Ten Takeaways: Falcons Are In First; Trade Deadline Could Be Quiet

Plus, Bills look ho-hum in win over the Packers, but it didn’t matter. The Cowboys are rounding into form, the Colts could be sellers by Tuesday’s cutoff and much more.

More MMQB: Inside the Christian McCaffrey Trade | Three Deep: The Broncos Can Finally Exhale | Ten Takeaways: Quiet Deadline Coming? | Six From Saturday: NFL Scout on Will Levis

I don’t know how far Atlanta’s going this year, but I think it’s safe to say the Falcons are on the way up. And to me, Marcus Mariota’s the perfect example of it—a guy the NFL had mostly given up on, and now the quarterback of a division leader.

We’re gonna take you through the wild finish to Falcons-Panthers, and it was wild. But we’ll start with how Atlanta’s in this spot, with the program that Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot are building, one that’s uncovered so many diamonds in the rough, and squeezed every last little bit out of them.

There’s Caleb Huntley, the undrafted free-agent tailback who led the team with 91 yards rushing against the Panthers. There’s Tyler Allgeier, the rookie fifth-round running back who came up with 39 yards on the ground and 46 through the air. There’s journeyman Damiere Byrd, who made perhaps Sunday’s biggest play for the team. And there’s Mariota, who had a 105.2 passer rating against Carolina. And, sure, it’s unlikely he’ll ever live up to his 2015 draft position, but with Smith, he looks a lot more like the guy the Titans drafted back then.

“It starts with our guys—I really believe that we have an unselfish culture here, and when you come to work and you’ve got a bunch of guys that really just enjoy coming in and doing what’s best for the team, you’re going to find ways to win games,” Mariota said postgame, leaving Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “And to have that belief in each other I think is all that you need. You don’t have to worry about what other people think.

“We always believed that we could be pretty good, but at the same time, we just gotta take it one game at a time. And that’s what’s cool about these guys is they don’t really care, wins or losses, it’s just about improving. If we continue to have that mentality, I think we’ll like where we are at the end of the year.”

That level-headedness served the Falcons well Sunday, because things spun out of control repeatedly in the fourth quarter of an NFC South game that, unlikely as it would’ve seemed two months ago, wound up being for first place in the division.

The first big boom came with the Falcons in first-and-15 at the Carolina 47 with 2:26 left. That’s where Mariota found Byrd at the sticks to his right, hit him and then let Byrd do the rest—with the receiver crossing all the way back across to the left side of the field, then racing by the Panthers’ defense for a long touchdown.

“Yeah, it was just one of those plays where I thought based on the look, that we had an opportunity to get backside,” Mariota said. “Byrd did a great job of running the post-dig curl route and found a way to create space, and he made a good play.”

The score gave Atlanta a 31–28 lead with 2:14 left, after which the Falcons forced a turnover on downs, and kicked a field goal to make it 34–28. That left the Panthers with 36 seconds. It wound up being enough time for P.J. Walker to deliver a dime downfield to D.J. Moore for a 62-yard touchdown to tie it (how Carolina didn’t have anyone behind him, I don’t know) to seemingly win the game.

One problem: Moore ripped his helmet off in celebration, drawing a 15-yard penalty, making the extra point a 48-yarder. Eddy Piñeiro missed the kick, and he missed a 32-yarder in overtime, that one after the Panthers picked off Mariota, setting up Mariota to play hero again. His winding 30-yard run off a read-option keeper put Atlanta in position for Younghoe Koo to win the game with a 41-yard field goal.

“It was a zone read and actually I thought [Brian] Burns played it well; he kind of went down to the back and came back at me,” Mariota said. “So he gave me a full read, and I thought that I had a chance to get outside, but he did a good job of kind of continuing down. And then from there, I just tried to make a play. Our guys did a great job blocking down the field, and I knew once I got past the 50, that we had an opportunity to win.”

And so put the brakes on a roller-coaster ride for the first-place Falcons.

“I was a part of that Raiders-Chargers game last year, and that had a crazy, wild ending to it, too, but not really to the degree of this one,” Mariota said. “What’s cool is our guys continued to believe, and we understood that if we had a chance for the ball, we could win.”

Which, really, seems to encapsulate where the Falcons are in general right now.

The Patriots are interesting, again. They started 1–3, came back with convincing wins over the Lions and Browns, then got whacked by the Bears on Monday night, which put them 3–4 at the Meadowlands on Sunday. For some of the older, prouder Patriots, and in particular the 12 remaining who’ve won rings in Foxborough, came a realization about the program they’re a part of, and the torch they’re bearing.

