2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 4)

Games I saw (some of):

Maryland 27-34 (4) Michigan

Maryland fumbled the opening kickoff, Michigan recovered and quickly scored and it felt like Michigan was gonna roll. Well....not so much, from that point on the game was even and really for most of the 1st half, I thought Maryland was the better team. Michigan, though, clawed their way back and looked strangely good up against the best competition they've seen this season. So Michigan handled their business against a pretty good conference opponent, a good W, but I'm not penciling them in for the playoff just yet. As for Maryland, well, they're done with the toughest opponent they'll probably have all season.

(5) Clemson 51-45 (2OT) (21) Wake Forest

Two weird observations on two weird QBs: the ballyhooed Clemson recruit just doesn't look very good at the game of football, though he's a hell of an athlete, while the Wake Forest QB seemed limited and hesitant throughout and yet struck me as the archetypal NFL back up; so, yes, I'd be surprised if the Clemson QB plays on Sunday, while I can totally see the Wake QB being in the League for a decade (while playing in like, 3 games). On the field, I thought the refs favored Wake--multiple defensive pass interference calls on Clemson, while never bothering to call the Wake secondary for grabbing and pulling throughout. Did it make a difference? Well, yeah, Wake's big plays downfield was what kept them in the game. So while Clemson didn't run up the score, I still thought this was a pretty good W for them. As for Wake Forest, they play smart, they don't suck, but I don't see them as particularly meaningful this season--the refs gave them their best chance at a big win and they didn't get it done.

(20) Florida 33-38 (11) Tennessee

Man, that Florida QB must be maddening to root for: every so often, he'll pull off some magic but more often than not, he's scrambling for his life or just throwing the ball away. Good talent but he's not there yet and Florida will go as far as he drags them (they've already lost to Kentucky and Tennessee, can they possibly beat Georgia? Uh....I'm not saying 'no'). I liked Tennessee's balanced offense and frankly the score is closer than it should've been because the Vols went into time-killing mode in the 4th rather than just playing the game to the end (a weird thing that football coaches inflict on their own squads, at times). I think Florida can still be dangerous but I think Tennessee was the better team. 

Top 25

Handled Their Business

(1) Georgia, (2) Alabama, (3) Ohio State, (4) Michigan, (5) Clemson, (11) Tennessee, (12) North Carolina State, (13) Utah, (14) Penn State, (17) Baylor, (18) Washington, (19) Brigham Young, (23) Texas A&M, (24) Pittsburgh

Won but did not impress (a lot this week!)

(7) Southern Cal. Didn't bring their A-game (got away with it this week....).

(8) Kentucky. Didn't bring their A-game (got away with it this week....).

(15) Oregon. Didn't bring their A-game (got away with it this week....).

(16) Mississippi. Didn't bring their A-game (got away with it this week....).

Bad beat

(10) Arkansas. Losing at A&M is not a bad loss but it would've been better to roll into Alabama with an A&M W in your back pocket. 

(20) Florida. Losing at Tennessee is not a bad loss (though it has pretty much finished them in the SEC East), they can still win games.

(21) Wake Forest. Losing to Clemson is not a bad loss (but the refs were tying to help them out and Wake couldn't get it done), but not sure the rest of the ACC has much to offer. 

Not so good

(6) Oklahoma. Losing at Kansas State happens every now and again but losing to them at home is unacceptable. Now its up to OU to play plucky underdog for the rest of the year and that hasn't happened in a while.

(22) Texas. I'm still convinced that Texas is a legit good squad but they clearly still have bad days in them (I'm guessing this isn't the last one).

(25) Miami. See ya, Hurricanes. I expect we'll hear all about their next glittering recruiting class but I don't expect to hear about them until then.

