By Stephen Nover
Welcome to my top 10 observations, rants and vents from this just recently concluded Week 6 of the NFL season.
No. 10: The countdown has begun. It’s a little more than 9 1/2 years before Jon Gruden’s contract runs out. How about if Las Vegas doesn’t take the Raiders and instead stops charging that ripoff resort fee to unsuspecting tourists to pay for the Raiders move.
No. 9: I’m waiting for a sports book to put up a prop on who gets injured first, Marcus Mariota or DeShaun Watson. Mariota was sacked 11 times by the Ravens, which is one more sack than completions he had for the game. The Texans didn’t learn from the Colts about protecting a franchise quarterback. Their porous offensive line and lack of a ground attack leaves Watson a sitting duck. Watson was sacked seven times and hit another 12 times in the Texans’ 20-13 win against the Bills. Watson already has bruised ribs and a bruised lung.
No. 8: Speaking of the Colts, you have to feel for Andrew Luck. He missed all of last season with shoulder woes because of the constant battering he took in 2016 when Indy didn’t provide him nearly enough offensive line support. Injuries have taken away T.Y. Hilton, Ryan Grant and tight end Jack Doyle leaving Luck with a motley crew of pass catchers that include Mo Alie-Cox, Erik Swoope and Zach Pascal. Luck still hasn’t regained his deep ball, but he’s an upper-tier quarterback who is victimized by his not-ready-for-prime-time receivers’ constant drops. One such Colts receiving bobble this past Sunday landed in the arms of Jets defensive back Morris Claiborne, who returned the interception for a touchdown setting the Jets’ winning tone.
No. 7: I’ve often wondered how do Buffalo Bills fans survive being stuck with a bad product for so long? I found out first-hand when about 25 Bills fans camped out at the back lounge of the Vegas hotel where I watch the games. I’m there because there are a dozen screens each showing a different game. That way I don’t miss a single NFL game. But, yes, it takes concentration to keep up with everything. These Bills fans made that quite difficult. Their secret to endure is to heavily fortify themselves with beer. Back-and-forth they went up to the bar counter cutting across my table each time. They must have consumed about 150 beers – and this was before noon! Call me a wimp, but I can’t even look at a beer before noon.
No. 6: I guess if you have to watch Nathan Peterman it might be best not to do it sober. What does Buffalo management see in this guy to even keep him around? Peterman had a 38.4 passer rating as a rookie last year. His quarterback rating is 16.7 this season. His career mark is three touchdown passes and nine interceptions. He is rapidly entering the conversation of worst quarterback of the past 20 years alongside Curtis Painter, Ryan Lindley, Danny Wuerffel and Akili Smith.
No. 5: ESPN should pull a rabbit out of their head and demote Jason Witten off Monday Night Football. Witten is no Tony Romo.
No. 4: Here’s a prediction. If the Broncos lay an egg against the pathetic Cardinals on Thursday night, Vance Joseph has the plug pulled on him. John Elway must realize this guy can’t coach. Denver is 6-15-1 against the spread under Joseph.
No. 3: Good for the Patriots in banning the moron who threw beer at Tyreke Hill after Hill’s momentum carried him into the first row of the stands following a touchdown catch. There’s no excuse for wasting beer.
No. 2: Way to go Le’Veon Bell on your decision to hold out. Your replacement, James Connor, has the fifth-most rushing yards in the NFL and is tied for third in the league in touchdowns with seven. Bell has forfeited millions while showing he is replaceable on the field. As a side note, don’t look for a fantasy football owner to ever draft a holdout player with the first or second overall pick again.
No. 1: RIP Jim Taylor. I grew up in Wisconsin during the 1960s watching the Vince Lombardi Packers. Taylor was my favorite player. He gained more than $1,000 yards for five straight seasons when that distinction was much harder to do with fewer games. If it wasn’t for Taylor in 1962, Jim Brown would have led the NFL in rushing every year he was in the league. Taylor was unique in that he actually would run at the tackler rather than away because he loved contact so much. Taylor wasn’t fast, but he was strong, tough and knew how to follow his blockers. It’s very sad when the players you rooted for as a child begin to pass away.
I am 27-17-3 for 61 percent of my premium/free NFL plays this season, but lost a big one on Monday with the Packers failing to cover. I like this week’s NFL card a lot and have released four plays already, including my Triple Star Interconference Game of the Month. It would not surprise me if the number moves on some of these games so I would get down now.
