Monday Morning Digest: Giants Letting Odell Beckham Jr. Down

Odell Beckham Jr. called out his teammates Friday. On Sunday, they proved that they deserved it.

Digest has all the details on the latest drama in the Meadowlands, plus:

• Panic in Philly and Green Bay

• A middleweight Battle Royale in the AFC

• A close call for the Rams in Seattle

• The ugliest Sunday of prop bets you could ever imagine

• A look at what the Bills offense and amorphophallus titanium have in common

...and much, much more!

Odell Beckham Jr. Is the Solution. The Giants Are the Problem.

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

To paraphrase 21st century philosopher Shawn Carter, the Giants have 99 problems, but Odell Beckham Jr. is not, in fact, one of them.

The Giants fell to 1-4 with a 33-31 loss to the Panthers on Sunday. Beckham caught eight passes for 131 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown reception, and added a trick-play touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley.

But you would think that Beckham was responsible for the loss, the Giants' poor start, global warming and our fractured political landscape.

Beckham, you see, chirped to ESPN's Josina Anderson in an interview broadcast before the game about the Giants' lack of energy and heart—and about Eli Manning's inability to get the ball downfield or into Beckham's hands.

The actual comments were relatively benign, though. The "Odell called out his teammates" paraphrase is much juicier. But Beckham brings boffo box office, and everything he says can and will (always) be used against him in the court of public opinion.

Head coach Pat Shurmur was "absolutely livid" with Beckham about the remarks, per a Jay Glazer report on the Fox pregame show, with Beckham reportedly apologizing to the team Saturday night after getting called on the carpet.

"I'm not going to give the public a pound of flesh on this," Shurmur said after the game (and, by the way, it's never a good sign when football coaches start quoting Shakespeare in Week 5). "That would make me small, not strong.

"These are the kinds of things, in my opinion, when you have the locker room that we have, that will help galvanize them. The locker room took care of it. That's all I'm saying on it. Finito. Done."

Um, Coach, the "Finito" thing doesn't make you look really big. It makes you sound like a middle manager throwing a hissy fit about a dirty break-room coffee pot.

The Giants' problem isn't that Beckham is running his mouth. It's that Beckham is right.

The Giants defense tackled like it was playing two-hand touch in the first half Sunday. The whole team lacked energy until Beckham energized them with his touchdown pass.

As for Eli, the Giants didn't have a big passing play until Beckham himself did the passing. Manning's two late touchdowns would be more impressive without the two interceptions that made them necessary.

Beckham also made a critical mistake, letting a punt bounce off his leg deep in his own territory to set up an easy Panthers touchdown. And he dropped a fourth-down pass, though a catcher's mitt may not have even helped him nab Manning's low-and-away slider.

But Beckham also spent several days getting poked and prodded by reporters about his "frustrations" (we fed him that word several times during a Thursday press conference, hoping he would regurgitate it back to us) and remained diplomatic until finally musing aloud that, yes, it would be nice if his quarterback found him when he got open deep.

If Shurmur doesn't want Beckham to get get needled into honesty, he needs to fix the problem instead of looking for apologies.

Eli is toast—and has been for at least a year. The Giants defense is low on talent. Shurmur looks more like the guy who coached the Browns to 9-23 than the cog in the Vikings machine we saw last year. And the Giants would not have even kept Sunday's game close if not for Beckham and some unforced errors by the Panthers.

Beckham just said what we all were thinking.

But when Beckham is involved, you better believe that the messenger's going to bear the brunt of the blame.

Panic in the NFC

Corey Perrine/Getty Images

Many of the NFC's top contenders are in a state of panic, to varying degrees, after Sunday's action. Digest scans the conference to determine who is hyperventilating, and who should be.

Green Bay Packers

Problems: Injuries at wide receiver. An outdated offense that only works when there are no injuries at wide receiver. Aaron Rodgers is taking too many hits. Penalties. Mason Crosby suddenly can't kick a football into Lake Superior while standing on a pier.

Panic level: Very high. One play typifies the current Packers dilemma. Late in the second quarter, Davante Adams bumped into teammate Marquez Valdes-Scantling coming off the line and then crashed into Ty Montgomery in the middle of the field while Rodgers scrambled and waved for Jimmy Graham to get open. Lions defender Romeo Okwara strip-sacked Rodgers before Adams could careen into any more teammates.

