2021-22 NFL (Week 1)

Games I saw (some of): 

Cowboys 29-31 Bucs

I was impressed with Dak, thought he looked great, and I was equally unimpressed with the Bucs D, so untouchable in the playoffs last season. The Bucs had a handful of fluky turnovers that kept the Cowboys in the game, so while the score was close and I thought the Cowboys moved the ball well, one could make the argument that the Bucs were realistically the much better team. (Or perhaps not) Well, I had the Cowboys winning their division and the Bucs not making the playoffs (hot take!), this opening game, fun as it was, is not really all the meaningful for the season-long narrative. But for now: Cowboys offense looked better than the Bucs' defense. 

Steelers 23-16 Bills

Very disappointing result for the Bills. First off: why did they keep going on 4th down in the 2nd half when they passed on far more better chances to do so in the 1st half? Felt like they were trying to get cute when in fact they were playing right into the Steelers' hands. The Steeler offense was pretty awful in the 1st half, but the veteran smarts took over after halftime and thanks to a nifty blocked punt for a TD and the Bills offense absolutely sputtering most all day (one good TD drive, another good drive late where they settled for an FG and that was pretty much it), the Steelers were able to steal themselves a W that they really shouldn't have been able to get. The Bills defense is clearly their Achilles' heel: no pass rush, so-so defensive backfield, unimpressive special teams, so unless Josh Allen has the MVP season some are predicting, this Bills team might be left by the wayside. (Yes, I'm a Bills fan and I am panicking) This was a winnable game and they let it get away and that's not a good way to start the season.

Vikings 24-27 (OT) Bengals

Neither team seemed well equipped to win the game. The Bengals can pass but not much else, the Vikings...well, I don't know what the Vikings can do but they did came back late to send this to OT. So are the Vikings in trouble or was this just a sloppy game? Well, I'm gonna start with column B and work my way over to Column A: a young team like the Bengals on the road is unpredictable, harder to game plan for than I think most people realize; that said, the Vikings still should've been better and they weren't, which suggests they aren't on the same page and might suck really bad--but even then, they're in with the Lions and Bears and a Packers teams that looks as bad as they have in a while, so there is still time for the Vikings to get their shit together. As for the Bengals, well, I like Burrow and Mixon and I think Higgins and Boyd can make a nice tandem, I think that offense can actually be pretty good. But no one is expecting them to actually win games and I don't reckon they will. 

Browns 29-33 Chiefs

I was more impressed with the Browns than with the Chiefs. That said, the Chiefs did what they needed to do to pull out the W and, well, that's what they do. Is it going to catch up to them? You gotta figure it will eventually, but the Browns probably should've been the team to do that and they didn't get it done. I think the Browns are gonna be good, they move the ball well and that pass rush is for real. I think the Chiefs, too, will be good and this may well have been a preview of the final four in January. 

Bears 14-34 Rams

The Rams are good, the Bears are not. Not sure what else there was to get out this game. The Rams are in a good division, so their goodness may go to waste, while the Bears are in a bad division and may well avoid punishment for being awful.

Ravens 27-33 (OT) Raiders

Can I say something about Derek Carr: the Raiders are still the sloppiest team in the league and make all sorts of dumb mistakes at inopportune moments but virtually none of them are Carr's fault. He's the QB, he's gonna get the blame but he really doesn't deserve it. I'm not saying he's great but I am saying he's not bad and he may look a lot better on another team (if I was Carr, I'd tell my agent to do what it takes to get to Atlanta and their all-world young TE). The Ravens are kinda lackluster, man, that vaunted D is just kinda ordinary now and as much as I love Lamar Jackson, he tries to do too much instead of figuring out how to win with less effort. The Raiders strike me as a spoiler kinda squad: they'll mostly be bad but they'll be good just often enough to fuck up some other team. The Ravens may be the same thing, now that the Raiders have delivered an L in a game they should've won. 

The rest of the week's matches:

Eagles 32-6 Falcons

Wow, the Falcons look awful and the Eagles look not so bad. How much of a Week One overreaction is that? 

Niners 41-33 Lions

Niners had a massive lead, then sweated it out letting the Lions close the gap. I wouldn't be surprised if the Lions do this a lot this season, the kind of team that takes a lot of losses but covers spreads anyway. I think the Niners are actually good and just kinda fell asleep against a crappy team and got away with it, ideally they won't do that any more.

Cards 38-13 Titans

I like the Cards this year but I don't think the Titans can be this bad. 

Chargers 20-16 WTF

Chargers on the road is maybe a bit of an overreach but WTF does look sloppy at best.

Jets 14-19 Panthers

Jets suck--who's surprised? The Panthers missed a golden opportunity to cover a spread but they got the W, so good for them. 

