In a league that is trying to
improve player safety, Odel Beckham,
for whatever reason, was thrown completely off his game by Carolina Panther’s cornerback Josh
Norman. Uncharacteristically Beckham had several drops, but it was his
helmet to helmet hit on Norman that should have seen him ejected. It was a hit
that was both dangerous and completely unnecessary.
There's no doubt that the NFL
MVP this year should be Cam Newton.
He's playing some impressive football and led the Panthers to a 38-35 win over
the Giants, including 5 touchdown passes. Newton creates plays both running and
passing and is a big man to have running at you. He's in control of his team
and is the unquestioned leader demonstrated when he was calming down Norman
after his run in with Odel.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the
NFC East, the Redskins ended the Bill’s playoff hopes, and the Eagles were soundly beaten by an Arizona Cardinals team that is setting
the tone for the NFC. Sloppy play from several Eagles (dropped passes and
fumbles on back to back drives), interesting calls (not using bigger back DeMarco Murray on short yardage plays) and
injuries to their secondary saw the Eagles limited. But it was the strength of
the Cardinal’s receiving corp that
impressed me. Larry Fitzgerald, Malcolm
Floyd and John Brown are as
formidable as any receivers in the league and rookie running back David Johnson also flashed potential.
Tennessee Titan’s fans haven't had much to cheer about other than the potential of Marcus Mariotta this year, and they are
again in the running for the first overall pick. The one bright spot on the
team has been Delanie Walker and it
is ridiculous that he was not voted to the Pro
Bowl. As well as being a great blocker for a TE Walker will break the 1000
yard barrier again (he currently has 935) and has six touchdowns. On a bad
Titans team he is doing all he can and it’s a shame he doesn't get the
recognition he deserves.
When I interviewed the Chief’s players for their Wembley appearance they were
struggling. Since then they have seen a considerable change of fortunes on
their way to winning seven straight games. Part of the credit must go to head
coach Andy Reid. Reid kept the
Chiefs hungry and believing through their early struggles and they are now
playing some impressive football. The signing of Jeremy Maclin looks like a master stroke as he has quickly become
the weapon of choice for Alex Smith
down the stretch. The Chief’s defence can be dominating and they made plenty of
plays this week as they walked away 34-14 victors over Baltimore.
The Packers showed what they can do again with a win over the Raiders, and fans are hoping that they
can round into form. Watching this game my one takeaway was how quiet Kalil Mack was. A week after having a 5
sack performance that took over the game against the Denver Broncos, Mack barely saw his name called. He registered one
sack, one solo tackle and tackle assist. He has 15 sacks so far in 2015 and is becoming
one of the league’s young superstars.
The Steelers got a win
against a very good Broncos team but it was a game of two halves. The Steelers
were in complete disarray in the first half and were down by 17 points but
bounced back on the back of another huge day from Antonio Brown. Denver on the other hand failed to score in the
second half for the third week in a row. Denver have named quarterback Brock Osweiler as the starter for their
Monday night game against the Cincinnati
Bengals. Peyton Manning is expected to be inactive. Going into the
offseason Denver will have a
decision to make about who they want at QB in 2016 as Osweiler will be coming
to the end of his contract and Manning has a huge cap figure.
The Cowboys quarterback carousel saw yet another player under centre.
Former Boise State star Kellen Moore became the latest player
to step up and kept the Fitzpatrick
led Jets team close, eventually losing 19-16. Since the ups and downs of Sanchez and Geno Smith, Fitzpatrick has steadied the Jet’s ship. He may not be
the most athletically gifted player or put up showy numbers but Fitzpatrick is
consistent and with a player like Brandon Marshall to catch the ball and an
imposing defence he will keep them in the hunt.
The Jaguars continue to show promise and Gus Bradley has them heading in the right direction thanks to the
consistent play of receiver Allen
Robinson (1141 yards and 13 touchdowns). The Jaguars could finish the
season with two 1000 yard receivers with Allen
Hurns needing only 93 yards in the last two games. Their defence is the
real issue. They are the NFL’s 30th ranked team, giving up an
average of 27.1 points and 361.5 yards.
The Pro Bowl teams have been announced and once again there is much outrage
as players that have had amazing seasons have again been ignored in favour of
those that are big names or happen to play for large market teams that have
prime time games.
Neither LeSean McCoy nor Jason
Peters were the best at their positions this year yet both made the Pro
Bowl. McCoy has been injured often this year and has only played his best in
patches whilst Peters has played reasonably well but has not been at his
dominating best. Continuing the theme of Pro Bowl snubs a minor surprise for me
is the omission of Denver cornerback Bradley
Roby. He's been consistently impressive in coverage and while he hasn't
made as many flashy plays and pick sixes as Kansas City’s Marcus Peters he has been far more consistent.
It's a broken system but is a
lot better than the AFC vs NFC games
before them. If you have a player that you don't think deserved their Pro Bowl
place or think another player was snubbed why not tweet me and let me know @Cumbleton
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