Ten Thoughts on the NFL

1) I tune in to watch some NFL action on Sunday and Fight Night breaks out.

I have no idea what Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston (more on him later) was doing coming off the sideline to poke the Saints Marshon Lattimore. Nor do I get why Buccaneers’ wide out Mike Evans decided to rush to defend Winston. But this is how it all went down.

No one was ejected, but yesterday the NFL decided to suspend Evans for a game. The official press release said that his suspension was due to “violations of unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness rules,” but it could have simply said Mike Evans is a dumbass.

2) Evans wasn’t the only wide receiver dumbass on Sunday. The Cincinnati Bengals A.J. Green didn’t like getting shoved by the Jaguars Jalen Ramsey, so he did this.

Sure the shove instigated Green, but the really dumbass part of what he did was to punch Ramsey in the helmet. I had an offensive line coach tell me one time that only an idiot would punch someone in a football helmet.

3) The third fight was between the Cardinals and the 49ers, and it started after Arizona’s Antoine Bethea drilled San Francisco quarterback C.J. Beathard as he was sliding.

Not only was 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan fine with his running back, Carlos Hyde jumping into the melee to defend his quarterback...

“I really loved how he went and got our quarterback’s back. …I thought our quarterback had a couple of helmets to the head when he was in the pocket a few plays before. And then he ended up scrambling and sliding and he got one again. I think our players had had enough.”

...but general manager John Lynch was okay with it as well.

4) Back to that Jags game for a quick thought.

They elected to make rookie running back Leonard Fournette inactive for their game because he broke team rules.

“Leonard Fournette is not playing in today’s game due to an infraction of a team rule,” Marrone said in a statement 90 minutes before kickoff. “This has been addressed internally and further details will not be made public.”

This was the right thing to do.

There have been a few instances of unprofessionalism from the rookie this season, and the best way to send a message is by sitting him down. I’m sure the veteran leaders on the team had a few words with the 22-year old.

5) Never mind that Anthony Adams is wearing the wrong uniform. He captured what everyone was thinking.

The best part of that Tweet is that Spice tagged Jameis Winston in it.

Also, I’ve called a win a “W” in the past, but that’s ruined now.

6) Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who has a rep for being smart and safe with the football, threw a 10 yard “Hail Mary” TD pass, and it was glorious.

7) On any given Sunday...

If the season were to end today, eight of the twelve teams in position for the playoffs weren’t in the postseason last year.

8) I say it all the time, unless “we” know exactly what specific play the team is running, the best we’re doing when we analyze a play is making an educated guess. Arizona defensive back Tyrann Mathieu decided to call out a reporter that blamed him for bad coverage.

9) The Packers are bad and Ken knew it all along.

9a) Speaking of bad, let’s all take a moment to laugh at the Broncos.

10) What were you doing in 2008?

11) In case you missed it, Zach Miller is such a class dude.