SHOULD CHIEFS BENCH VET QB ALEX SMITH FOR ROOKIE PATRICK MAHOMES?
A new QB discussion has hit and I'm here to give you my look. Last season, Chiefs QB Alex Smith played decently. He looked good at times and looked bad at times but was one of the most average QBs in the league. The Chiefs were put on notice and when draft day rolled around, the Chiefs decided to give up a ton to trade from pick 27 to pick 10 with the Bills so they could draft promising young QB Patrick Mahomes. When drafted, the Chiefs plan was to bench Mahomes for the year and have him learn before he was the Chiefs starter. As the summer came to an end and football season was coming, Mahomes was turning heads at Chiefs facilities. In the pre-season, Mahomes looked really really good and there was a ton of hype for him. The Chiefs didn't care and named Alex Smith Chiefs starter week 1. Little did most fans know though that if Smith had a bad game in week 1 against the Patriots, he was likely going to be benched for rookie Mahomes. He didn't. Smith had one of the best games of his career, stunning the Patriots for a whopping on the road. After week 1, Smith kept playing amazing football. Finishing as the leading MVP candidate throughout the first 4 weeks. The Chiefs were at a 4-0 start, best in the league. It went downhill from there. The Chiefs began losing a ton of games. Smith didn't look as fiery and the Chiefs were slipping from the playoff picture. Now we are in late November getting near playoff time and the Chiefs are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Bills. It was one of Smith's worst games of the season sparking an argument if Patrick Mahomes should become starter. Fans whispers turning into screams of hope for Patrick Mahomes. Now I will talk to you about the battle. While Smith is a veteran who knows the Chiefs offense very well and has looked great at times this year, the Chiefs aren't winning games. Once the best team in the league, the Chiefs now aren't even division favorites anymore as the Chargers are creeping up on them. Smith once had 0 interceptions and now in the last 3 weeks, he's thrown 4 picks. Smith is starting to make bad decisions on the field. But should the Chiefs stick with their experienced starter throughout the rest of the year. Patrick Mahomes does boast a ton of hope. He looked great in pre-season, and has been learning all year on the bench. He also was supposed to be better than Deshaun Watson who looked like the league MVP before tearing his ACL ending his season. Could Mahomes have Watson type success. But there is also the chance that he plays like most rookie QBs and makes bad decisions. It is a tough decision for the Chiefs but Smith has been named starter for this upcoming game and my final take on this is I don't stand by that decision. Mahomes should play. The Chiefs are slipping and Mahomes should be given a shot. He could turn the Chiefs around. I think if Smith plays badly this week, Mahomes will become starter. Mahomes wins this battle at least for me, he should be the starter. If the Chiefs don't make the right pick soon, they could lose the division to the playoff hungry Chargers. Mahomes is the right answer to me.
CAN THE SEAHAWKS PULL OFF THE UPSET AGAINST THE 9 GAME WIN STREAK EAGLES IN SEATTLE THIS WEEK?
The Eagles right now are the best team in the league. Lead by a leading MVP candidate QB and a defense that has been top 3 in the league this year. The Eagles sit 10-1. Top of their division, top of the NFC, top of the league. Last season under almost the exact same team, they went a disappointing 7-9 and looked far from elite. So what changed in a season? After a decent rookie season, Eagles QB Carson Wentz learned a ton this off-season and has become a monsterous QB. He leads the NFL in TD passes and is a leading candidate for MVP. He is the main reason for this Eagles turn around. Also WR Alshon Jeffrey, a free agent signing has played very well. TE Zach Ertz has become a top TE and the Eagles O-line is best in the league. Their D is top 3 in the league. Predictions for the rest of the season for the Eagles look mostly like winning out their schedule, best record in the league, and winning the Super Bowl which is very possible. Now the streaking Eagles face their toughest task yet of the year, beating the Seahawks in their own territory. While it has been easier for teams to win in the loudest NFL stadium this season, it still hasn't been easy. The Redskins barely won and so did the Falcons. Both because of bad field goals. The Seahawks have not blown by every team like the Eagles have so far, their road to week 13 hasn't been as dreamy as the Eagles. A pre-season Super Bowl top contender, the Hawks have had many rough spots on their way to a 7-4 start. A blowout loss in week 1 to the Packers. A disappointing loss to the Titans early on. A heartbreaking loss at home to the Redskins due to 3 botched field goals by un-clutch K Blair Walsh. And another heartbreaker vs Atlanta at home as K Blair Walsh's field goal came up inches short of the posts. Now the Hawks sit at 7th in the NFC, barely outside of the playoffs looking in. A loss to the streaking Eagles wouldn't end them, but a win would be amazing for them. Our question though is can they pull off the upset. I say possibly. While Carson Wentz is a leading MVP candidate, guess who the other leading MVP candidate is? Seahawks QB Russell Wilson who has been the definition of carrying a team. He has put the entire Seahawks team on his back and carried them. He makes beautiful throws, leads the team in rushing, and puts together amazing comeback drives in the final minutes of games like its easy. The defense has been anything but consistent. The once called "Legion of Boom" is pretty much gone for the year. Star CB Richard Sherman is out for the season and it has proved costly so far. Also S Kam Chancellor is also done for the year which is horrible for the team too. One member remains though, Earl Thomas. He has been what is holding the D together with help from the Hawks awesome pass rush. So the Hawks are far from perfect but at home, they are magical and some of their woes can be put aside. Now lets talk about what the game will look like. I think Eagle QB Carson Wentz will have some trouble in such a hostile location but will end up fareing and I think he will have a decent game but not one to remember. All of the Eagles receivers will be utilized a little bit. The run game won't be much against the Hawks terrifying front 7 but the Eagles offense will manage to fare and score. The Eagles D will be a challenge for Russell Wilson but Wilson has been magical against every D he has played this year and I think he will have a pretty good game. The running game for the Hawks will be nothing except for a few good runs by Wilson like usual. The Hawks pass catchers will be heavily utilized but they will catch a lot of passes from Wilson when he's rolled out in the pocket. Both defenses will play. Eagles D will play better, I say they pick off Wilson once or twice but still get picked apart at times. The Hawks D will give up a lot but make saves at times. I think this one will come down to the wire like most Seahawks games and if I had to predict, I think the Eagles will win but by a small margin and I'm totally not counting the hungry Hawks out. I think this will be the Eagles hardest match-up of the year and they have a chance of losing it.
