USA TODAY International Edition
Saints, Brees rise to the top; Texans on a roll
BALTIMORE — The 32 things we learned from Week 9 of the 2018 NFL season ... with a little extra flavor from our coverage of the Steelers’ win over the Ravens:
1. Spoiler alert: The Saints will rise one spot to No. 1 in our next installment of power rankings after spoiling the Rams’ bid for perfection. (And kudos to my USA TODAY NFL colleagues as four predicted a New Orleans victory, and three think the Saints will win the Super Bowl.) Who Dat?
2. Also, we’re not big fans of “lifetime achievement” influencing individual awards in any season, but it sure would be nice to see Drew Brees finally win league MVP honors ... and he’s definitely deserving at this point. His 76.3 completion percentage is well ahead of record pace, and his 120.6 passer rating is just a touch off the single-season mark held by Aaron Rodgers (122.5).
3. Is Saints WR Michael Thomas the league’s most underrated player? Maybe not after putting up a franchise-record 211 receiving yards on CB Marcus Peters (mostly) and the Rams. And maybe not now that Thomas has taken a page from the Joe Horn self-promotion manual.
4. Are the Texans the most underrated team? They’ll lead the entire AFC South by 21⁄2 games if Tennessee falls to Dallas on Monday night. And, yes, these are the same Texans who lost their first three but have now matched the 1970 Giants as the only squads in the Super Bowl era to start 0-3 before reeling off six consecutive victories.
5. Is Philip Rivers the most underrated player in NFL history? Nice to see him lead the Chargers (6-2) to their biggest win of the season on the day he became the fourth QB to start 200 consecutive games (Brett Favre, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning).
5a. BTW, if you haven’t been paying attention, the Bolts are tied for the league’s fifth-best record. Circle Dec. 13 — it’s a Thursday, you’re free — for their rematch with the Chiefs in K.C.
5b. But one memo to the Chargers: You might have kept the wrong kicker. Caleb Sturgis returned from a quad injury and missed two PATs and a 42-yard field goal attempt. Hope Mike Badgley, who was perfect on 10 kicks in his twogame audition, remains on speed dial.
5c. UPDATE: The Chargers got the memo Monday morning and parted with Sturgis.
6. Shame the Chargers’ latest W came at the Seahawks’ expense as they honored late owner Paul Allen at CenturyLink Field for the first time since his death Oct. 15.
7. Julio Jones scored. JULIO JONES SCORED! Our (overblown) national nightmare is over after the Falcons star found the end zone for the first time since Jan. 6, when Atlanta beat the Rams in the wild-card round.
8. The Eagles spent the weekend on the couch — that’s where NFL players while away their byes, right? — yet pulled within a game of the NFC Eastleading Redskins, who were trounced by Atlanta 38-14.
9. What is it about Gillette Stadium? Remember when Kareem Hunt fumbled his first NFL carry there in 2017, after never losing one at Toledo? At least his Chiefs came back to beat the Patriots. Packers RB Aaron Jones lost his first NFL fumble after 153 turnover-free touches Sunday night — which proved disastrous in Green Bay’s loss.
10. Y’all know this #BattleOfTheGoats thing is really dumb, right? By definition ... only ... one ... GOAT (GREATEST of all time). That said, we’d certainly prefer not to wait until 2022 for Aaron Rodgers v. Tom Brady III — if TB12 can last that long — but we’ll need a Pack-Pats Super Bowl in the interim to make it happen.
10a. Speaking of “GOATS,” neither Von Miller nor J.J. Watt qualifies, either. (Fire up film of Lawrence Taylor or Reggie White if you disagree.) Still, pretty cool to see this generation’s top sack artists — and 2011 draftmates — share the same field while each added a QB takedown to his career total.
11. Prior to kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens honored victims of Pittsburgh’s synagogue massacre with a moment of silence. It was another sign of the respect in the Baltimore-Steelers rivalry, which is hotly contested but rarely nasty, a la Army-Navy.
12. Ben Roethlisberger isn’t afraid to quick kick on fourth down. Sunday’s first-quarter pooch was the seventh punt (including one that was blocked in 2014) of his 15-year career — though his gross average dipped to 31.3. It was the first time any quarterback had punted since Brady in 2013. (In a mini-twist, Raven S Eric Weddle returned Big Ben’s duck for 18 yards, the first time he’d handled a punt since 2012.)
13. Are the Lamar Jackson packages really doing the spiraling Ravens any good? He was constantly bouncing from the field to the sideline Sunday, ultimately contributing one 12-yard completion while averaging a meager 2 yards on five carries. Worse, starter Joe Flacco is struggling to find a groove amid what seems like disruption. Embattled coach John Harbaugh envisions something like the Saints have employed with Brees and Taysom Hill but might be better off picking the Flacco lane or Jackson lane.
14. Man, that 2017 Pittsburgh draft class. Backup QB Joshua Dobbs completed his first career pass for 22 yards while Roethlisberger was temporarily sidelined after getting the wind knocked out of him.
14a. Oh, and second-year Steelers RB James Conner churned out more than 100 yards for the fourth consecutive game, all victories, and caught his first NFL TD pass. Sure seems like Ravens defensive coordinator “Wink” Martindale was on to something when he insinuated last week that Pittsburgh might be better without Le’Veon Bell.
