After
two weeks of mostly paint by numbers action, this week the NFL got fun. At
times on Sunday it was almost impossible to keep up with everything that was
happening, even with two TVs going and Twitter giving me constant live updates.
In a week when everyone tuned in to watch a bunch of players listen to a song,
we got some of the best football I’ve seen in years.
There
was so much going on that I can barely remember it all. I certainly didn’t see
everything, and I’m sure I missed or forgot several moments that would have
been the highlights of any other weekend. But even so, there was enough
craziness happening that I decided to count down the top ten most insane
moments of this week in the NFL.
10)
The Eagles win on a 61 yard field goal
I’m
going to be honest. I completely missed this one when it happened. I had the
Giants-Eagles game on my second TV, but I was so busy flipping between all the
craziness happening in the other games that I didn’t realize what had happened
here. In NFL history there have been only 16 field goals made from 60 or more
yards out. This was only the third made to win the game on the last play. And
it was done by a rookie kicker in his second career game, a player the Eagles
had signed off the practice squad two weeks ago following an injury to their
preferred kicker.
The
circumstances around this kick are wild and would have been the lead story on
any other weekend. The Giants stormed back from 14 points down to take the
lead, only for the Eagles to tie it with less than a minute remaining. The
Giants then got the ball back, and it looked like things were destined for
overtime. With 19 seconds left they had the ball at their own 34, forced to
punt with a punter who averages 40 net yards per punt for his career.
Think
of everything that had to happen to set up this field goal. Brad Wing needed to
shank a 28 yard punt to give the Eagles a chance. They still had to pick up 19
yards just to get into range for an insane field goal. Their coaches had to
trust a rookie kicker, knowing that if he came up short Odell Beckham was
waiting to return it, one of the most dynamic athletes in the NFL being chased
by a bunch of linemen. All of that, and then he nailed the game winning kick,
and it still barely cracks the top ten most absurd moments of the weekend.
9) Aaron
Rodgers threw a pick-six
This
doesn’t sound like a big deal, until you realize that this was only the second
pick-six of Rodgers’s career. Rodgers has thrown 4791 passes since entering the
league. In 2016 there were 34 pick-sixes on a total of 18,295 pass attempts,
meaning that on average you’d expect Rodgers to have 9 pick-sixes. Even if you
take into account the fact that Rodgers is the least interception prone
quarterback in NFL history, on his 75 career interceptions you’d expect him to
have 6 returned for touchdowns.
I
don’t know if it’s a true skill or just a statistical quirk, but I know that on
Sunday Rodgers doubled his career pick-six total. And before we move on, I just
want to say a quick something about the player who scored the touchdown.
William Jackson was one of my favorite players entering the draft a year ago,
and after missing his entire rookie year he’s still working his way into
Cincinnati’s rotation. But he is one of the few spots of bright young talent on
this roster, and getting his name in as the second ever defensive player to
score a touchdown off a Rodgers pass is certainly a way to announce himself.
8) Seattle’s
offense found new lows
The
best matchup of the weekend was ironically one of the least interesting games.
There is a lot to say about Seattle’s offense, but I’ll let these two videos
speak for themselves.
Can't stop giggling at this Jimmy Graham hurdle for some reason. pic.twitter.com/UIxMwKUlq1— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 25, 2017
Some bad football in 1st Half of #SEAvsTEN game. Never 👀this before 👉🏻5 whiffed cuts & a fumbled snap Tough Times for @Seahawks OFFENSE pic.twitter.com/e3eBJD7j7R— Shaun O'Hara (@ShaunOHara60) September 25, 2017
The
Seahawks made some strides offensively against the Titans, but they still have
a few hiccups to work out.
7)
People actually enjoyed the Rams-49ers game
This
goes back to Thursday night, but I think we should look back to remember how
insane this game was. From the start this looked to be another classic Thursday
night game, pitting two teams that no one really cares about in a game that
would elicit nothing but groans and (misplaced) complaints about the quality of
Thursday night games. Instead we got a 41-39 shootout that included a
staggering comeback, great individual efforts, and a bizarre final minute.
Seriously,
who expected that a game featuring Jared Goff and Brian Hoyer would end up with
80 points? Who thought the 49ers had any chance when they got the ball back
with just over six minutes left trailing by 15 points? What were the odds that
the Rams would fumble the ensuing kickoff, the 49ers would head down the field
and score a touchdown, and then fail on the tying two point conversion? We all
thought the game was over then, until Robbie Gould pulled off one of the finest
onside kicks of all time. At that point we just assumed that the 49ers would
get into field goal range and win it, only to be derailed by sensational plays
from Mark Barron and Aaron Donald.
The
Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers played in Week 3 on Thursday
night, and it was one of the most entertaining games I have seen in a very long
time.
