Weekend winners
Aaron Rodgers. Captain Relax delivered again. Dude can play. His numbers were not eye-popping, but he made the plays - and protected the ball - and reminded everyone why he's as good as there is. (Side note: Kirk Cousins punched his ticket on a $100 million contract. Cousins made a ton of cash in the last two months, and yes, he likes that.)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leaves the field shortly before the end of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015, in Seattle. The Seahawks won 39-30. (AP Photo/John Froschauer) Ben Roethlisberger. Coming back into the game to lead a game-winning drive, there's simply no questioning Big Ben's toughness. That was money.
Jordan Spieth. There are a few things that are flat-out good and need little explanation. Spieth shooting 30-under this weekend is one of them. Thirty-under? That sound more like temperatures in Minnesota than a golf score. Another one is Spieth joined Tiger Woods as seven-time PGA Tour winners before turning 23. Thirty-under is good period. Joining Tiger on a list about golf and wins is also good period.
North Dakota State. That was impressive Saturday as ND State crushed Jacksonville State. That's five consecutive FCS titles. That's impressive.
Tennessee football coach Butch Jones led the Vols to five straight wins to finish the regular season after early struggles in close games had them at 3-4.Butch Jones. The Vols head coach ran John Jancek as his defensive coordinator last week because he wanted better. By landing Bob Shoop, Jones got it, by all accounts. We won't know for sure until the results on the field, but the one thing that can't happen in that scenario is running someone like Jancek then getting turned down a couple or three times trying to land someone 'better.'
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Weekend losers
Vontaze Burfict, Adam Jones. Wow. There are no words for the foolishness of the former and the stupidity of the latter. There's a point to be made that Burfict was the best player on the field until his late game meltdown. (Dude is easily the dirtiest player in the league, right? His sack on Roethlisberger with a well-placed knee on Ben's shoulder was deliberate and that was before the personal foul that set the defeat in motion.) Quick question: What in the world was Adam Jones thinking? Seriously, Burfict's mistake happened in real time as he was trying to make a play. Jones went nuts on the ref.
Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) stiff arms Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones during the first half of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015. The Bengals won 33-13. Carr was injured on the play and did not return to the game. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) Stupid.
Sportsmanship in general in the Bengals-Steelers game. Yes, the craziness at the end stole the weekend headlines because the Steelers won. But there were two Pittsburgh coaches who lost control too. And it's not like Joey Porter and Mike Munchak - two former All Pros - are newbies to this.
Blair Walsh. You simply can't miss that kick. Heck, Brandon Walsh could make a 27-yarder for Pete's sake. Yes, Blair Walsh - the headline "Blair Miss Project" was inspired - has owned up to the mistake and refused to go all Ray Finkel on his holder. Still, you got to make a 27-yarder.
Brian Hoyer. Ouch-standing. OK, Alex Smith had five incompletions. Hoyer had five turnovers. Game. Set. Match.
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Title game
Well, we're here. Three-plus months of games and giddiness and power and preparation during the regular season leaves us with the best two teams in the country.
Alabama vs. Clemson. And it's likely the way it should be, all things considered.
But who has the edge?
Clemson's Deshaun Watson, shown here scoring a touchdown in the 37-17 defeat of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, is the toughest quarterback Alabama has faced in a national championship game under Nick Saban.Clemson has the best player on the field in the Deshaun Watson, who gets the edge over the multitude of future NFL stars (and that's just on the defensive line) in Crimson because he will have the ball on every snap.
Alabama comes at you in waves, especially defensively, considering they rotate nine defensive linemen, most of whom will play on Sunday.
It's hard to remember a more dominant collection of defensive linemen. It's a group that impacts every level of the nation's top defense because they control the middle and generate pressure without blitzing.
In truth, Alabama is the picture of the modern M.O. to defensive excellence. The defensive front consumes more than it exerts.
What we mean here is that the Alabama front three/four depending on set, requires double teams. That allows the back seven to attack the run and/on cover in a variety of ways.
It's the defensive equivalent of the mid-line option in a lot of ways. The mid-line option - the play in which the quarterback holds the ball in the running back's belly and reads the defensive end before deciding to give it to the back or keep it and run where the defensive end was - has flourished on all levels of football because it makes it an even 11-on-11 proposition because you have to account for the quarterback.
So if you have a defensive player that absolutely requires a double-team or eliminates a side/section of the field like an elite corner or safety, then you start to restrict and limit the opposing offense.
When that entire mismatch covers the entire line of scrimmage, well, you get the dominance with which Alabama is currently rolling.
Can Watson and Co. find success against the menacing front? That's the question that will determine whether this is a fun national title contest or simply a coronation.
We think Watson will find some success early, especially on broken plays, but the drum beat that is Alabama will simplify things and simply be too much for the Tigers.
We'll take Alabama wins 31-20, laying the 6.5. (And we picked that score before we looked at the over/under, which is 50.5.)
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This and that
- Speaking of Alabama, thought this was an interesting look back at the low point of Lane Kiffin's career.
- News continues to come out about the debacle that is the Ooltewah basketball nightmare. Here's our column from Saturday and Kendi Anderson's story today on the school board chairman apologizing and some less than impressive accusations from the Owls' opposing coach the day of the alleged rape.
FILE - in this Jan. 11, 2015 file photo, workers prepare for rain at the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. A blustery bad boy is set to crash Hollywood’s red carpets this awards season and he’s expected to take the town by storm. Shows like the Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, and the later Academy Awards are scrambling to put ample protection in place, while celebs are stressing about what to wear. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) - The Golden Globes were last night. Three things became clear to us: Ricky Gervais is funny. It's amazing with young ones how quickly you become out of touch with today's TV and movies. Network TV is getting housed by online options and premium channels. That is all.
- Mixed results from Furman for the UTC basketball programs. The women won to reach 50 consecutive SoCon wins. That's awesome in its awesomeness. The men got rolled, playing what Matt McCall would almost assuredly describe as their worst game of the season. So it goes.
- As all the hubbub about the $1.3 billion lottery builds steam, we thought this was an interesting story of how one dude handled a monster lottery win the right way.
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Today's question
Who won the weekend? Who lost it?
Need more? Well, OK,try this one: If Alabama wins tonight, we believe Nick Saban can lay the claim to the best college football coach ever. Yes, better than The Bear.
Agree or disagree?