Kudos to Steelers’ Tomlin for admitting he’s looking ahead to Patriots

The NFL can be thankful for the Pittsburgh Steelers-Green Bay Packers primetime matchup last Sunday night.

After all three Thanksgiving day games declined in the ratings – including a staggering 20.5 percent drop by the Dallas Cowboys-Los Angeles Chargers game over last season’s Dallas game – the Steelers-Packers game showed a three percent increase.

That is a modest bump but a positive one in a year of declining ratings for the NFL, even though it was a 10 percent drop from the previous week’s Sunday night game.

The Dallas drop was particularly alarming because the Cowboys are one of the league’s most popular teams, although they lost a lot of star power when commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Ezekiel Elliott for six games. Goodell’s long quest to suspend Elliott even though the league’s lead investigator said the alleged victim wasn’t credible may have cost the NFL in the ratings.

There were fears the Steelers-Packers game could drop because Aaron Rodgers was injured, but both the Steelers and the Packers are popular national teams and bring in a lot of eyeballs. And the game wound up closer than expected, with the Steelers winning 31-28 on a field goal as time expired.

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A look ahead: NFL Week 12

A look ahead at Week 12 of the NFL season:

1. If you wonder why the TV ratings are down in the NFL, check out the matchups this week. Two games feature (or featured) two teams with winning records: Vikings-Lions on Thanksgiving Day and the Saints-Rams on Sunday. Pittsburgh-Green Bay would have been a third featuring Ben Roethlisberger vs. Aaron Rodgers. But with Rodgers injured, the Steelers figure to have little trouble beating Brett Hundley.  The problem is that it’s the Sunday night prime time game. Even worse the Monday night game is Houston-Baltimore.  The Saints-Rams game will be worth watching and it is the CBS doubleheader game but only about 80 percent of the country will see it because the Denver-Oakland game will be shown in much of the West. For those who get it, they have to hope the  Saints-Rams game lives up to expectations.  The Saints will bring in an eight-game winning streak into the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Rams don’t have much of a homefield edge because the L.A. fans are so apathetic. The Rams are still favored by two despite their loss to Minnesota last week. This one could down to the wire with veteran Drew Brees facing young Jared Goff. These two teams could meet again in the playoffs.

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Like 1980s Bears, once-dominant Seahawks see their window closing

When the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl with an 18-1 record in 1985, they seemed on the verge of a dynasty.

It turned out they were one and done. The 1985 Bears are remembered as one of the best teams in NFL history, but there still is the feeling they could have done much more.

They went 14-2 in 1986 and 11-4 in the 1987 strike season, but their quarterback Jim McMahon was injured in the playoffs both years and they lost to the Washington Redskins.

In 1988, they went 12-4 but lost the NFC title game to San Francisco — and that was their last hurrah.

Age and poor drafting caught up with the Bears, and they went 6-10 in 1989 and never won another title. Their window was closed.

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Taking a look back: NFL Week 11

A look back at Week 11 in the NFL with five observations:

1. The Minnesota-Los Angeles Rams game was supposed to be an interesting game between two 7-2 teams pitting quarterback Jared Goff of the Rams against the quarterback who backed him up last year, Case Keenum. Instead, it was a rout with the Vikings winning 24-7 as Keenum, the NFL’s best bargain with a $2 million salary, threw for 280 yards and the Vikings ran for 171 yards. The Vikings have now won six in a row and Keenum is keeping Teddy Bridgewater on the bench. The Vikings are tied with the Saints at 8-2 for the second seed and first round bye behind 9-1 Philadelphia.

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Bills newbie McDermott looks out of his league with bizarre Peterman decision

What was Sean McDermott thinking?

That is the question being asked around the NFL after McDermott made a decision that has no obvious explanation.

The Buffalo Bills rookie coach benched Tyrod Taylor for rookie Nathan Peterman with the Bills still very much alive in the wild card race at 5-4 despite two losses in a row.

It’s not like Peterman was being touted as the quarterback of the future. He was a fifth-round choice, although Jon Gruden said he was the most ready to step in and start of any of the rookie quarterbacks.

