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Gregg Rosenthal catches up on everything you need to know as we move from week 8 to week 9.
On October 29, the Browns had taken the lead. Hue Jackson was no longer the Browns' coach, and it's fair to wonder if any organization has postponed another rebuilding plan for a season simply because it could not & # 39; I do not want to push Jackson, a man of all points of view, on a series of 17 defeats in the last season.
The situation between Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley was untenable. Ian Rapoport, NFL Network Insider reported on Monday that Haley "did not listen to" Jackson and "was doing his own business". The owner, Jimmy Haslam, was among those "likely to" keep Jackson on Haley for Sunday's game against the Steelers, but Jackson and Haley were finally released, with defensive coordinator Gregg Williams playing the coaching role. Acting Chief. The decision to fire the two warring parties from a power struggle seems familiar to Cleveland.
This type of malfunction has been observed more and more frequently by the public since Haslam became the owner in the middle of the 2012 season, and this latest episode raises questions as to whether the organization has learned lessons of his previous mistakes. Haslam has fired coaches Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski, Mike Pettine and Jackson, as well as senior executives Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert, Joe Banner, Michael Lombardi, Ray Farmer and Sashi Brown. It's been six long years.
The Browns seem to have found a good general manager at John Dorsey and they have one of the most promising young quarterbacks to enter the league this decade at Baker Mayfield. They have some extra choices in the draft next year, although all the premium selections that Sashi Brown has built have been used. Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Larry Ogunjobi, and Emmanuel Ogbah form the core of a talented game defense, but it's worth remembering that they'll learn a new defensive pattern next year after Williams is likely to have opened the door.
The presence of Mayfield undoubtedly improves everything. Mayfield is the ideal goaltender to execute some of the large-scale offensive innovations that have taken over the league, and he should make life easier for the next head coach. After all the press conferences of the "new regime", Brown's fans have been submissive in the past six seasons, however, it is fair to doubt the ability of the organization to make the next decision regarding Franchise savior. Especially when they have lost everyone's time after getting sluggish again within the confines of January 1st.
What we know after week 8
Marcus Davenport makes the defense of the Saints more frightening.
There is at least one game a week in which the Saints rookie defenseman Marcus Davenport gives the impression that opponents are not in a position to operate nearby. In one of his two sacks Sunday night in Minnesota, Davenport appeared to use Kirk Cousins as a shovel to dig the Vikings' grave in the field.
Defensive tackle Saints Sheldon Rankins added two sacks to him on Sunday night. The defense of the Saints always begins with Cameron Jordan, who is back to play at his All-Pro level. But the increased impact of Davenport and Rankins helps complete the Saints' seventh-place advance.
Consider it a very scary notion for the rest of the NFC that the Saints only need 120 yards of Drew Brees to comfortably win on the road. After also winning in Baltimore, the Saints can relax at home this week … against the Rams.
The glove of the competitor NFC is here.
The Rams will face the two warmest NFC teams in the next two weeks (the Saints and Seahawks) before heading to Mexico City for a Chiefs fight in Week 11. The four November games in Seattle do not feature any beating opponents including a three-game slalom against the Rams, Packers and Panthers. The Packers are part of the three-game series played by the Vikings in the North NFC, before Minnesota have road games in New England and Seattle. The next five Lions games are against NFC opponents with record wins.
In short: many of the best games and dramas of the NFC race will take place in the third quarter of the season, while the Rams-Saints in Week 9 will set the stage for fighting for the home advantage.
Blake Bortles is far from the only problem in Jacksonville.
After a week of denigration of Blake, reality settled in the Jackson's 24-18 loss to the Eagles in London. Even when Bortles gives the team a better than average effort (24 of 41 for 268 yards with a touchdown and zero choices), this team has many other problems. The offensive line did not play well, which happens when a team is in the third rope on the left. The record contract with goalkeeper Andrew Norwell has not paid off. Team receivers lost five assists Sunday, including a possible touchdown. Keelan Cole escaped a ball for the second time in three weeks. The secondary, ravaged by injuries, was not a group that made the difference. Even the All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey was beaten several times by Alshon Jeffery in the third round and is not in the top 30, according to Pro Football Focus.
The match being scheduled late in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars' attack was faced with six short-distance situations near the midfield. They called six straight ahead games, which resulted in five failures and a successful jamming of Bortles. These are the nightmares of Jaguars coach Doug Marrone, who are too scared to run in ball games and rely too much on Bortles to play. The defense played well, but not very well. Like all defenses in 2018, we can not trust them to get a stop when they absolutely need it. Now, 3-5 on a four-game losing streak, the playoffs will be a tough climb for a team that seemed to have won its Super Bowl in the second week.
