Gridiron Digest 2019 Week 8: Is This Brady and Belichick's Best Team Ever?
Everyone knows the Patriots are great. But are they as great as the greatest Patriots team ever? Or have they just been tiptoeing through a schedule full of tulips, which could leave them exposed against tougher foes when the playoffs arrive?
After this week's edition of Gridiron Digest tackles that question, we whip around the league to bring you all the Week 8 action, including:
• The latest kicker failure (and quarterback dilemma) for the Bears
• The triumphantly quiet, quietly triumphant return of Drew Brees
• A statement win for the Eagles, who had been making the wrong sorts of statements lately
• A deep dive into how road underdogs have shaken up the gambling world so far this year, and how some were shaken up Sunday
• A trade deadline teaser trailer
...and much, much more!
Finally a Real Opponent for the 2019 Patriots: The 2007 Patriots
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The Patriots haven't played anybody.
We're starting with that so no one can accuse us of not mentioning it. Gridiron Digest is aware the Patriots have played a creampuff schedule full of rookie quarterbacks, backup quarterbacks, ghostbusting second-year quarterbacks, directional schools and FCS midmajors.
But even factoring in the softer-than-baby-cheeks schedule, there's a chance this is the best Patriots team ever.
Sunday's 27-13 victory over the Browns looked like most Patriots victories this season. Their defense forced early mistakes and then clamped down, while Tom Brady and the offense feasted on great field position and then coasted on a comfortable lead. The Patriots have now outscored their opposition 250-61 this season, which means they win their average game by a score of roughly 31-8.
So these Patriots are obviously great. But how great, historically speaking?
To see if the 2019 Patriots stack up among all the other great Patriots teams, we need a precision scientific instrument: namely, Football Outsiders' DVOA, which weighs the success of every single play each season, and—critically—adjusts for the strength of each opponent.
The Patriots entered Sunday with a DVOA of 54.6 percent, the highest figure in the league. (That means that they are 54.6 percent better than a league-average team would be, if you are wondering.) The 2007 Patriots had a final DVOA of "just" 52.9 percent. Here's a list of the top five best Brady-Belichick Patriots teams:
How on earth do the current Patriots come out ahead of the 2007 team?
After all, 2007 Brady was clearly superior to 2019 Brady, who is—don't you dare write "looking old' or "on the downswing" unless you want Patriots fans on Twitter to vivisect you—um, just a smidge less dominant than he was during that 50-touchdown season.
The 2007 Patriots had Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte' Stallworth at wide receiver and 27-year-old Benjamin Watson at tight end; the Patriots have Julian Edelman and whoever is available at wide receiver and 39-year-old Benjamin Watson at tight end. And that 2007 Patriots defense was no slouch: Asante Samuel, Mike Vrabel and Vince Wilfork all earned Pro Bowl notice that year.
But the current Patriots are fielding the greatest defense through seven games of the past 30 years, again according to Football Outsiders. Stephon Gilmore leads a secondary more talented and deeper than the many fine units of the last 20 years. Jamie Collins leads a multi-faceted pass rush every bit as good as the ones Vrabel and others led in the past.
And you probably cannot even name the running back for the 2007 Patriots*, whereas the James White-Sony Michel-Rex Burkhead attack makes up for some of the shortcomings of Brady's current receiving corps (even with Michel playing poorly).
So, yes, the Patriots may indeed be better than ever, which means they can waltz right into the Super Bowl, right? Well, yeah, probably. C'mon, they're the Patriots.
But not so fast! There are other forces at work:
• Through their first seven games, the 2007 Patriots were far better (DVOA of 69.1 percent, the highest ever) than the current team. The 2019 Patriots rank higher because the 2007 team had some tight wins against quality opponents late in the year. This year's Patriots are about to embark on a tougher stretch of games, starting next week against the Ravens in Baltimore.
• Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders told Gridiron Digest on Sunday night that the Patriots' DVOA would go down (to 44.7 percent, closer to the other great Patriots teams than the 2007 team) after the Browns win, which wasn't as dominant as past victories (the slackers allowed Nick Chubb to rush for 131 yards and gave up their fourth offensive touchdown of the year). When a 27-13 win makes a team's ranking go down, it's a sign of central tendency pulling hot-starting teams back to earth.
