WHAT WE LEARNED: NFL WEEK NINE

BY ADAM GREENE

We’ve put another week in the books. Now it’s time for the pop quiz on what we learned.

NEW COVID-19 PLAYOFF PLAN IN PLACE

Each week the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic threatens to move or downright cancel multiple NFL games. So far, through the first nine weeks of the season, we’ve gotten away unscathed, with a few minor schedule changes being the only league-wide effect. Teams have lost big name players for stretches, but ultimately it doesn’t look like it’s affected the overall quality of play or the potential playoff seeding.

But the NFL is taking no chances on that as we get into November and December, projected to be possibly two of the worst months of the American COVID-19 experience as we continue to set new infections records every single day.

Tuesday, the NFL announced that four Pittsburgh Steelers, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, have been added to the league’s reserve/COVID-19 list. They will be isolated for five days and have to pass COVID-19 tests in order to play in their game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Expect to see that game’s line and totals off the board until that’s settled.

Seeing that there’s so much uncertainty each week and having just one “spare” week built into the schedule, a possible “Week 18,” the NFL has adopted an emergency playoff schedule in case any games are actually cancelled, expanding the field from 14 teams to 16 teams.

While the field will expand, the league will not re-seed teams, meaning division winners will still populate the first four slots in any playoff scenario.

Under the current 14-team playoff bracket, the Steelers would be the No. 1 seed in the AFC, with the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 2, the Buffalo Bills at No. 3 and the Tennessee Titans at No. 4. The Wild Card group would be the Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders and the Miami Dolphins. In the expanded COVID-19 bracket, the Cleveland Browns would also be in.

In the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks would be the top seed, with the Green Bay Packers at No. 2, the New Orleans Saints at No. 3 and the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 4. The Wild Cards would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. In the COVID-19 expansion, the Chicago Bears would make it as the final seed.

TUA TAGOVAILOA MAKES A STATEMENT

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 2-0 as a starter in the NFL, but the first game was a mixed bag to say the least. The Dolphins were completely shut down by the Los Angeles Rams defense, but luckily enough their own defense was plenty better than the Rams offense. This week, Tagovailoa got to really strut his stuff against a legitimate opponent and he put on a show.

Tua finished 20 of 38 for 248 yards and two touchdowns with no picks in a 34-31 win over the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which Miami was a -6 underdog. He completed passes to seven different receivers and led the team to a come-from-behind fourth quarter victory, the first of what will probably be many before he hangs up his spurs.

It’s just one game, but it shows the strength of the 2020 rookie first round quarterback class, in spite of the fact that Green Bay’s Jordan Love hasn’t even gotten a cleat on the field.

Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert, taken a pick after Tagovailoa, is in the driver’s seat for the league’s offensive rookie of the year award. Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow is hot on his heels and, frankly, that’s probably a coin flip right now. Tua isn’t in that conversation currently because he’s not had as many starts as those men, but here’s where he can make it interesting; the Dolphins are making a playoff run.

As I wrote above, if the postseason started today, Miami would be in as Wild Card. If they expand the field to 16 because of COVID-19 cancelled games, their chances only increase. If Tagovailoa helps this Dolphins squad get to double-digit wins and into the postseason, you have to re-examine the entire OROY standings. You can’t factor in a playoff victory since the votes are already tabulated at that point, but with the way Miami is playing, especially on defense, you can hardly rule it out.

THE NFC WEST IS THE NFL’S BEST DIVISION, BUT DOESN’T HAVE THE BEST TEAM

With the Buffalo Bills delivering a 44-34 beat down to the Seahawks, they can already lay claim to the NFC West title if they beat the Cards this week in spite of not playing in it. They’ve already knocked off the Los Angeles Rams.

If the playoffs started today, Seattle would remain the top seed, but just barely. The meat of their schedule is coming up with two games against the Rams, a team they always split with, and one more against the Cardinals and 49ers.

The Rams, in fact, can take over first place and send the Seahawks into the Wild Card group with a win at home on Sunday. It’s entirely likely that, however this division plays out, LA, Arizona and Seattle will all make the playoffs. But each team has glaring weaknesses (that have shown up in bad losses) that could preclude a lengthy run. Some of these are fixable problems (Jared Goff’s early game struggles). Others don’t seem so fixable (Seattle’s defense).

But honestly, the thing that’s “wrong” in the NFC West is systemic of the elite teams in the NFC. They’ve all got a huge hole somewhere on the team with the losses on the schedule to show for it.

And all seem significantly behind the AFC’s best three teams; the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. More than that, those AFC squads have proven it on the field this season when they’ve matched up with their NFC counterparts.

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