The defensive improvement of the Steelers clings.
After a miserable start to the season, the Steelers limited the Falcons to 17 points in the fifth week and the Bengals and Browns to 512 yards overall. That's a small sample, but the Steelers have yielded the fewest yards per game of any football team in their last three games. Baker Mayfield threw for 107 yards before a nonsensical touchdown on weekend 8. Stephon Tuitt was on fire against Cleveland, leading a deep seven Steelers front, and the high school side no longer abandons the big games, perhaps because that Mike Tomlin no longer hangs on cornerback Artie Burns.
No one expects this group to be the curtain of steel against other pretenders to the AFC. They just need to be good enough and let the offensive hold the day, which is basically the same formula used by other AFC teams like Kansas City, New England and Los Angeles. The Steelers are back on track.
Things we do not know
If the improved Seahawks will play in the playoffs.
The Seahawks are not the team they were a season ago, when the defense was stuffed with famous brands. They are not even the team they were five weeks ago, before weaknesses that turned into clichés turned into strengths. They are one of the top 10 teams in the NFL.
The Seahawks are 4-1 in their last five games, surpassing their opponents 99-47 in four wins. The defeat of the team in this sequence is a two-point loss to the Rams, perhaps the most valuable defeat of the NFL this season. The Seahawks left this match with the understanding that they were not so far from their goals, especially in attack.
The offensive line is no longer a weakness. Although the fact that Russell Wilson has barely scored an average of 20 attempts per game over the past three weeks, this helps protect the team's passes, but blocking the team's playoffs is undeniably a force. Wilson's success rate on his shot matches that of Patrick Mahomes each week, as well as his touchdown mark (8.8%, Mahomes registering a league high of 9.1%). Chris Carson and Mike Davis are the difficult combination that Pete Carroll has not seen coming, while the choice of the first round, Rashaad Penny, takes the dust off the bench. Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is portion. Getting rid of the former offensive line coach Tom Cable might have helped even more. David Moore (11 catches for 221 yards and four goals), Doug Baldwin's return, Brandon Marshall's bench and Tyler Lockett's current career year (25) encourage a group of skinny receivers catch for 394 yards and six touchdowns ). Like just about every position on the team, the receivers were more physical than their Lions counterparts in Sunday's road win.
Seattle has many quality opponents coming up, but the overall program is favorable seen under a different prism. The Seahawks have hosted six of their last nine home games in front of a dangerously attached crowd that must be thrilled. Pete Carroll's party had just received a second life.
The return of linebacker K.J. Wright on Sunday added a level of familiarity to an unprecedented defense that highlights Carroll's chops. Safety duo Bradley McDougald and Tedric Thompson play over their heads. I do not know if the Seahawks will survive their next challenge and play in the playoffs, but they are a better team, more fun to watch than a year ago, when all those defending Super Bowl champions were still on the list.
If Carson Wentz can continue like this.
On Sunday, Wentz had one of the most impressive matches possible, for a day that started with two turnovers. The attack of the Eagles begins to look like the offense of the Seahawks of the past in an uncomfortable way, relying on the quarterback to create himself the magic of the third try in order to maintain the balloon in motion. Losing right tackle Lane Johnson with a knee injury will not solve the problems.
Wentz has been up to the task so far, playing at a level just below his pace in 2017. At 4-4 at dawn of the 9th week, the Eagles have many problems to settle around Wentz in a season full of bad chances on both sides of the ball. If the rest of the team and the coaching staff can raise their level, Wentz seems more than able to take over.
Cam Newton's career would have been much better if he had started working with Norv Turner earlier.
The Panthers offensive makes sense when you look at it, which was almost never the case of former coordinator Mike Shula, with the exception of the brilliant brief of 2015. Even before General Manager Dave Gettleman was not fired in 2017, the plan was to stop running Power-Forward Wide receivers and surround Newton with the type of speed threat that would make Cam even more difficult to defend.
This vision is being realized. Best Rookie Receiver D.J. Moore's career against Baltimore (five catches for 90 yards) should be a sign of the future, with Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel also in the lead role.
This is the first season in Carolina since 2012 where the attack of the team has a higher performance than the defense and most years, the offensive does not. was not even close. With the young players surrounding Newton and the project of offensive coordinator Norv Turner taking shape, there is a potential to improve a lot. The South is undoubtedly the NFC division most likely to send two playoff teams because the Saints and Panthers can win in many different ways.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
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