Five Wide: 2024 Week Seven
By Thomas Willoughby
An horrendous defeat by Five Wide’s favouite team, the Atlanta Falcons, destroyed my ability to focus on Sunday evening. Despite being an adult I still get sad when my teams lose. The trick isn’t to let it ruin your day. Redzone went off, The Force Awakens went on. Back to my happy place. On the topic of Star Wars; please re-watch The Last Jedi if you get a free evening. It’s incredible. Genuinely.
Lucky for me I’ve got Game Pass, and its “Sunday in 60” weekly releases. Everything from Sunday night condensed into one easy to consume meal. We’re not sponsored by DAZN (as best I’m aware), am just appreciative of the service. Thanks to them, I got to remember what it was like to be happy, and you get to enjoy your favourite weekly NFL column. Speaking of which…
Come back soon
Well, there it goes. Three NFL games, one NFL academy game, lots of very happy fans. The NFL London experience has become so slick at this point. The only thing that they’ve managed to nail is the weather. The NFL is powerful, but it doesn’t hold that much. Yet.
I watched 2 of the 3 NFL games from home this year, both on ITV. I won’t go off on Darren Fletcher this year (he gets enough stick on Twitter), but he did come out with a strange nugget. The suggestion that this year’s slate was the best stretch we’ve had since they started holding games here? Not sure about that. Vikings/Jets was a decent affair, but games 2 and 3 were blow outs! Where’s the spectacle there?
Interested to see where we go next season. We’ll have our 2 at Spurs, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Jaguars play two games at Wembley. They’ve had their stadium redevelopment signed off, and part of that is seeing EverBank reduced in capacity, and closed completely in 2027. Expect a greater amount of Jags games here over the coming years. For now, we get a few weeks off before it’s all eyes on Munich in a few weeks time.
And then there was one
A humdinger at US Bank Stadium saw the Minnesota Vikings toppled in the dying seconds by the upstart Detroit Lions. Both teams ended the day with a 5-1 record, with the Lions sitting atop the behemoth NFC North for the time being.
That leaves the Kansas City Chiefs, of course, as the only unbeaten side left in the NFL. They headed to the west coast to play-out a Super Bowl rematch, and beat the 49ers far more convincingly than they did in February. 28-18, the Chiefs are now 6-0, and I guess the question is “how long can they keep this streak going?”
Raiders, Buccaneers, Broncos, Bills make up their next 4 games. Divisional games are a toss-up, the Bucs and Bills are also pretty good. This stretch will be a good indicator as to how far along they are. Every games has felt like a slog, however. Think they need to start entertaining if they want to get us off their backs.
Spoke too soon
Last week, I proclaimed the Bills do not need a superstar Wide Receiver. Ten minutes after I submitted the piece, the Bills decided they need a superstar wide receiver. Amari Cooper has escaped hell and landed on a contender. Josh Allen gets one of the better receivers in the league since he was drafted. I rate it.
He made an immediate impact, too. 4 catches, 66 yards, and a touchdown. I’m not sure he was 100% certain what he was supposed to be doing, but he made a menace of himself while he was out there. Amari, my fantasy team thanks you and your ability to find the endzone.
I’m not sure how much this moves the needle for Buffalo. They were good last week and they’re good this week. What he gives them in an extra dimension. Someone with a resume that requires you pay him your full attention. I like the move for everyone. Hope it works out well.
"The Hustle" is a better name than "Danger-Russ", imo
I was privately critical of the Steelers decision to bench Justin Fields after a 4-2 start to the season. The Steelers offense hasn’t exactly been good this season, but there’s been enough to suggest they can play. Regardless, out went Fields and in came Russell Wilson, free of his own hell in Denver. They went up against one of the league’s better defenses in the New York Jets, and he looked great. Shows what I know.
16/29, 264 yards, 2 touchdowns, and, most importantly, a George Pickens well fed. The Steelers WR1 has had a quiet start to the season, but he reminded everyone why he’s been such an exciting player to watch on Sunday night. 37-15, a rout.
I’m nor sure how much of the Steelers offensive output is sustainable. Is this just a shot after the change at QB, or this is the new normal? Either way, it’s an exciting change of pace in Pittsburgh. Feel bad for the Giants next week.
I am enjoying this greatly
Here we go again. Despite their best efforts to put together something credible, the cash-strapped New Orleans Saints are staring a postseason-less season in the face. Having started 2-0, they’ve rattled off 5 straight losses. According to playoffstatus.com, they’ve got a 9% chance of making the playoffs. Thanks for playing, guys.
Yes, they’ve injuries. Lots of them. The offense is fundamentally broken, and that you cannot overcome. But they’ve not room to make any sort of improvements. Not now, and not for a while. As Bill Barnwell noted, thanks to their continuous kicking the issue down the road, they can’t just tear it down. They can’t take financial hit, because the hit is larger than the amount of cap they have. This is it. For a while.
Last month we were getting “Saints are for REAL” shouts. Right now we’re looking at a bottom 5 team. I’m glad we get to see this now, rather than in 2 months time, while they’re making a run at the division. A decade of “the cap isn’t real” has put them in a position where they have to play Spencer Rattler at QB. Unlucky.
Featured Image Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Thomas Willoughby
NFL ANALYST & SOCIAL MEDIA
THOMAS IS A WRITER, AND REGULAR GUEST ON THE TOUCHDOWN REVIEW SHOW PODCAST, FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU CAN FIND HIM @WILLO290592 ON TWITTER