What a beautiful feeling it was. To sit down at 1 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon and not get up until the break between the end of 4:25 games and the Sunday night game. That is what heaven feels like to us football fans. Technically I sat down from 11 a.m. because I was watching the Liverpool game (we won of course), but it was a great day of football. Hopefully I’ll be able to make this a weekly series. Let’s get into it.
1. Kyler Murray = THAT GUY
I mean… need I say more? Five total touchdowns (4 passing & 1 rushing) against the reigning AFC South champions. The connection with Deandre Hopkins is still looking great and in addition that, Chandler Jones made his case to be in the race for Defensive Player of the Year with five sacks and two forced fumbles. Will this be the year that Kliff Kingsbury finally puts all the pieces together and gets this team into the playoffs? I think so. In my predictions article last month I had them finishing with a strong 11-6. This week they got the mediocre-looking Minnesota Vikings at home. I’m expecting nothing other than a victory for the Cards.
2. Dak Prescott looked incredible on Thursday
To go into the reigning champions stadium, a team that held Patrick Mahomes & Co. to three field goals, and throw for 403 yards and three touchdowns is an impressive feat. People were worried about Dak coming back from his injuries. Ankle injury? Didn’t look like a big problem. Shoulder injury? Hold my beer while I throw 58 passes like it’s nothing. However, the rest of the Cowboys have been dealing with some issues ever since that game on Thursday. The day after the game starting right tackle La’El Collins was suspended five games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. Wideout Michael Gallup went on IR for a calf injury, edge rusher Randy Gregory tested positive for COVID-19, and the worst of all was DeMarcus Lawerence breaking his foot in practice yesterday. Lawerence, who’s arguably their best player on defense, will be out for 6-8 weeks. The Cowboys are set to take on Justin Herbert and the Chargers this week and without Lawerence it’ll be a whole lot harder.
3. The Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase connection is off to a great start
Ja’Marr Chase can’t create separation, Ja’Marr Chase hasn’t played football in almost two years, Ja’Marr Chase doesn’t have consistent hands. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all. Hold this 5 catch and 101 yard performance. Along with a 50 yard touchdown from his college quarterback Joe Burrow, capping off a 27-24 overtime win against the Vikings. Listen, everyone who watched Ja’Marr Chase in college knows that he has the special talent it takes to be a great receiver on Sunday’s. Lining up alongside Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd will also take a lot of pressure off of him. And if you worried about route running… take a look at this clip.
That’s against a potential hall-of-famer in Patrick Peterson. The sky is the limit for Chase and Burrow. The Bengals have a chance to start 2-0 against former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton at Soldier Field this Sunday. How far will Zac Taylor be able to lead this team? That answer will show itself as the season goes on.
4. The Jameis Winston revenge tour has begun
Now that is how you eat a W. Jameis Winston, after a year of sitting behind Drew Brees and Taysom Hill, went and beat the Green Bay Packers 38-3 this past Sunday. Winston had a day, throwing for five touchdowns and no interceptions. Now obviously this could be a huge fluke, but you can’t sit here and not be amazed by his performance. Especially against a team that is coming off of two straight NFC Championship appearances. Due to Hurricane Ida causing a lot of destruction in New Orleans and Louisiana in general, the Saints won’t be playing at the Superdome until October 3rd. However, with this strong start, I think Saints fans will have a little more patience to wait for their home opener.
5. Always love to see a great Monday Night Football game
Imagine shaking hands and telling your opponent good game and then five minutes later you throw a red-zone interception possibly costing your team the game. That is only one part of the madness that went down on Monday night in Las Vegas. Now usually crazy nights in Vegas are spent in casinos, but that didn’t stop Derek Carr and the Raiders from creating a classic game. From Lamar’s scrambling passing touchdown to the Zay Jones game-winner, this game didn’t give fans time to catch their breath.
Well the first week of the 2021 NFL season is now in the books. There are going to be 17 more weeks of regular season football. If you could only see the smile on my face right about now. This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
