Sage Rosenfels is a former 12-year NFL quarterback who writes, does radio, and podcasts about the NFL and college football. Find him on Twitter @SageRosenfels18.
It was a crazy week in the NFL, both on and off the field.
Between shows of military support and patriotism, peaceful protests, a taxpayer-funded political stunt, Jerry being Jerry, Trump being Trump, a Manning homecoming, and a wild video of a respected NFL coach, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted when I went to bed Sunday evening.
Oh, and there was some fantastic football, too.
Here are my thoughts on what happened on the field in Week 6:
Aaron Rodgers: Best Packers QB ever?
I tweeted Sunday that while Brett Favre was just inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year, he's already just the second-best quarterback in Green Bay Packers history.
I was lucky enough to play with Brett for the Vikings in 2009, his best season as an NFL quarterback. The things I got to witness that year were incredible. It was the best season I've ever seen from a quarterback. We also had a supremely talented team. Favre had many strong rosters during his best years in Green Bay, two of which ended up in the Super Bowl.
Rodgers doesn't have those types of players around him. There's no Reggie White or Charles Woodson on this defense. He has turned teammates like Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery, and Jordy Nelson into known NFL names. He hasn't had a career like Favre's yet, but I believe he plays the game at a higher level than Favre did over any extended period in his career.
The Sunday afternoon game was everything the NFL hoped for. Dak Prescott, part of a group of impressive young quarterbacks who are a pleasure to watch improve each week, put on an exceptional performance for Dallas. At the end of one of the best games of his career, he took a knee and watched how a great quarterback gets it done on a big stage.
Rodgers has become so good in end-of-game situations that there was a major Twitter debate about whether Dallas' coaches should have left him with less time. Should they have taken a knee instead of scoring so fast? Could they have avoided scoring for a play or two and then just run it in on fourth down?
Indeed, they left Rodgers with too much time. He hit a perfectly placed back shoulder fade to Adams on the first play, and the Packers were off to the races. He beat the Cowboys by spreading the ball around. He even tucked the ball and ran, breaking a couple of arm tackles for an 18-yarder that put Green Bay in striking distance.
Once it was first down from the 12-yard line, it would've been surprising if Rodgers didn't find someone for a touchdown during the next four plays. That's the expectation we all have of him. He built that reputation, and he made it look easy Sunday. Again.
Longevity a concern for J.J. Watt
J.J. Watt is great for the NFL in every way. Yet, in what could be an alarming pattern, he'll have missed the majority of an NFL season two years in a row. Last year, it was back issues, and then surgery, that kept him off the field. Anyone who has played football, and has had a back issue, understands how worrisome this can be.
On Sunday, Watt fractured his knee and will need season-ending surgery. Players who compete at extremely high levels, and who play the game violently like Watt, often break down, resulting in shortened careers. He plays as hard and reckless as anyone in the league, and we may have already seen the best of his talents.
Bob Sanders, Sterling Sharpe, Joe Theismann, and Bo Jackson are four others that had their best years early in their careers and didn't play long because of injuries. Let's hope Watt comes back stronger and better than ever. His impact on the Texans and the Houston community is immeasurable.
The Giants are done
If you combine one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, an aging quarterback with limited mobility, and injured receivers, you have the New York Giants' offense. Even if any of these change overnight - and they won't - you still need all three to improve to have an effective offense.
The offensive line isn't good; that's not a shocking revelation. But its incompetence is compounded by Eli Manning's inability to escape the pocket to create plays. He simply isn't, and never really was, a playmaker outside of the pocket. In 2017, this is the way the best quarterbacks are getting it done.
Rodgers, Cam Newton, Matthew Stafford, Prescott, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, and Alex Smith are among the toughest quarterbacks for defenses to stop. Even Tom Brady, who now has a weaker line, is getting hit more often. Eli is the wrong quarterback to have when your O-line is leaky.
During Eli's best years, between 2006 and 2011, his offensive line was as consistent as any in recent NFL history. Snee, Seubert, O'Hara, Diehl, and McKenzie were mainstays for Big Blue for the better part of six years. This simply doesn't happen in the NFL anymore due to injuries and free agency. Since that group began to retire, Manning's game hasn't been the same.
His strengths are maximized when he has a legitimate running game, and time to throw the ball with play-action and drop-back concepts. He can outsmart a defense with a good team around him, but Manning isn't the type of quarterback to carry the offense. That's where he's different than his brother Peyton.
Eli has never been a guy who tries to control the entire game like Peyton. Two brothers with two different skill sets, and four Super Bowl wins between them.
The Chiefs are for real
Football is the ultimate team game, and the Kansas City Chiefs are the NFL's best all-around team.
No opposing club looks forward to facing them. They're scary good on all three levels of their defense. Their offense has a running game, spread concepts usually used in college, and a quarterback who has had a rebirth. Let's not forget about special teams, as Tyreek Hill continues to scare kicking game coaches around the league.
This team has very few weaknesses, and, as the season progresses, Andy Reid will do as good a job as anyone at covering up its flaws while maximizing its strengths. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching, and an incredible home-field advantage are a recipe for postseason success.
I can't imagine the Chiefs not being in the picture in late January. Everyone assumes Smith will be gone next year, and I think that's getting ahead of ourselves. In 2004, when Philip Rivers was drafted to replace Drew Brees in San Diego, Brees, motivated by the snub, played at a Pro-Bowl level for the next two years before blowing out his throwing shoulder, finally opening the door for Rivers.
Smith is the perfect quarterback for this offense. His extensive time in the spread system under Urban Meyer in college and decade of mastering traditional NFL offensive concepts have made him the poster child for what future "spread coast offenses" can look like. Imagine players like Marcus Mariota, Prescott, Wilson, and Watson running a system similar to what Kansas City is executing.
Speed, power, and elusiveness make a dangerous combination. This is the Kansas City spread coast offense.
Empathy over judgment
Lastly, I must acknowledge the unfortunate situation with former Dolphins offensive line coach Chris Foerster.
I played for Chris in 2004 in Miami. He was originally hired as the tight ends coach, and was thrust into the offensive coordinator role due to Norv Turner taking the head coaching job in Oakland in February. We struggled that season for a myriad of reasons, and the entire staff was fired.
The first start of my career, in the last game of my fourth season, was with Foerster as offensive coordinator and play-caller. The first play he called turned into a 76-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Chambers. Foerster believed in me as a player to start the game with taking a shot. I'm going to take another shot and bet that he'll overcome the demons that got him to this spot in his life.
Addiction is a real thing, and no player, coach, or human should be simply thrown to the side because of it. I hope to see another chapter in the book of Foerster's life. We expect NFL players and coaches to be robots, but, at the end of the day, they're flawed humans just like everyone else.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)