Author: Jack

With the sporadic writing here in Curmudgeon Central over the Holidays, I did not have the opportunity to comment on a small matter that produced a headline for a day or so and then slipped quietly into the night.

• Jim Laranaga stepped down as the head basketball coach at the University of Miami.

Laranaga is a basketball lifer; he played for Providence in the late 60s and took a job as a graduate assistant coach at Providence in 1971 right after he graduated.  He has been an assistant coach or a head coach at the collegiate level ever since then.  Laranaga is 75 years old and has clearly earned his retirement days; twice he took teams to the Final Four (Geroge Mason and Miami) and even when his teams lacked the talent level to be a top-shelf contender, those teams always played hard and made opponents earn any victories.

As he announced his resignation, Laranaga cited his desire to spend more time with his family meaning someone else needed to spend extra time with the team since he no longer would be able to do that.  Frankly, that is an obligatory aside in any resignation/retirement statement; here is part of his statement that caught my attention:

“The University needs a new leader of the program, one who is both adept at and embracing of the new world of intercollegiate athletics.”

Jim Laranaga is another victim of the unintended consequences of “paying college players” and “NIL cooperatives”.  He joins a growing list of college coaches – – in basketball and in football – – who simply do not want to be a part of what college sports have become.  If you want, you can say something akin to “Good riddance” to those folks who refuse to embrace “change”.  Or, you can say that the jury is still out as to whether the new incarnation of collegiate athletics is in fact better overall than it used to be.

Specifically, I hope Jim Laranaga has a long and satisfying retirement.  Bonne chance, good sir.

Moving on …  With the NFL regular season over as of last night, I was thinking back on events in the last offseason that were considered to be impactful at the time but just did not work out.  The one that spurred my thinking was the Falcons’ signing of Kirk Cousins to be their franchise QB – – only to have the team also take Michael Penix, Jr. with a Top-10 Draft pick.  The Cousins deal was for 4 years and had about $100M guaranteed and I remember thinking that the Falcons were going to try and emulate what the Packers did with Aaron Rodgers who sat for 4 years while Brett Favre finished his career in Green Bay before turning the keys to the car over to Rodgers.  I thought that made sense.

There is a thing known as “Buyer’s Remorse”.  Basically, it is a feeling of regret experienced by some folks soon after they have made an extravagant/expensive acquisition.   I was thinking this morning that the Falcons may be feeling Buyer’s Remorse about now with that large guaranteed payment hanging over the team’s salary cap status.  And then I realized that there were a couple other “trumpeted moves” from last offseason that just did not work out the way they were envisioned.

The Jets traded for Hassan Reddick giving up a third-round pick to acquire him.  Reddick wanted a new deal, and the Eagles were not inclined to give it to him; hence, the trade.  In 2023 with the Eagles, Reddick recorded 11 sacks and 13 tackles for a loss; getting him for a third-round pick seemed like a good idea.  The problem was that Reddick was very serious about wanting a new contract and he held out from the Jets’ Training Camp plus for several weeks of the regular season. In 2024, Reddick only appeared in 10 games, and he produced 1 sack and 2 tackles for a loss.  That is a significant reduction in performance and clearly could not have been part of the Jets’ thinking last year.

Lest anyone think I am picking on the Jets here, the Eagles had a need to replace Reddick on their roster; remember he gave them 11 sacks in 2023.  So, the Eagles chose to sign Bryce Huff as a free agent which had an ironic note to it:

• Huff had been an edge rusher/DE for the Jets in 2023 and had recorded 10 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

On the surface, it looked as if the Eagles had replaced Reddick’s onfield production at a contractual level they were happy with AND they had pocketed a third-round draft pick for their troubles.  Let me channel Lee Corso here:

“Not so fast, my friend…”

Huff appeared in 12 games for the Eagles in 2024 and needed surgery for a wrist injury in mid-season.  In those 12 games, Huff produced 2.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss and 1 forced fumble.  Neither player turned out to be nearly as productive as envisioned at signing time.

One other move that turned out to be a bad one involved Diontae Johnson.  Back before the Draft last year, the Steelers traded Johnson to the Panthers for CB. Donte Jackson and a low-round draft pick.  The Panthers’ offense was anemic in 2023; Johnson was supposed to give them a credible deep threat at WR.  Diontae Johnson’s season in 2024 was basically a disappointing downward spiral:

• He played 7 games for the Panthers catching 30 passes for 3 TDs.
• In mid-season the Panthers sent him to the Ravens for a late-round pick swap.  That had to be disappointing to the Panthers’ braintrust, but the team did not fall apart after sending him off.
• For the Ravens he played in 4 games and caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  He also refused to enter a game for the Ravens when another WR was injured.  Naturally, the Ravens just waived him.
• The Texans took Johnson off waivers; he played 1 game in Houston and caught 2 passes for 12 yards.

I guess the Texans might be happy with their move to acquire Johnson since it cost them only a waiver claim; the Panthers and Ravens are probably not happy with their acquisition decisions.

Finally, having focused today on the concept of “Buyer’s Remorse” let me suggest that the part of our society over the last several decades where this concept should be easily recognized is the political realm.  How many politicians have we the people elected to a wide range of offices who subsequently did not perform or produce as promised?  Sadly …

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

 

 

Happy New Year, everyone.  I get to kick off ranting in 2025 – – so to speak – – with the first Football Friday of the year on the first Friday of the year.  As the first order of business, I will review last week’s “Betting Bundle”:

• Spreads and Totals went 4-2-0.  I’ll take that percentage every week.
• Money Line Parlays went 2-1; “Profit = $181.  Muy Bueno!

 

College Football Commentary:

 

The College Football Playoff needs structural repair.  The four first round games produced four blowout results that were less than entertaining.  Please do not tell me that the Notre Dame/Indiana game had only a 10-point differential and that is not a blowout.  With 2 minutes to play in the game, the score was 27-3; that game was indeed a blowout.

Then came Round 2 – – where the top seeds would enter the fray.  That is where and when the drama would reach a crescendo.  Not so.  Penn St. and Ohio St. dominated their opponents.  At least Texas/Arizona St. and Notre Dame/Georgia produced some moments of uncertainty for fans watching at home without a direct rooting interest in the outcomes.  Two “good games” out of “eight games played to date” is not compelling TV – – and it is only for the capture of TV money that this 12-team playoff exists.

The top four seeds by the Selection Committee – – albeit with some seeding rules handed to them without any escape clauses – – all took gas this week.  Boise St. did not belong in the field; it was there to avoid shutting out the “minor conferences”; the CFP will always have one such participant.  The derogatory term for this in the business world is that Boise St. was a “quota hire” to fill a vacancy that they were not fully prepared to function in prosperously.  The same label could be applied to Clemson, Indiana and SMU which I discussed last week; without those four teams, the field could have been 8 teams, and no one would have gotten a BYE Week over the Holidays.

There is a simple mathematical truth to consider here.  To have a balanced and symmetrical field for a single elimination playoff/tournament, one must have:

• An even number of teams – – AND – –
• That “even number” must represent a integer power of the number 2.

[Aside:  2¹ = 2  2² = 4  2³ = 8  2⁴ = 16  2⁵ = 32  2⁶ = 64 …]

The 12-team field in this year’s CFP fulfills the first condition above but not the second.  What should happen is that the CFP field should shrink to 8 teams; what is going to happen is that the field will expand to 16 teams.  The cash flow from the added games will not allow for the number of games to be televised to decrease.  However, I want you to think about something here; pretend for a moment that this year’s field was 16 and not 12.  What that would mean is that four teams that the Selection Committee evaluated to be inferior to Boise St., Clemson, Indiana and SMU would have been in the field.  Do not ask me to lead the charge for something like that to happen because I think that is moving in the wrong direction.

I also have a problem with the Selection Committee itself that probably cannot be solved.  Currently there are 13 members on that Committee

• Six of the thirteen are Athletic Directors at Division 1-A schools
• One of the thirteen is an Assistant Professor at a university
• One of the thirteen is fully employed by NFL Legends.
• Five of the thirteen are long-time college football coaches who are now fully retired.

The five football coaches could – – if they chose to do so – – spend 40 hours a week reviewing game film from the top 25 or so teams in the country and by the end of November they would have an expertise-based focus on the selection and seeding of the best teams.  I don’t know if those coaches actually do anything of the sort – – but they might choose to do so and I would totally defer to their judgment if they did.

The other 8 members of the Selection Committee have full-time jobs, many of which demand a minimum of 40 hours a week.  I suggest that those members cannot – – even if they really wanted to do so – – spend another 40 hours in a film room reviewing play on the field.  Let me put this in personal terms:

• I watch a lot of college football on TV.
• I watch You Tube highlights of notorious plays and highlights from special games
• I read stat sheets and observations from folks covering lots of games.
• None of this makes me competent to be on the Selection Committee!
• And if that is what those other 8 members of the Committee can bring to the table, then they too are not in the right position as “Selectors”.

I know that sounds like a giant “Hot Take” that I hope to get picked up on some other website that might make it go viral; that is NOT the case.  I have been thinking along these lines for a couple of years now, but this year’s performance by the selected teams and the seeded teams gives me the opportunity to bring my thinking out into the open.

Let me be clear about one thing here.  I AM NOT saying that unless you played the game of college football, your opinions and evaluations are unworthy.  What I AM SAYING is that if  you are going to contribute meaningfully and positively to a discussion about the best twelve or sixteen football teams in the country, you need to have seen all of them play more than a few highlight plays and you need to have seen a few other teams that just might be on the fringe of being in that Top-Twelve or Top-Sixteen.  And if one has a full-time job, I do not think there are enough hours in a week for that person to do the work necessary to be a fully informed “selector”.

I realize I can be proven wrong; I submit that this year’s CFP field and CFP seedings do not come close to proving me wrong.

I also want to comment on something that has come into clear focus for me in the 8 CFP games to date:

• There are way too many “plays under review” … AND …
• Far too many of the reviews that take two minutes to “adjudicate” are clear and obvious calls once one looks at one or two of the replays.  Maybe they could consume 20-30 seconds of delay.
• It is almost as if – – not really but it sure seems like it – – the officials “upstairs” have a quota of reviews to suggest in order to get commercial breaks in for the networks.

