By: Aaron X.
Hello sports fans, and welcome back to the IE Sports Radio Blog. We have just wrapped up week 5 of the NFL season, which means we are just over a quarter of the way through the regular season. As is typical with this league, there have been some surprises and some things that never change. Here are my observations so far:
1.The Buffalo Bills are very, very good. The Bills came into this season with high expectations, as many experts predicted they would be the AFC representative in the Super Bowl. Despite one very close loss at Miami, they have done nothing to dispel that thinking. Josh Allen is a born leader, and is playing with tremendous skill and momentum. Von Miller is terrorizing opposing quarterbacks. Right now, the Bills are living up to expectations.
2. The Philadelphia Eagles are much better than anticipated. Coach Nick Sirianni has Jalen Hurts playing MVP level football and off to a 5-0 start. Can they keep it up? I’m not sure yet. But, they are playing great, and as a Colts’ fan, it is nice to see Coach Sirianni have success.
3. The Jacksonville Jaguars have shown improvement under Coach Doug Pederson. Trevor Lawrence has generally looked a lot better and more comfortable under Coach Pederson’s tutelage. He did struggle against the Eagles and Texans, but is that a product of playing good teams, or is he reverting to last season’s norm? They certainly look better on defense.
4. The AFC West has underwhelmed so far. Everyone thought that this division would dominate, but they have not. Russ Wilson has struggled in Denver. The Chargers are injury depleted. It took four weeks for the Raiders to notch their first win of the season. KC did not look good in a loss at Indy. The season is young, but the division does not look as daunting as expected.
5. The Cowboys lost their starter, Dak Prescott, to injury. The “backup” Cooper Rush has come in and played quite well. Could there be a Cowboy quarterback controversy?
6. Tom Brady, perhaps, should have stayed retired. Although he is still playing competently, his off-the-field problems with his wife are nabbing headlines. At this point, it appears unlikely that the Bucs are strong contenders, so, the question is, was it worth it for TB12?
7. There is a lot of controversy over the way the Dolphins handled the Tua Tagovailoa concussion issues. The Dolphins labeled a hit as non-concussion the week before, even though it appeared that he was woozy and showing concussion-like symptoms on the field. He was not placed in the concussion protocol and was allowed to play against the Bengals. He took a hit, his head bounced off of the turf, and on national television, fans were sickened by his post-concussion body actions. The Dolphins are now subject to understandable scrutiny as to how this was handled. They will be with Teddy Bridgewater for the foreseeable future.
8. New England is off to a slow start. QB Mac Jones has suffered some injuries. I doubt many opposing fan bases are shedding tears or feeling a lot of sympathy for the Pats and their fans.
9. The Colts were favored to win the AFC South. They have started extremely poorly, and are already 1-2-1 in their division. Matt Ryan leads the league in fumbles and is getting hit at a high percentage. Jonathan Taylor is injured. Coach Frank Reich is on the hot seat.
There are so many other stories and so little time. The NFL reigns supreme due to its parity. This year is no exception. Many narratives can change and change quickly due to injury, momentum and match-ups. Stay tuned! Also, be sure to check out the Crossroads pod hosted by Aaron X. on Saturdays at 11am EST/10am CST. Shout out to our Patreon supporters and all you viewers that continue to help IESR grow. You will find all of our shows on Spreaker.com, and you can follow us on social media (@IESportsRadio) as well as check us out at iesportsradio.com. Thank you for reading, and we will see you next time on IE Sports Radio; your direct feed for ALL that is sports.
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