Dawgs in the NFL: Spit Takes and Sacks

With the NFL season officially underway, Georgia football fans can now fill their week with at least five days of football. The opening weekend brought some memorable games and moments. James Cook and the Buffalo Bills completed a thrilling comeback on Sunday night against Roquan Smith and the Baltimore Ravens, the Atlanta Falcons did Atlanta Falcons things (sorry Jalon Walker), and Jalen Carter…spat on Dak Prescott?

I don’t think that was the type of quarterback pressure the Eagles’ coaching staff was hoping Carter would have on Thursday night. Following this wild moment, the former first-round pick was ejected from the game and later fined $57,222 for the incident. The Eagles (and the rest of the former Dawgs on defense) would still ultimately win the game 24-20 thanks to a second-half shutout by the Philly defense.

On Saturday, in what appeared to be an homage to Carter, a Florida defensive tackle performed the same move in their game against USF late in the fourth quarter, which also led to an ejection and ultimately played a role in the Bulls upsetting the Gators in the Swamp. Serendipity indeed.

Moving on from saliva projectiles, former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford hit a big milestone on Sunday by eclipsing 60,000 career passing yards. He became the tenth quarterback in NFL history to achieve this, and he is a little over 1,300 yards away from passing Dan Marino on the all-time passing yards list. Stafford is also tenth on the career passing touchdowns list with 378 and needs four more to pass former Atlanta Falcon Matt Ryan for ninth place. If he can continue to pick up the accolades, a case could be made for the two-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion to earn a bust in Canton, OH someday. Congratulations to him!

It was not a great Sunday, however, for Matt’s former team, the Detroit Lions. They were dominated by the Green Bay Packers in a 27-13 contest at Lambeau Field. Much like the 2022 Georgia-Tennessee game that shared the same score, the team with the G on their helmets did whatever they wanted on defense. Many former Dawgs played a big role in this one. Javon Bullard and Quay Walker were among the team leaders in tackles with eight and seven, respectively. Devonte Wyatt had one of the biggest defensive plays of the game when he blew through the Lions’ offensive line on 4th and 2 to sack Jared Goff.

With guys like Wyatt, Micah Parsons, and Rashan Gary anchoring the defensive line, and other studs like Walker and Bullard roaming the middle of the field, the Packers are in a position to have one of the best defenses in the league and make a run to the Super Bowl. Let’s hope they aren’t the only G-logo team that is holding up a trophy at the end of the season.

Go Dawgs!

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