VITO'S VIEWS

A look ahead to five things about Week 10 in the NFL’s 2017 season:

1. In Fox’s doubleheader game that will be shown to virtually a national audience, the Dallas Cowboys will try to beat Atlanta without Ezekiel Elliott, who begins serving his suspension, and left tackle Tyron Smith, who is injured. This game has wild-card implications as both teams are two behind in the loss column in their divisions.  If the Cowboys lose without Elliott, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is likely to be even more motivated to complain about commissioner Roger Goodell’s power.

Continue reading “A look ahead: NFL Week 10”

The Seattle Seahawks are the latest team that doesn’t seem to understand how serious the concussion issue is for NFL teams.

The Seahawks virtually ignored the league’s concussion protocol Thursday night in Phoenix when Russell Wilson was ordered off the field in the third period by referee Walt Anderson after Wilson was hit hard in the chin by Arizona’s Karlos Dansby, who was flagged for roughing the passer.

Anderson correctly felt that Wilson should be checked out for a concussion before he returned to the game. That is the league’s protocol. But that apparently isn’t what happened.

Wilson returned after one play when Austin Davis handed off to C.J. Prosise. He left the medical tent, saying he was fine. Then after the series was over, he returned to the tent.

The medical personnel obviously didn’t have time during one play to decide if Wilson should be cleared, and it’s uncertain if Wilson got a proper review the second time.

Continue reading “Seahawks’ negligence with Wilson head injury can’t be repeated”

A look back at Week 9 of the 2017 NFL season:

1. The Chiefs appear to be fading and suffered a 28-17 loss to the Cowboys, their third in four games after a 5-0 start. The Cowboys held Kareem Hunt to 37 yards on nine carries and ended Alex Smith’s NFL record streak of 237 passes without an interception. Meanwhile, the 6-3 Cowboys are 3-0 since losing to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers but aren’t likely to catch Philadelphia in the NFC East and are probably fighting for a wild-card spot. And the loss of Ezekiel Elliott for six games will make it more difficult for them to make the playoffs.

Continue reading “Taking a look back: NFL Week 9”

Gus Bradley insists he doesn’t have any extra motivation about his first visit to Everbank Field Sunday since he was fired as Jacksonville Jaguars coach with two games left last year.

“No,’’ said Bradley, now the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, in an interview with Chargers.com. “I’m more focused on us and what we have to do.’’

That is typical of Bradley, who always takes the high road and says he’s happy for the Jaguars’ success this year.

“To me, you’re happy for them,’’ he said. “You can’t not care for players that you were with for so many years. To see them do well and play at a high level and some of them get rewarded because of it. I think that’s cool. I’m all for that. … I think in the NFL there’s a lot of really good people. (That’s) what I’ve learned from the years I’ve been in it. Just really good people, and people that all want the same thing – at least where I’ve been – and Jacksonville was just another place that has a lot of really good people.’’

According to Chargers.com, “Those within the Jaguars organization, as well as those outside, give Bradley a ton of credit for building a strong foundation they believe will last for years to come.’’

Continue reading “Return is bittersweet for Bradley, but not for Jaguars fans”

A look ahead to Week 9 of the 2017 NFL season:

1. The NFL lawyers suffered a setback last week when they lost their bid to sideline Ezekiel Elliott Sunday, but it is good news for NFL TV types. It means Elliott will play against the Kansas City defense in the CBS doubleheader game that will be shown all over the country. Chiefs have given up 459 yards on the  ground the last three games so Elliott may have a big game. Cowboys are also in prime time three of next six weeks. Sidelining Elliott is not a good idea for a league dealing with declining TV ratings, but Roger Goodell is determined to do it.

Continue reading “Taking a look ahead: NFL Week 9”

The public perception of the Jacksonville Jaguars has taken a dramatic change in the last two months.

When the season started, the Jaguars were expected to remain one of the league’s bottom feeders. They’ve won just one playoff game since 1999.

The over-under on the Jaguars was 6.5 wins.

After a surprising 4-3 start, the Jaguars suddenly have a bandwagon as they prepare for Sunday’s pivotal game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

According to walterfootball.com, the Jaguars have become a popular public team with 62 percent of NFL bettors putting their money on them. That’s boosted the line from 2.5 points to five or six.

Continue reading “Sunday will go a long way to showing if the Jaguars are for real”

Five observations on the eighth weekend of the 2017 NFL season:

1. The Philadelphia Eagles continued to look like the best team in the league as they beat the winless San Francisco 49ers, 33-10, to boost their record to 7-1 at the midway point.

If the Eagles match that in the second half, they’ll be 14-2 and have the top seed in the NFC.

2. After three consecutive losses, the Atlanta Falcons’ season could have spun out of control if they had lost a fourth consecutive game to the New York Jets. But they escaped with a 25-20 victory to get to 4-3 and keep them in the playoff hunt.

Still, the odds remain against them returning to the Super Bowl.

Continue reading “Taking a look back at the NFL’s Week 8”

There is one NFL coach who has figured out how to stop wunderkind Houston Texans rookie Deshaun Watson.

Unfortunately, that coach is his own – Bill O’Brien.

Watson had a game for the ages Sunday in Seattle in just his sixth NFL start, becoming the first quarterback to throw for 400 yards, four touchdowns and rush for 50 yards in an NFL game.

Richard Sherman told Watson it was the best game a quarterback has played against the Seahawks defense and he noted they’ve played all the legends.

The only downer in this story is that Watson and the Texans lost 41-38 to Russell Wilson, who also threw for over 400 yards and four touchdowns.

Continue reading “Wondrous Watson’s biggest obstacle in Houston remains his own coach”

Five things I’ll be looking at in the eighth week of the 2017 NFL season:

1. What was expected to be an interesting game between 3-3 Houston and 4-2 Seattle took on new significance in the wake of Texans’ owner Bob McNair’s inmate comments.

It’s uncertain if the Texans plan a pre-game protest. And whether the uproar will become a distraction that will affect their play. It could pull them apart or make them come together.

Either way, the game will now get a lot of attention.

2. Atlanta at 3-3 will be attempting to snap a three-game losing streak when it goes to the 3-4 New York Jets.

Continue reading “Five things to watch: NFL Week 8”