Welcome to Part I of my Monday Morning Quarterback Post for Week 7. What a lousy week for NFL action. First there was no Cowboys game as they were on their bye week. Seriously, what's the point of even playing if there is no Cowboys game! If that wasn't bad enough the matchups this week left a lot to be desired. As expected blow outs littered the schedule. Even the premium matchups turned into routs.
Oh well, no use bitching about it. Although I guess I already did. This post will cover all the games on the early Sunday afternoon slate and a few rare comments about the Thursday night game. Now that I have decided to split the schedule into two parts I guess coverage of the Thursday game will become a regular thing. Part II this week will cover the late Sunday games and the Monday night contest.
No games for the Cowboys (BOOO!), Bills, Jaguars, Chargers, Vikings and Steelers this week as they all had a bye.
Just remember I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and I'm extremely biased. Feel free to agree or disagree about anything mentioned here. All comments are welcome.
AFC Letdowns
Week 7 was loaded with poor matchups, but the early slate contained two huge AFC showdowns with major playoff implications. These should have been close, exciting hard fought games. Should have been. They both turned into unexpected routs. While you can’t say nobody expected the teams who won to come out on top, I think it is fair to say nobody expected them to totally thrash their opponents.
Source
Bengals 41 Ravens 17
To say the Ravens have owned Cincinnati the past several years is a bit of understatement. Hell despite playing each other twice every season since they both reside in the AFC North, the Bengals had scored exactly two TDs in the last two years against Baltimore. Woof. On top of that Lamar Jackson, who had never lost in October before (9-0), has dominated Cincinnati since he took over in Baltimore (5-0).
In case they didn’t realize before the game, these are not the same old Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens certainly know it now by getting their asses handed to them at home.
This game started slowly. The 1st quarter was a kicking affair, full of punts and field goals as the period ended with a 3-3 score. Things picked up in the 2nd quarter as both squads broke through for a TD. The Bengals also added another FG to take a 13-10 lead into the half. The first half was what I thought the game would be: a close tightly contested battle. The narrative changed in the second half. Big time.
The Ravens took the opening kickoff in the second half and Lamar Jackson promptly drove them down the field for a TD and Baltimore’s first lead of the game at 17-13. It was also their last lead of the game as Cincinnati blew them right out of the water the rest of the day.
The Bengals struck back with a TD of their own to reclaim the lead 20-17 and after forcing a Baltimore punt started the rout with this awesome TD pass from Joe Burrow to rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1452352562523475979
- i
That play deflated the Ravens, they might as well went home after it was over. Baltimore failed to put together any drives after that as the Bengals continued to pour it on and left town with a 41-17 victory.
Remember when the Bengals were ridiculed after the draft when they bypassed an offensive lineman in the 1st round and instead decided to draft Joe Burrow’s college teammate Ja’Marr Chase? They say he who laughs last laughs best and the Bengals are laughing pretty hard right now. Burrow (23/38, 416 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) torched the Ravens secondary with Chase (8 receptions, 201 yards, 1 TD) leading the way. Ja’Marr is breaking all kinds of records for a rookie wide receiver. C.J. Uzomah (3 receptions, 91 yards, 2 TDs) also chipped in with some long plays.
The Bengals made plenty of headway on the ground as well as Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine combined for 111 yards and 2 TDs on 23 carries. The defense was also stellar, containing Lamar Jackson and sacking him five times. Cincinnati only recorded 17 sacks last year. Through seven games this season they have 19. The Bengals improved to 5-2, 1st place in the AFC North by tiebreaker. They head to New Jersey next week to face the Jets.
I’m starting to drink the Kool-Aid, the Bengals are looking more and more like serious contenders each week. Here is something I never dreamed I would type before the season started: after Week 7 the Bengals currently hold the #1 seed in the AFC. Amazing.
One week after crushing the Chargers at home, the Ravens laid an egg against the Bengals. The defense kept it close in the 1st half, but wore down as the game went on. Offensively the Ravens never found a groove. Lamar Jackson (15/31, 257 yards, 1 TD) didn’t have many open targets and the Bengals punished him with sacks. Jackson also didn’t get any help from the ground game. The running back committee was stonewalled, only gaining 27 yards and a TD on 12 rushes. Lamar (12 rushes, 88 yards) was the only runner to find success and he was mostly running for his life.
