Injuries are a part of the game. Every team talks about having a “next man up” mentality. But some injuries are serious enough they can cost a team their season. The Raiders losing O’Connell might not seem like a big deal, but it likely ended Coach Pierce’s ambitions for a competitive team this year. Deshaun Watson going down just as Nick Chubb came back from his injury is bad timing for the Browns. Aiyuk out for the season is going to make it tougher for San Francisco to compete in the NFC West. Godwin and Evans both going down Monday night for the Buccaneers is devastating to an offense that looked primed to make a run in this year’s playoff race.
And that’s just a handful of the impact injuries we’ve already seen throughout the first half of this season.
So what’s the point here? Well we try to look at teams and think, are they good, are they bad, are they well coached? As fans, we want to know if there’s hope for our team. Are we on the right path, do we have the right players. Injuries take all that and throw it out the window. At Gridiron Voice, we’re here for the fans. We don’t break news. We don’t have insiders. We’re talking to the fans from the heart because we are fans too.
Injuries suck.
And I feel bad for every one of these players who aren’t going to get to finish their season. I feel bad for the teams, who might not reach their goals because of it. But most of all I feel for you, the fans, who have to endure another offseason hoping that maybe this is your year.
On to the tape:
DEN @ NO
Didn’t we all kind of expect Denver to win this game? With all of the New Orleans injuries it just seemed like a given. I was surprised by the wide margin of victory though. Denver’s defense is continuing to get better each week. They dominated the line of scrimmage and didn’t give the Saints offense much room to breathe.
On offense, Denver remained patient and just kept grinding out yards and points. Proof that coaching matters, and a reminder to the fans of New Orleans what they lost when Sean Payton left.
NE @ JAX (England)
The effort from Jacksonville was much better Sunday than it had been the previous couple of weeks. Tank Bigsby continues to prove he’s the more dynamic runner in this offense. Doug Pedersen likely bought himself a couple more weeks as coach of the Jaguars after this win, but he won’t survive this season.
Coach Mayo called his team soft after the game. I was having a hard time finding the words to describe what I saw on film. Soft isn’t quite right, but it’s close enough. I hate to say there’s not a lot of talent on this team, because I’m sure these guys have talent. But for whatever reason they just don’t make enough plays. Is it being soft? Maybe. Either way, Mayo found the word that should send a message to the team that these results aren’t acceptable.
SEA at ATL
Seattle was the better team on Sunday in all phases. Geno had a good game, and did a much better job getting the ball to his receivers. Kenneth Walker is a beast out of the backfield, and if Seattle wants to make noise this year, they need to feed him the ball.
Atlanta came out throwing in this game and struggled to move the ball until they once again committed to running the football. Cousins struggled to move in the pocket and he took some big hits because of it. He also looks like he’s trying to muscle his throws down the field. I’m still sure he’s having trouble with his legs and just doesn’t have the throwing power he used to because of it.
TEN @ BUF
Tennessee got off to a good start behind Mason Rudolph in this game. They built up a 10-0 lead being patient on offense – running the ball straight at the defense and attacking the edges with passes to the tight ends in the flat. But then the self destructive behavior popped up again. Is it a lack of discipline or a lack of practice reps? I don’t know for sure, but if it happens when Levis isn’t on the field then we can’t exactly lay the blame at his feet. Two other things jumped off the screen at me – first, this team competed hard for three quarters then seemed to go through the motions in the fourth quarter. Not a great sign. Second, something is seriously wrong with Calvin Ridley. It doesn’t matter who is playing quarterback, the balls they throw in his direction are hitting the ground yards away from him. Is he running the wrong routes? Does he not know the play sheet?
The Cooper trade is looking good for Buffalo. Once they got him on the field in the second half, the offense was much better. There will be growing pains over the next couple of weeks, but this now looks like an offense that can compete.
CIN @ CLE
Second week in a row that Cincinnati’s defense stepped up and their offense stepped down. If Cincinnati is going to make the playoff run I predicted, the offensive line needs to improve. They aren’t clearing the way for the running backs and Burrow is under too much pressure. I appreciate that the coaching staff has ratcheted the offense down a little to try and control time of possession and help the defense, but they need to remember to hit a few explosive plays early to build up that lead first.
Losing Watson and Cooper this week is going to be tough for the offense to overcome long term. In this game, the offense had a little more energy once Dorian Thompson-Robinson entered. But the results were much of the same. The defense is solid, not as good as last year, but solid. It’s the offense that is holding back the Browns.
HOU @ GB
When I was doing the preview of this game, it was CJ Stroud I thought was being careless with the football, not Jordan Love. I think everyone focused on these two great offenses, but it was a defensive effort on both sides that dominated the play.
Where has Tank Dell gone? With Nico Collins still out, Tank Dell needs to be there stretching the field and giving Stroud another target. This was a winnable game for the Texans, but they needed the big plays in the passing game.
MIA @ IND
The Colts offense looked better with Flacco. I know Anthony Richardson is the future and he needs to be out there playing. But he is still struggling with his accuracy and throwing a catchable ball when he is on target.
I was concerned about Mike McDaniel coaching without Tua on the field. The Dolphins have remained competitive in their games. They haven’t been able to hit the big plays, but they still are keeping these games close. The players may be frustrated by the lack of stats, but the coaches are doing their best in a bad situation.
PHI @ NYG
Not scoring in the first quarter is a weird stat. The first quarter is mostly scripted for the offense. So is it bad coaching or bad execution? Hard to say because they do pretty good the rest of the game. Might just be an anomaly. Anyway, the defense was stout again and brought pressure from every direction. Barkley running, AJ receiving, and a defense that shuts down the other team – that’s a pretty good team.
