VITO'S VIEWS

–The NFL is back to where it was in the Super Bowl last February. The two Super Bowl team from last year, Kansas City and Philadelphia, are the top seeds at the seven game mark with 6-1 records. The Chiefs won their sixth in a row by beating the Chargers, 31-17, and the Eagles bounced back from their first loss to beat the Dolphins by the same score.

–Of course, it is way too early to crown either team in this topsy-turvy season. For example the top three scoring teams, Miami, San Francisco and Buffalo, all lost last week although all three teams have injury problems. The Lions, who were being touted as one of the best teams in the league, were routed by the Ravens, 38-6. The 49ershad won 16 regular season games in a row and now have lost two in a row but then they lost in weeks 6 and 7 last year and then ran the table in the regular season the rest of the year. 

–If the season ended this week, the playoff matches in the AFC would be the Bills at Dolphins, the Browns at the Ravens and the Steelers at the Jaguars. Interesting that the Jaguars will take their four-game winning streak – second longest behind the Chiefs six game win streak – into Pittsburgh this weekend. In the NFC the Bucs would be at the Lions, the Cowboys at the 49ers and the Seahawks at the Falcons.

–Besides the Eagles and Chiefs at 6-2, there are five 5-2 teams – the Lions, Ravens, 49ers Dolphins and Jaguars.  The Cowboys, Steelers, Seahawks and Browns at 4-2, the Bills and Falcons at 4-3, and the Bucs at 3-3 would all be in the playoffs. And you can’t count out the 3-3 Bengals and Texans and even the 3-4   Vikings have to be given a shot. Just a week ago, there was speculation the Vikings might start a fire sale and rebuild if they fell to 2-5. Now they are very much alive after beating the 49ers. That is the kind of season it is.

–Just a week ago, there was talk Bob Kraft could fire Bill Belichick after the team started off 1-5. But then the news was leaked that the Kraft gave Belichick a contract extension in the offseason and the Pats then upset the Bills. But nobody thinks Belichick’s job is safe is he doesn’t get the team into contention. Kraft could afford to payoff Belichick if the Pats go back to their losing ways this year.

–The NFL teams reached the one third pole of the 18 week season last week and now head into the second third with no unbeaten teams and only one winless team, the 0-6 Panthers. With six teams having byes, there are only 13 games with the Sunday night game featuring two 5-1 teams — the Dolphins at the Eagles. This is the first real test for the Eagles and they need a win if they are to show they are contenders. The Eagles defense has to slow down the Miami offense and Jalen Hurts has to rebound from a three pick game in their first loss to the Jets last week if the Eagles are to have a chance.

–The Monday night game has the 49ers going to the Vikings. The Vikings 2-4 record raises questions of whether the Vikings can challenge the 49ers, who lost their first game last week to the Browns. Brock Purdy has to regain his form after suffering his first loss to the Browns last week He had been unbeaten except for the playoff loss to the Eagles when he was injured. 

–The Thursday night game pits the Jaguars at New Orleans. The Jaguars are playing their third game in 12 days in three time zones with Trevor Lawrence not at 100 per cent so it could be a struggle for the Jaguars. But since it is an NFC game, a loss probably wouldn’t hurt their chances of winning the AFC South.

–Fox has a single game with the feature the Lions at the Ravens. The Lions at 5-1 are looking like a contender in the NFC but they can’t overlook the 4-2 Ravens. These two teams don’t have a history, but it should be a good game.

–CBS has the doubleheader but it may be the worst of the year. The pickings are slim. In the early game they are giving a lot of coverage to the 4-2 Bills at the 1-5 Pats. The Bills have played two poor games in a row but should still easily beat the Patriots, who are having their worst season since 2000 when Bill Belichick went 5-11 in his first season as the Patriots coach. Even five wins may be a stretch for the Patriots this year. The feature doubleheader game is the Chargers at the Chiefs matching Justin Herbert vs. Patrick Mahomes. But the Chargers have been disappointing at 2-3 so the Chiefs should dominate the game even though they have yet to play at top form..