Baltimore fell to 5-2, second place in the AFC North by tiebreaker. They have a bye next week and they need it to lick their wounds from this beat down. Still I’m sure they’ll come back strong.
Source
Titans 27 Chiefs 3
This was a game of two halves. In the first half the Titans totally destroyed the Chiefs and left them for dead. In the second half the Titans stood around the carcass and waited for the clock to run out, knowing full well KC wasn’t coming back.
The Titans came out roaring, scoring on all five of their first half possessions. The Chiefs defense has been poor, but they were an absolute sieve in Tennessee. KC decided to concentrate their efforts on stopping Derrick Henry, so Ryan Tannehill happily picked the defense apart.
KC was so intent on stopping Henry on the ground that the Titans decided to pull a play from their bag of tricks to score their first TD:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1452321942820855817
- i
You know it was a bad day for the Chiefs when Derrick Henry had more TD throws than Patrick Mahomes. While the Titans were rolling on offense Mahomes chipped in with two turnovers to aid their cause, a pick and a fumble. Tennessee’s defense is bad, but the Chiefs sloppy play made them look like the Steel Curtain.
After taking a 27-0 lead into the half, the Titans pumped the brakes and were content to run out the clock since KC was showing no signs of life on offense. Man what a damning statement about how far the Chiefs offense is falling this year when a team can just run out the clock. KC wasn’t helped either when Mahomes got knocked out of the game and Chad Henne had to replace him in the 4th quarter. Although Henne did lead the Chiefs longest drive of the game, that ended with another turnover.
Tennessee loves to run the rock, yet the Chiefs kept the box loaded. So instead Ryan Tannehill (21/27, 270 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 rushing TD) led the offense. He connected with A.J. Brown (8 receptions, 133 yards, 1 TD) for a number of long plays. Henry’s (29 carries, 98 yards) main play was his TD pass. The rest of the game he just barreled into the line to chew up the clock. No need to unleash the beast this week.
Tennessee had no need to pad the stats in the second half with their huge lead. They were content to hold onto the ball and bleed the clock with a 13 minute edge in time of possession. It wasn’t surprising the offense did so well, but the defense was another story. The Titans defense has been brutal at times, but they dominated the Chiefs by sacking Mahomes four times and forcing three turnovers. All around top notch showing by the Titans, who improved to 5-2. Tennessee holds 1st place in the AFC South and will travel to Indianapolis next week.
I just have one question for the Titans. How in the hell did you guys lose to the Jets?
The Chiefs need to regroup fast because their season is spiraling downward quickly. We all knew their defense was awful, it is the offensive troubles that are alarming. Patrick Mahomes (20/35, 206 yards, 1 INT, 1 fumble) has become a turnover machine, he is pushing too hard to jumpstart the offense and making terrible decisions in the process. Of course he is feeling the pressure to carry the load by himself since the Chief’s running attack is becoming non-existent. Mahomes (6 carries, 35 yards) led the team in rushes and yards despite leaving the game early. That was some appalling play-calling by Andy Reid. Reid needs to take a hard look in the mirror after dialing up 51 passing plays and only coming away with 3 points.
Kansas City fell to 3-4, tied for last place in the AFC West. They have now dropped games against most of the serious contenders in the AFC. They have a bye next week and boy do they need it.
Around the League
Source
Packers 24 No-Names 10
The No-Names had a tough task this week heading into Green Bay to face the Packers. I’m sure if they were told beforehand they would lead the time of possession and rack up 25 first downs with 430 yards of offense that would have been thrilled. Hahaha. Despite all that offensive output the No-Names still lost by two TDs. It could have been worse, they were barely in the game after the 1st quarter.
So how did Washington gain all those yards in offense and still only score 10 points? They simply fell apart in the red zone. Four times those drove down near the goal line and all four times they failed to score a single point. Brutal.
