Author: Jack

Back in the very early days of network television, there was an evening news telecast sponsored by Camel cigarettes.  The host – – now called the anchor – – was John Cameron Swayze and the program was The Camel News Caravan.  After dealing with the “big news of the day”, Swayze would proclaim that he would be “hopscotching the world for headlines”.  Looking at my compendium of items for today, I think I will be hopscotching the sports world for topics.  Nevertheless, I shall not be sponsored by Camel cigarettes…

Also in the early days of network television, the afternoon soap operas were mainline programming.  From 1956 through 2010, CBS aired a “soap” called As the World Turns; in its TV run, the show put on 13,858 episodes.  Here in 2024, the sports world has an informal program that might be called As the Jets and Aaron Rodgers Turn.  It does not deliver daily episodes, but it does make the wire copy more than on game days.  In the latest episode, the Jets’ interim head coach, Jeff Ulbrich, “squelched” rumors that the Jets might bench Rodgers this season because of the disappointing showing of the team; the coach affirmed that he still believes that Rodgers gives the Jets (now 3-9-0) the “best chance to win.”

Here is the Jets’ QB depth chart:

• Aaron Rodgers:  41 years old and having his worst season ever
• Tyrod Taylor:  A career backup
• Jordan Travis:  A rookie who is out for the year due to injury
• Adrian Martinez:  On the practice squad for the second year

So, I agree with Coach Ulbrich; Rodgers gives the team the best chance of winning – – and according to a report I read yesterday, the Jets are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs even with their 3-9 record.  Stay tuned.  You never know if the next installment of As the Jets and Aaron Rodgers Turn will come before next weekend’s game against the Dolphins in Miami (Jets are currently a 6.5-point underdog) or maybe in the press conference following that game…

Sticking with items related to television, the suits at ESPN have announced that Around the Horn will go dark sometime in 2025.  The show began in 2002; so, it has had a good run.  It ran 5 days a week as the lead-in program to Pardon the Interruption and in its “glory days”, Around the Horn could command audiences more than 750,000 viewers which was a sizeable audience for daytime sports on cable TV back in the “aughts”.  Max Kellerman was the original host/facilitator for the program but left during one of his multiple divorces with ESPN and Tony Reali took over that slot on a permanent basis.

The audience for Around the Horn has eroded significantly; these days, an audience of 400,000 is a pleasant surprise.  I was a regular viewer of the program for years – – probably averaging 4 days a week; now, I catch a show about every 10 days.  I don’t know what happened to cause the audience for the show to collapse but I know why I am no longer a regular viewer.

When the show began, the panel that “debated” the sports topics offered up by Kellerman/Reali were notable sports columnists from around the country whose observations and assertions were such that I wanted to hear them and to evaluate them against my personal position on the topics at hand.  Back in the day, I heard from people like:

1. JA. Adande – – Washington Post
2. Jim Armstrong – – Denver Post
3. Tim Cowlishaw – – Dallas Morning News
4. Frank Isola – – NY Daily News
5. Jackie MacMullan – – Boston Globe
6. Jay Mariotti – – Chicago Sun Times
7. Woody Paige – – Denver Post
8. Bill Plaschke – – LA Times
9. Bob Ryan – – Boston Globe
10.  TJ Simers – – LA Times

Folks, those were ten “heavy hitters”; their stature was such that you puffed up your chest when they agreed with your thoughts on the matter, and you furled your brow and started to rethink your position when they disagreed with your opinion.  And in recent years, most of that is gone – – and I don’t mean those specific individuals.

The panels today are mostly made up of ESPN and ESPN Radio personalities.  They lack gravitas and when I realized that it made no difference to me what Joe Flabeetz and/or Suzie Glotz thought about a subject, Around the Horn was no longer worth my time and attention.  The show had a great run, but its time has come – – and gone…

There is a superstition that bad things happen in threes; I don’t know the origin of that belief but for those folks in New Jersey who might believe in it:

• The Tampa Bay Bucs just waived Trenton Gill – – punter
• The Cincinnati Bengals just waived Trenton Irwin – – WR
• If you are a first responder in Trenton, NJ, I would stay close to the phones…

Finally, let me close today with three random quotes from Will Rogers:

“Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie’ until you can find a rock.”

And …

“If you ever injected truth into politics, you have no politics.”

And …

“This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.”

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

 

 

Lou Carnesecca died over the weekend at the ripe old age of 99.  He was the basketball coach at St. John’s from 1965 to 1992 save for a three-year gap when he coached the Nets in the NBA.  His college record at St. John’s was 526-200 earning him a spot in the Naismith Hall of Fame.  Back in the 1980s. the Big East was dominant in college basketball and populated with excellent – – and colorful – – coaches including:

• Jim Boeheim – – Syracuse
• Jim Calhoun – – UConn
• PJ Carlesimo – – Seton Hall
• Rollie Massimino – – Villanova
• John Thompson – – Georgetown

“Looie”, as he came to be known, was an equal in that coaching fraternity.

Rest in peace, Lou Carnesecca …

Remember about a month ago that the Chicago Bears lost to the Washington Commanders on a last second Hail Mary pass and there was video of one of the Bears’ defenders waving to the crowd as the play was unfolding.  Well, that act of “disrespect to the game” must have significantly angered the football gods to the point that the gods have chosen to frustrate the Bears in the intervening weeks.  Consider:

• First week later:  Bears lost to a middling Cardinals’ team by 20 points.
• Second week later:  Bears lost – – at home – – to a not-very-good Pats’ team by a score of 19-3.  [Aside:  That offensive somnambulance got the Offensive Coordinator fired.]
• Third week later:  Bears lost to the Packers 20-19 when the Packers blocked a chip shot field goal in the final seconds of the game.
• Fourth week later:  Bears rallied from 11 points down in the final two minutes to force overtime – – and then lost to the Vikes in OT.
• Fifth week later:  Bears lost to the Lions by a field goal on Thanksgiving in a situation where they failed to snap the ball – – or call a timeout – – in the final 32 seconds of the game.  [Aside:  That time management blunder got the Head Coach fired.]

The Chicago Bears have been a team in the NFL since 1920; Matt Eberflus is the first head coach to be fired in mid-season in the history of the Chicago Bears.  If you did not see the timing blunder or have not read about it, let that historical fact give you an idea of how bad it was.  Also, let that five week stretch of football misfortune be a case study for players and/or teams that might be tempted to “disrespect the game”; the football gods are watching, and they can exact serious punishment for such offenses.

Moving on …  Over the past several years, NFL teams have tended to devalue the position of running back to a degree; the common wisdom was that one did not need to pay running backs big bucks nor spend high draft picks on that position.  So, in last year’s free agency period, three running backs moved on from the team that drafted them to another team.  Those three RBs were:

• Saquon Barkley – – leading the NFL in rushing
• Derrick Henry – – second in the NFL in rushing
• Josh Jacobs – – third in the NFL in rushing.

However, there is a much more interesting statistic concerning those three players.  Let us look at the team records for the teams that jettisoned those backs:

• Giants had Barkley; Giants are 2-10 this year.
• Titans had Henry; Titans are 3-9 this year.
• Raiders had Jacobs; Raiders are 2-10 this year.
• Combined, the teams that tossed these running backs aside are 7-29.

Now, just for giggles, I want to show you the team records for the teams that acquired these running backs on the free agent market:

• Eagles signed Barkley; Eagles are 10-2 this year
• Ravens signed Henry; Ravens are 8-5 this year
• Packers signed Jacobs; Packers are 9-3 this year.
• Combined, the teams that signed these running backs are 27-10.

Finally, since the Bears “disrespected the game” and plenty of teams “disrespected running backs”, let me close today with this quote from P. J. O’Rourke:

“The First Amendment only says, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.’ It can disrespect all it wants.”

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

 

 

Picking up from yesterday, the football gods must have enjoyed creating the havoc they did in college football last weekend because they turned around and gave us an extra helping of strangeness in the NFL action as well.  The Goddess of Special Teams must have royally pissed off the Big Boss Football God because it was a weekend of failure for special teams around the league.  Nowhere was that more in evidence than in the Cowboys upset of the Commanders.  Here is what happened:

• Commanders missed 2 PATs in the same game.
• Commanders missed a FG in the game
• Commanders allowed 2 kickoffs to be returned for TDs
• Cowboys missed a FG in the game.
• Cowboys had a FG blocked AND a punt blocked in the game.

That is a season’s worth of FAIL all in one game…

The Cowboys and Commanders combined to produce 263 yards in the return game.  By comparison:

• Pats/Dolphins combined for 53 return yards
• Ravens/Chargers combined for 65 return yards
• Colts/Lions combined for 74 return yards
• Chiefs/Panthers combined for 138 return yards.

You get the idea; special teams tackling was not a hallmark of the Commanders and Cowboys last Sunday.

What else went wrong with Special Teams last weekend?  Well, the Texans lost to the Titans last week when kicker Ka’imi Fairburn missed a 28-yard field goal try in the final two minutes that would have tied the game.

The Vikes led the Bears by 11 points with less than 2 minutes left in the game after making a field goal.  After that:

• Bears return the kickoff to Vikes’ territory.  Then the Bears score a TD and convert a 2-point try.
• Bears recover the onside kick.  Then the Bears get a field goal to send the game to OT.
• There is no fairytale ending here; the Vikes won the game in OT by a score of 30-27.
• But the Goddess of Special Teams was embarrassed again.

The Seahawks beat the Cards to force a tie atop the NFC West.  And the Seahawks missed a PAT in the game in keeping with the Special Teams strangeness theme for the weekend.

