This Wasn’t Supposed To Happen

Whenever you see a Hail Mary play be successful, one thing you must know is that it should always never be successful. Think about it, the quarterback not only has to put himself in a position to throw the ball a minimum of 40-50 yards down the field, but a receiver has to then catch the ball and get it into the end zone. Ideally there must be a ricochet and just dumb luck for the offense to have a successful touchdown pass. That’s pretty much what you saw this last week with the Washington Commanders converting an improbable Hail Mary attempt. The Chicago Bears were making dumb play calls on offense, especially in the 4th quarter when they refused to get the ball to their running back D’Andre Swift who scored the only touchdown for them before their final possession. Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was caught on tape taunting fans as the Hail Mary attempt was under way. And by fate alone he was the one who made contact with the ball tipping it away from the crowd of players and falling into the arms of WR Noah Brown who was alone in the end zone. This one will go down as a prime example of what not to do during a Hail Mary attempt.

They Just Keep Winning

It’s a good sign when Chiefs TE Travis Kelce catches his first touchdown of the season. Even if it shouldn’t have occurred this late in the year. The defense allowed only 228 yards to the Las Vegas Raiders and sacked QB Gardner Minshew five times. Kansas City commits to running the ball no matter what as they ran it 29 times for 82 yards. QB Patrick Mahomes was better, but still threw an interception. It’s gonna be interesting going forward how newly acquired WR DeAndre Hopkins gets acquainted in the offense. Will this open things up for Kelce and rookie WR Xavier Worthy with Hopkins aboard? While I don’t expect them to remain undefeated for much longer, they are positioned to wrap up their division in the not too distant future.

Buyer’s Remorse In Indianapolis?

Players sub-out of the game constantly. Either it’s the personnel matchup, fatigue, injury, anything and everything. Yet, there are positions that normally don’t sub-out. Quarterback is at the top of that list and if they do come out of a game it’s because of an injury or they’re being benched. In the case of Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson, he ‘tapped out’ of the game for a moment against the Houston Texans. When I saw it happen, I thought he was injured because he had just ran the ball and come up slowly after getting hit. Turns out that he was fatigued and took himself out. He admitted to it after the game and said he was ‘tired’ and needed a breather. Now I get it, we all get tired, but as the quarterback you shouldn’t be taking yourself out of a game because you’re tired. There were already questions going into this season about his injury woes and if he can avoid taking and sometimes seeking to lay a hit on a defender. His only season as the full-time starter at the University of Florida he complete only 54% of his passes. Yet, because of the upside with his athletic ability the Colts thought it was prudent to draft him with the 4th overall pick in 2023. He only played in four games in his rookie season, which is a very small sample size for a NFL quarterback. This year the Colts are 3-3 in his six starts, which included a loss this past Sunday to the Texans in the game he briefly took himself out of. The announcement was made a few days after the game that backup QB Joe Flacco would be the starter going forward. That decision was made not because of Richardson taking himself out of the game. It’s because of his on field performance. He has thrown only 4 touchdown passes and has been intercepted 7 times. Worse is that his completion percentage is 44%. That is atrocious for a starting quarterback in today’s NFL or in any era for that matter. This doesn’t mean that his career is over, but it probably means that it’s likely over for him in Indianapolis. Why the Colts thought it would be any different for a one-year starter in college with a 54% completion percentage is anyones guess at this point. This pick is going to haunt this franchise for many years to come. They would have been better off not drafting a quarterback in 2023.