The NFL has come a long way in the past four or five years in terms of player safety. As fans we might complain about fouls being called that wouldn’t have been called ten or twenty years ago. We can be upset that the outcome of a game was decided because a sack was ruled unnecessary roughness, or that a wide receiver was considered a defenseless receiver.

“Football is a physical game. You can’t take the hits out of it or else its not football anymore.”

I hear these types of comments all the time. The violence of the game is what attracted people to it. But what we forget, is that it was controlled violence. There were vicious hits in the “old days” of football. But the players weren’t as big, they weren’t as fast. The hits were violent, but the impact wasn’t as bad. The pads weren’t as technologically constructed as they are now. Hitting hard hurt just as much as getting hit.

There was balance in that. Dirty hits still happened. But they weren’t the norm, and there was always retribution.

But we went through a period where the speed of the game out paced the rules. In the 90’s and early 2000’s players were getting career ending injuries. Retired players were committing suicide and CTE was uncovered. Things had to change.

So when we see Tua laying on the field on national television, his arms and legs super-flexed because of the head trauma he received, we need to remember why these rules are needed. The tackle was routine, there was nothing wrong with the technique and it didn’t violate the rules of the game. It was a play that could happen to anyone. Unfortunately it happened to a young man who has had too many of these same types of hits.

As fans, we need to stop the lust for violence. We need to accept the safety measures and enjoy the other aspects of the game. We need to do it for the players sake, but more importantly, we need to do it for the next generation of football players. We can’t have these types of injuries start affecting kids in college or even high school.

Save our game, make player safety a priority.

Stories I’m Following

Bo Nix might not be the most talented of the three rookie quarterbacks that are currently starting. But by the end of the season, he’s going to be the quarterback who is playing the best football. Sean Payton is doing what Eberflus and Quinn can’t. He’s mentoring the young man and teaching him how to play professional football.

It’s why coaching matters for these young quarterbacks. Eberflus (Chicago) and Quinn (Washington) are both defensive guys. They are putting the task of coaching up their quarterbacks on their Offensive Coordinators. By itself, it’s not a bad thing. But in the course of the season, these guys are going to lose patience with their young quarterbacks. They want their defense, the thing they are known for, the thing that got them their job, to be the star. When their quarterback turns the ball over, or doesn’t score touchdowns, or even doesn’t get enough first downs, there’s going to be problems in the locker room. And it’s not fair to the quarterback or the future of the team.

In Denver, Sean Payton is putting everything into the development of their quarterback. He basically threw him into the deep end of the pool and said swim! Nix is throwing the ball downfield. He’s challenging corners on the outside. He’s reading defenses. And he’s making mistakes. But that’s ok. He’s going to learn how to swim.

In Chicago, Caleb Williams is constantly under pressure. His outside weapons have been hurt and the offense has struggled. In Washington, Jayden Daniels has seen more success. But most of that is because of his running.

In two games, Nix has 77 attempts. That’s the third most in the NFL. Williams has 66 and Daniels has 53. By having Nix throw the ball this much, Payton is giving him valuable experience. He’s also forcing him to play in a real NFL offense.

Daniels is running Kliff Kingsbury’s offense which has always seemed gimmicky to me. As you watch him play you can see that he’s been told to check his first read and if it’s not there, take off running. Daniels is having success. He’s completing a high percentage of passes, and he’s moving the football down the field. But he’s not learning how to read a defense. He’s not learning how to get through his progressions. He’s not learning how to play from the pocket. In other words, he’s learning how to be a better college quarterback.

Williams is getting hit, a lot. The offensive line is not doing enough to protect him. The running game isn’t doing enough to give him easy second and third downs. The gameplan isn’t creative enough to give him easy completions. If they don’t start correcting some of these problems around Williams, he’s going to end up shell shocked. And not many young quarterbacks ever recover from that. Once you start hearing footsteps every time you drop back, your fundamentals go out the window and you become a crappy quarterback.

There’s still time for Washington and Chicago to build a development plan for their quarterbacks, but in the mean time, appreciate what Sean Payton is doing in Denver. Bo Nix has the best chance out of this group to be a long term starter in this league.

Week in Review

Power Rankings

Who is playing the best football right now?

These first few weeks of the season are rough. Good teams are still shaking off some of the rust since they sat their starters through most of the preseason. Bad teams haven’t figured out they are bad yet and stealing wins with unearned confidence. As always these rankings aren’t necessarily the best teams, but they are the teams that are playing the best football right now. I think the hardest part of these rankings is figuring out what to do with Baltimore who played Kansas City to an inch and then had a bad loss against Las Vegas. Or what to do with the 2-0 Seahawks, Chargers, and Steelers. All of them are playing well, but who did they beat? So at least until we get to Mid-October I think these rankings are going to change wildly until we start to really figure out who the good teams are and who’s just beating up on the dregs of the league.