• As the list above illustrates, the best Patriots teams are not always the best Patriots playoff teams, and vice versa. Beating the Jets and Browns by extra-wide margins will mean little come January.
Even after applying high-tech stats to account for the strength of the Patriots schedule, the strength of the Patriots schedule may remain a factor. It's a both-things-are-true situation. Despite injuries and an offense that won't shatter any records, the Patriots are as great as they've ever been. But a tougher schedule could pull them back to the pack late in the year, and anything can happen in the playoffs and Super Bowl.
It doesn't matter if these Patriots are as good as any past Patriots team, anyway. All that matters is that they are the best team in the NFL. The only teams that can challenge that claim are the 49ers and Saints. If the Patriots meet either of them, it will be in the Super Bowl.
(* It was Laurence Maroney. Don't act like you remembered.)
Player Spotlight: The Return of Drew Brees
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What happened
Saints quarterback Drew Brees returned from a hand injury slightly sooner than expected after Teddy Bridgewater delivered one of the most impressive long relief stints by a backup quarterback in history, and the results were...good, if a little anticlimactic.
Brees dinked, dunked and sidestepped the dangerous Cardinals pass rush a few times and spread the ball around to multiple targets. After a sluggish start, he threw short touchdowns to Latavius Murray, Taysom Hill and Michael Thomas as well as a wobbly interception to Patrick Peterson. Passes left his hand a little funny at times, but you don't judge a 40-something Hall of Famer by the tightness of his spiral as long as it arrives at its destination.
Brees' final numbers: 34-of-43 for 373 yards and three touchdowns with one pick in a 31-9 victory. Excellent numbers. But it isn't hard to imagine Bridgewater (who made a late-game appearance as the Saints pulled away) putting up similar ones.
What it means
The fact that Brees only looked slightly better than Bridgewater is a testament to several factors:
• Bridgewater is very good and should be an NFL starter next year (with all rights, privileges and zeroes on the end of his contract).
• Brees, like some other living legend quarterbacks, is still great but is no longer at his peak.
• Alvin Kamara's absence has had an impact on the Saints offense, even with Murray playing well. Brees (like Bridgewater last week) had to rely on receivers such as Hill and Dan Arnold more than he would like to Sunday, which resulted in some stalled first-half drives.
• The Saints defense is a huge part of the Saints' success. It made Kyler Murray look like a JV quarterback scrimmaging against the varsity for much of the afternoon and held the Cardinals to nine minutes of possession and six points in the first half while the Saints offense was still figuring things out.
Combine Brees' return with some great defensive play and an ability to win with secondary weapons, and the Saints look a lot like the Patriots of the NFC.
Not bad for a team that a lot of us were ready to bury when Brees got hurt in the Week 2 loss to the Rams.
What's next
After a bye, Brees and the Saints play four divisional games in four weeks, including two games against the Falcons. As they say in New Orleans, Laissez les bons temps rouler.
Game Spotlight: Packers 31, Chiefs 24
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What happened
A Packers team with only one weapon for Aaron Rodgers faced off against a Chiefs team with lots of weapons but no Patrick Mahomes. A surprising, entertaining shootout ensued.
Matt Moore brought the Chiefs back from a 14-0 deficit to take a 17-14 lead by distributing short passes to Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Mecole Hardman and others. A LeSean McCoy fumble later led to a Packers touchdown and a 24-24 tie. Rodgers then connected with running back Aaron Jones (13 carries for 67 yards rushing, as well as seven catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns) for the go-ahead touchdown.
Moore, despite a solid overall relief performance, was unable to answer back.
What it means
Sunday night's win makes it clear that the NFC playoff race now consists of:
• The 49ers, Saints and Packers, almost certainly in that order, followed by...
As for the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes is expected to return shockingly soon because his knee is reportedly far superior to the typical human knee. (Imagine what the inner workings of his arm must be like.)