The Packers' two wins were the hair-on-fire comeback against the Bears and the sloppiest shutout victory in history over the Bills. They look like a disorganized, poorly coached team even in their victories. A Patriots-Rams stretch in a few weeks could expose them once and for all as playoff wannabes.

Philadelphia Eagles

Problems: Jalen Mills. Injuries at running back. Jalen Mills. Inconsistent pass protection. Jalen Mills. A general sense that the team used up all of its good luck and some of its good feelings during last season's Super Bowl run. And Jalen Mills.

Panic level: Extreme. The Eagles aren't a great situational or fundamental football team right now. They kill themselves with fumbles, coverage lapses, failed third downs on offense and other errors. And Mills, who ended up jawing with teammate Fletcher Cox after a miscue Sunday, needs to have his role reduced before he bursts into flames.

Most of the Eagles problems are fixable, but A) some of the guys best qualified to fix them are coaching in Minnesota and Indy, and B) by the time Doug Pederson figures everything out, the Rams and either the Saints or Panthers will have first-round playoff byes.

Minnesota Vikings

Problems: Oh, everything's fine after that win over the Eagles. Except that the offensive line is still lousy. And Sunday's outcome might look very different without a rumbling fumble return for a touchdown by Linval Joseph and an Eagles goal-line fumble followed by a coverage blunder to set up an easy Vikings field goal.

Panic level: Low. Sunday's win didn't earn many style points, but it sets the Vikings up for a potential three-game winning streak if they don't look past the Cardinals and Jets in upcoming weeks. And after the Bills fiasco, they won't be looking past anyone. Also, the Packers' woes keep the NFC North up for grabs. In the NFC, messy wins are going to be important wins. 

Atlanta Falcons

Problems: Defensive injuries. Even more defensive injuries. The usual problems with situational offense: There may be an actual play in Steve Sarkisian's playbook called "get sacked out of field-goal range."

Panic level: Let's just say that the sacrificial coordinator firings may soon commence—and not a moment too soon.

AFC Middleweight Spotlight

Frank Victores/Associated Press

You know who the AFC middleweights are: the teams who are not the Patriots, Chiefs, Steelers or Jaguars but have a chance to make the playoffs because someone has to occupy those other two slots.

Four middleweights entered Sunday with gaudy 3-1 records, but they all proved to be pretty middling. Here's the breakdown:

Baltimore Ravens (lost to Browns 12-9 in overtime; now 3-2)

After a month-long re-enactment of the 2012 playoffs, Joe Flacco reverted to familiar Bad Flacco form against the tough Browns defense. He threw a goal-line interception among his 56 (!) pass attempts (offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg called the whole game as if the Ravens trailed by 24 points), Buck Allen added a fumble and even Justin Tucker had a field goal blocked. It was the return of the type of Ravens football we all know and find reasons to avoid watching.

Cincinnati Bengals (beat Dolphins 27-17; now 4-1)

Bengals-Dolphins was one of those Conference USA vs. MAC college games that you stumble into on some home shopping channel on Saturday afternoon, wonder why it was scheduled in the first place and end up enjoying.

Short-handed on offense without Tyler Eifert and Giovani Bernard, the Bengals fell behind 17-3 but came back on the strength of a pair of defensive touchdowns and strong games from Joe Mixon (115 scrimmage yards and a receiving touchdown) and A.J. Green (six catches, 112 yards).

Just as the Ravens are back to being a slow-motion nightmare in road games, the Bengals are back to being the best team in the league at winning Sunday early games but losing once you start paying attention, like when they face the Steelers next week.

Miami Dolphins (lost to Bengals 27-17, now 3-2)

Ryan Tannehill peaked in Week 3 against the Raiders, folks. It's all downhill from here.

Tennessee Titans (lost 13-12 to the Bills, now 3-2)

The Bills are the NFL's ultimate trap team: so inept offensively that a team coming off an emotional overtime win might look past them, just good enough on defense to force some turnovers and stymie your defense if they parlay those turnovers into a lead. An early Titans fumble set up a Josh Allen rushing touchdown (Allen only runs for touchdowns, per the curse Tyrod Taylor placed on the team), and the Titans played the rest of the game like they used up every good idea against the Eagles last week in overtime.

The Titans now have two games in which they failed to score a touchdown and three wins by a combined nine points, which tells you all you need to know about their viability as a playoff team.

Game Spotlight: Chiefs 30, Jaguars 14

Ed Zurga/Associated Press

What happened

Patrick Mahomes proved that he was mortal. But Blake Bortles proved once again that he is Bortles.

