"The Stack" 9-27-16
All aboard the #WentzWagon. The rookie was impressive in the Eagles 34-3 throttling of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The future of the Eagles rests on his shoulders and he is doing just fine.
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Newton was battered and beaten as the Vikings sacked him eight times in route to their 22-10 victory.
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Yikes! I don’t know about you, but November can’t come fast enough after that presidential debate last night. What I gathered most is that every city Trump mentioned he also made sure to say if he had property there or not. We’re not here to talk about that though. It was quite a solemn night in Miami where the Marlins honored the late Jose Fernandez. Very emotional scene. And then Dee Gordon hits a lead-off homerun. I mean he crushed it. Tell me Fernandez wasn’t there and had a little something to do with it. There was a higher power at Marlins Park Monday night. The Stack is here today though with reaction to all of the week 3 NFL action so let’s get right to “the stack” for today, Tuesday, September 27th:
Buffalo 33 Arizona 18
A lot of people were surprised about this one, but I’m not one of them. Early kickoff for a western NFL team against a team desperate for a win. LeSean McCoy was huge and Carson Palmer’s struggles continued. Arizona will be fine and while I should have gone with the Bills, they were the much better team in this one. That bad snap that was returned for a touchdown certainly didn’t help matters.
Minnesota 22 Carolina 10
Ask Cam Newton if he thinks the Vikings defense will be the best defense the Panthers face all season. I bet he will say yes. The Vikings spotted the Panthers ten points early and turned on the jets after that with eight sacks and three interceptions. They won despite the fact that they have lost several key players with injuries and had only 35 yards at the half. Yikes! This team is for real and the rest of the NFL is recognizing that too.
Denver 29 Cincinnati 17
Trevor Siemian is quickly proving that John Elway may have made the best decision by letting Brock Osweiler go. Siemian was sensational Sunday throwing for over 300 yards and four touchdowns as the Broncos contained Andy Dalton and the Bengals. Huge road win for the Broncos. They are for real this year and I was wrong about them.
Green Bay 34 Detroit 27
The Packers jumped out to a 31-3 lead behind four Aaron Rodgers touchdowns in the first half. They had to hang on for dear life and yes they won, but Rodgers only threw for 205 yards. I’m not one of the people saying that Rodgers has lost anything (I didn’t say it after their week 2 loss to the Vikings either), but for those that say Rodgers is back, maybe we need to take a look at the total game before declaring that everything is OK in Green Bay.
Baltimore 19 Jacksonville 17
Has there been a more disappointing this early NFL season than the Jaguars? I mean seriously. Some people (I’m among them) thought this team had it, but throwing two interceptions late and getting a field goal blocked doomed them. Now they get to travel to London for a game against the Colts. If they don’t win, will Gus Bradley come back with them? Out of the five NFL teams the Ravens are the least impressive, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Miami 30 Cleveland 24
Speaking of disappointments, even in a win the Dolphins were sorely disappointing. Had it not been for three missed field goals by a kicker the Browns signed just two days before, the Browns would have gotten a very impressive victory and the Adam Gase honeymoon in Miami would officially be over. One thing is for certain, the Cleveland Browns have a magnificent weapon in Terrelle Pryor. 144 receiving yards, 35 passing yards and 21 rushing yards. Wow! Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!
Washington 29 New York Giants 27
The Giants couldn’t have shot themselves in the foot anymore in the fourth quarter than what they did. Odell Beckham Jr.’s nifty catch and run to the five-yard line looked like it was going to set up the Giants for the death blow, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against a Giants offensive lineman killed momentum and then Eli Manning pulled an Eli Manning by throwing two fourth quarter interceptions. This was quite the statement win for Washington.
Oakland 17 Tennessee 10
Speaking of offensive lineman who made dumb moves, Taylor Lewan did that for the Titans negating a play that would have set up first and goal and a chance to tie the game. The Raiders weren’t great, but they did enough to get the road win and that is all that matters. They are 2-0 in early kickoffs this year which will help if they want to win division. The Titans need to get Marcus Mariota going faster.
Seattle 37 San Francisco 18
The only thing that Seahawks fans really care about is the health of Russell Wilson’s knee. It’s a sprained MCL. Could be a lot worse. At the Jets next week and then a bye. We’ll see how the Seahawks play this, because their season is at stake with regards to Wilson’s health. The Seahawks crushed the 49ers in this one.
Los Angeles 37 Tampa Bay 32
Holy cow! The Rams scored four touchdowns in this one. Todd Gurley had two touchdown runs and the Buccaneers defense provided surprisingly little resistance. Yes they had a pick six of their own, but they did not play a strong game and poor clock management after the over hour rain lightning delay crushed their chances of winning this one. Not a good loss for the Bucs, but a very good win for the Rams.
Indianapolis 26 San Diego 22
Phillip Rivers and company could not take advantage of the Colts’ injury ravaged secondary and the Andrew Luck-T.Y. Hilton combo was huge in the Colts first win of the season. They needed this one too as they travel to London to take on the Jaguars.
Kansas City 24 New York Jets 3
Have you had a bad day at work? Ryan Fitzpatrick shares your pain. He threw six interceptions including an interception on each of the five final drives in the game. The Chiefs defense was tremendous in this one and a great start if you had them in fantasy football.
Philadelphia 34 Pittsburgh 3
The shocker of the day. Carson Wentz is for real. I am asking to get on the #WentzWagon if there is room. His play was tremendous and the Eagles defense made life hell for Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense. This was quite the statement win for the Eagles. It’s a bad loss for the Steelers, but they will be just fine. They get Le’Veon Bell back after all.
Dallas 31 Chicago 17
The score doesn’t indicate just how badly the Cowboys outplayed the Bears. The Bears are the walking wounded right now. Injuries have ravaged their defense and no Jay Cutler played a role too. The Cowboys are a team to be reckoned with this season that is for sure.
Atlanta 45 New Orleans 32
It didn’t matter that this was the ten-year anniversary of the Superdome reopening after Hurricane Katrina. The Falcons tore apart the Saints defense. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman provided a great one-two punch at running back and the Falcons are now alone in first place in the NFC South. It is going to be a long year in the Big Easy.
Coming up Wednesday or Thursday: Thoughts from the Marlins plus college football weekend forecast
