As we near the end of October, more teams are separating from playoff contender to having a high draft pick. Coaching plays a part in which team advances or goes home. It’s time to break down the weekends winners and losers.
Winners: Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia has dominated their division rival Giants the last few years. Sunday didn’t change.
The Eagles played their most complete game of the season. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed ten of 14 passes for 114 yards, a touchdown and a 119.3 passer rating. He also ran seven times for 22 yards and two scores. Former New York franchise star runningback Saquon Barkley ran 17 times for 176 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver A.J. Brown had five catches for 89 yards and the only touchdown thrown by Hurts. The Giants defense is good, but the Eagles offensive line dominated game pace and time of possession.
On defense, Philadelphia shut down New York’s offense. Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones threw 99 yards in three quarters. Jones was sacked eight times and struggled to find open receivers without a defender in his face. Defensive linemen Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean each had two sacks.
Head coach Nick Sirianni is under pressure to close the gap with division leader Washington. The defense got better this month and the offense improved against the best defense in their division. That’s a good sign this late in October.
Marcus Mariota
The only thing the Eagles didn’t get on an almost perfect Sunday was a Commanders home loss. After jumping to a quick ten point lead, Washington lost their starting quarterback Jayden Daniel to a rib injury. That meant backup quarterback Marcus Mariota played the rest of the game.
While Mariota’s inconsistency and injury history made him a backup, he played like a starter Sunday. Mariota completed 18 of 23 passes for 205 yards, two touchdowns and a 132.8 passer rating. He also ran eleven times for 34 yards. A nine year NFL veteran, Marcus Mariota plays well when scrambling outside the pocket.
Washington didn’t need a high octane offense to beat Carolina (more on them later), but they needed offensive depth to step up. The Commanders now know they have a good backup to run offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s plays if their starting quarterback gets injured again.
Los Angeles Rams defense
The Rams defense has been one of the worst this year. Reasons vary from offseason transactions, young talent adjusting to playing in the NFL, and lack of roster depth. Sunday was a boost for the learning unit.
Vegas’ offense struggled to move the ball downfield against Los Angeles. After starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell left with a hand injury, Gardner Minshew II completed 15 of 34 passes for 154 yards, three interceptions and a 21 quarterback rating. The defense’s best play of the game was defensive-back Cobie Durant sacking Minshew for eleven yards and forcing a fumble. Fellow defensive-back Kam Curl recovered the fumble and ran it back for a 33 yard touchdown. That score was the difference in Los Angeles’ second win of the season.
The Rams might be stuck at the bottom of the NFC west but it’s more important the defense develops and plays better the second half of the season. Sunday was a good starting point.
Patrick Mahomes’ 33 yard scramble against San Francisco
Every time viewers think they’ve seen Patrick Mahomes II do it all, he does something new. Kansas City’s dominant win against San Francisco had many fun plays, but the best was a 33 yard run by Mahomes with 1:08 remaining in the third quarter. His agility and improv behind the line of scrimmage show he’s the best in the league.
Losers: Bill Callahan
Every rookie head coach has highs and lows their first season. However, new Titans coach Bill Callahan continues having the worst luck after week seven.
Callahan decided to bench gaffe-prone starting quarterback Will Levis before Tennessee played the Bills. Backup Mason Rudolph got the start for multiple reasons and helped the Titans get a ten point lead at one point in the first half. Tennessee went into halftime at Buffalo leading by three.
Unfortunately, Callahan forgot how to make second half adjustments while leading against a veteran, playoff caliber team. A 10-7 lead wouldn’t stay for another half with how the Bills played better the last few minutes of the second quarter. While the Titans offense was shut out the second half, Buffalo scored ten points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth.
The offensive-minded Callahan was brought in to further develop talent at runningback and wide receiver. That’s been a struggle most of the season. It’s harder when Rudolph was chosen to play a conservative game. Bad luck is a factor in each Titans loss, but viewers have seen both quarterbacks struggle to adjust with second half gameplans. This could be a long, remaining two months of the regular season for Tennessee.
Atlanta Falcons offense
Atlanta was on a three game winning streak with the tiebreaker for first place in the NFC south before Sunday. The Falcons ended yesterday with questions on offense. It didn’t help starting quarterback Kirk Cousins talked trash about Seattle “walking into their trap” last week. Cousins had to back it up and play well against a younger, battered defense. That didn’t happen.
While Atlanta dominated the first half against the Seahawks in time of possession, they had seven points and trailed by ten at halftime. Kirk Cousins did throw a five yard touchdown to receiver Drake London to start the third quarter, but Seattle’s defense sealed a win late in the fourth when linebacker Boye Mafe forced a fumble and linebacker Derick Hall recovered and returned the ball 64 yards for a touchdown. The Seahawks secondary intercepted Cousins twice and limited top receivers London and Kyle Pitts to 63 and 65 yards.
The Falcons are 1-3 outside the NFC south. The one win was from a last minute score in Philadelphia. Atlanta hasn’t “walked into anyone’s trap” and played a dominant game this season despite the amount of talent on offense.
Andy Dalton
It looks like the offensive spark Carolina needed with Andy Dalton at quarterback is gone. Sunday was one of the worst games he’s had in his long career.
Dalton was overwhelmed early by Washington’s defense. On the Panthers first offensive possession of the game, he threw an interception to linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. that was returned 67 yards for a touchdown. That return covered 67% of the yards he threw the entire game. Andy Dalton threw 93 yards and another interception before benched former number one overall pick Bryce Young played late in the fourth quarter.
Ever since Carolina got a surprise win in Vegas, the offensive struggles have gradually returned to where injury-prone backup Marcus Mariota is better than the playoff experienced Dalton. It’s time Bryce Young starts again. Head coach Dave Canales needs to see if he’s progressed and can try to finish the Panthers long season.
San Francisco 49ers
The Chiefs know how to beat San Francisco. Every franchise has that one team they usually struggle and lose against no matter the talent level or what changes take place. While it’s understandable to lose every matchup to an opponent, having every bad thing happen hits harder for the losing team.
The 49ers loss yesterday went past stats. Starting quarterback Brock Purdy had one of his worst NFL performances with three interceptions. Injuries to Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk depletes an already anemic receiving core. The running game barely had 100 yards (from four players) and backup kicker Anders Carlson missed a critical extra point in the third quarter.
San Francisco’s defense intercepted Patrick Mahomes II twice, but gave up a highlight reel 33 yard run and 150 combined rushing yards to Mahomes, runningback Kareem Hunt, receiver Mecole Hardman and fullback Carson Steele. Kansas City got four rushing touchdowns from three of the aforementioned players. The defense also shares a league worst record: since 2017, the 49ers are 0-40 when trailing by eight or more points in the fourth quarter, including playoff games (via NFL Network).
The lowest part of San Francisco’s loss was offensive left tackle and captain Trent Williams sucker punching Chiefs defensive lineman Bryan Cook late in the fourth quarter. Cook openly agitated the veteran and Williams snapped. One could say that’s a snapshot moment of how Kansas City keeps beating San Francisco.
JD's Sportscorner 