Five Talking Points From Week Five

The NFL season is like a story that slowly unfolds before our eyes and, as we enter the sixth chapter, some of our characters gain an early rest as we begin to factor in the bye weeks.

As for the head coaches, the story could turn into a murder mystery. We all know there will be casualties, we’re just waiting for the first one to fall. This time around, we didn’t need to wait long for our first victim as Carolina dispatched Matt Rhule after a string of terrible performances, stretching back to last season.

We all know that the officials will play a villainous part at some point too and in both the Falcons game against Tom Brady’s Buccaneers and the Raiders Monday night game against the Chiefs, we witnessed some very dubious, potentially game altering, roughing the passer penalties.

There is still so much to be written, as we are only just past the quarter point of the story. Plenty of time for an unsung hero to make a name for themselves or for an underdog to rise up and win it all.

Here are my five talking points from week five:

1. Go Go Gadget Taysom

After the retirement of Sean Payton as head coach of the New Orleans Saints last year, one time pet project and utility playmaker, Taysom Hill, appeared to be fading into obscurity as well. Despite Hill being given a big contract by the Saints only last year, this summer his contract was restructured, he was removed from the quarterback depth chart where Andy Dalton was also signed as his replacement and he was listed on the roster as a full time tight end. We were all fooled!

Pro Football Focus states that Hill has taken 16 snaps at tight end but 24 as a QB and has also taken direct snaps as a rusher, notching two touchdowns in the first four weeks. This week though, he turned things up another level.

Against the Seahawks, after Dalton moved the ball downfield and into the redzone, Hill took wildcat snaps to rush for two touchdowns, adding a third late in the fourth quarter with a much longer 60 yard effort that took him to a career high, 112-yards rushing for the day.

Not only that, but Hill also threw one pass that was completed to Adam Trautman for a 22-yard touchdown, returned three punts for 69-yards and also had a fumble recovery after Seahawks punter, Michael Dickson, bizarrely forgot to kick the ball away.

The Saints needed Hill’s full bag of tricks in order to get this game over the line against a resilient Seattle offense. Perhaps the Saints selling everyone ‘Taysom the tight end’ and then unleashing him on an unexpecting opposition when they needed to break their three game losing streak, has been the team’s best trick play to date.

Of course, the Seahawks’ soft defense was the perfect place to let Hill cut loose and a better opposition might have held him to fewer plays. But there is no denying that the Saints are more fun to watch when Hill takes to the field and perhaps, if we stop trying to assess him as a QB and just accept him as a gadget guy, we will be able to appreciate him as possibly being the best all-round player to have competed in the NFL.

2. No more sour taste in the Big Apple

2015 was the last time that,, after five games, both New York football teams had a winning record with the Jets at 4-1 in the AFC East and the Giants at 3-2 in the NFC East. These two illustrious franchises have been in rebuild mode for too long now.

And since the departures of head coaches Tom Coughlin and Rex Ryan respectively, both teams have failed in establishing much of an identity on the field. Jump forward to this season and for the first time in seven years, there are reasons for fans of both teams to feel excited again.

For the Jets, second year head coach Robert Saleh and General Manager Joe Douglas, have drafted well and the team looks in good shape for the future. Rookie running back, Breece Hall, gained 197 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns (his first of the season) in Sunday’s victory over the Miami Dolphins.

His backfield partner and second year runner, Micheal Carter, also scored twice on the ground whilst this year’s first round pick at cornerback, Sauce Gardner, forced an early safety against Miami and also made his first interception of the year that allowed second year QB, Zach Wilson, to drive the ball downfield for a touchdown, putting the game out of sight for the Gang Green.

The Giants have a slightly different situation going on however. First year head coach, Brian Daboll, joined the team in the offseason from Buffalo, and was highly regarded as an offensive play caller the hope was that he could elevate the G-Men’s scoring output by maximising QB Daniel Jones’ and running back Saquon Barkley’s efficiency.

Not only has coach Daboll managed to get the most from Jones, who is in something of a make or break year with the team. But Saquon is having arguably his best start to a season yet with three touchdowns, 533 rushing yards and 143 receiving. 

In Sunday’s London game against Green Bay, the Giants were without their top four wide receivers – Kadarius Toney, Wan’Dale Robinson, Kenny Golladay, and Sterling Shepard. They lost two defensive starters during the week defensive end Azeez Ojulari and cornerback Aaron Robinson.

During the game, they also lost cornerbacks Adoree Jackson and Fabian Moreau, as well as defensive tackle Leonard Williams. If there is currently any team living up to the ‘next man up’ mantra of the NFL, it is surely the New York Giants. A mentality that Daboll looks to have instilled within his team that has been lacking in recent years.

The records are once again set at 3-2 and 4-1, albeit in the opposite team order, New York football has enjoyed a strong start to the season and the NFL as a whole will be the beneficiary if the two teams can continue to thrive.