6)
Is Blake Bortles good in London?
I
have to admit I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the 9:30 am clash between the
Ravens and the Jaguars either, but this game kept me entertained in a completely
different way from the one above. The Jaguars absolutely hammered the Ravens,
winning by a 44-7 score that actually looks closer than the game was. And while
most of the credit deserves to go to Jacksonville’s defense for annihilating
the impotent Ravens offense, we kind of have to talk about Bortles as well.
Bortles
had what was likely the best game of his career, completing nearly two thirds
of his passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns with no sacks and no
interceptions. This came against one of the league’s best defenses, a team that
had intercepted opposing quarterbacks four times in each of their first two
games. And the strangest part is, this is nothing new for Bortles. In London he
averages 7.1 yards per attempt with 8 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. In
the United States he averages 6.5 yards per attempt with 67 touchdowns against
51 interceptions. Most significantly, he is 3-1 in London and 10-34 in the
United States.
Blake
Bortles is a bad quarterback and the Jaguars should have moved on from him a
long time ago. But is it possible he might be worth keeping around for that one
game they play each year in London?
5)
Unsportsmanlike Stars
There
were three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties called this weekend on some of the
league’s most notable stars. I’ll start in Seattle, with the penalty that was
both the most deserved and the least fun. Richard Sherman was called for a
fifteen yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing a call with the
referee, as Sherman is known to do.
This
wasn’t extraordinary in and of itself, but the fact that this was Sherman’s
third penalty on that play alone was certainly interesting. He was called for a
pass interference for cutting off the route of a receiver, which led to a
nullified interception. After the interception he was called for holding that
same receiver, and when the referees threw the flags he was called for arguing.
In total he gave the Titans 31 yards on that play, with another 10 yards wiped
out because they came after the interception. And even after that he was lucky
not to get another penalty, as he spent thirty seconds chasing the referees
around the field yelling at them for their calls.
The
next two penalties are a bit more light spirited. After knocking down Tyrod
Taylor in the game between the Broncos and the Bills, Von Miller was courteous
enough to offer a hand to help him up. Of course, when Taylor reached to take
it, Miller pulled it back in the classic “too slow” maneuver. It was a
lighthearted moment from one of the NFL’s most fun players. Miller laughed,
Taylor laughed, and the referee threw a flag. Because referees are terrible
people.
Finally,
Odell Beckham. The NFL has greatly relaxed touchdown celebration rules this
year, and it has led to a lot of lighthearted fun over the first three weeks.
However, there are still some restrictions around celebrations that are
considered too “crude”, such as Beckham’s celebration after his first
touchdown.
Yes,
that it one of the best players in the NFL pretending to be a dog peeing on a
fire hydrant. It cost the Giants fifteen yards, and it’s another notch to add
to the people who continue to complain about Beckham. And while he certainly
could stand to calm down at times, this has somehow been twisted into blaming
him for all of New York’s woes.
Beckham
is the absolute least of their problems. In fact, he might be the only part of
their team that we can’t call a problem. Sure he cost them fifteen yards, but
he was also the only reason they were in the game, with a pair of sensational
touchdown catches to rally the Giants from a fourteen point deficit. And the
same goes for Sherman and Miller as well. It’s unfortunate that they get these
penalties, but they more than make up for it with their play on the field, and
I would gladly trade fifteen yards a game for any one of these players.
4) Houston
gives a win to New England
The
Texans had a chance. In fact, they had a couple of chances. The first came with
just over two minutes left in the game, when Houston had a two point lead. They
also had the ball, facing a fourth and one on the New England 18 yardline. They
were faced with the choice of whether to kick the field goal or go for the conversion,
an understandably difficult decision. If they failed, they would be giving the
ball back to Tom Brady with two and a half minutes and two timeouts, needing
only a field goal to win the game. If they kicked the field goal they would
force Brady to get a touchdown, a much greater challenge against a defense that
had harassed him all day.
In
almost any other situation I would have agreed with their decision to kick the
field goal. But this isn’t any other situation. This is Tom Brady. And if I’m coaching
against Brady, the number one thing I want to do is keep the ball out of his
hands. If the Texans had picked up that first down, they likely would only have
been able to run it down to two minutes before kicking the field goal, but they
would have stripped New England of their last two timeouts. Still not great
odds, but as a huge underdog they needed to be willing to take that risk.
The
decision to kick was frustrating but understandable. The way they managed the
clock after New England scored to take the lead was downright baffling. A
touchback gave them possession at the 25 yardline with 23 seconds left and one
timeout, needing a field goal to send the game to overtime. On the first play
they completed a pass over the middle for 21 yards, setting themselves up for a
couple more sideline routes to get within striking distance for their kicker.
