By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303
Week 2 of the AFC South schedule saw all 4 teams battling each other for control of the South.
While the Texans and Colts have won 9 out of 10 seasons, the Jaguars and Titans are pushing to end that reign.
Both teams failed to gain any ground within the division, but it’s still early and there is a lot of football to go. This division could come down to the final games late in December.
By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303
NFL teams are all too familiar with quarterback issues. Whether due to injury or working to find just the right guy, many teams across the league struggle with this every season.
This year, however, it seems that especially in the AFC South, QB play is going to be the big deciding factor.
With the shocking news this week of the retirement of Colts QB Andrew Luck, Indianapolis is the perfect place to start looking at this divison…
Continue reading “AFC South – it’s all about the quarterback”
By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG
What started out as a rainy, windy day in Orlando, ended with perfect temperatures, hot dance moves, and a whole lot of fun.
The NFC practice had to be moved indoors due to the weather. With that change, it allowed the NFC practice and the AFC practice to be held at different times, which allowed fans to be able to watch both conferences. Today I attended the AFC practice.
Quarterbacks Andrew Luck (Indianapolis), DeShaun Watson (Houston), and Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City) took turns running plays with the team while head coach Anthony Lynn watched from a distance, letting coaches Gus Bradley and others take over.
The QBs ran a few running plays, but when they switched to passing plays, it seemed to turn into a game of keep away. The defense made their presence known by grabbing interceptions and blocking passes. Let’s just say, it was a good thing there weren’t any officials on the field. It was all in good fun and the players loved it.
Continue reading “Pro Bowl Day 2: Let the Flag Football Championships begin”
By Wanda Wiedman // @WandaW63
The hype train has made its way to Chicago. A new head coach, several new weapons added from free agency and the NFL Draft and a young second-year quarterback to lead them.
It’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a 23-year old. But when this has been your dream since childhood, you better be ready.
Having been taken number two overall in the 2017 NFL Draft after only playing one full season at North Carolina, the pressure to prove himself was an understatement. Unfortunately, quarterback Mitch Trubisky was thrown in without a chance to learn a system and make it his own.
Poor coaching and play calling overshadowed his true talent. But this year is different. This year Trubisky will play with a swagger the NFL did not get to see. His love of the game will be on display and it will show in a big way.
Can Trubisky lead the Chicago Bears to a winning season in 2018? I tend to think so for several reasons.
Continue reading “Can Trubisky Lead the Chicago Bears in Year Two?”
By Sonja Greenfield // @Mom23RN
Less than 24 hours after the city of Houston celebrated a World Series win, the fans in Houston get dealt a devastating blow. Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson tore his ACL at practice today and is done for the season. He was on the way to having a very special season. After already losing defensive end J.J. Watt and linebacker Whitney Mercilus, the last thing this team needed was an injury their quarterback.
This news caps off a rather crazy week for the Texans. The Texans owner, Bob McNair, made some questionable comments last week, inferring that Texans players were “inmates”. News also broke earlier today that their division rival Indiana Colts quarterback Andrew Luck would be shut down for the rest of the season as well.
This leads us to ask the very intriguing question. Are the Jacksonville Jaguars now in a position where they could win the division?
Continue reading “Divisional Impact of Deshaun Watson’s Injury”
By Cleveland Kate // @ClvlndK8
Browns 17 – 33 Texans
Another tough game to watch for Browns fans. While most seemed surprised at the blow-out, if you look at their schedule up until now (Jets, Colts, Bengals), it’s only going to get harder as the season progresses. Visions of an 0-16 record loom large in the minds of even die hard fans. And the fear that getting the first pick in the draft (again) will only bring disappointment as the front office seems to struggle with player selection and analytics is very real.
Week after week fans see players the Browns released making plays, like wide recievers Willie Snead in NO or Travis Benjamin in Los Angeles for the Chargers. They see players they passed on in the draft wining games; quarterbacks Carson Wentz PHI and Deshaun Watson HOU being the most popular benchmarks so far. And they question the ability of the front office – and analytics – to put together a football team. Rightfully so.
The Titans embarrass themselves against divisional rival Houston Texans with a loss 57-14.
By Karen Christensen // @ksc47
Tennessee Titans 15 Houston Texans 57
When your team loses this bad, it makes you overthink everything. How in the world could they just play so bad for four quarters and not make any adjustments to turn the tide? I hope the team regroups and reassembles and rises out of the ashes like a phoenix. Or like an NFL team with a will to win like the team that played against the Seattle Seahawks last week.
The tone of the game was set right from the start when quarterback Marcus Mariota threw a pass that was intercepted by Texan safety Andre Hal in the first quarter. Except for the two touchdowns Mariota ran in himself, there just were not many plays by the Titans that were anything to get excited about.
