(Note, I started typing this yesterday and finished it off today. So yeah...enjoy.)
Welp, since tonight's Monday Night Football game is effectively for degenerate gambling types only (cause I can't imagine anyone else outside of the individual fanbases involved having any amounts of give a shit about two non playoff teams battling)...I figure I may as well make my first formal NFL blog with November about over with. As we head into the home stretch of December, it's literally a tale of two conferences.
One's incredibly top heavy in the AFC with the Pats & Bengals at the top, I'm not quite ready to put Denver up there with them just yet. If they go nostalgic and throw Peyton back out there when it's clear that his body is not close to where his mind is...they're likely one and done. If they stick with Brock who's clearly showing he's not ready to turn this thing back over to Peyton, who knows? The Colts have been a real Jekyll & Hyde act all year. With Luck behind center, they look lost mostly because he does. Apparently he has been playing hurt for most of the first half of the year and his play has nosedived considerably (go fig this is the year I get him in fantasy). However, when his 40 year old counterpart has stepped in to replace him, they're 4-0. No, really. They have yet to lose a start with Hasselbeck under center. So while I don't see them making a run or even a walk of any kind, it's clear that at least for this season, staying with the hot hand could be the thing that keeps them from losing the division to Houston. Ah yes, Houston. The great 'What If' that seemingly never materializes because they just can't seem to find a QB to get this offense rolling. Double J Watt continues doing Watt things on defense, as he reminds me of a new age Reggie White who likely won't ever compete for a Super Bowl until he lands with an offense that can make his defense matter.
Buffalo has underachieved a lot, Oakland is looking like it's just about ready to snap out of a near 13 year slumber and return to the playoffs. If it's not this season, it's definitely going to be next season. Depending on what Elway does, Osweiler/Carr could be the next great divisional beef for years to come. Miami's simply an average team that everyone pumped up to be the team that FINALLY puts an end to the Patriots' reign of divisional dominance and they have imploded. Suh has gone Haynesworth on them, as in he got his money and now is in no shits given mode. Or maybe he does and it's just not looking good. I don't know. The Jags are only in the conversation because the AFC South is just THAT BAD (the NFC East is just as atrocious). Only the Clowns, Titans, Ravens & Chargers are totally out of it. In the NFC, wow.
Apparently a year ago today, Carolina lost its last regular season game. They haven't lost since. I believe if they win 12-14 games and are the #1 seed in the NFC, Cam should win the MVP award this season. (Should only share it if New England finishes with a similar mark.) When Kelvin Benjamin went down with a season ending injury, I wrote their offense off. It was Greg Olsen and a bunch of never weres or has beens. No way do they do anything of any consequence. Boy, was I wrong here. Their D is stellar across the board and the Panthers are going to be a seriously tough out in the playoffs. As will Arizona, so long as nothing happens to Palmer like last season or they just get lazy for no good reason. Their D is right up there with Carolina's and they too, will be seriously tough to push out. After that, there are more question marks than you'd see on The Riddler's outfit. Minnesota has seemingly come out of nowhere sparked by Adrian Peterson's rise from who knows what. He lost a season because he whipped his kid like he stole something with a switch and at the age where most backs start to slow down, he hasn't. That, combined with the emergence of Bridgewater and Barr on defense, has sparked a Purple Push towards the top. Oh, one other thing outside of the Purple Place has sparked it. Green Bay's inexplicable and maybe inevitable fall from divisional grace. They're a game back but man, something just looks really OFF with them all year. Rodgers has been super shaky, Lacy hasn't been himself and their D which was suspect anyhow hasn't helped stop the bleeding from this offense which hasn't recovered after losing Jordy Nelson. So short of an absolute implosion over this last month, I'm not seeing the Pack slip. It's that last Wild Card spot plus that other divisional champion that gets very interesting.
Yesterday, the Giants could've put a serious chokehold on the division race. With the Cowboys all but done and Philly all but done with Chip Kelly, only Washington looms as their biggest divisional hurdle. But they haven't lost to these clowns in years, so surely coming off a bye...they'd win yesterday. Right? NOPE. The Giants as they have done consistently this year, when they look awful, they go full on compost heap. Three picks by Eli. Offense can't run. OBJ does OBJ type stuff, but it's not enough. Now, the tiebreaker falls with the Washington Ethnic Slurs and the schedule doesn't exactly favor the Giants the rest of the way. Their experience should give them the advantage, but that's something that should have carried them to a victory yesterday and it didn't. So even as a fan, I don't know. Their D is a serious work in progress and their inability to run the rock gives me serious pause about their chances of winning a third title in as many seasons in the Elite Era. Then, there's that last Wild Card spot and that's a real head scratcher.
