NFL 2019 NFL - Week 5

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Brasher’s Weekly Musings: North Korean Test Missile Firing Edition (they aren’t really tests, it’s just their missiles keep missing Japan).

Los Angeles Rams at Seattle I’m loath to take pot shots at divisional rivals cause this stuff has a way of coming back and biting you at the worst moment but I have to point out that has there ever been a worse 500 yard passing game (oxymoron alert) than Jarod Goff’s effort last week? I’m pushing the narrative that the Rams just aren’t that good unless Avenger team member Aaron Donald is living in the opposition’s backfield.

Atlanta at Houston Not sure who is going to kill who first? The Falcons’ underwhelming season start and what it is doing to my weekly punting parlay or the Texans offensive line and the care they show for their QB. This division has already had one QB retire prematurely because of the pummelling his franchise ignored for years so I don’t think it will be good PR to lose another. Maybe the NFL can implement 15-yard penalties against franchises for every offensive series where a team chooses to role out witches hats as offensive linemen instead of proper fat guys with quick feet and long arms.

Arizona at Cincinnati Firstly congratulations to Larry Fitzgerald on becoming statistically the second greatest receiver of all time. There is only the GOAT Jerry Rice now in front of you and with the Air Raid offensive of the Cardinals slowly taking hold he is a real chance to surpass Jerry’s all time catch record. If this does look likely to happen expect a rush order for an authentic game day Fitzgerald jersey from fanatics.com, that will quickly end such nonsense talk.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh It’s around this time of the season that team’s true fortunes start to reveal themselves. Which makes what both the Ravens’ and Steelers’ last outings so head scratching. I just can’t remember the last time a Ravens defense gave up that many running yards. Maybe the Browns really are going to be as good as is advertised on the side of the box. Or maybe the Ravens just beat up on a couple of teams too lazy to study Lamar Jackson’s tells on film?

Buffalo at Tennessee The Bills are rapidly becoming my second favorite team. Had then not lost their starting QB during the Pats outing they may well have won and probably should have. The Titans represent a new test with, “if I played for a higher profiled franchise I’d probably be labelled a bust by now”, Marcus Mariota, having his best pro outing since he accepted booster payments under the table at Oregon.

Chicago vs Oakland The recipe for Chicago success is pretty simple. Play aggressive turnover centric defense, run the ball and don’t let your QB do stupid things like throw the ball too often. If it can work for Jim McMahon and almost work for Rex Grossman then it should be a doddle for Mitch Trubisky. Modern management ethos these days though is to overthink things so expect a pass heavy scheme this week, fortunately their defense will most likely bail them out.

Jacksonville at Carolina In the last 12 Panther games Carolina are 3-9 dating back to last season. Individual starting QB records? Cam Newton is 0-9 and Kyle Allen is 3-0. I’m still not buying into the Kyle Allen hype train though, after all he did fumble the ball 3 times and if the Texans even remotely attempted to block for their QB they would probably have won.

Minnesota at New York Giants Where the hell has Kirk Cousins disappeared to? Luckily he has all that banked guaranteed money because I wouldn’t be looking too hard at Gulfstream brochures based on his performances this year. Yeah sure he was always under scrutiny regarding his “big game” ability but I would hardly think that a Week 4 road game counts. If preseason predictions count for anything the Vikings should flog the Giants away (and frankly anything less and you would start to wonder if they might not be bringing up the rear in their own division). Yes, I have my own hard earned on this one.

New England at Washington Washington is a sneaky dark horse for the 1st overall pick in the 2020 draft. This will not please Miami who will be cheering for both Pats and Bills (the Jets are a lost cause) to win many games this season, well at least more than Philly and Dallas anyway. Strength of schedule is the first tie breaker for teams with tied records when it comes to sorting out draft order. Just saying.

New York Jets at Philadelphia The Eagles are slowly warming to the task which will at least make the NFC East a two-horse race. I got nothing else but I do know where my spleen is and what it does now.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans Pardon for me using this match up as a time slot for me to voice a general commentary on officiating (well it is the Saints game so it’s appropriate). Replay reviews suck. Red flags, booth reviews, PI, turnovers….you all suck. You have made the game worse to watch and for the officials to officiate. Even the league coming out and defining a different judgement interpretation for an in-game situation (Hail Mary plays) which is already subject to officiating judgement calls (Pass Interference) is simply %^#ed. I ask, since professional sports exist primarily for viewer pleasure, has any sport actually gotten better as a spectacle with the introduction of video review?

Denver at Los Angeles Chargers I have no idea how the Broncos managed to lose last week. They were sacking QBs, scoring touchdowns, held a lead late into the 4th quarter and still managed to lose. Is there a secret tanking agenda in Denver or maybe we might be seeing why Vic Fangio was always a coordinator?

Green Bay at Dallas Why is it that when something bad happens to the Packers offense and the broadcast team immediately switch to the camera that best portrays Aaron Rodgers’ death stare, do you think he is analysing how the play could have gone better or which WR to blame for the incorrect route or which lineman missed his blocking assignment. I am for 95% of the time in awe of what Rodgers does on the field but I find that stare a little erksome. Even on your insurance commercials, its always Clay Matthews fault that you left the handbrake off your SUV as it rolled off a cliff.

