Month: September 2023

–The highlight game of the week will be 3-0 Miami at 2-1 Buffalo.  It is not too early to speculate that one of these teams will play Kansas City in the AFC title game. But it will be a 1 p.m. game on CBS so it won’t get a national audience as they share the time slot with the Ravens at Cleveland, Pittsburgh at Houston and in a battle of winless 0-3 team, the Broncos at the Bears.

–There will be five 1 p.m. games on Fox, but none of them with much national appeal. They are Washington at Philadelphia, the Bengals at Tennessee, the Rams at the Colts, the Bucs at New Orleans and in a battle of two winless teams, the Vikings at the Panthers. The Chargers host Las Vegas in the lone CBS late game.

–Fox also has the doubleheader game and games figure to be one-sided with the Patriots at Dallas and San Francisco going to Arizona. San Francisco figures to remain unbeaten while the Cowboys are likely to bounce back from last week’s stunning loss to Arizona. 

–The Sunday and Monday night games both feature New York teams but both figure to lose with Jets hosting the Chiefs and the Giants hosting the Seahawks. Patrick Mahomet vs. Zach Wilson is a mismatch with the only drama being- whether Taylor Smith will show up to cheer on Travis Kelce.

–In the first London game this year, the Falcons are the home team against Jacksonville, which will be the home team next week against Buffalo.  The Falcons-Jaguars game will only be shown in Atlanta and Jacksonville and ESPN+ with a start at 930 am in the local markets and 630 am on the West Coast. If the Jaguars win, both will be 2-2 while if the Falcons win, they will be 3-1 and the Jaguars 1-3 so it will be a pivotal game even though it wont get a big audience.

You know who Nick Saban is.

You probably don’t recognize the name of Lewis Cook Jr.

All you need to know about Cook is that Saban called him “one in a million” as a high school head football coach.

To find out more about this legendary Louisiana coach, you should read Gaylon H. White’s book, “Coach of a Lifetime.” Saban wrote the introduction, and it was published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Cook noted that he and Saban had similar backgrounds. They were both born in 1951. They both married a coed who was a year behind them in high school and were majorettes. Saban’s dad ran a gas station. Cook’s dad did the same thing, but also sold cars. 

“Obviously, we went in a little bit of a different direction as coaches, but we’ve both been coaching a long time,” Cook said. 

Saban, of course, went on to become rich and famous as he won national championships at LSU and  Alabama and signed an $84.8 million deal with the Crimson Tide.

Except for a brief stints as a college assistant coach, Cook was content to coaching in high school and has had an amazing 392-92 2 record in 38 year as  a high school head coach.

Cook likes to joke he was the “clown” who took a $6,000 pay cut to leave a job as a college assistant to return to the high school ranks.

And he never looked back. The nomad coaching life wasn’t for him. 

“That just wasn’t for me,” he said. He has spent his entire career living with his family in the same house so he didn’t have to move around the way so many coaches do.

“Dad and Saban are polar opposites,” said his son Jeff, who admitted he didn’t like playing for Saban at LSU. 

 “The work ethic is the same. The drive to win is the same. The difference is how they treat people. The development of kids is where my dad excels. He makes everybody better. He pulls the underdogs up.”

With all his success, you might think Cook spent most of his career at a big school with a lot of Division I prospects.

But he spent much of his career at a small school — Notre Dame High School in Crowley, La. — and didn’t recruit. He takes the players who attend the school and turns them into overachievers.He was as likely to coach future priests as future college stars or NFL players. And he has coached grandsons of players he coached back in the day.

He coached five state title teams, four at Notre Dame and lost six finals, mainly because he faced better teams.

Saban  watched one of the losses in a title game, said he enjoyed watching his team play and added, “Don’t. take this the wrong way but that team was probably three or four touchdowns better than y’all and they were lucky to get by you.”” Cook’s team lost only by a touchdown.

Cook’s legacy, though is much more than the wins and losses. It will be how he developed the players to be the best they could be on and off the field.

–The Kansas City Chiefs got their offense rolling again and their best player, Travis Kelce, was the center of attention on and off the field. The Chiefs crushed the Chicago Bears, which was good news for all the fans who had them in the survivor pool. But the easy victory was overshadowed by the fact Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was at the game with his mom. Swift seemed to get more attention than the game in the post game chatter. Coach Andy Reed said he set them up.  And even Bill Belichick gave an answer when he was asked about the couple and Kelce’s touchdown catch. He said Kelce has made a lot of big catches but that was the biggest. Swift’s appearance even overshadowed Patrick Mahomes suffering an ankle injury late in first half although he returned in the second half. Imagine the scene if Swift is at the Super Bowl rooting for Kelce if the Chiefs make it. 

