It has been a while since I’ve done a recap, given we had a bye week, but it’s good to be back to writing one of these. This game was extremely important for Detroit; a loss would have meant being a game and a half back of third place in the division and out of a current playoff spot. Thankfully, Detroit managed to win in what was an incredibly sloppy game for the Lions, Packers, and the referees. Even though the game was a mess, a win is a win and I am happy to move to 4-2.

I expected the defense to struggle this week. Our secondary has been one of the worst in the league and Green Bay’s deep passing attack has been on a tear the past few weeks. Golden and Watson had continuously torched defenses and I expected this week to be more of the same. However, we shut them down for the most part and our secondary looked much better. We defended the deep ball well and Brian Branch got an interception in his first game back since December. The defense built upon the success from last game against Arizona and held a good Packers offense to only 17 points.

Early on it didn’t look like the defensive improvement would continue. Green Bay drove down the field due to the passing attack and got deep in Detroit territory. Matt LaFleur decided to go for it on a 4th and 5 at the 33 yard line and converted but then did not decide to go for it on a 4th and goal from the 3. Green Bay made the 21 yard field goal but there was a penalty and they had to re-kick. Somehow, Trey Smack missed the 26 yard field goal wide right. LaFleur confused me by not going for it from the 3 after going for it earlier and the Lions got lucky with a missed field goal. With how that drive was going, it was a lucky break not to allow any points.

The Lions offense looked excellent on the next drive. Gibbs had two good runs followed by a St. Brown gain of 28 and then Jameson Williams had two catches for 40 yards and a score. The offensive line gave Goff plenty of time and the pass protection looked really good. Offense started strong and with how both teams moved the ball on the first drive, it looked like we were in for a shootout.

The Packers followed our touchdown drive with a touchdown of their own. They had another 4th down conversion and multiple third down conversions. Detroit struggled to cover Tucker Kraft on this drive and on the touchdown, Jack Campbell covered it poorly and fell to the ground, leaving Kraft wide open to tie the game. So for the second drive in a row, the defense struggled and Green Bay was aggressive on 4th downs. It still looked like a potential shootout.

Detroit moved down the field quickly next with a 40 yard gain for St. Brown but stalled shortly after. Gibbs had a loss of 5, a false start cost them another 5 yards, and Gibbs had a loss of two on 3rd and 5. The drive ended with a field goal and a 10-7 Lions lead. I love Jahmyr Gibbs. He is excellent. But it seemed to be an issue with negative plays against the Packers. They’ve done a good job at limiting his impact in his career against them so far and they continued to do so yesterday. The Packers defense stepped up when it came to stopping him. I know he ended with 116 yards on the ground but he had nearly 30 carries. Green Bay’s run defense was effective.

Following the field goal, the Packers had a quick three and out due to an Aidan Hutchinson sack. Detroit followed it up with a big play for a first down to Amon-Ra, but then had their drive killed by a sack as well. The defenses seemed to settle in and the game was still very evenly matched. Green Bay had a long drive following the Lions punt, they had a big third down pass to Savion Williams early in the drive and a huge play on another 4th down conversion, this time to Christian Watson. The drive ended inside the 10 with a turnover on downs on a short pass to Matthew Golden. D.J. Reed made a great tackle to give the Lions the ball back. Unlike last time inside the ten yard line, the Packers decided to go for it and it backfired. They could have kicked to tie the game but choice not to and it didn’t work out. LaFleur was mostly aggressive on 4th downs but the inconsistency near the goal line was baffling.

The next drive should have broken the game open for Detroit. We were driving down the field and it looked like we were going to score and end the half. Then get the ball to start the 3rd quarter and have a chance to put the game out of reach. Instead, Gibbs had the ball knocked out by his own teammate and the Packers recovered. Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jahmyr Gibbs all made big plays on this drive but the drive ended inside the Packers 10 with center Cade Mays falling forward and accidentally punching the ball out of Gibbs’ arms. It was our first turnover since week 1 and entirely self-inflicted. What could have been a great end to the half ended in disaster.

Somehow the second half started just as bad. We fumbled again. Goff and Mays weren’t on the same page and a botched snap led to a short field for Green Bay. I believe in Cade Mays and think it’ll take a bit of time to get in the flow of things and always on the same page as the quarterback, but these last two drives showed why some of the concern with switching centers was valid. Juice Scruggs has been a quality center for the first five games but Cade Mays was always supposed to be the guy. Scruggs made it a hard decision and Mays struggled at times in his debut so it is clear that some of the doubt was warranted.

With that short field, the Packers quickly scored a touchdown after a miraculous play by Josh Jacobs. Green Bay led 14-10. I’m not going to praise Jacobs anymore than that due to his off the field issues. He shouldn’t even be playing in my opinion. The Packers were able to take the lead due to the Lions fumbling the ball away. It seemed like the Lions were shooting themselves in the foot and blowing it.

Detroit needed to score on this next drive. The Packers had new confidence with a lead and luckily the Lions had a great kick return to start. Never mind there was a penalty and the Lions were getting in their own way again. Isaac TeSlaa had a good third down conversion on this drive and Jameson Williams had a gain of 30. Gibbs had a nice run and then ran for a yard to get a questionable first down. I don’t think he reached the line to gain but there should have been a face mask call anyway on the Packers. Two plays later, the Packers were called for unnecessary roughness giving the Lions half the distance to the goal. It was a questionable call since I’m not sure the whistle was blown and the ref did get in the way, but St. Brown was down and it was unnecessary. LaFleur was not happy with the goal and he wasn’t afraid to let the refs hear it. Two plays later, we sent Penei Sewell out on a route and he somehow drew two defenders, leaving Jameson Williams open for his second score of the day. Lions lead 17-14.