Mariota suffered a hamstring injury during his second touchdown run and did not return to the game. Matt Cassel was in at QB in the second half of the game and this was not a good look at all. Cassel had three turnovers and zero points…the turnovers added 13 points for the Texans. Lawd, have mercy, what a mess.
I kept hoping that the Titans would get a run game going, that running backs DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry would be able to get some touchdowns since Cassel wasn’t exactly throwing the football where he needed to be throwing it, but it wasn’t to be.
The Titans defense had no answer to the Texans’ rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson who had five touchdowns. Embarrassing. The Titans didn’t seem to have an answer to the Houston’s wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins either. Tennessee rookie cornerback Adoree Jackson had a rough time covering Hopkins (maybe the height difference hindered him) and why defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau did not move the more experienced cornerback Logan Ryan to cover Hopkins earlier is questionable. The Titans defense was just absent. Defensive tackle Jurrell Casey got his first QB sack this season and safety Kevin Byard got his career first interception, but that was about all folks.
In his Monday press conference, head coach Mike Mularkey revealed that Mariota has a hamstring sprain and may be able to play this Sunday in Miami against the Dolphins. His status is officially “day to day.” In addition to Mariota’s injury, Mularkey said that he doesn’t expect safety Johnathan Cyprien or wide receiver Corey Davis to play this next Sunday due to hamstring injuries.
The Titans are still at the top of the AFC South, 2-2 the same as the Texans and Jags, with the Colts at the bottom. The Titans play the Texans again in December, so the coaching staff has plenty of time to come up with a new plan for that match up.
The Titans are on the road again for their next matchup, traveling to Miami to face the 1-2 Dolphins, who lost to the New Orleans Saints 20-0 last week. So this matchup involves two teams with embarrassing losses that most likely will be trying their best to play hard to save face and get back on top of their game. Per TitansOnline:
We are already on to Miami,” Mularkey said. “We’re trying to get the taste out of our mouths. We have a lot of football left. There’s seven 2-win teams and six 3-win teams and we’re right in the middle of them in this first quarter of the season.”
This fan is ready for all of the Titans players to get healthy and work together as a well oiled machine. This loss was not fun. It hurt to watch the guys out there after allowing a 30-point first half with no adjustments and no answers to the Texans’ pounding. For the December 3 re-match the coaches better have a plan! The Dolphins are up next so time for a total turn around by all three parts of this Titans organization.
Want to talk Titans with Karen? Find her on Twitter @ksc47
#SmartWomen #SmartFootball
By Karen Christensen // @ksc47
Titans beat Seattle Seahawks 33-27 in Music City
After another slow start with a score of 9-7 at the end of the first half, the only Titans’ scores coming from three field goals from place kicker Ryan Succop; the Titans finally got the train rollin’ in the third quarter. In that respect, this game was eerily similar to the previous game against the Jacksonville Jaguars with very little action in the beginning and then a whole lot of excitement at the end.
The best Tennessee plays in the beginning ended up being taken away. Wide receiver Eric Decker made a great sideline catch with some “toe drag swag” as Good Morning Football Show would say, keeping his toes in bounds and getting a first down during the first quarter. Decker would later be called for a holding penalty so a touchdown run by quarterback Marcus Mariota was called back.
Cornerback Adoree Jackson had an 80 yard punt return for a touchdown that was overturned due to an illegal block by running back David Fluellen in the second quarter. The call was a bit on the “iffy” side in my opinion. It looked like Seattle Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin actually ran into Fluellen, but I’m not an NFL referee. Sure would have been lovely to have those two touchdowns light a fire for the Titans.
by Wanda Wiedman & Cleveland Kate // @WandaW63 & @ClvlndK8
While the NFL shook up the world with its #TakeAKnee, we have survived week 3 with quite a few upsets but managed to stay true to our picks.
Last week Kate suggested that sitting the Pittsburgh Steelers defense against the Chicago Bears offense would be ideal and boy, was she right! But if you took heed to our suggestions when we said to start Chris Thompson and sit Jeremy Maclin.…you’re welcome.
So let’s get started with this week’s fantasy Starts!
By Traci McCartney // @traciamc
Patriots 36-Texans 33
In a game where both the offense and defense seemed to struggle, the Patriots pulled out a win on yet another quarterback Tom Brady game winning, game ending drive (the 50th in his career). Brady connected on a 25 yd pass to speedster wide reciever Brandin Cooks, who made a spectacular catch to put the Patriots ahead 36-33 after the successful 2 point conversion attempt, leaving the Texans with 23 seconds left for Houston Texans’ rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson to make something happen. It wasn’t meant to be.
This wasn’t one of the Patriots’ best games, and as I mentioned last week, the Texans’ defense is tough – they’re big and they’re fast, and even with their starting secondary depleted, they managed to give Patriots receivers a difficult time. Thoughts on this game….
Continue reading “Brady Engineers Another Game Winning Drive as Patriots Top Texans”
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