DeMarcus Covington entered his weekly press conference Thursday with more energy than anyone in the room. It felt like I was back in elementary school. Sleep still in my eyes, maybe a bit of dried milk in the corner of my mouth after downing a bowl of cornflakes and being too lazy to wash my face. Hey, 10-year-olds aren't known for their hygiene.
Covington tried to engage the room, answering questions with questions of his own and wanting audience participation. A few folks in the crowd provided it, but it felt hokey.
"I've been telling you guys, we're good as a 'what?'" Covington asked at one point.
"Unit," was the response from some in the front row.
"We're good as a 'what?'" Covington repeated.
Crickets.
"Unit - as a unit," he said definitively. "So, just like any football team, we are good as a unit."
What are we doing? was my thought.
Perhaps the first-year defensive coordinator had an extra kick in his step because he knows Sunday's opponent, the Miami Dolphins, has an offense that's currently even more impotent than the one his group faces daily in practice.
"I would say this is an explosive team, like, I'm not gonna get fooled by what happened last week," he promised. "I'm not gonna get fooled, and they better not get fooled by what happened to us last week either."
Covington's confidence seemed tone-deaf in light of recent results, although I'm sure he was speaking to his players through the media, as Jerod Mayo has said several times this summer and fall. But this once-vaunted defense hasn't lived up to the challenge in the last three weeks, only adding to the dysfunction I discussed on the All 32 pod on Monday.
Consider this: passing numbers are way down around the league, except when teams play the Patriots. Geno Smith threw for a week two high 327 yards in that 23-20 Seahawks win. Aaron Rodgers followed it up by looking like vintage ARod during week 3's 24-3 rout, throwing for 281 yards (77% completion) and two scores. Finally, the 49ers put up 431 yards of total offense - Brock Purdy threw for 288, and Jordan Mason ran for 123 - in Sunday's 30-13 walkover that featured more explosive plays than previous editions of this defense would allow in two months (or maybe more). So what gives? Well, perhaps it's what Jabril Peppers and Davon Godchaux suggested (and I wrote about earlier this week) that this unit is guilty of being selfish, with guys freelancing to make a play, but ultimately, end up allowing one instead.
"So when we all play together, we're good, right? I've been saying that from the beginning," noted Covington. "We're not a team where a bunch of superstars, and go out there, and we need this one guy to win. Alright? We are only good - and that's offense, defense, and special teams - we're only good as a unit.
"Like complementary football on the unit - we go as far as how the D-line play, the linebacker play, safeties, and corners play. So that's what I would say. I've been saying that from the beginning, alright? So that's my comment on that."
The Dolphins present an opportunity for Covington's defense to get right. They'll start Tyler 'Snoop' Huntley at quarterback. While he rushed for 40 yards during Monday night's lopsided loss to the Titans (!) and also has a Pro Bowl on his resume (he threw 2 touchdowns that season and was like the 9th alternate), he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if he were standing right in front of it.
Miami has now lost three straight and hasn't held the lead at any point during their first four games, winning the opener on a walk-off field goal. Huntley, like Skylar Thompson before him, was unable to get the Fins pair of dynamic wideouts, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, the football in space. The duo did have eight catches but totaled just 59 yards. I might add that Tennessee gave the Pats a potential blueprint, ganging up to stop the run successfully and daring Huntley to beat them over the top. And even with those two speedsters and a fleet of other fast-skill guys, the veteran journeyman couldn't. In other words, if Covington's guys can't do it this week, when exactly will they do it?
KID QBS DOING IT THEIR OWN WAY
Jayden Daniels is cooking with gas in Washington. His four-game stat total is absurd, and at 82.1%, he has the highest completion rate of any quarterback in any four-game stretch dating back to 1970 (when they started keeping these records). Yes, that's better than Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Kurt Warner (the previous top four). Daniels has been all that and more for the surprising Commanders.
