2019 NFL

[eagle eye]

The NFL schedule of preseason games has begun. My guilty pleasure team, the Cleveland Browns, made the news this week trading disgruntled RB Duke Johnson to the Texans. All the Browns got in return was fourth round draft pick in the 2020 draft which could, depending on how much Johnson touches the ball for the Texans, could become a 3rd. The Browns played their preseason opener last night against the Washington Redskins and the Browns smoked the ‘Skins 30-10. There were two highlights in the game. 1. Baker Mayfield led his team right down the field on their first drive of the game for a TD. Nice start to the season. 2) This may be THE feel good story of the season. A walk on at a Browns tryout in Florida named Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi, a guy who lied about being a personal friend of Browns Vice President of Player Personnel and former NFL RB Alonzo Highsmith just to get into the Browns workout, ran a 4.38-40 and he impressed Highsmith, who was at the tryout, enough to get an invitation to the Browns official tryouts in Ohio. He continued to impress in the Ohio workout and earned a training camp contract. Prior to the Florida Browns workout Sheehy-Guiseppe spent his last $200 on a gym membership so he could work out to stay in shape chasing his dream of playing in the NFL. Not having any more money Damon slept in the street outside the gym. Sheehy-Guiseppe played college ball at Phoenix College, an NJCCAA school but when he got out he couldn’t even get a tryout at a major college. He graduated Phoenix College in 2016 and he’s been trying to get into a 4-year school ever since. The Browns tryout was his next best try. After earning his way into the Browns training camp a lot of the Browns players took a liking to this kid. Odell Beckham Jr even loaned him a pair of shoes to play in the game last night. Sheehy-Guiseppe finally got a chance in last night’s game. He went back to receive a punt from the Redskins in the 4th quarter with Cleveland leading 24-10. DSG took the punt at his own 14 and ran it 86 yards for a touchdown! To show how much of an impression this kid has made over two weeks of training camp the entire Browns bench came out and mobbed Sheehy-Guiseppe in the endzone. An inspiring story that I’m sure Steven Spielberg is writing a script for as we speak. I hope Sheehy-Guiseppe makes the final 53 and the story will have the fairy tale ending it deserves. Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus.

[eagle eye]

The 2019 NFL season begins tonight with the Packers @ the Bears. The significance of this matchup is pretty simple. This season is the 100th anniversary of the NFL and the Packers and Bears are the oldest franchises in the league. It goes all the way back to Curly Lambeau and George Hallas. If you don’t know who these guys are Google ‘em. Both offer interesting reads as both were huge influences in the growth of professional football.

As far as how you stack up in fantasy you feel Aaron Rodgers is a no-brainer to be your QB1 but who knows what this Packers team will be. In the offseason they fired long time coach Mike McCarthy and hired a man named Matt LaFleur (it would be a better story of his first name was Peter – for the Dodgeball fans out there). LaFleur has been an assistant in the NFL since 2008 when he was an assistant on the Houston Texans staff. He has coached for Washington, Atlanta, the Rams and now his first head coaching position with Green Bay. He worked as the OC with the Rams in 2017 but head coach Sean McVay called the plays. LaFleur also worked with McVay in Washington. Last season he was the OC in Tennessee but new head coach Mike Vrabel allowed LaFleur to call all the offensive plays. Given who LaFleur has coached with I think it’s pretty certain Aaron Rodgers will continue to throw the ball a lot. It remains to be seen if there are any fantasy worth players other than Devonte Adams on the Packers roster but there is no doubt about a plethora of fantasy options with da Bears. I’m not sure if Mitchell Trubisky is your best option in fantasy but I wager he’s not the worst. At WR you have Allen Robinson II who is a WR1 and there are options that include Anthony Miller and Taylor Gabriel. Of course at RB you have Tarik Cohen. The Bears defense is also a good option. We will learn a lot about what the Packers have tonight. The defense no longer has Clay Matthews who is now with the Rams and you wonder how deep this defense is.

The betting line is showing the wise guys favor the Bears by 3.

Some of the sheen of the beginning of football was dampened because high school and college football have already begun but this is the NFL folks. Ring the bell because football is totally under way at long last. It’s been a long dry spell since the 1st Sunday in February but that drought is over. To paraphrase The Who song, “Love, Reign O’er Me” we can chant, “Football, Reign O’er Me!!!”.

[eagle eye]

Antonio Brown’s ego may have cost him his career. He put up a fit over his helmet and the Raiders tolerated it. He missed practices because he burned his feet in a cryo therapy and the Raiders took it. There was talk about fining him for missing practices and he pitched a fit then apologized. The Raiders actually fined Brown and he went postal demanding to be released. It all played out on HBO’s Hard Knocks and the media. The kicker was the fines voided his $30MM+ contract. We know from Hard Knocks Jon Gruden loves Brown as a player but GM Mike Mayock had enough of Brown’s antics. Who will hire this nutcase now?

