"The Stack" 12-3-18
Good news Packers fan who I've cut off half of your face...the Packers did fire head coach Mike McCarthy after the Green Bay Packers embarrassing 20-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Stack is back on this Monday and is it just me or has scoring in the NFL been this week? Yes there were a couple of high-scoring games, but for the most part, points weren’t a plenty in many games. We’ll recap and react to all of Sunday’s action plus preview and make a prediction for tonight’s game so let’s get right to “the stack” for today, Monday, December 3rd:
Ravens 26 Falcons 16
Lamar Jackson and Gus Edwards once again had good days running for the Baltimore Ravens, but it was really the Ravens defense that was the story in this one (I guess Lamar Jackson being 3-0 as starting quarterback for the Ravens is a big storyline too. They shut down the high-flying Atlanta Falcons offense for most of the day. The Falcons didn’t find the endzone until the fourth quarter. Yes the Falcons season is all but over, but it was still an impressive showing by the Ravens defense who are coming on strong.
Broncos 24 Bengals 10
Wide receiver A.J. Green returned for the Cincinnati Bengals, but his stay didn’t last long as he suffered another injury and had to leave. The Bengals offense for the most part stunk all day. The Denver Broncos weren’t much better, but Patrick Lindsay was impressive with 157 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Broncos have now won three in a row and are right in the thick of the AFC wild card race.
Rams 30 Lions 16
The Los Angeles Rams didn’t look particularly sharp in this one, but running back Todd Gurley was once again terrific with over 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns. They will need to play much better next week if they want to beat the Chicago Bears. The Detroit Lions just aren’t very good right now and injuries certainly have played a role in that.
Cardinals 20 Packers 17
Stunner of the day without question. The fact that this Arizona Cardinals won on the road in the cold with some snow falling is astounding. What was Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers offense doing? As a result of their virtual no-show, the Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy which had been widely anticipated for a few weeks now. Not sure if he deserves to be fired, but the Packers and their fans know they have an elite quarterback in Rodgers and they can’t be wasting his remaining years. What an ugly loss.
Browns 13 Texans 29
Was that Houston Texans fantastic yesterday or what? They were all over the Cleveland Browns offense early in this one and got a pick-six to put them up 17-0. They forced four turnovers in all. Don’t let Baker Mayfield’s nearly 400 yards passing fool you. The Browns were really never in this game. Plus the Texans have a great kicker. This is a very good team who has won nine straight. But have they been challenged? Possibly not, but we’ll find out come playoff time.
Colts 0 Jaguars 6
If Cardinals-Packers was the stunner of the day, then Colts-Jaguars was a close second. It’s not that the Colts lost, but it’s the fact that they didn’t score a single point. This offense that had scored an average of just under 35 points the previous four or five games didn’t muster a single point. Give credit to the Jacksonville Jaguars defense who flew all over the field throughout the game. What makes this loss even more remarkable is that a) there were no touchdowns by either team and b) Leonard Fournette wasn’t playing for the Jaguars and they started Cody Kessler so they didn’t have an offense. This is a bad loss for the Colts in their quest to return to the playoffs.
Bills 17 Dolphins 21
Maybe the Buffalo Bills should play Josh Allen at a position other than quarterback. Or maybe they have a dual threat quarterback. Allen ran for over 130 yards and gave the Bills a chance to win at the end, but underthrew his pass to I believe it was to a wide open Charles Clay in the endzone on fourth down. The Dolphins were lucky to win this game. Bills fans are seeing the future with Josh Allen at quarterback.
Bears 27 Giants 30
This certainly was a trap game for the Chicago Bears and starting quarterback Chase Daniels and the Bears offense for the most part had trouble getting going all day long. The day started with a pick-six and really the Bears should never have forced overtime if the Giants could figure out how to recover an onside kick. Odell Beckham Jr. had a touchdown pass and a receiving touchdown and the Giants were able to overcome the stunning result of getting forced into overtime to beat the Bears 30-27. Maybe the Bears haven’t arrived yet.
Panthers 17 Buccaneers 24
The Carolina Panthers skid continues. This time it was Cam Newton being the major contributor with four interceptions. Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense was once again sound and the Panthers had some issues defensively which may be why head coach Ron Rivera has fired a couple of assistants. The Panthers are fading fast.
Chiefs 40 Raiders 33
Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs scored 40 points, but how do you give up 33 points to the Oakland Raiders? That speaks to more issues on the defensive side of the ball. It had to have been a very difficult 48 hours for the Chiefs after video surfaced of running back Kareem Hunt kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel in February. The Chiefs released Hunt Friday night which was a bit of a surprising move, but they had to move on. Spencer Ware did just fine in his first game back as lead bellcow, but we’ll see if this issue lingers over the Chiefs for the remainder of the season. That Travis Kelce though. What a beast. He is the best tight end in the game right now.
Jets 22 Titans 26
This game was the New York Jets season in a nutshell. Jump out to a 16-0 lead and end up losing in the final minute 26-22 done in by a bad offense and too many penalties. The Titans didn’t look great, but they kept grinding and Marcus Mariota came up with a big plays when he needed to on the final drive to keep the Titans in the wild card hunt.
Vikings 10 Patriots 24
Poor officiating in this one, but that can’t be blamed for how bad Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins looked. He had a couple of interceptions and several overthrows and balls that were underthrown. An abandoned run game didn’t help matter either. The Patriots offense attacked the Vikings defense enough though where the Vikings were largely ineffective all game long…much to Joe Buck’s delight.
49ers 16 Seahawks 43
The San Francisco 49ers appear to have folded it in for the season. That was a pretty bad performance against the surging Seattle Seahawks. With all of the injuries on the offensive side of the ball to key positions like quarterback and running back, this is just not a very good, competitive football team. The Seahawks overwhelmed the 49ers in every phase of the game.
Chargers 33 Steelers 30
Two things that are absolutely stunning about this game. The first is that the officials missed another blatantly obvious false start penalty against the Chargers on a play that the Chargers scored on a long touchdown (see their game earlier this year against Cleveland). The second thing is that the Steelers blew a 23-7 halftime lead in primetime at home. That doesn’t happen! Credit the Chargers for continuing to fight and keep the pressure on the Chiefs in the AFC West.
6-5 Washington @ 5-6 Philadelphia Eagles 8:15 PM ET ESPN MNF
Each team is battling to keep up with the Cowboys. I don’t know if either will catch them, but the Eagles playing at home are coming off of a big victory at home against the Giants. Washington still has Colt McCoy starting and I don’t know if he can do enough against another division opponent on the road to get Washington the win.
Prediction: Eagles 31 Washington 20
Coming up on Tuesday: MNF reaction, CFP thoughts and more.
