NIAGARA FALLS, NY: Happy Monday. It’s getting real chilly outside and it’s definitely feeling like autumn. I’m debating one last grass mow. But with autumn comes the autumn sports, which we’ll be covering today. We will be covering the Rangers and the week that was, and the New York football state of mind.
Rangers Weekly Review
The Rangers are adjusting to life without Igor Shesterkin. This was the first week where it really hit.
The Rangers, with Dylan Garand in goal, won against Tampa Bay, but then got absolutely smashed in the Hudson River rivalry against the Devils, 7-1. Garand gave up 4 goals before being pulled, and backup Jacob Markström gave up 3. The Rangers’ offense was void, shut out. But that was a positive.
Then last night against Columbus, the Rangers actually played well, but for the first time in a tight, close game, they weren’t clutch. The offense didn’t show up, they lost 1-0 in overtime. For the record, I still hate 3-on-3 overtime. I feel it’s an abomination to the game. There’s talk of the Rangers looking to make a trade. But we will see how that goes, and I don’t know how it works out with Garand in the pipes.
The J-E-T-S lost to the Patriots yesterday, and it was a shame because the Jets actually overall played better in the first half and for good stretches of the second half. The problem for the Jets, as what happens with developing teams, is situational football.
The Patriots, as much as they were doubted, made it to the Super Bowl last year because in big moments they made key plays. On two different 4th-and-1s in the first half, the Patriots stopped the Jets and then converted their own, including a 3rd-and-13 in the fourth quarter that the Patriots got. The Patriots were playing with three backup offensive linemen who got injured during the game, but they still managed to run the ball between the tackles when they needed to, and that was essentially the difference—the key plays that needed to be made to secure the game.
The overall growth trajectory of the Jets, though, is kind of on track, and I’m not worried because I didn’t expect much of them. But I am happy to see them playing competitive football.
NY Giants
This is why some people love the NFL. Despite the Giants leading the NFC East and the Saints being at the bottom of the NFC South, somehow the Saints went into the Meadowlands and walked out winners.
The Saints dominated the match for a chunk of the game. Even though the Giants started out a little hard, the Saints took over, and at one point were up 34-10 at the start of the fourth quarter. It was right after Jameis Winston threw an interception, followed up by the Saints scoring a touchdown.
This led to the recently acquired J.J. McCarthy making his Giants appearance. Last week he appeared in Washington, but it was more due to injury. This time he went out there because Winston got benched for poor performance. In that short amount of time, he was able to lead the Giants to 3 scores, and the defense managed a clutch 3-and-out and forced a fumble. But he ran out of time with a minute left to work with.
Now, the Giants have McCarthy or Winston, and the next game is up for debate. I know the Giants are hoping for J.J. McCarthy to play well, so that the McCarthy jersey will make even more sense.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills went out west to Las Vegas. I’m not caught up in the Elvis shootout. It seems the Bills were worried about a bounce-back from the loss last weekend to Las Vegas and pulled out a win.
As usual, the story was the offense being dominant and the defense knowing just enough, playing well in terms of situational football to end the game. So credit to Josh Allen, doing his Maverick thing with a right-hand flick pass that came on a call for a 2-point conversion while he was chased out of the pocket.
I was actually a bit disappointed in Buffalo’s defense struggling to contain the Raiders’ tight ends, and the Bills have two very good tight ends that the defense practices against every week. But the Bills got the W and that’s all that matters. And you know, I keep hoping they win the AFC East.
Come back tomorrow for The Big Aristotle.