“I think we all just try to do our part of passing on what guys in front of us taught us, and I think that’s what it has to be,” captain Devin McCourty said on the phone postgame. “Like, I think not having [center David] Andrews this week was big, so you have to make up for what he brings in losing that. I think guys [are] grinding, and it’s not easy. But I would say we’re just trying to figure it out. The guys that are here, that have been here, are trying to be that for guys. I know that’s what I try to do.

“We have a team, with young guys that didn’t start here. It’s not like years past, and everybody talks about Tom [Brady], but it’s not just Tom. We had a lot of guys that played together for a long time, so I think there was some built-in trust, that we didn’t blink. And I think now, we’re starting to build that.”

The Patriots’ 22–17 win over the Jets on Sunday didn’t exactly elicit memories of Bill Belichick’s glory years in New England. And, yet, in a lot of ways, it was grounded in so much of what Belichick’s built over the years—in how the team weathered a storm, made an opposing offense play left-handed, while playing efficient, balanced offense of its own down the stretch, and seizing a game-deciding edge in special teams.

Maybe most of all, though, it’s in what McCourty’s saying the team is trying to build.

At one point, it looked like the Patriots were going down 17–3 before a late hit on Mac Jones from John Franklin-Myers negated a pick-six, and preserved a field goal drive to make the score 10–6 instead. New England scored 16 consecutive to start the second half and that, very much, wound up being that.

Which made this a good time to check in with McCourty on a few Patriot things. Here they are …

• It was a weird week, to be sure, to be Jones. He was booed at home Monday night in his return from a high ankle sprain, and had “Zappe” chants raining down on him as he struggled to find his footing. Belichick steadfastly declined to definitively declare Jones his starter without qualifiers. And in such circumstances, players will often learn about their quarterback.

“I was very disappointed in how Monday night went,” McCourty said. “We were all bad, and to get booed at home in your second year when you’re trying to figure out how to be successful, battle through injury, I hated that for him. And I will say that he’s been a guy that’s been in there every day, who hasn’t changed. To get a win I think is good for him, good for the team, and he’s just got to keep grinding and keep fighting.

“Being a young player in this league is tough because you have to consistently figure out how to be a good player. And the next step I think for him is being as consistent as a player. Same thing for me when I was in my second year. How can I become a consistent player week in and week out? And that’s a battle for every guy that’s trying to learn how to be a good player in this league, and I think he knows that.”

• Normally, you’ll hear Patriots players deliver clichés on how no week is more important than the next. But coming off Monday night, McCourty wasn’t afraid to admit that the game against the Jets carried a little more weight.

“Oh, no doubt about it,” he said. “You go through a loss like we had, Chicago obviously was very prepared and played well, but I think for us personally, it just felt like we didn’t give them much of a challenge. You want to rebound, you want to step up, you want to come out and turn it around and play better, and I think that’s why this game was important. We didn’t want to be in a situation where now we’re like, Man, that’s two games where we didn’t play well.

“I think it was very important. I’m not saying it would’ve ended our season, but we needed to come out here and play way better than we played last week. I think there was a sense of urgency and that feeling throughout the whole building.”

• There was a Patriots hallmark in how the defense handled Zach Wilson—McCourty had two picks, and told me afterward they were a result of a very specific scouting point on the Jets’ quarterback. New England told its defenders that if they could get him out of the pocket, he would immediately start looking for a shot play. Wilson, true to form, did, and even hit a big one to Garrett Wilson early in the game.

But over time, the Patriots’ discipline in keeping their safeties back in those situations and not coming up on a scrambling quarterback, paid off with the interceptions.

“We knew we needed to stay deep,” McCourty said. “He does as good of a job as anybody in this league of when he rolls, looking downfield. And we did a good job of that. Guys that were reading the quarterback stayed on the quarterback. I mean, that’s really what all my interceptions were.”

• After much fanfare last week, followed by the loss to the Bears, Belichick got his 325th career win against one of his old teams. And for the guys who have been around a while, yes, it was meaningful to be on the field with him as he passed George Halas into second place all-time behind only Don Shula.

“I’ve been here through a couple game balls that he’s received, moving past people, tying people, and to be into that second slot, I mean, obviously you guys talked to him, you’re not going to hear it much from him about records,” McCourty said. “But I think to be here for 13 years and to be a part of all the success and the Super Bowls and the wins, to see a guy that continues to come in and be consistent, day in, day out, and not waver from failure or from success, or continue to just try to build for what was next, it’s been an honor.

