The List: Good NFL Moments Overshadowed by the Bad
The List: Good NFL Moments Overshadowed by the Bad
There were some great games and moments in Week 4 of the NFL season, but that was overshadowed by the actions of new Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict, whose helmet-to-helmet hit during Sunday’s game against the Colts brought about a record penalty.
WINNERS
Matchups featuring undefeated teams – One of the questions before the week began was the legitimacy of the 3-0 Bills and the 2-0-1 Lions. Both would face fellow undefeated teams that also appeared in last year’s AFC Championship Game. Buffalo’s AFC East matchup against the Patriots turned out to be a defensive struggle. Despite a missed extra point by the usually reliable Stephen Gostkowski on a Brandon Boldin scoring run early on, New England’s special teams helped pad the lead. On the next Bills’ possession, J. C. Jackson blocked a Cory Bojorquez punt and special teamer extraordinaire Matthew Slater returned it the final 11 yards for a 13-0 Pats advantage. Buffalo held Tom Brady to 18 of 39 passing for 150 yards, but New England held on for a 16-10 win. Bills quarterback Josh Allen was knocked out of the game thanks to a helmet-to-helmet hit by Patriots defensive back Jonathan Jones early in the fourth quarter. He is in concussion protocol and may miss the next game at Tennessee.
The Lions-Chiefs contest made the shortlist for Game of the Week. Despite Patrick Mahomes going without a touchdown for just the fourth time as a starter, Kansas City struck late to win in Detroit. Mahomes threw for 315 yards and led a late drive that culminated with Darrell Williams’ second touchdown run of the afternoon with just 20 seconds left. Two long pass attempts from Matthew Stafford did not find the mark, and the Chiefs escaped Motown with a 34-30 win and a 4-0 record.
Gore joins an elite company – Frank Gore is quietly building a Hall of Fame resume. The Bills are the fourth team he has played for in his 15-year career, and Buffalo is where he joined an exclusive club. With 3:30 left in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Patriots, Gore broke free for a 41-yard run to reach the milestone. He now has 15,021 overall, joining Emmitt Smith (18,355), Walter Payton (16,726) and Barry Sanders (15,269) in reaching that mark.
Wedding at New Era Field – A football game wasn’t the only event happening in Buffalo on Sunday. Rochester residents Mackenzie Park and Jordan Binggeli won a contest sponsored by Reeds Jens Jewelers and beat out 1,400 other hopeful couples to have their wedding ceremony during halftime of the Bills-Patriots game. Bills legend Jim Kelly walked the bride down the aisle, former star defensive tackle Kyle Williams officiated the ceremony, and all-time great defensive end Bruce Smith was also in attendance. The football-themed wedding was fitting for the couple, who first met at a Bills game in 2008.
Buccaneers set a record – Jameis Winston’s up and down season continued. He was inconsistent the first two weeks but started 1-1. He played well last week against the Giants, but Tampa Bay came up short after a last-second missed a field goal. This week, he put no doubts on his performance. Winston threw for 385 yards and four touchdowns as the Buccaneers set a team record for points in a 55-40 win over the Rams in Los Angeles. Chris Godwin was Winston’s primary outlet, catching 12 passes for 172 yards and two scores. Jared Goff completed 45 of 68 passes for an NFL season-high 517 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions, in a losing effort.
Fitzgerald passes Gonzalez – The Cardinals may have fallen to the Seahawks, 27-10, at home on Sunday afternoon, but there was something that made the Arizona faithful cheer. Longtime star receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught five passes, giving him 1,326 for his career, passing Hall of Fame tight end, who had 1,325. The milestone reception came on a pass from rookie Kyler Murray with 1:41 left and went for 13 yards.
Birds of a feather trade together - The Falcons and Eagles faced off a few weeks ago, but they made a trade late on Monday. Atlanta sent linebacker Duke Riley, who has played all four games this season, along with a sixth-round selection in the 2020 Draft, to Philadelphia for safety Jonathan Cyprien and a 2020 seventh-round pick. Cyprien is expected to fill in for Keanu Neal, who was placed on injured reserve last week.
Big games for running backs – Sunday started with an AFC North showdown between the Browns and Ravens. Baker Mayfield threw for 342 yards and Jarvis Landry caught eight passes for 167 yards, but Cleveland’s top star was Nick Chubb, who ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-25 win.
While Gardner Minshew gets quite a bit of attention for the Jaguars these days, Leonard Fournette took over the late afternoon game in Denver. Fournette ran for 229 yards for Jacksonville, but it took Josh Lambo’s fourth field goal, a 33-yarder, as time expired to give the Jaguars a 26-24 road win.
LOSERS
Burfict loses his cool – I’m convinced Vontaze Burfict is like a middle school student who has an attitude and refuses to do work or follow rules. His latest infraction came early in the second quarter on Sunday, when he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts tight end Jack Doyle. The hit earned him his sixth career ejection, and the league followed that on Monday by suspending him for the rest of the season without pay. The incident is not even close to the first for Burfict, who signed with the Raiders after eight seasons in Cincinnati. In 2014, he was fined $25,000 for targeting the ankles of Cam Newton and Greg Olsen in a game against Carolina. The following year, he was fined nearly $70,000 for hits on Ben Roethlisberger and others in a Week 14 game against the Steelers. The teams faced off again in the playoffs, and Burfict cost his team 30 yards for a hit on a defenseless Antonio Brown as well as unsportsmanlike conduct. He was also suspended the first three games of the 2016 season due to the hit (and his other incidents).
