Sports Rain Man: NFL Eye-Catchers, Giants v Cowboys, Jets v Raiders

Sports Rain Man, Aaron Rodgers, Jets, Giants, Google Alerts, Meet_The_Matts, Junoir_Blaber

NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Happy Monday! In Fantasy Football, this week I was the guy who didn’t pay attention to his roster and had players on byes in my lineup. I won’t be lucky enough to win, the way things are looking. As for today, Short Matt gave me editor’s orders to replace recapping games with things that caught my eye. With that tweak, today’s topics are NFL Eye-Catchers, Giants v Cowboys, Jets v Raiders.

NFL Eye-Catchers (QBs)

1) The Detroit Lions are 7-2, which is shocking. When I think of the Lions, I think of a franchise so bad they forced Barry Sanders to retire early. I also think of Calvin Johnson, Matt Millen ineptitude, along with trading away Matthew Stafford. This team is one of the many in the NFL that had been bad for so long. It is wild that they are now one of the best teams in the NFL.

2) Angry Ward’s Vikings have won 5 in a row, while losing Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson. That is a credit to the coaching staff for redesigning plays, and management for going to get Joshua Dobbs. With Cousins in his last season and Dobbs proving more than capable, it looks like they found their future QB for the next season or two, and can draft/develop a QB in the middle rounds.

3) CJ Stroud is proving to have been the better pick in the draft… Bryce Young is having some trouble in Carolina but that is just a typical first year for rookie QB… Anthony Richardson got hurt early, so the jury is out… Aidan O’Connell is 2-0 but he got the benefit of facing two very poor NY teams… Will Levis started two games and is not winning – but is looking good… So, Stroud sitting at 5-4 with the Texans is pick of the litter. It is to early to tell who’s really legit, but we will see who falls back to the pack and who becomes a staple.

Giants vs Cowboys

We all knew it was gonna be a rough game out there. The Giants with their 3rd string QB up against Dallas, who may not be great but are definitely playoff-bound. The ‘Boys whoopped-up on the Giants and it was ugly from start to finish. Tommy DeVito eventually threw two touchdowns (when the game was well over), so he will get some confidence from that. But that was all there was to take from this ugly loss. I wonder how quickly you Giants fans watching switched from beer to the hard stuff. We know Grinding Ax Walt enjoyed this from get-go.

Jets vs Raiders

The Jets offense hasn’t scored a touchdown over 36 drives. This goes back to the drive against the Giants in the first quarter of their game. Versus the Raiders, I can get into the specifics, but it really comes down to the fact that the Jets D has to pitch a near-perfect game. They don’t get the chance to start on the front foot. You give them a 10-point lead and they will shut the door. The Jets went blow-for-blow with Vegas but once the Raiders scored a touchdown, the pressure was on. And ees, Zach Willson is poor – but the whole offense has been squandering opportunities in the last three games. Wilson scrambled 20 yards for at touchdown but he had a toe out. Gang Green got the ball at the 3-yard line and run it in – but there is holding on the play! 1o yards the other way. Then an incomplete pass and another penalty, before kicking the field goal.

The Jets D can hold teams to 17 every game but they have an offense that can only score 15. They have to press to hold teams at 12-15 and that is a lot of pressure.

The offense has to be perfect on flags. I am talking no false-starts or holding calls. Sure, these happen but for the Jets they continually happen after a big play. It takes them out of scoring range and now the season is falling apart.

Thanks for reading and come tomorrow to hear from Ben Whitney, whose NY Rangers keep rolling despite their growing M.A.S.H. unit.