NFL Roundup: Staley Fires Back, Raiders Visit New England, Bears Host Packers
Thursday's news was mostly coaches and quarterbacks talking, and one defensive coordinator talked himself into an argument with the booth.
New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley took issue Thursday with Troy Aikman's commentary during the Saints' 45-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, calling the analyst's characterization untrue. Here's the trouble with that defense: the scoreboard is already in evidence. Aikman's job is to describe what he sees, and what everyone saw was Atlanta scoring 45. Staley can be right about the scheme and still lose the argument, because nobody remembers the coverage bust that wasn't his call. My read is that only a Sunday where the Saints' defense makes somebody miserable ends this. If New Orleans gives up another big number, the complaint becomes the story instead of a footnote, and that's a worse week than the one he just had.
The Las Vegas Raiders bring Kirk Cousins and a fast start into a matchup with a New England Patriots defense dealing with injuries. Cousins leads the NFL in touchdown passes, and this is the week that number gets fed. Banged-up secondaries don't just surrender completions, they surrender explosives, because communication breaks before talent does. I expect Las Vegas to test New England vertically early, and I expect the Patriots to answer with pressure rather than coverage. If New England can get home with four and keep Cousins from reaching his second read, I'm wrong, and that's the only path I see for the Patriots.
Denver goes to Los Angeles hunting its first AFC West win while the Chargers try to avoid an 0-5 start, and those are two different flavors of desperation. Denver's problem is neighborhood: the AFC West is a miserable place to need a divisional win. The Chargers' problem is everything else. Another loss and the season stops being about January and starts being about evaluation, which changes how a coaching staff calls a game. I'd still pick Denver, mostly because I don't trust a winless team to protect a lead in the fourth quarter. A Chargers team with nothing left to lose plays looser than its record, and that's the thing that would prove me wrong.
Chicago gets a chance to show again that it has taken the upper hand in the rivalry with Green Bay. Claims like that get made in the moment and then need maintenance. The stakes here are lopsided. Green Bay can lose this game and still be Green Bay next month, while a Bears loss hands the "upper hand" line straight back to everyone who thought it was premature. I think Chicago's run is real rather than a hot streak, and a win here makes it structural. What undoes that read is a Packers ground game that keeps the Bears' offense standing on the sideline.
Seattle signed defensive back A.J. Finley to the practice squad, a move that will not move a line and isn't meant to. October practice-squad signings are about the bottom of the roster and the coverage units, where attrition happens quietly and nobody notices until a Sunday in December. My read: this is secondary insurance for the Seahawks, and it only becomes a story if that room takes another hit. If Finley gets elevated, it means somebody got hurt.
Here's what the day actually adds up to. Four of these stories are about teams defending a reputation, and only one of them, the Staley spat, is being argued in public. The rest get settled on the field, which is where the Chargers' season is closest to the edge. My verdict: Denver at Los Angeles is the item that matters most by December, because a team that falls to 0-5 doesn't just lose a game, it loses the ability to plan forward, and coaching staffs that lose that start making decisions for their own futures instead of the roster's. Take the Broncos in a game that ends up closer than it should.
