After five weeks, the last undefeated teams standing are the Patriots and 49ers, just as we expected? The last winless teams are the Jets, Dolphins, Bengals and Redskins. Now that we all expected.
Week 5 will be remembered for the explosions in fantasy football. Will Fuller posted the 9th highest single-week output ever with his 14-catch, 217-yard, 3-touchdown performance. Aaron Jones and Christian McCaffrey topped 40 points in non-PPR formats, while Michael Thomas, Amari Cooper, DJ Chark, Adam Thielen and Chris Godwin all topped 24 points.
As much as I’d like to talk fantasy football, this is a real football column. You know, the kind where Matt Ryan isn’t the 6th best quarterback.
Biggest Takeaways
The Panthers are just fine without Cam Newton.
Fantasy football does not lie about McCaffrey. Many experts, Warren Sharp for example, tabbed Carolina as a preseason sleeper. I hopped off the Panthers train based on Newton’s offseason rotator cuff surgery; I didn’t think Carolina could succeed with Newton missing time or not playing at 100%. Through two weeks, those worries manifested into reality.
However, Kyle Allen has looked solid in Newton’s place, which is not something I expected. After a steller start in Week 3, Allen has been average in his past two games. But average is enough when you have Christian McCaffrey. The NFL record for games of 175+ yards from scrimmage is six — McCaffrey has four through five games. He’s also on pace to break Chris Johnson’s single-season yards from scrimmage record.
The NFC playoff picture is awfully crowded, but Carolina has the makings of a postseason contender sans Newton.
San Francisco might actually be good.
It’s time to admit I might’ve been wrong. I don’t want to overreact too much to a nationally televised game, but the Niners looked damn impressive on Monday night.
My biggest concern preseason was their defense, specifically the secondary. It turns out, the secondary doesn’t matter too much when your front seven can sack the opposing quarterback in two seconds flat. Nick Bosa is an absolute game-wrecker. Richard Sherman and the secondary aren’t too shabby, either.
The Niners schedule gets much more difficult the rest of the season, of course. But there’s enough free-bees (Redskins, Cardinals x2, Falcons), that make the daunting rest of the schedule easier to manage. Next week’s divisional showdown with the Rams will be a true litmus test.
Dan Quinn should be the next head coach fired.
The Falcons are 1-4 and showing no signs of life. Quinn fired almost the entire coaching staff after last season and personally took on the defensive coordinator role. It hasn’t worked. Deshaun Watson and the Texans piled on 53 points in Week 5.
Atlanta isn’t the type of organization to make a rash decision. (Like say, calling your head coach in at 5 a.m. to fire them.) Ryan is still a good enough quarterback to keep the Falcons in most games, and thus keep hope alive. It’s unlikely Quinn is fired in-season, or at least anytime soon. But come 2020, it’s time for a new era in Atlanta.
The Chargers are nearing a tipping point with injuries.
I had a funny feeling the Chargers were going to stink it up against Denver. That’s why I avoided them in my Week 5 picks. They couldn’t really afford to blow this game, yet in perfect Chargers fashion, they did. Their remaining schedule isn’t too difficult, but they don’t face any cupcakes either. More importantly, the Chargers’ injury report reads like a horror story and they don’t have their bye week until Week 12.
Melvin Gordon made his season debut Sunday, so the Chargers essentially decided to move Austin Ekeler to a wide receiver. Ekeler ran 13 routes out of the slot and caught 15 passes, the second most ever by a running back. That is not sustainable by any means.
The AFC playoff picture is significantly more open than the NFC, but the Chargers are running out of gas right when they need to step on the pedal. The Bills, Colts and Browns all have easier roads ahead and already have the lead in the Wild Card standings.
Fact or Fiction
It’s time to panic in Cleveland.
Fiction. The Browns are one game back in the AFC North and currently own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Ravens. They still have four games against the Bengals and Steelers remaining.
They should probably let Todd Monken call plays and should definitely explore plucking Trent Williams from Washington, but the Browns are fine. I explained this more in-depth on Twitter.
We were wrong about Jon Gruden.
Fact. He’s no Belichick, but Gruden is a competent NFL head coach. The Raiders are 3-2 despite significant roster turnover. Their Week 4 win over Indianapolis grows more impressive by the day. Let’s not act like the Raiders are Super Bowl contenders — I’m not even sure they’re playoff contenders — but they aren’t bottom feeders.
The Bears were a one-hit wonder.
Fact. I have a rule where London games and Thursday night games only count for a maximum of half a game. And when a backup quarterback makes his first start in London, you throw the entire game away. Despite the heavy negative narratives, Chicago only trails Green Bay by one game in the NFC North.