THE VIKINGS HAVE A TOUGH QB SITUATION, BUT AS LONG AS CASE KEENUM'S HOT HAND CONTINUES, THE VIKINGS WILL RIDE IT
It has been an interesting season so far for the Vikings but whatever they're doing, its working. The Vikings started the year out with predictions for them to do nothing. The Packers and Lions were both division favorites over them and they weren't supposed to have a great season. Now we look back and laugh at that as the Vikings are now 9-2, top of their division by 3+ games and the no. 2 seed in the NFC in a great position to earn a first round playoff BYE. If I told you this, this off-season people wouldn't take it too seriously, but if I told them who was the best offensive player on the team, they would never listen to me again. Vikings QB Case Keenum has been playing out of his mind and is the man behind the Vikings run this season to become the first team to ever play in their home stadium in the Super Bowl. To start out the year, the Vikes' had 3 QBs. Starter Sam Bradford, injured QB Teddy Bridgewater, and random veteran signing Case Keenum. Keenum's career was thought to be over. He played half the season as the Rams starting QB last year and played like garbage. He looked horrible. A few weeks into this season when QB Sam Bradford went down with an injury, Vikings fans were ready for another lost season when laughing stock Case Keenum went out as QB. Weeks later, no one laughs when Keenum comes onto the field, we just prepare ourselves to watch the opposing defenses get picked apart. Keenum has rebooted his career with the Vikings and leaves the Vikings with an impossible decision by the end of the season. Keep Keenum or keep Bridgewater. 2476 yards, 14 TDs, and 5 INTs are Keenum's stats so far this year. He has looked so good.
Meanwhile Bridgewater hasn't played a game since the 2015 playoffs. He has missed a year and a half with a terrible ACL tear and some thought the young star would never play again. Now Bridgewater is back and suited up and ready to play, but there is one last obstacle, Case Keenum. Bridgewater would come back and be the Vikings starter again if Keenum didn't keep playing so well. Until Keenum slows down, Bridgewater won't see the field. The Vikings are on a hot streak right now and are in prime position to make a playoff run especially if they can keep winning and wrap their hands around a first round BYE. Slowly the Vikings have crept into playoff position and are now a top team in the league and have a chance at maybe even the no. 1 seed in the NFC. They will ride Keenum's hot hand until it slows down, and they may be riding it all the way to the Super Bowl! This off-season, all 3 of the Vikings QBs hit free agency. Who will they re-sign? Many questions on the Vikings to be answered in the next few months...CAN THE CHARGERS CONTINUE WINNING AND FLY INTO THE PLAYOFFS?
One last discussion I have for today is about the Chargers. After starting 0-4 to the season, almost everyone wrote the Chargers off including me. Phillip Rivers looked old, the D wasn't playing as well as it should, and it didn't look possible for the Chargers to do anything. Now as I write this, the Chargers are 5-6, coming off back to back huge victories and are surging their way into December right before playoff time. While the Chargers record is still below .500, over the next 2 weeks, the surging Chargers can change that. This week, the Chargers face the 0-11 winless Browns which should be a whopping to fly them into 6-6. The week after they play the offensive force Redskins but since the Chargers O has been on such a streak lately and their D has found themselves, they will win that game too and go over .500 at 7-6. Meanwhile in the next 2 weeks, their main rival Chiefs play the Jets and Raiders which could be 2 losses that could but them a 6-7, under .500 and giving the Chargers a lead in the division. Even if they don't lose those games, the Chargers still have a great
shot at the playoffs. I look at the Chargers remaining schedule Browns, Redskins, Chiefs, Jets, and Raiders and I can see them winning out. That would put them at 10-6 and they could potentially win their division with that record or easily get a wildcard with the low competition level of the AFC wildcard teams. Lately the Chargers O has clicked. Phillip Rivers isn't playing like he's old. Keenan Allen has been a top 2 receiver in the league over the last 2 weeks. Melvin Gordon is a top RB. Also the Chargers D has played elite top 10. A great CB area, and maybe the best pass rush tandem in the league. They have been causing mayhem for teams and I am rooting for them. I think they deserve to make the playoffs. They have been on such a tear lately and I think it will continue and if they do make the playoffs, I expect them to win at least a game. I think it could end up being pretty scary facing the Chargers in the playoffs. FUN FACT, the only team ever to start 0-4 and make the playoffs in NFL history was the 1992 Chargers. Now the 2017 Chargers may be able to do the same thing.Thanks for reading this long discussion article. I hope you enjoyed because it took awhile.
Photo Cred: The Kansas City Star, The Seattle Times, numberFire, Los Angeles Chargers
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