Weekend winners
Tom Brady. The Brady Bird Finger Vengence Tour made its second stop of the season. In his two weeks back from his DeflateGate suspension, Brady is 57-of-75 (76 percent) for 782 yards with six TDs and no picks as the Patriots have outscored its two opponents by a 68-30 margin. We're willing to be that Brady has spoken openly to close friends and teammates about how much he wants to be on the podium and get the Super Bowl trophy from Roger Goodell for the awesomely awkwardness it would create.
This dog because, well, if there's a more clear definition of winning the weekend than a dog trained to go get a football tee after the kickoff then we don't know of it. Tennessee (Titans). Tennessee landed its first home win of the season Sunday and moved to 3-3 overall by holding off the Cleveland Browns. First, know that every NFL win is a good NFL win, even a 28-26 victory over the Browns who were quarterbacked by someone named Kessler, who somehow threw for more than 300 yards. Despite being on the negative side of the point differential stat, the Titans are now relevant in the AFC South - a game back of Houston - and have a very favorable run of games ahead of them with Indy and Jacksonville coming to Nashville the next two weeks. Tennessee plays six games before its bye the first week of December, and only one of those opponents currently has a winning record, and it's Green Bay, which hardly looks like a world beater right now. In fact, the five opponents in those six games - Tennessee plays Indy twice in the next six weeks - have a combined record of 12-22.
The Citadel. With an impressive defensive effort and a ball-control offense that posted a 22-14 win over UTC despite all of 4 passing yards, the Bulldogs grabbed firm control of the Southern Conference standings.
Dak Prescott. Dude has come in and completely taken over the reins of the Dallas Cowboys.
Buffalo fans. The supporters of the Bills generated a boisterous "U-S-A! U-S-A!" as Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the National Anthem. Well-played Bills Nation. Well-played indeed.
NLCS. It's not like the ALCS has been terrible as Cleveland has darted to a 2-0 lead over Toronto. (Side question: If the Indians somehow manage to pull this off are we ready for a world in which Cleveland, a city that did not have a pro sports title in more than 50 yards, would be the reigning champs in the NBA and the MLB?) But the drama and excitement of the NLCS as the Dodgers and Cubs have split the first two games in the Windy City has been awesome to watch. How much so you ask? Well, I watched way more of the Dodgers-Cubs last night than the Sunday night NFL game. So there's that.
The Big Ten. Ohio State stayed unbeaten but was tested at Wisconsin, which is likely the third- or fourth-best team in the league. Now compare that balance and competitiveness to what we saw in Knoxville on Saturday. Now, remember that Nebraska stayed unbeaten Saturday and is in the top 10, and Michigan is unbeaten and No. 3 in the country. Yep, the Big Ten is better than the SEC this year. Period.
Georgia sophomore defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter returned from a six-game suspension to make four tackles Saturday, but the Bulldogs were woeful on special teams in a 17-16 loss to Vanderbilt.Weekend losers
Brian Kelly. Man, what is it with Notre Dame and awful contract extensions? They signed Charlie Weis to an albatross contract a few years back and they were still paying for it almost a decade later. Now know ND signed Kelly to a six-year extension last January and he has responded with multiple preseason arrests that led to the dismissal of arguably his best defensive player and a rotten 2-5 start that included a 17-10 loss to Stanford on Saturday that was so bad it fell into the "Road House" and/or car wreck category that you couldn't turn away from the awfulness.
Georgia. Not sure how you get almost triple the yards and lose to Vandy 17-16 - on homecoming no less - but that's what Kirby Smart and Co. accomplished. It's fair to ask if Smart and his staff were outreached by Derek Mason, and if the answer to that is yes, well, that's a pretty exclusive club. And not in a good way.
Tennessee. Yes, Tennessee was banged up more than one of those cars everyone pays $5 to hit with a sledge hammer (Do they still do that fundraiser or did that become another victim of the all-powerful insurance waiver?) Yes, the Vols played more freshmen than your average JV team. Those caveats aside, that was an absolute whipping. And the big question here has to be what was the actual game-plan offensively?
Fab 4 picks. Wow, that felt bad because it was bad. We finished 2-5, and that was with a half-point win - and a half-point loss - as well as a head-scratching bagel-and-3 on over/under picks. We are a dismal - and far from entertaining 5-9 over the last two weeks to fall to 23-18 on the season.
The back judge who missed the obvious pass interference against Julio Jones that denied the Falcons a chance to beat the Seahawks Sunday. If you saw it you are shaking your head right now. If you didn't, well know it was almost as bad as you can imagine. And we're pretty happy Dan Quinn didn't bust a blood vessel in his bald head like that dude in "Scanners" back in the day.
Alabama's Tony Brown (2) smiles as the Vol fans yell at them as they come off the field after warmups. The top-ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action on October 15, 2016Speaking of that
OK, we admitted it. The Big Ten is definitely better than the SEC at the top. There are two in the top three in the AP top-25 poll, three in the top eight and four in the top 10.
The SEC has top-ranked Alabama and Texas A&M at No. 6 and the next ranked team is an-injury-riddled Tennessee team at No. 18.