The Rams missed a perfectly makeable field goal against the Eagles on Sunday night.  It had no bearing on the game outcome because the Rams lost by 17 points.

On a positive note for the Goddess of Special Teams, the Raiders/Broncos game saw nine field goal attempts – – and all nine were good including three tries from 50+ yards out.

Moving on from special teams’ oddities, the other place where the football gods shone their “Light of Goofiness” was on the NY Giants.  The team has not merely benched Daniel Jones; they released him and started Tommy DeVito at QB.  The Giants were pushed around by the Bucs and lost the game 30-7 in a rout.  The Giants produced only 245 yards on offense and did not score until the 4^th quarter of the game.  Here is DeVito’s plain vanilla stat line for the game:

• 21 of 31 for 189 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs

The Giants have now lost 6 games in a row and their record stands at 2-9-0 with a home field record of 0-6-0.  Only the Raiders have a longer losing streak today (Raiders have lost 7 in a row) and only the Cowboys join the Giants on a list of teams that have not won a home game to date in 2024.

The Giant’s decision to release Daniel Jones – – making him an instant free agent – – gives him an interesting choice to make.  He is going to be paid his guaranteed money by the Giants; he is under the most minimal economic pressure imaginable because according to Spotrac.com, he will have earned $108.1M in salary from the Giants over his time with the team.  So, there should be three avenues open to him now:

1. First Avenue:  Sit back, relax, hit the gym to stay in shape, get healthy.
2. Second Avenue:  Seek to sign with a bottom-dweller team and get some more time on the field in 2024 with the idea of putting some solid performances on film for teams to evaluate in the upcoming free agency period.
3. Third Avenue:  Offer his services to teams that are playoff-bound in 2024 as a way for the teams to upgrade their backup QB position.  This option probably would not allow Jones to add much of anything to whatever performances he has already put on film prior to next season’s free agency period.

My guess is that he will choose “First Avenue”.  It is the possibility of “Third Avenue” that I find intriguing not because I think Daniel Jones is high quality QB but because I really think he would be a significant upgrade for at least nine potential playoff teams at backup QB.  For example:

1. Bills:  Currently have Mitchel Trubisky as backup
2. Broncos:  Currently have Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson as backups
3. Cards:  Currently have Clayton Tune as backup
4. Chargers:  Currently have Taylor Heinicke and Easton Stick as backups
5. Eagles:  Currently have Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee as backups
6. Lions:  Currently have Herndon Hooker as backup
7. Niners: Currentlly have Brandon Allen and Joshua Dobbs as backups
8. Texans:  Currently have Davis Mills as backup
9. Vikes:  Currently have Nick Mullens and Brett Rypien as backups

Finally, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, and I will be taking the day off to relax with an old friend from out of town who has agreed to spend the holiday with me and my long-suffering wife.  Food, wine and football are at the top of the agenda for the next several days.  So let me close here by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a gentle start to the Holiday Season ahead.

Stay safe and stay well, everyone …

 

 

 

The gods of Greek mythology lived on Mount Olympus.  I don’t know upon which mountain the “football gods” reside, but they were active last weekend.  It seems to me that in every football season, there is one weekend where lots of “surprising stuff” goes down in college football and then about a month later, the focus of football craziness is on the NFL.  Well, unless those football gods have some sort of “grand crescendo” in store for us in December, we got our quota of craziness last week.

Let me focus today on college football from last weekend.  Alabama lost its third game of the year to Oklahoma 24-3.  That is unusual in itself, but the way the Tide lost was more unusual.  Alabama kicked a field goal to lead 3-0 at the end of the first quarter; they were shut out by the Sooners – – a 14-point underdog by the way – – from there on out.  So, is there still room in the expanded CFP for an Alabama team with 3 losses including this embarrassing one?

Penn St. was playing a decidedly inferior opponent in Minnesota, a team that brought 4 losses with them to the kickoff and was a 12.5-point underdog.  The Nittany Lions used a fake punt to convert a fourth-down situation allowing them to hold on and beat Minnesota 26-25.  The question in the air now is simple:

• Is Penn St. really a Top 10 team that belongs in the CFP or is it the single most overrated team in the country and belongs in the Poulan Weedeater Bowl?

SMU locked in their participation in the ACC Championship Game last weekend.  There had to be a round of chortling amongst the football gods as they penciled the Mustangs into that game slot since SMU is in Dallas TX which is nowhere near the “Atlantic coast”.

Ohio St. embarrassed Indiana last weekend giving the Hoosiers their first loss of the year.  Usually, losing to the team ranked #2 in the country is to be expected but this loss shines a light on the Indiana schedule for 2024 and let’s just be polite here and say it was not the toughest schedule in its time zone.  Next week, Indiana – – is it really a Top Ten team? – – plays Purdue – – it really is a SHOE Team – – and Indiana will finish 11-1 against its patty-cake schedule.  Let the CFP debate begin…

Notre Dame beat previously unbeaten Army handily last weekend.

• Was Army overrated as an unbeaten team?
• Has Notre Dame beaten anyone noteworthy since the opening game of the year against Texas A&M?
• [Aside:  Yes, Army was overrated; and no, Notre Dame’s schedule has been unimpressive.]

Speaking obliquely of Texas A&M, the Aggies began the weekend as a solid SEC candidate for the CFP with a good shot at being in the SEC Championship Game.  Yes, they were on the road against Auburn but the Tigers had already lost 5 games in 2024.  The game went to 4 OT periods and Auburn won the game outright.  Now, the Aggies have 3 losses …

Florida was a 13.5-point underdog at home against Ole Miss who was on the periphery of a CFP invitation.  Florida won the game outright gaining bowl-eligibility for the Gators and ending any real hopes that folks in Jackson, MI might have had for the Rebels’ participation in the CFP.

BYU lost for the second week in a row falling to Arizona St. and seemingly taking itself out of the picture for the Big-12 title game – – except Kansas also upset Colorado meaning that there are 4 teams in the Big-12 at the moment with 2 conference losses.  Here is the headline from a report at CBSSports.com regarding the current Big-12 standings with one week left to play in the regular season:

In zaniest tiebreaker case we’ve seen yet, Big 12 says 256 different scenarios in play to decide title game

And last weekend might just have been setting the table for the upcoming final weekend of the season with more than a dozen big-time rivalry games on the schedule such as:

1. Indiana Purdue
2. Notre Dame/USC
3. Texas/Texas A&M
4. Alabama/Auburn
5. Ole Miss/Mississippi St.
6. Ohio St./ Michigan
7. Georgia/Georgia Tech
8. Clemson/South Carolina
9. Florida/Florida St.
10. Tennessee/Vandy
11. Va Tech/Virginia
12. Arizona/Arizona St.
13. Louisville/Kentucky – – a carryover from the basketball rivalry
14. Washington/Oregon – – AND – –
15. UTEP/New Mexico St.

That was just the craziness associated with college football last weekend; tomorrow I shall take a look at NFL oddities from the same time frame.  So, I’ll close today with an observation by the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius:

“Begin – to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.”

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

 

 

I will take the opportunity of a somewhat normal week here in Curmudgeon Central – – only one travel day to navigate around – – to do a real Football Friday today since I will not be able to do one next week with the intervention of Thanksgiving.  And so, I shall begin with a review of last week’s “Betting Bundle”:

• Spreads/Total Wagers went 2-2.  Meh!
• Money Line Parlays went 2-1 for a “Profit” of $201.  Good show!

I told you earlier this week that Linfield won their game last weekend giving the Wildcats the Northwest Conference Championship and a seeded slot in the division III football playoffs.  They have this weekend off and will play Pacific Lutheran on Saturday November 30^th.  Go Wildcats!

My “sleeper team” for 2024, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, seem to have become somnambulant in recent weeks.  After starting the season with 5 wins in their first 6 games, the Huskers have now lost 4 games in a row.  They need a win over Wisconsin this week at home and/or a win over Iowa on the road for the remainder of the season to make it to a bowl game.  Go Huskers!

 

College Football Commentary:

 

More than 50 years ago there was a wonderful comedy film, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.  Last week, a funny thing happened in the world of college football.  In what appeared to be a meaningless game between the Temple Owls and the Florida Atlantic Owls – – a game won by Temple in OT extending the suffering of any/all fans who stayed to watch.  Between last Saturday and today, Florida Atlantic fired losing coach, Tom Herman; I guess you can chalk that up to the Athletic Director suffering from the ignominy of losing to another miserable opponent.

But wait, there’s more.  Temple also fired its coach – – the guy who just won a game last weekend.  Stan Drayton was shown the door after being on the Temple sidelines for the last three seasons where his teams won a total of 9 games.  When coaches get fired in mid-season, it is usually after a loss or just before a BYE week so that the interim coach can try to install something new for the team to try to execute.  I cannot recall a situation where both the winning coach and the losing coach in a game were both fired within about 48 hours of the final whistle.

I went down a rabbit hole looking for coaches who have been fired in mid-season this year in Division 1-A college football.  I am sure I have not gotten all of them but there is something interesting about the listing that I did come up with.  In alphabetical order:

• Ball St.
• Florida Atlantic
• Kennesaw St.
• Rice
• Southern Mississippi
• Temple
• UMass – – and – –
• Utah St. all fired their head coaches this year.

All eight of these schools have either been in my SHOE Tournament in the past or are on the SHOE Watchlist this year.  Schools like Temple, UMass and Ball St. qualify on both counts.  Maybe the message here is that there are programs that just are not going perform up to a level of mediocrity on a consistent basis and coaches who think that they are the chosen ones to effect such a transition of fortunes are living in a delusion.

