Chip Shots: Lessons Learned, An NFL Sunday Surprise
November 19, 2022 at 3:31 a.m.
Chip Shots: Lessons Learned, An NFL Sunday Surprise
By Chip Davenport-
I was on a phone call with my sister as the 1 p.m. games were beginning, and she was eager to hang up and watch the Browns (she lives in Ohio).
I was complaining about being stuck with the Bears-Lions game followed by the Colts-Raiders game due to these teams being the obvious local favorites and told my sister Sundays like this make me glad I have the NFL’s RedZone cable channel.
I didn’t expect the Browns game to be very competitive because the Dolphins’ defense and a potent offense would be too much for Cleveland to handle, and I wished her well enjoying her favorite squad.
My hunch was right about the Browns game, but while I was watching NFL’s “short attention span package”, Red Zone, I noticed Detroit closed to within a score in the latter part of the third quarter. I tuned into the local Fox coverage of the two teams sharing twelve losses between them.
I ended up on board until the exciting 31-30 finale, a Lions win due to a missed Chicago extra point. I enjoyed a few additional treats.
I watched Jeff Okudah, Detroit’s top draft pick in the prior season and an alum of The Ohio State University (OSU) and Justin Fields, the Bears quarterback who has recently experienced some breakout numbers, and he had another good game – not flawless though.
The fellow alum shared a few one-on-one moments.
Okudah intercepted a Fields pass for a pick six to tie the score at 24. Fields, on the ensuing drive, juked and sprinted 67 yards for a touchdown QB keeper. Okudah happened to be the last man he eluded enroute to paydirt.
Fields broke a record for QB rushing yards in a five-game span.
A former Wolverine, Aiden Hutchison, Detroit’s number-one pick also picked off a Fields pass. I’m not a fan of Hutchison’s alma mater he is a great guy who’s having a solid rookie season.
The Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills were still playing when the Lions put away the Bears for a rare road win. The game featured the craziest final minute of football I have not experienced in a very long time. Minnesota’s 33-30 overtime win was a thriller, and the Vikes continued their Comeback-Kid-style of winning.
I wished the Bills-Vikings fray could have been broadcast locally but reminded myself the Bears and Lions was a fun game to watch.
I decided to be what I thought was masochistic and stay tuned solely to the Indianapolis Colts-Las Vegas Raiders matchup, assuming I would reach a point where I pressed my luck due to the unexpected enthusiasm triggered from the aforementioned 1 p.m. games.
The Colts, 25-20 winners in another unexpectedly exciting game on the road to boot, had its fair share of solid defensive plays and big offensive plays under new head coach Jeff Saturday.
Oh, one more thing.
There was another Ohio State alum wearing jersey number 1 – Paris Campbell – whose 35-yard catch-and-run TD reception secured the Colts’ fourth victory under newly-hired coach Jeff Saturday.
About six hours before this turn of events, I almost posted a snarky remark about my gratitude for carrying the cable version of the NFL’s RedZone channel due to what I expected to be two matchups of four NFL franchises experiencing hapless seasons heading into week 10.
Lessons learned:
An elite team like the Bills can still present a play triggering a debate between questionable play call or poor execution of ball security.
QB Josh Allen, who would seem at 6’7” to be invincible on a short field dive lost the football and eventually lost the game. The signal caller who is being touted as an MVP candidate sealed his team’s fate in Orchard Park, New York when he tossed an interception to end its overtime drive.
Even bad teams in the NFL have good football players… who can put together well-played football games as demonstrated among the Bears, Lions, Colts, and Raiders.
I was on a phone call with my sister as the 1 p.m. games were beginning, and she was eager to hang up and watch the Browns (she lives in Ohio).
I was complaining about being stuck with the Bears-Lions game followed by the Colts-Raiders game due to these teams being the obvious local favorites and told my sister Sundays like this make me glad I have the NFL’s RedZone cable channel.
I didn’t expect the Browns game to be very competitive because the Dolphins’ defense and a potent offense would be too much for Cleveland to handle, and I wished her well enjoying her favorite squad.
My hunch was right about the Browns game, but while I was watching NFL’s “short attention span package”, Red Zone, I noticed Detroit closed to within a score in the latter part of the third quarter. I tuned into the local Fox coverage of the two teams sharing twelve losses between them.
I ended up on board until the exciting 31-30 finale, a Lions win due to a missed Chicago extra point. I enjoyed a few additional treats.
I watched Jeff Okudah, Detroit’s top draft pick in the prior season and an alum of The Ohio State University (OSU) and Justin Fields, the Bears quarterback who has recently experienced some breakout numbers, and he had another good game – not flawless though.
The fellow alum shared a few one-on-one moments.
Okudah intercepted a Fields pass for a pick six to tie the score at 24. Fields, on the ensuing drive, juked and sprinted 67 yards for a touchdown QB keeper. Okudah happened to be the last man he eluded enroute to paydirt.
Fields broke a record for QB rushing yards in a five-game span.
A former Wolverine, Aiden Hutchison, Detroit’s number-one pick also picked off a Fields pass. I’m not a fan of Hutchison’s alma mater he is a great guy who’s having a solid rookie season.
The Minnesota Vikings and the Buffalo Bills were still playing when the Lions put away the Bears for a rare road win. The game featured the craziest final minute of football I have not experienced in a very long time. Minnesota’s 33-30 overtime win was a thriller, and the Vikes continued their Comeback-Kid-style of winning.
I wished the Bills-Vikings fray could have been broadcast locally but reminded myself the Bears and Lions was a fun game to watch.
I decided to be what I thought was masochistic and stay tuned solely to the Indianapolis Colts-Las Vegas Raiders matchup, assuming I would reach a point where I pressed my luck due to the unexpected enthusiasm triggered from the aforementioned 1 p.m. games.
The Colts, 25-20 winners in another unexpectedly exciting game on the road to boot, had its fair share of solid defensive plays and big offensive plays under new head coach Jeff Saturday.
Oh, one more thing.
There was another Ohio State alum wearing jersey number 1 – Paris Campbell – whose 35-yard catch-and-run TD reception secured the Colts’ fourth victory under newly-hired coach Jeff Saturday.
About six hours before this turn of events, I almost posted a snarky remark about my gratitude for carrying the cable version of the NFL’s RedZone channel due to what I expected to be two matchups of four NFL franchises experiencing hapless seasons heading into week 10.
Lessons learned:
An elite team like the Bills can still present a play triggering a debate between questionable play call or poor execution of ball security.
QB Josh Allen, who would seem at 6’7” to be invincible on a short field dive lost the football and eventually lost the game. The signal caller who is being touted as an MVP candidate sealed his team’s fate in Orchard Park, New York when he tossed an interception to end its overtime drive.
Even bad teams in the NFL have good football players… who can put together well-played football games as demonstrated among the Bears, Lions, Colts, and Raiders.
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