NFL WEEK 4 TAKEAWAYS: THE TAYLOR SWIFT EFFECT AND ANOTHER FMOTW (FULLBACK MOMENT OF THE WEEK)
The new “It” Couple is taking the sports world by storm. You see them everywhere: commercials, social media, in the stadium on Sundays.
Have we seen enough? Only they can answer that question.
You know who I’m talking about.
Donna Kelce and Jake from State Farm.
Oh, and they were there to watch a football game, I think. Donna even went to two. Philly to East Rutherford is only an hour and a half drive and you have to know the NFL’s favorite mom will be at both to put up headlines.
Here are my takeaways from Week 4 of the NFL season.
Hey Taylor Haters. You Need to Calm Down.
At what point does the NFL’s Taylor Swift obsession become too much? After they change their Twitter banner to her reaction faces from the Chiefs - Jets game? When they change their Instagram bio to “chiefs are 2-0 as swifties”? In my opinion, we haven’t gone far enough. Sports media likes to have a darling. We’ve seen Tebow-mania. We’ve seen Lin-sanity. Before the Oregon loss, it was Coach Prime’s year. The NFL saw dollar signs when Travis Kelce was rumored to be dating the one of the biggest popstars in the world because of the massive dedicated fanbase that follows her everywhere. We all saw the stat that Kelce’s jersey sales surged 400% since last week’s soft launch of their new situationship. More NFL fans is good for everyone, not just for the NFL and jersey sales. My whole ethos is built around growing the world of sports through opening its arms to all comers. Every person that can find their passion in a world that they never would have thought was for them is a small miracle. Let’s welcome these Swifties with love (and send them the link to these columns).
As for the Football Game on Sunday Night…
The Jets defense is incredibly good. Which has come as no surprise, since the Jets have a super young, talented, and exciting core group of players led by Sauce Gardner. They made Mahomes look mortal at MetLife Stadium. Which makes it that much harder to see a team with so much promise be held back by quarterback play. Zach Wilson played as well as he ever had on Sunday Night, and it honestly may have come at the worst time for the Jets. Robert Saleh went into this game with his loyalty to Wilson finally starting to be in question, which seemed to be exactly what the Jets locker room wanted. After seeing Wilson in rare form against the Chiefs, Saleh reaffirmed his trust in the young QB, which may mean more suffering for Jets fans if their head coach gives him a similarly long leash as he did through the first three weeks of the season. Can we expect more of what we saw on Sunday Night from Wilson? History says no, but there is a chance that this was the beginning of a new path for him.
The Other Trash Fire in New York…
The Giants look god awful. So bad, in fact, that I had to be reminded that this team made the playoffs last year and that their head coach Brian Daboll won Coach of the Year. Daniel Jones looks scared for his life out there after taking ten sacks. His offensive line was better at knocking Darren Waller off of his chip blocks than they were at picking up rushers. Poor Waller. Why trade for him if the Giants had no intention of using him? With Saquon Barkley out for an indeterminate number of weeks (and, please, for your sake, stay out as long as you can, Saquon), the Giants’ offense have had to rely even more on Jones’ legs in the running game than they have in the past, with Jones being their leading rusher by a long shot since Barkley’s absence. I will give him one thing, Daniel Jones is willing to take a hit for the extra yard, but is that what you want from your supposedly franchise QB? Speaking of which, are the Giants sold on Jones for the future? I know you want to make a show of not giving up while you’re within three scores in the fourth quarter, but Daboll was putting Jones in harm's way with zone reads and a monster pass rush. Maybe they see him as expendable, but I’m not sure if they have seen the list of QB free agents and the amount of teams that are in the market for one. If their playcalling and decision making causes Daniel Jones to get injured and they have to rely on either Tyrod Taylor at backup or someone they find in free agency, Daboll is unlikely to keep his job.
Fullback Moment of the Week
Whenever a fullback gets a touchdown, an angel gets its wings. Whenever a fullback gets their first touchdown, an angel gets a badass jetpack with rocket launchers and lasers. It’s just a moment that warms my heart. Welcome to the club, Hunter Luepke. The way he lowered those pads through the hole so big a Mack truck could sail through it, I could tell the young man wanted to hit someone, just like a fullback should. Cheers to McCarthy for giving the garbage time carries on the goalline to the man who will appreciate them the most.
