Chops316 Monday Morning Quarterback: 2020 Week 6

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The sixth weekend of the 2020 NFL season is in the books so here are the different thoughts and opinions I have on various things I witnessed this past weekend. It was a weekend to forget. Maybe not for your favorite team, but for mine. And since I write this post my opinion is the only that counts. Uh oh, a few sentences in and I'm already getting mean. It was that kind of Monday Night for the Cowboys. I'll try to cheer up as I write. Beer would help.

Just remember I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and I'm extremely biased. Feel free to agree or disagree about anything mentioned here. All comments are welcome.

Beware: Dallas Rant Ahead


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I don't know why I even bothered talking about this game. The picture tells the story.
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The Andy Dalton Era began with a thud Monday night as the Arizona Cardinals humiliated the Dallas Cowboys 38-10. If you didn’t watch the game, and for your sake I hope you didn’t waste your time like I did, the game wasn’t even as close as that blowout score looks. Yup it was that bad for my Cowboys, who are now officially on my shit list.

The Cowboys defense is historically bad, we all know that by now. However they got off to a decent start Monday night by forcing punts on Arizona’s first three possessions. They were aided greatly by the Cardinals committing penalties and QB Kyler Murray missing wide open receivers, but still for a brief moment they were relevant.

It was time for the Cowboys offense to step up. With QB Dak Prescott on the shelf, they needed RB Zeke Elliott to shine. Instead he fumbled. Zeke has become a turnover machine this season, it was his third lost fumble on the season. Arizona took advantage of the gift and turned it into a TD.

OK, only down 7-0 early in the second quarter. Time for the offense to answer back. Instead Elliott fumbled his next handoff again! WTF ZEKE!!! Another short field, another Cardinals TD. 14-0.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy benched Elliott for the next series and Dallas drove into Arizona territory, but a costly penalty forced them to punt. The Cardinals went for the kill shot as Kyler Murray threw a bomb to WR Christian Kirk. Boom! The Dallas defense had already thrown in the towel and Kirk was wide open. 21-0 Cardinals and the game as essentially over in the second quarter.

The rest of the game consisted of Arizona ramming the ball down the Cowboys throats to chew up the clock and Dallas grabbing some garbage time stats. It was all just a waste of time watching the clock tick down to zero.

I’m pissed. Not because Dallas lost, because of the way they lost. The effort stunk and they played without heart. It was a damn joke. Zeke Elliott’s production has gone way down since he got his big contract, now that the Cowboys need him the most he comes out and shoots the team in the foot with back-to-back turnovers. The Cowboys defense showed a little spirit early on, but after Arizona was gifted with a couple of short fields they gave up competing. The Cowboys turned the ball over four times, as usual the defense forced zero turnovers.

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray (9/24, 188 yards, 2 TDs) was wildly inaccurate with his passes, most of his numbers came from the two bombs he did connect on. If he had better touch Arizona easily could have put up 50 points. He was better on the ground (10 carries, 74 yards, 1 TD) and RB Kenyan Drake (20 carries, 164 yards, 2 TDs) followed his lead. The Cardinals improved to 4-2.

I’m not even going to mention any Dallas stats because they all came in garbage time. QB Andy Dalton wasn’t sharp and after Dallas fell into a giant hole that they dug themselves once again, the Cowboys had to rely on him to try to comeback. It didn’t go great. This was a game in which Dallas needed to run the ball, but Zeke’s early fumbles took away that option and Dalton had to sling 54 pass attempts. When your QB has to throw 54 passes and you can only muster 10 lousy points you know things went horribly wrong. The Cowboys fell to 2-4.

You would think that after watching Dak go down, the team would try to rally together to compete. Nope, it was the same old shit. Even worse actually. Mike McCarthy needs to crack the whip this week at practice. That was not a professional performance and there had better be hell to pay.

I didn’t play football in high school because my school was so small we didn’t have enough kids to make a team. We did have a baseball team, I played first base. One time in a bad loss we made three errors in one inning. I mean I didn’t make any, but I say “we” because I was a good teammate. The errors were just as bad mentally as they were physically. Our heads weren’t into the game.

