NFL power poll
Admit it. Thanksgiving Thursday NFL is the second-best NFL behind playoff NFL in terms of general interest.
Sure, if you are a hard-core Falcons fan, last night was sweet and the rise and fall of the inconsistent Dirty Birds is part of your fall. But beyond the truly focused fans and those scanning scores and checking the (dot)coms for fantasy updates, Thursday is a true centerpiece. So, with football in the background as we give thanks and prepare to overeat ourselves into a food (and football) coma, the NFL in all its wisdom grants us this:
Lions-Vikings; Cowboys-Chargers; Giants-Redskins. Uh, huh? (And raise your hand before the season if you thought a Detroit-Minnesota duel with the Vikings on a third-string, rejected quarterback would be the plum of that fruit cocktail.)
Yes, we get the traditional matchups. Detroit and Dallas. We know. We also know that there has to be an AFC team in there so CBS can have a broadcast.
But this centerpiece event created this? As we explore all the ways the NFL ratings are starting to tumble - and there are a lot of layers to that cake - this schedule adds one more for consideration: The NFL is taking its fans and healthy TV numbers for granted. "Hey, give 'em Vikes-Lions and send, I don't care, the homeless Chargers to Dallas on Turkey Day," some fat-cat NFL schedule making might have groaned as he lit his cigar with a $50. "We know they are watching on Thanksgiving any way. Am I right?" High Fives all around.
Powerful
1. Philadelphia. The Eagles have the best record. They have the most complete roster - know that they fashioned a large chunk of their fast start without shutdown corner Ronald Darby, who returned from an ankle injury Sunday night. Get used to the Eagles being a contender, because they have a young and inexpensive quarterback who has improved. The Eagles are primed to be in that window in which the Seahawks roamed before having to give their quarterback big dollars.
2. New England. Man, the stats on the extended excellence of Tom Brady are staggering. Dude turned 40 before the season, and despite losing his No. 1 wide receiver to injury and his top-producing running back to free agency. New names, same Brady. Here are the best statistical seasons for QBs after they hit the Big 4-0. Brett Favre in 2009 (363-531 for 4,202 yards with 33 TDs and seven picks). Warren Moon in 1997, when Moon was 41 (313-528 for 3,678 yards with 25 TDs and 16 picks). The rest of the list is pretty gross. Brady through 10 games is mind-boggling: He leads the league in completions (261), attempts (380), yards (3,146), quarterback ratings (110.9) and interception percentage (0.5) all the while throwing 22 TDs to just two interceptions.
3. New Orleans. The Saints may be the most diverse team in the NFL, and a large part of their renaissance came from well-constructed drafts the last few years, especially the haul last spring. Yes, Drew Brees and Mark Ingram are familiar faces, but in the last three drafts, New Orleans has added an A1 wide out (Michael Thomas, round 2, '16), two starting tackles (Ryan Ramczyk, R1, '17; Andrus Peat, R1, '15), a starting corner (P.J. Williams, R3, '15), a starting strong safety (Vonn Bell, R2, '16) and two starting defensive tackles (Tyeler Davison, R5, '15; Sheldon Rankins, R1, 16). Oh yeah, they also last spring drafted contedners for NFL offensive (Alvin Kamara, who is already over 1,000 yards from scrimmage) and defensive (Marshon Lattimore, who grades as the No. 1 shutdown corner in the NFL) rookies of the year, too. That's a young team with skills.
4. Pittsburgh. It's been an unusually loud season off the field for the normally subdued and stoic Steelers. That said, if Big Ben is right, this offense is hard to handle. And in a very top-heavy AFC with Kansas City and Jacksonville leading the other divisions, the race between the 8-2 Steelers and the 8-2 Patriots for homefield is paramount.
5. Minnesota. Saw a trusted NFL voice on social media ask in all serious if the Vikings would have lost a game so far if they had remained healthy. It's a fair question, considering the skill that Case Keenum is taking meaningful snaps and Dalvin Cook was running wild against folks before shredding his knee. As you watch this Thursday, look for Adam Thielen and Stephon Diggs, the Vikings best receiving duo since Moss and Carter.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws under pressure from Denver Broncos outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett (48) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)Powerless
28. Denver. Man, John Elway the legendary quarterback who put together a Super Bowl champ despite having something that was supposed to be Peyton Manning at quarterback a couple of years ago, is now calling this Broncos team "soft." Yes, the wheels have failed off, but, uh, John, you're the guy that crafted a QB depth chart of Siemian-Lynch-Osweiler, so soft or not, that's on you big guy. (Or, we could say, "Hey Elway, what's the matter? Why the long face?" But to that joke we'll just say nay.)
29. Indianapolis. If we submitted and NFL MVP ballot that included Aaron Rodgers (Packers are 1-3 without him and were shutout last weekend by a very mediocre Baltimore bunch), Deshaun Watson (Texans offense electric with him; Texans offense stagnant without him) and Andrew Luck no one better be mad. Not saying any of those cats should win it, but in the case of Luck, the Colts are 43-27 when he plays since he entered the league in 2012. Since 2016 without Luck, the Colts are now 3-8.
