DANTE LASTING
Assistant Sports Editor
Football is back!
With 14 games in the books, there is a lot to talk about. This week, some things were good, some things were bad and some things were just plain ugly.
Note: Analysis does not include Monday night games.
The GOOD
The Kansas City Chiefs picked up where they left off. They put up 40 points against the Jacksonville Jaguars who thought to return to their 2017 form, but did not look like it.
Down in Miami, Lamar Jackson spoiled the Dolphins’ home opener by scoring five touchdowns and leading his team to a 59-10 victory. In a press conference after the game, Jackson called out his critics saying, “Not bad for a running back.”
The Dallas Cowboys showed up and showed out against the New York Giants. Quarterback Dak Prescott had a perfect passer rating of 158.3, threw for 405 yards and four touchdowns.
As the New England Patriots lowered another Super Bowl banner, they also looked unstoppable Sunday night. Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and led his team to a 33-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. It did not look like they needed him, but the Patriots will also have Antonio Brown on the team from now on.
The BAD
Former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles got injured at his first game with his new team. The Jacksonville quarterback suffered a broken clavicle in the first quarter of the game versus the Chiefs. He will likely be put on injured reserve and it is unclear when he will be able to return to the team. It is not clear who will replace him going forward as the Jaguars have sixth-round pick rookie Gardner Minshew who took over in the game. Jacksonville also traded a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for quarterback Josh Dobbs. They will compete for the starting job until Foles is healthy enough to return.
The Detroit Lions gave up a 24-6 lead against the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth quarter of the game. First overall pick Kyler Murrary brought the team back with two late touchdowns to force overtime. Neither team would come out of overtime with a win as it ended in a tie.
The Atlanta Falcons did not show up in the game against the Minnesota Vikings. They were outscored 28-0 through three quarters and only scored 12 points in the fourth. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw two interceptions, and the whole team looked flat.
The UGLY
Cancel the parade! The Cleveland Browns offseason hype train came to a crashing halt. The Browns got crushed by the Tennessee Titans, outscoring the Browns by a score of 43-13. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield threw three interceptions and took five sacks. The ugly part about this loss is the fact that the Browns committed 18 penalties for 182 yards. That is the most committed penalties since the Bears had 21 in 1951. The worst penalty that was called was on offensive tackle Greg Robinson when he kicked Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro in the face. Robinson was ejected from the game and was not able to return.
After the Dolphins terrible loss, multiple players called their agents and told them they wanted out of Miami. The team only had 21 rushing yards and less than 200 passing yards in the game. With talks of tanking down in Miami, many of the players are not happy and it’s only been one week. Next week, the Patriots come to town, and we could see them put 100 points on the Dolphins if they play the same way they did in this game.