Lethe200
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What We Learned from Week 5 of the NFL Season Pt 1 of 2
Dak Prescott’s season is over, Alex Smith came back after nearly two years away, the Ravens demolished Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and the Raiders shocked the Chiefs.
NYTimes by Benjamin Hoffman Oct. 11, 2020 (edited for length by lethe200)
Sunday got off to a rocky start when the NFL announced it would delay this week’s game between the Denver Broncos and the NE Patriots because of continuing issues with COVID. The decision led to a cascade of changes in the coming schedule, and is sure to be a frequent topic of conversation as teams adjust on the fly.
As for the day’s action, there were surprising results, multiple close games and a feel-good comeback by Alex Smith that almost no one predicted. It was not all good news, however. The 0-5 Atlanta Falcons fired both coach and GM. Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys sustained a gruesome injury that has ended his season.
Here’s what we learned:
Dak Prescott’s record-setting season is over. Prescott scrambled for a 9-yard gain in Q3 of Sunday’s game against the Giants when the Cowboys QB had his legs tangle underneath him as he was tackled. His right foot hung at an awkward angle as medical staff ran to help him. He was in tears as he was taken off the field on the back of a cart and was replaced by Andy Dalton, who led the team to a narrow 37-34 victory.
Prescott, who threw for at least 450 yds in each of his three previous games - an NFL first - set a record for the most passing yds with 1,690 through the first four games. The outburst of productivity followed an off-season in which he failed to come to terms with Dallas on a long-term contract extension.
No official timetable was given for his recovery, but the team confirmed that Prescott sustained a compound fracture and dislocation of the ankle. Team owner Jerry Jones said he has “no doubt” Prescott will be able to return as the team’s leader eventually and Prescott’s brother shared a photo of Dak in the hospital smiling after surgery. But the ramifications of the injury and recovery will likely affect Prescott’s contract negotiations with Dallas this off-season.
There is no quit in Alex Smith. A devastating knee injury in November 2018 had doctors contemplating amputating the veteran QB’s right leg. His career was declared over by numerous pundits, his team used its first-round pick that off-season on a new QB, and the world moved on – except for Smith, 36. He endured 17 surgeries, received medical clearance shortly before the season began, and entered the Washington Football Team’s game on Sunday after an injury to Kyle Allen, throwing an official pass for the first time in 693 days.
Smith was well short of the longest gap between passes, which according to the Elias Sports Bureau belongs to Tony Adams, a career backup who went 3,276 days between attempts (Oct. 15, 1978, to Oct. 4, 1987). But when you factor in just how unlikely Smith’s return was, his so-so passing day in a 30-10 loss to the LA Rams was nothing short of phenomenal.
KC needs to work on its concentration. The Chiefs opened their Super Bowl defense with four consecutive wins, including a dominant effort that ended Baltimore’s 14-game regular-season winning streak. But on either side of that win over the Ravens, the Chiefs had to survive an overtime scare against the Chargers in Week 2 and then struggled for much of the game against the Cam Newton-less Patriots in Week 4. On Sunday, that tendency to play down to their competition caught up with the Chiefs in a big way, as the Las Vegas Raiders, who came in as 13-point underdogs, threw everything they had at the Chiefs, running up a lead and then staving off a Patrick Mahomes comeback for a shocking 40-32 win at KC. It was just the 11th time the Chiefs have allowed 40 or more points at Arrowhead Stadium, and the first time in over seven years the Raiders had defeated their divisional rival the Chiefs in KC’s stadium.
You can’t give Russell Wilson any time. The Vikings pulled ahead of the Seahawks midway through Q4 by 26-21, with the ball and a chance to extend their lead. Instead, Minnesota turned the ball over on downs, giving Wilson 1 minute 57 seconds to take his team 94 yds. Wilson only needed 1:42, connecting with DK Metcalf for yet another game-winning TD. Wilson spent much of the game with his team trailing an opponent with a losing record, but he left it with his front-runner status for the NFL’s MVP Award intact.
The Jaguars are good for your self-esteem. Houston was in disarray, starting the season 0-4, which resulted in the firing of Coach Bill O’Brien. A switch to Romeo Crennel, 73, as HC is not yet permanent, but Crennel started off his reign as the oldest head coach in NFL history with a convincing win, as Deshaun Watson threw for 359 yds and three TDs while leading Houston past Jacksonville, 30-14. The big question is if Houston can do anything like this against a team that fields something resembling an NFL defense.
It is not always the guys you expect. You’d be forgiven if you’d never heard of Travis Fulgham or Chase Claypool before Sunday. They came into the day with a combined eight career receptions, but more than doubled that as they squared off in one of the more unlikely and entertaining battles you’ll come across. Fulgham caught 10 passes for 152 yds and a TD, but that was nothing compared to Claypool, who had seven catches for 110 yds and three receiving TDs, while running in a fourth score. Claypool’s final TD of the day came on a 35-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger, and it put the game away for Pittsburgh in a 38-29 victory.
