By Brandon Simmons
Miami Faces First Bump of the Year
The Miami Dolphins were certified Super bowl champions for a whole week then came back to reality on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. A week after dropping 70 points on the Denver Broncos, the Dolphins lost to the Bills 48-20. Bills QB Josh Allen threw 21 of 25 completions for 320 yards and 4 touchdowns while Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs went out and got 6 catches for 120 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dolphins QB Tua Tagovoiloa threw 25 of 35 completions for 282 yards, 1 touchdown and an interception; he also got sacked 4 times. Dolphins rookie running back Devon Achane had 8 rushes for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns.
It was bound to happen sooner or later, but it might not change the minds of those who believe Miami can get a championship this year. In addition to them being a divisional opponent, this is a Bills team that took them out of the playoffs last season and beat them in Buffalo in the regular season. If Buffalo didn’t stop them, then they were going to run into the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7 and the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9, so they were going to get huge test that will push them to their limits, and this is very likely to still happen. The Dolphins defense had a tough time against some of the high powered offense such as the Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers. However, they still have the offense that can lock in and match points with anybody, despite Sunday’s result. It’s early in the season to really predict how things will turn out but their vision for the rest of this season looks a lot brighter than whatever happened to them on Sunday.
Is Detroit Ready to Take Over?
It’s so fitting that the Detroit Lions sent Aaron Rodgers out of the NFC North last season and now they are poised to take over this division. At 3-1, the Lions have rose to the top of the division and became a surprise team in the NFC. In his 3rd season. Head coach Dan Campbell has led this team from basement dweller to among the top teams in the conference. They have a balanced offense with quarterback Jared Goff at the helm and wide receiver Amen Ra St. Brown tearing up secondaries. The running game packs a punch with running backs David Montgomery and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs. Defensively, they are lead by defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and can stop the run efficiently.
As far as their success goes, it is in their favor to go take this division. The NFC North has become disastrous. The Green Bay Packers are trying to find their way in post-Rodgers life; the Minnesota Vikings are struggling to replicate their success; the Chicago Bears are just finding new ways to screw things up each week. None of those problems should take a way from the fact that the Lions are seizing the opportunity in front of them right now. They have been building this team to thrive in these types of moments and it’s time to take that next step while their immediate competition is sitting on the ground floor.
Did Zach Wilson Show Enough to Believe?
Zach Wilson must have remembered Taylor Swift at MetLife Stadium because the New York Jets quarterback played his ass off, but was it enough to sustain his future. Wilson had his best game of the season in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. He threw 28 of 39 for 245 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. It was a performance that came at a time when things were starting to get more turbulent for him, if that’s even possible. Wilson was thrown into the starting lineup in Week 1, when quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending achilles injury. While the Jets ended up winning that game, the fortune did not follow the 3rd year signal caller. Week 2, Wilson got crushed by the Dallas Cowboys defense where he was sacked 3 times and threw 3 interceptions. Last week, in a loss against the New Engand Patriots, he was sacked another 3 times. This comes at a time when Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay was asked about watching Wilson on film, and he jokingly replied that the Jets look like they want to run the football. This also comes at a time when a report is going around saying Jets head coach Robert Saleh is losing the locker room for sticking with Wilson.
It seems like the pressure is finally getting to Zach Wilson, literally and metaphorically. The past few weeks no quarterback has been under the magnifying glass more than Wilson and most of it is because of the wrong reasons. He’s obviously not going to perform to the level of Rodgers, but he has not performed at a competitive level. The organization probably hoped that he would get a little better after being benched for almost a year, but nothing seems to have changed up until Sunday night. Reports have swirled around that ha After that performance, he sort of opened people’s eyes up to see that he might actually have something to save this season. The Jets have a solid roster on both sides of the ball, mostly because it was intended to accompany Aaron Rodgers. But even though that is not the case, there’s still no reason to take advantage of this opportunity to salvage his career that has endured a tough start. He literally has one of the greatest QB’s of all time in the same QB room with him; take that time to learn how to get better. Maybe when it comes time for him to move on or hang it up, you can remain where you’re at or make you exit as well.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Chris Jones for taking the high road. Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle was doing a postgame interview with the Football Night n in America crew after KC’s win over the New York Jets. During the interview, FNIA co host 1rodney Harrison mentioned that Jets QB Zach Wilson was “garbage” and tried to goad Jones into backing up those claims. However, the All Pro defensive tackle did no such thing and even went as far as crediting Wilson for his performance on Sunday. Obviously Wilson is not All Pro level but kudos to Jones for not tearing another player down.
Shut out to the Chicago Bears for just about anything at this point. This team has been going through it to start the season. And while you’re not supposed to kick a team while they’re down, it just seems a lot of these situations have been self-inflicted. The franchise QB has been critixcized the coaching staff for a loss a couple of weeks ago. Wide receiver Chase Claypool – who they gave up a first round pick for – is on the verge of getting cut. They blew a 28 to 7 lead against the Denver Broncos Sunday in a loss. Some people blame the Bears for trading away their number one pick while others cite the reason for losing is not developing Fields properly. Whatever the reason, it’s all coming down on them pretty bad right now and they need to find a solution fast to n prevent any long term damage for this franchise.
Week 5 comes with a month of the season in the books. While some teams might have to go back to the drawing board real quick, others are primed to keep pushing forward towards their goal of winning it all. The game of the week will feature the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night. This will be the rematch from last season’s divisional round, in which the Niners took the win. After that magical run last season, San Fran has showed no signs of slowing down, especially with running back Christian McCaffrey who is an MVP candidate early in the season. However, he is going up against a Dallas defense, who has a blowout in all 3 of their victories, holding their opponents in those games to 11 points total. It shpuld be a battle of 2 of the top NFC teams and possibly an early conference title preview. But until then…I’ll holla.