Detroit had a good defensive drive next with some good plays in coverage by D.J. Reed and Khalil Dorsey. Dorsey hasn’t played much on defense this year but he made some nice plays in his opportunities with Ennis Rakestraw Jr. leaving due to an ankle injury.

The next drive started with a nice gain for St. Brown followed by two plays that went nowhere. The next play was the first of two questionable roughing the passing calls on the Packers in this game. Goff threw an incompletion and there was late contact with Cox on Goff. However it was incredibly soft contact and in no way should have been a penalty. So the drive was kept alive and Gibbs had some good runs to get to the red zone. Goff threw what looked like his first interception of the season but there was a defensive pass interference call on Packers rookie corner Brandon Cisse. It wasn’t an egregious flag at all like some other ones in this game. Gibbs had a gain of five followed by an incompletion and the next two plays were redemption for Cisse. He had great coverage on 3rd down and then on 4th down, he pushed Jameson Williams out of bounds before he could come down with another touchdown. Cisse looked pretty good overall in this drive and it looks like Green Bay has themselves a CB. I do question the decision to go for it, with how we were moving the ball, I’m sure we could have kicked it here and gone up 6, then been able to kick the game winner later if Green Bay happened to score again. Going up 10 would have been great but scoring had stalled in the game and I would have gladly taken the points.

Green Bay’s next drive had another questionable call. On first down, Love had an intentional grounding call. The ball did not make it to the line of scrimmage but I think Tucker Kraft was close enough that it should have counted as a receiver in the area. Following the flag, Love continued to take deep shots and the second one was intercepted by Brian Branch. We had the ball at our own 43. Perfect field position to go down and score some more.

We didn’t. 3 plays, 1 yard, and a punt. On first down Goff should have thrown a pick. It went directly to Evan Williams and he couldn’t come down with it. Gibbs had another short gain and on third down, Goff nearly threw an interception again. It was a bad drive and about as bad as we could do there. We didn’t even take a minute off the clock.

Green Bay slowly marched down the field on the next drive largely due to Josh Jacobs. Love threw an incompletion but got bailed out by another soft penalty flag. This one was an unnecessary roughness call on Derrick Barnes. Green Bay couldn’t capitalize and settled for a 43 yard field goal to tie the game.

The next drive is one that will get a lot of criticism and rightfully so. Another penalty on a kick return for Detroit caused the drive to start at the 15. Gibbs had a gain of nine on first but was stuffed on 2nd and 3rd down. We then went for it on 4th and 1 at our own 24 and lost two yards. I understand the thought process. First, I trust the team to gain one yard. Second, if we don’t get it, the Packers get a short field and we’re nearly guaranteed to get the ball back. However, I’m not a huge fan of the call since the game was tied and we were giving the Packers a great chance to take the lead. I know it worked out in the end but with all three timeouts and five minutes, I don’t think Green Bay would have been able to run out the clock. Obviously we’ll never know what would have happened if it was a punt, but this was a very risky decision.

The Packers should have capitalized. Josh Jacobs dropped the go ahead touchdown and the Packers then had a 35 yard field goal blocked. D.J. Wonnum barely got a hand on it and the kick went wide. One kick all year had been missed from 35 yards or under and the Packers missed two on the day yesterday. It luckily worked out for Detroit but they got lucky with the Packers failing to score.

So Detroit got the ball back with a little over three minutes to go. It was a great spot to hopefully go down the field and score as time expires to win the game. And that’s what happened. On the second play of the drive, Goff threw a laser to Sam LaPorta with three defenders in the area for a gain of 18. The pass was excellent but won’t be given the credit it deserves due to a bad roughing the passer call to add 15 more yards on. This shouldn’t have been roughing at all. But this call didn’t have much impact on the game. Gibbs had a gain of 15 on the next play and the Packers used their first timeout. Gibbs ran again and they used their second. He ran again and it took it to the two minute warning. The next play could ice the game. Two minutes left, one timeout for Green Bay, 3rd and 5. Green Bay jumped offsides. This penalty was clear unlike some of the other ones and it cost the Packers the game. Detroit got a first down and if they could get one more first down it would guaranteed be over. First down, Gibbs finds a hole and sits down to keep the clock moving. The only problem is he didn’t get the first down and that decision almost cost us. If he would have gotten the first down before going down, we could have taken three knees and kicked it to win the game without any more stress. Instead he went down short of the line. We didn’t get it on second and had a penalty on third. 3rd down and 6, need to get it or Green Bay will get the ball back. Of course Gibbs gets it. Goff takes a knee and we call a timeout with one second left and kick the game winner.

It was not pretty at all but we managed to win. The refs made too many questionable calls which took away from the actual game. Detroit went 0-2 on 4th down, 2-5 in the red zone, and two fumbles on back-to-back drives should have cost us the game but they didn’t. We were lucky to come away with a win after all of our own mistakes. But Green Bay also failed a 4th down, went 1-4 in the red zone, and missed two field goals. Both teams did enough to lose the game and the Lions were lucky to be the team that came out on top.

I do think Detroit was the better team overall. 26 first downs compared to 17, 415 yards compared to 324, 6.3 yards per play compared to 5.0, 296 passing on 32 attempts for 9.0 yards per drop back compared to 254 on 45 attempts for 5.7 per drop back, 119 yards on 3.6 per carry compared to 60 for 3.2 per carry. Detroit moved the ball better and had more opportunities to score. Both teams struggled to finish drives but the Lions managed to succeed more when needed and win the game.

