October 4, 2018 — Football season is flying by and it’s starting to feel as if every team has gotten past the preseason blues. Let’s discuss the top games of the week:

Raiders pulled through with their surprise first win of the season against the Browns. Something clicked in Derek Carr’s head during the last 3:00 of the 4th quarter, when Baker Mayfield completed a handoff pass to Nick Chubb who ran right into the end zone bringing the Browns to a 42-34 lead. The stadium began to empty, (I should know because I left with the crowd), next thing you know everyone in the parking lot is screaming that we tied it up and are heading to OT.

How the Raiders got there: Carr completed a sweet seven yard touchdown pass to Jared Cook followed by a 2 point-conversion pass to Jordy Nelson to tie the game up 42-42 with 23 seconds left. Reggie Nelson picks off Mayfield and the Raiders head to OT. Raiders get the first possession and come up with nothing. Mayfield attempts a long pass to Derrick Johnson but it is rejected. Raiders have one more possession for a W; Lynch rushes to the 29 yard line and Matt McCrane completes the field goal for the Raiders first victory 45-42. Great way to show up on his NFL debut right?

The battle between the Falcons and Bengals felt as if it was a playoff spot clinching wildcard game. Blocked field goal attempts, stripped QB’s and a tipped passed leading to an interception. Matt Ryan completed 419 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Andy Dalton did not fail to keep up with 337 yards and 3 touchdown passes. 

The chemistry between the QB’s and their receivers were pretty identical. Julio Jones completed nine receptions for 173 yards, while Tyler Boyd had 11 receptions for 100 yards. In the end, AJ Green led the Bengals to a victory with a touchdown on a barely covered corner route; the final score was 37-36. 

Fantasy Update: I have officially picked up Tyler Boyd for the next few weeks— have you seen their schedule? The Bengals have been slept on for far too long and my advice is, if either Dalton or Boyd are free GRAB EM. They are playing some of the worst defenses in the league and I’m sure much won’t change when they see this duo coming.

The Titans battled for this victory and man was it sweet! Carson Wentz threw a beautiful pass to Jordan Matthews for 56 yards, bringing the score to 7-3. By the beginning of the 2nd half the Titans were down 17-3 and things were looking a little shaky, until a pass interference flag was thrown bringing the Titans to the 5 yard line. Mariota heads to the end zone on 2nd down and brings the score up 17-10. Start of the 4th Wentz fumbles the ball on the Eagles 35 and the Titans score 3 more. Under 8 minutes left on the Eagle 35 and Mariota decides to throw a long ball to Corey Davis inside the 25 (!!) Mariota completes a touchdown pass to Tajae Sharpe and the Titans are up 20-17. Eagles tie it up with a field goal (via ESPN.)

On the Eagles possession they came up with three points, but the Titans, oh no they wanted that W. Mariota threw some RISKY passes on 4th down, I was worried watching the highlights. 4th and 15 Mariota hits up Taywan Taylor for a 19 yard pass. Mariota throws a short pass to Lewis who gains 15 yards, finally on 3rd and 10 Mariota hits Corey Davis with a 10 yard dagger, wrapping up the game at 26-23. This was a battle the Titans were prepared for and I am excited to see them take on the Bills next week for hopefully another W.

Now onto the least impressive games of the week:

The Dolphins had some easy competition the first three weeks, defeating the Titans, Raiders and Jets. Week three the Dolphins picked up the pace and got lucky when Carr threw an interception in the end zone on 1st down, beating them 28-20. The Dolphins are now 3-0, but we all know that doesn’t mean too much when facing Tom Brady at home in New England.

Brady wrapped up the first half with a 24-0 lead. Miami only had 15 rushing yards by the 4th quarter, ouch. Frank Gore completed the only touchdown for the Dolphins in the last three minutes. Overall, a Dolphin win in this game would’ve been a long-shot, but now they can review the mistakes they made offensively: overthrown snaps, poor blocks, just to name a few and re-adjust when they play the Bengals next week…

We have all been keeping tabs on Ryan Fitzpatrick and his magic the past three weeks right? 402 yards and a W against the former Super Bowl Champions during week two, dang! Fitzpatrick rocked shades, a chest revealing jacket and chains to his post game interview 🙄. It was pretty hilarious and I expected him to steal Jamies Winston’s starting spot, until they faced the Bears.

The Bucs vs Bears game was a total blowout and we can blame both Fitzpatrick and Winston for their performances. The Bears offense was spread wide and Trubinsky was hitting his receivers left and right, racking up 483 yards and scoring 35 points by halftime (via ESPN.) Fitzpatrick threw a nice pick and was strip-sacked by the famous Khalil Mack in the first half. Then Winston threw two interceptions as well in the second. Not the same performance we saw from the Bucs the week before. Luckily the Bucs have a bye next week so they can review the lack of action from the secondary and work on their troubled QB’s regarding possession.