S2 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| SATURDAY,OCTOBER19,2019
E
arl Thomas is going back to
the place where it all started
for him.
The playmaking safety was a
star in Seattle for nine seasons,
helping the Seahawks win a Su-
per Bowl while establishing him-
self as one of the best at his posi-
tion.
Then, things got a bit messy.
“I feel like they were kind of
trying to phase me out,” Thomas
said this week.
He was a contract holdout in
training camp last year, and his
season ended when he broke his
left leg in Week 4 – punctuated by
Thomas flipping the middle fin-
ger to Pete Carroll and the Sea-
hawks’ sideline as he rode off the
field on a cart.
Now with Baltimore, Thomas
will try to lead the Ravens (4-2) to
a victory Sunday against the Sea-
hawks (5-1).
“They gave me my first shot,”
he said of Seattle. “I won so many
games there, grew up as a young
man there, so I’m always going to
respect that organization and al-
ways going to be a part of it.”
It doesn’t mean he doesn’t
want to beat them, and badly.
And, Carroll knows it.
“Earl was an incredible com-
petitor, and I loved coaching
him,” the Seahawks coach said. “I
think it will be fun playing
against him.”
Well, it certainly should be fun
to watch the two quarterbacks in
this one, with Russell Wilson off
to possibly the best start of his ca-
reer for Seattle and Lamar Jack-
son making plays with his arm
and legs for Baltimore.
Wilson doesn’t have an inter-
ception yet and is just the fourth
quarterback to have a passer rat-
ing of 100 or higher in the first six
games of a season. He’s trying to
get the Seahawks to 6-1 for only
the second time in franchise his-
tory.
“It’s sort of like playing against
Steph Curry in basketball, if you
will,” Ravens defensive co-ordi-
nator Don Martindale said. “You
can pick him half court and he’s
going to try to drive by you or you
can slack off and he’s going to
pull up and hit a three.”
Meanwhile, Jackson became
the first NFL player with 200
yards passing and 150 yards rush-
ing in the same regular-season
game, accomplishing the feat last
week in a 23-17 win over Cincin-
nati. His 460 yards rushing rank
him fourth in the AFC. Yes, as a
quarterback.
“He’s as good as we’ve ever
seen,” Carroll said. “He’s as fast
and as elusive as we’ve seen.”
Week 7 opened with Kansas
City’s 30-6 victory at Denver, a
win tempered by the loss of
reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes
to a right knee injury in the sec-
ond quarter.
Backup Matt Moore threw a 57-
yard touchdown pass to Tyreek
Hill and the Chiefs (5-2) had nine
sacks, gave up a season-low 71
yards rushing and snapped a two-
game skid in beating the Broncos
(2-5) for the eighth straight time.
His balky left ankle heavily taped,
Mahomes completed 10 of 11 pas-
ses for 76 yards and a touchdown
before he was hurt on a success-
ful sneak on fourth-and-inches at
the Denver 5.
Carolina (4-2), Cleveland (2-4),
Pittsburgh (2-4) and Tampa Bay
(2-4) are all off this week.
PHILADELPHIA(3-3)
ATDALLAS(3-3)
An early season showdown for
first place in the NFC East in a
Sunday night matchup of teams
coming off losses.
The Cowboys are actually on a
three-game losing streak after a
3-0 start, falling last Sunday 24-22
to the previously winless Jets.
Dallas hasn’t lost four in a row
since 2015, when it dropped sev-
en straight after then-quarter-
back Tony Romo was hurt in
Week 2. Dak Prescott and the
Cowboys, whose offence ranks
No. 2 over all in the NFL, hope to
avoid a similar fate – and they
have some optimism. Dallas has
won three in a row in the series
against Philadelphia.
That might mean little to Car-
son Wentz and the Eagles,
though. They’re the only division
rival with a winning record at
AT&T Stadium (6-4). But they’ll
need to turn things around after
falling to Minnesota 38-20 last
week.
SANFRANCISCO(5-0)
ATWASHINGTON(1-5)
The 49ers head into this week
joining New England as the only
undefeated teams in the league,
and they look to make it 6-0 for
only the third time in franchise
history.
San Francisco is 5-0 for the first
time since 1990, and has been
getting the job done on both
sides of the ball. Jimmy Garoppo-
lo, the eighth quarterback in the
Super Bowl era with 13-plus wins
in his first 15 starts, leads the No. 4
overall offence in the league. The
49ers’ defence is off to an even
more impressive start, ranking
second over all behind a stingy
showing in a 20-7 win over the
Los Angeles Rams. San Francisco
gave up just 48 net yards passing,
and allowed no conversions on
third or fourth down for the first
time since 1988.
