Week 4 Recap
Edition #172
Intro:
We saw so many wild games this week and it was very hard to contain it to one in this recap section. If the game you thought was the best of the slate doesn’t get picked, please do not get angry at me.
Well, I kid you not, other than the Broncos and the Vikings, every single home team in the morning slate won their respective games. It was a wild slate of games too, with 6 of the 8 games being decided by one score. Let’s check it out!
(SNF NOT INCLUDED)
1:00 P.M. EST:
I loved the Broncos and Jets game, no question about that, but that was only the 4th quarter. The most competitive game by far in the 1:00 slate was the Falcons and Saints game. The Saints are making it here for the 2nd week in a row.
Before we get into the complete recap of this game, individual stats time! Derek Carr overperformed Kirk Cousins by throwing 1 extra yard and with a better completion rate. Tyler Allgier did overperform Alvin Kamara by taking 11 fewer carries, to get to the same place. Chris Olave and Drake London performed equally with Olave having 8 receptions for 87 yards, while Drake London was 64 yards for 6 receptions.
Now to team stats, the Saints were dominant in total yards, passing yards, and rushing yards, while the Falcons had 6.1 yards per play. The Saints had 25 first downs (Falcons had 13), ran 70 plays (Falcons: 51), and had 35 min of possession.
But, somehow and someway, this Saints team still fumbled the bag.
It all started with a fumble return by the Falcons putting them up 7-0. This came off a punt. The fumble was by Rasheed Shaheed. 5 minutes later, at the 98-yard line, Taysom Hill pushed himself in for a rushing TD. Late in the first quarter, Cousins threw an incredibly bad pass resulting in an easy interception by Paulson Adebo. In this drive, the Saints converted on a 4th down and continued to roll onto the field. Cue in the second quarter.
Just about a minute into the second quarter, Taysom Hill, the multiposition talented player, ran in (as RB) for a 5-yard TD, putting the Saints up by 7. Instead of attempting a 4th down, Younghoe Koo kicked a 53-yard FG. Just a minute later, someone deflected Derek Carr’s (check-down) pass and Troy Andersen achieved a 47-yard pick-6. That was the end of scoring in the first half and the Falcons led the way, 17-14.
In the second half, the Falcons stopped the Saints then went for a drive on their own and had Younghoe Koo kick another field goal. The score was now 20-14. Towards the end of the quarter, Blake Grupe hit a 43-yard field goal. Crunch time. 4th quarter here we come. This was crazy.
Just 5 minutes into the half, Younghoe Koo hit another field goal. This time a 42-yarder, making the lead 23-17. The Saints took a lot of time before getting back into contention. With a minute remaining, Alvin Kamara ran into the TD! You might’ve thought game over right? Absolutely not. The next minute, took 11 minutes in total. Instead of me describing it, why don’t you watch it yourself?
What a game and what a win for the Falcons. After the game, the Falcons’ admin was all over X tweeting about how they beat them up. The series was 55-55 before today. The Falcons now lead the series 56-55.
4:00 P.M. EST:
This was a make-or-break game for Minshew. Everyone was complaining the whole week that he should be replaced by Aidan O’Connell. It’s crazy how many people tuned in to roast him. Did he survive?
He did.
Individual stats:
Team Stats:
This scoring began in this game when Deshaun Watson passed the ball to Blake Whiteheart who went in for a 1-yard TD. This drive was 10 minutes long. Once the Raiders go 3 and out, the Browns come back and Dustin Hopkins kicks a 56-yard FG. The score was 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
We enter the 2nd quarter and the Raiders get their scoring started 6 minutes into the quarter when Tre Tucker, the runningback, runs into the TD for a score. 10-7. 7 minutes later, Daniel Carlson (the infamous misser) hits a 52-yarder to end the half with a score of 10-10.
Daniel Carlson comes back and hits another FG. This time, a 34-yarder. 6 minutes later, DJ Turner has an 18-yard run for a TD. The score is now 20-10.
Things could’ve really been legitimate for the Browns here as 10 seconds into the 4th quarter, they had a 25-yard fumble return TD by Rodney McLeod Jr. Here’s the problem, and here’s why the Browns lost. Dustin Hopkins missed the extra point! So, even though the Browns got in position at the end of the ball game to hit a FG, they couldn’t because of the missed extra point.
I swear, this Browns team is just finding a different way to lose every week.
Conclusion:
If you liked the analysis provided in this article, subscribe to Sports Square. We’ve been getting a lot of new readers in the past week that haven’t subscribed. One subscription supports this newsletter a lot.
Thanks for reading!