By Brandon Simmons
Did the Titans Get Caught Slipping?
The Tennessee Titans suffered a 22-13 upset loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. The loss snapped a 4 game winning the Titans sustained, in spite of playing without running back Derrick Henry, who has been out of the lineup since being injured in Week 8. But all good things must come to an end, no matter how brutal they might be. In Sunday’s loss, Titans QB Ryan Tannehill went 35/52 throwing for 323 yards, 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions. It didn’t help that his best offensive weapon at the time, wide receiver A.J. Brown, was in and out of the game with a hand injury. However, it wasn’t just Brown who was being slowed down playing hurt, there were a few other players who caught the injury bug all at once in this game.
Even though the Texans deserve credit for this win, this game really speaks to how much the Titans’ luck ran out. It’s bad enough they lost Henry to injury but when other players begin to fall as well, it’s going to be hard to overcome. Also, putting Tannehill as the one to carry this team can only go so far. He has grown tremendously as a signal caller since joining the Titans, but he has had Henry alongside him to help him plenty of games. The main thing they will have on their agenda is remedying this running game. They tried replacing Henry with veteran Adrian Peterson, until they cut AP on Tuesday. The Titans have been able to push themselves to the number one spot in the AFC right now, but there are other teams coming after them, that are 10 times better than Houston this season, and probably a little healthier than Tennessee is right now. Titans have proven that they can win without Henry for merely a few games, but they have to get back to that blueprint to remain atop of the conference.
Are the Patriots Ahead of Schedule?
The New England Patriots put the league on notice last Thursday when they shut out the Atlanta Falcons 25-0. In this impressive road win, the Patriots defense showed up in huge fashion collecting 4 interceptions and 4 sacks, 2 of the latter accredited to New England linebacker Kyle Van Noy. But this wasn’t just a flash game for this team; the Patriots have been quietly on a 5 game winning streak, mostly due to their defensive play. Within this 5 game streak, their last 3 games have seen them hold opponents to under 10 points. Another thing that is encouraging about this win streak, has been the play of rookie QB Mac Jones. Before the win streak, he threw for 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions; during the win streak he reduced his pick total to only 2.
The Patriots are in a good spot right now but it remains to be seen if they can make the most of it. Right now, they are living in the shadow of the Buffalo Bills, a team that everyone had high championship hopes on a few weeks ago, but after a few crucial, questionable losses, the Bills find themselves 2nd place in the AFC East. People still believe the Bills have control of this division and can bounce back from their recent slump. While the Patriots defense is driving the success of this team, they don’t have the QB to help them. Rookie QB Mac Jones is showing improvement, and displaying a marvelous skillset with his high completion percentage, but it will be different when he plays in these late-season matchups that could determine the Patriots postseason chances. We’ll get a look at how solid this team in the next few weeks when they get games against the Titans and Bills.
Will Matt Nagy Finish the Season?
Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy is on one of the hottest seats in the league right now. Fans across all Chicago sports teams have been calling for the firing of Nagy for the past several days, including at his son’s high school football game. The 4th year head coach has certainly angered the fanbase, who have grown impatient with the team’s progress. In his first season, he led the team to a Wild Card game at home, but they loss to the Philadelphia Eagles after Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed a field goal. They did not make the playoffs again until last season, in which they lost another Wild Card game, this time to the New Orleans Saints. But it wasn’t just missing the postseason that might be dooming him. Even though he had a background as an offensive coordinator, he failed to properly develop the team’s franchise QB at the time, Mitchell Trubisky, who is now a backup on the Buffalo Bills. This year, the team has gone 3-7 and currently riding a 5 game win streak. The defense has been getting tore up as well, even when they’re not injured.
It’s sad to say but it appears that Nagy won’t make it to the end of this year. There was already a rumor going around Tuesday that he was going to be fired after the Bears play the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving. It’s crazy to think that not that long ago, this was a team about to upset the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, but even if he did pull the win out, it might’ve just prolonged the inevitable. The damage has already been done and the team wants to protect the future of rookie QB Justin Fields, a little better than they did for Trubisky.
Shoutout/Shutouts
Shout out to Mike Evans for becoming the all time touchdown leader in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. Monday, the wide receiver made the catch in the 3rd quarter of Tampa’s 30-10 blowout win over the New York Giants. Earlier this year, Evans was part of another milestone when he caught the 600th TD pass of Buccaneers QB Tom Brady’s career. However, Evans kept the ball this time around. Congratulations to the Galveston, Texas native.
Shut out to Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon for his disparaging comments on macaroni and cheese. Tuesday, he expressed his opinion on the dish only referring to it as “cheese and noodles”. Judon is a tremendous player but this is not the take to make. He did say that his family loved when his mother cooked mac and cheese, so it could be just a matter of his taste buds; still there’s no need for all of that negativity during the holidays.
It’s Thanksgiving week in the NFL but the action should be spread out the entire Week 12. The Dallas Cowboys are hosting the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, which could be an interesting matchup, considering the Cowboys are likely to be without wide receivers Amari Cooper and Ceedee Lamb. The Los Angeles Rams are visiting the Green Bay Packers, which could result in a shootout. The Rams are coming off the bye week but this will be the 2nd game for Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. Many people are going to expect him to be a little more involved in this high-flying Rams attack, especially when Packers QB Aaron Rodgers – who threw for 385 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings – just might go to the air to put the L.A. defense under pressure. Hopefully the weather isn’t too much of a factor to prevent each team’s passing attack. But until then…I’ll holla.
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