I’ll happily start the thread this week, as the Patriots came away from the Thursday game against the hated NY Giants with a win that was decisive in score, even if they did not look that great getting it.
Thursday
New York Giants at New England Patriots (-17, 41)
Sunday morning
Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+2.5, 47.5)
Sunday early afternoon
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens (-11.5, 48)
Seattle Seahawks at Cleveland Browns (+1.5, 46.5)
Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs (-4.5, 55)
New Orleans Saints at Jacksonville Jaguars (-1, 44)
Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings (-3, 44)
Washington Redskins at Miami Dolphins (+3.5, 41)
Sunday late afternoon
San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams (-3.5, 50.5)
Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals (+2.5, 51.5)
Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets (+7, 43.5)
Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos (-2, 39.5)
Sunday night
Pittsburgh Steelers at Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5, 41.5)
Monday night
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers (-4, 47)
Well, a win is a win, but there’s not a lot to great to take away from last night’s game. Especially the first half in which the Pat’s offense looked inept against a team that shouldn’t have been that close. The Pat’s defense was solid but it was against a depleted Giant’s offense and a rookie QB who was easily confused. That’s not going to be enough against the Chiefs.
Ten days to rest up for the Jets, and maybe time to make a few personnel moves.
I was surprised how long the Giants held the game close, particularly since they had so many injuries on offense and a questionable defense.
Amazing, though that the Pats have had 6 games, with 3 against teams that have no wins, and the next best two have a combined 3 wins all season. Only the Bills look to be a legit good team.
After the Jets, though, they have 6 straight games against teams that are currently over .500. That’s where we’ll find out who these Patriots really are.
I wonder if the Patriots are suffering on offense being without Gronk and with Brady getting a bit older? (He’s a month younger than me and I’m not a kid anymore.)
They still have Edelman and Josh Gordon seems to be a good addition for them, but their offense is not their strong point. They’re leaning on their defense which is looking like the best in the NFL this year.
Last night’s game was weird in that I can see both sides being happy but with concerns over stuff to work on.
The Patriots looked out of sync on offense through 3 quarters but then pulled it together in Patriots fashion and finished with a flourish, comfortably covering the spread and (finally in the 4th) looking all around good. Clearly stuff to work on, but come on. Beating up on a bad team is never bad.
The Giants were legitimately in that game into the fourth quarter. IIRC, Giants had the ball down by 7 (early) in the 4th quarter, and that’s in it. Even after already having coughed up the ball 4? times already, including giving up a TD by letting a a punt get blocked and recovered in the end zone. (Gah!)
Unfortunately the Patriots’ time of possession had the defense out here a full game’s worth by early in the 4th, when they lost a step (or 10) from fatigue. I’ll take 30 minutes of solid defense; I haven’t even thought about good defense on the Giants since 2016, the lone good year in Steve Spagnuolo’s return to New York.
I’m starting to worry about Jones’ turnovers, though, with at least two per game, every game. I love his accuracy, which was never Eli’s thing outside of slant passes. (Odell Beckham, Victor Cruz, Steve Smith 2, etc…) Maybe that accuracy is why he tries to thread the needle so much.
Turnovers are one of the aspects of the game that usually gets better for any QB. Experience counts for a lot and as a passer gets more used to watching NFL defenses in action they can anticipate what a defender is going to do and where they’re going to be, and be less likely to throw a pass where the other team can get it. They also get better at decision-making and will get better judgment about whether a certain coverage is worth throwing into.
I find this article from May interesting:
It was predicting how the starting QBs would do. There was uncertainty about whether Manning or Jones would be the starter. The prediction there would be that Jones would have 5 TDs and 4 interceptions. At this point he already has 5 TDs in as many games, but 6 interceptions. So maybe not good.
Browns are wildly inconsistent. Mayfield is out-Russell Wilsoning Russell Wilson after sucking ass for a few weeks. I did pick them in the pick 'em leagues this week even though it was 90% against.
As a Seattle fan I consider that a questionable call. I wouldn’t have been upset if it was a no-call.
That being said, it was a shove knocking him down, not a collision that was unavoidable, and it was clearly late. So I can see why the flag was thrown.
OBJ just tried something clever that you never see. Baker throws a ball right to a seahawks defender, who’s on the ground after intercepting the pass. OBJ deliberately doesn’t touch him and just waits - the guy gets up and tries to run, and OBJ punches the ball out while he’s getting up.
The refs ruled that the guy was giving himself up, so it didn’t matter, but it was a clever idea.
Before anyone says anything, that recent DPI in the end zone against Cleveland was crap. If there was any contact it was incidental and before the pass.
ETA: And another crap flag. The refs seem to have it out for the Browns. Again, I’m a Seattle fan.