It was not so long ago that football commentators were pushing for expansion of the CFP.  One of the prevailing narratives was that a field of only 4 teams left out worthy contenders and that expansion of the field to either a field of 8 or a field of 16 would assure that all the worthy teams got a chance for glory.  Some proponents went so far as to say that expansion of the field would end all the weeping and gnashing of teeth among the fanbases of the teams who were “snubbed”.

The CFP has been expanded to 12 teams.  That is better than 4 teams to be sure.  Is twelve the ideal number?  Check back in 2034 after I have ceased to produce these expositions for the answer to that query.  However, we can already discern that one part of the previous narrative was either wishful thinking or unadulterated bullsh*t.  The debates over which teams were “snubbed” in the selection process has simply moved down the ladder slightly.

• In the 4-team CFP Era, teams ranked 5 and 6 experienced fanbase weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• In the 12-team CFP Era, teams ranked 13^th and 14^th – – and maybe even 15^th – – will experience fanbase weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The latest CFP rankings from this week make the points above.  In the Top 10 for this week, there are only two “debates”:

1. Should Indiana be as high as it is because its undefeated record has come against a weak slate of opponents, and it is hardly a traditional football powerhouse?
2. Should Alabama with 2 losses be ranked above three 1-loss teams, Miami, SMU and BYU?

However, lots of ammunition is being accumulated among fans of SMU, BYU, Texas A&M and Colorado should they remain as the 13^th through 16^th ranked teams on the list; they would be left out of this year’s CFP, and no one is going to like that even a little bit.

This latest ranking definitely shows the pecking order for the so called “Power 4” Conferences:

• Big-10:  Four of the Top-5 teams this week are from the Big-10.
• SEC:  Five of the Top-12 teams this week are from the SEC
• ACC:  One of the Top-12 teams this week is from the ACC
• Big-12:  None of the Top-12 teams this week is from the Big-12

At least for this season, perhaps we should not refer to the “Power-4” and focus on the “Power-2”.    Just a thought …

Before I leave the subject of the CFP and the rankings, let me make sure that everyone understands something fundamental about the CFP structure.

• The CFP Selection Committee is NOT seeking to identify and invite the 12 best football teams in college football this year or in any future year.
• The CFP Selection Committee will try to put the best field together for the tournament within the constraints placed on it.
• The Committee MUST invite 5 conference champions – – ACC, Big-10, Big-12, SEC – – plus the “highest rated conference champion” of the other 5 football conferences in Division 1-A football.

Looking at this week’s rankings – – and assuming they do not change drastically in the next several weeks – – the Big-12 champion, and the “highest rated other champion” will be in the field no matter where they stand in the Top-25 rankings by the Committee.

• It appears that the ACC champion will be determined by a game between SMU and Miami; that winner will get an automatic invitation.  Should the loser also get an invitation?
• The highest rated teams from the Big-12 are BYU (14^th) Colorado (16^th) Arizona St. (21^st) and Iowa St. (22^nd).   BYU and Colorado have only 1 loss in conference and appear to be the teams to play for the Big-12 Championship and a guaranteed invitation to the CFP.
• Boise St. is the “highest rated conference leader among the other conferences” and is ranked this week at 12^th.  Boise St. is undefeated in the Mountain West conference – – but so is Colorado St. who is nowhere to be found in the Selection Committee’s Top-25.

Here are some brief comments regarding games from last weekend.

Florida 27  LSU 16:  It was not a good night for Brian Kelly or his LSU team.  Two weeks ago, they were the victims of a serious beatdown at home at the hands of Alabama.  Three weeks ago, the Tigers dropped one against Texas A&M.  This was supposed to be a “get-well game” against a middling SEC squad.  This loss leaves the Tigers with a 3-3 record in conference and a 6-4 record overall.  Remember when Kelly resigned at Notre Dame to take over the LSU program, he said that he did that because he could win a national championship at LSU but not at Notre Dame.  Don’t look now, but Notre Dame is ranked 6^th this week by the CFP Selection Committee and LSU is not even on the Committee’s long-range radar.

Rutgers 31  Maryland 17:  Rutgers will be in a bowl game this year.

Boise St. 42  San José St.  21:  I suggested last week that you tune in to this game if you could in order to watch RB, Ashton Jeanty.  Here is his stat line:

• 32 carries for 159 yards and 3 TDs

Georgia 31  Tennessee 17:   The Bulldogs had lost their last game to Ole Miss and that had them outside the CFP playoff window.  This win moved them up, but not far enough as of this week to be sure of a CFP invitation.  However, they have finished their SEC schedule grind and will close out the season with a home game against UMass (cupcake game) and the big rivalry game against Georgia Tech; two wins there could get Georgia into the field where they will have a chance to defend their national champion status from last year.  Tennessee had not allowed more than 19 points all season, but they were dominated last week; Georgia gained 453 yards on offense and converted 8 of 13 third-down situations.

Texas 20  Arkansas 10:  The Longhorns have only 1 conference loss in the SEC as of today as do the Aggies of Texas A&M.  Those teams were bitter rivals back in the days of the old Southwestern Conference and then in the Big-12 until the Aggies “defected” to the SEC.  The two teams will play each other on Nov 30^th which might be very interesting because these two teams may be considered the best teams in the conference after that game meaning they would meet again in the SEC Championship Game a week later.  Stranger things have happened.

Texas A&M 38  New Mexico St. 3:  This was a tune-up game for the Aggies.

Colorado 49  Utah 24:  The Buffaloes probably need to win the Big-12 Championship to get into the CFP because they have two losses on their record – – one of them coming at the hands of my “sleeper team for 2024”, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Utah St. 55  Hawaii 10:  Utah St. was on the SHOE Watchlist last week; Hawaii had won 4 games this year.  This was a rout from the start; the halftime score was 24-3; the score at the end of the 3^rd quarter was 45-3.  Ouch!

SMU 38  BC 28:  The Mustangs are 9-1 this year and should play for the ACC Championship barring a stumble against Virginia this week and/or a loss to Cal next week.

Penn St. 49  Purdue 10:  Purdue is a bad football team this year.  I don’t know whether to call them Pur-don’t or Pur-can’t.  You make the call…

Texas St. 58  So. Mississippi 3:  Another rout of a SHOE Team.

Oregon 16  Wisconsin 13:  When the 4^th quarter started, Wisconsin led 13-6 but the Ducks managed to eke this one out to remain undefeated for 2024.

Memphis 53  UAB 18:  Sorry, but UAB is not a good football team in 2024…

Kansas 17  BYU 13:  First loss of the year for BYU.  That makes this week’s game between BYU and Arizona St. very important for the Big-12 standings.

Miami (OH) 34  Kent St. 7:  Kent St. remains as the only winless team in Division 1-A college football for 2024.  In this game, Kent St. scored first with 13:40 left on the clock in the first quarter.  After that came the deluge:

• Miami Total Offense = 479 yards
• Kent St. Total Offense = 183 yards  [Hat Tip to Louis XV of France]

As the college regular season comes close to its end, the focus on the contenders for the Brothel Defense Award becomes clearer.

• Utah St. gives up 39.1 points per game.  They only gave up 10 points last week
• Ball St. gives up 40.1 points per game.  They gave up 51 points last week.
• Kent St. gives up 44.2 points per game.  They gave up 34 points last week.

And here is one more SHOE Tournament Watchlist with 12 entries in alphabetical order:

1. Akron:  The Zips are 2-8 and play Kent. St. this week
2. Ball St.  Second for the Brothel Defense Award, they give up 289.1 ypg passing
3. FAU:  They are 2-8; when you lose to a SHOE Watchlist team, you replace it
4. Florida St.  They are an embarrassingly bad 1-9
5. Kennesaw St.  They are 1-9 and have already fired their coach
6. Kent St. Leader for the Brothel Defense Award and an 0-10 record
7. Purdue:  They are 1-9 and have not been competitive in many of the losses
8. So. Mississippi:  They are 1-9 and 8 of the losses were by 16+ points.
9. Tulsa:  They are 3-7 and give up 309.1 ypg passing – – worst in the country
10. UAB:  They are 2-8 and that is just a bad football team.
11. UMass:  They are 2-8; they fired their coach; they play Georgia this week.
12. UTEP:  They are 2-8; they have scheduled Tennessee this week.

 

Games of Interest This Week:

Colorado – 2.5 at Kansas (60) Game is in Kansas City:  Colorado needs this game to stay in contention for the Big-12 Championship Game; Kansas can only be a spoiler here.  I am not a fan of Deion Sanders’ antics that draw attention to himself, but he has shown me that he can coach college football players.  I like the Buffaloes to win and cover here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Ole Miss – 10 at Florida (55):  The Gators need another win to become bowl-eligible and the Gators need another win to avoid a third consecutive losing season. Ole Miss is a longshot to make the CFP, but another loss would extinguish that tiny flame of hope.

Wisconsin at Nebraska – 2 (42.5):    My “sleeper team” needs this one badly…

Penn St. – 11 at Minnesota (45):  The Nittany Lions cannot afford to stumble here.

Indiana at Ohio St. – 13 (51):  The oddsmakers are rather convinced that Indiana’s bubble will burst this weekend.  A blowout loss to Ohio St. could drop the Hoosiers from the Top 12; a close game with the Buckeyes could solidify Indiana’s place in the CFP field.  This is the College Game of the Week.

