It seems like each new week has set a record for most total points scored. A handful of games went sideways, but the week ended just as expected. With the Titans/Steelers game shelved, I ended up going a respectable 10-5 this week (9-6 vs Spread) while Christen picked up a game, going 11-5. My overall record goes to 43-19-1 (36-26-1 vs Spread) and she improved to 39-23-1. Since I am picking the over/under now as well, (excluding NE/KC & DEN/NYJ) I went 5-6-2 which included two games I missed by half a point. I’ll be better about it moving forward, but onward to the games.
The defending champion Kansas City Chiefs continued their dominance with a 26-10 win over the Patriots. The outcome was never in question but the Pats put up more of a fight than anyone thought, given that Cam Newton was out on COVID-IR, but that didn’t stop the Chiefs from covering in the end. It was really close there for a while and New England may have covered if backup QB Brian Hoyer hadn’t made a number of costly mistakes. Jarrett Stidham got in on the action and even threw a nice TD to K’Neal Harry before throwing two picks.
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers kept it rolling with an easy 30-16 win over the much-maligned Falcons. I’ve already stated that the Matt Ryan era is over in Atlanta (I could probably write a whole separate weekly column on them). There were opportunities to keep it a game but he missed the easy reads far too often. This was a game they were supposed to lose which may offer a brief respite for head coach Dan Quinn. Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris may get thrown under the bus, but ATL has regressed every year since their heartbreaking Super Bowl collapse.
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The Seahawks held serve at stayed right with GB at the top of the NFC, taking a 31-23 road win over the Dolphins. Seattle running back Chris Carson didn’t show any signs of lingering knee problems, posting 80-yards and 2-TDs while Russell Wilson also continued his torrid pace, posting a 360-yard/2-TDs/1-INT stat line. He’s now thrown picks in back-to-back games which may start to eat into his MVP talk with Rodgers playing so well. It’s a shame these two teams don’t play one another during the regular season but, if things keep trending in this direction, they’ll be headed towards a playoff showdown.
While the Chiefs still dictate the power structure in the AFC, my Buffalo Bills played their best game of the season to stay undefeated with a road win over the Raiders. Their place in the AFC will become more clear after playing the Titans and Chiefs in the coming weeks. Speaking of the Titans, their game with the Steelers was rescheduled for Week 7, but I doubt both teams will remain undefeated to that point. Both those teams will also have an impact on the conference playoff picture when they get back on track.
The Ravens will surely be involved in the AFC playoff conversation as they rebounded with a one-sided win over Washington. Tom Brady threw 5-TDs to rally the Buccaneers over the Chargers. The Rams and Browns had impressive wins over poor bad teams while the Colts handed the Bears their first loss, landing all four of those teams at 3-1.
In a must-win game, the Saints rallied from a 14-0 to beat the Lions. They held Detroit in check for the majority of the game after an inauspicious start but still gave up 29-points, so I’m still thinking Dennis Allen needs to get axed as defensive coordinator. However, I’ve been so focused on the Saints’ disappointing defense that I’ve let a lot of other dreadful D’s off the hook.
I have no doubt that Kyler Murray is a hell of a player but the Cardinals are not nearly as good as I thought they were, losing two in a row that they are supposed to win. The Panthers are no slouch and it’s nice to see Teddy Bridgewater playing well en route to back-to-back wins. Once Christian McCaffrey is back healthy, Carolina could find their stride and factor into the divisional race. As I suspected, the Eagles took advantage of a wounded 49ers team to get their first win of the season and the Bengals finally cashed in Joe Burrow’s first win of the season with a win over the Jaguars.
The Dallas Cowboys are now the sad owners of the worst scoring defense in football, giving up an eye-popping 36.5-points-per-game. Thanks in large part to more than 300-yards rushing, Cleveland hung 49-points on the Boys on their way to victory, including three scores from the enigmatic Odell Beckham Jr. New Head Coach Mike McCarthy was brought in with Super Bowl expectations, playoffs at the least, but this team that should be 0-4. Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan is also in his first year but rumors have started to swirl about their future. Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones doesn’t like losing but he hates looking like losers even more. Right now, Dallas sucks. We’ll see how much slack he’s willing to cut these coaches if things don’t improve.
Jacksonville’s Todd Wash could be looking at the door pretty soon too. He has been in charge of the defense since before their 2017 season when they had the best defense in the league and rode it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. The team purged all of their bloated contracts from that dominant unit in a rebuilding effort but they’re paying for it now. After a surprisingly decent season last year and a promising start to the season with a win over the Colts, the Jags have lost 3 in a row while giving up more than 30-points in each of those games.
Speaking of coaches that needed to get fired, Bill O’Brien finally got the long-deserved boot. I have never had a high opinion of O’Brien but edging out division championships was good enough to keep his job. During his Houston tenure, his regular-season record of 52-48 is a model of stagnation, and his 2-4 playoff record showed where the ceiling was. Taking over as General Manager before this season, he also orchestrated the trade to send away arguably the NFL’s best receiver DeAndre Hopkins (who currently leads the league in catches). It had to be a personal issue as the move didn’t even really save much money. The team took on David Johnson’s sizable contract in return and paid big money to linebacker Zach Cunningham and of course the monster deal they gave to quarterback Deshaun Watson. Somehow, watching Watson continue to play his invisible ukulele while his team is 0-4 is a fitting metaphor for the franchise culture of the Texans.
The slate of less than ideal matchups continues as the Bucs head to the Chicago to kick off Week 5 on Thursday Night Football. Both teams are 3-1 so at least there’s something on the line but the Bears could just as easily be 1-3 at this point. Tampa Bay is trending in the right direction as their offense gets in the groove and the Bears’ defense isn’t the vaunted unit they were a few years ago. This is a game that the Bucs are supposed to win, but Nick Foles won a Super Bowl last time he faced off with Tom Brady.
Kansas City holds on to their top spot as there wasn’t much movement at the top:
| 1. Chiefs 4-0 (1=) |
| 2. Packers 4-0 (2=) |
| 3. Seahawks 4-0 (3=) |
| 4. Bills 4-0 (4=) |
| 5. Steelers 3-0 (5=) |
| 6. Titans 3-0 (6=) |
| 8. Ravens 3-1 (8⬆) |
| 9. Rams 3-1 (9⬆) |
| 12. Buccaneers 3-1 (12⬆) |
| 15. Colts 3-1 (15⬆) |
| 16. Browns 3-1 (16⬆) |
| 7. Bears 3-1 (7⬇) |
| 11. Patriots 2-2 (11⬇) |
| 13. 49ers 2-2 (13⬇) |
| 10. Cardinals 2-2 (10⬇) |
| 14. Raiders 2-2 (14⬇) |
| 18. Saints 2-2 (18⬆) |
| 19. Panthers 2-2 (19⬆) |
| 25. Bengals 1-2-1 (25⬆) |
| 26. Eagles 1-2-1 (26⬆) |
| 30. Vikings 1-3 (30⬆) |
| 20. Chargers 1-3 (20⬇) |
| 21. Lions 1-3 (21⬇) |
| 22. Dolphins 1-3 (22⬇) |
| 29. Broncos 1-3 (29⬆) |
| 24. Jaguars 1-3 (24⬇) |
| 23. Washington 1-3 (23⬇) |
| 17. Cowboys 1-3 (17⬇) |
| 27. Texans 0-4 (27⬇) |
| 28. Falcons 0-4 (28⬇) |
| 31. Jets 0-4 (31=) |
| 32. Giants 0-4 (32=) |