So the last time I was with you guys, the college football season hadn't even KICKED OFF yet. The last time I was with you, I previewed that weekend's games. That Week One of college games was a great weekend, lived up to the hype.
But that wasn't the greatest weekend of football so far this year. This past weekend that we just got done with was. From college to the NFL, it was two days of pure bliss.
So much so, I'm not even going to wait for the Bengals/Giants game tonight to comment.
I've heard criticism of the NFL's ratings so far this year, and justifiably so. There have been a lot of factors that go into that.
Amongst those are the tumultuous election which we just got done with (and no I'm not telling you who I voted for, you don't come here to see me discuss politics), the national anthem Black Lives Matter protests instigated by Kaepernick which caused a number of fans to boycott the league (I won't give you my opinion on that either, but if you think that isn't a factor in ratings you are kidding yourself), but most notably, the terrible games. The first half of the season there have been some wretched football games.
I would be very surprised if after this weekend the NFL ratings don't improve greatly. If fans can't tune in to Cowboys/Steelers OR Patriots/Seahawks when both are great games, then fans really have lost interest and it's a shame. Those were great games.
On Cowboys/Steelers. I think we all know how far the Cowboys have come just this season. Seven straight wins after a week one loss to the football Giants. A great comeback against the Eagles when they were all but dead. A clutch win on the road in Washington. Blasting the Packers in Green Bay (then again who doesn't do that these days).
But that, that's a classic, season defining win against a team with championship pedigree and expectations. Prescott and "Zeke" Elliott didn't even BLINK when Big Ben nailed that fake spike play to Antonio Brown. As a side note, I haven't seen that play executed since Marino did it to the Jets in 1994. Very surprised more teams don't use that play.
But when Dallas got the ball back, crowd roaring, game on the line, they weren't the least bit intimidated. That was a clutch drive of all clutch drives. 35-30, Cowboys win, goodbye thanks for coming.
As for the Steelers, I get that the record is 4-5.
It's not time to panic about the Steelers. Not yet. Let's look at their last four losses. To Miami, who's won four in a row, after Big Ben got hurt. Lost to the Pats, without Big Ben. Lost to the Ravens, a division rival after Big Ben got back. And yesterday, to possibly one of the two best teams in the NFL. I heard a caller on Jim Rome this morning unload on Tomlin. Relax.
They're going to beat the Browns, get to 5-5, they'll beat the Colts on Thanksgiving to get to 6-5, and they'll go from there. Still a chance to win the division and get in the playoffs is all you need.
Is Dallas the team to beat on the NFC's road to the Super Bowl? Maybe not, because of this team called Seattle. You know, the Seahawks. The team that won the world title three years ago.
That's because last night, Seattle got some retribution for that crushing Super Bowl loss to the Patriots, and reminded everyone of their championship pedigree. Russell Wilson played his best game of the year last night and when it's usually Tom Brady time, four chances to force OT from the one yardline, Seattle's defense made a stand.
Only halfway through the season but at this point I'd be mildly surprised if Seattle and Dallas isn't for the NFC flag. That by the way has as much to do with how some other would-be contenders have been playing as it does with how Seattle and Dallas are tearing things up. Atlanta looks more pretender than contender. The Vikings are leaking oil. And the Packers, my God, the Packers, have so many issues. Can't run the ball. Can't stop anyone especially without Clay Matthews.
But the weekend of craziness didn't stop there. There was this game called Broncos/Saints and if you didn't see how it finished, you need to. The Saints had a potential win, literally, ripped right away from them on a seemingly simple extra point. Saints fans have to be heartbroken today.
As for the Broncos, well, when you win championships or contend for championships, you generally win those games more than you lose them. Elway like him or not has done as an executive exactly what he did as a player; create a championship culture.
Similarly, the Chiefs pulled off a theft yesterday in Carolina; anyone who saw any part of how that game went would tell you Kansas City had no business winning that ballgame, but fact is they did. They didn't score an offensive touchdown all day and still beat Cam Newton. In Charlotte. When it looked like Carolina was finally looking like themselves again.
If the Broncos are the team with the championship pedigree (they are) and the Raiders are the NFL's up and comer (they are), then the Chiefs are the NFL's Rodney Dangerfield, they get no respect as compared to those other two. Do you realize that KC has won 18 of its last 21 including playoffs?
Do they have enough to win it all? I'd say probably not, but when you win games in that fashion that's something special.
I can tell you that I'm pretty sure what's Bob McNair's worst nightmare Super Bowl. Denver vs Dallas in his building. Either his former coach Kubiak and his cohorts go back to back or your cross state rival wins its sixth championship and Cowboy fans pack the building (and believe me they will, this is a Cowboy state first and foremost).
All this NFL, and I haven't gotten into the craziness that was college football. You know, that whole deal where 2, 3 and 4 all got beat in the same weekend.
The college football rankings will be VERY interesting this week. Alabama is almost certainly the top team and the team to beat. Ohio State I would guess will be the second ranked team even though it doesn't control its own destiny. After that, who? Louisville, maybe?
Of all the top teams that got beat, Michigan surprised me the most. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Michigan is the team that always has all the glitz, all the glamour, higher profile, yet they always find ways to lose games like they did Saturday night. And they're probably going to lose to Ohio State in Columbus too, considering that Urban Meyer doesn't lose big games. The only times Meyer loses are when he's a huge favorite. He won't be against Michigan, so I would expect a Buckeye win.
Funny thing is, if that happens, it's Penn State that has the inside track to the Big 10 title game. I think we all know who would win a second game between OSU and Penn State, but the one time Penn State could have beat them, they did. Will it keep OSU out of the playoffs? We'll see.
Oh and there's a pretty big game Thursday night here in town (those who know me, know I live in Houston). A team called Louisville is coming here with playoff implications. Oh and it's a pretty big audition for Tom Herman, a rising coaching star, in front of a national audience.
Until next time....