Here are some comments on last week’s CFP games:

Notre Dame 23  Georgia 10:  If you like defense, this was a game for you.  Neither team gained 300 yards of Total Offense in the game; Notre Dame won the game averaging only 4.0 yards per offensive play.  The Bulldogs outgained the Irish by 50 yards and the Bulldogs were penalized by 42 fewer yards than the Irish.  Nonetheless, Notre Dame won on the strength of forcing two turnovers and returning the second half kickoff for a TD.  Last week, Notre Dame simply dominated Indiana; they did not dominate Georgia in this game but won handily based on hustle and focus.

Texas 39  Arizona St. 31 (2OT):  It looked as if Texas would run Arizona St. out of town in the first quarter and then it looked as if Texas settled down to an attitude of a cat playing with captured prey – – and it almost cost them the game.  The Sun Devils were the Rocky Balboas of the tournament; they got pounded and pounded – – but they never gave up and they came back to deliver punishing blows of their own sending the game to OT.  Like the fictional Rocky Balboa, the Sun Devils went the distance with Texas…

Ohio St. 41  Oregon 21:  Ladies and gentlemen, Ohio St. WR, Jeremiah Smith, is a freshman; he just turned 19 years old, and his stats for the day were 7 receptions for 187 yards and 2 TDs.  Oregon was undefeated coming into the game but were run out of town on a rail in this one.  With 3 minutes left in the first half, the Buckeyes led 34-0.  For the game, Ohio St. outgained Oregon 500 yards to 297 yards.

Penn St. 31  Boise St. 14:  The Nittany Lions defensive thrust for the game was to make sure Ashton Jeanty did not run wild and beat them; if the Broncos’ QB, Maddux Madsen, could produce a game capable of victory without Jeanty dominating, then so be it.  The Penn St. defensive philosophy worked quite well earlier this week.  Penn St. TE, Tyler Warren, has been on my NFL Draft watch list prior to this game but I now think he could easily be a Top Ten pick next April.

One note I read yesterday is that Alabama QB, Jalen Milroe has declared for the NFL Draft this year.  He certainly has had good coaching and has had experience playing at the top level of college football, but color me skeptical that he is ready for a prominent role at the NFL level just yet.  Now, in his favor, this is a very thin cadre of QBs coming out this year and perhaps his thinking is that he will compare favorably to the top QBs in the draft this year more readily than perhaps next year.  Even so …

Another college QB made some unusual news last week.  Dillon Gabriel is the QB for Oregon and based on this statement made to a TV station in Portland, he is not into “old school football”:

“We love the Rose Bowl.  We love warm weather.  I think we should play more games on nice grass instead of artificial stuff. The more sun the better.

“Why do we do it to ourselves? Do fans want to sit in the snow and the rain?

Let’s make arenas. Let’s make domes. More grass. Let’s do more fireworks at games. Yeah, let’s do that.”

Ignoring for just a moment the difficulties of growing natural grass in domed arenas, let me just say that it would be a great irony if Gabriel were to be drafted by a team like the Jets or the Giants or the Browns or even the Steelers (who need QBs).  In case you did not know, Dillon Gabriel is from Hawaii – – so perhaps his aversion to snow and freezing weather is forgivable.

 

The CFP Semi-Finals:

 

Both games will happen before the next weekend, so the lines and the totals here are VERY early ones that could change dramatically in the next 6 or 7 days.

(Thurs, Jan 9^th)  Notre Dame – 2 vs Penn St. (46):  The injury status for Penn St. DE, Abdul Carter is very important here; he is as good an edge rusher/DE as I have seen in college football this year.  If he can play – – injury is healed – – I like the game to stay UNDER; if he cannot play or cannot play at nearly his normal level, I like Notre Dame to win and cover.

(Fri Jan 10^th) Ohio St. – 6 vs Texas (52):  Here are the pertinent questions for this game:

• Was Ohio St. super-excited to steamroller Oregon because they lost to Oregon earlier this year?  Ohio St. never lost to Texas earlier this year.
• Did Texas take Arizona St. lightly and lose their edge once they went up by 2 scores early in the game?  If they “lose their edge” against Ohio St. it will be fatal.

I love the Texas defense, and I love the Ohio St. offense.  I have no interest in making a pick in this game thereby forcing me to root for a predetermined outcome.  I just want to watch this one intently and focused.  If you care which way I am leaning in this game, I would take Ohio St. on the Money Line.

 

NFL Commentary:

 

            I think it is pretty clear that the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year will be Jayden Daniels and having seen him in about 12 of his 16 games so far, he would be my choice for that honor.  Having said that, let me present some stats for another offensive rookie who seems to have done his business well outside the focus of the spotlight.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders – – a team that has been irrelevant to the NFL in 2024 save for their role as an “opposing team” to other squads in the league.

Last year, when talking about the Heisman Trophy and the NFL Draft, I said that the Trophy would go to a QB and that I thought Jayden Daniels deserved that award.  I also said that I thought the “best football player” I waw for the year was Brock Bowers.  So, fast forward to today and let’s take a look at Bowers‘ stats as a rookie TE for the Raiders:

• In 16 games, Bowers had been targeted 144 times and caught 108 passes.  That is a 75% success rate.
• Bowers has 1144 yards receiving or 10.6 yards per reception.
• Bowers has 4 TDs and 58 receptions resulting in a first down.
• Oh, by the way, he is also a very competent blocker as a tight end …

Seen in isolation, you can consider these stats overly optimistic or not much more than hum-drum; so let me give you some comparisons:

• Amon-Ra St. Brown is a top-shelf WR.  He has 109 receptions and 1186 yards receiving; that is one more catch and 42 more yards than Bowers who is a TE.
• CeeDee Lamb is a top-shelf WR.  He has 101 catches and 1194 yards receiving; that is 7 fewer catches and 50 more yards than Bowers who is a TE.
• Garrett Wilson is a top-shelf WR.  He has 97 catches and 1053 yards receiving which is11 fewer receptions and 91 fewer yards than Bowers who is a TE.

So, where are Bowers’ stats compared to other tight ends?

• Travis Kelce – – you’ve heard of him – – has 97 receptions for 823 yards; that is 11 fewer catches for 321 fewer yards.
• George Kittle – – you’ve heard of him – – has 76 receptions for 1079 yards; that is 32 fewer catches for 65 fewer yards.

I think you get the idea here.  Brock Bowers is a damned good football player and can make up for the fact that the people throwing the ball in his direction have been Gardner Minshew, Aiden O’Connell and Desmond Ridder.  Let me just say that none of those three passers will ever be confused with Patrick Mahomes at any point in the present tense or the future tense.

Brock Bowers is an outstanding football player; recognize it.  He has already broken Mike Ditka’s record for receiving yards by a rookie tight end and if he snags 9 balls in his final game this week, he will eclipse Zach Ertz’ record for most catches by a tight end in a season.

Soon, the NFL Coach of the Year will be identified.  There are only 32 possible candidates for the award and so I will take the liberty to identify – – alphabetically – – my Top-25% of the candidates for this season.  You can add or subtract from this list as you please:

1. Dan Campbell:  His team is 14-2; you may think he is raving yahoo, but he has his team winning games with significant folks on IR.
2. Jim Harbaugh:  The Chargers have been an underachieving bunch of stuff for years now; Harbaugh has the Chargers at 10-6 with a guaranteed playoff slot in his first year there.
3. Sean McDermott:  The Bills are 13-3 so far and continue to dominate the AFC East.
4. Sean McVay:  The Rams are 10-6; they have clinched the NFC West title despite starting the season at 1-4 including a loss to the Bears and a blowout loss to the Cards.
5. Kevin O’Connell:  His team is 14-2; it may seem as if they are doing it with smoke and mirrors, but it has been sustained for an awfully long time now.
6. Sean Payton:  Coming off a disastrous season last year and with a rookie QB, the Broncos are 9-7 and still have a realistic shot to make the playoffs this year.
7. Dan Quinn:  His Commanders are relevant in January which is a major vector heading deviation from recent years.
8. Andy Reid:  If you need something tangible to accept this nomination, consider the record is 15-1 which is better than anyone else’s.

Tons of attention has been paid to Saquon Barkley and the single-season rushing record; the decision is that the Eagles will not play Barkley against the Giants this week so that record will stand.  However, there is another record by an NFL “All-Timer” that could be matched this week, and it has gotten only passing mention by comparison:

• Mike Evans needs 85 yards receiving this week to reach 1,000 yards.  If he does so, that will be the 10^th consecutive season with that receiving total in his first 10 seasons in the NFL.  The only other player to do that is Jerry Rice.

Here are comments on some of the games from last weekend.

Lions 40  Niners 28:  I think the most important thing about this game was the Brock Purdy threw for 377 yards and 3 TDs in the game and kept it sufficiently interesting until the middle of the second half.  The Niners season has imploded on them; the Lions will go to the playoffs hoping their defense does not implode any further.

Giants 45  Colts 33:  The Giants had lost 10 games in a row when they kicked off here and then Drew Lock did his John Unitas imitation.  Lock was 17 of 23 for 309 yards with 4 TDs and zero INTs.  Oh yeah, he also ran for a TD.  This offensive explosion dropped the Giants draft order from overall #1 to overall #4.  If the Colts are not feeling humiliated by this performance, they should.

Eagles 41  Cowboys 7:  No Jalen Hurts?  No problem.  No Kenny Pickett?  No problem.  Welcome Tanner McKee, a late round pick from Stanford who entered the game in the second half and went 3 of 4 for 54 yards and 2 TDs.  The score was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter; after that the outcome was not seriously in doubt.

Raiders 25  Saints 10:  Another example of a bad team winning a game and hurting their draft position next April.  The game was meaningless to 2024 standings and action, so the only way to look at it is through the perspective of next year’s draft.

Jags 20  Titans 13:  I guess one of these bottom-feeders had to win this one …

Vikes 27  Packers 25:  This game was not quite as close as the score might lead you to believe; the Vikes led 27-10 at the start of the 4^th quarter.  Sam Darnold was the star of the game throwing for 377 yards and 3 TDs for the night.

Bengals 30  Broncos 24 (OT):  The Bengals kept their slim playoff hopes alive with this win.  Joe Burrow threw 3 TD passes and amassed 411 yards passing in the game; Tee Higgins had 11 catches for 131 yards and hauled in all 3 of Burrow’s TD passes.

 

Games This Week:

 

There are some outrageously surprising lines this week reflecting which teams will be playing their starters and which teams have something immediate to motivate top performance in this last week of the NFL regular season.  The field for the NFC playoffs is pretty much set; three things remain in doubt:

• The Packers and Commanders will be the #6 and #7 seeds, but that order will depend on game results this weekend.
• Either the Lions or the Vikes will be the #1 seed and get the playoff BYE Week based on the winner this week; the loser will be the #5 seed.
• Either the Bucs or the Falcons will win the NFC South, and that division winner will be in the playoffs and the other team will be out.

