Cold Open The NFL's biggest issue in 2020 is no longer COVID-19; it is having enough star players on the field in the second half of the season. I am sure this may be living in the moment, but I cannot remember a more devastating week of injuries in my life in the NFL. Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Drew Lock, Saquon Barkley, Raheem Mostert, Jimmy Garoppolo, Courtland Sutton, Malik Hooker, Christian McCaffrey and more players are all either lost for the season or for the immediate future. The 49ers were quick to blame the MetLife Stadium turf, but the rest of the league not playing in New Jersey on Sunday may beg to differ on the cause. The lack of the body being prepared to take on hits in training camp, the lack of preseason, all must be major factors. It was the first Week 1 in NFL history where every starting quarterback made it through without an injury or benching, and outside of Denver, San Francisco, and with the Chargers it better stay that way. The league can survive pass rushers and running backs being lost, but if the quarterback position begins to get devastated we could be in big trouble in terms of a fun and safe season. While all the COVID-19 testing was put in for player safety, player safety may have been hurt with no preseason. Remember Week 2 of the 2020 season in the next argument you have with someone who tells you those games and the practices leading into them are unnecessary.
Ten Yard Gain
1-Drew Brees is now atop the leaderboard for old quarterbacks fading out of supremacy after Monday night. Michael Thomas being out of action would hurt any quarterback – that is without question – but the offense looked like it was missing much more. The threat of dialing it back and hitting a streaking receiver on the run seems gone. This is a station-to-station offense now due to Brees’ deteriorating ability. Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara are where the big plays come. Brees is masquerading as an elite quarterback on name only, and it is worth monitoring as the Saints try and finally chase the Lombardi again this season.
2-Kirk Cousins is who we thought he was all along. A win in the postseason last year did nothing to change who Kirk is, a meddling quarterback who was way overpaid. Now the Vikings are stuck in Andy-Dalton-with-the-Bengals-territory from many years ago. It is no-man’s land. They likely won't be bad enough to get a franchise-changing quarterback, but they will never be good enough to truly compete for a title.
3-Adam Gase does not trust Sam Darnold to make an audible. It is Year 3 of a No. 3 overall pick under center; Darnold knows the playbook, and he knows the scheme (if Adam Gase even has a scheme). If he doesn't have the authority to audible, that says more about the head coach. Does Adam Gase not see he is leading a ship into an iceberg?
4-Ryan Tannehill may not be a fluke. The Jaguars gave the Titans everything they could handle and more on Sunday. The Titans defense faltered, the running game sputtered at moments, and it was Tannehill who saved the day. His trajectory shows how quick we can be to dismiss quarterbacks and not understand that development is a real thing for some of these guys. The Titans may have lucked into a franchise quarterback.
5-The Chargers defense got disrespected in postgame conversations this week. Justin Herbert starting on no notice and keeping the Chargers in the game, of course, is a storyline. But the only reason they really were in the game was because of their defense finding a way to keep Patrick Mahomes under 30 points. If the Chiefs dropped 30 or more, is Herbert versus Taylor even a storyline this week?
6-The Texans are uncompetitive versus elite competition. Bill O'Brien's power trip has led them to bad losses versus the Chiefs and Ravens, while DeShaun Watson now looks like he doesn't belong on the same field as Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. Trading DeAndre Hopkins was an unforgivable disaster, as the Texans now stare 0-3 in the face.
7-Dan Quinn returning as head coach of the Falcons in 2020 never made any sense. It makes even less sense now. Matt Ryan is playing good football, but the second half of his prime has been derailed, similar to the way Eli Manning's was with an older Tom Coughlin, Ben McAdoo, and eventually Pat Shurmur. Now Quinn will almost certainly be out after this season, and next year a new head coach will likely bring a reset year, again wasting time for Matt Ryan.
8-Joe Burrow sure does look the part of a franchise quarterback. With every Browns strike last Thursday night, it would have been easy for Burrow to drown in comeback-mode pressure, but he swam like Michael Phelps instead. He was so cool under the primetime pressure he even casually rode a stationary bike to Troy Aikman's surprise. I understand a lot of this column is overreacting, but the Bengals and their fans have to feel really pumped up about the idea that they may have finally gotten this position right.
9- I cannot believe Cam Newton looks this good already. I wanted to be bold and stand proudly in how confident I was that the Patriots would be a bad football team. Their roster, on paper, was bottom five in the league. There is a long way to go for Cam to stay healthy, but he looks like an MVP candidate and Bill Belichick is laughing under a bird-beak mask.
10- Getting Odell Beckham Jr. involved in the Browns offense early isn't just about feeding his enormous ego; it is about making the Browns’ offense tick. Baker Mayfield fed 13 on Thursday Night early and often. This loosened up the defense and let their two-headed monster of a run game get rolling. The Browns can compete for a Wild Card spot by simply getting Odell the ball. It is an offense-changer.
Five Games To Chew On
My Picks
A big 3-0 week ATS has us flying at 5-1 for the season. For this week:
Football Food of the Week
Sausage and Pepper Empanadas. Cool your jets, folks, I am back with a food of my own. Yes, I will still take suggestions throughout the season. If they are good, I will for sure use them so keep them coming. But here I give you a variation of a yearly staple in this column: The ever-versatile empanada.
Purchase empanada shells from your grocer, and let them thaw a bit before using. Get either ground sausage or sausage links (if cooking the links, you will need to chop the meat very small), and grab some peppers and onions.
Chop the peppers and onions very small, and cook in a pan with the sausage. Let the juices come together so that your kitchen smells like your favorite Italian Street festival. Once finished, let cool for 5-10 minutes. Scoop the mixture of meat, peppers, and onion onto the empanada shells, evenly distributing. Fold the shell over in half and use a fork to fan and seal the edges. Then fry each empanada for three minutes on each side in some hot oil on a pan. Serve them hot.
You could throw some cheese into the mixture if you want a gooey effect. I prefer mine cheese-less. You get that flaky, crunchy texture of the empanada shell with the impactful taste of a sausage and peppers hero with every bite. How does that sound on a Sunday?
Thanks for reading as always. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @MrazCBS.