Y’all must have Forgot! The Cowboys, Patriots and Chiefs sent out a stern reminder that they are for real this season

The Cowboys struggled last week, the Chiefs and Pats have struggled for much of this season

PublishedNovember 15, 2021

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Order was mostly restored to the universe on Sunday. Following a bizarre Week 9 in which some of the best teams in the NFL lost to residents of Club .500 And Below, the top of the NFL mostly handled its business in Week 10, and some performances were quite convincing.

The three teams that will be focused on this week not only blew out their opponents on Sunday, but also each quieted the doubters.

One team reasserted itself as one to the top squads in the NFL after a baffling, lackluster performance against an average team. Another team is on a roll, and beginning to look like the champion they have been for most of the last two decades. The final team entered the season with dynastic expectations, but looked like a crumbling empire until Sunday night.

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Cowboys vs. Falcons

The Cowboys were expected to defeat the Atlanta Falcons at home, and they did so handily.

As great as the Cowboys have played in 2021, last week’s 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos didn’t need a highlighter to stand out. All-pro left tackle Tyron Smith did not play and the Broncos held Dak Prescott, returning from a calf injury, to 232 yards passing, a 48.7 completion percentage, and 5.9 yards per attempt. There would be no Smith again this week.

The Cowboys, however, did receive some reinforcements for this week’s game. Michael Gallup returned from injured reserve to give the Boys their complete wide receiver corps for the first time since Week 1.

On Sunday, Prescott used them all as he threw from the pocket, he threw on the run, he threw from his back foot, and when he wasn’t throwing as if his opponents were holograms playing defense, the Cowboys moved the Falcons on both sides of the line of scrimmage like laundry. That sequence at the end of the 2nd quarter when the Falcons lost eight yards on a three-and-out, got their punt blocked, which Dallas recovered for a touchdown, is the most I’ve seen a team dominated on one drive this season.

That is how champions respond after a bad loss. Hate them or love them, the Cowboys are playing championship-level football this season.

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Patriots vs. Browns

You thought you were done with the Patriots. You thought that they had lost too much talent, nobody likes Bill Belichick anymore, and that evil northeastern winter had finally left the NFL for spring.

Well, the Patriots have won their last four games, three of them by three scores or more, and that includes a 45-7 drubbing of the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. While the Patriots thoroughly dominated the Browns, the story of the game was rookie quarterback Mac Jones.

He has been the most consistent performer of the highly touted 2021 class of quarterbacks, but it has been argued that the Patriots are running a conservative offense that gives him easy reads, and early in the season was not allowing him to throw the ball down the field. The Patriots did run a balanced offense against the Browns that rushed for 184 yards to Jones’ 198 in the air, but that’s partly because this game was out of hand before the fourth quarter began. A major reason for the blowout? Jones.

He took the easy plays when they were there, but he also made some big ones. There was the touchdown pass to wide receiver Kendrick Bourne that was a perfect high-point ball in double coverage. He threw a perfect ball to tight end Hunter Henry up the sideline from the far hash mark, and Jones finished the drive by looking off the defense at the goal line and hitting an open Henry for a touchdown.

Maybe Belichick was spoon feeding him strained peas early in the season, but Jones has moved onto solid food. If he continues to make plays like he did this week, winter may be coming again for the NFL.

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Chiefs vs. Raiders

Kansas City Chiefs — Image: Getty Images

If you have opened social media, looked at the sports section on your Apple News app, or turned on ESPN in the past month, you’ve heard about the Chiefs’ offensive struggles. It was a real concern. The Chiefs had won their last three games, but hadn’t scored more than 20 points since Oct. 17. Still, there was a sense that this could all be remedied in their Sunday Night Football matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.

With the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers losing earlier in the day, the last place Chiefs all of a sudden had an opportunity to take the lead in the AFC West. The Chiefs took that opportunity to the endzone at Allegiant Stadium, over, and over, and over again.

Their offense could do no wrong. The “double-high safety look” that supposedly confounded K.C. this season got carved like Thanksgiving turkey — or ham if you’re one of those people who dislike turkey because whoever cooked the bird you ate growing up served you parched poultry.

Mahomes threw for 405 yards and five touchdowns in the 41-14 victory. He threw underneath and when the Raiders crept up, he threw over the top. Tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill both had huge games as well, as the Chiefs now have sole possession of first place in the division.

Was their offensive performance prior to this concerning? Of course. They were turning the ball over too much and getting called for way too many penalties for a team that has played in two consecutive Super Bowls. It may be hard for some to believe that the Chiefs are mortals, but there are men made of flesh and bone underneath the pads. They make mistakes and sometimes don’t play well. Still, they’ve won four consecutive games and absolutely remain a favorite to play in the AFC Championship Game.

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