The List: Penalty issues affect several Week 6 games
The List: Penalty issues affect several Week 6 games
Something happened in the NFL over the weekend that you rarely see … a close game no matter which one you watched. The Patriots improved to 6-0 with a 21-point win on Thursday night, but even that contest was close early in the fourth quarter.
However, with so many tight games, there is always a chance that bad officiating would play a part in some of the outcomes, and that is exactly what happened this week, but more on that later. Here are the best and worst from Week 6.
WINNERS
NFL fans get good action – Whether you watched Seattle come back for a win against Cleveland, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes duking it out in Kansas City, Kyler Murray and Arizona holding off the Falcons or the Monday night game coming down to a last-second field goal, every game was close and entertaining, even though the final score of some games may not have given off that impression.
Late-breaking trades - As noted in the injury section, later on, the Rams will be losing Aqib Talib to a rib fracture. Los Angeles followed that late Tuesday afternoon by trading another cornerback, starter Marcus Peters, to Baltimore for linebacker Kenny Young and a 2020 draft pick. Just in case anyone thought the Rams were done on the secondary movement front, the team pulled a shocker less than four hours after the Peters deal. The biggest available name in the secondary trade market has been Jacksonville’s Jalen Ramsey, and Los Angeles sent first-round picks the next two years, plus a fourth-round pick in 2021 east for the outspoken corner.
A two-time Pro Bowler and 2017 All-Pro, Ramsey has amassed nine interceptions and 182 solo tackles in four years. He has 13 tackles, a pass defended and a forced fumble in three games this season.
Peters was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in Kansas City after a 2015 season that included league highs in interceptions (eight), yards (280), touchdowns (two) and passes defended (26). The two-time Pro Bowler and 2016 All-Pro has 24 picks, four scores and 172 solo tackles in five seasons. He was traded to the Rams for a 2018 fourth-round pick and a 2019 second-rounder in March 2018.
What a difference a Darnold makes – Jets starting quarterback returned from a bout of mononucleosis to lead the Jets to their first win of the season, 24-22 against the visiting Cowboys. The heavily padded passer provided an instant spark, throwing for 338 yards and two touchdowns, including a 92-yard strike to Robby Anderson late in the second quarter. With Trevor Siemian and Luke Falk subbing for Darnold the past three weeks, New York was outscored, 84-23. Darnold will be put to the test this week against the top-rated Patriots’ defense on Monday night.
Texans set a record in Kansas City – The early Sunday game with the most hype leading up to kickoff was the Houston-Kansas City matchup that featured an excellent quarterback battle. The Chiefs jumped out to a big lead early, thanks to Patrick Mahomes finding the returning Tyreek Hill for a touchdown pass. Hill had missed the previous four games with a dislocated sternoclavicular joint in his chest and neck. Watson and his two backs, Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson, each scored to give the Texans a 23-17 halftime lead. Mahomes and Hill hooked up again to put Kansas City back in front midway through the third quarter, but Houston came back once more. The quarterback led his team on a 12-play drive that took more than 8½ minutes off the clock. Watson’s second rushing score of the game put the Texans back in front.
After Kansas City punted, Houston ran out the clock, thanks to a gutsy call on 4th-and-3 that resulted in a Watson to DeAndre Hopkins pass for a first down. The Texans set a franchise record with six drives of 10 plays or more (three resulted in touchdowns, plus one field goal, one missed a field goal and one Watson interception), and the final drive was at nine plays when the clock ran out. Both teams are now 4-2 and will play division matchups this week. The Chiefs go to Denver on Thursday night and the Texans visit the Colts in an early Sunday game.
Diggs stars in Vikings’ win over Eagles – Stefon Diggs must have been upset that I spelled his name wrong in last week’s column, and he took it out on the Eagles on Sunday. Diggs caught seven passes from Kirk Cousins, totaling an NFL week-high 167 yards and three touchdowns in Minnesota’s 38-20 win over the Eagles. Cousins threw for 333 yards and four scores overall as the Vikings improved to 4-2. Carson Wentz passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns, but the Eagles dropped to 3-3. Philadelphia and Dallas are tied for the top spot in the NFC East and will face off on Sunday. Minnesota gets its own division rivalry game in Detroit.