Anyway our coach was pissed off. At practice the next day he told us to start running and don’t stop. And we ran. Then we ran some more. Then we kept running. I thought I was going to die. I wasn’t the only one. Finally he told us to stop and take a seat on the dugout bench. I didn’t, I walked over to the big ass garbage can we had next to the bench. My coach told me to sit my ass down and I told him I was going to puke. He let me stand there. (For the record I didn’t puke but I sure thought I was going to).

Coach Tosh chewed our asses out good. He ended by telling us if he saw a lack of effort like that again we would run until we died. I played on that team for two more years and we never played that bad again. At the Cowboys next practice, McCarthy better make them run until somebody pukes.




America's Dud of the Week



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Rodgers was run over by the Bucs defense
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No matter what the matchup is, Fox always promotes their late Sunday afternoon game as America’s Game of the Week. Sometimes the title is justified, sometimes it isn’t. This week the title was certainly justified as the 4-0 Green Bay Packers traveled to Tampa Bay to face the 3-2 Buccaneers. Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers. What a marquee QB matchup! Unfortunately it was the Dud of the Week as the Bucs walloped the Pack 38-10. Coming off of a bye-week, Green Bay looked like they forgot to practice while they were off.

The contest looked like it was going to be a rout from the get go, except early on it seemed Green Bay was going to run away with the game. The Packers accepted the opening kickoff and put together a long drive that ended with a FG. The Bucs went three and out on their first possession, the Packers got the ball back and embarked on another long, time-consuming drive that ended with a TD. Green Bay held a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.

The Bucs second possession ended with another punt after only seven plays for 30 yards. Green Bay was poised to put the game away early when QB Aaron Rodgers was intercepted by Bucs CB Jamel Dean, who returned the INT for a 32-yard pick-six. It was Rodgers first INT of the season, but not his last on Sunday. Three plays after receiving the kickoff Rodgers threw another INT, this time to S Mike Edwards who returned the ball the two-yard line. RB Ronald Jones punched the rock into the endzone and before you knew it the Bucs had taken a 14-10 lead. They never looked back.

After the picks, the Packers offense went totally into the tank. They didn’t reach Tampa Bay territory once in the final three quarters. That is sad. Aaron Rodgers (16/35, 160 yards, 2 INTs) had his worst showing of the season. He got little help from his offensive line (Rodgers was sacked four times and on the run all day) and RB Aaron Jones (10 carries, 15 yards, 1 TD). So much for the league’s highest scoring offense entering Week Six.

I can’t help but think back to the Packers lousy draft last spring. This is a team that is ready to contend now, but instead G.M. Brian Gutekunst drafted for the future. The Packers fell to 4-1.

Bucs QB Tom Brady (17/27, 166 yards, 2 TDs) didn’t light up the sky, but he didn’t make costly mistakes either. He got plenty of help on the ground from RB Ronald Jones (23 carries, 113 yards, 2 TDs) and RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn (5 carries, 42 yards). For the first time this season TE Rob Gronkowski was a featured piece of the game plan and he delivered: 5 receptions, 78 yards, 1 TD. The Bucs improved to 4-2.

America's Real Game of the Week



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Derrick Henry is an equal opportunity RB. He'll either run over you or right by you.
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In an exciting back and forth affair, the Tennessee Titans outlasted the Houston Texans 42-36 in overtime. If you love defense this wasn't the game for you, the two teams combined for over a thousand yards of offense.

Tennessee came out of the gate hot with QB Ryan Tannehill tearing up the Houston secondary, he had three TD passes in the first half and the Titans took a 21-10 halftime lead. The Texans fought back in the third quarter, scoring two TDs of their own while keeping the Titans scoreless. The only mistake was K Kai’mi Fairbarn missed the extra-point attempt on the second TD. That would come back to haunt them.

Now trailing 23-21 entering the 4th quarter, the Titans turned to the beast, RB Derrick Henry, to turn the game back into their favor. Henry ripped off a 94-yard TD sprint. Tennessee went for two and converted to take a 29-23 lead.

