Cool Brees
OK, the "Monday Night Football" game was less compelling than Booger's analysis, but it was must-watch TV for those of us who appreciate all-time marks and records.
Drew Brees topped Peyton Manning's all-time mark with his 541st touchdown pass. His postgame comments to Lisa Salter about breaking into the league and just wanting to be a starter and then trying to be a contributor were truly humble and genuine.
It's also hard to fathom with the perspective of hindsight.
Brees is going to leave the game with almost every meaningful career individual passing record. Yes, Tommy Terrific is in the top three in most categories, too, and he still is playing, but Brees is three years younger and barring any unforeseen setback or injury likely will play longer than Brady.
Two thoughts rushed through my mind as Brees was becoming the all-time TD thrower - while going a record-setting 29-of-30 - Monday.
First, and I was not alone in this one: Where does Brees rank on the all-time list of QBs?
Yes, he held the record for about 12 seconds before we all started carving his place into this all-time list or that one.
In truth, Brees' ascent up the passing record list hurts Peyton Manning's argument to be the GOAT as much as it bolsters Brees' - and all the while helps Brady's.
Because the answer to QB GOAT depends greatly on the prism and the matrices used.
We all know that Brady has the most rings. I will argue that Aaron Rodgers is as good as anyone I've ever seen do it.
But now, if you are a records-and-stats guy, are we to a place that Brees > Manning?
The second thought that came to me watching Brees was how he's part of two of the greatest NFL crossroads and "what ifs?" of the modern era.
What if the Falcons had not traded up in the draft for Michael Vick? Remember the deal was with San Diego and the picks that were part of the swap for the Falcons became Vick - and we all remember his rollercoaster career of supreme highs and felonious lows - and the Chargers picked LaDainian Tomlinson and Brees with its first two picks in that draft.
What kind of trajectory would the Falcons have had with those two Hall of Famers instead of Vick's highlights?
The second crossroad, of course, was when Brees was a free agent and he wanted to go to Miami and play for then-Dolphins coach Nick Saban, but the Miami training staff believed Daunte Culpepper was more physically capable than Brees. (Wow, those folks need to have their medical licenses revoked, huh?)
If Brees goes to Miami, there's a very real chance that Saban is still in South Florida and rolling with the South Beach tide.
NFL power poll
Yeah, we meant to lead with the Brees thing and, like Cinnamon on the main stage, work the power poll.
But the Brees' thing kind of started to grow and grow and, well, there you go.
We have two weeks left in the season, and for only the second time in the Super Bowl era there's a four-way tie for the best record in the NFC. (It also happened in 1978.)
This is supremely interesting considering the chess pieces in play for the 11-3 Saints, Seahawks, Packers and 49ers. And amazingly, right now the 49ers are the 5 seed. (Seriously. And please stop with the "Oh, the travesty of a team with a better record having to go on the road to face an inferior division champ" mumbo-jumbo. That's a tired argument. Winning the division matters, and unless you overhaul the whole kit and caboodle, then just stop.)
And knowing that the top two seeds get byes and the West runner-up between Seattle and San Francisco will have to go on the road for the entirety of the playoffs, well, the fight is on for the final two weeks.
Fire up the "Girls, Girls, Girls" from the Cruë and let's get fantasy to the main stage and the poll. (And we are going to post points differentials for each of these teams because for a team like Seattle, which has found ways to win every close game, it's kind of a measure of dominance in some ways.)
1. Baltimore (12-2). Have clinched the division and are fighting for the all-important home-field edge (which means not going through Foxboro). Baltimore has the tie-breaker over the Patriots, too, so it can clinch the 1 seed with a win at Cleveland on Sunday. Point differential: Plus-215
2. New Orleans (11-3). Another team that has clinched its division. Yes, the defensive line is banged up. But Brees-and-Michael Thomas is a better 1-2 punch than any of the other NFC offenses can offer. And if the Saints get home field, well, that's going to be a hard path for everyone. (If we ranked the home-field edges among the NFC's, we'd likely go Green Bay, New Orleans, Seattle and then San Francisco. And the crazy thing is the Falcons have wins at two of those spots.) Point differential: Plus-75.
3. New England (11-3). Yes, the Ravens have the most explosive offense with Lamar Jackson. The Saints appear to be the most balanced, but there is no unit as dominant as the Patriots defense. And we feel sorry for anyone writing the Pats - and Brady and Belichick - off until Quincy declares them officially D.O.A. Point differential: Plus-191.
4. San Francisco (11-3). Yes, the 49ers are the five seed (and, yes, they have clinched a postseason spot) but the diversity of weapons - and Kyle Shanahan's elite play-calling - make this a team that can win a shootout in New Orleans. The difference Sunday was the missing starters on defense, and if those dudes can' come back, well, that's going to hurt. (Sorry, Spy. That's a bad one.) Point differential: Plus-161. (Did you know that Seattle has the same 11-3 record and a point differential of plus-26?)