An ugly win still counts the same and winning ugly in the division is expected. Division wins will define the season since every team in the division has legitimate playoff aspirations, so this win was huge. Next week against Minnesota will be just as important but it was great to win yesterday. There is plenty to clean up on but a win is a win. The defense looks to be improving and hopefully Kerby Joseph can return at some point and help it improve even more. It was a good win to get and onto Minnesota next week. Thank you for reading.

Stars of the game:

Jameson Williams: 5 catches, 91 yards, 2 touchdowns

Amon-Ra St. Brown: 9 catches, 153 yards

Aidan Hutchinson: 1 sack, 1 pass defended, 5 QB hits

Brian Branch: 4 tackles, 1 interception

Other defensive standouts: Khalil Dorsey, D.J. Reed, Tyleik Williams

DeAndre Carter: 2 kick returns, 52 yards, 1 punt return, 15 yards. Could have had more return yards if not for penalties.

_{Image credit to the Detroit Lions, Fox Sports, and Yahoo sports}

After going over the AFC teams yesterday, it is now time to go over the NFC. And like I said yesterday, this won’t be an extensive analysis of each team, instead it will be a collection of brief thoughts and my opinions on each team about a third of the way through the season. Starting today with the NFC East and the current division leader:

New York Giants

Yes the Giants are leading the division right now, even if that is hard to believe. Like the Cleveland Browns yesterday, the Giants are a division leader that I don’t believe in. They have played the weakest schedule in the NFL up to this point, with games against the Titans, Cardinals, Commanders, and Saints. Injuries have hurt the team but that is the case with everyone. In New York’s case though, their starting quarterback was injured. Jaxson Dart started off the season strong but hurt his left knee in week 2 and was ruled out for the year. Jameis Winston took over for the next few weeks and that was the traditional Jameis experience but now it is time for J.J. McCarthy to take over. After looking incredible in the 4th quarter against New Orleans, he gets to take the starting job and try and make the best out of a new environment. The QB situation has been inconsistent but they’ve been winning games. My issues are largely the disjointed run game, the middle of the pack offensive line, and the pass rush. With Brian Burns’ injury, the defense lacks elite players that are game wreckers. Rookie Arvell Reese and second year player Abdul Carter have looked decent, but they are still young and need time to improve. Malik Nabers has been a star after taking a few weeks to adjust after coming back from injury and Isaiah Likely has been a great addition to the offense, catching five touchdowns so far. This team is weird and doesn’t seem to be that good, but they might win the division due to everyone else’s incompetence.

Philadelphia Eagles

Just about everything has gone wrong for the Eagles so far. On paper, they have one of the better rosters in the NFL; however things have not gone as planned. Jalen Hurts will miss the rest of the season due to blood clots, Lane Johnson retired, Saquon Barkley has been injured, Devonta Smith has missed two games, and Dallas Goedert got injured to name a few. They’ve lost four games in a row and it seems this season is lost. Jalen Carter and Quinyon Mitchell have continued to be defensive superstars, Nolan Smith Jr. seems to be ascending, but Cooper DeJean looks like he has taken a step back. It is still early in the year but the defense has struggled much more than the past few years. The regression on defense is not helped by the total offensive collapse. After trading AJ Brown and losing a number of starters due to injury, this offense has looked like one of the worst in the entire league. They are still a competitive team but they aren’t the same team that they have been for the past four years when they made two super bowls and won one. I think this team is done for with all the injuries and other issues, but in a division this bad, you never know.

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas has one of the worst defenses in the NFL. They can’t stop the run, they give up big plays, they don’t force turnovers, and they don’t get sacks. There is no other way to put it: they are bad. Quinnen Williams has been alright this year for them but he hasn’t been a top defensive tackle like they were hoping. Caleb Downs has not made the immediate impact they expected him to, and Daron Bland has been arguably the worst corner in football. They did make a trade for Joey Porter Jr. and it does seem to have helped out their defense, but somehow the offense has looked awful instead. The offense line has been around average but an offense with Dak Prescott, Javonte Williams, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens should not be struggling to score like they have the past two weeks. They started off great offensively with an awful defense and were 2-2. The last two games they have played mediocre defensively but have had a terrible offense. For a team that should be the favorite for the division title, losing to a rookie undrafted quarterback is probably not the best outcome. I have faith the offense can turn it around and lead them to a potential division title but it has not looked like it will yet. Sorry Cowboys fan, it isn’t your year.

Washington Commanders

Like Dallas, the Commanders also have a horrific defense. They’ve been a very inconsistent team so far, narrowly losing to Philly, getting killed by Dallas, beating the Seahawks, losing to the Colts, tying with the Giants due to awful clock management, and nearly coming back against the 49ers. They aren’t a very good team but Jayden Daniels still is a reason to watch them. Rookie Sonny Styles has looked great on defense, CB Amik Robertson has been having a good year, and the run defense has been pretty good so there are positives on the defense too. Offensively, Terry McLaurin is out for the year, Jacory Croskey-Merritt is on IR, and Jayden Daniels has missed a few games so it has been rough and will continue to be rough. They’re on a bye this week and maybe they’ll be able to adjust and bounce back after a few rough weeks but I doubt it. I think they’re a 6 win team at best and will probably finish last in the division.