Any team thinking of hiring Gruden might keep that comment in mind. Both Gruden and McDermott were wrong. Dead wrong.

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What to look for: NFL Week 11

A look ahead to Week 11 in the NFL’s 2017 season:

1. The NFL schedule makers gambled that the Eagles would have a good team when they matched them against the Cowboys in the Sunday night prime game in Week 11. Sure enough, the Eagles did their part. They are 8-1 and have the best record in the league. But the Cowboys are a disappointing 5-4 and are playing their second game in a row without suspended Ezekiel Elliott and injured tackle Tyron Smith. It no longer looks like a great prime time matchup because the Cowboys aren’t the team they were last year and the Eagles should win easily.

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Koetter is under pressure to right the Buccaneers’ ship

Dirk Koetter, the Tampa Bay Bucs coach who is enduring a frustrating season that could cost him his job, has an interesting take on the mindset of players on a losing team.

Koetter, who has spent 11 years in the NFL as an offensive coordinator and a head coach, said last week that players don’t tend to lose confidence in their own ability but lose confidence in others, including the coaches.

After losing five consecutive games before squeaking past the New York Jets on Sunday, Koetter said that some players may have lost confidence in him, his scheme and maybe their teammates.

“What happens when a team loses is sometimes (the players) are not confident in the coach, or the scheme, or the other side of the ball or their teammates,’’ Koetter said. That’s human nature. That happens in every aspect of life. Do I think there is possibly some of that going on (here)? Yeah, there probably is. The easiest way to fix it is (to) play good team football and get a win.”

I got to know Koetter when he was the offensive coordinator of the Jaguars and was always impressed with his candor, but this may be too much candor for his own good.

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Taking a look back: NFL Week 10

A look back on Week 10 of the NFL’s 2017 season:

1. The New Orleans Saints beat the Buffalo Bills, 47-10, for their seventh victory in a row after a 0-2 start. The only other team to win seven in a row after an 0-2 start was Dallas in 1993, although that was because Emmitt Smith held out the first two games. The Saints crushed Buffalo on the ground, rushing for 298 yards and six touchdowns, becoming just the fifth team to rush for over 295 yards and six touchdowns in NFL history. Mark Ingram led the way with 131 yards and three touchdowns. The Bills are going in the opposite direction of the Saints. They started off 5-2 but have given up 492 rushing yards in their last two losses to the Jets and Saints. It is easy to say the Bills missed defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, who was traded to Jacksonville, but that is probably too simplistic. The Bills have beaten only one winning team (Atlanta) and probably aren’t as good as they looked earlier. And quarterback Tyrod Taylor was benched for rookie Nathan Peterman late in the game, and Peterman will get his first start Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. It probably means the end of Taylor’s career in Buffalo, as he will likely move on next year.

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Bob Kraft’s shady Bermuda tax-dodging comes to light in Paradise Papers

 
Bob Kraft got another reminder recently that being an NFL means living in a fishbowl.

The Guardian recently published the so-called “Paradise Papers,” pointing out that dozens of investors from around the world were legally shielding their fortunes in accounts in Bermuda.

The list includes Queen Elizabeth and her son Charles and celebrities like Madonna, Nicole Kidman and Martha Stewart, companies like Facebook, Twitter, Nike and Walmart and several Ivy League universities.

But Kraft’s name on the list got a lot of attention because he owns the New England Patriots.

And Kraft has tried to cultivate a down-to-earth image by saying he buys coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts, not Starbucks, and pays for the people in line behind him.

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A look ahead: NFL Week 10

A look ahead to five things about Week 10 in the NFL’s 2017 season:

1. In Fox’s doubleheader game that will be shown to virtually a national audience, the Dallas Cowboys will try to beat Atlanta without Ezekiel Elliott, who begins serving his suspension, and left tackle Tyron Smith, who is injured. This game has wild-card implications as both teams are two behind in the loss column in their divisions.  If the Cowboys lose without Elliott, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is likely to be even more motivated to complain about commissioner Roger Goodell’s power.

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