Best:
Adrian Peterson, Running Back Arizona Cardinals
Talk about pulling one out of thin air. Before the trade, Peterson had rushed for just 81 yards on 27 carries as a member of the New Orleans Saints. There had been questions surrounding the back as to weather or not he had anything left in the tank to give to the game. Could he adopt his style of play to today's game? Was there any semblance of dominance left in Peterson's game? That was answered, to a degree, on Sunday in the Cardinals 38-33 win over Tampa Bay. To start, he ripped off a 27-yard touchdown run on Arizona’s opening drive to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. He ended the day with 134 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Those rush yards were good for 3rd best by any back in the league this week, which goes to show that Peterson still has plenty left in the tank.
Worst:
Stars In The NFL
This wasn't a case of poor performance, at least not in this reference. This is a case of just having some of the worst luck in the NFL. Just look at some of the big stars who have gone down with injuries the last couple of weeks. J.J. Watt, the league’s best defensive lineman—perhaps the league’s best defensive player overall, is done for the season with a knee injury suffered in week five. Also in week five, Odell Beckham Jr., perhaps the league’s best wide receiver, or at least the most exciting, done for the season with a fractured ankle. Now we can add another BIG name to that list, Aaron Rogers. Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone in Sunday’s 23–10 loss to Vikings and might miss the rest of the season. This sucks for both the league, and the Packers. Looking at this from a league point of view, is that not only are these players good at what they do, they have a personality that makes fans tune in to watch them and see what they're going to do next. As for the Packers, it was easy to imagine the Packers making a run to the Super Bowl with Rodgers, he's that good at his position. Without him, it’s hard to imagine them making the playoffs.
Best:
Melvin Gordon, Running Back Los Angeles Chargers
Its been two straight wins for the Chargers, which is a sight for sore eyes for Chargers fans. A big reason for that is Melvin Gordon. Los Angeles pulled a 17-16 victory thanks to a solid game from Gordon. He finished the day with 25 carries for 83 yards and nine catches for another 67 yards. He also scored both of the Chargers’ touchdowns in the game. Next week is a big game for the Chargers, as they take on AFC West foes in Denver. And think of it this way, Los Angeles is going into that game at 2-4. Over the last two games for the Chargers, both wins, Gordon has totaled 313 yards and four touchdowns. If not for his outstanding play, Los Angeles could be looking at 0-6. That's how good Melvin Gordon has been.
Worst:
Oakland Raiders Offense
Things had gotten off to such a hot start, and with such high levels of promise. It hasn't turned out that way for the boys from Oakland so far, starting the year off now 2-4, thanks to a 17-16 loss to the Chargers. Oakland's offense really didn't look very good this week. Derek Carr is coming off an injured back, and managed just 171 yards passing one touchdown and two picks against a uninspiring Chargers pass defense. You could call it rust after having taken last week off, but come on Carr hasn't played very well since like week three. Marshawn Lynch was a little better than he has been in previous weeks with 63 yards on 13 carries, but he didn’t sustain drives. The Raiders’ offense, which had been a strength of theirs just a season ago, has disappeared during this four-game losing streak. Some of that is related to Carr’s injury, sure, but at the same time Oakland has scored 10, 10, 17 and 16 points their last four games. And with how tough the division is, that's not looking good for the Raiders.
Best:
Jordan Howard, Running Back Chicago Bears
There were times where the Chicago offense looked flat and played a little uninspired against the Baltimore Ravens. A lot of their wide receivers are a bunch of no names at this point and, even though he might be good someday, QB Mitchell Trubisky struggled, completed only eight passes in a game, which isn't very good. Since the pass game wasn't quite on point just yet, the run game had to take on the bulk load, and they did in the form of Jordan Howard. Howard finished with 167 yards on 36 carries, including a big run in overtime. Howard broke through a tackle attempt by safety Eric Weddle, got to the sideline and broke free for 53 yards. It helped set up Connor Barth to hit the game winning field goal, as Chicago walked away with a 27-24 victory. Oh and Howards 167 rush yards were the 2nd most by a running back in the league this week, which shows just how valuable he really was to the Bears this week.
