Ty Montgomery, RB, Packers
With Aaron Rodgers going down fairly early in this one with a broken collarbone, there may have been some credence to the theory that the Packers would look to the ground to try to find new ways to score. Montgomery, after missing a week with rib injuries, was the starter on Sunday, and he ended up offering nothing. Montgomery picked up just 28 yards on ten carries, dropped a touchdown pass at the goal line, and was outgained by fellow back Aaron Jones. Montgomery doesn’t look very capable of providing much relief to the Packers without Rodgers, at least not while he’s recovering from the broken ribs.
Andy Reid, Chiefs head coach
With 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Kansas City Chiefs trailing the Pittsburgh Steelers by nine points, Reid looked like he had a pretty obvious call. The ball was at the Pittsburgh 4, and the Chiefs were facing 4th and 2. A field goal would have made it a one-possession game. Often criticized for being too conservative, Reid decided to go for the touchdown, and a contested throw into the end zone wound up an incomplete pass. The Chiefs hadn’t moved the ball well all day, so they should have taken the points when they had the chance to. Though the Chiefs ended up getting the ball back and scoring a touchdown on their next drive, there’s an argument to be made that Reid’s ill-advised call ultimately cost Kansas City any chance of pulling off the comeback.
Replay Review
NFL replay review can be a shaky topic; some things that seem obvious prove not to be upon further review, and even the former officials who now work as rules analysts can sometimes be flummoxed by what the replay booth comes up with. New York Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins’ non-touchdown against the New England Patriots falls firmly into that category.
It’s hard to figure out just what the referees saw that led them to overturn the call on the field — a touchdown — and give the ball to New England. It’s items like this that make people throw their hands up and undermines confidence in replay review.
By no fault of his own, of course. Rodgers is one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the NFL, but fans will be deprived of him after he broke his collarbone early in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. The injury changes everything for the Packers and the NFC North; it’s hard to see Brett Hundley leading Green Bay to the playoffs, after all.
Rodgers is set to turn 34 in December, and this is his second serious collarbone injury in five years. That’s not necessarily indicative of anything, but it’s fair to wonder how much more of Rodgers we’ll get to see — or more specifically, how much more we’ll see of Rodgers playing at a high level. Losing a full season’s worth of the talented veteran quarterback is just a shame for football fans in general.
Stafford was plagued by poor protection on Sunday, but he didn’t make things any easier for himself with his performance. Twelve of his pass attempts were tipped, including two of his three interceptions — he was also strip-sacked twice for a total of five turnovers. Perhaps some of that is bad luck or bad protection, but the bottom line is the New Orleans Saints defense was too zeroed in on what he was trying to do. Stafford was hurt and still threw for three touchdowns and had the Lions within a score in the fourth quarter, but a lot of that was down to special teams and a timely defensive touchdown. This was not his best game.
Everything entering this game pointed to an easy Broncos win, but as we all know, there are no guarantees in the NFL. And maybe Denver went easy thinking they would get the simple win.
The Broncos lost to the previously winless Giants 23-10 on “Sunday Night Football.” Their offense struggled and only scored three points for the first 56 minutes of the game. They turned the ball over three times, with Trevor Siemian throwing two interceptions and Demaryius Thomas losing a fumble. Brandon McManus missed two field goals.
Oh, and did we mention that they lost to a previously 0-5 team that was playing without Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Brandon Marshall? Simply inexcusable.
It’s probably time to readjust our expectations for Watkins, who was only targeted four times and caught only one of them — a measly 11-yard reception. Since his performance in Week 3, which looked like a breakout game with six catches, 106 yards, and two touchdowns, he has caught just two passes for 28 yards. He and quarterback Jared Goff do not have much of a connection right now, and it doesn’t look like that is going to be turning around anytime soon.