That’s it for the NFC East. I wouldn’t be shocked if the division winner is under .500 and I think it’ll come down to the Giants and Cowboys for the crown. I think Dallas comes away with it but I have no idea, this division is always a mess. I think the Eagles and Commanders are the bottom two due to the Eagles injuries and the Commanders just being bad. I wouldn’t be shocked if both Philadelphia and Washington end up firing their head coaches after the season is over. Next, moving on to the NFC North starting with the undefeated division leader:

Minnesota Vikings

Contrary to the last two teams I talked about, the Vikings have the best defense in the NFL. They’re allowing under 13 points per game, Brian Flores and this defense led by Byron Murphy, Blake Cashman, Alex Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner have caused everyone problems. I have complete faith in Minnesota defensively but their offense concerns me. They have been one of the worst offenses in the NFL at this point. They are under 300 yards per game and have a bottom five passing game in the sport. Kyler Murray has not been good but he’s winning games. They have played a pretty easy schedule for the past three weeks and that continues again against Indianapolis tomorrow. I think they’re good enough to make the playoffs but I don’t think they can win a Super Bowl with this offense. November will define this team and who they can be with games at Detroit, vs Buffalo, at Green Bay, and against the Niners in Mexico City. It hasn’t been the toughest schedule yet and credit to them, they are undefeated, but I don’t think I can say they’re the best until they prove they can play good offense against the good competition that they’ll play next month.

Chicago Bears

So much for the greatest offense of all time. The Bears are good, I’m not denying that but I think they have the ability to play even better. Caleb Williams’ injury did not help, getting inconsistent play from Tyson Bagent, but they need to be more consistent. They were dominant in week 1 against Carolina but in week 2, the weather and Flores’ defense shut them down completely. Thursday against New England was great for stretches but not for a full 60 minutes. Luther Burden is emerging as a star, but Rome Odunze hasn’t made that jump. Last year, Colston Loveland seemed to be the next great tight end, but he has largely been a no-show this year. He has started to be more productive the past two weeks and if that continues, this offense should be even better. Their run game is also very good when healthy, the duo of Swift and Monangai is great. Defensively they have been better than expected but they have not done well against above average offenses. Their secondary has struggled against good receivers, especially against Green Bay. They have had a pretty good run defense but I don’t think this is some great defensive group. Like the Packers and Lions, they’re an NFC North team with a good offense and not so great defense. I do think they have been the best team in the division so far and Caleb Williams has mostly looked great, but they definitely have flaws.

Green Bay Packers

After week 3, it seemed like the Packers were going to suck. The offensive line was in shambles, the defense had just given up over 190 yards on the ground to Bijan Robinson and over 190 receiving to Drake London. They were awful and had no run game to speak of. They still don’t have a run game which might change with Josh Jacobs’ return, but their offensive line has improved dramatically after some veteran signings. The defense has looked better the past few weeks but it will be tested against a great Detroit offense tomorrow. Like the Vikings, I need to see more and November will show that, with games against Carolina, New England, Minnesota, and the Rams. The next month of games for NFC North teams will help clarify who the best of the best are. The Packers have suffered major injuries to players like LB Edgerrin Cooper, RT Zack Bako-Bewele, and WR Jayden Reed, but they should be getting Micah Parsons back in the next few weeks. His return should boost the defense and maybe they’ll be as good as early last year. Offensively, Jordan Love and the WR duo of Christian Watson and Matthew Golden have been elite. They have arguably been the best receiving duo in the league thus far and they should both go off against a terrible Lions secondary tomorrow afternoon.

Detroit Lions

If you’ve read my other posts or know me, you know I’m a Lions fan and can talk about them more than anything so I’m going to try and keep this brief. I’ve talked extensively in other posts about them so I’m only going to focus on a few things. QB Jared Goff has been playing like an MVP. Jahmyr Gibbs has been playing like the best RB in the league. Sam LaPorta needs to be re-signed. The offensive line has improved a ton since last year. Starting center Cade Mays returns this week but I’m worried that might mess with what has been working. Offensively, the team is good. Each week they have struggled in the first quarter but besides that, they have looked like one of the best offenses in the league. The defense is the issue. Starting safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have not played yet and it shows. The secondary has been the worst in the league. Shockingly, the defensive line has been great. Detroit leads the league in sacks despite already having their bye week. Hutchinson has been good as usual but Alim McNeill looks to be better than his pre-injury self and DJ Wonnum has been a good free agent addition. The linebackers have struggled but should play better and I’m hoping Branch’s return tomorrow somehow magically fixes the secondary. It won’t and I’m still hoping for a cornerback trade. These next two games against Green Bay and Minnesota might be the most important games of the season. Detroit can get right back in to the division race or fall up to 4 games out of it. Division games are always important but they especially are this year with how good this entire division is.

The NFC North is the best division in football this year. You could make a convincing argument for the standings to end in any order. I have no idea how this division is going to play out but in the end I think that 3 out of 4 will make the playoffs. I won’t be shocked if everyone finishes above .500 again. Obviously I’m hoping the Lions win it but I need to see some results the next two weeks. This division is a bloodbath and everyone is good; unlike this next division, the NFC South:

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers are fun. Bryce Young has been playing great, Chuba Hubbard has been good, the receiving duo of Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker has been exciting, and the defense has some good players. I do think they are clearly the favorite in this division and might be the only team to finish over .500 but they aren’t without issues. The defense gave up 59 points in week 1 so they definitely aren’t perfect. They’ve been an interesting team, dominating the Falcons, losing to the Browns, McMillan looking perfect against Detroit, and a good win at the Eagles, but they haven’t been the most consistent. They don’t need to be great to win this division and if Bryce Young keeps up this level of play, they’ll easily win the division title. Bryce Young also isn’t being talked about enough like some players I mentioned yesterday. He has been arguably a top five quarterback this year which is a huge leap from the past few years. Last year it felt like they were managing to barely win games and get by but this year the wins have felt much more deserved and that they are a good football team. I think they’ll probably get the three seed and host a playoff game again and I wouldn’t be shocked if they win one depending on the matchup.

