WASHINGTON — For this week’s NFL Wrap, I really wanted to write about a former Redskin who has completely stunned the league by getting to the quarterback at a historic rate.
Then Sunday Night Football happened.
So I’m going to write about both. Yes, dear reader, you get a 2-for-1 special because I don’t feel like choosing and I’m out here freelancing like LaVar Arrington.
Alexander the Great
The NFL’s leader in sacks is a name ‘Skins fans know and love, but one the rest of the country probably needs to Google.
Lorenzo Alexander spent half of his 12 NFL seasons in Washington, mainly as a special teams standout (he made his only Pro Bowl as a special teamer in 2012) and started just 13 of his 92 games for the Redskins. It was here that earned the moniker “One Man Gang” — Alexander played offensive line, defensive line, and linebacker for the ‘Skins. However, he was considered a jack of all trades but a master of none, and left D.C. for the chance to start in Arizona in 2013.
That didn’t work out so well. Alexander started three games for the Cardinals and after two seasons in the desert, he went to his native Oakland to be a backup linebacker for a season before landing in Buffalo on a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum to back up Bills first-round pick Shaq Lawson.
But Lawson remains on the PUP list with a shoulder injury, opening the door for the most unlikely story in the NFL. Alexander, the 33 year-old undrafted journeyman (which he hates to be called), has stepped into the Bills starting lineup and terrorized quarterbacks at a pace expected only from the likes of J.J. Watt and Von Miller.
Alexander has nine sacks in seven games, notching at least half a sack in each. To put that in perspective, Alexander entered this season with only nine sacks for his career and had four seasons in which he didn’t register a sack at all. The historical context is also stunning: Hall-of-Famer Bruce Smith is the only other Bill to register a sack in seven straight games, and the last player to do so on any team was Jared Allen for the Vikings in 2011.
Why is Alexander on such a tear? For one, he’s got an opportunity he wouldn’t have had elsewhere. In Washington, he played behind Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo (who both currently rank in the top 10 in sacks) and in Oakland, Khalil Mack was having a breakout season in front of him. Also, Alexander is healthy, something he wasn’t for much of his time in Arizona. Of course, playing for a defensive guru like Rex Ryan doesn’t hurt.
Fans and media folks alike loved Alexander when he was in Washington. He’s a good leader, a good quote, and by all accounts, a good guy. If anyone deserves a late-career resurgence on a Wild Card contender, it’s the One Man Gang.
Ties suck.
The primetime eyesore between the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks ended in a 6-6 tie, far and away the worst conceivable result for a league that’s already struggling to match their usually very high ratings. Furthermore, ties just happen to be the thing I hate most about the NFL — so much so that I go on a rant every time it happens.
Thus, I’ve lost my mind over this foolishness four times in the last five years and six times since the turn of the century. I’ve written about it on multiple occasions and my stance will never change on this, so I’ll simply give you an excerpt of what I said on this topic when the Vikings and Packers tied in 2013:
Ties suck. No, I’m not referring to the corporate noose that happens to accompany most dress shirts (although, those suck too). I’m talking about the ridiculous concept of playing 75 minutes of professional football and simply walking away from it with no result.
This year, my frustration stems from Sunday’s Vikings-Packers tie. For the second straight season, two division rivals hooked up in an all-important game to help decide a tight division race and came away with an unfulfilling conclusion.
In an age where we’re debating player safety on a seemingly weekly basis, it’s lame to play five quarters of football and not give someone either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.
In the NFL, where millions of dollars and men’s jobs are at stake, this is unacceptable.The primetime affair between the Broncos and Patriots was dangerously close to ending in a stalemate too; the Pats erased a 24-0 halftime deficit to force overtime, both teams had the ball in the extra session, and were it not for a Redskin-esque special teams gaffe by Denver with 3 minutes left, the Sunday Night game would’ve ended in a draw as well.
As a conference game, the Patriots and Broncos playing to a tie would have been a trainwreck if the two teams ended up with identical regular season records. Let’s say both teams ended the year 12-3-1. They tied head-to-head, they end up with the same conference record, and have the same record against common opponents. Then you’re assigning home field advantage throughout the playoffs based on something as trivial as how many points they scored or the cumulative hotness of their cheerleaders (ok, so maybe one of those is made up).
I’m not necessarily advocating for the return of sudden death overtime. The only thing that matters to me is ushering in a system that ensures that ties are impossible. In the playoffs, the two teams play until there’s a winner. I would urge the league to enact the same rules for the regular season as well.
And with that, let’s get you to the updated NFL Week 7 Recap.
