My Week 5 NFL Notebook

posted 10/7/19

1. Who would’ve thought that the most entertaining of the early games would belong to Carolina and Jacksonville? It was a fantasy football smorgasbord for the Jags with Gardner Minshew (374 yards, 2TDs,) Leonard Fournette (108 rushing yards, TD,) and DJ Chark (8 catches, 164 yards, 2TD’s) all having fantastic games all undoubtedly on someone’s bench. Fellow rookie QB Kyle Allen had his problems all game long, but improved to 3-0 in his first three career starts.

2. But someone who wasn’t on the bench this week (and is probably winning a fantasy league for somebody) is Christian McCaffery. The MVP candidate had 236 dynamic total yards for three touchdowns including one that could be the touchdown of the year.

3. If Deshaun Watson will get this kind of help from his offensive line, then the Texans will be a factor down the stretch. Watson threw for 426 and five touchdowns in a 53-32 victory over the Falcons. And while DeAndre Hopkins is Houston's best receiver, Watson and Will Fuller V have always had great chemistry. In their 15 games together, the two have connected for 16 career touchdowns. Fuller had 16 catches for 217 yards and three TDs against Atlanta.

4. Since losing Super Bowl LI two years ago, the Falcons have an 18-19 record and are 1-9 against AFC opponents. That’s a long Super Bowl hangover.

5. The Colts won the only way they could against the Chiefs, the old fashioned way. Indy held the ball for nearly 40 minutes with Marlon Mack carrying the ball 29 times for 132 tough yards. And when Kansas City had the ball, Indianapolis harassed Patrick Mahomes after his fast start. Indy’s game plan was Belichick-ian: brilliant, hard nosed, no frills. If the league is all about the high powered offenses right now, there will be a team without the big gun QB that will do the opposite.

6. Since defensive players aren’t allowed deliver knockout blows like they used to, they’ve found other ways. And they might have boxing to thank. Jabrill Peppers, Marlon Humphries, George Odom, and Prince Amukamara all created turnovers with a punch to the ball. You can expect of that by defensive players more and more this season.

7. Earl Thomas’ hit on Mason Rudolph was one of the scariest hits I’ve even seen. Rudolph was out before he hit the ground. Adam Schefter tweeted that Rudolph was allowed to return home, but will likely be ruled out for Sunday night’s game against the Chargers.

8. How in the world does Heinz Field not have two medical carts available? Rudolph was able to get to his feet and be guided to the sidelines, but he shouldn’t have had to. That was embarrassing and had better be addressed before the next game.

9. Pittsburgh has lost their last three games by a total of nine points.

10. Philadelphia registered ten sacks against the Jets. Through the first four games, the Jets defense has six.

11. During the Eagles/Jets game, CBS’ Ian Eagle referred to Eagles tight end Zach Ertz as, “Julie Ertz’s husband.” Nice. Mrs. Ertz plays for the Chicago Red Stars and is one of the best soccer players in the world.

12. I guess Kirk Cousins is only good every other week. If you’ve got him on your fantasy team, you might consider sitting him, no matter who Minnesota plays.

13. And speaking of inconsistent, the Chargers did Charger-like things again. And Philip Rivers was a big part of their loss against Denver. In four trips to the red zone, the Chargers scored three points. Unacceptable. But if you’re a life-long fan, you know that this is what they always do. And as December rolls around, they’ll come up short once again. Count on it.

14. Sigh, at least basketball season is around the corner...

15. Washington fires Jay Gruden. Does anyone want this job? Would anyone want to play for Daniel Snyder? Ugh. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: bad ownership will always make for a bad product because they'll always want to implement their will no matter what.