–It was a bad day for fans who had the Cowboys and Jaguars, who were both favored over winless teams, in the survivor pools. The Cowboys lost to the Cardinals and the Jaguars to the Texans. Josh Dobbs, who joined the Cardinals in late August after the Cardinals made a trade with Cleveland, posted his first victory as a quarterback. Meanwhile, Houston rookie C.J. Stroud in his third game, outplayed third year quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was the top pick in 2021 draft.  This is a pivotal year for Lawrence, who has yet to pick up where he left off last year.

–Sean Payton, in his first year as the Denver coach, may regret knocking last year’s coach, Nathaniel Hackett. Not only is his team 0-3 but the Broncos were routed by Miami, 70-20. The Dolphins were the fourth team to score 70 or more points in the history of the NFL. They could have tied Chicago’s record of 73-0 in maybe the most famous score ever when they routed Washington 73-0 in the 1940 title game.  But coach Mike McDaniel decided to take a knee.  The last team to get to 70 didn’t take a knee. In 1966, Washington was leading the New York Giants, 69-41, late in the game with Sam Huff yelled field goal and Charlie Gogolak kicked a 29-yarder to make it 72-41.  Huff was irate that Giants coach Allie Sherman had traded him to Washington and wanted to score as many as possible. The trade actually worked out well for Huff because he became a long time announcer for the team. But years later, he still relished getting that extra field goal. 

Coaches Brandon Staley of the Chargers and Josh McDaniels of the Raiders made very puzzling decisions Sunday. With the Chargers Leading by four points, Staley went for it on 4^th and 1 from his on 24 late in the game. The Chargers didn’t make it but he escaped with the victory when the Chargers intercepted a deflected pass in the end zone. McDaniels had the Raiders kick a field goal with 2:22 left to cut the Raiders against the Steelers to five instead of going for it and trying to tie the game with a touchdown and two point conversion. The field goal cut the deficit to five but the Raiders never got the ball back.

–There are only four winless 0-3 teams after three weeks. Barring a tie there will only be two next week since the four winless teams play each other. The best of the four (Minnesota) is a 3.5 point choice over the Panthers while the Broncos, who gave up 70 points to Miami, are three point choice over the Bears. Shows how bad the oddsmakers think the Beas are. Meanwhile, there are only three unbeaten teams in the league – Miami, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Is it too early to predict the conference title games will match Miami vs. Kansas City and Philadelphia vs. the 49ers?

–Not a great week for can’t miss viewing. The NFL is showing this week it doesn’t have enough good matchups for a 17 game season. Two games – Buffalo at the Commanders on Sunday afternoon and Eagles at Tampa Bay Monday night- -feature 2-0 teams with the winners going 0-3. But Buffalo and the Eagles should have the edge in these two games so they may not be worth watching.

–The Sunday night feature game is Pittsburgh at the Raiders. This was a great rivalry in the 1970s when they met in the playoffs five years in a row. The first game is remembered for the Immaculate Reception and the last three were in the AFC title game with the winner winning the Super Bowl. That was then and this is now. Both are 1-1 but Pittsburgh avoided a 0-2 start on two defensive touchdowns against the Browns even though they were minus seven yards in fourth quarter. The Raiders were thrashed by Buffalo 38-10 to fall to 1-1 but both teams have national followings so they are being featured on Sunday night.

–Fox gets the doubleheader on Sunday but half the country gets Chiefs-Bears and the other half gets Dallas-Phoenix. The Chiefs and Cowboys figure to win easily but Chiefs are the defending champions and the Cowboys are, well, the Cowboys so they hope to get decent ratings.

–The Patriots will try to avoid a 0-3 start when they go to the Meadowlands to face the Jets, who are playing without Aaron Rodgers. The Patriots figure to win their 15^th game in a row against the Jets but the odds are against them making the playoffs since they are in the same division with the Dolphins and Bills.

–The Chargers and Vikings are two disappointing 0-2 teams and one will fall to 3-0 when they meet at Minnesota. Both teams made the playoffs last year. If the Vikings lose, there is chatter they could trade Kirk Cousins and go into a tanking mode. Chargers coach Brandon Staley can’t afford to tank because he could be on the hot seat if the Chargers don’t turn things around. He can’t afford to keep losing with Justin Herbert as his quarterback, especially after the 27-0 meltdown against the Jaguars in the playoffs last January.

–For the second week in a row, the league lost a major star for the season with an injury on Monday Night Football. Last week, Aaron Rodgers of the Jets went down with a torn Achilles. This Monday night, Nick Chubb was lost for the season with a knee injury that was so disturbing that ABC declined to show the injury on replay. The Steelers showed it on their video board and the crowd gasped and became silent. The injuries show once again that despite the league’s attempt to make the game safer for the players, injuries remain part of the game.