Moore executed a typically clever Andy Reid game plan, but the Chiefs lack the defensive consistency to beat good opponents without the reigning MVP. Their AFC West lead remains safe, though, because their three divisional foes are all mediocre in three distinct ways (and two of the three also lost Sunday).
What's next
The Chiefs hope Mahomes' mutant healing factor kicks in as they host the Vikings, but they might have to wait one more week. The Cheeseheads head to Los Angeles to take over the Chargers' corner cafe/makerspace/home stadium.
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Player Spotlight: Everyone on the Bears Except Mitch Trubisky
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What happened
The Bears lost 17-16 to the Chargers because:
• Eddy Pineiro missed a potential game-winning field goal in the final seconds.
• Matt Nagy's game plan left a lot of points on the board, particularly in one mind-bending halftime sequence in which the Bears executed six plays inside the Chargers' 4-yard line but burned all their timeouts and were lucky to come away with a field goal.
• David Montgomery rushed for 135 yards, including a 55-yarder, as part of Nagy's newfound emphasis on the running game. But no one else on offense delivered any big plays. The Bears defense played very well, setting the offense up with 1st-and-goal on a Kyle Fuller interception early in the game (the Bears kicked a field goal) and stopping the Chargers deep in their own territory late in the game to set up the final drive. But a couple of lapses and one 26-yard touchdown drive gave the Chargers all the points they needed on a day when their receivers dropped multiple touchdown passes.
In summary, the rest of the Bears did not perform well enough to overcome Mitch Trubisky, who looked semi-competent at times in the first half and on the final drive but coughed up two of his signature turnovers in the second half to spark the Chargers comeback.
What it means
Gridiron Digest is often asked during talk radio appearances whether the Bears are good enough for a deep playoff run with Trubisky at quarterback. The answer is that it does not matter because they have no choice.
Trubisky is their quarterback. Chase Daniel demonstrated in the Week 5 Raiders loss that he's not a serious alternative. So the Bears defense must both pitch shutouts and set the offense up for easy scoring drives. And Nagy must customize game plans full of running plays and over-engineered wide receiver screens. And the kicker must be perfect. And everything else must go just right in order for the Bears to succeed.
Otherwise, they will lose more games like they did on Sunday, when they outplayed the Chargers for three quarters but could barely maintain a lead, let alone put away a weak opponent at home.
Trubisky is often compared to Blake Bortles, but Mark Sanchez may be the better comparison. He can look great when playing in rhythm but downright comical during cold snaps, and mistakes snowball on him. The Bears will have to move on from Trubisky after this season. Until then, they are so dedicated to working around him that he's nearly irrelevant.
What's next
The Bears visit the Eagles, who just remembered on Sunday they are supposed to be good.
Game Spotlight: Eagles 31, Bills 13
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What happened
Wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour blew the stink off the Eagles after last Sunday's miserable loss to the Cowboys and a contentious week of organizational grievance-airing.
The autumn wind also blew away the pretense that the Bills are anything more than schedule-assisted one-and-done Wild Card fodder.
The Bills held an early 7-3 lead thanks to Josh Allen's drive-and-dish touchdown to Cole Beasley and typical Eagles sloppiness (dumb penalties, a sputtering offense, etc.) But Philadelphia gained control of both lines of scrimmage as the game wore on, rushing for 165 second-half yards, including a 65-yard run by rookie Miles Sanders and a few rugged Carson Wentz scrambles to provide the Bills with a taste of their own medicine.
With the wind (and the fact that Allen is their quarterback) eliminating the Bills' ability to play catchup, a close game through three quarters turned into a rout.
What it means
The Eagles did not cure their many ills on Sunday.
But there were many encouraging developments: a much-needed fourth-down stop by the secondary to quell a comeback, a sensible offensive game plan in the second half, sharp passing (and timely running) by Wentz in tough conditions and so on. The win keeps the Eagles in the NFC East race and allows them to turn the page on one of its most tumultuous weeks since the days of Terrell Owens.
The Bills will still coast into the playoffs thanks to the easiest schedule this side of Foxborough, but Sunday provided a taste of what happens when they face even Wild Card-tier competition. Their offense can only go so far with Allen scrambling and running quarterback draws when not lasering passes out of bounds. They lack receiving weapons. Their run defense is not very good.
