NFL power poll
We are five weeks in, and the very definition of "you are what you're record says you are" matters more as each week passes.
Every win - be it an impressive blowout or a tricked-up, all-world-lucky escape job - is banked in a playoff-accumulation process that is at the core of the NFL objective. Get to the dance, and then role the dice. With that - and the knowledge of some of the greatest coaches' rants ever - let's examine the best and the worst among the NFL franchises at this moment.
The Powerful
1. Minnesota (5-0). We'll give the Vikings - the last unbeaten team in the league - the honor of the top spot and the nod with Bill Parcells' famous line of "You are what your record says you are." Doesn't matter that their two best offensive players are done for the year. Doesn't matter that Sam Bradford has gone from scrap-heap reclamation project to a name that must be included on early MVP lists. Not when you are 5-0. Because you know what 5-0 is? Perfect.
2. New England (4-1). He's a man. He's (almost) 40. We'll paraphrase Mike Gundy's legendary rant, which was defending his quarterback back in the day. No defense needed for Tom Brady's play Sunday. The 39-year-old Patriots star was almost flawless - 28-of-40, 403 yards, three TDs - and here's believing that the Tom BRady MIddle Finger to the Rest of the League Tour is going to be filled with fireworks. (Side note: Try to trade for Brady now, in whatever league you are in. Yes, even a bowling league.)
3. Atlanta (4-1). "Put that in your pipe and smoke it" was the highlight line of Hal McRae's profanity-laced postage tired with the Royals back in the 1980s. That certainly could be how Dan Quinn and Co. feel about a start that has included back-to-back wins over the teams in last year's Super Bowl.
4. Denver (4-1). "They are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook." Dennis Green's explosion after a Cardinals loss on Monday Night Football back in the day fits for the Broncos, who are elite defensively, but will be offensively challenged against good teams. The Broncos silenced Julio Jones on Sunday, but it was not enough to win a game against a balanced Falcons team. It will be interesting to see if the Broncos can generate 21-or-more points in meaningful games against meaningful competition in the weeks ahead.
5. Pittsburgh (4-1). There are a lot of teams with only one loss that could make a case to be here such as the Raiders or even the Cowboys, but no team has the offense to completely dominate every team in the league like these Steelers now that Le'veon Bell is back with Big Ben and Antonio Brown. As for that defense, let's go to the erstwhile Gregg Popvich, "I have no idea what's going to happen tonightIt's torture, it's hard to appreciate torture. It's why I say coaches are sick puppies."
Powerless
28. All of the AFC South. Houston (3-2), Tennessee (2-3), Indy (2-3) and Jacksonville (1-3) each have a negative point-differential, and other than getting to play each other, what's the best thing you can say about them. Well, in honor of Herm Edwards, we can say they are trying really hard and they "are playing to win the football game." Of course, it doesn't really do any of these teams to get the No. 1 pick and look at possible quarterbacks, since, they all have spent either super high picks or a ton of cabbage on QBs that we're really not sure will be longterm solutions. (Yes, we believe Andrew Luck is a very good player, but if that Colts line continues to get him assailed, he won't be a solution physically.)
29. San Francisco (1-4). Who wants to bet that Chip Kelly has had a late night phone call with his agent in hushed tones that goes along the lines of this: "Yeah, this is Chip. Don;t say anything, just listen. Know that I'm ready to listen to those college programs who are calling. Yes, Texas. Yes to Notre Dame. Yes to USC if it comes open. What? Oregon? Sure, I'll go back; it has to be better than this. What's that? Baton Rouge? No way. That Saban dude is a meanie." So go ahead and cue up any Saban rant that you feel is appropriate and know that it will include 'Airight."
30. Chicago (1-4). Da Bears. What can you say. Bad team, trying to work through bad contracts and a bad roster. It's blow-up time and then rebuild mode. So, let's ask Mike Ditka hy he was in such a bad mood in New Orleans in 1999. "What business is it of yours? If you were 2-7, you'd be in a bad moode too." And the Bears are only hoping to get to 2-7.
