S6 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019
Lamar Jackson is off to a sensa-
tional start, with his arm and his
legs putting up eye-popping
numbers in his second NFL sea-
son. The Baltimore quarterback
knows he has a long way to go,
though, to become great.
He’ll see Exhibit A across from
him on the other sideline when
the Ravens play host to Tom Bra-
dy and the undefeated New En-
gland Patriots on Sunday night in
one of the more intriguing
matchups of Week 9.
“Tom Brady is definitely the
one at the top,” Jackson said. “He
has six Super Bowls. He’s definite-
ly the GOAT, definitely.”
While Brady has Jackson’s vote
for the “Greatest of All Time” at
quarterback, the New England
star is hardly satisfied – even with
all those rings and records. The
Patriots are looking for their third
9-0 start in franchise history, and
the second in five years.
“You have to sharpen your
tools,” Ravens defensive tackle
Brandon Williams said, “because
they’re definitely sharpening
theirs.”
It all starts with Brady, of
course. But Bill Belichick’s bunch
has also been doing it with a
downright stingy defence.
The Patriots lead the NFL in
points allowed per game (7.6)
and have scored as many defen-
sive touchdowns as they have al-
lowed: four.
“We’ll see how good they are
once we play them,” Ravens tight
end Nick Boyle said. “I don’t think
they’ve seen anything like our of-
fence or like Lamar.”
In fairness, few have.
The dynamic Jackson is the on-
ly player in the NFL with at least
1,500 yards passing and 500 yards
rushing this season. Jackson also
ranks 10th over all in the league
with 576 yards rushing – more
than seven teams’ total.
“He’s a major problem and ev-
erybody’s had trouble with him,”
Belichick said. “It’ll be a big chal-
lenge for us. Yeah, he can do it all.
He can run, he can throw, can
throw on the run, can extend
plays. He’s tough.”
Week 9 began Thursday night,
with San Francisco’s 28-25 road
victory over Arizona that lifted
the 49ers to 8-0.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 317
yards and four touchdowns for
the 49ers. Rookie Kyler Murray
threw for 241 yards and two
touchdowns for the Cardinals (3-
5-1).
Atlanta (1-7), Cincinnati (0-8),
New Orleans (7-1) and the Los An-
geles Rams (5-3) all have a bye-
week break.
MINNESOTA (6-2)
AT KANSAS CITY (5-3)
All eyes will be on Chiefs quarter-
back Patrick Mahomes – and
whether he’s on the sideline or
under centre.
Mahomes is recovering from a
dislocated kneecap that kept him
out of Kansas City’s past game, a
31-24 loss to Green Bay. If the
reigning NFL MVP can’t play, it’ll
again be Matt Moore starting after
he had 267 yards passing and two
touchdowns against the Packers.
Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins is
coming off setting a Vikings sin-
gle-game record for completion
percentage (88.5), going 23 of 26
last week in a win over Washing-
ton. He’ll lead a Minnesota squad
that hasn’t played at Arrowhead
Stadium since 1974.GREEN BAY (7-1)
AT LA CHARGERS (3-5)Matt LaFleur is off to quite a start
with the Packers, becoming the
19th NFL head coach and the first
since Jim Harbaugh in 2011 to win
at least seven of his first eight
games.
Aaron Rodgers has been doing
his usual: two straight games
with 300-plus passing yards,
three-plus passing TDs and no
INTs. Aaron Jones has been a
huge factor: He was the only play-
er in the league in October to post
250 or more yards rushing, and
250 or more yards receiving.
The Chargers are struggling on
offence, even with the return of
Melvin Gordon, so coach Antho-
ny Lynn made a change by firing
co-ordinator Ken Whisenhunt.TAMPA BAY (2-5) AT SEATTLE (6-2)The Seahawks are looking to start
7-2 or better for the fifth time in
franchise history, and they’ll face
a Buccaneers team that’s con-
cluding a six-week stretch in
which it hasn’t played a game in
its home stadium.
Jameis Winston is coming off
his fourth game with 300 or more
yards passing for Tampa Bay, but
he also has 10 turnovers in his
past two outings.
Russell Wilson leads the NFL
with 17 touchdown passes this
season, with only one INT. He’ll
also tie guard Chris Gray for the
franchise record with 121 consec-
utive starts.HOUSTON (5-3) VS.
JACKSONVILLE (4-4)The Texans are making their first
trip to London, but Wembley Sta-
dium has been a home-away-
from-Jacksonville for the Jaguars,
who are playing there for the sev-
enth consecutive year.
Deshaun Watson is the first
player in NFL history with at least
15 TD passes and five rushing
scores in his team’s first eight
games of season. The Texans
won’t have J.J. Watt on defence,
though, after he was lost for the
season last week with a torn pec-
toral.