UMass at Georgia – 42.5 (55.5):  A SHOE candidate takes on a CFP hopeful.  Who scheduled this one … ?

UTEP at Tennessee – 41.5 (52.5): A SHOE candidate takes on a CFP hopeful.  Who scheduled this one …?

Iowa St. – 7 at Utah (42.5):  The Cyclones can still make it to the Big-12 Championship Game but cannot afford to stumble.

BYU at Arizona St. – 3 (48.5):  BYU lost for the first time last week and cannot afford another loss if they want to be sure of a place in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Stanford at Cal – 14 (55.5):  Huge rivalry game here …  Keep the bands in the stands!

Texas A&M – 2.5 at Auburn (46.5):  The Aggies need this game to remain in the standings as a 1-loss team in the SEC and therefore a slot in the SEC Championship.

USC – 5 at UCLA (51.5):  Another huge rivalry game …

Army at Notre Dame – 14.5 (44.5) Game is in NY:  Remember, Army is undefeated in 2024; this is a crucial test for the Cadets; I think they are overmatched here.

Washington St. – 11.5 at Oregon St. (57):  The winner here is the champion of the “PAC-12 remnants” …

Alabama – 13 at Oklahoma (47):  The Crimson Tide cannot afford another loss if they are to remain CFP relevant.

Colorado St. at Fresno St. – 3 (47):  Colorado St. opened the week as a 2-point favorite but that spread has flipped.  Remember, Colorado St. is undefeated in Mountain West Conference games as of this week…

Missouri – 7 at Mississippi St. (57):  Mizzou has been disappointing for the last month or so, but they could have some fun here against a Mississippi St. defense that allows more than 460 yards per game.  I’ll take the Tigers on the road to win and cover here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

 

NFL Commentary:

 

Earlier this week, I discussed the NY Jets firing of their head coach and then their GM.  Filling either or both of those positions with a top-shelf candidate should require some fundamental answers from ownership.

1. Yes, or no, is Aaron Rodgers going to be on the roster next year?  The new GM candidates need to know that to develop anything resembling a reasonable roster restructuring plan.  The new coaching candidates need to know if they want to try to live out a year with Rodgers and then face a QB search which could mean starting from scratch.
2. Is ownership willing to pay Rodgers his guaranteed money if the coach and the GM say they do not want him on the team?  I am not a capologist and do not pretend to understand the nuances of lots of NFL contracts, but my calculation is that Rodgers would need to be paid a little over $20M to go away and that he would cost almost $25M against the Jets’ cap in 2025.

I am sure there are plenty of nuanced scenarios within the framework of those questions, but the only reason someone might take either of the open jobs without some clarity on those questions is because the financial terms are very lucrative or because the candidate is a retread who really wants to be an NFL coach again but cannot get his foot back in the door.

Meanwhile, across town in NYC, the NY Football Giants also made news this week.  The Giants will bench Daniel Jones and start Tommy DeVito (“Tommy Cutlets”) this week and potentially for the rest of 2024.  Speculation has been that both of those decisions are financially driven according to this “logic”:

• The Giants’ braintrust has given up on Jones even though he still has 2 years to go on his contract.  In 2025, Jones will bring a cap hit of $41M to the Giants and that could be higher if he is injured this year.  He has a $23M “injury guarantee” in his contract for 2025.  Hence, the “logic” goes that the Giants are benching him to prevent an injury that will cost them more money in 2025 for a guy they don’t want.
• There is too much mind-reading in that explanation for my taste – – but there is another financial aspect here.  Last year, the Giants signed Drew Lock to a 1-year contract for $5M to be the backup.  Lock is still there and is not injured – – but he is not going to be the starter going forward.  According to Spotrac.com, there are incentive clauses in Lock’s contract that might trigger if he were to play in the final 7 games of the season.  Tommy DeVito’s contract has no incentive clauses in it so there is no possibility of a trigger.

That second “situation” makes me wonder…

I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I am picking on the NFL teams from NY simply because they are from NY.  I prefer to think of myself as an equal-opportunity curmudgeon who can spot dysfunctionality wherever it exists and that in 2024 dysfunctionality has manifest itself gloriously in the two NY franchises.  So, which one is in the worse shape?  That is akin to deciding who your favorite Menendez brother might be.

Overall, I like the Jets’ roster better than the Giants’ roster even accounting for the fact that Aaron Rodgers is going to be 42 years old next year and now plays with the hopes of achieving mid-tier status as an NFL QB.  If the Giants have indeed soured on Daniel Jones and are experimenting with Tommy Devito and/or Drew Lock as their QB for now and maybe next year, that tandem is not up to snuff in a competitive NFL.

I ran across a report on CBSSports.com earlier this week that said Andy Reid can join a very exclusive club with his next win as coach of the Chiefs.  According to that report, only Bill Belichick and Don Shula have more double-digit wins in a season as compared to Andy Reid.  Those two guys both achieved that record 20 times in their coaching careers; Andy Reid has done it 19 times and he has 9 wins on the books already for 2024.  Make room for “Big Red” to join Belichick and Shula in that exclusive club.

I said here last week that I think the Cowboys should be playing Trey Lance for the resto of this season.  Lance is still a mystery.

• Can he be a starter in the NFL?
• Can he be a reliable backup in the NFL?
• Is he a bust who should be out of the league entirely?

If the answer to Question 3 above is in the affirmative, then the Cowboys need to move on from him but the answer there cannot be known with any confidence unless Lance gets a chance to play with the rest of the Cowboys’ starters under real game conditions.  If the answer to Question 3 above is in the negative – – or even in the “doubtful range” – – it would be important for the Cowboys to assess his performance ceiling.  The reason is that if Lance shows he can be a solid backup and the Cowboys remain steadfastly behind Cooper Rush as their backup, then Trey Lance becomes a valuable trade asset for the team.  No other team will pay top-dollar for a guy who was taken #3 overall in the draft who has yet to be able to see the field regularly on Sundays in the NFL.  But if Lance shows that he is capable at the NFL level, then the Cowboys can do some wheeling and dealing to accumulate more players via the Draft.

None of this can be accomplished with Cooper Rush as the Cowboys’ QB simply because the league pretty much knows what Cooper Rush is and what he can do.  And if the Cowboys continue to put Lance “behind” Rush in terms of game time, that is not an inducement for other teams’ GMs to make big-time offers for Lance.  Unfortunately for Cowboys’ fans, owner/GM Jerry Jones sees the world differently from the logic-based position I have taken here:

“We have thought it was just too important for us to have [Lance] at quarterback in these last two ballgames because we need to win to that degree and give ourselves every chance we can.  We hadn’t gotten to the point that we were looking to evaluate Trey Lance more, at all.”

After reading that, I should be able to convince you that the current mantra in the Cowboys’ Front Office is:

“Hope springs eternal…”  [Hat tip to Alexander Pope.]

Before I get to comments on a few of last week’s games, I want to take a peek at the NFC South standings.  As of this morning, the Falcons lead the division at 6-5-0 and the Bucs trail them by a game-and-a-half at 4-6-0.  But it is worse than it looks:

• The Falcons beat the Bucs twice in October so the Falcons permanently own any tiebreaker that might come into play due to overall record.
• That might be important when you look at the remainder of the Bucs’ schedule which is relatively soft:
  • • At Giants – – Giants are currently 2-8
    • At Panthers – – Panthers are currently 3-7
    • Vs. Raiders – – Raiders are currently 2-8
    • At Chargers – – Chargers are currently 7-3, could be a tough game
    • At Cowboys – – Cowboys are currently 3-7
    • Vs. Panthers – – A second time against this 3-7 team
    • Vs. Saints – – Saints are currently 4-7
• Folks, that remaining schedule is pillow-soft.  But the Bucs cannot claim any tiebreaker with the Falcons and cannot inflict a loss on the Falcons for the rest of this regular season.  Nevertheless, do not be surprised if the Bucs wind up the year at 9-8 or 10-7.

Here are some comments about some of the games from last weekend:

Steelers 18  Ravens 16: The Ravens biggest problem right now might be Justin Tucker; he has been the most accurate kicker in the NFL, but 2024 is just not Tucker’s year. He missed two field goals against the Steelers and that was the difference in the game.  This game showed me that the Steelers must be considered as Super Bowl contenders. They have an excellent defense as always plus solid special teams and an offense that has the ability to make big plays.

Chargers 34  Bengals 27:  The Bengals were in the game to the end and then they found a way to lose. Joe Burrow threw for 356 yards and three touchdowns; Tee Higgins returned to the lineup and caught 9 passes for 148 yards and 1 TD in the game.  The defense was not great, but it played well enough to keep the Bengals from being squashed.  So, it was the special teams that came up with a way to lose the game; the biggest problem was kicker, Evan McPherson, who missed two field goals in the fourth quarter. The Bengals have now lost 6 one-score games in the 2024 regular season.

Packers 20  Bears 19:   The Bears’ decision to fire offensive coordinator Shane Waldron looked awfully good last week.  The Bears’ offense produced  391 yards; Caleb Williams threw for 231 yards and he added 70 yards on the ground. Williams also directed a final drive by to set up Cairo Santos’ game-winning field goal attempt, but it amounted to nothing, because the Packers blocked the field goal attempt.

Seahawks 20  Niners 17:  The Seahawks, Niners and Rams are all 5-5-0 this year and all of them trail the Cards (6-4-0) in the NFC West race.  The Seahawks’ defense had been letting the team down for the last month or so, but they showed up for real against the Niners.  Geno Smith led the winning drive in the final minutes of the game and scored on a 13-yard QB scramble to seal the deal.

