Hilariously, the Cowboys drafted a running back fourth overall in 2016, something that even then was a poor decision and unfortunately somehow bailed themselves out by drafting likely the best quarterback in the draft in the third round. Since his contract extension, Ezekiel Elliot looks increasingly like a really bad contract, especially as the Cowboys paid Amari Cooper, who’s really a number two receiver and did not pay their franchise quarterback Dak Prescott. Also in the mix is Tony Pollard, the second year running back, who honestly this season looks better than Zeke at times, especially given his pass catching ability. The running back contracts that make sense recently paid to Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara, do so because those players affect the passing game so much, an essential aspect of the modern NFL offense. Zeke doesn’t catch passes nearly enough which might be a function of the Cowboys suspect play calling but either way, Tony Pollard does catch passes and on Sunday in a really nice win against San Francisco broke out with Zeke out with a rare injury. Pollard was a later round pick (the 4th round) and backed up Zeke last year, though his opportunities were limited. As Zeke’s dealt with general poor play this, Pollard may have finally emerged as at least a consideration in a two back system in Dallas. Against the 49ers, Pollard looked more explosive than Zeke, something we’re keenly aware of being forced to watch the Cowboys constantly in prime time. Pollard isn’t as strong as Zeke, but he might be faster and again his run after the catch skill as a safety valve for the quarterback has to be realized by this Dallas team, despite how much money they have in Zeke. There’s a good chance Zeke is fine the rest of the season from a health standpoint, but with limited opportunities Pollard really looks awesome. I don’t suppose Dallas will have the fortitude to get him more involved in the offense now (he only has 87 carries and 24 catches to 33 targets this year), however they really should. If you’re going to try and salvage that Zeke contract, it makes sense to at least get Pollard more involved to preserve some sort of mileage in Zeke or they could be stuck with potentially the worst contract in the league.
I’m watching so much more offensive line play this year and on Sunday, I was struck how good the Giants line was and particularly rookie Andrew Thomas against a stout Browns defensive line. Myles Garrett is a defensive player of the year candidate and regularly went up against Thomas on Sunday, but largely failed until late in the game on one of the Giants’ last drives, coming together with Larry Ogunjobi for the sole sack for that Cleveland team on the day. The Thomas pick made great sense at number four given how bad this line has been for a few years, especially with the abysmal Ereck Flowers pick. Thomas and the rest of the line looked awesome against one of the more underrated defensive lines. Thomas just handled Garrett most of the day, especially in pass protection and kind of took that element out of the game for the Browns, something they lean on as they limit their opponents possession time by running the ball. Cleveland wasn’t losing this game because Colt McCoy was starting for the Giants, but I was surprised how well they did against Cleveland, who sacked Lamar Jackson five times last week. The Ravens don’t have a great line right now, but Lamar is much more difficult to get on the ground than Colt McCoy. Thomas did a great job pushing Garrett to the outside consistently, giving McCoy time to get the ball out and he didn’t really need that much help on that side, handling things largely himself without chip blocks from a tight end or running back. He’s also skilled enough to help others, giving his own chips constantly against this formidable Cleveland line while also limiting pressure on the outside where needed. He was so poised in the face of pressure and uses his upper body to make contact so well while obviously positioning himself properly with his feet, the key to any success in pass blocking. Not much else to say, it’s just cool when a team locks down an offensive line position, something the Giants seemed to have done for a while assuming Thomas stays healthy.