Indianapolis at Kansas City Patrick Mahommes did not throw a touch down pass last week. I blame global warming and fully expect Al Gore to appear on Fox’s NFL Sunday this Sunday and explain to Charissa Thompson that Detroit, which is ground zero for all of our carbon dioxide polluting ways is the cause of Patrick’s performance. The Lions improving defense seems like a far more palatable reason but Al has a Power Point slide with made up data to discount that theory.

Cleveland at San Francisco There are budding and established stars scattered across both teams’ rosters to make this arguably the most anticipated nationally televised game so far this season. Forget all the high profile match ups for this one if your looking for a winner though. This gets down to one very simple contest. 2017 1st overall draft pick, DE Myles Lorenz Garrett versus 2019 6th round rookie Justin Grant Skule protecting Garoppolo’s blindside. I’ll be watching this one from behind the couch.

Just aside note, I'd be keen for running tipping totals at the bottoms of musings, I read these in the voice of Chris Berman...swami sez

 

[A11dAtP0w3R]

Funny how Brasher gives Watson the OLine excuse but Kyle Allen gets none for 2 of his fumbles occuring on strip sacks.

Allen has out played two first round picks two weeks in a row now.

I'm far more worried more about the sixth round pick coming to town this week tho.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Just aside note, I'd be keen for running tipping totals at the bottoms of musings, I read these in the voice of Chris Berman...swami sez

33-30-1

 

[Sven]

This week's game against the Giants features Pat Shurmur vs Mike Zimmer. Shurmur should know just about every wrinkle that Zimmer can incorporate into his defensive plan so it will be very interesting to see how the Giants O goes about dismantling the Vikings D.

 

[Brasher]

Funny how Brasher gives Watson the OLine excuse but Kyle Allen gets none for 2 of his fumbles occuring on strip sacks.

Allen has out played two first round picks two weeks in a row now.

I'm far more worried more about the sixth round pick coming to town this week tho.

Your making a massive (incorrect) assumption that I will let reality get in the way of my own personal narratives.

 

[Brasher]

33-30-1

$%#$ accountability

 

[drd23]

 

[Exe Gesis]

so mike mayock sucks as a gm.

all his picka suck. josh jacobs aside

 

[kaiserchief13]

NE Washington wtf?

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Article on decline of interception rates over last few decades. Not too surprising that more complex offensive schemes is behind it but still shows how hard it is to compare QBs of different eras by use of stats...

What’s Happening to the Interception in the NFL?

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the rate of interceptions in the league has been steadily trending down. Why?

www.si.com

 

[Exe Gesis]

Article on decline of interception rates over last few decades. Not too surprising that more complex offensive schemes is behind it but still shows how hard it is to compare QBs of different eras by use of stats...

What’s Happening to the Interception in the NFL?

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the rate of interceptions in the league has been steadily trending down. Why?

www.si.com

the 60s thru to the 90s deep vertical passing was all the rage, and teams liked to take shots all the time regardless of turnovers.

bill walshs wco was more high percentage dink and dunk and changed offensive mindsets that turnovers cost you games.

then we went thru a horrible period 90s to 10s where the dink and dunk was so dominant, constant slants etc.

but its interesting, this season there have been a lot of intercepts again because offenses have changed again, taking far more shots downfield than the previous decade.

have you noticed in games around the league how theres been an increase in deep shots??

 

[rumply]

the 60s thru to the 90s deep vertical passing was all the rage, and teams liked to take shots all the time regardless of turnovers.

bill walshs wco was more high percentage dink and dunk and changed offensive mindsets that turnovers cost you games.

then we went thru a horrible period 90s to 10s where the dink and dunk was so dominant, constant slants etc.

but its interesting, this season there have been a lot of intercepts again because offenses have changed again, taking far more shots downfield than the previous decade.

have you noticed in games around the league how theres been an increase in deep shots??

Suspect the analytics boys would have a lot to do with that, for example slowly the league is getting more aggressive with 4th down attempts so why not try for big chunk plays a bit more often as well, if it doesn't come off it's not much worse than a punt most times.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Suspect the analytics boys would have a lot to do with that, for example slowly the league is getting more aggressive with 4th down attempts so why not try for big chunk plays a bit more often as well.

yep, when the league bogs down with certain tactics, some team does something different, throws a spanner in the works, other teams start copying, and theres a new trend for x years till it bogs down again

 

[Dagless]

This week's game against the Giants features Pat Shurmur vs Mike Zimmer. Shurmur should know just about every wrinkle that Zimmer can incorporate into his defensive plan so it will be very interesting to see how the Giants O goes about dismantling the Vikings D.

Can’t stop Cook so Cousins should do fine on the other side.

 

[Broken]

I'm feeling that's the end of his time there.

 

[Broken]

Unless the pats replacement misses 2 PATs and 7 FGs in a shock loss this week.

 

[_jrtp09_]

No real standout games this week. Maybe GB @ DALLAS the pick of the lot.

Lions have the bye so I’ll be definitely catching some zzzz Monday morning. Don’t forget daylight savings this weekend kentys

Cowboys v Packers - Game of the round

 

[Macpotata]

ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rumply]

ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bit early for Viagra, no?

 

[11sjw]

Rams have remembered that no.30 is alive.

 

[balmainforever]

Wow
what a throw and catch

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

That's ridiculous!!

 

[Wild Bill]

What a catch!!!

 

[Sven]

Throw and catch of the season so far

 

[Macpotata]

DAMN WHAT A CATCH!