Ten Thoughts on the NFL

1) I really enjoyed watching the Oakland Raiders’ offensive line smack around the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football. Oakland’s big o-line helped them rack up 223 yards rushing and they helped hold Denver’s ferocious pass rush to one quarterback hit and 2 sacks.

The best part of what the Raiders did, in my opinion, was one week after putting up video game numbers through the air (513 yards), the game plan flipped for Denver and they stuck to the ground and pound. They have one of the best and most balanced offenses in the NFL and they currently lead the AFC West. Defensively they have had some issues, but they do have the pass rushers to harass opposing QBs.

2) Over in the NFC, the Dallas Cowboys are the hottest team going. At 7-1, they’ve won 7 straight, and if you remember correctly, they lost by 1 point at home to the New York Giants in a game they had a chance to win had WR Terrance Williams ran out of bounds before the time expired.

Williams didn’t get out and Dallas didn’t get to try a last second 57 yard field goal.

Both the Cowboys and the Raiders have good offensive lines and they use their decent offenses to keep their so-so defenses off the field. They rank 1st and 5th respectively in time of possession, with Oakland 1st in the last three weeks. They also rank 1st and 4th respectively in rushing yards per game.

3) Speaking of hot teams, the Miami Dolphins have won three straight behind the running of Jay Ajayi and some really good offensive line play led by rookie left guard Laremy Tunsil.

4) The best part about this awful onsides kick attempt by Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell is he had to convince his head coach that he could pull it off in practice. Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin seems like the kind of intense old school guy that would need to see Boswell do this like a hundred times in a row before agreeing to it.

I wonder what was going through Tomlin’s mind as his kicker whiffed it on Sunday.

Then again, to be fair, Boswell did pull this off in college and here’s proof.

5) #FreeJaredGoff

If the Los Angeles Rams are gonna lose, they need to lose with their youngsters.

6) I don’t understand what’s going on here...

But this is a thing apparently.

The Giants were’t the only team taking part in this either.

Any of you guys taking part in this latest craze?

7) Early this morning I was a dumbass.

I re-tweeted this tweet with a smart-alec quip about the ref not being near the play before I understood the entire context of the clip.

But it was pointed out to me on Twitter that this was actually a smart play by Seattle corner Richard Sherman because with the quarterback of the pocket scrambling, there is no longer defensive pass interference. Sherman is putting his Stanford education to good use and knowing the NFL rule book inside and out.

SB Nation actually wrote up an entire article on this titled, Don't be mad at Richard Sherman because he knows the rules better than the referees.

8) The referees/umpires in sports have always made mistakes, but with millions of people now having the ability to record a quick clip from the TV on their phones and share via social media, it’s in our face constantly.

I really don’t think the quality of officiating has gotten worse, I think it’s just that we are much more aware as sports fans with the advent of social media and 24 hour sports coverage.

But with that being said, I do think the NFL would be best served hiring full time referees.

9) In case you missed it, this was an interesting tweet from Sunday.

If the Chicago Bears could have found a way to win just one more game in the 1st half of the season, the NFC North race would be even more interesting.

10) But with the Bears seemingly out of the playoff race at 2-6, I reckon I’ll throw a mock draft at you guys already!

From CBSSports;

3 - Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson: Jay Cutler is not the biggest problem for Chicago, but he has shown little evidence over his career that he is the quarterback to lead the Bears back to Super Bowl contention. With little financial penalty looming if the club were to release him early, coach John Fox may elect to add some new blood at the position with Watson, who offers dual-threat potential and the poise Cutler has sometimes lacked.

I’m all for drafting a young QB to be the future guy, but unless the Bears are stuck in salary cap bind, I don’t see a point in cutting Cutler loose. Plus, I’d kind of like to see Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers in Navy and Orange.