5. Green Bay (11-3). Hey, if you want to have Seattle here, fine. But for me Aaron Rodgers > every other quarterback when it comes to winning one game to advance. Yes, Brees and Brady included. Point differential: Plus-47.
Powerless
28. New York Giants (3-11). Yes the season has been a disaster. But Sunday's farewell to Eli Manning for the home crowd was pretty cool. That said, the Giants need to lose to make sure that they have a shot at Chase Young, gang. Point differential: Minus-99.
29. Miami (3-11). Among the great fantasy finds of the season is DeVante Parker, the wideout who had two meaningless TDs Sunday. (Yes, he's on Team Greeson.) Point differential: Minus-194.
30. Detroit (3-10-1). If David Blough is the answer, then I do not want to know the question. And while we are discussing NFL players you may not want quarterbacking your team but who have elite fantasy value, our man Jameis Winston shredded the Lions secondary Sunday. (Yes, Jameis is on Team Greeson, too.) Point differential: Minus-69.
31. Washington (3-11). Frank Gore has had a ton of success and received a lot of attention for moving into the top four of all time in rushing. But what Adrian Peterson is doing at 143 years of age with Washington is simply nuts. He had 66 rushing yards and a TD on 16 carries against Philly on Sunday and has 784 yards on 183 carries this year. That's 4.3 yards a carry for a 34-year-old dude. Point differential: Minus-132.
32. Cincinnati (1-13). Joe Burrow's reward for a historic season? Headed to Cincinnati. Point differential: Minus-148.
Bowling strikes
Well, for a lot of us, the non-playoff-bowl-game-must-watch hierarchy goes like this:
Our favorite team. Alabama-Michigan. (Hey, if you're on the Will Wagon like me and want to see the Charlotte Healys go to work later this week, I'm with you. But it's still third at best.)
The Alabama storyline is quite intriguing on a slew of levels. There's the motivation factor. There's the "Who's playing" factor. There's the angry factor - on both sides considering the Tide and the WolverKhakis both lost their most recent game to their most-hated rival.
Our friend and Press Row cohost and TFP college football Dumbledore David Paschall puts a lot of that in context from the Tide's angle in today's Sports section. Here are the details, and know this, friends, when Paschall's writing about the SEC, Weeds is writing about college hoops and Hargis has some preps stuff in there, the TFP sports section is aces with a capital A.
With that knowledge also come the details of Todd McShay's first Mock Draft.
McShay's first round has seven Alabama players in it. Seven. That would be a record. Also, McShay said if all the Bama players come out that could, there likely will be 15 Tide players picked. Both of those would be records.
Let's bowl.
The deadline is Thursday afternoon, friends, so if you are interested, get your Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Game Success (Bowler Optional) entry in ASAP. Send it to jgreeson@timesfreepress.com. It's free. And you can win stuff. I will post my initial picks Wednesday, and my first round of actual bowl picks on Thursday. (The difference of course is the lines have moved, and for the Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Game Success (Bowler Optional) the lines below are final.)
Questions?
One-point games (maximum 9 points)
Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs. Charlotte (+5.5)
Frisco Bowl: Kent State vs. Utah State (-9.5)
New Mexico Bowl: Central Michigan vs. San Diego State (-4.5)
FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl: Liberty vs. Georgia Southern (-5.5)
Boca Raton Bowl: SMU vs. FAU (+3.5)
Camellia Bowl: FIU vs. Arkansas State (-3.5)
Las Vegas Bowl: No. 19 Boise State vs. Washington (-3.5)
New Orleans Bowl: No. 20 Appalachian State vs. UAB (+16.5)
Gasparilla Bowl: UCF vs. Marshall (+17.5)
Two-point games (max 18 points)
Hawaii Bowl: BYU vs. Hawaii (+2.5)
Independence Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs. Miami (FL) (-7.5)
Quick Lane Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. Pitt (-10.5)
Military Bowl: North Carolina vs. Temple (+5.5)
Pinstripe Bowl: Michigan State vs. Wake Forest (+3.5)
First Responder Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. Western Michigan (+2.5)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio vs. Nevada (+6.5)
Armed Forces Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Tulane (-7.5)
LendingTree Bowl: Louisiana vs. Miami (OH) (+14.5)
Three-point games (max 18 points)
Texas Bowl: No. 25 Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M (-6.5)
Holiday Bowl: No. 22 USC vs. No. 16 Iowa (-1.5)
Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force vs. Washington State (+2.5)
Music City Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Louisville (-3.5)
RedBox Bowl: Cal vs. Illinois (+6.5)
Birmingham Bowl: No. 21 Cincinnati vs. Boston College (+6.5)
Four-point games (max 24 points)
Belk Bowl: Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech (-3.5)
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Florida State vs. Arizona State (-5.5)
Liberty Bowl: No. 23 Navy vs. Kansas State (-1.5)
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl: Wyoming vs. Georgia State (+7.5)
Alamo Bowl: No. 11 Utah vs. Texas (+6.5)
Camping World Bowl: No. 15 Notre Dame vs. Iowa State (+3.5)
Five-point games (max 30 points)
Orange Bowl: No. 9 Florida vs. No. 24 Virginia (+13.5)
Outback Bowl: No. 18 Minnesota vs. No. 12 Auburn (-7.5)
Citrus Bowl: No. 13 Alabama vs. No. 14 Michigan (+7.5)
Rose Bowl: No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 8 Wisconsin (-2.5)
Sugar Bowl: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 7 Baylor (+7.5)
Gator Bowl: Indiana vs. Tennessee (PK)
Seven-point games
Peach Bowl (CFP Semifinal): No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 LSU (-13.5)
Fiesta Bowl (CFP Semifinal): No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Clemson (-2.5)
National champ (just the winner no spread) is worth 10 points.