Eagles 26  Commanders 18:  The Eagles’ defense finally made Jayden Daniels have a bad game; he only threw for 191 yards and only added 18 yards on the ground. The Commanders’ defense was similarly mediocre in the second half where the Eagles ran for 141 yards.  Saquon Barkley took over the second half; he rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns.  The Eagles didn’t play anything near a “perfect” game, but they won comfortably.

Colts 28  Jets 27:  The Colts’ gave the starting QB job back to Anthony Richardson and it paid off last week. Richardson had a fine showing in the game.   He threw for 272 yards, and he engineered a game-winning TD drive where he scored what was the game-winning TD with 46 seconds left on the clock.

Dolphins 34  Raiders 19:  The Dolphins still have a shot at the playoffs but they may need to win-out; the Raiders – – not so much.  In the first half, the Raiders got inside the Dolphins’ 10-yard line twice and did not get a TD on either occasion.  The Raiders’ defense was similarly inept allowing the Dolphins to convert 8 or 12 third-down tries. The Raiders’ record this morning is 2-8; the Raiders’ season is kaput.

 

Games This Week:

 

There are six teams with BYE Weeks this weekend:

1. Bengals:  I am not quite ready to consign the Bengals to the dustbin of history in 2024 – – but I have a broom in hand.
2. Bills:  They are the class of the AFC East; they have already beaten the Chiefs.  Are they actually better than the Chiefs or the Ravens or the Steelers?  Time will tell…
3. Falcons:  They lead the NFC South over the Bucs (see above), but they have a much more challenging schedule ahead with games against the Chargers, Vikes and Commanders still on tap.
4. Jags:  They are playing out the string and the coach there, Doug Pederson, seems to be a dead man walking…
5. Jets:  The word “Jets” is an anagram for the word “Jest”.  Does that help you understand what that team is all about?
6. Saints:  They are not “out of it” – – yet…

Last night the Browns beat the Steelers in what would be called a blizzard in many parts of the US.  I enjoy watching one or two “snow games” a season; I now have one under my belt.  An interesting outcome here is the play of the Steelers’ special teams.  Those teams have been a strength for the Steelers for years including this season.  Last night the Steelers’ special teams came up short.

• The Steelers missed a field goal that would have changed the strategy of the game significantly.
• In the final 5 minutes, the Steelers punter shanked one and gave the Browns the ball around midfield allowing the Browns to put the game away.

Lions – 7.5 at Colts (50.5):  Can Anthony Richardson work some magic for a second weekend in a row here?  The Colts have to hope so, because the Lions are not going to roll over and take a nap here.

Chiefs – 11 at Panthers (43):  The Panthers come to the kickoff with a two-game winning streak and the Chiefs arrive with a one-game losing streak.  If you want to play into that “trend”, the Panthers are +470 on the Money Line.

Vikes – 3 at Bears (39):  The spread opened the week at 5.5 points and has eroded down to this number as the week progressed.  This is the third road game in a row for the Vikes.

Cowboys at Commanders – 10 (45):  The Commanders have had 10 days to ruminate on a bad loss to the Eagles while the Cowboys are simply a hot mess.   Cooper Rush and/or Trey Lance versus Jayden Daniels – – who ya got?  I think this is the biggest blowout of the day and the only interesting aspect is the degree to which Jerry Jones will devolve in explaining this latest humiliation.  This is the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.

Bucs – 6 at Giants (41):  Sorry, but I am not buying that Daniel Jones was the source of all the frustration surrounding the Giants in 2924 and that a QB switch will cure everything.  “Tommy Cutlets” will make a few plays that will get the fans in a frenzy, but Baker Mayfield will do the same – – and more – – when the Bucs have the ball.

Pats at Dolphins – 7.5 (46.5):  Even when the Pats were dominant, they were not a lock to win in Miami.  This Pats team is hardly dominant, and the Dolphins are still “playoff-relevant”.  Those facts prevent this from being the Dog-Breath Game of the week.

Titans at Texans – 7.5 (39.5):  The Texans looked good in beating the Cowboys last week – – but the Cowboys have a way of making just about any opponent look good.

• [Aside:  The games above are the 1:00 PM ET games for this weekend; there’s not a lot of tension and drama generated there, and the card is not much of an enticement to tune in …]

Broncos – 6.5 at Raiders (41): The Broncos looked good beating the Falcons last week and played the Chiefs tough the week before that.  Meanwhile, the Raiders are having trouble with the basics of football such as blocking and tackling.  I agree with the oddsmakers that this will be a low-scoring game, and I like to take points in such games if the underdog seems to be viable.  I think the Raiders’ defense can play well enough to confuse Bo Nix sufficiently to keep this within a TD; I’ll take the Raiders plus the points at home; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Cards at Seahawks pick ‘em (47.5):  This is not the Game of the Week in terms of the teams and matchup, but it is probably as important a game relative to the standings as anything on the card for the weekend,

Niners at Packers – 3 (47):  This game looked a lot more enticing as a “must-see event” back in early September.

(Sun Nite) Eagles – 3 at Rams (49):   I think this is the Game of the Week in terms of team capabilities and relevance in the standings.  The Rams need this game to stay relevant in the NFC West; the Eagles need the game because they will see the Commanders/Cowboys result before they kick off here.

(Mon Nite) Ravens – 3 at Chargers (51):  If Eagles/Rams is not the Game of the Week, then this one is.  How many crowd shots of Mama and Papa Harbaugh will happen here?  I’ll set the Over/Under at 6.5…  The Ravens can make up ground on the Steelers with a win here; the Chargers need to win to stay in their comfy wildcard slot.  I like the Chargers at home plus points; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Let me review the “Betting Bundle”:

• Missouri – 7 over Mississippi St.
• Colorado – 2.5 over Kansas
• Raiders +6.5 against Broncos
• Chargers +3 against Ravens.

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

• Lions @ minus-360
• Chiefs @ minus-570
• Commanders @ minus-520
• Texans @ minus-380     $100 wager to win $126

And …

• Lions @ minus-360
• Chiefs @ minus-570
• Chargers @ +130     $100 wager to win $245

And …

• Commanders @ minus-520
• Lions @ minus-360
• Vikes @ minus-180   $100 wager to win $137

And …

• SMU @ minus-320
• Colorado @ minus-130   $100 wager to win $132

And …

• Penn St. @ minus-365
• Iowa @ minus-220
• Missouri @ minus-300     $100 wager to win $147

Finally, we hear from Vince Lombardi:

“Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.”

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

 

 

Yesterday afternoon, the NY Jets fired their GM, Joe Douglas.  This comes soon on the heels of firing the head coach, Robert Saleh earlier in the season.  This morning, there is a report at CBSSports.com saying that Jets’ owner, Woody Johnson, wanted to bench Aaron Rodgers after the Jets lost to the Broncos in Week 4 of this year.  [Aside:  The Jets’ backup QB is Tyrod Taylor.]  This must be an unusual level of turmoil even for Jets’ fans who have continued to follow a team that has only posted 2 winning seasons since 2010.

My first thought here was that Jets’ fans might want to root for President-elect Trump to appoint Johnson to the job Johnson held in the first Trump administration – – US Ambassador to the UK.  That would remove him from the “leadership role” Johnson executes with the Jets and keep him busy elsewhere.  But then I wondered how the Jets performed in the time when Christopher Johnson – – Woody’s brother and co-owner of the Jets – – was leading the way.

Woody Johnson served as US Ambassador to the UK from November 2017 until January 2021.  Essentially, Christopher Johnson was in charge of the 2018 – 2020 iterations of the Jets.  Here are the data:

• 2018:  Jets were 4-12 and last in the AFC East.  Fired coach Todd Bowles
• 2019:  Jets were 7-9 and 3^rd in the AFC East.  Hired coach Adam Gase
• 2020:  Jets were 2-14 and last in the AFC East.  Fired coach Adam Gase.

            Let us just agree to say that the years under Christopher Johnson’s guidance were something less than an unalloyed success.  So, maybe Jets’ fans should not be trying to whisper in President-elect Trump’s ear…

So, the Jets’ will do a thorough housecleaning in the upcoming off-season.  Soon, you will be reading about rumors related to whom Johnson’s people are talking to about which job and etc.  Before that speculation begins and then turns fanciful, let me ask a rational question:

• If you were a  young hot prospect in the NFL coaching universe looking for a place to launch your career that will hopefully land you a slot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach, would you take the Jets’ job in 2025?

You can answer that question from two perspectives:

1. As noted above, the Jets have been a miserable failure as a team for at least the last 15 years and have not been in the playoffs since 2010.  So, if a young hotshot coach goes there and turns the franchise around so that it makes the playoffs in 2026 and maybe wins a game in the playoffs in 2027 and then plays for the Conference Championship in 2028, that would be a great launching to a coaching career.  OR …
2. The Jets’ roster is merely decent and not great.  Aaron Rodgers will be 41 years old, and it will cost more than $20M in cap space to move on from him.  Rodgers is also a certified prima donna who may or may not buy into any sort of new regimen offered up by a young hotshot coach. Moreover, the Jets’ record shows that they have hired “rookie head coaches” all the way back to the days of Bill Parcells in the 1990s and none of them have gone on to greater glory after their time in the Jets’ locker room.