"All he has shown since he's been here is a relentless approach to getting better and staying in the moment," said his head coach, Dan Quinn. "He's got a remarkable level-headedness to him that's wise beyond his age."
"Man, y'all can say whatever y'all want. I'm still a rookie in my eyes, so I let everyone else do the talking for me," said Daniels. "I don't get caught up in that stuff, but it's a blessing. Just the preparation and obviously the team believing in me, and we go out and compete every Sunday."
One of the most impressive aspects of Daniels' game is how in control he's been. It feels like he almost always knows where he's going with the ball, which is uncommon for a first-year pro, but the 55 college starts Daniels made for two programs (Arizona State and LSU) have prepared him well for the moment. The Commanders host the struggling Browns on Sunday.
Meanwhile, I don't know if you caught any of the Broncos game against the Jets Sunday, but rookie QB Bo Nix threw for -7 yards in the first half. That's not a typo (and I've been guilty of a few). I don't recall ever seeing that before, but the stat nerds said it happened in 1991. He's also the first quarterback to complete five straight passes that didn't gain any positive yards. That's nuts.
To Nix's credit, he eliminated the turnovers against New York (he had thrown four interceptions over the first three weeks), didn't take a sack, and cobbled it together enough to lead an 87-yard scoring drive that helped the Broncos secure their second straight win.
"He won't flinch. He doesn't flinch. It doesn't matter what the situation is," guard Quinn Meinerz said.
"He knows what it takes to win," said running back Jaleel McLaughlin.
Playing this way and being unproductive would seem unsustainable. Still, he has some believers in that huddle, and definitely, the head coach, who called Nix's performance 'good' despite what the stats looked like.
"You're still looking for the perfect picture, the perfect game," Sean Payton said. "I know this Shangri-la doesn't exist, but the execution, the details still have to get better with younger players."
Nix has completed just two passes over 30 yards this year; he's 31st in passer rating and 29th in completion percentage.
"Sunday's tough to evaluate because it was a sloppy game - a lot of rain, a lot of things weather-affected," said Nix, adding, "The last time we had a chance to really get around and spin it, and we did a really good job (they beat Tampa Bay in week 3). Hopefully, we continue to improve on that, and I think I will."
The Broncos host the Raiders on Sunday.
TRADE ME
Consider me shocked — shocked, I tell ya — that Davante Adams has requested a trade out of Las Vegas. How many times did I write about the Raiders' perpetually unhappy receiver making googly eyes at other teams and, specifically, other quarterbacks, most notably Aaron Rodgers?
Well, it took about 60 seconds after the trade request became public for the news to "leak" that Adams wanted to be reunited with one of the signal callers he's familiar with, Rodgers or the Saints' Derek Carr.
Oh, sure, there's been chatter that he'd also be interested in the Bills, Ravens, Cowboys, and Steelers, but at least a couple of teams placed exploratory calls to Las Vegas and came away convinced it's New York or bust. Perhaps Adams can be moved off that spot with a healthy contract extension, which has always been part of the equation in his unhappiness, but I'm dubious.
Adams is currently on the shelf with a hamstring pull that reportedly will cost him at least another week, possibly two. He missed the Raiders' week four victory over the Browns, and there's been an off-field kerfuffle in ensuing days. It's a classic case of "stay off the internet', the pro football version. Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce's Instagram account liked a post suggesting Adams had played his last game for Vegas. Pierce was peppered about that at his Wednesday press conference and went full Bill Belichick, saying he was focused only on this weekend's opponent, the Denver Broncos. Of course, there's one flaw in his Belichickian approach. The former Pats coach wouldn't like any social media posts, even now, as a social media maven.
The Raiders are reportedly asking for a second-round pick and additional compensation in exchange for Adams. That feels a little rich. In fact, I'd argue the team should have traded him this off-season and would have gotten more value in return.
