Welcome to the “Casual Fan” section of The Show Notes! This is where I talk about sports. Certain aspects of what you read here, such as the depth of the analysis and amount of objectivity, will vary depending on a number of different factors. I promise to always be entertaining, though. Typos and grammatical errors are a direct reflection of my hatred of generative AI. If you like this, check out my show!

This was a wild one on and off the field! Let’s discuss!

It is believed that the first forward pass in a professional football game happened on October 25th, 1906. The Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent their game trying to show us what life was like before then. Weather conditions made throwing the ball a whole thing, but that didn’t stop the Falcons from trying. Maybe it should have, though, because QB Michael Penix Jr. finished 8/24 for 125 yards and 4 interceptions. Penix was the only player completing passes to the Bucs as Tampa Bay became the first team since 1974 to finish a game without a single completion. QB Baker Mayfield attempted just 3 passes as Tampa Bay opted to run the ball all over the Atlanta defense. And guess what? It worked! The Bucs finished with a franchise-record 324 rushing yards in their 16-0 win.

Oh, and that 1974 game? The Buffalo Bills defeated the New York Jets 16-12 on September 29th of that year. Jets QB Joe Namath was 2/18 for 33 yards and 3 interceptions. He’s a hall of famer! His Buffalo counterpart, Joe Ferguson, missed on his only 2 pass attempts. The Bills instead chose to hand the ball off to RB O.J. Simpson. What ever happened to that guy?

Look, we know what we’re watching at this point. Football is a violent game played by men who are sometimes bad people. Every fan makes their peace with this information in their own way, and all we ask is for the NFL to make that a little bit easier by not letting us be reminded of the reality of the situation. Boy, did they have their hands full this week.

Packers RB Josh Jacobs missed the first six games of the season after a May arrest for domestic battery. He scored his first touchdown in the Packers’ Thursday night win against the Panthers, and his celebration looked a hell of a lot like a guy pantomiming breaking out of handcuffs. Jacobs claimed that the celebration was referencing a gospel song, but yeah, you be the judge. Then, it was reported that there were actually more allegations of domestic abuse against Jacobs than the one that led to his arrest. No word yet on whether the NFL will punish him for those.

Speaking of multiple allegations, the Chiefs signed kicker Justin Tucker to their practice squad. Tucker was once considered to be the greatest kicker of all time, but the last we heard from him, it looked like his career was over after the worst kicking year of his life was followed by a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy after 16 women accused him of sexual misconduct related to his behavior during massages. Kansas City is no stranger to kickers who are both terrible humans and bad at kicking. Their current kicker, Harrison Butker, gave a commencement address in 2024 that was so backwards that I don’t even know where to start. He basically watched The Handmaid’s Tale and was like, “Huh, that’s a good idea!” We may end up seeing Tucker soon after Butker’s missed FG in Sunday’s game set the Broncos up with great field position for what ended up being the game-winning TD.

Unlike everyone else mentioned in this section, Lions LB Jack Campbell seems like a regular guy, which makes what happened to him Sunday all the more tragic. Campbell’s entire body went limp after suffering a neck injury while attempting to tackle Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson. It was finally reported Monday evening that “preliminary indications are positive,” but I’m not entirely sure what that means about his current condition or future.

Join me in blocking all of this out and tuning in next week!

As elite as their defense has been so far this season, it was hard for me to wrap my head around the Minnesota Vikings being the NFL’s only undefeated team heading into Sunday’s action. With all due respect, name me a single Viking other than Justin Jefferson. Their improbable hot start came to an end against their NFC North rival, the Detroit Lions. How’d the Lions do it? Well, they have Jahmyr Gibbs. I don’t know why other teams didn’t try that. The loss means that the 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only team in NFL history to go undefeated throughout the regular season and playoffs (although the regular season was 14 games back then). Pop the champagne, fellas! If you are still alive!

Welp, if you blinked, you missed the return of Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. The former NFL MVP’s return to action from an October 4th ankle injury lasted exactly one pass attempt before he suffered yet another injury as his thumb slammed into the helmet of a Buffalo Bills pass rusher. But, hey, that’s what backup QB Tyler Huntley is for, right? Huntley knows the drill at this point, racking up 14 career starts for the Ravens in 6 seasons with the team. Unfortunately, we only got to see Huntley for a couple of blinks before he went down with an injury of his own. Enter emergency QB Joe Fagnano.

An emergency QB is a designated slot for a third-string quarterback that doesn’t take away a spot on the game-day active roster that teams submit each week. The catch is that, as the name suggests, you can only use them in an emergency, e.g., both of your other quarterbacks go down with an injury. Fagnano is the first emergency QB to enter a game this season. Unfortunately, things went about as well as expected for the undrafted rookie out of Connecticut. He completed just 10 of his 21 passes for 91 yards and also threw an interception as Baltimore lost 36-10.

The news got worse for the Ravens after the game when head coach Jesse Minter said Jackson will require surgery on his thumb that will most likely end his season. Huntley is suspected to have suffered the much-more-painful-than-it-sounds turf toe injury, so he will also be out for the foreseeable future. Expect Baltimore to make some moves before next Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Another exciting week in the books! Make sure you’re subscribed so you get the world’s greatest weekly sports watch guide in your inbox first thing Thursday morning! Go vote! I’ll see you next week!