I know we do the Power Poll on Tuesdays, and we will. But there also is a quick middle ground on the super fun grouping of the NFL right now, and that helped inspire today's theme.
So, in addition to the Powerful and the Powerless, we will also have the PowerPoints wedged in the middle. And, since we watched Ron Burgandy last night, and "You stay classy San Diego" is the first PowerPoint, well, let's just say we have a theme.
Powerful
New Orleans (7-1). "That escalated in a hurry. Yeah Brick killed a guy." The Saints jump from 4 to 1 with an impressive win over the Rams. It also redirected - right now, and there's a long way to go - the NFC path to the Super Bowl through The Big Easy. Or as Coach O might say"Kahsgyts blowout dare New Oralsncus. Geaux Tigers." As for killing a guy, well, that was the general response of the Michael Thomas' cell phone stunt that to me was kind of funny and kind of clever in a traditionalistic homage to Joe Horn. It also, if you stop and think about it for a second, pretty media savvy for Thomas. Follow along. As someone who has been lucky enough to have Thomas on his fantasy team the last two years, he can make a monster argument that he's right behind Antonio Brown as the league's second-best and second-most-productive wide out. Better than Julio, A.J., OBJ, you name any of them. And unlike the rest, who are getting credit for being a pure dude and making their QB great, Thomas toils in relative anonymity despite monster numbers. (How big: Through two and a half seasons, Thomas is at 266 catches, 3,262 yards and 19 TDs. The NFL record for most catches in a player's first three seasons is 288 held by Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.) And if Thomas had not pulled out the phone, the entire post-Saints-win-over-the-Rams narrative would have been about Drew Brees, and he's aces and has at least pulled even with Patrick Mahomes in the MVP conversation. But Thomas had 12-211-1, and no one would have said much about it without.
Los Angeles (8-1). "It's anchorMAN, not anchor lady and that is a scientific fact." Not sure how a team with the firepower of the Rams came out that slow from the start. The Saints were rolling to the point that it looked like a blow out before Sean McVay and Co. finally got their footing. McVay may be my favorite coach in the league right now, and we loved McVay's postgame message to his team in his news conference. Enjoy. https://www.therams.com/video/sean-mcvay-talks-about-the-hard-fought-game-against-the-saints Beyond the cliches, McVay got to the points of looking at himself critically and confidence in specific players and even went a little metaphysical by spinning it forward with "find out about yourself with a little adversity" and even dropped the "sometimes set backs are set-ups for comebacks." Well played, Sean. (Side note: Pity the poor Seahawks next week. That one may get to Rams 48, Seattle 17.)
New England (7-2). "I would like to extend to you an invitation to the pants party." If you are an NFL veteran or free agent, don't you make your agent call New England and Coach Hoodie? Think of the careers redirected by that culture and now know that two of the most important pieces in Tom Brady's arsenal in Sunday night's impressive win over Green Bay were Cleveland castoff Josh Gordon and Minnesota castoff Cordarrelle Patterson. This goes back to one of our sports axioms: When your best player is your team's hardest working player, you can accomplish special things.
Kansas City (8-1). "What? You pooped in the refrigerator and you ate the whole wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad. That's amazing." The classic conversation between Burgandy and his dog Baxter is a perfect place for Any Reid's collection of misfit toys and parts. Look at that offense, and it's bordering on unstoppable considering the depth Mamohes can stretch a defense, the speed that can stretch the width of a defense and then Travis Kelce running wide open down the middle. What do you do? You watch and enjoy.
Carolina (6-2). "He had a voice that could make a wolverine purr and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo." OK, we get it Cam Newton is a different dude, good and not so good at times. And his postage ensembles, well, let's just say they are beyond the range of the 5-at-10. (We're more khaki shorts and collared shirts until we need to break out the winter gear.) That's OK, but it also distracts from the narrative of how well he's playing at times. And the last three weeks - all wins - Newton has been lights out. He's 65-of-93 for 736 with six TDs and no picks and rushed 28 times for 134 yards and another TD. He's on a very similar, if not better pace, through eight games than he was in 2015, when he won the NFL MVP. And while every QB on the list above the Panthers has a slew of embarrassing riches around them, Newton shows up and goes to work with a 97-year-old tight end who is injury prone, a white running back and Devin Funchess.