–The 1972 Miami Dolphins could break out the champagne Sunday. They were the only team in NFL history to have a perfect season. For the 50^th year in a row, it won’t happen this year as the last two unbeaten teams, San Francisco and Philadelphia, lost to backup quarterbacks Sunday. And because of the change in the game, it is unlikely it will ever be done again. The Dolphins only had to win 17 games. Now a team would have to win 20. And in the era of free agency and he salary cap, it is more difficult to keep teams together. The closest any team has come lately was New England in 2007 when they went 18-0 and lost the Super Bowl to the Giants.

–San Francisco lost to Cleveland because Brock Purdy wasn’t as sharp as he usually is and Deebo Samuels and Christian McCaffrey both got hurt and Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal that wouldhave won it at the end. The 49ers got no yardage on five of their first six drives after halftime. They had tfour hree and outs  and Purdy threw a pick. It was Purdy’s first loss except when he was injured in the playoffs last year. Despite the loss, the 49ers still have a good shot at the top seed and a trip .to the NFC title game. Detroit, which is 5-1 after going 5-1 by beating the Bucs, may be their biggest obstacle. The 49ers and Lions don’t play in the regular season.

–Philadelphia lost for the first time when they lost to the Jets as Jalen Hurts threw three picks. But they may have problem beating out 4-2 Dallas for NFC East title because they have a much tougher schedule than the Cowboys. After this week’s game against Washington, they play Dallas, the Chiefs, Bills, 49ers and Dallas again. Dallas is unlikely to get to the Super Bowl because the 49ers have beaten them three years in a row, including in the playoffs the last two years.

–In the AFC, the Dolphins and Chiefs lead the East and West with 5-1 records but the 4-2 Jaguars have the best shot at winning a division title in the AFC South. The Jaguars have swept the Colts, who are likely to go with Garder Minshew the rest of the way even though he lacks a big arm because he is backing up injured Anthony Richardson. Tennessee is 2-4 and Ryan Tannehill is out with a high ankle sprain. The Texans are 3-3 and have beaten the Jaguars but even though C.J. Stroud is playing lights out, he is still a rookie.

–The Chicago Bears lost to Minnesota to fall to 1-5 but they still have a good shot at the top pick because they own Carolina’s first pick and the Panthers are 0-6. A surprising team in the mix at 1-5 is New England, which plays Buffalo and Miami the next two weeks and could fall to 1-7. Unless Bill Belichick gets some victories in the second half of the year, owner Bob Kraft will have to decide if he wants to stick with Belichick.

–Not a great week for Prime Time viewing. The Bills are hosting the Sunday night game coming off a frustrating loss in London to the Jaguars, but theyplay the hapless Giants so it should be an easy victory. The Thursday night game isn’t much better with the Chiefs hosting Denver. Should be an easy win for the Chiefs against the rudderless Broncos. The Monday night game features the Cowboys, coming off their blowout loss to the 49ers, traveling to Los Angeles to play the Raiders. But both teams have been disappointing, so it is not a marquee matchup although the Cowboys usually draw good ratings.

–The two unbeaten teams, San Francisco and Philadelphia, are both on the road, but both figure to go to 6-0 with victories over the Browns and Jets.

–The Sunday morning game in London features Baltimore against Tennessee with the Ravens figured to win. They even went to London early in the week to avoid the jet lag issues that plagued the Bills last Sunday against the Jaguars. who were playing their second game in a row in London.

–The only game featuring two teams tied for first place in their division pits the Jaguars hosting the Colts with both teams at 3-2. The Jaguars appear to have the edge because they beat the Colts in the opener and haven’t lost to the Colts in Jacksonville since 2014 and Colts starting quarterback Anthony Richardson is hurt. But Gardner Minshew, who started his career in Jacksonville, is a capable backup and has played well in place of Richardson. And Jonathan Taylor is in his second game after signing a new contract. This could be a pivotal game for both teams in the division race.

