Since returning on December 18th from a quick and wonderful trip to Southern California, I have been beset with a horrible cold which won’t go away. Except for a few moments where the adrenaline kicked in—-my wife’s 70th birthday party on Saturday and a traditional Christmas morning trip to Katz’s Delicatessen and Russ & Daughters Appetizers for Jewish Soul food, I have been sleeping most of my days, eating somewhat (certainly the party and the NYC trip enticed my appetite) and coughing and excreting mucus constantly.
It hasn’t been pretty. Moreover, Wednesday was the first day I could even go to the gym; I needed some semblance of relatively normal activity to help me feel a bit better. Going to the gym was with restrictions on what I can do involving my calcium-laden left shoulder, due for a second lavage next week and a sore tibial region which will be the subject of an MRI on December 28th. I am keeping the Summit Medical Group orthopedic surgeons busy.
My down time has allowed me to watch a lot of sports on TV. Some games I watched nearly from start to finish; others, I saw in significant portions.
My viewing was limited to the NFL and the NBA on Christmas Day. From what I saw, there is plenty to talk about. I hope I have enough stamina to say what I think needed to be said.
On Saturday, I watched much of the second half of the Baltimore-LA Chargers game from the Stub Hub Center, formerly known as the Home Depot Center, located on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California, approximately 14 miles south of Los Angeles. It is the home of Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy, seating 27,000 in a nearly Kafkaesque-like setting as far as the NFL’s TV eye was willing to depict.
The Chargers had an opportunity to cement a hold on the lead in the AFC West over the Kansas City Chiefs, while hindering the Ravens chances among the AFC playoff hopefuls. And the CBS announcing team was clearly rooting for that to happen. But it didn’t.
Chargers’ QB Philip Rivers, purportedly on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame due to his cumulative career numbers, laid an egg on the wretched turf. His teammates weren’t much better. The offense was not in sync due to the superior pressure provided by the Baltimore defense. Rivers was constantly hounded or dumped for losses. He and LA Head Coach Anthony Lynn simply could not overcome the Ravens coaching. If that wasn’t enough, there were too many inopportune flags and turnovers to seal the Chargers fate.
Baltimore looked like a winner. Confident and brash on defense, the offense was guided by rookie QB Lamar Jackson, who delivered timely passes, augmented by a punishing running attack which included former Rutgers tailback Gus Edwards. John Harbaugh made the correct decision when he kept Jackson in place as the starting QB when incumbent Joe Flacco returned from injury.
Sunday afternoon, I stayed up long enough to watch the first half of the Green Bay-Jets game. Aided by an early Andre Roberts 99 yard kickoff return, Sam Darnold and his mates took the play away from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers for most of the first half. The Jets defense, dominant for much of that half, began to unravel towards the end of the second quarter, placing the Pack within striking distance.
I admit that I slept through the entire second half and the overtime session. I went to sleep believing that the Jets would somehow fritter away the lead to Rodgers and find a way to lose. Which I wasn’t wrong about.
Darnold played like the elite pro QB the Jets organization expects he will become. He completed the most passes in a game thus far, suffered no interceptions, and had a QB rating of 158.4, which is perfect. But the Jets defense proved to be no match for Rodgers, in my opinion a far superior QB than the Chargers’ Rivers. With the aid of a couple of questionable calls by the officials which resulted in a post-game rant by the Jets’ normally mild-mannered Todd Bowles, Rodgers won the game for Green Bay.
I have said it before—the Jets aren’t a very good team. This week’s final game at New England is likely Bowles’ last game as their head man. Notwithstanding the denial that the Jets are courting Jim Harbaugh, John’s brother and the leader at Michigan as well as formerly a successful coach with the 49’ers, the Jets are a nightmare in many areas. With tons of cap space, they need to address multiple scenarios—defensive line and secondary; offensive line; running back; and wide receivers. The only safe spots seem to be at QB with the future star Darnold, kicking, and kick returns with Roberts. New York will likely draft in the number 4 slot—good enough to get a quality player for years to come.
If done right by GM Mike Maccagnan and ownership, the future moves come at a pivotal time for the franchise. I do not believe that the Jets would do wrong if they kept Bowles—the players love him. However, the fans want blood, and he will be the scapegoat in the carnage. I hope that whoever comes in will be able to right the ship in the next two years—for that is all the patience I have with this moribund group.
The two marquee games were the late afternoon Steelers-Saints matchup and the Chiefs-Seahawks nightcap. These two games showcased four QB’s of some repute—three Super Bowl winners and the wunderkind known as Patrick Mahomes. Neither disappointed the viewers, unless you rooted for Pittsburgh and Kansas City.
Game One featured a showdown between Drew Brees, who has guided the Saints to the top record in the NFC, and old reliable Big Ben Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh gunslinger.
Back and forth the game went—the Steelers repeatedly overcoming bad officiating and New Orleans manufacturing points via Brees and their multi-talented RB Alvin Kamara. Just when you thought the Saints were on the verge of putting away the Steelers, back came the Steel City crew, recovering from a 24-14 deficit to take a 28-24 lead.
It was Brees, throwing with pin point accuracy, who took the Saints to the deciding score, aided by a blown offensive interference call. Still, with little time left on the clock, here came Big Ben charging down the field, likely to secure a game-tying field goal or even the winning TD. Only to have the ball punched away from WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, to the delight of the uproarious Saints fans.