Next week's intriguing matches

(15) Washington @ UCLA (Washington is ranked but the Bruins look like the more fun squad)

(4) Michigan @ Iowa (Michigan is just an upset away from falling off the face of the earth and Iowa is just the team to put it on them, we'll see)

(7) Kentucky - (14) Mississippi (hasn't been this much excitement about a UK-Ole Miss match up since...oh, uh....well....never; honestly, I don't what to expect)

Texas Tech @ (25) Kansas State (if you like watching a football get slung all over the field, then you're probably gonna wanna tune in to this one)

(2) Alabama - (20) Arkansas (Bama is still kinda funky and vulnerable but I don't see the Razorbacks getting it done)

(9) Oklahoma State - (16) Baylor (this should be prime Big 12 action)

(22) Wake Forest @ (23) Florida State (the Seminoles won a game and I'm suddenly supposed to be impressed; I dunno, no outcome of this game would surprise me but they're both ranked (though one of them is guarantee to be gone next week), so I'm supposed to watch....*sigh* I will)

(10) North Carolina State - (5) Clemson (still not sold on Clemson but I know they've got overwhelming talent, so I gotta keep an eye on them)

West Virginia - Texas (Big 12 is the place to be this weekend, lot of slinging gonna be going on this Saturday)

2022-23 NFL (Week 2)

Games I saw (some of):

Chargers 24-27 Chiefs

Hmmmmmm....can't help noticing that the Chargers were really the better team and only a fluke 100 yard pick 6 made the difference. The Chiefs are the same ol' Chiefs: they can go off at a moment's notice but they'll spin their wheels every once in a while, too. As for the Chargers, man, Justin Herbert looked like 10 miles of bad road by the end of this match, they better hope he comes back next week. 

Bucs 20-10 Saints

Weird game. Deadly even til a big brawl breaks out late in the 3rd quarter, from then on New Orleans went nowhere but backwards and couldn't get stops and the Bucs piled it on. If this game lasted another 15 minutes, Bucs would've won by 30. I want to believe in Jameis Winston (yeah, I'm still in on Jameis), but three bad interceptions were not a good look here. Saints better hope that Jameis got that out of his system.

Pats 17-14 Steelers

Boring game. The Pats never felt dangerous and yet never felt like they'd lose. Two bad teams slogging around, not much fun to watch, actually. The Steelers play with pride (well, on defense they do) but they're not a goo team. The Pats are wallowing with a mediocre roster after years of bad drafts and weird free agency sessions; this team doesn't know what it is (but I can't help thinking that it is a 4th place in the AFC East kinda team).

Bengals 17-20 Cowboys

Weird game, man. Felt like the Bengals couldn't have played worse, didn't move the ball, didn't look dangerous, the Cowboys D-line lived in the Bengal backfield. And yet, still felt like the Bengals were gonna win. I think the Cowboys D is for real (not at all sure about their offense (w/or w/out Dak)) and though the Bengals are 0-2, I can't help thinking when they stop playing themselves out of game, they'll go on a major winning spree. As for the Cowboys, they'll be in games all year long, not sure how many they're actually gonna win, though.

Bears 10-27 Packers

The Bears are not good (I still like Fields but it'll take him a while to have any success), the Packers are just kinda warming up. It might be another year of overrating the Packers or this could be a veteran team just playing the league like a violin. We'll see. 

Vikings 7-24 Eagles

I dunno, man, classic Cousins: offense started bad, stayed bad. Eagles just grinded along, Vikings just never got going. I think both teams are good, Eagles came to play, Vikings did not. 

Titans 7-41 Bills

Ahhhhh, another week, another big ol' thumping from the Bills. They're still playing sloppy, too, they can tighten up a lot and really throttle teams. I'm not saying they're unbeatable, but I think their best game beats everyone else's best game. As for the Titans, well they overachieved last year and I do not anticipate they will do that again. 

The rest of the slate:

Jets 31-30 Browns. Up by 13 under two minutes and the Browns gacked it away. Unbelievable. 

Commanders 27-36 Lions. The Lions are going to beat bad teams. The Lions are mediocre but they're a rising mediocre, which suggests they'll have a some nice games throughout the season. The Commanders...are just plain ol' mediocre.

Panthers 16-19 Giants. NYG getting it done! I don't see the Giants sustaining this, I think they've caught some early season magic, I just can't imagine they'll be in the mix by the end. Panthers I don't have a fix on just yet. 

Colts 0-24 Jags. Colts suck, man. The Jags are on the rise but this is a division game and the Jags have the Colts' number at the moment. I had the Jags winning this division (at 8-9) and I think I'm still on track.

Dolphins 42-38 Ravens. Crazy game! Ravens seemed to have it wrapped up, Dolphins went nuts in the 4th quarter, shocking win. I love football.  