Texans QB Deshaun Watson wasn’t intimidated, he quickly put together two TD drives to retake the lead. The second TD put Houston up 36-29 and the Texans decided to go for two but failed. Hmm. If Fairbarn hadn’t missed an earlier extra-point they would have already been up by seven and a two-point conversion wouldn’t have even been considered. Instead the Texans chased that lost point and failed. Now the Titans would be able to force overtime with a TD and an extra-point, which is exactly what they did with seven seconds left.

The Titans won the toss and never gave the Texans a shot in overtime. Tannehill hit Henry with a 53-yard pass to move them deep into Houston territory. Four plays later Henry blasted into the endzone to finish off the game 42-36.

The Titans offense was unstoppable as they accrued a franchise-record 601 yards on offense. QB Ryan Tannehill (30/41, 364 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) torched them in the air and RB Derrick Henry (22 carries, 212 yards, 2 TDs) seared them on the ground. Two turnovers by Tannehill (fumble and INT) and two missed FGs (one blocked) were the only things stopping the Titans from completely steamrolling the Texans. Tennessee remains unbeaten at 5-0.

Texans QB Deshaun Watson (28/37, 335 yards, 4 TDs) played an excellent game to give the Texans a chance of winning, despite the utter helplessness of the defense. WR Will Fuller (6 receptions, 123 yards, 1 TD) did the most damage with Watson’s passes. The Texans drop to a very disappointing 1-5.

Battle of the Birds



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Barely beating an injury-depleted Eagles squad doesn't scream Super Bowl contender
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As expected, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. What wasn’t expected was the Ravens damn near blew it. They let a decimated Eagles offense stage a furious comeback that fell just short, escaping with a 30-28 win.

I don’t know what is going on in Baltimore. Outside of their loss to the Chiefs (in which they got their asses handed to them at home) the Ravens have had an easy schedule so far and just seem to be coasting along. They make a few plays early on, take a lead and fart around waiting for the game to end. It almost cost them against the Eagles, who had enough of that crap and scored 22 points in the 4th quarter. A failed two-point conversion that fell just short of the goal line nearly sent the game into overtime.

Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson (16/27, 186 yards, 1 TD) is not playing at the same level as last season. He is still dangerous on the ground (9 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD), but his passing game is going to hell. Too many missed opportunities with inaccurate throws. He needs to clean that up fast as the Ravens enter a tougher stretch in their schedule. Jackson relying on just his legs is dangerous, ask Dak Prescott, and won’t be enough to beat the top teams in the AFC.

The Ravens defense forced three fumbles and sacked QB Carson Wentz (21/40, 213 yards, 2 TDs) six times, but still gave up 28 points. They fell asleep in the 4th quarter assuming they already had the game won. The Ravens improved to 5-1, but aren’t playing their best football right now.

I rip on the Eagles a lot because I hate them. However they deserve credit for not throwing in the towel and giving the Ravens a scare. Their offense is completely decimated by injuries, they lost TE Zack Ertz (4 receptions, 33 yards) and RB Miles Sanders (9 carries, 118 yards) against Baltimore. Carson Wentz is being forced to be a one-man show on offense. The Eagles fell to 1-4-1, good enough for second place in the terrible NFC (L)East.

Fooled Me Once


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This is the Browns team I'm used to seeing
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Last week in my post I said the Browns are starting to look like a contender. Whoops. This week Cleveland made me look like an asshole by being beat up by the Pittsburgh Steelers 38-7.

This game was about as one-sided as you can get in the NFL. Cleveland QB Baker Mayfield (10/18, 119 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) missed a lot of practice leading up to this game with a rib injury and sure didn’t look healthy enough to play. He didn’t get any help from his offensive line, who let the Steelers defense chase him all over the field. Mayfield was sacked four times, it could have been more but he was mercifully benched in the 3rd quarter. The Browns put one scoring drive together, outside of that they were completely manhandled by the Steelers. The Browns dropped to 4-2 and don’t look ready yet to play with the big boys in the AFC.

