Deshaun Watson Will Recover From Injury, Seahawks make Big Trade to Bolster Offensive Line: Events that Sparked My Interest, Week 8

Week 8 was the week leading up to the NFL Trade Deadline, and outside of the trades made, only one thing really sparked my interest: Deshaun Watson. With that in mind, Events that Sparked My Interest is back.

Deshaun Watson is here to stay, once he Recovers from ACL Injury

This season, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has had a stellar rookie season, but his performance against the Seahawks – in Seattle – shows that he is here to say. Coming into the game, he had put up three or more touchdowns in each of the past three games. In Week 8, he scorched the Legion of Boom with 402 yards and four touchdowns in addition to 67 yards on the ground. The final of his three interceptions is forgiven because the throw was a last-ditch effort to stay in the game, and the first two were bound to happen as he is a rookie in Seattle. His ability to escape the pocket and find the open receiver was eerily reminiscent of Russell Wilson and leads me to believe that Watson is here to stay. He has a great defense (that will only get better when healthy), a plethora of unique receivers, and a running game to support him.

Sadly, earlier today, he tore his ACL (as I was writing this) and is out for the season. But, I expect him to do great things once he gets back next season because of these various reasons.

Duane Brown Trade Upgrades Seahawks Offensive Line an Incomprehensive Amount

The trade deadline this season was October 31st at 4pm EST and there were an unheard-of flurry of moves resembling the MLB trade deadline. Among the most significant of the moves was the Seahawks trading for an offensive lineman. Since the Seahawks traded Max Unger for Jimmy Graham, their offensive line has been atrocious. For years, fans have been dying for the team to upgrade their offensive line, and they finally did it. They acquired Left Tackle Duane Brown from the Houston Texans, who they went up against two days prior.

What did they have to give up? Well, it started like this:

Seahawks Trade	Texans Trade
CB Jeremy Lane          2018 5th Round Pick         2019 2nd Round Pick	LT Duane Brown

But then Lane (with his big contract) failed his physical so the deal was off until Seahawks General Manager John Schneider amended the deal with Texans GM Rick Smith, so that the new trade looked like this:

Seahawks Trade	Texans Trade
2018 3rd Round Pick ·         2019 2nd Round Pick	·         LT Duane Brown ·        2018 5th Round Pick

In order to create the cap room for Brown (because Lane wasn't traded), the Seahawks converted the approximately $6.26 million of Wilson's salary that has yet to be paid into a signing bonus paid immediately, with the $6 million plus cap hit being spread out over the next three seasons.

This deal is huge because they are not only bolstering their offensive-line but they traded away two top picks. They now don't have a second-round pick till 2020 and have only 7 picks as compared to the 9.5 Schneider averages each year. Nor do they have a second rounder this year. Even though they are known for finding gems late in the draft, they’ve also drafted a lot of key pieces in the second round including Bobby Wagner (2012), Paul Richardson (2014), Frank Clark (2015), and Jarran Reed (2016).

Only time will tell if the Hawks made a good decision.

Subscribe to my blog via email to get an update any time something is posted. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @KidReporter363 for other updates about my writing and check out all my content at haydengoldberg.contently.com. Please leave your feedback in the comment section, I reply to everyone and take any and all feedback, ideas, comments, etc. under consideration.

The Injury Bug Strikes Again and the Cowboys leave Aaron Rodgers Too Much Time: Events that Sparked My Interest, Week 5

The fifth week of the season is the first week a team can have a bye (save the Buccaneers and Dolphins who had theirs week 1 – this is a whole other issue, see my post on a safer NFL season – due to Hurricane Irma) and one big team had theirs this week – Atlanta. Being a Super Bowl contender, I think that Falcons would much rather have had their bye later in the year in order to get healthy (which again is another issue, see my player safety post). Among the other notable things during Week 5, the Jets have a winning record and are tied for the AFC East lead and Alex Smith the notorious, “game manager,” threw for over 300 yards for the second time this year (third time with 293+ yds). This is the first time in his career he’s eclipsed that amount multiple times in a season.

But, there were two things that really got my attention this week: one quarterback giving another too much time and the injury bug striking again.

Cowboys Give Aaron Rodgers and the Packers Too Much Time

Its common knowledge that if your team is down at the end of the game, your team needs to march down field, score, and take the lead. It’s also common knowledge that if the team that is beating you is the Green Bay Packers, then you need to take as much time off the clock when you go downfield as possible because if given more than about 40 seconds (needing a touchdown to win) or 25 seconds (needing a field goal) Aaron Rodgers will march downfield and win the game for the Packers.

Last week Tom Brady left Cam Newton too much time the end of the game and this week it was Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys who left Rodgers too such. The Cowboys scored a touchdown after a 9 minute drive late in the fourth quarter to lead 31 to 28 and they didn’t leave Rodgers 10 seconds, or 30 seconds, or even a minute to score the overtime forcing three points. Instead, they left him SEVENTY THREE SECONDS. I repeat – 73 seconds! You do not give Aaron Rodgers one minute and 13 seconds to score 3 points at the end of game, let alone with one timeout to stop the clock for the field goal. You just don’t do it. Period. Jerry Jones was right when he said the team left Rodgers too much time because he is right.