On the other hand, the Bears schedule is unbelievably difficult the rest of the way. After their Week 6 bye, the Bears have exactly two games remaining against teams below .500 through five weeks. And one of those is the Chargers.
The NFC is loaded. The Bears couldn’t afford any regression defensively to compete for the playoffs in 2019 without a significant improvement from their quarterback. Trubisky has certainly not improved and the defense isn’t quite as good as last year’s. The Bears playoff hopes are fading fast.
The fastest rising “what-if” scenario in football is if Chicago drafted Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson instead of Trubisky. They would be the Super Bowl favorites right now. Ditto for the Jaguars, who took Leonard Fournette fourth overall.
What’s up?
I found this article very interesting…please read!
Do you remember the blockbuster hit film The Matrix that was released in 1999? You may not know this, but it has deep spiritual implications concerning the times we are living in and Bible prophecy.
It tells a story of how these “agents” are trying to turn us into machines. We are closer then ever before for this to become a reality when they cause us to receive an implantable microchip in our body during a time when physical money will be no more.
You may have seen on NBC news concerning the implantable RFID microchip that some people are getting put in their hand to make purchases, but did you know this microchip matches perfectly with prophecy in the Bible?
“He (the false prophet who deceives many by his miracles) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name…
You also may have heard of the legendary number “666” that people have been speculating for possibly thousands of years on what it actually means. This article shares something I haven’t seen before, and I don’t think there could be any better explanation for what it means to calculate 666. This is no hoax. Very fascinating stuff!
…Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666″ (Revelation 13:16-18 NKJV).
To see all the details showing why the Bible foretold of all these things, check out this article!
Article: http://1.voicetruth.org
GOD is sending out His end time warning:
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11).
Seek Jesus while He may be found…God bless!
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What’s up?
I found this article very interesting…please read!
Do you remember the blockbuster hit film The Matrix that was released in 1999? You may not know this, but it has deep spiritual implications concerning the times we are living in and Bible prophecy.
It tells a story of how these “agents” are trying to turn us into machines. We are closer then ever before for this to become a reality when they cause us to receive an implantable microchip in our body during a time when physical money will be no more.
You may have seen on NBC news concerning the implantable RFID microchip that some people are getting put in their hand to make purchases, but did you know this microchip matches perfectly with prophecy in the Bible?
“He (the false prophet who deceives many by his miracles) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name…
You also may have heard of the legendary number “666” that people have been speculating for possibly thousands of years on what it actually means. This article shares something I haven’t seen before, and I don’t think there could be any better explanation for what it means to calculate 666. This is no hoax. Very fascinating stuff!
…Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666″ (Revelation 13:16-18 NKJV).
To see all the details showing why the Bible foretold of all these things, check out this article!
Article: https://biblewoke.com/rfid-mark-of-the-beast-666-revealed
GOD is sending out His end time warning:
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11).
In the Islamic religion they have man called the Mahdi who is known as their messiah of whom they are waiting to take the stage. There are many testimonies from people online who believe this man will be Barack Obama who is to be the biblical Antichrist based off dreams they have received. I myself have had strange dreams about him like no other person. So much so that I decided to share this information.
He came on stage claiming to be a Christian with no affiliation to the Muslim faith…
“In our lives, Michelle and I have been strengthened by our Christian faith. But there have been times where my faith has been questioned — by people who don’t know me — or they’ve said that I adhere to a different religion, as if that were somehow a bad thing,” – Barack Obama
…but was later revealed by his own family members that he indeed is a devout Muslim.
So what’s in the name? The meaning of someones name can say a lot about a person. God throughout history has given names to people that have a specific meaning tied to their lives. How about the name Barack Obama? Let us take a look at what may be hiding beneath the surface…
“And He (Jesus) said to them (His disciples), ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven'” (Luke 10:18).
In the Hebrew language we can uncover the meaning behind the name Barack Obama.
Barack, also transliterated as Baraq, in Hebrew is: lightning
baraq – Biblical definition:
From Strongs H1299; lightning; by analogy a gleam; concretely a flashing sword: – bright, glitter (-ing, sword), lightning. (Strongs Hebrew word H1300 baraq baw-rawk’)
Barak ‘O’bamah, The use of bamah is used to refer to the “heights” of Heaven.
bamah – Biblical definition:
From an unused root (meaning to be high); an elevation: – height, high place, wave. (Strongs Hebrew word H1116 bamah baw-maw’)
The day following the election of Barack Obama (11/04/08), the winning pick 3 lotto numbers in Illinois (Obama’s home state) for 11/5/08 were 666.
Obama was a U.S. senator for Illinois, and his zip code was 60606.
Seek Jesus while He may be found…repent, confess and forsake your sins and trust in the savior! Jesus says we must be born again by His Holy Spirit to enter the kingdom of God…God bless!