AFC West Recap - Week 6
TLDR: The Chargers are streaking and the Raiders are spiraling. Denver is addicted to trying 4th quarter comebacks and the Chiefs failed in thiers to get their first loss of the season.
In the battle of LCB, my (4-2) Chargers came out on top over Jeff’s Browns by a final score of 38-14. The offense was dialed all the way the fuck up, and the defense held a young, fast defense to a standstill thanks to fierce blitzing.
Tyrell Williams was the star of the day, and showed some serious flash to break out of the shadow of Mike Williams. He finished the day catching 3 of 4 targets for 118 yards and these crazy touchdowns
Did he get a lot of help from the refs not calling a false start on that last one? Sure did. The offensive line did a great job in protecting, affording a ton of time to Philip Rivers (11/20|207 yards|2 TD) vs some vicious pass-rushers. They called a ton of trick plays to keep the Browns on their toes, but not all turned out great. Rivers threw a screen to Keenan Allen, who tossed it back about 5 yards in front of Rivers for a near lost fumble. Lets, not do that again, Ken. Melvin Gordon had a day, rushing 18 times for 132 yards and a whopping 3 touchdowns.
Most of this was afforded to them by the defense, who gave them a ton of breathing room. Isaac Rochell was the MVP of the day, with a sack and a ton of pressure applied to help others get some of Baker as well. The team ended the day with 5 sacks, 3 TFL and a pair of fantastic picks from Desmond King.
Takeaways: It was a great performance, but they were also aided heavily by an early game injury to Baker Mayfield. They had some major woes on special teams, and the prior mentioned lucky break with the false start. The good news is that the offensive line showed they can still contain a decent pass rush even with a patchwork crew.
Notes: Caleb Sturgis, Travis Benjamin, Kyzir White, Jatavis Brown, Joe Barksdale and Joey Bosa all missed the game. Come back, Joey. Rookie kicker Mike Badgley went 5/5 on XP and hit a 44-yard field goal. They look to improve to 5-2 in London vs the Titans on Sunday. BUY A SHIRT.
(1-5) Is it too early to start the fire Gruden campaign? Hmmm, we will see. They were smashed by Seattle 27-3 in a real statement loss for the team.
This was their worst game offensively by far. The were positively anemic, lead by Derek Carr going 23/31 for a palty 142 yards and no touchdowns while losing two fumbles. Marshawn Lynch was crushed all game as well, only gaining 45 yards on 13 rushes. I wish I could give you highlights or something, but there really is nothing.
It was Kolton Millers worst day of the year by far. He had a great start to the year, but this is unacceptable.
Carr was sacked 6 times on the night, the last of which sending him to the locker room for the rest of the day with an arm injury. The defense fared better, but were ultimately fucked over by how poorly the offense played. They sacked Wilson once, had 4 passes defended and had a tip drill pick in the first half.
Takeaways: Other than that pick, this was just another game they’re going to have to forget. They’re spiraling right now in a really bad way, and with Carr hurt it may be time to just go full tank mode considering the mountains they would have to hurdle to make the playoffs at this point.
Notes: Karl Joseph, Brandon LaFell, Nick Nelson, Kelechi Osemele, Frostee Rucker, Ian Silberman and DeAndré Washington all missed the game. Amari Cooper and Seth Roberts both left the game with concussions, the former of which being particularly devastating because he is apparently being shopped by Gruden. They’re going into a much needed bye week to help rest some of these injuries.
This about sums up the year for Denver.
I’m convinced the (2-4) Broncos are actually good, but they just need to be at home. They fell 23-20 in a close loss to the Rams.
The offense was up and down, but overall Case Keenum played an OK game. He went 25/41 for 322 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. The offensive line was chewed up all night by one of the best defenses in football, letting Keenum get flushed out of the pocket all night to mixed results. The star of the day was Emmanuel Sanders, who hauled in 7 passes for 115 yards and a really gritty touchdown.
He had another one called back early in the game that would have been a huge gamechanger. The tandem of Royce Freeman and Philip Lindsay were mostly contained, especially since they were playing from behind. Combining for 40 yards on 13 carries, they were basically a non-factor. Swag Kelly did come in to close out the half and got a standing ovation from the whole home crowd which was pretty rad.
The defense played one of the best-worst games I can remember, HOWEVER, Max Kellerman, they were gashed up all game by Gurley. He averaged 7.4 YPC, totalling 225 total yards and 2 touchdowns. Let’s take a look at what Bradley Chubb was able to do tonight.
He finished the day with 3 sacks and 5 total tackles. Von Miller also had a comeback night, Sacking Goff 1.5 times. At the end of the day, they played LA really tough, but their early mistakes screwed them.
Takeaways: They played two undefeated teams in the NFL to the closest games they’ve had all year, but thats not worth fuck-all come playoff time. The way the AFC is shaping up right now, it’s going to take some sort of miracle streak for them to get the wildcard. The best takeaway is that the pass rush really came alive, and the worst takeaway is that the run-defense was one of the worst they’ve shown all year.
Notes: Adam Jones, Shamarko Thomas, Alexander Johnson, Demarcus Walker, Jared Veldheer and Sam Jones were all inactive. They go to Arizona for TNF.
(5-1) What an absolutely WILD game. Going into Foxborough to play the best QB/dynasty ever is daunting to the best of vets. For a first year starter it must be the scariest prospect you can imagine, regardless of the head-to-head team history. Pat Mahomes remains a god among men, however, carving up the Patriots and bailing out his own defense in a near comeback before eventually falling 43-17.
The Pats came into the game with a fairly average pass and rush defense from a statistical standpoint, and Mahomes took advantage of it with a lot of smart plays (and a few bad ones too). He finished the night 23/36 for 352 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 ill-advised picks. Tyreek Hill was the star through the air, bringing in 7 of 12 targets for 142 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Literally an impossible human being to cover. Remember Jalen Ramsey’s shit talk of choice for Hill was that he wasn’t a receiver and that he was just a gimmicky return threat? Lmao. Kareem Hunt had a HUGE game, with 185 total yards and a touchdown.
The guy must feed off the air in Massachusetts. BUY A SHIRT!!!
The defense, however, did not fare so well. They were eviscerated all night by Brady and company, and basically failed at every single stage. They couldn’t stop the run at all, or cover Gronk in any fashion whatsoever when it mattered. They also couldn’t generate pressure, or tackle for that matter. What I’m trying to say is that last week was a fluke, and they obviously are extremely flawed.
Not good! Their failure was highlighted by rookie Breeland Speaks whiffing on a surefire sack for some reason.
I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was afraid of being penalized. They had a singular highlight play in Speaks strip sack of Brady which was recovered by Allen Bailey. As a team, they only managed 1 qb pressure and a single pass defended while giving up 173 yards on the ground and 340 through the air. There is just no way that is going to fly come playoff time.
Takeaways: It’s only the first loss, so it’s obviously not time to hit the panic button. This was a lesson in how a playoff caliber team is going to negate the effect of the teams offense by focusing on what they can influence, the defense. Some good news outside of Mahomes continuing to shine in the bright lights, this Temon Smith fella might have to become the full-time KR man. That 97 yard return was electric, he just need to turn on the gas at the end of it. I don’t even know if it’s possible, they need to shore up on tackling. I don’t have the numbers, but it seems like they give up the most yards after contact in the league.
Notes: Eric Murray, Eric Berry, Darrel Williams, Justin Houston, Kahlil McKenzie, Justin Hamilton and Tanoh Kpassagnon were all inactive for the game. They go back home to play the Bengals on Sunday.
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