December 30, 2024

Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley, the outstanding running back with the Philadelphia Eagles, just passed 2000 yards for the season. At 2005 yards, he is just 101 yards short of Eric Dickerson's record from 40 years ago.

And he probably won't get it. The Eagles are locked in at the #2 seed so their final game is meaningless. Even if they allow Barkley to play, they will likely rest their receivers and some of their offensive line, so the running game would be hindered. After last year's collapse, the organization is laser focused on winning in the playoffs, and the first game in the NFC playoffs would have the Eagles hosting either the dangerous Packers or the Commanders - who beat the Eagles just last week. You have to think they want to rest their important players, Barkley included.

On the other hand, Barkley is a veteran who likely understands he it is highly unlikely he will get this chance again. The Eagles would not be where they are in the standings without Saquon, and so the team does not want him to be unhappy.

What do you think they will do?

December 22, 2024

What to make for Christmas

I am working overnight on Christmas Eve, so I'll be getting home about 7:45ish in the morning. I need to sleep most of the day.

I made turkey for Thanksgiving and ham a couple weeks later. My wife has bad teeth, so steak and most roasts are out. She doesn't eat rice. On Saturday night I made a baked pasta dish (Cellentani Florentine with Italian Sausage and lots of mozzarella) which rules out lasagna. I will have three hours at the outside, more realistically two hours. If I do prep work ahead of time, I suppose I could roast a chicken, but in fifty plus years of cooking, I've never roasted a chicken.

I can't decide what to make this year! Any suggestions?

December 8, 2024

On the Vikings QB situation

First, let's all agree on one thing: the Vikings are a well-coached team. Kevin O'Connell knows what he's doing. His record in close games is stellar, and his overall record is enviable.

I'm looking at their quarterbacks. Sam Darnold has decent statistics, but if you watch him closely you can tell he's doing well because of the system they're running, rather than his gifts as a QB. Someone is going to pay Sam Darnold a handsome amount of money next year, and it's looking to me like that means someone other than the Vikings. They picked up Daniel Jones on the cheap after he parted ways with the Giants, and they have J.J. McCarthy recovering from a knee injury.

So what I'm expecting from the men in purple is this: they let Sam Darnold go; whichever team takes him is likely disappointed. They let J.J. watch until they're sure he's completely healthy and ready for the NFL game, and Daniel Jones suddenly looks like a real NFL QB while he fills in. Last year they had several lesser quarterbacks look good. No system is immune to bad quarterback play, but the Vikings seem to be running a system that allows poor quarterbacks to play well.

So am I crazy or am I on to something here?

November 25, 2024

Thanksgiving Football

For those who aren't working or cooking (I'll be doing both), there's plenty of football coming up this Thursday.

Chicago @ Detroit. The Bears (4-7) have been pretty bad overall this season, but since hiring Matt Eberflus, they have been especially bad on the road. Their record away from home has been 3-18. Their last road victory came almost a year ago, week 12 of 2023, against the Vikings on Monday Night Football (12-10, Nov 27, 2023). The Lions (10-1) absolutely look like the best team in the NFL right now. They've won nine straight, as compared to the Bears who have lost five in a row. The Bears haven't been very good against the run this season, and since the season-ending injury to inside lineman Andrew Billings they've been worse. The Lions have the best one-two tandem at running back with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. In short, I don't expect this to be close. Lions, handily.

NY Giants @ Dallas. Neither team is particularly good this year, but Dallas (4-7) just pulled off an impressive upset of Washington in rather convincing fashion. The Giants (2-9) have given up the season, getting rid of Daniel Jones and putting Tommy Devito behind one of the worst offensive lines in the game. It's hard to believe Dallas will be favored, but the Giants might be the most screwed up franchise in the NFL ... and the NFL includes the Jets and the Panthers. Cowboys, handily.

