The last Sunday of September featured a number of pivotal games. Most divisions are slowly showing which teams will stand out as playoff favorites before Halloween. While a lot of wins and plays stood out, some were more eye-opening than others. Here are this weeks winners and losers.
Winners: The runningback duo of De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert
The Dolphins posted the second highest offensive yards total in NFL history and the most in the 21st century. 375 of the 726 yards and eight of Miami’s ten touchdowns came from the duo De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert.
The rookie Achane played two snaps in two games heading into Sunday. In the third round pick’s debut start, he averaged 11.3 yards per carry, ran for 200 yards and two scores. He also caught four passes for 30 yards and two additional touchdowns in Miami’s highest scoring game in franchise history and the first 70 point game for the NFL in the 21st century. The rookie could be a big part of head coach Mike McDaniel’s game plan further into the regular season and gives the Dolphins another weapon on offense.
Former 49er runningback Raheem Mostert had one of his best games since heading to the east coast. While Mostert didn’t have 100 yards rushing, he scored four straight touchdowns in two quarters. He’s proven to be an every down playmaker who needs to be accounted for and makes opposing defenses question what to do next.
There were valid concerns about Miami’s running game heading into 2023. McDaniel loves when the receivers put up high numbers on opposing defenses but adding another dimension of attack makes the Dolphins one of, if not the best team in the NFL. This will be a hard team to beat all four quarters any weekend.
Indianapolis Colts
The AFC South is the NFL’s worst division after September and that’s a sigh of relief for Indianapolis. New head coach Shane Steichen didn’t have top five overall pick Anthony Richardson start in Baltimore Sunday and many assumed this would result in a double digit loss. Instead, Steichen got his second NFL win and the Colts are in sole possession of first place and over .500 in the south.
Indianapolis’ defense played what could be one of their best games of the season. After giving up an opening drive rushing score to Lamar Jackson, the Colts defense gave up only one more touchdown (ironically to Jackson later in the second quarter) while forcing less than 200 passing yards. On offense, the Colts did just enough to steal a win in overtime. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew II threw a touchdown to Zach Moss and kicker Matt Gay made all five of his field goal attempts including the game winning kick.
It’s a big victory considering all four AFC South teams have at least one win after September. Many viewers still believe Indianapolis is one of the worst teams in the league, but they could give the division fits if they play simple and pick up a few wins the next two months.
DeShaun Watson
Cleveland entered Sunday at .500 with constant questions about the regression of their new franchise quarterback. DeShaun Watson hadn’t played a great game in almost three years. The $230 million playmaker needed to carry the offense to a win.
Watson finally stepped up and completed 27 of his 33 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. The first one gave Cleveland their second and last lead change of the day.
He’s been criticized for mediocre play (especially the previous Monday night) after having so much time not on the field and having to learn head coach Kevin Stefanski’s playbook with his teammates. The Browns didn’t pay him a lot of money to game manage and take a backseat to a featured runningback. He took command Sunday and got the major receivers involved. Watson should’ve had a third touchdown pass if the referee didn’t rule Amari Cooper out-of-bounds incorrectly. Hopefully this continues for most of October.
DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud
Indianapolis wasn’t the only winner in the AFC South Sunday. The rookie head coach and quarterback duo of DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud got a big win against their division rivals in Jacksonville.
Houston started hot and never trailed. The Jaguars didn’t score until the third quarter and while they came close multiple times, Ryans kept the team focused and Stroud led the offense on a 68 yard touchdown drive to seal up their first win of the season.
The Texans are surprisingly a top five passing team in the NFL. This is an eye opening stat most analysts aren’t talking about heading into October. While it will be harder for them to win more than one game the next few months, there’s a bright future in Houston with the new head coach and franchise quarterback duo.
Losers: Sam Howell
The fifth round sophomore quarterback began the season with two miraculous wins. Sunday he faced the veteran Buffalo Bills defense and it got ugly fast.
Every time Washington’s offense had a deep drive, Sam Howell found a way to turn the ball over. He threw four interceptions and posted a 41.5 quarterback rating. The Commanders didn’t score until Joey Slye’s 51 yard field goal with 50 seconds remaining in the game. Buffalo won 37-3.
There are plenty of games left for Howell to continue his growth versus hard opponents, but Sunday was a reminder for the young starter it’s not an easy league.
New Orleans Saints
At the end of the third quarter, New Orleans led Green Bay in Lambeau Field 17-0. New starting quarterback Derek Carr had a solid first half but had to leave due to a shoulder injury middle of the third quarter. While that demoralized the offense, the defense cratered and the Saints lost their first game of the season.
New Orleans’ offense has started slow in all three games despite improvements made, and while they’ve won two of three games, it shouldn’t be a struggle. The loss showed audiences how thin the margin of victory is week-to-week for Dennis Allen’s team. Minus Green Bay downing the ball the last possession, the Saints’ defense was stuck on the field for over 12 minutes in the last quarter. It’s not a surprise the Packers came back to score 18 unanswered points. The final sign of New Orleans’ defeat was a missed field goal on their last possession. There were enough mistakes on all three sides of the ball to cost the Saints a win.
Sean Payton and Russell Wilson
History will remember everything Miami did right in their 70-20 win versus Denver. Yet many should keep in mind the Dolphins’ success was mostly due to the Broncos quitting after an early double digit deficit.
Two defensive neutral zone infraction penalties on two separate Miami scoring drives, an offensive pass interference penalty to wipe out a touchdown and an illegal shift penalty that wiped away another score (in the same quarter!) were big reasons why Denver lost by 50. The Broncos are the second most penalized team in the NFL (26, Green Bay has the most with 27) and have a team captain making reckless head-to-head tackles on at least one receiver each game.
Considering Sean Payton said former head coach Nathaniel Hackett had, “One of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.” last year, one would think the offense would be better. The team’s best receiver lost two fumbles that led to 14 Dolphin points. Quarterback Russell Wilson was intercepted at the line of scrimmage by linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah. That led to another Miami touchdown. The offense converted three of their twelve third downs and special teams had all but six of Denver’s points.
If there’s ever a defining moment in the Russell Wilson era it was Sunday. While Wilson and the Broncos were in the final minutes of the most embarrassing game of the 21st century, the Seattle Seahawks celebrated the ten year anniversary of their championship season. Most of the 2013 Seahawks roster was in attendance to celebrate, mingle with fans, raise the 12th Man flag and give proper tributes to former starting quarterback and backup to Wilson, Tarvaris Jackson. When most of the former offensive line that protected Russell Wilson for years got to reminisce career highlights, 31 year old starting left tackle Garrett Bowles (who infamously told Wilson he’d never be hit again in Denver), made national headlines after the lopsided loss by saying, “I feel like <redacted>. I’m tired of losing man. I’ve been here for seven years and all I’ve done is lost. It’s frustrating.”
The NFL for not flexing terrible primetime games
When the NFL finally made flexing games in the first half of the regular season a reality, one would have thought they’d start implementing the change by week three or four. They have yet to do so.
It would’ve helped since America didn’t want the Chicago Bears v. Kansas City Chiefs as the game of the week. Many would’ve been spared watching the Josh McDaniels-led Raiders disappoint on Sunday night. Almost every viewer of the sport would love to see NBC flex the Chiefs-Jets showdown this upcoming Sunday night due to the lopsided differences in offensive talent (after Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles).
The NFL can be slow implementing new rules and for good reasons. This is one rule that if not acted on quick can show a massive difference in viewership and revenue. Here’s hoping we get more flexing for competitive games featuring playoff favorite teams.
JD's Sportscorner 