Football Returns
Whooo-boy! It is good to have football back.
If you are anything like me (which would be unfortunate for you), you burned down that cell phone battery checking sports apps this weekend as you tried to track football scores and stats while attending multiple youth sports events and other adult requirements. Most of my Saturday was spent facilitating and watching youth sports and I spent time on Sunday at Nationals Park for a glorified Triple A game. But I stayed locked in and did some reading to catch up on games I missed.
Week One of the NFL schedule is in the books at it is time for an immediate overreaction to a very small sample size.
Here are my three takeaways from the first 16 NFL games.
The reports of the Indianapolis Colts demise has been greatly underestimated.
We all knew the Colts would struggle without Andrew Luck, but getting beat 46-9 by a Los Angeles Rams team that won four games last year, has a quarterback, Jared Goff, who has never won a game, and a rookie head coach? I thought the Colts needed to weather the Luck injury for a few weeks, and then make a push for the playoffs. Nope. Indianapolis looks to be in a free fall because their management has "no idea what they are doing," according to Gregg Doyel of the IndyStar.
The Colts blogosphere is populated by pitchfork-wielding masses pounding on the barrier wall calling for coach Chuck Pagano's head. If they ever got his skull and split it open, they would probably find it filled with tennis balls and wet farts. People question Pagano's capability, because he continually fails to meet the lowest of expectations. There will be no upward trend this year, even when Luck returns.
Washington Football Club expectations are plummeting.
Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post advises Redskins fans lowering their expectations. The D.C. sports radio talent that I listen to generally believed Washington would win seven to nine games this year. While head coach Jay Gruden's charges let a winnable home game slip away it was more of the same mediocre play that leads to an eight-win season and less Boswell's dire assessment of the Redskins "put[ting] ugly on the fast track."
In Gruden's three previous seasons as coach, the Redskins have lost their first game each year. Washington is consistently inconsistent under Gruden, and often let winnable games slip away (see also 2016 week 15 and 17 home field losses to piss away a playoff spot). The Redskins are still well within range of another 0.500 season, but not anything more. Things aren't dire in D.C., but Gruden is definitely putting himself in the same class as Pagano.
The New England Patriots are no where near dropping back to the pack.
Social media is filled with celebratory posts now that the Patriots are in last place of the AFC East following their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday and the Buffalo Bills victory over the New York Jets on Sunday. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Patriots are still my pick to win that division and probably even the Super Bowl.
College football: Army Team and Hoosiers earn solid wins.
Beyond a date with Ohio State this week, there are six winnable games amongst Army's first seven opponents. The Army Team spent the majority of the first half Saturday attempting to lose one of the all important winnable games. Alex Funderburke of the Forgotten5 details the cadets solid second half, and gutsy fake punt call, that led to their 21-17 victory.
Army is now 2-0 moving on to the Horseshoe in Columbus which promises to be a very tough game. I wouldn't worry about attending that one, but I would highly encourage you to get to Michie Stadium this year. It is a great place to tailgate and take in a game as evidenced by Dan Head's latest blog post at Casa Cabeza.
Zach Osterman of the IndyStar details the three keys to the Indiana Football Hoosiers rebound victory following their drubbing at the hands of Urban Meyer's evil Buckeyes. Getting a road win over a Power 5 conference team is big for the Hoosiers. They now have games against Florida International and Georgia Southern before they attempt to sniff mediocrity in their Big Ten slate.
There are legitimate reasons to pay attention to the Hoosiers this year. Head coach Tom Allen made the defense tough during his tenure as defensive coordinator and now he is making the special teams formidable. I still wonder if Athletic Director Fred Glass should have at least brought Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, still at Western Michigan when Glass booted Kevin Wilson, in for an interview prior to elevating Allen. Things are looking brighter for the Hoosiers, but Minnesota under Fleck and Maryland under D.J. Durkin are improving their middling teams and going to make advancement in the conference tough on Indiana.
Finally, a sideways glance at September baseball.
I had the great fortune of having tickets to the Sunday afternoon Washington Nationals game and two daughters that wanted to go. So we got out to Nationals Park for the Nationals game against the Philadelphia Phillies and saw the home team clinch the National League Eastern Division title. There is not much better than taking your family to the ball park, dumping some Old Bay on a basket of chicken tenders and fries, and watching some baseball.
The Reds have been done for a while and it is time for me to jump on the bandwagon of my local, second-favorite team. The Nats have weathered injury after injury this year and still keep winning. Like other D.C. teams, the Washington baseball club is a regular season top performer that fails in the post season.
With Trea Turner, Stephen Strasburg (who looked electric with 10 Ks Sunday), Jayson Werth and maybe Bryce Harper getting healthy, could...this...be...the...year?