Falcons 27-31 Rams. The Rams are better but they're also capable of mailing it in. This week were lucky enough to hang on to the win.  

Seahawks 7-27 Niners. The Seahawks are spunky but woefully outmanned. 

Texans 9-16 Broncos. Still  waiting for the Russel Wilson magic to kick in, we'll see. The Texans are spunky but too green (I like them to steal some wins along the way). 

Cards 29-23 (OT) Raiders. Crazy game! Raiders played confidently on both sides for three quarters. Then when it was time for Kyler Murray to take over, man, he took over. When Kyler is being Kyler I don't recall anyone that could keep plays alive like he does (Johnny Manziel in NCAA, Fran Tarkenton, maybe). But I still think the Cards kinda suck an the Raiders strike me as the kinda team that is pretty goo but won't finish out the W's. 

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 3)

Games I saw (some of):

Youngstown St 0-31 Kentucky

Convincing W for the Wildcats. Youngstown was feisty early on, but UK was in control by halftime and ran it up nicely in the 2nd half. More a defensive show than on the offense side, in the SEC that's probably a good thing. I'm skeptical of Kentucky beating UGA, but Ole Miss and Tennessee will be competitive, action-packed games and we haven't seen that in Lexington in a while. (*)

Top 25

Handled their business

(1) Georgia, (2) Alabama, (3) Ohio State, (4) Michigan, (5) Clemson, (6) Oklahoma, (7) Southern Cal, (8) Oklahoma State, (9) Kentucky, (14) Utah, (15) Tennessee, (16) North Carolina State, (17) Baylor, (20) Mississippi, (21) Texas, (22) Penn State, (23) Pittsburgh, (24) Texas A&M, (25) Oregon

Won but did not impress

(10) Arkansas. Big bad top ten SEC West squads should get easy wind over lesser competition. Or perhaps we just grade too hard. A W is the outcome and if scrambling late is what it takes, well, they get it done. 

(18) Florida. Scrambling at home to secure a W against South Florida makes the Gators look kinda shakey. On the other hand, they got the win and that's what matters, can't ding them too hard.

(19) Wake Forest. On the one hand, I'm inclined to think that Liberty is actually a pretty feisty squad; on the other hand, I suspect Wake is overrated anyway. So....does that makes this a nice win against a tough squad or a disappointing scramble against inferior talent? I have no idea. Perhaps Clemson will let us know next week. 

Bad beat

(12) Brigham Young. I kinda thought BYU was balling and Oregon might be ripe picking, but Ducks showed up and got it done. Rather than bash BYU, I think it's a balls out good win for Oregon. Now we'll see if they can keep that momentum going. 

(13) Miami. Felt like they could've won, maybe they bungled it, maybe they should've been better, I dunno. On the road at A&M is not an easy task. 

Not so good

(11) Michigan State. The score is respectable but they kinda got smoked by Washington. The Huskies are formidable squad but Sparty goes on the road out of conference to get good wins and it did not happen this Saturday.

Next week's matchups:

(5) Clemson @ (21) Wake Forest (okay....we'll see if either of these teams are what we think they are)

(17) Baylor @ Iowa State (Iowa State loves to play spoiler, they're the rich kids in the fat camp on the other side of the lake and while those guys always lose in the movies, they don't always lose in real life; we'll see if Baylor understands the true meaning of Xmas)

(20) Florida @ (11) Tennessee (I think this game revolves around Florida's QB (Richardson): if that kid balls out, they can win by 3 TD's; if he has a bad day, they could get rolled by halftime. No idea how this game, it's all on him)

(10) Arkansas @ (23) Texas A&M (both teams squeaked by last week, not sure what that means)

Wisconsin @ (3) Ohio State (I feel like the Buckeyes are gonna lay an old fashioned beatdown on the Badgers)

(*) I'm good with the 4-team playoff, I think the way it works now is the perfect end to the college football season. But it'll go to 8 teams and then 12 eventually and though I don't need it, I have no plans to resist it. They will play the games and I will watch the games. 

