It’s a good Monday to be a fan of our state’s NFL teams. The ‘Boys are on a nice roll. They’ve won four of their last five to get to 7-3, and did not play down to their competition in Sunday’s 33-10 burial of the now 1-9 Panthers. Micah Parsons made life miserable for Bryce Young, Tony Pollard got his first TD since Week One, Dak was clean and DaRon Bland continued his Crusade to Canton. Four pick-sixes in ten games? Outrageous. With seven games remaining, Bland has already tied the NFL record for most interception touchdowns in a season. And DaRon is in tall company, joining Eric Allen (Eagles, 1993), Jim Kearney (Chiefs, 1972) and Ken Houston (Oilers, 1971).
Dallas is well-positioned. Now take care of the Commanders on Thanksgiving, get re-charged during the ensuing “mini-bye,” and prepare to reel in the Eagles.
Maybe the ‘Boys will get an assist from the Chiefs tonight when K.C. hosts Philly in a Super Bowl sequel and possible prequel. The Chiefs need a win to stay ahead of the Ravens for the top seed in the AFC.
Here’s the thing about the Texans. They don’t look fluky. That’s just a good football team, particularly now that Houston can run the ball (Devin Singletary has become a “wow!”) and play defense.
Yeah, C.J. threw three picks in Sunday’s 21-16 win over the Cardinals. That last INT was particularly frustrating, since the Texans were in position to ice the game. But Stroud appeared unfazed, throwing for more than 300 yards for the third straight game. C.J. joins Joe Burrow as the only two NFL rookie QBs to do that. The Texans have won three straight, their longest victory streak since they reeled off nine straight wins in 2018.
Now it’s Jacksonville week. Keep in mind the Texans have OWNED the Jags in recent years and have already beaten them once this season. Another win Sunday would pull the Texans even with the Jags at 7-4, but Houston would own the tie-breaker.
Okay, here’s my Sunday “Lightning Round.”
I’ve always been ambivalent about Russell Wilson. But after another rough start this season, he now has the Broncos back to 5-5. And Wilson looked great in guiding Denver to that 10-play, 75-yard game winning drive to beat the Vikings Sunday night.
The Lions looked cooked against the Bears. Detroit was down 26-14 with three minutes left. Then Jared Goff shook off the three INTs he had thrown earlier and brought his team back to win 31-26. The Lions are 8-2 for the first time since 1962. And Dan Campbell is a stud.
Four teams have separated from the pack in the NFC—the Eagles, Lions, ‘Niners and Cowboys. Oh, remember SF’s recent three-game slide? Never mind. Purdy had a perfect passer rating yesterday.
The Chargers are a mess. No way that team should be 4-6. And Brandon Staley’s post-defeat paranoid, defensive, juvenile rant was an embarrassment. There can be no doubt that he has lost that team.
Jordan Love posted the first 300-yard passing day of his career in getting the Packers past the Bolts 23-20. Let’s see if Love can follow that up with another strong performance in Detroit on Turkey Day.
I think there’s a real chance that the Jets have the worst NFL offense I’ve ever seen. Zach Wilson did not complete a pass to a WR yesterday in Buffalo.
That offense is ever worse than the Steelers’, who have now gone 58 straight games without gaining 400 yards.
The Browns did it again. My goodness, after all they have been through, that team is 7-3. Stefanski has done an amazing job. And that was a very inspiring performance by rookie fifth-round Cleveland QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
If the Seahawks miss the playoffs, it will be because they got swept by the Rams.
Left over from Saturday night? The Auburn Tigers didn’t really lose to New Mexico State, did they?