If you are anything like me (which would be unfortunate for you), you burned down that cell phone battery checking sports apps this weekend as you tried to track football scores and stats while attending multiple youth sports events and other adult requirements. Most of my Saturday was spent facilitating and watching youth sports and I spent time on Sunday at Nationals Park for a glorified Triple A game. But I stayed locked in and did some reading to catch up on games I missed.
Week One of the NFL schedule is in the books at it is time for an immediate overreaction to a very small sample size.
Here are my three takeaways from the first 16 NFL games.
The reports of the Indianapolis Colts demise has been greatly underestimated.
We all knew the Colts would struggle without Andrew Luck, but getting beat 46-9 by a Los Angeles Rams team that won four games last year, has a quarterback, Jared Goff, who has never won a game, and a rookie head coach? I thought the Colts needed to weather the Luck injury for a few weeks, and then make a push for the playoffs. Nope. Indianapolis looks to be in a free fall because their management has "no idea what they are doing," according to Gregg Doyel of the IndyStar.
The Colts blogosphere is populated by pitchfork-wielding masses pounding on the barrier wall calling for coach Chuck Pagano's head. If they ever got his skull and split it open, they would probably find it filled with tennis balls and wet farts. People question Pagano's capability, because he continually fails to meet the lowest of expectations. There will be no upward trend this year, even when Luck returns.
Washington Football Club expectations are plummeting.
Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post advises Redskins fans lowering their expectations. The D.C. sports radio talent that I listen to generally believed Washington would win seven to nine games this year. While head coach Jay Gruden's charges let a winnable home game slip away it was more of the same mediocre play that leads to an eight-win season and less Boswell's dire assessment of the Redskins "put[ting] ugly on the fast track."
In Gruden's three previous seasons as coach, the Redskins have lost their first game each year. Washington is consistently inconsistent under Gruden, and often let winnable games slip away (see also 2016 week 15 and 17 home field losses to piss away a playoff spot). The Redskins are still well within range of another 0.500 season, but not anything more. Things aren't dire in D.C., but Gruden is definitely putting himself in the same class as Pagano.
The New England Patriots are no where near dropping back to the pack.
Social media is filled with celebratory posts now that the Patriots are in last place of the AFC East following their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday and the Buffalo Bills victory over the New York Jets on Sunday. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Patriots are still my pick to win that division and probably even the Super Bowl.
- In 2001, the Patriots lost in Week One to the Cincinnati Bengals 23-17. They won the Super Bowl that year.
- In 2003, the Patriots lost in Week One to the Buffalo Bills 31-16. They won the Super Bowl that year.
- In 2014, the Patriots lost in Week One to the Miami Dolphins 33-20. They won the Super Bowl that year.
College football: Army Team and Hoosiers earn solid wins.
Beyond a date with Ohio State this week, there are six winnable games amongst Army's first seven opponents. The Army Team spent the majority of the first half Saturday attempting to lose one of the all important winnable games. Alex Funderburke of the Forgotten5 details the cadets solid second half, and gutsy fake punt call, that led to their 21-17 victory.
Army is now 2-0 moving on to the Horseshoe in Columbus which promises to be a very tough game. I wouldn't worry about attending that one, but I would highly encourage you to get to Michie Stadium this year. It is a great place to tailgate and take in a game as evidenced by Dan Head's latest blog post at Casa Cabeza.
Zach Osterman of the IndyStar details the three keys to the Indiana Football Hoosiers rebound victory following their drubbing at the hands of Urban Meyer's evil Buckeyes. Getting a road win over a Power 5 conference team is big for the Hoosiers. They now have games against Florida International and Georgia Southern before they attempt to sniff mediocrity in their Big Ten slate.
There are legitimate reasons to pay attention to the Hoosiers this year. Head coach Tom Allen made the defense tough during his tenure as defensive coordinator and now he is making the special teams formidable. I still wonder if Athletic Director Fred Glass should have at least brought Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, still at Western Michigan when Glass booted Kevin Wilson, in for an interview prior to elevating Allen. Things are looking brighter for the Hoosiers, but Minnesota under Fleck and Maryland under D.J. Durkin are improving their middling teams and going to make advancement in the conference tough on Indiana.
Finally, a sideways glance at September baseball.
I had the great fortune of having tickets to the Sunday afternoon Washington Nationals game and two daughters that wanted to go. So we got out to Nationals Park for the Nationals game against the Philadelphia Phillies and saw the home team clinch the National League Eastern Division title. There is not much better than taking your family to the ball park, dumping some Old Bay on a basket of chicken tenders and fries, and watching some baseball.
The Reds have been done for a while and it is time for me to jump on the bandwagon of my local, second-favorite team. The Nats have weathered injury after injury this year and still keep winning. Like other D.C. teams, the Washington baseball club is a regular season top performer that fails in the post season.
With Trea Turner, Stephen Strasburg (who looked electric with 10 Ks Sunday), Jayson Werth and maybe Bryce Harper getting healthy, could...this...be...the...year?
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