10. Arizona
    Veteran quarterback, power run game, deep threat on the outside, a defense that makes plays. I’m as shocked as you might be, but this is a team that is playing good football right now on both sides of the ball. I’d like to see a little more out of the defense, but right now this is a team that looks like it could make the playoffs.
11. Baltimore
    To me, it looked like after Derrick Henry scored in the fourth quarter, this team just hit cruise control. They had the look of a team that didn’t believe the Raiders could come back from that. This is a veteran team, and I don’t think we’ll see that kind of behavior again this season.
12. San Francisco
    Even with all of the injuries and the poor play throughout the game, they were still in it late in the fourth quarter. This is a team that might not be as stacked talent wise for the next few weeks, but they are going to be a hard team to beat. This team could easily end up 4-1 without Deebo and CMC. To me, that means this is still a good team.
13. Minnesota
    Minnesota had the 49ers on the ropes, but a couple of costly turnovers kept it close. We’ll have to keep an eye on the Jefferson injury, hopefully its not serious enough that he has to miss much time. Sam Darnold continues to thrive in this system, but the defense might be the bigger surprise.
14. Houston
    I love the leadership that CJ Stroud is showing early. So far the Stefon Diggs experiment is going well too. This team is talented and winning, but they aren’t putting in dominant performances. It’s great to see them make the plays they need to, but a few comfortable wins would be nice to show this is truly one of the top teams in the league.
15. Tampa Bay
    Going into Detroit and getting a win is a big time performance. This is a pass happy offense, and Baker is looking like he could enter the MVP talk if he maintains this pace. My concern is for later in the season when they will need to lean on a running game – is there going to be anything there for them to use?
16. New Orleans
    Of course this pace isn’t sustainable, but it’s great to see a team using motion and stacked routes to get wide open receivers and easy throws for their quarterback. Dennis Allen might be the only person who can hold this team back. Let’s hope he’s smart enough to stay out of the offenses business.
17. Detroit
    They’ve played two really tough games to start the season. For whatever reason, the Lions stopped running the ball and started chucking it against the Bucs. It cost them. Goff won’t be successful throwing the ball 40+ times a game. I think they’ll make an effort to get back to the ground game going forward.
18. Buffalo
    This team might be overachieving right now. The individual pieces – receivers, running backs, offensive line, pass rush, secondary – look very average for the league. But together, and with Josh Allen leading them, this looks like a very complete team. As long as they continue to improve week to week, this is a team that could challenge the Chiefs for AFC Supremacy.
19. Kansas City
    Joe Burrow almost did it. I wonder if the Bengals had been down in the fourth quarter, driving to win the game in the final seconds, would the refs have called pass interference on 4th down to give them the chance to kick a field goal?

MVP Watch

Who are the players making the best case for the MVP award this year?

It’s easy to list the five best quarterbacks here from week to week. So my challenge is, can I find a few players that have a chance to shake things up? Can I find a reason to pick a running back, wide receiver or defensive player? I’m going to keep trying.

5. CeeDee Lamb – Do we know if Dallas is a good team? No. But we do know that if they are going to be a good offense, CeeDee Lamb is going to have to be a record breaking wide receiver.
6. Derek Carr/Alvin Kamara – This is one of the best starts to a season I can remember. Normally the best quarterback on the best offense has a good chance at the MVP title, but Kamara is the engine of this offense. If he keeps up this pace for the rest of the season it’ll be hard to deny Kamara the award.
7. TJ Watt – Another sack last week in Denver. Not as dominant as Week 1, but he just keeps stacking up the stats.
8. Josh Allen – James Cook providing balance makes Buffalo a better team, but also means Allen won’t be racking up MVP stats either.
9. Patrick Mahomes – Gotta beat the best to be the best.

Weekly Predictions

Next week’s games, who’s going to win and why?

New England at New York Jets

New England has surprised everyone I think with their physical brand of football. Can they muddy up this game with the Jets and escape with a win? Normally I’d say no, but on a Thursday night, anything is possible. NE 20 – NYJ 17

New York Giants at Cleveland

Last week the Giants showed life on offense which is a step up from what Cleveland has shown. This game is going to come down to quarterbacks. Daniel Jones is probably going to make more mistakes, but I think he’s also going to make more big plays. NYG 23 – CLE 17

Green Bay Packers at Tennessee

Is there a chance Jordan Love plays in this game? It would be a remarkable recovery if he did. Tennessee has been playing better than their record shows, but in this game, the Packers are just too talented. It’s going to be another close game for Titans fans. GB 16 – TEN 13

