The perfect illustration of the NFL wallowing in their own ratings decline could be seen as the Oakland Raiders set the league record for penalties on Sunday and still won. In what should have been the most exciting battle of the early-afternoon – a wild montage of huge catches, flying tackles and drama that trickled through nearly five quarters of football – America was treated to a endless blizzard of yellow flags.
The Raiders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-24 when Seth Roberts caught a Derek Carr pass, slipped through two tackles and raced to the end zone with 1:45 left in overtime. His touchdown should have been the headline of the day, giving once-hapless Oakland their fifth road win and making them, at 6-2, legitimate contenders to win the AFC West. But instead the story is less about the big win and more about the penalties.
Oakland committed 24 penalties on Sunday, breaking the old NFL record of 22. And while the new mark deserves an asterisk, since the previous record came at a time when declined and offsetting penalties did not count against a team’s total (Oakland had three penalties declined or offset on Sunday) it was still a remarkable lack of self-control for a team that leads the league with 104 penalties (86 accepted). Their 200 yards in penalties were actually more than Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston had passing (180).
It’s never good for interest in a league when it seems like everyone is talking about officiating. In addition to the Raiders and their parade of flags, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton wondered if the officials were properly protecting quarterbacks, Seattle’s Richard Sherman blasted “the calls or lack thereof” and Washington’s Josh Norman took off after line judge Brad Freeman in the team’s game in London.
“Who is official 88?” Norman said in the press conference after his team tied Cincinnati. “I’ve got to know. You suck. I’m just putting it out there. We play a physical game, they know that. We come here, international game, it all goes out the window. He needs to be reprimanded.”
Of course Freeman didn’t allow the Bengals’ AJ Green to make nine catches for 121 yards, which no doubt led to Norman’s rage. But Norman has already been frustrated this year with officials who have flagged him for excessive celebration – something that is becoming a common occurrence throughout the league, making you wonder if the NFL wants fans to watch their games.
Quote of the week
“That’s horse crap” – Cam Newton is angry. The Carolina Panthers quarterback has been hammered, clobbered, and thumped on the ground this season. He’s had one concussion and should probably have been checked for others. After taking a helmet-to-helmet hit that wasn’t flagged in the Panthers’ win over Arizona, he looked ready to throw up his hands.
“I just can’t keep accepting ‘Oh, we missed that one,’ or ‘I apologize for doing that’ or ‘I didn’t see it,’” he said. “That’s horse crap. Coming from a person who’s been fined before, coming from a person who everybody’s expecting a lot from, I’m still going. But yet when you constantly see the hits when you constantly see flags being picked up and flags not being thrown and see other quarterbacks getting it for lesser physical hits, it’s taking the fun for me out. I’m just being honest about that.”
No one was protecting Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith either. Smith was knocked to the ground twice on Sunday, and had to be checked for concussions. The first time he was announced as being questionable and yet returned to have his head bounced on the turf like a basketball. The second one knocked him out for the game.
The league talks a lot about taking care of players, especially their quarterbacks. It’s time to protect them.
Video of the week
Fan at Bills Game Threw Sex Toy onto the Field as Patriots Drove for Touchdown https://t.co/zHpduiButX pic.twitter.com/wz5nAga8D6
— The Big Lead (@thebiglead) October 30, 2016
The Patriots beat the Bills 38-17 and somebody threw a (presumably unused) phallic object on to the field.
Oh, and New England’s tight end Rob Gronkowski set the franchise record for touchdown catches with, um, 69. A good game for fans of puerile humor.
Stat of the week
6,916 The number of days since the last time there were ties in back-to-back weeks in the NFL. Washington and Cincinnati welcomed the day with an entertaining and – at times – well-played 27-27 deadlock (marred by four missed field goals and extra points). It came as the world was still recovering from last Sunday night’s 6-6 tie between Seattle and Arizona. Ties are rare in the NFL. There have only been 22 since the league added overtime before the 1974 season. In fact, only three seasons since 1974 have had more than one tie: 1986, 1997 and this season. In 1997, Philadelphia and Baltimore played to a 10-10 tie in Week 12 and Washington and the New York Giants finished 7-7 in Week 13.
And they say the game is boring now?
Fantasy player of the week
Nobody mentions Oakland’s Derek Carr much when they talk about the league’s top quarterbacks. Part of the reason is because he plays for the Raiders. He also played his college football at Fresno State and was therefore invisible to much of the country before he arrived in the NFL. But Carr is starting to push his way into that conversation. Granted, he played nearly five quarters on Sunday but his statistical line is eye-popping: 40-for-59 for 513 yards with four touchdowns against no interceptions. Nobody else even came close this week.
Elsewhere around the league
-Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott kept up his early-season magic inspiring a fourth-quarter comeback from 10 points down to lead the Cowboys into overtime. Then he hit a wide-open Jason Witten for the game-winning touchdown in a 29-23 victory over the Eagles.
-Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was flattened by Melvin Gordon in Denver’s 27-19 victory over San Diego, and was taken to hospital. He turned out to be fine as did his team. Quarterback Trevor Siemian threw for 276 yards and the Broncos intercepted the Chargers’ Philip Rivers three times.
-Texans coach Bill O’Brien was yelling again. This time it was at special teams coordinator Larry Izzo after Houston only had 10 men on the field for a kickoff and had to use a timeout. Still the Texans were able to pull out a 20-13 win over Detroit that keeps them in first place in the AFC South at 5-3.
-Cleveland gave winning their first game of the year a real chance, pushing the Jets in the first half before falling 31-28. Josh McCown threw for 341 yards in the defeat.
-Drew Brees threw for 265 yards and a touchdown in a 25-20 win over Seattle. The Seahawks offense continued their struggles trailing the defensively-challenged Saints in time of possession 36:12 to 23:48.
