Five takeaways from Week 5 of the NFL
- What is roughing the passer anymore?
We get it. The owners want to protect their number one asset. In the NFL you go as far as your quarterback will take you. The NFL needs to implement a sky judge to review some of these "penalties".
On consecutive days, we saw two of the worst calls we've ever seen. Tom Brady was tackled which would have put the Falcons in a prime position to potentially win the game. Instead of punting it gave the Buccaneers a first down and used one more play to burn out the clock.
In the Chiefs game, Chuck Clark strip sacked David Carr late in the 1st half, and landed on Carr prompting a flag which took the Chiefs out of Raiders territory. The fans at Arrowhead serenaded the Refs with a chorus of boos. And as analysts had pointed out, Clark became the first player to incur a roughing the passer while holding on to the ball.
That being said, why has the NFL not instituted "sky judge" for some of these calls, whether it be pass interference, personal fouls, holdings, whatever. Having a VAR like soccer would help grow the trust around refereeing and also get alot of the calls correct. Here's hoping that happens but as we've seen with the NFL we are not holding our breath. They seem to balk at sensible rule changes that everyone could benefit from.
- The Raiders and Chiefs play very exciting games
The Raiders and Chiefs have been playing great games for a few years now. Ever since Gruden drove his bus around Arrowhead after beating the AFC West leading Chiefs the rivalry has stepped up a knotch. The Chiefs exacted revenge last season by destroying the Raiders in both of their matchups.
Monday was no different in terms of chippiness and play on the field. The Raiders jumped out to a 17-0 lead but the Chiefs fought back using Travis Kelce who put up a monster stat line with 4 touchdowns. Davante Adams added 2 for the Raiders and the comeback came up short as Adams and Hunter Renfrow collided on 4th and 1 turning the ball over on downs.
The Chiefs have now won 4 out of the last 5 games against The Raiders and the last 5 games have all hit the over total. Be on the lookout for that next time these two teams meet. Any number below 50 you should be playing the under as these two teams average a total of 61.8 points in the last 5 matchups.
- Why do coaches out coach themselves?
Several instances over the weekend happened when coaches fell in love with the pass and abandoned what was working for them.
In Cleveland, Nick Chubb was average almost 8 yards per carry against the worst defense in the NFL against the run. Yet he only touched the ball 17 times and was on the sidelines for most of the third quarter and on the last drive. You'd think Stefanski would want to have his best player on the field for crunchtime considering they were trailing.
In the same game on a 4th and 2 Brandon Staley decided to go for it in their own end, virtually putting Cleveland immediately in field goal range. They had gashed the Browns defense to the tune of over 200 yards all game but instead decided to throw. The result was an incomplete pass, they gambled and won because Cade York missed the game winning field goal. But that is rudimentary football, punt the ball and make them go the length of the field with no timeouts.
In the Ravens vs. Bengals game, the Baltimore rushing attack was humming. They were grabbing big chunks of yards between the 20's only to start passing the ball inexplicably as they got closer to the goal line. The Bengals rush D were on their heels but a few times they inexplicably went back to the passing game where Lamar missed a few wide open WR's. Then on 4th and inches, with one of the better rushing attacks in the league and arguably the best dual threat QB in the league, Harbaugh and the Ravens decide to kick. This almost backfired as The Bengals came down and scored to take the lead but The Ravens have the best kicker in football history in Justin Tucker, who once again bailed them out.
- Pittsburgh might be the worst team in the league
The Steelers, usually a stalwort for success in the NFL have started the season 1 and 4. They lost their best pass rusher and the Mitch Trubisky experience has not panned out like the Steelers brass had hoped. The Steelers are the only team in the league without a touchdown to a wide receiver. Najee Harris is not looking his best this season either, he battled a foot injury in camp and either he has went the way of Trent Richardson or the injury is lingering causing him to not show the same burst he did last year. Things don't get easier for the Steelers either as they play one of the toughest schedules the remainder of the year. They have gotten a little spark at QB by bringing in Kenny Pickett but without a solid foundation around him, he is likely to struggle.
Steeler fans are also coming for Mike Tomlin. Tomlin has been an excellent coach and there would be teams lining up to get him to come to their city. Steeler fans don't know how well they have it. Tomlin has been a pillar of consistency in a world of uncertainty. Right now the Steelers are slotted to pick first in the 2023 NFL Draft. The last time they had the #1 pick they selected Terry Bradshaw and went on to win 4 Super Bowls.
- The worst Thursday Night Football game in history
Do you know someone who watched Thursday Night Football between the Colts and Broncos? If so you might be entitled to compensation.
In a game that no one wanted, we were treated to the Denver Broncos in primetime AGAIN! In a game everyone didn't want to watch the Broncos and Colts had a pillow fight, exchanging field goals and missed red zone opportunities. Russ and Matt Ryan two offseason acquisitions that were seen as fixes to the Colts and Broncos quarterback issues have underwhelmed this season.
This game was punt after punt. Bad play after bad play. And the Colts clawed their way back to a victory. Russ threw an interception on the last play of OT to give the Colts the win. In fact the same play that Russ threw a back breaking interception in the Seattle vs. New England Super Bowl was the final play of OT. Russ had his WR Jeudy wide open for an easy touchdown but who seemingly avoided the throw. Perhaps because of scar tissue.