The reason to expand out to 12 teams--though 6-7 or at least have absolutely no shot of winning it all--is because you draw in teams like Kentucky, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, even Boise State and Central Florida, etc. And, again, though those squads are years away from winning a championship, their fanbases will at least have seasons of pretending like they matter and, well, Americans love that shit. It's unnecessary overkill (Americans love that shit, too) but I am a loyal consumer and I'll grow into one of those guys that fondly look back on the good ol' days while I'm every bit as riveted by the present. 

2022-23 NFL (Week 1)

Games I saw (some of):

Bills 31-10 Rams

As a Bills fan, I was a little nervous early on, where I thought Buffalo was the far superior team but could only muster a draw at halftime. But I was pleased to watch the Rams sputter into nothingness while the Bills moved the ball at will. Whew! The Rams looked rusty, not bad but not quite ready to play, though I assume they will pick up as the season goes on. The Bills looked good, that pass rush looked better than last year and even the running game looked to be improving (though I'm already done with watching Josh Allen stretch out for a 3 yard gain when they're up by three TD's with four minutes left--pick your spots, Josh!).  

Niners 10-19 Bears

Wow, what a slopfest of a game. Torrential rains pretty much through out that really picked up after halftime made it hard to judge the quality of the squads. Trey Lance was making his first start and the 1st half was....fine...but the 2nd half was kinda nothing. The Bears was able to scramble around and make two plays and that was the ball game. The Niners D was mostly fine but let the game get away from them while the Bears D was good enough to fustigate a rookie QB in the rain. Weird game, good W for the Bears.

Steelers 23-20 (OT) Bengals

Reminded me of last year's match when the Packers came to Cincy and the missed FGs were plentiful. Here the Bengals long snapper was injured which made for an adventure that led to a missed PAT (that would've won the game) and an OT FG (that also would've won the game). Instead, the Bengals played as bad as they've played in years and the Steelers were still insanely lucky to even be close to a W. Disappointing L for the Bengals, fluke of the year for the Steelers (who lost TJ Watt for the season, so pyrrhic victory at best). The Bengals O-line still has trouble keeping Burrow upright (which is kinda half his own fault) and the Steelers are not likely to win a lot of games this year.

Giants 21-20 Titans

Fun game! NYG going for the 2-point conversion to steal the W was a thing of beauty. The Giants might not be awful, I like that pass rush and the running game is legit, so if they can avoid turnovers, they might be better than you think. The Titans, I think, overachieved last year and that might not happen again this season (though their division is weak). 

Chiefs 44-21 Cards

The Chiefs offense was humming throughout, the Cards D was flatly overmatched. I'm not yet ready to crown the Chiefs (is it rude to point out that they've only won 1 Super Bowl though appearing in four straight final fours? If they're so unbeatable then why did they get beaten three of the last four years?) but they definitely can still move the ball. As for the Cards, I dunno, man, this game got away from them so early that it's kinda meaningless. Chiefs are still good, Cards are still kinda sputtering. 

Bucs 19-3 Cowboys

Bo-ring! Neither team moved the ball effectively, partly because these are two good defenses but also partly because these are two not so excited offenses. The Bucs D is legit but Brady doesn't quite seem like Brady yet ("Stepford Brady"?) and the Cowboys have a nice D but I think they're offense might be terrible (oh, and Dak Prescott broke his thumb and will be out for 6-8 weeks). 

Broncos 16-17 Seahawks

Just kept waiting for the Broncos to get going and they just never did. I was more impressed with the Seahawks on both sides of the ball than I expected to be (though I'm not yet ready to say they're in the mix in the NFC West). The Broncos just kinda...meh.

The rest of the slate:

Saints 27-26 Falcons. Falcons led throughout, blew it in the 4th quarter (we'll see if that is a running theme in Atlanta this year). 

Eagles 38-35 Lions. Eagles had a big lead throughout, Lions came back and made it look close. Are the Lions a backdoor cover team again this season?

Pats 7-20 Dolphins. Feels like the Dolphins didn't even play well and still dominated the Pats. (This is the year--RIGHT?--when the Pats finally suck?)

Ravens 24-9 Jets. Yeah, sounds about right. 

Jags 22-28 Commanders. I really thought the Jags were gonna take this but the Commanders stole this one late. So the takeaway is the Jags are good but young, the Commanders are veterans but not deep on talent....yes?

