Where is Events that Sparked My Interest?

As you may have noticed, I didn't post an Events that Sparked My Interest for weeks 6 and 7 and that is due to some things going on in real life. It will return for Week 8 on Tuesday, October 31, also known as Halloween.

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.