What We Learned From Week 7 of the NFL Season Pt 2 of 2
NYTimes by Benjamin Hoffman Oct. 25, 2020 (edited for length by lethe200)
Browns 37, Bengals 34. Ohio suddenly has an intrastate rivalry. A game between Cincinnati and Cleveland got off to an inauspicious start when Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield were both intercepted on their first drives. Odell Beckham Jr. was lost to injury on the Browns’ opening drive (and for the season). Fortunately Rashard Higgins stepped up in a big way, with six catches for a career-high 110 yds. The Bengals were leading by 17-10 at halftime.
But in the second half, the game morphed into a heavyweight bout between Mayfield, first pick in the 2018 draft, and Burrow, first pick in 2020. Mayfield won the day, finding Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 24-yard TD with 11 seconds remaining, putting Cleveland ahead to stay 37-34. But Burrow nearly kept up, throwing for 406 yds and three TDs.
49ers 33, Patriots 6. Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t perfect against his former team, but Patriots Coach Bill Belichick must be a little jealous watching his former QB-in-waiting complete 20 of 25 passes for 277 yds in a blowout, while his current QBs, Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham, combined for 147 yds passing and four interceptions against an injury-depleted Niner D. That Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski continued their fountain of youth act for TBay probably added to the sour taste.
HC Shanahan and DC Saleh have won two in a row but the Niners now face the toughest November of any NFL team. Sunday’s game brought their already league-leading injury report from 19 players up to 21 players – 5 of which are first-string defenders. The SF offense has, for multiple games, lost 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 3 wide receivers, 2 tight ends, 3 centers, and 2 RTs....and we’re not yet halfway thru 2020.
Packers 35, Texans 20. Deshaun Watson had a nice second half, and made his team look respectable, but Aaron Rodgers had already given his team an insurmountable lead, compiling a passer rating (132.4) that was nearly 100 points higher than what he managed last week (35.4).
Saints 27, Panthers 24. New Orleans completed 12 of its 14 third-down attempts, and got FGs from Wil Lutz after the team’s only two failures. But Panthers’ Teddy Bridgewater kept things far closer than predicted. He threw for 254 yds and two TDs and got some laughs by taking a break on the Saints’ bench, sitting down between his former teammates Drew Brees and Taysom Hill at the end of a play.
But with Carolina trailing by 3 with just over two minutes left, Bridgewater took an 8-yard sack, which essentially decided the game. The sack forced Carolina back to the Saints’ 47-yard line. Joey Slye came out for what would have been an NFL-record 65-yard FG. Slye’s kick was true, but it fell less than a yard short of the crossbar, letting New Orleans hang on for a 27-24 win.
Bills 18, Jets 10. Sam Darnold came back from a shoulder injury, but after he barely completed 50 percent of his passes (12 of 23), threw two interceptions and was sacked six times, he might be wondering why he didn’t take another week to heal. The Jets are 0-7 for just the second time in franchise history and could match the franchise’s worst start (0-8 in 1996) with a loss in KC next week. Buffalo, meanwhile, will start searching for its offense after the team failed to break 20 points for a third consecutive game.
Chargers 39, Jaguars 29. Justin Herbert finally got his first career win in a big way by throwing for 347 yds and three TDs, while also running in a score. Herbert has thrown for at least 250 yds in each of his first five starts, a feat previously only accomplished by Patrick Mahomes, who did it in his first 10.
Lions 23, Falcons 22. Detroit didn’t get much production out of its RBs, but Matthew Stafford threw for 340 yds and a TD and the Lions won for the third time in four games. It seems Atlanta can always find a new way to lose. The Falcons were trailing Detroit by 2 in the game’s final two minutes when Atlanta’s Todd Gurley II broke free for an easy 10-yard TD. Aware of the amount of time remaining, Gurley tried to fall down at the 1-yard line, in hopes of chewing up some clock. Unfortunately, he misjudged the distance, barely breaking the plane of the end zone for a go-ahead TD.
That mistake gave the Lions 1 minute 4 seconds to go 75 yds, and they did just that, with Matthew Stafford hitting TE T.J. Hockenson for an 11-yard TD as time expired in Detroit’s 23-22 victory. This was the 36th game-winning drive of Stafford’s career, according to Pro Football Reference, which trails only Drew Brees (37) since 2009.
Footballers 25, Cowboys 3. Dallas (2-5) began its season with great optimism. But injuries to Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton, and a bad loss to Washington, have the team on the trade market, with rumblings from top to bottom of locker room discontent. After Dallas QB Dalton received what many saw as a dirty shoulder-to-helmet hit from Washington linebacker Jon Bostic, there was a lot of external and internal criticism for the Cowboys not fighting back to defend their injured QB.
The pass protection for all Dallas QBs has been mediocre all year. Ben DiNucci, a rookie out of James Madison, completed the game with 2 of 3 for 39 passing yds and will start next week. The next QB on the depth chart is Garrett Gilbert, who has played for the Patriots, Rams, Panthers and Browns, throwing a total of six passes.
It’s only the second time since 2004 Dallas has been held to just 3 pts. They trailed in yds, 397-142, and first downs, 21-12. They were 3 for 12 on third-down conversions and 0 for 1 on fourth down, when they mysteriously called a passing play on fourth-and-1. Dalton was pressured and threw it incomplete. RB Ezekiel Elliott isn’t getting the job done. He was held to just 45 yds rushing, had a ball bounce off him for an interception and made mistakes in pass protection.
knowing General Managers and scouts in the NFL. (Tom Brady # 240 draft choice).