I haven’t talked about Josh Allen in a while. He fucking slayed the Bronocs on Saturday to the tune of two touchdowns, no picks and two rushing touchdowns and generally looked like he has most of the year, an outside the box MVP candidate. Everyone’s talking about how bizarre his career trajectory has been. This 2018 QB class continues to be incredibly weird, looking initially as a poor one, with four QBs having down or bizarre rookie seasons, though Baker Mayfield surged late and clearly looked like the best of the bunch. Then Lamar happened last year. Sam Darnold looks like he’s already out despite being the second QB taken, Josh Rosen just signed with the 49ers (his fourth team) and Josh Allen flew under the radar, looking shaky his first two seasons, an early indicator of failure, only to surge this season into the MVP race with the Bills likely the second or third seed in the AFC. It’s been said plenty of times, Allen played in a small conference with limited opportunities and wasn’t awesome in college, relying on his ridiculous arm strength to climb up draft boards. His first two years brought promise, especially with his running ability that resembles the best of Cam Newton, but he lacked downfield accuracy and generally didn’t seem like he’d be the long term answer. Oddly enough, given the history with guys like him, his third year has gone better than anyone expected as he’s improved his accuracy all over the field. He’s not only better, but it’s clear he’s the leader of this team and his athleticism may have gone underrated. This year, Allen doesn’t rely on his arm strength as a lesser team than the Bills would have probably leaned on and uses his athleticism combined with arm talent in a fashion more comparable to Patrick Mahomes than Cam Newton. I keep bringing up Cam because he’s Allen’s closest comp, a ridiculous athlete, with a killer arm, great leader that doesn’t always bring consistency. The comparison falls apart because Allen at 68.7% is more accurate than Cam ever has been even in his MVP year, settling around 60% for his career. Allen single handedly is rewriting draft profiles because of this, given how inaccurate he was in college, in a bad conference and in his first two years. He’s also putting this team on his back in ways Cam always did, but they’re killing teams like they did the Broncos. Vic Fangio puts together good defensive schemes week in and out and I really hope he doesn’t get fired, but it didn’t matter to Allen who looked calm and collected, dissecting the actually decent Broncos defense on Saturday. Had Allen not had a small midseason dip, he’d be the MVP frontrunner given his play and his team’s record. I have to say, the first team I ever loved when I was very young was the Bills. I’m a native New Yorker though I didn’t end up growing up there and I’ve never felt more hopeful for my number one fondness team the Bills as they go into these playoffs with Allen ready to properly challenge the Chiefs more than anyone else in the AFC.
I’m not gonna lie, I haven’t watched the Vikings a whole lot this year. The reason lies in their entire offensive game plan which relies on a running back who doesn’t really catch the ball like a Kamara and some awesome route running from their incredible receivers. The Vikings are easily the most predictable team in the league with an average quarterback in Kirk Cousins who’s just good enough to give hope, but not remotely good enough to put a team on his back and do the damn thing. I haven’t bet this entire season on any games because I just didn’t want to deal with my feelings given the COVID situation and I’m glad because this Vikings team I’m sure has been hell for bettors. They came in off a valiant playoff performance after a few years of sheer glee in the playoffs, their signature as the team who will never be the bride. Cousins was supposed to put them over the top as Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater couldn’t be maintained enough to provide consistency. Instead, Cousins thrives against bad teams and just shits the bed against the good ones. The Bears had no business winning this game, with Trubisky at the helm against a great defensive mind in Mike Zimmer and they somehow pulled it out. The Vikings are no strangers to wasting offensive talent, something they’re acutely great at drafting, given that they drafted a top five all time receiver and top ten all time running back within a decade. It’s just not good enough as they always fumble on the goal line of organization management and coaching. I’m just sick of this team, like I never want to hear about how good they’re going to be this year as long as the Packers keep drafting all time greats at the quarterback position. Seriously, I don’t fucking remember another Packers quarterback than Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers and I’m 32. I can name like fifty QBs that have started for the Browns and probably the Vikings too. The Bears usually fumble things as well and the Lions always suck so it’s not like the Vikes haven’t had opportunities to take advantage of their clear talent for drafting offensive players to make any sort of proper Super Bowl push. I know they’ve been in a lot of NFC Championship games but at what point do you realize you need a fucking seance to get rid of whatever bad juju is lurking inside that organization. Either way, I’m sick of Dalvin Cook this year, he can’t stay healthy, I think they stupidly paid him because he has like three absurd games every year, but now at 6-8 for the season, what difference does it make? Cousins, despite having one of the most electric rookie receivers in Justin Jefferson and the always stalwart Adam Theilen can’t overcome himself to take this team anywhere. Maybe I’m just rage writing at this point. No one talks about the Bengals this way despite their relative success over the past decade; can we just stop with any sort of hype for this team? Let’s just assume they will always fall short, LIKE THEY ALWAYS HAVE and maybe be pleasantly surprised if they fall into a Mahomes like player someday and then pay attention. No one gave a fuck about the Chiefs until Mahomes arrived; can we all agree to do the same for the Vikings?
Bo's Gamut 