Moving on – – but staying with the topic of NFL head coaches …  Jon Gruden signed a multi-year deal with Barstool Sports.  I have not been able to figure out exactly what he is going to do there, but Gruden does post videos on You Tube periodically and they are insightful if not spectacularly entertaining.  It is no secret that Barstool Sports’ founder, Dave Portnoy, is not highly regarded by the NFL brass.  Barstool and Portnoy himself are “pot-stirrers” in the media world and the NFL prefers to be the only one’s stirring the NFL cauldron.

As an example of Barstool’s pot-stirring, recall that when “Deflategate” was a cause celebre, several Barstool employees were arrested for staging a sit-in at NFL HQs demanding to speak to Commissioner roger Goodell about his suspension of Tom Brady.  The NFL chose to ban Barstool from its events and at one of the Super Bowl games, Portnoy allegedly produced a counterfeit media credential for himself and was “escorted out” of the stadium once he was discovered.

Recall also that Jon Gruden still has a pending lawsuit against the NFL for wrongful termination, so the combination of Barstool Sports along with an active litigant against the league is sure to produce nothing by warm feelings along Mahogany Row in NFL HQs.  I don’t know where all that is going, but it might be fun …

Finally, having mentioned Bill Parcells in passing above, let me close with two of his observations today:

“I’ll call somebody ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’ if they make a dumb or stupid play. I don’t know any other word for it, and if they don’t like the word, that’s too bad.”

And …

“When you don’t know that you don’t know, it’s a lot different than when you do know that you don’t know.”

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

 

 

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, it says:

“Ask and it shall be given unto you…”

In no way was St. Matthew referring to rants on this website, but a stray question that I asked last week returned a detailed answer to me.  In last week’s Football Friday, I said that I was not aware of how the Division III field for the football playoffs was populated; were there any “at large bids”?

Yesterday, I found in my inbox a communique from the “reader in Houston” who enlightened me so that I can now enlighten you.  Here is a lightly edited version of his exposition:

“There will be 40 teams in the playoffs this year, compared to 32 last year.

“There are 28 conferences, therefore 28 automatic qualifiers, referred to as Pool A.

“There is a Pool B which is set aside for independents or conferences without automatic bids. This year there are no eligible teams for Pool B.

“Lastly, there is Pool C for the final 12 at-large teams. At-large bids are determined using a new NCAA Power Index aka NPI and the football committee must weigh each of the criteria in the formula, which takes into account the following: 

1. 1. 1. Winning Percentage (40%)/Strength of Schedule (60%)
      2. Home/Away W/L percentage – since its supposedly tougher to win on the road, it uses a 1.1/0.9 to reward those wins
      3.  Quality wins, using a QW base multiplier, which is too complicated for me to understand/explain
      4.  Minimum Wins of 5, which I do understand.

“There are four brackets of 10 teams apiece. The brackets are set by the committee, grouping eight teams together in a roughly geographic manner.

“The NCAA reserves the right to seed the bracket in the interest of avoiding having to pay for extra airplane flights in the first round. If two schools are within 500 miles’ driving distance, then the road team travels by bus. If the distance is longer than 500 miles then the NCAA must fly one team to play the other.

“The #7 seed plays #10, and #8 plays #9, with the winners advancing to the second round. However, the committee has the right to juggle first-round pairings to satisfy their travel requirements, as well as keep conference foes from facing each other in the first round.

“In general, the higher seed hosts through to the national semifinals. If two equal seeds from different brackets meet in the national semifinals, the NCAA will determine who hosts. That is figured out and announced when the brackets are originally released.

“Now you know the whole story.”

The reason I brought this up in the first place was that Linfield was playing Whitworth last weekend and both schools were undefeated in conference games; the winner would win the title and get the automatic bid.  I did not know if the loser still had a chance for the playoffs.

Well, Linfield won the game – handily – giving them the automatic bid.  And, it turns out, Whitworth got one of the at large bids for Pool C.  Linfield gets a BYE for the first round of the tournament and will not play again until November 30^th; Whitworth plays this weekend against Pomona-Pitzer.  Go Wildcats!

Moving on …  Today is International Men’s Day.  Who knew?  It is a day set aside so that awareness can be brought to the myriads of issues facing men around the world such as:

• Abuse – – the recipient not the donor
• Homelessness
• Parental separation – – often caused by “Baby Daddy” walking out
• Suicide

Now that I have listed those issues, I guess I am aware of them, and I guess that you are also aware of them having read the paragraph above.  So, that means I have achieved the objective of International Men’s Day, so I’ll go sit in a rocking chair for the rest of the day and watch TV until it’s time to go fire up the grill and make some dinner.

Finally, if one were to take seriously the idea of a “Men’s Day”, perhaps one should consider this nugget from Albert Einstein:

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”

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

 

 

Congratulations to the Toronto Argonauts.  Yesterday, they won the 2024 Grey Cup and are the champions of the Canadian Football League.  The Argos beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 41-24, but it took a fourth quarter tsunami of points (24 of them to be exact) by the Argos to put the game away.  These two teams are the two most frequent participants in Grey Cup games:

• Winnipeg has played for the Grey Cup 29 times and has won the Cup 12 times.
• Toronto has played for the Grey Cup 25 times and has won the Cup 19 times.

The Blue Bombers have played for the Cup the last five times there has been a Grey Cup game going back to 2019.  [There was no CFL season in 2020 thanks to COVID.)  The Bombers have lost the last three consecutive Grey Cup games but next year the game would be a home game for the Bombers if they make it that far in the playoffs.  The 2025 Grey Cup game will happen in Winnipeg on November 16^th.

Moving on …  Down in Gainesville, FL, Gators’ fans are probably wondering if there is some sort of hex on head coaches there.  Billy Napier has been the head football coach at Florida since 2022; the Gators combined record under Napier is 16-19 which cannot sit well with the fanbase that remembers the glory days under Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer.  Consider that Napier replaced Dan Mullen whose record at Florida was 35-16 which was deemed to be intolerable.  And so, the stomach acid level regarding Napier and his functionality has been high enough to cause sales of Rolaids to spike in Alachua County.

But wait; there’s more.  Florida’s head basketball coach, Todd Golden, stands accused of sexual harassment and stalking.  He continues to coach the basketball team as the authorities investigate the charges.  The school’s student newspaper, The Alligator, reported that “multiple women” have accused Golden of inappropriate behavior and that a female student has alleged that Golden sent her “lewd photographs of himself”.  Golden denies the allegations and has said that he is cooperating with the investigation and that he is working with an attorney to consider a defamation lawsuit.

And those two coaching conundrums at Florida come on the heels of the school firing the women’s basketball coach two years ago for verbally abusing his players and “creating a toxic environment”.  So, Gator fans might have a reason to wonder what the school has done to deserve all this “outside interference”.  Well, perhaps there is a common thread there:

• Unless my construction of a time line is incorrect, the same Athletic Director at Florida hired all three of these coaches.
• Might it be that this individual needs help in selecting coaches for the teams down there?

Switching gears …  I suggested last Friday that Aaron Rodgers was a player who had failed to live up to expectations this year.  I stand by that suggestion and offer up as evidence the following data I ran across:

• Zach Wilson win percentage as starter for the Jets = .364
• Sam Darnold win percentage as starter for the Jets = .342
• Aaron Rodgers win percentage as starter for the Jets = .273.

The prosecution rests, Your Honor …

Next up …  I have often noted here that it is particularly difficult to be the successor to a great coach at the collegiate or the professional level.  Nothing short of multiple world championships seems to be sufficient for a fanbase that is used to winning and winning constantly.  Such is the case right now at Villanova with head basketball coach Kyle Neptune.  He ascended to that job in 2022 when Jay Wright decided that he had done his time in the barrel and resigned from a job that he could have had for the rest of his life.  Wright had won two national championships at Villanova and his teams were perennial participants in March Madness.

Over the last two seasons with Neptune in charge, the Wildcats have a combined record of 35-33 with no March Madness participation.  Compared to Jay Wright’s record over 21 seasons (520-197), that is enough to make people wonder if Villanova has the “Right Guy” to replace Jay Wright.  Moreover, the start of the current men’s basketball season does not auger well for the Wildcats; their current record is 2-3 with the two wins coming at the expense of Lafayette and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (unimpressive) and the three losses were against St. Joseph’s, Columbia and Virginia (also unimpressive).

Let me say this clearly.  If the expectation at Villanova is for the team to make it to the Sweet 16 this year, an early season loss to Columbia by double digits is a bad omen.

Finally, an interesting outlook from Whitey Herzog:

“The only way to make money as a manager is to win in one place, get fired and hired somewhere else.”

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

 

 

Just as the wheels on the bus go round and round, the days of the week go round and round as well.  Here we are at Friday again meaning it is time for a Football Friday.  And so, to begin the festivities this morning, I shall look back at last week’s “Betting Bundle”.

• Picks against the spread were 2-2.  Meh!
• Money Line Parlays were 2-1 for a “profit” of $410.  Yea!

The Linfield University Wildcats extended their season record to 8-1 last week (and 6-0 in Northwest Conference games) beating Pacific Lutheran 38-10.  This week is showdown week in the Northwest Conference as Linfield travels to Spokane to play Whitworth.  Here is the “Tale of the Tape”:

• Linfield is 8-1 overall and 6-0 in conference games
• Whitworth is 9-0 overall and 6-0 in conference games.
• Linfield cumulative score for the season is 421-101.
• Whitworth cumulative score for the season is 348-142.
• The winner gets an automatic invitation to the Division III football playoffs.
• I do not know if there are “at-large slots” in that tournament.
• Go Wildcats!