Jags 21-37 Texans

Hmmm....so the Jags are gonna be even worse than the Texans? Okay, I thought the Texans were going to be historically bad but perhaps Tyrod Taylor (the new Fitzmagic?) is enough to gut out a few W's. And the Jags are even further away than I thought they'd be (indeed, I thought they'd win a few games early on and then disappear). 

Dolphins 17-16 Pats

This was a surprising result. I think Tua could be good but I think Mac should also be good enough to get the Pats over the hump in a division game at home. Oh well, rookie's first start and the Pats still should've won. Are the Dolphins this good? I dunno. 

Packers 3-38 Saints

I like the Saints this year so I was not shocked by the 'new Jameis Winston', I think we'll see more of this throughout the year. As for the Packers, well, even if thay are this bad, they're still in a division with three even worse teams, so no big deal really. 

Broncos 27-13 Giants

I dunno. I kinda think NYG is gonna be awful and I think the Denver Bridgewaters (oh wait, is he the new Fitzmagic?) should be a solid squad, so this doesn't look shocking to me. 

2019-20 NCAA Football (Week 1+)

Ahhhhhhh.....football.

Games I saw some of
(11) Oregon 21-27 (16) Auburn
I was impressed by Oregon's QB and Auburn's true-freshman QB, too. Oregon was rolling pretty well at first, then turned timid late and stop making plays; Auburn laid low til halftime, then pulled it out in the 2nd half. I was more impressed with both teams than I thought I would be. Comparing this to last year's Auburn-Washington match-up (when both squads were ranked in the top ten), I suspect Auburn and Oregon are both better this season than that game showed off. I've love to see Auburn give Bama a game (I guess it's possible) and I can see Oregon winning the Pac-12.

Northwestern 7-17 (25) Stanford
Kept expecting more out of Northwestern's QB, he had moments but didn't get it done down the stretch. As for Stanford, they look like a 'nice' team, no major mistakes but no overachieving either, I can see them being in the #20-#30 range pretty much all season.

Houston 31- 49 (4) Oklahoma
Wow, OU's offense is gonna be top notch this year, but...hmmmm...that defense kinda gave up some points to a nothing-special looking Houston squad. Its easy to see the Heisman Hurts talk is ready to take off but I'm not sure that D is gonna get them to the playoff--and come on, man, Oklahoma-Alabama is a game we've got to see!


Top 25
Handled their business
(1) Clemson, (2) Alabama, (3) Georgia, (4) Oklahoma, (5) Ohio State, (6) Louisiana State, (7) Michigan, (9) Notre Dame, (10) Texas, (12) Texas A&M, (13) Washington, (14) Utah, (15) Penn State, (16) Auburn, (17) Central Florida, (18) Michigan State, (19) Wisconsin, (20) Iowa, (22) Syracuse, (23) Washington State, (24) Nebraska, (25) Stanford


Won but did not impress
(8) Florida. Miami didn't look all that good and probably should've beaten Florida. Coming in I thought Florida would be in good position to beat Georgia this year, but after this game I no longer see that as a possibility. We'll see, perhaps we'll look back on this as a great save rather than a near giveaway.

(21) Iowa State. Northern Iowa is a pretty good squad and the Cyclones did pull their shit together and avoid disaster, but you'd like to see a little more assured confidence in a home opener. Iowa State has a knack for giving really good teams a scare and I guess they're the kinda squad that gives up scares to lesser teams, too.


Bad beat
(11) Oregon. I suspect they're good, man, decent chance we look back on this L to Auburn as an impressive accomplishment.


Next week's interesting matches:
Army @ (7) Michigan (Army was legit good last year, don't expect them to be a walkover in Ann Arbor)
(12) Texas A&M @ (1) Clemson (definitely tougher than Clemson is used to playing at this time in the season, should be some fun)
(6) LSU @ (9) Texas (okay...let's see it)

2018-19 NFL (Week 1)

Games I saw (some of):

Bears 23-24 Packers
Oh, man, what a game! Rodgers uber alles! That bomb TD to Allison was the turning point for me: hobbling around on one leg, I assumed that was precisely the pass he couldn't make. Nah, he made it just fine. I knew it was over for the Bears right there. That said, the Bears still had chances on both sides of the ball to finish out that game. The Bears had obstacles: first time coach, a QB still figuring it out, a defense that looked good but is still basically brand new, hostile environment in front of a national audience....but make no mistake Aaron Rodgers was the biggest impediment for the Bears. The Packers were--and still are--my Super Bowl pick, as long as that knee still works (and maybe even if it doesn't), the Packers should plan on going deep in the playoffs. As for the Bears, well this is hardly the first time they've ever lost at Lambeau Field and there's still plenty to build on--Mack was bananas and Smith just barely got his feet wet, that D may be the best in the league.

