Passing The Baton 3: Killa Cam Struggles and Eric B Appreciation
Want to switch things up for this column and give some love to the coaches of color too and say once again for the folks in the back that if Eric B—I always have to Google how to spell his last name so we just gonna call him Eric B—at minimum isn’t a head coach next year we might need to get our best Black lawyer to press the NFL again because enough is enough. Also, I need to determine if PTB wants to accept Tua into the ranks. We’ll take a poll and if he passes he’ll be in the next iteration. Ronald Rivera I must admit though is making me strongly reconsider opening this to other ‘minorities’ cause dude is out here doing all the nastiness but more on that below. Let’s get to our seven starters:
Wk 6 - OT L vs TEN: 28/37 passing, 335 yards, 4 touchdowns
Wk 7 - L vs GB: 29/39 passing, 309 yards, 2 touchdowns
Record as a starter: 1-6
The Texans have had a long 2020. Bill O’Brien certainly did this team no favors with the moves he made last year and now they’re really just stuck playing out the year waiting for a new savior. Deshaun isn’t having a bad year at all, he’s third in the league with 2095 yards and have a 15:5 TD:INT ratio. All we can hope for at this point is he doesn’t get injured and they don’t make a stupid selection in hiring O’Brien’s replacement—cough get Eric B cough. Also, we’re rooting for this team because it’s the only Black QB and HC that we got. A Week 8 matchup against the legit 1-6 Jags should get Romeo his second win as interim. Go Texans!
Wk 6 - W vs BUF: 21/26 passing, 225 yards, 2 touchdowns
Wk 7 - W vs DEN: 15/23 passing, 200 yards, 1 touchdown
Record as a starter: 6-1
Nothing to see here. The Chiefs are the Chiefs. Mahomes is Mahomes and if it wasn’t for the next guy on this list he’d be in the running for his second MVP trophy. This week the Chiefs have a vacation against the winless Jets and while its mannerful to say, ‘hey this might be a trap game, watch out’ that is literally impossible in this situation. Okay, nothing’s impossible but the Jets are really bad and even though I don’t think the Chiefs are as world beaters as their record would claim, they’re on cruise control to the playoffs. It would be good for them to have a real game where they’re tested—cough against my Bucs cough—because a cake walk to the playoffs doesn’t help any team get better. Scroll to the Eric B section to hear me sing about Mahomes’ 16:1 TD:INT ratio.
Wk 6 - BYE
Wk 7 - OT L vs AZ: 33/50 passing, 388 yards, 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
Record as a starter: 5-1
EM-VEE-PEE. 22 touchdowns in 6 games. A running back carousel that I can’t keep up with. Tied for third in points for in the NFC—see my beloved Bucs in first. The QB rating leader at 119.5 and tied for fifth with 80.9 in QBR. Completing 71.2 percent of his passes. Did I mention their defense stinks?!?! GIVE THIS MAN HIS MVP TROPHY ALREADY!!!!!!
As for the loss to Arizona, my hill is that all teams need to lose in the NFL. I think this fairy tale of an undefeated Super Bowl champion is weird. Rather lose when you can, learn from those in regular season and be well-tuned come January then steamroll through a bunch of teams and take a Gervonta uppercut come playoff time. Plus whenever divisional foes play, anything goes so not surprising at all. Although i do throw that out the window for their Week 8 clash with San Fran. Russ might go for 5 touchdowns just because.
Wk 6 - W vs PHI: 16/27 passing, 186 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 rushing touchdown
Wk 7 - BYE
Record as a starter: 5-1
The culture’s QB is just trucking along. 10 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 300+ yards rushing, 2 rushing touchdowns, only 1 fumble, and battling for the division lead against a—dare I say it—really good Pittsburgh squad. This is another nothing to see here, the Ravens will be in the playoffs where Lamar will have a chance to exorcise those demons. They have quite the stretch of games coming up facing a tough Colts defense on the road in Week 9, a Patriots team you still can’t technically count out in Foxborough in Week 10, a rematch against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season the following week and then the second matchup against Pittsburgh. We’ll see what this Ravens squad is made of very soon.
Wk 6 - L vs NO: 23/28 passing, 254 yards, 2 touchdowns
Wk 7 - L vs ATL: 15/23 passing, 176 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Record as a starter: 3-5
Teddy Two Gloves and the Black Panthers! When they’re not playing the Bucs I’m actually rooting for this team to do well. Let’s call a spade, a spade: 2020 isn’t the year for the Panthers to do much of anything. The entire building for the most part is brand new and as we’ve said before this season is a bit odd with no offseason or pre-season. But there have been flashes of brilliance for this team and I do fucks with former LSU OC Joe Brady being the offensive mastermind here. For what it’s worth, Christian “We might need to check his Ancestry DNA chart” McCaffrey has been out and their defense isn’t stout enough to carry them to wins but what they’ve done so far through 8 games should give Carolina fans hope moving forward. While I think a Week 8 contest on the road against KC will result in their third consecutive loss, I do think there’s room for a moral victory if they can keep it close.
Wk 6 - L vs DEN: 17/25 passing, 157 yards, 2 interceptions, 1 rushing touchdown
Wk 7 - L vs SF: 9/15 passing, 98 yards, 3 interceptions
Record as a starter: 2-3
Okay, let’s start by saying this: there isn’t a bevy of talent on the Pats. A lot is made of the seemingly deteriorating relationship—that 20 years is sure to do—between Brady and Bill but looking at how the former is faring so far on a talent-rich squad in Tampa I think tells more of the story of Tom’s departure. I’ll also add my handy, “they ain’t have no off-season” cape to this situation as well. Bill has build up enough faith in my book where I do think this team turns it around somewhere in the ballpark of 6-8 wins. But I will say for Cam, tied for second most interceptions in the league with 7—while playing fewer games than the gentlemen he’s tied with—, that his game is certainly going to need to shift more to primarily looking to pass ethos. He has 5 rushing touchdowns on the year and even if this newfound weaponry is adored by Belichick and McDaniels, at 31 years old coming off these last two performances it’s going to be hard to see the upside as the losses pile on. As the longest tenured member of this group I hope he can turn it around. It felt like we might not see Cam as a starter this past off-season with how long of a wait he endured to find a team. If it doesn’t work in this one season in New England, I don’t know how many teams sign themselves up to kick the tires on an older QB lacking in passing fundamentals.
Wk 6 - W vs DAL: 9/24 passing, 188 yards, 2 touchdowns
Wk 7 - OT W vs SEA: 34/48 passing, 360 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, 1 rushing touchdown
Record as a starter: 5-2
Kliff’s Kardinalz are DESERT HOT!—lol I had to. Winners of three straight, this might be what Zona needed to seize this opportunity by the horns. There’s an extra playoff team in this new restructure and even if they’re still young, getting there sets the stage for this to be the new darlings of the NFC West. And this wouldn’t be surprising as the other three teams in the division have been to the Super Bowl within the last 5 years (SEA 2015, LA 2019, SF 2020).
Kyler is one of those guys sharing second place with Cam in the interception category but his 7 rushing touchdowns—and 13 passing—help mitigate that damage. Week 8 should actually be a great test for Kyler and kompany as Miami comes to town with a stout defense. But similar to Lamar, the schedule the next few weeks is going to be a doozy—BUF, SEA, NE and LAR—so we’ll see soon if they’re really ready for primetime or if this is another season of preheating.