By Stephen Nover
NFL Week 1 is in the books. Here are 10 thoughts/observations/rants I have:
No. 10: How do the Lions lay an egg in their home opener and Matt Patricia’s head coaching debut especially after getting an early pick-six against rookie Sam Darnold? Certainly credit the Jets for an outstanding effort. But this wasn’t a total shock if you witnessed the Lions’ ineptitude and poor coaching during preseason. Based on this early, small sample it could be safe to say Patricia fits in with the Lions’ long tradition of bad coaches during the past 50 years that include Marty Mornhinweg, Rod Marinelli, Rick Forzano, Tommy Hudspeth, Darryl Rogers, Joe Schmidt and Jim Schwartz. You know you have a sad coaching history when Wayne Fontes is considered one of your all-time best coaches.
No. 9: Speaking of bad coaching, once again Mike McCarthy was exposed when Aaron Rodgers got hurt against the Bears. Rodgers came back from what looked to be a scary knee injury to spark the Packers to an improbable victory after they were down 20 points and a sure loss. A key for Rodgers when he returned was getting the ball out much quicker against a Bears pass rush that was overwhelming the interior of the Green Bay offensive line particularly overmatched guard Justin McCray. It took Rodgers’ injury for McCarthy to figure out that Rodgers dropping back and sitting in the pocket surveying the field wasn’t the right approach. Or maybe McCarthy never figured that out. Rodgers adopted that style being forced to almost play on one leg.
No. 8: Sam Darnold is a natural. Mitchell Trubisky is not. Matt Nagy can only coach Trubisky up so far. Trubisky can’t go through all his reads. He breaks the pocket too early and isn’t a downfield threat. That’s going to keep the Bears back, which is too bad for them because they now have a playoff-caliber defense with Khalil Mack.
No. 7: Tyreek Hill is the most dangerous player in football.
No. 6: Time for my Rant of the Week. I apologize if I come across as a male chauvinist, which I am not. But I can’t stand women who scream, cuss and talk trash while watching a football game. They are usually four things – fat, smokers, not knowledgeable about football and they don’t stick around leaving before the game is finished.
No. 5: If not for Russell Wilson, the Seahawks would be in the discussion for the top overall draft pick in 2019.
No. 4: Even though they lost 24-16 to the Vikings, I was impressed by the 49ers. I had the Vikings and felt very lucky to have won my wager. Despite offensive line injuries and losing Marquise Goodwin, their best wide receiver, the 49ers still gained 327 yards while averaging 5.4 yards on the road against a top-three defense. The 49ers beat themselves with four turnovers, including a pick-six, or they would have won.
No. 3: Speaking of the 49ers, if you need a tight end in your fantasy football league grab George Kittle. He caught five passes for 90 yards and was targeted nine times by Jimmy Garoppolo, far more than any other 49er. Kittle only is going to get better, too. He led the league’s tight ends with 66 yards after the catch. The only tight ends I would rate ahead of Kittle are Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz. Yep, Kittle is my fourth-ranked fantasy tight end now that Greg Olsen and Delaine Walker suffered long-term injuries.
No. 2: The Browns already have assured themselves of a better record than last season. Congratulations should not be in order for the Browns, though, after their 21-21 tie at home against the Steelers. The Browns were plus 5 in turnover margin – and still couldn’t win. Only Hue Jackson could pull that off. Since 1988, there were 243 instances of a team being plus 5 or more in turnover margin, according to research compiled by Andy Iskoe. Those teams won 93 percent of the time. Not Cleveland. Not Hue Jackson.
No. 1: Memo to Sean McDonough, Nathan Peterman is not a starting NFL quarterback. He’s not an NFL quarterback at all. Do you really need to be reminded of this again? It’s already Josh Allen time in Buffalo and and as a courtesy sports books across the world should start paying out all those Bills Under 6 regular season win total props.
