2022-23 NFL (Week 9)

Games I saw (some of):

Bills 17-20 Jets

Josh Allen really kinda sucked in this game, he had an interception on the opening drive that was just a straight up gift to the defense and then another in the 4th quarter where I have no idea who he was throwing to. Meanwhile, the Jets ran the ball effectively, especially in the 2nd half where they had two clock-eating drives that really took the wind out of Buffalo. The Bills are a good squad but their two losses show the path to defeating them: run the ball effectively, control the clock and the Bills kinda wilt. Good W for the Jets, I've been in on them all season long and I still am; that defense is for real, the running game is good and I still like the QB, I think NYJ is going to the playoffs.

Rams 13-16 Bucs

You know how fucking lame this game was? I turned it off right before the Bucs came back to win, because their previous drive was so lame (where they should've taken the lead in the final minute) that I just figured the game was over and I didn't want to watch any more. Turns out the Rams were even lamer and managed to give the ball back to the Bucs with virtually no time on the clock and still let them win. Ohhhhhhhh, what a shit show. Look, the Rams all season long have just looked uninterested in football, but today was a whole new level, they went waaaaaay out of their way to lose this one. As for the Bucs, they just suck, I can't believe Tom Brady would just give up on his family unless he thought the Bucs could be good, so they're not disinterested, they just suck. This was a battle of a team that just isn't very good and another team that just doesn't care. I know this looked like the sexy game in the pre-season but making this the Sunday marquis game was not a good move. 

Titans 17-20 (OT) Chiefs

Strangely fun game considering what a grind it was (and that the Titans were playing with no QB). The Titans played stingy defense and ran the ball well but, let's be honest, the Chiefs still should've won by two TD's. Football is a hard game and Titans Coach Vrabal has a knack for making the game even harder (though it was hardest for his own QB, right? 'I know you haven't been allowed to do anything for the first 58 minutes of the game but now we need you to go win it for us, okay? Good luck! We're all counting on you'). Kudos to the Titans for kinda coming close to pulling the upset, but I still feel like if the Chiefs wanted to it sooner, they could've had it sooner. The Chiefs are weird: instead of just casually crushing teams, which it seems like they could easily do, they scramble around try to lose before coming to their senses. If they just clean up their game plan, they're easily the best team in the league but somehow that never seems to occur to them.

Ravens 27-13 Saints

The Ravens are a puzzling team: sometimes they look so dominant and other times they look completely incompetent. If they ever figure out how to bring out their best game, they could win the Super Bowl. But...does anyone think that's going to happen? Meanwhile, the Saints are one of those permanently deluded teams that think they're good enough to win every game, even when its plainly obvious they are a mediocre team. They play hard but they don't play smart, they're not as good as they think they are and that's why they keep coming up short.

The rest of the slate:

Eagles 29-17 Texans. Yeah, that's about right. 

Chargers 20-17 Falcons. Yeah, this had FG-to-win-it written all over it. Normally the Chargers gack those games but they won it, good for them.

Dolphins 35-32 Bears. The Bears have been much much much better on offense the last few weeks, not enough to win games but enough to give some optimism for next year. The Dolphins keep rolling along, but, man, we all know they are one injury away from having a top ten pick in the draft.

Panthers 21-42 Bengals. The Bengals brought the running game today, not sure why it took so long to figure that out. The Panthers could be in line for the #1 pick if they want it (the Texans suck but the play hard enough to steal a coupla wins down the stretch). 

Packers 9-15 Lions. Ooof! Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions in the red zone (to be fair, all of them were kinda fluky), that's the kinda year it has been in Green Bay. The Lions are weird, occasionally good enough to surprise but mostly terrible. 

Colts 3-26 Patriots. Yeah, that's about right. The Colts are a disaster, the Pats roll along but somehow aren't as good as they ought to be. 

Vikings 20-17 Commanders. Yeah, that's about right. The Vikings manage to get wins while give the minimal amount of effort, the Commanders play as hard as they can to lose games close. 

Raiders 20-27 Jags. What is up with the Raiders? That offense has moments, then goes cold as ice. Nice W for the Jags. 

Seahawks 31-21 Cards. Seahawks are legit good (no longer a surprise). Cards stink and are rapidly imploding.