Over in the AFC:

• The Bengals, Dolphins and Broncos can all make the final playoff slot in the Conference depending on what happens this week.  The Broncos control their position; if they win, they’re in.

Because of all the uncertainty this week, I am not going to offer up a “Betting Bundle” because the NFL slate is closer to a week of Exhibition Games than anything else and the college lines are too early to be reliable.  In cases where I have a “leaning” I’ll indicate it.

(Sat 4:30PM ET) Browns at Ravens – 20 (41):  The spread for this game opened at 17.5 points and has expanded from that lofty level.  The Ravens clinch the division with a victory here and the Browns are a sorry sack of s*it at this point in the season.  Nevertheless, anyone who wagers on any NFL game with a 20-point spread is clearly addicted and needs an intervention.  The Browns’ offense has gone AWOL over the last month; consider:

• Steelers 27 Browns 14 (This is the “good game” on this list!)
• Chiefs 21 Browns 7
• Bengals 24 Browns 6
• Dolphins 20 Browns 3

Meanwhile, the Ravens average 30 points per game.  This game is on national TV; I wonder if it can hold its initial audience for very long.

(Sat 8:00 PM ET) Bengals – 2 at Steelers (48):  If the Browns were to win outright, the Steelers would be division champs with a win.  The Bengals can still snuggle their way into the final playoff slot but the only way to do that is for them to win here.  Hence the spread for the game and the unusually high Total Line for a Steelers’ game.  If you absolutely must have some action on games this weekend, consider taking the Bengals to win and cover.  If you absolutely must have some action on games this weekend, consider your situation in the much larger context of your life.

Saints at Bucs – 14 (44):  The Bucs are in the same situation as the Ravens; if they win, they’re in.  The Bucs have won 5 of their last 6 games to put themselves in that position; the Saints are 5-11 and have looked awful in their last two losses.  With Mike Evans needing 85 yards to tie an NFL record (see above), my guess is that he is targeted early and often in this game.

Bills – 2.5 at Pats (38):  The spread here opened at 5.5 points; then came reports that the Bills would start Josh Allen to keep a streak alive, but that Allen would be subbed out of the game; naturally, the line adjusted to that news.  Despite their 3-11-0 record, the Pats played the Bills very close just two weeks ago in Buffalo; was that an omen or just a happenstance?

Bears at Packers – 10 (41):  The Packers and the Commanders are both in the playoffs; the Packers are in the 7^th slot but could move up to the 6^th slot with a win here and a Commanders’ loss to the Cowboys.  The Bears are a stone cold mess; they have lost 10 games in a row ever since losing to the Commanders on a Hail Mary pass in October.  So, the Packers have some motivation unless they check the scoreboard and see the Commanders up big on the Cowboys.

Dolphins – 1.5 at Jets (39):  Even if this were not Week 18, there is no way I would bet this game.  The Dolphins need several things to fall their way to get into the playoffs; the Jets have been eliminated from that possibility for about a month.  Tua will not play for the Dolphins this week and the game is in NYC where the warm-weather Dolphins have not shown well in late season games in the past.  So, my choice here would be to take the dog-assed Jets [Hat Tip to Dan Jenkins] or a Dolphins team without their starting QB in a venue not suited to their game.  No thanks; I’ll pass.

Chiefs at Broncos – 10.5 (40):  If the Broncos win, they are in the playoffs and both the Bengals and the Dolphins are out.  The Chiefs will get next week off no matter what happens here, and they have already announced that they will play Carson Wentz in place of Patrick Mahomes and sit other starters.  I think that provides an interesting angle to the game.  Wentz has had his career arc aimed downward for about 5 years now, but he showed some talent in his first couple of years in the league.  So, how might he produce in an “Andy Reid system” with a full season of study as a backup?  That angle is more interesting to me than the game outcome.

Chargers – 4.5 at Raiders (41.5):  The good news here is that the Raiders have a two-game winning streak; the bad news is that those two wins have dropped the Raiders out of the Top-5 for the Draft next April.  Both coaches are reputed to be great motivators; both coaches will need that capability to get this game played at full speed; it really doesn’t mean much of anything.

Jags at Colts – 5 (44):  With apologies to Elizabeth Barret Browning …  How meaningless is this game?  Let me count the ways:

• It is inconsequential, insignificant, pointless, unimportant, useless and worthless.
• That pretty much sums things up.

The Colts simply wet the bed last week giving up 45 points to the Giants; the Jags are just miserable.

Panthers at Falcons – 9 (48):  The Falcons can win the NFC South with a win here and a loss by the Bucs.  The Falcons have shown well in the last couple of weeks but that may not be enough to get in the playoffs because the Bucs should prevail over the Saints this week.  The Panthers have looked better late this season than they did at the start – – but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Commanders – 6 at Cowboys (44.5):  The Commanders are in the playoffs and the Cowboys are not; the Commanders will keep their #6 seed in the playoffs with a win.  The Cowboys won the first meeting between these two teams back in late November giving the Commanders another smidgen of motivation to play well here.

Seahawks – 6.5 at Rams (39):  The spread here opened at Rams – 2.5 and has swung by 9 points toward the Seahawks.  It appears that the Rams will be resting starters and announced Jimmy Garoppolo will play QB in the game.  The Seahawks looked disinterested and discombobulated last week even though they beat the Bears 6-3.

Niners at Cards – 5 (43):  Here is the motivation factor for this game:

• If the Niners win, they will not finish dead last in the NFC West.

What more can you ask for?

Texans at Titans – 1 (37):  The Texans are in the playoffs as division champs and the Titans are 3-13-0 and have lost their last 5 games in a row.  Nevertheless, the Titans are favored here giving you an idea how the oddsmakers view the import of this game…

Giants at Eagles – 3 (37.5):  The Giants held the top pick in the Draft for next April – – until they beat the Colts last week.  If they win here, I believe they could drop all the way to #8 in the upcoming Draft which would put an exclamation point on a miserable season for the club which included a 10-game losing streak.  The fact that the Eagles will rest starters and are still favored in the game says a lot about the way the oddsmakers view the Giant’s roster.

(Sun Nite) Vikes at Lions – 2.5 (54.5):  The Total Line for this game opened at 51.5 points and has been climbing slowly but steadily all week.  This is clearly the Game of the Week; both teams show up with records of 14-2-0; the winner gets the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs and the loser gets the #5 seed meaning the loser has to play a road game in Round 1 of the playoffs.  There is plenty at stake here.  Why is the Total Line high – – and getting higher?

• The Lions give up 250.4 yards per game passing; only the Jags are worse.
• The Vikes give up 243.6 yards per game which ranks them 28^th in the league.
• The Lions have given up 18 TD passes, and the Vikes have given up 23 TD passes.

So, which passing offense is going to have the better day?  The one led by Jared Goff who has been in games of this magnitude before or the one led by Sam Darnold whose career rose from the ashes this year when JJ McCarthy was injured in Training Camp?  If I were going to pick this game, I would play it to go OVER the Total Line.

There is no “Betting Bundle” to review this week, but let me throw out – – just for giggles – – a four-team Money Line Parlay:

• Bengals @ minus-130
• Bucs @ minus-820
• Falcons @ minus-400
• Commanders @ minus- 200     $100 wager to win $272

Finally, let me close with this from Vince Lombardi:

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”

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

 

 

There were two sports-world related deaths last week – – Greg Gumbel and Bill Bergey.  Greg Gumbel was a great broadcaster; he was one of the rare individuals who excelled at doing play-by-play and at being a studio host.  Not many people even try to exist in those two worlds; Greg Gumbel did and he was excellent at both.

Bill Bergey was a great linebacker for the Bengals and the Eagles in the 1960s and 1970s.  He did not get the same level of recognition as some other linebackers of his time because the Eagles’ teams he played for were abysmal.  Nonetheless, Bill Bergey was a force majeure.

Rest in peace, Greg Gumbel and Bill Bergey.

Since I mentioned Bill Bergey, he is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but I think that he is one of those players who would have gotten into the Hall had he been on more successful teams.  The list of 15 finalists for enshrinement this year has just been released, and I will use this opportunity to present the list and then to give you my selections.

• Eric Allen
• Jared Allen
• Jahri Evans
• Antonio Gates
• Tory Holt
• Luke Kuechly
• Eli Manning
• Steve Smith, Sr.
• Terrell Suggs
• Fred Taylor
• Adam Vinatieri
• Reggie Wayne
• Darren Woodsen
• Marshall Yanda

There is a maximum of 5 members to a new class for the Hall of Fame and a successful aspirant needs to get 80% of the votes cast.  Stipulating that every name on that list is worthy of placement on the list, here would be my five votes – – if I had a vote in the first place:

1. Eric Allen – – A really good player on some really mediocre teams
2. Antonio Gates – – I am surprised that he is not already in the Hall of Fame
3. Tory Holt – – An integral part of the “Greatest Show on Turf”
4. Terrell Suggs – – Simply a great edge rusher
5. Marshall Yanda – – Great in pass protection and a bulldozer on run plays

Moving on …  When Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy earlier this month, he created a new “category” of trophy winners because it is difficult to say whether he is a great WR who also plays CB or vice versa.  Since he would obviously be the only player in that new category, I wondered what the distribution among other positions was for Heisman winners.  If I have counted correctly:

• 44 Running Backs – – collapsing fullbacks and halfbacks
• 39 Quarterbacks
• 4 Wide Receivers
• 2 Tight Ends
• 1 Cornerback

Defense may win championships, but offense gets a dominant share of public recognition.

Finally, I’ll close here with these words from coach John Heisman to give you an idea of his focus on football fundamentals”

“Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football.”

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

 

 

One Holiday down – – one Holiday to go.  In between, there comes a Friday and that suggests a Football Friday.  Let’s start with a review of last week’s “Betting Bundle”:

• Bets on spreads and totals:  3 wins, 3 losses, 1 push.  Meh!
• Money Line Parlays:  1 win, 2 losses.  “Net Loss” = $46  Not good.

 

College Football Commentary

 

            I am not going to go through the four first round games of the CFP from last weekend because I want to focus on the CFP itself today.  There is going to be negativity in some of the commentary; so, I want to be sure to begin by saying this is NOT going to be a nostalgia piece shining glory on “the way it used to be”.  I have no fondness at all for the days when a “college football national champion” was determined by polls where many of the voters never saw the top teams play.

