The Scoop: Into the Football World

Last season and its exciting games left fans readily waiting for a new action packed season. Football is a dynamically changing game with every season offering teams and players new opportunities to prove themselves. This season, there’s been injury, there’s been disaster, there’s been greatness, and there’s been falls. So now seven games in, what’s going on?

By Anushree Samsi

Rising to the Occasion

The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles have been a surprise this season—in a positive way. The Giants ended their last season 4-13 starting of poorly. The last time they did well was the 2016-2017 season, and since then they have gone 0-2 in the first two games and at best won six games. These statistics have gained the Giants a horrible reputation, with fans having low expectations year after year. But, this year has been different. The Giants are now 6-1, and have come up with wins against hard teams like Aaron Roger’s Green Bay Packers and Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens. This new team is fresh and ready to work hard. This is partly due to their new head coach who has stepped in and from the beginning taken gambles that many other coaches would never take so early in their season. He has created a team atmosphere and gained the respect of his players who strive to work hard for him. Along with this, Saquon Barkley who sustained an ACL tear is now back in shape—while he had initially looked off his game, he is once again commanding the Giants offense in a significant way. 

The Eagles have also had an extremely successful start, now the only undefeated team in the NFL, a 6-0 record. While this is due to several reasons relating to the structure of the entire franchise, new quarterback Jalen Hurts has given the team a much needed spark as he’s improved his consistency and accuracy. His offense has stepped up and adapted to his style with players like Devonta Smith and AJ Brown pulling the team up. If the Eagle’s continue to play as they have been, they have bright season ahead. 

A Shaky Start

As the home team in Northern California, the San Francisco 49ers are at the forefront of people’s radars here. So, what’s up with them? The 49ers are 3-4. Their season started off on an unfortunate note with starting quarterback Trey Lance facing a season ending ankle sprain. This led previous starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, to once again assume the position. From there, some things have worked, but there’s a lot of room for correction. After two consecutive losses, the 49ers need to regroup both offensively and defenensively. The 49ers have one of the best defenses in the league, but while the ugly loss against Kansas City featured the genius of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, it also featured defensive mishaps. Star of the defense, Nick Bosa, was completely neutralized and the 49ers are facing numerous injuries. Along with this, even though they were able to make stops on first down, on third down, Kansas had high efficiency. On the offensive front, Garoppolo faced five sacks and a series of poor offensive drops, and horrible interceptions, especially during key scoring opportunities. 49ers have high hopes though—they traded their draft pick for star running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers, and he’s already started playing. Fans hope that he can revitalize the offense and the team as a whole and get the 49ers some much needed wins. 

The Struggle to Find Footing

The Buccaneers game against the Carolina Panthers was depressing to watch. Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and the team in entirety looked completely lost against a team they should have crushed. The Panthers are in shambles—they’ve just fired their head coach and trader their star running back,

McCaffrey. But none of it showed on the field as they held the Buccaneers to just three points in a 21-3 win. The Panthers have struggled against the running game all season, however, the Buccaneers were not able to get one going, and that played a key role in their inability to make successful drives. Furthermore, Brady lacked consistency in his targets while the offensive line also had issues. Brady’s claim to fame has been adapting to his team’s situation whenever needed—as this Buccaneers team goes through changes yet again, at 45 years old, Brady must find news ways respond and build up the team. 

Russel Wilson, another notable franchise quarterback, has been having a pretty poor season. While Wilson, quarterback for the Denver Broncos, has tried on a few occasions, he does not have the speed or deft ability to be a threat on the run whether it is to get the first down or to by time till he can find an eligible receiver. He’s pretty boring to watch—he sticks to the same receivers, regardless if they are open or not, and eventually defenses have been able to read that. Due to his massive new contract, the Broncos will have him till at least 2025. Therefore, they have no option but to find ways to get him back on his game through incorporating aspects of what worked during his time with the Seattle Seahawks. 

Injury and Hope

Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, is back with a win against the Detroit Lions after undergoing surgery on his throwing hand. During his time away, quarterback Cooper Rush had taken his position and through his success he has proven to be a great backup option. Dallas is 5-2 and could have bright season ahead.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailloa is also back with a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He sustained a life threatening injury in his game against the Cincinatti Bengals where he was taken off in the late first half, even though he has no memory of the situation. He was hospitalized after the incident and has been off the field for two weeks. In that time, the Dolphins have lost both their games and moral has been low. In an interview during his time away, Tua remarked on how unfortunate it was that he couldn’t be out there with the guys, winning games. However, the win against the Steeler’s has energized the team once again–after the strong start, the Dolphins could have a promising season ahead. 

While this only begins to scratch the surface of all that is happening, these are some key things that have been going on in the football world. The Giants and Eagles, for example, demonstrate how quickly the odds can change and thus how dynamic the sport is. The struggle of older quarterbacks to find footing is also a reminder of the sport’s cruel nature and the kind of effort and creativity required to stay relevant in the every changing game. On a broader level as well, the ability of teams and players to capitalize on what’s working, adapt and solve offensive and defensive struggles and work through periods of injury will ultimately decide who has the potential to make it all the way.