Weekend winners
– Russell Wilson. Five TDs in a must-have win over the Steelers before a national TV audience. The Seahawks are now back above .500, and with the wildcat race in the NFC crazy, as long as Seattle gets to the dance, they are going to be a tough out.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson throws during NFL football training camp, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) – Brock Osweiler. Wow. Grab the opportunity, there kid. Was he perfect? No, but he made enough plays – big, strong-armed plays down the field – and led the Broncos to a season-galvanizing win over the previously unbeaten Patriots in the snow in an awesome overtime classic Sunday night. (Side note: The two most compelling sports shorelines of the weekend wrapped after midnight on Saturday and Sunday. There were the Peyton Manning-less Broncos doing work in overtime early Monday morning. And late Saturday night the press conferences inside Tigers Stadium were must-see TV. Which brings us to…)
– Les Miles. We will get more into the college football coaching craziness in a moment, but we have to tip the visor to the Mad Hatter. Dude handle all the questions from the last two weeks about his job security with grace and patience. He then had the last laugh on Saturday night as the Tigers carried him off the field after beating Texas A&M and the public sentiment started to turn. This could very easily be about the complete and total botch job LSU AD Joe Aleva and the entire department did handling this mess. Aleva even said the decision to keep Les was made in the second half of a relatively meaningless game against an Aggies that lost to Auburn at home for crying out loud. Miles now has complete control of the situation. He could walk now and have his pick of very good openings. He could strong-arm Aleva into even keeping that goof Kevin Steele if he wanted. It’s Les Miles’ world and we’re just all along for the ride. Heck, here’s hoping that Les comes out for the home opener next September in footed jammies with sleeping cap and a Long Island Ice Tea in his hand. War Grass Chewer.
– UTC. Now that was handling your BID-ness. Before a surprisingly small – announced attendance less than 4,500? – home crowd the Mocs punched Fordham in the face and never looked back to advance in the FCS playoffs. The first quarter was nearly flawless, and featured a key fourth-down conversion near midfield on and early touchdown drive. It was 24-0 before the end of the first and the rout was on.