Seahawks in an overtime thriller with a one-handed catch from Demarcus Robinson. Believe it or not, Robinson’s catch was just one highlight from his big day where he caught 6 passes for 94 yards and 2 touchdowns (including the overtime winning catch). Just like last year, the Rams have been surging since coming out of their bye. Let’s see if it ends with them in the playoffs like last year, or if they can even win the division this time. Now for the Seahawks, they had their chance to stake their claim to the top of the division. However, these self-inflicted wounds continue to hamper the Seahawk’s chances. This included two botched snaps from the shotgun formation. Then came Geno Smith’s costly interception that the Rams returned for a touchdown. Unless these mistakes stop happening, what happened to Aaron Judge and the Yankees is going to happen to Geno Smith and the Seahawks. The only difference being that the Seahawks probably won’t be in the Super Bowl.
CHARGERS 27 – BROWNS 10
Hey, that looks like Justin Herbert…in fact it is! The Chargers quarterback looked very much like the talented star that LA knows and loves, and he led the Chargers to an easy win over the Browns. Herbert can’t take all the credit with JK Dobbins rushing 14 times for 85 yards and 2 touchdowns. There is one area of concern: pass protection. Herbert was sacked six times on Sunday, and that is a problem. The Chargers remember what happened when Herbert went down last year, and it’s up to them to fix the problem quickly or risk a nasty case of déjà vu. As for the Browns, their resurgence with Jameis Winston at quarterback…did not last long. Granted, the Chargers have a good defense (underrated I might add), but this is still not the result the Browns were looking for. It may be too late to save Cleveland football this season…
TEXANS 13 – JETS 21
At the beginning of the season, I probably wouldn’t have believed you that the Jets could beat the Texans. But without two of their offensive weapons, the Texans fell to the Jets, who brought their five-game losing streak to a screeching halt. This was Aaron Rodgers’ best performance in a while, completing 22 of 32 passes for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns. It definitely must be good for Rodgers to have Davante Adams throw to again, and Adams responded with 7 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. We’ll have to see if the Jets can maintain this kind of offense for the rest of the season. As for the Texans, this is not what we should be seeing. An offense with the reigning Rookie of the Year, CJ Stroud, at the helm should not be producing at anemic levels. The problem has become the line, and their inability to protect Stroud, who has been sacked 14 times since Week 7. This must be addressed, or the Texans are going nowhere fast!
COWBOYS 21 – FALCONS 27
There is a certain analyst on ESPN who frequently says things that I VERY MUCH disagree with. One thing we both can agree on though is this: the Cowboys are in a nosedive they can’t pull out of, as shown when they lost again this Sunday, this time to the Falcons. It helps when Kirk Cousins completes 19 of his 24 passes for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns. However, the Falcons’ win comes at a price as Drake London went down with a hip injury. This will hurt going forward as the Falcons already start to look thin at the wide receiver position. Back to the Cowboys, is there any hope for them? Unfortunately, conventional wisdom says no. There are too many holes to fill, and not enough time to fill them. The bone crushing reality for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys may be that their season is lost.
DOLPHINS 27 – BILLS 30
After a pretty poor performance in the first half, the Bills roared to life and won on a game winning 61-yard Field Goal over their division rivals, the Dolphins. Under normal circumstances, Josh Allen’s performance would be just good enough; completing 25 of 39 passes for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns (although he did throw an interception). However, these slow starts are really starting to drag the Bills down. They got away with it this time, but they may not get lucky next week…and who knows when the luck will run out. As for the Dolphins, clearly getting Tua back wasn’t the answer to all their problems. The cold hard reality is this: the league knows how to shut down Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. They need to learn how to break free from tight coverage, or there is little the Dolphins can do to stop the bleeding.
