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. 

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. 

The Bengals Conundrum

The Cincinnati Bengals are in a conundrum. They went to the playoffs every year between 2011 and 2014, but never won a game. Their QB has been horrific in two games this year having 5 times as many turnovers as touchdowns (the team has no TD’s) and the team would barely have to swallow a financial pill if they were to get rid of him. Their coach has taken the team to those playoff games but has yet to win one. His contract expires on the first day of the new year. What should they do? I’d like to share my opinions about that with you.

Even though a lot of people have written about the way the Bengals played and why people such as Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton should be looking for new jobs, I want to give my opinion. Why? Because I don’t think they should be looking. Let’s start with Dalton and then move onto Lewis.

Once again supply and demand laws dictate what the Bengals should do with Dalton because there are fewer serviceable quarterbacks in the NFL than there are teams. Therefore, whenever a serviceable QB has two or fewer years left on his contract, their current team rushes to get them to sign an extension. When a QB does hit the market, teams with loads of cap space overpay to sign said QB, once again due to supply and demand; which is why Mike Glennon got a 3 year, $45 million contract in March from the Bears.

While it may not seem this way at this point in the season, Andy Dalton is better than serviceable. His $13.1 million-dollar salary is moving toward the bottom of the NFL’s starting QB pay scale, as demonstrated by the Glennon deal, even though Dalton is much better. Further, he has made it to the playoffs four times in his career, something not many quarterbacks can say they have done.

If he rebounds during the rest of the season, his low salary (even though it will be around $17.5 million in the final year of his contract if he were to stay) makes him worth keeping since they don’t have a replacement and it will take a while to get back to the playoffs without him.

If the Bengals were to cut him between today and June 1, 2018 it would only occur $2.4 million in dead cap next year, a small number. If they cut him any time after June 1, 2018 there would be no dead money.

In terms of Lewis, I believe they should extend him for no more than two years because he has gotten to the playoffs multiple times with the Bengals and while they haven’t won a game, they are close and missing a piece. Is that piece Joe Mixon (who they should be using a lot more) or someone else, I don’t know. But, what I do know is that if they bring in a new coach and don’t promote from within, they could be stuck with having a new coach every year or two while having Dalton (if they don’t cut him) in his prime to go along with A.J. Green in his prime. While it is totally fair to believe that they should have fired him a few years ago (something I agree with), they should keep him for two years max because it will allow the organization to see how Dalton plays and if the team decides to draft a new QB, they can assess how Lewis uses the new rookie.

Regardless, both decisions need to revolve around Green. If they can’t throw him the ball when he is in his prime, they should get rid of him. If they don’t have a coach who is capable of getting him the ball, they should get a new coach because Green is one of the top 4 wide receivers. If they don’t have anyone to throw him the ball nor a game plan to get him the ball, well, then he will most likely want out, and we’ve seen how that’s gone in Ohio before, (hint: the NBA).

With a New Seasons Comes New Topics: Events that Sparked My Interest, Week 1

The first week of the 2017 NFL season wasn’t a pretty one. Only a pair of teams won with a margin of 7 points or less. The defending Super Bowl Champions got embarrassed to open the season. Adrian Peterson had a homecoming before he had even played away from home. Injures and calls by the refs impacted games. Yet, two things stand out to me and I’d like to go over them.

Lions D Exposes Carson Palmer’s Age with three Interceptions 

In what was a surprise to me, the Detroit Lions defense came out of the gates strong and pumped the Arizona Cardinals offense. Forget the fact that David Johnson got injured in the third quarter, the Cardinals running game was atrocious to begin with. They only amassed 42 yards on the ground. Not to mention the fact that Johnson managed to fumble on almost 20% of his carries, losing one of his two fumbles on only 11 carries Combine this with the fact that they self-imploded in the fourth quarter after leading 17-15, they needed to throw the ball. So, when 38 year old quarterback Carson Palmer did that, it only figures that Father Time was able to catch up with him and once again remain undefeated. He threw three interceptions, and the third was a pick-six that sealed the loss.

Beyond Palmer and Johnson’s turnover woes, the former was hit 11 times and sacked once by the Lions defense.

While it can’t be ignored that the Lions missed on several special teams opportunities (punts and missed field goals), two point conversions, and that the game was ugly in its entirety, the way Carson Palmer and the Lions defense played put them both on my radar.

Steelers Edge out Browns in a Game that Differs from their History

In what was a surprise to many, the Pittsburgh Steelers were fighting while visiting the Dawg Pound in Cleveland. The fact that the Steel Curtain only won by three with a score of 21 to 18 wasn’t the only surprise of the game.

Historically, both these teams have had great runners: Jim Brown, Franco Harris, and Jerome Bettis just to name a few. But, over the weekend neither team could run the ball. Period. Le’Veon Bell and Isaiah Crowell combined to only rush for 65 yards. Bell is the best back in the league and Cowell is a rising runner who is the Browns workhorse. For some perspective: in the Seahawks vs. Packers game, Russell Wilson rushed for 40 yards (more their either back) and Aaron Rodgers scampered for 21, bringing their total to 61 yards. So, a pair of top 5 quarterbacks rushed for almost the same amount as a pair of top running backs.

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.