The BCS used computer rankings and stat analysis to pair two teams in a single championship game.  That was better than polling; it was controversial to say the least and at least one team every year got to play the “we were snubbed” card.   So, the answer was to create the CFP with four teams in a simple bracket.  Better still – – but maybe not perfect.

Fortunately – – or unfortunately depending on how you look at it – – the three-game CFP drew sizeable TV audiences and sizeable TV audiences can be monetized pretty easily.  Expansion was “the answer” because “expansion” also meant “cash flow”.  That was not the explanation given when expansion was being formulated; rather, the narrative was that an expanded CFP would assure that all worthy aspirants to the national championship would get the chance to show their stuff on the field.  Oh, and as a sidelight, fans would get more football entertainment.  What could possibly go wrong?

Some folks who comment on sports wondered why the expansion had to go from 4 teams to 12 teams because in all the years that I have followed college football, there has never been a time when 12 teams could make a legitimate case for themselves as national champion.  Usually, four teams battling it out on the field would be sufficient; maybe occasionally a fifth or sixth team could “enter the chat”, but never 12 teams.  I said that the potential for first-round blowouts was a real potential downside; so, I was part of that “12-team skepticism” and the results from Round One of the first 12-team CFP have not alleviated that skepticism.

The “closest game” in the first round was Notre Dame/Indiana where the Irish won by 10 points.  But that is terribly misleading because with 2 minutes left in the game, the score was Notre Dame 27 and Indiana 3.  That “closest game” was a blowout that was never in doubt in the second half.  The first-round games fell far short of “entertaining”.

I still believe that having a field of 12 contenders for the national championship is too large but when you add to that bloated field restrictions as to who “must be invited” and how the seedings must be done, you wind up in a situation where the Selection Committee is painted into a corner.  And it certainly seems as if this year’s Selection Committee failed to account for a very important aspect of the selection process:

• Strength Of Schedule

We saw last year what can happen when an undefeated team from Conference-USA (Liberty) was matched with Oregon in a New Year’s Day Bowl Game.  The final score was 45-6; the only positive thing you might say about the game was that Liberty actually led 6-3 at the end of the first quarter.  The “problem” here is that while Liberty was 13-0 entering the game, they had not played anyone close to the caliber of Oregon and several of Oregon’s opponents.  There is more to assessing a team’s strength than their win-loss record; you must consider to whom the team lost and over whom the team was victorious.

In 2024, the Selection Committee – – with all the constraints handed to it – – made it worse in my opinion.  Please do not take the following as put downs for teams in this year’s CFP; what I intend is to suggest that strength of schedule should have been given more weight in selecting the field.

Let me start with Indiana and let me say up front that the Hoosiers can only play the teams on their schedule; they have no flexibility.  Having said that please look at their 11-1 record as they arrive at the CFP:

• Out of Conference Games:  Florida International, Western Illinois, Charlotte.  FIU won 4 games playing a C-USA schedule, Western Illinois is Division 1-AA and Charlotte won 5 games playing an American Conference schedule.
• Big-10 Games:  Indiana did NOT play Oregon, Penn St., Illinois or Iowa – – four of the six best records in the conference.  When they did play Ohio St., Indiana lost by 23 points.
• Indiana’s record in front of the Committee was 11-1 and it was built on a cupcake schedule.

Next consider SMU.  They presented a record of 11-2 to the Selection Committee and one of the losses was in the ACC Championship Game.  Sounds good until you look at the opponents.  From my perspective, SMU’s two “signature wins” were over Louisville by 7 points and Duke by 1 point.  Now, if those are “signature wins” let me assert that the “signature” was not nearly as bold and outstanding as was John Hancock’s on the Declaration of Independence.  Once again it was a laudable record compiled at the expense of mediocre opponents.

I am not trying to pick on the ACC today, but the other team from that conference – – Clemson – – was the Conference Champion and it was overmatched in Round One of the CFP.  The Committee had no choice but to include that conference champion even with 3 losses on its record.  The fact is that this was a “down year” for football in the ACC; Round One of the CFP this year convinced me that none of the ACC teams should have been included.

I will get back to the teams invited to participate in a moment but let me take on another issue with the CFP as presented this year.  Playing the first-round games on the home fields of the higher seeded teams is piling on.  The Committee in its wisdom has declared the four teams that are “superior” to their first-round opponents via the seeding process.  So, now you give those teams the added advantage of a home game?

Some commentators think that one more expansion of the CFP will resolve the issues because if you expand the field to 16 teams, you need not give out any BYE Weeks thereby making the seedings less constrained.  To that suggestion, I say, “Buncombe”.  [Hat Tip to H. L. Mencken there.]

• There are already too many teams in the CFP.
• Why would this year’s CFP be better with four more teams all of whom the Selection Committee deems to be inferior to Indiana, SMU and/or Clemson?

I know that the CFP will eventually go to 16 games simply because of the TV dollars that will be made available.  When that happens, the semi-finals and the final game will probably be entertaining TV fare and once in a while there will be a significant showing by a Cinderella Team in the early rounds, but I suspect that many games will be like the first-round games this year – – blowouts.

Moving on …  I was channel surfing and ran across the Myrtle Beach Bowl between UTSA and Coastal Carolina.  I did not stay long because the score was 21-0 and I have no particular attraction to either team.  However, I was surprised at how full the stadium was for what must be considered a “Minor” Bowl Game.  Wikipedia was helpful here.

• The venue for the game was Brooks Stadium with a capacity of 21,000.
• The attendance for this year’s bowl game was 8,164.
• Seeing a minor bowl game with 40% of the stadium filled was surprising.

 

Interesting Bowl Games This Week:

 

(Fri Afternoon) Ga Tech – 2.5 vs Vandy (51.5):  Two teams that surprised pundits this year.  Tech beat Miami and lost to Georgia by 2 points in overtime; Vandy beat Alabama, Kentucky and Auburn while losing to Texas by a field goal.

(Fri Nite Late)  Texas A&M – 4 vs USC (52):  Middle of the pack in the SEC versus middle of the pack in the Big-10.

(Sat Morning)  UConn vs UNC – 2 (53):  If this were a college basketball game, it would be “Must-See TV”.

(Sat Afternoon)  Iowa St. vs Miami – 4 (55.5):  Both teams ended the regular season on low notes.  One of them will go out on an even lower note …

(Sat Nite)  BYU vs Colorado – 4 (54.5):  Two teams from the Big-12 both of whom posted 7-2 records in conference but never faced each other.

(Tues Noon) Alabama – 12 vs Michigan (45):  In recent times, this pairing could well have been for the national championship itself.

(Tues Afternoon) South Carolina – 10 vs Illinois (47.5):  A good SEC team against a good Big-10 team.

 

CFP Games Next Week

 

(Tues Nite)  Penn St. – 11.5 vs Boise St. (51.5):  Boise St. will want to run the ball with Ashton Jeanty; Penn St. ranks #7 in the nation in rushing defense allowing 100.4 yards per game and 3.1 yards per carry.  Before you jump on the Nittany Lions train because of that defense, consider that when Jeanty went up against Oregon’s defense he ran for 192 yards and 3 TDs.  I think that line is fat, so I’ll take Boise St plus the points; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Wed Afternoon)  Texas – 13.5 vs Arizona St. (51.5):  Defense matters, and Texas’ defense ranks #3 in the nation in Total Defense yielding only 261.1 yards per game.  The Arizona St. defense allows 336.9 yards per game.  Arizona St. RB, Cam Skattebo is the second-best RB I’ve seen this year, and he will test that Texas defensive line in this game.  I don’t have a good feel for this game, but I am hoping for more competitive games in this round of the CFP; so, I’ll take Arizona St. plus the points here and hope for a close game; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Wed Afternoon Late)  Ohio St. – 2.5 vs Oregon (54.5):  Traditionalists will see this with a measure of nostalgia because this is the Rose Bowl, and it pits a Big-10 team against a team that used to be in the PAC-8 – – or PAC-10 or PAC-12 depending on your age.  This is also a rematch; these teams met in October in Oregon where the Ducks won by a single point.  Ohio St. had more than 450 yards on offense in that game as did Oregon.  This is the CFP Game of the Week.  I see this game as a high scoring affair; so, I’ll take the game to go OVER; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Wed Nite)  Notre Dame vs Georgia – 2.5 (44):  It appears that Gunner Stockton will make his first career start at QB for Georgia in this game.  He has played well in “relief roles” but the big unknown is his readiness for “prime time”.  Notre Dame is a running team (222 yards per game); Georgia’s run defense is only ranked #36 in the country giving up 128 yards per game.  How Georgia defends the run is the key to this one.  [Aside:  How in Hell did Notre Dame lose at home to Northern Illinois this year?]  This looks to me to be a coin flip game.  There is a standard protocol here in Curmudgeon Central for coin flip games and that protocol says to take the game to go OVER; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

 

NFL Commentary

 

Now that we know that the Chiefs will have the BYE Week in the playoffs – – and home field advantage throughout those playoffs – – the value of that BYE Week comes into focus.  The Chiefs have the option to sit Patrick Mahomes let his ankle “heal” along with other players who are “nicked”.  The game next weekend against the Broncos has no bearing on playoffs for the Chiefs and that means the next meaningful game for the Chiefs will be on the weekend of January 18 or 19.  That is more than 3 weeks of “healing time” for players with minor injuries and that is significant.

I want to say something about the Commanders/Eagles game last weekend.  That was the most poorly officiated NFL game that I have seen this year.  The officials were not biased; they missed calls and made ticky-tack calls for and against both teams from start to finish.  To give an example of what I mean, on the play that scored the winning TD for the Commanders with about 10 seconds left in the game, the right tackle for the Commanders was obviously in motion before the snap.  Even the broadcasters looking at the replay said the officials missed the call; I called for a flag in my living room before the QB released the ball.  And that was not nearly the worst call of the day.  Santa needs to have left lumps of coal in the stockings for those officials.

Often in these rants I discuss coaches on hot seats in danger of losing their jobs.  Today I want to focus on three men who – – I think – – deserve to get one of the vacant jobs come January 2025.

