Trubisky Roars Loud, OT Thrillers, Record Breaker
If you watched Week 4 of the NFL season and didn’t come away feeling like you just watched the best Sunday of the NFL season to this point, go get drug tested because you need a few more in you!
In Week 4 we saw the highest scoring game of the NFL season in a unlikely venue, a running back gain over 100 yards rushing on three carries, the Saints play defense (kinda??) and three overtime games that didn’t end in a tie.
That’s all to say like a excited kid with a new bike or a bunch of cartoon mice in a fictional headquarters typing on buttons out of panic in code red that Week 4 was f****** awesome and arguably one of the best Sundays in the NFL in recent memory.
Just when we thought we saw the best that Week 5 would have to offer last Thursday night in Los Angeles, seven games were decided by three points or less on a fantastic day of NFL action.
Not to keep flapping my gums, here is my recap of the Sunday that was in the NFL.
Mitchell Trubisky Has Coming Out Party vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Who the heck is that?
I’m referring to number 10 wearing a Chicago Bears jersey, who before the game seemed to make some agreement with the football gods to get Ryan’s ‘Fitzmagic’ for a day.
The 2017 number two overall pick has had a slower development than his other mates from the 2017 draft class that includes Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, but on Sunday vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he had a coming of age.
Trubisky torched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense at a sold out Soldier Field for 5 touchdowns in the first half, a franchise record. He would finish the game with a career-high 354 passing yards and 6 TDs with a 154.3 Passer Rating.
The Chicago Bears (3-1) went on to romp the suddenly skidding Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-10 in their most impressive and dominating victory of the season.
The 24 year-old quarterback coming into today had only nine career touchdown passes in 15 NFL starts, causing some groans in the Windy City.
If today taught us anything, however, it’s that the talented quarterback has a bright future on a team that looks ready to take the next level into playoff contention in 2018.
Pats Bounce Back vs 3-0 Miami Dolphins
In the Brady/Belichick era, New England simply doesn’t lose three consecutive games.
Behind a strong performance on both sides of the ball, the New England Patriots dominated the Miami Dolphins in a emphatic 38-7 win at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots coming into the game struggled on offense with only 36 points over their last 10 quarters and a defense allowing well over 50 percent of third downs to be converted against them.
In the first half they flipped the script on a Miami Dolphins team off to a surprising 3-0 start.
In the first half the New England Patriots offense out-gained the Miami Dolphins 272 to 75 and went 6-for-9 on third down, scoring 24 points in the process.
Miami’s offense was stuck in quicksand in the first half as they went 1-for-6 on third down. Miami trailing 10-0 in the second quarter would turn the ball over on a high snap resulting in a fumble recovery by New England.
Adding to their woes, Miami rushed for a grand total of 7 rushing yards vs a team that allowed 159 rushing yards a week ago.
New England (2-2) cruised in the second half, but a few developments to watch is the impact of Josh Gordon being on the field.
Gordon made his Patriots debut on Sunday and having him on the field seemingly opened things up for New England’s rushing attack, which had a season-high in rushing attempts (40) and rushing yards (175).
Rookie running back Sony Michel rushed the ball 25 times for 112 rushing yards and his first career touchdown. Meanwhile, always consistent pass catching running back James White in addition to recording a touchdown reception finished the game with 44 rushing yards and 1 TD.
Mistake Prone Browns Cough Up Lead In OT Thriller vs Oakland Raiders
The Cleveland Browns may have ended their drought of nearly two years without a win, but their inability to end another will have to wait.
The Oakland Raiders behind 437 passing yards and 3 TDs from Derek Carr outlasted the Cleveland Browns 45-42 on Sunday in overtime at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Cleveland Browns (1-2-1) squandered a 28-14 lead second half lead and imploded defensively as well as unraveled offensively thereafter.