–Unlike the Jets who rallied to win without Rodgers, the Browns lost the game in Pittsburgh without Chubb on the Steelers second defensive touchdown. The Steelers had a minus seven yards on offense in the fourth quarter, but pulled out the game when T.J. Watt picked up the ball and scored after Deshaun Watson, who also threw a Pick Six on the first play of the game, was strip sacked. The Steelers now own MNF with 53 wins and have now won 21 home wins in a row and 13 of the last 14. 

–Times have changed in the AFC East. Back in 2001, the Patriots started out 0-2 with Drew Bledsoe at quarterback. The next week, Tom Brady took over after Bledsoe was injured and went to nine Super Bowls, winning six and losing three before he left for Tampa Bay after the 2019 season and won a seventh. Meanwhile, without Brady, the days of the Patriots winning division titles and playoff games appear to be over. Buffalo won the last three division titles and Miami beat the Patriots to drop them to 0-2 for the first time since 2001 while the Dolphins are one of nine 2-0 teams.

–The Bengals were the only team to start off 0-2 and make the playoffs last year. They are off to a 0-2 start this year but it will be more difficult to make the playoffs because Joe Burrow is dealing with a calf injury. Two of the other 0-2 teams, Chargers and Vikings, made the playoffs last year. The other 0-2 teams are Pats, Bears, Panthers, Broncos, Texans and Cardinals. Since 1990, 265 teams have started off 0-2 and only 30 made the playoffs. Only two 0-2 teams, 1993 Cowboys and 2001 Patriots, won the Super Bowl after starting off 0-2 but there were extenuating circumstances. Emmitt Smith held out and missed the first two Cowboy games in 1993 and Brady didn’t take over until the Patriots third game in 2001 after Bledsoe was injured. There are nine 2-0 teams but just two, Dolphins and Ravens, are in the AFC. The other seven are the in the NFC – Eagles, Cowboys, 49ers. Falcons, Bucs, Commanders and Saints.

–The home field edge isn’t what it used to be. After two weeks, the visiting teams hold a 19-13 edge.

—The 16 teams that lost their openers will be trying to avoid 0-2 starts. Only one team, Cincinnati, started out 0-2 last year and made the playoffs. By contrast, six teams that started off 2-0 made the playoffs.

—The feature game is Miami at New England Sunday night. Patriots coach Bill Belichick took defensive players with the first three picks in the draft and held Philadelphia to a touchdown in the opener but still lost. If his defense can’t stop the explosive Dolphins, the Patriots will start off 0-2 and be two games behind the Dolphins in the division. And owner Bob Kraft may be frustrated.

—The Bengals are trying to avoid a 0-2 start for the second year in a row after a listless performance in the opener against the Browns as Joe Burrow seemed to show the effects of missing most of camp with a calf injury. The Ravens opened with a win against Houston and are going for a 2-0 start.

—The defending champion Chiefs are trying to avoid a 0-2 start when they go to Jacksonville, a team they beat twice last year. The Chiefs lost to the Lions in the opener when Kadarius Toney dropped some key passes and Travis Kelce was injured and Chris Jones was holding out. They are both back although Kelce probably won’t be 100 per cent. The Jaguars may have the weather on their side. It will be hot and may rain so Chiefs have to show they can avoid wilting.

—Zach Wilson, the Jets starter now that Aaron Rodgers is injured, faces a tough task at Dallas. The Jets aren’t expected to win but need to show they can be competitive and not be blown out the way the Giants were last week by the Cowboys.

 –Maybe the Jets are a cursed franchise. They’ve spent over half a century looking for their next Joe Namath and this year they decided to hitch their wagon to aging Aaron Rodgers as a short term fix.  And for several months and through training camp, Rodgers seemed the right choice. He seemed happy and the Jets figured he could lead them to a Super Bowl. But four snaps into the season against the Bills, he was lost for the year with a ruptured Achilles. The Jets still pulled off a dramatic victory with an overtime punt return for a touchdown. But the road to the playoffs may be a bumpy one. They have a good defense and running game, but will need to find a quarterback if third year quarterback Zach Wilson isn’t the answer.

Meanwhile, the Bills have to wonder if Josh Allen is the quarterback who will take them to the Super Bowl. He threw three interceptions and lost a fumble and virtually gift wrapped the game to the Jets. He needs to stop being a turnover machine if the Bills are to do deep into the playoffs. He is now 0-5in overtime games.

—With Kansas City, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Chargers all stumbling, Miami may emerge as the favorite in the AFC. A year ago, there were concerns that Tuo Tagovailoa’s concussions  might severely affect his career. But he had one of the best opening day showings ever, throwing for 466 yards with Tyreek Hill making 11 catchs for 215 yards in a 36-34 win over the Chargers. But it was a disappointing finish for the Chargers Justin Herbert, who needs to put a field goal on the board at the end, but didn’t get much protection and failed to pull the game out. He was even called for intentional grounding and sacked on last series.

