By Brandon Simmons
Le’Veon Signs with the Chiefs
It wasn’t long before Le’Veon Bell found work after he was cut by the New York Jets, as he found a sspot with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs signed Bell about 2 days after he hit the free agent market. As soon as the ink dried, people were putting the Chiefs back on the pedestal for their 2nd straight Lombardi trophy.
It won’t be a matter of “how” does Le’Veon Bell fit within the Chiefs, it will be a matter of “when”. He just returned to action after missing 3 games for a hamstring injury so he could still be working into getting his rhythm back. In addition to that, he’s currently under COVID protocol before taking the field. Then you must take in the fact that he has to get an in-game feel of the offense, which will include competing for touches with Chiefs rookie running back Clyde Edwards Helaire, who has been phenomenal so far this year.
The reason that it matters for timing is because the Chiefs gotta hit at the right time for them to secure homefield advantage. This year, there is only one spot and they can’t have any menial losses. In the next few games, the Chiefs will be facing the Denver Broncos in the road and 2 straight home games hosting the Jets and Carolina Panthers. These will be some good warmup games; but the closing portion of the schedule will include a rematch with the Las Vegas Raiders – who beat them in Week 5 – the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints. CEH is doing great for the Chiefs rushing attack, but it won’t hurt to have a weapon like Bell in the tuck to add to your arsenal, especially to wear down defenses late in the year. Bell is an older RB, so he may or may not have lost a step, but his game should certainly find him in the rotation of an Andy Reid offense. It’s too early to say CEH and Bell will become a 1-2 punch in the backfield, but overall, it’s another jab added to this haymaking Chiefs offense.
How Tough are the Titans?
The Tennessee Titans are 5-0, sitting along the top of the AFC. It should be no surprise that this team is in this position, considering they were close to punching a ticket to the Super Bowl, reaching the AFC championship game against the eventual champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. It can be argued that the Titans were not taken as serious as they were made out to be because of the assumption that they were a one-trick pony: a team who depended on the violent running of running back Derrick Henry to move the football, including setting up the play action. However, that pony has turned into full powered horse.
Since their magical run, the Titans have been proven to be as solid as they come. Of course, Derrick Henry is still the main factor of what makes this offense and team go. Three of the team’s 5 games he has 100 yards, including 204 yards against the Houston Texans this past Sunday. Perhaps the biggest change is quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill took over the starting QB position last season at Week 7 and has proven to be more than a stable choice as the Tennessee signal caller. He can be described as an above average game manager, but that is fine since he is obviously not the star of this offensive unit. However, the most underrated piece of this team is head coach, Mike Vrabel. A former New England Patriots linebacker. and former defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans, Vrabel keeps this team pumped up to take on any opponent of any level of competition. It’s not just how he keeps this team prepared to play games on a regular basis, it’s also about how engaged he is in the game. Check out this thread about his decision to intentionally commit a penalty which might have helped win Sunday’s game.
This Titans team does not appear to be a fluke in any way. Sunday, they proved that they can climb back into a game as well as win it when the score gets close. Tennessee has also shown they can be dominant if needed, when they beat Buffalo in Week 5. What also might go unnoticed, is the fact that they were dealing with a COVID outbreak and had to shut down their facilities for a while and reschedule games, but still managed to look sharp in these past 2 weeks. This weekend, they will have a showdown against the AFC’s other undefeated team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sure, the Steelers have a great defense that will likely have something ready for Derrick Henry, but Henry is determined to be relentless on whatever defense is in front of him. People saw him throw around Bills cornerback Josh Norman last week, but they also saw him do the same to All Pro Earl Thomas in the playoffs. Henry’s strength and intensity is a weapon that no team can really plan for. The only knock for the Titans is their schedule, so far, might be a little soft to take them as serious contenders; the Bills were the only team they beat who had more than 1 win. However, none of that mattered in the playoffs last season when they knocked off the Patriots and Ravens, then almost beat the Chiefs.
Bucs Defense Steals the Show
Sunday, in a game between 2 legendary quarterbacks, the defense stole the spotlight. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers 38-10 at home. Buccaneers QB Tom Brady outshined Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, but he had a ton of help from his defense. The Packers jumped up to a 10-0 lead, and looked to run away with the game, until Buccaneers cornerback Jameel Dean picked off Rodgers for a pick 6. Rodgers came back and threw another pick which put Tampa Bay at the Green Bay 2 yard line and set up for a score. From that point on, the Buccaneers cruised all the way to the blowout.
This defense for the Buccaneers have been sneaky good. The one thing that can be attributed to their success is the pressure they generate. Their 22 sacks are tied with the Baltimore Ravens for 2nd in the league and they are also 3rd in the league for blitzing. Defensive end Jason Pierre Paul has 5.5 sacks already this season, coming off of 8.5 last year. Their strongest aspect of this unit is stopping the run. Tampa Bay leads the league in yards per attempt allowed (3.0) and yards per game allowed (64.3). While the Bucs offense has been put under a spotlight because of Brady, the Bucs defense can be equally just as tough. They have playmakers on each level such as linebackers Levontae David and Devin White as well as cornerback Carlton Davis, which makes the formidiable on the ground and in the air. Now they have had their lapses this year, but overall this unit is capable of carrying this team when the offense isn’t clicking right away.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout to Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovoila for being named as starter. The Dolphins made the announcement Tuesday, in the wake of the team’s 24-0 win over the New York Jets, in which Tua made his season debut. Even though they are 3-3 behind QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins probably feel their first round pick, and potential franchise QB, is ready to get out there. Best of luck to him.
Shut out to the season debut of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Andy Dalton. Monday Night was the first game for Dalton, who was named the starter after Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending ankle injury. The whole team went down just as gruesomely on Monday night in a 38-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Dalton threw for 266 yards and a touchdown but had 3 sacks and threw for 2 interceptions. It wasn’t so much of Dalton’s performance that was the problem, but the entire team got washed, especially on the ground, as Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake ran for 164 yards and 2 touchdowns. The silver lining should be that the Cowboys are still in first place in the NFC East. But if they keep playing like this, they are just wasting a weekend to get mashed on.
While the Packers/Buccaneers proved to be a disappointing blowout, hopefully this weekend’s matchups will turn out with closer results. The biggest game sitting on this slate of matchups will be the Tennessee Titans hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the game originally scheduled in Week 4 moved due to the Titans’ COVID outbreak. After the thrilling win over the Texans last week, Tennessee might be hyped to take on the challenge of giving the Steelers their first loss. However, Pittsburgh has been beating opponents’ heads in lately, thanks to rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool who has been going off in the last couple of weeks. With Titans running back Derrick Henry looking to bust up the Steelers defense, should be a great matchup. But until then…I’ll holla.
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