The title, “beyond the boxscore” is such a catchy little phrase. It is not dissimilar to the phrase, “read between the lines”. Basically what both mean is to dive deeper than just the numbers, or written word, taking the obvious and analyzing further.
This weekend produced many situations where it is necessary to go beyond the boxscore:
This week, Mike Evans and Derrick Henry each reached an impressive milestone. They each scored their 100th career TD. Not that they needed that number to be future Hall of Famers, but it’s a nice way to validate their resume. They both have many more TDs ahead of them before they hang up their cleats.
If you had Jets HC Robert Saleh as the first coach this season to get the axe, you won your pool. After losing in London and starting the season 2-3, Saleh was fired. Although 2-3 isn’t where they hoped to be, the record is as much the fault of Aaron Rodgers as anyone else. He has been rather pedestrian for much of the year, and on Sunday, he was downright awful. I don’t think Saleh was a very effective coach, but this decision was premature at best.
The second shoe to drop heading into this week’s games is the announcement that Jacoby Brissett has been benched and replaced by rookie Drake Maye. The third pick in this year’s draft will be making his first career start at home against the Houston Texans. This is a tough spot for the rookie.
As much as HC Jered Mayo and OC Alex Van Pelt have been talking about a plan for Drake Maye, the reality is that they have been flying by the seat of their pants. Watching yet another home loss was too much for owner Robert Kraft. He saw his stadium less than packed, and the ones that were there leaving early, despite still being a one-score game. There is no buzz around the team, and Kraft is a businessman, after all. It’s tough to buy what the Pats have been producing. Maye might not change the results, but he gives the team hope…and hope sells.
With under a minute to go in the Patriots-Dolphins game, Jacoby Brissett was driving the team down the field for a game-winning drive. He threw a dart to rookie WR Ja’Lynn Polk in the back of the endzone in what appeared to be a go-ahead TD. Owner Robert Kraft was even caught giving high-fives to anyone within arm’s length and hugging his son Jonathan, the heir apparent. Lynn came down with his toe in bounds but proceeded to step down with his heel landing out of bounds. After review, the call was reversed. I can’t help but think that if Polk could have hopped out somehow, not put his entire foot down, and the team won, Brissett would still have his job this week.
Minnesota is still undefeated, with a 5-0 record. They managed to hold off the Jets, winning 23-17, but truth be told, if Aaron Rodgers even remotely played like he normally does, the final result would have been different.
I’ve been singing the praises of Sam Darnold for much of the year. I’ve even suggested that he is in the early discussion for MVP consideration. But on Sunday, he reverted back to the Darnold many of us have been accustomed to. He only completed 45% of his passes, and his QBR was 54.96. It looked like he was seeing ghosts again, as he once famously said during a game when he was with the Jets. He looked like his old self in this game, playing against them.
When Tom Brady was breaking records after turning 40, we started to take it for granted that all subsequent QBs would be able to as well. We kept hearing, “40 is the new 30”. Well, that’s not true, Brady was just a freak of nature, never to be seen again. Aaron Rodgers is now over 40 years old, and he’s trying to go down the same path as Brady, starting a new chapter with a new team. Granted, he is coming back from a horrific injury, but he just doesn’t look the same. He threw three picks on Sunday. Granted, he threw the ball 54 times, but Rodgers normally has pinpoint accuracy.
Breece Hall is too good to be playing like this. Last week, he rushed for less than 10 yards with a 0.4-yard average. This week, he managed 13 yards on five carries, which I suppose is an improvement. Until they can straighten up whatever is wrong with him, the Jets aren’t going anywhere this season. He had nearly 1600 combined yards last season. That yardage has to be made up somewhere, and at the moment, nobody is picking up the slack.
It was another classic matchup between the Ravens and the Bengals. The Ravens won 41-38 in OT. Burrow and Jackson were both otherworldly. They combined for nine TDs and 740 passing yards. The Ravens are on a three-game winning streak and are now tied for first place with the Steelers, while the Bengals find themselves in the basement with a 1-4 record. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but any team that has Joe Burrow putting up the numbers he does, week in and week out, has a winning steak in them. I can see a scenario where they win nine of their last 12 games, get to double-digit wins, and still manage to squeeze into the playoffs.
Lamar Jackson has been the heir apparent to Michael Vick and Cam Newton, with his running ability. Rookie Jayden Daniels appears to be the heir apparent to Jackson. Not only is he the runaway favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award, but he has also put himself in the discussion of MVP. He led the team to victory again, with a 4-1 record, and alone in first place in the NFC East. On Sunday, he passed for 238 yds and rushed for an additional 82 yds.
Aside from Danials, the other two rookie QBs continue to open eyes. Daniels’ Commanders, Nix’s Broncos, and Williams’ Bears, all won again. If the season ended today all three teams would be in the playoffs, and they have a combined 10-5 record.
It’s tough to compare sports because they are all so different. They say that baseball is a game of failure. The barometer that backs that statement is batting average. They often say that a .300 hitter is a Hall of Famer, but that means that the player has failed seven out of 10 times. It’s rare to use football and baseball stats to make a point. Josh Allen was able to accomplish this on Sunday. He only completed nine out of 30 pass attempts. He literally only completed three out of every 10 passes that he threw…30%, in essence making him a .300 hitter. If he were in the batter’s box, he’d be heading to Cooperstown, but under center, as a QB, it’s atrocious. If his name weren’t Josh Allen, it’s those types of games that get QBs benched.
Mr. Irrelevant may be turning into a pumpkin. Brock Purdy hasn’t been great this season. In stretches, he’s been downright lousy. It is a tough break playing without Christian McCaffrey, and having Deebo Samuel laid up, and Brandon Aiyuk seemingly just now getting into playing shape, but he’s now had a big lead in two games and losing them both. The Niners were leading 23-10 at the half this week, only to be held scoreless in the second half, and losing 24-23. They now find themselves with a 2-3 record and they look like a shell of the team who was in the Superbowl last year.