31. Miami (1-4). OK, when you get housed by the Titans to the point that Tennessee ran for more than 2 bills and dominated the line of scrimmage, then you need to question your toughness. For that, we'll go old-school Mike Singletary, who lamented he couldn't win with the softness of the 49ers, especially Vernon Davis. This is a very flawed football team in a tough division.
32. Cleveland (0-5). Pat Riley said, "There's winning and there's misery." You can guess what the good folks in Cleveland feel every Sunday.
Tiger WDs
Poor Safeway Open. Or better yet, poor Safeway Open fans.
Tiger Woods said his game was not in a place to contend with the best players in the world.
Knowing Tiger's history - and his overarching confidence - this is a surprising revelation that is either a potential death blow to his career or the best possible sign for his comeback to actually produce positive results with Woods getting back into contention on a regular basis.
Follow along.
On the negative front, if Tiger's confidence has truly been shaken to a point that he feels like he can't contend, even though by all reports he has been crushing golf shots and appears to be healthy, then mentally he could be gone forever. If he's healthy and flushing it, but believes he can't compete, then he may never get that back.
On the other side, if Tiger is feeling a little bit uneasy because of health concerns, then he has reached a place that so many begged for in the years of his recent struggles. He has rushed back too many times to only reinsured himself or restart the process.
If he's waiting on a physical improvement, patience is a wise play. If he's waiting on a confidence improvement, well, that may never come and he may never be back. (And phrases like he feels his game is 'vulnerable' makes you lean toward the mental issues more than physical ones.)
Either way, in a busy sports weekend, the Safeway Open just went from being something on the sports radar to being as relevant as Radar O'Rielly.
In this Oct. 11, 2010, file photo, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox waves to fans after a 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants in Game 4 of baseball's National League Division Series in Atlanta.Turner Field began its brief life as the main stadium for the 1996 Summer Olympics. After just two decades as the home of the Atlanta Braves, it's headed for another transformation. The Braves are moving to the suburbs next season, leaving the Ted to Georgia State University. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)Baseball field narrows
Wow, there was a lot of moving and shaking in the baseball world. Let's explore.
Your Atlanta Braves have hired Brian Snitker as the full-time manager. As the interim he earned him marks for keeping the clubhouse together and keeping the effort high despite the fact that the Braves were eliminated around the time school started in early August in Hamilton County.
We're OK with this for multiple reasons. One, this is a young core that is looking to add pieces, so if that core is happy with Snitker's delivery and message, that adds cohesiveness to the process. Two, there's next to no risk for the Braves, since they signed Snitker to a one-year deal with a club option for 2018. That's gold, Jerry. Also, Snitker's extensive experience in the minor leagues adds a great layer of expertise to handling players, and that more than the three-to-five or even 10 game-changing decisions that will get second-guessed is a much more important aspect in today's managerial realm.
This is not about when to pinch-hit or going to your closer with two outs in the eighth (or even with two outs in the fifth, which should be viewed as a game-changing scenario every bit as much as getting 7-8-9 with a three-run lead in the ninth) as it is handling the keel for six months through the summer.
Great baseball managers are now like great movie directors. A lot of the story is told by getting the most out of your cast, and in some ways, the only way to make sure you are getting the most out of the while is making the most of each individual relationship.
Quick, who is the best manager in baseball? A lot of folks would say Joe Maddon with the Cubs. Now, name the best in-game decision he's ever made? Can't do it can you? Nope, Maddon is the best because he managers his players exceedingly well. And in today's baseball, managing your players - and their egos - is way, Way, WAY more important than managing the game.
As for the playoffs, well, the Red Sox are done, which hurts our picks and the projections of the TV ratings for the World Series. Boston lost 4-3 to Cleveland on Monday, getting bounced in the ALDS in a little bit of stunner. After the game, Boston DH David Ortiz came out and thanked the fans - who chanted his name for 15 minutes and made up the largest Fenway crowd in at least 70 years - after his final game.
