Pittsburgh Steelers reach 7-0 as champions Kansas City continue impressive run
Halfway through the National football league (Nfl) regular season, the script is being written for teams that perform at a high level and those that are riding a gridiron train wreck.
The Pittsburgh Steelers took their 7-0 record into week 9 to face the 2-6 Dallas Cowboys in a game that the experts thought would be a gift for Pittsburgh. The assumption was that the Steelers would walk over Dallas and, for the first time in their storied history, achieve an 8-0 record.
Dallas, with their fourth starting quarterback (QB) of the season in Garrett Gilbert, gave Pittsburgh more than they bargained for and almost pulled off a win with the last pass of the game. The Steelers won 24-19, but they have been living on the edge recently and narrowly avoided losing late in the last three games. Are they as good as their 8-0 record?
The true mettle of the Steelers shouldn’t be seriously tested this Sunday when they welcome the Cincinnati Bengal (2-5-1) into Heinz Field. However, following their bye in week 11, they return to face Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in week 12 where the first loss of the season should be registered.
To say Kansas City Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes is worth his blockbuster, 10-year, Us$503-million (not all guaranteed) deal is an understatement. In his four years in the league (three as a starter), spanning 40 games, he has
already amassed an NFL record 100 passing (plus 6 rushing) touchdowns.
He has already registered 25 passing (plus two rushing) touchdowns with only one interception this season and his poise last Sunday in the 33-31 victory over the Carolina Panthers was veteran-worthy. The game was close and Kansas City almost lost, but blowouts are not going to come in every game and even great players will need to dig into their reserve at times.
The Chiefs are off this weekend but return in week 11 to visit the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday night.
The much-anticipated QB clash last Sunday night between Tom Brady and Drew Brees petered out into a one-sided affair. The celebrated Brady, now throwing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, suffered the worst defeat (points-wise) of his career along with three interceptions for good measure.
The last time Brady had three interceptions was 2011 and he was on a run of 200 passes without one prior to Sunday. Not only Brady, the Buccaneers were inept in all aspects of the game: They did not block the New Orleans Saints (three sacks allowed, one intentional grounding). They barely tackled the opponent (420 total yards allowed) and their run-game was stifled (8 net rushing yards from 5 attempts including a kneel-down on the last snap of the game).
In the lopsided 38-3 hammering, Brees threw for four touchdowns thereby passing Brady (again) as the NFL’S all-time passing touchdown leader with 564. The addition of maligned receiver Antoni Brown didn’t provide the predicted spark for Tampa Bay, but the return of targets Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders allowed Brees the latitude to complete passes to twelve different receivers on the night.
To further rub salt into the wounds, QB Jameis Winston, who was replaced by Brady in Tampa Bay last year, relieved Bress in ‘mop-up’ time and completed his only pass for 12 yards.
The Buccaneers (6-3) will visit the Carolina Panthers (3-6) this Sunday and, without their all-purpose running back Christian Mccaffrey, the Panthers are not expected to pose much resistance. The Saints (6-2) will welcome a decimated San Francisco 49ers (4-5) team into the Mercedes-benz Superdome on Sunday and only a complete trip-up should prevent them from winning.
On the other distant end of the spectrum, the New York Jets, despite outpacing the New England Patriots for most of Monday night, found themselves in a 0-8 hole following a narrow 27-30 loss. The Jets looked better than a winless team for the better part of three quarters, but they didn’t show up during the fourth and allowed 13 unanswered points to their opponents. They will have a bye this week but have a fairly soft schedule on their return in week 11, so their first win is expected in the next two or three games.
The Buffalo Bills (7-2) and Arizona Cardinals (5-3) face off on Sunday in the feature week 10 game. The Bills are coming off an impressive win over the Seattle Seahawks while the Cardinals dropped a tough one to the Miami Dolphins in week 9.
The Cardinals are at home and enter the weekend as Justbet favourites, but the game will come down to the QB play of the exciting young starters: Kyler Murray for the Cardinals and Josh Allen for the Bills. Allen overperformed against the Seahawks (415 passing yards with three touchdowns) last weekend and, despite the loss, Murray was efficient and effective – 283 passing yards with 3 touchdowns and 106 rushing yards plus a touchdown. If nothing else, this matchup of young guns is expected to be a shootout.
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