NFL

Overreactions, Exaggerations & Just The Plain Out Truth – Week 6

Oct 21, 2021, 11:22 AM | Updated: 11:22 am

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 18: Defensive end Jeffery Simmons #98 and outside linebacker Harold ...

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Overreactions

The NFL has figured out how to defend Patrick Mahomes: Patrick Mahomes since being inserted into the lineup by Head Coach Andy Reid on New Years Eve 2017 has taken the NFL by storm.

He’s been a shining star for the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL. He has broken record after record, won a Super Bowl and according to most onlookers was supposed to lead his team, the Kansas City Chiefs to another AFC West division crown. Just about everyone believed Mahomes would continue the dominance he has displayed these last few years.

Well the reality is, the prior may still happen, the Chiefs definitely are still in the hunt to win the division crown but up to this point in the season Mahomes by his accounts isn’t close to dominating.

The Qb’s numbers are good, don’t get me wrong, he’s in the top 10 in yards passing, passing touchdowns and QBR. On the other hand he is 10th in completion percentage, second in interceptions thrown trailing only the New York Jets rookie QB Zac Wilson by one and doesn’t even crack the top 10 in QB passer rating among other stats.

Again, I’m not saying Mahomes hasn’t played well, he has played pretty good but not great, he’s displayed the same talents he has always showed but has been defended better by team after team every week.

The Washington Football Team, who have the worst defense statistically in the NFL, forced 3 turnovers versus Mahomes and the Chiefs in the first half alone and had a chance to make a statement in the game early. That’s the 32nd ranked defense in the league causing issues for Mahomes.

Either way you slice it, something is a bit different for Mahomes and I think it’s the defensive plans and schemes he’s going up against.

Daniel Jones future in New York: It’s not completely over by no means, it’s probably not even panic time for some but for others, he’s on the way out the door.

We all know the reputation New York has for treating underperforming athletes and the pressure it comes with. Jones can’t shoulder all of the issues as he really has not been giving much help and with the injuries to Saquon Barkley over the last two years adding to the poor play, the upward trend for the organization has turned the opposite way drastically.

Overtime Games: There were three games this past week that needed extra time to decide the outcome. Three overtime games in one week in the NFL, I couldn’t believe it. I immediately began to overact and think to myself after Sunday about how it felt we have had at least one overtime game a week and that it seemed we’ve seen more overtime games this year than in recent history.

Though I did overreact a bit, I was not completely wrong. With the three overtime games this past week, the total of OT games this year sits at eleven, which through the first six weeks finishes second ever, only trailing the season of 1995-1996 at 12. The record for the most overtime games in a season is 25 games which happened in 2002. In 2003, there were 23 overtime games, that’s second all time. We are on pace to shatter that record, especially with an added extra week this season.

1 team will have a winning record in the AFC South Division: The record combined of all four teams in the division is 8-16. There is one team in the division with a winning record, the Tennessee Titans and two of their victories are within the division, not to mention they have a loss against the lowly New York Jets. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans are both one win teams and the Indianapolis Colts just won their second game of the season against the Texans.

They all must still play each other at least one more time this season, while two of the teams still have not played against each other. You can count out the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans(unless Deshaun Watson miraculously begins playing) having a winning record right this very moment. Mathematically maybe not but it’s not happening.

That leaves the Colts, after this week we should know all we need to know as they take on the…(See below)

Exaggerations

The Tennessee Titans have already won the AFC Division: The rest of the schedule for the Titans isn’t really difficult, as they only play 3 teams left who have a winning record.

On paper they should win the division walking away as they play within the division four more times this season with half of those games on the road, including this week’s matchup with the second place 2-4 Colts. With a win over the Colts this week they would have swept the season series, having already defeated the Colts back in Week three.

That leaves the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints left on the schedule.

They more than likely will be the favorite in at least three of those games, they have already won the division.

Derrick Henry can carry a team by himself: I understand that eleven players from a team is on the field at one time. I also understand that there are three sides of a teams makeup that have to play during a game, offense, defense and special teams.

I can go on about the fundamentals and dynamics of a football team and game but there really is no need when it comes to the Tennessee Titans and their success.

Quite frankly, we’ve known this for a few seasons now, the Titans are Derrick Henry’s team and he with all due respect to everyone on that team matters the most. What he does during the 60 minutes of a football game each week for that team, impacts their ability to win or lose on a weekly basis. I’m not afraid to say it no more, the Titans AFC Championship run a few years ago can squarely be credited to Derrick Henry(and the offensive line, if you want to be technical) and only Derrick Henry.

