Judgement day number three. Quick reminder, Monday and Thursday games don’t get judged. That’s a huge weight off the teams’ shoulders, not having to worry about being a winner vs a loser. Pretty evident by the Browns first win in 600 some days. Anyway, let’s get to it!
Winners
Drew Brees (QB) – New Orleans Saints
Have. A. Game. LIL FELLA! In a contest filled with offense, the Saints snagged a 43-37 victory in overtime. Matt Ryan tossed 5 TD passes for the first time in his career, but Ryan isn’t a winner for one reason: Drew Brees. Brees tossed for three TDs, and ran for another two. He threw no interceptions, and was only sacked once, but it was his rushing TDs that impressed me. Brees ran in a 7yd TD with just 1:15 left on the clock in regulation. That TD would force OT. NOT TO WORRY! Brees took the Saints 80 yards down the field and ran in yet another score. This one from just a yard out. That TD would win the game. Above all this, Brees now stands alone in major category. With Sunday’s game, Brees passed Brett Favre on the all-time completions list. He trails the yardage record by just over 800 yards, too. We should expect to see Brees here again shortly, because when you break records, you’re a winner.
Khalil Mack (OLB) – Chicago Bears
This is not a human. One does not block this man. I’m a Lions fan and I’m absolutely petrified that Khalil Mack calls the NFC North home now. I’m not sold on the talents of Mitch Trubisky, so it’s imperative that Chicago rides their defense to any sort of success in my eyes. Apparently Mack agrees. The Bears narrowly escaped with a 16-14 win over the horrendous Cardinals, but Mack did his part. He led the defense with five total tackles and two sacks. Mack was also able to force a fumble for the third straight game. If you play defense and you’re forcing a turnover every game, you’re dangerous. Easy winner.
Patrick Mahomes (QB) – Kansas City Chiefs
First 2x winner! Another game, another impressive showing from Mr. Mahomes. The QB threw 24 for 38, 314 yards, and added 3 more TDs for a passer rating of 115.5. If you’re counting, Mahomes has yet to throw an interception this season. His stat line through three weeks looks like this: 66.7% completion, 896 yards, 13 TDs, 0 picks, and a passer rating of 137.4. It’s hard to believe that Mahomes can keep up this pace for the rest of the season, but if he can, the KC defense can continue to not show up. Those TDs are enough to break Peyton Manning’s record of 12 through three weeks. If you remember, breaking records gets you to the winner’s circle.
Honorable Mention: Josh Allen
Losers
Minnesota Vikings
Talk about not showing up. No reason the Buffalo Bills should have handled the Vikings the way they did. Minnesota built their roster so as to avoid this very thing – losing to garbage teams. Kirk Cousins threw the ball 55 times for a measly average of 5.38 yards per attempt. Minnesota was also able to amass a whopping 14 yards on the ground. Just a piss-poor performance from a team that has/had hopes of taking their division. Losers. All of em.
Clay Matthews (LB) – Green Bay Packers
If you like yourself some fresh controversy, here it is. The league introduced new rules this season to help protect the QB position and Clay Matthews has no desire to follow them. Well OK, he understands and respects the idea behind the rule, but he thinks it shouldn’t exist in the way it currently does. And he is probably right, it needs to be re-written. But here’s the other side of things. I don’t want to hear anyone coming to his defense, because the fact of the matter is: no one else has consistently done this. Khalil Mack gets to the QB seemingly at will, yet he’s in the winner discussion. Get with it, Clay. The rule looks bad, but so do you. L.
Jimmy Garappolo (QB) – San Francisco 49er
Jimmy Garappolo actually didn’t play too poorly this week. That’s not why he’s here. However, the injury he suffered in Sunday’s game was not a fun one to look at. Knee injuries never are. Turns out, Jimmy G suffered a torn ACL. As he was running down the sideline, Garoppolo planted his foot and the rest is history. So is his season. Not a fun thing to see for a guy with a new team, but it is what it is. At least he won’t suffer through anymore Thr33 & Thr33’s. Big loss.
Honorable Mention: Arizona Cardinals QBs
Well my friends, Patrick Mahomes with a repeat showing in the winners circle. Arizona managed to get themselves out of losers and just into HM this week. Other than that, some new faces and takes. Now, let’s see if we can some more Fitzmagic on MNF. See ya next week.
