On yesterday’s road trip to diversity, we got hungry. The drive from Portland to Madison has 2000 mile markers and very few restaurants. We yearned for nuggets. You know the feeling. It’s fast food for the sports-minded. Have ten below on us.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers blew a 14 point halftime lead and eventually fell to the visiting Washington Football Team last night on MNF. The Steelers seldom lose at home, and have only lost one game in the 22 years prior at home when leading by 14 or more. And, poof goes the last undefeated team in the NFL this year. Don Shula (RIP) and his 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins can rest easy for at least one more year.
- After the Steelers’ loss who owns the longest winning streak in the NFL now? It’s the New Orleans Saints with nine and counting. The New York Football Giants are next with four while the Washington Football Team is third with three. In the NFL you are either getting better or getting run over. Suddenly two NFC East teams have come alive.
- Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera fought cancer this year.
When he entered the then Redskins offices he fought incompetence, complacency, good ole boys, a talent void, and a losing culture. He’s a bit old school, a fighter, and maybe the most underrated head coach in the league. After a 1-5 start they stand at 5-7 with four games remaining. They have the 49ers, Seahawks, Panthers (his old team), and the Eagles left. An 8-8 record certainly is within reach. - The Minnesota Vikings also started 1-5. At home this past Sunday they needed overtime to defeat the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. In the NFL they don’t count how, they count how many. The Vikings evened their record at 6-6. Head coach Mike Zimmer is a bit old school, a fighter, and maybe the most underrated head coach in the league. Where have you heard that before? The Bucs, Bears, Saints, and Lions are their final four down the regular-season stretch. It’s a team no one would like to play if they get to the expanded playoff format.
- Don’t look now but the New England Patriots are 6-6 after back to back wins with Cam Newton throwing for under a hundred yards in each of the games. The Rams, Dolphins, Bills, and Jets remain. That’s a tall task with a shaky QB. Does anyone doubt Bill Belichick can do it? Computer simulations give the Patriots a 14% chance of making the playoffs. Does Belichick even own a computer?
- One day after his ill-advised, all-out blitz failed to take down the opposing quarterback on the game-deciding play, New York Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was sacked by coach Adam Gase in a Monday morning meeting that lasted nearly an hour. DC Williams called the exact same aggressive and foolish play in the 2011 NFC Division Championship game sending the Saints to a last-second loss in San Fran. At 0-12, Adam Gase will collect a paycheck for only four more weeks than the DC he fired yesterday. Sam Darnold will need a new address too. The Jets fell in love with Trevor Lawrence months ago.
- Who benefitted from Williams’s moronic call in 2011 in Candlestick Park? Jim Harbaugh. He was the AP Coach of the Year that year for San Francisco. By 2014 he had worn out his welcome on the left coast and headed east to Ann Arbor, MI for a lot of green and greener pastures. Fast forward to 2020 and Harbaugh is either in the beginning, middle, or end of the end as the Wolverines coach. He’s 1-6 on the year and 0-5 lifetime against this weekend’s rival opponent THE Ohio St. Buckeyes. THE is favored by a whopping 28 points.
- Harbaugh’s teams in college have won 68% of their games. What percent of the games have his NFL teams won? Sixty-eight percent. It takes an unlikeable, polarizing guy to have to leave before he is asked to do so with that type of winning percentage. That’s Harbaugh, khakis and all. It says here that this is his last game at Michigan too.
- Vegas loves it when the public sees the obvious. Big favorites over bad teams are the best of the best for Sin City. Last week there were four double-digit dogs in the NFL. The Jets covered and blew the outright win on the aforementioned last play. The Broncos covered easily. The Giants won straight up. And Cincinnati lost by 12 as an 11 point underdog. There’s a reason there is so much marble and gold on The Strip.
- Speaking of which a few lines that are interesting, Coastal Carolina is favored by 13.5 at Troy. Surely there is a letdown after the win over BYU at home with College GameDay present is there? Yes. Bama is a 31.5 road favorite over Arkansas after they beatdown LSU. Is there ever a letdown by a Nick Saban coached team? No.
You read. You got fed. Now, get busy.