To be honest, I did not watch a lot of NFL football this weekend, as my Bears played Thursday and my Miami Hurricanes put on a show on Saturday, but I did watch some and read as much as I could about the other games in order to put together a bit of a report for you. Here is that report ...
Game of the Week
Cleveland Browns 27 Tennessee Titans 24. Seriously. This is not a joke. Another contender was the Dolphins first victory of the season over the New York Jets. Again, seriously. Close game throughout - with both teams scoring 10 points in the final quarter. DeShaun Watson (QB for the Browns) threw for 308 yards and Tony Pollard (RB for the Titans) rushed for 129 yards and 3 TDs. Carnell Tate really starting to assert himself with 5 catches for 69 yards and fellow rookie K.C. Concepcion had 8 catches for 129 yards himself. Actually just a really good game. Cleveland leads the AFC North at this moment, believe it or not.
Best Team Performance
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers annihilated the Carolina Panthers - in Charlotte - 43-13, and this just demonstrates how important a true starting quarterback is in the NFL. Baker Mayfield wasn't even called upon to do much (7-11 for 64 yards and 1 TD), but his presence no doubt helped clear some running lanes for Bucky Irving (106 yards, 2 TDs on 24 carries), Kenneth Gainwell (88 yards on 14 carries), and even Sean Tucker (52 yards, 1 TD on 7 carries). The Panthers were so thoroughly dominated by the Buccaneers that Kenny Pickett made an appearance. Yes, THAT Kenny Pickett. Tampa with its 2-5 record is now only one game back in the win column of the division lead.
Least Impressive Team Performance
Baltimore Ravens (second half). The Ravens turned a 13-0 halftime lead over the Cincinnati Bengals into a 35-13 rout at the hands of Joe Burrow (22-30, 292 yards, 4 TDs), Tee Higgins (6 catches, 148 yards, 1 TD), and Ja'Marr Chase (5 catches, 62 yards, 1 TD).
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Offense)
Caleb Williams, QB - Chicago Bears. For the second straight week, Caleb Williams earns this honor, this time by outdueling fellow 2024 QB draft pick Drake Maye. Williams was 22-33 for 308 yards and 2 TDs, while spreading the ball around as 5 different receivers had at least 3 catches, and the 3 were caught by Cole Kmet who left the game - and the season - with a knee injury. This week will be interesting as the Bears take on the number 1 passing and total defense in the Seattle Seahawks.
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Defense)
Alex Singleton, LB - Denver Broncos. Singleton finished the game with 17 tackes, including 1 sack as the Broncos defeated the Arizona Cardinals 30-16.
And because this week deserves two mentions ...
Kendal Daniels, LB - Atlanta Falcons. Daniels was a large contributor to the Falcons 29-20 upset-win over the previously undefeated San Francisco 49ers as he made 11 total tackles, and in the critical fourth quarter came up with a big interception and a timely fumble recovery on successive downs.
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Special Teams)
Dylan Laube, KR - Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders may be streaking in the wrong direction, but not so for Laube, who returned two kickoffs for 78 yards giving the Raiders offense pretty good field position for most of the game.
Most Impressive Team Performance (Premier League)
Bournemouth. Bournemouth went into Old Rafford and annihilated Manchester United 3-0, behind two first half goals from Rayan and Marcus Tavernier, and then polished off in the second half with one from Evanilson.
Most Impressive Individual Performance (Premier League)
Nicolas Jackson, F - Aston Villa. Jacson scored a brace surrounding Erling Haaland's league-leading 9th goal of the season as Aston Villa beats Manchester City 2-1.
Goat of the Week
Bryce Young, QB - Carolina Panthers. Not so much a goat as just horrible play. Young was 14-27 for 163 yards with 1 TD, 2 INTs, and was sacked 5 times. And he was pulled for Kenny Pickett in Carolina's 43-13 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Goat of the Week (Premier League)
Mike Penders, G - Chelsea. Just truly one of the worst goalkeeper own-goals ever.
Breakthrough Performance
Omar Cooper, WR/Mason Taylor, TE - New York Jets. The second-year tight end and the rookie wide receiver showed promise for the future with both hauling in five receptions and Cooper gaining 115 yards - with 1 TD - and Taylor gaining 62 yards - with 2 TDs. Whomever is going to the throwing the ball for the Jets in the future is going to have some talented pass catchers.
Finally
Cam Skattebo, RB - New York Giants. Skattebo, who has shown flashes before, put together a complete game, earing 124 yards on the ground with 1 TD on just 17 rushes, and showing that he can be a primary back in this league.
Impact Injury
Aaron Jones, Jr, RB - Minnesota Vikings. Suffered a knee injury, and the potential impact on the Vikings is huge, given that the undefeated team is being carried by its defense, and has barely any offensive presence as it is.
Team Rising
Team Falling
Indianapolis Colts. A respectable 16-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings gives them a disrespectable 2-5 records, and the firesale began today with the trade of star guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks.
Best Teams
(All teams will be ranked by record, even if teams with more losses may be better than a team with fewer losses, since Bill Parcells always said that you are what your record says. The inverse is true for the Worst Teams rankings.) (Yes, I know that you could have a worse record and be better, but we are working off record.)
1. Minnesota Vikings (6-0)
2. San Francisco 49ers (6-1)
3. Buffalo Bills (5-1)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (5-1)
6. Chicago Bears (5-2)
Worst Teams
(All winless teams will be ranked here until all teams have at least 1 win, then I will rank them based upon which teams I think are the worst, regardless of record.)
32. Los Angeles Chargers (0-6)
31. Tennessee Titans (1-6)
30. Miami Dolphins (1-5)
29. Washington Commanders (1-4-1)
28. New York Jets (2-5)
Middle Teams
15. Green Bay Packers (4-3)
16. Baltimore Ravens (4-3)
17. Carolina Panthers (3-3)
18. Los Angeles Ram (3-4)
18. Los Angeles Ram (3-4)
Last Week's Trivia Question/Answer
Question: The Los Angeles Chargers sit at 0-6 on the season. Who was the Chargers starting quarterback the last time the Chargers started 0-6?
Answer: Jim Harbaugh, in 2000.
Preview - Game(s) of the Week
Pretty packed week!
6. Kansas City Chiefs v. Denver Broncos. This would have been higher on the list if KC hadn't lost to Seattle this week; and could have been waaaay higher if Denver actually looked watchable.
5. Baltimore Ravens v. Buffalo Bills. Usually a marquee matchup, made more important by Baltimore's necessity to right its shop and the return of Lamar Jackson.
4. Cleveland Browns v. Pittsburgh Steelers. Seriously. Both teams are tied atop the AFC North, so this game is very important!
3. Manchester City v. Brighton & Hove Albion. The top of the table Citizens versus BHA, which sits in third place. We all know about the goal-scoring prowess of Erling Haaland for Man City; but BHA's goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen sits atop the leaderboard with (tied for the) most clean sheets!
2. Chicago Bears v. Seattle Seahawks. Stellar offense versus amazing defense for two likely playoff teams!!! Add-in Monday night, and we have a show!
1. Minnesota Vikings v. Detroit Lions. Exactly like our #2 battle - stellar offense versus amazing defense - plus this is an intra-divisional battle!!!
Trivia
The Minnesota Vikings are the last remaining undefeated team at 6-0. What was Minnesota's best start ever, and when did that occur?