Atlanta Falcons

With Cooper Rush in weeks 1 and 2, this might have been the worst team in the league. Then in weeks 3 and 4, Bijan Robinson and Drake London were unstoppable and they looked like one of the best offenses in the league. Then in weeks 5 and 6 they’ve looked average. This has been one of the most inconsistent teams in the league. They’re a fun watch with Bijan Robinson but that doesn’t make them a good team. Their defense has struggled but Za’Darius Smith has had a great return and I’m very happy for him after his retirement last year. They have a good pass rush but they don’t force many turnovers. Michael Penix Jr. has looked decent in his 4 games but I don't believe he is their long term answer at quarterback. Kyle Pitts has had an interesting season too; hopefully he scores exactly six touchdowns this year so he continues to score one more each year of his career. The Falcons aren’t a very good team but they can be fun to watch. I think they’ll be an average team overall and win around seven games. They probably won’t be an easy win for teams and they will contend for the division since this division isn’t strong, but I don’t think they’re a playoff team.

New Orleans Saints

I’m disappointed in the Saints. I had expectations for them. I thought they would be good enough to win the division and their defensive performance at the end of last season would continue. It hasn’t. They’re giving up nearly 30 points per game and look incapable of stopping anyone. They started off fine with a close loss at Detroit and a win at Baltimore, but since then the defense has been abysmal. They gave up 35 in the home opener vs the Raiders, gave up 45 to Atlanta, lost by 10 to Minnesota, but then managed to hold on and beat the Giants after allowing J.J. McCarthy to pass for nearly 250 yards in a single quarter. I don’t trust this defense at all. Offensively, Tyler Shough looked like a star early but hasn’t been consistent since. Their run game is nonexistent but Travis Etienne’s injury has hurt them there. Chris Olave looks like a top ten wide receiver in the game but I need to see Jordyn Tyson next to him to see what this offense could be. Juwan Johnson has been an old and reliable tight end but overall it isn’t a top offense in the league. Like Atlanta, they shouldn’t be an easy win for anyone and I do think they will compete for the division, but so far they have disappointed me. If they would have lost to the Giants, I would have been out but after that win I still have some hope. They play a decent Steelers team tomorrow morning in Paris and winning that would prove to me that they can still compete for the division title this year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I expected regression but not this much. Baker Mayfield should return this week after missing the past few games but even when he was healthy, they’ve been bad. Since they’re in this division, they’re not out of it but there really has not been anything good about this team. Zyon McCollum has looked like a very good cornerback and Bucky Irving has been good at RB but not much else has stood out. Antoine Winfield Jr. is a good safety but he has also been dealing with injury. I had them regressing and missing the playoffs but I didn’t expect them to be arguably the worst team in the conference. Their only win is without Baker Mayfield so I can’t even say his injury is the reason why. They still have a slim chance due to the division they are in, but I think this is the year it all goes south for good and Todd Bowles is finally out as head coach. There have been rumors for years now that they might move on from him and I think this is the year they do so. Based on Jacksonville’s success, it would seem they should regret keeping him and letting Liam Coen go.

The NFC South as usual is one of, if not the worst, division in football. The Panthers have looked good so far for the most part but no one else has looked like a playoff-caliber team. I expect the Saints and Falcons to put up a fight for the division title but I still think Carolina wins it. I don’t expect Tampa Bay to turn it around and I expect them to finish last. But no matter what, this division will only have one playoff team. Unlike this division that had three last year, the NFC West:

San Francisco 49ers

Mike Evans, hurt. Deebo Samuel, hurt. Rookie De’Zhuan Stribling, injured reserve. Ricky Pearsall, out for the year. Demarcus Robinson, IR. George Kittle, coming off an Achilles tear. Who needs healthy receivers anyway? All these injuries have led to a top 3 scoring offense in the league, a 6-0 record, and Brock Purdy playing like the MVP. Mike Evans has been great and turning back the clock while playing through Achilles soreness. Christian McCaffrey has been better on the ground than last year and is averaging 90 total yards per game. Rookie Kaelon Black hasn’t been great but he has helped take some weight off McCaffrey’s shoulders. Defensively they’ve been great even with Nick Bosa’s injury. Bosa will be back but the defense led by Fred Warner, the best linebacker in the league, has been one of the best in the league. They need to get healthy and stay healthy. Even with the injuries they are winning football games but if they continue to pile up, it will catch up to them. As of now, they are Super Bowl favorites and for good reason. If they can get healthy, they look to be the clear best team in the NFC as things stand.

Seattle Seahawks

The defending champs have already lost as many games as they did the entirety of last year. Losing Kenneth Walker has been detrimental to their offense. Their run game is week and their only productive receiver has been Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Saying productive receiver isn’t saying enough about how good he has been. He is on pace to break the receiving yards record and has been unstoppable. As a Lions fan, I don’t want that record broken and I want Calvin Johnson to keep it so I’m hoping he slows down. He currently would have the receiving triple crown and would deserve another offensive player of the year award. He is without a top a top three receiver in the league and is making a convincing argument to be number one. The defense is still one of the best in the league and should keep them in every single game. They have by far the best pass defense, even better than Minnesota, and allow the fewest total yards per game. Defense has not been the biggest issue. A weak run game and poor QB play have hurt them most. Sam Darnold is not playing anywhere close to as well as he did in their Super Bowl run last year. He has as many interceptions as he does touchdowns and has been holding the team back. Drew Lock played better than he has. If Darnold can play more like last year, Seattle will be just fine and will be Super Bowl contenders again. If he continues to play this poorly, they will struggle to make the wild card and could even miss the playoffs due to the strength of the NFC North. Whenever Charbonnet and Price return, they should have a more effective run game but it is still a huge fall off from Walker last year. They aren’t as good as last year but are still a very good team.

