What initially looked like a rough slate of games heading into the weekend, proved so in Week 7.
If you took the two most interesting early games (Chiefs-Titans, Bengals-Ravens) and the “TV ratings” slot in the late afternoon (Bears-Buccaneers), and combined the scores, you’d get a 106-23 total, with all three contests finishing with at least a 24-point margin of victory.
That’s not even including scores like the Patriots 54-13 onslaught over the Jets, the Cardinals 31-5 drubbing of the Texans, or the Giants 25-3 victory over the now-spiraling Panthers.
Still, results like the one in Tennessee produced interesting Monday morning talking points. Are the Titans now a juggernaut? Will the Chiefs even make the playoffs?
Here’s my Quick-Hits for the week:
QUICK-HITS
Here Come The Titans
Just like that, the Tennessee Titans (5-2) followed an abysmal Week 3 overtime loss to the New York Jets by rattling off three straight impressive wins.
They’ve now defeated both of last year’s AFC finalists (Bills, Chiefs) in the past six days, and have a chance to virtually close the door on the AFC South when they travel to Indianapolis in an attempt to sweep the Colts, their only challenger in the division.
Tennessee has largely had success running behind the NFL’s leading rusher, Derrick Henry, and utilizing Ryan Tannehill on play-action and bootleg passing concepts for downfield throws to A.J. Brown and Julio Jones. But versus the Chiefs, the Titans were held to 2.9 yards per carry on 35 attempts. So with help from a solid performance from Tannehill (21/27, 270 yards, one touchdown) and Brown (eight catches, 133 yards, one touchdown), it was Tennesee’s defense that took control versus the offensively-dangerous Chiefs.
The Titans beat the Chiefs 27-3, forcing three Patrick Mahomes turnovers, sacking Mahomes four times, and holding the young phenom to 5.9 yards per per attempt and a Total QBR of 6.0. This was by far Mahomes’ worst regular season performance of his career, and probably his worst game ever, moving ahead of his Super Bowl 55 outing last February.
Tennessee began the season with obvious holes on defense, particularly in the secondary, and they lost rookie cornerback Caleb Farley, their first-round pick last Spring, to a torn ACL in Week 6. The Titans also came into this game ranked 28th in total defense in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric, and ranked 27th versus the pass.
But Tennessee has gotten a much-needed boost from their pass rush this season. Fourth-year EDGE Harold Landry, a 2018 second-rounder from Boston College, has 7.5 sacks on the season, good for second in the league. Landry had a sack on Sunday. Interior defender Denico Autry had two sacks on Mahomes, and has been solid up front. Then there’s Bud Dupree, the Titans’ cash cow of the offseason. Dupree has missed a few games, and his sack on Sunday was his first of the year, but Tennessee knows they have one of the best overall stand-up EDGE defenders in the league in Dupree when healthy.
Head coach Mike Vrabel has a team built on toughness, both mental and physical, with the league’s best running back, a top-tier wide receiver duo, and a quarterback capable of running a deadly play-action attack. Now, they have a glimmer of hope on defense. Tennessee is right in the thick of things in the AFC, and as of now, they look great for the long-term this season, with the likes of the Buffalo Bills and maybe Baltimore Ravens.
These Titans are legit.
What in the world is wrong with the Chiefs?
Seven games in, it’s apparent that the Kansas City Chiefs (3-4) have one of the worst defenses in the league, and this season, it will probably be too much to overcome. The unit is that bad.
But now, the offense has begun to sputter. At least it did on Sunday.
We addressed Mahomes’ stat line in the blurb above. He was bad on Sunday. But still, his re-shaped offensive line, which should improve, was terrible, giving Mahomes little time to do anything.
Mahomes now leads the league in interceptions (9) and turnovers (11), and is often trying his best to create the big play when it’s not there. And that big play, the highlight-reel deep shot to Tyreek Hill, is often not there because opposing defenses are playing two-high coverage (2-man, Cover 2, Cover 4, etc.) at an alarming rate versus the Chiefs, with some success as of late.
Mahomes loves the big play. He loves to scramble and search for Hill deep and Travis Kelce attacking soft zone coverage underneath. But with the offensive line struggling, Mahomes doesn’t have time for much, and no one outside of Hill or Kelce seems of capable of being a consistent threat.
