This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
I would of course advise you to abandon all hope regardless of the situation, but it's rarely more appropriately said than to the opponent of the Rams in any given week.
A seemingly possessed Packers defense made the Sean McVay offense appear fallible early, battering Jared Goff repeatedly and tormenting him otherwise with the coverage of Jaire Alexander, who seemed to materialize like a ghost in front of Goff's targets at the last second.
After forcing the Rams offense to punt five times in a row to open the game, the Packers received a punt with 3:04 left in the first half, somehow up 10-0 as nine-point road underdogs. This is normally the script of a resounding upset. By the end of the half, however, the game was 10-8, and deep down you knew the dream was dead for Green Bay. You might have forgotten that realization by the time you saw Greg Zuerlein preparing to kick off to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense with 1:56 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, a seemingly ornamental two-point lead being the only buffer between the Rams and certain Rodgers heroics. You should have trusted your first gut instinct.
When Ty Montgomery fumbled that kickoff, it was hard to attribute it to anything but a supernatural predetermination that the powerful unceremoniously stomp out the lessers, fixing a script that for some reason isn't up for negotiation. Packers fans did not take the result well, which is understandable, but
I would of course advise you to abandon all hope regardless of the situation, but it's rarely more appropriately said than to the opponent of the Rams in any given week.
A seemingly possessed Packers defense made the Sean McVay offense appear fallible early, battering Jared Goff repeatedly and tormenting him otherwise with the coverage of Jaire Alexander, who seemed to materialize like a ghost in front of Goff's targets at the last second.
After forcing the Rams offense to punt five times in a row to open the game, the Packers received a punt with 3:04 left in the first half, somehow up 10-0 as nine-point road underdogs. This is normally the script of a resounding upset. By the end of the half, however, the game was 10-8, and deep down you knew the dream was dead for Green Bay. You might have forgotten that realization by the time you saw Greg Zuerlein preparing to kick off to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense with 1:56 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, a seemingly ornamental two-point lead being the only buffer between the Rams and certain Rodgers heroics. You should have trusted your first gut instinct.
When Ty Montgomery fumbled that kickoff, it was hard to attribute it to anything but a supernatural predetermination that the powerful unceremoniously stomp out the lessers, fixing a script that for some reason isn't up for negotiation. Packers fans did not take the result well, which is understandable, but I'd find an outcome so utterly arbitrary and meaningless almost freeing in a way. There's so much less to get mad about if you see it not as a failure by Montgomery or whoever else, but rather a prescribed outcome in a marionette play you could never influence or understand. At least they got Aaron Jones involved. And they covered!
• A month ago 'Pat Mahomes Will Regress' didn't seem like an especially bold statement. As it turns out, he apparently just won't regress. Just won't happen. You'd think there would be a limit to this sort of thing but, apparently, no.
• I still think Le'Veon Bell is better than James Conner, but it's increasingly puzzling that the Steelers didn't try to trade Bell for whatever the highest bidder this year might have offered. After Conner ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns Sunday, adding five catches for 66 more yards, he's an established enough commodity that the political situation will be tense if or when Bell returns. If they keep Conner in the starting lineup or create an even committee between the two, Bell will presumably raise some stink about it. If they hand Bell back his workhorse role, it probably won't sit well with those who reasonably believe Conner is owed an enduring role. I have no idea where it's going. I wish a trade would simplify things before Tuesday.
• Who knows where Dirk Koetter goes with it, but if the Buccaneers intend to compete they should bench Jameis Winston the rest of the year. Koetter is on the hot seat, so he has no incentive to keep Winston on the field for development or trade showcase purposes. The only way I can imagine him putting Winston back on the field is if Koetter is simply incapable of telling which players are better than which. If Fitzpatrick is back in, his downfield aggressiveness in a Todd Monken offense loaded with pass-catching threats should jumpstart the whole enterprise. DeSean Jackson would have reason to withdraw his trade request, too. I think Fitzpatrick would hurt Adam Humphries' value substantially, however – it's only Winston's lack of a downfield game that creates utility for Humphries in the first place.
• If Andy Dalton goes, so do A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd. It's a shame that it took Tyler Eifert and John Ross injuries to make this the case, but it is the case. And even if Dalton doesn't go, one of the two wideouts might still make an impact anyway. They could both finish as top-12 fantasy receivers this year, especially in PPR. C.J. Uzomah is a good athlete at tight end and should provide some flickers of production, but if he can't do it against Tampa then it means you'll have no way to know when he might produce.