“I’ve learned about competing, about leading and being consistent for guys from him, and it’s an honor to be a part of so many great wins. I think the irony to be here, playing against the Jets, and how close it was for him to lead that franchise, but in turn to be in New England and to be a part of the wins, obviously we would’ve wanted to get it done last week, but to be a part of that here was great, too.”

Congrats to Belichick, who’s now just 22 wins behind Shula.

The Titans have won five straight, and I’m paying attention. Tennessee doesn’t have its quarterback, its left tackle, or its No. 1 receiver from last year. Somehow, none of that mattered Sunday. Rookie Malik Willis threw the ball 10 times. The Titans’ leading receiver had 26 yards. And, yet, somehow, Tennessee still was able to grind out 314 yards on the ground, when Houston had to know exactly what was coming.

“It was a mindset,” center Ben Jones told me postgame. “We knew what we needed to do up front, we got challenged earlier in the week, and it takes all 11. No matter if it’s a quarterback, running back, tight ends, receiver. We had receivers blocking downfield for a long touchdown for Derrick [Henry]. So it wasn’t just us; it was all of us. We had a mindset, we knew it, we wanted to control the rock on the road and our defense stopped the run. So we had a mindset and a game plan and we executed.”

Now, it was the Texans, and the Titans won by only seven.

Still, and I’ve said this before, no one is more consistent in living up to their identity anywhere in the league than the Titans. And it’s because, I think, they so uniformly follow the lead of their best players, who happen to be their toughest guys such as Jones and Henry, and the lead of their coach.

That last part, at least, was obvious in an encounter Jones and Mike Vrabel had after last week’s win over the Colts in which Vrabel tearfully embraced Jones, telling him, “I’ve never seen anything like it,” in reference to Jones’s toughness playing through injuries.

“We have a great relationship on and off the field,” Jones said. “He is literally family to me. I talk to him every day, in-season, off-season and he knows I was going through something that day. And whatever it took, we knew we were going to win that game no matter what, and the way it ended, in our hands, no matter how it was, no matter how we were feeling as an offensive line, it was just our offensive line jelling right there at the end.

“Five guys doing everything they could to end the ballgame. And he was just proud of us and he knew we laid it all on the line, no matter what. We kept getting up when we were hurting, and that’s how much he loves us. That’s how much he cares about us.”

So was Jones hurting after this one, too?

“If I ain’t hurting,” he answered, “We ain’t winning.”

And the Titans are winning.

I don’t think we’ll get a ton of action at the deadline. One reason why—only seven teams are more than two games under .500, and right now the seventh seed in the AFC (the Chargers) is 4–3, and the seventh seed in the NFC (the 49ers) is 4–4. Then, if you dig into seven teams that are below that line, you have at least a few (Browns, Raiders, Steelers) that don’t see themselves as rebuilding and would be hesitant to sell significant parts.

That said, there are plenty of names being bandied about. We got to a lot of those in my Saturday trade deadline column. Here, then, are a few more notes.

• Before the weekend, a couple of teams mentioned Cardinals WR A.J. Green as potentially being available now that DeAndre Hopkins is back in the fold. And since Arizona lost Sunday to fall to 3–5, maybe such a scenario would become more likely—even though the Cardinals have had their injury woes at the position. Green has only 10 catches for 56 yards on the year, and was targeted just once on Sunday against the Vikings.

• It’s always important to consider who’s pulling the trigger in these situations. In New Orleans, it’s Mickey Loomis, now in his 21st season as Saints GM, and with a roster chock full of in-prime (or a little past that) stars, but one that’s fallen to 3–5 with inconsistency at quarterback. My sense is Loomis still wants to win with the current group, even if there is some merit to the idea of resetting, and getting capital back for players such as Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore. Which was reflected with last year’s predraft trade with Philadelphia.

• The Bills certainly are in a position to buy, and there’s been focus, outside the building, on the calls they made on Kamara and Christian McCaffrey, with the idea of Buffalo’s adding a versatile, premier tailback being a pretty daunting prospect for the rest of the AFC. And, yeah, they did explore that. But my sense is what they’d be more on the lookout for over the next day would be depth at safety, with Micah Hyde’s absence a factor.

• I’d reiterate what I’ve said before about the Panthers—it’s important to remember how young their most valuable pieces (Brian Burns, D.J. Moore, Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn, Jeremy Chinn) are. For the franchise itself, it makes sense to keep those guys, the kinds you would hope to get with first-round picks, for the next coach, making the job one that could be sold as being a quarterback away. And for GM Scott Fitterer, would it make sense to sell off players for picks you might not make? For example, if the Rams dealt first-rounders in 2024 and ’25 for Burns, does that really help the guys running the team now?

