Rebels in the Pros: Week Seven was Freakishly Frightful

This 2020 NFL season has been anything but ordinary but the league continued through Week 7 without a hitch. The NFC East continues to be a hilarious content gold mine, everybody loves it when the Patriots lose and the headlines were dominated by former Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday— one in particular.

Here is how they fared:

Offense

• Let’s begin with the best play of the season to date and the biggest receiver to ever chase down a cornerback. D.K. Metcalf is a freak. There is no other way to put it. Look at this guy.

His physic is one thing, but this play is another. Metcalf, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound wide receiver ran down Cardinals defensive back Budda Baker, who has been clocked well into the 4.4 second 40-yard dash range. RAN HIM DOWN.

Here is another angle that focuses on the Oxford High School product. Throughout the play Metcalf reached a top speed of 22.64 mph and traveled 114.8 yards. He broke the speed limit on campus in Oxford.

The memes were endless and the twitter world went crazy, but here is my favorite.

The Seahawks lost in overtime, but Metcalf scored what would have been the game winning touchdown in the extra period and had it called back for holding.

He finished the night with only two catches for 23 yards. That touchdown would have added 48 yards to the total, and he broke the internet, so it’s fine.

• Sticking with the theme of athletes that may not be from this world, A.J. Brown continues to be the yards after catch king. The Mayor of Starkville went for a team-high 153 yards and a touchdown on six catches in Tennessee’s loss to Pittsburgh. His longest reception of the night was a 73-yard scoring play where Brown reached a top speed of 21.52 mph, the fastest by a wide receiver this season, not including Metcalf’s defensive dominance.

Brown may not stand out from a stopwatch standpoint, but he has run away from the cops speed. If he gets out in front of a defender, he is not going to get caught. He also would have been given a speeding ticket if he was running around the circle on campus.

• This is where things get dicey. Evan Engram is another one of these insane athletes, but he’s having a tough year on an awful, awful, awful Giants team. Here is the good.

Here is the athleticism used well.

Here is the athleticism used not so well.

Here is the bad.

Here is the worse.

Engram dropped the pass above on 3rd-and-6 with just over two minutes left. He finished with six catches for 46 yards, but if he had caught the ball, New York would have had a chance to ice the game. Philadelphia got the ball back and won the game instead.

• The second part of the Ole Miss tight end duo was inactive on Sunday. Dawson Knox tested positive for COVID-19 and did not play.
• Further in on the line, Laremy Tunsil remained firm at left tackle for Houston, though he was flagged for his first penalty of the season, and Bobby Massie took every snap for Chicago. Consistency is great, but it was Greg Little who starred for the Big Uglies on Sunday. After Carolina’s starting left tackle Russell Okung went out with an early calf injury, the Allen, Tx. native stepped up and played one hell of a game in his place. Look at this stack of flapjacks.

• While it was mostly Mike Davis and Teddy Bridgewater running behind Little at left tackle, one of his former Rebel teammates stepped in for a pair of touches. Myles Hartsfield, who had an impressive camp for the Panthers and has received a lot of praise from the staff, is playing primarily on special teams. However, he is firmly on the depth chart at cornerback and also has seen some time at running back. He had his first two NFL carries on Sunday and gained two positive yards!

Defense / Special Teams

• Carolina is where we left off on offense and it is where we will begin for defense and special teams. In fact, it is Hartsfield that will remain the topic of discussion as the jack of all trades made a tackle on the kickoff team. Nobody expected this from Hartsfield, and it’s great to see him making an impressive transition to the pros.
• Marquis Haynes was perhaps the most impressive Ole Miss product to see the field for the Panthers this weekend. With rookie linebacker Yetur Gross-Matos out, Haynes stepped up big and looked great in pursuit.

He also recovered a fumble after Drew Brees was hit in the pocket.

• Out West, D.J. Jones continues to play a huge role on the defensive line. To reiterate, he may not show up on the box score, but his presence causes chaos that breaks up plays and allows his teammates to get into the backfield. He did find the stat sheet with a tackle for loss.
• Mike Hilton was inactive with an injury he suffered in Week 6.