"The Stack" 10-2-17
Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers scored a big win on the road in upsetting the New England Patriots 33-30.
The Stack is back on this Monday and unfortunately for me, my teams didn’t do all that great this weekend. There were a few major injuries yesterday and there were also a couple of overtime thrillers (maybe, perhaps). Picks have not been very good so far this year. Let’s get right to it and see what is in “the stack” for today, Monday, October 2nd:
Saints 20 Dolphins 0
Dolphins head coach Adam Gase said his offense was garbage last week after a loss to the Jets. After they put up a goose egg against one of the worst defenses in the league, I can only wonder what he must be thinking. This was a penalty filled, sloppy, sloppy game, but one that the Saints took care of and got the “W”.
Bills 23 Falcons 17
The Buffalo Bills are quite the surprising team. The Falcons had a chance to tie and outright win with under a minute to go in the fourth quarter, but Matt Ryan couldn’t get his pass completed and the Bills survived. It didn’t help the Falcons that Julio Jones left the game with a hip injury and did not return. They need to play a lot more crisp if they want to make it back to the NFC Championship game this year.
Steelers 26 Ravens 9
The Steelers once again didn’t look great on offense, but Le’Veon Bell finally awoke from his slumber with a two touchdown day to go with over 100 yards rushing, but one of the bigger storylines was Antonio Brown’s meltdown after he was wide open for a pass and the ball never came his way. He lost it on the water cooler and a coach or two. The Ravens offense is complete horse***t right now. They need to get things corrected and quickly.
Bengals 31 Browns 7
Congrats to the Bengals on finally getting their first win of the season. They steamrolled the Browns so much so that many Browns fans left in the third quarter. That’s a pretty bad loss. Andy Dalton threw four touchdowns. The Bengals have looked much better the last two weeks.
Rams 35 Cowboys 30
Holy crap, the Rams are actually good! The Rams offense continued to be impressive this season in Sunday’s win over the Cowboys. Sure, Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein had to make seven field goals, but Todd Gurley was fantastic running out of the backfield and catching passes and Jared Goff did more than enough to help get the Rams in position to win this game. The Cowboys just don’t look the same as they did last year.
Texans 57 Titans 14
I said on Friday I thought the Texans would be able to slug one out against the Titans. I just didn’t think they would do all of the slugging. Deshaun Watson was incredibly impressive once again with five total touchdowns (four passing and one rushing) becoming the first rookie quarterback since Fran Tarkenton to do such a thing. He is one impressive rookie. Of bigger significance for the Titans other than the blowout loss is that Marcus Mariota left the game with a hamstring injury. If he is sidelined for an extended period of time, the Titans are going to be in trouble.
Lions 14 Vikings 7
Devastating loss for the Vikings with Dalvin Cook’s torn ACL injury. He is done for the year. Back-to-back fumbles on the first two drives of the second half doomed the Vikings. Give the Lions defense some credit. They were pretty good, but I saw at least a half dozen pass interference penalties that were not called against them if not more. That very well could have led to a different outcome.
Panthers 33 Patriots 30
This was the biggest upset of the day. Here I was preaching at the beginning of the season that the Patriots could go undefeated. They were that loaded. Instead, their defense is abysmal, their offensive line is not protecting Tom Brady and they are overall a flawed team. Cam Newton and the Panthers offense has looked bad through the first three weeks, but Newton lit it up on Sunday. He was great and the Panthers got a huge road win over the defending Super Bowl champs who don’t look like champions of anything at the moment.
Jets 23 Jaguars 20
If you look at the standings today and see the New York Jets ahead of the New England Patriots, it is not a typo. Thanks to the Jets’ division win over the Dolphins in week 3, they are technically ahead of the Patriots. The Jaguars didn’t want to win this game. The Jets essentially gave them their 10 points in the fourth quarter. A questionable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Paul Posluzny late in overtime helped set up the Jets for the game-winning field goal. The Jets have won two games. Who would have thunk it?
Cardinals 18 49ers 15
Anyone else think as they were watching this game on NFL Redzone that this was a similar game to last year’s 6-6 tie between the Cardinals and Seahawks? Neither team wanted to score a touchdown. The 49ers ate up over 7 minutes in overtime only to come away with a field goal. Carson Palmer then took matters into his own hands and his game-winning touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald was a thing of beauty. That’s about the only nice thing I can say about this game.
Eagles 26 Chargers 24
I’m beginning to think the Chargers might not win a “home” game all year, because their homefield has no sort of advantage. Once again there were more fans of the visiting team than of Los Angeles’ other team. LaGarrette Blount had a big day on the ground for the Eagles and they held off the Chargers. I’m still not totally sold on the Eagles, but they are better than the Chargers at this point.
Bucs 25 Giants 23
The Giants may have finally found a running game in running back Wayne Gallman. He looked pretty good back there. Eli Manning had a strong day too with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown, but the defense couldn’t stop Jameis Winston from leading the Buccaneers on a last minute drive to set up the game-winning field goal. The Giants are still winless. Who would have thunk it?
Broncos 16 Raiders 10
The Raiders’ hopes of a good season rest firmly on the health of Derek Carr’s back. He left the game with what head coach Jack Del Rio called back spasms. If that’s all it is, hopefully Carr will be fine and can play here soon, because the Raiders once promising season doesn’t look so good anymore. Not with the Chiefs undefeated and the fairly impressive/unimpressive Broncos 3-1.
Seahawks 46 Colts 18
The Colts looked really good in the first half holding a 15-10 halftime lead, but the Seahawks offense came to life in the second half. Russell Wilson looked really good and the defense added a touchdown as the Seahawks romped the Colts who just don’t have enough fire power to keep up with a team like Seattle once they get going. Losing rookie running back Chris Carson is a concern though for them. His ankle injury likely will cost him the rest of the season. That sucks for a team who is already struggling on offense.
Washington @ Kansas City Chiefs 8:30 PM ET ESPN MNF
A game that no doubt may have protests and debate spreading based on their nicknames, this is a game that should be awfully good. The Chiefs are the lone undefeated team remaining. Their offense is really good with rookie sensation Kareem Hunt and Alex Smith playing the best he has maybe ever. Kirk Cousins and Washington looked good last week, but against the Chiefs I don’t think they will look very good at all.
Prediction: Chiefs 28 Washington 17
Coming up Tuesday: MNF reaction, thoughts on the college football season and MLB postseason preview
