2021-22 NFL (Week 7)

Games I watched (some of):

Broncos 14-17 Browns

The Browns were the better team and they moved the ball pretty well, but they sputtered around the goal and never did pile on the points the way it felt like they should. The Broncos are a nice team, they play hard, they don't suck and they'll win games they probably shouldn't win, not saying they're a playoff team but if the Chiefs stay this bad and the Pats don't pick it up, the Broncos are not eliminated yet by any means. I still think the Browns are one of the best teams in the AFC and even with Keenum, I think they'll do just fine.

WTF 10-24 Packers

The WTF's (I call them the 'Marons') went for it 4th down instead of kicking the easy FG...and failed. Later on, they went for it on 4th down instead of kicking the easy FG....and failed. Then late in the 4th quarter when they're down by 17 (because they kept passing up scoring chances), they kick the meaningless FG instead of going for it. There ya go: this team isn't just bad, they're stupid. The Packers keep rolling and I guess I'm coming around because even though the offense didn't really do anything, I didn't mind. This game was well in hand, they didn't need to do much, so they didn't. Can they turn it on when they need to?  Are they conserving energy? I dunno, but for now I'm just gonna let it go. 

Bengals 41-17 Ravens

This game was even in the 1st half. Ravens started off the 2nd half with a TD, made the score 17-13. Yeah, that was it for the Ravens. The Bengals straight curbstomped the Ravens for the last 25 minutes of this game. You could feel the 'everyone gets a TD!' vibe on the Bengals sideline once they realized they had solved the Ravens D. Lamar Jackson was expecting a closer game, I think this game just game just got away from his defense and he didn't really know what to do. Bad day for the Ravens, but they're still good, just a division opponent got the best of 'em, no biggie. For the Bengals, though, they've been getting beat down by the Ravens for ages, so this must've felt good for them. Everyone was making plays, everybody got some, the D looked good, and Burrow is the man. I thought the Bengals would be good by year's end, but they're ahead of schedule, they're firmly in the playoff talk now. 

Bears 3-39 Bucs

Bad day for the Bears. The Bucs pass rush diced up the Bears O-line in the 1st half and made this game over so quick that there wasn't much to see. Sucks to be the Bears but they need to just forget this game. As for the Bucs, hey, an easy W is great thing.

Colts 30-18 Niners

Weird game, weird weather. Crazy rain storm but really only for the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the opening and closing were less messy. I still think the Niners are the better team, they ran so well early on, then stopped doing that as the weather got worse--even though it was the only thing they were good at! I don't understand their game plan at all. The Colts are an okay team that will win games if they're allowed to hang around, perhaps they're better than that but I'm not ready to make that leap. 

The rest of the slate:

Chiefs 3-27 Titans. Look: when the Chiefs figure out how to get Tyreke back into their offense (yeah, his numbers are fine but his importance is bigger than that), then the Chiefs offense will be fine again. As for the defense being awful, that's not really fair: it's the offense that keeps letting this team down and that puts more pressure on the D (an already not very good defense). The Chiefs might flail all year long, but I doubt it, they'll be back at some point, probably soon enough to get back in the post-season game. As for the Titans, not sure if they're getting going or peaking early (I kinda suspect the latter, honestly) but they have two strong wins in a row and they are in godawful shitty division, so there's still time for them to dominate. 

Falcons 30-28 Dolphins. Yeah. The Falcons really tried to give this away and the Dolphins still couldn't take it. Feels like the Dolphins have a pretty good shot at the #1 pick (Lion pride will eventually net some W's). The Falcons still have time to get their shit together (meh, I don't see it happening). 

Jets 13-54 Pats. Yeah. 

Panthers 3-25 Giants. The Panthers strikes me as the kind of team that mails it in from time to time; they can play hard or they can play not hard and that seems like who they are. Giants saw a chance to lay a smackdown on a sleepy team and they grabbed it, good W for NYG.  

Eagles 22-33 Raiders. The Raiders are up/down, feels like they're up at the moment. I'm still in on Hurts, I still think the Eagles can be a spoiler down the stretch, I still think the Eagles are the same mediocre team that is getting slightly better than what they've been all season. I still think the Raiders are pretty good, scary if you take them lightly, probably not good enough to be called 'good' just yet. 

Lions 19-28 Rams. A twist: the Lions came out aggressive and built a nice lead that the Rams eventually overtook, as opposed to the Rams running up a big lead and letting the Lions come back late. Same result, though. 

Texans 5-31 Cards. Yeah, sounds right.

Saints 13-10 Seahawks. I caught the very end of this game: the Saints did what needed to be done and the Seahawks didn't. We can tell ourselves that it was Geno Smith's fault....eh, might be true. I can't help thinking that the Saints are the better version of what the Seahawks wanna be.