High Five-Low Five: The Bucs, Chiefs, Patriots, Jayden Daniels, Joe Flacco, Derrick Henry
Last week had disaster written all over it for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's not a metaphor.
Start with the fact Tampa Bay was rocked by the storm surge of Hurricane Helene, a disaster that inundated beachfront towns and villages and even swept inland with up to six feet of seawater.
Then there was the fact the Bucs had up to 20 players on the injury report at one stage in the week.
Then there was the aftermath of Helene, which left thousands of people without power.
Amid all those, the Buccaneers endured. And overcame.
Bucs 33.
Eagles 16.
It was particularly fine work by coach Todd Bowles and his defense and the play of quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Mayfield, by the way, spent a couple of days in a hotel room because he was forced to evacuate his house.
"[It was] not ideal by any means but the safety of your family and everybody else is way more important," Mayfield said. "The Bucs do an unbelievable job of providing everything you need to stay safe. [It’s] unfortunate that the storm surge was as bad as it was, but hopefully everybody did the smart thing and evacuated if they needed to.
"But yeah, they provided a hotel for us to get out of there [so] we were able to continue the work week and it’s just one of those things of finding the balance of life and football, distractions and whatnot – obviously, that’s a pretty big one – but being able to make sure we’re taken care of and then go back to work."
Bowles deserves a medal for this one. He kept his team together amid the devastation and obvious roster issues caused by the injuries.
"A lot of guys sucked it up and played hard," Bowles said. "Some of these guys are still nicked up. It will probably be like that all year, but they came through. They studied. They played like professionals, and they showed up for each other."
The Bucs lead this week's High Five.
The others:
Sep 29, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) runs through Buffalo Bills linebacker Dorian Williams (42) tackle attempt during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
2. Derrick Henry: He's a wonder. The man is 30 years old and is trying to make his way with the Ravens after the Tennessee Titans moved on in the offseason. Guess what? Henry is still the king. He leads the NFL in rushing at the moment, he's coming off a 199-yard performance against the Bills on Sunday night. And in that game, we saw an 87-yard touchdown run by Henry in which he clocked at over 21 MPH. At 247 pounds. Henry got even and then behind the Buffalo secondary and the 195-pound guys could not catch him. Amazing.
3. Jayden Daniels: We know that last year, C.J. Stroud was the second selected quarterback in the draft and played like the best one of the draft. Well, Daniels put on a competition to be the first pick but was the second quarterback picked in the April draft, and he is simply spectacular right now. Daniels completed 86.6 percent of his passes against the Cardinals and that was the second consecutive game the Commanders QB was over 80-percent completion mark. The game also marked the first time the Commanders scored 30 points or more in consecutive games since 2017. Is this going to be a season-long thing? Probably not. But Daniels is off to a great start.
Aaron Jones Leaves His Mark
4. Aaron Jones: We know the Green Bay Packers pivoted from the running back when they signed Josh Jacobs the first day of free agency. So Jones had to go elsewhere and ended up with the Vikings. Well, now he's making a mark in Minnesota after making one in Green Bay. That mark on Sunday was evident when Jones rushed for 93 yards on 22 carries and caught four passes for 46 yards. And afterward, half-a-dozen coaches, staffers, fans that Jones touched when he was in Green Bay waited on the field to hug him. Afterward, Jones did a Lambeau Leap into a crowd of visiting Vikings fans.
5. Joe Flacco: This is ridiculous because it's become somewhat expected, but here goes: Starter Anthony Richardson leaves the Indy game against the previously undefeated Steelers after throwing only four passes. He suffered a hip-pointer. Enter the 39-year-old Flacco and he promptly threw a touchdown pass. And then another. And when it was over, Flacco rescued the Colts in much the same manner he did the Browns last season when they lost Deshaun Watson.
Low-Five:
Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins answers questions during Tennessee's training camp. (Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Chiefs Need A WR Trade
1. The Kansas City Chiefs: They won on Sunday and are 4-0 which is great. But second-year receiver Rashee Rice was carried off the field after quarterback Patrick Mahomes hit his right knee as both tried to tackle a defensive back who had intercepted the quarterback. Rice is done for the season and coach Andy Reid all but confirmed that, saying more tests will come Monday, but the expectation is not good. So what now? The Chiefs have already lost Hollywood Brown for the year as well. They need to go WR shopping. They should try to trade for Amari Cooper or DeAndre Hopkins or maybe Deebo Samuel (Yeah, that one isn't happening). GM Brett Veach cannot do nothing.
2. Jalen Hurts: The Eagles are going to their bye week with a 2-2- record and that isn't bad. But Sunday was bad. The team was down 24-0 by the second quarter. And Hurts finished with two fumbles, one of which he lost. The turnovers in the pocket or while he's scrambling became a big deal in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs and has been prevalent several times since. Not all of it is on Hurts. The Bucs brought pressure and crashed the pocket. But Hurts, who was forced to fall on fumbles multiple times, also fell on the sword because it was ultimately his turnover.
3. Jaguars: They're winless and coach Doug Pederson is seemingly not too enthusiastic about answering for stuff that doesn't work. Case in point was a fourth-and-goal call from the Houston 1-yard line to start the fourth quarter. The Jags led 20-17 and Pederson chose to go for it because, really, a six-point lead was tenuous. We get that. But the play-call was bad. The Jags ran a quarterback draw out of shotgun. It was clear pre-snap the Texans were in position to defend the play, but Lawrence didn't change it at the line of scrimmage. Afterward, Pederson explained his thinking: "It's a moot point. It doesn't matter now, so I'm not going to talk about it." What was he going to say? My QB didn't change the play?
4. The Patriots: They're in a tough spot because they're starting veteran Jacoby Brissett at quarterback while rookie Drake Maye sits and hopefully develops. The problem is Brissett isn't producing. The other problem is the offensive line is poor and there are no star playmakers on the outside. The other, other problem is that making the switch to Maye isn't going to fix the other stuff and allow him to win, much less learn much while he plays. He'd be swamped. Or running for his life. "At this point, Jacoby is our starting quarterback," coach Jerod Mayo said after the game. Mayo added the coaches will continue evaluating every position – which means they have a bunch of unhappy work to do.
Sep 29, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Denver Broncos cornerback Tremon Smith (1) celebrates after New York Jets place kicker Greg Zuerlein (left) missed a last minute field goal at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
5.Greg Zuerlein: It's been a long time since he kicked the Los Angeles Rams into Super Bowl LIII with a last-second kick from Mars. On Sunday, in a game the Jets needed to salvage with a 50-yard field goal, Zuerlein sliced it wide right. Rough. Yes, it was rainy and conditions were not optimal. But "no excuses," as Zuerlein said. "You just have to make that kick." Zuerlein didn't and the Jets lost.