Weekend winners
– The NFL. We have talked openly about the ratings slump the league is in. Whether it’s protests or off-the-field issues or the presidential election, the bottom line is the NFL TV numbers – the numbers that have driven the league from being a popular sport to being far and away the most important TV asset in pop culture – have dipped drastically. Another complaint has been bad football and lack of star power. Well, Sunday evening – from the back-and-forth Falcons-Packers game to the Cowboys-Eagles overtime thriller – the football was fun and fantastic.
– Baseball. The Cubs won Game 5 in a tight and well-played 3-2 win Sunday night. It gave Cubs fans a World Series win at Wrigley, which is the baseline of hope for this enterprise. It gives the Indians the chance to clinch at home and do something not even the Cavs did last June. It also gives Fox another date with the ratings monster that has been delivered by the Cubs. Game 3 Friday night pulled 19.4 million viewers, the most watched Game 3 since 2004. Saturday’s Game drew roughly 17 million viewers – against some competitive college football mind you – and was up 23 percent from last year. The lesson here – and one the NFL is actually feeling too – is star power, be it player or team, really matters.
– Ohio State. Yes, the Buckeyes won an awfully ugly game at home 24-20 over Northwestern. But the losses in the Big 12 and the positioning around college football means the Buckeyes now again control their own destiny. And that’s all any team can ask for. Remember, as Oklahoma emerges as the best-looking Big 12 team, THE Ohio State beat Oklahoma, which still has two losses.
– Tom Brady. Yes, the hits just keep on coming, and Brady added four more TD passes in Sunday’s win over Buffalo. At this pace, Brady will finish the season with a completion percentage better than 73 percent, with 3,957 passing yards and 36 TDs with no picks. In 12 games. Also of note: The last six times the Patriots have lost their first division game against an opponent, New England has won the rematch by an average of 28 points.