[eagle eye]

This probably marks the demise of my career as a psychic. I'm going the way of Miss Cleo and many others who did not have the skills to predict the future. As a matter of fact, at the same time I wondered if Antonio Brown's career was in a huge dumpster fire after he got a release from the Oakland Raiders he was agreeing to a one year deal with the New England Patriots. For the first time in his career Tom Brady has a truly lethal set of wide receivers. The Pats now have Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, Demaryius Thomas and AB. They don't have Gronk any more but, let's face it, he wasn't there most of the time anyway. AB won't be in the lineup today as he wasn't a member of the team as of 4 o'clock yesterday but he will be there next week and thereafter assuming he doesn't piss off the Patriots or vice versa.

A thought on that. Jimmy Johnson once said he treats his players fairly but he doesn't treat them all the same. The inference there was that the stars get a lot more slack than the players at the bottom of the roster. There is no doubt that AB had been his own worst enemy in his brief tenure with the Raiders but GM Mike Mayock showed some ego too. The last straw was the $200 K + fine he levied on Brown that voided nearly $30 MM in guaranteed money. You can't really blame AB for getting pissed. The verbal confrontation that played out over social media between Brown and Mayock must have pushed Mayock over the edge because despite Browns apology to his teammates and coaches and even the front office did nothing to assuage Mayocks anger and he showed some vindictiveness in the process.

My Browns begin the season against Tennessee. We'll see pretty quickly if this team is really as good as they look on paper.

Happy Week 1 everyone.

[eagle eye]

The first week of the NFL held some surprises which is actually par for the course. You don't know what you don't know and in many cases you won't know until games start to count. There are actually two more games in Week 1 and the first one tonight is a surprise in itself. The Texans are beating the Saints 14-3 with 16 seconds left in the half; and the Saints missed a 56 yard field goal so the score at the half is 14-3 IN New Orleans.

Some good surprises (depending upon who you root for) are:
The Titans shock the heck out of projected Super Bowl champ Cleveland Browns putting a smackdown on Cleveland to the tune of a 30 point win. Yikes. What happened to the Browns after an opening 83 yard drive in which the Browns made marching down the field look easy was an undisciplined team constantly did stupid things. I haven't looked at the box score but I'll bet Cleveland had 20 penalties. Even on their opening drive they worked out of a 1st and 25 after a false start and a holding call. The Browns worked behind the chains all afternoon. Some of the penalties were ridiculous. Myles Garrett almost got tossed for throwing a punch but it was open handed and looked like retaliation for a slap from a Titan's player. His teammate, Browns starting left tackle had no excuse for mule kicking a Titan's D-lineman in the side of the head. Between that ejection (which was deserved) and injury the Browns were down to their last 5 O-linemen. The Titans were more physical than the Browns and the Browns defense didn't impress at all. Freddie Kitchens put a very undisciplined team on the field who committed a ton of mistakes, mostly penalties.

Like the Browns-Titans game the Jets-Bills game was between boring and surprising. The Jets actually took a 16-0 lead into the 4th quarter before the Bills came back to win 17-16. Same old Jets. Even when they're winning the find a way to lose.

The surprise in the Ravens game was that Baltimore scored 59 points but this Miami team is really bad. It's hard to tell if the Ravens are that good or the Dolphins are that friggin' bad.

Arizona looked like crap for 3 quarters but they made a really nice comeback and Kyler Murray actually looked like a #1 pick. They forced the Lions to overtime where both scored field goals and nothing more as they tied 27-27 which was a big surprise. The Bengals played the Seahawks really tough losing 21-20 and the Colts vs Chargers went to OT before the LA Chargers finally won. Two overtime games and a tie are surprising by themselves. I wonder what Week 2 will have in store for us? Wait, Week 1 isn't over yet!

[eagle eye]

QB’s continue to be in the news this week. Drew Brees will have surgery on the damaged ligament in his right hand and the 4 in the 4-6 week time frame seems to be gone as it’s being reported he will be out 6 weeks minimum. Because Brees is out there are a lot of people starting to count up the losses the Saints will suffer. Terry Bridgewater is inexperienced but he has NFL game experience and he’s had some big wins when he started for the Minnesota Vikings. Bridgewater’s career took a huge hit when he broke his leg playing for the Vikings but there was a reason he was a first round pick in 2014. Bridgewater is no rookie and he’s had some big games and getting first team reps under Sean Peyton people better not write off the Saints just yet.

Ben Roethlisberger will have surgery on his right elbow, which is NOT Tommy John surgery, this week. Mason Rudolph will be the starter going forward as Big Ben was placed on season ending IR this week. Rudolph was a 2nd round pick in 2018 out of Oklahoma State and he didn’t do a bad job in relieve of Roethlisberger last Sunday. The Steelers did make a roster move yesterday as they traded a 2020 1st round draft pick to acquire the Dolphins best CB Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers are 0-2 so far and have a big hole to climb out of but something tells me their playoff hopes are not dead.

