Welcome to the Friday version of the Decide Six publication.
When you watched all of final night time’s recreation, I wish to apologize on behalf of the Patriots, who apparently forgot the best way to play soccer. Possibly they did not fully overlook, however they undoubtedly forgot the best way to throw the ball, as a result of they solely totaled 61 yards by the air. The excellent news for everybody who watched the sport is that Aaron Rodgers appears to be like to be formally again. Certain, he is already performed two video games this season, however he appeared principally common in these video games. Final night time, he appeared like a four-time MVP who may truly be capable to assist the Jets get to the playoffs for the primary time since 2010.
In as we speak’s publication, we’ll be handing out grades for each the Jets and the Patriots, plus we’ll be making some Week 3 picks and we’ll be RANKING KICKERS, as a result of there is no extra thrilling means to enter the weekend than rating kickers.
As at all times, this is your each day reminder to inform all your mates to enroll in the publication. To get them signed up, all you must do is click here.
1. Jets blow out Patriots: Grades and notes from New York’s huge win
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The Jets’ house opener went quite a bit higher this 12 months than it did final 12 months for Aaron Rodgers. In 2023, Rodgers solely lasted 4 snaps earlier than tearing his Achilles, however this 12 months he confirmed that he is totally over that damage by main the Jets to a dominant 24-3 win over the Patriots.
Listed here are our grades from final night time’s recreation:
JETS GRADE: A
It took three weeks, however Aaron Rodgers lastly appeared totally snug on the sphere and if we discovered one factor from Thursday’s recreation, it is {that a} totally snug Aaron Rodgers is a harmful Aaron Rodgers. The Jets QB diced up the Patriots protection by finishing 27 fo 35 passes to eight totally different receivers. Not solely did Rodgers throw for 287 yards and two touchdowns, however he confirmed off his mobility with three runs for 18 yards. Rodgers was in whole command of a Jets offense that piled up 400 yards, and if it is a signal of issues to come back, there is no cause this crew cannot compete for a playoff spot. Rodgers was so good that he overshadowed an almost excellent efficiency by a Jets protection that totaled seven sacks — with two of these coming from Will McDonald — whereas additionally surrendering simply 139 yards. This was a dominant win by a Jets crew that abruptly feels harmful.
Jets notes
- Aaron Rodgers lastly throws a TD move to a first-round decide. Aaron Rodgers has been within the NFL since 2005 and he is thrown practically 500 landing passes in his profession, however earlier than Thursday night time he had NEVER thrown a TD to a receiver who was drafted within the first spherical. That drought lastly got here to an finish when he hit Garrett Wilson for a 2-yard rating through the third quarter towards the Patriots.
- Jets finish their Patriots curse. The win by the Jets marked the primary time since 2015 that they’ve crushed New England at house. It additionally marked the primary time in 15 years that the Jets have crushed the Patriots in two straight video games.
PATRIOTS GRADE: D-
The Patriots had been anticipated to be one of many worst groups within the NFL this 12 months and after enjoying two surprisingly good video games to start out the season, the unhealthy Patriots lastly confirmed up. Enjoying behind a battered offensive line that was lacking a number of starters, Jacoby Brissett by no means actually had any time to throw and Rhamondre Stevenson by no means actually had any room to run. If you cannot throw the ball or run the ball, it is onerous to win within the NFL. Brissett was sacked 5 instances and Stevenson ran for simply 23 yards on an evening the place New England solely had 139 whole yards. The Patriots protection additionally struggled, however that is what occurs when your offense cannot transfer the ball and also you get caught on the sphere for greater than 40 minutes. The one silver lining for Patriots followers is that they lastly bought to see the debut of Drake Maye.
Patriots notes
- Patriots cannot move or rating. The Patriots passing offense formally hit all-time low on Thursday night time. New England’s passing whole was simply 61 yards and the Pats now have simply 306 passing yards by three video games, which is the crew’s lowest whole by three weeks since 1991. The Patriots additionally did not rating a landing on Thursday night time, which marks the sixth time for the reason that begin of the 2023 season that they’ve gone a complete recreation with no TD. That is probably the most the NFL, edging out the Giants and Panthers, who’ve each gone 5 video games with no TD in that interval.
- Drake Maye makes his debut. It wasn’t flashy, however the rookie quarterback saw his first action of the season on this recreation. Maye was solely on the sphere for one possession that ended with him going 4 of 8 for 22 yards. After all, we’d see extra of Maye sooner or later, as a result of after the sport, Jerod Mayo wouldn’t commit to beginning Jacoby Brissett going ahead. That being stated, he had a barely totally different tune on Friday morning when he was asked about the QB situation, “Jacoby is our quarterback till I say he isn’t the quarterback,” Mayo stated. So there you go.