Still, Mahomes, and Andy Reid, need to adjust the offense and their strategy, to attack via long drives and shorter throws for the time being, until the O-line gets up to speed. That’s not necessarily Kanas City’s game, and it will be tough, but they can’t have Mahomes running around trying to make plays when he’s taking the beating he has these past couple of weeks.
Part of this is on Mahomes. We saw a similar situation in Super Bowl 55. Sure, Tampa Bay destroyed KC’s depleted O-line, and that was mostly why the Chiefs were killed in that game. But often times, Mahomes avoids the dump-off or check-down pass to attempt to run around and make a play. That’s burned him this calendar year.
Still, even after his lowly performance Sunday, Mahomes is sixth in the league in Total QBR, third in EPA/drop back, and is third in the NFL in passing touchdowns (18). The 2021 Chiefs aren’t dead, but they’re severely wounded. Will they adapt, or die?
THE BETTER HALF
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-1) (Last week: 1). Tom Brady is your NFL MVP at the moment. And yes, he may even reach the 700-TD mark in career regular season passing touchdowns, one day. He may play forever.
2. Arizona Cardinals (7-0) (Last week: 2). They put aside their sluggish start to dominate the Texans, as they should. Did you see former Texans J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins walking off the field together? All smiles. They have the Packers at home on Thursday.
3. Los Angeles Rams (6-1) (Last week: 3). Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions pulled out all the tricks (recovered onside kick, two fake punts converted for first downs) and Jared Goff played admirably in his return to Los Angeles, but Matthew Stafford’s 59-yard pass to Cooper Kupp on a 3rd-and-12 late in the third quarter should reassure the Rams that they have the right quarterback. Also, Cooper Kupp is uncoverable. What a season he is having.
4. Tennessee Titans (5-2) (Last week: 8). Here come the Titans, indeed. This is a tough team. They’re fun to watch.
5. Buffalo Bills (4-2) (Last week: 4). The Bills still look like the long-term favorite in the AFC, but we have to give Tennessee their due for now.
6. Green Bay Packers (6-1) (Last week: 6). Not much has been said of the Packers this season, but they’ve won six straight. Up next? The Cardinals in Arizona on Thursday night. A big one.
7. Dallas Cowboys (5-1) (Last week: 7). They’ll come off their bye week with a Sunday Night Football game in Minnesota. It will be tougher than it appears.
8. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) (Last week: 14). Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and of course, head coach Zac Taylor, deserve a ton of credit here for the Bengals’ surprising start. They look legit. Have to give credit where credit is due.
9. Baltimore Ravens (5-2) (Last week: 5). The Ravens have had some sloppy games this season. They were lucky enough to have miracle wins versus the Lions and Colts, but were burned here in an important AFC North showdown. It’s a long season, though. I ultimately think they’ll win the division, but they belong here for this week. They need to tighten things up.
10. Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) (Last week: 9). They’ll look to put the ugly Ravens loss behind them after chewing on it over the bye week. They’ll host the Patriots on Sunday in a game that could decide an AFC wild card spot come January. New England beat Justin Herbert’s Chargers 45-0 last December.
11. Cleveland Browns (4-3) (Last week: 11). The Browns are beat up, but still have the recipe for January success. They have to make it there, though. That was a big win over the Denver Broncos.
12. Las Vegas Raiders (5-2) (Last week: 13). The Raiders have now won their first two games without Jon Gruden, and Derek Carr is quietly playing like one of the game’s best quarterbacks in a year that has many MVP-like campaigns. This tweet by the NFL’s Gregg Rosenthal was well-put.
13. New Orleans Saints (3-2) (Last week: 12). A win in Seattle on Monday night would be of big help to the Saints’ playoff chances down the line.
14. Kansas City Chiefs (3-4) (Last week: 10). Can they right the ship? This is a season from hell for them, to start. I see this sort of like their “2005 Patriots” season. Go look up that year. There’s still hope for the Chiefs to at least be a playoff team.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3) (Last week: 15). The Steelers are quietly positioning themselves to make some noise in the wild card race.
16. Minnesota Vikings (3-3) (Last week: NR). The Vikings really should be 4-2, but they missed a chip-shot game-winning kick to beat the undefeated Cardinals a few weeks ago. They’re talented. Same story with them from the last couple of seasons, really.
Next Up: Indianapolis, New England, Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco
No Guts No Glory 