Sorting the Sunday Pile, Week 3: Eagles/Redskins battle royale
Only 14 picks separated Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins in the 2012 NFL Draft. Despite the proximity -- 88th and 102nd, respectively -- no one could imagine then they’d be facing off as early as Week 3 in 2014 in a highly entertaining NFC East shootout that produced some eye-popping stats.
Cousins completed 62.5 percent of his 48 attempts, threw for 427 yards and had three touchdowns. The yardage total is, obviously, Cousin’s career high. But it tops anything RG3’s achieved yardage-wise too, if you’re into comparing the two players.
Part of his success is a leaky Eagles defense. But Cousins was sharp, particularly on his first two drives, going 12 of 13 for 124 yards and a pair of scores. He was moving through his progressions, making some tough throws and looking comfortable in the pocket. He fits, as a lot of people suspected, Jay Gruden’s offense better right now than Griffin does. (Did?)
The big “oh he’s here to stay” moment came when Cousins maxed out DeSean Jackson’s speedometer in the third quarter, hitting the ex-Eagles receiver in stride for an 81-yard touchdown to tie up the game. Jackson gets bonus points for a mocking touchdown celebration that didn’t even draw a flag.
Cousins threw a tough pick in the fourth but he didn’t lose the game for Washington. That’s more on the special teams (missed field goal, allowed Chris Polk to score on a return). Ten penalties for 131 yards doesn’t help either.
Meanwhile, Foles had his most complete game of the year. He’s been horrid in the first half of the first two games and spent most of the Colts game on Monday night overthrowing receivers. It was the opposite Sunday, even if the Eagles needed another double-digit comeback to win, making them the first team in NFL history to start 3-0 after trailing by 10 or more points in each game.
Foles looked pretty locked in, made difficult throws into tight windows, operated the offense smoothly and was a much more efficient quarterback than the guy we saw the first two games.
The biggest thing Foles showed Sunday? How tough he is. He routinely got up over and over again when the Redskins hit him, to the point where it felt like Mark Sanchez spent his entire afternoon warming up on the sideline. The most impressive moment was when Foles got destroyed by 333-pound defensive lineman Chris Baker after throwing what appeared to be an interception, but was later overturned.
Dirty play or Baker preventing “someone from making a tackle” as he said afterwards? I’d probably lean the former but he’s got some justification. The whole “the play was basically over when you tried to put Foles in a coma” thing takes away from any excuse he has.
Left tackle Jason Peters didn’t take kindly to Baker’s move, went after him and then FIGHT! happened.
On-field arguments are no good, but it was nice seeing this rivalry renewed with fully-charged vitriol. It felt like a real-life version of Boy Fights. Just a pair of brothers who hate each other duking it out in the front yard for everyone to see.
Sign me up for another as soon as possible.
Proliferation of Trickeration
Sunday was National Quarterback Reception Day around the NFL, with three different quarterbacks hauling in receptions (but only two of them counting).
First up was Andy Dalton of the Bengals, who caught a pass, broke a tackle and scored a touchdown. Dalton’s lucky he didn’t get dismembered and it’s going to be a loooooong day in the film room for Blidi Wreh-Wilson, who got turned into burnt toast by Dalton.
The worst part is the Titans practiced this play and still got smoked by the Bengals. Mohamed Sanu’s streak of passes stayed intact too: he’s now 4/4 for 166 yards, 2 touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating for his career.
Next up: Johnny Manziel.
Manziel’s catch would’ve resulted in the Internet exploding but it didn’t count because the Browns were penalized for an illegal shift.
They should have been flagged for violating Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(k) of the rulebook after having Manziel "line up" facing his own sideline and faking an argument with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
Basically this is illegal because it qualifies as a "hideout" play, disguising Manziel near the sideline:
Using entering substitutes, legally returning players, substitutes on sidelines, or withdrawn players to confuse opponents, including lingering by players leaving the field after being replaced by a substitute and an offensive player lining up or going in motion less than five yards from the sideline in front of his team’s designated bench area.
However, an offensive player is permitted to line up less than five yards from the sidelines on the same side as his team’s player bench, provided he is not in front of the designated bench area.
That's not why it was called back, but it should've been a flag as well.
And there was Russell Wilson, who picked up a pass from Jermaine Kearse.
For a smallish guy who goes out of the way to avoid hits this seems unnecessary right? Ignore me if you want: it's obviously a different story if he scores by waltzing into the end zone.
Dalton’s is far and away the most impressive: it was the best throw, it didn't come from a quarterback and he scored.
The Future Is Now
An injury to Matt Cassel forced the Vikings hand in playing Teddy Bridgewater. In Jacksonville, Chad Henne being Chad Henne forced the Jaguars to finally bring in Blake Bortles.
But what took so long? It shouldn’t have taken 2.5 weeks to play the rookies. Not in this day and age. Whatever. The Vikes and Jags are a combined 1-5; neither team was likely going to the playoffs anyway.
Although, really, that’s the whole point about starting the kid. Instead, it’s desperation that gets the young guy in. Cassel suffered an injury that’ll keep him out for a few weeks which means it’s Teddy Time.
Henne and the Jaguars were outscored 105-10 over eight quarters, meaning there was no option but to toss the towel in and see what Bortles can do.
He struggled a bit out of the gates immediately but did some nice things, extending plays with his legs and eventually tossing two touchdown passes.
Losing by 27 isn't ever really a good thing but Jaguars fans can be optimistic about Bortles moving forward. His progression to the end of the season spins this year in a completely different (read: positive) light.
Moral Victories
It's hard to give the Broncos too much credit for losing on Sunday afternoon in Seattle. But you gotta think there's some kind of moral victory for them to take back home, right? Down 17-3 in the fourth quarter, it felt like a less blowout-heavy version of deja vu from the Super Bowl for Peyton Manning.
His statline looked ugly and Seattle was smothering Denver's offense. It sure looked like the Seahawks completely solved Peyton. Then he got warm late.
Manning tossed a terrible pick that nearly got Wes Welker killed.
But he also threw a laser to Jacob Tamme for a touchdown before hitting Demaryius Thomas for the two-point conversion to tie things up with less than 30 seconds left.
The Broncos would eventually lose in overtime, but I'm not so much concerned about their win-loss record just yet. Maybe the Chargers scare them in the AFC West, but the Broncos are going to the playoffs as a decent seed provided Manning stays healthy for the full season.
I'm more worried about his ability to overcome this ridiculously stout defense. He did it late -- better than never! -- and he did it on the road. Denver should've covered and could've won. Losing's never good but if you're Denver at least take away you can score against the Seahawks and keep it competitive. It's better than the last time they played.
Bengals' Best
Can't believe I'm asking this ... but are the Bengals the best team in the NFL? They're one of a handful of 3-0 teams remaining in the NFL and the only one in the AFC. They're a legit contender; previous playoff trips prove that.
They've won playing without their best wide receiver in A.J. Green, Andy Dalton appears to be taking "a step" in his progression and the Giovani Bernard/Jeremy Hill combo is deadly on the ground. Cincy's offensive line is stout and their defense is really, really good.
Cincy handled the Ravens on the road (a difficult inter-division game) and hammered the Falcons and Titans at home the last two weeks.
If I'm picking one team to win one game against any other team in the NFL, I'm not taking the Bengals. Don't get me wrong. But they look like the most consistently-good team in a league where no one's been truly impressive week to week.
'Bout That Action, Boss
This is everything about Marshawn Lynch in a nutshell. He just needs Skittles raining down on him.
KOWSKI
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