Baseball has been known as America's pastime for decades, but we all know by now that football rules the sports landscape. The NFL is a juggernaut without peer (thank you, trade deadline) when it comes to capturing the attention of fans, so it was interesting to see baseball reclaim a bit of the pie thanks to an epic, seven-game World Series.
It was hard not to appreciate the drama of the Fall Classic, but it would be unfair to say that baseball dimmed football's star. Most fans have room in their hearts for both, though now that the Dodgers have wrapped up their second title, the NFL has little competition for eyeballs. Obviously the NBA is in full swing and college basketball is just getting its season off the ground, but when Sunday comes, there's only one thing on most people's minds. From now through February (and perhaps April), it's all football, all the time. This week represents the perfect jumping off point for that, as there are some juicy matchups in store. The schedule is loaded with divisional confrontations, battles between likely playoff teams and even a few must-wins for surprise contenders.
For our bold predictions this week, we're looking at three of the best and most important matchups of the day, and one that is ... well, you'll see. Let's start with that game, which is interesting because of who won't be playing.
The depleted Jets rally for a home win over the Browns
Jets fans haven't had much to cheer about in many years. The last truly happy time in a Jets fan's life was when Mark Sanchez beat Tom Brady in a playoff road game, and even that has been tainted by the recent embarrassing legal issues of the former author of the Butt Fumble.
Even by Jets fans' low standards, this year has been especially bleak. All the fanfare surrounding new head coach Aaron Glenn has been washed away thanks to seven straight losses to open the season, but Gang Green finally got off the schneid with a late comeback against the Bengals two weeks ago.
How did the Jets celebrate that win? By trading arguably their two best players. That sounds bad, but if you're a Jets fan, you have to be thrilled at the forward thinking of the front office. The Jets got a mega haul back for Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, stocking the draft cupboard for the next two years, and now they get to live vicariously by rooting against the Colts and Cowboys instead of only rooting in vain for their own team.
If the Jets were bad before (and they were), and they just lost their two best players (and they did), then it would stand to reason that they'll get crushed this week, even by a Browns team that hasn't exactly been defying its own torturous history, either. I don't see it that way.
Bill Simmons has long been a proponent of "The Ewing Theory," which was submitted to him years ago by a friend and which posits that a team sometimes defies all reason and improves after losing a star player, as star center Patrick Ewing's teams often did after he got hurt.
I see some Ewing Theory potential with the Jets. They showed a lot of heart in coming back to beat the Bengals two weeks ago, and Justin Fields played with a chip on his shoulder after team owner Woody Johnson called him out. With Gardner and Williams both gone, nobody expects this team to do anything, but Aaron Glenn isn't looking to go 1-16. I think they come out fighting with a heavy dose of Breece Hall, and they force Dillon Gabriel into throwing a couple of picks. This game won't be pretty, but I think the Jets will get an prideful win.
Baker Mayfield reasserts himself as the Bucs end the Patriots' winning streak
Speaking of the Browns and their cursed history, their former quarterback that they ran out of town for Deshaun Watson has been playing like an MVP in Tampa Bay. Baker Mayfield led fourth-quarter comeback after fourth-quarter comeback to start the season, and though he finally cooled a bit in the Bucs' most recent games, he's still managed to overcome a ridiculous amount of injuries to his favorite targets to get his team to 6-2 heading into last week's bye.
Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin aren't expected back yet, which is an unfortunate development because New England is one of the hottest teams in the league. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye has even stolen some of Baker's MVP thunder, but I think this week he gets some of it back by doing what he's done through most of the first half of the year: put the Bucs on his back and carry them to a win that they may or may not deserve.
Rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka exploded onto the scene in the first few weeks but has been banged up since. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said this week that he looks like his old self. That's bad news for a Patriots secondary that got torched by Drake London for three touchdowns last week. Expect Egbuka to have another big game, and the Bucs defense, which is averaging five sacks per game in its last three, to get to Maye and limit his effectiveness.
The Niners keep defying the odds by finishing off a season sweep of the Rams
Shane Steichen and Mike Vrabel have dominated the Coach of the Year conversation to this point. Dave Canales and Ben Johnson are lurking. But nobody seems to mention Kyle Shanahan, who has the Niners at 5-3 despite dealing with the most egregious injury situation in the league.
The Niners are like a horror movie villain that just keeps getting up after being shot. No Brock Purdy? No problem. No healthy receivers or George Kittle? Still they follow. Defense patched together with duct tape? Robert Saleh will make it work.
Purdy isn't expected to return from his turf toe injury this week, giving Mac Jones another shot. On the surface, you'd think it's advantage Rams, since Sean McVay's team has won three straight by a combined 66 points. Jones shocked L.A. on Thursday night five weeks ago, though, and as long as he's able to get the ball in Christian McCaffrey's hands 25 times, I think he'll do it again.
The matchup between Shanahan and McVay has been a streaky one. Before the Niners won earlier this season, the Rams had won three straight. Before that, the Niners had won three in a row. Overall, Shanahan is 11-7 against McVay. These teams know each other inside and out, so forget about the injuries. It's going to be a close one, but having the Rams as 4.5-point favorites in Levi Stadium feels disrespectful. McCaffrey will get his, and George Kittle, who's now rounding into health after missing the early part of the season, will have his first big game of the year.
Puka Nacua should be good to go, but I like the way the Niners know how to win. They'll find a way again and secure the season series sweep.
The Eagles show the Packers what a true Super Bowl contender looks like
Are you as sick of the Packers as I am? I don't know if I've ever seen a team that was supposed to be so good act like it wasn't for so long a period. Green Bay had Super Bowl hype after beating the Lions by two touchdowns in Week 1. They have one of the best pass-rushers in the league in Micah Parsons and a dependable workhorse running back in Josh Jacobs. But almost every single week it feels like they can't get out of their own way.
The Packers are 5-2-1, and their two losses have come to the sorry Browns and at home to the upstart Panthers. The image of Carolina winning at Lambeau Field is like how Canadians must feel when they see the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup, and as good as Rico Dowdle has been, I don't want to hear it from Cheeseheads that that loss was in any way acceptable. Bryce Young threw for 102 yards in that game, but it was Jordan Love who put the most ghastly highlights of the week to film.
The Packers should be one of the best teams in football, but I'm tired of their act. I'd like to know why they're favored over the defending Super Bowl champs this week, especially when the Eagles are coming off two straight wins and a bye. Philly has had its own share of problems this year, but I trust them a heck of a lot more than I do the Pack, even more so if new additions Jaelen Phillips, (former Packer) Jaire Alexander and Michael Carter are ready to go.
After what Dowdle did to Green Bay's front seven last week, I shudder to think what Saquon Barkley has cooked up after his best game of the season and a week of rest. Titletown will be in crisis after this one.