–The Patriots, reeling after 38-3 and 34-0 losses the last two games, go to Las Vegas where Bill Belichick faces one of his old students, Josh McDaniels. Since the Patriots host Buffalo and go to Miami the following weeks, they are desperate for a win to stop their tailspin as Belichick continues to deal with the narrative that he is a terrible personnel executive who can’t win without Tom Brady.

—The only two unbeaten teams – San Francisco and Philadelphia – boosted their records to 5-0, but they did it in different ways. The 49ers, who knocked the Cowboys out of the playoffs the last two years, crushed them, 42-10, while the Eagles beat the Rams, 23-14. The two teams are heading to a Dec. 3 matchup in Philadelphia. The 49ers have the better chance of going unbeaten into that game because their next six foes are the Browns, Vikings, Bengals, Jaguars, Tampa and Seattle. By contrast, the Eagles have games against the Dolphins, Cowboys, Chiefs and Bills plus Jets and Washington.

–The only team likely to prevent a 49ers-Eagles playoff matchup is Detroit, which boosted its record to 4-1 with a 42-24 rout of the Panthers, the only winless team in the league. The Lions figure to play either the 49ers or Eagles in the divisional round. The Panthers, by contrast, have the inside track on the first pick, but they traded it to Chicago to move up and draft Bryce Young over C.J. Stroud. The Panthers are going nowhere past.

–The Bills fell to 3-2 with a loss in London to the Jaguars and sent a message to the rest of the league. If a team is matched up against a team playing its second consecutive game in London, it is best to fly over several days in advance. The Bills were obviously jet-lagged and didn’t appear to have much energy. But then maybe the Bills don’t match up well against the Jaguars. They lost to them 9-6 two years ago. In the last three years, the Bills are 0-2 against the Jaguars and 27-9 in the rest of their regular season games.

–The wheels have fallen off for Bill Belichick in New England. The Patriots lost 38-3 a week ago to Dallas, the worst loss of his career and then almost matched it with a 34-0 loss to the Saints. Has a Hall of Fame coach ever lost back-to-back games by a 72-3 margin? Belichick said he is starting over. But will owner Bob Kraft decides he needs a new coach next year to start a rebuilding program? Even if he keeps Belichick, he needs a general manager because Belichick has made too many bad personnel  decisions.

–The Bengals got back on track with a 34-20 win over the Cardinals. They are now only a game behind the 3-2 Steelers and Ravens in the AFC North. There are no unbeaten teams in the AFC and only two 4-1 teams, the Chiefs and Dolphins. The  Broncos are 1-4 and the rest of the teams have two or three losses. The Chiefs, though, aren’t playing like a team headed for a repeat. They beat the Vikings only by a 27-20 score. And Taylor Swift didn’t show up in Minnesota to cheer on Travis Kelce, who came back from an ankle injury to catch a touchdown pass.

–The Jets posted probably the sweetest win of the year with a victory over the Broncos after new Denver coach Sean Payton said in the offseason that the previous head coach did one of the worst coaching jobs last year. He was probably right that Nathaniel Hackett was miscast as a head coach, but it is poor form to publicly knock a member of the coaching fraternity. And Hackett is now the Jets offensive coordinator and was presented with a game ball after the victory.

–Putting San Francisco-Dallas on as the Sunday night game of the week was a no brainer and the game this Sunday night will be one of the prime attractions of the season. San Francisco knocked the Cowboys out of the playoffs the last two years, comes in with a 14-game regular season win streak and is one of the two unbeaten teams at 4-0 along with Philadelphia.

–The other three prime time games this week aren’t prime games. Chicago is at Washington Thursday night, Jacksonville plays Buffalo in London Sunday morning on the NFL Network and Green Bay is at Las Vegas Monday night.  The Commanders, Bills and Packers figure to win those three games.

