Overreaction: The Ravens hit the panic button
The Baltimore Raven’s lost their third game in which they held a 10-point lead or greater. Sunday’s loss to the Giants has some fans ready to hit the panic button on the 3-3 playoff likely Ravens. Baltimore has struggled in the 4th quarter on both sides of the ball this season. The offense has ranked top five in the first three quarters for every game this season according to teamrankings.com, but in the fourth quarter drops to 25th in the NFL.
The defense is number one in the NFL in the first quarter but loses steam as the game goes on. Baltimore falls to the 19th defense in the second quarter then rebounds to the 17th in the third quarter. However, the fourth quarter has been the witching hour for the Ravens. Their defense falls to 31st in the NFL during the final quarter of play, only the Browns have a worse fourth-quarter defense than the Ravens.
Though Baltimore is struggling they are lucky enough to be in a division where the other teams are having ups and downs. The Bengals have shown signs of returning to a Super Bowl-caliber team, but still can’t protect Joe Burrow. The Steelers are in a rebuild but squeaked out a win against Tom Brady and the Bucs on Sunday, and the Browns are still the Browns. Baltimore can pull away from the division if they can fix their issues on both sides of the ball in the final quarter of play.
Not an Overreaction: Football is back in New York.
For the first time since the 2015 NFL season, the New York Jets and New York Giants have winning records. Both New York teams are in rebuilds but seem to be ahead of schedule with their promising starts to the season. After losing starting quarterback Zach Wilson for the first three games of the season. The Jets have won three straight in his return, but all the credit can’t go to Wilson. Rookie running back Breece Hall has looked like a home run for the Jets this season and the defensive line has become a force in recent weeks.
The Jets’ success is surprising, but the G-men being 5-1 is an absolute shock. After stunning comebacks against the Packers in week 5 and the Ravens in week 6, the Giants are one of the 3 teams that are 5-1 in the NFL. The Giants have shown no signs of quitting and all kinds of grit this season. With each game being within a touchdown, the G-men make you play their way and make you beat them at their own game.
The Giants’ success comes from similar roots as the Jets. Star running back Saquan Barkley has returned to form and the defensive line for the giants has imposed its will on teams. In other articles, I have noted that the Giants have the easiest schedule in the NFL. However, Brian Daboll and Robert Salah deserve some respect for the culture change they have given New York’s football teams. Regardless of the season outcome for the two teams New York football (for the time being) is back.
Overreaction: The suffering of NFL Primetime is over.
Whether you’ve watched Amazon’s Thursday night football, NFL Sunday Night Primetime, or ESPN Monday Night Football, the primetime slots have been anything but entertaining. Through six weeks in the NFL, the dreadful Denver Broncos have been featured four times. Primetime has also given us the privilege of two Chicago Bears primetime games with the treat of a third Bears game on Monday Night Football against the New England Patriots.
I would be happy to tell you that the painful primetime games stop there, but unfortunately, they do not. Barring any schedule flexing, we are set to see the Falcons at Panthers in week 10 on TNF. Week 12 has a beautiful showcase of the Steelers at Colts on MNF before giving us the matchup of the season of Colts at Cowboys in week 13 on SNF. The Bear and Colts have a bye week for week 14 so they can’t hurt us, but the Broncos are back in Primetime against the Chiefs on SNF.
Barring any rescheduling, there are still plenty of bad football games ahead in the primetime slots. If you want to suffer through them with us go ahead, but there may be a few games you can just get the highlights from in the coming weeks.
Not an Overreaction: Russ is cooked.
Not long ago “Let Russ Cook” was a battle cry for Seahawk fans. The NFL Pro Bowl and Super Bowl-winning quarterback had received many early season MVP nods and Pete Carrol and Russell Wilson looked like a match made in heaven. Wilson didn’t show many signs of decline, he missed two games for the first time in his career, threw for the least amount of yards since his rookie season (3,113), and yet was still elected to his ninth Pro Bowl.
Rumors started to fly in about the Seahawks looking to draft a quarterback in the coming drafts. which in turn created a frenzy of rumors that filled the NFL: “Russ demanding a trade”, “Russ being traded to the Bears“, the Raiders, or the Broncos. Seattle denied the rumors at the time, flash forward to the offseason Wilson is traded for a slew of picks and players to the Denver Broncos and begins the cursed “Broncos country, let’s ride” trend.
Since his ride began in Broncos Country, Russ has done anything but cook. Wilson is having the worst season of his career posting a 58.6% completion percentage and has been sacked 20 times through 6 games (5th most in the NFL). Not all of the blame can be on Wilson when he is also in the top 10 for hurries and knockdowns amount quarterbacks in the NFL and coaching has made some questionable play calling on several 3rd and 1’s this season. The Broncos will need to figure out the run game and the offensive line to help Wilson return to Pro Bowl form.
What did you think of week 6? Were there any overreactions I missed? Do you agree with my overreactions? Let me know in the comments below.
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