#172: NFL 2019 Week 3 Preview (with Hal Bent)

1. Week 2 Takeaways

-Me: The NFL MUST make its officials full-time employees after a lot of disastrous missed calls on Sunday. Here are a few that stood out. Even though it didn’t make the difference in the game, Jared Goff’s arm clearly wasn’t going forward and Cameron Jordan should’ve had a fumble-six. And while most of the attention in that wild Bears/Broncos game is going to be on the roughing the passer call on Bradley Chubb that shouldn’t have been (and rightfully so), the game shouldn’t have been still in play late as a careless, inadvertent whistle robbed the Bears of a Kyle Fuller pick-six. Are officials mainly to blame for the final outcome in that thrilling finish at Mile High? Of course not. But the NFL clearly needs people willing to devote every second to improving their officiating craft so we don’t have as many of these mistakes in the future

-Hal: Patrick Mahomes just keeps IMPROVING!!!!

2. 2-0 teams (Contender or Imposter)

-Bills

-Ravens

-Packers

-Seahawks

-49ers

3. This or That

-Which of these two NFC teams would you be more scared to face: Cowboys or Rams?

-Which of these two teams should send the Jaguars two first-round picks for Jalen Ramsey: Eagles or Cowboys?

-Who is more likely to win the NFC South: Bucs or Falcons?

-Who would you rather have as your team’s head coach: Adam Gase or Eric Bieniemy?

-Now that the Dolphins have the Steelers 2020 first-round pick courtesy of the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade, which QB-needy team should they fear the most in the #TankForTua sweepstakes: Bengals or Broncos?

-Which QB would you rather have long-term: Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen?

4. GAME OF THE WEEK: Ravens at Chiefs

-Last week, Kyler Murray and the Cardinals found some holes in the Ravens defense, particularly in the vertical passing game. How ominous of a sign is that for Baltimore going into Arrowhead and facing arguably the best QB in the NFL right now? What adjustments do the Ravens need to make from last week’s outing?

-The Chiefs D had a much improved showing last week in Oakland compared to Week 1, but now they face the red hot Lamar Jackson and this explosive Ravens offense. What will they have to do defensively to slow down Lamar and company…and do they have the personnel to do it?

-Game deciding matchups

-Prediction

-STAT OF THE WEEK: Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are the only QB’s in the Super Bowl era to have a 70+ completion percentage, 7+ passing TD’s and 0 INT through the first two games of a season (via NFL Research)

5. Set My Lineup (Will, 0.5 PPR)

-QB: Lamar

-RB: Damien Williams, Mack, Singletary, Jackson, Chris Thompson

-WR: Davante Adams, Amari Cooper, Michael Thomas, DJax, ARob

-Flex:

-TE: Delanie Walker, Mark Andrews

6. Waiver Wire: Gem or Garbage?

-Deebo Samuel

-Demarcus Robinson

-Mecole Hardman

-A.J. Brown

-Darren Waller

-Ito Smith

7. Game Predictions

-Titans at Jaguars

-Lions at Eagles

-Dolphins at Cowboys

-Broncos at Packers

-Raiders at Vikings

-Bengals at Bills

-Falcons at Colts

-Jets at Patriots

-Panthers at Cardinals

-Giants at Buccaneers

-Texans at Chargers

-Steelers at 49ers

-Saints at Seahawks

-Rams at Browns

-Bears at Redskins

8. BOLD PREDICTIONS

ME: Gardner Minshew leads a 90-yard GW TD drive in the final two minutes

HAL: Daniel Jones 300 yards passing 3 TD’s

9. Challenge Flags

ME: Kirk Cousins. Make more plays, but DON’T TRY TO PLAY HERO BALL!!

HAL:Steelers, Colts, Saints, Panthers, Jets….find that balance on offense without your star QB, step up on D and special teams. Make it happen!!!