• Ben Johnson:  He is currently the Offensive Coordinator for the Lions and has held that position for three seasons.  He was a coveted candidate in last year’s head coaching sweepstakes but took his name out of the running choosing to return to the Lions this year.  So far, the Lions lead the NFL in scoring (493 points) and are tied with the Vikes for most offensive plays gaining 20+ yards and most offensive plays gaining 40+ yards.  Johnson is only 38 years old, and he majored in math and computer science as an undergrad; he is young, and he is smart.
• Mike Vrabel:  He was the head coach of the Titans from 2018 until he was surprisingly fired from that job last year.  He had a winning record in Tennessee in 4 of his 6 seasons there and he made the playoffs 3 times.  In the 2021 season, he was named Coach of the Year in the NFL.  He has spent this year as a consultant to the Cleveland Browns; so, if he wants another head coaching position, he can say in his interviews that he is “rested and ready”.

I suspect that anyone reading those two names above is thinking, “Nothing newsworthy about those nominees; everyone knows they will get plenty of interest”.  Well, my third head coaching candidate might surprise some:

• Brian Flores:  He is currently the Defensive Coordinator for the Vikes and in his two years at that job, he has significantly revitalized that unit.  So far in 2024, the Vikes have given up the fewest points in the NFC and are second in the NFL in scoring defense.  Moreover, he has head coaching experience with the Dolphins for 3 seasons where he took over a miserable team and managed to squeeze out two winning seasons in his three years there.  And therein lies the problem.  As a result of that firing, Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and several teams specifically; that case is almost 3 years old now and it can easily get in the way during any interview Flores may get in this offseason.  If a team owner or GM can get beyond the allegations in that lawsuit, they should find a highly qualified candidate for their vacancy.

Now for some comments on some of last week’s games

Packers 34  Saints 0:  That is the first shutout of the year in the NFL, and it was never seriously in danger of falling since the Saints only crossed the 50 yardline twice in the game.

Bengals 24  Browns 6:  The Bengals have a dim light at the end of the tunnel that leads to the playoffs, but it remains illuminated with this win.  The Bengals’ defense has been porous all season long until last weekend; so, the question here is:

• Did the Bengals finally “figure it out” – – or – –
• Was the opposing QB, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, what the defense needed to succeed?

Falcons 34  Giants 7:  The Falcons recorded two Pick Sixes in the game.   The win keeps the Falcons relevant in the NFC South race.

Rams 19  Jets 9:  All of a sudden, the Rams are beating teams by shutting them down instead of outscoring them.  The Jets turned the ball over on downs twice in the game and the Rams got 10 points off those two failed fourth-down tries.  Look at the difference in the game score …

Vikes 27  Seahawks 24:  Above, I mentioned that Brian Flores has been successful in building the Vikes’ defense.  Well, last week they held the Seahawks to 2 of 10 conversions on third-down and they recorded 2 INTs.  The Vikes can still win the NFC North with this win; the Seahawks fell a full game behind the Rams in the NFC West race.

Raiders 19  Jags 14:  One of these teams had to win this stinker of a game …

Cowboys 26  Bucs 24:  The Bucs’ normally swarming defense did not show up for this one; Cooper Rush and Company moved the ball at will.  The loss leaves the Bucs tied with the Falcons in the NFC South.

 

Games This Week:

 

When the Seahawks/Bears game went to halftime last night, I did what I normally do for night games.

• I visited the facilities – – and – –
• I set a timer for 10 minutes to come back for the second half after checking my emails and texts.

The difference last night was that the first half of that game was so dreary that I thought about bagging the second half for about half a minute before I returned to my perch aside the TV.  Boy, was that ever a mistake!  Above, I said that last week got me to see the worst officiated game of the season.  Last night was the least interesting game that I saw all season.

If you are given the opportunity on some streaming service to go back and check out the action in the Seahawks 6-3 win over the Bears, politely decline that offer.  The good folks at NFL Films should find a way to quarantine – – permanently – – any visual record of that sh*tshow.

I did draw two conclusions from the game:

1. The Bears’ interim head coach is over his head in that role.  If he gets even a single interview in this offseason of coach shuffling, it will not be based on anything he has done with his time “at the helm” in Chicago this year.
2. Jayden Daniels is going to be a better NFL QB than Caleb Williams when all is said and done.

The schedule maker looks awfully prescient this week. He foresaw some late season matchups that have serious playoff implications, and he also managed to come up with two games that will pit four bad teams one upon another so that the schedule pollution is somewhat contained.

 

(Sat Early PM)  Chargers – 4 at Pats (43):  The Chargers get to leave balmy SoCal and fly about 3000 miles to play this game in Foxboro where the temperature will be in the 40s and there is a 50% chance of rain.  Not exactly ideal conditions for a team that needs to win to stay relevant in the AFC Playoffs.  The Chargers are the better team; they have the better QB; they have the better coach.  Notwithstanding all of that, the Pats gave the Bills all the Bills could handle just last week.  This game is definitely worth watching tomorrow.

(Sat Late PM)  Broncos at Bengals – 3 (49):  Here is the situation in a nutshell:

• As of today, the Broncos own the 7^th playoff slot in the AFC at 9-6-0
• The Bengals are still alive for that slot and must win out while the Broncos lose out.
• It’s an elimination game for the Bengals.

It’s another game clearly worth your attention this weekend.  I think offense dominates this game; the Broncos’ offense wins because the Bengals’ defense stinks and the Bengals’ offense wins because they have Joe Burrow and a bunch of really good pass catchers.  Give me the OVER in this game; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Sat Nite)  Cards at Rams – 7 (48):  The spread for this game opened at 3.5 points and has exploded to this level.  The Cards were eliminated from playoff contention last week, but the Rams have their playoff aspirations in the palms of their hands.  If you decide that you need to miss one of the Saturday Games this week, make it this one.

Colts – 7.5 at Giants (40.5):  The Colts are still mathematically alive for the AFC playoffs, but I suspect that even members of Jim Irsay’s nuclear family are starting to plan for a January vacation to somewhere warm and sunny.  The Giants’ highest aspiration for this game is not to be totally embarrassed to the point where their blunders make it to Facebook Reels.

Falcons at Commanders – 4 (47.5):  I gave this game serious consideration as the Game of the week for several reasons

• Both teams are alive in the NFC playoff race
• Both teams will start a rookie QB
• Both teams have first-year head coaches who turned things around this year

A Falcons’ victory here would set up two very interesting and important games for Week 18; this game should be played with great energy by both squads.  Jayden Daniels is going to outplay Michael Penix, Jr. at the QB position and that will give the Commanders a comfortable win; give me the Commanders to win and cover here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Raiders – 1 at Saints (38):  This game came ever so close to being the Dog-Breath Game of the Week because the Saints will be playing without their QB, RB and Swiss Army Knife and that has led the oddsmaker to make the woebegone Raiders a road favorite.

Titans at Jags – 1 (39):  And as miserable as the Raiders/Saints game should be, this one looks to be worse.  It is a division game between two teams who bring 3-12-0 records to the kickoff.  The QB showdown pairs two backups – – Mason Rudolph versus Mac Jones.  If that doesn’t get your juices flowing, that would make you a normal human being.  The late Pete Axthelm had a great description for this sort of a game; he called it a Smashed Windshield Game because:

• If you parked your car to go shopping and left two tickets to this game on the dashboard of your car, you would find – – upon your return – – a smashed windshield and two additional tickets to the game on your dashboard.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.

Jets at Bills – 9 (46.5):  The Bills have no motivation here; they clinched the AFC East weeks ago and they cannot get the overall #1 seed in the AFC Playoffs.  The Jets have been out of any playoff thinking for about a month now, but Aaron Rodgers has some motivation to show that he is not totally washed up such that he cannot get an NFL QB job next season.  Believe it or not, in late December in Buffalo, the weather is forecast to be in the mid-50s but with an 80% chance of rain.  Given the circumstances, would you play Josh Allen if you were the Bills’ coach?

Panthers at Bucs – 9 (49):  After spitting the bit last week against the Cowboys, the Bucs need this one to stay in the running for the NFC South title and a playoff slot.  The Panthers have shown a lot of improvement in the last month, but I don’t know that they are quite yet ready to give a motivated Bucs’ team a scare.

Packers at Vikes “pick ‘em” (49):  Here we have the Game of the Week.  The combined record for these two teams is a stunning 24-6-0.  If the Vikes win here and then win again next week over the Lions, the Vikes will win the NFC North.  However, winning this one – – even at home – – is no walk in the park for the Vikes; the Packers’ offense is hitting on all cylinders and the Packers’ defense has been smothering since early November.

Cowboys at Eagles – 7 (39):  This spread opened at 11.5 points and the Total Line opened at 44.5 points; clearly the availability of Jalen Hurts is a key element to betting on this game.  Kenny Pickett is a competent backup, but his lack of a deep passing game allows defenses to put 9 or even 10 men “in the box” making a running game nigh onto impossible.  Beyond Pickett, the Eagles will have to dig very deep should they need to depend on either Tanner McKee or recently signed off the streets Ian Book.  Adding to the cloudiness surrounding this game, the Cowboys announced last night that they will shut down CeeDee Lamb for the rest of the year.

Dolphins – 7 at Browns (40):  The Dolphins are still mathematically alive for the playoffs; the Browns have been out of it for at least a month and probably more like two months.  It is a must win game for the Dolphins and it is happening in the north in December where and when the Dolphins are historically inept.  Then again, these are the Browns as the opponents…

(Sun Nite)  Lions – 3.5 at Niners (51):  The Niners season is kaput; the Lions are guaranteed to be in the NFC Playoffs but their position in those playoffs is not secure yet.  The Niners are offensively challenged with injuries and the Lions are defensively challenged with injuries.  This game comes down to which M*A*S*H unit plays better than its opponent.  The Lions are a good team playing with a motivation factor; the Niners are merely a good team playing for “pride”.  I like the team with some positive motivation here so give me the Lions on the road to win and cover; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Let’s review this week’s “Betting Bundle”:

• Boise St. + 11.5 against Penn St.
• Arizona St. + 13.5 against Texas
• Ohio St./Oregon OVER 54.5
• Notre Dame/Georgia OVER 44
• Broncos/Bengals OVER 49
• Commanders – 4 over Falcons
• Lions – 3.5 over Niners

And just for fun, here are three Money Line Parlays:

• Commanders @ minus-200
• Lions @ minus-185    $100 wager to win $131

And …

• Chargers @ minus-225
• Oregon @ +125     $100 wager to win $225

And – – to end 2024 on a patriotic note …

• Army @ minus-675
• Navy @ +120   $100 wager to win $153.

Finally, closing words from Vince Lombardi:

“There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game and that is first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay and I never want to finish second again.”

