$.01—New England hosted Atlanta in the Sunday Night Football affair, a highly-touted Super Bowl rematch. Atlanta was hoping to erase the stain of the epic collapse from that fateful day. Instead, the wild Patriots comeback from down 28-3 to winning the title proved just a precursor of the 23-7 beatdown on Sunday night.

After a scoreless first quarter, Tom Brady and the host Patriots erupted for 17 points in the second. That 17-0 lead pushed out to 20 as the Falcons offense kept sputtering.

As the fog rolled in, Brady and the Patriots kept pouring it on. Atlanta couldn’t convert third downs or attack down the field against a New England defense down two regulars in the secondary and struggling all year to do much of anything versus the pass. The Atlanta offense looks quite literally uncoordinated, and that falls directly on new Offensive Coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

It’s stunning how much Atlanta misses Kyle Shanahan, now San Francisco’s head coach. The most explosive and multidimensional offense since the Greatest Show on Turf last year has become a predictable, uninspired mess. That’s on Sarkisian:

It was never more evident than when the Falcons went for it on 4th and goal from the 1. The call? A jet sweep the Patriots read before Taylor Gabriel even got the ball. Kyle Van Noy wrapped him up at the 6, but had the LB missed he had a lot of backup.

New England, of course, has no such problems. Brady started slowly but kept the chains moving, and the Patriots responded to their lead by hammering the Atlanta front with the run. The Falcons defense is built on speed, and the Patriots smartly decided to run downhill frequently. When the opportunity was there, Brady sprayed the ball around to a bevy of receivers. As is typical of the Patriots, they were composed and prepared for the enemy. That’s why any Super Bowl hangover they might have had appears quelled. Meanwhile, the 3-3 Falcons appear stumbling towards a dive bar.

$.02—The Brett Hundley era in Green Bay did not go as well as hoped for the Packers faithful at Lambeau Field. Hundley took over for the injured Aaron Rodgers as Packers QB but did not come close to filling the perennial MVP candidate’s shoes. Green Bay managed just 87 yards passing, down to 79 after sacks are factored in. Rodgers often gets that much in a single drive. While the ground game was strong (181 yards), the anemic passing attack let down the Packers in a 26-17 home loss to the Saints.

New Orleans had more than a little to do with Hundley’s issues on a dank day in Green Bay. The Saints only bagged one sack on the agile Hundley, but they consistently disrupted his timing and desired throwing angles. Quietly, the Saints are playing some potent defense the past few weeks, led by rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore. He is already one of the stickiest and most physical cover men in the NFL, and his presence stabilizes and invigorates the entire defense.

Green Bay’s own defense made some plays, notably Damarious Randall’s third interception in as many games. Unfortunately, they got precious little pass rush and blew too many contain assignments in the run game. If the Packers are to win games and stay in the NFC playoff picture until Rodgers returns from his broken collarbone in late December, the defense will have to play better to help Hundley. With Minnesota’s easy win over Baltimore pushing the Vikings to 5-2 and the Packers now 4-3, Green Bay cannot afford to fall too far behind. Detroit lingers dangerously at 3-3 and with two matchups between those teams can make a playoff berth a near impossibility for the Rodgers-less Packers. It’s way too early to write them off, but this was a game Green Bay could have still won sans Rodgers if Hundley provided anything close to competent play. That’s a tough pill to swallow for Mike McCarthy’s team.

$.03— Thursday night brought the fierce rivalry between Kansas City and Oakland. The game did not disappoint, another very strong contest for the oft-beleaguered Thursday Night Football slate.

Oakland prevailed 31-30 as the Raiders finally scored the winning touchdown on the last play…which was about their sixth shot at the last play. From a touchdown by Jared Cook overturned to the Raiders TE being down just outside the goal line, to another touchdown waved off by a questionable (I didn’t like the call) offensive pass interference penalty on Michael Crabtree, followed by a defensive hold, and then another defensive hold, we finally got resolution when Derek Carr hit Crabtree in the front left corner of the end zone. A (mercifully) quick review confirmed the TD and the comeback from starting the fourth quarter down 30-21 was complete.

Despite the excitement, it wasn’t a particularly well-played football game. Both teams made dumb mistakes, missing tackles and committing stupid penalties. Marshawn Lynch got ejected (more on that below). Giorgio Tavecchio missed two field goals for Oakland but played his golf fade nicely on the game-winning conversion.

