Jason Bell gives us the inside take on the latest news across the National Football League, with NFL betting and predictions for the biggest matchups this week...
No Surprise At Caleb Williams' Struggles
It doesn’t surprise me that Caleb Williams has struggled in his first two games. It’s hard as a rookie, you’re going to have your ups and downs and we put a lot of pressure on these players.
We’ve still seen signs that he has the ability and the mobility to play at this level, it will just take a bit of patience.
I know that’s a difficult thing to have because most fans just want to see him go out there and be an elite quarterback straight away. Anybody who understands the position knows that’s just not going to happen.
It’s a difficult situation because teams want to make him as uncomfortable as possible. In order to get the best out of him, they need to run the ball better.
The best thing you can do to help a young quarterback is to run the ball. They’ve been putting the ball in his hands and he’s been under a lot of pressure to throw.
The Bears’ defense is strong which helps because he won’t feel like he has to force every play, but there has to be some balance. He has to get that reliance out of his game. We just want to see growth week-on-week.
Panthers’ Treatment Of Bryce Young Is An Example Of How To Ruin Somebody’s Career
The Bryce Young situation is a tough one because the Carolina Panthers have let a lot of coaches go, so the coach doesn’t get a long leash there. Then they bring in David Canales, who is an offensive play-caller, to fix the offense.
For a coach like that, if it’s not going your way then something has to change. If he feels the quarterback can’t help him to stay in the job then he has to move on, which is what he’s done.
You also don’t want to lose the locker room. If the players are looking around thinking ‘why does he keep throwing Bryce out there when he’s not getting it done?’, then you lose the locker room if you keep doing it.
Canales has to save his job and he has to keep credibility within the locker room, which means the quarterback – which just happens to be Bryce Young – has to go.
To be honest, that team is just a bad situation. I would not want to be a quarterback drafted by the Panthers. It’s not a good team, it’s not a good setup, and everything is set up for Bryce Young to fail.
If you want to ruin someone’s career, take that as an example.
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints have come out of nowhere. They’ve started fast but my only worry with them is that they’re an older team, so staying fit throughout the season could be an issue.
That said, the way they’re playing right now shows the difference that belief and a good culture can have.
Outright Winner - New Orleans Saints
These are the same group of guys that didn’t make it into the postseason last year, but they’ve brought in a new coordinator who has added a bit of spice and now they’re just explosive.
It just makes me think about the Bryce Young situation again. People always want to blame players but look what happens when you get it right with the system and the play caller.
Baltimore Versus Dallas Is A Fight To The Death
My main game to watch this weekend has to be the Baltimore Ravens against the Dallas Cowboys. This will be a game of pure desperation; people will be coming out swinging. This is a fight to the death.
If the Ravens go 0-3... oh my goodness! It is miserable. Starting an NFL season 0-3 feels like the world has just imploded. Even though they haven’t looked terrible, they are desperate.
Then you look at the Cowboys. They got completely embarrassed in front of their home fans against the Saints. If you lose conceding 44 points at home, then come out and lose again the next week, that is not a good look.
Excited To See Saints In Action Against Eagles
I’m so excited to watch the Saints go up against the Philadelphia Eagles this week.
The Saints have got some flavor to them and the NFC South is heating up. Everybody was already handing it to the Atlanta Falcons, but that’s all changed.
It’s a great matchup between two good teams. The Eagles come into this one off the back of a one-point loss to the Falcons, so they’ll be at their best to make sure it isn’t two defeats in a row.