The Giants have benched Eli Manning for the 2nd time in the last two years. After starting the 2019 season 0-2 Giants head coach Pat Shurmur made the pre-season NFL MVP and future Hall of Famer Daniel Jones (according to NY media) the starting QB going forward. I used to think Pat Shermer got a raw deal when he was head coach of the Browns as the Browns front office was a dumpster fire and he got caught in the middle but he helped fuel the fire of the QB controversy that came up this summer because Jones did more than a good job against players who never made an NFL roster. You kind of feel sorry for old pouty face. You’d think he would be treated better by the organization he took to 2 Super Bowl victories. What have you done for me lately, indeed.

The non-QB news this week is the status of Jaguar CB Jalen Ramsey who is reportedly wanting a trade out of Jacksonville after a huge blowup on the sideline during the game with the Texans on Sunday. Ramsey is saying he is looking forward to playing in Thursday night’s game with Tennessee. There was a time when a player who threw a hissy fit on the sideline and disrespected the head coach in the process would be dealt with harshly but, this is a new age we live in. Even Jacksonville has QB news as Gardner Minshew stepped up for an injured Nick Foles who broke his collarbone in Week 1 and he did a nice job against the Texans on Sunday. Minshew had a lot of success at Washington State under head coach Mike Leach finishing 5th in the Heisman Trophy race in 2018.

[eagle eye]

I had a pretty good fantasy team this year but in two weeks I have had almost half go out injured, but only temporarily, or suspended. The free agent list in my league is messed up. I works like the waiver wire where players are awarded to the people whose turn it is. I miss my league where it was first come, first served. It would be a lot less frustrating. I wouldn't mind losing players to that type of system nearly as much as it bothers me to lose them to a system that doesn't reward vigilance. Oh well, it is what it is. Okay, so what frustrates me most is claims on players are not settled until Thursday morning. If you don't get the player or players you put the claim in on you don't get another chance to claim someone else before Sunday. Any claim made on Thursday or later goes into queue for next week. ARRRRGGGHHH.

Good luck if you have Antonio Brown after the Patriots released him this past week. His 'me first' attitude and the apparent fact that he can't keep it in his pants my cost him his career. No matter how good you are the NFL doesn't play when it comes to domestic violence or sexual misconduct.

The Browns play on Sunday night football. They are playing a legit contender in the LA Rams. I know one thing Baker Mayfield had better play a lot better than he has the first two weeks to stand a chance of winning. The only real thing in the Browns favor is that they are at home.

[eagle eye]

Week 4 is mostly over and even at this point with 6 games either in progress of coming up I can tell you there were some surprises today. The Browns went on the road and looked like the team the "experts" said they were going to be by just putting a whoopin' on the Baltimore Ravens 40-25 and the oh-by-the-way TD by the Ravens at the end of the game didn't even make it look close. It was close, for a half as Cleveland took a 10-7 lead into halftime but the scoring floodgates were opened in the 2nd half. Cleveland put up 30 and all Baltimore could answer with was 18 points. For Cleveland to do this to a strong Ravens team in their house was pretty impressive. This was a big matchup for Cleveland as this game was a division game against a Ravens team that looked unbeatable the first two weeks of the season. They got taken down a notch in a loss to Kansas City last week that was, again, not as close as the 33-28 score would suggest. Cleveland has been underwhelming the first 3 weeks of the season going 1-2 and looking bad doing it. Today's win was pretty impressive especially because it was on the road and, guess what? The Browns are tied with Baltimore for the division lead for the first time maybe this century. The have also started a season 2-0 on the road since the early 1990's.

The Oakland Raiders have looked eh so far this season. The won their season opener against the Broncos but lost the next 2 weeks to playoff caliber teams, the Vikings and Chiefs. Today they played another team with postseason designs in the Indianapolis Colts and they beat the Colts up. It was just a 7 point win with the Raiders having to hold on for dear life but it was a late comeback by Indy that made the game close. After 4 weeks the Raiders are a very surprising 2-2.

Good gosh have the Detroit Lions gotten good since last year or what? There wasn't much to indicate this improvement in Week 1 when they settled for a 27-27 tie with the Arizona Cardinals. But, it was definitely an eye opener in Week two when the Lions hosted the Chargers and beat them 13-10. Any time you hold Phillip Rivers to just 10 points you have really done something. Then, in Week 3 the Lions beat the stupid Eagles making all Cowboys fans everywhere instant Lions fans. Today against Kansas City they actually led most of the game before finally falling to the Chiefs 34-30. Before the season I was thinking that the former Patriots DC Matt Patricia was going to have a short tenure as a head coach after a bad 2018 season but this team is playing like they expect to win and at 2--1-1 in the NFC North.

