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Patriot playoff victim, it seems now. And even on this playoff victim, everyone was looking at the wrong exiled Patriot.
Good thing it turned out this way, though. The Titans look far more capable of sustaining the success they had against the Patriots than the Jaguars do. And Dion Lewis' barbs about his exit from Foxborough. Malcolm Butler was interested in claiming.
In the week leading up to the game in Nashville, the questions Bill Belichick spent time deflecting were about Butler, who Belichick benched in the Super Bowl. Lewis, who had also played in the last two Super Bowls for the Patriots, winning one, was a less sexy plot line.
Not any more; not after the Titans' 34-10 domination, and not after Lewis Unloaded on the team Brady: "Hell yeah it's personal. get your ass kicked. "
How personal? This personal.
– Dion Lewis (@DionLewisRB) November 11, 2018
You can call Lewis Petty, but you can not call him wrong. And you can not get along as a small-timer, because he was a huge contributor in the 2016 season that ended with the Super Bowl win over the Falcons. Just because the Patriots have excelled in the interchangeable-back philosophy over the years (ask LeGarrette Blount about that) does not mean the backs that get changed out to appreciate the treatment.
If it gives Tennessee some extra juice in a game that is expected to win, all the better. However, unlike the Jaguars, do not expect the bottom to fall for the Titans in the next two months.
WATCH: Mariota's best plays vs. New England
The Titans hit that ugly stretch with a straight winback win over the Eagles. That coincides with the problems for Marcus Mariota; those have been nonexistent the last two weeks in their wins over the Cowboys and Patriots.
Coach Mike Vrabel, who left New England on the heels of two of the two players, is one of the best things he can do about Mariota and all the pieces on their good-but-not-great roster. And they cleaned up some last year, under predecessor Vrabel, Mike Mularkey, when they started their second-round playoff meeting with the Patriots.
They earned the gloat. Lewis earned his.
– NFC East's three weeks of destiny –
The Cowboys' 27-20 Sunday night win in Philadelphia raises the question of who's being raised more than a few times: Who in the NFC East can be trusted? The answer will be cleared in the next three weeks, when the backloaded division schedule heats up in earnest.
The Eagles, of course, could have gone to Jason Garrett's job. They did neither. Instead, the Cowboys made themselves a factor again. Dallas can capitalize on the next week in Atlanta (which looks vulnerable again after being planted in Cleveland, of all places) and then on Thanksgiving … against Washington, now developing as one of the most meaningful Turkey Day meetings between these rivals years.
In those next two weekends, the Eagles, with yet another exasperatingly close loss on their ledger, go to New Orleans to play a Saints team on an eight-game winning streak, then get a seemingly winnable game against the Giants.
Washington, on the road, then rematched with the Cowboys in Dallas.
What they've gotten wrong against the Titans, Panthers and Cowboys in the last five weeks, they've got to fix immediately, or else.
– The end for Todd Bowles … and Maccagnan? –
Fighting for Todd Bowles' job, after that abomination at home against the Bills, is pretty much fruitless and a waste of energy. There's really no need to keep it. He's all about coaching you, you've gotten off the street (Matt Barkley, signed on Halloween) whips you 41-10: "We're stuck up here, we're stunk it up. as players at the same time. "
So yes, Bowles is pretty much unsalvageable now. But Mike Maccagnan stay. They were a package deal four years ago, and while the perplexing skids and walking-dead performances that keep popping up the seasons in Bowles' lap, the appalling lack of talent and dreadful drafts are on Maccagnan.
Examples for both: Bowles said the last time he saw his team get over this badly was "the Indianapolis game, the night game" – 41-10, coincidentally, in 2016, also at home, on Monday night in December. Bowles have never been so much as they have been following that game, and the Jets have ended up purging the roster that offseason and starting from scratch.
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Meanwhile, every aspect of the quarterbacking has been brought back to life by Sam Darnold's last spring, Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg in back-to-back years, fall at Maccagnan's feet.
It's hard to justify anything other than another purge this offseason. The Jets have not fired a coach in midseason since 1975 (for the record, Lou Holtz quit before the final game in 1976). This is their bye week. If they do not pull the plug, it would be hard to blame them.
