The Berlin Game is behind us and the contenders are gradually emerging in the NFL. All is not well with the Colts, while the Patriots once again made people sit up and take notice. In addition, a former favorite reported back.
sport.deEditor Marcus Blumberg shares his insights from the NFL week every Monday.
A long weekend in Berlin is behind us. Accordingly, like last year after the Munich Game, the CFL rules apply, so we only make three downs. But they could be groundbreaking for the rest of this season!
These Patriots are going to be a problem!
Disclaimer: The following lines have nothing to do with my private fan existence or the fact that I was able to hold the ring from Super Bowl LIII in my hands over the weekend.
The New England Patriots, who were picked fourth in the draft, currently have the best record in the NFL (8-2) along with the Colts and Broncos – no, we’re definitely not talking about their Thursday night win over the Raiders! And they have a lot of tailwind. They have won their last seven games and now also impressively won a close game away at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Once again it was the defense that got things under control after the now usual weak start. The numbers didn’t necessarily look impressive, but they made plays when they had to.
The biggest play of this unit was K’Lavon Chaisson’s 4th-down sack in the red zone against Baker Mayfield. But overall, the defense managed to allow almost no big plays, which has been a problem in recent weeks.
The Bucs’ longest play was a 31-yard catch by Emeka Egbuka that made life difficult for cornerback Christian Gonzalez. But otherwise there were minor pinpricks that the Bucs managed offensively.
Patriots: Rookies make people sit up and take notice
And then there were the rookies who attracted attention. Starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson had to pass again with an injury and Terrell Jennings was injured early in the game, but rookie TreVeyon Henderson took over and showed why he was drafted in the second round. Henderson ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
The bottom line was +93 rushing yards over expected and 110 after contact. His lightning speed was evident in his 55-yard touchdown runs and 69-yard touchdown runs late in the fourth quarter. But the fact that the rather slight Back also has the necessary toughness to shake off opponents was quite impressive.
But that’s not all, because third-round pick Kyle Williams also came into his own for the first time. Williams had a 72-yard touchdown catch-and-run – it was his only reception of the day on two targets, but at least it was clear that he has potential.
The level of difficulty against the now 6-3 Bucs was significantly higher than in recent weeks for New England, but if they win the difficult games now, this team is a team to be reckoned with, because they have one of the easiest remaining programs in the league…
Fun fact: Tom Brady has won every game between these two teams since 2001 until this Sunday. In plain language, that means the Patriots have a 5-1 record against the Bucs since then, with Tampa Bay’s only win in that comparison coming in 2021 when Brady played for the Bucs.
Colts not without worries despite victory in Berlin
The Colts won the NFL’s first Berlin Game 31:25 in overtime and saw a great performance from Jonathan Taylor. The running back ran 32 times for 244 yards and three touchdowns. But upon closer inspection, this performance gets even better: According to “Next Gen Stats,” Taylor ran for an incredible 228 yards after first contact. This is the first time since 2017 that anyone has even broken the 200 mark in this context.
He also caused eleven missed tackles, which resulted in 165 more yards of extra yards. And he ran for +111 yards over expected, or +3.5 average per run. He also broke Marshall Faulk’s (267) franchise record with 286 scrimmage yards from 1998.
But the Colts can’t be completely satisfied despite this brilliant performance. Rather, doubts remain as to whether this construct is really ready for higher tasks – despite the AFC’s best record together with New England (8-2). The reason for this is the real Cinderella story of this season, Daniel Jones.
The quarterback, who had played his worst game of the season a week ago in the defeat in Pittsburgh, only partially recovered from it in Berlin. He had his moments and made some key passes, including the deep ball to Alec Pierce and the chunk play to Tyler Warren in OT before Taylor’s walk-off touchdown. But overall, Jones once again left a lot to be desired.
Jones under constant fire
Above all, he made mistakes again. He threw an interception and lost a fumble. He also recorded seven (!) sacks and fumbled a total of three times in the game. This was partly due to his offensive line, which sometimes seemed unstable against the immense pass rush of the Falcons, who have now produced twelve sacks in the last two games. And Jones’ pressure rate of 41 percent was higher than his season average (35.3), but even then you could tell he was easily nervous at times.
He also separated from the ball on average a tenth of a second faster than usual (2.67 seconds), but that didn’t help counteract the pressure. And after the last two games you can’t argue that this was only due to the specific opponent. The Falcons came to their pressure very differently than the Steelers did the week before. The Steelers only managed a pressure rate of 32.1 percent against the Colts and only blitzed in a quarter of Jones’ dropbacks, but still had five sacks. The Falcons now sent extra rushers on 46.2 percent of dropbacks.
In order to get Jones into trouble, there are several ways to get to Rome. And that will be a problem when the even bigger tasks come up this season.
Video: NFL Highlights: Falcons @ Colts
The Ravens defense is back
The main reason for the Baltimore Ravens’ weak start to the season was their defense, which looked like the second-worst in the entire NFL – it’s hard to beat the Cowboys here throne bump. In addition, of course, Lamar Jackson was out for weeks.
The two-time MVP is back and the defense also has more stability to offer. In the 27:19 win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Ravens managed not to allow 20 points for the fourth time in a row. And they forced three turnovers and also had three turnovers on downs. Previously, this unit only had two turnovers in five games, while now there were eight in the most recent four games.
A key to this is the improved pass rush, which may be due not least to new addition Dre’Mont Jones, whose presence provides a large amount of more penetration at the front.
All of this in combination with Lamar Jackson, who himself had a rather weak day (-0.08 EPA/dropback) against Minnesota. But with him on the field, the floor for this offense is significantly higher. There is more room for error and you simply have more options. Accordingly, after three wins in a row, the Ravens are now only one game behind the Steelers in the AFC North, who seem to be slowly running out of steam (three defeats in the last four games).
After a weak start, the Ravens are back in the thick of the race and, with the wind at their back, look like the team to beat in this division – which is, of course, what we all expected.