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Time always goes very fast in the NFL. The inevitability of a team like the Patriots spans a decade or more, but most teams, even those with franchise quarters on their lineups, are constantly struggling against short Super Bowl windows. When it comes to the last years of a Hall of Fame career, the years are even more precious. That's why panic should prevail on the Steelers and Saints as a result of Sunday's worst potential scenarios.
Stark Reality was looking at both teams in the face in the form of a starter wearing a cap, standing on the sideline, each of them having suffered an injury that could radically alter the power structure of all the NFL.
Ben Roethlisberger's injury seemed to come from nowhere – he had somehow played with his arm and elbow in the same way as Al Czervik throughout the match. He had apparently been dealing with some tenderness all week as well. And at one point during the first half, he suffered from what could be called a "contactless injury" at the elbow.
If he was a pitcher, you would expect to hear the phrase "visit Dr. James Andrews" with the way he grabbed his elbow. Big Ben came back pretty quickly to the sideline and everything seemed to be going well. That was not it. Mason Rudolph warmed up, took over the Steelers and spent the entire second half under center. At no time was it envisaged to bring Roethlisberger.
Rudolph is in fact quite well acquitted – he launched an early interception, although we can quite blame this on the pair of stones attached to Donte Moncrief's wrists – but this is not the case. is not the question. If something goes wrong with Roethlisberger, the Steelers' hope of playing in the playoffs could evaporate. After the match, asked if Big Ben would have an MRI, Mike Tomlin simply said that Ben was "under evaluation". Unsurprisingly, he was kept.
Listen, I do not want to speculate on what might not be right with Roethlisberger because a) I'm not a health professional, and b) it's extremely early in an absolutely fluid situation.
But it's hard not to compare to what Bills quarterback Josh Allen has dealt with in the 2018 season. In mid-October, it was reported Allen fought an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament, which in simple terms is a pile of tissue that connects the upper arm to the lower arm. Injuries to UCL are more common in athletes who, you may guess, are falling. Allen was able to rest and recover after his injury and would miss five games before returning after Bills' week off. He played very well on the stretch, even though he was heavily leaning on his legs to produce. He is also much younger than Ben. they are not apples and oranges, but the hypothetical fruits in question are not identical at least.
The Steelers are now 0-2 and are desperate. They should be; they face the 49ers in San Francisco in Week 3, the Bengals at home in Week 4, the Ravens at home at Week 5 and the Chargers on the road at Week 6 before a week 7 break. Rudolph had accumulated some victories very early, so he might keep them afloat. If Ben is away for five weeks, the second-year quarterback must now win them a few games. Pittsburgh was a competitor in the Super Bowl before the season. If Roethlisberger misses a long time, they could argue for the last place in the north of the AFC. This would open a playoff spot for someone else and potentially help the Ravens try their luck for the No. 1 seed if Lamar Jackson continues to play well. The absence of Big Ben for a month or more would be seismic.
Brees' injury is just as – if not more – worrying and quite similar. Aaron Donald hit Brees in the hand when Rams' defensive tackle went into the pocket after Brees threw a shot.
Immediately after the attack, the doctors were doing a test on Brees hand to determine whether he had ripped the UCL by hand. It's a major red flag.
Humans also have a UCL in their hand; This is what connects the thumb and the index. And it is possible that Brees' injury also touched his UCL. Certainly, the brace / splint / envelope on which it was seen indicates that it could be due to a ligament injury.
Make things even more worrying? Brees must visit a hand specialist in Los Angeles. The Saints will fly to Seattle for next week's game against the Seahawks and their star quarterback will remain to visit a doctor. Brees told Omar Ruiz of NFL Media that "we'll see" about the injury – this is not a very good support! – and said that he had never had more difficulty in grabbing a football in his career than having won Donald's success. Brees was seen picking up and immediately dropping a football in obvious pain after the injury.
This aspect means that it's not just a problem of pain management. Brees can not just "endure" the pitch – he may be physically unable to grab and throw the football for a long time. This is not the type of injury that will gradually improve or that you can work around. Losing his grip could make Brees more inclined to fumble and his accuracy could fall off a cliff.
Brees says the injury "felt that it was something a little more important" and used the word "concerned" to talk about the injury. We should all approach this way too: it's a major red flag for the Saints season. They lost in L.A. against a good Rams team; It happens. But now they are going to Seattle for a very tough game. Things do not get any easier after that. The Saints greet the Cowboys in Week 4, face the Buccaneers at home in Week 5, and put the Jaguars and Bears on the road in Week 6 and 7. A home game against the Cardinals at Week 8 ends to their starting program. It's four very difficult defensive confrontations for Teddy Bridgewater if he is forced to take over for a long time.
