Whether or not Earl Thomas should have raised his middle

finger in the direction of his team’s sideline Quinton Jefferson Color Rush Jersey , this much is clear: His broken leg amid an ongoing flap with the Seattle Seahawks illustrates why the lack of guaranteed contracts is such a problem for NFL players.This is exactly what Thomas was worried about when he sat out training camp. And when he skipped practices after the season started.There are, of course, all manner of injuries in each and every game, each and every week, around the violent-by-design league.Often, they involve stars — such as Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who left New England’s 38-7 win over Miami with an injured right ankle. Often, they are gruesome — such as what happened to Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert’s lower right leg in Cincinnati’s 37-36 victory at Atlanta, leaving him covering his face with interlocking fingers as he was driven to the locker room.So this given Sunday was no different from any other, really. Thomas’ particular case, though, seemed to resonate — yes, because of his flipping reaction, but also — because he has been so public about his concerns about health and finances.He’s in the final year of his deal and repeatedly has spoken about wanting the extra security of a fresh contract.“I need to make sure my body is 100 (percent),” Thomas said a week ago, “and I’m invested in myself.”Prescient sentiment. In the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 20-17 victory at the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Thomas’s left leg was fractured while he tried to defend against what became a 22-yard touchdown pass. As the six-time Pro Bowl safety was driven away on a cart along Arizona’s sideline, his leg in an air cast, he looked across the field, lifted his right hand and made his anger clear.It elicited a ton of reaction on Twitter, including this nugget from Thomas’ former Seahawks teammate Cliff Avril: “Exactly why guys want extensions.”In case you missed it, here are other top topics after the NFL season’s fourth Sunday:ROUGHING THE PASSERYes, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews was credited with half a sack while helping take down Bills QB Josh Allen in the second quarter as Green Bay beat Buffalo 22-0 . And, lo and behold Tom Johnson Color Rush Jersey , Matthews did not get flagged for roughing the passer — the first game this season that he did not get whistled for it. All in all, the uproar caused by the focus on that particular penalty seemed to have an effect, because after an average of more than 10 roughing calls per week through Week 3, there were only five entering the Monday night game. Then again, one of Sunday’s was pretty hard to believe: when Oakland’s Arden Key barely touched Cleveland QB Baker Mayfield.NOT TAKING A KNEEHey, maybe Jaguars coach Doug Marrone was worried that the Jets would return a kickoff for a touchdown, then line up and go for 14? Hard to figure out what else would motivate him to go for a 2-point conversion after a TD put his team ahead 31-12 with 25 seconds left — unless, of course, Marrone just wanted to rub it in a bit against a club that passed him over for its top job. Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams called it “really disrespectful.” Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson’s take? “He doesn’t like those guys. I don’t know what they did to him, but he doesn’t like them.” And Marrone’s explanation? “On the chart,” he said, “it says go for two.”YOUNG RUNNERSDon’t bother with a running game, they say. Never draft a tailback too high, they insist. Maybe they’re right, but there is a young crop of runners who are looking fantastic right now. There’s second-year back Alvin Kamara, who scored three second-half TDs and finished with 134 yards on the ground in the Saints’ 33-18 victory at the New York Giants, whose rookie Saquon Barkley looks pretty talented, too. Rookie Sony Michel ran for 112 yards and his first NFL TD for the Patriots, while his college teammate at Georgia, Nick Chubb, needed all of three carries to gain 105 yards and score twice for Cleveland in its 45-42 OT loss at Oakland. Yet another rookie, Kerryon Johnson, bulled through defenders while producing 55 yards and a TD for Detroit, which was beaten 26-24 by Dallas. The 2018 NFL season is over Rasheem Green Color Rush Jersey , but in an era of needing to funnel content out at all times, ESPN has already provided us with extremely early predictions for the 2019 NFL season. Their panel of columnists and analysts were asked who would win Super Bowl 54 in Miami, as well as who would be league MVP.This is behind the ESPN Insider/ESPN+ paywall, so I can’t give you everything, but I will give you the Seahawks related snippets. Kevin Seifert is going bold by having Russell Wilson as the 2019 regular season MVP, citing his excellent 2018 campaign despite a run-first approach.Now I’m of the opinion that the Seahawks offense’s consistent habit of starting slowly just about eliminates Wilson from the MVP race before it can really begin. I imagine he’d have gotten votes in the 2015 season if they didn’t go the entire first-half of the season without scoring more than two offensive touchdowns in a game. But hey, trends can be broken, and if the Seahawks passing offense gets into gear early in 2019 and keeps that pace up, we could see Wilson in that MVP conversation.Unsurprisingly, Patrick Mahomes topped the predictions tally, with four of nine panelists picking the Kansas City Chiefs star to repeat as league MVP. Aaron Rodgers was the only other QB to receive more than one vote, while other MVP predictions went to Drew Brees and Andrew Luck.As for the “way too early” Super Bowl LIV pick? Well again, very early, free agency hasn’t started, but why the hell not? Former Seahawks beat writer Mike Sando, now an ESPN senior NFL columnist, has got Seattle in the Super Bowl... except they lose to the New England Patriots again.The other predictions included the Los Angeles Chargers over the Chicago Bears (from Matt Bowen), the New Orleans Saints over Houston Texans (Dan Graziano), and unsurprisingly multiple analysts went with the Kansas City Chiefs over the Los Angeles Rams, while KC Joyner went Rams over Chiefs. Yes, KC picked KC to lose.I’m sure we’ll be bringing up national media prognostications throughout the offseason, so this is just the start. Will anyone dare pick a terrible season for the Seahawks again? You’re all on notice.