Minshew Mania remains alive
and well for the Jaguars, with
quarterback Gardner Minshew
leading rookies with 13 TD passes
and a 98.8 quarterback rating. He
has had a productive supporting
cast around him, with Leonard
Fournette leading the AFC with
791 yards rushing and wide re-
ceiver DJ Chark tied for the league
lead with six TD catches.INDIANAPOLIS (5-2)
AT PITTSBURGH (3-4)This marks the first meeting be-
tween the teams since 1997 to not
feature the Peyton Manning for
the Colts or Ben Roethlisberger
for the Steelers.
Jacoby Brissett has done a solid
job replacing the retired Andrew
Luck, leading the Colts to three
straight victories. Indianapolis
has also gotten used to playing
nail-biters: Every one of its games
this season has been decided by a
touchdown or less.
Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph is
coming off a career-high 251 yards
passing last week in Pittsburgh’s
victory over Miami. Rudolph will
see if he can get things done on a
Sunday, though, after being the
first QB in NFL history to have his
first two career victories come on
Monday Night Football.TENNESSEE (4-4)
AT CAROLINA (4-3)The Titans have won consecutivegames by a combined seven
points, and can thank quarter-
back Ryan Tannehill in large part.
He has thrown for 505 yards with
five TDs and one interception
with a 115.3 passer rating in his
two starts since replacing the
benched Marcus Mariota.
Kyle Allen remains the starting
quarterback for the Panthers, but
took his first career loss in a 51-13
blowout defeat against San Fran-
cisco. He also threw the first three
interceptions of his career. Allen
will have to be on guard against
the Titans, who forced four turn-
overs last week against Tampa
Bay and are tied for second in the
NFL with a plus-7 turnover mar-
gin.WASHINGTON (1-7)
AT BUFFALO (5-2)Struggling Washington is in jeop-
ardy of opening 1-8 for the first
time since 1998, and rookie
Dwayne Haskins is to make his
first career start, as Case Keenum
isn’t cleared from concussion
protocol.
The Bills’ defence could be in
for a bounceback game after a 31-
13 loss to Philadelphia. Buffalo
has forced at least one turnover in
seven straight games and will face
a Washington offence that has
scored a combined 36 points in
the past five games.CHICAGO (3-4)
AT PHILADELPHIA (4-4)Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz
has thrown a touchdown pass in
11 consecutive games, tied with
Seattle’s Russell Wilson for the
NFL’s longest active streak. He’ll
face a Bears defence, led by sack-
happy Khalil Mack, that held the
Chargers’ Philip Rivers to a sea-
son-low 201 yards passing while
shutting down Los Angeles’s run
game and allowing just 36 yards
on the ground.
Here’s one subplot: The teams
are playing for the first time since
the Eagles won the NFC wild-card
game in Chicago last January,
when Cody Parkey double-doinked a field goal in closing sec-
onds. Parkey is gone, replaced by
Eddy Pineiro – who missed a 41-
yarder as time expired last week
after clanging a 33-yarder off an
upright.DETROIT (3-3-1)
AT OAKLAND (3-4)The Raiders are playing their first
game in Oakland since Sept. 15,
and maybe being back home will
help change their fortunes. Jon
Gruden’s group is the sixth team
since 1990 to lose back-to-back
games while averaging at least
seven yards per play.
The Lions are coming off a win
over the Giants that snapped a
three-game skid. Matthew Staf-
ford is off to a terrific overall start,
as he’s tied for the league lead
with four games with at least
three touchdown passes this sea-
son.CLEVELAND (2-5) AT DENVER (2-6)Baker Mayfield and the Browns
are on a three-game losing streak,
and turnovers and penalties are
major culprits.
Cleveland turned the ball over
on three consecutive plays in a
loss last week at New England,
and Mayfield leads the AFC with
12 interceptions. The Browns also
lead the NFL with 70 penalties
called on them.
Things haven’t been going too
well for the Broncos, either.
They’re averaging just 15.6 points
through eight games, with the
1966 and ’71 teams the only Den-
ver squads to put up less per
game. With quarterback Joe Flac-
co out with a neck injury, Bran-
don Allen will make his first NFL
start in his fourth season.DALLAS (4-3) AT N.Y. GIANTS (2-6)The NFC East rivals meet for the
second time this season, and will
do so this time in front of a prime-
timeMonday Night Footballaudi-
ence.
The Cowboys have won five
straight against the Giants, who
have lost four in a row over all and
been outscored 38-0 in the first
quarter during their skid.
Quarterback Dak Prescott and
the Cowboys have the NFL’s No. 1
overall offence and could be in for
a big night against New York’s
28th-ranked defence.N.Y. JETS (1-6) AT MIAMI (0-7)Jets coach Adam Gase returns to
Miami for the first time since be-
ing fired by the Dolphins after a
stretch in which he went 23-25 in
the regular season with one play-
off appearance.
This one figures to be a doozy,
though, with the combined re-
cord of the teams’ 1-13 – the NFL’s
worst entering Game 8 since 1969.