The Steelers defense led the way on Sunday. They scored Pittsburgh’s first TD of the day when S Minkah Fitzpatrick stole a pass from Mayfield and turned it into a 33-yard pick-six. The defense shut down the Browns so bad the offense was gifted with short fields all afternoon. The Steelers only needed 277 yards of total offense to score 38 points.

QB Ben Roethlisberger (14/22, 162 yards, 1 TD) didn’t need to do much to put points on the board. The most important thing he did was not turn the ball over. WR Chase Claypool (4 receptions, 74 yards) and WR James Washington (4 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD) were his main beneficiaries. RB James Connor (20 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD) led the rushing attack. The Steelers remain undefeated at 5-0 and right now look like the team to beat in the AFC North. Their next two games are against Tennessee (5-0) and Baltimore (5-1). Those two contests will tell us if the Steelers are truly ready to return to the Super Bowl.

Around the League


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Rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire showed the Bills that Patrick Mahomes isn't the only Chief you need to game plan for
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The Buffalo Bills are trying to step up to the next level, but they have hit a wall the past two weeks when facing real contenders in the AFC. After last week’s 42-16 trouncing at the hands of the Titans, they returned home to rain-soaked Buffalo to lose 26-17 at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.

While the weather had an adverse effect on the Bills, it didn’t bother the well-oiled Chiefs offense. QB Patrick Mahomes (21/26, 225 yards, 2 TDs) had a modest day by his super standards, mainly because head coach Andy Reid decided a run-heavy script better suited the conditions. He turned rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire loose and he didn’t disappoint: 26 carries, 161 yards. The Chiefs bounced back from last week’s loss to the Raiders to improve to 5-1. The defending champs are still the team to beat in the AFC.

Buffalo never got their running game going. They were forced to rely on QB Josh Allen (14/27, 122 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) who struggled with the weather. A bigger cause for concern in Buffalo is the continued regression of the defense. The Chiefs averaged more than 5 yards per carry on 46 attempts. The defense that was so strong last season has looked shakier this year. The Bills fell to 4-2.

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We had to wait an extra week to see the Denver Broncos play the New England Patriots because of Covid issues, but boy was it worth the wait. Nah, that’s a lie. It was a snoozefest won by the Broncos 18-12.

The Broncos couldn’t find the endzone even once, but they managed to kick 6 FGs. QB Drew Lock (10/24, 189 yards, 2 INTs) returned from injury and didn’t look sharp. RB Phillip Lindsay (23 carries, 101 yards) also came back and looked good. RB Melvin Gordon missed the game due to “illness”. Since he picked up a DUI earlier in the week it was probably a case of the Budweiser flu.

The Patriots missed a lot of practice due to Covid and it showed. QB Cam Newton tried to be a one-man offense, leading the team in passing (17/25, 157 yards, 2 INTs) and rushing (10 carries, 76 yards, 1 TD). The Patriots fell to 2-3. Do you remember the last time New England had a losing record this late in a season? It was 2002. They finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Could happen again.
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In Indianapolis the Cincinnati Bengals raced out to 21-0 lead over the Colts in the 1st quarter. Then because they are the Bengals they blew it and lost 31-27.

Because of the deep hole they found themselves in, the Colts were forced to nearly abandon the run and air out the ball. QB Philip Rivers (29/44, 371 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) had his best game as Colt and WR Marcus Johnson (5 receptions, 108 yards) was his top target. The Colts came back, but getting pushed around so early by a team like the Bengals is a bad omen. The Colts improved to 4-2.

The Joe Burrow era has begun in Cincinnati like many before, poorly. Burrow (25/39, 313 yards, 1 INT) is showing NFL talent, but the team around him needs loads of upgrades before they can move forward. The Bengals fell to 1-4-1.
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Hooray for the Atlanta Falcons, who beat down the Minnesota Vikings 40-23 for their first win of the season. This game was a rout, all of the Vikings points came in garbage time.

Offense hasn’t normally been a problem in Atlanta and the underwhelming Vikings defense had no answers on how to stop them. QB Matt Ryan (30/40, 371 yards, 4 TDs) lit them up with help of WR Julio Jones (8 receptions, 137 yards, 2 TDs). The running game wasn’t electric (37 carries, 99 yards), but all they needed to do was chew up clock. The Falcons are now 1-5.

