by Ryan Mercier
Zimmer’s Big Mistake (and Not on 4th Down)
Sunday Night Football provided one of the best games of the year so far as Russell Wilson brought the Seahawks to victory in dramatic fashion at the end, like always. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has gotten both criticism and praise for his decision to go for it on 4th and short in the red zone.
Kick the field goal, go up by eight points and give Wilson the ball back. Pick up a 4th down and the game is all but sealed. It was a tough decision where either choice is actually a good one. Zimmer elected to go for it and failed. However, that was not his blunder. The huge mistake occurred in the 3rd quarter.
Down eight points, Adam Thielen caught a TD which made the score 21-19, Seahawks. The Vikings elected to go for a two-point conversion. Why? Zimmer, like many head coaches, suffer from a condition I am dubbing “Score OCD.” They get itchy when the scores do not match in a beautiful mirror image. Kicking the extra point would create an imperfect, uneven score which leads to an OCD anxiety attack (I’m guessing).
If the Vikings kicked an extra point the score would have been 21-20 (don’t look at that if you also suffer from Score OCD). On Minnesota’s following touchdown, an extra point again would’ve resulted in a score of 27-21. If that were the case, kicking a field goal becomes a much easier choice later in the game. There is no reason to risk a two-point failure so early in games when all it could do is tie up the score and look nice. There’s plenty of time left, have some patience.
Raiders Have Arrived to the 2020 Season
The Las Vegas Raiders scored the biggest win of Week 5 at the expense of the mighty Kansas City Chiefs. QB Derek Carr played the part of Patrick Mahomes as he unfurled deep bombs to his receivers, straying from the norm.
Don’t forget, the Raiders were down 14-3 early in this game and Las Vegas (then, Oakland) has been crushed repeatedly by the Chiefs in years past. Jon Gruden’s bunch not only overcame that 1st quarter deficit but completely turned it around and took a 16-point lead in the 4th quarter. This is one of the most impressive victories of the season.
Ravens and Rams Now a Ho-Hum 4-1
Beating the Bengals and Washington Football Team are not great standalone feats. While there were more exciting games and newsworthy outcomes going on, Baltimore and Los Angeles turned in victories by a combined score of 57-13.
The funny thing is, neither team is in first place in their division because of a couple undefeated squads residing at the top. The Ravens are looking up at the 4-0 Pittsburgh Steelers in the standings while the Rams have to deal with the frightening 5-0 Seahawks. Blowout victories don’t reach the top of highlight shows but are still worthy of praise.
Final Notes:
- Bears likely stacked enough surprising early-season victories to make the playoffs
- Bucs will be fine
- Hats off to the Carolina Panthers who have won three in a row
- 49ers – Uh, oh
Struggling Actor Sports 