My “sleeper team” for the season was Nebraska.  The Cornhuskers lost last week to UCLA by a score of 27-20 leaving them with a record of 5-4 overall and 2-4 in Big-10 games.  Nebraska needs to find one more win to become bowl-eligible this season.

 

College Football Commentary:

 

With Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech last weekend, there are four teams remaining without a loss in 2024:

• Indiana  10-0  and 7-0 in the Big 10
• Oregon  10-0 and 7-0 in the Big 10
• Army  9-0 and 7-0 in the American Conference
• BYU  9-0 and 6-0 in the Big-12

            Army faces a tough test this week against Notre Dame.  Indiana and Oregon could well meet in the Big-10 Championship Game and BYU hosts an up-and-down Kansas team this week.  Good times …

This is the time in the college football season where one poll ranking is important.  This week we can see the second iteration of the CFP Selection Committee rankings as the season starts to wind down.  All the other polls are sources of debate; that CFP poll is meaningful because it – – and it alone – – will determine the field in the College Football Playoffs starting next month.  You can find the full rankings of the Top 25 teams in a jillion places online so I will not tabulate them here but to summarize:

• There are 4 teams from the Big-10 in the rankings (Oregon, Indiana, Penn State, Ohio State).  In fact, those 4 teams are all in the Top 5.
• There are 8 teams from the SEC in the rankings with 4 teams in the Top 12 positions.
• The ACC has only 1 team in the Top 12 (Miami) and with their loss last week, they should drop out.  [Aside:  If you count Notre Dame as being sort of in the ACC for football, then there is another ACC entry in the Top 12 of the poll.]
• Boise St. remains the highest-ranking team outside of the “power conferences”.

Enough about all these good and glorious teams.  This is coming to you straight from Curmudgeon Central where the custom is to look for failures and not just successes.  As noted above – – twice in fact – – Miami lost to Georgia Tech last week in a big surprise.  Miami was minus-400 on the Money Line at the kickoff and was an 11-point favorite; nevertheless, they lost outright.  I got to see most of the game in a sportsbook and offer this observation:

• Miami QB, Cam Ward, has been touted as Heisman Trophy leading candidate.  His performance last week was a true stinker no matter what the stats might say; that game should end his potential to be named the best college football player in the nation for 2024.

Florida State continues its death spiral of a season; last week they went to South Bend to play Notre Dame and lost by a score of 52-3.  Don’t even think about looking up the stats for that game, it was as big a rout as you would imagine from the score.  The Seminoles are 1-9 overall and are dead last in the ACC standings.  Coach Mike Norvell used the opportunity of that loss to clean house, and he fired his offensive coordinator and his wide receivers coach and his defensive coordinator.  Florida State has this week off; it has two weeks under “new management” to prepare for a home game against – – hold your breath here – – Charleston Southern.

In case you are not up to speed regarding the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern, it is a Division 1-AA program.  Their record in 2024 is the same as Florida State’s record in 2024; both teams are 1-9.  The difference is that Charleston Southern has been losing to the likes of Gardner Webb, Lindenwood and Tennessee-Martin.  If the Seminoles lose that home game, the fans might resort to using real tomahawks for their “tomahawk chop” as they parade through the streets of Tallahassee.

The immense underachievement by Florida State served to provide cover for another program that has struggled in 2024.  Normally, Oklahoma State is a sold team and lots of folks projected the Cowboys to win the Big-12 this year.  Let me be polite and say nothing could have been less accurate than such projections.  As of this morning, Oklahoma State is 3 – 7 overall and 0 – 7 in Big 12 games and has lost their last 7 games in a row.

I also got to see more of Purdue than I wanted to see last week.  The Boilermakers were shut out by Ohio State and the outcome was never in doubt.  Purdue opened the season in August with a 49-0 rout of Division 1-AA Indiana State.  Since then, Purdue has only been within one score of a rival twice, since then they have lost by a cumulative score of 340 – 113.  I need not search in a Thesaurus for a descriptor here; I’ll just use UGLY.  Things do not get much better for the Boilermakers for the rest of the season:

• This week at home against Penn State
• Next week at Michigan State
• Two weeks from now at Indiana.

I wonder if the movers and shakers surrounding the USC football program are getting antsy about Lincoln Riley as the head coach there.  Riley’s record at USC is 23-13 which is certainly not bad, but Lincoln Riley was supposed to be a “trophy hire” that was going to propel USC back to the top echelon of college football programs – – and that simply has not happened even with Caleb Williams as the USC QB for more than a season.

Back in 2022, USC signed Riley to a 10-year contract worth $110M; that is what I mean by him being a “trophy hire”.  Because USC is a private school, it does not have to reveal salaries of people employed by the school, so all I can do is take what has been reported as factual.  Now if you project that Riley’s deal is for $11M per year every year of the contract, then at the end of 2024 USC would have to buy him out to the tune of $77M.  Before you say that is way too much for the school to take on, remember that Texas A&M bought out Jimbo Fisher for about the same amount in 2023…

I saved the most depressing commentary for last this week.  Kennesaw State played UTEP last week; the two teams combined to bring a record of 2-15 to the kickoff.  The game was played in El Paso; according to the Conference USA website, the attendance for the game was 14,728 folks with nothing better to do on the weekend.  Assuming they all hung in there because the game was close, those hearty souls got to endure double overtime before being paroled to the parking lot to search for their transportation home.  In the end, the home team – – the UTEP Miners – – prevailed 43-35 in a game that only has meaning here because both teams are probably going to the SHOE Tournament, and this will affect their seeding there.

Before getting to my SHOE watch list for this week, let me quickly remind everyone of the race to earn the Brothel Defense Award for 2024 – – given to the team that allows the most points per game meaning that it was easy to score on that defense:

• Ball State gives up 40.1 points per game
• Utah State gives up 42.3 points per game
• Kent State gives up 44.8 points per game

Here are a dozen teams that I have on my watch list for the end-of-season SHOE Tournament to determine the worst team in the country for 2024.  Only 8 teams will “make the cut” and there are still games to be played – – but here is my thinking as of this morning:

1. Akron – – they are 2-7 for the season and they play Kent State next Tuesday
2. Florida St. – – see above
3. Kennesaw State – – lost to UTEP last week
4. Kent State – – the only winless team in the country with a Brothel Defense candidate
5. New Mexico St. – – they are 2-7 but will get slaughtered by Texas A&M this week
6. Purdue – – see above
7. Southern Miss – – they not only lose, but they also lose BIG.
8. Temple – – their mediocre defense has collapsed recently
9. UAB – – not much to recommend this squad
10. Utah St. – – that Brothel Defense candidate has them on the list
11. UTEP – – needing double OT to beat Kennesaw St. does not get you off the list
12. Wyoming – – they are 2-7 for the season and have several blowouts on the record

 

NCAA Games of Interest This Week:

 

Florida Atlantic at Temple – 2.5 (50):  Hard to see Temple favored in a game; the loser here will solidify their image as a SHOE Team.

Tulane – 7.5 at Navy (51):  Tulane got some love from the CFP Selection Committee last week, but the Middies can be tough at home.

Clemson – 12 at Pitt (52):  Both teams are 7-2 but the Panthers have lost their last two in a row.

Penn St. – 29.5 at Purdue (50.5):  Penn State needs to continue to impress the Selection Committee and Purdue should give them plenty of opportunity to do so.

Washington St. – 11 at New Mexico (72):  Washington St. – – abandoned by the PAC-12 schools – – has posted a record of 8-1 so far this year.

Kansas at BYU – 2.5 (56.5):  BYU is undefeated and is the only Big 12 school currently in the Top 12 of the CFP.  Kansas is 3-6 overall but can put up plenty of points.  This is an important conference game.

Boston College at SMU – 19 (54):  Perhaps, SMU is the best team in the ACC this year?  You do realize that SMU is part of the ACC, don’t you?

Tennessee at Georgia – 9.5 (47):  This is the college Game of the Week.  A loss for Georgia will eliminate them from the SEC Championship and will probably knock them out of the at large invitation list for the CFP.  The Vols have only 1 conference loss as to Texas and Texas A&M, so they too need this game to keep pace.  Latest word is that Georgia RB, Trevor Etienne, will not play this week.  Tennessee QB, Nico Iamaleava has been in concussion protocol this week and is questionable.  Proceed at your own risk…

Cincy at Iowa St. – 7.5 (53):  Both teams threw in clunkers last week; this could be a game where the team that makes the last mistake loses the game.

Utah at Colorado – 10 (44.5):  Watch out for the Buffaloes; they are 7-2 with only one loss in the conference.  Utah is injury-riddled and lost a heartbreaker last week to its huge rival, BYU.  I think the Utes will have a hangover here, so I’ll take Colorado to win and cover at home; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

LSU – 4 at Florida (54):  LSU got spanked at home last week by Alabama.  It will be interesting to see how they react to that.  I do not understand the total Line here at all.  Both teams have solid offenses (Florida reportedly will get its QB back in action this week) and neither defense is “lights out”.  I think this game goes OVER; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Nebraska at USC – 7.5 (51.5):  Time is running out for my “sleeper team” to make it to a bowl game this year.

 

NFL Commentary

 

Here is a stat I ran across after the Eagles/Cowboys game last weekend.  The Cowboys are the first team in NFL history to trail by 20 or more points in five consecutive home games.