PowerPoints
Dallas "It's so damn hot. Milk was a bad choice." OK, someone explain this to me: Dallas started fast in Monday night's 28-14 loss to Tennessee. (Yes, that dropped our unofficial mid-week entertainment suggestions to 4-2, and put as at a big fat bagel-and-2 for the NFL. We may need to go Costanza on our future NFL predictions? Thoughts?) Anyhoo, the Cowboys started fast, up 7-0 and had the ball and driving. Dak Prescott threw into double coverage and the ball was picked. This team is built around its offensive line - three first-round picks up there - and a No. 4 overall pick on a power back. In the first quarter, which Dallas won 7-0, Ezekiel Elliott had 10 touches for 75 yards. In the remaining 45 minutes of action, 11 touches for 37 yards, including 1 touch for no yards in the final quarter. Say what? It leaves this question for the group: How is Jason Garrett about to celebrate his eight-year anniversary - he was named Nov. 8, 2010 - as the Cowboys' head coach? How?
LeVeon Bell. "Baxter, is that you? Bark twice if you're in Milwaukee." OK, Bell has eight days to sign his franchise tender and return to the Steelers. Otherwise he forfeits the entire year in terms of tenure and contract escalation. There are a slew of questions here: Would you report? It would be worth millions to play and you could remind everyone how good you are, but the simple truth remains that if you get hurt in the final six weeks, it would cost you tens of millions. We have to believe he reports at some point - that's a bunch of cash on the table - and then this thing gets really interesting from the Steelers' view. Do you play him considering the delicate balance and angst that is a locker room of dudes literally taking years off their life for a common goal as Bell has been in South Florida. Do you play him and risk the confidence of James Connor who is performing like a guy aiming to be on a second- or third-team All Pro ballot? But if you have a fresh and extremely motivated Le'Veon Bell in uniform, you have to be mighty tempted to play him down the stretch against a league of tired and nicked and bruised defenders?
Return of the RB1 or a mirage of great offense. "I'm kind of a big deal. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany." Hey, Connor's having a great year. A year in which a lot of guys would be looking at first-team All-Pro consideration. But look around, and the dudes lining up behind and next to these quarterbacks have never been this dynamic. There's Gurley and Kamara and Barkley and Hunt. We mentioned Connor and Melvin Gordon is doing crazy things with the Chargers. But then is that a ripple in time or a crazy time of talented backs? Because Adrian Peterson is beating Father Time and Phillip Lindsay, Isaiah Crowell and Matt Breida are also in the top-9 in rushing right now. Bell and Connor are the face of this discussion in a lot of ways, but so too is the conversations happening after last year's draft and in places like Nashville and Foxboro. Last year's draft had Sony Michel in round one and he's been good and looks the part. But Phillip Lindsay was undrafted. Now look at who is producing what for the Titans (Dion Lewis > Derrick Henry) and the Patriots (yes Michel has shown flashed but James White is a dude and Patterson led the team in rushing Sunday night wearing No. 84 for Pete Rozelle's sake)
The Chargers. "You stay classy San Diego" and "I'm Ron Burgandy. Go (bleep) yourself San Diego." How unfair is it that in year one - after a long and tortuous history in one of the best cities in America - after the Chargers officially are in L.A., they have become the best team in the league no one talks about. And you want to mention weapons around a Hall of Fame QB, the Chargers are not going to apologize to anyone with Gordon and Austin Ekeler in the backfield and Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and a ton of 6-foot-3 dudes running routes. Now know that when Joey Bosa returns and the Chargers have as good a pass-rushing front four as anyone in the league, well, the Chargers will continue to stay classy.
