The NFL season starts tonight, yet the biggest story in the league isn’t about a game. Instead, we’re still caught up in this nonsense with Antonio Brown and the Oakland Raiders.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ve heard at least some of these ridiculous stories. But just in case you’ve missed something, I’ll take this all the way back to the beginning to get you caught up.
If you hadn’t heard of Nick Mullens before last Thursday, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard of him by now. The former Southern Miss Golden Eagle made his NFL debut for the San Fransisco 49ers on Thursday night against the Raiders, in a game where Mullens wasn’t given much of a chance. Mullens was signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2017 Draft, and had never attempted a pass in an NFL game heading into his first start. While Jimmy G is still the future of the 49ers, Mullens has definitely made a name for himself in his debut.
While the Jacksonville Jaguars are the easiest team to talk about in a pretty forgettable AFC South division, the Indianapolis Colts are a team that you should keep an eye on as we enter the second half of the season. Now, I realize it’s crazy to say that a 3-5 team is one to keep an eye on, but the AFC South is up for grabs now that the Jaguars have fallen apart, and a healthy Andrew Luck could be all the Colts need to make the playoffs.
We’re just three weeks into the season and some big storylines are already starting to unfold. Rookie quarterbacks are already starting to make an impact on their teams. First, in Week 1 it was Sam Darnold winning his first career start. In Week 3, Baker Mayfield saw his first real taste of NFL action on Thursday night when he entered the game for the Browns. After Tyrod Taylor got off to a slow start, Hue Jackson decided to make the quarterback switch and it paid off big time. Mayfield finished the game with 201 yards on 17 of 23 attempts, and although he didn’t throw for a touchdown, he still (technically) found a way to get into the endzone.
The NFL was treated with a glimpse into the future in Week 15, as the Patriots and Steelers met in Pittsburgh in a matchup that we’ll likely see again in the AFC Championship game. Over his career, Tom Brady has been dominant against the Steelers, owning a 11-2 record against them. However, things seemed different heading into this game. Pittsburgh held the top spot in the conference, and the Patriots looked underwhelming in their Week 14 loss to the Dolphins. The underwhelming play from New England continued in this game, and the Steelers built up a 17-10 lead by halftime. But once again, Brady showed why he’s considered the greatest, leading the Patriots to a 11 point 4th quarter, including a 5 play 77 yard drive that took just 1:10 to take a 27-24 lead. The Steelers still had some time, and it looked like they had scored a late-game touchdown of their own.