The Atlanta defense has been terrible, but Vikings QB Kirk Cousins was in a giving mood. He threw three INTs to help the Falcons build up a big lead. A lead so big even the Falcons couldn’t blow it! Imagine that. The Vikings were sad on both sides of the ball and most of their stats were gained in garbage time. Which started fairly early due to Cousins generosity. The Vikings fell to 1-5.
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While I’m at it, hooray for the New York Giants who gained their first victory of the season over the Team with No-Name 20-19. The final score makes it look like an interesting game, but trust me it was a shit show.

LB Tae Crowder was the hero for the Giants as his late 43-yard yard fumble return for a TD ended up being the game-winning score. The No-names fought back with a last second TD, but went for the win with a two-point conversion and failed.

Everything about this game was ugly, fitting for a NFC (L)East matchup. Both teams are now 1-5 and neither will likely pick up another win until they play another inter-divisional game.
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On Sunday the Detroit Lions proved they can hold a big lead for a win, as long as the opponent is Jacksonville. The Lions beat the Jaguars 34-16.

Lions rookie RB D’Andre Swift (14 carries, 116 yards, 2 TDs) smashed the Jacksonville “defense”. WR Kenny Golladay (4 receptions, 105 yards) finally looked healthy for Detroit. It was big win for the Lions, which tells you all you need to know about the Lions when beating the Jaguars is a big win. The Lions improve to 2-3.

The Jaguars played a terrible game of football, but on the bright side it was an excellent job of tanking. Turnovers and missed kicks helped the Lions take a 24-3 lead and they never looked back. WR Keenan Cole (6 receptions, 143 yards) had big day in the losing effort. Jacksonville fell to 1-5.
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If you’ve seen the Chicago Bears play at all this season, I’m sure you’re asking yourself the same question I am: How in the hell is this team 5-1? It doesn’t make sense but that is the Bears record after they beat the Carolina Panthers 23-16.

Actually the answer is defense, because the Bears offense doesn’t scare anyone. QB Nick Foles (23/39, 198 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) did just enough to win with little help from RB David Montgomery (19 carries, 58 yards). Chicago needs to find some answers on offense. With the talent they have maybe they should just pray the defense stays healthy.

Carolina had been playing well, but the Bears defense abused them. QB Teddy Bridgewater (16/29, 216 yards, 2 INTs) was beat up and sacked four times. The Panthers fell to 3-3.
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After an embarrassing loss to the Dolphins last week, the San Francisco 49ers rebounded to defeat the L.A. Rams 24-16.

Last week QB Jimmy Garoppolo returned from injury, but he clearly wasn’t ready to play. Another week did him wonders as he was excellent against the Rams: 23/33, 268 yards, 3 TDs. As usual TE George Kittles (7 receptions, 109 yards, 1 TD) was his favorite target. The Niners are getting healthier and might be able to put their earlier struggles behind them to contend again. San Francisco evened up their record at 3-3.

Even with the loss, the Rams still have a good record at 4-2. But is it for real? All four of their wins have come at the expense of the worst division in the history of organized sports, the NFC (L)East. QB Jared Goff (19/38, 198 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) didn’t look good against the Niners despite getting plenty of aid from the rushing attack: 19 carries, 113 yards. Due to their soft schedule so far it hard to get read on whether or not the Rams are really a playoff contender.
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The Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets 24-0. What can I say about this game? Does a game involving the Jets even count as a professional football game? Should teams only be credited with half a win for beating the Jets? A third of a win maybe?

Anyway the Dolphins do get credit for a full victory and evened up their record at 3-3.

Congratulations Jets, you are the NFL’s only winless team at 0-6. Dammit even every team in the horrible, horrible NFC (L)East has managed to win one game! I saw they took a team photo last week :

That photographer really captured the essence of that pile of monkey crap.
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Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts on Week 6 and don't be afraid to defecate on the Cowboys because they deserve it.

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