It’s (sort of) getting colder outside, which means it’s time to get cozy and ready for the holiday season. The NFL will hold us over for a few weeks before the playoffs begin, giving us a good chance to slow down and focus on the important things around us — like Netflix needing to hang up for Christmas after a terrible show with Jake Paul. – Fight with Mike Tyson.
Netflix better clean it up before the NFL shows up for Christmas
This is a no judgment zone. i promise As someone who hosted a party in his apartment for the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson “fight,” I’m not in the place to judge how people choose to spend their precious electric bill on Friday night.
But I’ll consider myself an expert on streaming stuff from Netflix and everyone else who’s been sitting on that poor last tab. We had a disaster of almost biblical proportions trying to feed our porridge from a digital pig trough. The stream clearly couldn’t handle the amount of people trying to come and watch the latest celebrity boxing match, which is a good time to shout from the rooftops: The NFL IS COMING TO NETFLIX FOR CHRISTMAS!
Right now it looks like a disaster waiting to happen. At times it seemed like Netflix was streaming this fight through a Game Boy Color screen. And that was on a Friday night when there was still something to look at and people were out enjoying the start of the weekends. Netflix’s next entry into the streaming wars will feature four major league teams playing on their service.
The Chiefs will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers in a game that will help decide the top of the AFC playoff picture. Right now, the Ravens take on the Texans in another matchup between two of the most popular and entertaining teams in the league. Oh, yes, Beyonce will also perform at the Ravens-Texans halftime. This is a perfect storm of intense viewership that will test Netflix and their ability to truly hold together what will be the most watched live entity they’ve ever had.
For all of us who will be avoiding our family time to hide and watch some very important NFL games, this stream is our lifeblood. And if it goes like the Tyson-Paul pillow fight, we’re in for a world of mild conversation that’s never as bad as you imagine it in your head. The horror. The audacity. Get it right, Netflix. This is the only reason to sign up for this streaming service anyway.
New England looks set to have a budding superstar at quarterback
The Patriots may have done it again. Drake Maye has stepped up since taking over for Jacoby Brissett as the team’s starting quarterback in the fall. Maye seems to be improving week by week, and his elite athleticism combined with an understanding of what is asked of him in the Patriots offense has rejuvenated this franchise after struggling at quarterback in the years following Tom Brady’s departure to Tampa Bay.
That’s different from what Mac Jones did as the Patriots’ starter when he was a Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2021. Something seems to have real staying power.
There were people who were a little concerned about Mayo’s ability to operate behind a shaky offensive line, but he is much better than Brissett was during his time as a starter. Maye’s expected points added per drop (0.04) is vastly improved over Brissett’s (-0.19). The Patriots’ dropback success rate is seven percentage points higher, Maye and Maye invite less pressure and are sacked at a lower rate. For all the controversy surrounding Maye’s inclusion in the lineup, he absolutely gave the team a better chance to win than his previous quarterback situation.
Even in the bleak atmosphere that is the Patriots offense, Maye has been able to produce explosive plays and get the offense going on time. He’s not afraid to make tough throws under pressure and has the arm strength to make some real 1% throws that most quarterbacks can’t even dream of making. That’s high praise, but Maye’s style of play is somewhere between a cross between Josh Allen and Justin Herbert. He has the wherewithal to stick in the pocket and run plays, as he calls them, but the stunning athleticism and arm strength to make some truly incredible plays off script.
In a world where it seems so a lot of teams have terrible quarterback situations, having a quarterback with legitimate MVP talent is a godsend. Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa are in the division, and now they have a quarterback capable of leading elite offenses if they can continue to build their bases.
Apologies to everyone who has been sick of the Patriots for 20 years. It looks like they’ll be back sooner or later with another indispensable quarterback talent at the helm.
Jaguars? Come on
Good. The Lions and Jaguars are clearly in different universes in terms of what they expect from their seasons at this point, but damn! 52-6? Even though Detroit is the best team in the league, it’s still hard to score that many points while scoring so few points. Even with Mac Jones in the lineup and a bad defense on the other side, there’s no reason you should get beat this badly.
The Jags were beaten so thoroughly that we’ll just run through some of the numbers from that game to see how awful it was at the end.
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The Lions averaged 5.78 points per unit. They scored a touchdown on their first seven drives of the game. At the end of the third quarter, it was 49:6. Stand up, Jaguars!
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Detroit averaged 13.6 net yards per attempt. By comparison, the Baltimore Ravens lead the league in that category with 8.6 yards per attempt on the season. That’s an increase of 58%. league leader in sample size per game.
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The Lions offense earned 36 first downs in 76 plays without the help of penalties. They got two first downs from penalties, giving them 38 first downs in 76 plays on the day. Fifty percent of the time they were on the field, they were getting first downs. If you remove those first downs from the penalty and stick with what they earned on merit, they converted first downs on 47.4% of their plays. The Ravens also lead that category on the season with 34.4% of their games going for first downs.
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According to TruMedia, Jared Goff averaged 1.04 expected points per down. That means basically every time the Lions called a passing play, they got a full point of value. For every seven Goff dropbacks, the Jaguars allowed one touchdown worth – which kind of runs when you remember they gave up 7 STRAIGHT TOUCHDOWN DRIVES to start the game.
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44.2% of the Lions’ rushing plays went for five or more yards. They just physically pushed the Jaguars defensive line over and over again.
That’s just not NFL quality play from the Jaguars. Yes, their season is over and Doug Pederson is toast, but next time, stand back.
The 49ers don’t look like them
After falling to 5-5 at the hands of the Seahawks, the 49ers’ season looks like it could be on life support. Due to a crowded NFC West this year, the 49ers find themselves at the bottom of the division, boasting the same record as the Rams and Seahawks, while the Cardinals hold a narrow one-game lead over the rest of the division with a 6-4 record. . Their season is certainly not over, but they may not have what it takes right now to make the playoffs, let alone make a playoff run.
One thing that actually works on this offense is Brock Purdy. Amidst the loss of Brandon Aiyuk and the absence of Christian McCaffrey at his prime, Purdy performed admirably for the 49ers. They still rank in the top five in punt return success and expected points added per punt as the efficiency of their running game declines. Against the Seahawks, they ran the ball a little better than they have in recent weeks, but they still lack the explosiveness on the ground that has made them such a dangerous offense. Still, Purdy, along with George Kittle, Deeb Samuel and Jauan Jennings, did enough in the passing game to be steady and moving in the right direction.
The defense has also taken a step back from recent seasons where they just aren’t the dominant unit that people have become accustomed to. They still have linebackers Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and Deommodore Lenoir on the roster, but they’re just a passable defense in certain circumstances. Overall, it’s just a middling defense that has some top talent. Enough to win games, but no longer impenetrable.
Thanks to attrition and perhaps some roster management strategies, the 49ers simply don’t have the big shield and sword they usually have when trying to stay atop the NFC. Purdy and the passing game will keep them in those games, but their upcoming schedule will prove to be tough as they try to fight until the end of the season to make the wild card round. A first-round bye is definitely off the table with how Detroit is playing right now.
The 49ers will close out the season with games against the Packers, Bills, Bears, Rams, Dolphins, Lions and Cardinals. WHEW. That’s a tough run for any team, let alone one that’s split and currently at the bottom of their division, however small that deficit actually is. The 49ers could find themselves on the outside looking in to the playoffs — and not at least making the NFC Championship Game — for the first time since 2020.