Deshaun Watson enters MVP Chat?
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson pulled off a huge win Sunday by beating the Kansas City Chiefs. 31-24 on the road. His performance led to NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport tweeting his support for Watson’s MVP candidacy.
It’s a little misleading to say the Chiefs game put Watson into the MVP mix but he has been trending upward these last 2 games. Last week against the Atlanta Falcons, Watson got the win by throwing for 426 yards and 5 touchdowns off of 28/33 passing, making him the first player in NFL history to have that many yards and touchdowns in a game with only 5 incompletions. The completions/attempts component of that stat line indicates his penchant for accuracy. Right now, Watson is throwing the ball at a career high 69%, and is tied for 4th with touchdowns thrown.
At most, Watson just may very well be a dark horse candidate for MVP. He has played great all season, but the one thing holding him back has been sacks. Heading into Week 5, he was near the top of the league of quarterbacks being sacked, and had 3 games in which he was sacked at least 4 times in those contests. However, the last 2 weeks, he has not been sacked at all which could be attributed to him making quicker throws. But how long can his offensive line keep him in a relatively clean pocket for the rest of the season? In spite of any sack total, if Watson continues his play, then the dark horse will jump right into the MVP spotlight.
Mahomes can not save the Chiefs
When it comes to talent, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is unbeaten as the top QB in the league in terms of passing. However, when it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs, unbeaten is not necessarily the word that describes them. The Chiefs lost their 2nd game in a row to a team that they probably should have beaten, the Houston Texans. The week before that, they lost to another AFC South opponent, the Indianapolis Colts. While the Colts and Texans both share a division, they also share the key to beating the Chiefs: running the football. The Chiefs defense has been an achilles for them for a while now, but it has always been overlooked since Mahomes has been at the helm. But the QB can’t play both sides of the ball or cover up the mistakes of the other side for much longer.
Mahomes can do it all, in regards to his position on the field, but when it comes to the defense, it obviously has to be a solution that Kansas City finds out on its own. In the offseason they addressed the issue of that unit’s shortcomings by bringing in some help. The Chiefs traded for pass rusher Frank Clark from the Seattle Seahawks to add alongside defensive tackle Chris Jones and replace Justin Houston, who they released in the offseason. They also signed Tyrann Mathieu, who is usually good against the run. Still, they have ranked 28th in defense overall, including 25th overall against the run. It does not matter how far Mahomes can throw the ball across the field if the Chiefs can not stop opponents from running up and down their field.
Are the Niners Real Gold?
The San Francisco 49ers are this year’s surprise team, jumping to a 5-0 record after beating the Los Angeles Rams this past Sunday; but to call them a “surprise” could be a bit misleading. The Niners have been in rebuild mode ever since John Lynch took over as General Manager back in 2016. It has culminated into this current group, led by offensive genius Kyle Shanahan, who not only has this team going strong as a 4th ranked offense, but they also boast the best pass defense in the league. While these rankings sound good, do the Niners actually
What helps is that the Niners were able to get key pieces at a relatively, low costs. Running backs Matt Breida and Tevin Coleman, have become a 1-2 punch for their 2nd ranked running attack but were sort of scooped up during the quieter end of free agency. Breida came in as an undrafted rookie free agent while Coleman was picked up after leaving the Atlanta Falcons. Probably the more important acquisition is the obtaining Jimmy Garoppolo as their quarterback. They sent a 2018 2nd round pick to the New England Patriots, in exchange for the former QB, assumed to be Tom Brady’s successor. They did shuffle out a $137.5 million contract extension for him, in the wake of his 5-0 record as a starter when he first got with San Francisco. Fast forward to 2019, the Niners are undefeated, with Jimmy G boasting an 11-2 record as a starter with the team overall. Their latest shiny piece could really make a huge impact in the future. Rookie defensive end Nick Bosa could be a force along their defensive line this season. He has started the last 3 games, recording 6 tackles and 2 sacks. Him and defensive end Dee Ford can be terrors, if in the game at the same time.
The 49ers have put together a strong, young team of talent that is golden against a lot of copper teams. They passed one test in beating the defending NFC champion Rams, but there are more challenges coming ahead. They will face the Carolina Panthers in a couple of weeks, who is playing outstanding defense. That matchup is going to test this offense, especially Jimmy G, who has 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on the season. Garoppolo is their most important asset in this rebuild, and how he performs in that game – in addition to the Seattle, Green Bay, Baltimore and New Orleans matchups – will probably determine what should happen with him down the line. In addition to Jimmy G, there will be tests for the number two ranked defense, which is also ranked number one overall against the pass. As of right now, the 49ers are coming off 2 previous losing seasons, so they’re not digging too deep to find the gold in their current progress.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Los Angeles and their big moves made today. The Rams traded away cornerback Marcus Peters to the Baltimore Ravens for linebacker Kenny Young and an undisclosed 2020 draft pick. This happened in the wake of Rams cornerback Aqib Talib being placed on IR, so it seemed like a head scratcher at the time, until they turned around and send 2 first round picks (2020 and 2021), and a 4th round pick (2021), to the Jacksonville Jaguars for cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Last week, I predicted that out of all the trade rumors being thrown around, Ramsey would be one of the moves guaranteed to happen before the deadline. The Rams are getting an upgrade at cornerback, which they hope will propel them back to the top f a competitive NFC West division.
Shut out to everyone complaining about the officiating on the Monday Night Football game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. My beef is I feel people were just going so far as to saying the game was rigged and I feel it was just refs making calls with horrible angles. The 2 hands-to-the-face calls should not have even existed, but the Packers offensive lineman was able to sell it as if he was being violated. Some games are going to be super clean with easy calls and some games similar to Monday’s game with tons of janky/questionable calls. All you can do is pray your team is not on the wrong side of the latter.
This weekend, quite a few blockbuster matchups on deck. The Detroit Lions are hosting the Minnesota Vikings and it should be a fun, high scoring game, now that Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has been throwing the ball downfield a little bit more. The Seattle Seahawks are hosting the Baltimore Ravens, which will feature Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, as the past and present of mobile QB’s going head-to-head. Sunday night, everybody might have their eyes glued on the 3-3 Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams are coming off of losses, but still remain at the top of the NFC East. This game could really sink the season of the other team with a loss. But until then….I’ll holla.