This was a must-win for the Raiders, now 3-4. It dropped the Chiefs to 5-2, still within striking distance for Oakland. Had that lead stretched to four games, and for most of the night it looked like it would, the AFC West would have been all over but the shouting. Now the Chiefs have dropped two in a row and suddenly their claim as the AFC’s top team is very much in doubt. Their loss leaves the Philadelphia Eagles, who play Washington Monday night, as the league’s last team with just one loss. That’s an insane amount of parity this early in the season.

$.04—From that Thursday night game came an occurrence significant enough to merit its own cent. As alluded to above, Marshawn Lynch made one of the most boneheaded decisions I can recall. He sprinted onto the field after the play where Marcus Peters put a licking on Derek Carr. Except Lynch, the Raiders RB, went onto the field to protect Peters and not Carr. The Chiefs CB is a close friend, and Lynch opted to shove an official out of the way to try and help his amigo. That’s an instant and deserved ejection. It’s the epitome of stupidity and selfishness.

On Friday, the league announced Lynch will be suspended for a game. He will appeal, as is obligatory, and that appeal needs to be denied. While Lynch had no malicious intent with the official, the fact he came from the sidelines to get involved in a play and then initiated contact with him is something the league must take seriously. From an officiating point of view, if Lynch doesn’t get punished for this, what is to stop some player from doing the same sort of thing but with ill intent upon the official? Lynch violated a sacred trust here, and that must be dealt with severely.

Lynch also violated a sacred code with his Raiders teammates. He did all that to protect a Chiefs player, not a Raider. As well-liked and notably aloof as Lynch is, that will not sit well with some teammates. That the Chiefs are a hated rival and it could have very well cost the Raiders not only the game but a realistic shot at the playoffs will only exacerbate that reaction. Imagine Pacman Jones running onto the field to protect Antonio Brown from James Harrison. That’s essentially what Lynch did. After his ejection he returned and watched the game from the stands incognito, wearing a mask like a ninja.

There was so much dumb about this play. It was idiotic even before Lynch sprinted on the field from the sidelines. On 3rd and 10 the Raiders purposely ran quarterback Derek Carr on a keeper. Remember, he’s just returned from broken bones in his back, and they try hammering him with the run. Lynch, long one of the league’s most physical runners, was on the sideline. It capped one of the dumbest drives I’ve seen all year. There were two holding penalties on offensive linemen on the same play. There were two Amari Cooper drops, half of his total on the night. Kansas City’s Eric Murray broke thru the formation unblocked to get a hand on the field goal at the end of the drive.

Somehow, Oakland survived all that and won. They did so in spite of Lynch, and that might not go unnoticed by Raiders management. If he’s not helping the team win, and other than Week 1 he’s not been effective on the ground, he sure as heck cannot be leading them towards losses. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Raiders decided to pull the plug, even as unpopular as that would be received by the Raider Nation. He might be more help going back into the Black Hole and watching more games from there. 

$.05— Just when Indianapolis Colts fans thought Andrew Luck was about to return to the lineup, their hopes were dashed. Luck had a setback in his progress from offseason shoulder surgery and was forced from practicing once again. It’s now quite doubtful Luck plays before Week 10, and even then, it’s no guarantee.

Luck’s slow and problematic recovery from his labrum repair should not have come as this much of a surprise for the Colts. His surgery was described to me by an orthopedic surgeon as essentially trying to surgically recreate a golf tee after it’s been hammered flat and chipped, and then trying to get an oblong golf ball to fit perfectly into it. Labrum tears are the worst shoulder injury for recovery time for people who throw for a living. Luck had to have sutures inserted, which prolongs the time before the shoulder stabilizes and strengthens enough to even consider throwing at full velocity or getting hit by a 300-pound defender with bad intentions.

After Sunday’s humiliating pounding, the Colts should seriously consider keeping Luck on the shelf all season. Jacoby Brissett was sacked 10 times by the Jacksonville defense in the Jaguars too-easy 27-0 dominating win in Lucas Oil Stadium. Brissett is both big and mobile, but he had no chance against the Jaguars pass rush behind the Colts’ putrid line. Luck wouldn’t either, and there is no need to risk a more long-term issue with the franchise messiah when the team is 2-5 and firmly in the AFC South basement.

