Rob Gronkowski was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to reunite with Tom Brady, which will make things pretty interesting in Tampa.
Naturally, this gives everyone plenty to talk about in terms of the drama in New England with playing for Bill Belichick. Both of these guys probably wouldn’t mind a fresh start in a different atmosphere.
It’s really going to be interesting to see if Gronk can hold up. If so, you have a bevy of weapons in Tampa with Mike Evans, O.J. Howard and Chris Godwain. Brady will have his weapons!
The Baltimore Ravens started the season against the Miami Dolphins, easily one of the worst teams in NFL history. Then they played the woeful Arizona Cardinals. After easy wins, naturally many in the press jumped to the conclusion that the Ravens were one of the best teams in the NFL. Oh, and suddenly Lamar Jackson was a cut below Patrick Mahomes.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns had plenty of hype coming into the season, and many in the pressed relished watching them struggle in their opener and then suffer some horrible play calls from Freddie Kitchens last week against the Rams. Many loved mocking Baker Mayfield for his slow start.
This poll from last week summed up the silliness we’ve been hearing. Lamar Jackson is a very talented player with a unique skill set, but there’s no way you take him over Baker Mayfield.
The Chicago Bears lost their opener at home against arch rival Green Bay last night, kicking off the NFL’s 100th season. But the implications here go far beyond a disappointing loss and not covering the spread. Mitch Trubisky demonstrated all the limitations we’ve come to expect from him as a starting quarterback. His vision and accuracy are just terrible.
Some of this falls on Matt Nagy, who didn’t play Trubisky during the preseason and then abandoned the running game last night. This guy is supposed to be an offensive genius and yet he called a miserable game.
The Bears could be in trouble here. We don’t want to overreact after one game, but it’s hard to see how the Bears get much more out of Trubisky. With that in mind, Nagy needs to commit to the running game and utilize play action to give Trubisky easier throws. With the Denver defense waiting for them next week, they need to fix this quickly.
Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers looked rusty as hell in the first quarter and had to rely on a couple of big throws to move the ball against the tough Bears defense. But the Packers defense was excellent, so perhaps Green Bay can get back to making noise in the NFC this season.
The Bears were a 3-point favorite at home, so this was basically a pick-em game. It will be interesting to see the line for next week’s game at Denver. It’s easy to read way too much into week one results. The issue here is that Trubisky’s limitations have been evident for two years and were on full display again last night.
Andrew Luck can’t take it any more. The pain. The endless rehab. Four years of misery dealing with injuries.
I can’t blame him at all. He’s only 29 but he’s had enough. Few people can appreciate what NFL players go through. If he’s ready to leave the game, then good for him.
I feel bad for how this went down. He intended to have a news conference tomorrow, but the news leaked and Luck had to endure walking off the field at home with too many Indianapolis fans booing him. I know fans can often react stupidly in the moment, but this is a terrible look for Indianapolis and Luck doesn’t deserve to go out this way.
Hopefully the Colts find a way to honor him this season so he can hear the fans cheer him one more time and soften the blow of hearing those boos.
How bad can things get in New York? Dave Gettleman comes across as a caricature of a meathead sports executive who can’t seem to wrap his head around analytics and rational player evaluation. He goes by his considerable gut, and may end up making the New York Giants the laughing stock of the NFL.
Last year, Sam Darnold fell int his lap, but he passed and took a running back. This year, Josh Rosen was available for pennies on the dollar, and Gettleman passed again. Dwayne Haskins was available and yet Gettleman wasn’t interested. Oh, and he managed to get rid of Odell Beckham Jr. along the way as well.
Instead, Gettleman fell in love with Daniel Jones and drafted his with the 6th pick, even when he easily could have waited until pick 17. Jones seems like a great kid and a nice player, but there’s no way he’s worthy of the 6th pick in the draft based on his tape. The kid isn’t accurate and he doesn’t handle pressure well.
This pick is a disaster for the Giants, and this once-proud franchise is tuning into a joke.
