Ten Thoughts on the NFL

1) The ending of the New Orleans at Minnesota game was crazy.

It was 17-7 if favor of the Vikings heading into the fourth quarter, but then the two teams combined for six scores in the final 13:09. The final frame scoring started when the Saints scored a touchdown, but the Vikes answered with a field goal making the score 20-14. The Saints took the lead 21-20 with a Drew Brees to Alvin Kamara TD pass at 3:01, but Minnesota’s Kai Forbath nailed a 53 yard field goal with 1:28 left to put the Vikings on top, 23-21.

Brees and the Saints’ offense marched down the field on an eleven play, fifty yard drive in a little over a minute, and Will Lutz hit what appeared to be the game winning field goal with 25 seconds left on the clock.

It was 24-23 New Orleans, and the Vikes had to get into field goal range with only one time out remaining.

A penalty, a 19 yard Case Keenum pass to Stephon Diggs, followed by a time out with 18 seconds left made the game looked bleak for the Vikings

Incomplete pass.

Incomplete pass.

And it was suddenly 3rd and 10 with ten seconds left.

No chance right?

But then this happened.

One of the greatest moments in NFL history.

1a) I had to share this version, because this game was awesome!

2) New Orleans Saints’ rookie safety Marcus Williams missed the tackle on that play, and if you took to social media to rip him, then you’re a piece of human excrement.

3) Kudos to the Philadelphia Eagles for rallying the troops and winning a tough game against the Atlanta Falcons, 15-10. No one gave then a chance with quarterback Nick Foles in place of Carson Wentz, but Foles played good enough, and the Philly D did the rest.

4) Even though the Eagles get to host the Vikings in the NFC Championship, I can’t see them winning the game this weekend. When the season ended, I picked Minnesota to come out of the NFC and nothing I saw over the weekend makes me thing that won’t happen.

5) The Jacksonville Jaguars talked a lot of trash after they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, 45-42, but they were disrespected so much leading up to their divisional round match-up that I can’t blame them.

6) The New England Patriots saw the Tennessee Titans take an early lead after trading punts a few times, but after that 7-0 Titan lead the Pats went on to score 35 unanswered. If the Jags thought they didn’t get any respect last week, just wait for the Tom Brady vs Blake Bortles build-up for this week.

7) The Titans and head coach Mike Mularkey agreed to part ways on Monday (i.e. he was fired, but allowed to save face), and you only have to look at their quarterback to know why. Marcus Mariota ended his first two seasons with a combined 93.8 passer rating, but he regressed to finish the 2017 season at 79.3.

When an organization nabs a guy they feel is a franchise QB, a regression is unacceptable.

8) The Detroit Lions seemed poised to hire Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as their next head coach, and out of all the assistant coaches angling for a head coaching gig, he has the biggest boom or bust factor in my opinion.

9) The other assistant coaches expected to get head coaching jobs are Patriots O.C. Josh McDaniels to the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota O.C. Pat Shurmur to the New York Giants. Many thought that Shurmur was destined for the Arizona Cardinals’ job, but with him now reported to be New York bound, what do the Cards do?

Also, expect it to leak out of Indy that McDaniels was their top choice all along, and all other reports of previous coaches turning them down was just made up crap by the uninformed.

10) I love that the Chicago Bears aggressively pursued their head coach after making the move to fire John Fox. They got their guy, Matt Nagy, and assembled the offensive staff that they wanted, but getting Vic Fangio to stay was the cherry on top. There were a few other intriguing options on the coaching market, but by pressing to get Fangio to agree to come back, it allows them to focus their energy elsewhere.