Jared Goff just had a perfect game?
You heard that right. Lions quarterback Jared Goff went 18/18 on throws which adds to what has been a very weird but fun season so far. This week will be discussing an NFC South showdown, the first of three London games this season and a battle between two historic franchises.
NFC South teams face off under Thursday Night lights
Is Baker Mayfield an MVP candidate? I see a lot of people going back and forth on this. I, for one, believe he is as the stats, film and the way the team has rallied around him have proved it all. He is not my MVP pick but people need to start putting more respect on his name.
The Buccaneers have been very good so far this season besides their one fluke game vs the Broncos in week three. The offense is playing really well, whether it be Mayfield lighting it up in the passing game to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, or Trey Palmer, or the running back duo of Rachaad White and rookie Bucky Irving. I have no worries for this offense other than maybe the offensive line.
My worries are with the defense. They have been very back and forth this year and I expected a little more considering who their head coach is, and the defenses he has coached. Now that is not to say they have been bad (far from it actually) but you can not have this back-and-forth play if you have hopes of seeing playoff football come January.
The Falcons are just a weird team this year. They just won a game in which they scored zero offensive touchdowns (similar to the Bears week one win over the Titans). The offense will need to pick it up if they want to keep up against a good Buccaneers offense.
Should we be worried about Kirk Cousins officially? I discussed this back in my week three predictions how Cousins may still be recovering from an injury, but enough time has passed since that injury that I believe we need to have the “is he washed” question. He just has looked nowhere near the quarterback we saw in Minnesota whether it be footwork, reading the field, or something else.
I am going to be honest, how is this team at .500? This defense is ok and the offense is not much better. Something needs to change and quickly if they want to keep up with the Buccaneers and even the Saints.
This should be a fun game for the Buccaneers but not so much the Falcons. Final Score: Buccaneers 31 – Falcons 17
Over the pond in London, Jets and Vikings face off
This matchup will be the first of what will be three games taking place in London this year. The only downside? If you live in the United States, this game will come on at 8:30 a.m. CT.
The Jets suck again? That was just an ugly game overall by the Jets offense. They scored a total of nine points in what many (including myself) believed was a guaranteed lock over the Broncos. Aaron Rodgers was supposed to bring new life to this Jets offense but all in all, they feel the same as last year, bad to average offense with an elite defense.
The schedule does not get any easier from there as well. This week they are taking on the surprisingly undefeated Vikings. The Jets offense will need to get into a good flow if they want any chance of taking on this Brian Flores defense. Flores has brought the Vikings from one of the worst to one of the best in football since joining them in the 2023 off-season. The defense will have their hands full as well as MVP candidate and former Jet Sam Darnold is looking for revenge.
The Vikings just need to keep up their great play. If I did have one issue with this team, it would be how they handled their most recent win vs the Packers. They jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the second quarter but instead of keeping their foot on the pedal, they decided to play conservatively and nearly blew the game winning 31-29.
I have the Vikings staying undefeated in a one score game. Final Score: Jets 22 – Vikings 25
Sunday Night rematch of Super Bowls X, XIII, and XXX
This game should be fun. We have a struggling Cowboys team coming off a very weird win and a Steelers team looking to get back after a very sad loss. Overall I am expecting a good game. How will it turn out though?
The Cowboys rushing attack sucks. There is no way around that. Their leading rusher this past game against the Giants was wide receiver CeeDee Lamb at 10 yards on one carry. Just awful stuff for a team that is mostly known for a good rushing history. They currently have the worst rushing attack in the NFL and I do not see that changing with who they currently have and who they are playing this week. The offensive line is playing fine as well, so it is clear the running back group just sucks, respectfully. No way around it.
On the flip side, they pose the fourth-best passing attack, so there is still hope that the offense can be somewhat good. They will need to keep it up though as they are playing one of the better defenses in football who have been very very good outside of their most recent game at the Colts.
The Steelers will be looking to pick things back up after a very disappointing loss to an interesting Colts team. In that game, they allowed 27 in a very ugly fashion. The defense had not allowed more than 10 points up until that point. Almost every spot of the defense just looked bad whether it was TJ Watt, the run game, or the pass defense.