15. Even though RB Alex Collins was dealing with a foot injury, Baltimore’s Ty Montgomery was inactive after being acquired from Green Bay at Tuesday’s trade deadline.
15a. Montgomery aside, none of the prominent players traded Tuesday made major impacts while debuting for their new clubs. (Golden Tate’s, uh, Golden Eagles were off.) Ha Ha ClintonDix had a team-high seven tackles for Washington but also got trucked by fellow Crimson Tide alum Julio Jones on his 35-yard TD. Dante Fowler had just one stop (it was a TFL) for the Rams.
15b. Of those dealt at the deadline, only Texans WR Demaryius Thomas experienced a win. He caught three passes for 61 yards as Houston beat Thomas’ former team, Denver. He battled Broncos rookie replacement Courtland Sutton (three catches, 57 yards) to a draw.
16. Vikings WR Adam Thielen managed just four catches for 22 yards, meaning he failed to become the first player to notch nine consecutive 100yard receiving games.
16a. And given Stefon Diggs was out with a rib injury, additional fodder for those who suggest Thielen is effectively Minnesota’s No. 2 receiver and has been racking up numbers by feasting on single coverage.
17. But don’t worry — we’re still going streaking in the NFL. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes matched Andrew Luck’s 2014 record by passing for at least 300 yards in eight consecutive games during the same season. Mahomes wasn’t done. His 29 TD passes and 3,185 passing yards are the most ever in a player’s first 10 NFL games. His MVP case remains rock solid with 2,901 yards and 29 TD strikes this season topping the leaderboards.
18. Former Texas Tech QB Mahomes > former Texas Tech QB Baker Mayfield. (Before some of you @ me, no, that’s not a typo. Mayfield spent his freshman year in Lubbock before transferring to Oklahoma.)
19. Gregg Williams is Cleveland’s 10th head coach, including those of the interim variety, since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999. He and his predecessors are a combined 0-10 in their respective debuts following Sunday’s 37-21 loss to Kansas City.
20. Your new NFL sack leader? Meet Danielle Hunter, who had 31⁄2 of the Vikings’ team-record 10 in Sunday’s win against Detroit. We’d humbly suggest the Minnesota defense is back.
21. The Buffalo front office should strongly consider calling erstwhile Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford.
21a. Bradford should strongly consider screening calls with a (716) area code emanating from Western New York.
22. Much-maligned Bills QB Nathan Peterman now has six career TD passes — three to teammates and three to opponents.
22a. One more stat to add to the list my new teammate Jori Epstein put together: After 130 career throws, Peterman’s passer rating is 32.5. By comparison, throwing one incompletion gets you to 39.6.
23. George Kittle is making a compelling case to be the first-team all-pro tight end despite all the injuries suffered by San Francisco’s offense. Kansas City’s Travis Kelce reclaimed the inside track Sunday with two more TD catches, but Kittle is on his bumper.
24. I’ve been tough on Case Keenum but feel compelled to point out he keyholed a beautiful TD to TE Jeff Heuerman through triple coverage. (OK, maybe he has no business targeting Heuerman, of all people, in triple coverage.) But Keenum also had Denver in position to win before a missed field goal attempt cost them the game. Most important, he failed to throw an interception for the first time as a Bronco. Progress.
25. Carolina’s Curtis Samuel arguably had the TD of the weekend, his 33yard double reverse covering nearly 104 actual yards, per Next Gen Stats.
26. But how about some love for Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey, who led his team with 79 yards rushing and 78 receiving. The explosive second-year player tends to get lost among the hubbub surrounding Todd Gurley, Alvin Kamara, Ezekiel Elliott, Saquon Barkley and even Hunt among the next wave of elite runners. But McCaffrey’s 880 yards from scrimmage have him in a ninthplace tie among league leaders.
27. It wasn’t the 1982 AFC Championship Game — thanks, Don Shula — but Jets fans were having flashbacks Sunday morning when they heard Miami’s field was unplayable. Turned out to be exaggerated ... but then rookie Sam Darnold had a Richard Todd kind of day with four INTs in New York’s 13-6 loss.
28. If you saw the Nick Mullens train coming ... you’re lying. The 49ers’ undrafted third-string quarterback entering the season — if you consider the practice squad as third string — should soon be atop the depth chart after throwing for 262 yards and three TDs in his debut Thursday. His 151.9 passer rating was the second best ever (after Marcus Mariota in 2015) for a quarterback in his first NFL game.
29. If you predicated Jon Gruden’s Raiders would be 1-7 at the halfway mark — and Khalil Mack, Amari Cooper and Bruce Irvin would be ex-Raiders — you’re pathological.
30. Cordarrelle Patterson has been an all-pro returner in his career, though a disappointment as a receiver. No matter, he’s now imbued with The Patriot Way and has been New England’s leading rusher twice in six days.
31. #TB1K update: Kneeldowns are a bummer. Brady came within 1 yard of fulfilling his 19-year pursuit for 1,000 career rushing yards Sunday night. Alas, he took a knee three times to ice the Packers, ultimately costing him 3 yards. So the train was in full reverse before stopping at 996. Winning. Is. The. Worst.
32. Why would schedule makers give both Indianapolis and Jacksonville the same bye week? What kind of world are we living in when neither @BortlesFacts nor @CaptAndrewLuck is obligated to entertain us on Sunday?