By Brandon Simmons
Vikings Are For Real Early
Through 4 games the Minnesota Vikings have been a surprisingly top tier this season. On both sides of the ball, the Vikings have shined, especially on offense, which is led by journey man backup QB Sam Darnold. The former forst round pick has seemed to have resurrected his career of sorts putting up his best numbers. It probably helps when you have the dynamic receiving capabilities of wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who is also having a phenomenal year. The real light of this Vikings run is the defense, a unit coached by Brian Flores.
It’s early but the Minnesota Vikings are for real right now. They have a legit shot at challenging the Detroit Lions for the division crown. The irony is that actually might be their maximum threshold of how far some one wants to believe in them. The NFC looks wide open right now because of the names in certain spots; even the San Francisco 49ers are sitting outside the 7th seed. But by the time the blast month of the season rolls around, things are going to be completely different.
Chiefs Need a Receiver?
The Kansas City Chiefs have been hit with an injury bug and their latest incident might lead to some more concern. Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice tore his ACL while trying to make a tackle on an interception, Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. Rice will mis the rest of the season leaving Kanas City without their best receiving option outside of tight end Travis Kelce. This has prompted them to the top of the conversation for participants in the November 3rd trade deadline.
The Kansas City Chiefs are good, but they’re not so good where they can be down a receiver. Right now, one of their more explosive threat is rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who they drafted in the first round. Worthy has already made some spectacular plays, including a 21 yard reverse run for a touchdown in the season opener. However, despite his 4.2 speed, he is still a rookie and not ready to take on that lead role yet, especially with a team aspiring for a championship. It would be in the Chiefs’ best interest to seek out an established wide out. There is a tweet going around claiming that Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper has a cap hit of only $600,000, which would make him a prime trade target. If Cleveland’s season trends downward then Cooper could be on the move, whether he demands it or not. Right now the Chiefs are figuring out their running back situation since Isiah Pacheco went down in which they turned to Carson Steele then brought back Kareem Hunt. It’s been a few years since they had an established leading wide receiver ever since Tyreek Hill was traded and they have done okay so far; but that can only go on for so long. Kanas City is going to make sure their QB Patrick Mahomes has all the tools available to him to win a title and I would expect no different in this instance.
Lacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars have started their season 0-4 after falling to the Houston Texans on Sunday, 24-20. The loss – in which the Jaguars blew a 4th quarter lead – was the latest in a series of disasters for this team. Just 6 days prior, on Monday Night Football, the Jaguars were beaten senselessly by the Buffalo Bills. Fast Forward to this past weekend and Jackonville suffers another one core loss, that included a press conference where Jacksonville head coach, Doug Pederson, gave a viral soundbite about not taking over playcalling duties.
At 0-4 there doesn’t seem to be much to dissect other than this team has been losing the close games. The Buffalo loss stood out as it was the only game where Jacksonville lost by more than 3 scores. Against the Texan, the Jaguars had a few opportunities to put the game away but could not capitalize; this included a failed 4th down conversion at the goal line. These blown leads could lend some credence that the playcalling needs to change to ensure that the team secures their lead and eventually the win. Sometimes in close game, you have to be a little aggressive and go to the air, as opposed to doing something conservative such as running the ball and everyone is expecting it. The Jaguars have quite a bit of weapons on offense that offers multiple ways they can light up a scoreboard and secure a win late in games. Pederson was already ousted from one position and he should do something before receiving the same fate on his current stint.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff for his perfect game in Week 4. Goff completed all 18 of his passes for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns to beat the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. In addition to his 2 TD passes, Goof also caught a receiving touchdown on a trick play from Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Shut out to the Cleveland Browns, or refs, for losing a big touchdown. Sunday, against the Las Vegas Raiders, Browns QB Deshaun Watson threw an 82 yard touchdown pass and run to Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper. However, the play was negated as Browns center Nick Harris was called for holding. Controversy ensued as the initial replay showed no signs of a hold, but later clips and angles showed a slight hold which was very miniscule. Essentially it was a judgment call that not in the Browns’ favor at all.
Week 5 is here now and some intriguing matchups jump out early on. The Minnesota Vikings take their unbeaten talents across the pond to London and face the New York Jets, in the 2nd game of the NFL’s international series this season. The game of the week will be in the U.S. with the Houston Texans hosting the Buffalo Bills both teams are 3-1 and have suffered blowouts in each of their respective losses. There is a possibility that could cancel each team out and a close game is had between these two. But until then…I’ll holla.
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