Ortiz was terrible in the playoffs, going 3-for-17, but Big Papi had arguably the best final season of any Hall of Famer in any sport. He announced his retirement plans at the beginning of the season and produced the best offensive season in the American League. He likely won't win the MVP because he was a full-time DH but his numbers were ridiculous. He hit .315 with 38 homers and an AL-best 127 RBIs and led the league in slugging and OPS. (Of course, he'll also be the perfect litmus test for the Hall of Fame status in five years considering his numbers are certainly legit - even as a DH, a .286 career average and 541 homers (17th all-time) and 1,768 RBIs (22nd all-time) - but he was caught in the PED protocol early on. Of course being a Boston sports star means there's no telling any of their fans that one of their heroes may have cheated. Cue the Ben Affleck rant and get Bill Simmons on the blower to start the PR spin cycle.)
Also of note, the Giants won Monday despite not getting the expected brilliance from Madison Bumgarner to force Game 4 with the Cubs tonight. The Dodgers stumbled at home against the Nationals and are on the brink, down 2-1, with Game 4 tonight. Dodgers-Nationals is at 5 p.m. today and the Cubs-Giants is at 8:30 p.m. Both games are on Fox Sports 1.
In the American League, the ALCS will start Friday with Toronto at Cleveland at 8:08 p.m. All of the ALCS games will be on TBS. The NLCS will begin Saturday, and those games will be on Fox or FS1.
This and that
- Boston reliever Joe Kelly left tickets to the Red Sox-Indians playoff game for red-sweater rocking', debate-star Ken Bone. It's Ken Bone's world, and we're all just passing through right now. To wit: Someone asked Bone if he was interested in running for president, and his response may have been the most self-aware answer to come from anyone at the debate, including Anderson Cooper. "Unfortunately, I look old because I'm fat and bald, but I'm not eligible. I'm only 34."
- We normally have a variety of college football lists here. We'll push that a day because there's a lot happening for a random Tuesday in October. That said, there's importance to note about this story from TFP UT football ace Downtown Patrick Brown. Danny O'Brien was dismissed from the UT football team, the school announced Monday. To go from 0-to-dismissed is pretty significant, but it should be know that O'Brien was suspended from a couple of games previously in his career.
- Another TFP, another excellent Mark Wiedmer sports column. Here it is. His premise is that the Vols believe they have what it takes to beat all-powerful Alabama. And in essence they are correct. But a lot of those pieces - Cam Sutton, Darren Kirkland, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, to name but three monist defensive names - almost assuredly will be in street clothes. For what it's worth, the line opened at Alabama minus-8 on Sunday. As of this morning on Vegasinsider.com it had hit Alabama minus-13.
- When asked if he attended a Paul McCartney concert in the greater Sacramento area, Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins said, "I don't even know who that is."
- Social media is having a little fun with Florida and AD Jeremy Foley today. According to a lot of amateur weather guessers, there's a 10 percent chance of rain in Gainesville Saturday for the Florida-Missouri game so Florida is weighing its options about whether it should play the game or not.
- We failed you Monday. In our list of who won and lost the weekend, Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly deserved a mention for completely losing it on the side line of his younger brother's high school football game and trying to fight everyone in sight. Kelly apologized and Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said the issue is over. Of course Freeze said that. The Rebels are 4-2, but any game without Kelly would be a disaster for a team very dependent on their quarterback.
Today's question
OK, we can play true or false.
True or False, the Falcons are legit good, and not the pretenders they were a year ago.
True or False, Tiger Woods will never win another PGA event.
True or False, Big Papi is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Discuss, and enjoy.
As for a Rushmore, well, you regulars know the soft spot we have for old-school Saturday Night Live. Well, did you know that today is SNL's 41st birthday, the debut show coming on Oct. 11, 1975.
Good times. Rushmore of best reoccurring skits on SNL. Go, and remember the mailbag.