Dolphins Start Strong
You can’t argue against the Dolphins being the best in the NFL right now. I think that this combination of Mike McDaniel, Tua [Tagovailoa], Tyreek Hill is epic, and the NFL needs it.
This is what speed on a football field looks like, not only in the way they run their routes – meaning Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle – but the way the ball was coming out with Tua.
Everything is fast, precise and his decision-making is elite right now. It’s funny how Tua is attacked by so many people but not celebrated for his football IQ and his touch. The way he throws a ball, especially for a left-handed quarterback, is beautiful to watch.
It’s going to be hard to stop these guys. You saw what happened last week when he goes up against Bill Belichick, who is the best defensive game-caller in history.
He just runs the ball – and it works. They’re high-flying and fast-paced, and it makes Miami a threat every time they’re on the field.
Without a doubt the Dolphins can go far because this is a scoring league and if you score points, you can win games, and they can score fast.
So, if their defence is having an off day, there is an explosive play waiting to happen. I believe the statistics show, from an explosive play standpoint, they’re so much further ahead than the number two ranked team in the NFL.
Rough Start For Bengals
I think everybody is addressing the issues at the Bengals and, obviously, Joe Burrow’s injury is the top. Being on the field during pre-season and training camp allows you to get the rhythm of the offence.
Offenses struggle at the beginning of the season because they haven’t seen everything defences are going to do that year.
They’re getting warmed up, and you see that with Philly, they’re kind of coming along and figuring out their identity with their offensive co-ordinator.
Burrow’s injury has hindered that process and he's also got issues with the offensive line. Those two issues are what is slowing them as a unit.
They’ve been known to do this before and they bounce back, so history says they have a chance of doing that. Burrow is the man to do it, but they need to figure it out quickly.
Wilson Is NOT A Top Five QB Anymore
Russell Wilson is certainly not one of the top five quarterbacks, and it’s been a while since he’s been one of them.
We talk about Wilson being a top five quarterback and one of the best deep ball throwers in the NFL and I still think he’s a very good player, it’s just whether he can operate at a high level with this offense.
We expect so much from Wilson because of what he’s done in the past and I think we’ve kind of got to let that go and see where he is today.
He’s still good, but he’s not going to be what he once was. It’s what happens to most athletes; you’re still performing well, but we still look at you like when you were in your prime.
Hard Not To Be Impressed With Cowboys
As mentioned last week, I’ve been really impressed by the Dallas Cowboys.
I think, defensively, they have the best player in the NFL in Micah Parsons, they’ve got two great corners, who I like, so if you’ve got a pass rush and corners, you can play.
The way that the defensive co-ordinators are calling the game – it’s mesmerising. Offensively, the whole critique was you talk about Dak [Prescott], you talk about his offense, the call on the plays, and he’s calling the game to win the game.
That’s what head coaches do; make sure the co-ordinators call the game to win the game. I feel like he’s adjusting accordingly because he knows he has a dominant defence.
I’m very impressed by them because of that and I think a lot of people have them as their first team in the power ratings because of that.
NFL Season Is As Open As Ever
I think it is one of the more open seasons we’ve had, and I think the reason is we know who’s good player-wise, we know who’s good team-wise, we know who can turn it on, we know it can change, we know teams can get better, and there’s no definitive ‘this team that is just better everywhere’.
Back in the day, the AFC was three teams, and it was Payton Manning or Tom Brady – one of those guys. It’s just not like that now.
I’m really interested to see how it shapes out, how teams adjust, and it is wild. I don’t know what to think and I enjoy that!