The Cowboys could easily have won this game but they threw it away and it could end up costing them when it comes to playoff seeding in December.

Giants and Texans Seasons Take Hits with Key Injuries

Lets start with the Giants, who coming into Week 5 were already 0-4 and playing another 0-4 team - the Chargers - in a game that would have serious implications to who receives the number one pick in the draft. The Giants lost, but worse things happened. On the same drive, Wide Receivers Brandon Marshall (#2 on Depth Chart) and Sterling Shepard (#3) exited the game with ankle injuries. Then Dwayne Harris fractured his foot (#4 on chart). In the fourth quarter, Wide Receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (#1 on chart) was carted off the field with a gruesome ankle injury. The giants top 4, count'em 4 wide receivers were injured in one game, three of whom left due to an ankle injury. Shepard is the only one who isn't out for the year. 

For some reason the loss of 4 of the 5 receiver on the Giants roster hasn't deterred quarterback Eli Manning who is still optimistic about the season.

Sadly, the Giants weren't the only team to get hit by the injury bug in Week 5. J.J. Watt, who is more than a star athlete to the people of Houston, Texas suffered a devastating injury in the Sunday Night Football game against the Chiefs and is out for the season.

On Monday he tweeted, "I can't sugarcoat is, I am devastated. All I want to do is be out there on that field for my teammates and this city. I'm sorry." 

Out of everyone in the world, Watt has the least to be sorry and his tweet demonstrates how much he means to the people of Houston. He was already a folk hero in Houston but after raising some $37 million for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, his meaning to the city rose even more.

The NFL needs to change the way it's season is scheduled because, among other things, this is the second season in a row where his season has ended prematurely. Cliff Avril's career is in doubt after an injury he suffered two weeks ago, one of the NFL's best receivers is out for the year. The  NFL has multiple options for what they can do, but you can check out my thoughts here.

Subscribe to my blog via email to get an update any time something is posted. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @KidReporter363 for other updates about my writing and check out all my content at haydengoldberg.contently.com. Please leave your feedback in the comment section, I reply to everyone and take any and all feedback, ideas, comments, etc. under consideration.

Tom Brady Leaves To Much Time, Newton Runs for TD 50: Events that Sparked my Interest, Week 4

Week 4 of the NFL season had some surprising finishes. Both the Falcons and Patriots got upset and that alone caught my eye and will have big implications on the playoffs later on. Another thing that will impact that playoffs is how Le’veon Bell performs for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and after missing Week 1 due to a holdout and having poor weeks 2 and 3, he performed how the best back in football is supposed to in Week 4.

While I’m not going to write much about it, something that really sparked my interest due to a YouTube video I recently watched was that Week 4 of the NFL Season had 2 scores that the league previously hadn’t seen before: 14 to 57 (Texans beat the Titans) and 18 to 46 (Seahawks beat the Colts).

With that out of the way, its time for Events that Sparked My Interest in Week 4.

Tom Brady Leaves Too Much Time for the Panthers, Cam Newton rushes to TD number 50

After brining the Patriots back from two scores down, Tom Brady left Cam Newton and the Panthers slightly over three minutes to engineer a game winning drive with the game tied at 30. Usually the Patriots opponent leaves too much time, but on Sunday it was Brady who left Newton too much time.

Besides his game winning drive, Newton also rushed for his 50^th career touchdown, becoming the first QB in history to achieve that. In September 2016, he passed Vince Young (44 TD’s) to have the most rushing TD’s by a QB in the Super Bowl era and not long after that passed Otto Graham’s all time QB rushing TD record, with 45.

In terms of active quarterbacks, it doesn’t seem likely that Newton’s record will be passed any time soon, baring a devastating injury to him. This is since the next QB’s on the active list are: Aaron Rodgers (25), Andy Dalton (18), Tom Brady (17), Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger (16 each), and Joe Flacco (15). Following them, Andrew Luck, Alex Smith, Matthew Stafford, and Russell Wilson all have 14, while Ryan Fitzpatrick (yes, that’s not a typo) and Mark Sanchez (I’m not kidding, this isn’t a typo) have 13 each.

To put Newton’s 50 TD’s in 6 and ¼ years in perspective, he is tied with LeGarrette Blount (a running back who has been in the league a year longer) for 7^th on the active list. 5^th and 6^th place belong to Chris Johnson and Matt Forte with 55 and 52 TD’s and they have both been in the league since 2008.

To put our other QB’s totals in perspective, David Johnson, who has been in the league since 2015 has only one fewer TD than Rodgers. Had Johnson not gotten hurt earlier in the year, he surely would have passed Rodgers, moving from 18^th to 17^th on the active list. Ezekiel Elliott, whose played in 19 career games, has as many rushing TD’s as Brady. Mind you, not including the 2008 season when Brady played in only one game due to injury, he’s played in 17 seasons and rushed for 17 touchdowns.