They're a .500-caliber team at best, even if they finish 11-5, and the organization needs to recognize this if they plan to eventually grow past the point at which schedule-boosted playoff berths represent successful seasons.
What's next
The Eagles defense gets another potential self-esteem boost against Mitch Trubisky and the Bears. The Bills get a team-wide boost as they host Washington.
Inside the Numbers
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San Francisco 49ers — 38 rushes for 232 rushing yards and 6.1 yards per rush with five touchdowns: Tevin Coleman ran 11 times for 105 yards and three touchdowns with rushes of 48, 22 and 19 yards. Raheem Mostert added nine for 60 and one score with a 41-yard run and most of the fourth-quarter clock munching. Matt Breida had a relatively off day with 11 carries for 35 yards. Receiver Deebo Samuel had two carries for 29 yards with a 20-yard touchdown on one of the most beautifully intricate counter-trap plays you will ever see.
Overall, this team 38.8 carries and 181.1 rushing yards per game. It is on pace for 2,898 rushing yards, which would be the highest total since the Michael Vick-Warrick Dunn Falcons rushed for 2,939 yards in 2006.
J.J. Watt — three solo tackles: Watt left the 27-24 Texans win over the Raiders with a torn pectoral muscle and later tweeted that he would miss the rest of this season, a crushing blow to a Texans team that keeps taking one step forward and another one backward in its march to the playoffs.
Watt recorded four sacks this season, giving him 96 career sacks. He's just 41st on the all-time list, which sounds low. But the defenders at the top (Bruce Smith holds the all-time record with 200 sacks) had incredibly long careers, and this is Watt's third severely curtailed season out of the past four. The Hall of Fame is not in doubt for Watt, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, but let's hope he can return to clear 100 career sacks, and then some.
Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil, acquired for two first-round picks and change at the start of the year, missed the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury. The Texans have terrible luck. They also make the least of their opportunities.
Kyle Allen — 19-of-37 for 158 yards with no touchdowns, three interceptions, seven sacks and a 28.9 passer rating: Allen's longest pass play of the day was 24 yards: a short pass and long run (naturally) by Christian McCaffrey. The Panthers were 2-of-13 on third-down conversions. The whole "trade Cam Newton" thing was fun for the Cam Haters while it lasted, but this is what a backup quarterback getting snapped back to reality looks like.
Daniel Jones — 28-of-41 with 322 yards for four touchdowns and no interceptions: This is one of those games that looks much better when box-score scouting than it did on the field. Jones fumbled while trying to throw the ball away to avoid an early-game sack, resulting in a Devon Kennard touchdown return. He rebounded for some fine passes later in the half, but he was 16-of-25 for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the second half when the Giants were playing from behind, often by two scores.
As good as the numbers looked in a loss, this game probably won't change any minds about Jones, in part because they look a little like the sort of numbers that propped Eli Manning up for so many years.
Russell Wilson — 14-of-20 for 182 yards with two touchdowns and no picks: The Falcons defense finally got some help stopping an opponent. It came from Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who saw one of the weakest secondaries in the league and a team ready to quit on its coach at the first opportunity and said, "Time to establish the run!"
Wilson threw just five second-half passes, which resulted in several Seahawks three-and-outs, which almost allowed the Falcons to creep back into the game before they realized they are the Falcons. If anyone other than Wilson wins the MVP award this season, he needs to send Schottenheimer an Edible Arrangement.
Gridiron Digest Sportsbook Special: Road Dogs for Life!
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Entering Week 8, road underdogs across the NFL were 46-23-2 against the spread in 2019. That means a bettor blindly wagering nothing but road underdogs would be winning bigger than the shrewdest sharp so far this year.
Would the trend continue through Week 8? Would the house adjust? Gridiron Sportsbook focuses on this week's road dogs to see what happened and what we can learn.
Bengals (+12) at Rams: The Bengals did everything they could to attempt a backdoor cover, driving to the Rams' 6-yard line on one fourth-quarter drive and having an apparent spread-covering touchdown overturned by a review in the final seconds. A loss like this illustrates the dangers of chasing bad teams with big spreads as road dogs. Speaking of which...