The Jaguars have been a bright surprise in 2017, finally playing as well on the turf as they look on paper. The relentless defense became the first since the 1984 Chicago Bears to notch 10 sacks in a game more than once in a season. These Jaguars have done so in seven games. Even without impressive rookie RB Leonard Fournette the Jaguars offense was more than enough to manhandle the putrid Colts, whose two wins have come against the two remaining winless teams in Cleveland and San Francisco.

$.06— We still have two winless teams, the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers. Based on what we saw in Week 7, we might still have two winless teams heading into December.

Cleveland lost 12-9 at home to punchless Tennessee. San Francisco lost 40-10 at home to vibrant Dallas.

Both teams are riding the QB carousel and making their fans sick with the spinning. Cleveland turned back to DeShone Kizer after benching the rookie for a week for Kevin Hogan, who was terrible and got hurt in their loss to Houston. Kizer was playing relatively well before he threw bad INTs on consecutive drives. That was enough for Head Coach Hue Jackson to yank him from a game for the third time in 6 games, this time for Cody Kessler. The replacement connected on a couple of throws but also tossed a terrible pick of his own, and his lack of mobility and improvisational skills doomed the team in overtime.

Jackson is swimming in some shark-filled waters and bleeding from the quarterback position. His constant juggling has ended any hope that Kizer can emerge anytime soon as the potential franchise QB. Neither Hogan nor Kessler are the answer either. The Browns defense played great despite being down two starters in the secondary, and they finally got clutch kicking from rookie Zane Gonzalez. The offense remains brutal…and only looks worse now that perennial All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas is lost with a torn triceps. This was an X’s and O’s matchup which favored the Browns and the defense did its part. Jackson’s offense did not, and looks incapable of doing so anytime this season.

The Niners had a series of close losses, but Dallas made sure this one was never in doubt. It was 14-0 Cowboys before the network coverage even picked the game up. C.J. Beathard made his debut as San Francisco’s starter and wasn’t terrible (22/38, 235 yards) in putting together a few drives, but he was no match for a sharp, focused Cowboys team. The Niners had no answer for Zeke Elliott, who played as if this could be his last game for a while pending the ridiculous suspension battle that will never go away.

Beathard showed some promise, but it seems as if the Niners are snakebit from all those close losses. They will be hefty underdogs against Philadelphia next week but then draw back-to-back winnable games with the Cardinals and Giants. They’re much more likely to win multiple games than the Browns.

$.07—Both Los Angeles teams recorded shutout victories in home games, albeit eight time zones apart. The Rams smoked the Cardinals 33-0 at a home game at a soccer stadium in London, while the Chargers blanked the Denver Broncos 21-0 at a soccer stadium in LA.

The Rams successful trip to London was one of the most lopsided games all season. Arizona drove 65 yards on its first drive before missing a field goal. They managed 128 the rest of the game, losing QB Carson Palmer to a broken arm along the way. It was a ruthlessly efficient win in all three phases for the first-place Rams, now 5-2 under rookie coach Sean McVay. Jared Goff is in the running for Most Improved Player, but he might have to beat teammate Todd Gurley for the honor. It’s startling what a coach who instills confidence and adjusts to the talent on hand can do for a young team.

Not many saw the Chargers rip the Broncos. An announced crowd of 25,000 appeared as inflated as the hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque. They missed a defensive clinic from both sides. The two teams combined for just 26 first downs and under 500 yards of offense. Travis Benjamin’s punt return and runaway catch-and-run touchdowns provided the only real excitement. The win is great for the transplanted Chargers, quietly 2-4 after a winless September. It’s not fan friendly, unfortunately; fans want offense, and neither side provided any. The Chargers have a chance to claw their way back up, and with the Chiefs looking mortal now the AFC West is once again anyone’s for the taking.

If the Broncos can’t get better play from Trevor Siemian, they’re the easiest team to eliminate from the race. This was the first time Denver has been shut out in 394 games. His panicky inaccuracy and porous offensive line is a recipe for disaster in Denver, proof that even the best defense needs some help to win.

$.08—NFL Quickies

--Dallas lost kicker Randy Bullock early in their romp over San Francisco. They persevered…

--Justin Timberlake will be the Super Bowl halftime featured performer. My dream of Coheed and Cambria will have to wait another year. Timberlake should be entertaining, and expect no shenanigans like the last time…

--Injuries suck…

Hooker was playing great for a Colts team desperately short of impact players on both sides of the ball.