Cowboys 8-16 Panthers
These could be the two most boring offenses in the league this season. Cowboys just never got anything going for Dak (sprayed passes) or Zeke (didn't hit the holes with confidence) and the defense was fine but nothing special; I thought the Panther got more out of McCaffrey than anything I saw last year: as an underneath option, he really looked like he could be the escape valve that Cam needs. I think the Panthers can get better (if Cam would step up and lead, they'd be fine but he still looks like he's only half paying attention out there) but the Cowboys just looked like they're gonna be mediocre all season long.

Titans 20-27 Dolphins
Fun game, weird game, but a lot of fun. The 1pm game was delayed for lightning twice, so the game just kinda came and went all day long. Didn't get a feel for the action, except that the Dolphins offense impressed me more than the Titans, who suffered major injuries during the game but still never looked any better than the Dolphins. I was lukewarm on both teams (though I think I thought the Dolphins would be better than most people think), but now I'm a little more optimistic about the Dolphins and less so about the Titans.

Bengals 34-23 Colts
Really impressed with Andrew Luck but still totally unimpressed with the rest of the Colts roster. The Bengals were good enough on both sides, I still kinda think the Bengals will be okay. The Colts will go as far as Luck can carry them but I fear another injury coming for him, he has to do too much, no way he holds up for 16 games. If the Bengals can catch the Steelers slippin', they might hang around the playoff race all season long.

Falcons 12-18 Eagles
I picked the Falcons to pull it out in the end (just like last year in the playoffs) and they had their chance but couldn't get it done (just like last year in the playoffs). I thought the Falcons were the better team in the 1st half but they just couldn't get points on the board; Eagles turned it around in the 2nd half but I wasn't exactly blown away by that offense. I thought the Falcons would have a good year but I kinda thought the Eagles would struggle, I think I still think both of those things.


Other results (that surprised me):
Niners 16-24 Vikings

That score isn't a shock, this actually sounds about right...until you dig into the stats. Seems like the Vikings played a flawless game while the Niners struggled all over the place. So...why didn't the Vikings win by 400 points? If the Niners played well on the road I can imagine them still falling by a TD to the Vikings, but if Jimmy G struggled and Kirk Cousins dominated his debut...why was this game close? 

Bucs 48-40 Saints

Okay, this is a shocker! Are the Bucs the Bucs that everyone always (used to) think they're gonna be? Are the Saints finally gonna lose a step and fall to pieces? "No" to the first, the Bucs just had a summer of flying under the radar and the (temporary?) switch to a veteran 2nd stringer seems to have been just the thing to kick off the season; "maybe" to the second question, that offense looked just fine but, yipes, that defense just gave up a gajillion yards to that dude that wasn't good enough for Buffalo or Houston. Okay, seems like the Saints are gonna be up and down all year but I still see them as a division winner and as for the Bucs, come on, man they are born to go 5-11. 

Bills 3-47 Ravens

Not shocked that the Bills are awful but, damn, man, to get dropkicked by Joe Flacco has got to hurt. The Bills have a fading defense, a fading running game, no skill position talent, a rookie QB and don't even look to be above average on special teams. Oh, man, Bills fans can go ahead and start planning for that #1 pick. I had a feeling the Ravens might be kinda good this season, if the Steelers stay this unimpressive, the Ravens might sail into the post-season.

Jets 48-17 Lions

I had the Jets being flat awful this year, this result would suggest that they won't be awful, but I'm not sure this means they'll be any good. The Lions have been in the almost-good-enough-QB ghetto for a while now: when you're QB is better than average but not as good as the top tier QB's, ahhh, man, that's the worst place to be in all of sports. Another coupla years of playing out Stafford's contract (hmmmm, think Belichick can get W's out of Stafford in the post-Brady years?) and then they get to move on. *sigh* And now the Bears have a stout D...and Rodgers is winning games on one leg...and the Vikings are maybe the most complete team in the league....*sigh* As for the Jets, nice start for Savior Sam Darnold, that'll give the salty New Yorkers something to look forward to for a while, but not sure this means they'll actually be any good. 

Other results (no surprise):
Steelers 21-21 Browns
Not a shock, really. Neither team was good enough to win, so they both lost (yeah, in football that's what a tie is). You may be surprised, but look back to Week One last season: Steelers had to come back and snatch the W late--against one of the worst teams in NFL history! The Browns have built some talent, they'll be in games this year--hell, they'll even win one or two--and they'll look most effective against division teams. The Steelers have plenty of talent and know-how but, man, Big Ben is deteriorating badly, not sure the Steelers will get better until they move at QB (there's a Nike poster boy just waiting for the call, even has a Ben-like style, no?).