Cardinals (+12.5) at Saints: This line shot up from Cardinals +7.5 to the +10 range during the week to +12.5 with news that Drew Brees was starting. Gridiron Digest smelled an overcorrection and took the Cardinals. Cover hopes remained high until the Cardinals failed to convert 4th-and-2 from the Saints 27-yard line while trailing 24-9. The game became a romp, and the road dogs took a loss.
Buccaneers (+2.5) at Titans: Fate denied us Jameis Winston versus Marcus Mariota but instead gifted us with everything else we could ask for from Bucs-Titans, including four Jameis turnovers, a fluky three-touchdown stat line for Ryan Tannehill (the Titans drove a total of 16 yards for two of the scores) and a fourth-quarter comeback by the Titans for their second-straight win. Unfortunately, all the back-and-forth action simply resulted in a loss for the road dogs.
Giants (+6) at Lions: This turned into a backdoor-cover lover's special and an ATS win for the road dogs thanks to Saquon Barkley's late touchdown catch from Daniel Jones.
Chargers (+3.5) at Bears: Mitchell Trubisky + Bears kickers + a Soldier Field opponent with a pulse = a golden opportunity for a road dog win.
Jets (+7) at Jaguars: This line slowly climbed during the week from Jets +4.5, perhaps because of public overreaction to Sam Darnold "seeing ghosts" and all of the other dysfunction surrounding the Jets, plus the positive Gardner Minshew Mania buzz in Jacksonville. The Jets threatened a push (or, theoretically, an actual comeback) by trailing 22-15 before Minshew's third touchdown pass sealed a loss for the road dogs.
Eagles (+1.5) at Bills: Gusty winds added an unpredictable variable to this game. Wagerers who ignored recent results and simply selected the Eagles because they are the more talented and accomplished team walked away with an easy win.
Panthers (+4.5) at 49ers: This 51-13 stomping and loss for the road dogs looked like a solid play if you were a 49ers skeptic or a Kyle Allen believer before kickoff. Chances are you are neither of those things anymore.
Broncos (+6) at Colts: This game was a slice of heaven for road dog wagerers: a road team with a great defense facing a home team that looked overvalued after some high-profile victories. The Colts won 15-13 on a late field goal, but the six-point cushion resulted in an easy ATS win for the Broncos.
Raiders (+6) at Texans: Another example of a win on a sound road dog play: The Texans are good but vulnerable, the Raiders are pesky every week, and the spread provided plenty of cushion to cover in a 27-24 Texans victory.
Browns (+10.5) at Patriots: As this loss illustrates, searching for road dog winners in Foxborough with double-digit spreads is always a bad idea.
Washington (+16.5) at Vikings: Let's not forget how Week 8 began for road dogs. Washington, fresh off getting shut out at home by the Niners but still covering in a 9-0 loss, covered in a 19-9 loss because the Vikings were content to just munch the clock deep in Washington territory and late in the fourth quarter.
This win was yet another reminder that NFL teams can be thoroughly outplayed but only lose by 10 points, making the two-touchdown spreads we routinely see in the Year of the Tank very dangerous.
Results: A 6-6 ATS record for the road dogs brings the season total to 52-29-2.
As a trend, playing road dogs looks good, but most of what we are looking at is pure probability mixed with a few early-season overreactions. Keep an eye on mid-tier home teams coming off winning streaks and facing road teams who can put up more of a fight than the Dolphins-Bengals brigade, especially if you are getting four-plus points. But that's sound advice in any season.
Beyond that, don't go overboard chasing road dogs. It's never a great idea to chase a September-October trend into November.
Monday Night Action — Dolphins +14 at Steelers: This line opened with the Steelers as 16.5-point favorites but quickly adjusted to the fact the Dolphins are more competitive with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback than they were under Josh Rosen. Road-dog speculation probably also played a role.
The Dolphins have covered in each of their last two weeks, and the Mason Rudolph-led Steelers lack the resume of a two-touchdown favorite under any circumstances. Take the Dolphins. If nothing else, Fitzpatrick's knack for looking good at the back end of a blowout will create some late-night backdoor cover opportunities.