Deshaun Watson’s Texans Stomp on the Titans in Huge Game for the Rookie

Not only did the Titans vs. Texans game result in a never before seen score, it gave way to a highlight reel game for former National Champion Deshaun Watson. His 5 total TD’s (4 in the air, 1 on the ground) tied a rookie record for QB’s. While his yardage wasn’t absurd, he only needed 3 of those touchdowns to secure the win for the Texans.

While the game was already over with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Texan defense came up with turnovers on three straight possessions, and the team scored 20 points in those final minutes.

Subscribe to my blog via email to get an update any time something is posted. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @KidReporter363 for other updates about my writing and check out all my content at haydengoldberg.contently.com. Please leave your feedback in the comment section, I reply to everyone and take any and all feedback, ideas, comments, etc. under consideration.

It's the Week of the Running Passers: Events that Sparked My Interest, Week 2

Week Two of the NFL Season had some interesting and weird moments, including the Thursday Night Football game pitting the Cincinnati Bengals against the Houston Texans and an hour long weather delay in the Mile High City. I’m not going to be talking about the TNF game here because I’ve already written about it and what my thoughts about Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis are,which you can view here. With that out of the way, here are the Events that Sparked my Interest in Week 2.

Josh McCown is part of the Week of the Running Passers

In Week Two, the idea of a traditional quarterback was debunked. Russell Wilson (Seahawks), Carson Wentz (Eagles), Tyrod Taylor (Bills), Deshaun Watson (Texans), and Josh McCown (Jets) – of all people – each rushed for over 30 yards. Watson lead the way with 67 yards, 6 more than Lamar Miller, a running back and fellow Texan. Taylor and Wentz had 55 yards each, more than Matt Forte and Mark Ingram. Wilson and McCown had 34 and 31 yards respectively. Shane Vereen, Adrian Peterson, and DeMarco Murry all had less than 30 years, just to name a few running backs who performed worse. But, in true Josh McCown fashion, he fumbled the ball.  Regardless, running quarterbacks caught my interest this week because it means that Russell Wilson is back and Watson’s day suggests a possible second coming of Wilson.

Big Tight Ends Make Big Impacts in their Own Ways

This week was the week of the tight ends, with three high profile ones each making big, unique impacts.

But, before I can talk about the season or game changing performances I need to get to the history making tight end. Antonio Gates – yes, he is still playing – passed Tony Gonzalez for the most touchdown catches by a tight end in history, on a 7 yarder from Philip Rivers in the third quarter against the Miami Dolphins, giving him 112 in his career. Of those 112, 85 have come from Rivers’ arm, which is the most between a quarterback and tight end in history as well. To further make history in the first half Gates recorded his 900^th career reception, making him the third tight end to reach that mark. Only Gonzalez and the Cowboys Jason Witten – yes, he is also still playing– have more. 

The award for this week’s game changing tight end goes to Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs. Kelce brought in 8 throws for 103 yards; including a 44 yard grab and a separate 15 yard touchdown. He was easily the Chiefs best receiver of the day as Alex Smith threw for 148 yards to non-Kelce receivers and no additional touchdowns. The Chiefs 27-20 win against the Eagles put them at 2-0 for the season.

Now to the season changing tight end moments from Week 2. Greg Olsen, the Carolina Panthers top tight end broke his foot and is out indefinitely. This is a huge blow to the Panthers that cannot be stressed enough. They already play in what is arguably the toughest division in football (the NFC South) and they just lost Cam Newton’s uncontested top target for who knows how long. For me, their season has now gone down the drain because they do not have any other big targets and the NFC wild card race is much tougher then the AFC’s one.

Events that Sparked My Interest is a series that I’m starting with the new NFL Season. It will contain 2-3 thoughts, notes, or other events that sparked interest during the week and will be posted on Tuesday’s. 

Subscribe to my blog via email to get an update any time something is posted. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @KidReporter363 for other updates about my writing and check out all my content at haydengoldberg.contently.com. 

Reacting to the Browns/Texans Trade

When I first heard about the Texans/Browns trade that sent Brock Oswiler, a second and sixth round pick to Cleveland and a conditional forth rounder to Houston, I was like "this makes no sense."

But, by that night, I completely understood what the Browns did, and how they took advantage of the Texans.

The Texans were desperate to get rid of their QB, and Cleveland, who is stocking up on picks, were able to get a second rounder to go along with him, in exchange for a conditional fourth round pick.

That, and the fact that they threw in another pick, even if it was a sixth rounder, shows the Texans desperation.

Now, they have an absolutely insane amount of draft picks in the next two years, which are listed here.

Personally, I knew that when the Texans signed him to that 4-year deal last off-season they were crazy.

The only way the Texans will ever win this trade is if they draft a franchise QB in the fourth round with that pick and if the Cleveland Browns pull a Clevend Browns and completely screw up and botch their picks (hello Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden etc).

The more I think about this trade, the more I think about how desperate the Texans are, and how much the Browns took advantage of their desperation.

At the end of the day, the Texans gave up Oswiler for less than pennies on the dollar because they gave up so much more to get rid of him. The Browns got a serviceable (but expensive) quarterback for this season at least, a second-round pick (!) and sixth rounder.