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.

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How the NFL's Response to President Trump's Remarks Sparked My Interest in Week 3

It is highly likely that Week 3 of the NFL season will end up offering more events that spark my interest than any other week in this year. Why? For starters, the Thursday Night Football Game ended up being a shootout, something absolutely no one saw coming. The early slate of games was crazy, with a game winning 61-yard field goal for the Eagles and some crazy calls that changed the outcome of some games.

I also considered doing this week's post entirely about the Seahawks vs. Titans game, which featured lots of penalties, Richard Sherman exploding at the referee (and drawing 3 fouls on one play), a late hit by Sherman on Titians QB Marcus Mariota that somehow didn't get him ejected, a really bad first half for both teams followed by a second half offensive explosion, and more.

However, it was President Trump’s remarks at a rally in Alabama saying the NFL owners should fire players who took a knee in protest that stole the show this past weekend.

Immediately after hearing them I expected more players to show unity and assumed the notoriously united Seattle Seahawks to do something as a team. I don’t know if I expected them (and the Tennessee Titans or any other team) to stay in the locker room.

The NFL is right not to fine the Hawks and Titans for their absence during the national anthem, or else it would have had the same effect as owners firing players – punishing those who, in the President’s mind are disrespecting the Star-Spangled Banner – and dominated headlines and taken away from the rest of the NFL’s response. Both teams made huge statements by staying inside and I hope more teams will follow suite.

A team that could have made a bigger statement was the Oakland Raiders, who according to coach Jack De Rio, wanted to stay in the locker room during the national anthem, but because the coin toss during Sunday Night Football games is before the anthem, they would have forfeited their choice (heads or tails) and whether they wanted the ball/which direction to go. In addition, they could have possibly drawn a 15-yard un-sportsmanlike conduct penalty. However, I think they should have screwed that and stayed in, as it would have sent a very powerful message to President Trump that they were willing to sacrifice football in order to exercise their First Amendment Rights as American Citizens and stand up to bullying.

Before all of that was what I believe to be the biggest statement of the day, when the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens played in London, in a game that started at 9:30am EST. This was the first game to be played since the President’s comments, because he spoke after the Thursday Night Game, and boy, did it set a precedent for the day.

The Jaguars owner, Shahid Khan, locked arms with a pair of African-American players during the national anthem in one of the best responses to the President all weekend. Khan, is a Pakistani-born, Muslim billionaire who didn’t become a US citizen until 1991 and is the first non-white owner in NFL history. It was his uniqueness that is so anti-President Trump that made his actions so powerful. Author Blank (Falcons), Daniel Snyder (Redskins), and Jerry Jones (Cowboys) were among the owners who took a stand with players, locked arms, and took a knee with them in more defiant protests to President Trump.

At the end of the week, the NFL showed that they will stand up to bulling, no matter who it’s from, and that they will unite when it comes to an important common cause. Team owners made a big statement by joining in on the response in a defiant rejection to the President, whose comments were taken up by NASCAR, since some teams have said that they will fire drivers who don’t stand, something I blatantly disagree with, on both moral and Constitutional grounds.

I expect players responses to continue and grow until the President makes some sort of an apology. But, I hope that even after that happens, we continue to see people with large platforms try to make a positive, lasting difference in our world.

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.