–CBS has the doubleheader game with Kansas City at Minnesota. The Chiefs play all but one game this year in prime time or in the doubleheader Sunday game.  And now when Taylor Swift attends their games, they are more of an attraction. The Chiefs are one of four 3-1 teams in the AFC and all four figure to win. The Dolphins are a popular survivor pool pick against the Giants, the Ravens figure to beat the struggling Steelers and the Bills are expected to beat the Jaguars in London.

–The Eagles, the only unbeaten team besides San Francisco, could have a tough road game at the Rams. The Rams are 2-2 but are playing just their second home game. They lost their first home game but it was to the 49ers. The Eagles four wins are against the Patriots, Vikings, Bucs and Commanders so there is some question about how good they are.

–The byes start this week so there are only 14 games with the Browns, Chargers, Seahawks and Bucs having off.

–At the four-week mark, which used to be the first quarter pole before they went to 17 games, there are just two unbeaten teams – Philadelphia and San Francisco at 4-0. In the AFC, there are no 4-0 teams or 0-4 teams. Meanwhile, Chiefs fan Taylor Swift is 2-0 when she watches Travis Kelce play for the Chiefs. She has become the sensation of the season, overshadowing the players. In the NFC, there are two 0-4 teams (Chicago and Carolina) but Chicago got the Panthers first round pick next year in the Bryce Young trade so they are likely to wind up with the first two picks.

–San Francisco crushed Arizona and Philadelphia just got by Washington as they both remained unbeaten. If the 49ers beat Dallas next Sunday, they could be undefeated when they meet the Eagles on Dec. 3 in what could be a preview of the NFC title game. The 49ers play Dallas, Cleveland, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Seattle after Thanksgiving before they meet the Eagles. The 49ers have won 14 regular season games in a row, a feat Joe Montana never pulled off.  The Eagles aren’t likely to go into that game undefeated. They play the Rams, Jets, Dolphins, Commanders, Cowboys, Chiefs and Bills before they play the 49ers. The odds are against them beating probably the three best AFC teams – Dolphins, Chiefs and Bills –plus Dallas in a five week span.

–The Buffalo Bills have come all the way back from their opening game loss against the Jets. They boosted their record to 3-1 by handing Miami a 48-20 loss a week after the Dolphins routed Denver, 70-20. The only other two 3-1 teams are the Ravens and Chiefs. The four AFC South teams are all 2-2

–The Chiefs escaped with what Patrick Mahomes called an ugly win over the Jets. Mahomes threw two picks and had a third one nullified by a controversial holding call on Sauce Gardner. The Chiefs took a 17-0 lead before Zach Wilson brought them back to tie it 20-20. The Chiefs won it on a field goal but failed to cover when Mahomes slid down at the two yard line late in the game so the Chiefs could run out the clock without giving the ball back to the Jets

–A year ago, the Bengals started off 0-2 but won four of the next five and finished 12-4. This year they started off 0-2 and are 1-3 after losing to the Titans 27-3. Joe Burrow hasn’t been the same since missing most of camp with a calf injury and the Bengals line isn’t protecting him. Unless they turn it around quickly, they may not make the playoffs.

–C.J. Stroud was the second player picked in the draft by Houston after Carolina took Bryce Young, but he now looks like the best rookie in the draft. He is averaging over 300 passing yards a game and has led the Texans to convincing wins over the Jaguars and Steelers the last two weeks. They are now in a four way tie for first place in the AFC South.

–It is now looking like Bill Belichick should have retired when Tom Brady left or convinced him to stay or hired a general manager. Having Belichick run the whole show without Brady hasn’t worked. They suffered the worst loss in Belichick’s 29-year coaching career, a 38-3 rout in Dallas, Sunday. The Patriots were down 28-3 at halftime (a familiar score) but there was no comeback.  Belichick is 26-29 since Brady left. So what does owner Robert Kraft do now?  Stay tuned.

–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?