Thu
Bears-Lions
Redskins-Cowboys
Falcons-Saints
Sun
Giants-Eagles
Jaguars-Bills
Seahawks-Panthers
Raiders-Ravens
49ers-Buccaneers
Browns-Bengals
Patriots-Jets
Cardinals-Chargers
Steelers-Broncos
Dolphins-Colts
Packers-Vikings
Mon
Titans-Texans
All the games were not great yesterday. Part of it may be the short turnaround and having to play on Thursday, but part of it is some of the teams are not great.
Lions/Bears:
The Lions offense is inept and being the Bears have a decent defense, it made it even worse. I thought there was a chance Chase Daniels would have been an improvement in the passing game, but I was wrong. He wasn’t all that great either. I probably only saw a half of this one.
Saints/Falcons:
The Falcons defense did okay overall, but their offense was horrible. Reid said the Saints defense is getting better, but I don’t know how much credit to give to them in this one. Maybe the Saints defense is good, but the Falcons were not helping themselves on offense for sure.
Cowboys/Redskins:
The Redskins offense looked about the same as the last game. McCoy did well escaping the pass rush and that pass rush was pretty good in this one. The Cowboys offensive play calling has been better, but they still had a few parts where they would follow the pattern of run (stuffed), pass, pass and three and out. Dak was holding the ball much too much in the first half, which Garrett pointed out that the pass-pro was good, and the sacks were on Dak for the most part. Dak did better in getting rid of the ball in the second. I’ve heard this a lot, “that Amari is QB friendly”. He didn’t seem that way in Oakland, but he definitely is with Dallas. He seems to be able to get open a lot in one-on-one situations and that’s what Dak needs. The long plays were on the Redskins more than the credit should go to Amari, but Amari had three third down conversions early on that were huge. That was against Josh Norman as well. Hard to gauge Dallas defense because the Redskins aren’t great and the score dictated some of the Redskin scoring towards the end, but the Redskins couldn’t do much for good parts of the game.
I only watched parts of the Cowboys game (a little of the first half, and a lot of the ending).
What did you have in mind, with regard to the Falcons not helping themselves? By the way, I haven’t been a fan of Sark, but for some reason, I feel like his play calling seems better. Then again, I haven’t really been paying attention to the play calling all that closely.
Re: Redskins-Cowboys
Some general thoughts. The game, like many others it seems, is more about one team being worse than the other, rather than one team being better. Two TD passes by Cowboys just looked like bad defense, and McCoy had some bad turnovers.
Maybe it’s me, but the Redskins don’t seem very good, and I feel like this game shouldn’t have been as close as it was. Maybe this is just a divisional rival providing a tough game.
On another note, when did the Cowboys get Sua-Filo? He looked better than Williams.
It’s been a while since the game but from what I remember Atlanta could move the ball pretty easily at times, but would sputter when they got close to end zone or commit turnovers.
With the Cowboy, Redskin game, I can agree with one team being worse than the other rather than one team being better. Dallas is not great on offense and that keeps other teams in it longer than they should. Dallas dominated on defense for good parts of this game, and if it wasn’t for McCoy being able to avoid the sack, it would have been worse. Washington had one long TD pass when it mattered and that was about it. Washington made a decent comeback in the end, but it didn’t really seem like they had a chance. That could speak more about the Redskin offense than Dallas’ defense, but I think Dallas’ defense is a top five defense. As I said before, I would be surprised if the Saints goes off on the Cowboys. I see the Saints scoring around the mid-twenties.
Ah OK. It makes sense that the Falcons could move the ball fairly well against the Saints D. I think the Saints D is OK, maybe a little better, but not great; and the Falcons have a good offense. How did the Falcons run against the Saints? I’ve heard that statistically the Saints have a good run defense. By watching them play, I’ve never really got a strong sense if this is true or not. To me, this is a big deal if the Seahawks make it and play the Saints. If they can stop the Seahawks running game without leaving themselves too vulnerable in the passing game, then I think the Seahawks’ chances of winning will be pretty low.
Given the injuries to the Redskins, and the quality of McCoy’s play, which seems very limited, I expected more from the Cowboys defense. A part of me feels like they should be one of the better defenses in the league, but they don’t seem like it when I watch them, including against the Redskins.
I don’t think the score is the primary metric. The tempo of both teams could factor in. I was surprised to learn that the Saints defensive snaps are really low so far. That either means the offense is controlling the ball over, or the opposing offense is scoring quickly with a relatively low number of snaps (which is a possibility). One thing that comes to mind. In short yardage situations, the Saints are frequently using the Taysom Hill at QB–they’re running the read option. I doubt if that by itself can’t explain a slower tempo, though.