On a bright note the offense finally clicked some (even if it was in garbage time). Justin Fields showed out on the statline, putting up 312 passing yards, one passing TD, 55 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns. Now to be fair, Fields was really “the offense” that game and the rushing attack struggled outside of him. Fields also had two major fumbles that some could argue lost him the game. He will be looking for a big game again against a defense that has struggled against mobile QBs so far.
I think the Steelers barely get by in a shocking high scoring game. Final Score: Cowboys 24 – Steelers 30 OT
Remaining Games:
Panthers at Bears: Caleb Williams and Bears score five touchdowns in big win. Final Score: Panthers 17 – Bears 42
Browns at Commanders: Daniels has his welcome to the NFL game after Browns defense comes out strong. Final Score: Browns 17 – Commanders 13
Dolphins at Patriots: Both teams play bad resulting in the lowest scoring game of the year. Final Score: Dolphins 3 – Patriots 10
Colts at Jaguars: Jaguars fall short to an AFC South foe for the second straight week. Final Score: Colts 30 – Jaguars 22
Bills at Texans: Offensive shootout leads to overtime. Final Score: Bills 33 – Texans 27 OT
Ravens at Bengals: Bengals fall to 1-4 and start asking questions. Final Score: Ravens 32 – Bengals 20
Raiders at Broncos: Bo Nix has a very good game but falls short. Final Score: Raiders 22 – Broncos 21
Cardinals at 49ers: 49ers cruise by in 20-point win. Final Score: Cardinals 20 – 49ers 40
Giants at Seahawks: Seahawks repeat last year’s game versus Giants. Final Score: Giants 17 – Seahawks 33
Packers at Rams: Packers bounce back week out in Hollywood. Final Score: Packers 25 – Rams 20
MNF Saints at Chiefs: Saints give Chiefs first loss in weird game. Final Score: Saints 19 – Chiefs 11
Teams on bye and their next opponents:
Eagles: next vs Browns | Titans: next vs Colts | Chargers: next at Broncos | Lions: next at Cowboys
Standing:
AFC East
Bills 3-1 1-0 | Jets 2-2 1-0 | Patriots 1-3 0-1 | Dolphins 1-3 0-1
AFC West
Chiefs 4-0 1-0 | Chargers 2-2 1-1 | Broncos 2-2 0-0 | Raiders 2-2 0-1
AFC North
Steelers 3-1 0-0 | Ravens 2-2 0-0 | Browns 1-3 0-0 | Bengals 1-3 0-0
AFC South
Texans 3-1 2-0 | Colts 2-2 0-1 | Titans 1-3 0-0 | Jaguars 0-4 0-1
NFC East
Commanders 3-1 1-0 | Cowboys 2-2 1-0 | Eagles 2-2 0-0 | Giants 1-3 0-2
NFC West
Seahawks 3-1 0-0 | 49ers 2-2 0-1 | Cardinals 1-3 1-0 | Rams 1-3 1-1
NFC North
Vikings 4-0 1-0 | Lions 3-1 0-0 | Bears 2-2 0-0 | Packers 2-2 0-1
NFC South
Buccaneers 3-1 0-0 | Falcons 2-2 1-0 | Saints 2-2 1-1 | Panthers 1-3 0-1
Playoff Bracket:
AFC: Division Leaders
1 Chiefs | 2 Texans | 3 Steelers | 4 Bills
AFC: Wild Card Teams
5 Jets | 6 Colts | 7 Ravens
AFC: In the Hunt (within one or less games out of the playoffs)
Two win teams: 8 Chargers | 9 Raiders | 10 Broncos
One win teams: 11 Patriots | 12 Titans | 13 Browns | 14 Dolphins | 15 Bengals
AFC: Outside of the hunt (within two or more games out the playoffs)
Winless team: 16 Jaguars
NFC: Division Leaders
1 Vikings | 2 Buccaneers | 3 Commanders | 4 Seahawks
NFC: Wild Card Teams
5 Lions | 6 Falcons | 7 Saints
NFC: In the Hunt
Two win teams: 8 Cowboys | 9 Eagles | 10 Packers | 11 Bears | 12 49ers
One win teams: 13 Cardinals | 14 Rams | 15 Panthers | 16 Giants