NFL enjoying the moment and still looking ahead. "They've done studies, you know and 60 percent of the time it works every time." This all-timer about Sex Panther from Brian Fantana is so money in so many areas. The NFL TV numbers have more than rebounded and last weekend was a monster with the Saints-Rams pulling a 15.2 overnight ratings (up almost 10 percent from last year in an afternoon game involving the Cowboys, which is saying something) and the Packers-Patriots getting a 15.6 overnight. The Packers-Pats game was the most watched TV show since March - think about that - and was up 63 percent year to date from 2017. Now know that the week of Thanksgiving, here's what the NFL has. The Monday night game is Rams-Chiefs. Yes please. The Thanksgiving Day schedule is Bears-Lions, Skins-Cowboys and Saints-Falcons. Again, yes please. And, leading up to Veterans Day, did everyone notice the fatigues teams were wearing last weekend. Smart. Now we'll add one more. The league has partnered with the video game Fortnite about selling virtual jerseys to gamers. This, friends, is as brilliant as the protesting thing was botched. A simply genius move to get into the viewing spectrum of young people. Yep, that's one of the 60 percent that worked every time.
Powerless
San Francisco (2-7). "People call me the Bry man; I'm the stylish one of the group. I know what you're asking yourself and the answer is yes. I have a nickname for my penis. It's called the Octagon, but I also nick-named my testes - my left one is James Westfall and my right one is Doctor Kenneth Noisewater. You ladies play your cards right, you just might get to meet the whole gang." How much fun must it have been to be Nick Mullens last weekend. You have a historic NFL debut after spending the last couple of years on the practice squad. You lead the 49ers to a 34-3 win over the Raiders on a Thursday. You are the bee's knees. Enjoy young man.
Arizona (2-6). "I'm Brick Tamland. People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks." Does anyone else believe that Larry Fitzgerald would have been a monster if he had not toiled in relative anonymity in the desert? Here's Fitz' numbers and ranks in the three major receiving categories: 1,268 receptions, which is third all-time and 37 behind Tony Gonzalez for second; 15,902 yards, which is third and only 32 yards behind T.O. for second; 112 TDs, which is seventh, three behind Antonio Gates for sixth. Those are amazing numbers, and for the most part, they've been amazingly quite by comparison in today's 24/7 sports media spin cycle.
Buffalo (2-7). "Don't act like your not impressed" and "I pooped a hammer." Ladies and gentlemen, the Nathan Peterman experiment leads us to a place that Peterman threw three picks Sunday - two of which were not his fault by the way - and his QB rating went up. And his career interception percentage (picks thrown per 100 attempts) actually went down. Again, it's tough to be a Bills fan, especially after the beatdown Chicago delivered last week in which the Bears gained less than 300 yards of offense in a 41-9 win. (Bonus Burgandy quote, from the conversation between the bear and Baxter and we feel the Chicago defense feels this way about ol' Nathan. "Fare thee well, Baxter. You shall always be a friend of the bears.")
New York Giants (1-7). "It's terrible. She has beautiful eyes and her hair smells like cinnamon LOUD NOISES." Arguably the worst scenario in the league is somehow glossed over by the crazy talents and gifts of Saquon Barkley and OBJ. How is this team 1-7?
Oakland (1-7). "You're so wise. You're like a miniature Buddha covered in hair." The narrative continues to turn for Jon Gruden. Yes, there are some who say the locker room has folded its tents. OK. But the only thing that would derail the best-case scenario for the Raiders right now is victories. And, if the Cowboys implode - and that certainly could be the case after Saturday night - the Raiders are looking at two top-10 picks next spring, which would jumpstart a rebuilding process for anyone.
College statements
OK, we are going to move quickly because we spent way, Way, WAY too much time on the NFL stuff. (Hey we got into a fun little groove there and the NFL is a lot of fun in and of itself right now.)
Hope you enjoyed it. But there's still more to get to, including our regular Tuesday segment of "Overstament, understatement or statement." You guys are smart and this game is pretty self-explanatory.
Tonight's college football playoff committee rankings will be a brief countdown and a 15-minute info-mercial for Alabama. Understatement. Man, expect the gushing to be over the op between the two mega college basketball games tonight. And it's justly deserved for the Tide, who are dominating at a level that seems unfathomable. Alabama has a +37.2 average margin of victory, which is almost four points higher than Clemson's which has the benefit of two 60-point wins this year. Last year, Alabama had a 24.4 average margin of victory, so this year's team, on average is almost two TDs better than last year's national champs.
