The Chris Rawle Show

You are what your surroundings say you are. The NFL season is only 3 weeks old and hot takes are flying. This rookie quarterback class is garbage! Sam Darnold and Teddy Bridgewater are great! Matt Stafford is the MVP of football! While individual talent obviously plays a role, the ultimate ceiling of each of these players will be defined by their situation.

Every college football season is comprised of moments of truth, games that give us a window into who you are as a football team. This weekend features plenty of matchups for contending teams: Arkansas-Georgia, Mississippi-Alabama, Cincinnati-Notre Dame. What is the truth for each of them?

Welcome to Monday On The Margins, a weekly examination of the miniscule differences between wins and losses (like in Nebraska-Michigan State or Clemson-NC State), good bets and bad bets (hello, Akron-Ohio State and Notre Dame-Wisconsin), and public opinion surrounding clutch play (HELLO, Lamar Jackson-Justin Tucker and Aaron Rodgers-Mason Crosby).

QB is the number one position in sports that is evaluated improperly. Criticism abounds for quarterbacks who play in a non-traditional manner, or haven’t won a Super Bowl, or both. Two quarterbacks in particular (Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield) carry this criticism despite otherworldly college careers and so far, successful NFL careers.

Herm Edwards said it best: “You play to win the game!” A startling amount of teams and coaches don’t abide by this rule to the fullest extent. The very best coaches, from John Harbaugh to Bill Belichick, create weekly gameplans based upon what gives their team the best chance to win. In a sport where the margins between winning and losing are so small, every possible edge matters.

Who merits inclusion in a four-team college football playoff? Through the early weeks of the season, Clemson and Ohio State have fallen while a slew of other teams (Penn State, Oregon, Iowa, Mississippi, Arkansas) have impressed. Three squads in particular (Cincinnati, BYU, and Coastal Carolina) present a good litmus test for the college football playoff selection committee: how serious will non-Power 5 programs be treated in the national title race?

Welcome to Monday On The Margins, an examination of the tiniest, strangest things that decide the outcome of a football game: players, coaches, refs, weather, and simple twists of fate. This weekend featured a wide variety of games that boiled down to one play or one decision, including NYG-WFT, Florida-Alabama, Auburn-Penn State, Chargers-Cowboys, Vikings-Cardinals, and Chiefs-Ravens.

There is a simple question threaded through life, and sports: can you morph into something different, or will you always revert back to your base form? Nebraska heads into Saturday’s game against Oklahoma as fans wonder if the Cornhuskers possess the capacity to change their mistake-filled ways. Vic Fangio and the Denver Broncos head into a game against the Jaguars with Fangio seeking to expand his Week 1 coaching metamorphosis from conservative to aggressive. Is game-manger Jameis Winston here to stay? What can he learn from the 2009 season of Brett Favre? Can you change who you are as a team, coach, or player?

It is rare to watch a player and feel like their ceiling is unlimited. Patrick Mahomes, entering his fourth season as starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs and unquestionably the best player in football, seems destined to be an all-time great. What is his ceiling?

Football is great because the season is short. Every game seems (and to a certain extent, is) meaningful. With so few games compared to other sports, there is always a sense of urgency amplified by every loss. Week 1 of the NFL season is in the books and half the league (including the Packers, Bills, Browns, Jets, Jaguars, and Giants) is 0-1. When is the correct time to panic?