Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 6

One of the things which has helped me to overcome an emotionally trying period of my life outside of music has been football.  It's like the home team knew I was going through it and needed to get excited for my favorite sport in the whole wide world because after starting off terribly at 0-2, they've ripped off four straight wins and at least look like contenders in the NFC East race.  Granted, seeing the Capitals and Nationals flake out in early rounds amidst Stanley Cup and World Series talk, respectively, doesn't give me much hope for their playoff aspirations, but the turnaround is good nonetheless.  I'm frankly happy the NFC East is not the "NFC Least" as it had been for the past several years as no team is under .500, making every win absolutely critical.  I'm so pumped about the NFC East's comeback that, although I was cheering for the Packers to beat the Cowboys, it's hard to knock two rookies as impressive as Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott; heck, I marveled at many of the throws Carson Wentz made and he was making them against the home team!  While many of the overall matchups throughout the league aren't always alluring from week to week, it's still not an all-out blah fest and Week 6 continued that trend...

THE PLUS/MINUS TAKES OF THE WEEK, PART 1: KAEP IS BACK (+1) WHILE LESEAN MCCOY LIVES UP TO HIS NICKNAME (-9).  When the Cardinals manhandled the 49ers in Week 5, Chip Kelly stayed vanilla about starting Colin Kaepernick over Blaine Gabbert, who has amazingly played a game of Keep Away with the starting job since the midway point of last season.  However, the writing has been on the wall as Gabbert returned to the infamous form from his Jacksonville days and everybody knew Kelly's tight-lipped demeanor signaled the reentry of Kaepernick.  I do find it ironic how many Niners fans booed Kaep at home for kneeling during the National Anthem, but "WE WANT KAEP" cascaded down from the stands during their four-game skid and Gabbert's lackluster play.  Although my biggest concern was whether or not Kaepernick would continue his silent protest once he received the starting nod, he proved to be a man of unyielding character as he endured some of his most virulent disapproval to date in Buffalo by continuing to kneel along with linebacker Eli Harold (far left) and safety Eric Reid (far right).  (Allegedly, a man attempted to throw a beer bottle at him to which he responded, "If they did, they didn't have very good aim.")  I simply wish some of his resilience would've trickled down to the rest of the team as the offense could only muster one touchdown--a pass from Kaep to a wide open Torrey Smith.

As for the team Kaep faced, I always want to cheer for LeSean McCoy because I hate how Kelly shipped his best offensive player off to Buffalo.  Hence, I wasn't mad at him ripping off 140 yards and three TDs against his former coach in a 45-16 beatdown against the Niners on Sunday.  However, Shady had some politically-correct, "Donkey of the Day" worthy comments before the game about Kaep's choice of platform, which he partially defended, and an alternative approach to the police:

I don't want all cops getting a bad rap for what good cops are doing, because there are still good cops.  And at the end of the day if there's something wrong going on, or there's something that is dangerous I'm sure Ka[e]p will call the cops, he'll call 911...

Here are my three main issues with McCoy's statement: 1) nobody who has protested police brutality worth mentioning has ignored the good cops, but the problem is many of those good cops don't and won't speak up against the bad ones externally or internally; 2) the undertone of McCoy's defense of good cops reeks of "be a good n----r so the cops will want to help you if you ever needed them"; and 3) aren't you the same dude who was on video involved in assaulting two off-duty officers at a Philly nightclub earlier this year, but somehow avoided any charges being filed?  I'd be a bit annoyed no matter who these comments came from, but saying stuff like this as well as inviting 15 to 20 officers to the game "as an appreciation type of thing because they're taking so much heat right now" seems less like respecting their hard work and more like damage control either for his own transgressions or the perception of his transgressions.  Even in a brutal loss, Kaep still wins the war on being a stand-up dude by a margin as long as that flight back to San Fran...

