Did this Sunday’s early game slate make sense to you? Did you predict some of these shocking results?
That makes one of you.
The initial slate of games in week 7 of the NFL season offered up some real stunners and made absolutely no sense.
We know that the NFL is an “any Sunday” league, and in the age of parity and low scoring, any team can really win any game. But Sunday’s early slate really put that theory to the test.
Perhaps nothing beats what we saw in Carolina, since the carolina panthersembarrassed Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a final score of 21-3. Consider what has happened in Carolina over the last few weeks. The organization fired Matt Rhule and moved Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers. They started with PJ Walker at quarterback this week, with Baker Mayfield dealing with an injury. Center Pat Elflein was placed on Injured Reserve with an injury Saturday afternoon.
Despite this, the Panthers kept Brady and the Buccaneers’ offense out of the end zone, leaving Tampa Bay with a 3–4 record on the season.
After the game, both Brady and head coach Todd Bowles struggled to find answers:
#Bucs HC Todd Bowles opens his postgame press conference by saying that the offense is not playing well. As individuals, as a team, you don’t train well. It’s as dark as it’s going to be. They’re just going to dig as a team.
— Pewter Report (@PewterReport) October 23, 2022
#Bucs Bowles says this team lacks strength and mental toughness.
— Pewter Report (@PewterReport) October 23, 2022
#Bucs QB Tom Brady says the team just isn’t playing well. We talked about execution the other day and we’re still not doing it.
— Pewter Report (@PewterReport) October 23, 2022
Brady finished the day having completed 32 of 49 passes for 290 yards, but was left out of the end zone because the Buccaneers failed to score a touchdown. It looked like Brady and Mike Evans were going to connect early in the game for a big touchdown pass, as the wide receiver found himself behind the Panthers’ secondary but couldn’t catch the pitch:
That wasn’t the only quirky aspect of the initial list.
Perhaps the most exciting game during the first window came courtesy of the New York Giants and the jacksonville jaguars. After a Graham Gano field goal gave the Giants a 23-17 lead with just over a minute remaining, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars offense went to work on their final drive of the game, with the chance to win.
Jacksonville got into the red zone and got a third down from the New York 17-yard line with just five seconds remaining. Lawrence looked toward Christian Kirk in the middle of the field and the two connected, but were inches from the heroic finish:
This replay angle shows how close the Jaguars came to potentially pulling off the stunning win:
At least the Giants fans who traveled to Jacksonville were happy:
Then there was the situation in Landover, Maryland.
It’s been a tough few months for commanders, and a brutal week in particular. Investigations continue to revolve around owner Dan Snyder, and at the NFL League Meetings last week. Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay questioned Snyder’s status as owner. Throw in questions about quarterback Carson Wentz, and a season on the IR for the quarterback, a check given to a fan after winning a 50/50 raffle that bounced, players like Chris Cooley refused to be honored on the halftime because they don’t want to be associated with the team, and the drawing for a seat cushion was delayed until late in the game for fear fans would throw them onto the field in frustration, and you had the makings of a rough scene at FedEx Field for the Commanders with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers coming to town
So naturally, Taylor Heinicke and Washington got a win. What “sell the equipmentchants erupted throughout the FedEx field, and stadium workers signs pulled down reflecting that sentiment, the Commanders found a way to win. Heinicke threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a deep shot to Terry McLaurin early in the second half, as Washington held on for a 23-21 victory.
McLaurin was huge down the stretch for the Commanders. In addition to the touchdown, he had two critical catches on Washington’s final drive as the home team tried to prevent victory.
Still, Rodgers had a chance for one last play, and instead of going for a Hail Mary, they went for a series of wingers to spark some last-minute magic. But the play flopped, emblematic of crazy early slate:
The loss dropped the Packers to 3-4 on the season, along with the Buccaneers.
Which means Green Bay and Tampa Bay, two preseason favorites in the conference, have combined for as many wins on the year as the Giants.
Anything can happen on an NFL Sunday, and we saw a lot of that in today’s opening list.
The post The last play of Packers-Commanders summed up a stinky NFL Sunday early slate appeared first on WhatsNew2Day.