Tonight, the Buccaneers meet the Falcons for Thursday Night Football on Prime and will kick-off week five of NFL football. Much is happening around the league and WUFO has selected the top three storylines fans should be following for the first football action of October.
Star receiver Davante Adams requests trade and is “engineering a trade to the Jets.”
Fans of Netflix’s “Receiver” were well aware of Davante Adams’ frustration with the Las Vegas Raiders, more specifically the lackluster quarterback play. Adams joined the Raiders when his long-time friend and college QB Derek Carr was the signal-caller and the WR got paid. Las Vegas gave up a first and second round pick to reunite the duo and the future seemed bright for Vegas and Adams.
Reality didn’t live up to expectations, Las Vegas never saw the playoffs with Adams and cycled through six different starting quarterbacks in Adams’ 37 games as a Raider. After extending Carr, the Raiders benched him to end the 2022 season and then sent him packing. Almost two years and five quarterbacks later, Adams wants out.
Head coach Antonio Pierce may have been the proverbial nail in the coffin of Adams dying relationship with the organization, when he liked an Instagram post suggesting Adams may had “played his last snap” as a Raider.
When Pierce was given the opportunity to mitigate some of the drama the like has caused, he simply didn’t. Adding fuel to an already distracting media frenzy.
The MMQB’s Alber Breer reported Wednesday night that teams have gotten the sense that Adams wants to reunite with his former Packers QB in New York, with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. However other teams such as the Bills, Steelers, and Saints remain in the running for a clear number one option and veteran presence in Adams
I doubt any deals will be made this week as Adams is nursing a hamstring injury, but keep an eye on the developing story.
Texans faceoff against the Bills in Houston for the first time since Diggs trade.
GAME OF THE WEEK ALERT!
There is seemingly no bad blood between Diggs and Buffalo, no matter how often they may be pitted against each other in the media. To be fair, most breakups aren’t without some tension so the media frenzy surrounding Diggs’ situation last season was to be expected. Josh Allen once again expressed his gratitude for Diggs’ time as a Bill, while also highlighting his desire to move on.
Texans Head Coach DeMeco Ryans recognized what revenge games mean to players and emphasized staying focused on the task at hand.
“For a player, it is always in the back of your mind where it is a big deal when you play your former team. Ryan’d said when he addressed the media on Wednesday. “It’s a little added weight when you really want to beat your team. It doesn’t change our preparation and how we go about our business on a week-to-week basis. It’s a matter of guys going out and we have to play together, we have to play as a team, we have to play clean football versus Buffalo for us to have a chance to win this game.”
Both teams reside in the AFC and the outcome of this game will undoubtably have an effect on playoff positioning later on in the season, so disregarding the flashy “revenge game” narrative still leaves behind an important conference matchup, where both teams hope to leave 4-1, but only one will. Laying the foundation for an action-packed game of the week to rest upon.
Buffalo is looking to bounce back after being dismantled by Baltimore last week. The Bills cast is known to be resilient in these circumstances, with an 18-5 record following a loss under Sean McDermott. AFC player of the week Josh Allen will look to out play the youngster in CJ Stroud and lead his team through this highly anticipated matchup.
The teams meet Sunday, October 6th in Houston at 1PM.
The Rivalry Continues: Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens
The next chapter in this bitter rivalry begins with the first meeting of these teams in 2024. The Ravens look to leave their slow start in the rear-view mirror and continue onto a three-game winning streak. The Bengals (1-3) are coming off their first win of the season and the outlook isn’t great. Starting 1-4 will just about declare this season a total failure and shift the focus to next year for Cincinnati.
The Ravens (2-2) are fresh off a dominate victory over the Bills at home last week and have at last established their winning identity. The pass defense which entered week 4 as the worst in the NFL managed to hold the Bills and AFC player of the month Josh Allen to only 10 points. The offense piled it on behind the running tandem of Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson as the Ravens continue establish ground dominance as their bread and butter, if you will.
The Bengals are ranked 25th in the league against the run, so expect significant fantasy production from Jackson and Henry. Baltimore’s pass defense is still ranked around the bottom of the league at 29th, Joe Burrow is one of five QBs with a completion percentage of 70 or better this season, and the Bengals are currently ranked 8th in the league in denying QB pressure. The odds and ground game obviously favor Baltimore, but extra time in the pocket mixed with some of the worst pass defense in the NFL presents enough opportunity for the Bengals to shock the world.
I circle this matchup on the schedule every year as it promises to stir the pot between the teams, and unpredictability often looms large. There is definitely a larger gap between the teams’ production this year, Ravens are the favorites (and my pick to win), but don’t expect Joe “Cool” Burrow to go down without a fight.
The matchup takes place Sunday, October 6th at 1PM.
Written By Raven Ullah, WUFO Intern