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

 

 

Rickey Henderson died over the weekend.  He was born on Christmas Day in 1958, so he was just shy of 66 years old.  Henderson was in the major leagues for all or part of 25 seasons; he was an MVP and a multi-time All Star.  He has some amazing stats that might be considered “untouchable”.  Consider:

• Henderson is the all-time leader in stolen bases with 1,406.  In second place is Lou Brock with 938.
• Henderson is the all-time leader in runs scored with 2,295.  I believe the active player with the most runs scored is Freddie Freeman at 1298.  I’ll go out on a limb here and say that Freeman is not going to eclipse Rickey Henderson’s total.
• In 1982, Henderson led MLB in stolen bases with 130.  By comparison, in 1982 the player with the second most stolen bases was Damaso Garcia; he stole 54 bases.

In addition to those sorts of mind-boggling numbers Henderson accomplished a seemingly impossible performance in a single game.  In a game he came to the plate 4 times and walked all four times.  So, in that game, he appeared in the box score as “0-for-0” AND he also stole 5 bases in that same game.

Rest in peace, Rickey Henderson…

I mentioned here before that ESPN plans to shut down Around the Horn in 2025 and I am on record that I think the time has come for that to happen.  I read somewhere recently that the suits at ESPN are considering the possibility of filling the time slot currently occupied by Around the Horn with an expansion of Pardon the Interruption.  I am of two minds on that idea:

1. The first is to apply the old adage of “If it ain’t broke …”  Pardon the Interruption has been a great program for about 25 years now.  It found a way to exist in a very tricky environment where the two hosts gave the program a steady and constant feel – – and yet when they needed to substitute for one or both hosts, the program worked just fine.  So, is it a given that the program can expand seamlessly from 30 minutes to an hour?
2. The second is to recognize what ESPN programming has become in the afternoon and early evening.  That programming has devolved into a bunch of studio shows that present either “hot takes” or “Banalities-R-Us”.  If the programming mavens are going to fill that empty time slot with another show of either ilk, then an extra half-hour of “Tony and Mike” has to be a better option.

Moving on …  There is a report on CBSSports.com that says the LA Dodgers now owe a “luxury tax” payment of $103M and that a bunch of other teams have smaller payments due in January.  The total “luxury tax” payments from nine MLB clubs will be $311.3M.

The “luxury tax” is imposed with the intention of penalizing the “big market/high revenue clubs” from spending the “little guys” into non-competitive positions.  Clearly, it does not work; but it is the best system that MLB and the MLBPA have been able to come up with in their collective bargaining sessions.  The “luxury tax” is distributed to the “small market/lower revenue teams” with the idea that those clubs can use luxury tax payments from the “rich guys” as a basis to bid for star players.  Clearly, that is not working either.

If you want to know how the tax is calculated, here is a link to a page at mlb.com that will provide you with more information than you would want to know.

Before signing off today, I don’t know my writing and posting schedule for this Holiday week except that I plan to do a Football Friday at the end of the week.  In case I am not back on the air tomorrow or Wednesday, let me wish everyone a Merry Christmas and thanks for reading and commenting here.  Stay safe and stay well, everyone.

Finally, I’ll close today with these words from Rickey Henderson:

“Once you can accept failure, you can have fun and success.”

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

 

 

Don Rickles said:

“I like to think I’m like the guy who goes to the office Christmas party Friday night, insults some people, but still has his job Monday morning.”

Here in Curmudgeon Central, I like to think I am the guy who produces Football Fridays and still has a readership left on Monday morning.  It’s tough job [not really] and someone has to do it [again, not really].  So, on with the show …

Here is a quick review of last week’s “Betting Bundle”:

• Spread and Total wagers were 2-2-0 – – Meh!
• Money Line Parlays were 1-2 for a “Loss” of $57 – – Not good!

Undaunted, I press on…

 

College Football Commentary

 

            The Heisman Award went to Travis Hunter this year.  I am glad it did not go to one of the QBs on the ballot because I think both Hunter and Ashton Jeanty were better college football players in 2024 than any of the college QBs in this year’s crop.  Congratulations to Travis Hunter – – and I wonder where the NFL team that drafts him will choose to play him on Sunday afternoons.

I don’t know whether to be happy or outraged by the news that Marshall University chose to pull out of its bowl game against Army because more than two dozen of its players chose to enter the transfer portal and would not have played in that bowl game to avoid injury.

• On one hand, it has been clear for many years that there are too many minor bowl games and perhaps this is a signal to call some of them off – – permanently.
• On another hand, this entire scheduling fiasco is an unintended consequence of unregulated NIL money along with the universal presence of the transfer portal.

None of the advocates for “pay the college athletes” and/or “free movement for college athletes” envisioned this as one of the outcomes.  Those advocates thought they had “the answers”; where are they now with more “answers”?

Speaking of college football bowl games, there has been a shift in bowl names over the years.  Long ago, bowl games were named after plants – – or plant products – – grown in warm weather such as:

• Cactus Bowl
• Camillia Bowl
• Citrus Bowl
• Cotton Bowl
• Orange Bowl
• Peach Bowl
• Poinsettia Bowl
• Rose Bowl
• Sugar Bowl

Currently, the trend seems to be to name bowl games after people in uniform or the objectives of people in uniform:

• AutoZone Liberty Bowl
• Go Bowling Military Bowl
• Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
• Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
• Salute to Veterans Bowl
• ServPro First Responder Bowl
• Valero Alamo Bowl

One of the lyrics in the old Bob Dylan song goes like this:

“Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand.
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’.  Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand for the times, they are a-changin’ “

Another college football example of changing times happened last week.  Starting in 2025, the Ivy League will take part in the Division 1-AA football playoffs.  The Ivy League has been in existence for 70 years now and has over that time period refused any sort of participation in bowl games or playoff structures when it comes to football.  The Ivies do participate in other collegiate championships – – March Madness being the most obvious example – – but football outside of the regular season was never seriously considered “proper”.

One of the consequences of this decision to participate in next year’s football championship tournament is that the league will need to develop tie-breakers for the league.  For the last 70 years, if two or more teams had the same record against Ivy League opponents, the League simply named them as co-champions.  This year, there was a three-way tie at the top of the league:

• Dartmouth was 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Ivy League games
• Harvard was 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Ivy League games
• Columbia was 7-3 overall and 5-2 in Ivy League games

 

CFP Games This Week

 

Think about the old saying, “Defense wins championships,” while you ponder this stat for the 2024 college football regular season.

• There are twelve teams in the field.
• Seven of the twelve teams are ranked in the Top Ten in Total Defense for the year.
  • • Ohio St. – – ranked #1
    • Indiana – – ranked #2
    • Texas – – ranked #3
    • Tennessee – – ranked #4
    • Penn St. – – ranked #6
    • Notre Dame – – ranked #9
    • Oregon – – ranked #10

Interestingly, Georgia is a team known for its defensive prowess under Kriby Smart ranks down at #35 in the country in Total Defense.  By comparison, the Bulldogs give up 95 more yards per game than top-ranked Ohio St.  Now you know …

(Fri Nite) Indiana at Notre Dame – 7 (52.5):  The in-state distance between these two schools is only about 200 miles but they have not met on a football field for the last 33 years; the last time Indiana beat Notre Dame in football was all the way back in the 1950 season.  This year, Indiana ranked first in the nation in scoring differential (28.7 points per game) and Notre Dame ranked second in the nation in scoring differential (26.1 points per game).  Neither team played a difficult schedule so this game could play out in a myriad of ways.  One thing is for sure; Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman will be back as the head coach of the Irish next year; he just signed a long-term extension.  The Irish have lost their last 10 bowl games in a row; the oddsmakers have them installed as a solid favorite here at minus-290 on the Money Line.  People have questioned Indiana’s “worthiness” for CFP participation because of their soft schedule; here is a chance for the Hoosiers to demonstrate their “worthiness”.  I like the game to stay UNDER because I think the two highly regarded defenses in the game will dominate the play; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

SMU at Penn St. – 8 (54):  Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions exploded for more than 500 yards of offense against Oregon in the Big-10 Championship Game; Oregon has a Top-Ten defense and SMU does not.  Where SMU has is an edge is in team speed.  I think the Penn St. defense can keep SMU from running wild, so I’ll take the Nittany Lions at home to win and cover here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Clemson at Texas – 12.5 (51.5):  I think Clemson is overmatched here; simply put, playing an ACC schedule in 2024 is not the same thing as playing an SEC schedule in 2024 even when you consider that Texas did not have to face the top SEC teams week after week.  Having said that, I think that line is fat; give me Clemson plus the points; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.  Now for those Clemson fans who think I am being harsh in calling the Tigers “overmatched”, let me refer you to the Money Line this morning where Clemson can be had at odds of +360.

Tennessee at Ohio St. – 7.5 (46):  I think this is the best game of the first round in the CFP this year.  Presumably, the Vols’ defensive coaches and players took notes while watching what Michigan’s defense did to the Buckeyes.  Tennessee has plenty of defensive talent and should keep this game close all day long.  I think the key to the game is Tennessee RB, Dylan Simpson; if he can grind out offense and keep the clock moving, this could go down to the wire.  The Vols are at +240 on the Money Line which is tempting, but I shall resist.  I will take Tennessee plus the points in the game, however; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

 

NFL Commentary

 

I have said here before that I will not be surprised to see Aaron Rodgers drag out his “decision” regarding his “play or retire” decision for 2025 along with any “decision” related to his remaining with the NY Jets in 2025.  The latest pronouncement from Rodgers is that he is “open to everything”.  I think that story has gotten sufficient attention and so I want to pose a rhetorical question here:

• Regardless of Rodgers’ decision to play or not play for the Jets next year, the Jets will need to acquire another QB in the near future to lead the team.
• At the same time, the Jets also need to hire a new GM and a new head coach because both positions have been vacated in the middle of the 2024 season.
• So, which is the more important hiring decision – – a new GM or a new QB?

I pose that question fully recognizing that the QB is the pivotal figure for most NFL teams.  Not meaning to contradict that logic, the Jets as a franchise have been ”at sea” (to be polite) for at least a decade now primarily because of poor roster construction.  To make that point, since the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jets have had 7 first round picks:

• Zack Wilson, QB
• Alijah Vera-Tucker, OG
• Sauce Gardner, DB
• Garrett Wilson, WR
• Jermaine Johnson, DE
• Will McDonald IV, DE
• Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT

By my eyeball test, there are two bona fide “anywhere in the NFL starters” on that list; two out of seven is less than 30%; when your first round pick “success rate” is less than 30%, perhaps there is a problem beyond the lack of a star QB.

