6 Things We Learned After Week 6
Brock Purdy is Not a Top 10 Quarterback
After Sunday, everyone (myself included) can finally stop all of the hyperbolic talk of Brock Purdy being a top 10 quarterback. I understand why that narrative started. He was on a hell of a heater. The jig is up though because his performance Sunday showed us how little he means to this offense. The Browns’ defense is elite, but after a few drives in the second half, they had -12 yards. I’m not saying he can’t be a top guy in the future, but as it sits now, he isn’t. Mahomes, Herbert, Burrow, Jackson, Goff, Hurts, Allen, Lawrence, Stafford, Tua and Dak are all quarterbacks I would rather have on my team right now.
Desmond Ridder Will Not Start in 2024
This guy stinks. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. If he is starting somewhere in 2024, especially in Atlanta, I will be shocked. He’s had enough of an opportunity to showcase his talent and he just doesn’t have any. With college producing 2-3 average or better quarterbacks every year, there is no reason to continue to waste the good, young talent Atlanta has on Ridder. The Falcons spent mega draft capital on Bijan Robinson last offseason, and they don’t even get to use him. There’s no point in having a high quality running back if teams don’t fear your passing attack. Ridder has to go and I’m sure after that showing against Washington, everyone in Atlanta knows it.
Tennessee is Much Worse Than We Thought
In my power ratings, I have Tennessee 5.5 points worse than an average team. After some soul searching, I realized that’s probably too low and they should be closer to 2.5 or 3 points worse. However, can we all agree Tennessee is bad? They have a terrible offensive line, a bad secondary, a streaky at best run defense and below average quarterback play. Derrick Henry is still good for one long run a game, but every other time he touches the ball it’s for seemingly three yards or less. Their entire offense every week looks like they’re playing in mud. There’s no spark or sizzle. If the defense doesn’t somehow hold their opponent to less than 10 points, they can’t win. I’m sure they’ll win 3 of their next 5 and be .500 at Thanksgiving and everyone will say how much of an idiot I am, but I don’t care. This team is bad and there needs to be some big changes before next season.
The Browns Defense is Super Bowl Ready
Cleveland took the 49ers offense out behind the woodshed on Sunday. They held them to just 17 points, the lowest San Francisco has scored since Week 12 last year. Yes, San Francisco lost Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey during this game, but those two guys didn’t seem to do much while they were playing. After the first drive of the game, McCaffrey touched the ball 9 more times for a total of 10 yards. He was a nonfactor for most of the afternoon.
We know Cleveland’s defense is good, so now it’s on Deshaun Watson to simply be average. If he’s average or better, this team can win a Super Bowl. The Browns don’t need him to be Patrick Mahomes. Watson needs to channel his inner Eli Manning and ride this defense all the way to a Lombardi trophy.
Detroit is a Top 3 NFC Team
San Francisco, Philadelphia, Detroit. Those are the top 3 NFC teams in that order. Before this weekend I think everyone (with a brain) would admit the 49ers and Eagles were far and away better than every other NFC team. Now I think you could make an argument that the Lions deserve to be in that conversation. Their defense has been their Achilles heel the last few years. They had the offensive pieces, but they weren’t strong enough to overcome the bad defensive play. Now, they’re a fully complete team that can compete with anyone on any given Sunday.
We Don’t Know as Much as We Think
The NFL never fails to impress us. We think we have it all figured out and then everything flips upside down. PJ Walker led the Browns to a win over the unquestioned best team in the league. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles got embarrassed by a Jets team everyone had wrote off after Aaron Rodgers’ injury. The New York Giants were up 6-0 in the 3rd quarter against a Buffalo Bills team that came into that game as 15-point favorites. We never know what we’re going to get on Sundays and that’s what makes the NFL beautiful.