It makes me sick to think that Philly beat Green Bay on Thursday night. I just threw up a little in my mouth writing this. Stupid Packers.

What the hell is wrong with Atlanta? Tennessee bullied the Falcons to a 24-10 loss at home today.

Giants head coach Pat Shurmur is looking like a doggone genius after putting in Daniel Jones a couple of weeks ago. The Giants, who looked woeful in Week 1 and 2 are now 2-2 and they are 2-0 with Jones at QB. It's crazy how a couple of wins can turn a coach from a dumbass into the Scorpion King.

Yet another pair of QB's are getting their chance today. Chicago's Mitchell Trubisky is out with a shoulder injury and Chase Daniel has come in and has da Bears ahead 16 zip at the start of the 4th quarter. The Redskins got behind early and Case Keenum looked bad so Jay Gruden changed from Keenum to Dwayne Haskins in the 2nd quarter of their game with the Giants trailing 14-0. The change didn't have the desired effect as the 'Skins still lost 24-3.

[eagle eye]

I won my Week 5 fantasy game last week largely on the strength of my Cowboys. I have Dak, Zeke and Amari and they career my team to victory. Golden Tate and Tyler Lockett and Phillip Lindsey helped out a lot. I'm not sure if I can count on my Cowboys for the same production especially since last week Dak and Amari posted career days. I could use Aaron Rodgers but, except for Week 4 against the Saints Dak has put up more fantasy points that Rodgers. The Chiefs may or may not have Tyreek Hill back this week but I can't trust a guy who hasn't been a full participant in practice yet. He has been cleared to play by doctors but I don't trust him yet so he will stay on my bench one more week. I need my front line people to score because my bench isn't very good. I need the Browns to get better. Freddie Kitchens may not last past his first year as the head coach of the Browns if his team continues to sputter on offense. They looked like total crap against the Forty Niners last week and it is not the first time they have looked like crap this season. Russell Wilson and the Seahawks meander into Cleveland for an early kickoff. Is it Kitchens failing or is Baker Mayfield suffering through a sophomore slump? It's hard to say at this point but Kitchens has had some pretty questionable decisions that last few weeks. The game that could win Week 6's most boring game is the one between the 1-4 Atlanta Falcons and the 1-3-1 Arizona Cardinals. Currently, the Tampa Bay Bucs are getting smoked in London by the Carolina Panthers 34-10. I can imagine when you ask a Panthers fan about Cam Newton they would reply, "Cam who?" Kyle Allen is undefeated since taking over for Newton and reports are he will keep starting games until he loses. For Tampa, it's a long way to go to get your behind whipped.

New Orleans (and fantasy owners) are sweating out whether or not Alvin Kamara will play today. He is another one of those game time decisions that drive fantasy owners crazy. Teddy Bridgewater is another backup QB that is undefeated but I doubt Drew Brees has anything job security issues to worry about. My big hope is that the offensive breakout Minnesota had last week will continue as the Vikings host the Philadelphia Sleeze Balls. It would be nice if the Vikes put a smackdown on the Eagles. it has nothing to do with fantasy but everything to do with hating the Eagles.
Have fun and I hope you join me in rooting the Astros to victory today.

[eagle eye]