Except
they didn’t take a timeout. They just kind of stood there, let another fifteen
seconds roll off the clock, and then used their last timeout. And with only
three seconds remaining, their only hope was a Hail Mary that was intercepted
to end the game.
Bill
O’Brien remains a bad coach.
3)
The New York Jets won a game
I
don’t know if I can express how shocked I am. Naturally with everything else
going on I watched very little of this game, so I can’t speak to how exactly it
happened. And I was never a big fan of what the Dolphins put together coming
into this season. But man, I did not expect the Jets to win this game. Or any
game, really. I thought we’d spend most of the season wondering if they would
push the 2008 Lions, watching them stumble around bouncing from incompetent
quarterback to incompetent quarterback while providing an easy win every single
week. And instead we’re three weeks into the season, there are five winless
teams remaining, and the Jets are not one of them.
2)
Everything that happened before the half in Chicago
Okay,
so let’s run through what happened here. The Bears blocked a field goal on the
last play of the half. It was picked up by cornerback Marcus Cooper, who
outraced everyone on the field down to Pittsburgh’s five yardline. A touchdown
seemed certain, until he inexplicably slowed to a walk and was caught from
behind. The ball was knocked out of his hand at the one yardline and rolled
into the endzone, where it was batted out of the field of play by Pittsburgh’s
kicker. After a long conversation, the referees called a penalty for an illegal
batting of the ball, giving the Bears an untimed down from the spot of the fumble.
They proceeded to get called for a false start, which forced them to kick a 23
yard field goal.
Wow,
that was a lot. And it honestly seemed like even more as I was watching it. The
referees initially said the half was over, and the Steelers went into the
locker room. The Bears and the announcers were wondering why it wasn’t a
safety, and the referees had to call up New York to figure out what they were
supposed to do. They then had to wait for the Steelers to run back out onto the
field for the untimed down, stretching the whole thing more than ten minutes
for what should have been a routine play.
The
end result is, they got it right. It wasn’t a safety because the Steelers never
possessed the ball, and it wasn’t a touchback because the Steelers batted it
illegally. The Bears had a chance to score a touchdown and ended up having to
settle for a field goal, but in a game that went to overtime this was a major
difference maker.
The
strange thing is that this play could have gotten even weirder. Pittsburgh’s
kicker batted the ball away because it looked like the Bears were on the verge
of recovering it for a touchdown, but by a strange technicality they actually
wouldn’t have scored if they had recovered. In the final two minutes of the
half, any fumble forward that is recovered by the possessing team is returned
to the spot of the fumble. And if that had happened there would have been no
penalty and no untimed down, costing the Bears a chance at any points. So in
the end, the move to bat the ball actually cost the Steelers three points, and
ultimately may have decided the game as well.
1)
Time runs out on the Lions
I
do kind of feel bad for Lions fans. Not the ones complaining they got screwed
by the referees. They didn’t. Everything happened exactly as the rules said it
should, and the rules are written in the fairest way possible. It’s just as
close as I have ever seen a team come to winning a game, only to have it yanked
away in the most anticlimactic fashion possible.
For
those who didn’t see it, Detroit trailed by four points late in the fourth
quarter when they received the ball at their own 11 yardline. They drove the
length of the field to set up a third and goal from one yard out with 12
seconds left and no timeouts. They threw a slant pass to Golden Tate, and he
fell forward across the goalline, signaled a touchdown on the field with eight
seconds remaining.
The
Lions celebrated what looked like a victory, until the reviews showed that
Tate’s knee had come down with the ball still short of the goalline. And
because he was stopped in the middle of the field, the clock would not normally
have stopped on such a play. If the referees had called it correctly, the Lions
would have had eight seconds to get the ball spotted, get lined up, get
everyone set, and run a play. (Spiking wouldn’t have worked since it was fourth
down.)
This
is not impossible, but it is certainly hard to do, and for that reason the
league has mandated that plays where the clock was erroneously stopped in the
final two minutes come with a ten second runoff. With only eight seconds
remaining, the game was declared over, and the Lions lost without even being
able to watch the final seconds tick off.
This
was another bizarre ending that required countless pieces to fall into place
simultaneously. The Lions were in a position where a field goal would do them
nothing and a touchdown would win them the game. The play was ruled a touchdown
on the field when the receiver was down short. There were fewer than ten
seconds left, and the Lions were out of timeouts, which meant there was nothing
they could do as the game ended in front of them.
And
this was happening at almost the exact same moment that the Eagles were kicking
their winning 61 yard field goal, at almost the exact same moment the Steelers
and Bears were headed into overtime, at almost the exact same moment Brady was
leading the Patriots down the field. It was an absolutely insane stretch of
games, the most exciting and most bizarre NFL weekend I can remember in a long
time.
