After Week Five in the NFL, the league is starting to really present some serious contenders. The Buffalo Bills laid the smackdown the the Chiefs at Arrowhead and look like the best team in the league. The Arizona Cardinals remain undefeated in a somewhat ugly game against division rival San Francisco. Seattle had a potential season changing injury. More than anything, chances are if you are reading this there is about a 50% chance you want to kick your team’s kicker out of town. They continue to be the one constant in the reasoning behind many NFL fans wanting to admit themselves into an insane asylum.
Buffalo Bills, The Beasts of the AFC
The AFC has plenty of teams that can win against anyone if they play their best. Kansas City, Cleveland, Baltimore are the obvious ones, but I think a case can also be made for the Chargers and even Tennessee if they play to the best of their abilities. That being said, there’s only one team now that I think you expect to win every single game now: The Buffalo Bills. To me they are the most complete team in the NFL, especially after their defense showed they are actually for real by mostly shutting down the Chiefs high octane offense. Josh Allen and the rocket launcher connected to his body that he calls an arm is following up his breakout season of last year by looking like a legitimate MVP candidate. The Bills may run into Kansas City once again, but there’s no doubt that the team from Buffalo will be the favorite now.
Rainy Days to Come in Seattle?
It’s not that the Seahawks lost to the Los Angeles Rams. That was expected. The biggest loss is that Russell Wilson will be out at least three weeks while he recovers from finger surgery after fracturing his right middle finger. Similar to most teams that live and die with their franchise quarterback, losing someone of Wilson’s caliber at that position is a huge loss. The difference is that most teams don’t have to compete in the NFC West division. With Geno Smith now taking over at quarterback, the Seahawks will play their next three games at Pittsburgh and then at home against New Orleans and Jacksonville. With Wilson, the Seahawks would be favored in all three. With Geno at quarterback, those chances will decrease while the urgency of staying on pace with the rest of the division doesn’t change.
Kickers Leave Their Mark, But Don’t Hit It
This might go down as the worst kicking weekend in the history of the NFL. A record 13 extra points were missed over the weekend and through Monday night. Literally as I am typing this, Rodrigo Blankenship missed a 47 yard field goal to win the game for the Colts, his second field goal miss of the game. Sunday’s Green Bay/Cincinnati game had five consecutive missed field goals until Mason Crosby finally ended everyone watching the game’s misery (and his own) by hitting a game winning field goal in overtime. In a sport that relies so heavily on clutch play from its kickers at the end of games, it feels like teams can’t put any confidence in their kickers unless that kicker’s name is Justin Tucker.
2021 Early Season Game of the Year
That game would be the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers shootout. The game provided 12 touchdowns (including six in the fourth quarter alone) and over one thousand yards of total offense while also only having only one turnover. Justin Herbert continued to show he is one of the several generational talents at the quarterback position while Baker Mayfield played arguably the best game of his NFL career. It also featured what appears to be two of the best young coaches in the NFL in last season’s Coach of the Year, Kevin Stefanski, and early 2021 favorite, Brandon Staley. Both teams seem like they are certainly play off teams and possibly ones that could make some noise come January. If there is a Football God, they will give us a rematch of this game.
Jon Gruden’s Shameful Exit
A report on Monday evening came out that Jon Gruden has officially resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after a New York Times article reporting that Jon Gruden had emails with homophobic and misogynistic remarks over a span of several years. This, coming after a report earlier in the week that Gruden sent an email in 2011 with a racist comment about DeMaurice Smith, the Executive Director of the NFL Players Association. There’s not really much to say about the well known coach and former Monday Night Football broadcaster. Gruden will likely fade away from any type of limelight now. This isn’t cancel culture. This is paying an appropriate punishment for being an asshole and using language that had no business being part of the world in 2011 or now in 2021. Good riddance, Jon.
Ravens Revived Again
At this point can you ever even think about counting Baltimore out until the clock strikes zero? On Monday night, the Ravens were down 25-9 to Indianapolis with 12 minutes left in the game. Baltimore went on to the tie the game and score a touchdown on the opening drive of overtime to win the game and essentially pour any hopes for the remainder of the Colts’ season down the drain. Baltimore now has a win against Kansas City in which they took the lead in the final four minutes, a win over Detroit off of Justin Tucker’s 66 yard game winning field goal, and now this comeback. Baltimore has looked anything but pretty at times, but they continue to win ugly games which can be a sign of a good team. It’s hard to get an exact read on them, but all NFL teams should be put on notice. If you leave Baltimore around long enough you might see a three-eyed raven a la Game of Thrones, but this three-eyed raven means a comeback loss.
Looking Ahead to Week Six
Week Six will bring some interesting matchups. Green Bay and Chicago face off for the NFC North lead in arguably the NFL’s greatest rivalry. Kansas City looks to get back in the win column and hang with the AFC West by playing a pesky Washington team. The Chargers and Ravens are arguably the two most exciting teams for different reasons and they face off. Arizona gets another big challenge by traveling to Cleveland. Injuries are also starting to play their part on the 2021 season so it will be interesting to see what teams can persevere. Get some rest, pray that your team’s kicker doesn’t have to attempt a game winning kick, and saddle up for some more great games.