I am guilty as charged for being too conservative in my fantasy league this season. I missed chances a couple of times because I over thought my options. The first time I missed was when Tyreek Hill returned after a broken collarbone. He didn’t practice the week leading up to the game but there he was. Right there in the lineup and his stat line was 5 catches for 80 yards and 2 TD’s in the loss to Houston. I’m in a PPR league so I just lost a big 25 points in fantasy. The other time I missed the boat was last night. I have had Emmanuel Sanders all season and even though he’s been a money fantasy player it was with much better QB’s than Joe “Bowzer” Flacco. Earlier this very week at the trade deadline Sanders was traded to the 49ers for a 3rd and 4th round picks in next year’s draft. I felt that he would need more than 2 or 3 days of practice with the new team before he could make a solid impact. Good gosh, was I wrong! The connection between Sanders and Jimmy Garoppolo was scary good. Sanders stat line last night was 7 catches for 112 yards and a TD. 24 fantasy points I just flushed down the drain. (Insert inappropriate curse word here!)
Another person who benefitted from a change in scenery is former Dolphins RB Kenyan Drake. Drake is in his 4th year in the NFL and he hadn’t done much at all. It’s obvious why he hadn’t done much playing for a franchise in total upheaval and in rebuilding mode. Arizona is rebuilding too but they are a lot farther along than Miami. The deal for Drake occurred on October 28 and all it cost Arizona was a sixth round draft pick. All Drake did in his first game with Arizona last night was rush for 110 yards and a TD and he caught 4 passes for another 52 yards. I know I won’t get a bite but I proposed a trade in my fantasy league. I am offering Golden Tate for Drake. If that trade should go through my roster will be set for the rest of the season.
Good news for Patrick Mahomes fantasy owners, he has been practicing on a limited basis this week. It is still up in the air whether he will play Sunday but if he doesn’t, I would bet money that he plays in Week 10 which is great for him, the Chiefs and all the offensive players whose numbers will go up exponentially with him back.
Joe Flacco is out. Brandon Allen is in. Flacco sustained a neck injury that is reportedly going to keep him out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks. It’s great timing because Flacco burned a lot of bridges throwing the coaches under the bus for last weeks loss to the Colts. Nevermind that Flacco has stunk like limburger cheese all season. I’m sure Broncos fans are thinking, “See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya.” As I am guessing Flacco’s career may be over. Enter Brandon Allen a sixth round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016 coming out of the University of Arkansas. He spent a year with the Jags and ended up with the Rams for the ’17 and ’18 seasons. The Broncos picked up Allen Sept 1 when their 2nd round pick from this year, Drew Lock, injured his thumb in the preseason and he was put on IR. Lock is eligible to come back this week and the Broncos have not said whether they will activate Lock or call up Brett Rypien from their practice squad. Lock come out of Missouri where he set may passing records. It could very well be that Broncos GM John Elway was thinking Lock could be the Broncos franchise QB and he would have a year to work behind Flacco. Allen will get his chance to show what he had Sunday against Cleveland. Frankly, if Flacco was still under center I would say this is a game Cleveland should win but now that is much more up in the air.

[eagle eye]

I have been worried all week that the Cowboy's Amari Cooper was going to miss the big match up on Sunday Night Football with the Vikings. That's good for me because Cooper is on my fantasy team. On the other side of the ball, the Vikings will be without Adam Thielen which is good for me as a Cowboys fan! I love it when I get a win-win.

The big news today is that the Lions will play the Bears today without QB Matthew Stafford who will miss because of hip and back issues. So, right now, I am predicting that this will be the best game today to take a nap on. It already makes the Bears the favorite to win this game thanks to the Bears defense. The Bears defense might be a great pickup in fantasy this week.

A surprisingly good match up today could be a battle of sub .500 teams, Tampa (2-6) Arizona (3-5-1). The Bucs have been putting up great fantasy numbers despite their losing record. The Cardinals have also been doing pretty good despite their losing record. The came up with a big win last week thanks in large part to newly acquired RB Kenyan Drake. Drake will the 2nd punch of the Cardinals 1-2 since David Johnson is slated to return from his ankle injury that has had him sidelined for several weeks now. The fact is, Drake may be the bell cow today as Johnson works back into the groove of playing. Can the Cardinals win on the road today. It will be fun to see if they are really becoming for real.

The Browns are a team that is stuck in the mud. Baker Mayfield is going the proverbial sophomore slump. What is supposed to be an easy schedule in the second half of the season is something I am just not seeing. Today the Brownies play a tough Buffalo Bills team that has a pretty stout defense that will challenge the Browns at all levels. After the Bills the Browns will have the Steelers twice, the Ravens, and the Cardinals. Those are the hard games. The easy ones will be two against Cincinnati and one against the Dolphins. So, this so-called 'easy' schedule isn't so easy after all. The Browns need to stop killing themselves with bad plays and even worse penalties. It may not happen this season and the only real difference is the fact that rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens is in the Captain's chair. If things continue to go badly Kitchens may be like a college basketball player - one and done.

The Saints renew a pretty bitter rivalry with the Atlanta Falcons but that rivalry isn't as intense as past seasons because the Falcons are tremendously under performing. In a word, they have sucked. The Saints will have RB Alvin Kamara back and with the injury to Kamara the Saints found a replacement for the departed free agent Mark Ingram in Latavius Murray who has kicked it old school for the Saints going for way over 100 yards the past two games. What the Saints needed was that strong inside runner and they have that now. As bad as the Falcons defense has been I expect both Kamara and Murray to go over 100 yards today. The Saints should roll. I have so much faith in Murray that I am starting him on my fantasy team.

The game today between the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers should be pretty good. I look for a huge bounce back game from the Packers after they took a very embarrassing loss to the Chargers in Los Angeles. Maybe the Packers just don't like the left coast. Who knows but, they are back on the familiar frozen tundra in Green Bay. Carolina has been a different, read better, team since Cam Newton went out with a foot injury that has since landed him on IR and people questioning if his days are done in Carolina. Since he won the NFL MVP award and led the Panthers to the Super Bowl which they lost he's been mediocre at best. He's a running QB who could sometimes pass but the thing people feared about Cam was the possibility of injury. Running QB's don't have a good track record in the NFL and it's been true of Cam. Cam has also hurt himself with off the field issues and he's probably the QB with the worst taste in clothes in the NFL. Step in Kyle Allen. Allen has played well going 5-1 as a starter since Newton went out. He's played so well Panther's fans may be saying, "Cam who?".