Bird battle in the desert – This year’s top overall draft pick, Kyler Murray, threw two touchdown passes as the Cardinals took a 27-10 lead on the Falcons early in the third quarter on Sunday. Atlanta fought back, with Matt Ryan tossing two scoring passes of his own to tie the score with less than 11 minutes remaining. Arizona then benefited from a Vic Beasley 15-yard horse collar penalty during a sack, and Murray put his team back in front, 34-27, on a 14-yard pass to running back David Johnson.
Ryan took the Falcons on one final drive, which ended on a scoring pass to Devonta Freeman with 1:53 left. Unfortunately for Atlanta, the usually surefooted Matt Bryant missed the extra point and Arizona ran out the clock for a 34-33 win. Murray completed 27 of 37 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns. Ryan went 30-for-36 for 356 yards and four scores.
Denver’s defense finally looks like a Fangio creation – Throughout his time with the Panthers, Ravens, 49ers, and Bears, Vic Fangio was touted as a defensive guru. His new team did not appear as such in losses to the Raiders, Packers, and Jaguars, but they feasted on the Titans this week. The Broncos sacked Tennessee quarterbacks seven times and forced three interceptions in a 16-0 win. The tandem of Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill combined for 207 yards passing, but Denver held their opponents to 39 yards on the ground. Up next for the Broncos is a home game against the Chiefs on Thursday night.
The best individual performances – Among quarterbacks, Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston topped the list with 400 yards. In addition to the five other passers previously mentioned, Tom Brady threw for 334 yards in a win over the Giants on Thursday night to keep his team perfect, and Philip Rivers amassed 320 yards through the air in a loss to the Steelers on Sunday night. The best overall game by a quarterback goes to Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who threw for 236 yards and was the league’s top rusher with 152 yards on the ground in a 23-17 win over Cincinnati. Jackson is the first quarterback to pass for 200 yards and rush for 150 in a regular-season game in league history (Colin Kaepernick accomplished the feat in a San Francisco win over Green Bay in a 2012 Division round playoff game).
Other rushers of note: Seattle’s Chris Carson (124 yards) and Cleveland’s Nick Chubb (122) starred on opposing sides of a close game on Sunday. Carlos Hyde (116) kept Chiefs defenders on their toes. Adrian Peterson (118) helped Washington beat the Dolphins for the team’s first win. Jamaal Williams ran for 104 yards and a touchdown, and also had a receiving score in Green Bay’s win on Monday night. Ezekiel Elliott ran for 105 yards, but Dallas lost to the Jets.
While Diggs had the best numbers of the week, there were other solid receiver performances. Tampa Bay’s Chris Godwin (10 catches for 151 yards) and Mike Evans (9-96) came in a losing effort in London. Robbie Anderson had 125 yards, including a long touchdown in the Jets’ win. Austin Hooper (8-117) and Julio Jones (8-107) each received attention from Matt Ryan in a loss to the Cardinals. Golden Tate (6-102) had his first big game as a member of the Giants, but New England’s Julian Edelman (9-113) starred for the winners on Thursday. Kenny Golladay (5-121) was Matthew Stafford’s favorite target in the Monday night game. Rookie Terry McLaurin amassed 100 yards on four catches in Washington’s win. Tight end George Kittle (8-103) outgained the entire Rams passing attack by himself on Sunday, and Odell Beckham Jr. totaled six receptions and 101 yards, but the Browns fell to the Seahawks.
LOSERS
Penalties, more penalties, and mistaken penalties – As was stated before, the Chiefs-Texans game was quite a thriller. The game featured Patrick Mahomes’ first interception of the year (which, since it is Week 6, is a remarkable fact by itself), which wouldn’t have been one if the referees had been paying attention. Mahomes saw a flag on the field during the second quarter after his tight end, Travis Kelce, was held and then taken down by Lonnie Johnson Jr., so he figured he had a free play. He lobbed it to the end zone, where it was picked off by Houston safety Tashaun Gipson. Pass interference negates the interception, right? WRONG!
The referees huddled together and decided that, since Kelce was not the intended receiver on the play, there was no pass interference, completely forgetting the holding call they could have used and STILL given the ball back to Kansas City. With a 31-24 final score, this mistake directly affected the outcome of the game.
That wasn’t the only incident this week, either. Monday night’s game featured two “phantom” penalties called on former Patriots defensive lineman Trey Flowers, who is now with the Lions. Flowers was called twice for “hands to the face” penalties when his hands were only on his opponent’s chest and shoulders. The infractions were key in the Packers’ tying and winning drives, as Green Bay won, 23-22. Not only were neither penalties, but Packers tackle David Bakhtiari actually had HIS hand on Flowers’ facemask during one of those plays.