I’m really interested to see how the Cowboys offense fares against the Saints defense, especially running the ball. I have no idea what to expect from the Cowboys run game and offense overall. With their defense, if they can control the clock, they should be in this game.
The Saints’ offensive tempo doesn’t seem to be slower to me. Game script and Brees’ unbelievable completion percentage is probably why the Saints are controlling the clock and keeping their defense off the field. Game script in that because they are frequently ahead by a lot, the Saints will try to run more clock and the opposition will have to try and throw a lot.
I think Dallas “should” be able to run the ball. What happens if Dallas falls behind early will determine how long their stick to their run game (Which you will point out is a mistake, but I’m just predicting not hoping it’s the case.). However, with the way the Saints have been playing I cannot see Dallas having a chance to win this game.
Seahawks-Panthers
The Seahawks defense was difficult to watch. The Panthers just moved through them like a hot knife through butter. It just seemed like the Panthers would get 10 yards on every snap. Now, the Seahawks made some key plays in the red zone, but overall, I thought they were horrid. One concern going into this game was all the young/new players that the Seahawks had, and how they would handle the option offense of the Panthers. (I have the same concern regarding handling the Chiefs misdirection plays.)
Other than this, I was excited by the win, but after settling down, I don’t have a great feeling about this team. (And I felt the same after the Packers.) The Panthers and Packers just aren’t really good teams–at least they have some glaring vulnerabilities. With the Panthers, they lost a starting CB on the first play, and the guy that replaced him struggled. They also have Captain Munnerlyn as a starter, and he’s an old dude.
My takeaway is that the Seahawk offense can do well when they face an opponent with significant vulnerabilities. But when they face a good defense without these vulnerabilities, they can struggle too much for an offense that is supposed to be good.
I can understand the defensive struggles, because there are a lot of new players. The offense has a new OC and line coach, and they have some new players, too, so maybe that’s a significant factor. I think the talent they have, overall, isn’t great, so I think they can run into trouble against a better defense like the Bears or even the Broncos.
Steelers-Broncos
Speaking of the Broncos, they looked pretty good yesterday. They might be a dark horse team for me. What surprised me was some of the play calls on offense. I got the impression that these calls really helped the offense.
Roethlisberger looks like he’s in decline or reverted back to the younger version of himself. A part of me thinks the Steelers are underachieving, and thinking about a coaching change is warranted. In terms of roster, I feel like the Steelers have had one of the better ones for several years (although I’m less certain about their defense).
Patriots-Jets
I watched the early parts of this and skimmed to the end. The Patriots don’t look that great, both offensively and defensively.
Jaguars-Bills
I like Fournette as a runner, and getting Hyde was a nice compliment. Both of them, and the defense is being wasted, though, primarily because of Bortles. (To be fair, their WR/TE group has been depleted, and they’ve had injuries on the OL, but I still think the problem is Bortles. If they had Flacco or maybe even Keenum, I think they would have a great chance of winning the Super Bowl.)
To me, if the Cowboys can run well and play up to my expectation of their defense (which may be inflated), they game should be close, and they should have a good chance of beating them.
(Thanks for the feedback about the Saints tempo.)
Titans-Texans
Based on this game, the Texans looked good–a well-rounded team. The Texans run game stood out to me, and I think the Titans defense lost the game for them.
The Texans offense kinda reminds of the Panthers’ and the Chiefs’. I think as long as they can feature misdirection runs and utilize Watson as a runner, I see no reason why Watson can’t be as good as Newton. Indeed, I tend to think he will be better, if he isn’t already. (And I think Newton is good. I would choose Newton over Roethlisberger for sure at this point.)
Dolphins-Colts
I don’t really get the Dolphins. Sometimes they look really solid–just a team missing a few pieces, like the Lions. I also like Gase as an (offensive) coach. I like the play calling and the way he runs from the shotgun.
Reid,
I forgot to ask, how did you think Mariota did? I heard mixed reviews. He was almost perfect, but took 6 (?) sacks. And the Titans got killed.
Based on my vague recollection, I think he wasn’t bad, but probably wasn’t really exceptional, either. The Texans seem contain the Titan offense for the most part. What stood out more were the struggles of the Titan defense. This might be the worst they looked all year (although I haven’t seen every one of their games).