Notre Dame will move to 3. Statement. Michigan can't jump Notre Dame; the Irish beat the Wolverines after all. Georgia has a 20-point loss, so the Bulldogs can't jump them either. (That said, if Notre Dame and Georgia played on a neutral field, here's betting the Bulldogs would be a 6-point favorite and we'd lay that number friends.)
Michigan will be 4. Statement. Here's our projected top-10. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan and Georgia in the top 5. From there will go Oklahoma, Washington State, West Virgnia, THE Ohio State and LSU. Yes, a two-loss LSU ahead of an unbeaten UCF. Let the Sunshine State bellyaching begin. Which brings us to...
The Group of Five teams should partner with some fun bowls - Holiday, Sun, Las Vegas, Alamo - and have a four-team tournament of their own. Understatement. Wicked understatement. I love this idea even if I just came up with it. (Hold on, I hurt my elbow patting myself on the back.) Think of this year's top 4 seeds from the Group of Five: UCF at 1, Fresno State at 2, Utah State at 3 and say, Army or Cincy at 4. I would so watch those games - and bet on them - way more than the random bowl games we just bet on. Who's with me?
The ball is tipped
There likely is not a sport that I have fallen out of love with more than college basketball, and that makes me sad.
I am committed to giving our relationship another chance. College basketball, will you take me back?
Yes, I know it sounds desperate, but I need a winter interest. I used to be more into college football recruiting, but no thanks. The NFL is always there, and we're good with that. The NBA is going to get less of my attention because LeBron is playing at 10:30 most of the time. (Yes, we are intrigued by your Celtics, Spy, but the rest of the East is dreck.)
So, that leaves you and me, college hoops. Let's make this work. And if this is going to work, here's the middle where I'd like want to meet.
First the three reasons why I am willing to give this another go:
> I am so pleased to see the SEC improvements. Truly. (Now, the fact the SEC is getting better at a time when the sport may have been the most corrupt is almost a assuredly a coincidence, right? RIGHT!?!?!?!) Anyhoo, UK is elite. Tennessee is complete and balanced and will be on the short list of the most prepared and well-coached teams in the land. (Side note: We feel obligated to say this about three times a season, but of the dozens if not hundreds of times we've been wrong on something sports related, we may have never been more wrong than blasting the hiring of Rick Barnes as a fall-back, retread hire with zero inspiration. Wow. There's right, there's wrong, there's wicked wrong and then there's that awful take.) Elsewhere around the SEC, Auburn is going to be very good. So is LSU and Mississippi State and Florida. High times for the league for sure.
> Speaking of which, Kentucky has a crazy blend of experience and youth. I know, that's strange to consider, when you factor in Coach Cal's ability to overhaul and rebuild in the moment. UK has three former McDonald's All-Americans who are about to be a rare commodity in the Commonwealth - sophomore McDonald's All-Americans at UK. Now add coveted grad transfer Reid Travis from Stanford and this will be the most complete UK team since that one that almost went 40-0. (Side question: Would you expect Reid Travis or Travis Reid to be the better hipster? Discuss.) And no, we are not saying UK has a 40-0 run in it. The SEC is too deep, the schedule is too challenging and UK will always get everyone's best shot. That's a good thing - for the game and the 'Cats - but it makes 40-0 unrealistic, and it should make us realize how truly special that 2014-15 UK team was, regardless what Wisconsin was did in the Final Four.
> Duke's collection of athletes is going to be a lot of fun to watch. We're so in on the Zion Williamson experience. So in. And truth be told, while he's the biggest athletic freak to come out of high school since some dude went from Akron to Cleveland a while back, he's not even the best freshman on his team. Gang, watch R.J. Barrett tonight. Kid can seriously play. (Side note: Can we be done looking at Coach Cal as the "One-and-Done" pimp and Coach K as the "Duke does it the right way" guy? I have made a decision. I'm anti-Duke now. Oh, I'll watch. I'm in for the athletes and the explosion - and not unlike UK, Duke will get everyone's best shot which always makes the environment more fun - but this strange double standard Coach K has some how crafted is off-putting to me. So there's that. And you know what, having a high-profile villain is never a bad thing.)
