Saints-Rams is the perfect warmup for Brady-Rodgers
A quick glance at items of interest as Week 9 rolls on …
Who’s hot
Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Fitting, that on the weekend featuring the season’s most alluring collection of marquee matchups (and not because Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield will be slinging in Cleveland), the NFL’s “winningest quarterback” faces off against the man many declare as the NFL’s “best quarterback” in the Sunday night showcase.
It’s just the second time that Brady and Rodgers square off (Rodgers 1, Brady 0, Lambeau Field). Maybe the next time it will happen in a Super Bowl. Sure, Brady doesn’t have to personally defend Rodgers as member of the secondary, and vice versa. But it’s headto-head nonetheless because points add pressure to the other quarterback. With neither of these megastar quarterbacks supported by a dominant defense, it looks like a shootout waiting to happen at Gillette Stadium. And it feels so dramatic, like maybe … last man with the football wins.
Pressure’s on
Case Keenum and John Elway. Whatever Elway, the Broncos’ football architect, thought he would get in signing Keenum for $18 million a year hasn’t happened. Chances are it never will. Keenum’s history of turnover problems has followed him to Denver; he’s had more turnovers (11) than TD passes (10). As Houston visits on Sunday, reminders will be in the wind. Keenum started his journeyman career with the Texans, who just obtained one of Keenum’s primary weapons, Demaryius Thomas, in a trade Tuesday.
Key matchup
Cooper Kupp vs. P.J. Williams. Kupp had a huge game (eight catches, 116 yards) when the Rams beat the Saints in Los Angeles in December, and now he’s returning after missing the past two contests with a knee sprain. Williams, picked on and victimized early by the Vikings last weekend before rebounding with a couple of big plays, could draw a significant amount of work against Kupp in the slot.
But recently obtained Eli Apple is an option, too. It won’t be as simple as assigning Pro Bowler Marshon Lattimore to the task because of Jared Goff ’s other receivers, Brandin Cooks (returning to New Orleans) and Robert Woods. These matchups will be critical for the showdown on Sunday, when the Saints try to knock off the NFL’s only undefeated team. And the Saints realize the coverage on the back end begins with the rush up front.
Next man up
Gregg Williams. With Hue Jackson and O-coordinator Todd Haley shown the door Monday, Williams is essentially the last man standing from the trio of alpha dog personalities handling the Browns’ top coaching posts. Guess you can never say never. When Williams was banned from the NFL a few years ago for playing a leading role in the Bountygate scandal, it seemed safe to suggest that the intense-but-disgraced defensive ace would never land another head coaching gig. Now he’s the interim coach of the Browns. Odd how a 3-36-1 record, Jackson’s mark during his Browns tenure, will lead to an opportunity. For somebody.
Rookie watch
Orlando Brown Jr. The son of a former Raven, the late namesake who was nicknamed “Zeus,” Brown will start again at right tackle, subbing for injured James Hurst for the intense AFC North rivalry game against the Steelers. Brown is starting his NFL career exactly where he wanted.