Tales of The Week! 2018 NFL Week 3!
By:Tyrone Montgomery Jr.
Headline Photo Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Brady, Belichick, and Pats on the Ropes
The Patriots are 1-2 for the first time since 2012. That was the season right after they loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl 46. The Super Bowl slump is real. What’s also real are the struggles of the New England Patriots. However, this doesn’t feel like a slump. This is more of an “It was fun while it lasted and let’s just hope for the best” type of thing. There was a report that Gronk was almost traded to the Detroit Lions this past offseason. Gronk shot that down by expressing his love for The GOAT when he said “Brady is my QB”. Speaking of Brady, one thing I’ve noticed is that Brady has been feeling the pressure all season long! I know it’s only been 3 games, but Brady ranks 24th in the league with Average Yards/Completion this season. This isn’t Brady’s fault. The league has the Patriots figured out. They don’t want to run the ball. We all know they’re a pass happy team. This is proving to be detrimental to Tom Brady. So opposing teams are rushing Brady, but leaving the Defensive Backs in zone coverage. No QB is going to get a lot of work done having to deal with that. Not to mention, they’re not at full strength. The Patriots will have 2 Pro Bowl Talented WR’s back soon in Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon. I’ve always said sports relates to everything in life, especially basketball. But Boxing is related to Tom Brady and The Patriots too. There was once born a young boy named Cassius Clay Jr. He soon became the Greatest Boxer of All Time, Muhammed Ali. Ali used a calculated approach in his match against George Foreman. In fact, this match was known as The Rumble in the Jungle. There, Ali exploited the mistakes of his opponents while tiring him out too. It’s been said it’s not how you start, but rather how you finish. This couldn’t have been the way the Patriots wanted to start their season. They’ve already had a Rumble in The Jungle against the Jaguars and Lions. They both beat up on the Patriots in consecutive weeks. However, only one of them will prove to be a legitimate threat to The Patriots. The Jacksonville Jaguars will see New England again. Brady and company know they must get past them in order to return to the Super Bowl. There is going to be another Rumble in The Jungle. The Patriots are putting the pressure on them. It won’t be easy, but let’s just relax. They may be struggling now, but in the end, New England will make clam chowder out of them and the rest of the AFC.
Miami Dolphins Are Rolling
If I were to tell you heading into week 4 there were 4 undefeated teams, you would have NEVER guessed the Miami Dolphins would be one of them. After a well-played rookie season, Ryan Tannehill has been feeling the heat his last couple of seasons in the league. Many of us thought he would have been replaced by now. Jay Ajayi was a big part of this offense a few years ago too. In fact, he made a name for himself particularly in 2016 when he rushed for over 1,000 yards. The Dolphins have now turned to Kenyan Drake as their leading RB out of the backfield. There’s also a Future Hall of Famer complimenting and mentoring him, Frank Gore. This team seems to be playing inspired football this season. Tannehill has stepped his game up tremendously. No longer a turnover machine as he once was, Tannehill finds himself in the Top 5 in completion percentage this season (73%). It’s still early into the season, but this is quite an impressive start for this Dolphins team. The running game will get better. The X-Factor here is Tannehill. He lost his favorite weapon over the summer in Jarvis Landry. He seems to be spreading the love to all of his WR in this offense. A big credit to the success of this team and Ryan Tannehill goes to the offensive line. They are giving him plenty of time in the pocket and that’s a big reason why his completion percentage is so high. Through 3 games, he’s only been sacked 6 times. If they keep this up, look for the Dolphins to be in the playoffs.
Uncertainty Looming in Dallas
Things have been quite rocky in Dallas. Two seasons ago, Tony Romo suffered an injury that led to the emergence of Dak Prescott. Prescott balled out and became known as the Dak Attack his rookie season. He threw for over 3600 Passing Yards, 23 TD’s with only 4 INTS. That season, the Cowboys even made the playoffs. Another rookie came and led the way for this team too, Ezekiel Elliot. Zeke was the man and many people already considered him the best RB in the league in just his first season. He racked up over 1600 Yards with 16 Total TD’s in 2016. Last season, things turned out a little different for America’s Team. Drama surfaced the team so we gave this team a pass. Ezekiel Elliot had a legal situation looming over his head. Stuff like that will definitely affect you at work. Those legal allegations opened up another can of worms in the case of Elliot VS. Goodell. Will he or will he not be suspended? After a back and forth battle with that, Elliot bit the bullet and just accepted his 6 game suspension. Their star WR Dez Bryant was unhappy as he noticed a difference in his work production. They even failed to make the playoffs. Future Hall of Famer Jason Witten retired last season and entered into the booth for ESPN as an analyst. The Cowboys cut Dez Bryant and he is still without a job. All of these losses to the team (Romo, Bryant, and Witten) have left this team without a leader. This team looks lost and confused and they appear to be looking for answers. It’s only so much Ezekiel Elliot can do. All eyes are pointed at Dak. This offense hasn’t been productive at all. 3 Games in, and Prescott hasn’t had a game throwing over 200 Yards yet. That makes 5 games now (And 9 of 11 Games), dating back to last season, where Dak hasn’t had over 200 Passing Yards. This hasn’t happened since Quincy Carter was the QB in 2013. This team may need a bit of rebranding to take place. Jerry Jones is good for football, but that doesn’t make him good for the Cowboys. This team needs a leader, and they’re all searching for one. Leadership isn’t something you inherit or develop, it’s something that you either have or you don’t. I hate to be the barrier of bad news, but Dak Prescott will be backing someone up fairly soon.