THE PLUS/MINUS TAKE OF THE WEEK, PART 2: THE LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (+749,609,276)?!?!  The last Super Bowl win by the Raiders franchise was during Year No. 2 of their thirteen-season run in Los Angeles after the late Al Davis failed to get improvements made to the Oakland Alameda Coliseum and moved the team to Southern California in 1982 despite opposition from the NFL.  After dealing with similar drama in L.A. which forced a move back to Oakland in 1995, earning their last Super Bowl appearance during the 2002 season and subjecting the faithful fans of Raider Nation to the second longest active playoff drought in the NFL as well as the longest draught in team history (13 seasons behind Buffalo's 16), it appears "like father, like son" is in full effect as Mark Davis is looking to get out of town again.  After they and the Chargers lost the latest L.A. bid to the Rams, the majority owner has entertained plans from Oakland, Concord (which is about 27 miles outside of Oakland) and even a bid to move the team to San Antonio.  However, the most serious talk since the beginning of the year has been the Las Vegas plan, which has resulted in the filing of a trademark for the "Las Vegas Raiders" name and the Nevada Senate and Nevada Assembly approving the funding bill for the Las Vegas stadium.  Simply put, Vegas could be a real thing.

Being my AFC team since the 80s, I'm torn.  On one hand, I've never been to Las Vegas and knowing the Raiders are more than likely moving there gives me incentive to make a weekend out of it to 1) finally see what all of the hype about Las Vegas is and 2) finally see the Raiders play in person.  On the other hand, I've never been to the Bay either and it would be better as a Raiders fan to go where it all started versus being sucked into the hype of the sexy pick.  Much like the city of St. Louis losing two NFL franchises in the past 30 years to Arizona and Los Angeles, I feel for Oakland fans who have stuck with this team through thick and thin--and the last 13 years have been Listerine strip thin.  With threats of the Golden State Warriors moving to San Francisco and the Oakland Athletics moving to San Jose, a city which is becoming a hub for tech corporations might be without a major sports franchise in five years and, particularly, its most celebrated one of all.  Unfortunately, in a ruthless business like the NFL, the faithful fans usually lose out the most...

THE HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE TAKE OF THE WEEK: IT'S STILL "PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE" LAST TIME WE CHECKED.  Carson Wentz aka "Wentzylvania Avenue" came into Sunday's NFC East showdown with seven touchdowns, one interception and the league's best completion percentage against the blitz at 83 percent.  However, the absence of the now-suspended Lane Johnson loomed large as rookie right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai had the misfortune of lining up opposite of Ryan Kerrigan, who contributed to the team's overall sack total of five with two and a half.  A tenacious pass rush led to Wentz's uncharacteristically inaccurate throws as he hobbled to completing 50 percent of his passes, was kept under 200 yards and no TDs.  Furthermore, Washington's run defense reversed their last-place status for at least one game as they limited the combined rushing attack of the Eagles under 100 yards (94).  Most important, Philly killed their rhythm again with 13 penalties for more than 110 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since 1952--including a roughing the passer call against Fletcher Cox to set up a Matt Jones TD run at the end of the first half, an illegal block in the back call on Wendell Smallwood which wiped away an amazing 38-yard pass play from Wentz to Dorial Green-Beckham and a false start on Brandon Brooks that took away a potential Darren Sproles first down and/or TD run.

One of the least talked about storylines is Pro Football Focus' preseason ranking of Washington's offensive line as the twelfth best, but they've improved to No. 4--one notch better than the vaunted Cowboys O-line which was originally ranked the best line in the league.  Behind that line, Kirk Cousins was more confident throwing the ball, was especially accurate on his deep passes and their last-place red zone woes were minimized as he tossed two TDs to Jamison Crowder and Vernon Davis.  After having four targets over the past two weeks, DeSean Jackson was more involved in the offense, particularly on a 35-yard pass play which set up the aforementioned Crowder score.  Although it appeared Cousins' coach was about to turn into a pumpkin as he threw an ill-advised pick six under duress to Malcolm Jenkins, he was saved by the triple threat of Matt Jones, Chris Thompson and rookie Robert Kelley as they contributed to Washington's 232 rushing yards (7.0 yards per carry) and took advantage of the absence of the Eagles' best run stuffer in Bennie Logan, who suffered a groin injury in the first half.  Hence, the home team did everything they needed to do to win and what I've enjoyed most about their four-game win streak is something they didn't do at all last year: they defeated three teams who had winning records at the time they beat them.  It's a long season and I refuse to be unrealistic with my expectations, but their resilience is encouraging nevertheless...

