All the football played in September? This bit would be much better if I had a podcast because I would have opened the show singing. It would be bad, but you only get one real shot for the Earth, Wind & Fire song to make sense, and I know that I missed the 21st by two days. Regardless…hey hey hey, BA DE YA!!!
Stick around for a preview of Monday Night Football between the Bears and Redskins. First, let us look back on some of yesterday’s games.
The Atlanta Falcons are strange. There are a lot of words I have used to represent garbage over the past few blogs, and I’m trying to think of a different way to say kinda the same thing. The problem is, they aren’t really that bad. I guess Dan Quinn thinks his team is so good that they can spot teams 20 points and one entire half. No Dan, that’s not correct. The Colts played a nice game, and Jacoby Brissett will have Indy fans forgetting about Andrew Luck by Christmas, but Atlanta GAVE them that victory. The craziest part…that panic of a comeback in the second half by the Falcons. Matt Ryan was throwing the ball all over the place. There were third down conversions falling from the heavens, and it ended up being close. That’s nice when Matt Ryan is your fantasy QB (not really…its beyond stressful). Everything I have said so far might lead you to believe that this upsets me. It does the exact opposite. Have you read any of the other blog posts? If so, you would obviously know that I am a Panthers guy through and through, and Ryan being allergic to the red zone is hilarious (except for when he figures it out for two games a year and roasts our secondary). If not, welcome to the blog, I am very glad you came. Can I take your coat? Can I get you anything? We have coffee, tea, Mich Ultra and Olive Garden gift cards.
Detroit is undefeated. I wanted to type that out while I had the chance. And yes, I am upset about the tie and believe they should lose a draft pick or something as a result.
The Vikings went back to the winning formula, which is limiting Kirk Cousins to as few throws as possible. The ones he attempted were solid, Adam Thielen is a monster, but Dalvin Cook is an absolute unit at RB. The Vikings will probably win the NFC North if they can keep that narrative in place.
The Panthers won a game with Kyle Allen, and it was the best QB action we have seen from Carolina in the last year. Don’t @ me. Panthers twitter is a war zone at the moment. I won’t expose my position just yet, but I will say that an injured Cam should not play over a healthy Kyle Allen. If you want my full take, come by my desk and we’ll chat. (Thank you to the folks at work for being engaged. with the blog)
San Fran turned the ball over 213 times and still managed to pull out a victory. They are also undefeated. Sneaky.
Danny Dimes got his first W in the NFL, and the first for the Giants this year. That came at the price of losing Saquon for 6-8 weeks with an ankle sprain. I guess they’ll have to line Eli up in the backfield. I am very glad Daniel Jones picked up a win, especially after the brutal things said about him since the draft. The bandwagonry is out of control today, though, and I need an official position from Giants fans. I’ll report back once I learn of it.
The Sunday night game was decent, I guess. The Browns had plenty of chances to win, but between the O-line not blocking for Baker Mayfield and Freddie Kitchens on the play calling 1’s and 2’s, the Browns never really had a chance. 4th and 9? Perfect time for a draw. It’s almost like the offense was designed for Baker to be on a rollout to the right. But the taker of the cake was clock management at the end of the game. The Browns drove all the way to the red zone. First and goal from about the 5. THREE TIMEOUTS. Not one run play. Not one GOOD play. Instead, rollouts by Baker to the right and congestion in one half of the end zone. Then, instead of keeping all three timeouts and attempting to stuff the Rams and get the ball back, you call one of them before your 4th down play. I understand you want your best play and you need to get a look at the defense, but nothing came of it. Kitchens still has those 2 timeouts, by the way. They are locked up in a cooler and will be released to the public upon the next victory.
Monday Night Football – Bears @ Redskins
Two teams at the bottom of their divisions in the NFC desperately look to turn things around. They need to do it soon, because the division powerhouses (Cowboys in the east and Packers/Vikings in the north) could run away with this thing before too long. Both offenses need to prove themselves, both to fans and to fantasy owners…yes I have Mitch too. It’s a 2 QB league and I waited too long to pull the trigger on quarterbacks. I am still in search of coveted victory. The Bears have a chance to redeem themselves in front of the national audience, and I have a chance to run away with my first week of actual picks via the blog. I’ll recap the picks in Wednesday’s blog, but oh boy you made some crisp dollar bills if you stuck with me.
Both offenses will struggle at times and have flashes of success. The key to this game is on the other side of the ball, and I think Chicago has the clear advantage; especially if Josh Norman only shows up for a light cardio session to jog beside receivers like last week. When asked about the game, noted Redskins fan, and my good buddy Josh, said, “I need the Bears defense to get less than 8 points.” He was talking about fantasy and what he needs to win, but he also holds a major key to the actual game. The Bears defense is looking to score, and I have a feeling they will tonight. If the Skins offense can hold the Bears D to less than 8, they might have a shot. I see the Bears heading back to the windy city with a W. Also, I had a good day at work and I’m feeling generous. You get two picks.
Pick: Chicago -5.5 & OVER 41
Please share this with somebody you care about. We have to build up Crisp 56 family and laugh and wear quarterzips together along the way. Stay Crispy friends!