JERMAINE EVERY

NFL Week 7 observations

Jermaine Every
Oct 23, 2018, 8:14 am
Todd Gurley is a beast. Photo by Rams/Facebook

Week 7 of NFL action was like a football buffet. You had some blowouts, some tightly played games, a few duds, and even a couple “whoops” that cost teams games. Here are my observations from week seven:

The Good

-Rams Running back Todd Gurley continues his march towards an MVP season. He tallied three more touchdowns in yet another blowout (39-10 over the 49ers). He has 14 touchdowns on the season and is on pace to break the single season record of 31 held by LaDainian Tomlinson.

-The Panthers were down 17-0 towards the end of the third quarter to the struggling defending champions the Eagles. Cam Newton knew his Panthers team couldn’t fall to 3-3 so he proceeded to march his team down the field for three fourth quarter scores to pull out a 21-17 win. Oh, and the Panthers defense held the Eagles to only 70 yards during that stretch.

-Vikings receiver Adam Thielen had nine catches on 10 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown in their 37-17 win over the Jets. He continues to prove he’s one of the better receivers in the game after being an undrafted free agent in 2013. He was a second team All-Pro last year and is making his case for another All-Pro team this year.

The Bad

-The Broncos bullied the woeful Cardinals 45-10 on Thursday Night Football. The worst part of this game: my dumb ass left the Broncos defense on the bench in fantasy football so I missed out on 33 points. Only reason it’s not in the “Ugly” is I still won my matchup.

-The Bengals were outgained by 312 yards in their 45-10 loss to the steamrolling Chiefs. The Bengals were 4-2 entering the game and needed to prove themselves against the Chiefs but laid an ostrich-sized egg. Instead of taking a controlling lead in the AFC North, they’ve now fallen to second place and failed to take advantage of the Ravens unfortunate loss.

-The Bears had a great shot at beating the Patriots Sunday and failed losing 38-31. Early in the second quarter, they held a 17-7 lead after two Patriot fumbles they recovered and appeared to have control of the game. True to form, the Pats went on a 31-14 run the rest of the way and stopped the Bears Hail Mary attempt to tie the game on the one yard line. That’s a sucky way to lose.

The Ugly

-Titans coach Mike Vrabel decided to go for the two point conversion and the win, instead of kicking the extra point for the tie and almost guaranteed overtime. Yes, 31 seconds is plenty of time for weird things to happen, but so is a 10 minute overtime period. This is the new leader in the clubhouse for “Idiot Decision of the Year” award in coach’s category.

-Dereck Anderson started for the Bills two weeks after signing with them off his sofa at home. He threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, but will start next week despite his four turnover performance in their 37-5 loss to the Colts. Yes, Nathan Peterman is that bad.

-Now 10 of the 32 first round selections of the 2015 draft have been traded or released. Former Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper was the 10th one when the Cowboys desperately gave up next year’s first rounder for a guy who’s steadily declined since his rookie year. Teams don’t often give up on first rounders that easily. Takes a special kind of suck to be traded or cut three years after being so highly thought of.

How was that buffet? Pretty good variety right? The only thing with a buffet is that I tend to over-eat and go home with “the itis.” As I was getting sleepy with “the itis”, the only thing that could help me sleep was the Rockets sorry asses. Hopefully next week will be just as good a buffet as this week was. Somebody get me a heartburn pill please. My reflux is acting up. Ate too much.

 

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STOOTS ON TEXANS

11 observations from Houston Texans' 34-24 loss to Chargers

The Texans are moving in the wrong direction. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

1. This team started incredibly slow and outside of a couple of drives in the second half disappointed. The defense got worked by the Chargers' star players, and the offense sputtered too often. It was really a summary of the season up to this point which is to say inconsistency.

2. Davis Mills was shaky early. The first drive interception was tough to stomach. The pocket got messy as he tried to drive the ball and he floated one up there. It gave the Chargers an easy drive for seven points.

3. One of the early offensive mistakes erased a scoring opportunity. Kenyon Green got nailed for a holding call that erased one of the best passes and catches between Brandin Cooks and Davis Mills all season. The rookie’s mistake was compounded the very next play when the offense allowed Mills to be sacked. It was a 40-yard swing that led to a punt.

4. Another third down penalty led to a mishap for the Texans. Laremy Tunsil gets a false start on third down to make it third and 10. The shovel pass to Rex Burkhead goes for six yards and then the Texans botch the field goal. Back-to-back drives and third-down penalties affected the offense and ended with no points. That was all just in the first quarter!

5. The Texans were abysmal with short yardage in key spots yet again. In the second quarter, Pep Hamilton opted for a pass on fourth and one. Davis Mills never got the play off and was sacked. After the game, Mills said the team wanted to catch the Chargers off guard running when most expected a pass, but Rex Burkhead was the running back. It was again a situation, a key and critical moment, that the team trusted Burkhead over the more dynamic Dameon Pierce.

6. The Chargers were very chunky on offense against the Texans. There were 16 plays that went for at least ten yards for the Chargers of their 67 plays. Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler were fantastic for Los Angeles.

7. The pass rush was non-existent for the Texans. This was one of the more disappointing aspects of the day to consider the Chargers were playing a rookie right guard, their center is injured but playing, and the left tackle was a backup left tackle. Nothing seemed to get home on an injured Justin Herbert. The Texans recorded just two quarterback hits in the game.

8. The linebackers got worked again. This is the absolute weakest unit on the team right now. They look like they’re easily exploited by most opposing offenses.

9. It was a rough day for the rookie class of the Texans. Derek Stingley was handled by Mike Williams on multiple occasions in key spots. Kenyon Green allowed a big sack and had a holding penalty erase a huge play. Jalen Pitre was the target of some offensive success in the Chargers' passing game.

10. Not all the rookies had a bad day. Dameon Pierce is so much fun to watch. He has the chance to be a truly impactful player for this team. His 75-yard touchdown scamper gave the team some juice, and he constantly fights and gets extra yards when the ball is headed his way. He finished with 14 carries and six catches for 20 total touches.

11. The Texans need teams to help them stay in games, and even then, it is a challenge. The tough part about where the Texans are through four games is there are some positives to look at and point to, but not enough to say the team is surely headed in the right direction. There surely has to be some adjustment by the team when the season is where it is after nearly a quarter of the year. The current direction isn’t going to lead anywhere positive soon.

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