SCRIBBLER'S GAME OF THE WEEK: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 26, ATLANTA FALCONS 24.  Among so many good games in Week 6, very few had bigger long-term stakes than the matchup between the league's best overall offense in Atlanta and the best overall defense in Seattle.  For a while, it appeared the better defense was winning as they clipped the wings of the Falcons' high-flying offense, holding them to three first-half points as well as 86 yards of total offense and sacking Matt Ryan three times.  However, what boded well for Atlanta going into a wild second half was that Seattle's offense had mainly Christine Michael and rookie Alex Collins to thank for their 17-3 halftime lead while a still-hurting Russell Wilson didn't dominate the game with either his arm or his legs.  In the third quarter, Ryan once again turned into Matty Ice as most of his 335 passing yards came in the second half and most of them went to arguably the league's best receiver in Julio Jones, who racked up 139 receiving yards and a 36-yard TD--a score which caused a heated sideline confrontation between Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor.  Two more TD passes to Mohamed Sanu and Levine Toilolo erased a 14-point deficit in one quarter.

The problem is they didn't score any more points after that as Christine Michael scored another TD run with 4:47 remaining in the game.  Now you would think they should've benefited from blocking Steven Hauschka's extra point to keep the score at 24-23, right?   Well, somebody should've told Jones that as his "drop" led to an Earl Thomas interception, which led to Hauschka's go-ahead field goal with 2:02 left.  In three of the Falcons' final four downs, the Legion of Boom took Atlanta's receivers to the woodshed.  However, the Falcons were blatantly robbed of a chance to win the game as Sherman clearly held down Jones' right arm on 4th and 10, but the refs failed to call defensive pass interference.  Despite darn near having a coronary about about the non-call, Falcons head coach and former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn made no excuses for his team: "Didn't create any turnovers on defense and ended up finishing -2 and we know how tough that can be...we know having penalties and turnovers makes it very difficult for us."  Although those tucked yellow flags were deflating for the Falcons and could loom large as seeding in the NFC comes into play, I respect Quinn's accountability because it legitimizes the game's outcome and "Game of the Week" status even more...

SCRIBBLER'S CHECKDOWNS:

