Four Down Territory: NFL Week 6

First Down

The Jaguars’ inability to put competition behind Blake Bortles is going to cost this team a chance to win a Super Bowl.

It’s that simple.

On Sunday Jacksonville was throttled by Dallas 40-7. This is a week after the Chiefs took them to town 30-14. Many will point to the defense and say that giving up 70 points over two weeks won’t get it done and they’re correct. The average fan will even go as far to say that the Jag’s defense is overrated. A foolish statement but still one people will think is true.

A simple dive in the numbers will show that this defense is worn out and this team misses Leonard Fournette…a lot. Jacksonville ranks 26th in time of possession at 28:55 minutes per game. That means the offense is not putting drives together and the defense isn’t getting much rest. Blake Bortles is 17th in the QBR rankings with a score of 51.2 out of 100. I don’t care what grading scale you use it’s still failing, and miserably. So far he’s only thrown nine touchdowns and eight interceptions while coughing up two fumbles.

So what is Jacksonville waiting for? Why do they keep sticking by a quarterback who’s so inconsistent?

This organization seems to care about Blake’s feelings more than winning. A statement that can be made about the Giants as well.

Is it a coincidence that Tom Coughlin has ties to both organizations? I dunno but it’s worth mentioning.

So it’s been established that Blake is the piece that’s holding the Jaguars back so how do they fix it before the October 30 trade deadline?

Here are a few ideas.

Dante Fowler and a 3rd (maybe even a 2nd) round pick to New Orleans for Teddy Bridgewater. (Best option)

T.J. Yeldon and a 3rd round pick to Philadelphia for Nick Foles (Not bad)

A 5th round pick to Baltimore for RGIII (VERY Intriguing)

If Jacksonville is serious about winning a championship then no stone should be left unturned.

Second Down

Jon Gruden has gone full Chip Kelly.

After losing this week to Seattle in London the Raiders are 1-5 and it seems that there is a a firesale happening in Oakland. If trading Khalil Mack wasn’t bad enough the Raiders also appear to be interested in moving another pair of first round picks.

After already trading Khalil Mack, @JayGlazer reports that the Raiders have been in discussions to trade former first round picks Amari Cooper and Karl Joseph. pic.twitter.com/6QrogAHNAQ

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 14, 2018

If there’s the long shot that Howie Rosemen, the Eagles’ GM, is reading this then PICK UP THE PHONE AND WORK YOUR MAGIC

Gruden has gone mad, there’s no doubt about it but he’s not fooling me. How do you create job security? Get rid of everyone from the former regime then start bringing in your own players. College coaches get a solid four years doing this and Gruden is following the same formula.

My guess? Gruden will get fired after his seventh season and failing with the second first round quarterback he’s drafted. This offseason will be one of the most in Raiders history. Not only are they moving to Vegas but Gruden has two massive decisions to make.

Will he keep Derek Carr and how is he going to address the Marshawn situation that is bound to arise?

(He’s going to trade Carr and give Lynch a massive extension only for Lynch to retire after the first season in Vegas.)

Third Down

Todd Gurley went BANANAS this weekend in Denver. The Georgia product rushed for a career high 208 yards as the Rams won 23-20. It’s time to talk about Gurley being the MVP and there’s no question that he’s the front-runner for the award.

But is he the best running back in the league?

There has been an offensive revolution in the NFL and many will say it’s because coaches are adjusting their offenses to mimic what quarterbacks ran in college. That’s true but you can also make the argument that this renaissance is due to the number of elite running backs that have entered the league lately.

There’s Gurley, Zeke, Gordon, Hunt, Barkley, McCaffrey, Cook, Kamara, Conner, and Mixon.

Let’s not forget the vets like Bell (even if he’s absent), Hyde, Johnson, McCoy, and Peterson (he’s still got it, IMO).

As great as the quaterback play as been it’s foolish to say that running backs can’t be linked to the origin of the new NFL offense. Too bad they’re undervalued and used up before they can get a big payday.

Fourth Down

The Chiefs lost their first game to New England Sunday night 43-40. The shootout was the game of the year so far but the main story isn’t Brady’s clutchness or Mahomes bouncing back to throw four touchdowns but how Patriot fans behaved after Tyreek Hill scored in the fourth quarter.

The end of that touchdown catch by #Chiefs Tyreek Hill not exactly a banner moment for #Patriots fans. Especially the Bud Lite to the face. pic.twitter.com/cYS4RC7I6H

— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) October 15, 2018

This problem isn’t really centralized to New England (even though Boston fans don’t have the best track record of being good human beings) but a black eye in all of sports.

Fans have this idea that just because they purchased a ticket that they can behave any kind away to athletes. They throw excuses like, “they make millions of dollars so it’s okay” and other foolishness to justify barbaric behavior.

Luckily, in this case, the Patriots made the right call.

Patriots taking action against the fan who tossed the beer… https://t.co/t0Ga7NSU5q

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 15, 2018

The Pats found out who the fan was and banned them for life. Hill will also be pressing charges.

If the Malice in the Palace didn’t teach fans to behave then maybe losing thousands of dollars in court will curb that energy.

Extra Points

The NFL is going to continue to parade Ryan Shazier‘s recovery while not lifting a finger to help him. It’s pretty clear the the Rooney’s have taken care of Ryan and the NFL is going to reap all good PR they can from this situation.

Shoutout to Kelvin Benjamin for this gem.

#Bills Josh Allen just asked Kelvin Benjamin if he wanted to work on routes pregame during warm ups.

Kelvin’s answer: No

— Jenna Cottrell (@JennaCottrell) October 14, 2018

That can only be followed with the best tweet of 2018.

https://twitter.com/PrinceMarcus_25/status/1051563939312623621

Last shoutout to Josh Norman for looking at Cam like a son who finally scored on his dad in the driveway.

Yep this pic says it all from #Panthers loss to Josh Norman's #Redskins

(📸: Brad Mills / USA Today) pic.twitter.com/7HQ5Gxv3mG

— Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) October 14, 2018

@ me: madads14 

As always, thanks for reading.

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