By Brandon Simmons
Can Lamar Beat Mahomes?
Lamar Jackson was one play away from eradicating a building narrative about him. The Baltimore Ravens quarterback was the subject of a lot of sports shows on whether or not he could beat the Kansas City Chiefs, heading into his Week 1 matchup against KC. The result of that game was him being one play away from winning the game, as a potential touchdown from Ravens tight end Isiah Likely was overturned because of his toe being out of bounds. However, it was the same losing result for Jackosn and the Ravens.
The answer to this question is a simple “yes”; but if asked “Will he beat the Chiefs and Mahomes?” and that might be an SAT-esque answer. In this Week 1 game, Jackson threw for 273 yards and a touchdown then ran for 122 yards. He led the drive that would have either tied or won the game. So basically, he has all the tools to beat the Chiefs. But football is a team sport and Jackson needs support from other areas. Specifically, Jckson needs to trust in his receivers more. Likely, a tight end, was a huge target in this game, especially on the last drive, but tight ends can only do so much in the crunch time moments of a game. I’ve been saying this about him for a while now but it’s true. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has been huge part of Jackson’s career, but even he got phased out of the game plan last week. Jackson needs his receivers to stretch the field in a 2 minute drill situation, maybe even earlier than that to secure the win. Jackson has the arm strength and speed to get it to a receiver downfield; and he can get downfield himself with that speed when the receiver isn’t open. Jackson has ll the playmaking abilities that Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, and a better defense, but he just lacks the prioritization of his wide receivers at this point. Once he gets that, then he will show us the answer to the question we want to know
Dak Gets Paid…Again
The Dallas Cowboys spent some money this offseason. First, they signed wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to a 4 year $136 million extension then signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a 4 year $240 million, making him the highest paid player in NFL history. If the Prescott news sounds familiar, it’s because 4 years ago he was in the same situation, in which he was looking for a big contract in the midst of being questioned whether or not he would be worthy of such a huge contract, until he got the huge contract.
Dak Prescott ‘s contract is the prime example of the value of quarterbacks. You can only go so far with how good, or perceived to be good, your QB is. Look at the San Francisco 49ers and their recent playoff runs. Most of their conference championship and Super bowl appearances done by QB’s who have frail resumes. However, their team overall is stacked with high profile talent on both sides of the ball. The Cowboys are similar but just not as stacked; also their playoff resume in recent memory – or even in this century – is just not as significant as San Francisco. But Dak really isn’t even the worst example when it comes to this subject. The New York Giants gave a huge contract to QB Daniel Jones, who has only had one good season to show for his career. What’s even crazier, ESPN showed a graphic of how many QB’s have gotten paid since Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes signed his contract – which was a record at the time – yet his resume might be more valuable than all the recent payday recipients combined, yet he’s probably the lowest paid annually of QB’s of his status.
The quarterback position is just that valuable in football right now, and just might always be. If the Cowboys decided not to pay Dak, they would have to invest time into finding another franchise QB, which could also turn into investing more money. Could Dak Prescott really get this team to a Super Bowl? If he could, then he would have done it by now. The Cowboys know this too, but they also know that going after something perceivably better is going to be more trouble than they’re willing to deal with.
Tyreek Hill’s Interaction with the Police
Aside from all the games going on, the biggest story out of Week 1 was Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill being inappropriately treated by the police. Sunday, before the Dolphins season opener, Hill was pulled over for reckless driving and detained. It was later shown on video that Hill was assaulted by an officer. More reports came out saying his teammate, Dolphin defensive tackle Calais Campbell, saw the incident and pulled over to de-escalate but was also put in handcuffs. Tuesday, body cam footage was released showing the whole ordeal, including the point at which the officer put a headlock on an already handcuffed Hill
This story obviously doesn’t have anything to do with the games, but it does raise some questions, particularly in inquiring about the NFL’s approach to this situation. A lot of fans discussing this subject brought up Colin Kaepernick’s name, referencing why he kneeled during the national anthem in 2016. Well, we all saw how the league “embraced” that, and what subsequently happened; but this is a new instance rooted in a familiar evil. Also, it’s not so much what the league, in terms of its execs and office people, will do, but how will players support Hill, should he pursue legal action. It seems like this is something that we can get mad about for a little bit, see it play out, then move on. However, it’s really not that simple. This should serve as a reminder that shit really ain’t as sweet as we perceive it to be. Things are still weary out there for black people, especially for black men. Hopefully justice is served for Hill and any other person done wrong by the police.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout to Kendrick Lamar for having an MVP year. The Compton rapper was announced as the performer at the halftime show for the Super Bowl, which takes place in New Orleans. Kdot has obviously made headlines this year with his Drake feud, which has produced number one singles and a spectacular Juneteenth concert. Now he gets to perform at one of the world’s biigest sporting events in the hometown of his rival’s mentor.
Shut out to a moment being missed out on. The fact that Lil Wayne does not get to perform on that particular stage in his home town is mind boggling. You don’t have to be ingratiated into rap so much that you can’t see this is a big opportunity to make a huge moment. Now, this is not me pointing finger at anybody at all – that includes the NFL and Jay-Z – but somewhere the ball was dropped. Hip hop fans got to see Dr. Dre perform at the Super bowl in L.A. so of course their brains are going to be wired to look forward to want Weezy to perform at the New Orleans Super Bowl.
Week 1 was a crazy time and now it’s time for Week 2. The Detroit Lions host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a rematch of last season’s divisional round matchup. Tampa is coming off a Week 1win over the Washington Commanders while Detroit pulled off an overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams. The other game to look out for is the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Cincinatti Bengals. Chiefs escaped with a thrilling Week 1 win while the Bengals, surrounded by Ja’Marr chase contract controversy, left Week 1 with a loss. This is a game that should kick Cincy back into focus but KC might already be primed for the challenge of whatever comes their way. But until then…I’ll holla.
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