3. Welcome back, Brian Robinson

Six weeks ago, in what the police have described as an attempted robbery/carjacking, rookie running back Brian Robinson, (taken in third round of the 2022 NFL Draft), was shot twice in the leg leaving his NFL future in question. Thankfully, he was quickly given the good news that his injuries would not affect his ability to play and so began his recovery.

 Washington placed Robinson on the non-football injury list but not even they, nor even the man himself, could have imagined that his return would have come about this quickly.

On Sunday, in the home defeat to the Tennessee Titans, Robinson sprinted solo out of the tunnel for the first time towards his teammates and was greeted by the loudest cheer of the day from the home faithful.

Robinson was able to carry for 22 yards from nine touches and had the team been able to conserve their timeouts, might have been the game’s hero with first and goal from the Titans two-yard line.

Sadly, the play was not meant to be, but his ability to play so soon after his ordeal is nothing short of impressive and as his teammate J.D. McKissic stated “his time is coming.”

4. Time to spin the coaching carousel

The Carolina Panthers.

Where do we even begin? They have simply looked like one of the worst three teams in football this season alongside Chicago and Houston, but, the difference with the others is that they might have some young players of interest. Carolina on the other hand, just looks a mess from top to bottom.

Matt Rhule had turned around faltering college teams Temple and Baylor before being given his chance in the big chair with the Panthers.

Sadly for him though, the task proved to be more difficult than he had imagined and with a record of 11-27, in two and a bit seasons, the New York native is the first head coach to be fired in the 2022/23 season.

The decision to fire Rhule on Monday came down to an inability to “get over the hump,” according to Panthers owner David Tepper. He said “Winning more this year than you did last year. Looking like you’re going to win more than you did last year. By that definition, I don’t think we’re over the hump.”

Rhule’s biggest mistake has arguably been the inability to resolve the team’s issue at quarterback since he arrived. He inherited a declining Cam Newton who was quickly cut and replaced by Teddy Bridgewater, to the tune of a three-year, $63 million deal but was cut after just one season.

The team then traded with the Jets for Sam Darnold who was injured mid-way through the year and so Newton returned only to go 0-5 and be cut again. During this offseason, after being deemed surplus to requirements in Cleveland, the Panthers traded for Baker Mayfield, for whom life has been anything but pleasant since his arrival and the team sits at 1-4 for the year. 

Since the start of last season, Carolina ranks last in yards per play (4.7), third-down conversion percentage (33%) and Total QBR (31.0), according to ESPN Stats & Information Research.

The fault should not be placed solely at the feet of Rhule, the decisions of which players to bring in will also be partly that of Tepper, however, the former head coach’s inability to do that part of his job, (coach the team to be better,) is ultimately what has led to his dismissal.

Good luck to the next guy. You’re going to need it.

5. Tackling the passer

The easiest way to stop the opposing team from scoring points has always been simple. In short, you sack the quarterback. If he can’t do anything with the ball then you nullify the easiest threat of putting points on the board. If this weekend is anything to go by though, the ability to tackle the passer just became a nightmare for the defensive unit.

It has always been suggested, especially later on in his career, that Tom Brady has received preferential treatment from the men in stripes. I don’t honestly think that has been true but in Sunday’s win against the Atlanta Falcons, the 45 year old had a mind boggling call go his way that has got everyone talking.

Tampa Bay had moved the ball up and down the field with relative ease for the early stages of the game, but their offence went missing with the score at 21-0. Atlanta managed to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and seemingly had the momentum.

Brady and co. were attempting to put the game out of reach when, on third down, the QB was sacked by Grady Jarrett which would have forced a punt and given the ball back to the Falcons with time to level the game. However, a flag was thrown and after some discussion, the ruling was given as a ‘roughing the passer’ penalty and Atlanta’s chance to take anything from the game were gone.

Maybe (although I’m not convinced) the take down hit was a little rough, but that was simply a result of the follow-through from the tackle. I’m not sure what Jarrett could have done differently and, judging by head coach Arthur Smith’s reaction, neither could he.

Unfortunately, this was not the only controversial call, as we saw another on Monday night in the game against the Chiefs and Raiders. This one though had little bearing on the outcome of the game.

With Las Vegas attempting to drive the ball downfield in the second quarter, Chiefs defensive tackle, Chris Jones, managed to shake free his opposite number, took down quarterback Derek Carr and also managed to strip the ball away. A great play, until it wasn’t.

Referee Carl Cheffers, threw a flag and called a ‘roughing the passer’ penalty, giving the Raiders a first down , which they turned into three points to go up 20-7 at half-time.

I’m all for the safety of the game and nobody wants to see their QB smashed to pieces, but this is still professional football and tackles are a big part of that. It’s time for the NFL to step forward, re-evaluate and redefine the rules around what qualifies as a legitimate tackle and where to draw the line and throw out the flag.