The next best game of the weekend is Monday night when the undefeated 49ers face the 7-2 Seahawks. It's a big division game. I have two players, one on each team, on my fantasy team and this game could be the game that puts me over the hump against my opponent this week. I don't really like either of these teams but I have no problem rooting for my fantasy team players.

There is only one undefeated team in the NFL after Week 9 and that the 49ers who were on bye. The Patriots fell from the undefeated ranks when they got handled, or rather man-handled, by the Baltimore Ravens. On the opposite end of the spectrum there is only one winless team in the NFL and that would be the Cincinnati Bengals. The Miami Dolphins jumped up and beat the NY Jets last week which is an even more load of embarrassment sandwich for the Cowboys who were defeatIed by these same Jets several weeks ago to end their winless streak. The Colts will be without starting QB Jacoby Brissett so the Colts will depend on Brian Hoyer who, as all Texans fans know, can have good weeks and really bad weeks. As a Texans fan I am hoping the Dolphins can take advantage of the Colts loss and hand them another loss as a team. Unfortunately, the Colts defense is good enough to carry the team over a bad outfit like the Dolphins.

Have fun and for all you Texans fans who have to endure a week off from your favorite team take consolation in the fact that Houston will not lose today and nobody will will get hurt. As a matter of fact, a lot of bumps and bruises are having a much deserved chance to heal up. It is a beautiful day, the sun is out and the temperatures are wonderfully cool. It's a glorious day.

[eagle eye]

The beginning to Week 10 had an old rivalry game between the Steelers and the Browns. The Browns have shown signs that they are better than their record shows and on Thursday night they didn't shoot themselves in the foot to negate every success they had during the game. The defense stuffed the Steelers offense except for one drive and they had a 21-7 lead with about :15 seconds left in the game. That's when it all went south. The Steelers QB Mason Rudolph threw a dump off pass that really went nowhere and the receiver was pushed out of bounds with :08 seconds remaining in the game. About the same time that took place a true meltdown occurred. The Browns Myles Garrett tackled Rudolph and apparently Rudolph to exception to the severity of the tackle and he started trying to rip Garrett's helmet off and I'm sure there was some trash talk going on. For whatever reason, Garrett completely lost his cool and he pulled Rudolph off the ground by his face mask pulling the helmet completely off. Two of the Steelers O-linemen got between Garrett and Rudolph with Rudolph still talking smack. Garrett then took a swing hitting Rudolph in the head. Fortunately, the way Garrett was holding the helmet in such a way that when he swung it at Rudolph the open side at the bottom of the helmet is what made contact at the sides and back where there is a bit of padding. If the actual helmet had hit Rudolph, as hard as Garrett swung it, would certainly have caused a lot of injury to Rudolph. It was sheer luck he wasn't hit with the shell of the helmet. After that Steeler's lineman David DeCastro took Garrett to the ground to subdue him but Maurkis Pouncey came into the fray throwing punches and he kicked Garrett in the helmet when he was on the ground. When DeCastro tackled Garrett, Rudolph was standing back when Browns DL Larry Ogunjobi knocked Rudolph down from behind. Finally, calmer heads prevailed and the field was cleared of players and coaches and media and even some fans so the final :08 seconds could be run off the clock. By that time Garrett, Pouncey and Ogunjobi had all been ejected. In the aftermath everyone knew Garrett had totally effed up, even teammates were saying you just can't lose your cool like that. Who knows what was said in the one-on-one confrontation between Garrett and Rudolph that drove Garrett crazy enough to go off like he did. It was stupid and inexcusable, I don't care what the possible reasons could be. Garrett knows this but knowing after the fact is entirely too late.

As Joe Buck said during the game, the Browns have a real chance to get back into the playoff hunt because they have the easiest schedule in the second half of the season but all that is in jeopardy now. Garrett has been suspended for the rest of the season, even the playoffs and he will face pretty hefty fines. Ogunjobi was suspended 1 game for being chickenshit along with a fine and the Steelers Pouncey was suspended 3 games plus a fine. The Browns and Steelers organizations have been fined $250 K as well. As I said before, the Browns have really been their own worst enemy this season and I suspect that maybe more fines and suspensions are forthcoming from event earlier in the game. Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster when he was sandwiched between two Browns defenders with helmet to helmet contact. It was obvious that Schuster was knocked out and even though he eventually left the game under his own power he did not return and was subsequently placed in the concussion protocol. Later in the game Steelers WR Diontae Johnson was hit by a helmet to helmet shot that was obviously targeting. Johnson was hit so hard that he was bleeding out of the side of his head. He too left the game with a concussion. Browns safety, Damarious Randall, who hit Johnson, was immediately kicked out of the game as he should have been. You just have to wonder what the hell Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens is teaching his players.