This and that
- No picks Monday, but we'll rectify that today around lunch. Deal? Deal.
- As for another pick, but this is more of a request for the media realm: Can we please find some commercials during the holiday season that don't make me tear up? Whether it's the family gatherings with the FaceTime with the daughter in the military or the old fellow who lost his wife and the kids Photoshop Nana in the pictures, I'm not crying. You're crying.
- OK, here's the first thoughts from the folks who saw the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." We'll see it this weekend at some point, and we got a Lil 5-at-10 who is over-the-moon stoked about this thing.
- Wow, I'll see the initial overreaction and raise you $100 million. Because that's the amount requested in the lawsuit filed by the Utah fan and his girlfriend who heckled Russell Westbrook and was banned from Jazz games forever.
- More on the aforementioned Todd McShay and his first Mock Draft this morning: It's behind the paywall of ESPN+ but in addition to the Bama avalanche of names, here's another interesting tidbit McShay offered on "Golic or Wingo" this morning: "Jake Fromm may be the least ready of the projected first-round (QBs) but he is the smartest and the most NFL ready. Jacob Eason may be the least ready but the most physically gifted." So there's that. McShay also said he would draft Fromm late in the first round and called him the "smartest" and the "hardest working" quarterback he's talked with, which is supreme praise. McShay also said he's not convinced Fromm is coming out because of "unfinished business." So there's that, too.
- McShay has DeAndre Swift as the top-ranked running back on the board, which makes sense, and said that Fromm's struggles were as much about the struggles of the Georgia O-Line and the receivers.
- You know the rules, if there's free Co-Colas we'll drink them. (Well, we'd have to be pretty desperate to turn to Miller Lite. Hey, Blue Cans Matter, friends.) Next, on the books, is if TFP ace sports columnist and college basketball Legend of Lookout (it's like Wizard of Westwood, but different, and localized) Mark Wiedmer writes about college basketball, we link Weeds on college basketball. Here's today's excellent offering, and truth be told he makes an excellent point about the relative silence and the NFL-like ostrich treatment the entire college basketball world is giving a number of those programs who were neck-deep in the FBI mess. Silence on top-ranked Kansas and Louisville and even surging Arizona or LSU. (What's that? No Auburn mention. Just a misunderstanding down on the Plains. We all know Bruce Pearl never steps outside the rules. Ever. Ever, Chas. Ever.)
- And truth be told, to Weeds' point about the silence, there's also a lack of caring for those of us at Auburn. We hired Barbee, for Pete Maravich's sake. Barbee was bending every rule and not bending them well, and he couldn't coach. Because if Auburn gets three years probation, well, that risk has certainly been worth the reward of making Auburn basketball fun again.
Today's questions
True or false Tuesday. (True.)
True or false, Drew Brees ranks higher on the GOAT list than Peyton Manning.
True or false, Alabama is going to crush Michigan.
True or false, New Orleans is the best team in the NFC. (If you say false, please show your proper answer and support said choice.
As for today, Dec. 17, well, let's explore.
Happy flight day. Orville and Wilbur got that thing in the air on this day in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, N.C.
Hey Pope Francis is 82 today. Rushmore of "Pope," and be creative.
But we'd be remiss if we did not recognize that today is the 40th anniversary of "The Simpsons." I think I've had a Rushmore of Simpson characters not named Simpson, but wow, what an amazing run.
Let's do this: Rushmore of "adult" cartoons. Go.