Browns 26-24 Panthers. Seems like the Browns stole it late, nice W.

Colts 20-20 Texans. Yeah, feels like the Colts might be truly awful. The Texans clearly aren't good but they're gonna bust ass (the kinda team that's gonna cover spreads). 

Packers 7-23 Vikings. Early on, Rodgers hit one of his rookie WR's in the hands with a gonna-be-a-TD pass...and the dude dropped it. If he makes that catch this might've been an entirely different ball game. That said, the Vikings are probably the better team and definitely look better right now. 

Raiders 19-24 Chargers. Chargers would seem to be the better team. 

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 2)

Games I saw (some of):

(1) Alabama 20-19 Texas

I was impressed with Texas's pass rush and pass defense in general; on the other hand, I'm not nearly as impressed with QB Brice Young as the general consensus (what does he do that's really good?). Yeah, he had two good drives to close the game but there were many times (many times!) throughout the first three quarters where the replay showed he had pass options that he just didn't see (or over threw). I dunno, man, Alabama doesn't seem quite as crisp as usual on the O-line, QB or in the defensive backfield. Of course, I thought that last year and they were in the championship (in a game that was closer than the score would indicate), so I guess I'm just overreacting again. Texas came away deflated but they looked pretty good, I expect them to be ranked soon enough. 

(10) Southern Cal 41-28 Stanford

USC did whatever they wanted, Stanford mostly just sucked. The Cardinal tacked on some points late to make it look close, but it was not close. I think, though, I was more un-impressed with Stanford than I was impressed by USC, so not sure what to think of this result. 

Top 25

Handled their business

(2) Georgia, (3) Ohio State, (4) Michigan, (5) Clemson, (7) Oklahoma, (10) Southern Cal, (11) Oklahoma State, (13) Utah, (14) Michigan State, (15) Miami, (16) Arkansas, (18) North Carolina State, (20) Kentucky, (21) Brigham Young, (22) Mississippi, (23) Wake Forest

Won but did not impress

(1) Alabama. Barely stealing a victory from an unranked team with a 2nd string QB....hmmmmmmmmm....

Bad beat

(9) Baylor. I was expecting Baylor to come up bigger, but BYU is a good team that can sling it around. Tough L but not an embarrassing one. 

(12) Florida. Losing to Kentucky for the second straight year used to get coaches fired in Florida (and, well, most everywhere else, too), now it's just a bad beat. 

(17) Pittsburgh. Pitt and Tennessee made for a close match, I thought UT took better advantage of their opportunities before halftime. A loss to an SEC squad isn't the end of the world.  

(25) Houston. Losing on the road to a solid Big 12 squad is not a bad L, though it does probably push them out of any championship talk. I'm still in on Houston being a good squad, though. 

Not so good

(6) Texas A&M. Oh man, when are the big bad teams gonna learn to stop scheduling Appalachian State? A&M, we hardly knew ye. 

(8) Notre Dame. Just never got the offense going, I thought after a tough L to Ohio State, the Irish would be ready to bust out but they did not show up. Bad, bad loss. 

(19) Wisconsin. I've been hearing the skepticism about Wisconsin coming into this season and it seems to be justified. Washington State isn't some cream puff but you schedule them because you were planning on beating them. 

Next week's intriguing matchups:

(12) Brigham Young @ (25) Oregon (curious to see how Oregon bounces back from that UGA thrashing and if BYU can keep the winning going)

(22) Penn State @ Auburn (not as juicy as previous years, the Nittany Lions could really use a throwdown W here)

Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (SEC West matches are always a good time, even when both teams are down)

South Florida @ (18) Florida (curious to see if the Gators can get back on track)

UT-San Antonio @ (21) Texas (if the Longhorns can throw a beatdown on San Anton, that would be a head-turner)

(13) Miami @ (24) Texas A&M (oh, A&M, the game you had circled on the schedule is just an afterthought now...tsk tsk)

Fresno State @ (7) Southern Cal (Fresno always plays the Trojans tough, we'll see if they can't sneak an upset here)

(6) Oklahoma @ Nebraska (jk, lol! Remember when this was must-see TV?)

2022-23 NCAA Football (Week 1)

Autumn...the only known cure for the summertime blues (no matter who says otherwise). 

