Hello again football fans of America. I realize there was no Way Off Wednesday article last week, and I apologize. I took my own bye week, but now I’m back to share my thoughts with you all once again. In my last piece, I wrote about the rookie quarterbacks (who went 4-0 combined in week 5), J.J. Watt and Tyrann Mathieu (who both continue to play at a Pro Bowl level), and the Patriots (who despite dominating the past couple games, still look pretty slow). Time for some more headlines. Let’s ride.
Take: Dak Prescott is holding the Cowboys back.
On point. The Cowboys offense has been abysmal to start the season; they rank in the bottom five in both total yards and points per game. The schemes and play calling can definitely be to blame in this situation, but Dak Prescott has not looked at all like the Offensive Rookie of the Year he was just a couple short seasons ago. Prescott has thrown passes to receivers who do not get open. He actually has the highest percentage of throws into tight coverage among ALL starting quarterbacks in the league. What’s even worse is that Dak has the third-most amount of time before throwing the ball. Although the offensive play calling has been lackluster, the third-year QB is making poor choices at the line of scrimmage by not calling properly adjustments. There are many ways Dak Prescott has regressed, and he needs to improve in order for the ‘Boys to be back in any sort of playoff contention. This team sorely misses Tony Romo.
Take: The Rams defense is scary good.
Way off. This offseason, the additions of Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters, and Aqib Talib bolstered this already-solid defense in Los Angeles. But the team has let up 23, 31, and 31 points over the past three weeks. The star-studded cast of the Rams has looked extremely porous against opposing offenses, which is concerning given the record-breaking start to the season offenses have had as a whole across the NFL. Two out of the other NFC division leaders rank in the top seven in points per game this season, so don’t write the them into the Super Bowl yet. Add in the fact that this astronomical offense may not keep up now that Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp may be out for some time, and the Rams seem to be human.
Take: The NFC North is still up in the air.
Way off. Now this may be wishful thinking as I root for the Chicago Bears, but it looks like the Monsters of the Midway are going to run away with this division. Minnesota’s defense has not looked like the same team from last year, Green Bay has a one-legged Aaron Rodgers, and Detroit is well…Detroit. Let’s run down the impressive rankings of the Bears so far this year: #1 in sacks, #2 in yards allowed, #2 in scoring defense, #2 in turnover margin, and #7 in points per game. Oh, and did I mention that they also boast the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year in Khalil Mack? With Trubisky finally clicking in this Matt Nagy offense, and a suffocating front seven, the Bears will dominate the rest of the North and make it to the playoffs for the first time since the 2010 season.
Photo Credit: Jeffrey Beall
M-FANS 