10 Thoughts on the NFL

1) The Green Bay Packers beat up on a couple bad teams the first two weeks, so it was easy to overlook their high powered offense, but a win against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday Night Football has a lot of people rethinking those regression predictions.

Aaron Rodgers is playing phenomenal as always, and if there were any questions about his relationship with his head coach Matt LaFleur still lingering, they’ve put those to rest.

“This offense is just so different,” Rodgers said after the game via the NFL Network’s Stacey Dales. “You never know really who it’s gonna be.” And with star wide out Davante Adams missing the game, it was Allan Lazard (6 receptions, 146 yards, 1 TD) and the tight end group (9 receptions, 104 yards, 2 TDs) that picked up the slack

“I feel so much more comfortable in the offense this year,” Rodgers said of year two in the scheme, and that spells trouble for the rest of the NFC.

2) As smoothly as things are going for Green Bay after three games, the opposite is true of the Minnesota Vikings.

From ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

There’s a lot of blame to go around. After digging themselves into a three-game hole that has the Vikings tucked away at the bottom of the NFC North, the wheels are on the verge of coming off if they haven’t already.

Minnesota is in a state of self-created chaos everywhere. It’s not just the offense or the defense’s fault — the Vikings have no one to blame but themselves.

The Vikings face an equally desperate 0-3 Houston Texans this Sunday, with the losing coach’s seat getting that much warmer.

3) Speaking of head coaches on the hot seat, here’s how SportsBetting.ag has their odds for the first coach to be fired.

Dan Quinn (1-2)
Adam Gase (3-1)
Matt Patricia (5-1)
Bill O’Brien (9-1)
Mike Zimmer (9-1)
Doug Marrone (10-1)
Vic Fangio (12-1)
Anthony Lynn (16-1)

If I were a betting man, my cash would be on the New York Jets’ Gase getting canned. His offense was awful last year, and it’s not much better so far through three games. His quarterback, Sam Darnold, hasn’t shown much in Gase’s second year either. They get the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football, and a loss there could be it for Gase.

4) The Detroit Lions found a way to get their first win this season, and they did so by slowing down the exciting Kyler Murray by picking him off three times. The second year Arizona Cardinals QB now has an interception in each game this year and is throwing picks at double the rate of a year ago.

5) The Buffalo Bills seem like the real deal, and quarterback Josh Allen has been playing at an extremely high level.

Of all the numbers Allen has improved upon so far, the most impressive may be his completion percentage going from 58.8% in 2019 to 71.1% so far this year.

6) No one has more fun playing football than Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

I really thought the Baltimore Ravens was going to beat the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, but the Chiefs look unstoppable right now. I’ll never pick against a healthy Mahomes again.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins might need to keep that Champaign on ice.

7) The Cincinnati Bengals are going to get their rookie number one draft pick killed before the team is in position to win some games. In their tie against the Philadelphia Eagles — and yes, Philly played for the tie — Joe Burrow was sacked 8 times. Burrow has been sacked 14 times this year, the most in the NFL, and his 141 passing attempts is the second most in the league.

He’s also second in the NFL with 91 completions, and that’s a new rookie record through three games.

8) Speaking of NFL records... Russell Wilson continues to amaze with the Seattle Seahawks, as his 14 TD thrown through three games is a new NFL record.

It could have been 15, if not for this boneheaded play by DK Metcalf.

How do you say dumbass in French?

9) Where are we at on Baker Mayfield now?

After his week one performance I was taking shots at his play, but he’s looked solid the last two weeks, both Cleveland Browns’ wins, and with the Dallas Cowboys’ suspect defense up next he could keep this roll going.

10) This may have changed after the Chiefs and Ravens last night (I doubt it), but this is such an incredible stat.

If Jaylon Johnson keeps up this kind of play he has a legit chance to be the Chicago Bears first Defensive Rookie of the Year since Brian Urlacher in 2000.

11) This breaking news just came in on Tuesday morning, but the NFL has their first real COVID related issue.

Here’s the statement from the NFL and the NFLPA.

On Tuesday morning, the Titans COVID testing results returned three new player positives and five new personnel positives. The Titans will suspend in-person club activities starting today. Likewise, the Vikings, who played the Titans on Sunday, will also suspend in-person club activities. Both clubs are working closely with the NFL and the NFLPA, including our infectious disease experts, to evaluate close contacts, perform additional testing and monitor developments. All decisions will be made with health and safety as our primary consideration. We will continue to share updates as more information becomes available.