A discussion of the NFL cannot begin this week without first talking about Dak Prescott. The Cowboys midfielder injury is easily the biggest disaster on the field of the 2020 season so far – and has been exacerbated by the fact that he plays under the franchise mark this season. Now his season is over. Prescott’s compound ankle fracture will require a long time to heal, and it is without a long-term deal.

The mark of privilege is the darker ingredient in the current CBA. Allowing teams to hold players for a season without a safety net, in order to judge whether they deserve a long-term deal is a silly idea in a league that is already friends with the owner. The Cowboys were fools for not believing in Prescott before the 2020 negotiations, and despite their early failures this year, Prescott was playing some of the best soccer of his career.

The 27-year-old midfielder gave it all to the Cowboys, and his reward was disbelief and mark. Dallas knew Prescott’s nature would lead him to sign the bid and start the season. Sure, he got paid a lot for signing the franchise brand – but that’s nothing compared to the signature and security bonus that would have come from a new contract he deserved.

This isn’t an indictment of the Cowboys, not really. They were within their rights to put it under the mark and wait, even though it was so ridiculous that they needed it More Proof that he could be the man. However, this is one of the most prominent examples of why the mark was changed under the next CBA. No one-year payment, regardless of its value, is worth the long-term damage to a player’s earnings. Especially when they have no control over the situation.

Prescott can come back from this. Many quarterbacks returned from the worst, but confirmed just how brutal the NFL was. It doesn’t matter if you are a Cowboys fan or not, everyone who saw their face after that injury should be affected by it.

winner: Carolina Panthers.

The Carolina Panthers have been quite successful so far this season. Sure, on paper 3-2 might not sound impressive – but that was the team that made their way into the 5–11 season a year ago. Furthermore, the Panthers did not play a weak schedule outside of their Sunday win over Hawks. Three of the team’s matches have played 0.500 teams or better, and every week the team looks better than before.

Within this success, coach Matt Rolle remains one of the NFL’s most fascinating case studies.

Rhule follows the new template of college coaches jumping into the NFL, trying to pin down successful college crimes into the league and see them pay dividends. Cliff Kingsbury does it in Arizona, and now Rhule is showing it can work, too. Leopards use an incredible amount of sudden movement to overwhelm the area’s defenses, and this quickly proves success. It also doesn’t seem like a flash on your way to attack either, unlike Chip Kelly’s initial success with the Eagles.

Of course, it pays off that Teddy Bridgewater is doing incredibly well, and young Carolina’s receptors are in business, and this top-down list looks a lot more energetic than it has been in years.

Realistically, this team is a year or so away from the real competition, but if that path continues it will be a team worth watching. Perhaps the strangest element in Carolina now is that the team’s decision to sign Christian McCaffrey for a mega deal may be the step they ultimately regret the most. Panthers pass the ball more than ever, and they excel without McCaffrey on the court. It shows how the slightest elite appearance makes a difference to the scheme of things.

Losers: NFC East

It wasn’t long ago that NFC East was a model for success in NFL. After a year, you can count on the East by sending a legitimate competitor to the playoffs, sometimes two. The aforementioned Dak Prescott injury confirmed just how sad this split was.

The Cowboys top with a record of 2-3, and now have an exciting Andy Dalton play to look forward to. Ooooooooooof.

winner: Cleveland Browns

It was very easy to sleep on brown. Season opening flips vs. Crows Set the tone to overlook Cleveland, but now for the second week in a row, Brown has put out a good win against a good opponent.

Baker Mayfield It plays far from perfect. In fact, he’s barely on his way to passing 3,000 yards this year – but it’s a testament to the talent Brown has on both sides of the ball that they can continue to win despite not getting elite production from center back.

Both Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. have become the most dangerous tandem in the NFL, and when combined with a tight final production from Austin Hopper, the attack ensures there are plenty of threats on the field at any given time.

Of course, none of this would really be possible without good defense – and that plays into it, too. While not a stingy defense in terms of squares and points, Cleveland excels at making plays. The Browns is the best NFL +6 in fringe rotation, which really tells the story here.

Next week will be a big test against Pittsburgh, but if Brown wins, watch out. They will get more attention.

Loser: Jared Goff tries to hit football

It takes an unprecedented amount of skill for a professional soccer player, who has presumably been carrying football most of his adult life, to smash a height so poorly that it looks like a baseball stadium. Keep working at this height, hollow.

One day you’ll get it.

Winner: Ryan Fitzpatrick

There is a micro and macro event for Fitzmagic on Sunday. Obviously, the short run is a win over 49ers He is very dazzling. The macro is that Fitzpatrick did it again.

This is a man skilled at getting lost for a while, before sprinkling him in a performance or two so mind-blowing that another team thinks they should sign a huge contract. At this point, he was in his 10th decade in the NFL. He has earned more than $ 71 million.

It’s the hottest hustle in the league, and I know he’ll be able to keep doing it for another 2-3 years. Only a real man from Harvard is able to demonstrate this kind of intelligence. I’ve never seen a genius dress up a Silver Elite like this since the Winklevoss twin allowed Mark Zuckerberg to steal Facebook.

Loser: All New York

Something makes me so warm and fuzzy knowing that planes and giants are both from 0 to 5. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I want to laugh at these teams – because they do a good enough job to make me laugh without my help. It shows the beauty of parity in the NFL.

In every other sport, New York can either overspend or attract almost everyone else. Of course, this often doesn’t mean success ** cough, nicks ** but the possibilities are there. In the NFL, it just has to do with how well you train, direct and play. Both teams are smelly. It’s ridiculous, it’s beautiful, and we should have it.