Plus, the Cowboys continue to implode, Andy Dalton on the receiving end of a cheap shot, Falcons find a way to lose again, Davante Adams lights up Houston, kicking history for the Bills, kicking heartbreak for Carolina and much more.
Reacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Week 7 Sunday afternoon games...
Things That Made Me Giddy
Baker Cracks Open the Comeback Starter Kit: Just like Philip Rivers did a week ago! After another ugly start to the game in Cincinnati, he needed the big finish—and good on him, but frankly, Odell or no Odell, a franchise quarterback with this caliber supporting cast has to light up the Bengals.
Baker to Peoples-Jones: The game-winner was a big-time back-shoulder throw to a receiver he hasn’t worked with very much:
Steelers in All Three Phases: At least for most of the game in Nashville. They moved the ball at will in the first half and defensively kept the Titans off-schedule. They even got a long punt return from Ray-Ray McCloud to set up a second-quarter touchdown. Trouble came with turnovers in the second half, and the Steelers were on the wrong end on a few fluky plays—along with a deflected INT and an end zone INT that was in JuJu Smith-Schuster’s hands, there was Vince Williams ducking out of the way of a potential interception that instead became a 73-yard catch-and-run TD for the Titans, and a deflected Tannehill pass on a third-and-long that ended up being caught to keep Tennessee’s first TD drive alive. But it’s not often that you lose the turnover battle 3-0, fail to get a red-zone stop, and still beat a previously undefeated opponent on the road.
Matthew Stafford Does His Thing: Down six, he had to take the Lions 75 yards in 64 seconds with no timeouts. After an incompletion to start the drive, he hit passes for 13, 22 and 29 (the last one a late-in-the-down special), with clock-stopping spikes in between, to set up the game-tying, late-in-the-down 11-yard laser to T.J. Hockenson. In all, he was 25-for-36 for 340 in Atlanta.
Rodgers-to-Adams: It was back on schedule after an off-day in Tampa. On Aaron Rodgers’s 16 targets to Davante Adams: 13 catches, 196 yards, 2 TDs. If you’d like to argue that they’re the best QB/WR combo in football, that would hold up against a fact-check.
Prater’s PAT From 48 Wins It: The Lions touchdown as time expired made it 22-22, so Detroit needed the PAT. Thanks to Danny Amendola picking up the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for removing his helmet during the celebration. Prater delivered.
The Unmatched Stamina of Tyler Bass’s Right Leg: The Bills rookie became the eighth player in NFL history to attempt eight field goals in a game, and he does it eight weeks away from the eighth night of Hanukkah. (Also, he made six of the kicks. And also, it is seven weeks and five days away from the eighth night of Hanukkah. But still, pretty mind-blowing stuff as long as you ignore some of the facts.)
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Regrets
Mike Nolan Might Not Survive Until Morning: Three things in defense of the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator: (1) Philosophically, he is the polar opposite of Rod Marinelli/Kris Richard, and transitioning without an offseason was going to be rough; (2) Nolan needs good cornerbacks, and the front office let a true No. 1 in Byron Jones walk in order to overinvest at wide receiver, linebacker and running back, and (3) This defense couldn’t tackle anyone playing the more simplistic scheme last year—it’s just not a very good group on the back seven. But sheesh, the number of pure blown coverages and missed tackles they have can be measured on a per-play basis.
The Cowboys’ Complete Inability to Tackle: I mean, there’s a quarterback who wears No. 8 and plays in that area of the country who’s really hard to tackle, but it’s not Kyle Allen.
Falcons’ Will to Lose Greater Than the Lions’ Will to Lose: It was infuriating watching both these offenses slam the brakes in the second half considering how good the quarterbacks are and how bad the pass defenses are, and neither team is capable of closing out a game. But it was even more incredible watching the Lions make Matthew Stafford overcome as many obstacles as possible on the final drive, from T.J. Hockenson catching a sideline pass with no timeouts and deliberately staying inbounds, to an uncharacteristically drop-prone Danny Amendola costing them 15 yards by removing his helmet while celebrating the game-tying touchdown (yes, it’s a dumb rule, but everyone knows the rule), making the game-winning PAT 48 yards.
The Falcons Outright Refuse to Recognize Situational Football: The Falcons were down two. It was first-and-goal from the 10 with 70 seconds left and the Lions were out of timeouts. Matt Patricia’s group understood that letting the clock bleed then needing a block or miss on a 25- to 30-yard field goal was the worst-case scenario for the Lions. So why didn’t Raheem Morris’s group figure that out? Or, if they did, why did nobody tell Todd Gurley?