With the win, New Orleans has home field throughout the NFC Playoffs. Pittsburgh fell to the eighth spot in the AFC Playoff hunt and is behind Baltimore in the AFC North race. They need a lot to happen in their favor on Sunday; with the opening game tie in Cleveland and a string of fourth quarter lapses resulting in defeats, the Steelers must focus on winning and hoping other teams like the Browns do them a favor by beating the Ravens in Baltimore.
I genuinely like Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin. He has a habit of doing unorthodox moves—his midfield attempt on a fake punt was disastrous—and he has the respect of his players. Pittsburgh may not make the playoffs and there will be criticism of Tomlin, some of which will be justified. The Steelers franchise is one of stability; I hope that they don’t hastily fire a true good man and a winner as a coach.
In Seattle, with weather in the 40’s and a bit of a sloppy track, two thoroughbreds took the reins for their teams and provided a fast paced show. Russell Wilson, playing before the loud and crazed Seattle fans, which included his wife Ciera, led the Seahawks with 3 TD passes and many an accurate throw. Chris Collingsworth, the NBC analyst, was astonished on one heave how the arc of the throw put the ball safely into the receiver’s arms when he was blanketed by the defensive back. There also were circus catches from WR Doug Baldwin to aid Seatle in its recovery from an 0-2 start to secure a Wild Card spot in the NFC. Seattle has a punishing ground game and a stiff defense, which even gave the lithe Mahomes difficulty. They are a team to be reckoned with; if Dallas draws them, I would pick Seattle to win the game on the road.
As for KC, do not worry greatly. They should recover to land the top spot in the AFC. Mahomes is a force and he and Drew Brees are vying for the M.V.P. award. The loss of Kareem Hunt has forced the Chiefs to adapt and the loss of this kind of multi-threat player will be hard to overcome. I also think that the KC defense is a liability. A hot team could exploit this weakness and upset KC. Plus I am not a big fan of Andy Reid, unlike so many announcers who are in his corner.
I caught a bit of the mud bath between the Denver Broncos and the Raiders at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. Given the litigation between the city and the Raiders and the impending relocation of the franchise to Las Vegas, it was an emotional, wild scene on Monday night. Derek Carr, a fairly good QB who has very few weapons at his disposal, shredded a flat Broncos squad. Watching Denver’s Case Keenum try and try to energize the Denver offense demonstrated the difference between the elite QB’s I have previously gushed over and the everyday, pedestrian ones. I felt cheated.
While I wanted to be nostalgic for one night, I am sympathetic with the Broncos’ players description of the filth, stench and horrid conditions that permeated the Coliseum. Playing elsewhere for a year or two may be the best thing for Jon Gruden and his bunch. The A’s should look to play elsewhere until their new stadium is built in downtown Oakland. I imagine that the Warriors are going to be very happy to vacate Oracle Arena next door and head to San Francisco and their new state of the art arena.
One more gripe. The plethora of yellow flags raining down on the NFL playing surfaces, coupled with the serious amount of blown calls and non-calls, is making a sham out of competitive games. It is up to the NFL to get the games under control—without affecting the outcomes. Unfortunately, this is not the case and I expect that the playoffs will not be any different. Something has to change, and the NFL better be proactive this off season or the sanctity of the games will be further eroded.
ON NBA Christmas (it is no longer a religious holiday but for basketball), the league lined up 5 games. The Knicks were no match for the Milwaukee Bucks and the “Greek Freak.” That sufficed as an opening act.
James Harden played like an M.V.P. to lead the Houston Rockets to a close victory over Oklahoma City. That was the salad.
Philadelphia and Boston went to overtime to decide their game. Kyrie Irving scored 40 and with the assist of some timely defense and offense from his teammates, Boston downed the Sixers. One observation—Philly’s Jimmy Butler is a selfish gunner. The star of the team is Joel Embiid. Get him the ball and let others feed off of him, not Butler, the ball hog. Philadelphia had the chance to win if shooter J.J. Redick had nailed a couple of shots. Credit the Celtics with the win, for they deserved it.
The main course was between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors. Le Bron versus Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. As a Warriors fan, it was an ugly loss to a team that played harder and better when James was actually out of the game and then after he injured his groin in the third quarter. Curry, Thompson, Durant and Draymond Green performed miserably on offense and defense. Ivica Zubac, an unheralded big man from Croatia, repeatedly thwarted the Warriors inside and dominated them in the paint on offense.
While Steve Kerr maintains he is not troubled by this loss, it is the third twenty point loss at Oracle this season. I think the Warriors rely too much on jump shots, play spotty defense, and need a big man in the middle to help. I hope Boogie Cousins’ debut isn’t far away, because Golden State needs a jump start to begin playing more solid Warriors basketball. Memo to Draymond: stop pouting and distribute the ball more effectively. You are trying to do too much.
As to LeBron, his groin injury may or not be too serious. He and Durant evidently dislike each other—that’s okay. His unfortunate choice of rap lyrics—which he thought praised Jews when the words were derisive—disappointed me. I thought he was smarter than that. Maybe he should take former Ohio State Head Football Coach Urban Meyer’s course in character and leadership. Lol.
Two quick predictions—I see Alabama and Clemson making it to the College Football Championship Game. I don’t think Notre Dame can defeat Clemson. ‘Bama may have a tougher time with Oklahoma and its offense and punishing defense.
I’ll be back next week, if I get a handle on this cold. Perhaps with a bit more enthusiasm and energy. After all, I have to start following the emergence of the Brooklyn Nets as a legitimate playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. Or maybe the possible sinus infection enveloping me is playing more with my mind than I thought…
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