Lowly Washington edged Mia-
mi 17-16 last week in Bill Call-
ahan’s debut as the Redskins’ in-
terim coach. The Redskins are 9^1 ⁄ 2
point underdogs in this one, and
Washington hasn’t won at home
since Week 7 in 2018.NEWORLEANS(5-1)
ATCHICAGO(3-2)
Teddy Bridgewater has done ev-
erything he can to help offset the
loss of Drew Brees to a torn liga-
ment in his right thumb, going
4-0 in his place as the NFC South-
leading Saints’ starting quarter-
back. And, while the Saints might
not light up the scoreboard as
they did last season, they’re get-
ting consistently solid perform-
ances from their defence and
special teams.
The Bears are hoping to have
quarterback Mitchell Trubisky
back after he missed one game
because of an injured left shoul-
der. Chase Daniel, who had two
stints as a backup in New Or-
leans, would make his second
straight start if Trubisky can’t go.HOUSTON(4-2)
ATINDIANAPOLIS(3-2)
A rematch of last season’s wild-
card round matchup in which the
Colts beat the Texans 21-7. An-
drew Luck was the quarterbackfor Indianapolis then, though,
before opting to retire in the
summer.
Jacoby Brissett has taken over
for the Colts and has been sacked
just six times, tied for the second
fewest in the league. In fact, Indi-
anapolis has not allowed sack
since Week 3. The Colts’ offensive
line will be put to the test this
week against J.J. Watt, Whitney
Mercilus and the Texans’ pass
rush.
Deshaun Watson is off to an
excellent start and has six touch-
down passes the past two games,
but also threw two interceptions
in the Texans’ victory at Kansas
City last week.MINNESOTA(4-2)
ATDETROIT(2-2-1)
A quick turnaround helped pre-
vent the Lions from dwelling too
long on the calls at Green Bay on
Monday night that didn’t go their
way in a 23-22 loss.
After Detroit opened the sea-
son 2-0-1, it has lost two straight –
and its failure to hold onto dou-
ble-digit leads against the Pack-
ers and Kansas City Chiefs are a
major culprit.
Matthew Stafford and the Li-
ons could be in for a shootout in
this one, though. Kirk Cousins
has an NFL-high 142.5 rating the
past two weeks for the Vikings
with 639 yards passing, six TDs
and one interception.ARIZONA(2-3-1)
ATN.Y.GIANTS(2-4)
While the records might not be
eye-popping, the future is now
for both the Cardinals and Giants- who each think, and hope,
they’ve got their franchise quar-
terbacks.
Kyler Murray, the No. 1 overall
draft pick in April, has mostly
played up to the lofty expecta-
tions while starting every game
for Arizona. Daniel Jones, taken
No. 6 over all by the Giants, has
stepped in for the benched Eli
Manning and showed some im-
pressive playmaking ability while
going 2-2 as the starter.
It’s also the second time two
rookie starting quarterbacks se-
lected in the top 10 in the com-
mon era of the draft face each
other, with the first being last
year when Sam Darnold of the
Jets (No. 3) faced Josh Allen of the
Bills (No. 7).
Jones and the Giants could al-
so get star running back Saquon
Barkley back after he missed
three games with an injured right
ankle.
OAKLAND(3-2)
ATGREENBAY(5-1)
The suddenly streaking Raiders
are looking to win three straight
for the first time since 2016. And,
if they can pull it off, it would be
all on the road – something Oak-
land hasn’t done since the play-
offs following the 1980 season.
Jon Gruden’s guys are coming
off a bye-week break after playing
in London, and now they’ll have
to go into Lambeau Field against
Aaron Rodgers and a Packers
team that is playing well.
Green Bay has also defeated
Oakland seven straight times,
dating to 1990. The Packers will
look to keep that going under
Matt LaFleur, the first head coach
in franchise history to win five of
his first six games.NEWENGLAND(6-0)
ATN.Y.JETS(1-4)
Tom Brady and the Patriots
cruised to the fourth 6-0 start in
team history, and have their
sights set on the franchise’s third
7-0 start.
They’ll have to do it Monday
night against the AFC East-rival
Jets, who earned their first win of
the season last week with quar-
terback Sam Darnold back under
centre after missing three games
with mononucleosis. New York
could be getting linebacker C.J.
Mosley, sidelined since the sea-
son opener with a groin injury,
back in the middle of its defence.