Bortles threw four interceptions, including a pick-six, and lost a fumble, handing back a Mahomes interception with one of the turnovers and killing a pre-halftime scoring drive with another. The Chiefs used the defensive points and extra possessions to take control of a game in which Mahomes threw two interceptions and their offense couldn't quite shift into high gear against the tough Jaguars defense.

What it means

Mahomes played better than his stats indicate. He ran for a touchdown, moved defenders with his eyes to create opportunities underneath and spread the ball out to nine different receivers. But he also displayed the downside of all those Brett Favre comparisons with wild overthrows and some ill-advised scrambles.

Overall, Mahomes and the Chiefs offense may look more impressive when manufacturing points against top defenses than they do playing pitch-and-catch against weaklings, because it shows off their depth and versatility. When an offense has too many weapons and concepts for the Jaguars, it just has too many weapons and concepts.

The Chiefs defense benefited from some Bortles gimmes and a strange Jaguars reluctance to run the ball down their throats when the game was still close. The D doesn't have to be stout to support their offense, though. Like an uptempo basketball defense, it just needs to keep generating sacks and turnovers while opponents are pressing to keep pace with the offense.

Bottom line: The Chiefs have found ways to win two straight games during Mahomes' come-down from whatever Dune spice he was on in September. But the Jaguars have lost two games to conference foes due to offensive deficiencies. This is how playoff seedings are settled come season's end.

What's next

Bortles vs. Dak Prescott in Dallas: Mister Turnover Guy vs. Mister Under 200 Passing Yards.

Also, a Chiefs-Patriots game that may be of some interest to a handful of football fans.

Game Spotlight: Rams 33, Seahawks 31

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

What happened

The Rams were uncharacteristically sloppy in all three phases of the game. Their offense was inefficient (just 3-of-9 on third downs) for much of the game and gave up a goal-line interception early. Their front four was porous and their pass coverage (particularly Marcus Peters) vulnerable. They even missed an extra point and gave up a long kick return.

The Seahawks were also uncharacteristic: They ran the ball effectively, with Chris Carson (19 carries, 116 yards) providing some Beast Mode memories to complement the usual Russell Wilson playground highlights.

The Seahawks entered the fourth quarter leading 31-24, but a Robert Woods jet sweep set up a Todd Gurley touchdown, and then Cairo Santos made up for his missed extra point with a go-ahead field goal. A pair of offensive line penalties killed the final Seahawks drive and reminded us that they are still the Seahawks.

What it means

The Rams remain the NFL's best team, but weaknesses are beginning to appear, most notably in the secondary: Aqib Talib is on IR, and Peters is playing through a calf injury (and can be faked out of his cleats when healthy).

Still, there's no such thing as an easy win in Seattle, no matter how many Seahawks legends leave the field flipping off their own bench. The Seahawks threw everything they had at the Rams in a wild back-and-forth game full of tip drills, huge hits and hurtling defenders. It wasn't enough, and it demonstrates just how hard the Rams are to beat, even on an off day.

Also: The jet sweep is this year's read option—the hot play that is crossing up defenses across the league. The Rams and Chiefs wouldn't be the Rams and Chiefs without it.

What's next

The Rams' three-game road trip continues with a visit to the Broncos. If a team wins back-to-back games in Seattle and Denver, no matter how bad the Seahawks and Broncos are playing, it should just automatically advance to the playoffs.

The Seahawks face the Raiders, who stink.

Digest Sportsbook: Player Prop Bets Extravaganza

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Digest hit on a Patriots-and-the-Over parlay at +230 on Thursday night, figured it wasn't gonna get any better after that stealing candy from that baby and then switched gears for Week 5 to see what player props were available on the Draft Kings Sportsbook app. Here's how we fared:

Matt Ryan (over 300.5 passing yards): This felt like a cinch against the leaky Steelers defense, despite Ryan's habit of stalling in the 278-to-288-yard range. It's not like we were wagering on him finding Julio Jones in the end zone or anything, right? Sure enough, Ryan came up just short, with 285 yards, and the Falcons turned to Matt Schaub on the meaningless final drive to prevent us from picking up 16 measly garbage yards. Also, no one found Julio Jones in the end zone. Loss.

