Looking back at the carnage that was NFL Week 6, there is no shortage of things to which one can react/overreact. We’re fresh out of unbeaten teams, the Cleveland Browns’ defense is playing at a historic level and the Detroit Lions have a share of the best record in the NFL.
And, of course, there are those Creamsicle uniforms in Tampa. With that as the preamble, let’s overreact!
5. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers should consider ditching the Creamsicles
Look, we get it. The original Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniforms are a thing of aesthetic marvel. They are so shockingly hideous they are endearing and it’s absolutely unmistakable that those threads were born of an era where fashion went to die.
If you didn’t live in the 1970s, it’s almost hard to imagine the color combinations that were suddenly fashionable, with bell bottoms so large they could house a family of six and shirt collars almost big enough for landing lights. Throw in the leisure suits and high-heeled patent leather loafers and, well, yeah. It was like a decade-long LSD trip for clothing.
But it was while the team wore the Florida Orange, red and white that it achieved historic levels of ineptitude. In no particular order, the Bucco Bruce era Buccaneers:
- Lost 26 straight games before getting their first win.
- Had an NFL record 12 straight seasons with 10 losses or more
- Set an NFL record with 14 consecutive losing seasons
- Were an NFL-worst 100-223-1 over the 21 seasons wearing those duds, not including their 1-3 postseason mark.
Since switching to the pewter in 1997, the Bucs still have a losing record at 202-221, with 10 playoff appearances and two Super Bowl titles. The franchise’s overall record of 302-444-1 means Tampa Bay would have to go unbeaten for more than eight straight seasons just to get to the .500 mark.
Wearing the uniforms from what was the worst era for any team in NFL history doesn’t seem like a great decision.
Reality: Uniforms don’t win or lose games and the Creamsicles are a very cool callback to a decade that people who lived it are still trying to figure out. But seeing them on the field for the first time in 11 years was still jarring, because in the current era of bland-on-bland (thanks, Nike!) those threads really pop.
4. It’s time for rule changes to help the poor, beleaguered offenses
Teams are converting red-zone opportunities into touchdowns at just a 53.3% clip, with two teams (the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers) at less than 30% efficiency. That is down from last season’s 56.1% rate, when the worst team at converting red-zone possessions into touchdowns was the New England Patriots (19-for-45, 42.2%).
Since the NFL has done everything possible to ensure pinball game scoring, it’s obvious defenses have caught up and must be penalized. How are the poor innocent gamblers supposed to just bang the over every week if defenses are (horrors!) actually stopping the offenses?
The competition committee has its work cut out for it, however, considering it has already outlawed everything but having defenders on the field at the same time as the offense.
Reality: Show a competent NFL defensive coordinator enough film and he’ll figure out how to slow down just about any offensive scheme. It’s the cycle of NFL life: Offenses evolve, defenses adapt, lather, rinse, repeat. It’s hard to imagine much more the competition committee could come up with to favor the offense any more than it already has.
3. The Philadelphia Eagles most important offensive player isn’t Jalen Hurts
The Philadelphia Eagles took their first loss of the season, losing to the New York Jets 20-14. Jalen Hurts threw three interceptions and the Eagles also lost a fumble and all of those miscues happened after right tackle Lane Johnson left the game with an injured ankle.
Johnson’s presence on the field is a big one. According to ESPN.com’s Bill Barnwell, Eagles quarterback dip from a 63.0 QBR to 45.5 when Johnson isn’t on the field. QBR is not a statistic this space completely trusts, simply because a proprietary math formula that isn’t shared leads to suspicions that the numbers can be manipulated to produce desired results.
(Statistics aren’t immune from conspiracy theories, but we’ll put the tin hat away now.)
Johnson was diagnosed with a lateral sprain of his right ankle and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s home game against the Miami Dolphins.
Reality: The numbers, in this case, don’t lie. Johnson is an important presence on the right side of the Eagles offense and if he’s out for a significant period of time, Philadelphia will struggle at moving the football consistently.
2. The Cincinnati Bengals are back, baby!
The Cincinnati Bengals have won consecutive games to get back to the .500 mark. They are just a game behind the Baltimore Ravens in the ultra-tight AFC North, where no one is below break-even.
Joe Burrow survived to the Bengals’ bye week and has a chance to give his strained calf some needed rest. A more mobile Burrow can’t do anything but help a Cincinnati offense that has sputtered at times. (It’s also important to point out that Burrow could qualify as “more mobile” at this point if he moves better than an old oak tree.)
The Bengals are no strangers to this scenario. Last season, they started 4-4 before running off eight straight wins to claim the division title for the second straight year.
Reality: The NFC North isn’t a cakewalk. The Ravens can beat anyone, the Steelers really can’t play much worse offensively and they’re still 3-2 and Cleveland’s defense makes them competitive in just about every game if they don’t turn the ball over with regularity.
Cincinnati has road games remaining at Jacksonville, Baltimore, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and San Francisco — not exactly an easy schedule. Of their 11 remaining games, one is against a team that is currently below .500; the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15.
1. The Detroit Lions are legitimate Super Bowl contenders
The Detroit Lions are one of four teams that share the best record in the NFL at 5-1 and they already have a win over the Chiefs. Detroit doesn’t play Philadelphia or San Francisco in the regular season and its two toughest remaining road games on paper are their matchup Sunday at Baltimore and a Week 17 trip to Dallas.
The Lions have a top-10 offense (third) and defense (seventh). Jared Goff is playing like the No. 1 overall pick he was in 2016. He’s not leading the NFL in any major statistical category, but he’s completing 69.5% of his passes at 8.0 yards per attempt, has 11 touchdowns to three interceptions.
Aidan Hutchinson has 4.5 sacks, Jerry Jacobs has three interceptions and five pass breakups and Detroit has forced seven turnovers in its last four games.
Reality: The Lions have the signature win at Kansas City, true. But three of their other four wins have come against the NFC South, which isn’t going to make any “best-of” lists. Still, this is the NFL and you can only play who the schedule says to play.
Detroit has never won an NFC North title and their last division title of any brand was 30 years ago when they won the old NFC Central in 1993. Its last playoff victory was two years earlier and is the franchise’s only postseason win since winning the NFL championship in 1957.
That is a lot of extra baggage to try and fit into the overhead compartment.
Watch the NFL in 2023 with Fubo:Â Start your free trial now!
Regional restrictions may apply.
