Last Sunday, I was able to experience a great Sunday in Landover. It’s always a good sign when Josh pulls out the big flag and follows it up with a flyover pregame. On Sunday evening, a friend texted wondering why he was in such a good mood. He was trying to figure it out, then the realization dawned upon him that his mood is very much dictated by the performance of this football team. As this week has progressed, I too realized how good of a mood I have been in. It’s just easy to have a great week after a win. The beauty of football is being able to hold onto that feeling for usually a full week. We only got to experience this 4 times last year so I have not been taking this victory week for granted. Luckily, we even get one extra day because of the Monday night game. I’m hoping this is a feeling I get to experience many more times this season.
My biggest takeaway from this game is the fact that we may have finally found a solution to our kicker problem. This season five is the magic number. Austin Seibert went from sitting on his couch to hitting game winners and going 7/7 to break the franchise single game field goals record. I’d say it was as good of a job interview performance an organization could ask for. You always love seeing a guy get another shot and running with it. Seems like we found ourselves the Baker Mayfield of kickers. If we still had Cade York, we probably wouldn’t have scored a single point. I do hope it wasn’t a fluke and we will be able to move forward this season knowing we won’t have to hit the market again for kicker number six.
Continuing last year’s trend, we once again found a way to break a streak. Thankfully, this time it was actually a streak broken in our favor. I saw a few numbers on this but am going with the tweet I saw first. In the history of the NFL, teams that have scored 3 touchdowns and their opponents 0 were 1132-0 until last Sunday. The Austin Seibert led Commanders won the football game despite not finding the endzone a single time. Now, if their kicker didn’t get hurt, then we may have witnessed a different outcome. But that’s just football for you. Also, I have to give a shoutout to Tress for all the perfect holds. He looked great out there keeping the ball steady for Austin.
There were a lot of upsets last weekend. Thankfully, in what I expect will be one of the few weeks we are favorites, we weren’t one of them. Week 2 is always a weird one. It settles down most of the overreactions from Week 1. Some of the definite things that were proven include: the Panthers suck, the NFL is rigged for the Chiefs, our corners are really bad, and Jayden Daniels has looked like the best quarterback in the draft. One more thing I am not ready to call definite but very well may be true is the Saints are real and Derek Carr learned how to play football again. At the game, this was the one thing that brought Giants and Skins fans together. Whenever the board showed scores from around the league, everyone in the stadium began cheering because Dallas was getting beat up on. This was something everyone in attendance enjoyed seeing.
It’s always a good week when we are the only team in the division to win. We are currently in first place. If there is anything we can do to end the regular season and start the playoffs this weekend, then someone out there needs to take one for the team and make it happen. I was a 12 year old in attendance at the last playoff game we hosted. I really think I have waited long enough for another one. Not to get ahead of myself, but something’s telling me I won’t have to wait another 10+ years for us to host one. I’m getting ahead of myself but I can dream a little. We have a quarterback and a kicker. I actually can’t recall the last time we had both of those in the same season. We’re even ending streaks that don’t shame us. If there’s one thing that’s clear, a new era is upon us. Crazy how fast things change when the franchise dictator leaves town.
My take concerning opposing team’s WR1’s overs is 2-0 so far this year. 18 targets for Nabers is just insane. It got to the point where I was wondering why we didn’t double team him. The whole stadium knew where the ball was going every single play. I was confused why we didn’t make any adjustments to stop it. Him dropping the 4th down ball was a massive sigh of relief. I unfortunately expect Jamar could very well go for 200+ yards on Monday. I genuinely do think the over will hit for every WR1 we play this year. I will give credit to BSJ for punching the ball out after halftime. Without that play, we don’t win. It is really just upsetting knowing when our defense steps on the field, they won’t be out there for long and the other team will most likely have at least 3 more points. It’s much more disheartening watching a bad defense than a bad offense.
Mentioned earlier, through two games Jayden has appeared to be the best quarterback from the draft. Caleb will figure it out but he’s got to know those on the run jump throws into triple coverage probably aren’t going to work out for him anymore like they did in college. I will say Jayden did not look good at all in the first half. When he went down, the only thing going through my head was “We are going 0-17.” That scare had the entire season flashing before my eyes. There were multiple moments where he should’ve thrown it away instead of trying to use his legs. Whatever talk he got at halftime was a good one. He started staying in the pocket and throwing the ball downfield. Within the same game, you could see development. Maybe getting the wind knocked out of him was something he needed. The helmet didn’t come off either this game. We have found a quarterback who knows how to learn from his mistakes.