Bilal Powell (under 40.5 rushing yards): Digest usually hates unders, but the best player prop bets are somewhere between a wager and a chance to troll a team making loopy personnel decisions. The Jets never quite find ways to get Powell the ball, and they seemed unlikely to do so against the stout Broncos defense. But even with Isaiah Crowell rushing for a whopping 219 yards, Powell got 20 carries for 99 yards. In other news: The Broncos offense may have finally broken the Broncos defense. Loss.

Aaron Jones (over 65.5 rushing yards): Speaking of teams that never figure out how to distribute carries, Jones out-performed Jamaal Williams for two straight weeks and was facing the pathetic Lions run defense. He only cleared the 65.5 mark twice in his two-year career (hitting 65 on the dot against the Bills last week), but Jones was a hot "start 'em" option in fantasy circles. Naturally, Jones rushed just seven times for 40 yards, with Williams and Ty Montgomery siphoning off carries and Mike McCarthy calling 52 passing plays even though the Packers receiving corps now consists of guys like Extemporaneous Smith and Exxon Oilspill-Halfling. Loss.

Matt Breida (over 49.5 rushing yards): Breida got a clean bill of heath on Sunday morning, and how else were the Niners supposed to move the football? Well, Breida had eight carries for 56 yards (and caught a touchdown pass) in the first quarter and then did what all 49ers offensive players do: He left the game with an injury. Maybe player parlays for the 49ers aren't such a great idea. But we'll take the Win.

Odell Beckham Jr. (under 85.5 receiving yards): The Panthers were doing a fine job of shutting down No. 1 receivers entering Sunday, while Eli Manning and the Giants were doing a fine job of shutting Beckham down by throwing him nothing but shallow crosses and off-target throws along the sidelines. But Digest placed the prop bet before we knew it was Odell Beckham Jr. Storyline Day. Loss.

Robert Woods (over 69.5 receiving yards): With Earl Thomas out of the picture, the Seahawks secondary is a Legion of Whom? Woods' only competition in clearing the over appeared to be his teammates. But with the Rams looking less than perfect in a wild game, it took a pair of back-to-back fourth-quarter Woods receptions to earn the Win.

Allen Hurns (over 24.5 receiving yards): That 24.5 over was too much of a siren song to resist. Dak Prescott's passing-yard over was an anemic 220.5, but why hope that Prescott can clear an over on screens to Ezekiel Elliott when you can root for one deep completion to a former 1,000-yard receiver who also happens to be one of the few healthy bodies in the Cowboys receiving corps? Hurns caught a three-yard touchdown pass but did nothing else, while Prescott fell short of his over with 208 yards on one scramble-and-bomb to Tavon Austin and lots of glorified handoffs to Elliott and the tight ends. No bar is low enough for the Cowboys passing game to clear. Loss.

Efe Obada (over 1.5 sacks, at +1400): Obada is one of the feel-good stories of the year, and a +1400 moneyline against the Giants pass protection feels pretty darn good, too. Alas, Obada only got close to Eli Manning once. Loss.

Week 5 summary: It's a good thing we hit that parlay on Thursday night.

Awards Digest

Jason E. Miczek/Associated Press

Offensive Line of the Week

The Jets rushed for 323 yards against the Broncos, so let's not overthink it: This week's award goes to Kelvin Beachum, James Carpenter, Spencer Long, Brian Winters and Brandon Shell, with honorable mention to the Jets receivers who helped spring Isaiah Crowell down the field.

Defensive Player of the Week

T.J. Watt had three sacks and a forced fumble that teammate L.J. Fort recovered in the end zone in the fourth quarter to ice the Steelers victory over the Falcons.

Watt explained his success against Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews to Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I felt like I could just get the inside move on him early," Watt said. "And I think any time you are a pass-rusher and you can get the inside move on a guy early, it kind of gets in his head."

Watt was also flagged for roughing the passer when he grazed Matt Ryan's ankles while sliding past him, prompting elder brother J.J. Watt (who was presumably watching the Steelers because it only takes 15 minutes of tape study to figure out the Cowboys) to demand an explanation on Twitter. Ankle-grazing is a penalty now, J.J. Everything you and your brother do for a living is a penalty. Get used to it.

Special Teamer of the Week

The Panthers shouldn't have needed a 63-yard field goal from Graham Gano to beat the Giants. But they did. And he drilled it.

Special Teams Goat of the Week

Mason Crosby missed four field goals and an extra point for the Packers, who lost by eight points. Do the math. Crosby did hit a late field goal to make the final score 31-23. The over/under happened to be 51. So at least gamblers aren't as angry at Crosby as Packers fans must be.