After dragging their feet for most of this season for various reasons, the two time defending conference champions appear to be back on it. However, after losing Graham for the season and it looking more and more like Rawls is the new hotness behind Wilson...can Seattle really be trusted? Their usually staunch D has been gouged quite often this season and folks don't appear to be as afraid as they used to be of throwing on them. As evident by the 400 plus yards that the Steelers dropped upside their head yesterday. Seattle won't catch the Cardinals in the division, but they're a dangerous team if they CAN make it in because of their championship pedigree. The other team in the mix only because of its good start, are the Not As Dirty As They Used To Be Birds from the ATL. They were 5-0 at one point and well, they're 1-5 since. I don't know what has happened to them, but they're losing ground and they've now got a young Tampa team in their rear view closing FAST. Tampa drafted my main man from FSU, "Infamous" Jameis WInston and handed him the reins immediately. He's playing better and that offense around him isn't bad at all. They have the tiebreaker over Chicago (SURPRISE SURPRISE, they're not dead in the water after all!) and the Giants (yet another reason why their margin for error going forward now is super slim), so all they have to do is play the rest of the season like they're oblivious to the pressure and they're good. After that, well, it's not exactly clear who or what is ready to step up.
Despite having the best young back in the game, the Rams probably won't be playoff bound this season. The Bears have shown signs of life when they were thought to be dead in the water. Detroit, well, will continue to waste the prime of a supremely gifted offensive talent with idiotic roster management and inept coaching. (How oh how did Jim Caldwell talk his way into another job after that smash up job he did with the Colts?) In Philly, Chip Kelly the GM helped make life for Chip Kelly the Coach near impossible. I have zero tears to shed for that. The Saints are probably done for in all honesty. They've already fired their defensive coordinator, their O won't be enough to get them back to the playoffs and not enough dominoes will fall in their favor to make that happen.
Some 'Extra Point' stuff...
- Cleveland losing the way it did last night was 'typical' Cleveland. Best reaction came from the fan who was so livid, he literally tore through his Browns jersey. ProTip kids, when your team makes you so livid you're tearing through stuff like that, find a new team. Don't be that person who hangs on to an untimely death. Speaking of...
- Mike Pettine should be fired. For thinking that Josh McCown is their "best chance to win" and for his clear bias against Johnny Manziel. Look, I get Johnny isn't a patron saint. He is a party animal, much the same way that Rob Gronkowski is. Wanna know the difference? It's a different narrative entirely when your team is WINNING while you're partying versus them LOSING while doing that. I get he had a disagreement with his significant other a few weeks back and well, shit happens.
But Johnny has performed well when he has played and simply put, the vicious career crushing cycle of killing QB careers has to STOP. It's that simple. Build a team around Johnny, be supportive of his growth both as a player and as a person. If that's too difficult (and given who we're talking about,eh), then send him to a team that will.
- College Football. I can't stand this CFP nonsense. Excuse me, what it really is in essence is the Big School Invitational because only the 'Big Schools' are truly invited. I think this thing was a lot better off with computers deciding things, they weren't as agenda driven as these humans are I tell ya what. Right now, there are just two unbeatens left heading into Title Weekend. Clemson & Iowa. Now, Clemson is ranked #1 and has the simplest path to a seat at the table. Beat North Carolina and you're good. Iowa on the other hand, is something of an unsure thing even with a date against #5 Michigan State in Indy this weekend. What bugs me is that the very thing being held against Iowa in terms of their spot in these rankings (they haven't played anybody, conference or nonconference) is something you could hold against the likes of Alabama and other teams that are thought more highly of when you talk playoff consideration.
Hell, even the Media and Coaches polls are showing Iowa no respect. Alabama and Oklahoma respectively are ranked ahead of the unbeaten Hawkeyes, something that is definitely influenced by this BSI nonsense. After slaughtering OK State, Oklahoma was nudged past both Big Ten schools in the AP and they're one spot below Iowa in the Coaches (Iowa's looking up at Alabama there). I miss the days when not losing games, scheduling be damned actually meant more than the name attached to your record and what ratings come along with it. Clearly OU & Bama have more national sizzle than Iowa, which makes their title game against Michigan State easily the most important game this school has played in YEARS. It hasn't won a conference title in 13 years. (Also worth noting that year they had a SHARE of the Big Ten with Ohio State.) That 2002 team was thumped by USC during the infant stages of the Trojan Dynasty that was picking up steam after years of doing absolutely nothing of consequence. Their last outright Big Ten title was 1985. Even still, regardless of who they have or have not beaten let's face facts...