• The Broncos and Giants are two good examples of why it’s important to remember where teams are in their respective builds when considering this stuff. Denver won Sunday, and despite its 3–5 record, remains built to win in the here and now, with an older quarterback and a dearth of draft picks in April. The Giants, conversely, are at the beginning stages of a rebuild, and their loss in Seattle on Sunday was a reminder of it—and why I don’t see Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll getting drunk on their hot start and doing anything shortsighted.

• Contracts, and we’ve got more on cap space later in the column, are always a factor here. Denver’s Bradley Chubb is a great example—while the Broncos have explored what it would cost to re-sign him, they haven’t dived into negotiations with him yet. So calls over the next day or so with Chubb’s camp could color Denver’s approach on trading (or not trading) him. And the same sort of dynamic could be in play with a few others, too, as are existing contracts, cap flexibility and a bunch of other boring financial factors that all of you probably aren’t too excited about.

So that’s what we’ve got for now. And we’ll have more on-site for you, for sure, over the next couple of days.

I’ll be interested to see whether the Colts emerge as a seller in the coming days. Indianapolis isn’t out of the AFC South race by any means. They’re just two games back of Tennessee. That said, there’s a reality to starting a rookie quarterback, and overall well-being of the team. And that’s why, if I’m another team, there’s no harm in picking up the phone and asking on some of the Colts’ impending free agents such as Bobby Okereke, E.J. Speed, Yannick Ngakoue or Parris Campbell.

I don’t know whether GM Chris Ballard would move any of those guys. But I do think the decision to go to Sam Ehlinger shows a willingness, and maybe a push on ownership’s part, to figure out the quarterback situation, once and for all, whether Ehlinger or someone they draft in April. And if that’s the case, I’d imagine some of these guys would end up being available in the next day or two.

Speaking of Colts ownership, continued respect for Jim Irsay and his stand on the Dan Snyder situation. Here’s what Irsay said this week to The Washington Post, which is similar to what he told me nearly a couple of weeks ago: “I just believe in the workplace today, the standard that the shield stands for in the NFL, that you have to protect that. I just think that once owners talk among each other, they’ll arrive to the right decision. My belief is that—unfortunately—that’s the road we probably need to go down. And we just need to finish the investigation. But it’s gravely concerning to me the things that have occurred there over the last 20 years. … We have to look at all the evidence, and we have to be thorough going forward. But I think [removal as owner] is something that has to be given serious consideration. I believe it’s in the best interest of the National Football League that we look it squarely in the eye and deal with it.”

I believe Irsay is part of a faction of owners concerned that Mary Jo White’s investigation is going to move the goalposts on this whole saga, and return inconclusive findings on Snyder’s financial improprieties while emphasizing that the workplace culture in Washington has improved, which would give another faction of owners looking to protect themselves against various attacks from Snyder cover to let him off the hook.

It’s amazing to describe the Bills’ win over the Packers as ho-hum. Buffalo raced out to a 24–7 halftime lead, and it probably could’ve been more lopsided. Then, the Bills were all over the place in the second half, with Josh Allen throwing a couple of unsightly picks and the run defense sagging. And guess what? It didn’t matter. The Bills are playing with a massive margin for error right now, and that game was proof of it.

As for the Packers, there were some encouraging signs. The defense put up a pretty good fight against an intergalactic offense. The offensive line didn’t totally collapse, at least after it got settled in, in pass pro (two sacks allowed) without Elgton Jenkins. The run game (208 yards!) showed signs of dominance. And the rookie receivers, Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson, had their moments.

The problem for Green Bay is being 3–5, with their next four games against the Lions, Cowboys, Titans and Eagles.

Don’t look now, but Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys look like they’re rounding into form. Dak Prescott finished 21-of-27 for 250 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. Tony Pollard rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns. CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and Dalton Schultz combined for 15 catches, and Micah Parsons returned a fumble for a touchdown.

The Cowboys are a really good, well-rounded team, and McCarthy navigating Prescott’s absence, the loss of Tyron Smith, and the revolving door at receiver through early September, should serve Dallas well over the long haul.

So McCarthy’s return to Green Bay on Sunday should be fascinating on several fronts.

The Eagles should be 10–0 after their Sunday-night game against the Packers in four weeks. While I still think the Bills and Chiefs are the two best teams in the league, there are a lot of 2017 vibes with this Philly group, and in particular how sturdy the team is built through the lines of scrimmage.