I have seen a lot of cheap shots by Browns players this season and as a guy who roots for this perennial underdog I am losing any sympathy for the Browns because of their actions on the field. I'm sure Aggies everywhere are ashamed of the way Garrett lost it and it's a shame because all accounts are that Garrett isn't normally the type of player to lose his cool the way he did Thursday night. As pointed out in the post game interview with Browns QB Baker Mayfield Garrett can't do that and the worst thing he did was hurt the Browns going forward. The Browns will have make it through the rest of the season, possibly including any playoff games if the Browns qualify, without their best defensive player. Damn shame. You hate to see a really good player like Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster taken out by a cheap shot. Thursday's game was ugly on a lot of levels including the 4 INT night by Rudolph who was clearly intimidated by the Browns pass rush. The Browns should have won 27-7 but the Steelers were at least given a shot to stay in the game because of two missed field goals by the Browns on very makeable attempts. What could get really ugly is the Browns-Steelers rematch in two weeks. The game will be in Pittsburgh and it could get very ugly in a big hurry. I'd hate to be a ref in that game.

[eagle eye]

There are some pretty good games today. Cowboys-Patriots, Packers-49ers, Baltimore-Rams for example. There are interesting games like the Raiders-Jets, Titans-Jaguars and Broncos-Bills. It will be an interesting game in terms of fantasy as it's getting darn close to the playoffs and jockeying for position is a big deal. In my case, I have two players who will be in my lineup today that have been in doubt this week. Tyler Lockett will be able to play after suffering a severe contusion on his shin that knocked him out of the latter stages of the game two weeks ago against the 49ers. I missed Lockett last week but he wouldn't have been able to play anyway. Also, it looks like Emmanuel Sanders will be in the lineup against Green Bay. It cannot be discounted that the 49ers have been at home the last two weeks since he injured his ribs against the Seahawks. Reports are that his ribs are a lot better and the pain has largely subsided. The Niners will always depend on the run game first and foremost but, Sanders and the return of TE George Kittle will help the run game by enhancing the threat of the passing game. It's was uncanny how quickly Sanders and QB Jimmy Garoppolo developed a connection. With Sanders and Kittle back the 49ers will be lot for the Packers to handle. How weird is it that I have both Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers on my fantasy team and except for Week 1 Dak has been the best choice in fantasy.

This isn't meant as racist, just an observation of fact. 5 of top QB's in the whole NFL are black. When you look it's Dak, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson. Statistically, Jameis Winston is top 10 but he really sucks when it gets right down to it. Winston has thrown for a lot of yards but he constantly makes mistakes that hurt his team. He's better under the coaching of Bruce Ariens but he still is too flawed to trust with the keys to the team car. Fantasy is another thing but a division game against a resurgent Atlanta Falcons team may be a tough challenge.

The game between the Giants and the Bears will be interesting as the Giants travel to the Windy City to play an offensively challenged Bears team who also has a pretty stout defense. All I care about is that Daniel Jones and Golden Tate hook up early and often because Tate is also on my fantasy team. The weather will be chilly and mostly cloudy but it's still a good day for football. It's an hour before kickoff and I am really looking forward to another Sunday of football!

[eagle eye]

The Ravens clinched the AFC North on Thursday night and that means two of the four divisions in the AFC are spoken for. The Chiefs are the other sure fire division winner and that's pretty nice for them but if your fantasy league is over this week you will be in good shape but if your league lasts into Week 16 or even Week 17 you could be in trouble because you will likely have players who will sit to save them for the NFL playoffs.

The Texans and Titans play each other and the outright division lead in the AFC South is at stake. Both teams sit at 8-5 and even the winner can't rest easy because they face off again in Week 17 so this thing is likely coming down to the wire. If the loser in Week 15 wins in Week 17 then a whole list of tie breakers may come into play to see who wins the division. Today's game is in Tennessee so, for now, advantage Titans. Even the loser still has a chance to make the playoffs as another of today's games will have wild card playoff implications.

The Bills and the Steelers play today with Buffalo currently #1 in the AFC Wild Card race at 9-4 but Pittsburgh is right on their heels at 8-5. If Buffalo wins it puts them in the driver's seat for the top wild card and it makes it a sprint to the finish for the Steelers and the loser of the Texans-Titans game. That means all hands will be on deck today and likely thru the end of the season which is good news for fantasy players.