When you watch the Packers play they seem to be in control of most of their games without ever really hammering their opponents. Who knows, maybe they are trying to conserve some energy for the playoffs. Aaron Rodgers (27/35, 274 yards, 3 TDs) was his usual dominant self. Also per usual Davante Adams (6 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD) was his top target. The Packers offense was hampered by a lack of a running game. The running back committee only gained 57 yards on 15 rushes.
The defense bent, way back, but they never did break. Washington gained a ton of yards, but had few points to show for it. Green Bay kept them off the board by tightening up in the red zone and forcing two turnovers. The Packers improved to 6-1, first place in the NFC North. They have a huge showdown coming up on a short week as they’ll travel to Arizona to play the undefeated Cardinals on Thursday. Finally a Thursday night game I’ll be happy to watch.
Taylor Heinicke put on a show in Green Bay, but a couple of red zone errors doomed the No-Names. Heinicke (25/37, 269 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was solid in the air with the help of Terry McLaurin (7 receptions, 122 yards, 1 TD). Heinicke (10 rushes, 95 yards) also led a rushing attack that piled up 195 yards on the ground.
That was the good, but we can’t ignore the bad. Heinicke had an opening to run for a TD in the 3rd quarter, but he started to slide before he reached the endzone. Even though he crossed the goal line and was untouched, the rules for quarterbacks say they are down wherever they start to slide. Awful mental error that was compounded on the next play where Washington got stuffed on 4th and goal to turn the ball over on downs. Heinicke also threw a pick in the endzone. Those two mistakes cost Washington at least 10 if not 14 points.
The defense that carried the No-Names last season continues to be missing in action. They did sack Rodgers three times, yet he still carved them up. Washington was considered a favorite to win their division in the preseason, it is rapidly becoming a season to forget. The No-Names fell to 2-5, tied with the Giants and Eagles for second, if you are an optimist, and last, if you are a realist, place in the NFC East. They’ll head to Denver next week.
Browns 17 Broncos 14
Last Thursday the reeling Broncos caught a break. They got to face a Cleveland squad without Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. On top of that, even though Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham returned to action both left the game early after re-aggravating their injuries. The Browns essentially sent a J.V. squad out on offense. They still beat the Broncos.
God damn Denver, that 3-0 start couldn’t possibly be more than a distant memory by now. The Broncos defense is supposed to be good yet they surrendered 376 yards of offense to a team literally full of backups. Maybe they just don’t care because the offense has become trash. Teddy Bridgewater (23/33, 187 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) is not the answer at quarterback. If you throw out all his garbage time numbers his stats are pathetic. After a promising start the Broncos are flushing their season right down the toilet. Denver fell to 3-4, tied with the Chiefs for last place in the AFC West. They host a team with no name next week.
The Browns season was also heading downward, but they didn’t let a mountain of injuries on offense become an excuse to throw in the towel. Third string running back D’Ernest Johnson (22 rushes, 146 yards, 1 TD) had a monster game and carried the load on offense. Case Keenum (21/33, 199 yards, 1 TD) made his first start in two years a solid one. With the health of Baker Mayfield in serious trouble right now, the Browns needed this win to keep hope alive. They improved to 4-3, third place in the AFC North. They host the Steelers next week.
Giants 25 Panthers 3
Speaking of 3-0 teams that have completely shit the bed, how you doing Carolina? The Panthers fall from the top has been even more dreadful than the Broncos. At least Denver makes their games look better with garbage time padding of the stats.
For the first time all season the Giants defense came to play so the offense didn’t have to do much. And they didn’t. Daniel Jones (23/33, 201 yards, 1 TD) was alright, the main thing for him was he didn’t turn the ball over. Devontae Booker (14 rushes, 51 yards, 1 TD) was also just alright in filling in for the injured Saquon Barkley. Not a great showing by the offense, but certainly good enough when the defense is crushing and even chipping in with a safety.
Good win for the G-men, but I think it had a lot more to do with the failings of Carolina than any real progress made on their end. The Giants improved to 2-5, tied with the Eagles and No-Names behind Dallas in the NFC East. They get a bye next week and better use it well because they return with a game against the desperate Chiefs.
