Weirdest week from the standpoint of reconciling the finals with the box score, but sometimes that’s what football is: don’t turn the ball over, be good in the red zone, and find a couple of explosive plays. If you fail at those, all the yards in the world can’t save you.

My quick takeaways from each game yesterday:

Baltimore 24 - Tennessee 16 (London)

Baltimore still hasn’t figured out the red zone play calling after again moving nicely between the twenties, now 2-9 over the past two weeks. I guess at least they didn’t drop passes this week.

Tennessee got some juice out of Derrick Henry, but lost Tannehill to an ankle injury in the 3rd quarter, making the comeback efforts a lot tougher. Sounds like an existing high ankle issue that got worse after a hit from Justin Madubuike. Willis had as many completions as sacks taken.

Washington 24 - Atlanta 16

Howell wasn’t great, but the fields were short thanks to Atlanta miscues and a nice punt return. He was still sacked five times (that’s just going to be a thing) but did enough to get the win and pull this team back to .500. Fewer than 200 total yards.

This one is high on my list of games to rewatch today just to see exactly what was happening with Atlanta’s offense. The playcalling and sequencing limited what they could do against a beatable secondary, but Ridder was part of the problem as well with the picks and errant throws. Having to call a timeout after spiking the ball is embarrassing.

Minnesota 19 - Chicago 13

The big question here was how the Vikings offense was going to look without Justin Jefferson. The answer was not great. The run game was below average again and a lot of the offense was centered around the TE Hockenson with over half of Cousins’ attempts going to TEs or RBs. Minny’s good turnover (finally) luck was likely the difference.

Justin Fields dislocated his thumb, giving way to rookie Tyson Bagent, who was promptly strip-sacked for a return TD. The defense is getting healthier and probably kept them in the game by limiting MN on 3rd downs (2/13). Ugly game overall, obviously, we need to monitor Fields’ status.

Seattle 13 - Cincinnati 17

Another goofy score. Credit is due to the Cincy defense for stepping up when needed, but Seattle opened things up a bit more, looked good on offense, and then went 1 for 5 in the red zone for just 10 points.

Both pass rushes looked good in this one, and as expected, we got another heavy dose of Ja’marr Chase who saw 13 targets. The Bengals head to a much-needed bye week.

San Francisco 17 - Cleveland 19

I joked about it in the discord, but the blueprint is out on how to beat the 49ers: You simply need an elite defense, off the bye, at home, in bad weather, and to benefit from multiple important injuries.

A little reductive and disrespectful to the job the Browns’ coaching staff did on both sides of the ball. We know that the defense is capable of that, but it was also a good job of putting together the game plan for a backup QB that kept them in this and eventually got them a win.

Deebo Samuel’s injury didn’t sound as serious, hopefully, we get good news on CMC today.

Carolina 21 - Miami 42

Carolina came out hot and never got going again, really not having a decent drive after the 14-0 lead. Really nice scripted portion for the team I suppose? Still a massive mismatch in talent and even without Achane, the Dolphins’ cavalcade of weapons was overpowering.

Indianapolis 20 - Jacksonville 37

Giving up 14 points in like 30 seconds to start the 2nd quarter turned a close game into a bit of a romp and again let the Jags offense off the hook. Despite the 37 points, they only really had three solid drives and only put up 233 total yards of offense. The defense once again stepped up and I continue to be surprised at the defensive numbers for Jacksonville

Minshew having to throw 55 times doesn’t seem sustainable. Three picks quelled any “Mania” that was brewing fairly quickly. A 4-1 turnover margin led to this lopsided score.

New Orleans 13 - Houston 20

Lots of teams unable to finish drives on Sunday, the Saints may be the worst for it? They put up 430 total yards, but were 0-3 in the red zone. Also lost the turnover battle and failed to convert both 4th downs they attempted. Probably deserved a better fate here, but looks like a team that has a nice offense between the 20s that just isn’t translating to scoring when the defense can tighten up and bring guys closer to the LOS.

Not Stroud’s best day, but luck was on his side. Even the pick he threw was fumbled back to Houston on the return. They’ll continue to be a pesky team that can stay in games.

New England 17 - Las Vegas 21

Gross bad beat of the day for anyone with Pats +3 after a late safety on a Mac Jones sack pushed the game from a two to a four-point margin. Rumors of Malik Cunningham seeing the field were overstated apparently. Pats did put together two nice scoring drives in the 2nd half, but they took over 15 minutes combined and proved to be too little too late in a game where their defense played very tough in the red zone, holding LV to 1-6.

Jimmy Garappolo left with a back injury and Brian Hoyer took over. He’s a capable backup, but still an adjustment down if Jimmy misses time going forward.

Arizona 9 - LA Rams 26

Cards are not as frisky anymore. James Conner probably matters. Just not a good enough offense as currently rostered. 2nd half drives were: punt, pick, fumble, downs, and end of game. Zero points.

The Rams came out a little slow, but getting the running game going against a struggling defense seemed to do the trick for them in the 2nd half. The ineptitude from ARI helps, but Los Angeles put together three 75-yard+ drives in the second half on the backs of Kyren Williams and Cooper Kupp. Stafford seemed fine after the injury concerns last week.

Philadelphia 14 - NY Jets 20

The Eagles didn’t score in the 2H, I suppose that’s the headline. Jets limiting what they could do on the ground changed the game plan for the Eagles and that led to turnovers and their first loss of the year.

The Jets are turning out to be a tough out, this is a team that has a ton of talent on both sides of the ball and is sorting out a way to play around having a below-average QB.

Detroit 20 - Tampa Bay 6

Tampa off the bye, another victim of 3rd down shithousery. Going 2-12 isn’t going to get it done, even with the defense playing well enough against a good team. Early down success was poor and definitely contributed, with the average distance to go on 3rd down just a shade under seven yards.

ARSB back and LaPorta in the lineup was big for Detroit, but they did lose another RB with David Montgomery exiting in the 2nd quarter for a rib injury. Goff just continues to quietly be one of the best.

NY Giants 9 - Buffalo 14

Not sure what to say about this one. Between what we saw to end the 1st half and what we saw to end the second half, I really think the Giants deserved better here.

The Bills looked bad early in the game for the second straight week after traveling across the Atlantic but managed to get something going in the 4th quarter. Two long TD drives turned out to be just enough, but this was a lot closer to surviving than thriving and only works when the other team repeatedly gets zero points from the one-yard line. No comment on the final play non-call.