Along similar lines, one of the narratives for this NFL season has been the confluence of the Dallas Cowboys underachieving expectations along with the fact that coach Mike McCarthy’s contract is up at the end of this season.  Lots of commentators have simply assumed that McCarthy will not be back on the sidelines for the Cowboys next year.  But let me ask if you think he deserves to be fired.  The Cowboys’ failures seem to me to rest on three pillars:

1. Their starting QB suffered a season-ending injury; the backup QB has played “uninspiringly”.
2. Their defense gives up over 27 points per game because it gets pushed around.
3. Their running game is anemic; it ranks 27^th in the league as of today.

I submit that the Cowboys’ underachievement is partly based on unrealistically high expectations in the first place and on poor roster construction once again.  The issue for Cowboys’ fans is that the “roster constructor” is the team owner and the team owner has not even hinted that he might relinquish any of those roster construction duties to someone else.

The Lions have a record of 12-2-0 as of this morning.  The Lions lead the NFL in points scored (459 points in 14 games = 32.8 points per game).  The Lions’ defense was very stingy early in the season but not so much recently.  In their last 3 games, the Lions have given up 99 points (33 points per game).  The reason is pretty simple – – injuries to starters on defense.  Every team has injuries, but it seems as if Lions’ defenders have been targeted by the football gods.  Here is a partial list of quality defenders on IR for the Lions:

• Alex Anzalone  LB
• Carlton Davis  DB
• Khalil Dorsey  DB
• Aiden Hutchinson  DE
• Alim McNeil  DT
• Malcom Rodriguez  LB

The Tampa Bay Bucs have quietly asserted themselves with a 4-game winning streak that allowed them to overtake the Falcons for the lead in the NFC South and the Bucs have done it with offense.  Baker Mayfield and company have scored 124 points in those 4 consecutive wins (31 points per game).  The Bucs have a one-game lead in the division and the remaining schedule is not a killer; none of the final three opponents has even a .500 record in 2024:

• Cowboys are 6-8-0
• Panthers are 3-11-0
• Saints are 5-9-0

Winning the division – – and thereby making the playoffs – – is totally in the hands of the Bucs; if they take care of business against those three teams with losing records, they will be in the playoffs.

Now before you shrug your shoulders and wave the Bucs off as a stepping stone for some other NFC team on the way to the Super Bowl, please consider this:

• The Bucs have beaten both the Eagles and the Lions this year.  They beat the Eagles by 17 points and the Lions by 4 points back in September.
• The Bucs lost to the Chiefs – – but took the Chiefs to OT in early November.
• Do not sleep on the Bucs.

The Browns announced this week that they will bench Jameis Winston at QB and replace him with Dorian Thompson-Robinson.  This may look like “tanking”, but I will try to suggest here that this move makes sense for the Browns’ franchise.  It begins with this mastery of the obvious statement:

• The Browns’ record of 3-11-0 guarantees that the players and coaches will taking Caribbean cruises with their families in January in lieu of prepping for a playoff game.

The Browns have a “QB Situation” that has defied resolution for some time now:

• They have an injured Deshaun Watson who is signed through the end of the 2026 season.
• They have Jameis Winston who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season – – and they pretty much know what they have in Winston.  This is his 9^th season in the NFL; there aren’t a lot of mysteries associated with Jameis Winston.
• They have Dorian Thompson-Robinson on a rookie contract that runs through the end of the 2026 season.

I will go out on a limb here and say that the Browns are not going to extend Deshaun Watson’s contract and that they would like to know how Thompson-Robinson has progressed in this his second season in the NFL.  That assessment could clarify for the Browns’ brass how aggressively they attack the QB market in the offseason and/or in the 2025 NFL draft.  Watching Thompson-Robinson in practice is one thing but it does not replace seeing him play against real NFL defenders going at full speed.  The last three games for the Browns are against the Bengals, Dolphins and Ravens; maybe the Ravens will have “something to play for” in Week 18 but the other two games are meaningless contests.  So, taking advantage of misfortune seems to make sense here; find out if the kid can play or not.

Here are some comments on some of last week’s games.

Commanders 20  Saints 19:   Jayden Daniels was sacked 8 times by Saints and the Commanders still won the game.  That does not happen often   Jake Haener quickly proved he wasn’t the answer for the Saints at quarterback, but the Saints scrambled back with Spencer Rattler at the helm.

Chiefs 21  Browns 7:  The Browns turned the ball over six times and did not snap the ball at all in the red zone.  Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury x-rays were negative; the official pronouncement was a high ankle sprain.  He practiced on Wednesday of this week and is listed as “Questionable” for this week’s game.

Texans 20  Dolphins 12:    The Texans did not gain 200 yards on offense but won the game because the Dolphins turned the ball over 4 times – – three of which were INTs thrown by Tua Tagovailoa.

Eagles 27  Steelers 13: This game was not nearly as close as the score indicates.  The Eagles outgained the Steelers by 238 yards and racked up 26 first downs to the Steelers’ 10.

Bucs 40  Chargers 17:  The Chargers led this game 17-10 at one point; then the Bucs scored the last 30 points in a row. Baker Mayfield was 22 for 27 with four TDs.   The Chargers’ record is now 8-6-0 and this loss makes them the seventh seed in the projected AFC playoffs. The most surprising stat to me is that a Jim Harbaugh coached team was outgained on the ground here 223 yards to 32 yards.

Ravens 35  Giants 14:   The Giant’s defense could not get off the field efficiently in the game; the Ravens converted 9 of 11 third down situations.   By comparison, the Giants converted only 2 of 12 third down opportunities.  The Giants have lost 9 in a row; that ties a franchise record for a franchise that dates back to1925.  Tommy DeVito started for the Giants, Tim Boyle finished up when DeVito suffered a concussion.

Falcons 15  Raiders 9:   The Raiders’ special teams got two punts blocked, an extra point blocked, and fair caught a punt at the 3-yard line – – all in one game.  Raiders’ coach, Antonio Pierce was not pleased; asked about his team’s special teams miscues after the game, Pierce acknowledged they were “ugly”.

 

Games This week:

 

Last night’s game between the Chargers and the Broncos was a tale of two halves.  In the first half, the Broncos dominated the stat sheet, the eyeball test and the scoreboard; the halftime score had the Broncos up by 8 points, but no one would have believed the score was that close.  Then things changed on a dime; the second half was dominated by the Chargers who took the lead and never relinquished it running away with a 34-27 win.

Both teams are still in good position to make the playoffs in the AFC.  For either team to miss this year’s playoffs, they would have to lose their two remaining games and one or more of the Dolphins, Bengals or Colts would have to win out.  Strange things happen every week in the NFL but the scenarios I just described go beyond “strange”.

(Sat Early PM) Texans at Chiefs – 3.5 (42):  With two division leaders going at it, this game got serious consideration as the Game of the Week. Can Patrick Mahomes play this week?  Not knowing if he can makes this game a pass for me.  The line seems to indicate to me that most folks think he will sit it out and let Carson Wentz take the field.  Andy Reid says Mahomes “will most likely end up playing.”

(Sat Late PM) Steelers at Ravens – 6.5 (44.5):  If the Ravens win, they will tie the Steelers at 10-5-0 on top of the AFC North; if the Steelers win, they will be assured of the division championship because they will own the tiebreaker with the Ravens.  Other than that, just an ordinary game on the schedule.  The status of TJ Watt’s availability for the Steelers is important here and the spread seems to suggest that he will not play – – or not play at nearly full strength.  Watt says he is “hopeful” that he can play.

Browns at Bengals – 9 (47):  The spread opened the week at 6 points; the jump up to this level seems related to the announcement that Dorian Thompson-Robinson would be the Browns QB this week (see above).  The Bengals are still alive mathematically for the playoffs but will be eliminated with a loss here.  The Bengals are winning because their offense has been scoring points recently; the Bengals’ defense is a sieve – – and maybe that is another reason why the Browns picked this game to see what Thompson-Robinson can do…?

Lions – 6.5 at Bears (48): The Bears have lost 8 games in a row ever since giving up the Hail Mary TD to the Commanders a couple of months ago.  That losing streak has gone under the radar because of the Giants’ losing streak at franchise record levels and the Raiders’ record of 10 losses in a row.  As noted above, the Lions are forced to play their JV on defense here.  This will be only the second “outdoor game” for the Lions this year and the weather in Chicago is forecast to be about 30 degrees with winds at 14 mph.  The Bears are only at +235 on the Money Line which is a surprise given the records of the two teams.

Cards – 4 at Panthers (47.5):  This line for the spread is all over the place.  I found it as low as 3 points and as high as 5 points; if you like this game, be advised to shop around for the line.  The Total Line is far more consistent, varying by only a half point at all the books I check.  I think this is going to be a defensive game; neither offense seems scary to me.  So, I’ll take the game to stay UNDER the total here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Pats at Bills – 14 (47):  This is a squash game; the Bills are hitting on all cylinders and the Pats are not playing well at all.  Here is how the oddsmakers view the outcome of this game:

• Pats on the Money Line = +700
• Bills on the Money Line = minus-1100

For reasons I do not understand, the local CBS affiliate chose this game as the one to air in the late Sunday afternoon time slot.  I guess that means they could not get the rights to a couple of reruns from My Mother the Car.

Eagles – 3.5 at Commanders (45.5):  This too got a passing thought as the Game of the Week.  The Total Line for this game opened at 48 points and has been dropping during the week.  No, I don’t know why.  If the Eagles win, they are NFC East champs; if the Commanders win, they can still win the division theoretically.  A loss for the Commanders (that would be their sixth) would bring the Rams and/or the Seahawks into contention for what is now the Commanders’ playoff position.  I am tempted to take the Commanders plus the points here but will resist.

• Get thee behind me, Satan.

Giants at Falcons – 8.5 (41.5):  The Falcons beat the Raiders last week and they get the Giants this week.  What’s next, a game against the JV team from an Ivy League also-ran?  The Falcons can still make the playoffs but really need to win out.  I think they will dominate here; I think Michael Penix will show very well against that defense; give me the Falcons to win and cover at home; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Titans at Colts – 3.5 (42.5):  Even at 6-8-0, the Colts can still make the playoffs; not so for the Titans.  For now, the Colts, Bengals and Dolphins have the same record; I believe a loss for any of them eliminates them from any hope of sneaking in.

