Inside The Hashes Football Q & A with Kris Thomas
Welcome Back! For the second straight week. Let’s dive right in!
Is Minnesota a Legitimate contender to defeat Ohio State & find a place to the CFP?
With their convincing win over #4 Penn State on their field, Minnesota has made their presence known. Tanner Morgan played the best game of his collegiate career against a very good Penn State defense. Going 18/20 for 339 yards and 3 touchdowns and the trio of Rashod Bateman, Tyler Johnson and Chris Autman-Bell accounted for all but one yard and 3 touchdowns was a major factor in their win. Antoine Winfield Jr. had a big day racking up 11 tackles and 2 interceptions.
Ohio State is a juggernaut offense and a shutdown defense. Even if the four-game suspension of Chase Young holds up he would be eligible to return to the Big Ten title game. Minnesota’s offensive line is massive. It will be the biggest test for Chase Young, Malik Harrison, and company. They only allowed one sack against Penn State and their jumbo package with #70 Sam Schlueter as an eligible 6th blocker they have the personnel to wear down and control the tempo.
Minnesota hasn’t beaten a top 5 team at home in nearly 42 years and this is the best start for this team in 115 years. Minnesota is playing with house money. With Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin left on their schedule before their pending Big Ten title game matchup against Ohio State, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Minnesota is well-coached, have a quarterback playing well and a massive offensive line to combat in the trenches. They match up well against Ohio State this time around but Justin Fields and J.K Dobbins could have a day on the ground considering Minnesota allowed over 100 yards rushing in the 1st quarter to Penn State before they clamped down. PJ Fleck has made me a believer. Last year they lost to Ohio State in Columbus 30-14 however this year’s team is very much improved but at a neutral site could still be very much out of their depth with the team not used to the pressure of playing in high stakes game.
Is Ryan Tannehill he future for the Tennessee Titans?
Don’t do this. The Titans should very much make finding a young quarterback for Vrabel to build around a priority this offseason. Although the Titans franchise didn’t do Marcus Mariota any favors with the constant carousel of head coaches and offensive coordinators, his health and play haven’t been redeeming enough for me to continue to hold out for him.
Tannehill isn’t a bad quarterback. I said this throughout his tenure in Miami and like Mariota his downslide was due to injuries. At this point at age 31 and will be 32 next summer he’s a good backup and a competent bridge quarterback. Tennessee has decent weapons on offense but they need a good young signal-caller with room to grow going forward not a vanity project in Tannehill. In a division with Deshaun Watson and Frank Reich coaching up a Colts team without Andrew Luck, now is not the time to play the Tannehill game.
Does Alabama’s loss to LSU signal the end of Alabama’s Dynasty?
In short no. LSU has been on fire all year long and Joe Burrows is the leading man for receiving the Heisman award. Although Saban’s crew haven’t racked up a ranked win all season they still are 8-1. Also the last time the Crimson Tide didn’t win the SEC title they still found themselves in the playoffs and winning it all in the end. Tua’s health has been a concern but he still has a 10/1 TD/INT ratio and against LSU after going to a 20 point hole Tua almost brought them back throwing for over 400 yards and 4 TDs.
Georgia has been a top tier team but can never seal the deal. Florida is good, not great. Same with Auburn. LSU has finally gotten the better of Alabama for the 1st time in 8 years. Saban has the wins, the SEC titles and the national champions to back up his credibility and kill the end of the era talk until further notice. If Oregon doesn’t go undefeated, Alabama could easily find themselves as a 4th seed for the CFB and in a potential rematch against LSU and still a threat to win it all.
Which 5-4 teams still have a shot of making it to the playoffs in the NFC?
Only Dallas and Philadelphia. Both teams are the NFC East in which one team has to win it and will be rewarded a playoff spot. The Rams offense has been rough to watch all year between Gurley’s not being able to cut on his knee, Goff underperforming and bad offensive line are things that even Jalen Ramsey couldn’t fix. The Panthers have a tough schedule still having to take on the Saints twice the Colts on the road and the Seahawks and I’m not confident in their run defense or Kyle Allen to fare well during this brutal stretch.
Dallas has gotten their answers with Dak Prescott. When he has a #1 option and the playbook is open for him he can go out and win your games. However all season long we’ve seen the Cowboys continuing to lose to the upper-tier teams in the league which is keeping them from getting legitimate distance from the Eagles. Playcalling in late games has cost them at least 3 more wins and their run defense has been spotty all year. The Eagles, on the other hand, are somewhat trending upwards. After an embarrassing loss to the Cowboys in Arlington, the Eagles bounce back with wins against Buffalo and Chicago. The Eagles have a reliable running game with Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders, a good offensive line, and a defensive line that’s getting better as the season continues. The major weakness is no outside threat for Carson Wentz to go to. It’s gotten to the point where Jordan Matthews is back for his 3rd stint with the team. Both teams meet up again in December which could decide the division but it’s looking like the 1st to 10 wins will win the NFC East.
Where should Cam Newton go?
Chicago. They already have a Superbowl caliber defense and next season they get Akiem Hicks back fully healthy. They have enough playmakers on the outside in Robinson Gabriel and Miller and a good running back duo in David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen to relieve running duties for Cam. Newton needs to go to a situation but they will protect him. I was never sold on Mitch Trubisky and this season all I’ve seen is Matt Nagy trying to make him into something he’s not. With Cam and if Matt Nagy can go back to the creative play-calling he did his rookie year it should be a fun team to watch. With no 1st round picks and Mack’s deal beginning to get bigger every year, Ryan Pace needs to make a move to make them a threat to compete with a new look Packers team and a Vikings team heading back on track. Cam isn’t the greatest QB, but he just needs to be better than Trubisky. Which isn’t that hard to.
-By: Kris Thomas
Writer/Interviewer