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NFL power poll
The Falcons, Lord, the Falcons.
Are they wasting Bijan Robinson’s prime? Did you know that Robinson leads the NFL in scrimmage yards and just went for almost two bills against a Rams team that not-that-long-ago was the Super Bowl favorite?
Now they will have the enviable decision to make about whether they sign an RB1 to that big-money deal after his rookie deal expires.
And in truth, what a terrible night for everything Rams, right?
Matt Stafford’s three picks all-but-wrapped the MVP award for Drake Maye.
L.A. lost any shot of the division title or a home playoff game.
And sneakily, maybe the biggest ache from Monday night for the playoff-bound Rams is the draft positioning it lost since L.A. owns the Falcons’ 2026 first-rounder. Yikes.
Let’s make like Santa last Thursday night when his work was done and sprint to the poll.
Powerful
1. Seattle (13-3). Sam Darnold is now 27-6 in the regular season over the last two years. Read that again.
2. New England (13-3). I know the schedule has been ACC-level weak, but all you can do is beat the team on the other side. And there’s a real chance the Pats have the MVP (Maye) and the Coach of the Year in Mike Vrabel.
3. San Francisco (12-4). Here’s the hard truth about first-round QBs: You best have a worthy offensive mind working with that big-ticket prize or you are cooked. Heck, every other team in this power poll has a high-round pick flourishing with savvy offensive coaches. And how good is Kyle Shanahan at that? Well, he’s got the 49ers in the fight for the 1 seed with Mr. Irrelevant at QB1.
4. Denver (13-3). How many teams on this list have a) an elite defense, and b) a Super Bowl-winning coach? Don’t sleep on the Broncos.
5. Philadelphia (11-5). Sorry Jacksonville, but the defending champs are going to be a tough out with a defense that is a) getting healthy, and b) using a plethora of former Georgia players to flummox opposing QB1s.
Powerless
28. Tennessee (3-13). If the Titans had to do it over again, would they take Cam Ward 1 overall or Saints rookie Tyler Shough, who is flat-out balling?
29. New York Giants (3-13). If the Giants had to do it over again, would they take Jaxson Dart in round one or Saints rookie Tyler Shough, who is flat-out balling?
30. Arizona (3-13). A sneaky name on the free agency market in the coming months is Kyler Murray, the former No.1 overall pick who will be primed for a Darnold-like career makeover in the right setting.
31. New York Jets (3-13). At least the Jets have a slew of draft picks for 2026. Or is that at most for a team that has a minus-176 scoring margin.
32. Las Vegas (2-14). Can’t help to feel sorry for Brock Bowers, a bona fide superstar, who is languishing in the desert.
Portal posturing
Cam Coleman, Auburn’s über-talented wide receiver, will reportedly enter the portal.
That stings, because Coleman is a Sunday WR1. He’s 6-foot-4 and was everyone’s five-star-level recruit.
Coleman instantly jumped to the top of the On3 portal rankings, which list his NIL value at $1.8 million.
Not for nothing, but here’s a telling stat of how poorly coached my alma mater was.
Auburn has five of the top 50 in that On3 portal rankings. Five, and four of them are in the top 27.
(Side note: Former local prep star Boo Carter, the former UT defensive back/punt returner, is ranked 35 on that list.)
It’s a mess, and getting off the treadmill of mediocrity in the modern SEC — especially when the wise folks in the SEC office give AU annual dates with Georgia and Alabama — is truly impossible.
This story paints an even darker picture of the broken status of Hugh Freeze’s locker room. Yikes.
Losing superdudes like Cam Coleman hurts. Bigly.
Most of the players already in the portal — which officially opens Friday and runs through Jan. 16 — were on teams that have made coaching changes.
That is to be expected, especially in the NIL era when players negotiate deals with now-former coaches.
It also magnifies the importance of Alex Golesh’s reported plans to overhaul the AU player payment plans.
He wants to make it more incentive-based, which makes a ton of fiscal sense.
He also reportedly will have a $30 million NIL fund to be a big-time buyer in the portal next month.
It really magnifies the hierarchy of, and adds one more dude to, the five most important guys in a successful SEC structure:
HC1, QB1, strength and conditioning coach, GM (guys who manage the salary structure) and the schedule-maker in Birmingham.
Strange days indeed.
Speaking of strange …
In the craziness that was college football 2025, the Pinstripe Bowl was the face of the zaniness.
It featured Penn State and Clemson, two of the prohibitive preseason playoff favorites.
Clemson returned more production than any FCS or FBS team, and the Tigers finished 7-6 with the Pinstripe bowl loss to Penn State, which floundered so badly this season it fired James Franklin.
Which begs this question: Is Dabo Swinney’s seat hot at Clemson?
He’s one of three sitting head coaches with a national title ring.
Now, after facing what should have been Clemson’s return to national relevance, Swinney is facing a rebuild.
He fired his OC and defensive passing game coordinator earlier this week.
And Dabo faces that rebuild in a modern era where the portal is pivotal, and Dabo views the portal the way Chas views Trump.
So there’s that.
This and that
> This story from The Athletic made the 5-at-10 late this morning. Duke coach Jon Scheyer was HIM as a high school player, whether we knew it or not.
> Chip Kelly is the next OC at Northwestern, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Man, Kelly’s resumé has more stops than a mid-day drive through the staggered lights downtown on Market Street.
> Rules, people. Here’s Paschall on the Vols’ goal to use the Music City Bowl for a fast start for 2026.
> Enjoyed this AP story on Tiger turning 50 and some of his greatest shots that left major memories for his peers through the years.
> Yikes (again). Here’s a 5-foot eighth grader balling for FACS in Alabama.
Today’s questions
True or false, it’s Tuesday. Morning, Ernie, and happy new year.
True or false, Tiger being 50 today makes you feel old.
True or false, Tiger’s magical chip-in — the Nike commercial shot at 16 on that Sunday at the Masters — is the greatest shot in golf history.
True or false, Hugh Freeze was Jeremy Pruitt-bad.
True or false, Dabo Swinney’s seat is hot in 2026.
True or false, Philadelphia is the scariest team heading into the NFL playoffs.
True or false, Tiger did more for his sport than any other athlete over the last half century.
You know the drill: Answer some Ts or Fs; ask some Ts or Fs.
As for today, Dec. 30, let’s review.
Frank recorded “My Way” on this day in 1968.
In addition to Tiger turning 50, LeBron is 41 today. And Sandy Koufax is 90. Strong sports birthday, friends.
Davy Jones would have been 80.
He was in The Monks. Do the Monkees make the Rushmore of musical groups with an animal in their name? Go.