Miami @ Green Bay. This is the only game on Thursday worth watching, and it will be on prime time. The Dolphins (5-6) are a lot better with Tua Tagovailoa. The Packers are 8-3, good enough for third place in the NFL's toughest division. One would think the Packers have a better defense, but actually the Fins give up fewer yards. What the Packers do well, however, is run the ball. They're averaging over 150 yards per game, and I think they'll keep the ball out of Tua's hands enough of the time to win. Packers, in a close match.

November 25, 2024

Vikings @ Bears

This turned into one helluva game. Minnesota eventually pulled out 30-27 in overtime, but some last minute heroics by Caleb Williams made it very exciting for Bears fans. The Bears were down 11 with less than two minutes to play and they forced overtime.

Williams isn't there yet. He made some dumb mistakes, as rookies do. But he also made some stunning throws and a critical third down scramble. He's getting there. New OC Thomas Brown continues to impress. Meanwhile we in Chicagoland are counting down the games until Eberflus is gone. Six more to go.

November 24, 2024

A hypothetical.

Let's suppose you're an NFL General Manager, and it's the off season after Super Bowl XIL (that's the next one). Your team needs a quarterback, kind of badly. You'd like to draft one, but this isn't a good year for QBs in the draft. The best thing you can do pick one, hope for the best, and get one through free agency while your draftee learns.

You have to choose between one of these two (admittedly awful) options:

Aaron Rodgers
Daniel Jones

Which one do you take, and why?

November 4, 2024

Da Bears - whoops, make that DUH Bears.

A couple weeks ago the Bears were 4-2 and I thought they were on the ascendant. What a difference a couple games can make. Last week's Hail Mary loss to the Commanders was bad enough, but the Bears went to Arizona today and got soundly beaten in every aspect of the game. Both starting offensive tackles are out. The center they intended to play from the beginning hasn't played at all yet. What is worse, I see them committing foolish penalties, such as the leverage penalty allowing the Cardinals a second chance at their second touchdown. They haven't won a road game on a Sunday since December of 2021.

They're 4-4 now, and assuming they can defeat the lowly Patriots next week at home (they should, but it's hard to feel any confidence), they'll be 5-4 with eight games to go: two each against the Packers, the Vikings and the Lions, the Seahawks and the Niners. Unless they start playing MUCH better football, they'll lose every one of them. That's 5-12 and almost surely another top ten pick in the draft, definitely a new coaching staff, and here we go again Bears fans.

October 27, 2024

Week 8 Games of the Week

Bears at Commanders. Chicago (4-2) is favored by 1.5 over Washington (5-2). It is unclear whether Jayden Daniels will play after a rib injury at the beginning of last week's game has limited his practice. Even if we as fans are deprived of the duel between the two impressive rookie QBs, this is an interesting game for several reasons. First, neither team has beaten an opponent with a winning record. The Commanders are running the ball really well, which is one area where the Bears are not a top-five defense. The Commanders have some young and inexperienced men in their secondary, where the Bears have effectively two number one receivers and a talented rookie. The chess match between Cliff Kingsbury, Commanders offensive coordinator, versus Matt Eberflus, Bears head coach who calls the defensive plays, will be something to watch.

There are other games this week which look like they'll be close, but this is the only one with two teams clearly on the ascendant. I'm looking forward to watching whatever part of the game I can catch; the NFL choosing to "flex" this game means I'll miss at least half of it. My heart tells me the Bears will win, and I'm listening to it.

Bills at Seahawks. Buffalo (5-2) is a 3 point favorite over Seattle (4-3). I like the new acquisition for the Bills; Amari Cooper looks really good in Blue and White. I think the Bills are a better team here, but I am unsure about Seattle, who burned me last week. The Bills have fattened up on beatable opponents, losing to the two good teams they've faced. Seattle has beaten Denver (4-3) and Atlanta (3-4). The Bills have the 4th best points per game, and Seattle leads the league in passing yards. Hmm. I'm taking Buffalo.

Falcons at Buccaneers. Atlanta (4-3) is favored by 2.5 over Tampa Bay (4-3). I am sure Atlanta is the favorite here because the Bucs lost Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to injuries last week. I will believe they can win without those two guys when I see it happen. Falcons to win and cover here.

Eagles at Bengals. Cincinnati (3-4) is favored by 2.5 over Philadelphia (4-2). I am not quite sure why the oddsmakers like Cincy here. Joe Burrow is a terrific QB and the Bengals defense is improving, but the Eagles are looking to me more like the team that barely lost the Super Bowl a couple of years ago than the one which collapsed in 2023. I think Philly wins this and it isn't all that close. But I'm often wrong about football. I just can't resist.

October 19, 2024

Games of the week

Lions at Vikings. Minnesota (5-0) is favored by 1.5 over Detroit (5-1) and is coming off a bye. Lions lost Hutchinson last week with a broken leg, and that is almost certainly part of the reason the Vikings are the favorite. Still, I like the Lions. They have the best offensive line in football and the best running back tandem in Montgomery & Gibbs. Goff is playing extremely well and he has lots of weapons. Minnesota has a stout defense and plenty of weapons of their own at receiver. I just don't think they have enough. Smart money thinks this will be a high scoring affair; I think it will be a very entertaining game.

Texans at Packers. Green Bay (4-2) is favored by 3 over Houston (5-1). These teams are pretty evenly matched. Neither team is a world beater at running the football but both feature terrific quarterback play and gifted receivers. The loss of Nico Collins hurts the Texans more than a little. Green Bay isn't as good at rushing the passer (they're no slouches either) but they have a superior secondary. I'm a Bears fan. I hate the Packers. I have hated them since 1986 when Charles Martin broke Jim McMahon. But I have to admit they're a good football team. Houston is 5-1 but three of those wins have come against teams with losing records, and they beat the Bears in week two when Chicago was frankly a mess on offense. I'll take the Pack here, but I hope I'm wrong.

Ravens at Buccaneers. Baltimore (4-2) is favored by 3.5 over Tampa Bay (4-2). The Ravens are looking like the team that had the best record in the AFC last year, and adding Derrick Henry - an absolute stud at running back - has definitely improved them. Their defense has slipped a bit against the pass, but running on this team is extremely difficult once again. Tampa meanwhile just keeps winning football games. They're the only team this year to hang a loss on Detroit. On paper the Ravens win this game nine out of ten times. I think they'll win Monday night, but don't be surprised if it's a close game. Tampa Bay is a better football team than most think.

The only other game that looks really close to me is the one between Jacksonville and New England on Sunday morning, and both teams are so bad that this matchup has little appeal. The Seahawks/Falcons game looks evenly matched on paper but I do not believe in Seattle.

October 1, 2024

The Most Important Thing to Remember About Donald Trump is This

Donald Trump is not the problem. Donald Trump is a symptom of the problem.

Yes, we have to defeat this man in November. We need to win so decisively that any reasonable person will laugh at claims it was stolen. And we need to send Donald Trump's oversized hind parts to jail. But that is only the beginning.

We need to defeat the notion that government is evil, and it's okay to undermine it. Government isn't just necessary; it's inevitable. If they tear down our government they will replace it with something worse. Something much, much worse.

We need to let people know that the "deep state" is comprised of patriots who have dedicated themselves to the public good.

We need to let people know that the brown people aren't coming to this country to take your job. They're coming to take the jobs you don't want, and they're working for really, really low wages. They are no threat.

Actually, there a lot fewer threats than you might imagine.

There's a small cabal of people who have managed to create a concentration of wealth, and therefore a concentration of power. They are entrenched now, but they are not undefeatable. The thing which scares them most is a united populace, which is why they have worked so hard to keep us fighting each other.

Yes, our government could use some improvement. The only way it can be improved is if we, the people, stand together and demand it. Destroying the system won't improve anything.

Beware of people who tell you who and what to fear. They are trying to manipulate you.

OK, had to get that off my chest. Really, we have to win the larger argument. We're the ones who have a vision for what America can become. They're the ones who won't allow it.