One of the biggest games in the NFC today is the Cowboys and Rams. The Rams are clinging to a hope they can still get a wild card slot because they will not catch San Francisco or Seattle to win the division. It's looking like the NFC West is best division in the NFL and they could easily put 3 teams in the playoffs. Beating Dallas is a big game for the Rams if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. Dallas is still tied with Philadelphia for the NFC East, or should I say NFC Least? Both teams limp into Week 15 with 6-7 records and, to be honest, Dallas looks like more of a train wreck and despite being at home I don't hold out much hope the Cowboys have figured anything thing out in the last 10 days since they last played a game. The extra time off couldn't hurt especially when you consider the Cowboys played 4 games in 19 days. One reason they looked so bad against Buffalo and Chicago was they were just a tired and beat up team.

The Seahawks play the slumping Carolina Panthers, a team that was slumping so bad the head coach Ron Rivera got fired and ultimately was spared having to stand on the sideline watching his team implode. The 49ers play the Atlanta Falcons who have been better of late but they won't be good enough to beat a really strong 49ers team. The likelyhood of both the 49ers and Seahawks winning today makes the Rams really on the spot to beat Dallas. The Rams really need to win because Seattle is the #1 Wild Card team in the NFC but the Vikings are the team the Rams are shooting for. The Vikes are a game behind Green Bay who has quietly put together a nice season and they lead the Norris Division at 10-3.

The Saints have clinched the NFC South so they are still jockeying for position in the playoffs. The loss to San Fran last week didn't help the Saints' cause but I wouldn't count them out for the #1 seed just yet. The Saints host the Colts on Monday night so they will know exactly where they stand way before the opening kickoff.

For gluttons for punishment the Browns take on the Arizona Cardinals in one of the late games. Can the Cards win their fourth game of the season. They are at home but, Cleveland is playing better lately and they are trying to get to .500 on the season which would be a big deal for them. Next week Cleveland plays Baltimore but, having clinched the division they may just sit Lamar Jackson and some of their top players to protect them heading into the playoffs. The Browns have already beaten the Ravens once this year in Week 4 in Baltimore no less in what was likely the Browns best game of the season. The Browns will have the Ravens at home next week and if the Ravens sit a lot of front line players it may be a big advantage for the Browns. Cleveland finishes the season against the Bengals in Cincy and if they sweep all three they will finish 9-7 and will have their first winning season in a very long time.

[eagle eye]

Ah, the NFL. Always moving and very few things stay the same for long.
One thing seems to be staying the same, New Orleans got screwed by the official yet again. On the play that Minnesota took the lead in the game as time was running out the Vikings receiver on the play, Kyle Rudolph, was guilty as sin of offensive pass interference. Replay clearly showed Rudolph push Saints defender PJ Anderson in the chest to gain separation to receive the pass that spelled the end of the Saints season. How that PI wasn’t called by the replay is complete hogwash and adds another link in the NFL’s chain of gutless moves involving this type of penalty. This may have allowed the Vikings to steal the win but the Saints were their own worst enemy in several cases during the game. An uncharacteristic INT by Drew Brees that led to an unexpected TD before the half, a missed field goal by Will Lutz after a miraculous drive that put them into position for the FG right at the end of the half, inexplicable breakdowns by the Saints defense didn’t help their cause.

Tennessee beating New England IN Foxborough was a big change. The Patriots were unbeaten in their home stadium for almost two decades but they lost 3 times this season including Saturday night’s loss. All the Titans did was line up and play smash mouth football. The Titans ran the heck out of RB Derrick Henry as the Titans ran the ball on 73% of their offensive plays. This strategy did what it was supposed to do, it shorted the game and took the ball out of Tom Brady’s hands. As a reward for moving on in the playoffs the Titans next face the Baltimore Ravens. Good luck with that. I used to hate the Patriots but what I have come to realize is that I was really just jealous of their success. It won’t seem like a proper playoff scenario without them. What is continuing is Bill Belichick’s influence on the playoffs. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel played for Belichick and won 3 Super Bowls with the Pats. Vrabel began his NFL coaching career as the linebackers coach for new Texans head coach and former Patriots assistant coach Bill O’Brien. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if these two teams met for the AFC Championship in two weeks?

Houston played a good quarter and a half of offense and their defense kept them in the game long enough for the Deshaun Watson and company to finally step up and salvage a hard fought win. The Bills have had little or no success since going to 4 straight Super Bowls (which they lost) in the early 1990’s. Houston plays Kansas City next and the Texans did beat the Chiefs in KC earlier in the season so I’m telling there is still hope.

The last game of Wild Card Weekend was between Philadelphia and Seattle. Philly limped into the playoffs by winning their last for games against the Giants, Redskins, Cowboys and Giants. The NFC East sucked to the max in 2019 and Philadelphia just sucked the least. I really didn’t think the Eagles could beat Seattle but I never thought the game would be as close as it ended up. All in all, I am not a fan of Pete Carroll but I’m glad the green clad, booger eating Eagles are out. So, except for the Saints losing, it was a pretty good weekend of football.