5 things I think about the NFL this week, including Donald Trump but also including actual football
Well that wasn't any ordinary week in the NFL, with the president declaring war on those protesting against racial inequality in America.
Of course, he tried to claim it was about something else but we've come to expect populist nonsense from small-hands Donny by now and, if we're honest, this is less of a concerted plan to divide the nation as people seem to think and more of an example of what happens if you give a monkey a hammer and watch what happens.
The monkey will hit the hammer against an object and it will break. It will observe that reaction, enjoying the impact it has just made on the world, and do it again. It's a series of low-wattage brain signals that lend a feeling of fulfilment and reward.
When Trump stood on a stage in Huntsville, Alabama, and got cheered to the rafters for claiming "those sons of bitches" should be fired for exercising their first amendment right to highlight just what a disgustingly racist, dangerous swamp parts of the country Trump presides over has become, he was always going to hammer away at that for as long as it made him feel all giddy inside.
So that's what he's done, spouting off tweet after tweet and only taking a break to threaten war with North Korea. But that's enough Trump for today, let's talk football:
1. I think the Chiefs should be Super Bowl favourites right now
Even though having the New England Patriots in their conference means they might not even get to Minneapolis for the big dance, they seem to have added the explosive element they've always been lacking.
Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in the NFL and they are a winning machine thanks to a stout defense and metronomic offense helmed by Alex Smith. But the knock on Smith - who many thought might not even see out this season as a starter - has always been that he's a game manager and little more.
That might not even have really changed but by adding Tyreek Hill last year and then Kareem Hunt this, they suddenly have two of the most explosive big-play guys in the entire league. Hunt's rookie season is only three games old but is shaping up to be an extraordinary and possibly historic one. Hill dazzled last season and is now their number one wideout while Travis Kelce continues to be a chain-moving star who can go off at any minute.
With players like that who can change the course of a game with one play, the Chiefs are no longer the stale, boring side we thought they were and continue to be disruptive on defense.
A win over the Chargers in LA cemented their superiority in the hardest division in the NFL this weekend but more big plays showed us something more significant - that they're a different team to what everyone had expected when they traded away Jeremy Maclin in the off-season. Their Super Bowl window is still very much open and should be for some time with Patrick Mahomes waiting in the wings.
2. I think the Cleveland Browns just had to put away the Indianapolis Colts this weekend - will they ever not be dreadful?
I wasn't alone in wanting the remodelled, Sashi-fuelled Browns to be good this season and, after a slightly disappointing 0-2 start they headed to Indianapolis as road favourites for the first time since America tectonically removed itself from the Eurasian continent or some time thereabouts.
But they still managed to blow it and against a team who have so little going for them it just felt so... Brownsy.
Andrew Luck likely won't play until week six and looking at the Colts' talent-deficient roster it was hard to see where their wins would come from in Indiana but when the Cleveland football team come to town there's always a potential W.
Myles Garrett's injury means we haven't got to see the number 1 overall pick do his thing and has harmed them on defense but conceding 31 points to a Jacoby Brissettt-inspired team poses a lot of questions.
Brissett has proven an upgrade on the disastrous Scott Tolzien but these Colts shouldn't be beating anyone and for the first time in years the Browns could claim to have stronger personnel on their books.
Perhaps we should just be happy that they've found Deshone Kizer, a playmaking QB who might just be the answer for them under center?
Perhaps their raft of draft picks will see them haul another bunch of top talent next spring and they can progress to the Jaguars' stage of the rebuild next year?
But so far this season it's been hard not to feel a little disappointed in the Browns. And that's a weird thing to say about arguably the worst sports team on the planet over the past 20-odd years.
3. I think the New York Jets have already exceeded my expectations
It would not have surprised me if this shell of a team had gone 0-16 this season so I was very surprised to see them win as early as week three. It's helpful in terms of avoiding those awkward questions that the Browns faced down the stretch last year.
I guess the only thing more Jets than going 0-16 would be conspiring to miss out on the number 1 overall pick and watching someone else grab one of the best quarterbacks in a generation at the draft next year.
With three QBs expected to go in the top five, though, even the Jets seem incapable of missing out on the franchise signal-caller they need and seem destined to finally get.
4. I think that I was completely wrong on Pittsburgh and the Giants being explosive offenses
The Steelers may end up coming good, indeed with Le'Veon Bell, Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown it would be a miracle if they didn't, but they were pedestrian again against the Bears this week.
Ben Roethlisberger has a good offensive line, elite weapons and some bit-part players like Eli Rogers and JuJu Smith-Schuster who could take a step up. Instead they struggled to break down Chicago as they had down the Browns in week one. It could just be a question of getting used to Bryant's return but this doesn't look like a team who will challenge for the Lombardi at the moment and that is what is expected of this roster and coaching staff.
The New York Giants were spoken of in similar terms in pre-season after a good first year under Ben McAdoo. But, again, all the weapons around Eli Manning are struggling to fire and while it is less of a mystery as to why they're in trouble - that offensive line is horrendous - it hasn't changed much from last year when they were putting up points for fun at times.
Odell Beckham Jr. looked more like his old self this week and Sterling Shephard slightly recovered from a slow start but Brandon Marshall looks like he's playing with strangers and the running game is non-existent.
Both of these offenses were supposed to be scoring bucketloads of points and leading their respective teams to success. In both cases, the defense has been more of a factor but for the Giants, even that hasn't been enough to stop them falling to 0-3.
5. I think Atlanta still look great but want to see if this is just the remnants of Kyle Shanahan's offensive genius
Perhaps I'm being too harsh on Steve Sarkisian, who inherited a great offense and has managed to keep them going when there was a very real fear of a Super Bowl hangover.
Atlanta have looked good in the last couple of games after a stuttering start in Chicago, but the way they came away from that more disappointing performance with a result bodes well. Dan Quinn has established himself as one of the league's best young coaches but he still seems a little underrated. Their defense is coming together nicely - as you'd hope for with his CV - and they made some smart off-season pick-ups to help them be the only team in the NFC that's 3-0.
But while I don't want to do down Sarkisian's job so far, we need to see more sustained success from his unit to show that he can keep scheming successful NFL offenses. Kyle Shanahan did such a phenomenal job last year and there could be some positive afterglow lingering. Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman and Julio Jones would always make plays but the way Taylor Gabriel got involved this week suggested Sark isn't a feeble successor.
Yet for some reason I'm not sold yet. We will see....