Both players missed the teams’
first meeting this season, when
the Patriots won 30-14 with third-
string quarterback Luke Falk
making his first NFL start for the
Jets.
The Patriots have won seven
straight against the Jets, and
would clinch a fourth straight se-
ries sweep with a prime-time vic-
tory.L.A.RAMS(3-3)
ATATLANTA(1-5)
Jared Goff and the Rams got off to
a 3-0 start and looked every bit
like a team with designs on a Su-
per Bowl run.
Well, they’ve lost three straight
since and have struggled mightily
in the process. Goff passed for a
career-low 78 yards in a 2-7 loss to
San Francisco and the once high-
scoring Rams got just 157 net
yards. There’s some buzz in L.A.,
though, after the Rams acquired
star cornerback Jalen Ramsey
from Jacksonville this week for
two first-round draft picks and a
fourth-rounder. There’s a chance
he could make his Rams debut if
he passes a medical exam after
missing the Jaguars’ past three
games with a back injury.
Things have gone from bad to
worse in Atlanta, where Dan
Quinn’s job security is being
questioned with the Falcons on a
four-game skid. Quarterback
Matt Ryan has been a bright spot,
though, with an NFL-leading 15
touchdown passes. He’s also try-
ing to become the first player in
NFL history to pass for at least
300 yards in each of his team’s
first seven games.L.A.CHARGERS(2-4)
ATTENNESSEE(2-4)
Both the Chargers and Titans are
teams at crossroads early in the
season after entering with playoff
hopes. They have each dropped
their past two games and four of
five.
That slow start contributed to
a quarterback change in Tennes-
see, where Ryan Tannehill steps
in for Marcus Mariota. It will be
Tannehill’s first start for the Ti-
tans after he went 13 of 16 for 144
yards with one interception off
the bench in Tennessee’s 16-0 loss
to Denver. One positive for the Ti-
tans: Tannehill is 3-1 against the
Chargers with six TDs and one in-
terception.
Philip Rivers and the Chargers’
offence have been looking for
consistency while also trying to
cut down on mistakes. Rivers has
turned the ball over eight times
this season after having just 13
turnovers last season.MIAMI(0-5)
ATBUFFALO(4-1)
It’s FitzMagic time for the Dol-
phins, who are starting journey-
man Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarter-
back after benching Josh Rosen.
Miami has scored a league-low
42 points, so Brian Flores turned
to Fitzpatrick to try to jumpstart
the offence against the team for
which he played four seasons.
But Fitzpatrick and the Dol-
phins will have to try to do it
against the surprising Bills, who
are off to their best start since
2011 and have yet to allow more
than 17 points or 250 yards pass-
ing in a game this season.JACKSONVILLE(2-4)
ATCINCINNATI(0-6)
This might be the perfect game
for Minshew Mania to get back on
track.
Gardner Minshew and the Jag-
uars were held to a season-low
226 yards in a 13-6 loss to New Or-
leans last week. A bounce-back
could be in store against the Ben-
gals, who’ll likely be without in-
jured starting cornerbacks Dre
Kirkpatrick and William Jackson
III.
That doesn’t bode well for Cin-
cinnati, which still hasn’t won
under first-year coach Zac Taylor
and looks to prevent its first 0-7
start since 2008.THEASSOCIATEDPRESSThomasbackinSeattleasRavensface’Hawks
Elsewhere,theCowboyslooktobreakalosingstreak,thePatsand49ersarestillundefeated,andtheRaiderswilltrytostayhot
DENNISWASZAKJR.
DallasCowboysQBDakPrescottthrowsapassagainsttheNewYorkJetsatMetLifeStadiumonOct.13.The
CowboyshavetheNo.2offenceintheNFL,buthavelostthreegamesinarow.IftheyfailtobeattheEagles
onSunday,theywillhavelostfourinarowforthefirsttimesince2015.BRADPENNER/USATODAYSPORTSSeattleSeahawkRussellWilson,preparingtopasswhilefacingtheBrownsinClevelandonSunday,hasnot
beeninterceptedyetandisthefourthQBtohaveapasserratingof100orhigherinthefirstsixgamesofa
season.He’stryingtogettheSeahawksto6-1forthesecondtime.GREGORYSHAMUS/GETTYIMAGESTheygavememyfirst
shot.Iwonsomany
gamesthere,grewupas
ayoungmanthere,so
I’malwaysgoingto
respectthat
organizationandalways
goingtobeapartofit.EARLTHOMAS
BALTIMORERAVENSSAFETY,ONHIS
FORMER TEAM THE SEATTLE
SEAHAWKSFOOTBALL