NFL Week 6 Thread

Never mind. I don't think that was a catch.

 

What happened?

 

Yeah that was a mess.
Go Cleveland.

 

Ha. I wouldn't go quite that far, but that looked like a completely different offense with Jones in there. Of course, having Martavis Bryant back helps, but Vick had him available in the first half as well and couldn't get him the ball. Even Tomlin can't be stubborn enough to go back to Vick if he is healthy and Roethlisberger is not ready next week, can he? Jones wasn't perfect, but he certainly played like the solid backup they hoped for when they drafted the guy.

Cockrell did return, so the injury couldn't have been anything serious. The corners really were awful for Pittsburgh today, but Mitchell is looking like what they expected when they signed him before the 2014 season and the front seven is making plays. Heyward is a beast and they should get even better if Shazier can get healthy.

 

Coach 26-63 at Wake Forest rides again.

 

Cut. That. Meat.

This guy totally knows what Manning is going through to close out a career in Denver.

 

This Broncos-Browns game is nuts. Neither team looks like it wants to win.

 

Tie game, Denver has no timeouts, 19 seconds left. Sanders makes what looks like an incredible catch on the sideline well in field goal range and goes down in the process. As the ref is signaling complete pass, down in bounds, Sanders gets up and trots to the end zone, thinking he was not down by contact. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. As Manning races down the field trying to get everyone lined up so he can spike the ball, Sanders kind of moseys back to the line of scrimmage, and the clock eventually runs out before they can get the play off.

It turned out not to matter -- the booth review showed Sanders bobbled the ball and it touched the ground as he went down. Incomplete pass.

 

Browns shit the bed after The INT.

 

I don't think there's any doubt Jones starts next week. I thought Cockrell should have had at least one pick. Blake is terrible in coverage. I like Cockrell. He had a nice play on the first play of the game, the Cards receiver just made a great play.

The defense I don't get. Opposing Teams move the ball. They can run and pass but they don't manage many points.


Vick neutralizes so many offensive weapons: Brown and Miller. Jones obviously needs to work with Brown, but I don't think there's any question he leads the team into KC next week. I suspect Vick's career is over.

 

Broncos defense is crazy. The offense makes me wonder how the team is undefeated.

 

Jones and Brown definitely had some communication issues, but that back shoulder throw was a beauty and Jones made the throws he needed to make to Bryant for the two touchdowns. I'm far from sold, but he is clearly a better option than Vick.

The defense relies heavily on big plays. That means they can blow up plays to stop drives, but it also means they are going to give up yards in chunks. The scheme allows the defensive linemen to be more aggressive than they were under LeBeau, which creates big plays and big holes.

Early on, they were also having major breakdowns which seemed to be a function of learning the new scheme. That is still happening, but not as often. Gay is fine at one corner and Mitchell is playing well, but they need another starting corner and a strong safety. Teams with a good tight end are going to tear them up.

That said, it is tough to be consistent against that defense because they have playmakers in the front seven. Heyward is a beast. Dupree and Tuitt have shown flashes. Timmons is a rock in the middle. Harrison can still make plays. Those guys can all blow up a play in the backfield, get a sack or force a turnover to end drives. Part of the reason Palmer did not play as well today was the pressure up front.

Also, the run defense is actually pretty good. They had some trouble in the first half, but they held the Cardinals to 55 yards (2.8 per carry) for the game. One awful performance against Baltimore skews the numbers a bit.

The defense is middle of the road, at best, but that could be enough to make this a dangerous team if they can get the offense healthy. It is hard not to like what they've gotten from Boswell so far, too. He hasn't missed yet and he has hit twice from 47 yards and once from 48. He still has a long way to go, but that is certainly a nice start.