Gang, get to smiling. It’s Christmas time.
From the “Talks too much” studios, let’s deck the halls. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
NFL Power Poll
There is so much that goes into crafting a winner in the NFL. (Cue Ron Jaworski… “The NATIONAL Football League” really seems to fit there.)
Look at the elite teams in the league. There is good-to-elite quarterback play. Notice we said quarterback play, and not merely a good-to-elite quarterback. There’s a difference. Ask Kansas City, which is 11-3 and looming and lurking in an effort to sneak in and grab home-field advantage from the Denver Broncos. No one is ever going to say Kansas City starter Alex Smith is a good-to-elite quarterback, but he’s playing at a good-plus level and that’s enough. (And when you can throw screen pass after screen pass against Oakland and Jamal Charles turns them into TD after TD, well, that’s a bonus. Do the Raiders even practice? Egad. It’s not like the Chiefs ran some fancy set and called some play like “The Annexation of Puerto Rico.” No they threw swing passes and screens.)
Good NFL teams also are tough. They’re tough against pressure and injury and almost any situation. They deliver in moments that matter and they matter in moments in which they need to deliver.