Whatever the Panthers are paying Christian McCaffrey it isn’t enough. With McCaffrey in the line-up this team looked like a playoff contender. Without him they look like they’d struggle to beat a junior college team. Sam Darnold (16/25, 111 yards, 1 INT) doesn’t look good enough to be a backup, let alone a starting quarterback. A truly awful performance that saw him getting benched in the second half. He doesn’t have to worry about being replaced however as Phillip Walker (3/14, 33 yards) was atrocious.
If you think those numbers are gruesome (and gruesome is being kind) don’t forget the Giants came into this game with the 31st ranked defense. Pitiful performance by the Panthers. Carolina dropped to 3-4, last place in the NFC South. You know you’re bad when you fall behind the Falcons. Speaking of Atlanta, the Panthers head there next week.
Patriots 54 Jets 13
In a day full of non-competitive games, the Patriots handed out the biggest ass-whooping of them all. It should really come as no surprise that the Jets were the recipient.
The Patriots came out hot right out of the gate and never took their foot of off the gas. It’s no secret Bill Belichick held a grudge against the Jets ever since he left that organization and I think he gets an extra thrill by humiliating them. Mac Jones (24/36, 307 yards, 2 TDs) had his first 300-yard game. Damien Harris (14 rushes, 106 yards, 2 TDs) ran right through the defense.
Hard to believe but this was the Patriots first win at home this season. They were 0-4 going into this game. New England improved to 3-4, which stinks when you realize they’ve played five of their seven games in Foxborough. Currently second place in the AFC East, they’ll face much stiffer competition next week in L.A. against the Chargers.
The Jets are the Jets and that is bad enough, but it was even worse this week when Zach Wilson (6/10, 51 yards) left the game early with an injury. Wilson doesn’t play defense however and the Jets D was mauled by the Patriots. Bob Saleh is supposed to be a defensive guru yet what can we really expect him to do with a roster bereft of talent. Hell we should be impressed he has managed to win one game with this mess. The Jets felt to 1-5, third place in the AFC East. They host the Bengals next week. Good luck.
Falcons 30 Dolphins 28
Dear God the Dolphins can’t do anything right. We all know how Falcons game go, they get a big second half lead and then lose in heartbreaking and usually embarrassing fashion. Well Atlanta took a 27-14 lead early in the 4th quarter and then quickly coughed it up by surrendering two TDs to Miami. Another stinker for the Falcons right? Not this week. Miami is so bad they gave up a last second FG to let Atlanta escape with the victory.
Matt Ryan (25/40, 336 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 1 fumble) was fine when he wasn’t turning the ball over. Most of his damage was done with rookie tight end Kyle Pitts (7 receptions, 163 yards), who had a career day. The Falcons offense got a lot of help from their special teams and defense. A blocked field goal attempt and two interceptions set up the offense with three short fields that were converted into 17 points. Taking advantage of the other team’s mistakes is what good teams do. The Falcons aren’t any good, but they took advantage anyway.
The win improved the Falcons record to 3-3. 3-3? That can’t be right, can it? I mean Atlanta stinks. Oh I see. They have defeated the Jets, Giants and Dolphins, who have a combined record of 4-16. I thought I was having a stroke there for a second. Atlanta sits in third place in the NFC South. They’ll host the free-falling Panthers next week.
Miami is a train wreck. They made huge mistakes to help give the Falcons a big 4th quarter lead, somehow came back to take the lead, and then the defense blew it in the last two minutes. Don’t they know when the Falcons try to hand you a win you take it? Tua Tagovailoa (32/40, 291 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) was like Matt Ryan, fine when he wasn’t turning the ball over. I’d say Tua’s outing was more impressive since he has much less talent to work with.
If the Dolphins think they can turn this ship around by trading for Deshaun Watson they are delusional. Watson can’t play defense and I doubt he get much more out of this crappy roster. The Dolphins fell to 1-6, last place in the AFC South. That’s right, even worse than the Jets. Hang your head in shame Miami as you travel to Buffalo next week.
That's the end of Part I. Part II will be out tomorrow, barring disaster, and will cover the late games from Sunday and Monday. Spoiler alert: the other games weren't any better so expect plenty of sarcasm and disgust.
Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment below.