You can discuss whether the SEC is deeper from top to bottom, but even that's debatable since Indiana is much better than in years past and the bottom of the SEC is pretty gnarly this year with some offenses that are downright stagnant.
Still, that said, beating an SEC team does carry a certain amount weight nationally. Did anyone else think it was somewhat puzzling that BYU students stormed the field Friday night after the Cougars' win over the worst Mississippi State team in the Dan Mullen era?
OK, that public service announcement aside, the Big Ten may have more better teams, but after watching what happened in Knoxville on Saturday, no league this side of the AFC East has a better team than Alabama.
That was overwhelming and thorough and impressive and relentless. It was so bad that even the most ardent Johnny Vols Fans we know had to admit it was impressive. Yes, they admitted it through gritted teeth and with precursors such as "I hate them more than the Devil himself, but" but those offerings of compliments were there. It was respect worthy to be more direct.
You have to respect a team that is that deep. Dear buckets man, when was the last time you noticed when an Alabama player was injured or when an Alabama player turned out to be a huge disappointment or underachieved? Uh, like hardly never because they have waves of highly talented dudes salivating to get their chance to play.
You have to respect a defense that comes at you in waves to the point that it feels like the Tide have 14 guys on the field at all times. You have to respect the simplicity of the game when you have that much talent. Alabama knew UT couldn't block its front four/five for more than three seconds, so the Tide pressed every receiver on every play. The result, a first down for the Vols on Saturday felt like a touchdown for Pete's sake. On the other side, the Vols were playing so many reserves on defense, Alabama knew that whenever it needed yards, as long as it did not run operate in the neighborhood of Derek Barnett, there were yards available.
You have to respect Nick Saban's ability to collect and cultivate talent like no other coach in the history of the game. And if you don't want to believe that praise, know this: Tennessee and Butch Jones have recruited very well over the last three years. They have but two losses - both to top-six ranked teams - and were ranked in the top-10 nationally heading into weekend. And there was no more than one player wearing an orange uniform that would have started for Alabama on Saturday. Seriously, other than Barnett, who wearing a Tennessee uniform would displace a Tide player at his respective position?
And with all that talent, you especially have to respect a team this good that excels at the little things. Did you see how well Alabama's receivers blocked down field and on the edge? That turned 8-yard gains into 28-yard touchdowns. Did you see how well this bunch tackles in space? That prevents 28-yard touchdowns and limits them to 8-yard gains. (Well, provided you have time to throw it 8 yards or can avoid the ball-seeking missile that is Rueben Foster.)
Yes, it was that impressive from to back.
So yes, the Big Ten may be the better conference this year, but no team is better than the Alabama bunch we saw on Saturday.
This and that
- We mentioned the NLCS above, but we need to expound a little on the rewriting of the narrative of Clayton Kershaw's postseason numbers. The Dodgers now have four wins - he has two victories, a save and a no-decision in those games - in his last four playoff outings, including Sunday's 1-0 win in which Kershaw allowed two hits in seven innings while fanning six.
- Today's national pasta day. How would you celebrate?
- Man, SNL is a shell of its former self, but its still pretty doggone good during election season. And the Ken Bone skit on Saturday was flat-out funny. And would someone please tell Donald that his bellyaching about SNL is silly and in truth only going to make it worse.
- Many thanks and appreciations to the folks at the Signal Mountain Church of Christ for their warm generous hospitality on Sunday. It meant a great deal to my family.
- Big 12 presidents are meeting today in Dallas to discuss expansion. This could be a huge, Huge, HUGE day for Houston athletics. Or it could be the beginning of the end of their football renaissance, since if the Cougars are not invited that will almost assuredly mean Tom Herman will be looking to pick up and vamoose.
- For the better part of the first month-plus of the NFL season, Odell Beckham Jr. has been a monster distraction for the New York football Giants. Sunday, with eight catches for more than 200 yards and two scores, he reminded us why the football Giants tolerate such a distraction.
- OK, we have discussed in this space before how quarterback play is falling off at almost all levels of the game. But we're not alone in thinking field-goal kickers have much stronger legs but seem way less reliable in big-money attempts than in years past are we? Dude from NC State has to be sick to his stomach after his shank from 33 yards at the end of regulation led to Clemson beating the 'Pack 24-17 in overtime.
Today's question
Weekend winners and losers whatcha got?
As for the other, today is a rhythmic music kind of day for birthdays. Eminem (44), Ziggy Marley (48) and Wyclef Jean (47) each are celebrating today, and we feel pretty sure each would be on the far left of Rushmores of Eminems, Ziggys and Wyclefs, although the cartoon character Ziggy may have something to say about that.
As for another avenue, let's go here: Evel Knievel would have been 78 today. Let's go your favorite Rushmore of 1970s toys in honor of the Knievel action figure who came with that motorcycle you revved with the hard-plastic handle. You know the one - it's right here - and it was equal parts junkie and awesome.
The Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle Set may not make it, but with that or Super Toe - this awesome blue field-goal-kicking dude - and these rockin' and sockin' robots there are few choices.
Go.