In this strange NFL season, in which 15 of the 32 NFL teams have had COVID-19 issues despite the hefty fines the team has handed down for non-compliance with league policy, there is still plenty of good news emerging. Rookie quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa are thriving — perhaps due to the lack of preparation so many of the league’s defenses were able to make during the mostly virtual off-season. Josh Allen has the Buffalo Bills looking like the class of the AFC East. Kyler Murray has Cardinals fans excited out in the desert.
Let’s look at some of the biggest stories trending as we head into Week 10 of the sports betting season for the NFL.
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- The collapse of the Dallas Cowboys. When Dak Prescott went down with a fractured ankle for the rest of the season, it was certain that the Dallas offense would struggle to respond. However, even before that happened, the team already looked fragile. The defense was giving up close to 40 points per game. Tailback Ezekiel Elliott looked slow and tentative. The offensive line was plagued by injury. When linebacker Xavier Woods said in an interview that it was unreasonable to expect full effort 100 percent of the time, it became clear that new head coach Mike McCarthy has not been able to establish the same sort of culture that he had in Green Bay. Some of this has to do with the fact that owner/GM Jerry Jones has never really made his head coaches part of the chain of command, instead interacting with players himself. This has given players the sense that they can go to the owner if they have problems with the head coach — which undermines that coach’s authority. This entitlement has long played a role in Dallas’ inability to contend.
- The play of Carson Wentz. In Wentz’s rookie season, he looked terrific. The year the Eagles won a Super Bowl, he looked terrific again, until he went down for the season and Nick Foles led the team to a championship. This year, Wentz has made decisions that are worse than the ones he made as a rookie. One example came against Dallas, when he rolled to the left, well outside the pocket, and had plenty of time to throw the ball away. Instead, he waited several more seconds with the ball, despite a lack of open receivers down the field, and took a big hit, fumbling the ball. The Cowboys were unable to turn it into a touchdown, but Wentz turned the ball over four times in that game. That level of decision-making will not get the Eagles where they want to go, and it will get Wentz a ticket out of Philly.
- The return of Alex Smith. Not only has Smith made it back from a gruesome leg injury to join the Washington roster once again, but he threw for over 300 yards last week. It’s hard to say how long he will continue to play for the Football Team, but if he can give the offense some hope, Washington could win a dreadful NFC East.
- The coaching of Brian Flores. No one thought Flores would do a poor job in Miami, but he has his team sold on playing shutdown defense and providing maximum effort, game in and game out. Switching out Ryan Fitzpatrick for Tua Tagovailoa looked like a poor decision after Miami’s strong start, but Tua has gone 2-0 in his first two starts, and the Dolphins could push for a wild card spot in the playoffs this year. Flores had two new coordinators, new players on both sides of the ball, and no in-person off-season, and he has made it work.
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