"The Stack" 9-10-18
That Aaron Rodgers is a bad man. He helped overcome a 20-3 fourth quarter deficit, throwing three touchdowns in the fourth quarter in the Green Bay Packers 24-23 win over the Chicago Bears.
The Stack is back on this Monday and man was that a wild first Sunday of the 2018 NFL season. The Packers are back from the dead after Aaron Rodgers miraculously came back from a foot/leg injury to lead Green Bay to a stunning comeback win over Chicago. Reaction to that game and the rest of Sunday’s action now in “the stack” for today, Monday, September 10th:
Bills 3 Ravens 47
I don’t know if Joe Flacco is truly back to his “elite” status or if the Ravens defense is that good. It may just be that the Bills stink, Nathan Peterman is awful and they are they could be the worst team in the league. I’ll take the latter.
Steelers 21 Browns 21
Congrats Cleveland. You didn’t lose a game, but you didn’t win either. Kudos to the Browns for coming back from 14 points down to tie the game and force overtime. The Steelers didn’t have a problem replacing Le’Veon Bell with James Conner. He was fantastic with over 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Too bad Big Ben was terrible with four interceptions. Each team missed a field goal in overtime so the game deserved to end in a tie. The Budlight coolers will remain locked for at least another week.
Bengals 34 Colts 23
Andrew Luck returned for the Indianapolis Colts and didn’t play terrible, but it was a balanced offense led by the Bengals with Andy Dalton throwing a couple of touchdown passes and Joe Mixon adding close to 100 yards rushing and a touchdown. They scored the final 24 points of the game to pick up the W.
Titans 20 Dolphins 27
What a game this was. Two weather delays totaling almost four hours helped push this game to a total length of 7 hours and 8 minutes before it was all said and done. There were 34 points scored in the fourth quarter alone including two kickoff returns. The loss proved very costly to the Tennessee Titans who saw tight end Delanie Walker go down with a dislocated ankle, Marcus Mariota forced to leave due to an elbow injury and offensive tackle Taylor Lewan leave with a concussion. Don’t know how much they will be able to overcome those injuries.
49ers 16 Vikings 24
I have seen quite a few football games in my time, either on TV or in person. Very few I can remember that were as poorly officiated as this game was. Multiple helmet to helmet hits that weren’t called against the 49ers. San Fran also got away with a few pass interference penalties while it seemed like just about everything was getting called against the Vikings. Fortunately, the biggest penalty of the day came when Kirk Cousins’ hard snap count drew Solomon Thomas offsides extending a draft and getting valuable time off the clock. The Vikings offense wasn’t great, but the two touchdowns Cousins threw Keenum would not have been able to make last year. Still a work in progress. Jimmy G loses the first game of his career.
Texans 20 Patriots 27
I’m all onboard the Deshaun Watson hype train, but man did he look bad against the New England Patriots on Sunday. Some bad throws and decision making plagued him throughout much of this game. The Texans made it interesting late, but this was not the sort of day the Texans want to see or were expecting. Meanwhile Tom Brady is still Tom Brady and Gronk is still Gronk which means the Patriots once again should breeze their way to at least twelve wins this season. #POTM (Prisoner of the Moment)
Buccaneers 48 Saints 40
The biggest upset and surprise of the day bar none was this one. The Saints defense was atrocious. Remember though, they were bad after the first two weeks last year too. Still, I don’t think anyone saw Ryan Fitzpatrick hanging up 417 passing yards and four touchdowns on them and rushing one in himself. This is a bad loss for the Saints. Perhaps they are still experiencing a hangover from the Minneapolis Miracle?
Jaguars 20 Giants 15
I went out on a limb thinking the Giants offense may be able to do enough at home against the Jaguars defense. Apart from Saquon Barkley’s magnificent 68-yard touchdown run, the Giants were held largely in check. Jacksonville’s offense isn’t great, but they did enough on this day despite losing Leonard Fournette early. It doesn’t sound like it’s serious. That Jaguars defense is incredible though.
Chiefs 38 Chargers 28
All praise be to Pat Mahomes who lit it up in his quarterbacking debut for the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes threw for four touchdowns and Tyreek Hill burned the Chargers with his speed for three touchdowns (two receiving and one rushing). This offense is going to be fun to watch. The Chargers once again were plagued by drops. Not having defensive end Joey Bosa didn’t help matters either. The Chargers need to regroup and fast. Fortunately for them they travel to Buffalo to take on a bad Bills team. What could go wrong?
Washington 24 Arizona 6
I admit when I am wrong and I was wrong about Washington (yes I know it’s only one game). What Adrian Peterson did was pretty remarkable rushing for almost 100 yards and a touchdown while adding 70 yards receiving. Sam Bradford looked bad in his Cardinals debut and the Cardinals offense better regroup in a hurry. Alex Smith did what Alex Smith does and that is win.
Cowboys 8 Panthers 16
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ….ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. What a snooze fest this was. The Cowboys looked pathetic on offense. The Panthers didn’t fare much better, but while they can celebrate the win, it proved to be a costly once. Offensive tackle Daryl Williams hurt his knee and had to leave and tight end Greg Olsen hurt his foot and was seen in a boot and on crutches after the game. Expect both to be gone a significant amount of time if not the entire season.
Seahawks 24 Broncos 27
Case Keenum threw three touchdowns in this one, but also threw three interceptions. Not sure what the real takeaway here for the Broncos is. They appear to have a good running back in Phillip Lindsay. The undrafted running back from Buffalo had 71 yards rushing and 31 yards receiving and a touchdown to help lift the Broncos to the win. Not sure what to make of either of these teams this year.
Bears 23 Packers 24
What else can you say? Aaron Rodgers is the most badass quarterback on the planet, playing in the NFL today. For him to come back from that foot injury and throw three fourth quarter touchdowns to lift Green Bay to the 24-23 victory over the rival Chicago Bears is nothing short of brilliant. This was the best game of his career, at least the most courageous. He couldn’t put any eight on that leg. We’ll see how it is going forward, but that was truly magical. Khalil Mack was great in the first half for the Bears, but their defense couldn’t maintain that level in the second half. Kyle Fuller, bless his soul, could have ended the game with an interception, but he dropped it. It was such an easy one. It came back to bit the Bears and spoil Matt Nagy’s head coaching debut.
New York Jets @ Detroit Lions 7:10 PM ET ESPN
Rookie quarterback Sam Darnold starts for the Jets tonight, becoming the youngest starting QB in some almost 70 years. This will be a learning experience for him. He’ll be a good player one day as he was probably the best quarterback in the draft, but this will be a rough go at it for a while. Matt Patricia and company will be ready for him. I think the Lions roll.
Prediction: Lions 27 Jets 10
Los Angeles Rams @ Oakland Raiders 10:20 PM ET ESPN
Jon Gruden returns to coaching and to the Black Hole, but how many Raiders fans will be cheering for him and singing his praises after that whole Khalil Mack trade? Not as many I’m guessing. The Rams have a ton of expectations this year and they are bound to crack under the pressure at some point, but not tonight. Gurley and Cook will have big days and the Rams will pull away from the Raiders late.
Prediction: Rams 34 Raiders 17
Coming up later this week: College football reaction, college football forecast and more.
