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“NFL Notes-Talents & Troubles”

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Here-There-Everywhere….Observations about the NFL

CHARGERS….18M people live in the 5-county area around Los Angeles, and the Chargers still cannot sellout the Stub-Hub Center, with what is supposed to be a good football team. Empty seats, lots of Chiefs red in the stands last Sunday, as well tarps over the stadium’s upper deck. The embarrassment of the Spanos family operation never ceases. Wonder if NFL-Park Avenue notices?

RAIDERS….They played on boil over emotion for the first half and then the Rams talent level took over and the second half was a ghastly setback for Jon Gruen’s team. They seem in scramble mode for talent, and the tidal wave of criticism over the Khalil Mack trade is not going to go away. And neither is the city of Oakland threat of an anti-trust lawsuit against Mark Davis.

CHIEFS….Andy Reid’s defense gave up 550-yards plus to Philip Rivers, and yet they won. But Kansas City needs to be worried about the overhaul of that defense, and who they’ve replaced them with. This Eric Berry injury issue is not resolved, and if he’s gone for an extended time, they might not have enough defense to hold up.

BRONCOS….Pretty good coming out party for new QB-Case Keenum (339Y), but the real story might be the arrival of the rookie running back combo of Royce Freeman-Phil Lindsey (129Y) rushing on the ground. And what a day for Von Miller. Did you see the stats, 3-sacks, 4-QB hits, 3-tackle for losses, 2-forced fumbles, 1-recovered fumble. Wow !

JETS…It only counts as one game, but that was quite a start for Sam Darnold. He did not look like some star-struck rookie quarterback, of course it’s just one game, and the Jets don’t have a juggernaut around him.

LIONS….Lots of coaches have come off the Bill Belicheck tree, and yes, most of them have done poorly. Nasty gash of a start for Matt Patricia, his quarterback throwing four picks, and the gobs of big plays his team gave up all night long.

MINNESOTA….So that’s what a team looks like with a great defense augmented by a dynamic quarterback throwing down the field. Kirk Cousins and Vikings defense looks like a great combo.

STEELERS…..Is Pittsburgh a fractured team? Sure looks that way as the L’Veon Bell holdout continues and players are sounding off. When teammates start using words like ‘selfish’…..’F’d us” and more you have a problem within that lockeroom And then Ben Roethlisberger throws interceptions in the rain, and they wind up in a tie with lowly Cleveland.

COLTS….Didn’t win their opener, but got their quarterback thru the game. Still think Andrew Luck runs too much, and took too many hits-sacks in their opening loss vs the Bengals.

BUFFALO….So much for last year’s exciting turnaround season. So they trade away Tyrod Taylor, trade for, then deal away quarterback AJ Mccarran before the season starts. Then the awful (11-33) performance of Nathan Peterman-Josh Allen. Ever see an NFL team have a quarterback rating of (17). That’s what Bills fans got this past weekend. What a mess, and just 15-weeks left in their season.

BROWNS….They really played hard, though Tyrod Taylor had to carry the load and took a lot of hits, but they could get better on offense. The defense looks loaded, and Myles Garrett seems like th real deal.

COWBOYS…..It’s been awhile since the Cowboys were real good, and based on this past weekend, they don’t look very good on offense. It is amazing no one in Dallas, fans nor media, ever wants to hold Jerry Jones accountable for what this team has become.

SEATTLE….Pete Carroll is trying to circle the wagons. The very unflattering Sports Illustrated story about the coach ripping up his roster, after his roster criticized the coach for his handling of QB-Russell Wilson. Carroll doesn’t have a good team on he field right now, and he’s got a lot of credibility issues spilling over as the Legion of Boom era ends.

NEW ENGLAND….Guess as long as hey keep winning, and Tom Brady is still standing, the Patriots will win, bu tif you look at the amazing weekly roster turnover with Bill Belicheck’s team, you wonder if he has lost his touch on analyzing player talent. Running back and wide receiver has been a turnstile on a weekly basis.

SAN FRANCISCO….Yes Jimmy Garoppolo was unbeaten at the tail end of last season after coming over from the Pats in that trade, but he had an erratic preseason, going (8-18) and (9-19) in August, and then started the season poorly in their opening loss. Has the league caught up to him?

GREEN BAY….Did Aaron Rodgers give us a Brett Favre type performance, hurt and a helluva passing display? Sure looks that way. Will have to see how long his injury factor with this knee lingers on.

TAMPA BAY….No Jameis Winston, with that suspension from the issue with an Uber driver, but no problem with his backup, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw for over 400 and 4-TDs in the Bucs opening win. We’ll see if Fitzpatrick can continue this type of output the next 3-Sundays.

NEW ORLEANS….They played defense last year at the Superdome, and had a good season. They didn’t do it on opening day Sunday, allowing 48-pints, so now it appears that Drew Brees may have to throw for 5,000-yards this year for the Saints to win a bunch of games..

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