Dak Prescott’s season is over, Alex Smith came back after nearly two years away, the Ravens demolished Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and the Raiders shocked the Chiefs.
NYTimes by Benjamin Hoffman Oct. 11, 2020 (edited for length by lethe200)
Sunday got off to a rocky start when the NFL announced it would delay this week’s game between the Denver Broncos and the NE Patriots because of continuing issues with COVID. The decision led to a cascade of changes in the coming schedule, and is sure to be a frequent topic of conversation as teams adjust on the fly.
As for the day’s action, there were surprising results, multiple close games and a feel-good comeback by Alex Smith that almost no one predicted. It was not all good news, however. The 0-5 Atlanta Falcons fired both coach and GM. Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys sustained a gruesome injury that has ended his season.
Here’s what we learned:
Dak Prescott’s record-setting season is over. Prescott scrambled for a 9-yard gain in Q3 of Sunday’s game against the Giants when the Cowboys QB had his legs tangle underneath him as he was tackled. His right foot hung at an awkward angle as medical staff ran to help him. He was in tears as he was taken off the field on the back of a cart and was replaced by Andy Dalton, who led the team to a narrow 37-34 victory.
Prescott, who threw for at least 450 yds in each of his three previous games - an NFL first - set a record for the most passing yds with 1,690 through the first four games. The outburst of productivity followed an off-season in which he failed to come to terms with Dallas on a long-term contract extension.
No official timetable was given for his recovery, but the team confirmed that Prescott sustained a compound fracture and dislocation of the ankle. Team owner Jerry Jones said he has “no doubt” Prescott will be able to return as the team’s leader eventually and Prescott’s brother shared a photo of Dak in the hospital smiling after surgery. But the ramifications of the injury and recovery will likely affect Prescott’s contract negotiations with Dallas this off-season.
There is no quit in Alex Smith. A devastating knee injury in November 2018 had doctors contemplating amputating the veteran QB’s right leg. His career was declared over by numerous pundits, his team used its first-round pick that off-season on a new QB, and the world moved on – except for Smith, 36. He endured 17 surgeries, received medical clearance shortly before the season began, and entered the Washington Football Team’s game on Sunday after an injury to Kyle Allen, throwing an official pass for the first time in 693 days.
Smith was well short of the longest gap between passes, which according to the Elias Sports Bureau belongs to Tony Adams, a career backup who went 3,276 days between attempts (Oct. 15, 1978, to Oct. 4, 1987). But when you factor in just how unlikely Smith’s return was, his so-so passing day in a 30-10 loss to the LA Rams was nothing short of phenomenal.
KC needs to work on its concentration. The Chiefs opened their Super Bowl defense with four consecutive wins, including a dominant effort that ended Baltimore’s 14-game regular-season winning streak. But on either side of that win over the Ravens, the Chiefs had to survive an overtime scare against the Chargers in Week 2 and then struggled for much of the game against the Cam Newton-less Patriots in Week 4. On Sunday, that tendency to play down to their competition caught up with the Chiefs in a big way, as the Las Vegas Raiders, who came in as 13-point underdogs, threw everything they had at the Chiefs, running up a lead and then staving off a Patrick Mahomes comeback for a shocking 40-32 win at KC. It was just the 11th time the Chiefs have allowed 40 or more points at Arrowhead Stadium, and the first time in over seven years the Raiders had defeated their divisional rival the Chiefs in KC’s stadium.
You can’t give Russell Wilson any time. The Vikings pulled ahead of the Seahawks midway through Q4 by 26-21, with the ball and a chance to extend their lead. Instead, Minnesota turned the ball over on downs, giving Wilson 1 minute 57 seconds to take his team 94 yds. Wilson only needed 1:42, connecting with DK Metcalf for yet another game-winning TD. Wilson spent much of the game with his team trailing an opponent with a losing record, but he left it with his front-runner status for the NFL’s MVP Award intact.
The Jaguars are good for your self-esteem. Houston was in disarray, starting the season 0-4, which resulted in the firing of Coach Bill O’Brien. A switch to Romeo Crennel, 73, as HC is not yet permanent, but Crennel started off his reign as the oldest head coach in NFL history with a convincing win, as Deshaun Watson threw for 359 yds and three TDs while leading Houston past Jacksonville, 30-14. The big question is if Houston can do anything like this against a team that fields something resembling an NFL defense.
It is not always the guys you expect. You’d be forgiven if you’d never heard of Travis Fulgham or Chase Claypool before Sunday. They came into the day with a combined eight career receptions, but more than doubled that as they squared off in one of the more unlikely and entertaining battles you’ll come across. Fulgham caught 10 passes for 152 yds and a TD, but that was nothing compared to Claypool, who had seven catches for 110 yds and three receiving TDs, while running in a fourth score. Claypool’s final TD of the day came on a 35-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger, and it put the game away for Pittsburgh in a 38-29 victory.