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NFL power poll
Football man. Football.
The Chiefs lost to the Jags in part because Patrick Mahomes threw a 99-yard pick six.
The Ravens are closer to the No. 1 overall pick than the No. 1 overall seed because they have the worst defense in the NFL. Yes, those Ravens. (Side questions: Is John Harbaugh overrated, and have the Ravens wasted Lamar Jackson’s window?)
The Eagles are good, but catering to the demands of diva wide receivers in part led to a come-from-ahead loss Sunday at home.
The Jags are 4-1. So are the injury-riddled 49ers.
And to make matters worse, we’ve now had back-to-back weeks decided by NFL ball carriers dropping the ball a step short of the end zone that nullified TDs — both times in one-score losses.
Go figure, huh?
With that, let’s gallop to the poll.
Powerful
1 Detroit (4-1). Man, Dan Campbell is good at this. The Lions lead the NFL in points per game and have a staggering 22 TDs through five games. But the difference this year is on the other side, where the Aidan Hutchinson-led Lions defense is top 10 in yards allowed and top five in takeaways.
2 Indianapolis (4-1). In truth, the Colts should be the last unbeaten team. Through the first five games, the Colts are the most efficient offense of the last 45 years in terms of percentage of drives ending with points. Can we have a real conversation about Indiana Jones as the MVP frontrunner a third of the way in the season?
3 Buffalo (4-1). Josh Allen is the best tackle football player on the planet, and this would be a great time for the Bills’ brass to move draft capital to a fading team for a difference-making WR.
4 Philadelphia (4-1). So can anyone explain how the Eagles had a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter at home and handed the ball to Saquon Barkley exactly one time as the Broncos rallied for a 21-17? I’ll wait.
5 Tampa Bay (4-1). Can we book Emeka Egbuka as rookie of the year? And when this team gets healthy and Baker Mayfield can throw to Egbuka, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the Bucs are going to be hard to handle.
Powerless
28 Miami (1-4). This may be too high for a team that likely will be facing a very real tear down — HC, QB1, and almost everyone else — before 2026.
29 Tennessee (1-4). Even with a win, the Titans’ minus-68 scoring differential is the worst in the NFL.
30 New Orleans (1-4). Next. Wait, shouldn’t a lot of the teams in this bottom tier start looking around and peeling off pieces? Treat the rebuild the way MLB teams, no?
31 Las Vegas (1-4). The lifeless Raiders defense allowed the Colts to score 40 unanswered points Sunday. That’s hard to fathom.
32 New York Jets (0-5). Man, whose consistency is more predictable — the Chiefs’ annual spot among the top favorites since Patty Mahomes took over as QB1 or the Jets among the top options for the cellar? In the last nine NFL drafts, the Jets have had 11 picks in the top half of round one.
Postseason drama
Playoff baseball is tremendous, even when there is limited drama, like right now.
The Yankees head home for Game 3 tonight, down 2-0 to Toronto. The Cubs also face a similar 0-2 to the Brewers as the series shifts to Chicago.
Only Seattle-Detroit has a 1-1 series with Game 3 tonight, which takes us to the biggest matchup in this divisional round.
Los Angeles went to Philly and grabbed games 1 and 2, including a dramatic 4-3 win Monday night.
The Dodgers have won four straight playoff games. The Phillies have lost four straight playoff games.
But last night was decided by the slimmest of margins.
The Dodgers jumped to a 4-0 lead, and the bullpen left the door open for the Phillies to crawl back.
And then, with runners on first and third and two outs, Freddie Freeman may have made one of the biggest and best defensive plays I can recall in postseason baseball.
A terrible throw from second left Freeman extended on a tricky hop and delivering a must-have scoop to end the game.
Watch it here. It was tremendous.
Poll-ish sausage
We were ahead of the curve around these parts about the total worthlessness of the preseason poll for college football.
And midway through the season, it has completely proven out.
The preseason top 10 from the AP had Texas at 1 and Penn State at 2.
Both are unranked before Columbus Day, and are 39 and 40th, respectively, in this sport-wide ranking from The Athletic.
The obvious target of the angst — always — is the stupid media.
But the portal makes preseason projections more unknown than ever.
Plus, the talent — especially the top-level talent — is more dispersed than ever with NIL.
All that said, James Franklin losing with the Nittany Lions as a 24.5-point favorite against UCLA is inexplicable.
Thoughts?
This and that
› There are odds out there that David Ross and Mark DeRosa are the frontrunners to fill the Braves’ job. Also on the list? UT skipper Tony Vitello.
› Rules people. Here’s Paschall on the ongoing recovery of Jermod McCoy for the UT Vols.
› To the surprise of no one, Baylor superstar RB1 David Gabriel-Georges was the TFP high school football player of the week. More from Hargis, which also fits into the rules.
› Bruce Pearl stopped by “The Will Cain Show” on Fox and politely declined to get too deep into the “divisive” comments from Mike Wilbon when Pearl retired last month. Pearl said a Wilbon associate reached out to him and said Wilbon’s comments were not antisemitic but more politically driven. Which begs the question, Mike, is being a Republican divisive? In turn, is being a Democrat divisive? Hmmm.
› LeBron is having The Decision II today. I am pretty sure that I could not possibly care less about it.
› Malik Beasley is a free agent two weeks before the NBA season tips off. Beasley was released amid a sports betting investigation of which he was cleared. Beasley is way better than most know and could be a swing player for potential NBA title contenders.
Today’s questions
True or false, it’s Tuesday. Morning, Ernie.
› True or false, Lions-Colts in the Super Bowl.
› True or false, the Ravens will still make the playoffs.
› True or false, Indiana Jones is a top-10 NFL QB.
› True or false, you would take the Dodgers over the field to win the World Series.
› True or false, you’d be OK with David Ross or Mark DeRosa taking over Brian Snitker as the Braves skipper.
› True or false, Tony V’s vibe would work in MLB.
You know the drill. Answer some T or F; ask some T or F.
As for today, Oct. 7, let’s review:
› “The French Connection” was released on this in 1971. Rest easy, Gene Hackman. You were great.
› Vladimir Putin is 73 today. Oliver North is 82.
› John Mellencamp is 74 today. This one could be tough, but does he make the Rushmore of musical Johns? Go.