Everything that makes March Madness so great is going to be the undoing of college football. College basketball's system is INCLUSIVE whereas this system in its present incarnation is more or less EXCLUSIVE. Even if they expand this to 8 teams which is very likely within the next two years or so, it won't change. What it will do is drive teams like Boise State and others to join bigger conferences in the hopes of not being left out of future playoff consideration. Oh and because it wouldn't be right of me to close this out without mentioning him...
- The Black Mamba is walking away after this season. Kobe Bryant came out in the Class of 1996, one year after KG in 95 and one year before Tim Duncan. In my lifetime, my Mount Rushmore goes like this...
MJ. Magic. Duncan. Bird.
Kobe was outstanding, but his ego which made him great and helped get him 5 rings, likely kept him from surpassing Jordan. When things between he and Shaq couldn't be resolved, leading to Shaq being sent packing, the Lakers toiled in mediocrity for a while. The worst of it was when Phoenix came from a 3-1 series hole to run the Lakers home and Kobe in that finale was nonexistent. That's a HUGE blemish on his resume that none of the others have. They get Pau Gasol in exchange for Marc Gasol and we all know what happens next. Kobe gets to the Finals drawing even with the Celts and beating the Magic for his final ring in 2010. Kobe never got out of the second round after that last title and after the vaunted Howard & Nash experiment went bust, Kid Buss never replenished the roster to give Kobe one more chance. Kobe's body has gone out on him and his run will end in depressing fashion. He is without a shadow of a doubt the second greatest shooting guard I've seen in my lifetime behind MJ and ahead of Wade. However, I cannot put him ahead of Duncan who has five rings and a longer string of success compared to Kobe. Duncan has not missed the playoffs in his career. EVER. Even though the head to head meetings with Duncan actually favors Kobe (4-2), Duncan's sustained consistency over such a long stretch cannot be ignored.
And I'm done...
Welp, since tonight's Monday Night Football game is effectively for degenerate gambling types only (cause I can't imagine anyone else outside of the individual fanbases involved having any amounts of give a shit about two non playoff teams battling)...I figure I may as well make my first formal NFL blog with November about over with. As we head into the home stretch of December, it's literally a tale of two conferences.
One's incredibly top heavy in the AFC with the Pats & Bengals at the top, I'm not quite ready to put Denver up there with them just yet. If they go nostalgic and throw Peyton back out there when it's clear that his body is not close to where his mind is...they're likely one and done. If they stick with Brock who's clearly showing he's not ready to turn this thing back over to Peyton, who knows? The Colts have been a real Jekyll & Hyde act all year. With Luck behind center, they look lost mostly because he does. Apparently he has been playing hurt for most of the first half of the year and his play has nosedived considerably (go fig this is the year I get him in fantasy). However, when his 40 year old counterpart has stepped in to replace him, they're 4-0. No, really. They have yet to lose a start with Hasselbeck under center. So while I don't see them making a run or even a walk of any kind, it's clear that at least for this season, staying with the hot hand could be the thing that keeps them from losing the division to Houston. Ah yes, Houston. The great 'What If' that seemingly never materializes because they just can't seem to find a QB to get this offense rolling. Double J Watt continues doing Watt things on defense, as he reminds me of a new age Reggie White who likely won't ever compete for a Super Bowl until he lands with an offense that can make his defense matter.
Buffalo has underachieved a lot, Oakland is looking like it's just about ready to snap out of a near 13 year slumber and return to the playoffs. If it's not this season, it's definitely going to be next season. Depending on what Elway does, Osweiler/Carr could be the next great divisional beef for years to come. Miami's simply an average team that everyone pumped up to be the team that FINALLY puts an end to the Patriots' reign of divisional dominance and they have imploded. Suh has gone Haynesworth on them, as in he got his money and now is in no shits given mode. Or maybe he does and it's just not looking good. I don't know. The Jags are only in the conversation because the AFC South is just THAT BAD (the NFC East is just as atrocious). Only the Clowns, Titans, Ravens & Chargers are totally out of it. In the NFC, wow.