You’ll be able to examine out our full takeaways from the game here.
2. Rating the 2-0 groups: Chiefs on prime, Steelers is likely to be frauds
After rating all of the 0-2 groups yesterday, we determined that we must always in all probability rank all of the 2-0 groups, in order that’s precisely what we will do as we speak. So who’s for actual and who’s a fraud? Cody Benjamin tried to reply that query by rating the NFL’s 9 remaining undefeated groups.
Let’s check out Cody’s full rating of all 9 groups:
1. Chiefs
2. Texans
3. Bills
4. Saints
5. Buccaneers
6. Vikings
7. Chargers
8. Seahawks
9. Steelers
We will discover out actually quickly simply how correct Cody’s rankings are as a result of the we will have two video games on Sunday that can characteristic a pair of 2-0 groups enjoying one another (Chargers at Steelers, Texans at Vikings).
If you wish to know why Cody ranked every crew the place he did, make sure to click here so you can check out his entire story.
3. Rating the top-10 kickers within the NFL
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With kickers getting off to such a scorching begin this 12 months, we thought it’d make sense to rank the top-10 kickers, so we will rank the top-10 kickers.
With that in thoughts, let’s take a look at the highest 5 names on the checklist:
1. Harrison Butker (Chiefs)
2. Brandon Aubrey (Cowboys)
3. Chris Boswell (Steelers)
4. Justin Tucker (Ravens)
5. Ka’imi Fairbairn (Texans)
The most important shock right here might be the truth that Justin Tucker is not the highest kicker within the NFL. The Ravens star has unofficially held that title for greater than a decade, however he is now fallen to fourth. A giant cause that Tucker has taken a tumble is as a result of he is hit simply 14.3% of his kicks from 50 yards or longer for the reason that begin of the 2023 season.
However, Aubrey has come out of nowhere to change into one of many prime kickers within the NFL. The Cowboys kicker was practically excellent final 12 months, which earned him First Group All-Professional, and he is off to a scorching begin as soon as once more in 2024.
If you wish to take a look at my full kicker rating, you can do that here.
4. NFL Week 3 picks: Chargers keep undefeated, Chiefs lose their first recreation
Welcome to the a part of the publication the place we hand out some picks, and let me simply say, primarily based on what we did final week, you may need to do the other of what we decide this week. We’ve got 5 NFL writers — Pete Prisco, together with Will Brinson, Jordan Dajani, Tyler Sullivan and myself — handing out picks each week and we had been ice chilly final week, going 1-4. Meaning we’re now 4-6 each straight-up and towards the unfold with the picks we have featured on this a part of the publication by the primary two weeks.
When you’re new right here, this is how issues work: I will provide you with one Week 3 decide from every author after which direct you to the remainder of their picks for the week. That means, if you happen to like their decide, you’ll click on over and take a look at all of their Week 3 picks, however if you happen to hate their decide, you may ignore the remainder of their picks and transfer on along with your life.
- Pete Prisco — Chargers (+2) 21-17 over Steelers. From Prisco: “The Steelers have the higher protection, however the Chargers are higher on offense with Justin Herbert. They’re enjoying consecutive highway video games, however it will not matter. They win it on the highway.” For the remainder of Prisco’s Week 3 picks, be sure to click here.
- Tyler Sullivan — Packers (+3) 20-17 over Titans. From Sullivan: “In his final 10 begins courting again to final season, Will Levis has extra interceptions than he does touchdowns, and the Packers protection is opportunistic sufficient to make the most of any mistake he might make on Sunday. Levis can be 2-8 ATS over his final 10 begins.” For the remainder of Sullivan’s Week 3 picks, be sure to click here.
- Will Brinson — Panthers (+5.5) to cowl towards Raiders. From Brinson: “Bryce Young simply bought benched, which implies your complete crew 1) ought to rally round Andy Dalton and a pair of) is aware of that nobody’s job is protected. The Raiders are enjoying properly, however I do not assume they will run away with this recreation.” For the remainder of Brinson’s Week 3 best bets, be sure to click here.
- Jordan Dajani — Falcons (+3.5) 24-23 over Chiefs. From Dajani: “The Chiefs have the longest lively win streak within the NFL courting to final 12 months with eight straight victories. I believe that might finish in prime time in Atlanta this week. That Cousins game-winning drive in Philly is one thing that may spark a crew, and the Falcons protection performed fairly properly, too.” For the remainder of Dajani’s Week 3 greatest bets, be sure to click here.
- John Breech — Texans (-2) 24-16 over Vikings. With their win over the 49ers, the Vikings have confirmed that they’ll play with anybody within the league. Nevertheless, they wanted a blocked punt, two second-half turnovers and a 97-yard landing from Justin Jefferson to beat San Francisco by simply six factors. They’re probably not going to have that many issues go their means this week, so I will must take the Texans. For the remainder of my Week 3 picks, be sure to click here.