After a very beneficial week, the Saints could move from net division favorites to a team in great trouble, depending on the duration of the Brees exit. Caroline at 0-2 suddenly has life. The Buccaneers winning the division without Brees? Not so crazy. The branches of NFC seeding are also huge.
Life is changing fast and could even be even faster for a pair of teams who thought they were running for the Super Bowl less than a fortnight ago.
History to come for dolphins?
The Cowboys are one of the teams that benefits from injury. This club sits at 3-0 with the Saints on the deck of the fourth week. Excuse me. The Cowboys are 2-0 but only for a period of seven days, until they host the Dolphins in Dallas. It's an NFL game, so anything can happen, but this game should be shallow considering how the fins played during the first two weeks of the season.
In their first two home games of the year, Miami lost 59-10 to the Ravens and 43-0 to the Patriots, the latter in a game that featured two remarkable things. One, Antonio Brown played for the Patriots, and he played very well. The NFL is to interview Brown, potentially Brown's cousin (Marquise Brown of the Ravens) and his accuser in a lawsuit filed last week against the wide receiver. allegation of sexual assault and rape. The result of this investigation is to be determined, but from a strict football point of view, Brown only charges a team of Patriots already stacked. He seemed to take targets away from Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman, but he was very effective in minimal work. Brown grabbed four of the eight assists and scored a touchdown.
The other factor at play here? Bill Belichick did not let go of the accelerator for Brian Flores. Part of that was the Patriots' defense recording several pick-six in the second half – this is not something you can control. Part of me wonders if it was not Belichick as much as it was the Dolphins, historically bad. Miami is tied for the third worst differential early in a season in the NFL history. Only the 1923 Jefferson Rochester (-116) and the 1961 Oakland Raider (-99) were worse. The 1973 Saints also started with a negative differential of 92 points. The Jefferson & # 39; 23? What a band of lollygaggers!
Whatever it is, because the dolphins are terrible, Las Vegas has been placed in a strange position. They could not cover as home dog by 18.5 points in the second week against the Patriots, so it's time to get things moving. As such, the Dolphins are huge underdogs with a 20.5-point lead over the Cowboys in Dallas. That's a ridiculous number – there are only 11 teams that have lost 20 points or more since the merger, according to the Pro-Football-Reference database (which dates back to 1978 with points differences ). Bad news for the dolphins: none of these teams won. Good news: these teams are 9-2 against the gap!
Maybe dolphins can cover? It seems unlikely that they will win. Dak Prescott – presented as a deserving guy on a huge deal at this location last week – has concocted an outstanding new performance against the Redskins. He has had seven touchdowns on the ground so far this year and only 11 failures. He looks really very comfortable in the Kellen Moore offensive. Going back to the trade Amari Cooper, which dates back to about the time Dak says things started to go wrong, he has 11 games under his belt. And his numbers are pretty staggering:
| Week 9 2018 to the week 2 2019 | 279 | 382 | 73% | 285.6 | 8.2 | 21 | 5 |
These are figures of MVP caliber, people. Add to that the continued fitness of Ezekiel Elliott and the development of various weapons and the Cowboys look a lot like a Super Bowl caliber team. It's early and they did not play against anyone, but they have to play against the dolphins this week.
Miami seems to wait until the end of the 5th week to play Josh Rosen, but is it really important at this point? Ryan Fitzpatrick does not do it. He was 11 for 21 yards for 89 yards and three interceptions on Sunday. Why is he playing? It is fair to ask if dolphins know what they are doing if they are not willing to look closely at Rosen during a full season. He has to play so that the team can evaluate it.
This could happen this week because of Fitzmagic's gravity, but throwing Rosen to the wolves in Dallas is a hard road to go. Maybe the lob at half-time. Life will not be easier for the dolphins this week either, as they are trying to trade Minkah Fitzpatrick (everyone has acknowledged) and may be willing to move the Kenyan Drake as well.
The Westgate announced Sunday afternoon that the dolphins would have a record of 0-16. Yes, it was +350, which is ridiculous. (No, it's -450, so you have to bet $ 450 to win $ 100 if they win a game.) After the Brown trade, the Pats became around 4-1 to win the Super Bowl , obviously the favorite. This should indicate how likely it is to happen.
We will probably look back at the start of the game and laugh when they win two victories later in the year, but the Dolphins are currently considered a bad team and Vegas treats them as such.
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