Rams – 3 at Jets (46):  The Rams have looked really good the last several weeks; the Jets have played better in their last two games.  The Rams need the game; they are tied with the Seahawks at the top of the NFC West and the two teams still have a head-to-head matchup on the schedule.  The Jets are going nowhere so this is a “pride game” for them.  At the same time, this is a “body clock game” for the Rams playing in the early afternoon time slot 3 time zones east of home.

Vikes – 3 at Seahawks (42.5):  I anoint this as the Game of the Week because of its playoff implications and the questions surrounding the game.  The Vikes are 12-2-0 – – the same record as the Lions and the Eagles in the NFC.  The Seahawks are tied with the Rams for the lead in the NFC West.  The five games involving those five teams this week are all pivotal, but this one could see the Vikes slip into the lead for the NFC playoff BYE Week.  And with all that stuff to consider here is something else;

• Geno Smith has a sprained ankle.
• Can he play at all?  If so, how limited might he be?
• If he can’t go, can backup Sam Howell deal with the swarming Vikes’ defense?

I think the Vikes are primed for a big game here even on the road and I don’t like the Seahawks’ chances with either a hobbled Smith or a healthy Howell; I’ll take the Vikes and lay the points; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Niners at Dolphins – 1 (45):  Both teams have underachieved expectations for 2024; neither team is playing particularly well now.  Betting on this game is akin to buying a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Jags at Raiders – 2 (40):  I called this the Dog-Breath Game of the Week last week.  I neither know who will win this game nor do I care; these teams are awful.  Their combined record as of the kickoff is 5-23-0.  Oh joy …!

(Sun Nite) Bucs – 4 at Cowboys (48):  The Cowboys record at home this year is 1-6-0; that lone win was over the Giants so maybe it shouldn’t even count.  The Cowboys defense looked good last week against the Panthers but as noted above the Bucs’ offense has been en fuego recently.

(Mon Nite) Saints at Packers – 14 (42):  This is another squash game.  The Saints are playing hard under interim head coach, Darren Rizzi, but that will not be nearly enough to stay with the Packers.  Hopefully, the Saints saw enough of Jake Haener last week; and hopefully, they will not need to turn to him save for garbage time minutes this week.

So let me review the “Betting Bundle” for this week:

• Indiana/Notre Dame UNDER 52.5
• Penn St. – 8 over SMU
• Clemson +12.5 against Texas
• Tennessee + 7.5 against Ohio St.
• Cards/Panthers UNDER 47.5
• Vikes – 3 over Seahawks
• Falcons – 8.5 over Giants

And just for fun, here are three Money Line Parlays for this week:

• Falcons @ minis-430
• Vikes @ minus-150
• Bucs @ minus-200     $100 wager to win $208

And …

• Bengals @ minus-420
• Falcons @-430
• Vikes @ minus-150     $100 wager to win $154

And …

• Commanders @ +165
• Bucs @ minus-200     $100 wager to win $298

Finally, words from Vince Lombardi:

“Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

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

 

 

During last year’s NFL offseason, both Sam Darnold and Russell Wilson were free agents whose reputations were “tarnished” at best.  Darnold was seen as a classical underachiever who had been taken in the Top-5 of his draft class and who never played as if he was worth that status.  Wilson was thought to be on the downward arc of his career – – if not washed up.  Both QBs proved the skeptics wrong.

Sam Darnold has led the Vikes to a 12-2-0 record equaling the Lions’ record for the lead in the NFC North Division.  The Vikes average 26.4 points per game this year; in 14 games to date in 2024, Darnold has already thrown for 500 more yards than he has ever posted in a full season previously.  Darnold is 27 years old and will be an unrestricted free agent once again at the end of this season.

Russell Wilson did not start the season at QB for the Steelers due to injury, but he has been the starter for the last 8 Steelers’ games and the team has gone 6-2-0 under his leadership.  So far in 2024, Wilson has thrown 13 TD passes and only 3 INTs.  Wilson is 36 years old and will be an unrestricted free agent once again at the end of this season.

One might think that the Vikes and Steelers would be scurrying around already making overtures to the agents for those two QBs, but each team has a wrinkle to iron out:

• The Vikes drafted JJ McCarthy in the first round of the Draft last April.  McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury at the end of training camp which led to Sam Darnold becoming the starter in Minnesota.  All indications are that McCarthy will be fully recovered for next year – – so what will the Vikes commit themselves to in signing Darnold once again?
• The Steelers’ situation is even more intriguing.  In addition to Wilson’s expiring contract this year, the Steelers acquired Justin Fields last Spring and like Wilson and Darnold, Justin Fields will be an unrestricted free agent once this NFL season comes to a close.  Fields started the season for the Steelers while Wilson was on the shelf and the Steelers were 4-2-0 with Fields under center.  So, what might the Steelers be doing with their two quarterbacking possibilities?

It seems to me that the Vikes can try to resign Darnold fairly aggressively since McCarthy is on a rookie contract allowing the team to have two players at the position without overloading the cap at the QB position.  McCarthy is not eligible to shop around and find himself a “better deal” so the Vikes can negotiate with Darnold knowing what their “other guy” is going to cost them in 2025 and beyond.

The Steelers are not nearly in such a position of certainty because both QBs will be able to have their agents “shop around” in an attempt to create a marketplace for the QB talents and maybe even a “bidding war”.  If it appears that both QBs are looking at getting contracts where the sum of the two is too rich for the Steelers’ cap space, the team will have to make an early decision regarding which QB to cast their lot with.

At least one of these three QBs is likely to be playing elsewhere next year – – and potentially all three of them.  Given the success all three of them had in 2024 – – far beyond what had been projected for them in 2024 – – some other teams in the league may be very interested acquiring their services for 2025 and beyond.

And just in case you think those three QBs will monopolize the spotlight in the NFL offseason, do not forget that Brock Purdy’s rookie contract is over at the end of this season too.  Purdy has been far more successful early in his career than either Darnold or Fields.  He is young (25 years old) with a record of 23-11-0 as a starting QB.  Nonetheless, there are some who call him a “system QB” – – a guy who is successful because of the offensive system he plays in rather than a guy who can be successful because of his talents in just about any competent system.  How do the Niners see Purdy as a QB going forward?  The answer to that question will become more apparent once the Niners’ season is over.

There are plenty of QB-needy teams in the NFL – – I count six of them – – and if the Steelers were to lose out on signing both Wilson and Fields in this offseason, the Steelers would quickly join that QB-needy list.  Last year’s draft class had lots of hot QB prospects; frankly, I think this year’s draft class is very thin at the QB position and if the majority of NFL scouts hold the same view, this year’s competition might be for the four QBs discussed here based on 2024 performance.

This offseason might be entertaining indeed.

Moving on – – but sticking with NFL QBs …  The Falcons announced that Michael Penix, Jr. will start this week against the woebegone NY Giants and Kirk Cousins will watch from the sidelines.  We could debate that move and wonder about its implications, but rather than that I think there is an interesting side light to that move:

• When it was assumed that Cousins would still be the QB for the Falcons, the line for the game was Atlanta – 9.
• Now that Penix is known to be the QB for the Falcons, the line for the game is Atlanta – 9.
• The oddsmakers and the betting public have not moved the line at all.  Will that stability last until game time?
• What about the Total Line?  Before the announcement of the change, the Total Line was 41.5 points; now about 48 hours after the announcement of the change, the Total Line is 40.5 points.  Not much of a movement there either.

Finally, a definition from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Precious:  Code word meaning ‘intolerable’.  Used when referring to such things as a small child’s attempt at ballet or any human-interest story airing on National Public Radio.”

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

 

 

The NBA in-season tournament for the NBA Cup is in the books.  The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last night to win the cup; Giannis Antetokounmpo was voted the MVP of the tournament.  And don’t you feel better now that you know that?

And that is not the only inane news from the NBA this morning.  Commissioner Adam Silver announced yet another “new format” for the NBA All-Star Game.  The simple fact that the game has required “reinvention” several times over the past decade or so ought to indicate to any “critical thinker” that the exhibition itself is the problem.  But the Commish continues to tinker around the edges to make the game anything more than “not unpalatable” to a TV audience.

The fundamental problem with the game is simple:

• The players do not care about it; they do not play hard, and it is obvious to anyone watching it.
• The players cannot be “incentivized” to care about it; they are rich enough.

Just to give you an example, here are some stats from last year’s NBA All-Star Game:

• East 211   West 186
• The two teams combined to attempt 168 three-point shots (approximately one attempt per 17 seconds of game time)
• The two teams combined to commit a total of 3 personal fouls in the game.

And now, Adam Silver has another idea to inject interest into this muck and mire.  The solution is to expand the event thereby diluting whatever marginal interest there might be.  Here’s the deal:

• There will be a one-night tournament involving four teams and three games.
• Instead of 48-minute regulation NBA games, these All-Star tournament games will be decided on the basis of which team posts 40 points first.  [Aside:  At least there won’t be another game with 200+ points by one team to endure.]
• Three of the four teams will consist of 8 NBA players selected for the All-Star team.
• The fourth team will be the winning team from the “Rising Stars Game” which will continue to exist, and which will pit NBA rookies against second-year NBA players.

Fans will vote for NBA All-Stars and coaches will fill out the 24-players needed for the three All-Star teams in the tournament.  The individual teams will be selected/drafted by NBA studio analysts, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.  Candace Parker will serve as the “GM” of the fourth team of either rookies or second-year players.

You can stand back and assess this new thinking in several ways:

1. This is bold, new thinking about the game demonstrating that the NBA is committed to finding a way to make its All-Star Game into something fans want to see.
2. This is another example of the NBA grasping at straws to save this annual event from further embarrassment.
3. Why is this interesting?  I permanently lost interest in the NBA All-Star Game about 20 years ago.

There are a couple other ways to react to this news which are less polite:

1. You can put lipstick on a pig – – but it is still a pig.
2. You can polish a turd – – but the shine doesn’t last long.

Moving on …  There was another “announcement” recently in the sports world that seems to have flown under the radar.  In 2028, one of the new sports in the Summer Olympics will be Flag Football.  The NFL has used Flag Football for its Pro Bowl Game; the new format is not great, but it is better than what the Pro Bowl had devolved into with little to no contact in the game.  The announcement that drew little attention said that the NFL and the NFLPA and the Olympic organizers are “working on the logistics” to enable NFL players to participate.  Is that a “good thing” or not?

Finally, the fundamental problem with the NBA All-Star Game and the Pro Bowl is the lack of any defense played by the teams.  John Madden had a great observation about defense in football that will serve as today’s closing remark:

“If you see a defense team with dirt and mud on their backs, they’ve had a bad day.”

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