Chicago at Indianapolis

Chicago’s defense has been playing great so far this year. But Indy seems to play faster and with more confidence at home. Look for Richardson to hit a couple deep throws to change field position and loosen things up for the running game. IND 24 – CHI 13

Philadelphia at New Orleans

This is a bad matchup for the Eagles. Usually I’d say after a close loss like they had on Monday that they would be fired up to win this week. But this defense is not good. They can’t get pressure on the quarterback and they are starting rookies in their secondary. You think the #1 offense that just rocked Dallas isn’t ready to do the same at home? That coaching seat is about to get real warm for Sirianni. NO 38 – PHI 20

Los Angeles Chargers at Pittsburgh

Credibility bowl. Both of these teams need to win this game in order to prove they are a legitimate contender this year. Pittsburgh’s defense is well informed on the new Chargers running backs. Can Herbert throw his way to the victory if the running game gets stifled? I’m not sure. PIT 26 – LAC 19

Denver at Tampa Bay

Tampa needs to stay focused and not overlook this game coming off the big win in Detroit. Denver hasn’t been playing well, but they’ve been physical and have kept the games close. Any let down by the Bucs and Denver could steal one. TB 27 – DEN 17

Carolina at Las Vegas

Another possible trap game. Carolina is coming in with a different quarterback, and you gotta believer they are going to be more dynamic on offense this week. The good news for the Raiders is that the Panther defense has been just as bad as their offense the first two weeks. LV 25 – CAR 16

Miami at Seattle

Can the Miami offense still hit the big plays with Skylar at the helm? That’s going to be the question that decides this game. Seattle has played well, but they haven’t faced the toughest competition either. Home field advantage is likely the difference in this game. SEA 31 – MIA 28

Baltimore at Dallas

Why is everyone calling this a must win game? These divisions are not nearly as tough as we thought before the season. A loss by either team doesn’t put them out of the division title race, or the playoff picture. But it does make good headlines. BAL 23 DAL 13

San Francisco at Los Angeles Rams

Records don’t matter in division rivalries like this one. But injury reports do. In this battle of MASH units, the 49ers still have enough talent playing to win this game. The Rams are going to struggle again this week to score points. SF 23 – LAR 9

Detroit at Arizona

Which running game dominates? Detroit has to be the more physical team in this game if they want to win. If it becomes a game of big plays, or if Goff throws more than 30 times, Arizona wins. I’m betting the Lions lean heavily on their two backs and come out of Arizona with a squeaker of a win. DET 27 – ARI 24

Kansas City at Atlanta

Atlanta showed the potential we all saw in the offseason for this offense. The problem is, they only showed it for about a quarter in Philadelphia. Kansas City is going to miss Pacheco but this offense might have been held back by their reliance on the run. If Mahomes is chucking it, this offense is nearly unstoppable. KC 31 – ATL 23

Jacksonville at Buffalo

Buffalo’s offense is going to be scary to defend with Cook running and Allen throwing. Jacksonville’s defense is going to hold their own, but a national TV audience is going to see the stink coming off the Jacksonville offense. BUF 27 – JAX 13

Washington at Cincinnati

Daniels has been living a charmed life in the NFL so far. That ends on Monday night. Cincinnati’s defense showed up against the Chiefs and they are going to be highly motivated to redeem themselves. I think this is the game where people look back and wonder why anyone ever worried if these Bengals were going to make the playoffs. CIN 34 – WAS 16

Game of the week:

Houston at Minnesota

Houston is exactly the team we thought they were. Led by CJ Stroud with a complement of great pass catchers, the offense has great big play potential. Joe Mixon is playing much better than I expected and gives them a truly balanced attack. It looks like he might be out for a week or two, which isn’t great for this game, but much better than losing him for the season. The defense is solid, but this game is going to be decided by Stroud’s arm.

Minnesota is also dealing with injuries on offense. Addison missed last week and will probably miss this game too. Jefferson looks like he avoided a major injury and should be able to play this game. That’s great news for Sam Darnold who has been able to do what last year’s rotating QB staff couldn’t – get the ball downfield to Jefferson. Flores’ defense was able to nearly shut down the 49er offense. They’ll come up with another good plan to disrupt the Texans.

I’m excited about this game because even though it feels like Sam Darnold has been around for awhile, he’s still a young quarterback. Getting to see Stroud vs Darnold is a treat we won’t get too many times. These two teams are so similar in how they are constructed that it’s hard to tell which team is better. So when it’s close, I’m going to lean on the home team to eek it out. MIN 31 – Hou 29

Week 2 left us with a bunch of questions, but only if we look solely at the records. Right now there’s some good football being played in a lot of places, and hopefully we’ll start seeing it result in wins. Good luck to all of the fanbases out there, and be sure to follow us on Facebook and check out the Gridiron Voice Podcast!