Steelers Were Lucky to Close It Out: It’s your offense that closes out games in 2020, and the Steelers just jogged in place after taking a 20-point lead early in the third quarter. Granted, the two turnovers were fluky—a deflected interception, and another on an end zone seam route in traffic that JuJu Smith-Schuster had in his hands before linebacker Jayon Brown knocked away at the last moment. After doing whatever they wanted in for 35 minutes, Pittsburgh went three-and-out punt, interception on the fourth play of a drive, and punt after a five-play drive. Then they threw the interception in the end zone at the end of a long drive, giving the Titans one last chance.
Jaylon Smith Is Really, Really Struggling: And the contract extension he signed before last season was a fair deal for most sides, but he’s going to become the poster boy for the front office’s mistakes if he continues to play at this level. The Joneses have to be praying it’s just a rough transition to a new scheme. (For what it’s worth, Leighton Vander Esch is struggling too but he’s being spared because he’s missed time and because he’s still on his rookie deal.)
Jon Bostic’s Hit on Andy Dalton: Sometimes the QB slides late and there’s not a whole lot the defender can do about it. That wasn’t the case here; Dalton was slowing down early to go into his slide. This play is absolutely filthy. Bostic was ejected and is at least looking at a hefty fine, if not a suspension.
Stephen Gostkowski: Tokyo Drift: I didn’t see any of those movies and don’t really know what that means, but a Gostkowski kick drifted too far right for a second straight week. This one was a 48-yarder that would have forced overtime against the Steelers.
Josh Allen Ball Security: I was a charter member of the Josh Allen bandwagon and I’m not going anywhere, but early Sunday he took a strip-sack on a third-and-long in the red zone, his fourth lost fumble of the season. The lack of interceptions is great, but fumbles are typically more damaging than interceptions.
The Falcons’ Gradient Uniforms Are a Crime Against Humanity: The players should file a class-action suit against everyone involved in the conception and approval of those costumes.
The Bills Were Going to Have some Red Zone Regression… : But I didn’t expect it to come all in one week. In East Rutherford they made four red-zone trips (excluding their game-ending kneel-downs) and came away with six points (two field goals, one missed field goal and one turnover).
Ezekiel Elliott Suddenly Has Hands Like Feet: Following up the two fumbles on Monday night, he turned a red-zone dump off thrown (that, to be fair, was thrown behind him) into a defender’s hands for an interception, and managed to muff a toss on Ben DiNucci’s first snap resulting in a loss of yardage.
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
Joey Slye Heartbreak from 65: This would’ve tied it late (and it came after Teddy Bridgewater took a killer sack).
Ezekiel Elliott Tries Out as Crash Test Dummy: The actual dummy, not the band. Musically they just wouldn’t be on the same page.
This Roughing the Passer Call: Oh my. Also, keep in mind that Matthew Stafford has a good 30 pounds on A.J. Terrell.
For Once, the Jets Actually Try to Convert a Third-and-Long: And look what happens on third-and-20! (Ignore the fact that four plays later they turned it over on downs.)
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
The Steelers Are 6-0: And they’ll get knocked for the too-exciting finish in Nashville, but it’s not often a team loses the turnover battle 3-0 and still beats an undefeated opponent on the road.
Don’t Look Now, But the Lions Are Back in This Thing: They’re sitting at 3-3 and their all-world quarterback is starting to get back on track after a rocky start to 2020.
Whoa Whoa Whoa ... Josh Allen Is Streaky?: As much as I enjoy the XTREME TAEKS!(tm) after every Allen game (I’ve participated myself!), here’s what he is: An ascending young QB who makes up for rough edges by putting incredible stress on an opposing defense due to his arm strength and athleticism. He will occasionally string together too many misses; he’s never going to be Brady-in-his-prime accurate. He’s also going to create some plays—and Brian Daboll can call some plays—that few other quarterbacks can attempt. He’s young Cam Newton, probably a little more erratic as a thrower and but also much more willing to scramble (Cam was used on designed runs, but never scrambled as much as Allen does). He could very well have a Cam 2015 season at some point, and if he does it will be the case of an extended hot streak. But changing your perception as we go week-to-week doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Cowboys Players Call Out Coaches, Now Coaches Call Out Players: Mike McCarthy didn't like the lack of response to the Jon Bostic cheap shot on Andy Dalton and said so after the game. It comes less than a week after players called out the coaching staff. So now we'll have a week to devote to a debate for the ages: Are the 1-6 Cowboys the product of bad players or bad coaches?
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