In a weekend filled with nailbiters, massive upsets, and in some cases flat-out bad football, CD had a lot to take away from this past weekend in both the college and professional ranks. This is CD’s Cover Two.
Is Cincy On Fast Track to CFP?
The Cincinnati Bearcats have been that hot team from the group of five a lot like UCF was from 2016-2018, always climbing up towards the top of the rankings, but never breaking that glass ceiling. This year feels a lot different with a ton of chaos across the power five conferences and unknowns, this could very well be the season a group of five team slides into the conversation for a college football playoff spot.
The case for that was made this past Saturday and the way they manhandled Notre Dame. With everything else that happened this past weekend, the Bearcats are one step closer to being in control of their own destiny as they prepare for conference play.
Alabama and Georgia Miles Ahead of Everyone Else
If there’s one takeaway from this past weekend, it’s that Georgia and Alabama are the best teams in the country and it’s not even close. First off, you had Georgia demolish Arknasas’ offense and go up 21-0 before the first quarter even ended and that was followed by Nick Saban’s Alabama breaking out the popcorn and destroying Ole Miss from the inside.
If this were a footrace, Alabama and Georgia are two Usain Bolts while everyone is so far behind the curve.
Oregon Played Itself Out of CFP?
Headed into this past weekend, I posited whether or not the Pac-12 had a chance of making the playoff with Oregon. You had a solid defense that is anchored by potential 2022 top-pick Kayvon Thibodeaux and were in control in the final moments before Stanford tied it up at the buzzer after a good pass to Elijah Higgins, leading to a massive upset of the Ducks in overtime.
Does Oregon still have a puncher’s chance of getting into the big dance? Yes, but the odds are getting pretty slim with a ton of football left to play. The Pac-12, much like Rodney Dangerfield, gets no respect and that loss is going to be something that the committee will talk about once the first College Football Playoff polls drop.
Is Iowa For Real?
Iowa has a golden opportunity to vault up the polls this weekend when they play the Nittany Lions of Penn State. The way the Hawkeyes have looked this season has been impressive and they completely outclassed the Maryland Terrapins last Friday night to the point that social media referred to Tua’s little brother as Taulia Turntheballova. Penn State obviously presents a bigger challenge, but based off how they looked a few weeks ago against Iowa State makes you wonder if this is that year for Hawkeye nation to get back in the swing of things.
Talk to your kids about an undefeated Iowa before it’s too late.
Empire State Teams Winless No More
This was a weekend for the underdogs with both the New York Giants and New York Jets getting their first wins of the season in overtime battles. Daniel Jones shined in the final moments, leading the Giants to an overtime win against a New Orleans Saints team that needs to re-calibrate themselves before they play the Washington Football Team (a kicker would be nice also)
Then you have Zach Wilson finally living up to the lofty expectations many members of Jets nation put on him and led that franchise to a nice overtime win over the Tennessee Titans, a team many had pegged as a potential contender in the AFC during the preseason. Mike Vrabel has a lot of explaining to do after a 2-2 start, but thankfully the rest of the AFC South is pretty awful so they’ll probably still get a decent seed in the playoffs.
Falcons do Falcons Things
The Atlanta Falcons may have overhauled the coaching staff, but the biggest issue for this team still arises and that’s blowing leads to lesser teams. This wasn’t 28-3 but still was a bad look to see them lose late to the Washington Football Team.
We should always expect them to do this kind of stuff right?
Houston Texans Lay Massive Egg
One of the five bets I was supremely confident in was the Houston Texans covering the 10-point spread against the Buffalo Bills. That wasn’t the case and this may be the rock bottom of a Texans franchise that has gone down a black hole in a real hurry.
Brady Bests Belichick
Tom Brady is now an elite class for more than one reason after the way the Tampa Bay Bucs beat Bill Belichick and the Patriots. For one, Brady passed up Drew Brees on the all-time passing yards list while the man was on the sidelines since it was on Sunday Night Football (smart planning by the NFL).
Then Brady was able to beat his former team and a lot like Thanos in Infinity War, the former Michigan Wolverine has collected the final NFL gem. Will this team now snap half the NFL out of existence? No – that’ll never happen, but this was one heck of an achievement only a few others have done.