Every week of the NFL season tells a story. GIFs can do the same thing. So let's tell the story of Week 3 through GIFs. It all makes delicious sense!
Jake Elliott went to work on Sunday morning as just another anonymous kicker in the NFL. His head hit the pillow last night as a Philadelphia folk hero. Not bad for a guy signed off the Bengals' practice squad a couple weeks ago. Could any feeling in sports -- nay, life -- be as good as your entire team sprinting toward you like that?
To properly contextualize the importance of Elliott's 61-yard game-winner, you have to understand how much Eagles fans and Giants fans absolutely detest each other. It's probably my favorite NFL fan rivalry -- just an infinite flow of venom and vitriol coming from both directions for like 80 years. And to beat the Giants with an insanely unlikely kick like that? To drop New York to 0-3 and put the Eagles in first place? There's a reason Elliott was carried off the field like he was freakin' Rudy.
Oh dammit, I'm going to embed the end of Rudy again, aren't I? Show some restraint, Dan.
That's the good stuff.
Donald Trump's controversial comments on anthem protests created one of the most memorable NFL Sundays in years. Here are just a few of the scenes across the country:
What started more than a year ago as a solitary act of expression by Colin Kaepernick has evolved into the defining story of this NFL season. Real life has spilled into the nation's favorite sport in a manner we rarely see.
I loved Jim Tomsula getting that sweet, sweet NBC prime-time love during the Redskins' thorough domination of the Raiders on Sunday night. Tomsula -- who was briefly off the pro football grid after being asked to rearrange the deck chairs of the Titanic (a.k.a. serve as 49ers head coach in 2015) -- is now the Redskins' defensive line coach. He's doing pretty well for himself it appears.
You can take your sideline glory boys, the young hotshots with famous pedigrees, all the old legends with rings and documentaries and beach houses and prestige. Give me the dude who looks like he can average a 207 in your uncle's Thursday night bowling league.
Hey Jimmy, we need you to pick up that 7-10 split!
"I got you."
Here's a nice little reminder that even gifted athletes like Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill are vulnerable to clumsy wipeouts. Stars, they're just like us!
That's Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney having the audacity to mimic the Gronk Spike in Foxborough. Other than the obvious difference here -- you southpaws are all weirdos -- Clowney seems to have a lot of the mechanics right here. And since Gronk scores a touchdown in any game he's not sidelined with a maimed knee/back/arm/groin, we can easily double-check Clowney's work with an example from Sunday:
Nice representation, Jadeveon. And kudos to Gronk, who doesn't get enough credit for making the spike cool again.
You'd make this face too if you were called for three penalties in one play. A rough day for the Seahawks' defense all around.
I know they got the call right. But that doesn't mean an otherwise entertaining matchup between the Lions and Falcons had to end with a referee telling everyone to go home. I get the argument: It would be unfair to let the Lions run one more play after the review revealed that Golden Tate was down before reaching the end zone. But isn't it equally unfair to assume Detroit wouldn't have been able to get one more play off before time expired?
The compromise seems easy: One untimed down from the previous spot. Let the best team win. I'm not sure that happened at Ford Field on Sunday.
Shoot your shot, kids. That's the life lesson here. Until next week ...