2023-24 NFL (Week 12)

Games I watched (some of):

Packers 29-22 Lions

Wondered if the Lions were ever going to wake up and get going. (Answer: No) QB Love looked pretty good for the Packers, suddenly I'm not sure if the Packers are underachieving or overachieving. The Lions have been good but they can let it slip away, would you be shocked if the Lions didn't make the playoffs? (Answer: uh...., a little) The Packers are getting better, not sure what the Lions are getting.  

Commanders 10-45 Cowboys

Snooze! Every Cowboys game ends up being 45-10, the Cowboys win some, they lose some, but the score never changes. This accounts for why the Cowboys are so hard to watch, they either win or lose in such decisive fashion that there isn't much to see. As for the Commanders they're just not any good at anything--indeed, they are the dreaded "mediocre": not awful enough to to just bottom out, not good enough to actually get anywhere. The Commanders are in the worst place to be in all of sports. 

Niners 31-13 Seahawks

Lost interest in this one by halftime. Thought the Seahawks might bring some spice to a prime time home division game but not so much. The Niners sucked the life out of them pretty early. The Niners are arguably the deepest team in the league, still haven't figured out what the Seahawks are. 

Dolphins 34-13 Jets

The Jets are just awful. The Dolphins are good (but I suspect not as great as we assume). 

Steelers 16-10 Bengals

How do the Steelers keep winning games? Well, in this case it was that the Bengals had no QB, but even still, the Steelers offense is so uninspiring.

Bills 34-37 (OT) Eagles

Fun game! The Bills blew another one, the Eagles escape late again. Look, we keep wanting to bury the Bills and I get it, they sure do pile up L's. But all these losses are their own fault and at some point you have to see that they are still better than all these teams they keep losing to. The Bills have been letting opportunities go by, if they ever start grabbing those opportunities, I still think they can win the Super Bowl (but I won't be thinking that for too much longer). The Eagle are blithely better than everyone else but they are playing a dangerous game: but waiting til the last second to get going each week, they will eventually dig themselves a hole they can't dig out of. 

The rest of the slate

Saints 15-24 Falcons

The Saints just don't seem to have a complete game in them. The Falcons are loaded with talent but need a real QB. I haven't changed my opinion of either team in weeks.

Panthers 10-17 Titans

Ugh! A terrible team against a not-any-good team. 

Bucs 20-27 Colts

Two mystery teams: occasionally pretty good, occasionally truly awful. This was probably a pretty fun game.

Pats 7-10 Giants

Glad I missed this one. 

Jags 24-21 Texans

Texans doinked the FG at the buzzer that would've tied it, these two squads are closer than you think. The Jags have been getting W's, but I'm still not sure about them. I'm actually much more confident in the Texans (though it is troubling that QB Stroud has added interceptions to his diet lately). Two pretty good teams that could get upsets in the post-season (don't be shocked: the AFC is mostly jello).

Browns 12-29 Broncos

This game was actually kinda close, bad turnover late by the Browns ballooned the margin of victory. I still believe (sorta) in the Browns, though obviously QB play needs to get more consistent, and still skeptical of the Broncos, though clearly they are playing much better on both sides. 

Rams 37-14 Cards

The Cards have had moments this season but this game doesn't look like one of them. The Rams are kinda not bad when they feel like showing up.

Chiefs 31-17 Raiders

Raiders started frisky, ended down by 2 TD's. Yeah....

Ravens 20-10 Chargers

I keep telling ya: the Ravens have feasted on bad performances by their opponents, feels like this was another one.

Bears 12-10 Vikings

Caught the 4th quarter, glad I didn't catch more. Still haven't given up on QB Fields, with two top-5 picks the Bears might could have something next year. Will the Vikings draft a QB or are they cool with Dobbs and/or rehabbing Cousins? Curious to see.