Arizona Cardinals

Yes the Cardinals are in third place and the Rams are in last as crazy as that might sound. The Cardinals aren’t good. Yes they beat the Rams but in the NFL anyone can beat anyone. It’s any given Sunday for a reason. They have one of the least exciting offenses in football. Brissett is averaging only 5.7 per attempt, they have one of the worst offensive lines in the league which has not helped rookie Jeremiyah Love succeed, and their top three receiving weapons are Trey McBride, Michael Wilson, and Kendrick Bourne. Nothing against those three but with how the o line and Brissett are playing they can’t do much. McBride has a ton of catches but most of them are for only a few yards and same goes for Michael Wilson. A wideout averaging 9.7 yards per catch is horrible but it can also be a product of surroundings. McBride is averaging just 7.4 yards per reception which is bottom five for qualified tight ends this year. I still believe he is a great tight end but it hasn’t been his year yet. With all these offensive problems, you would hope the defense is alright. It’s not. They’ve allowed the second most points per game and have allowed the most touchdowns. Beating the Rams was impressive but I don’t expect the winning to continue. They’re not a good team and will finish last in the division.

Los Angeles Rams

I was one of the people who said the Rams would win the Super Bowl. I didn’t think they would be a 20-0 juggernaut like some people said but I still thought they were good enough to win it all. But as is the case for many teams crowned Super Bowl champion during the offseason, things go wrong. Puka Nacua has been injured, Davante Adams ruptured his hamstring, they cut their kicker and the next one tore his ACL, DT Poona Ford is out for season, Kobie Turner is out 4-6 weeks, young tight end Terrance Ferguson is on IR, and offseason acquisition Myles Garrett has been on IR after only appearing in one game. Things have gone wrong. None of this excuses losing to the Cardinals, that was just pathetic. Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay both deserve criticism and have not been as good as last year but even after the 2-3 start I believed. They started tough with losses to the Niners, Broncos, and Bills so it isn’t like they were losing to bad teams. Up next were the Cardinals, Raiders, Chargers, Commanders, and Cardinals again. It seemed very reasonable that they could be 7-3 before their game against the Packers the night before Thanksgiving. It seemed like everything would be fine then they lost to the Cardinals without even giving up a touchdown and the injuries continue to pile on. I still think the Rams make a push more the playoffs but I would not be shocked at all if they missed at this point. I will say even through all this, the secondary has been one of the best in football and the Trent McDuffie addition has been one of the best in the league. Their linebackers and special teams still hold them back but there are positives despite the 2-4 start.

The NFC West isn’t exactly as expected. The Rams were expected to be juggernauts alongside Seattle. The Niners were expected to be good but not this good. The Cardinals were expected to be in last and somehow they’re not. I think the Niners win this. They’ve looked too good and already have a three game lead. The Cardinals will probably finish last and that leaves Seattle and LA to fight for the number two spot and a wild card. With how many losses they both already have, I think it is reasonable to expect only one of them to make the postseason which is shocking after they met in the NFC title game a year ago.

Overall the NFC has two good divisions and two that you could argue are the worst in football. I think the NFC East and South will only send one team each to the postseason and the other five spots will be from the North and West. So between the Rams, Lions, Vikings, Packers, Seahawks, 49ers, and Bears, 2 of them have to miss the playoffs. They’re all playoff caliber teams but at this point I think the NFC North will get three and the NFC West two. I think the 49ers, Bears, and Seahawks have the best shot at this point of making the Super Bowl and I think the Niners will do it if they can remain healthy. The Seahawks have an elite defense and have JSN, the Bears should have an incredible offense, and the Niners have looked the best despite injuries. There is still a long way to go and no one has truly separated themselves from the pack yet.

If I had to pick now, I would pick the 49ers to make the Super Bowl and to win it. I know they are the clear choice at this point but they have been too good not to be legitimate contenders. Maybe this is the year Kyle Shanahan finally wins the big game. It probably won’t be. He seems destined to never win it. He’s been so close too many times to not have won the Super Bowl yet. So I think this is the year he does it if San Francisco can get healthy. Hoping it will be Detroit. Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch will save the defense. Anyway that’s all for the NFC, now time to look forward to some good football tomorrow. Thank you for reading.

_{Images from NFL.com}

The NFL season is roughly a third of the way complete including playoffs so at this point, who teams are can start to become clear. Things will change, teams can get hot and turn their season around, some teams can fall off and collapse completely. Others might have had an easy schedule so far and others might be the opposite. Your record through the first few weeks doesn’t shape you but it can help paint a picture for what is to come. I was going to do this post before week 7 started but it is Friday already so I’m going to include last night’s game. This isn’t going to be an in depth analysis for every team; instead it will be a few thoughts and assessments for each AFC team so far. Tomorrow I will make an NFC version but today’s is just for the AFC. Starting with the AFC East:

Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen has been incredible so far and has led to the Bills to the highest scoring offense. He has been extremely productive on the ground and is having another MVP-caliber campaign. James Cook has been very underrated to me. He has been efficient and is having arguably a better year than last year when he was the NFL’s leading rusher. With DJ Moore’s injuries, this team has lacked a clear number one receiver but the collection of Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Dalton Kincaid have been successful. This offense looks very good but the defense is a concern. They have a bottom five scoring defense so far and if that does not improve, they won’t reach their Super Bowl aspirations. This team is very good but the defense holds them back too much for me to say they’re the best team in the league. They’ve been one of the best teams so far but I can’t say they should be the favorites at this point.