Gridiron Trade Deadline Digest
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With the NFL trade deadline less than 48 hours away, Gridiron Digest looks at the big names on the trade rumor mill, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and other sources, including the good ole grapevine:
Robby Anderson, WR, Jets: Developing Sam Darnold by getting rid of his most dangerous receiver in a deal motivated by a need to change the team "culture" would be the most Adam Gasest thing that Adam Gase ever Adam Gased.
Vic Beasley Jr., EDGE, Falcons: Dante Fowler Jr. fetched third- and fifth-round picks from the Rams in a deadline deal last year, and Beasley is a similar player: young, talented and disappointing. Beasley needs a fresh start and could help a contender, and the Falcons might as well hold a sheriff's auction, start tanking in earnest and see if anyone can tell the difference.
C.J. Beathard, QB, 49ers: In case you have forgotten, Nick Mullens, not Beathard, was the 49ers quarterback who looked good in relief of Jimmy Garoppolo last year. Beathard is a marginally talented, great-at-the-whiteboard quarterback with a 1-9 record as a starter and a famous grandpa. So yep, he's the one the 49ers are reportedly receiving offers for. If the Bears (the most likely team to be casting about wildly for quarterback solutions right now) end up with Beathard, it will be their worst trade since the draft deal that brought them Mitchell Trubisky.
Kenyan Drake, RB, Dolphins: Drake is talented but so unreliable as a pass protector that two different coaching staffs have been reluctant to even use him as the designated third-down back. The Dolphins would like to trade Drake for what Twitter draftniks and fantasy gurus think he's worth; other teams are likely to only offer what he is actually worth.
Melvin Gordon III, RB, Chargers: Look for Gordon to move on from the Chargers in the most over-publicized player-for-conditional-future-late-round-draft-pick trade in NFL history.
Chris Harris Jr., CB, Broncos: Trading Harris after getting a bundle of mid-round picks for Emmanuel Sanders would arm the Broncos with plenty of extra draft picks, clear some cap space and signal the sort of soft-launch rebuild that John Elway can wrap his traditionalist head around. Fans should enjoy this brief window of clarity before Elway inevitably signs Eli Manning for $40 million.
Darius Slay, CB, Lions: Slay held out for a new contract through much of the offseason and reacted negatively to the midweek Quandre Diggs trade. No team causes its own problems and solves them by getting rid of top talent quite like the Lions. Sunday's win may have kept their playoff hopes alive, thereby keeping Slay in Detroit, but the Lions make more random trades than the Madden AI.
Nate Solder, OT, Giants: Trading Solder, who was signed for beaucoup bucks when all Giants resources were devoted to maintaining Eli Manning's dignity, would be a shortsighted mistake. There's a difference between expensive-and-disappointing left tackle play and flat-out-terrible left tackle play, and Daniel Jones could be injured or otherwise ruined by that difference.
Trent Williams, OT, Redskins: Washington is reluctant to trade Trent Williams because it would go against the organizational philosophy of souring relationships with core veterans and then refusing to do things that would benefit both parties out of sheer spite. That said, the Browns or some other needy team could make an offer that can't be refused.
Cam Newton, QB, Panthers: Moving on from Newton and handing the job to Kyle Allen made a tiny bit of sense when this rumor circulated midweek. It now makes the opposite of sense.
Awards Digest
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Defensive Player of the Week: 49ers rookie edge-rusher Nick Bosa made rookie left tackle Dennis Daley look silly by beating him for three sacks. Then he made Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen look even sillier with a leaping interception of a short pass, followed by a 46-yard return during which Bosa stiff-armed and stutter-stepped through Allen and receiver Curtis Samuel. Bosa is going to make a lot of blockers and quarterbacks look silly in the weeks and months to come.
Offensive Line of the Week: Eagles running backs and Carson Wentz combined for 218 rushing yards on an afternoon when 35-40 mph winds made downfield passing impossible and allowed Bills defenders to crowd the box. So let's give this week's award to Andre Dillard, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks and Lane Johnson.