Apparently a year ago today, Carolina lost its last regular season game. They haven't lost since. I believe if they win 12-14 games and are the #1 seed in the NFC, Cam should win the MVP award this season. (Should only share it if New England finishes with a similar mark.) When Kelvin Benjamin went down with a season ending injury, I wrote their offense off. It was Greg Olsen and a bunch of never weres or has beens. No way do they do anything of any consequence. Boy, was I wrong here. Their D is stellar across the board and the Panthers are going to be a seriously tough out in the playoffs. As will Arizona, so long as nothing happens to Palmer like last season or they just get lazy for no good reason. Their D is right up there with Carolina's and they too, will be seriously tough to push out. After that, there are more question marks than you'd see on The Riddler's outfit. Minnesota has seemingly come out of nowhere sparked by Adrian Peterson's rise from who knows what. He lost a season because he whipped his kid like he stole something with a switch and at the age where most backs start to slow down, he hasn't. That, combined with the emergence of Bridgewater and Barr on defense, has sparked a Purple Push towards the top. Oh, one other thing outside of the Purple Place has sparked it. Green Bay's inexplicable and maybe inevitable fall from divisional grace. They're a game back but man, something just looks really OFF with them all year. Rodgers has been super shaky, Lacy hasn't been himself and their D which was suspect anyhow hasn't helped stop the bleeding from this offense which hasn't recovered after losing Jordy Nelson. So short of an absolute implosion over this last month, I'm not seeing the Pack slip. It's that last Wild Card spot plus that other divisional champion that gets very interesting.
Yesterday, the Giants could've put a serious chokehold on the division race. With the Cowboys all but done and Philly all but done with Chip Kelly, only Washington looms as their biggest divisional hurdle. But they haven't lost to these clowns in years, so surely coming off a bye...they'd win yesterday. Right? NOPE. The Giants as they have done consistently this year, when they look awful, they go full on compost heap. Three picks by Eli. Offense can't run. OBJ does OBJ type stuff, but it's not enough. Now, the tiebreaker falls with the Washington Ethnic Slurs and the schedule doesn't exactly favor the Giants the rest of the way. Their experience should give them the advantage, but that's something that should have carried them to a victory yesterday and it didn't. So even as a fan, I don't know. Their D is a serious work in progress and their inability to run the rock gives me serious pause about their chances of winning a third title in as many seasons in the Elite Era. Then, there's that last Wild Card spot and that's a real head scratcher.
After dragging their feet for most of this season for various reasons, the two time defending conference champions appear to be back on it. However, after losing Graham for the season and it looking more and more like Rawls is the new hotness behind Wilson...can Seattle really be trusted? Their usually staunch D has been gouged quite often this season and folks don't appear to be as afraid as they used to be of throwing on them. As evident by the 400 plus yards that the Steelers dropped upside their head yesterday. Seattle won't catch the Cardinals in the division, but they're a dangerous team if they CAN make it in because of their championship pedigree. The other team in the mix only because of its good start, are the Not As Dirty As They Used To Be Birds from the ATL. They were 5-0 at one point and well, they're 1-5 since. I don't know what has happened to them, but they're losing ground and they've now got a young Tampa team in their rear view closing FAST. Tampa drafted my main man from FSU, "Infamous" Jameis WInston and handed him the reins immediately. He's playing better and that offense around him isn't bad at all. They have the tiebreaker over Chicago (SURPRISE SURPRISE, they're not dead in the water after all!) and the Giants (yet another reason why their margin for error going forward now is super slim), so all they have to do is play the rest of the season like they're oblivious to the pressure and they're good. After that, well, it's not exactly clear who or what is ready to step up.
Despite having the best young back in the game, the Rams probably won't be playoff bound this season. The Bears have shown signs of life when they were thought to be dead in the water. Detroit, well, will continue to waste the prime of a supremely gifted offensive talent with idiotic roster management and inept coaching. (How oh how did Jim Caldwell talk his way into another job after that smash up job he did with the Colts?) In Philly, Chip Kelly the GM helped make life for Chip Kelly the Coach near impossible. I have zero tears to shed for that. The Saints are probably done for in all honesty. They've already fired their defensive coordinator, their O won't be enough to get them back to the playoffs and not enough dominoes will fall in their favor to make that happen.
Some 'Extra Point' stuff...