The Giants offense was horrible in this game. The thing I noticed was how the offensive line just let blitzers run wild in their backfield. Either the center or the quarterback is having problems reading the defensive formations. They aren’t making adjustments to the pass blocking scheme.
DET @ MIN
This was high end football from start to finish. The Minnesota defense used six and seven man fronts to stop the Detroit run game. Detroit answered by attacking the edges of the defense with Gibbs. Minnesota changed up their formations, dropped coverage and used off blitzers to get pressure. Goff recognized the blitzes and threw with precision to open receivers.
Detroit couldn’t get pressure all game. They blitzed more than I’ve seen in awhile. Minnesota used runs and crossing routes to take advantage of the Detroit blitz.
Every move had a counter move in this game. Safeties moved up to stop the run, boom, deep passes were complete for touchdowns. Safeties back, the running backs on both teams dominated.
What was the difference in the game? Why did Detroit win? Because they had the ball last. The rematch is going to be fantastic, but I’m really looking forward to their third meeting – in the playoffs.
LV @ LAR
There wasn’t much in this game to be completely honest. Brock Bowers looks like a home run. It’s not a critical position, so I can still see some of the hate out there for the pick, but he’s going to be a nightmare for defenses for the next 10+ years.
As for the game – the offenses are very similar. Neither team has their starting wide receivers from Week 1. Both teams are struggling to get their running game going. For the Raiders, not having the weapons on the outside is making it tough for the quarterback – whichever one is playing. For the Rams, having Matthew Stafford is elevating these players. He’s getting the most out of them and finding ways to move the football. That’s the difference between a Franchise Quarterback and a career backup.
CAR @ WAS
Carolina is a trainwreck. But here’s a nugget for the fans:
Give some love to the interior of the Carolina offensive line. They are moving people off the ball and opening holes for Chuba Hubbard in the run game. For all their faults, the Panthers inside run game is very good.
Washington is a borderline steamroller. Here’s a nugget for the fans:
Daniels getting hurt is bad. But the team rallied around Mariota and continued to be just as dominant in all phases of the game. That says a lot about the chemistry on this team. When adversity hits, they are sticking together. The playoffs are within reach.
KC @ SF
A good defense, a mediocre run game, a quarterback that turns the ball over. Ok so that could describe a third of the teams in the league. How is it possible that it also describes the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs? By the way, the Chiefs defense might be the best in the league.
McCaffrey out. Aiyuk out. Deebo out. Towards the end of the game, Purdy threw an interception. The receiver ran an out to the sideline and Purdy expected the route to go up the sideline further. He overthrew the receiver and the defender had an easy pick. The camera zoomed in on Purdy and you could tell he was frustrated as he pointed up the field. But he held back.
This next stretch for Purdy is going to be critical. He’s now the veteran in this offense. His weapons are sidelined. He’s dealing with rookies and reserves now. This is his next evolution as a starting quarterback. Can he lead these men? Can he hold them accountable to run the right route? Can he be the “on the field general” that a starting quarterback needs to be? He’s been lucky so far to have a veteran group of start around him. Now he needs to show he can be the man. Otherwise, he could be looking at a career as a backup journeyman quarterback.
NYJ @ PIT
I didn’t think changing quarterbacks was a good idea for the Steelers. But once Wilson got rid of the rust, he looked pretty good out there and the rest of the offense looked even better. The blocked field goal ultimately didn’t decide the outcome of the game, but at the time it felt like a big play that could. It certainly swung the momentum towards Pittsburgh and they didn’t look back.
Their celebration with their Special Teams coach was hilarious. But it showed how much the team cares about each other. They were dealing with a potential quarterback controversy Sunday night. But you couldn’t tell on the sideline. The entire team was supportive of each other. They cheered for each other, they talked, they high fived, they laughed.
Now compare that to the Jets sideline.
There is no joy on that sideline. There are no high fives and words of encouragement. Rodgers sits by himself on the bench when he’s not in the game. No one comes over to talk to him. The receivers aren’t there talking about what they saw on the field and what they can do next time. It’s toxic, and it’s getting worse. They are going to win a few games coming up. They have New England, Houston, Arizona and Indianapolis coming up. If they can pull off a 3-1 run there they will be close to .500 again. But this isn’t a team that’s pulling for each other. They haven’t handled this adversity well, and there’s no reason to think they’ll handle it better as the season goes on.
BAL @ TB
Remember when Baltimore was 0-2 and everyone was wondering if they were going to pull out of it? The defense is still a concern, they need to figure that out. But this offense is unstoppable. I can’t find a weakness. Now that they are committing to the run, defenses are selling out to stop it and Lamar can throw the ball wherever he wants on the field. Beware AFC, there’s a new bully in the neighborhood.
I wanted to talk about how Tampa is still dealing with the fast start/fall off pattern of their previous couple of games. But I think the bigger news here is the Godwin and Evans injuries. Godwin is out of the year it looks like and Evans is probably done for a few weeks. Injuries happen, I get that. But why in the world would the coaching staff allow Evans to play knowing that he was nursing a sore possibly injured hamstring? Just to get a touchdown record? Absurd. You put him at risk by doing that. But worse, you kept playing after the game was essentially over and risked injury to your entire offense playing meaningless minutes. And it cost you Godwin. These were avoidable injuries and the coaching staff deserves the blame for these.
LAC @ ARI
Did everyone have their ESPN+ subscription for this one? Don’t you think they could have picked a better draw if they wanted to convince people to subscribe?
For those that didn’t watch the game, feel free to skip the replays. The Chargers couldn’t get the ball in the end zone and Kyler made two fantastic plays that essentially won the game for them. I hate to be so blunt about it, but this was a game the Chargers should have won comfortably. They just couldn’t find a way to sustain drives once they got into plus territory.
Anyway, that’s what I saw during the video review. The cream is certainly rising to the top.