Now, the three things we need to be better
> Why has the officiating never seriously been addressed? Seriously, and we bring this up before the season so it does not sound like bias or entertainment hunting gone bad. No one pays big dollars or tunes in on the TV to see a 60-year-old white dude with a delayed and emphatic charge call, much to the delight of the home crowd. C'mon. The game is swinging back in the right direction, figure this out sooner rather than later please.
> Please do not insult our intelligence and our renewed fandom by pretending the FBI thing did not happen. Please. Put together a serious task force and let the media behind the curtain as you try to figure out what rules can be changed, what rules should be abolished and what rules should be added. The system is broken and worst than that it's flawed, but let Jay Bilas have a prominent role in this and make a concerted effort to address the issues we all see. Please. And this effort must include college basketball finding a version of the one-and-done that the sport and the NBA can both live with. Because, while a lot of old-school college hoops fans want players to stay for at least two or three years, the sport suffer without the Zion Williamsons of the future bringing energy and enthusiasm each season.
> Next year can we have a monster kick-off doubleheader like tonight scheduled better? Please? Tonight is a great intro to the season, but it's on Election Night. C'mon, this should have been easily avoidable right?
Either way, we're in. We want to give it another swing. Let's hope for a better result.
Now 5 quick predictions in 10 words or fewer - yes the 5-in-10 from the 5-at-10 - that are off the beaten path:
1) Vandy's Darius Garland's the best freshman you don't know.
2) UK will be better than KU; wrong team preseason 1.
3) Non-ranked team with top-four-seed potential: Indiana.
4) Potential 1 seed that is no funwhatsoever: Virginia.
5) Non-SEC, big-time school we've adopted: St. John's.
(Added note: Chris Mullin was one of fags growing up - dude could really stroke it - plus we enjoyed watching transfer Mustapha Heron at Auburn. We are in.)
As for our tournament picks. We'll go 1 seeds of Kansas, which will continue its amazing string of conference titles, Virginia, Gonzaga and Kentucky. (Lunardi has Duke instead of Virginia in that group.)
Final Four: UNC, Kentucky, Duke and Auburn. Yep. That's right.
Oh and for the requested pick for tonight's big between the Cats and the Devils. Cats by 7, pulling away late with more experience. But Williamson will have three plays that make everyone go, "Daaaaannnnnggggggggg."
Let's go.
Thoughts?
This and that
- As for UTC, which starts a monster second season for LaMont Paris tonight, well, talk about shuffling and reshuffling the deck again. This team will be better, for sure. But it's still almost a totally new collection of folks. MT, your thoughts on the ceiling for these basketball Mocs and overall projected record?
- OK, the commercials for "A Star is Born" have been aces. And there are some other movies that look enjoyable as we hit the home stretch of the movie-going season. But gang, the commercials for "Creed II" get the hairs on my arm pointing north. Giddy-Up. We are in.
- MLB finalists announced for the upcoming award season. Here they are and we're short on time or we'd pick these. Maybe on Press Row. Maybe tomorrow around these parts. That's a lot of words we've spilled today.
- Remember that rant we mocked from James Franklin after he gave away THE game against THE Ohio State? You know the one about how Penn State was good and to be elite they needed to take better notes and a slew of other things? Well, coach after Michigan waxed your Nittany linens, was that a failure of note taking? Or how about this stat: Franklin is 0-11 in true road games vs. ranked teams and his losses are by an average of 25.8 points. Oh my. The answer is clearly better note-taking.
Today's questions
True or false, you voted. (If the answer is false, there is still time.)
True or false, you are in for more college hoops around these parts. (After football ends of course.)
True or false, you would take UK, KU, Duke and UNC vs. the field to win it all in college hoops.
True or false, the top 5 tonight will be Bama-Clemson-Notre Dame-Michigan-Georgia.
You know the drill, answer a few, leave a few.
As for today, it's Nov. 6, and other than being the day to make your voice heard, it's also the day Ol' Abe Lincoln was elected president in 1860.
Meet the Press debuted on this day 71 years ago on NBC.
Rutgers defeated Princton 6-4 in the first college football game. Moment of silence please.
James Naismith was both on this day in 1861. Walter Johnson in 1887.
Sally Field is 72 today.
Rushmore of Sallys. Go.