I was about 99% sure of it then, but out of understanding that football is a team sports chose to turn a blind eye to it and convince myself the team had a good defense, a solid quarterback in Ryan Tannehill and a pretty good coaching staff. Well that may all be true depending on who you ask but Derrick Henry is this team’s heart and soul. He showed that Monday with his performance against the Buffalo Bills, scoring 3 touchdowns and rushing for almost 150 yards.

That leaves Henry 13 yards short of 800 rushing yards on the season. He carried his team to a win, the same thing he has been doing since he entered the NFL. The defense gave up 31 points and his QB Tannehill had no passing touchdowns(he had 1 rushing TD) and the Titans still won. The Titans most likely would be a below .500 team without Henry since his entrance into the league and I’m no longer scared to say it, he is the Titans and we should stop running from that fact.

Patrick Mahomes being in the MVP race: Over the last two weeks while watching NFL games during different telecasts I’ve heard Patrick Mahomes being mentioned in the top three or five candidates for the MVP of the NFL by analysts and hosts.

WHY? HOW COULD THAT BE? Is it because it’s just easy to say that he is without really thinking about the topic at hand? Is it that they really believe he has an argument of being the MVP so far through six games? Could they possibly just see his name and think yea he should be mentioned for the award off past merit? We are all guilty of saying a player is “Top 10” in a category of some sort without really sifting through the category and ranking those who have earned the rights to be considered for the topic.

If you’ve ever listened to The Jason Ross Show here on Sports 1140, it’s one of our running themes of the show, stopping to rank the category of topic rather than make the blanket statement and move on. It happens way too often and it’s happening with Mahomes this year.

He is not a top 5 candidate for MVP right now, it may change over the next several weeks but right now, not even close. Mahomes over Dak Prescott… NOPE, Mahomes over Justin Herbert… NOPE, Mahomes over Tom Brady… NOPE, Mahomes over Derrick Henry… NOPE, Mahomes over Kyler Murray… NOPE. We haven’t even gotten to Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Allen… NOPE!

Antonio Brown ranking among Wide Receivers: Speaking of listing a player in the top 10 without listing the actual order, place Antonio Brown firmly in the conversation of a top 10 receiver in the league once again. In the last two weeks Brown has 16 receptions, 3 touchdowns and 217 yards receiving.

He’s played in only four games this season and has some pretty good numbers. His explosion looks to be all he way back, Tom Brady has said he looks like the old Antonio from Pittsburgh and Brown himself has said it’s the best he has felt in a system in a long time. It all adds up to the “best WR” in the league talk he once upon a time played his way into.

The Truth

Predicting any game played in London: There have been two games played so far this year across the pond, the Atlanta Falcons who took on the Jets and this past week’s contest between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins. The NFL has been playing the series of games since 2007 season.

Since the year 2015-2016, there have been nineteen games played over in London, in eight of those contests the underdog has won the game, including the winless Jags this past week who got their first victory of the season and a tie which happened between the Washington Football Team(Redskins) and Cincinnati Bengals in 2016-2017. Every year there seems to be something wacky going on over in the UK and this year is no different.

Free Football on Yahoo: If you haven’t found out or no one has told you, let me be the first to do so. The NFL entered into an agreement in 2017 with Yahoo to televise games on mobile devices that are free to the viewer for Thursday Night, Sunday Night and Monday Night Football just by heading over to Yahoo.com on your mobile device. In addition you can also watch your local televised games in your market on Sundays by downloading the Yahoo Sports app to your mobile device. You get the NFL primetime games and a few local market games for the price of absolutely FREE, what more could a person ask for. This is something that has been going on for the last few years but I’m not sure enough people even know about it still.

Cam Newton signed by a NFL team: Cam Newton as of this past week said he is fully vaccinated and ready to return to the NFL.

Truth is, if Cam is ready, then a team in the NFL should be ready to sign him. Per usual the Quarterback play around the league dictates someone of Newton’s caliber is better than what some teams have on the roster right now, as a matter of fact he’s better than some teams starting quarterback. I can honestly say I don’t know what Newton has left but if he is healthy he should be singed by someone.

The Washington Football Team, Dolphins and Texans should all be taking a long look at Newton. I can make a case for the Chicago Bears and New York Giants to be in the running to sign Newton as well.

Teams Missing the playoffs: On to week seven and you can add another squad to the others aren’t making the post season this year… I expect a few teams to join this list next week, stay tuned.

Previous – New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, New York Giants

New to the list – Miami Dolphins

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Overreactions, Exaggerations & Just The Plain Out Truth – Week 6