• The Cowboys were down by 32 to the Packers in last year’s wild-card playoff game
• This year they trailed by 25 to the Saints; they trailed by  22 to the Ravens; they trailed by 38 to the Lions; and they trailed by 28 to the Eagles last week.
• ‘Murica’s team …

With the NFL season turning the corner and heading home, I want to suggest a few outstanding awards – – positive and negative to be sure – – for the first half of the NFL season.  The first one is for Coach Of the Year:

• Dan Quinn – – Commanders:  He and the GM have totally made over last year’s roster and the team is both competitive and fun to watch
• Mike Tomlin – – Steelers:  With all the questions surrounding the QB situation there, Tomlin hassled the team to the lead in the AFC North at the halfway point.
• Jonathan Gannon – – Cards:  He has the team in the lead in the NGFC West and the Cards have not lost in division games yet; everyone else has at least 1 division loss.

And of course, we should think about the Not-so-good Coach of the Year ignoring those coaches who have already been fired:

• Matt Eberflus – – Bears:  The Bears are 4-5 which looks good until you see that they are winless on the road, and they have yet to play against any of their strong division opponents.  This season could go south quickly…
• Brian Daboll – – Giants:  the Giants are 2-8 and the only “energy” on the sidelines comes from Daboll when he is cursing out an official over a call he disagrees with.
• Antonio Pierce – – Raiders:  He was supposed to be a players’ coach who had the guys ready to walk through fire for him.  Let’s just say that seems not to be the case.
• Doug Pederson – – Jags:  He was supposed to be the guy to make Trevor Lawrence into a super-star.  ‘Nuff said…

            Now consider the teams that have Most Over-Performed expectations:

• Washington Commanders:  They were a disorganized and dispirited bunch last year and this year they are probably going to make the playoffs – – and have a shot to win their division.
• Pittsburgh Steelers:  I put them as a distant second here because even with the QB questions facing the team, no one really expected to see the Steelers at the bottom rung in their division.  They have overachieved to be sure, but not by as much as the Commanders.

            So, which teams have Most-Under-Performed expectations:

• Dallas Cowboys:  Remember, they were all-in for the Super Bowl in 2024.  Yeah, right…
• NY Jets:  With a healthy Aaron Rodgers (stay tuned) they were supposed to present a serious challenge to the Bills in the AFC East.  At 3-7, the Jets are 5 full games behind the Bills and have already lost 2 division games.
• Cincy Bengals:  The record is 4-6 but it is a miserable 1-4 at home.  Yuck.

            Consider the players who have Most Exceeded Expectations so far in 2024:

• Jayden Daniels:  Yes, he was the overall #2 pick in last year’s Draft, but did anyone expect him to be this good this quickly?
• Russell Wilson:  He was portrayed as “washed up” after the Broncos released him and people wondered why the Steelers brought him in.
• Sam Darnold:  He has led the Vikes to a 7-2 record; he is completing 69% of his passes and has thrown for 238 yards per game this season.

And of course, the players who have Most Failed to Meet Expectations:

• Aaron Rodgers:  The Jets average only 17.7 points per game with a healthy Aaron Rodgers.  The Jets’ record is 3-7; at this point last hear, the Jets had 4 wins with Zack Wilson and his band of merry men playing QB.
• Patrick Mahomes:  There is a surprise.  Yes, the Chiefs are undefeated at 9-0 but Mahomes has only averaged 245 yards per game passing which is not that much better than Sam Darnold (see above).  Also, like Darnold, Mahomes completes 69% of his passes.  Would you have believed me if I had forecast that back in August?

Some comments on games from last week:

Saints 20  Falcons 17:  If you look at the stats, you will be sure the Falcons won the game.  They outgained the Saints by 103 yards and held the ball for just over 35 minutes in the game.  They ran 73 plays to the Saints 52 plays.  How did this happen?  The Falcons missed 3 field goals in the game including one in the last 5 minutes that would have tied the game.

Niners 23  Bucs 20:  Speaking of missed field goals, the Niners missed 3 field goals in the first 55 minutes of the game and then made one to take the lead with 40 seconds left.  There had to be some sweaty palms on the Niners’ sideline as the team lined up for that one.

Chiefs 16  Broncos 14:  And how did this game end?  The Broncos set up for a chip shot field goal that would give the Chiefs their first loss in 2024.  Except, the Chiefs blocked the try and came away with another win.

Cards 31  Jets 6:  Yes, it was as bad as it looks; the Jets were shut out in the second half and the offense only gained 207 yards in the game.  However, the defense was also a no-show for the Jets; here is Kyler Murray’s stat line:

• 22 of 24 for 266 yards with 1 TD and 0 INTs

Eagles 34  Cowboys 6:  The Eagles offense made a rout of the game in the second half, but it was the Eagles’ defense that caught my attention.  The cowboys’ total Offense for the game was 146 yards and only 49 yards passing.  Moreover, the defense created 5 turnovers.

 

Games This Week:

 

Four teams have BYE Weeks this time around:

1. Bucs:  When you lose both of your top WRs for lengthy periods of time, things get pretty bleak.  The Bucs can use some time off.
2. Cards:  They have won 4 in a row and lead the NFC West.  This should be an upbeat time in Arizona.
3. Giants:  I am not sure much of anything is going to right the ship there; fans should start paying close attention to college football and thinking about Draft position.
4. Panthers:  The team is on a two-game winning streak and has already won more games in 2024 than it did in 2023.  Hoo-ray!

Last night the Eagles beat the Commanders 26-18.  Just to carry forward the kicking woes evident last year, Eagles’ kicker Jake Elliott missed two field goals and missed an extra point in the game.  It did not matter in the end because Saquon Barkley ran for 146 yards and 2 TDs in the game and the Eagles converted 9 of 16 third-down situations.

Packers – 5.5 at Bears (40.5):  The Total Line opened at 44 points, so this represents a significant drop during the week.  The Packers need this game to stay in the running for the division title.  I suspect this could be the start of a tailspin for the Bears.

Browns – 1 at Saints (44):  Woof!  This is the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  These are two teams going nowhere in a meaningless inter-conference contest.  The only marginally interesting angle here is that it is a “revenge game” for Jameis Winston as he returns to play the Saints.  Feel free to ignore this one.

Rams – 5 at Pats (43,5):  The Rams are still relevant in the NFC West but that is a long journey for them to play an early time slot game.  Drake Maye has been showing some positive potential recently for the Pats.

Ravens – 3 at Steelers (48):  This is my runner-up for the Game of the Week.  The winner here will be in first place in the AFC North on Sunday night.  The Steelers have a good defense, but the Ravens can score on anyone.  Meanwhile, the Ravens’ defense is only one step away from being a serious liability.  I think this is a scoring-fest; I like the game to go OVER; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

Raiders at Dolphins – 7 (44):  This game has Dog-Breath potential; the teams combine to bring a record of 5-13 to the field.  However, the Dolphins might have some breath left in them now that they have most of their starters back from injury.  Check out this game in the Money Line Parlays below.

Jags at Lions – 14 (47) The Total Line opened here at 51 points, so this is another significant line move during the week.  The Jags just lost two in a row at home and now must go and play one of the top teams in the NFC on the road.  I do not bet double-digit spreads in the NFL, but this one smells like a disaster for the Jags.

Vikes – 6 at Titans (39.5):  this is an important game for the Vikes as they are a game behind the Lions in the NFC North; for the Titans it is just another game on the schedule.

Seahawks at Niners – 6.5 (48):  This is a division game where the current division leader is only a game-and-a-half ahead of the last place team in the division.  The Niners are getting people back off IR and the Seahawks’ defense is very porous.

Falcons at Broncos – 2 (44):  The spread opened with the falcons favored by 2 points but the line has reversed as the week went on.  The Broncos have the better defense, and the Falcons have the better offense here. Po-TAY-toe and Po-TAH-toe…

Chiefs at Bills – 2 (46):  This is the Game of the Week matching up two division leaders and a combined record of 17-2.  Just sit back with some tasty snacks and watch this game because it will be a good one.

Colts at Jets – 4 (43):  This one also got some consideration as a Dog-Breath game.  The Jets lost last week, and the Colts have lost three in a row.  See above for why the Jets have been “disappointing this year” and then recognize that the Colts will be starting Anthony Richardson at QB.  If you think about betting on this game, consider a lottery ticket as an alternative gambling strategy.

(Sun Nite) Bengals at Chargers – 1 (47):  The Chargers trail the Chiefs by 3 games and will know the result of the Chiefs/Bills game at kickoff time.  The Bengals have already lost 6 games this year and may have to win out to make the playoffs in the AFC.  I smell another offensive explosion game here; I like the game to go OVER; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Mon Nite) Texans – 7 at Cowboys (42):  Can the Cowboys find a way to trail by 20 or more points again in this home game?  (See above)  The Texans have lost two games in a row but still lead their division by 2 full games; the Cowboys have lost 4 in a row and have looked overmatched in all of them.

So, let me review the “Betting Bundle”:

• Colorado – 10 over Utah
• LSU/Florida OVER 54
• Bengals/Chargers OVER 47
• Ravens/Steelers OVER 48

And some Money Line parlays just for fun:

• Dolphins @ minus-340
• Niners @ minus-280
• Packers @ minus-240   $100 wager to win $149

And …

• Vikes @ minus-250
• Broncos @ minus 125   $100 wager to win $152

And …

• Colorado @ minus-400
• Memphis @ minus-700
• Washington St. @ minus-420
• Clemson @ minis -440   $100 wager to win $117

Finally, words of wisdom from Vince Lombardi:

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while… you don’t do things right once in a while… you do them right all the time. Winning is habit.”

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let the games begin …

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

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

And …

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

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