“Tales of The Week” Week 4 of the 2019 NFL Season (10-1-19)
By: Tyrone Montgomery Jr.
Headline Photo Courtesy: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jameis For MVP?
Last season didn’t go quite well for Bucaneers QB Jameis Winston. Only appearing in 11 games due to suspension and injury, Jameis appears to be on a mission this season. Of course, this being a contract year for Winston helps. Jameis wants to get paid and he’s showing that by his play on the field. What would really help Winston get paid is winning an MVP. Could Jamin Winston be a possible MVP Canidate? He surely does seem like it to me. And I’m sure his teammates and coaching staff feel the same way. Now give me a chance to explain. I know it’s still early in the season. Week 4 is already in the books and the Bucs are still only a .500 team at 2-2. However, who you beat is key and Winston had an impressive win on a Primetime game vs. Division Rival Cam Newton and the Panthers. Although losing the following week to Rookie Daniel Jones and the Giants, he came back this week and got an impressive win vs. the LA Rams in LA, giving them their 1st loss of the season. He now has 9 TD’s for the season. Winston has been leading the charge in an offense that loves to pass and has his team in position to take advantage of the issues the rest of the division are dealing with. If The Bucs make it into the playoffs, don’t be surprised to hear Winston’s name in MVP conversations especially if he keeps playing at this rate.
The Heartless Falcon
You can have all the talent in the world, the best notarized players, a great defense, and even the best playmaker in the game, Julio Jones. But if you don’t have good coaching leading the way, the cookie’s bound to crumble sooner or later. Well, the Falcons are making a bit of a mess, because there’s suddenly a lot of crumbs in Atlanta. Devonta Freeman was a Pro Bowler 2 years ago. The year before that, the Falcons were in the Super Bowl and Matt Ryan won Regular Season MVP. This team appears to have loss it’s way and we are all noticing it except for them. There is no question this team is loaded with talent. Julio Jones is living proof of that after signing a 3 Year/$66M contract extension. They recently drafted another star WR Calvin Ridley just 2 years ago and Mohamed Sanu has been a veteran for them that every team would love to have on their team. Matt Ryan is still considered a Top-10 QB and the defense in ATL is still Top-10 as well giving up 311 Yards/Game (Ranking 7th in the league). It may be time for a change. Dan Quinn is losing games, failing this city, and losing this locker room right before our very eyes. It may be a matter of time before he gets that pink slip.
The Best Undefeated Team?
There now remains 3 undefeated teams. The Patriots, Chiefs, and the 49ers. Someone has to lose soon, but the question is who would it be. That’s not necessarily the important question. What’s more important is who is the best out of the bunch. As you know, it’s not how you start, it’s rather how you finish. Ironically, the Patriots were the last team to finish the regular season undefeated. You remember how that turned out? They ended up losing to the Giants in Superbowl 42 (17-14). Now, if you’re looking at a talent base, the Kansas City Chiefs are the best team hands down. Pat Mahomes isn’t rated a 99 on Madden for no reason. They have the best offense in football, and their defense is much improved from last season. The 49ers are good, but they’re a year away. This is basically Jimmy G’s first year starting for them and it shows. He’s still learning that offense, and that offense is still learning him. Consistency is key here. Longevity is another key. The New England Patriots have both of those keys and they always play their best football late in the season. They haven’t missed the playoffs since 2008 which was the year Brady injured his knee. Despite the injury to Brady, the Pats still finished 11-5. Since that time, the Patriots have won 3 Superbowls and they may be adding more to it. This is a dynasty we’ve been watching. Every year, we expect it to end. It’s time we appreciate greatness and see things how they really are. The Patriots are still the best team in the league and that won’t change until the Brady-Belichick Era is over.
The Best Win-Less Team?
The 5 win-less teams in the league that are still soul searching are the Cardinals, Redskins, Broncos, Jets, and the Bengals. The Redskins are a mess. I mean their coach should have been fired if you ask me. The Jets make us all sick, including Sam Darnold. The Broncos haven’t been able to find much creativity with Joe Flacco and this is clearly a rental. They will get their QB in next summer’s NFL Draft. And the Bengals have been without their best player all season, AJ Green. Despite his absence, Andy Dalton has been holding down the fort with John Ross lll and Tyler Boyd. But the biggest surprise and best win-less team is a team that actually almost won, the Arizona Cardinals. Kyler Murray had plenty of criticism after being drafted #1 Overall. He’s too short. Is he really a football player, or should he had chosen baseball. While Murray hasn’t passed a ton of TD’s this season, he definitely has the yardage to back him up. In a passing offense, he seems to have revitalized Larry Fitzgerald’s career. RB David Johnson seems to be as good of a pass catcher than a runner with Murray and the Cards are 0-2-1. The Cards look promising. They’re still a few years away, and they won’t be a playoff team this year. Quite frankly, none of these teams will make the playoffs. But the Cardinals definitely are the team out this winless bunch that any GM would love to take control of.