RAIDERS 24 – BENGALS 41
The Bengals continued their attempts to salvage their season with a much needed win over DA RAIDERS (been a while since I did that)! Joe Burrow did have a blemish throwing one interception, but we can overlook that fact because he also threw for 251 yards and 5 touchdowns (that’s right, FIVE!). Now does this change anything. Well…not really. They’re still below .500 in a division dominated by the Ravens and the Steelers. Of course, beggars cannot be choosers, so a win is a win, and any win at this point keeps the Bengals alive. On the other side, there’s a reason I haven’t used the phrase DA RAIDERS in a while. This is their fifth straight loss going into a much-needed bye. Now, reason says the Raiders are done (but according to the “experts”, the Yankees were supposed to win the World Series in either 6 or 7 games). I will say this for those speculating the Raiders will trade some of their big-name players away: don’t get your hopes up. The only players worth anything aren’t going anywhere: Maxx Crosby and Brock Bowers (because why would anyone trade an amazing defender like Crosby or a Rookie of the Year contender like Bowers?).
PATRIOTS 17 – TITANS 20
I have always preached that if you take two teams that really suck and have them face off: you get an amazing game! This was no different as the Titans beat out the Patriots in an overtime thriller. This may not have been a great game for offense, but that didn’t stop Tony Pollard from rushing 28 times for 128 yards (which is more than a fourth of the total yards by the Titans). Look, the Titans’ defense isn’t always going to perform this well (because they’re not going to always play against a mediocre offense). However, this is definitely a good step in the right direction. As for the Patriots, this is why I specifically warned against any team drafting Drake Maye thinking he’s gonna turn around your franchise. You turn to him in the big moments, and he responds…by throwing an interception. Yes, he did throw a touchdown to send it to overtime, but this isn’t hockey: going to overtime gets you nothing in the NFL. It also doesn’t help that he doesn’t have much of a wide receiver corps to rely on. As someone who grew up a Patriots fan; this is painful to watch…
COMMANDERS 27 – GIANTS 22
Rookie Jayden Daniels continued his amazing campaign as the Commanders beat back the Giants. Daniels isn’t just playing like a Rookie of the Year candidate…he’s playing like an MVP candidate. He threw for 209 yards for 2 touchdowns while rushing for 35 yards. It remains to be seen if Daniels has what it takes to knock Lamar Jackson off his throne. As for the Giants, it was more of the same. Daniel Jones’ future looks bleak as he looked sloppy and inefficient in the first half. He has one last chance to turn things around against Carolina’s bottom ranked defense. If Jones can turn things around against the Panthers, then Giants coach Brian Daboll may turn to Drew Lock to save not just the Giants…but his job.
SAINTS 22 – PANTHERS 23
Well, the Saints have finally hit rock bottom: they lost to the worst team in the league, the Panthers. Did this win mean that Byrce Young deserves the start next week in Germany? Well, not really. He won against a floundering Saints team, and Andy Dalton may not be 100% after recovering from his accident. So…the Panthers have to make do. As for the Saints, something had to give, and it did. On Monday, coach Dennis Allen was fired. After an amazing start, the Saints have dropped SEVEN straight games. The big question for the Saints is where they go from here now that they fired their coach. They’re still 2-7 and sit in the back of their division.
BRONCOS 10 – RAVENS 41
I remember watching a sports segment early last week asking a hypothetical question: what if the Ravens lost to the Broncos? Fortunately, we didn’t have to see that possibility as the Ravens routed the Broncos with ease (although don’t be surprised if this story idea ends up in the next season of the Disney+ series, Marvel’s What If…?). Lamar Jackson, probably sensing a potential challenge to his MVP title from rookie Jayden Daniels, put up high caliber numbers, throwing for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns. The defense will continue to be scrutinized, however, as it has beaten the Bills, Commanders, and Broncos…but still lost to the Raiders and the Browns. As for said Broncos, it’s clear they’re not ready for the next level quite yet. And it’s not like the schedule gets easier in the near future with contests against the Chiefs and Falcons up next. The Broncos definitely failed the first test by getting a clear “F” grade for this game; let’s see if they can finish this stretch with at least a “C” average.
