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Water will always find its level. The same holds true for contenders and pretenders in the NFL. Here are my observations from Week Seven:
The Good
-When the Ravens faced off against the Seahawks in Seattle, we were treated to two of the most dynamic playmakers at the quarterback position in the league with Lamar Jackson facing off against Russell Wilson. While neither guy completed more than 50% of their passes, it was exciting to see them work. They are amazing to watch scramble around and make plays. Wilson is the better passer, while Jackson is the better runner. The Ravens won 30-16 thanks to their two turnover returns for touchdowns. Would love to see this matchup in a Super Bowl one day.
-The Patriots keep on rolling. They mashed the Jets 33-0 on Monday Night Football. While Tom Brady will get most of the credit, Bill Belichek and that defense deserves their fair share. They held the Jets to 154 total yards and even that is about 107 yards less than their season average. Brady is averaging almost 300 passing yards a game this year at age 42 and is showing no signs of slowing down.
-The San Francisco 49ers are 6-0 for the first time since 1990. They gained their sixth victory by way of an ugly 9-0 win over the Skins in what seemed to be played in the middle of a monsoon. To put that into perspective: the average rent was $465/month, gas was $1.34/gallon, a home was $123,000, and I was in 4th grade. Watch out for this team. They're legit on both sides of the ball.
The Bad
-Seahawks rookie receiver DK Metcalf committed a virtual non-contact fumble in crunch time. Down by 10 with about four minutes left, he caught a bubble screen, tried to make a move, and dropped the ball after minimal to no contact. The Ravens' corner Marlon Humphrey eventually picked it up and scored to put the game out of reach. Metcalf will be going through ball carrying drills this week.
-In a battle of the top two quarterbacks taken in the past draft, the Cardinals' Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones both committed boneheaded mistakes. Jones tried to lead block for Saquon Barkley and was laid out by Haason Reddick. Later on, Murray was scrambling while in field goal range and up 24-21 with just over two minutes left. Instead of sliding to take more time off the clock, he ran out of bounds. It didn't cost them the game, but it was a dumbass play nonetheless.
-Dolphins rookie defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was ejected a couple weeks ago for suplexing Chargers' running back Austin Ekeler and said he "didn't know" he couldn't do that. This week, he was ejected for throwing a punch on the second play of the game
The Ugly
-Falcons running back Devonta Freeman got himself ejected in the 3rd quarter of their loss to the Rams for trying to fight Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald of all people! Donald, at one point, lifted Freeman off the ground as if he were a small child. It's bad enough the Falcons have fallen off a cliff since blowing the biggest lead in Super Bowl history. It was compounded when Freeman's backup Ito Smith left the game with a concussion.
-Dolphins safety Bobby McCain had an ugly encounter with Bills fans after their 31-21 loss. McCain got into a verbal sparring match with a 13 year old and allegedly spit in the face of another fan. While fans have every right to express themselves, they shouldn't overstep any boundaries. At the same time, players need to act accordingly, especially knowing fans affinity for trolling them into something.
-Several key players sustained injuries this past week. Vikings' receiver Adam Thielen went down with a hamstring injury in the 1st quarter. Lions' running back Kerryon Johnson (knee) and corner Darius Slay (hamstring) both went down. The Falcons also lost quarterback Matt Ryan with an ankle injury in the 4th quarter. Keep an eye on the injury report later this week, especially if any of these guys are on your fantasy football teams.
There's only two undefeated teams left now. One isn't a surprise at all (Patriots), the other is a complete surprise (49ers). I doubt either one stays undefeated due to the law of averages. New England will slip at some point to someone, and the 49ers will have a game in which their inexperience will catch up to them. Besides, there are too many good teams out there that can give either one of them a loss. There are nine other teams with either one or two losses that can be considered serious contenders right now. To say there are 11 teams in the league that have zero, one, or two lossess at this point in the season and all of them are a threat feeds into the parity narrative. Here's to the ride the rest of the way and hoping it has as much parity as the first seven weeks have had.
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The phrase most associated with the late former Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis was “Just win baby.” One has to think Al would strongly approve of the Houston Astros. Going to the fifth inning Sunday against the Mariners the Astros were facing a 3-0 deficit and staring at the prospect of being swept out of Seattle and having their American League West division lead slashed to just two games. Now after roaring from behind with 11 unanswered runs to take the series finale in the Emerald City, and then sweeping three games from the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, the Astros stand six games up with 60 games to go. So, if the Astros play just .500 ball the rest of the way (which would have them finish with 90 victories), the Mariners have to play .600 ball to catch them. If somehow the Astros are to maintain their season long win pace to the finish line they’d close with 95 wins, and the race is already over unless someone thinks the M’s are poised to uncork a finishing kick of 41-19 or better. It’s quite a pleasing perch from which the Astros survey the standings. Coupled with the freefalling Detroit Tigers having dropped nine of their last ten games, the Astros amazingly start this homestand sporting the best record in the entire American League. On the homestand they follow four games against the team with the second-worst record in the American League (Athletics) with three versus the team with the second-worst record in the National League (Nationals). I know, I know. There is fear of the Astros playing down to the competition, but that is not the way to look at it. A bad Major League team can beat a good team in a series at any time. If it happens it happens, but it wouldn’t mean it happened only because the Astros didn’t take their opponent seriously. This isn’t the NBA.
Trade deadline looming
Of course, It hasn’t been all good news with Isaac Paredes badly injuring a hamstring Sunday. Paredes could be back in three weeks (doubtful), he could miss the rest of the season. GET WELL SOON JEREMY PENA! Lance McCullers’s latest Injured List stint could be considered addition by subtraction for the Astros’ starting rotation. Whether impacted by his blister issue, Lance was lousy in four of his last five starts. So, one week from the trade deadline, if general manager Dana Brown has the ammo to get one deal done, where does he make the upgrade? The left-handed hitter everyone knows the Astros can use regardless of Yordan Alvarez’s status is a natural priority. With the Astros’ weak farm system it would seem difficult for Brown to put forth the winning offer for the top bats that could be in play. That probably rings even truer now, since if he wasn’t already untouchable, Brice Matthews may have cemented untouchable status by darn near winning the first two games of the Diamondbacks series by himself. Matthews is going to struggle mightily to hit for a good average if he can’t make notable improvement in the contact department, but the power is obvious, as is the athleticism in the field. The 23-year-old Matthews and 22-year-old Cam Smith (though presently mired in a three for 36 slump) are the clear (and right now only) two young shining beacons for the lineup’s future.
You can't have enough pitching
While Brandon Walter has been a revelation, a starting pitcher would make sense unless the decision is to hope Spencer Arrighetti and/or Cristian Javier can contribute meaningfully upon return to the big leagues, likely sometime next month. Going after a reliever or two may make more sense in terms of availability and transaction cost. Overall the Astros’ bullpen has been excellent, but Bryan Abreu is the only trustworthy right-handed option for Joe Espada. Back to Walter. Barely two months ago no way Walter himself would have believed he’d be where he is now. Nine starts since being summoned basically out of desperation, Walter has a 3.35 earned run average, and a stunning 13 to one strikeout-to-walk ratio with his 52 strikeouts against a measly four walks allowed in 53 2/3 innings. Walter has pitched fabulously in seven of his nine starts. He only has two wins, but that’s because in five of the six Walter starts the Astros didn’t win the game they failed to score more than two runs. Walter turns 29 years old in September. His only prior big league experience was 23 innings in relief with a 6.26 ERA for the Red Sox two years ago. The Bosox released him last August, the Astros signed him basically as minor league depth. Look at him (and the Astros) now.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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