There's one other aspect of this that doesn't get talked about enough. The Packers were more than willing to trade Adams; they were happy as hell to do it. And now, after his short stint in Vegas, during which I've been told that Adams played a role in getting his buddy Carr benched (with friends like that...), he's on the move again? Buyer beware.
ALL THE WAY IN
Because I'm hardheaded, seeing the beauty in Brock Purdy's game took me a while. But after studying him before the Patriots' game and seeing how he played Sunday, I'm a believer.
Purdy is not a flawless player. He's a good athlete, not a great one. He's got a solid arm, but it's not Allen or Mahomes-like. But he has an excellent understanding of the pocket and is accurate inside and outside the tackle box. There's also the way that the team responds to him. They trust him, and you can see it in how they play for and rally around him.
As a Jimmy Garoppolo guy back in the day, I always appreciated how his teammates believed, but that belief wasn't shared by the head coach and chief architect of that offense, Kyle Shanahan. To compare that period with Jimmy against what Shanahan is allowing Purdy to do and what he calls in critical moments proves that the third-year pro is a foundational piece, not just a cog in the machine.
"He is very good in the drop-back game, play-action game," said Shanahan. "He's good on the bootlegs and stuff. We don't call too many like zone reads and things with him; I think he'd be capable of it, but we're not trying to make a living off that. But Brock has been one of the most consistent players in the league since the first game he's played."
Purdy is averaging a league-high 9.3 yards per attempt, the most in franchise history, through four games and is second in passing yards (1,130), trailing the red-hot Geno Smith. Teams are approaching this offense differently, trying to take away the crossing routes that they've previously feasted on, but as defenses adjust, so do Shanahan and his quarterback.
"I feel like my rookie year and the 2022 season, even with Jimmy, man, we hit a lot of stuff over the middle, and we had a lot of explosives like that, and cross-courting plays and getting the ball in the likes of Deebo and BA's (Aiyuk) hands, and then, they break one tackle, and they're gone, said Purdy. "I feel like we do see a lot more help and stuff in the middle of the field, for sure, but at the same time, that opens up other things and avenues and areas for us to get better and attack...we have to adjust, man. That's football."
Purdy is up for a contract extension after the season, and the 49ers are up against the salary cap (eye roll) with the recent deals for Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams (although I suspect Deebo Samuel will be cut this off-season to save some cash). Can they convince him to take a little less, or will Purdy look around at Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Love, etc, and say, "I'm better than all those guys. Where's my money?" That will be an interesting follow, but for now, I'm enjoying watching this kid grow into one of the better QBs in the league.
NERD NUMBERS
- Week 4 will be the first meeting between the Dolphins and Patriots, with both teams entering below .500 since 1991.
- The Browns are the only team that has been held to fewer than 300 total yards of offense in all 4 games in 2024.
- Sauce Gardner is 1 of 3 defensive players (only CB) to be named 1st-team All-Pro in his first 2 seasons since 1970 (Micah Parsons in 2021-22 and HOF Lawrence Taylor in 1981-82). He faces the Vikings and Justin Jefferson in London on Sunday.
- Despite starting just two games, Carolina's Andy Dalton has more than twice as many pass TDs (5) since Thanksgiving 2023 than Bryce Young (2 TDs in 9 starts over that span).
- Derrick Henry's 480 yards are over 100 more than another player in NFL history through 4 games who debuted with a new team at 30 or older. Quite the collection of names prior. Herschel Walker with Philadelphia (366 in 1992), Lamar Smith (364 in 2002) in Carolina, Adrian Peterson (343 in 2017) for Arizona, and LaDainian Tomlinson (341 in 2010) with the Jets.
- The Seahawks' 38 first downs Monday night vs. the Lions were the most by a losing team since at least 1950 (42-29 was the final).
- Ja'Marr Chase is the 5th player in the Super Bowl era with 4,000+ receiving yards and 30+ receiving TDs in his first 50 games (Week 4 was Chase's 49th game). Chase joined Odell Beckham Jr., A.J. Green, Randy Moss, and Jerry Rice.