Opinion: Khalil Mack will remind Raiders what they're missing; Kirk Cousins sparks Vikings chaos
A quick rundown with items of interest as Week 5 rolls on in the NFL:
Who’s hot: Khalil Mack. Life has been good for the game-wrecking Bears linebacker, set to face his former team for the first time since the Raiders traded him away and netted two first-round draft picks in the exchange. Mack got his big contract (six years, $141 million with $90 million guaranteed), plus the chance to star on one of the NFL’s best defenses with a division title already in the bag.
The Raiders, who drafted impressive rookie running back Josh Jacobs with the first of the first-round picks from Chicago, are still TBD in determining their long-term haul as they try to find their footing with Jon Gruden. And clearly, they are lacking the game-changer on defense that Mack was.
The impact numbers look no better now than they did last season. Mack, sparking the league’s fifth-ranked defense, is tied for the NFL lead with four forced fumbles to go with his 4½ sacks. That nearly matches Oakland’s totals as a team (five forced fumbles, five sacks) with the 22nd-ranked unit. Since the trade, Oakland has 18 sacks, Mack 17. And Mack has 10 forced fumbles, Oakland eight. Now Mack gets to chase around his close pal and former teammate Derek Carr on the pitch in London with the chance to pad his numbers with a remember-me statement. Of course, the Raiders will hardly forget.
Pressure’s on: Kirk Cousins. Face it, Vikings: Signing Cousins to a fully guaranteed, $84 million deal in 2018 is this generation’s Herschel Walker trade. As a long-gone regime thought with Walker, the Vikings envisioned the quarterback as the missing link to the Super Bowl. Wrong. It has gotten so off-track with Minnesota passing attack that Stephon Diggs won’t deny trade rumors, Adam Thielen (who had a sideline tiff with Cousins last year) publicly criticized the offense, Cousins (25th in yards, 23rd in efficiency) issued an apology and tight end Kyle Rudolph has just five catches for the year.
That’s a lot of stuff for one week. Maybe winning at the Meadowlands against the Giants will help. But until Cousins — coming off a disaster at Chicago — consistently delivers in big matchups, the Herschel club will linger.
Key matchup: Marshon Lattimore vs. Mike Evans. Just a guess that bad blood lingers with these division rivals, roughly two years since Evans, the Bucs receiver, drew a one-game suspension for taking a shot at the Saints cornerback during a game at the Superdome. Beyond that, though, the pure football matchup will be compelling enough on Sunday in New Orleans.
Lattimore comes off a superb showing on Sunday night, when he did much to take Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper out of the game (five catches 48 yards, 9.6 average, zero TDs) for a high-energy defense that put together its best game of the season. Evans will be an even bigger challenge, tied for the NFL lead with four TD receptions while averaging a robust 20.4 yards per catch for a unit that is catching fire under new coach Bruce Arians and O-coordinator Byron Leftwich.
Next man up: Mike Nugent. With longtime kicking ace Stephen Gostkowski done for the year with a hip injury, Bill Belichick staged a tryout festival this week and settled on the 37-year-old Nugent. The Patriots also signed Youngshoe Koo, 25, to the practice squad. The cinch factor is experience. Nugent has converted on 81.4% of his 134 field goal attempts in a career largely spent with the Bengals, which meant dealing with the elements. Koo kicked briefly for the Chargers last year. That Belichick is banking on experience comes as no surprise. The defending champs have the league’s oldest roster, with an NFL-high 10 players who are in their 10th season or beyond.
Rookie watch: Gardner Minshew II. The legend with the Fu Manchu mustache just keeps growing. Jacksonville has discovered it had a contingency plan after all when Nick Foles went down in Week 1 with a broken clavicle, as Minshew has done much more (seven TDs, one INT, 106.9 passer rating) than merely resemble the fictional Uncle Rico. Strikingly, at this point he’s the NFL’s most efficient passer in the red zone (123.9), the highlight evidence coming at Denver last weekend when he deked and scrambled to buy time for a TD laser.
Not bad for a guy who started his post-high school career at Northwest Mississippi Community College. But how did he last until the sixth round? They said the same thing about Tom Brady … OK, never mind. The next test for the NFL’s first Offensive Rookie of the Month of the season comes at Carolina, with the Panthers leading the NFL in sacks ... and where Minshew left legendary tracks at East Carolina, too.
Stomach for an upset: Ravens at Steelers. For all the struggles Pittsburgh has had — including Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow injury, collecting five turnovers at San Francisco and still losing, plus the season-opening blowout loss at New England — Mike Tomlin’s team is just a game out of first place in the AFC North.
Yes, it’s shaky with unproven Mason Rudolph quarterbacking an offense that is no longer flush with premium playmakers. But what better way for Pittsburgh (1-3), 3½-point home underdogs, to send the statement that it is still in the race than by handing bitter rival Baltimore (2-2) its third consecutive loss. The Ravens have shown that they can’t be trusted. Sure, Lamar Jackson is better. But a defense that lost C.J. Mosley, Za’Darius Smith, Terrell Suggs and Eric Weddle from last year’s No.1-ranked unit is worse.
If the playoffs were today: The 49ers would be the No. 1 seed in the NFC. What in the name of Joe and Ronnie is going on here? It’s early, but San Francisco (3-0) heads into Monday night’s encounter against Cleveland as the only undefeated team in the conference. The deep defensive front is paying dividends for all of the premium investments, including the edge rushers added this year — Dee Ford and Nick Bosa.
Sure, Jimmy Garoppolo is being paid like he’ll be the next legend to play quarterback for the 49ers, but there’s some old-school ethic at work. The Niners haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher or rushing TD this season (hello, Nick Chubb), while the rushing offense ranks second in the NFL. Big question: Quality of wins? The 49ers’ three victims (Tampa Bay, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh) are a combined 3-9. So far, they are winning while they can.