For extra Week 3 NFL picks, you may check out out our CBSSports.com picks page here.
5. NFL daring predictions for Week 3
After providing you with some daring predictions for Week 2 final Friday, we thought we might do the identical factor once more this week. Garrett Podell got here up with 5 daring predictions for Week 3 and he is bought some fairly wild ones that simply may hit. Final week, Garrett predicted that the Buccaneers would upset the Lions AND that the Packers would shock the Colts even with Malik Willis at quarterback.
Here is a have a look at his predictions for Week 3:
- 1. Andy Dalton leads Panthers to an upset over the Raiders. “This week, the Panthers face a hard-nosed Raiders protection constructed within the picture of head coach Antonio Pierce, a Tremendous Bowl-winning inside linebacker with the Giants. They’ve allowed solely 17.2 factors per recreation since Pierce took over previous to Week 9 final season, and that’s the second-fewest within the NFL in that span. Nevertheless, the Panthers are going to beat them. Why? Merely due to the improve their offense will obtain going from one of many worst statistical quarterbacks in NFL historical past to 36-year-old, regular veteran Andy Dalton, a three-time Professional Bowler in his hey day with the Cincinnati Bengals. Dalton is quietly the Bengals’ all-time chief in passing touchdowns with 204 from 2011 to 2019. He will probably be making his second begin as a Panther, and he threw for 361 yards in his sole begin with Carolina in Week 3 on the Seahawks final season. … The improve from Younger to Dalton will shock the Raiders because the Panthers win their first recreation of the season.”
- 2. Vikings upset Texans. “Since his rookie 12 months in 2023, C.J. Stroud has been elite at throwing the soccer deep downfield rating third within the league in yards per move try (8.1), and second in air yards per move try (8.8). Stroud’s 43 completions of 25 or extra yards since coming into the NFL final 12 months are tied for the second-most in soccer. As a way to make deep throws, you want time to throw. That is proof by Stroud’s 3.03 seconds common time to throw, the ninth-longest within the NFL. He has been sacked seven instances in 2024 because of this, tied for the sixth-most within the NFL. That is not superb as he and the 2-0 Texans hit the highway to play the 2-0 Vikings, the NFL’s early chief in sacks (11), quarterback hits (19) and co-league chief in quarterback pressures (36) this season. Their 11 sacks are probably the most by two video games in crew historical past, and they’re up 6.6% of their quarterback strain price from final 12 months (32.1%) to this 12 months (38.7%), the third-largest enhance in strain price within the NFL.”
- 3. Quentin Johnston tops his rookie 12 months TD whole in Week 3. “As a rookie, Johnston solely had two receiving touchdowns your complete 12 months as he struggled to discover a position in former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s offense. The 2024 season has already been a large enchancment since he had two receiving touchdowns final week on the Panthers. On Sunday, he catches his third landing of 2024 for a career-high in a season towards the Pittsburgh Steelers, the second-best scoring protection in 2024.”
Garrett made a complete of 5 daring predictions for Week 3 and also you take a look at all of them here.
6. Additional factors: Derek Carr will get hit with hefty advantageous
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It has been a busy 24 hours within the NFL, and because it’s practically not possible to maintain monitor of every thing that occurred, I went forward and put collectively a roundup for you.
- Derek Carr fined $14,000 for TD celebration. The NFL doesn’t prefer it once you seize your crotch throughout a TD celebration and Carr discovered that out the onerous means this week. After scoring towards the Cowboys in Week 2, he pulled off a Michael Jackson crotch-grabbing celebration and the NFL responded by fining him $14,000. If you wish to see video of his celebration, you can check that out here.
- Dan Campbell compelled to promote his home. The Lions coach was compelled to promote his home after followers in Detroit discovered the place he lives. Apparently, followers had been harassing the Campbells after huge losses, together with Detroit’s NFC title recreation loss to the 49ers. You can get the full details of the story here.
- Tee Higgins lastly training for Bengals. The Bengals might lastly be at full energy on offense. Higgins practiced on Thursday and it is trying like there’s an opportunity that he might make his regular-season debut on Monday night time towards the Commanders.
- Bryce Younger responds to benching. The Panthers QB met with media on Wednesday and he spent most of that assembly answering questions on his benching. “Not one thing I used to be essentially anticipating,” Younger stated. “Clearly, not one thing that was nice to listen to.” You can check out his full comments here.
- George Kittle banged up. The 49ers will already be lacking Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel this week, and now, they may even be compelled to play with out Kittle. The tight finish didn’t practice Thursday because of a hamstring damage and there is a probability that he might miss Sunday’s recreation towards the Rams.