Special Teamer of the Week: Remember a few weeks ago when it appeared Adam Vinatieri was about to retire? Gridiron Digest even wrote a preemptive farewell to the only player still active in the NFL who participated in Super Bowl III. (It was actually Super Bowl XXXI, but you get the idea.) Well, Vinatieri kicked 55-, 45- and 51-yarders to lift the Colts past the Broncos by a 15-13 final score. Vinatieri did miss a field goal and an extra point in the game, but he also missed a few in Super Bowls, and no one remembers or cares.
Mystery Touch of the Week: The Buccaneers have been using obscure third-year running back Dare Ogunbowale as a third-down back this season, and they recently began giving him exactly one carry per game. Ogunbowale leeched a meaningless late-game fantasy touchdown with his lone carry in London two weeks ago, but on Sunday he lost two yards on a 3rd-and-goal carry, forcing the Buccaneers to settle for a field goal. Ogunbowale has now rushed four times for minus-three yards this season. Maybe the running backs who carry the ball in other situations should be the ones getting the goal-line carries, coach.
Best Supporting Actor in Another Player's Highlight: Raiders rookie slot receiver Hunter Renfrow may look fast, but Texans defenders Lonnie Johnson and Jahleel Addae made him look even faster by lunging at his feet as Renfrow turned a routine slant into a 65-yard touchdown.
Johnson and Addae share this week's award with teammate Brennan Scarlett, who tried to drag Raiders running back Josh Jacobs down by his shirttail and went for a sleigh ride instead. The Texans defense may want to spend some time hitting the tackling dummies this week.
Meaningless Fantasy Touchdown of the Week: Matt Schaub may be a quarterback who should have retired in 2013 and spent the past six years as an offensive coordinator, but he knows his role in the Falcons offense. Playing in relief of Matt Ryan, Schaub threw a touchdown pass to Austin Hooper with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter to preserve Hooper's fantasy value and make the final 27-20 Seahawks victory appear close, just as Ryan would have.
Kicker Fail of the Week: Chicago Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro earns this award for doing what Chicago Bears kickers inevitably do.
Point-Counterpoint
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Monday Night Football broadcasts footage of Sam Darnold saying on the sideline that the Patriots pass rush has him "seeing ghosts."
Point: This new M. Night Shyamalan football movie is weird.
Counterpoint: Sources tell me that Tom Brady was also mic'd up, and they shared this transcript: "Ghosts?! Why, the necromancer who granted me immortality promised me that the souls of the innocent would remain invisible. Sounds like someone is about to get a visit from...The Deflator." [Cue spooky organ music.]
Eagles defender Fletcher Cox thwarts an attempted home invasion.
Point: Good thing Cox called the police instead of the Eagles secondary. Otherwise the perpetrator would never have been caught.
Counterpoint: Cox wouldn't talk about the incident, but an anonymous source in the locker room told me he was a little shook up by it and ready to move, and also that Alshon Jeffery is totally awesome and deserves Julio Jones money.
Orlando Scandrick rips the Eagles organization and locker room after getting released.
Point: I had some pretty strong opinions about Dairy Queen when they fired me after three weeks on the job, too.
Counterpoint: It's a short, steep slope from going toe-to-toe with the White House to getting burned in an exit interview by the 53rd guy on the roster.
Gerald McCoy could not attend his son's senior night high school football game because he was traveling with the 49ers, so Jameis Winston and other former Buccaneers teammates attended in his place.
Point: And Jameis threw three interceptions! (Sorry. I know it's a hacky joke. Sometimes you just have to hit the layups.)
Counterpoint: Some former Bucs safeties from the Lovie Smith era also attended the game, but no one noticed because they were 25 yards away from the action and standing perfectly still.
Buffalo Bills fans add hatchet throwing to their tailgating offerings.
Point: And Nathan Peterman killed three bystanders! (I know, I know. Sometimes you just gotta pluck the low-hanging fruit.)
Counterpoint: Bills fans, Eagles fans and hatchets in the same parking lot. We were one bubonic plague outbreak away from a medieval peasant's revolt.
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