JAGUARS 23 – EAGLES 28
It’s not an understatement that the Eagles needed this win in order to keep up with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, as they turned back a challenge from the Jaguars. I would recommend Saquon Barkley for Offensive Player of the Year, with 159 rushing yards and a touchdown plus one receiving touchdown, but he also did fumble. Nevertheless, the Eagles are flying…and hopefully they can avoid a collapse like last year. As for the Jaguars, they need better starts. Constantly playing from behind is not advisable for this team since they don’t have many options on offense. It’s a shame to see a promising quarterback like Trevor Lawrence languish on a team like this. Former quarterback Robert Griffin III said earlier this season that coaches can either make a great quarterback…or make them bad. I happen to agree with that statement 100%, and I think a lot more people would agree than they would care to admit.
BEARS 9 – CARDINALS 29
The Cardinals’ yo-yo season continued. After barely managing to beat a slumping Dolphins team last week, the Cardinals gave the Bears a pretty good butt-kicking. James Conner ran for 107 yards, but what interested me was rookie Trey Benson rushing for 37 yards and a touchdown. Now are the Cardinals for real? Well, let’s see if can handle the Jets before the jury makes a decision on that one. As for the Bears, they spent all that time in the off-season surrounding top prospect Caleb Williams. Well…what happened? Their offensive woes is unthinkable to many, but I did notice one thing that is the same for the Bears this year as it was last year: their offensive line is lousy. Yes, they did get a little better from last season, but failing to rush the ball while allowing over 150 rushing yards is unacceptable. Things need to change, and they need to get healthy…or else Caleb Williams’ hope of leading the Bears to the playoffs in his rookie year are going down the drain.
LIONS 24 – PACKERS 14
The Lions are now in the driver’s seat in the NFC North. They ended the Vikings perfect season, and now they’ve taken down their other major rival: the Packers. Despite this being a great game, Jared Goff surprisingly had little to do with it. Despite connecting on 18 of his 22 passes, he only threw for 145 yards and a single touchdown. Another point of concern is that the Lions’ second half woes are still there. They only scored a single touchdown in the second half. If they face a team that is able to take advantage of Aidan Hutchinson’s absence…the Lions are in trouble. To the Packers, Jordan Love has an interception problem. He’s thrown 10 interceptions this season, and that has almost matched the number he threw last year (when he threw 11 interceptions). Now, this is fixable, but they need to act fast because the Lions are rolling, the Vikings will get things going again, and the Bears might still turn things around.
COLTS 13 – VIKINGS 21
This was a surprisingly close game, but the Vikings managed to overcome their turnovers and end their short losing streak against the Colts. When you end up with three turnovers in a game, you usually lose (just ask the Seahawks). But the Vikings have something other teams don’t have: the best wide receiver in the league in Justin Jefferson. The amazing Jefferson added 7 more catches for a jaw dropping 137 yards, the longest of which was a 41-yard catch. Now can the Vikings keep winning if Sam Darnold has an up and down game every week? I’d argue that as long as the Vikings have a defense and a healthy Justin Jefferson: yes. As for the Colts, clearly changing quarterbacks back and forth between Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco is not helping. It doesn’t help when your offense stagnates yet again, but they were facing a Vikings defense that was looking to rebound after two shocking defeats. Still, the Colts need to decide who gives them a better chance at winning: Flacco of Richardson?
BUCCANEERS 24 – CHIEFS 30
The Chiefs escaped a close call on Monday against a team they actually should have dominated. Still, trading for DeAndre Hopkins seems to be paying off. He finished second on the team in receiving yards behind Travis Kelce with 8 catches for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. Still, the Chiefs will be needing more from Hopkins as their wide receiver corps tries to get healthy. As for the Buccaneers, they desperately need a bye week and will have one after next week. They’re slumping badly in a division that the Falcons seem to be running away with. Fortunately, the team believes Mike Evans, one of the few receivers in the league that can give Justin Jefferson a run for his money, will return after the bye. Unfortunately, they’ll have to overcome the 49ers before they can get a bye, and then they hope to reset for the stretch run where they will try and catch the surging Falcons.