Mystery Touch of the Week

Jaguars guard A.J. Cann probably never had a pass carom off his helmet and into a defender's hands in the end zone before. But when Blake Bortles is your quarterback, anything is possible.

Stiff Arm of the Week

Kenny Golladay drove Ha Ha Clinton-Dix so deep into the ground with a stiff arm during a 60-yard reception that Clinton-Dix nearly sprouted apple blossoms. Rookie cornerback Josh Jackson gets honorable mention for jumping about two seconds too soon and falling flat on his face in coverage, making Golladay's catch-and-run possible.

Ravens Moment of the Week

The crafty Ravens lined up in a kill-the-clock formation with five seconds left before overtime, but Alex Collins followed a wall of blockers for 13 yards against the unsuspecting Browns defense. The trick play might have set up a long Justin Tucker field-goal attempt...if it had not used up all the time left on the clock.

Fantasy Leech of the Week

Devonta Freeman returned for the Falcons! You know what that means, fantasy fans...a touchdown run not by Freeman, nor Tevin Coleman, but Ito Smith. The Falcons are geniuses of disappointment. 

Near-Miss Mystery Touch Fantasy Leech of the Week

Chargers edge rusher Melvin Ingram lined up at fullback at the goal line and took an inside handoff, but was stuffed for no gain. Ingram later caught a pass in the end zone, but Derek Carr threw it.

Inside the Numbers

Jason Miller/Getty Images

Sam Darnold, New York Jets (10-of-22 for 198 yards, three touchdowns and one interception): Take away Robby Anderson's 76- and 35-yard touchdowns from Darnold's stats, and suddenly he's 8-of-20 for 87 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Imagine the storylines after a game like that. Darnold deserves credit for those Anderson touchdowns, so it's not fair to just erase them from the game. But doing so illustrates how a few big plays (and some sloppy mistakes by the defense) change the perception of a quarterback's performance. It also reveals just how important playing with the lead can be: Darnold wasn't efficient at all against the Broncos, but he didn't have to be. And he didn't have to throw the ball much, thanks to big plays from Anderson and Isaiah Crowell.

Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns (25-of-43, 342 yards, one TD, one interception): Mayfield's two longest completions came in overtime: a 27-yarder to Jarvis Landry on a failed drive and a 31-yarder to Derrick Willies to set up the game-winning field goal. Both were short tosses after Mayfield sidestepped the pass rush, illustrating just what makes Mayfield so promising. Field position played a big factor in limiting Mayfield and the Browns offense. They started seven drives inside their own 20-yard line, including two in overtime. If you want to make a young quarterback and a still-developing offense look worse than it really is, force them to drive 85 yards for touchdowns.

LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills (24 rushes for 85 yards, and two catches for 23 yards): The Bills ran the ball 43 times against the Titans and attempted just 20 passes, including a fake punt. Their longest play from scrimmage was a 16-yard run by McCoy, who added a 13-yard run to set up a third-quarter field goal. The drive consisted of four runs, a two-yard pass, a sack and a 13-yard catch. In other words, the Bills offense is like one of those jungle flowers that reeks like a decaying carcass, luring insects and hyenas to come close enough that it can devour them with the razor-sharp petals of the Bills defense. Our botany may be a little off in this metaphor, but the stinking-carcass analogy is dead on.

Budda Baker, Antoine Bethea and Josh Bynes, Arizona Cardinals (29 combined solo tackles, 11 assists, two sacks): The 49ers ran 92 offensive plays in their 28-18 loss to the Cardinals. That's about a game-and-a-half's worth of plays. They possessed the ball for over 40 minutes, but they came away from eight-, nine- and 13-play drives with no points due to missed field goals and turnovers. Bynes recovered one C.J. Beathard fumble (Beathard turned the ball over four times) for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Lots of plays mean lots of tackles for defenders, often on meaningless final drives (Baker had four of them late in the fourth quarter) or after productive plays by the offense. Never judge a defender by his tackle stats or an offense by its time of possession; chances are, you're looking at statistical mirages.

Point-Counterpoint

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

Your weekly debate about what's happening off the field.

Kareem Hunt was fined $26,379 for a lowering-the-helmet infraction that wasn't flagged on the field.

Point: Referees were confused by the fact that they were given five sets of contradictory instructions on lowering-the-helmet penalties over the last five weeks.

