I don’t think I’m being cheeky when I say that passing is the most exciting part of football.
asserted
passing → think → football
A solid hit is nice, and a big run can thrill you, but this is a quarterback-centric game.
asserted
this → thrill → you
When a QB is bad, teams usually lose and fans get bored.
asserted
fans → lose → ?
So, Sunday’s performance by Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has me positively gobsmacked.
asserted
me → have → Mayfield
I wouldn’t say their 16-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons was thrill-a-minute, but it certainly was historic.
asserted
it → say → Falcons
By completing a grand total of zero passes out of a paltry three attempts, Baker Mayfield led the Bucs to the first game with no passing offense since the Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets 16-12 on 29 September 1974.
asserted
Bills → complete → September
If you are miraculously old enough to remember the NFL before the advent of the forward pass in 1906, first off, congratulations on being over 120 years of age.
asserted
you → remember → age
You’re probably on your feet (if standing is still something physically possible), cheering a bit of hard-nosed, classic football.
asserted
standing → ’re → football
The rest of us young whippersnappers still grinding through our first century are holding our noses.
asserted
rest → grind → noses
Of course, Mayfield – a former No 1 overall pick – can throw.
asserted
Mayfield → throw → ?
As recently as 2024 he threw for 41 touchdowns and 4,500 passing yards in a season.
asserted
he → throw → season
But Sunday’s game was played in pouring rain that led to farcical moments like this, and Tampa clearly decided that the ground game was the only way to go.
asserted
game → play → this
That Tampa Bay could score at all, let alone 16 points, is a credit to Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell running as if their lives depended on it.
uncertain
lives → score → it
Irving finished the day with 170 rushing yards and one touchdown, while Gainwell had 140.
asserted
Gainwell → finish → 140
Combined, they rushed 52 times for 324 yards – the most ever in a single game for the Bucs.
asserted
they → combine → Bucs
They more than made up for Mayfield’s borderline irrelevance in the pocket.
asserted
They → make → pocket
Mayfield made himself useful blocking for his runners, but otherwise, I probably could have started at QB for the Buccaneers and the game would have been the same, other than the high likelihood of me suffering at least one gruesome injury.
uncertain
me → make → injury
“If I’m not going to throw the ball, I have to get active somehow,” Mayfield said after the game.
asserted
Mayfield → go → game
He certainly was more valuable for his team than Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr, who had a game that would be front-page terrible if not for the historic passing futility on the other side.
asserted
that → have → side
Penix went 8-24 with four interceptions.
asserted
Penix → go → interceptions
The field was wet and as slippery as a greased-up ferret with a sugar rush.
asserted
field → grease → rush
But even a wet playing surface wasn’t enough to stop Tampa’s run game, or kicker Chase McLaughlin’s three field goals.
asserted
surface → stop → game
Having said that, McLaughlin didn’t even need to make one – Atlanta were just that bad.
asserted
Atlanta → say → one
Next week, the Falcons face the Bengals in Spain.
asserted
Falcons → face → Spain
If Atlanta play like this in Madrid, they’ll be the worst American export to Europe since David Hasselhoff’s first album.
asserted
they → play → album
We’ll start with the positives: Burrow threw five touchdowns, ran for another, racked up 462 passing yards and led his team back from 13 points down to a 43-36 overtime win on Sunday.
asserted
Burrow → start → Sunday
On the downside, he threw three interceptions and all this came against the Titans.
asserted
this → throw → Titans
But Burrow gets MVP this week for a refusal to do anything dull.
asserted
Burrow → get → anything
And the Bengals are off to their best start since the 2021 season, when they made the Super Bowl.
asserted
they → make → Bowl
Video of the week
The Chiefs-Broncos game was absorbing until the final moments.
asserted
game → absorb → moments
The Chiefs, down 28-24, looked set to pull of a late victory when they have a first and goal on the Denver four-yard line with 35 seconds left.
asserted
they → look → seconds
But stout Broncos defending and a sloppy penalty from the Chiefs when they thought they had scored the winning touchdown meant they had to score on the final play of the game.
asserted
they → think → game
That’s the number of career touchdown passes across the regular season and playoffs by Josh Allen for the Bills after his pair during his team’s victory over the Ravens on Sunday.
asserted
That → ’ → Sunday
In reaching that milestone, he broke the record set by Buffalo legend Jim Kelly.
asserted
he → reach → Kelly
The victory moved the Bills to 6-1 and they now have the best record in the AFC.
asserted
they → move → AFC
Sadly, the game was also marked by a thumb injury to the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, which may end his season, a sad turn of events for one of the most thrilling players in the league.
uncertain
which → mark → league
He’s a husband and a father.”
asserted
He → ’ → ?
NFL who haven’t scored 100 points or more combined this season – 99 points for, versus 175 against.
asserted
who → score → 175
Maybe next time I’m writing this, I’ll give the Browns a heads-up.
asserted
I → write → up
Arrested Development-style chicken dance that he called his “wellness celebration.”
asserted
he → arrest → that
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