In 2017, Burfict hit Kansas City fullback Anthony Sherman with a blindside block, earning him a five-game ban (which was shortened to three on appeal). During Week 7, he kicked Steelers fullback Roosevelt Nix in the facemask and was fined $12,000. Three weeks later, he was ejected for the first time after committing two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against the Titans. Last year, he was suspended the first four games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, then earned a $112,000 fine for a Week 6 hit on Antonio Brown that knocked teammate Jessie Bates out of the game.
I’m sure this is not the last we will hear from this situation, but in Burfict’s defense, he is not the only one to blame for this situation. I blame the NFL in general and Marvin Lewis and Jon Gruden in particular. Burfict has been in the league for nine years, so his conduct is no longer just a “reputation,” it’s FACT! You know what he is going to do. He is a dirty player and a hothead who cannot control himself on a football field. STOP GIVING HIM CHANCES!
Wrong kind of record to set – Speaking of Antonio Brown, he is back at it again. In addition to his alleged sexual assault grievances and his erratic behavior with NFL teams, Brown also took to Twitter to ask for help on his first English paper at Central Michigan, which he is attending online. Also, there is a report that he is ready to file a record nine grievances against the league, as well as the Raiders and Patriots, trying to recuperate lost and unearned wages. The potential filings include the $29 million in guaranteed money from Oakland (for which he never actually played), along with a $9 million signing bonus and a $20 million option year salary from New England (where he lasted all of 11 days). So let me get this straight, he’s trying to get $38 million total from one team he never appeared for in an official capacity and another he didn’t even stay long enough to meet the minimum roster requirement AND another $20 million for NEXT YEAR???!!! Is that deal available for others, because I could use some extra cash this week!
Owner gets in his own way – Jalen Ramsey no longer wants to play for the Jaguars, that’s no secret. According to reports, two teams are attempting to work out trades with Jacksonville for the disgruntled cornerback, but one thing is getting in the way, Shad Khan. The Jaguars’ owner said he ideally wants to keep Ramsey in Jacksonville, but also will not let him go for less than two “quality” first-round picks. I understand wanting team control of a player’s destination, but Ramsey, despite this situation, is still one of the best defensive backs in the game. Also, he has not played in two weeks due to back issues, the flu and the birth of his child, as well as his argument with coach Doug Marrone earlier this season.
Player safety – The hits on Allen and Doyle were not the only two of the helmet-to-helmet variety in the NFL this week. Although Burfict’s past turned into a record suspension for an on-field play, Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett will face no such penalty for his hit on running back Jamaal Williams on the Packers’ first play in Thursday night’s game. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the league would not suspend Barnett because he turned at the last second to hit Williams with his shoulder, a position that is clearly not true from any video angle I’ve seen. Williams was being dragged down by two other Eagles when Barnett hit him, and his head only turns AFTER contact. Honestly, as a fan of the NFL for more than 30 years, I can’t get behind this inconsistent enforcement of the rules. Either you care about player safety or you don’t. You need to start making examples of players who inflict helmet-to-helmet hits, even if they didn’t mean to hurt their target.
And then there were six – That is the number of winless teams that remain after four weeks of the NFL season. In addition to Arizona and Denver suffering losses, Washington fell to the Giants, 24-3 (but first-round pick Dwayne Haskins did make his debut), Bengals met defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh’s new “Steel Curtain” defense (eight sacks), the Jets had their bye week and the Dolphins fell to the Chargers, 30-10. Miami has now been outscored 163-26 this season.
Fishy beer vendor - As if things weren’t bad enough for Dolphins fans, one of them was ripped off by a vendor at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. Nathaniel Collier, a worker for the Rocket Man subcontracting company that places vendors at the stadium, decided to use his personal card reader instead of his company-issued device and charged a fan $724 for two beers. The fan then received an alert to the charge on his phone, complete with the vendor’s name. Collier was charged with grand theft and the use of a skimming device, while the fan got a refund.
Even more injuries – Broncos pass-rushing linebacker Bradley Chubb will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL. Giants linebacker suffered the same fate in New York’s victory over Washington. Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram is expected to miss multiple weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in his teams win in Miami. Six-time Pro Bowl tackle Tyron Smith suffered a high ankle sprain in the Cowboys’ final drive in their loss Sunday night in New Orleans. Mitchell Trubisky threw just three passes before suffering a dislocated shoulder and a partially torn labrum in Chicago’s win over Minnesota. Trubisky returned to the Bears sideline with his left arm in a sling to watch backup Chase Daniel throw for 195 yards and a touchdown. Trubisky will definitely miss this week’s game in London and possibly a few more, but the injury does not require surgery. Finally, after suffering a partially torn rotator cuff in Week 2, the Panthers’ Kawann Short could no longer put off surgery. Carolina put the Pro Bowl defensive lineman on season-ending Injured Reserve on Tuesday.
The Patriot Way, Part 2 –Remember last week when I said that, instead of continuing with the Antonio Brown drama, the Patriots should go back to focusing on their “usual” transgressions? Well, this week, Bills head coach Sean McDermott personally escorted two Patriots coaches, including Bill Belichick’s son, Brian, off the field during warmups before Sunday’s game. McDermott took exception to the fact that Belichick and the other coach were sticking around despite the Patriots having left the field after their allotted warmup time. Either New England is good enough that these types of incidents should be unnecessary, or they are that good because of moments like this and the NFL should investigate (although we all know that won’t happen).
-By: Kevin Rakas