Also, Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown are a handful to deal with, especially when you’ve also got DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and Miles Sanders to worry about.

The next challenge for that whole group will be managing success and expectations, and it’ll be interesting to see how Nick Sirianni’s staff—full of guys in the same age range as one another, skewing on the younger side—creatively deals with that.

We’ve got your quick-hitters. Right now …

• Travis Etienne looks like a star.

• Trevor Lawrence, not as much. And it’s weird that the jury is out on all five of the first-round quarterbacks from 18 months ago. Can’t call any of them busts yet. Can’t call any of them hits yet. We’re in no-man’s-land with all of them.

• There’s a lot riding on Zach Wilson in New York because there is a ton of young talent on that Jets roster.

• The Patrick Peterson–Steve Keim feud is strange.

• I wish I could explain what happened to the Raiders on Sunday. The Saints are still pretty good, but they’re not that good.

• I love the way Tua Tagovailoa is playing right now—he brought the Dolphins back from a 14–0 deficit to go 29-of-36 for 382 yards and three touchdowns, while setting Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle loose. And I think what you’re seeing is the power of investment in young players, from how Miami used its cap space, to the coach it hired, to the rope it’s given Tagovailoa this year to go out and play through mistakes and grow as a player. It’s fun to watch.

• D’Onta Foreman’s 118-yard, three-touchdown effort for the Panthers is an illustration of why the Panthers had to deal Christian McCaffrey—it’s too easy to find someone competent at the position if you’re not in a position to truly contend. It stands to reason, too, that by the time the Panthers start winning under a new coach, whenever that is, McCaffrey won’t be the same guy.

• That said, Alvin Kamara might be worth a first-round pick to a contender, given the value he brings in the passing game.

• If Michael Pittman hangs on to the ball in the fourth quarter, we’re probably talking about Ehlinger differently this morning.

• The Vikings are very quietly running away with the NFC North. ICYMI, their lead over the field in that division is up to 3.5 games.

THREE FOR MONDAY NIGHT

1) I love the opportunity that’s in front of Tee Higgins here. The 6'4" power forward of a star receiver was taken 32 picks after Joe Burrow in 2020 and, like Burrow, is eligible for a second contract for the first time starting in January. With Ja’Marr Chase out a month or so, Higgins has a chance to make a statement on his ability to be a true No. 1 receiver. And that starts Monday night.

2) Joe Burrow’s passer ratings through the 4–1 stretch the Bengals are riding: 114.9, 115.9, 82.7, 126.0, 138.2. And sacks taken in those games: 2, 1, 2, 3, 3. Maybe it’s too early to say the 2021 Bengals are back. But it sure looks like they’ve worked through similar issues to the ones the Chiefs fought through last year (new offensive line, lots of teams playing two high safeties), and, like Kansas City did, are coming out the other side.

3) The Browns are 2–5, and have to go 2–2 minimum over their next four to have any sort of shot when Deshaun Watson returns in Week 13. After their Week 9 bye, they’ll travel to Miami and Buffalo, then host Tampa Bay. So this one’s critical, and watching Cleveland’s run game should be instructive. The Browns topped 170 yards rushing in each of their first five games. They were held under 115 the last two weeks, in losses to the Patriots and Ravens. Will the downward trend continue against an up-and-down Bengals run defense?

ONE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Only one NFL team has more than $12 million in cap space right now, and that team is the Browns. Only two more are over $10 million—the Bears, at $11.75 million, and the Falcons, at a tick over $10 million. Meanwhile, half the league, 16 of the 32 teams, are under $4 million. And I write that to say this: While cap gymnastics can happen, there are consequences to them, and those can influence teams’ willingness to deal.

Of course, for, say, a Brian Burns or a Bradley Chubb, you do it. For other guys, it’s not as automatic. So with that in mind, here, as of Sunday night, are the dozen teams with the most room at more than $5 million, with the trade deadline approaching at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.

1) Browns: $33.13 million.

2) Bears: $11.75 million.

3) Falcons: $10.00 million.

4) Panthers: $9.76 million.

5) Eagles: $9.42 million.

6) Raiders: $9.00 million.

7) Broncos: $7.91 million.

8) Colts: $6.93 million.

9) Cowboys: $6.93 million.

10) Steelers: $6.93 million.

11) Packers: $6.42 million.

12) Dolphins: $5.08 million.

We’ll see you Monday afternoon, with more deadline stuff in this week’s MAQB.

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