Shawn Hubbard, baltimoreravens.com
Lamar Jackson
Week six of the NFL is in the books and it didn't disappoint. We saw upsets, thing that'll make you upset, and more of the same ol same ol from some teams/players. Here are my observations:
The Good
-Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had another performance that leaves you in awe. 21/33 for 236 yards and ran the ball 19 times for 152 yards and a touchdown. While I'm not all for a quarterback running this much, Jackson hasn't taken too many hard hits. However, if he continues to run as much as he has, it'll catch up to him eventually. Until then, let's enjoy this talented quarterback.
-The Vikings' Stefon Diggs was the beneficiary this week of the angst turned production when it comes to the pass game. Diggs had seven catches for 162 yards and three touchdowns. I was impressed with Kirk Cousins' ability to hit him deep a couple times on two long touchdown catches (62 and 51 yards respectively). If the Vikings get this kind of production, they could be a tough out for the rest of the season. Cousins had 333 yards passing and four touchdowns.
-Welcome back Sam Darnold! The Jets quarterback came back from a case of mononuecleosis to help his winless team beat the Cowboys 24-22. 22/32 for 338 yards and two touchdowns, including a 92-yarder to Robbie Anderson. What a difference it was to have him under center. Will this spur on a playoff run? That remains to be seen. At 1-4, it's highly unlikely, but not impossible.
The Bad
-In a game that pitted two of the worst teams in the league against one another, would one expect the Redskins/Dolphins game to end in any other way than an epic failure? The Dolphins scored a touchdown and were an extra point away from tieing the game, but they decided to go for two. They called a bubble screen to running back Kenyan Drake...and he dropped it. They're still winless and the Redskins got their first win because of it.
-With the score 7-7, 3rd&Goal, ball on the 1 yard line, two and a half minutes into the 2nd quarter, 49er's quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw a ridiculous pass. He appeared to get happy feet in the pocket as the pressure collapsed it quickly, and lobbed a pass up to Marcus Peters. Peters, unfortunately, plays for the Rams. Good thing the 9ers went on to win 20-7, or this could've been really bad.
-Speaking of interceptions, Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco wishes he didn't get credit for one he threw against the Titans. Rookie tight end, and 1st round pick, Noah Fant lost a ball looking for it over his shoulder. The ball hit his back and allowed Titan safety Kevin Bayard to get one of the easiest picks of his career. This is clearly a case for not counting all interceptions against the quarterback.
The Ugly
-Tough week for kickers around the league. Falcons' Matt Bryant cost his team a chance to tie the game by missing an extra point with 1:53 left in the game and they ended up losing 34-33. Texans' Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a field goal and an extra point in his team's 31-24 win. Although he missed a 60-yard drop kick, it was cool to see Panthers' Joey Slye attempt one. At least he didn't cost or nearly cost his team the game.
-Bears' offensive lineman Kyle Long has found himself on IR for the fourth year in a row. This time it's a hip injury that's taken the veteran down. At 30 years old and no guaranteed money left on his deal, it may be over for Long. He's been good, but injury-prone offensive lineman over 30 don't have much of a role outside of backup or camp body, and even those are iffy.
-The end of the road may be near for the top two picks in the 2015 draft. Bucs' quarterback Jameis Winston and Titans' quarterback Marcus Mariota are both playing in their fifth year option years of their rookie deals, and neither seems to have earned an extension or the right to another opportunity to start. Winston threw five interceptions against the Panthers and Mariota was benched in favor of backup Ryan Tannehill. Careers can be resurrected, but I doubt it in either case. The best they can hope for now is to hold a clipboard and keep cashing NFL checks for a few more years.
By now, we're starting to see the water find its level. Seven of the eight divisions have a leader, albeit some are by slim margins. Only the NFC East has a tie at the top with the flalling Cowboys and underwhelming Eagles tied at 3-3. There's also a line being drawn between true title contenders, and the pretenders. The next four to six weeks will tell us a lot more. I guarantee that one of the post-week six division leaders will be the eventual champion. Until then, keep me at my word.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Welcome to Chaos Week in the NBA. For some, anyway.
Going into Tuesday, there are 55 games left in the season — and 19 of the 20 postseason seeds still to be decided. Oklahoma City will be No. 1 in the Western Conference. Everything else is still at least somewhat up for grabs.
To give an idea, here's a breakdown of who can finish where when the regular season ends Sunday:
—East No. 1 and East No. 2: Cleveland (likely the No. 1) or Boston. The Cavs are four games up with four to play.
—East No. 3: New York has a three-game lead on Indiana.