Counterpoint: Hunt's base salary is only $575,250, so he was fined about 5 percent of his salary for a non-penalty. But don't worry about Hunt financially, folks, he'll be able to renegotiate in 2021. Unless he gets hurt. Or franchised, which could happen for three straight years, until Hunt is pushing 30, and...oh, THAT's why Le'Veon Bell is so mad.

The Chargers piped in artificial crowd noise during practice to prepare for the Raiders crowd...at a Chargers home game.

Point: They also added a laugh track for their special teams.

Counterpoint: The Chargers are the dude who leaves his family to "make it in Hollywood" and ends up sleeping on a bench in a bus terminal for two years. Next year, they graduate all the way up to sleeping on a buddy's couch.

Adrian Peterson purchased scooters for his offensive linemen, who promptly rode them around the locker room on Friday.

Point: It was a ploy to get more touches. Peterson hoped some lineman will accidentally run over Chris Thompson.

Counterpoint: Dan Snyder immediately fired the FedExField grounds crew and will just force his linemen to scooter up and down the field like a five-man Zamboni to prep it for game day.

Rams receiver Robert Woods' house was burglarized. The suspects were also linked to burglaries of Rihanna and Yasiel Puig.

Point: If you rob Rihanna and a baseball player with a guaranteed $42 million contract (four times, allegedly) but still need money, you are probably doing robbery wrong.

Counterpoint: For home-security purposes, James Harrison recommends faking injuries so criminals won't know if you are traveling with the team to road games.

Bonus counter-counterpoint: The suspects should be sentenced to 60 days with the Arizona Cardinals.

The 15 highest-rated television shows during the month of September were all NFL games.

Point: This despite the fact that all the NFL boycotters spend each Sunday watching the final episode of M*A*S*H on Me-TV.

Counterpoint: If this keeps up, the NFL will be almost as popular with the youth demographic as a guy on YouTube who makes fart noises over Fortnite playthroughs.

And Finally

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Observations that didn't fit anywhere else:

 • The Raiders opted for a play-action pass instead of a Marshawn Lynch dive at the 1-yard line, and in true Super Bowl XLIX fashion, they were punished with a Melvin Ingram interception of Derek Carr. Lynch threw his helmet in disgust, and Jon Gruden made sure that Carr got his share of the blame in the postgame presser. "The decision there is to throw it, and if it's not open, you throw it away," Gruden said. In Gruden's defense, Lynch has plenty of one-yard plunges this year, so play-action is a defensible play call, and Carr should not have forced a pass into the middle of the end zone on 1st-and-goal. On the other hand, the Raiders trailed 20-3 at that point, so maybe Gruden should be mitigating the potential damage of that mistake instead of exacerbating it.

• The Bengals' comeback against the Dolphins began when Miami left tackle Laremy Tunsil left the game with a possible concussion. The Bengals quickly turned pass pressure into a pair of defensive touchdowns. Adam Gase admitted after the game that Tunsil's departure "shook us up a little bit." Losing a left tackle hurts, but a team with a veteran quarterback and a coach in his third season should not be rendered incapable of competing by one injury. The Dolphins face Khalil Mack and the Bears next week, so Gase had better make sure that Tunsil is back by then—or that his team is less-easily shook.

• The Broncos are 2-3 after starting the season 2-0. Last year, they started the season 2-0 and 3-1 but finished 5-11. In 2016, they started the season 4-0 and finished just 9-7. There are worse teams than the Broncos, but no recent team bakes mediocrity into the entire franchise quite like them. This was a team that built an ordinary-at-best offense on purpose when it signed Case Keenum, expecting its defense to carry it to the playoffs. Even the Jets are laughing at that strategy right now.

• Bill O'Brien and Jason Garrett are in their fifth and ninth seasons as head coaches, respectively. Yet the final game of the weekend, Texans-Cowboys, was one of the most poorly coached games of the year. The Cowboys' passing game has constricted down to about six plays, five of them screen passes, with Dak Prescott under siege on every dropback. The Texans outplayed the Cowboys all night but settled for three field goals on four trips inside the Cowboys' 3-yard line. Garrett then punted on 4th-and-1 from the Texans' 42-yard line, allowing the Texans to win with one big DeAndre Hopkins catch-and-run and a field goal. The Cowboys and Texans would both be better teams with better coaches, but Garrett is too valuable as a Jerry Jones yes man/fall guy to fire, while Bill O'Brien somehow finagled a contract extension in January and will probably buy at least a year by beating terrible teams and assigning blame to the previous general manager.