Rapid Reactions Heading into Week Nine
By: Matt Harmon
Bengals lose DT Geno Atkins for the season with a torn ACL
Jonathan Martin leaves the Dolphins
Eagles trade NT Isaac Sopoaga and a 6th round pick to the Patriots for a 5th round pick
Jaguars WR Justin Blackmon suspended by the NFL indefinitely
Bengals lose DT Geno Atkins for the season with a torn ACL
- Losing the game was not the biggest loss the Bengals experienced on Thursday night. Geno Atkins tore his ACL and will miss the rest of this season. Atkins is the best defensive tackle in the NFL and losing him for the season cannot be overstated. On a defense loaded with young talented players, Atkins tops them all, and he is top defensive player in this league. The unreal pressure that Atkins brings from the middle is the kind that really disrupts quarterbacks the most, and since Atkins has demanded constant double teams this season, he frees up his teammates to make more plays. Fellow defensive linemen Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson will no doubt find their paths to the quarterback much more difficult without Atkins around. Devon Still, a player that fell to the Bengals in last year’s draft, will be tasked with replacing this irreplaceable player. The Bengals already lost another one of their best defensive players, and that combined with Atkins loss seriously hurts the Bengals status as a serious threat in the AFC.
Jonathan Martin leaves the Dolphins
- I normally prefer to stick to football with my reactions, but I will get a little personal with my reaction to this news. Struggling tackle Jonathan Martin apparently had what a teammate called an “emotional breakdown” after teammates played a joke on him by leaving the lunch table when he sat down with them, and has left the team to be with his family and to seek mental counseling. Martin was apparently the subject of constant bullying and torment from teammates in the locker room, and if you want to read more on that you can easily find that, but I assume if you are on this page you want to hear my reactions. I was absolutely disgusted to see people react to this news by calling Martin horrible names. This is yet another example where society has lost sight of the fact NFL players are people too. People took to Twitter to call Martin, at best soft, and at worst a “bitch” or “pussy”. Some even had the gusto to tag Martin’s handle to say this about him and ask him how an NFL player and a man of his size could crack due to some simple bullying. What an utterly despicable thing to do. I would like to know how those people would feel if they had to hear and read a ton of analysts constantly saying how bad you are at your job, and then have your brothers in the locker room, who should be there to encourage you, completely turn on you. Apparently, Martin may be suffering from a mental illness, or at the least have some sort of issue, and for people who have no clue about the situation to call him out or further bully Martin about leaving the team is absolutely appalling. Whatever is going on with Martin is a big deal to him, and he has every right to leave the team that failed him if he needs to get better. There is simply nothing soft or weak about that. If you have a moment, please Tweet some positivity to Jonathan Martin (@J_Martin71). We need to send him some positivity and love and help to clear out the nastiness he received this week. This situation bares watching in how it reflects on the Dolphins who have clearly failed one of their young players and deserve blame all the way to the very top of the organization, and whether Martin ever comes back to them.
Eagles trade NT Isaac Sopoaga and a 6th round pick to the Patriots for a 5th round pick
- Despite a ton of rumors surrounding big name players, this was all we got out of the NFL trade deadline. This deal makes a ton of sense for the Patriots who have lost both Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly to season ending injuries, and their poor run defense really shows it. Sopoaga is a player in the Wilfork mold as a big run stuffing nose tackle, but not nearly as good. Sopoaga has not played well this season for the Eagles, but used to be a nice two down nose tackle for the 49ers. If the Patriots can get some quality snaps out of him, their run defense should improve, but that is not a guarantee. For the Eagles, they essentially wasted three million in guaranteed money in signing Sopoaga as a free agent, and since they sent a sixth round pick in addition, this deal will only move them up a few draft slots. That is bad business.
Jaguars WR Justin Blackmon suspended by the NFL indefinitely
- Blackmon was troubled long before the Jaguars chose to make him the fifth pick in the 2012 draft, and was already coming off of a four game suspension to begin the this season violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Blackmon clearly has a problem and needs to seek serious help before he completely flushes his career down the toilet. This loss is a big one for a Jaguars team that did not need any more obstacles. Quietly, Justin Blackmon teams with Cecil Shorts to make one of the NFL best receiving duos and they put up a lot of production despite bad quarterback play. This will only make Jacksonville’s quest to actually win a game that much more difficult. It is fair to wonder, despite what sounds like steady support coming from the team, whether this guy ever plays another snap for the Jaguars.
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...