Don’t give up, don’t give in! It’s a mantra that for day-to-day life and even as sports fans. Some fans quickly give up on their teams when their struggle early in the season. For instance, the Colts started the season with a tie game against the Texans and an embarrassing shutout loss to the Jaguars. However, the team has now won 3 of their last four games, and Matt Ryan had his best game with the franchise completing 42 of 58 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns. The Patriots also started the season winning 1 of their first four games but are now back to .500 after dominant victories against the Lions and Browns. Yes, the lesson is to be patient with your team but they were other headlines from the week. In this article, we discuss three of them.
1. Veteran Struggles-One of the most shocking results from week 6 was the Buccaneers’ loss to the Steelers. The Steelers started the game with rookie Kenny Pickett who struggled last week in Buffalo. During the game, Pickett sustained an injury and forced Tomlin to reinsert Mitch Trubisky, and still, the Buccaneers failed to take advantage of the uncertain quarterback situation. The blame for the loss falls on the offense because to score 18 points against a defense missing T.J. Watt is putrid. The offense converted only 4 of 14 third down attempts in the game, and has scored more than 21 points only once this season. Tom Brady and the offense need to find their rhythm quickly but I think they have the talent to make it happen. Another veteran that suffered a shocking loss was Aaron Rodgers. After losing to the Giants in London, the Packers were dominated on both lines of scrimmage by the Jets. The Packers only ran the ball for 60 yard,s and Rodgers got sacked four times. I am very concerned about the Packers because they have not played well this season and are fortunate to have three wins. However, I still trust Rodgers will figure it out, and the Vikings are a hard team to place any confidence in to win the division.
2. Big Apple Surge- it’s a great time to be a football fan in New York City! The Jets were big underdogs heading into their matchup with the Packers at Lambeau field but they brought the fight to the boys from Green Bay. They dominated the line of scrimmage in restricting Green Bay’s rush offense and imposing their running game with 179 yards. Yes, nearly three times Green Bay’s total! The Jets now have a 4-2 record but are 3-0 on the road which tells you that this team is resilient and are not the previous iteration of this team. The Giants also won impressively this week against the Ravens 24-20 at home. The Ravens found another way to snatch a loss from the jaws of victory because it was the third time they lost a game this season after leading by double digits in the fourth quarter. Lamar Jackson made an awful decision to throw an interception after fumbling the ball initially. However, credit Brian Daboll and the Giants for capitalizing. Also, we must heap praise on Saquon Barkley, who played with an injured shoulder and gutted it out for a late touchdown.
3. Statement Wins- the most anticipated game of the weekend was the Bills traveling to Kansas City to play the Chiefs. The Bills needed to exorcise the demons of their playoff loss in January at the same venue. It was another close game into the 4th quarter when Josh Allen and Stefan Diffs took over the game propelling Buffalo to a 24-20 lead after a Dawson Knox reception. However, the biggest difference in the game is that Von Miller created havoc to close the game. Miller got a sack and force an errant throw by Patrick Mahomes that led to an interception by Taron Johnson to seal the win. It was a big win because it gives Buffalo essentially a two-game lead in the race for home-field advantage because of winning the head-to-head. Another statement win was the Eagles defeating the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Cooper Rush was terrible in the first half with two interceptions, and Jalen Hurtz took advantage of the Packers’ defense to jump out to a 20-3 lead. However, the Cowboys score 17 unanswered points to trail by 3 points. The game flipped on its head when Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson left the game, and they struggled to block Micah Parson. The Eagles clinched the victory in the fourth by returning to the run game and a short pass into the end zone by Hurts to DeVonta Smith. If you are a Cowboy fan, you will feel optimistic about the return of Dak. As the saying goes, “you might lose the battle but you will want to win the war.”