All You Need Is A Quarterback

At first it seemed that the Atlanta Falcons were doomed for another missed opportunity to gain some ground in their division. Tampa Bay were in control through the second and third quarters. However, it wasn’t an insurmountable lead that the Buccaneers had. The Falcons just kept hanging around and if they didn’t have QB Kirk Cousins, I don’t think it would have been as close as it was. He ended up throwing for 509 yards and 4 touchdown passes, including the 45-yard game winner in overtime. Now if Buccaneers rookie RB Bucky Irving didn’t fumble late in the 4th quarter, I don’t believe Atlanta would have won, but you can’t take away the fact that Cousins was a large reason for the win. With what the Falcons built on offense before Cousins arrival this was an ideal scenario for them to be a contender in the NFC South. Now the fruits of that labor are starting to take shape at just the right time.

You Should Have Gotten Closer

I get with the way that kickers in the NFL this day and age are able to boom 50+ yard field goals with ease. Yet, if I’m a head coach at any level, I still want to get the ball a hell of a lot closer for my kicker to make an easier attempt, even if he can nail it from 50-yards out. That wasn’t the case for Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. After Ravens QB Lamar Jackson fumbled a snap in overtime, the Bengals ran the ball for three consecutive plays for a total of 3-yards. Now the Bengals do have a good kicker in Evan McPherson who can make a 53-yard field goal with relative ease. However, I didn’t like the fact that their play-calling also took the ball away from QB Joe Burrow and what he had been doing up until that point in the game. He had thrown 5 touchdown passes and nearly had 400-yards passing in the game. But for Taylor he said just run the ball three times and kick it. The result was a bad hold by Cincinnati’s punter and McPherson hooked it wide left. The Ravens subsequently gave the ball to RB Derrick Henry who scampered for a 51-yard gain and they kicked the game winning field goal. Way to go Bungals.

The First To Fall

4-13, 7-10, 7-10 and 2-3. Not the best record if you’re a NFL head coach. That was the New York Jets record under their now former head coach Robert Saleh. Aside from the noise about Saleh’s heritage and if that had anything to do with his dismissal or if QB Aaron Rodgers had a say in getting rid of him (which is also BS). Fact of the matter is that the Jets owner Woody Johnson made the decision and if Rodgers did have a say wouldn’t his offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett be considered as the interim and not lose his play-calling duties? The interim tag was given to the Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich who announced that Hackett would be losing his play-calling responsibilities. There is still time for this season to get turned around. They will be hosting the Buffalo Bills on Monday night and the winner will be in possession of the AFC East. Buffalo has been struggling lately and this is a prime opportunity to take advantage of that. For Saleh, he isn’t the first and won’t be the last head coach to get ruined by this inept franchise. They’ve had many seasons of success, but always falling short of those expectations in the end. He will definitely get a defensive coordinator job if he wants it, but he isn’t without faults as a head coach either. If he wanted to assert his authority this past offseason, he could have done so with Rodgers not attending mandatory OTAs. A fine, reprimand, something, but he didn’t do that. I’m sure most of the team saw that and thought this guy won’t hold anybody accountable for much if he can’t do that one simple task. The environment of New York isn’t cut out for everyone and Saleh could get another shot just like Todd Bowles did with him being Tampa Bay’s head coach. Two things can be true at the same time. The New York Jets are faltering at the top once again and Robert Saleh was never gonna be the guy to get this aircraft back on course.