Games I watched (some of): 

(11) Oregon 3-49 (3) Georgia

Early on Oregon moved the ball just fine, but they'd get bogged down without putting points on the board; then UGA would get a TD. Oregon would look okay but give it up; then UGA would score a TD. There's a play where the Bulldogs were driving, inside the 20, about to score, had a play break down, Oregon pass rush was flying around, Stetson Bennett is running for his life, when he suddenly he spins back to the other side of the field, flings the ball up....to a dude wide open in the end zone. That's when it became obvious that Oregon's no shot in this game. I really didn't watch much after that, didn't feel I needed to. Oregon tried their hardest, might be a really good squad this year, but it just didn't matter today. Kinda thought Georgia would have a let down after finally winning the big one last year....uhh, doesn't feel like it. 

(7) Utah 26-29 Florida

Didn't watch much of this game, just enough to confirm that the Utes never got their offense going. Didn't feel like either team dominated, but Florida played hard, held the lead the whole way through. Utah just couldn't make plays late in the game, throwing an interception in the end zone is a tough way to go out. Not a season-ender for Utah but an unfortunate opener. Will Florida ride this wave or are they spent? 

Miami (OH) 13-37 (20) Kentucky

Close game at halftime, but I assured my new-to-town friend that the Cats are much better in the 2nd half; he was skeptical (I was, too). But UK ran back the 2nd half kick off for a TD, then quickly got a turnover and turned that into a TD and the close at halftime was not very close just 1 minute later. I would've liked to see Kentucky show clear dominance over Miami on at least one side of the ball, and while UK was the better team throughout, really the score represents a body blow of a momentum swing pretty early in the game. Can UK move the ball? Can they stop a solid offense? Next week in Gainesville will be much more of a test. 

Top 25

Handled their business

(1) Alabama, (2) Ohio State, (3) Georgia, (4) Clemson, (6) Texas A&M, (8) Michigan, (9) Oklahoma, (10) Baylor, (12) Oklahoma State, (14) Southern Cal, (16) Miami, (17) Pittsburgh, (18) Wisconsin, (19) Arkansas, (20) Kentucky, (21) Ole Miss, (22) Wake Forest, (24) Houston (*), (25) Brigham Young

Won but did not impress (*)

(13) North Carolina State

Yeah...Wolfpack should've lost, East Carolina gacked away multiple opportunities to finish the game in the 4th quarter. East Carolina on the road isn't exactly a cupcake, but if NC St was really worth a top-15 pre-season ranking, then I'd expect a more decisive W (or else East Carolina is actually pretty good....?).

Bad beat

(5) Notre Dame

They were still up 10-7 late in the game and while they clearly didn't have the offense to hang, they clearly have a D that can put the brakes on what appears to be one of the best offenses in college football. Not getting totally trucked by the Buckeyes is a pretty good opening. If the Irish keep their eye on the ball, this L doesn't put them out of the mix. 

(7) Utah

Probably should've come away with a W but Florida has a pretty strong home field advantage and Utah did well to push the Gators to the final minute. Really good start for Florida, Utah's gotta hope that the Gators ride the wave and beat Georgia (and, hell why not, Alabama, too). Not impossible but Utah's road into the final mix is all uphill from here. (Oh, doesn't look like Florida will be beating Georgia this season, but we'll see) 

(23) Cincinnati

Bearcats probably should've come out of Arkansas with a W, but gotta respect that they picked a hard way to open the season. And a loss to the SEC West is probably as lenient an L as someone can get and they didn't get blown out. This loss is a not a great start but not (yet) a death blow to the Bearcat championship hopes. 

Next week's intriguing matches:

(1) Alabama - Texas (gonna be fun because our TV overlords have assured us it will be...okay)

(24) Tennessee - (17) Pittsburgh (probably gonna be more fun that it sounds)

(20) Kentucky - (12) Florida (if Florida is for real then this will be easy, if Kentucky is for real then this will be a fun match)

(9) Baylor - (21) Brigham Young (future conference match up?)

(*) I chose not to include (24) Houston in the Won but did not impress category, because I think UT-San Antonio is actually a pretty good squad (somewhere around #26, I'd say) and for the Cougars to finally best them on the road in triple OT is actually a pretty impressive W.