--Impressed by the comeback by Miami, which is the most inexplicably successful 4-2 team I can ever recall. Except maybe for AFC East rival Buffalo, which scored 10 points in the final 3 minutes to stun Tampa Bay. Dare I say the AFC East is the best top-to-bottom division in the league thus far?

--Chicago beat Carolina despite Mitchell Trubisky completing just four passes. The Bears only managed 5 first downs but scored 17 points thanks to a putrid offensive display by Cam Newton and the Panthers. Impressive rookie safety Eddie Jackson ran back a fumble 75 yards and scored again on a 76-yard pick-six.

$.09—College/draft quickies

I have a draft piece cooking for this week, so we’ll keep this one brief…

--Penn State bombarded Michigan 42-13 at the same time Notre Dame was eviscerating USC 49-14. Saquon Barkley ripped the Wolverines defense a little too easily on the first drive and the route was on in Happy Valley. Michigan’s youth on defense was finally exposed, and their putrid passing offense made any comeback an impossibility. Meanwhile, the Irish proved they belong with Penn State in the top contenders for the College Football Playoff while exposing the visiting Trojans as injury-plagued pretenders.

--Florida State lost at home to Louisville and is now 0-3 at home and 2-4 overall. The last time the Seminoles were this far down was 1975.

--TCU put a whipping on Kansas, holding the visiting Jayhawks to just 21 yards of offense. The Frogs are a legit top 5 team.

The Jayhawks…not so much. They’ve now lost 44 straight games played on opposing campuses (not neutral sites), an NCAA record for futility.

--Speaking of teams who have fallen hard, North Carolina is now 1-7 after Virginia Tech destroyed them. Losing all that offensive skill position talent to the NFL really took a toll in Chapel Hill.

--Congrats to Ferris State for a stirring victory over archrival Grand Valley State to capture the AnchorBone title. The two D-II schools in the Grand Rapids area are both national powers and as fierce of rivals as Texas and Oklahoma.

$.10—I got a treat this past week. While my wife was off on a business trip, my parents came up to help me with my kids and to visit. I don’t see them nearly often enough even though they live just a little over four hours away.

This time it was special because my father is finally retired. After years of everyone in our family urging him to say enough was enough, my dad turned in his keys and walked away. He’s been an over-the-road truck driver for about 20 years, and he loved driving. He still loves driving, but the things that go on around being a professional tanker driver (he hauled beer can paint—really) continued to grind his gears. The unconventional work hours, the increasing government intervention into when he could drive where, and for how long, bugged him a lot more lately. My father is not one who sits back and takes disruption lightly, and the increased regulations and worsening road conditions across the country really bothered him. Always wondering when that next route will come, when that next inspection will spring, those frustrated him too.

So he called it a career. At 72. My mother retired over a year ago, and she’s never been happier. I think he wanted a piece of that happiness. I know he wanted more time with his grandchildren, all five of whom adore him. Yet it was so hard for him to walk away.

In talking with him this week, including an impromptu golf outing to take advantage of nice weather and a bye from two of the three NFL teams I cover on a daily basis (Texans and Lions), his thoughts about leaving reminded me of so many athletes who simultaneously love the newfound freedom but clearly still crave the old gig. He talked about dealing with dockhands and shipping coordinators much the way an offensive lineman talks about his old linemates and adversaries he respected and enjoyed facing. I see that all the time in my line of work, one from which I might never retire, at least not willingly.

It’s a scary time for my dad. Much like the football player who knows no other life, my dad has worked his entire life. He grew up on a farm, working several hours a day in elementary school to help the family business. I tasted that briefly before we lost the farm when I was in fifth grade.

In a lesson I’ll never forget, my dad clawed for his family. He did not quit, not on himself and not on us even though it looked pretty damn bleak. Even though we suddenly became quite poor, he didn’t let it show. He busted his ass and worked his way back up before venturing out on his own as a truck driver. He has a college degree and loads of business experience, but he found what he loved in a profession most consider rudimentary and beneath them. I learned from that too. His grandchildren did as well.

So enjoy retirement, dad. I don’t know what you’ll do with all the free time, but everyone is happy you’ve finally got it.