Texans 20-27 Pats
The Pats won at home. It wasn't a blowout but no big deal. The Pats don't play for style points. The Texans have a lot of room to get better and putting up a good showing in Foxboro is hardly a bad start to the season but everybody knows that O line needs work; the Pats are the Pats, they'll be fine.

Jags 20-15 Giants
Yeah, that seems right. Jags are unspectacular but are probably good enough to sneak more W's than L's; the Giants are uninspiring but will bust out every once in a while.

Chiefs 38-28 Chargers
The Chiefs look like they might awesome (at least on offense), while the Chargers look like...the Chargers.

Seahawks 24-27 Broncos
The Broncos are another squad that I think might be kinda good--or at least good enough to squeak some W's. Yeah, this isn't that great a win but I can see them pulling out a few more so-so wins like this. The Seahawks look kinda awful and, yeah, I think that's gonna hold up (I'd go ahead and sit Russell Wilson, if I was them).

Redskins 24-6 Cards
The Cards look truly terrible, like they're gonna be dueling with the Bills for that #1 pick. On the other hand, I can see the Redskins being kinda good. For the last few years I've thought they looked good when they weren't shooting themselves in the foot and if we've learned anything about Alex Smith, it's that he doesn't shoot himself in the foot. They might not blow anyone away but I can see the Redskins being pretty not-bad all season long.

Rams 33-13 Raiders
Yeah, Rams are good, Raiders are not. Learned nothing from this result that I didn't already know.

2018-19 NCAA Football (Week 1)

I watched (some of):
Louisville 14-51 (1) Alabama
Frankly Alabama didn't even look like they were trying all that hard and they straight pummeled Louisville. The Cardinals are probably not at their best right now but Bama did not let them get much going.

Furman 7-48 (2) Clemson
Frankly I was reasonably impressed with Furman: they played hard, they did not look intimidated, they even made some plays along the way. This was probably the closest 41 point game I've ever seen. Clemson took a while to get going but the sheer depth of talent eventually won out easily.

Oregon State 31-77 (5) Ohio State
Now follow me: the Buckeyes usually start slow and without Urban Meyer I thought Oregon State had a shot at giving them a game; but instead, without Urban Meyer, the team rallied quicker...? Does that make sense? Well, anyway, the Buckeyes came out fast, got a big lead, kinda coasted after halftime. As for Oregon State, man, how do you score 4 TD's and still lose by 40 points?

(6) Washington 16-21 (9) Auburn
Good game. Both these teams were similar, game went back and forth, both played well, Auburn made the plays down the stretch. This is a good W for Auburn and not a bad L for Washington.

(14) Michigan 17-24 (12) Notre Dame
Good game. Notre Dame made the most of their chances, whereas Michigan kinda fumbled around. I like Michigan's backup QB better than the starter, wonder if that'll be a thing for them this year. Wasn't blown away by either team, thought they were both solid and very similar teams. Notre Dame was able to build a lead, Wolverines couldn't get back into the game. Good W for the Irish.

(17) West Virginia 40-14 Tennessee
I kinda expected UT to get into this game, but it didn't happen. WVU ran it up quick and held the momentum all through the 2nd half. They looked good and Tennessee did not.

(8) Miami 17-33 (25) LSU
Man, the Hurricanes never looked into the game. All last season I was skeptical of the Hurricanes and then they won games down the stretch that I thought they'd lose, so now I don't know what to think of them. But after watching LSU dominate them, I'm nowhere near any kind of Hurricans bandwagon. Not sure if LSU looked as good as Auburn (maybe) or Alabama (probably not) but they look like they're gonna be in the mix in the SEC West.



Top 25
Handled their business
(1) Alabama, (2) Clemson, (3) Georgia, (4) Wisconsin, (5) Ohio State, (7) Oklahoma
(9) Auburn, (12) Notre Dame, (13) Stanford, (15) Southern Cal, (16) TCU, (17) West Virginia, (18) Mississippi State, (20) Virginia Tech, (21) Central Florida, (22) Boise State, (24) Oregon, (25) LSU

Didn't impress but did what they needed to do
(10) Penn State (when will people learn to avoid App State on opening week?)
(11) Michigan State (hmmm...feels like Sparty should've made quicker work of this opening day opponent but Utah State's generally not bad, so perhaps this was a good test for them)

Not good
(8) Miami (could be that LSU is wildly underrated but the Hurricanes were never really in this game and that is seriously disappointing for a top 10 squad)
(19) Florida State (again, could be that Virginia Tech is underrated, but the Seminoles did not look good and that is not good for a veteran squad that has ambitions)
(23) Texas (another year, another disappointing match against Maryland)

Bad beat
(6) Washington (Auburn's good, close game, not a bad loss for the Huskies)
(14) Michigan (thought they were even with the Irish, just came up short; disappointing but not a bad loss)

(Ahhhhhhhh, nice to have college football back)