Brady schools Mahomes, the NFL’s next great white receiver, and the Cleveland Browns takeover lasted just one week.
Brady Schools Young Mahomes On The Difficulty of Face Lifts
Tom Brady‘s still the standard when it comes to big game quarterbacks in the NFL. The aging icon met the league’s next best thing in a Sunday night showdown that was supposed to mark the official passing of the torch between Brady and Kansas City second-year phenom Patrick Mahomes Jr.
Mahomes’ near flawless performance over the first six games of the season have earned him overwhelming praise. Many have marveled in his immediate greatness and anointed him the future face of the NFL. The narrative leading into the Patriots’ 43-40 win over the Chiefs was that Tom Brady and the Pats were on the way down and Mahomes and KC were on the rise.
SportsCenter on Twitter
ICYMI: Tom Brady was CLUTCH on the final drive of his 200th regular-season win. https://t.co/RQyLgGQAyP
Mahomes did nothing to change the belief that he is the future, passing for four TDs, but Brady played a cleaner game and he executed with the precision of a surgeon, schooling the young king on how you win 200 games in a career.
SportsCenter on Twitter
Tom Brady is now 14 regular-season wins ahead of the next closest QB, Peyton Manning.
Don’t count Brady out yet. The crafty vet has learned to pace himself so that he performs on another level in the games that really count. Mahomes is still the talk of the town, but Brady reminded everyone that he’s still the GOAT.
SportsCenter on Twitter
TOM BRADY TOOK THINGS INTO HIS OWN HANDS ?: NBC #KCvsDen https://t.co/RfJdHSxKrQ
The NFL season is a marathon, and if you’re an AFC quarterback, the road to Super Bowl stardom runs through Brady and Belichick as it has for the past decade and a half.
We Don’t Believe You, You Need More People
The Cleveland Browns takeover lasted exactly one week. While an OT victory over the Bills in Week 5 wouldn’t garner most teams any props, because Cleveland did it, the NFL world went crazy and placed a higher value on that win. Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, has received high praise just a few games into his career, but he’s quickly learning about the weekly highs and lows and humbling experiences of NFL life.
We Don’t Believe YOU
WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU, YOU NEED MORE PEOPLE…
Turning a team that went 1-31 in the last two years into a contender won’t be easy and Mayfield got a dose of reality on Sunday in a 38-14 drubbing at the hands of Anthony Lynn’s LA Chargers.
Los Angeles Chargers on Twitter
This one is for Alex and Faye. https://t.co/KmvpjYQmoP
Despite a competitive showing in most games, the Browns are 2-3-1 and still in last place in the AFC North.
Jennifer Lee Chan on Twitter
Not a great day for Baker Mayfield. Prior to this botched snap, he hit a receiver in the hands but the ball was dropped. To be fair, it’s been a little rough all the way around. https://t.co/3UFNcl5DK7
Now that the hype has settled down, Mayfield and Cleveland can get to work with a realistic goal of finishing 8-8 this season and preparing for a playoff run in 2019.
Adam Thielen is the greatest white wide receiver since Jordy Nelson. Not sure if he’ll reach Steve Largent, Lance Alworth, Fred Biletnikoff status, but he’s on his way. After Sunday’s 11-catch, 123-yard performance in a 27-17 Vikings win over Arizona, the undrafted wide receiver from Minnesota State is on the verge of immortalizing himself in the NFL record books.
ESPN Stats & Info on Twitter
Adam Thielen is the 2nd player in NFL history with 100 receiving yards in each of team’s first 6 games of the season, joining Charley Hennigan in 1961 (Oilers), per @EliasSports. Hennigan is the only player with 100 Rec yds in each of his team’s first 7 games of a season.
Is it possible that Thielen, who finished his Mavericks career second in receiving yards (2,802), second in receptions (198), and third in touchdown catches (20), was a victim of racial stereotyping when he was not even drafted in 2013? If so, Minnesota gets props for signing him that same year and cultivating his growth into a beast receiver.