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold
struggled in his past two games,
with one touchdown and seven
interceptions, and is playing with
a sprained left thumb. New York
will see a familiar face in the oth-
er huddle with Ryan Fitzpatrick
starting again for the Dolphins.
He went 13-14 as the Jets’ starter in
2015 and ’16.RavenstotakeonundefeatedPatriots
BradymaybeGOAT,
butJackson’sversatility
stillmeanstrouble
forNewEngland
DENNIS WASZAK JR.
Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, seen in a game with the Seattle Seahawks last month, is the only player
in the NFL this season with at least 1,500 yards passing and 500 yards rushing.ALIKAJENNER/GETTYIMAGESL
inebacker Lorenzo Alexan-
der took a moment from dis-
cussing the “whuppin” the
Buffalo Bills defence suffered last
weekend to assess the sorry state
of Washington, one of his former
teams.
“It’s shocking in some ways,”
Alexander said of a once-proud
franchise, off to a 1-7 start and
travelling to face the Bills (5-2) on
Sunday. “With the ups and downs,
the drama, the stuff that’s not
football-related can wear on you.”
Washington has changed
coaches, with Bill Callahan replac-
ing Jay Gruden, who was fired af-
ter an 0-5 start. There’s the drama
of offensive tackle Trent Wil-
liams’s playing status, which re-
mains unresolved even after he
reported to the team this week.
Rookie quarterback Dwayne
Haskins will make his first NFL
start, Callahan said Friday.
Haskins has completed 12 of 22
passes for 140 yards with four in-
terceptions in two relief appear-
ances since being selected by
Washington with the 15th overall
pick of the 2019 NFL draft.
“We’re really excited about
Dwayne’s opportunity, a young
quarterback going up against one
of the top three defences in the
league,” Callahan said. “It will be a
great challenge for him, a learning
experience and a great challenge
for all of us to pull together, rally
around Dwayne and go up there
and compete against a top team in
the AFC East.”
Haskins replaced an injured
Case Keenum in Washington’s
24-3 loss to the New York Giants
on Sept. 29, completing nine of 17
passes for 107 yards and three in-
terceptions.
The 22-year-old entered last
week’s 19-9 loss to the Minnesota
Vikings after Keenum sustained a
concussion. He completed three
of five passes for 33 yards and an
interception.
Questions continue as to
whether Buffalo is benefiting
from a soft schedule. The Bills’
five wins have come against op-
ponents entering this weekend
with a combined record of 7-31.
Those concerns didn’t lessen after
Buffalo was pushed around on
both sides of the ball in a 31-13 loss
to the Eagles last weekend.
The Josh Allen-led offence
mustered a season-low 253 yards
and managed two first downs on
its final six possessions. The usu-
ally stout defence gave up a sea-
son-worst 218 yards rushing, in-cluding 156 in the second half.
“We never want to be dominat-
ed the way we were last week,”
Alexander said. “But one game
doesn’t define us.”
In Washington, Callahan is tak-
ing a step-at-a-time approach to
inject a sense of respectability in-
to a team in jeopardy of opening
with one win or fewer through its
first nine games for only the fifth
time, and first since going 1-8 to
open the 1998 season.
“We’re making progress. I thinkthat’s internal and it’s hard for me
to say publicly that we’re improv-
ing when we’re at the point that
we’re at right now,” Callahan said.
“But for the guys in the room,
that’s our sole focus is just getting
better every day.”PETERSON VS GOREThe matchup will be the first to
feature two running backs with at
least 13,500 yards rushing.Buffalo’s Frank Gore’s 15,170
yards rank fourth on the list and
99 shy of matching Barry Sanders.
Washington’s Adrian Peterson
moved into sixth place with 13,701
yards, after passing Jerome Bettis
and LaDainian Tomlinson last
week.
Bills defensive co-ordinator
Leslie Frazier held the same job in
Minnesota during Peterson’s roo-
kie season in 2007.
“He’s finishing his career
strong for sure,” Frazier said.TRENT’S HERE, SORT OFWashington has been granted a
roster exemption for Williams,
who failed his physical because of
helmet discomfort after having
surgery to remove a tumour from
his skull. Williams said he told the
team of the medical issue six years
ago, and the growth on his head
grew substantially over time.
Williams said he distrusts the
team’s medical staff and adds he
was “told some scary things” by
doctors that changed his outlook
on life.
He has not committed to play-
ing for Washington again.THEASSOCIATEDPRESS,
WITHAREPORTFROMREUTERSAfterlastweek’s‘whuppin,’BillswelcomeaweakWashingtonteam
JOHN WAWROW
ORCHARDPARK,N.Y.
Wide receiver Cole Beasley and the Buffalo Bills offence will try to
rebound against Washington after mustering a season-low 253 yards
against Philadelphia last week.BRETTCARLSEN/GETTYIMAGESFOOTBALL