Tales of The Week! NFL Week 2, 2018
By:Tyrone Montgomery Jr.
Headline Photo Credit:Mark Brown/Getty Images
FitzMagic – The Man Who Doesn’t Age
Ryan Fitzpatrick has been the journeyman of the NFL. 5 of the 7 teams he’s been on have been AFC Teams (Bengals, Bills, Titans, Texans, and Jets). He’s also spent some time in the NFC too. In fact, he began his career there in ST. Louis with the Rams. He currently is still playing for the NFC this season in Tampa Bay with the Buccaneers and he has them rolling off to a hot start! Some guys may say oh, they don’t have any tape on him and that offense? He’s been in the league for 13 seasons now. I think the real question here is can he sustain it? Rex Grossman had a heck of a start. It was Tebow Time every time Tim Tebow played. Remember the time we all thought Marc Sanchez was the franchise QB in New York? Despite playing for half of the league, Fitzpatrick is the real deal and The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be smart to stick with the hot hand. This actually reminds me of the Alex Smith/Colin Kaepernick situation. Alex Smith lost his job because he wasn’t there due to injury. Colin Kaepernick won and earned his job. The best ability is availability, and quite frankly, Jameis Winston isn’t available. This should be Fitzpatrick’s team for the remainder of the season. Ride the hot hand. You’re off to a good start, and you can score with the best of them. The defense is terrible. Who cares, just have fun. The last time I checked, winning is fun, especially when you’re leading the league in PPG and YPG. Oh, and btw, FitzMagic is leading the league with 405 Passing Yards/Game. You have nothing to lose! At 2-0, none of us expected this, including the Buccaneers themselves. You’ve already exceeded expectation! The fan base is happy and excited. The team is playing well thus far. The eagles won the Super Bowl last year with Nick Foles. Foles is a very serviceable backup. Likewise, Fitzpatrick is as well. You can’t put Jameis Winston back into the lineup once he returns from his 4-Game suspension! He’s not even mature enough to stay out of trouble. It’s all about him. He needs discipline. Have him ride the bench until Fitzpatrick loses the job, if he even loses the job. Winston hasn’t proved he’s a franchise QB and he can’t stay out of trouble. He needs to earn this job back. He’s due a large sum of money next summer. If I’m Tampa Bay, I would have a hard time signing him to a mega deal. I’m not saying trade that man. I’m just saying don’t be hesitant in testing the open market for him. Teams are always looking for a QB. Fitzpatrick has proved himself time and time again that he can win you some games. The bottom line is Winston hasn’t done anything to “Wow” us lately. The NFL is a business. It’s not about what you done. Instead, it’s more so what have you done for me lately? Let Fitzpatrick run this team, he’s playing well and so are the Bucs. He always gets jobs for a reason. At age 35, he seems to be playing better than ever.
When You Had Enough – A Vontae Davis Story
Vontae Davis has been in the league for 10 seasons now. He was drafted in the first round (25th Overall) by the Miami Dolphins in 2009. 3 years later, he decided to take his talent to Indianapolis to play with Peyton Manning and The Colts. There, he became a 2X Pro Bowler and earned the reputation as one of the most fierce corners in the league. After some tough seasons with The Colts, Vontae Davis signed with the Buffalo Bills this offseason on a 1-Year Deal. The Bills are going through a bit of a rebuilt just after making the playoffs for the first time last season for the first time in 18 seasons. In week 1, chaos already swarmed around this team. Nathan Peterman started the season as their opening day QB. Yes, the same Nathan Peterman who threw 6 Interceptions last year after benching the QB who took them to the playoffs, Tyrod Taylor. I honestly don’t understand why Peterman is on this team, yet alone even in the league. He has no business playing football! You know how as children, we used to get advice to stay in school and say no to drugs. I’m not saying Peterman is during drugs. I’m simply saying it’s important to stay in school and get that degree because it hasn’t worked out for this QB. It’s always good to have a backup plan. After a god awful lost to the Baltimore Ravens, Vontae Davis had in his mind what his backup plan was. The Bills were down 28-6 at halftime. During Halftime, Davis decided to call it quits and fill out his retirement papers. How can you be so terrible at playing football that one of your best players retires at halftime??The Bills are so bad that he didn’t quit the team, he quit football! Vontae could have demanded a trade, asked to be released, or even held out like Le’Veon Bell. Rather, only 30 years of age, he decided to retire. Folks, we all have been in his shoes. There comes a point in one’s career when he says enough is enough and you just throw in the towel. We all want to just walk out sometimes and not look back. Well, that is exactly what Vontae Davis did. The Buffalo Bills took the love of the game out of this man’s heart by their lousy play on the field. This is the most bizarre story I’ve ever seen in football. Its poor business by Davis, however, it is very understanding and is one of the funniest things we all will ever see in football.
The Browns Are Cursed
Many people believe in magic. Magic is defined as havingthe power of influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. I’ve never believed in magic and I never will. Many others believe in luck. The noun definition of luck is success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. The verb definition of luck is a chance to find or acquire. I’ll tell you something, I never believed in luck either until now. When the Browns loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, we all gave them a pass. The weather was horrible; I mean the rain was really coming down that day. This team is a completely different team from last season, so it takes time to gel. A new QB, RB, new weapons, I mean the list goes on. Before their week 2 matchup, the Browns made a roster move. They traded Josh Gordon to the New England Patriots. There was a statement saying Gordon showed up to practice unlike himself and appeared to be under the influence. Gordon also suffered an injury during a photo shoot, injuring his hamstring. That brings us into Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints. The Browns came from behind again to tie the game late in the 4th. After they scored a TD, all they needed to do was score the extra point with a FG (33 Yards). Kicker Zane Gonzalez failed to convert the extra point, so that left the game tied at 18. The Saints got the ball back, marched down the field, and made a 44-Yard FG to take a 21-18 lead with 21 seconds left. The Browns actually were able to get into FG distance. However, K Zane Gonzalez missed another kick (52 Yards) that would have sent the game to OT. LA Lakers F LeBron James, who is a Cleveland Native, had some harsh words for the Kicker. LeBron James: “He better not say my bad,” James said. “No, he better not — he might get his ass whooped.” King James made a strong point, as the Cleveland Browns released K Zane Gonzalez Monday afternoon. To his defense, he claimed that he had a severe groin injury. That may have been the hindrance to him being efficient. There is always a positive you can draw from a negative. Last week, we said at least The Browns didn’t lose. Although losing this week, we can say at least the Browns are only on a 1-Game Losing Streak. To replace Gonzalez, the Cleveland Browns have signed K Greg Joseph who last played for the Miami Dolphins. With this bad luck, we may see some Baker Mayfield action that can result to wins. Then, just maybe, I may begin to believe in magic.