- Cleveland losing the way it did last night was 'typical' Cleveland. Best reaction came from the fan who was so livid, he literally tore through his Browns jersey. ProTip kids, when your team makes you so livid you're tearing through stuff like that, find a new team. Don't be that person who hangs on to an untimely death. Speaking of...
- Mike Pettine should be fired. For thinking that Josh McCown is their "best chance to win" and for his clear bias against Johnny Manziel. Look, I get Johnny isn't a patron saint. He is a party animal, much the same way that Rob Gronkowski is. Wanna know the difference? It's a different narrative entirely when your team is WINNING while you're partying versus them LOSING while doing that. I get he had a disagreement with his significant other a few weeks back and well, shit happens.
But Johnny has performed well when he has played and simply put, the vicious career crushing cycle of killing QB careers has to STOP. It's that simple. Build a team around Johnny, be supportive of his growth both as a player and as a person. If that's too difficult (and given who we're talking about,eh), then send him to a team that will.
- College Football. I can't stand this CFP nonsense. Excuse me, what it really is in essence is the Big School Invitational because only the 'Big Schools' are truly invited. I think this thing was a lot better off with computers deciding things, they weren't as agenda driven as these humans are I tell ya what. Right now, there are just two unbeatens left heading into Title Weekend. Clemson & Iowa. Now, Clemson is ranked #1 and has the simplest path to a seat at the table. Beat North Carolina and you're good. Iowa on the other hand, is something of an unsure thing even with a date against #5 Michigan State in Indy this weekend. What bugs me is that the very thing being held against Iowa in terms of their spot in these rankings (they haven't played anybody, conference or nonconference) is something you could hold against the likes of Alabama and other teams that are thought more highly of when you talk playoff consideration.
Hell, even the Media and Coaches polls are showing Iowa no respect. Alabama and Oklahoma respectively are ranked ahead of the unbeaten Hawkeyes, something that is definitely influenced by this BSI nonsense. After slaughtering OK State, Oklahoma was nudged past both Big Ten schools in the AP and they're one spot below Iowa in the Coaches (Iowa's looking up at Alabama there). I miss the days when not losing games, scheduling be damned actually meant more than the name attached to your record and what ratings come along with it. Clearly OU & Bama have more national sizzle than Iowa, which makes their title game against Michigan State easily the most important game this school has played in YEARS. It hasn't won a conference title in 13 years. (Also worth noting that year they had a SHARE of the Big Ten with Ohio State.) That 2002 team was thumped by USC during the infant stages of the Trojan Dynasty that was picking up steam after years of doing absolutely nothing of consequence. Their last outright Big Ten title was 1985. Even still, regardless of who they have or have not beaten let's face facts...
Everything that makes March Madness so great is going to be the undoing of college football. College basketball's system is INCLUSIVE whereas this system in its present incarnation is more or less EXCLUSIVE. Even if they expand this to 8 teams which is very likely within the next two years or so, it won't change. What it will do is drive teams like Boise State and others to join bigger conferences in the hopes of not being left out of future playoff consideration. Oh and because it wouldn't be right of me to close this out without mentioning him...
- The Black Mamba is walking away after this season. Kobe Bryant came out in the Class of 1996, one year after KG in 95 and one year before Tim Duncan. In my lifetime, my Mount Rushmore goes like this...
MJ. Magic. Duncan. Bird.
Kobe was outstanding, but his ego which made him great and helped get him 5 rings, likely kept him from surpassing Jordan. When things between he and Shaq couldn't be resolved, leading to Shaq being sent packing, the Lakers toiled in mediocrity for a while. The worst of it was when Phoenix came from a 3-1 series hole to run the Lakers home and Kobe in that finale was nonexistent. That's a HUGE blemish on his resume that none of the others have. They get Pau Gasol in exchange for Marc Gasol and we all know what happens next. Kobe gets to the Finals drawing even with the Celts and beating the Magic for his final ring in 2010. Kobe never got out of the second round after that last title and after the vaunted Howard & Nash experiment went bust, Kid Buss never replenished the roster to give Kobe one more chance. Kobe's body has gone out on him and his run will end in depressing fashion. He is without a shadow of a doubt the second greatest shooting guard I've seen in my lifetime behind MJ and ahead of Wade. However, I cannot put him ahead of Duncan who has five rings and a longer string of success compared to Kobe. Duncan has not missed the playoffs in his career. EVER. Even though the head to head meetings with Duncan actually favors Kobe (4-2), Duncan's sustained consistency over such a long stretch cannot be ignored.
And I'm done...
