(Image credit Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
Week 5 of the NFL Season has concluded and it was an unsurprising week in Survivor as except for a few games many advanced. Let's dive into how I did, giving my top 5 options that I gave to pick in survivor and a trap game to avoid choosing for Week 5 of the NFL season.
Week 5 Top 5 Survivor Options
Week 5 Record (3-2)
Overall Record (19-6)
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Miami Dolphins
Complete Domination. The Buccaneers completely dominated Miami almost all game excluding a 10-7 lead the Dolphins had on them in the first half of this game. Many are blaming Jacoby Brissett for this loss and I don't understand it. It's not Brissett’s fault that his offensive line can’t block or his number 1 receiver Devante Parker was out with an injury or that he suffered a hamstring injury in the game. He couldn't do much against the Buccaneers but overall with the factors surrounding him Brissett was fine in this game. Tampa was good in this game but there secondary is a big issue on defense that should be carefully monitored. But overall not a surprise at all that the Buccaneers dominated the Dolphins in this game.
2. New England Patriots at Houston Texans
This game was closer than what it should have been. Texans 3rd round rookie Davis Mills was actually impressive in this game especially with the opening drive in this game. Davis Mills Statistically threw for 312 passing yards and three touchdowns. The most impressive throw by Davis Mills was the nice touchdown throw to Anthony Euclair. If you were to tell me that the Texans would have a 22-9 lead in this game against the New England Patriots who almost defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and after the way Mills performed last week I would have thought you were crazy. The Texans would have won this game if it was not for Ka’imi Fairbairn being consistent with his kicks. Also to add to it Laremy Tunsil left the game due to an injury which was a big blow for this offense and hopefully for Houston he is not out for multiple weeks.. Mac Jones was up and down in this game but he had a disappointing performance against a terrible Texans defense and should have had 3 interceptions in this game. Fantasy wise Damien Harris was a complete disappointment in this game excluding the Touchdown he scored. He should have had a better performance. The Patriots defense was a mess in this game and I think this is the first time in awhile I can remember a Bill Belichick defense getting fooled by a flea flicker. Overall great performances by both teams and the Texans were the most impressive even though they lost this game 25-22. But New England must perform better than what they did against the Houston Texans but like I always say Survive and Advance as that is the main goal in survivor pools.
3. Minnesota Vikings vs Detroit Lions
Now that was a close one. I really thought that the Vikings were going to blow this game but luckily the Detroit Lions are still cursed by Bobby Layne. Look at the past few weeks for the Lions as they were close to beating the 49ers, lost due to Justin Tucker’s leg (Plus with help from the refs missing a Delay of Game penalty), and they blew the final drive in this game against the Minnesota Vikings. The curse is real with the Lions and the Vikings got extremely lucky in this game. I got to be honest Mike Zimmer’s play calling and game management has been extremely suspect the past few years. I don't understand what he is doing with the passing game. He decided to utilize the running game against the Detroit Lions and it almost backfired on him as Mattison fumbled the ball and resulted in the Lions Scoring a TD later in that drive. By the way I want to thank the Minnesota Vikings for giving a 4th round pick to the New York Jets for Chris Herndon good luck with him. He is completely terrible, looks lost when he plays, and made some awful penalties in this game. The Vikings defense performed well but collapsed at the end of the game. The Lions almost broke everyone's hearts in survivor when they scored a 2 point conversion but luckily the Vikings woke up and Greg Joseph scored the game winning field goal. In fact Greg Joseph was the player of the game as he made 4 field goals in this game. If you have taken my advice and taken the Vikings in survivor I guarantee you were nervous I was as well (Even though I am eliminated in survivor thanks to the Steelers, Again I ask Why is Mike Tomlin still the Head Coach of the Steelers Again?). The good news is that You survived and advanced plus no longer have to worry about picking the Minnesota Vikings for the rest of the season which is a good thing as they can’t be trusted in future performances for now unless injuries occur to eventual opponents.
4. Carolina Panthers vs Philadelphia Eagles
What a disappointing performance by the Carolina Panthers. I was extremely disappointed with the way Sam Darnold performed for the Panthers as he had thrown for 177 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions. The two throws that were his worst happened on the same drive as he missed both Robby Anderson and Terrace Marshall Jr as he completely over and under threw both of them all game which could have been easy touchdowns This was easily his worst performance as a Carolina Panther. Chuba Hubbard was phenomenal in this game as he had 100 rushing yards, and 5 catches for 33 yards. Jalen Hurts was not the best in this game as he threw for 198 passing yards and threw an interception. He was extremely inaccurate in this game. That interception was the worst throw I have seen Hurts make this year as that was a complete overthrow. I really got to asking the coaching staff for the Philadelphia Eagles, why did you not use your running backs in the first half? Watching this game back I can't even remember if Sanders had a carry in this game. Overall great performance for the Eagles defense.
5. Las Vegas Raiders vs Chicago Bears
Yikes, the Raiders did not perform well at all in this game. Let's talk about the Bears as their defense came to play this week as they did a solid job stopping the run excluding a touchdown by Josh Jacobs and were dominant in the passing game especially in containing Darren Waller. The Raiders looked completely cooked all game both on defense and on offense. Let's talk defense and oh boy were they terrible. They did a solid job containing the passing game only allowing Darnell Mooney with 35 receiving yards, the most on the team. The big issue was containing the running game especially as Damien Williams rushed for 64 yards and a rushing Touchdown. The Raiders even let Khalil Herbert rush for 75 yards in this game. It seemed like the Las Vegas Raiders were completely distracted in this game.
Right when I wrote this last line, news came out in the middle of the Baltimore Ravens vs Indianapolis Colts Monday Night Football game about Jon Gruden’s decision to resign as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Especially as more and more emails came out about the disgraceful and disrespectful comments that he made in multiple different emails. They were completely repulsive and there was no way that the Raiders were going to allow Jon Gruden the next day to walk back into that locker room as he would make it an extremely toxic environment just with his appearance. I mean you talk about a fall from grace, here is a guy who was getting 10 million dollars per year, had 7 more years left on his contract and to make it even worse he had a stake in ownership. It basically means that Jon Gruden would own a piece of the Las Vegas Raiders which would increase in value in time. This guy had the world in his hands. Now he is out of a job as a head coach in the NFL. To be honest I don’t see how Jon Gruden comes out of this one. I doubt that he coaches another game in the NFL ever again and I don't see ESPN bringing him back as a commentator. Especially as a majority of these emails were sent during his tenure with them. This is a sad moment in Las Vegas Raiders and NFL history with what happened with Jon Gruden. I don't think this will end anytime soon and I won't be shocked if I see the NFL suspend Jon Gruden in the future. Quite the fall from grace for Jon Gruden.
Trap Survivor Pick: Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts
The Ravens got extremely lucky with this game. This team pulled a Mike Tomlin in this game as the Ravens were playing down to competition throughout this game and the Ravens are lucky to have Talent bail them out in games that they should have lost. Especially as they at one point in this game were down 22-3. Baltimore looked completely terrible all game and they started to gain ground and come back once the Colts lost Xavier Rhodes and other cornerbacks in this game. I got to say the Colts need to place Rodrigo Blankenship on IR as it is clear that he is dealing with a hip issue and if the Colts had a healthy kicker they would have won this game. Especially in How well the Colts did in containing Lamar Jackson in this game and If I am the Los Angeles Chargers I would take notes in this game.