Three Football Items Today

Let me start today with a TV viewing recommendation for this weekend.  If you have not yet seen Boise St. running back, Ashton Jeanty, the game between Boise St. and San José St. will be telecast on the CBS Sports Network at 7:00 PM ET on Saturday.  If you have access to that network, I strongly suggest you make that viewing choice in that TV time slot.

Jeanty is a junior; he has spent his entire career at Boise St and has been a starter and a major contributor since he was a freshman.

• In his first year, he averaged 11 carries per game and 5.3 yards per carry.
• As a sophomore, those numbers improved to 18 carries per game and 6.1 yards per carry.
• So far this year in 9 games he is averaging 25 carries per game and 7.7 yards per carry.

As of this morning he has amassed 1734 yards rushing – – with 23 TDs no less – – and is on pace to gain more yardage in a season than anyone other than Barry Sanders.  In 1968, Sanders gained 2628 yards rushing along with 37 TDs.  Jeanty would need to break that record to win the Heisman Trophy but regardless of that situation, he is someone you ought to see.  He is listed as 5’ 9” and 216 pounds.  He can run over people; he can break tackles and not too many DBs can match his speed once he gets open.  This is a player at a small school you should see for yourself and not just read about.

Moving on …  The Bears fired their offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, this week.  In 9 games this year, the Bears are averaging under 20 points per game and that includes two games against the Panthers and the Jags whose defenses are not exactly stout.  Two weeks ago, the Bears scored 9 points in a loss to the Cards and last week the Bears scored all of 3 points in a loss to the Pats.  Moreover, in that loss to the Pats, the Bears’ Total Offense for the game was 142 yards and the Bears only converted one of fourteen third-down situations.

Obviously, something had to change, and it is too late in the year to go out and find a whole slew of better players – – so the offensive coordinator gets the axe.  There is another telling stat for the Bears’ offense that might indicate a deeper problem than the guy who draws up the game plans and calls the plays:

• In 9 games, the Bears OL has allowed 38 sacks – – more than 4 per game.

Waldron’s replacement will be Thomas Brown who is being promoted from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator.  All I can say there is that the Bears’ passing game has not been an unalloyed success this season …

Staying with NFL teams making changes …  The Indy Colts announced this week that they will put Joe Flacco back on the bench and return Anthony Richardson to the field as the starting QB “for the rest of the season”.  I think that decision is an interesting one:

• The Colts’ record is 4-6.  Currently, there are 7 teams in the AFC with 5 or fewer losses.  The AFC will have 7 playoff participants.
• The Colts are hardly “out of the running”.  The Colts schedule from here to Week 18 is relatively soft with winnable games against the Jets, Pats, Titans, Giants and Jags coming up.
• Regarding the question of which QB is better in 2024, I don’t think there is a clear answer.  Richardson is a raw athletic talent who runs hot and cold; Flacco is much less volatile in his performances; his highs are not as high as Richardson and his lows are not as low.

The reason I think this decision is interesting is that it just might be an indication that the Colts’ braintrust has come to the point where they need to know if Anthony Richardson is a QB worthy of being the centerpiece of an NFL franchise.  Joe Flacco is two months shy of his 40^th birthday; he has shown that he can be a competent backup QB but in no known universe is he a player who can be the anchor of a franchise looking ahead to 2025 and beyond.  Father Time has precluded that option.

So, this decision is like throwing Richardson in the deep end of the swimming pool and telling him to make it to the ladder to climb out.  In addition to those 5 games listed above against mediocre-at-best teams, there are two other tough games left against the Lions and the Broncos.  I suspect those two games where the Colts would appear to be underdogs will be important as measuring sticks for Anthony Richardson.

Let the games begin …

Finally, let me close today with two quotes from my favorite curmudgeon, H. L. Mencken:

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”

And …

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………