The positives have outweighed the negatives. He still has yet to throw a touchdown. But also has yet to turn the ball over. I would love to see him start throwing them in but it’s not like the offense hasn’t been able to move the ball. We did not punt a single time on Sunday. The red zone offense needs work but the penalties did not do us any favors. When we stopped them on 4th down, I did have confidence we were going to drive down for another field goal. I had no faith in us to score a touchdown but did believe we’d make it to three point range for Austin to knock one more through.
Other performances I want to highlight are the running backs, Zach Ertz, and Noah Brown. BRob and Ekeler are making an early season case for one of the best tandem backfields in the league. Through two games, BRob’s play has meant the most to our offensive success. It would have been awesome to see him take that big one all the way. Ekeler taking the opening kickoff back only for a flag to be thrown was a bummer. Regardless, I don’t think it’s possible to have a better home opening first impression with a new team. Especially after a lot of people tried saying he wasn’t the same player anymore. He clearly still has some gas in the tank. While on that topic, I have to mention Ertz’s performance. Many fans including myself had written him off and thought he was brought in only because of his familiarity with Kingsbury’s offense. He was the insurance policy on Jayden’s worst throw of the day and very well might end up being the security blanket Jayden needs. I still have hope for Sinnot to emerge throughout the year. However, Ertz’s play has shown that Ben’s immediate impact isn’t as important as I had thought going into the season. Lastly, Noah Brown had solid debut. His catch on the last drive was essentially the nail in the coffin. What a ball from JD and run from Noah to set it up.
Now for the other half, players I am worried about. I never thought I’d say this but I am just a little bit worried about Terry. We are at least focusing on getting him the ball. I loved how the first offensive play of the game was to him. I didn’t like the result but it was reassuring to know Kliff is trying to get him the ball. 6 receptions for 22 yards isn’t ideal. But it was double the catches he had in Week 1. As Jayden gets more comfortable, Terry’s production will revert back to what we’ve seen for the past four years. Our very expensive interior defensive linemen are two more guys I’m worried about. The defensive line as a whole has underperformed through two games. At least our linebackers have shown up. Not to loop them in with the underperformers but just thought I’d mention Bob and Frank while talking about the defense.
Overall, there was a lot of good and a lot of bad. But at least we were able to leave Landover with a win and prove we aren’t the worst team in the division. By the numbers at the moment, we are actually the best team in the division. Then again, we did start last year 2-0. So, obviously that doesn’t mean much but it still counts for something in my book. Now, we have to shift focus to the primetime showdown we have coming up against Hollywood Joe. It will be the first time two LSU heisman winners go head to head in the history of the NFL. That’s an easy enough story line for the media. It’s unfortunate we will be playing a pissed off Bengals team. That definitely is not good for us. I imagine the Bengals watched this week’s tape and know exactly how they plan to attack our defense. I don’t have a ton of confidence for this game, but you never know. If we do end up winning, then I think you all can expect what the tone of next week’s blog will be.
To get into the bets, the same ones as last week look great once again. Terry’s receptions repeats at 3.5. That’s worth taking straight and putting a respectably uncomfortable amount on. BRob to score is always a must bet. I think Ekeler is due for a visit to the endzone and the line will close at a very solid price. I was wrong on Jayden’s rushing line last week. I did not see the DQ presser talking about him using his legs less. Seeing how the 2nd half played out where he relied more on his arm makes me less confident. However, I am not betting against a guy who can break one out and hit his line on a single play. So for those of you who like the number, that’s the best argument I can put together for your sake. Lastly, I like the over. Some people love the primetime unders, but I don’t know if those people have watched our defense yet this year. Those are the brain bets then the heart bet is for us to sneak one out on the road. One thing working in our favor is how heavy the public is on the Bengals at the moment. The house always wins for a reason.
Monday night could go a lot of different ways. If history repeats itself, then we are in for it. However, as stated earlier we are entering a new era of DC football. A win would be huge for that narrative. With my heavy investments on JD and BRob across most of my fantasy teams, I know it will be coming down to the boys to bring it home for me. I wouldn’t want it any other way. We have another game to learn more about our quarterback. It will be his first primetime start in a hostile environment. How much different can a Monday night in Cincinatti be compared to a Saturday in Tuscaloosa? I don’t think much. On a national stage, it would be awesome to see him put together a ballgame and let America know what’s cooking in DC. Back to back wins would be huge for my happiness and bank account. Wishing everyone a great weekend. Hope the best in regards to life and gambling. Looking forward to reporting back after the massive win.
Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images