• Cam Newton is so, so good, and it's infuriating that the emerging trendy media narrative is that Norv Turner is to credit for the recent dominance of the Panthers offense. Of course Norv offered an improvement, but the conclusion is not that Norv unearthed Newton's ability to overachieve – it's that the past coaching was holding him back! Obviously! Anyway, it's quite promising that D.J. Moore was unleashed Sunday, lighting up what had been the league's most intimidating defense for 90 yards on five catches (six targets), and 39 yards on two carries. For Moore to do that this early in his development makes his upside appear enormous, because he's still raw at the technical aspects of playing receiver. He can apparently thrive on natural ability alone, and the technical skill set will come along at some pace or another.
• Of course I think Lamar Jackson is better than Joe Flacco. I can't believe you'd ask me that question.
• With Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson we might have something similar to Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen in Chicago, with the pass-catching back reliably taking over in catch-up situations and the ground grinder hogging the work when the game is in control of the offense in question. If Sunday's results were any indication, Peterson might be the best between himself and Howard. Peterson might be one of the slowest running backs from the 20-yard mark onward, but his initial burst is still oddly violent. You have to wonder if he's a burnout risk like last year, but not as much after running for 149 yards on 26 carries. The Giants ridding themselves of Damon Harrison certainly helped.
• The way the Seahawks coaches have handled their backfield is objectively asinine. They can't insist on their Chris Carson-Mike Davis backfield without conceding that they botched the initial arrangement of this year, where they rigged the usage in Rashaad Penny's favor despite him being some 15 pounds overweight and only days removed from a broken finger. Now that Penny has lost some weight and is looking faster than ever, the Seahawks chose to give him not a single touch from scrimmage against one of the league's weakest run defenses -- and after the bye! Carson is still a below average starter, and Davis is still much worse than that. They're determined to do this wrong, however it must be done.
• It was a rough day for the Lions offense, but if you are a Kerryon Johnson owner you should be ecstatic. He saw eight carries to LeGarrette Blount's three. Johnson also made clear that he can remain productive even if Detroit falls behind, demonstrating major pass-catching upside with six catches for 69 yards on eight targets. Theo Riddick will eventually complicate that, but with each opportunity Johnson consistently demonstrates his superiority over the incumbents. Matt Patricia's self-interest is tied to Johnson's usage, and Patricia's failure to see that fact lessens each week.
• The Colts probably have one of the best offenses in the league. Left tackle Anthony Castonzo is healthy finally, the running game is humming, and who knows what Andrew Luck might be capable of with a stable surrounding cast for once. Marlon Mack looks like he might be a league-winning asset in the second half if his durability stabilizes, and if not, Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins are both playing well lately, too. Eric Ebron's owners have to find it disheartening that he saw just three of Luck's 31 pass attempts, especially given that Jack Doyle led the Colts with seven targets, catching six for 70 yards and a touchdown. Doyle probably won't normally be so explosive, though, so it might be a bit of a seesaw relationship with the two.
• Jon Gruden's Raiders are of course bad in competitive terms, but they're even more so displeasing aesthetically. Even in this game against the Colts where Derek Carr throws three touchdowns (running for a fourth), the recipients of those touchdown passes were the ghoulish collection of Jared Cook, Seth Roberts, and Brandon LaFell. Gruden despises beauty and meaning, he feeds himself fat on horror. Doug Martin ran surprisingly well, turning 13 carries into 72 yards, and his recent investors would have cause for optimism if the Raiders should find themselves with a second half lead. There might be some obstacles as far as that goes, however.
• Kyle Shanahan is an objectively great schemer and playcaller, even if he doesn't turn out to be a good head coach. Sunday's 18-15 loss to Arizona is embarrassing, and the 49ers might have lost solely because of Shanahan's insistence on running Matt Breida and his myriad injuries instead of the demonstrably explosive Raheem Mostert. Still, alarming as that is, I think it's way too early to be questioning his job security. Even the best coaches make errors in judgment, and Shanahan is dealing with a roster that's been just clobbered by injuries. He's also incredibly young. Shanahan is only 38. When Sean Payton was 38 he was getting his playcalling duties revoked by Jim Fassel.
• It's easy to make the case that Byron Leftwich is already a sizable upgrade over Mike McCoy for the mere fact that David Johnson split out wide a few times Sunday. The running game remained a dud, with Johnson finishing with just 59 yards on 16 carries, but sometimes that happens for no particular reason in a small sample, and defenses will continue to show more concern over Johnson in the run game than Josh Rosen in the passing game. It's another missed opportunity for Johnson's investors, but I think he's a good buy low candidate if you accept the premise that Leftwich offers a structural improvement, and I think Johnson's usage Sunday serves as evidence of that.
• Leftwich is also cause for some slight optimism with Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk, and Ricky Seals-Jones. Rosen will likely struggle more often than not behind a bad offensive line in a tough division, and playing through turf toe is presumably torturous. Rosen should be pretty awesome at some point in his career, though, and in the meantime we know that Fitzgerald and Kirk are also good. As Kirk's game-winning touchdown showed, the rookie can make plays from the outside, meaning he can make an impact even if Fitzgerald claims the slot.
