By Brandon Simmons
San Francisco is Official
The San Francisco 49ers has demolished the doubts about them. Sunday, the Niners beat down the Dallas Cowboys 42-10 in a rematch from last leason’s divisional round. It was hyped as a battle between 2 NFC contenders, but the problem is, only one of these teams left looking like a contender. The Niners were dominant in every favet of the game. San Francisco QB Brock Purdy continued his unbeaten regular season streak as he threw 17/24 for 254 yards and 4 touchdowns. However, the defense lead on this domineering performance. Niners linebacker Fred Warner had 5 tackles, sack and an interception while his teammate, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, had the same stat line minus the pick.
The final verdict from this game is that the 49ers have put the league on notice that they are not a fluke. Last season, many thought they were running on luck, going on a 11 game win streak into the NFC championship with a rookie 7th round QB. Sunday’s performance showed otherwise. This team has everything on paper to be a contending team, but they put their illustration to life. This defense has Warner and Greenlaw but don’t forget that Nick Bosa is a force that 49ers defensive line. While Purdy gets some shine for his play, don’t forget that the Niners have MVP candidate in running back Christian McCaffrey. With an explosive offense and dominant defense, you could very well put them as a potential NFC representative for the Super Bowl.
Might Be Time up for Mac Jones
New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones had a great rookie campaign, but things have not been the same after that. The 3rd year has been through ups and downs in his short and he’ really feeling the brute of everything this season. His rookie year, Jones led the Patriots to a Wild Card game, establishing hope in New England that he will be the successor to Tom Brady, who left the team a couple of years prior. But when the 2nd season arrived, things took a dive. He missed 3 games because of injury and was rumored to lose his starting job to backup quarterback Bailey Zappe, who went 2-1 in that same stretch. This season, things have not gone any smoother. The Patriots have gone 1-5 and Jones has not shown improvement in anything. His best game of the season was the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles where he threw for 316 yards, a touchdown and one interception. Since then, he’s thrown for 2 touchdowns and 5 picks.
Mac Jones is under pressure for his career and he could easily be made the scapegoat for this team’s struggles. One detail that might be lost on his season assessment, his passing yardage total has dwindled each week. This could probably also speak to the talent level around him. Patriots wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster – the team’s prize free agent signing – is currently recording his lowest yards per reception in his career. The same is said for his teammate Devante Parker who signed with them last season. Also, it’s hard to really place all the blame on Jones when your defense has given up over 70 points in the past 2 weeks. Still, being a former first round pick, the expectations are going to be set high and you’re expected to meet them. Things are not going to get easier in a division with the Buffalo bills and Miami Dolphins playing the ay they are right now. Should the Patriots continue to lose, they might find themselves thrusted into the market for another franchise QB. That could be a real possibility as the Arizona Cardinals have to figure out what to do with Kyler Murray and the same with the Minnesota Vikings deciding on Kirk Cousins. There’s also a long shot of laning either Caleb Williams or Drake Maye in the upcoming NFL draft. Either way the Patriots go, Jones must improve his play before the clock runs out on his early career.
Implications of the Justin Jefferson injury
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson hamstring injury could be an ailment on the teams’ season. Jefferson suffered the injury Sunday in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. Tuesday it was announced that Jefferson be placed injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss at least 4 gaemes. This could have a huge impact on the Vikings season. Minnesota is already losing with all of their weapons in tow, so if their best one is out, things could get real spooky for them. This could also incur a trade for Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, who has been in trade rumors since the season started. That would solidify their commitment to tanking for either Caleb Williams or Drake Maye in the upcoming draft. That is, if Chicago decides to move off of either the number 1 or 2 pick. Hamstring injuries can sometime go for about 1 game, but Minnesota can not afford for any star to get hurt.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout to Ja’Marr Chase for letting the media he is open and proving it. Last week, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver went viral in a clipwher he sayss he is “always fucking open”. Well, in Sunday’s win against the Arizona Cardinals, proved that statement to be true as he recorded 15 catches for.193 yards and 3 touchdowns. This was a week after he only had 7 catches for 73 yards. It could be the spark needed for the Bengals to overcome their early season struggles.
Shut out to Dallas Cowboys Trey Lance for his “insider information”. It was reported that Lance – a former San Francisco 49ers – decided to to help h8s new team in preparation for facing his old team. Part of this preparation was giving insight into personnel and system knowledge. While it doesn’t seem like damaging information, the fact the game resulted in a blowout is hilarious. He gave them information that was supposed to be advanta g eous in some way and the Cowboys stiill got their asses handed to them. I guess that’s what they get for seeking advice from a guy who was urgentl traded from that team.
Week 6 is here with a couple of big matchups. The Detroit Lions are hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2 teams in which people are kind of surprised at their success this season. In particular, the Bucs are being led by quarterback Baker Mayfield, who has bounced around a few teams in the couple of seasons, but seems to have found his mark this year. The Lions are also hitting their mark, on their way to the top of the NFC North. The other intriguing matchup will be the San Francisco 49ers visiting the Cleveland Browns. San Fran is coming off of their blowout win over the Cowboys and look to repeat the same result with the Brown, but Cleveland has a top ranked defense that could very well challenge this Niners team nd break up their early season high. But until then…I’ll holla.