30. New York Giants. Now that was a head-scratching, "Giants 12, Chiefs 9, overtime" final that crawled across the ticker this weekend. Seriously, at some point the Giants are going to need to keep the tape on the receivers' helmets so Eli will know who all is in the huddle with him. Yes, we're prone to hyperbole, but Sunday's leading Giants receivers sounded like tax litigation firm:. "Trust your finances to the skilled hands and experience of Lewis, King, Rudolph, Darkwa and Vereen."
31. San Francisco. Coming off a bye, an interesting fantasy pick up this week may be Jimmy Garoppolo, the former Pats quarterback. Not sure when he'll make his debut, but as a side note: That's one very handsome man. So there's that.
32. Cleveland. Since Cleveland is Cleveland, can anyone else foresee a 5-1 stretch to close the season 5-11 and get pick No. 7 instead of pick No. 1? Yep, that's our Cleveland.
Hoops dreams
As the NBA starts to take shape, and we'll write more about that when the college football regular season ends there are two basketball stories we need to cover briefly.
(Side note: And this is not one of the two, but man, how much better would the sports calendar be if the NBA started on Christmas and the Finals were in July? That makes too much sense, right?)
Story one, the Celtics keep rolling. Boston won its 16th straight behind a Kyrie show last night in which he became the first Celtics player to score 45 or more and shoot better than 70 percent since some white dude from some podunk town in Indiana.
Two things to remember about these Celtics during this run: 1) They lost an A-list star in the season opener; 2) They are the fourth youngest team in the NBA by average age. (The four oldest are Cleveland, Houston, San Antonio and Golden State. The future is bright in Beantown.)
The second hoops story is the very interesting interview with Phil knight here on The Athletic site with Seth Davis. Lots of stuff in there from arguably the most influential man in sports in the last half century. (We'd lean toward Bill Rasmussen, the founder of ESPN as one, but that's an interesting list for sure, and Knight is no worse than third on it.)
Also among that interview with Knight is his belief that Nike never paid a college basketball recruit.
Well, OK, maybe the receipts were never turned in to the accounting department, but to think Nike was not neck deep in the entire swamp that is college hoops recruiting is laughable.
Thanksgiving week
We wrote on A2 for today about this, but wanted to get the input of the big-brained folks around these parts too.
Here's the A2 column, and before we give thanks, let us enjoy the things we have hope in moving forward.
In years past, we have waited until Thanksgiving to pose this question, but we all get bogged down and busy with family on that day. So we'll ask it early this year:
What are you thankful for, sports and non-sports? Pick one and move quickly.
This is a fun exercise that will get you ready for Thursday when someone asks what you are thankful for, because we expect the folks around these parts to be better than the "Health" or "Family" or "Blah."
Yes we are thankful for health, and family and whatever blah may represent. But the great answers - the answers that get people thinking before the nap-fest that is Thursday's meal - are the ones that make Thanksgiving memorable.
Be that person this year, and it starts here and now. Go.
This and that
- Zoinks. Holy Collapse, Brick by single Brick Batman. This email from the dad of former UT tight end Daniel Helm will burn through the social media world sooner rather than later. In it, Steve Helm wrote to then-UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek that Daniel Helm was ready "to lose it with" Butch Jones. (side note: Cheek never responded. Tou stay classy, Jimmy.)
- The College football playoff committee will announce their rankings tonight. We expect there to be no change 1-through-7, and that those teams still control their own destiny. The only talk will be if THE Ohio State has moved into the conversation about controlling its own destiny by winning out. More on that tomorrow.
- This has been out a while but here is the ranking we have frequently referenced on the revenue of college football programs go the fiscal 2015-16 year. Tennessee is second behind Texas and ahead of Alabama with more than $100 million bucks. (So yes Virginia, Santa Gruden is in play in terms of cash on hand.)
- Kind of hard not to be embarrassed for my profession when CNN allows LaVar Ball 23 minutes of air-time and then has a panel discussion about it after the fact. Wow. Just wow.
Today's question
What are you thankful for, sports and non-sports?
Who's in?
It's a Tuesday, so let's do a little True or False. Deal? Deal.
On this day, the first human cannonball was fired.
True or false, that beer commercial with the dude getting hit in the stomach with the cannonball makes you laugh overtime.
Speaking of beer commercials, true or false, Bud Light has the the best marketing department anywhere.
True or false, you watch more NFL regular season football on Thanksgiving than any other day, regardless of matchups.
Also on this day, Stan Musial would have been 97. Stan the Man is on the Tim Duncan Rushmore of truly all-timers who are still somehow criminally underrated.
Harold Ramis, one of our personal favs, would have 73 today.
Goldie Hawn is 72 today, so there's that.
Nice trio of athletic stars celebrating birthdays today: Michael Strahan is 46, Troy Aikman is 51 (yeah, we though he was older than that too) and Ken Griffey Jr. is 48.
Let's stay with Strahan, and go with the Rushmore of NFL players who had the most TV/movie success after their careers.
Go.