• SD 21, DEN 13: for once, the Chargers didn't blow a fourth-quarter lead and Josh Lambo should be a write-in candidate--at least in the San Diego locker room.  As for the Broncos, two fumbles by receivers and twelve penalties--one of which resulted in a safety--equates to the wheels starting to come off a bit for the defending champs as they're not establishing enough distance in a hotly-contested AFC West;
• JAX 17, CHI 16: "Just Another Good Showing" was actually good enough to win as the Jaguars were not only one of the only three road teams to win on Sunday, but also notched their first win being down ten-plus points in the fourth quarter since 1996.  As for the Bears, they continue to be the least impressive team in the NFC North and maybe in the entire league;
• DET 31, LA 28: another amazing Matthew Stafford TD pass...Matt Prater makes a late-game, go-ahead field goal...the opposing QB gets picked off in the last two minutes of the game...deja vu in Motown?!?!  Whatever it is, the Lions are making some waves while, despite Case Keenum completing 20 straight passes at one point, the Rams' star is falling in a tightening three-horse race in the NFC West;
• MIA 30, PIT 15: with one of the most unexciting starting quarterbacks in the league, the Dolphins should be thankful to have Jay Ajayi, who contributed 204 yards and two TDs on the ground.  Flip side, Big Ben not only battled health issues, but also a receiver corps dwindled down to using Le'Veon Bell as a wideout.  Totally didn't expect this one to be so convincing in the end, but any given Sunday, right;
• NE 35, CIN 17: one simple stat: the Patriots were 60-5 at home since 2007 coming into this game.  Another simple fact: Brady is back.  When they're playing the Bengals who are turning back into the Bungles, did anyone think they wouldn't be 61-5 by game's end?  Nobody?  Like I thought...moving on; 
• NO 41, CAR 38: wanna know how good Drew Brees is in the Superdome?  He can throw a long pass to Coby Fleener probably meant for Willie Snead and it still turns into a 50-yard TD.  Wanna know bad the Panthers are?  Despite a 21-point comeback led by a 322-yard, 2 TD pass and one TD run performance from Cam Newton, they're 1-5 and tied for the worst record in the NFC with the Bears and Niners.  That Super Bowl loser curse is real, ladies and gents;
• NYG 27, BAL 23: how do you stop the bleeding if you're Odell Beckham, Jr., as critics and social media are killing you?  Easy: rack up 222 receiving yards and score two TDs--including the 66-yard game winner where he was running 21.0 MPH.  How do you ramp up the criticism again?  Notch two nearly-costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.  As for the Ravens, that 3-0 start seems like a lifetime ago now;
• TEN 28, CLE 26: led by the arm and legs of Marcus Mariota, who tossed three TDs and ran for 64 yards, the Titans are once again competitive in a tightening AFC South race.  As for the Browns, they made it entertaining, but they're 0-6.  Not holding up their end of the bargain for successful Cleveland teams this calendar year;
• KC 26, OAK 10: this one is simple: you don't beat Andy Reid coming off of a bye.  Furthermore, pressure busts pipes and the Chiefs' defense applied plenty of it to Derek Carr.  The Raiders are still first, but the Chiefs loosened the Silver and Black's grip on the AFC West;
• DAL 30, GB 16: Mr. Discount Double Check looked less like Aaron Rodgers and more like Kirk Cousins as he was strangely indecisive and made costly mistakes.  On the other side, I don't care if Tony Romo is Jerry Jones' quarterback: if the Cowboys want to continue to win, then keep Dak Prescott as the starting quarterback.  The brother broke Brady's record for most passes without an INT to begin a career (176) and tossed three more TDs.  Again, I am not a Cowboys fan, but I love how he and Ezekiel Elliott are playing;
• HOU 26, IND 23 (OT): three simple words: don't knock Brock.  He made some clutch throws and, at least for this week, made good on his Harrison Barnes-esque contract.  How about Lamar Miller's touchdown catch where he maneuvered around seven Colts defenders for the score?  Meanwhile, despite Frank Gore becoming the first Colts running back to have 100+ rushing yards in 55 games, they've dropped two consecutive division games and aren't helping Chuck Pagano maintain his position.  To think I nearly turned this game off at 20-9; and
• ARI 28, NYJ 3: with 22 carries for 111 rushing yards and three TDs, is it finally safe to say the Cardinals got a steal in last year's NFL Draft with David Johnson?  As for the losers, Ryan Fitzpatrick has now convinced three teams that he's starting QB material, but after getting benched for Geno Smith, I doubt if he finagles a fourth.

SCRIBBLER'S CHOP LICKERS FOR WEEK 7:

• WAS (4-2) @ DET (3-3), 1 p.m.: although Washington is 30-13 all time against Detroit (including 3-0 in the playoffs), they've dropped the last three including two road losses in 2009 and 2010.  Maybe overall history will trump recent history, but considering how well Matthew Stafford has played in the past two weeks, they're definitely not facing the Scott Mitchell-led Lions.  If Cousins stays on track and Jones, Kelley and Thompson continue to run with confidence, then the offense could take advantage of the league's 25th-ranked overall defense;
• MIN (5-0) @ PHI (3-2), 1 p.m.: one of the league's most ball-hawking defenses squares off against an offense looking to bounce back from two straight losses.  However, I don't love this matchup for Wentzylvania and the Eagles as this will be the most ferocious defense they've faced all season.  The Birds might be coming back down to Earth as their schedule gets tougher; and
• SEA (4-1) @ ARI (3-3), 8:30 p.m.: after the 'Hawks couldn't score much in the first two weeks and the Cards got off to a rocky start, this is shaping up as the most significant rivalry in the NFC West as both teams need more division wins--both teams are 1-1 in the West.  I'd like Seattle's chances better if 1) the game were at CenturyLink Field and 2) Russell Wilson was closer to full strength, but considering how Arizona hasn't beaten one team with a winning record, home field advantage doesn't guarantee victory.  Out of five matchups between division rivals, this should be the best one.