AFC Westworld – Week 10
9 repliesChiefs have a scheduled week off, while the Chargers and Broncos take unscheduled weeks off.
It’s always a boring week when the Chiefs are off. And it becomes a bad week when the Raiders play well. Fortunately they are the only AFC West foe that has anything to be happy about.
Las Vegas Raiders
| Record vs. Andy Reid: | 3-12 |
| Current streak vs. Chiefs: | W1 |
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on bus-gate. Or the very child-like response from Jon Gruden when he was asked about his team’s victory lap in October. You’re an NFL head coach who signed a $100 million contract. You felt like you have to get back at a “smart aleck” bus driver? Are you really so insecure?
If you’re to show up the team you just beat, be a man about it. Say: “Yeah, we did that. It felt good to win and we wanted the celebration to last another lap. And we’re going to do another victory lap this Sunday.”
Instead he and the rest of the team are cowering. It’s pathetic.
What’s most surprising about it is that this team is actually good. If the Jets beat the Chiefs, multiple laps would be in order. But the Raiders are very likely a playoff team after last Sunday’s dismantling of the Broncos.
This was a good old fashioned ass kicking from the jump.
First play of the game, Drew Lock incompletion. Second play, Melvin Gordon 4-yard run. Third play (3rd and 6), Lock completes a 1-yard pass. Fourth play, punt.
The Raiders took over at their own 38, and seven plays later Josh Jacobs walked in for the 11-yard touchdown.
And it was over after that.
Yes, once again Derek Carr was uninspiring. He didn’t need to be because Jacobs went for 112 yards and Devontae Booker added another 81 yards. But if there is a glaring chink in the Raiders armor, it’s at quarterback. One of these weeks Carr is going to be required to win a game. And if the last few years is any indication, he won’t be able to do it.
Jacobs also led the Raiders with four receptions. As good as we believe the Raiders weapons to be, Darren Waller caught three passes for 37 yards, Henry Ruggs caught three passes for 31 yards, and Hunter Renfrow caught two passes for 30 yards. No one else had more than one catch.
And these numbers aren’t just a product of the 25-point blowout. It was only a four-point game at halftime and after that initial touchdown the Raiders next three possessions were all punts. In those drives they gained 7 yards, 4 yards, and 3 yards.
They did finish with 37 points. And as we all remember they scored 40 points against the Chiefs. But this team is far better off when they aren’t involved in a shootout.
Cue Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Sunday’s revenge game.
Up next: Hosting the Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
| Record vs. Andy Reid | 3-12 |
| Current streak vs. Chiefs | L3 |
On the bright side, the Chargers did not lose on the final play of the game. And even though it technically ended as a one-score game, the Chargers trailed by multiple scores until the final two minutes.
So congrats to head coach Anthony Lynn and the rest of the Chargers for pulling off a regular run-of-the-mill NFL loss. It’s refreshing to see.
Not so great, however, is this indictment of the Chargers offense from wide receiver Keenan Allen.
The Dolphins have been playing good defense and Brian Flores is one of my favorite coaches in the league. But how awful is the Chargers coaching staff when, instead of being able to figure out the defensive looks you’re seeing, you instead just run the ball?
If you are a “confused” NFL coach in Week 10, you are a coach not long for this league.
And not only were the Chargers trailing by two touchdowns, Kalen Ballage was their starting running back. And for the game the team averaged 3.4 yards per carry. So they ran when they shouldn’t have, and when they weren’t any good doing it.
It’s a shocking statistic. Both Anthony Lynn and Kyle Shanahan were hired in 2017. Lynn is 28-29 in 57 games as head coach in L.A. Shanahan is 27-31 in 58 games as head coach in San Francisco.
Does that mean Lynn isn’t so bad and should be given another year with his young quarterback? Absolutely not.
Shanahan took over a 2-14 team and had them in the Super Bowl in three years. Lynn started strong, but has taken his team in the opposite direction, and is now leaving his quarterback so unprepared for a defense that the team has no choice but the run the ball.
Narrator: They were not.
And an NFL head coach should know when his team is prepared.
Anthony Lynn stans, cherish the rest of the 2020 season. It will be his last with the Chargers.
Up Next: Hosting the Jets (oh, hey, a game they can win)
Denver Broncos
| Record vs. Andy Reid | 5-10 |
| Current streak vs. Chiefs | L10 |
And as I said last week, “Then there are the clown in Denver.”
This team is really awful. Against the Raiders they once again failed to score a touchdown in the first half. It was the third straight game Denver didn’t find the end zone in the first half, and the fourth time in five games.
And it’s mostly because Drew Lock is a better dancer than he is quarterback, and he sucks at dancing.
The only quarterback worse than Lock in Week 10 was the Jaguars Jake Luton – a rookie 6th round draft pick who was never supposed to start this year or any other season.
Lock threw four interceptions against the Raiders, giving him 10 picks in seven games this season and 13 total in his 12 career starts. For reference, Patrick Mahomes didn’t throw his 13th interception until the end of his 50 touchdown season in 2018. Drew Lock has 14 touchdowns.
If there is one thing you take away from reading this today, it’s this: Drew Lock is not good at football.
He’s really not good.
Oof. When you’ve entered Brodie Croyle and David Carr territory, look out.
One of the true joys of being anti-Broncos is that Lock sucking is just par for the course. This is who the Broncos have become.
Drew Lock isn’t good. Vic Fangio isn’t good. And John Elway isn’t good. But with an ownership situation in chaos (the court case between Pat Bowlen’s two oldest daughters and the three trustees running the team has been pushed to 2021), Elway is likely to survive. So he can once again pick a bad quarterback and make bad offseason coaching hires.
It’s super fun if you hate the Broncos. If you don’t happen to hate the Broncos, it’s sad.
Hang in there Broncos fans. Patrick Mahomes will retire in 15 short years and once again the division will be up for grabs.
Up Next: Hosting the Dolphins
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Kyle, your column is hilarious, but the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time has to be that 4-year streak of 3-6 records.
When I saw that it made me so happy. I don’t like rooting for the Broncos, but in 2021 I really want them to go 3-6 again.
Its really hard to imagine horseface getting to choose another head coach. I know we mostly focus on his qb picking ineptitude but if they allow him he will be picking his 5th hc in 10 years. His most successful pick basically left after 2 years because he didnt want to work with him anymore (health concerns blah blah blah, hes still coaching last I checked)
I’m considering driving to Vegas this weekend with my car decked out in Chiefs regalia just so I can do laps around the parking lot until the police force me to leave. Who’s in?
Police?
Oh, haha, never mind, I forgot they were in Vegas now, was thinking about Oakland police.
Broncos fans need to be broken. They haven’t been this bad for this long since John Elway took over as starting QB. They deserve to know the misery of an unstable QB situation that every other team has known.
There is only one way they might be able to get out from under their pile of bad karma, and that would be by giving back the SB rings they cheated to get.
Or maybe by firing Elway. And by firing, I mean literally setting him on fire.
THE RAIDERS SUCK!!!!!!
The Donks are pitiful
Isnt there another team?
Yep … ” The DisChargers ” … ; )