It was a very entertaining weekend of football full of surprises and thrilling games. Here I will run through each game:

Minnesota Vikings vs San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers beat the Vikings on Saturday and it was pretty clear why. The answer is not quarterback play or the defense, but play calling. Kyle Shannahan was the better play-caller. He stuck to what worked for the 49ers all season. He let the short passing game, and play-action passing game win him this game. Jimmy Garapolo made smart decisions, other than the one pick. Another that was impressive about the Shannahan’s game plan was the different ways he ran the ball. He wouldn’t just run outside, but he used the fullback in a very effective way to make sure every run play was getting three or four yards. The Vikings on the other, offensively, was a train wreck. Kevin Stefanski tried to force the ball downfield on vertical routes to the team’s two amazing receivers. The problem with that is that the 49ers play mainly zone coverage, and the corners usually have help underneath, so comebacks or out routes aren’t as effective unless the quarterback fits the ball in perfectly. This is something Kirk Cousins couldn’t do as he had pressure in his face at all times. The Vikings did have some good drives, running horizontal routes. Thielen got some good first down that way. Also when the screen game was used in non-obvious situations, it was very effective. You have to hand it to the 49ers. They played like the better team, from the coach, to the offense, and to the defense.

Tennessee Titans vs Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens looked like the Super Bowl favorites, but that didn’t matter on Saturday as the Titans absolutely killed the Ravens. They did this behind Derrick Henry’s 192 rushing yards and one passing touchdown. Baltimore was also fooled by the play-action game run by the Titans. Ryan Tannehill threw three touchdown passes, all of play-action. Earl Thomas didn’t show up in this game. The Ravens offense was rusty. Lamar Jackson wasn’t sharp, and the two weeks off wasn’t good for him. The Ravens were able to move the ball but were not able to capitalize once they were on the Titans side of the field. Tennessee played very well defensively, not being fooled by the Ravens’ play design, and they didn’t give any easy targets to Lamar Jackson. When the Titans’ defense broke down, the Ravens’ receivers were dropping passes. Not a lot went right for the Ravens, and the Titans ran their game plan to perfection.

Houston Texans vs Kansas City Chiefs

The Texans were up 21-0 in the first half. Why was I never worried that the Chiefs were going to win then? I’ll tell you why, and no it’s not Patrick Mahomes, he is part of it, but not the reason. The Chiefs seemed to be winning while the Texans were up. What does that even mean? It means that the Texans were not stopping the Chiefs, the Chiefs were stopping themselves. The dropped passes on third down, the simple mistakes on defense, all fixable issues. I said the Chiefs need to calm down, they have Mahomes, one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and they have plenty of time. They need to get back to fundamentals and they will win. This went for the offense and the defense. The defensive line of the Cheifs figured out that if they just went right at the Texans’ offensive lineman, they would win the battle. With all this said, there was one moment to me where the Texans lost the game. It came when the Texans were up 21-7 and Bill O’Brien chose to fake the punt and they failed to get it. It was the most obvious fake punt ever because the wind was blowing against the direction the punter was “aiming” to kick. Also, the punter had not, at least to my knowledge, done that all season long. Even if the Texans converted the fake punt, I still think it was a dumb move. With that lead, give your defense help, give them some room to work with. Instead, O’Brien held his defense out to dry. The Chiefs won this game, not only because of their superior talent but a coach who didn’t panic when things didn’t go right. The Chiefs played a great game, no matter what the score was in the first quarter.

Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers

This was a Packers game for three-quarters of it, then Russell Wilson started pulling off some of that magic. I think the Seahawks made a mistake in punting with three minutes left, but I made some bad takes on my last post. I thought that DaVonte Adams was not as big of an X-factor as some of the Seattle receivers. What I didn’t realize is the Adams improved his route-running to not only be a smart route runner but a good route runner (I go more in-depth on that in my podcast, @AamanPatelSportsNews, wherever you listen to podcasts). The Packers offense came to play but stalled towards the end. In the end, the Packers made enough plays to win the game but won, not because of a bad first down call (further in-depth on the podcast), but a bad decision to punt by Pete Caroll. Green Bay played a heck of a game, but Seattle’s resurgence showed the flaws of this football team.