—East No. 4: Indiana has a three-game lead on Milwaukee. The Bucks could get to No. 4, and New York could fall to 4.
—East No. 5: Milwaukee has a 1 1/2 game lead on Detroit. Indiana could fall to No. 5, and Detroit could get to 5.
—East No. 6: Detroit can’t fall past this spot. Milwaukee finishes 6th if the Pistons catch the Bucks.
—East No. 7: Orlando, Atlanta and Chicago could all finish here.
—East Nos. 8-9-10: Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago and Miami could all finish here.
—East Eliminated: Toronto, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Washington.
—West No. 1: It’s Oklahoma City.
—West No. 2: The Rockets will probably finish here. The Los Angeles Lakers can catch them, but it’s a long shot.
—West Nos. 3-4-5-6-7-8: Here’s true wackiness. Houston can’t fall past No. 3. The other six teams in contention here — the Lakers, Denver, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State, Minnesota and Memphis — could all still finish as high as third and as low as eighth. Endless possibilities.
—West No. 9: It’s probably Sacramento, maybe Dallas.
—West No. 10: It’s probably Dallas, maybe Phoenix.
—West Eliminated: Portland, San Antonio, New Orleans, Utah.
Add it up, and 21 of the 30 teams are still playing for something other than lottery odds with less than a week to go in the regular season.
Tuesday's games
Memphis at Charlotte: The Grizzlies need a win to climb out of play-in range.
Chicago at Cleveland: Bulls looking to move out of 9-10 game range, Cavs looking to clinch No. 1 seed.
Washington at Indiana: Pacers looking to wrap up home-court for Round 1.
Atlanta at Orlando: A huge matchup for East play-in positioning. Could be the first of three games between these two in an eight-day span.
Boston at New York: Celtics need 2-0 road finish to match NBA’s best road mark. Knicks looking to lock up No. 3 seed.
Minnesota at Milwaukee: Wolves trying to stay out of play-in, Bucks trying to move closer to No. 5 seed.
LA Lakers at Oklahoma City: Lakers seeking a two-game sweep of trip to OKC ... and then Luka Doncic goes to Dallas on Wednesday.
Golden State at Phoenix: Suns need a big finish to have any chance. Warriors hoping for home-court in Round 1.
San Antonio at LA Clippers: One thing to note; the Spurs’ Chris Paul is still on track to become the second-oldest player to start 82 games, which would be an amazing story.
New Orleans at Brooklyn: No playoff impact.
National TV schedule
Tuesday has a TNT doubleheader, with New York-Boston and Golden State-Phoenix. There's an ESPN doubleheader on Wednesday — Lakers-Mavericks for Luka Doncic's return to Dallas, followed by Denver-Sacramento.
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200), Cleveland (+500), then the Lakers (+1000), Golden State (+1200) and Denver (+1600). Nobody else has odds shorter than 35-1.
Key dates
April 11 — All 30 NBA teams play.
April 12 — No games.
April 13 — All 30 NBA teams play, end of regular season.
April 15 — The No. 7 and No. 8 finishers in both conferences play to start the play-in tournament. Winners are the No. 7 seed for the playoffs; losers will host play-in elimination games on April 18.
April 16 — The No. 9 and No. 10 finishers in both conferences play. Winners move on to April 18; losers are finished for the season.
April 18 — The April 15 game losers play host to the April 16 game winners. Winners are the No. 8 seed for the playoffs; losers are finished for the season.
April 19 — NBA playoffs begin.
Numbers watch
—The NBA record for total 3-pointers made in a season fell on Sunday. Boston also has broken the NBA's single-season records for 3-pointers made and attempted by a team.
—For the first time, the NBA could have three players make 300 3-pointers in a season. Detroit's Malik Beasley has 305, Minnesota's Anthony Edwards has 303 and Golden State’s Stephen Curry has 294. Edwards and Beasley are the fourth and fifth players with 300 3s in a season in NBA history. Curry has five seasons of 300 3s or more, James Harden has one and Klay Thompson has one.
—There have been four instances of teammates each having 250 3-pointers in a season: Curry and Thompson did it four times when they were the Warriors' “Splash Brothers.” Boston could have three players reach that number this season: Derrick White is already there with 258, Payton Pritchard has 246 and Jayson Tatum has 243.
Stat of the day
The Thunder are on the brink of setting an NBA record for point differential. They’re winning by an average of 12.5 points per game; the record is 12.3 by the 1971-72 Lakers.
Oklahoma City has outscored teams by 977 points so far; three teams — the 1971-72 Lakers (1,007), the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (1,005) and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (1,004) are the only teams to enjoy a 1,000-point differential over a full season.