Worst:
Alex Smith, Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs
It wasn't a totally horrible day for Alex Smith, but at the same time he wasn't exactly stealing the show either. Kansas City fell to the Steelers 19-13, but they had a chance in this game, if only Smith had been able to hit a few targets. He finished 19 of 34 for 246 yards and a touchdown. Like I said, not a totally bad day at the office, but Sunday made it clear that some parts of the old Smith haven’t gone away. Smith missed a few critical passes badly, and didn’t connect on other throws when he should have. There was one play where Demarcus Robinson didn't have a Steelers defender within a city block of him, and he could have waltzed into the end zone. Smith was 15 yards away from him and even a half awkward pass would have made it to him for the score, but Smith couldn't hit him. Had he converted on this play, and a couple of other passes as well, the Chiefs could have easily come away with a victory. Instead they come away shaking their heads as to what happened.
Best:
Laquon Treadwell, Wide Receiver Minnesota Vikings
When it comes to Mr. Treadwell, one of two things will happen. Either you've never heard of the guy, or if you had you would think he's a total bust. First-round wide receivers are supposed to be outstanding football players,worthy of instant playing time, but Treadwell had just one catch in his rookie year. Treadwell wasn’t even injured for most of the year, he was just buried on the depth chart behind Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, and others. Sunday, in the Vikings 23-10 win over the Packers. Treadwell had three catches for 51 yards, including his sick grab, which is worthy of an early catch of the year nominee and was totally worth one of the plays of the year to make this list early in the season. But wait, he wasn't done. Treadwell blocked Green Bay cornerback Lenzy Pipkins nearly out of his damn sneakers. He also managed to turn on the jets and catch Clay Matthews on a fumble return later in the game, eventually catching Matthews 60 yards from the start of the play and forcing a fumble by sneakily tapping the ball out from his arms. Treadwell was all over the place on this night, in a fantastic way
Worst:
Dirk Kotter, Head Coach Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay had plenty of time to get ready for their game against the Arizona Cardinals. looks like the extra prep time didn't help, as the Cardinals walked away with a 38-33 win. The game was over quick, as Arizona jumped out to a 31-0 at one point. Don’t blame Jameis Winston’s injury, because Tampa trailed 24-0 by the time their quarterback left the game. Tampa Bay was scheduled to be a really good team this year, they were set to have that breakout season that put them back into relevance in the NFC again. For some reason, that has yet to be able to happen for this team. It's been a very up and down year for the Bucs, some of that has to fall on Dirk Kotter. Tampa doesn’t look like it’s getting the most of its talent. They made the reeling Cardinals look like a playoff contender on Sunday. If the Buccaneers don’t look better going forward, Koetter’s seat will get hot. Tampa Bay should be better than it has looked this season. The coaching staff hasn't seemed to really get much out of his players.
Best:
Rob Gronkowski, Tight End, New England Patriots
This guy is good, just in case you didn't already know that. He was a scratch last during week five, He had banged up his thigh, and the Patriots eked out a win without him, though it wasn’t a pretty game. Now they face the Jets with first place on the line and Gronk does Gronk things. He caught eight passes for 83 yards and both of Tom Brady’s touchdown passes. Thanks to Gronk's effort, it helped give Tom Brady career win #187, the most out of any starting QB in league history. And what makes Gronkowski different is that he has the hands of a skilled wideout and the size of a fantastic blocker. He can do a little bit of everything. Some of that insane level of talent you saw on display Sunday in the win over the Jets
Worst:
New York Jets Luck
Who would have thought that, going into week six, the Jets would be playing for a lead in the division? That's what they had a chance at on Sunday, and they did put up a good fight against the Patriots, falling 24-17. That's not what's sticking in the craw of most Jets fans, its the call that was blown late in the ballgame. A weird ruling on a would-be Austin Seferian-Jenkins touchdown in the fourth quarter cost the Jets a huge score. He caught the pass, leaped toward the end zone, bobbled the ball slightly before securing it again while crossing the plane of the goal line. However, upon review it was deemed a fumble, not a touchdown, and instead of New York scoring seven points the Patriots got the ball at their own 20-yard line. If we count the field goal New York converted late, the game would have been tied at 24-24, rather than ending in a 24-17 win for the Patriots. That was such a bad call and it was a microscopic interpretation of the rules it was a total joke. It should have been ruled a touchdown to get the Jets back into the game. That was sad by the NFL refs.
No comments:
Post a Comment