—The two more impressive performances of the weekend were Dallas crushing the New York Giants 40-0 and San Francisco routing the Steelers, 30-7. Along with defending NFC champion Philadelphia, they look like the top three NFC teams. Meanwhile, the Giants and Steelers had high hopes for this year and have to hope the openers were a one off.

–Joe Burrow just got the best contract ever but that doesn’t change the fact he was rusty after missing training camp and it showed as he passed for just 82 yards and had a passer rating of 52.2. Both were career lows in the 24-3 loss to the Browns, who appear to know how to defend him. He is 1-5 against them.

–No surprise that the three rookie quarterbacks starting their openers – C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson – all lost. So did the five coaches in their first season with their current teams –Sean Payton, Frank  Reich, Shane Steichen, Jonathan Gannon and DeMeco Ryans. Meanwhile, Jordan Love sat for three years behind Aaron Rodgers and led the Packers to the win over the Bears. Maybe Love can own the Bears the way Rodgers did.

–How much do the Chiefs miss Travis Kelce? Since he was sidelined with an injury, Patrick Mahomes tried to hit Kadarius Toney and one pass went off his hands for a pick six and he dropped a pass that would have set up a game winning field goal late in the game as Chiefs lost to the Lions, 21-20. Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor got a lot of attention for lining up off the line of scrimmage. He did it in Jacksonville, but the Jaguars didn’t play in a lot of high profile games and it wasn’t noticed. Now the Chiefs come to Jacksonville on Sunday we will see if he gets called for it.

Forty seven years ago when Inside the NFL made its debut on HBO, it had a niche as an NFL highlight show.

But over the years as the number of highlight shows has exploded and the NFL Red Zone shows every touchdown every Sunday, the show has lost its novelty.

The result is that it has moved from HBO to Showtime to streaming last year on Paramount.

Now it is back on cable on the CW channel but there are questions about whether it will attract an audience.

It also has a new group of commentators with Ryan Clark being the host and joined by Channing Crowder, Jay Cutler, Chad Johnson and Chris Long.

Clark said he’s always wanted to be a host but never in his wildest dreams did he think he would be hosting Inside the NFL.

But is Inside the NFL the show that it once was? Will the new group of analysts have good chemistry? What will the ratings be like? Will fans even know it is on the CW?

The show debuts Sept. 5. We will then start getting the answers to those questions.

—The Lions didn’t make the playoffs last year and struggled at times in the preseason, but they like to think they are an up-and-coming team. The NFL even gave them the high profile opening Thursday night game at the defending champion Chiefs. The Lions will find out if they are ready for the challenge. Meanwhile, the Chiefs begin their bid for their fourth Super Bowl appearance in the last five years.

–The NFL didn’t waste any time showcasing Aaron Rodgers’ transition to the Jets. He will play his first Jets game on Monday against the Bills, who have beaten the Jets six times in a row so it won’t take long to find out how much of a difference Rodgers can make.

–Rodgers used to say he owned the Bears. Now Jordan Love takes over as the Packers quarterback after sitting on the bench for three years and will play the Bears in his first game. The Packers have beaten the Bears eight consecutive times. Can Love keep the streak going?

–The Cowboys have beaten the Giants 11 times in the last 12 meetings, but they will get the first Sunday night game because, well, they are the Cowboys and are ratings gold. And New York is the biggest market.

–The 49ers will play the Steelers for just the fourth time since 2011 and it an important game for two second year quarterbacks. Brock Purdy of the 49ers wants to pick up where he left off last year when he was injured in the NFC title game. The last pick in the draft last year, Purdy was so effective that the 49ers are convinced he is their quarterback of the future and traded away Trey Lance. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ Kenny Pickett was drafted in the first round by the Steelers last year to be their quarterback of the future and he may live up to that billing.

–Philadelphia, the Super Bowl losers, will be shown in much of the country as the doubleheader game on Sunday afternoon. They play at New England, but the Patriots aren’t what they were when they had Tom Brady and the Eagles may dominate this game.

San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch said all the right things after they traded Trey Lance, the quarterback they gave up three first round picks and a second to select him with the third pick in 2021.

“I always feel like I let Trey down,” Shanahan said. I always believed in Trey.”

“We took a shot and it didn’t work out,” Lynch said. “We are accountable for that.”

Well, they have proved that talk is cheap.

You just don’t give up four high picks for a quarterback and get rid of him after he was injured two years in a row and started only four games.

We still don’t know if Lance will be a bust. He is now in Dallas as the third stringer and who knows what his future will be.

Meanwhile, the 49ers will go forward without those four high draft picks they gave up for Lance. The amazing thing is that they built a contender without them and found Brock Purdy in the seventh round to be their quarterback.

But they haven’t gotten a ring yet despite three trips to the NFC title game and a Super Bowl appearance in the last four years.

If they don’t get a ring, their legacy will likely be making one of the worst draft trades ever.