New England Patriots

New England is pretty good. They’re not going to win as much as last year but they should still be contending for a wild card spot. Drake Maye is a good quarterback, he isn’t going to be the runner-up for the MVP award like last season but I think he has made it pretty clear that last year wasn’t a fluke. He started off slow with some bad interceptions but he is one of the best deep passers in the league. If the interception pace slows a bit they might even challenge the Bills at the top of the division. Their defense has been hit and miss so far, holding Seattle to 13 but allowing 35 to Jacksonville for example. They seem like a traditional wild card level team. Overall the defense is above average and the offense is good at moving the ball, but costly turnovers have prevented them from turning yards into points too often. I expect this team to be good for the rest of the year and make the postseason if Drake Maye can cut down on the interceptions.

New York Jets

The defense is the identity of the team and they’re very good defensively. However, the offense sucks. Their offensive line is solid on paper but they have not been able to be productive with that. The run game is inefficient and hasn’t been productive. Geno Smith gets sacked too much and holds onto the ball for too long in key moments. And the pass catchers have struggled to make big plays. Garrett Wilson has been decent so far but nothing extraordinary. Rookie TE Kenyon Sadiq has a fantastic game against the Lions and that’s about it for him. I have high hopes for another rookie, wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. He has generated big plays when on the field and provides an explosive weapon to add alongside Garrett Wilson as a true WR2. He missed 4 games with an injury but when on the field he has been productive. AD Mitchell was productive in his two games played this year but has also been dealing with injuries. Before I completely count out this offense, I want to see how they do when they’re all healthy. But as of now, they’re not great and I think underperforming the talent that they have on paper.

Miami Dolphins

They suck by design. This year was never about winning for them and losing De’Von Achane doesn’t help at all either. This year is about finding out who is good to have for their future while also losing nearly every game in hopes of landing the first pick. They’re tanking. QB Malik Willis hasn’t shown he can be the guy moving forward so I wouldn’t be shocked to see them draft a new quarterback. That would mean passing on generational wide receiver prospect Jeremiah Smith which is a hard thing to do. But that is an April problem, not a right now problem. Ollie Gordon has looked decent in Achane’s absence, rookie WR Caleb Douglas looked solid in his two games, some of the offensive line looks decent like center Aaron Brewer, but no one else has looked good at all on the offense. The defense has been mediocre but there are some bright spots. Rookie LB Jacob Rodriguez was leading the league in tackles prior to their week six bye week. Even with the few positives, the team isn’t good. They haven’t led at all at this point in the season and I expect the losing to continue. They might beat the Jets and maybe the Colts and Chargers later on, but at max I see this as a 3 win team.

So in the AFC East, I think the Bills are the obvious favorites, Patriots are playoff contenders, Jets might be sneaky if they can get their offense together, and the Dolphins are tanking. For the Dolphins sake I hope they get the first pick since they don’t have much else going for them. Now moving on to the AFC North starting with the current division leader:

Cleveland Browns

The Browns are leading the division. Shocking, I know. I’m not convinced that Cleveland is a good football team. They’ve been good in close games and are 2-0 in the division but I don’t think their winning is going to be sustainable. The defense has been solid, they generate a lot of sacks and are about average in forcing turnovers, but the offense concerns me. Watson has been winning games but playing some pretty bad football. The run game is pretty inefficient and the team as a whole isn’t good at moving the ball downfield. They haven’t had a good offensive line this year and that paired with the lack of weapons has led to an unproductive offense. I think Denzel Boston has been very good for a rookie wide receiver but that’s about all the positives I have for this offense. He needs to get the ball more in my opinion, only having 17 catches through 6 games for someone doing as well as he is is not good enough.

Pittsburgh Steelers

I’m really not convinced that the Steelers are good either but I can say with confidence that they still feel like the Steelers even with Mike Tomlin gone. Their defense is pretty good and TJ Watt seems to be playing like himself again. The defense will be able to keep them in games that they normally would not be in otherwise. Aaron Rodgers was horrendous the first two weeks of the season but since then has been playing decent. Definitely not close to how he once was but still playing some decent football. Rookie wideout Germie Bernard was the standout last week tallying 11 catches and a touchdown, but the star of the show has been Jaylen Warren. Warren has nearly 720 scrimmage yards in 6 games this year which is top 5 in football. I don’t think he is being talked about enough this year. He still is viewed as a committee back to most people but he has been by far the best back in Pittsburgh this year.

Baltimore Ravens

Speaking of good running backs, Derrick Henry still has it. I do think he is starting to slow down a bit but the 32 year old running back continues to be productive. He isn’t getting as many big plays as in the past but he is still a reliable touchdown threat. The Ravens have been around a league average defense this year but their problems have primarily been offensive. Missing Lamar Jackson has not helped since when Lamar is healthy, he is a top 5 quarterback without a doubt. Zay Flowers has been arguably the best wide receiver in the entire conference at this point but there are problems on the offense. The offensive line hasn’t been very good and no one besides Flowers has shined as a receiver. Bateman is a poor WR2 and Mark Andrews has cinder blocks for hands. His drops continue to haunt Ravens fans and he’s lucky Baltimore beat Atlanta, or that would have been another loss that he was most to blame for. Lamar’s return this week or next week should help the team a ton, but he needs to be healthy for them to win this competitive division.

Cincinnati Bengals

Last in the division while having a winning record. Sounds like another cat team I know (my Lions). The Bengals have been fine but their identity so far is not at all what you would expect from the Bengals. The defense has arguably been better than the offense. For years now, the Bengals have been known as the team with an elite offense but a horrible defense, like the Cowboys; however, with the addition of Dexter Lawrence, the Bengals have had a pretty good defense. So you’d think that combining that Bengals offense with an average to above average defense and that would be an incredible team, yet they still look just fine. The offense hasn’t been great which might be more surprising than anything. The run game has been largely absent with Chase Brown having a bad year so far and Ja’Marr Chase hasn’t really gotten going yet. Burrow is playing fine but he hasn’t been lighting up the stat sheet like we’re used to. Tee Higgins has been the best receiver on the team up to this point and even though he is a great player, Chase needs to be better. I think the team is good and the offense needs Ja’Marr Chase to start looking like himself to propel this team to the top of the standings.