Oakland erased Cleveland’s edge by scoring 17 unanswered, which included a 19-yard touchdown reception by Oakland Raiders’ wide receiver Jordy Nelson to give Oakland a 31-28 lead in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland would regain the lead and then tack on another touchdown — a 41-yard run by running back Nick Chubb — to make it a 42-34 game with 4:20 to go.
This is a Browns defense that through three weeks has looked, dear I say, elite. They lost that moniker quickly after coughing up the lead, allowing Derek Carr and company to score and then tie the game on a 2-point conversion in 58 seconds.
Baker Mayfield — who made his first career start — had a up and down game that included his first two touchdown passes as well as four turnovers, one being a pick six.
Of Mayfield’s four turnovers, three of them led to or resulted in 21 Oakland Raiders points. That’s something that even Hue Jackson can’t put on his defense, which surrendered a season-high 565 total yards on Sunday.
It was a self-destruction that cant be pinned on a field goal kicker going south or the play of Tyrod Taylor.
This loss is on the Cleveland Browns entire team which Cleveland Browns fans are painfully all too familiar with by now.
Tennessee Titans Stun Philadelphia Eagles
The Tennessee Titans followed a statement in a divisional victory last week in Jacksonville with another at home vs the defending champs.
The Tennessee Titans stunned the Philadelphia Eagles 26-23 in overtime on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
Tennessee Titans’ quarterback Marcus Mariota would find wide receiver Corey Davis for a 10-yard touchdown with five seconds to go in overtime.
Corey Davis, who didn’t record a touchdown last season in his rookie year, made a leaping grab over Eagles’ cornerback Avonte Maddox on a 3rd and goal to give the Titans a third consecutive victory.
The Tennessee Titans fought from a 17-3 deficit in the second half in regulation to take the lead at 20-17, but would allow Philadelphia to send the game into overtime 20-20.
Carson Wentz — who finished the game with 348 passing yards and 2 TDs — led the Philadelphia Eagles on a drive ending in a 37-yard field by kicker Jake Elliot to begin overtime.
After converting on a 4th and 15 play to keep the drive alive and having another converted due to defensive holding, Mike Vrabel would roll the dice on yet another fourth down.
Facing a 4th and 2 at the Eagles 32-yard line, the Tennessee Titans head coach –who initially elected to send out the field goal unit — would send his offense out where they would convert with a 17-yard reception by running back Dion Lewis which would position Tennessee for the game-winning score.
Marcus Mariota finished the game with 344 passing yards and 2 TDs to go along with a team-high 46 rushing yards.
The Tennessee Titans don’t win pretty, but the only stat that matters is 3-1 for a football team that believes their best football is yet to come.
Adam Vinatieri Passes Morten Anderson For All-Time Record In Field Goals Made
The NFL has a new record leader in field goal makes.
Adam Vinatieri passed Morten Anderson for the all-time record in points late in the second quarter with a 42-yard field goal that gave him 565 field goal makes.
Vinatieri came into the day tied with Morten Anderson at 565 field goals after he tied the legendary kicker with a 3-for-3 day vs the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3.
Undrafted out of South Dakota State University, Vinatieri’s NFL career started back in 1996 for the New England Patriots where he won three Super Bowl titles.
He is mostly remembered for his playoff heroics as a New England Patriot which first began when he hit impossible field goals — which included a game-winning field goal — vs the Oakland Raiders in the 2002 NFL playoffs in a snow blizzard as the Patriots upset the Oakland Raiders 16-13 in OT in the divisional round.
He continued his heroics by hitting game-winning field goals in Super Bowl 36 vs the St. Louis Rams and Super Bowl 38 vs the Carolina Panthers.
The 45-year old spent his first 10 seasons in New England before playing the next 13 in Indianapolis where he won his fourth Super Bowl title back in 2006.
Vinatieri has had 12 seasons where he’s connected on better than 85 percent of his field goals while hitting better than 90 percent of his field goals in 4 seasons.
Greatest kicker ever? At this juncture, that’s indisputable.
What are your thoughts on Sunday’s Week 4 action? Leave your comments below!
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