The week started with a missed holding/pass interference call involving New England’s Jonathan Jones on Golden Tate in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s game. While the Giants probably wouldn’t have won the game, you cannot miss a clear penalty in real-time, then have a coach challenge the play, see a definite penalty and still not overturn the call. You open the door for the “conspiracy theorists” (especially in the case of the Patriots) when you make these mistakes. If it’s a penalty based on the rule, it has to be addressed.
All of these calls may not be referees actively trying to affect the outcomes of games, or the league having that kind of control, but fans will not put up with this continued misuse of these situations. Officials messed up with the missed pass interference call in the NFC Championship Game last year which started all this nonsense in the first place. What is the point of wasting time to look at these calls on replay if you’re still not going to have the guts to change the call if you didn’t get it right at first? If I want to watch horribly choreographed officiating mistakes and pre-determined outcomes, I can just watch pro wrestling instead. This is unacceptable for the NFL to continue to let this happen.
Baker blames the officials – There were definitely enough bad calls to go around in the Seattle-Cleveland game as well. Trailing 25-20, but driving, Baker Mayfield found wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who fumbled into the end zone, where the ball was recovered by running back Nick Chubb. Officials said the ball didn’t cross the line before it was fumbled, and the replay was inconclusive. Thus, Cleveland got the ball back, but on the one-yard-line. Chubb was tackled on the next play by Jadeveon Clowney, who clearly had a hold of Chubb’s facemask, but no flag was thrown. During Seattle’s late drive to ice the game, Russell Wilson hit rookie receiver DK Metcalf for a key first down, although it was questionable if Metcalf completed the catch before fumbling the ball out of bounds. Since Cleveland coach Freddie Kitchen’s lost his challenge on the fumble in the end zone before, he couldn’t even challenge the play.
All of this was not lost on the Browns quarterback, who said “the refs are never an excuse” before going on to tell reporters why the referees were an excuse. While those calls all were egregious, Mayfield cannot be saying that officials cost his team the game while his three interceptions had nothing to do with the loss. Besides, poor calls cost the Seahawks a win in Super Bowl XL against the Steelers, so maybe they should get a call every now and again.
Winston’s woes continue - Mayfield leads the NFL with 11 picks, but not far behind is Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston, who now has 10 after his five-interception game on Sunday in London. The Buccaneers held Christian McCaffrey to 31 yards rushing and 26 receiving, but CMC reached the end zone twice as the Panthers won, 37-26. Apparently, Bruce Arians isn’t the “quarterback whisperer” we thought he was, although he did work well with Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger in the past.
Rams’ attack held in check – San Francisco’s defense starred in a 20-7 win over Los Angeles in what should have been a typical NFC West slugfest. However, running back Todd Gurley missed the game with a quad injury, and the Rams put up just 187 net yards (78 passing, 109 rushing). The only Los Angeles score came on an eight-yard run by wide receiver Robert Woods. At 5-0, the 49ers are the NFC’s lone unbeaten team left.
Week 6 injuries – Another week, another set of players facing long injury recoveries. Seattle tight end Will Dissly suffered a possible ruptured Achilles tendon during Sunday’s win in Cleveland. Dissly missed most of last season with a patellar tendon injury. Top Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper may not be available for the NFC East showdown with the Eagles after he sustained a quad injury Sunday against the Jets. That wasn’t the team’s only loss. The hip injury that has plagued Tyrone Crawford will require surgery that will end the veteran defensive tackle’s season. Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick could miss up to a month after suffering a hyperextended knee against the Ravens. Houston rookie offensive tackle Tytus Howard was carted off the field on Sunday. He sprained his MCL and will miss several weeks.
Bears defensive lineman Akiem Hicks was placed on injured reserve due to a nagging elbow injury, and he will be out several weeks. Although he didn’t play in the loss to the 49ers, cornerback Aqib Talib was placed on injured reserve with fractured ribs. The former Pro Bowler missed time last year after ankle surgery, and this latest injury will keep him out for at least eight weeks. Steelers defensive tackle Stephon Tuitt’s season is over after sustaining a torn pectoral muscle in Sunday night’s win over the Chargers. Finally, Jets offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. He also missed time with a shoulder injury this season after being acquired from the Raiders for a fifth-round pick in the offseason.