– Bucs running out of Magic –
The Buccaneers' offense gained 501 yards against Washington, and he had two knocked-backs and three points in his career. two missed field goals.
After the thunderously dull, 16-3 loss, coach Dirk Koetter revealed that he had taken back the play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Todd Monken, saying, "I had my reasons." He also said he was a newcomer to Ryan Backpatrick back to Jameis Winston after two games.
So keep Koetter on the watch list along with Bowles. And keep Bucs general manager Jason Licht on the "explain yourself" watch list along with Maccagnan.
– Norman grateful for home fans' support … or not –
Meanwhile, Washington got to six wins, one of last season's total, and three of the wins were on the road.
Pretty good, right, Josh Norman?
Josh Norman was asked about playing better on the road. This prompted his thoughts on recent home crowds at FedEx Field. pic.twitter.com/ceewBP7mR6
– Craig Hoffman (@CraigHoffman) November 11, 2018
FedEx Field – to the Colts in Week 2, coming off of a trip in Arizona in the opener, and last week at home (again) Falcons, 38-14, has failed in every category that snapped a three-game winning streak.
That just covers this season, when the relationship between the franchise and the fan base began to slow down to this point.
Unconditional love may be a bit much to ask, much less to ask for a win in which you scored one touchdown and gave up 500 yards to a three-win team.
– Saints made right call on Thomas –
A good way to start a fight with anyone from the state of Louisiana is to list the top five recipients in the NFL and leave the Saints' Michael Thomas. It's reaching the point where you can come from anywhere.
As usual, what do you think you are going to do with Thomas on, but you should not have to settle for a spot behind anyone anymore.
Thomas was again full in a Saints scoring orgy, 51 points against the Bengals (on the road and in the cold) a week after they rolled up 45 on the Rams. Last week, he set a franchise record with 211 yards receiving, a feat he celebrated with the notorious (and expensive) cell-phone call. On Sunday, he caught two touchdown passes, both in the first half to all but wrap the game up early.
Through nine games, he is on pace to set his career in highs and catches and yards, to catch over 100 passes for the second time, and to receive 1,000 yards for the third time. All of this, we have a unit loaded with weapons.
The Saints would not be able to do what they do without Thomas, still just 25 and in his third season.
If it's still not clear how much the Saints value it, remember this: Brandin Cooks to the Patriots after just three seasons himself and 215 catches, right before they would have to sign him to a huge extension. (Cooks eventually got it from the Rams this offseason.)
They felt comfortable enough to make that move because of what Thomas has shown them … as a rookie. That gamble, of spells, is paying off.
– The truth of Trubisky's hot streak –
One would think that anything going on with the quarterback of the Bears, a flagship franchise in one of the biggest markets in the NFL, could not possibly happen with little attention. Nevertheless, Mitchell Trubisky – the second pick of the 2017 draft, no less – is managing to string together some eye-popping performance with relatively minor notice.
Trubisky completely outplayed the Lions 'Matthew Stafford in the Bears' 34-22 Chicago blowout: 355 yards, three touchdowns passing, one rushing, no interceptions, a 148.6 pass rating. In his last six games, dating back to the six-touchdown game against the Bucs, he has thrown for 17 touchdowns and four steals, has four hundred-yard passing games, has completed in pass rating four times.
The Bears are 4-2 in those games. One loss was in Miami, where they missed a game-winning field goal in overtime; The other was to the Patriots when the Hail Mary to Kevin White was halted at the 1-yard line. (For the sake of balance, the Bears' defense scored two touchdowns last week in their 41-9 rout in Buffalo; Trubisky only attempted 20 passes.)
And the Bucs game was a clean breaking point: The week before that, the Bears were hit-or-miss against the then-winless Cardinals. Josh Rosen was rushed into the game late for his NFL debut, and the Bears' defense stopped him twice and held on 16-14. The notion was that Trubisky would be better off than Khalil Mack and the defense.
Since then, the Bears have averaged 34.3 points per game. And Mack missed two games during that run with an injured ankle.
It's all happened, somehow, quietly.
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