I thought about postponing this post until next week while I wait on test results from the Ravens, but the show must go on. I hope you all had a great and safe Thanksgiving. Here are my thoughts from week 12:
- Would you rather try to tackle Derrick Henry or cover DK Metcalf?
- When you think you’ve figured out the Rams, they lose to a depleted 49ers team lead by Nick Mullens. Yikes. Debo Samuel tho. I love him when he’s healthy.
- The notion that the NFL is “screwing over the Steelers” is a sad stretch because the Steelers are probably a top 3 TV draw in the middle of an undefeated season. That said, a few stand-alone weeks 18 games would be great rating grabs. Play a couple on a Saturday, a couple on Sunday. Big ratings all around, and the NFL wins again.
- The scary part of all of this is what if a Ravens-like week happens during the playoffs?
- The Dolphins are better with Fitzmagic at QB. Tua might be good in a year or 2, but Fitz puts that team in a position to win a game in the playoffs.
- Enough of “maybe Jason Garrett wasn’t the problem in Dallas.” He’s horrible as an OC as well. The Giants’ offense is 29th in the NFL.
- Eventually, the Browns will need Baker Mayfield to carry them as an offense in an important game, and he will come up flat. He missed a wide-open WR early in the game against Jacksonville that might have been one of the worst passes I have seen in a long time. Chubb and Hunt are hiding the fact that Baker is not living up to the #1 overall pick.
- Mike Glennon is the modern-day Merton Hanks. Look it up, kids.
- It’s a shame that Deshaun Watson is stuck in Houston with the mess that Bill O’Brien left him. No Hopkins. Fuller is probably gone after this season. The defense isn’t good—horrible uniforms. And no 1st or 2nd rounders next year. But hey, they have the always-healthy, dynamic duo of Brandin Cooks and David Johnson!
- Patrick Mahomes will soon get the Michael Jordan/LeBron James MVP vote treatment. He’s the best player in the league anytime he’s playing. He will win a couple more MVPs, but at some point, voters will get tired of giving him the award, and Steve Nash will win it somehow.
- Remember when Kyler Murray was going to be the MVP? Remember when the Cardinals were a hot playoff team? They are a hail mary away from being 5-6 and out of the playoffs.
- Remember when the NFC West was the best division in the NFL?
- I guess that Anthony Lynn will be next to get fired as a Head Coach. There were a few coaching sequences in Sunday’s game that were real headscratchers, particularly at the end of the first half, where he called a timeout on 4th down with 20 or so seconds left…..and then punted. He’s a good dude, just not a good coach.
- Yes, Tom Brady hasn’t had weapons in a while as he has with the Bucs. But more importantly, he hasn’t had a team that makes as many mental errors as the Bucs do. The Bucs are the 11th worst in penalties in the NFL. His old team? They have the fewest penalties.
- I’ll say it. Matt Ryan is a compiler. He has great stats if you look at them on paper, but he makes so many bad decisions and takes so many unnecessary drive-ending sacks if you actually watch games.
- The Chargers seem to have a new uniform set every week. And every week, they are better and better.
- They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Well, absence also makes me forget how bad Mitch Trubisky is. It only took a few throws Sunday night vs. the Packers to remind me.
- Having only 1 bye week really changes things for the playoff race. In years past, teams like the Steelers and Chiefs would be cruising to having a bye week, really only fighting for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Now, one of them could go 15-1 and not get a bye at all—big difference.
Feel free to reach out to me via Twitter @MarkSDeCicco