By Brandon Simmons
Just give the Chiefs the Division
If spoiler alert was a person it would be the 2022 Kansas City Chiefs. Sunday, the Chiefs proved why it’s silly to doubt them with a late, last-minute comeback to beat the Los Angeles Chargers. The AFC West had an interesting offseason with additions and subtractions. The Las Vegas Raiders added wide receiver Devantae Adams, the Denver Broncos acquired quarterback Russell Wilson, the Los Angeles Chargers added Khalil Mack and J.C. Jackson to their defense while the Chiefs traded away wide receiver Tyreek Hill. All of this happened just for the league to witness KC walk right back to the top again.
Those other 3 teams might have had a great offseason but when it comes to facing the Chiefs, they’ve done nothing. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes doesn’t even look fazed about losing his high-speed weapon in Hill? Why? Because he is finding different receivers to keep defenses guessing but still has tight end Travis Kelce to rely on, who made the game winning TD catch on Sunday. It also helps that head coach Andy Reid is willing to use as many offensive pieces as possible, such as rookie running back Isiah Pacheco who had a breakout game this past weekend. The Chargers’ effort really could be a metaphor for this whole ordeal: They competed with the Chiefs for as long as they could until when it mattered most and just got beat. What has gone unnoticed is that the Kansas City pass rush is tough. Defensive tackle Chris Jones is just as disruptive as anybody who lines up on the outside. The Chiefs have been winning a long time with this group and when you have that length of success, you will find a way to get a victory regardless of who’s roster is across from you.
Hope for the Lions?
It’s been a long time before anything positive has been written about the Detroit Lions but with a 3 game winning streak under their belt they deserve some spotlight. Coming off of a 3 win season, the Lions find themselves at 4-6. They’ve won 3 in a row after beating the New York Giants 31-18 and currently sit in 2nd place of the NFC North.
This looks like a different Lions team from the previous year and previous seasons before that. They are much more competitive this season and that can be credited to head coach Dan Campbell. When Hard Knocks was on, you could see him emphasizing about doing the small things it takes to win games and you could see that has resonated with this group. The Lions are still a work in progress, and have some things to address in the season to improve, but right now they have a great foundation to build on as long as they compete week in and week out.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to former NFL tight end Ben Watson for standing up for his wife. On a halftime show on the SEC Network, Watson was doing his analyst job alongside Chris Doering, Takeo Spikes and Peter Burns. Burns joked about Watson not being notified of everyone on the set wearing dark suits except for him. Watson humorously replied as long as my wife text me and says I look good, to which Burns replied that’s not the text she sent me. The show then cuts to a highlight and commercial, but when it returns only Spikes and are shown sitting as Watson is shown making his return to the set:
Shut out to Burns for that making that joke on live television. He tried to tweet a photo of him and Watson together after the incident with the caption “#Friendship”, but Watson still quote tweeted that Burns should make a public apology to his wife.
Shout out to New England Patriots rookie cornerback Marcus Jones for his game winning punt return touchdown. Sunday, against the New York Jets, the 2022 3rd round pick received the punt while the score was tied at 3. He went 84 yards on the punt return to take it in for the score, giving the Patriots a 10-3 lead with 5 seconds left, giving his team the eventual win
Shut out to the job security of New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson. Wilson threw for just 77 yards in the loss against the Patriots and it has seemingly rubbed some people the wrong way. According to ESPN, some of the Jets defensive players were not pleased hearing Wilson express in his press conference that he did not let them after scoring only 3 points. This report comes in the wake of Jets head coach Robert Saleh proclaiming that he isn’t committing to Wilson as a starter, despite going 5-2. Since the Jets are 6-4, the math wouldn’t make sense for a benching at this point, but hopefully this is a strong message that Saleh is sending for his young QB to get his act together and hopefully Wilson catches on to that sooner rather than later.
Thanksgiving weekend has now arrived upon us! Start off Week 12 with the Dallas Cowboys hosting the New York Giants in their 2nd meeting of the season. Cowboys beat the Giants in Week 3 23-16, but since then, they have gone 5-2. Dallas accomplished this without QB Dak Prescott, who was injured at the time, but now he has returned to the lineup and the offense has found a new spark in their backfield with running back Tony Pollard. It’s certainly going to be a test for the Giants defense, especially with their stout defensive line which features Dexter Lawrence. The game of the week could be the Tennessee Titans hosting the Cincinnati Bengals. This is a rematch of last season’s divisional round with 2 contrasting styles. The Bengals rely on a more aerial attack with wide receivers Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, while the Titans have the greatest ground game in the league with running back Derrick Henry. But until then…I’ll holla.