YAY AARON RODGERS: Rodgers threw five touchdown passes in the Packers’ win on Monday Night Football. Statistically, it was one of the best games of his already storied career. He is a very good football player.
Aaron Rodgers is a decent football player
Aaron Rodgers keeps playing better and better, somehow. On Monday night, he torched the Chiefs for five touchdowns and had what was, statistically, one of the best games of his career.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
BOO ALEX SMITH: Rodgers’ counterpart was hesitant to throw the ball down the field until late in the game. He had happy feet against an admittedly strong Packers pass rush. In short: Alex Smith was not good. Arrowhead Pride wondered why the Chiefs didn’t play Chase Daniel in the second half. Somehow, he improved after his horrendous interception, but the questions are valid. Monday’s game might have been much different if the Chiefs’ second half offense had showed up in the first.
COMBO BREAKER: At least the Chiefs got a touchdown out of Jeremy Maclin and can get out from under that streak of 21 games without a touchdown by a wide receiver. That’s kind of like a win.
STEVE SMITH RULES: The Ravens are terrible right now, but they have Steve Smith, Sr. As long as they have Steve Smith, they’re not going down without a fight. Seriously, it may be his last season as a player, but I hope he’s still around the NFL after 2015 in some capacity.
CLEANING HOUSE: John Fox is cleaning house, first by trading defensive end Jared Allen to the Panthers after the Bears paid him $11.5 million to play three games, then by trading linebacker Jon Bostic to the Patriots. Neither is a bad move for a team that is scrapping to get out of the gutter ... but maybe Chicago should focus on revamping an offense that just got shut out and not a defense that did the best it could given the circumstances. Then again, when your goal is to “score more than zero points,” you’re not far from success.
CAM SAID, ED SAID: Cam Newton accused well-known NFL referee Ed Hochuli of saying “you’re not old enough to get that call” when Newton asked him why he didn’t throw a flag for roughing the passer. The NFL is investigating, which means we’ll get a resolution sometime next year. PFT Commenter thinks Newton should apologize for not being older.
NEVER TWEET: Or at least, if you’re going to trash talk an NFL player, make sure he doesn’t personally know your dad.
J.J. WATT, 90s KID: Watt had his #MindBlown when the actress who played Kelly Kapowski on Saved by the Bell gave him a shout out on Twitter. This, just a little more than two months after Watt got to meet his celebrity crush, Jennifer Aniston.
REHABILITATING KAP: Colin Kaepernick is struggling badly, but the 49ers coaching staff may be much more to blame than the quarterback himself.
#PUNTERPROBLEMS: The Bears’ punter punted so many times Sunday that he may miss time with a sprained knee.
‘CALVIN JOHNSON RULE’ REDUX: Nearly four years later, players still don’t understand what constitutes a receiving touchdown, and what doesn’t. Tyler Eifert’s “touchdown” is the latest example.
GENIUS FOR A WEEK: The Eagles’ win Sunday was proof that Chip Kelly still knows how to coach. There’s a sense of relief in Philadelphia ... for now.
XP PROOF: The NFL’s new extra point distance didn’t stop Stephen Gostkowski’s march to history. He set an NFL record by making his 422nd consecutive PAT attempt Sunday.
A TALE OF FOUR QUARTERBACKS: Through three weeks, the status of four different signal callers says a lot about the 2015 NFL season.
See More:
