— Wow. (Key win/brutal loss) by the Eagles there. Absolutely (required/unforgivable) against a team without it’s starting QB, top receiver or a franchise name.
— That 4th and (fill in the blank here) call was terrible. Not sure how Siranni keeps his job after that.
— I’m surprised we even saw that much of JJ Arcega-Whiteside.
— The refs were just awful.
— I can’t believe they gave up that 3rd and (fill in the blank here). Not sure how Siranni keeps his job after that.
— No one talks about how smart Mark Sanchez is as an announcer … for a reason.
— That (ends/renews) all the talk about Garner Minshew, doesn’t it?
— The most ridiculous thing about that (win/loss) is that both of these teams are still somehow in the playoff hunt.
WR: Brandin Cooks, 22.30 pts — started by Mike
RB: Duke Johnson, 24.53 pts — on the wire
TE: Travis Kelce, 29.73 pts — started by Jo
K: Ka'imi Fairbairn, 16.00 pts — on the wire
DEF: New Orleans, 23.00 pts — on Paul’s bench
D: D.J. Wonnum, 11.50 pts — on the wire
Ah, yes, exactly the lineup we expected to see up there.
I would have bet you any amount of money that Kelce is the top TE on the season so far, but nope. It’s Mark Andrews, who has 8.5 more points than Kelce on the season. Of course, one-third of his 167.8 pts came in two games this season, so maybe Andrews hasn’t been Mr. Reliable.
Huntley, the Ravens’ backup QB, had a better fantasy day that Lamar Jackson’s last three starts combined (and all but one of his nine other starts), so I assume there is a QB controversy in Baltimore now. Duke Johnson had 1.8 fantasy pts on the season coming into Sunday’s game, so it make sense that he’d rush for 107 yds and two TDs. D.J. Wonnum may have been a name I made up banging my head against the keyboard watching the Eagles, I can’t remember.
“Starting QBs” edition3rd place: Teddy Bridgewater, 4.92 pts — started by Ant
2nd place: Tom Brady, 4.76 pts — started by Joel
1st place: Mike Glennon, -2.04 pts — on the wire
I could talk about how Glennon, the Giants starting QB, had a worse passer rating than you on Sunday (24.8 for him, 39.6 for you throwing one incompletion into the ground) or about how hard it is to finish in negative fantasy pts in a pass-first league, or about how Glennon has won exactly one start in the last seven years, but none of that is the reason we are here.
We’re here to talk about Tom Brady.
Brady on Sunday was shut out for the first time since 2006, breaking the second-longest scoring streak by a QB in NFL history (the longest belongs to Drew Brees, whose Saints shut out Brady this week). He was bested by NFL notables like Nick Mullens (the third-string QB for Cleveland), Davis Mills (the starter by default in Houston) and Cam Newton (who scored five times more fantasy points than Brady and still lost by 17 pts).
It was a terrible fantasy weekend for a lot of folks, but at least we had this one moment of Brady incompetence to enjoy.
** ESPN had this trivia question along the crawler of their pregame show:
Q: Which four QBs have had 300 yds passing and 100 yds rushing?
A: Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton
I mistakenly assumed they meant this season, so I was surprised to see any names beyond Allen (who accomplished the feat in week 14). Wilson and Newton haven’t come close this season. But, in fact, those two are the only ones besides Allen to have ever done it in an NFL game — Wilson in 2014, Newton in 2015.
Jackson? Still has never done it, so ESPN is still wrong. So my assumption that ESPN had screwed up even a simple trivia question was right, just for the wrong reasons.
** Columnist Chuck Culpepper is usually great, but when he misses, he misses by a mile. This is from his column on Tiger Woods playing in a pro-am this weekend alongside his son:
“Woods’s 12-year-old son, Charlie, born so recently that it was just a week after Santonio Holmes’s otherworldly catch in Super Bowl XLIII, also veered Sunday.”
Is that a pivotal moment that we all use as a touchstone in our lives? I remember the play, it was a thrilling Super Bowl, but if you told me it happened 30 years ago or three years ago, I wouldn’t correct you.
You already told me the kid is 12. Saying that he shares his birthday with the 2010 Pro Bowl game helps none of us understand that time frame any better.
** Monday Night Football sideshow clown Chris Berman dropped this wisdom during his “Fastest Three Minutes” recap of Sunday’s NFL games this week:
“The Steelers haven’t been below .500 in a long time. But if they lost on Sunday they’d be … below .500.”
First, thanks for the calculator help there, Chris. I wasn’t sure if a 6-6-1 team that loses now has more wins than losses.
But, more importantly, “a long time” apparently means “two months” because the Steelers were 2-3 in early October before a four-game winning streak. They were never below .500 last year, but started off 2019 0-3 which, I believe, may also be below .500. But I’m not a professional talking head who has covered the NFL since the 1800s, so I can’t be sure about that math.
NFL coaches hate kickers. Need proof? Just look at what happened this weekend:
** The Falcons, big underdogs on Sunday, recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and quickly got the ball down to the one-yard line. They were stopped three times by the 49ers defense, and faced a fourth-and-goal. Rather than take an early lead, coach Arthur Smith opted to try for seven … and missed. The team faced fourth-and-short inside the 10-yard line two more times in the second half, and since they were down 18 points, they went for touchdowns both of those times too (and failed). Nine more points would have made that an easier nine-point deficit, instead of a three-score game.
** The Cardinals, down 10-0 near the end of the first half, had the ball inside the three-yard line on third down but threw an incomplete pass. Rather than kick a FG and get on the board, coach Kliff Kingsbury opted to go for the touchdown. Another incomplete pass turned the ball over to the Lions, who scored on the ensuing possession to make the lead 17-0 instead of 10-3.
** The Chiefs, down 13-14 in the third quarter, faced a 4th and goal from the two-yard line. Instead of kicking an easy field goal TO TAKE THE LEAD, coach Andy Reid opted for another end zone chance … and failed to convert. The game ended up in overtime, but it wouldn’t have if Reid just took the points in that spot.
** Not to be outdone IN THAT SAME GAME against the Chiefs, but the Chargers had 4th and goal three times in the first half. Coach Brandon Staley opted every time to gamble for the touchdown instead of taking the FG. His team missed all three times. They also went for it on fourth and short inside the 20-yard-line in the third quarter, converted, then fumbled the ball three plays later. That’s 12 points they left on the sidelines in a game that ended up in overtime (where they lost without ever touching the ball.)
** The Ravens, playing without starting QB Lamar Jackson, went 70 yards on their opening drive and faced a second-and-goal from the three-yard line. After two incomplete passes, coach John Harbaugh ignored the FG attempt … and watched his team give up a sack instead of taking a three-point lead. The Ravens also scored a TD with 1:42 left in the game to pull within one point of the Packers, but opted to go for two instead of a tie. It’s the second time in three weeks they’ve tried to win a game that way, and the second loss that strategy has produced. But they wouldn’t have needed those points if they took the FG earlier.
For those keeping score at home, that’s nine failed fourth down tries inside the 10-yard line this weekend alone. 27 potential points gambled away with nothing to show for them. The only conclusion is that all NFL kickers have incriminating pictures of their coaches and the resentment is spilling over onto the field of play.
The Cowboys had three third-round draft picks this year — they used all three on defensive players, including the middle one on DE Chauncey Golston. So far his play has been mediocre, with just 12 tackles on the season. But the coaching staff loves his potential, and in fact drafted him based largely on what they saw hidden in the letters of his name:
Dallas rookie defensive lineman Chauncey Golston
** A moronic one. Evil def seen. Likely a shotgun scandal.
Feels like maybe the best way to avoid a shotgun scandal with him would be to keep him away from shotguns, but then again, he is a moron.
** Clerical error last week had me down one to Dad when, in fact, I was up one on him in our season-long picks contest. And, after two more wins this week, I’m not up by a FG (a real FG, like a 43-yarder, not one of these cheap 31-yard ones). Special thanks to the Texans for dismantling the Jaguars again, and this is the last time I’ll think about either of those teams for the rest of the season. ** Per Wikipedia, Dennis O. "D. J." Wonnum Jr (born Oct. 31, 1997) is an American football defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings who played college football at South Carolina.
** There have been 10 NFL games played on a Tuesday night in the league’s 102-year history. The Eagles have been involved in three, tied for the most of any team. The Boston Yanks are the other team, and, no, I did not get that name wrong.
** I know I was just messing around with a bit up there, but the refs really were awful in that Eagles game. Easiest bet you can make.
Week 15 standings
1 — QB Carousel (Jo), 1,960.71 pts
2 — Honey Bunches of Goats (Jonathan), 1,921.13 pts
3 — This Is Fine (Bob), 1,796.95 pts
4 — Ouch! It Hurts (Mom D), 1,795.69 pts
5 — Murder Hornets (Mike), 1,715.89 pts
6 — Came and Wentz (Capt Awesome), 1,703.34 pts
7 — Blue Collar Killers (Jeff), 1,699.09 pts
8 — Kneel Armstrong (Sam), 1,683.12 pts
9 — Not That Four Seasons (Ant), 1,639.04 pts
10 — Patriots Secret Cam (Joel), 1,610.24 pts
11 — It's All Hurts (Dad), 1,601.79 pts
12 — Clever Team Name (Paul), 1,064.59 pts
Actual standings may be a bit off, I posted this with 1 minute left to go in the Eagles game. I don't have all night to wait, you know.
Yet another big week for Joanna gives her a commanding lead over her son. The final three weeks of the season should be a solid race between the two of them, judging by the trash talk in this house. I just wish Joanna would stop spiking Jonathan’s lunch box in his face every Monday morning to assert her dominance.
After that it’s a long, long drop to the rest of the standings. Bob and Mom D are 120-plus points behind our top two, and Mike and I another almost 80 pts behind them. Paul’s team had six starters score zero pts this week, but he managed to limp over the 1,000 pts mark despite that. Dad is just a few points out of 10th, a remarkable accomplishment given the giant hole he was in.
Remember when there wasn’t football every night? No? Good! Because the Titans and 49ers take the field this Thursday in a surprisingly important game, and then the NFL is forcing two more games into your Christmas peace. They might have a few games on Sunday too, we’ll see.
After that it’s a long, long drop to the rest of the standings. Bob and Mom D are 120-plus points behind our top two, and Mike and I another almost 80 pts behind them. Paul’s team had six starters score zero pts this week, but he managed to limp over the 1,000 pts mark despite that. Dad is just a few points out of 10th, a remarkable accomplishment given the giant hole he was in.
Remember when there wasn’t football every night? No? Good! Because the Titans and 49ers take the field this Thursday in a surprisingly important game, and then the NFL is forcing two more games into your Christmas peace. They might have a few games on Sunday too, we’ll see.
No comments:
Post a Comment