So in the AFC North, I expect Baltimore and Cincinnati to be the top 2 assuming Lamar gets healthy. I think the Bengals are a decent team and should only get better with Chase and Burrow getting it together. The Steelers will probably be the Steelers and win 9 or 10 games and even after a great start, I still think the Browns will finish last in the division. Their start is impressive but I don’t think they have the talent to sustain it for an entire season. Next, the AFC South:

Jacksonville Jaguars

The highlight of the worst division in the conference, the Jaguars have been pretty good so far. They killed Cleveland, blew it against Denver, killed New England, held on to beat Cincinnati, lucked out to beat Philadelphia, and lost to Houston at the last second in London. Trevor Lawrence has been one of the best quarterbacks in football and Parker Washington has looked like one of the best receivers at times. They have an elite defense (except last game) and do look like a top contender in the conference. After an elite rookie year in 2024, Brian Thomas Jr. has not looked like an NFL wide receiver in the time since. Travis Hunter has looked like an improved player since last year and Travon Walker continues to make improvements. If they are serious contenders, I think they need to be better at generating sacks and their run game needs to improve, but besides that, they do look like an elite team and Liam Coen looks like an excellent coach. They’re up there with Buffalo for the title of best team in the AFC in my eyes.

Indianapolis Colts

They’re not good. The defense is bad, the offense is bad, everything except the kicker and DeForest Buckner are bad. Injuries haven’t done them any favors but I don’t think this is a good football team at all. They have a good offensive line, in fact one of the best in the league but you can hardly tell at face value. You would think an elite offensive line would lead to a great Jonathan Taylor season but that hasn’t happened. You would think a good o line would allow Daniel Jones to replicate his success from early last year and that hasn’t happened either. Taylor has been great at scoring touchdowns but he hasn’t been efficient or explosive and Daniel Jones has just been bad. He lacks the ability in the run game now coming off his injury and he isn’t good as a passer. I was a hater last year and thought his success was a fluke and a product of Jonathan Taylor and it appears that he won’t be replicating that success. They are not a good team and he is not a good quarterback. If he proves me wrong, good for him but I think he is one of the worst starters in the league.

Houston Texans

I think Houston is better than their record. I know they lost to Indianapolis and I just wrote about how much I think Indianapolis sucks, but the NFL is a week-to-week league. What you’re doing now matters more than what you did in the past. Their defense on paper is extraordinary and I have belief that they can play closer to last year’s ability than they were to start the season. Will Anderson Jr. is one of the best defensive players in the league and they have names on that defense that should also shine. On offense, CJ Stroud has been terrific this year and is another guy that I think isn’t being talked about enough. The offensive line and run game have been awful but Stroud is still taking care of the football and putting up great stats. Jaylin Noel has emerged recently as a reliable pass catcher and Nico Collins is always consistent. Tank Dell is expected to play this week for the first time since December of 2024 and I hope he can stay healthy and produce. They should improve as the season goes on and on paper their schedule looks pretty easy. I wouldn’t be shocked if they go on a run the rest of the way and finish 10-7 or 11-6. I think they’re talented enough and the schedule is in their favor.

Tennessee Titans

Another team that is putrid. The defense isn’t terrible but they have the worst offense in the league. It’s either them or Miami but Miami was expected to be the worst. The offensive line is terrible, the run game has been terrible, the wide receiver room is average, they might have the worst tight end group in the NFL, and Cam Ward gas not been very good. Wan’Dale Robinson is not the receiver they were hoping for when they signed him and Calvin Ridley has been a non-factor. Rookie Carnell Tate has been decent and a bright spot but it is hard to shine with how bad the team has been. Jeffery Simmons has had a good start on the defense but the rest of them not so much. This team is awful on the field, yet they did manage to beat Indianapolis last week. They are one of the worst teams in the league and will be contending for a top 3 pick.

That’s it for the AFC South, I see the Jags winning the division and the Texans bouncing back from a terrible start to contend for a wild card. I think Indianapolis is awful but will still manage to win around 7 games on the year and finish in third. Tennessee will be a distant last place. Finally to wrap up the AFC, the AFC West:

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are back. They have one of the best offenses in the league and one of the best defenses. There’s not much else to say. After a bad year last year, they’re back to being Super Bowl contenders. Mahomes has been playing well but the true star is Kenneth Walker III. He has given the Chiefs an excellent run game which they have lacked since 2017. He is putting up some of the best rushing numbers in decades and is right there so far with Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs in terms of total production. He has been unstoppable. The pass catchers haven’t been great and I do think they should look to acquire a wide receiver via trade, but they haven’t needed to do much with how dominant Walker has been. Defensively they have been excellent but before I crown them as the best team in the AFC, I want to see how they do against better teams. The Broncos are the only team that they have faced that are currently over .500 so I need to see how they do against other great teams.

Denver Broncos

I’ll start with the positives: their defense is solid and they typically have excellent second half performances. They win football games and force turnovers. That’s about all the highlights to me. I do think the team is better than they look on the field and that they are underperforming, but the record doesn’t show that. They’re 4-2, they must look pretty good. I think 4-2 is about accurate to where this team should be but on the field they look like they should be 1-5. Since they force turnovers, they’re pretty good at keeping their opponent to low scores even though they give up a lot of yards and can’t stop the run. Offensively is where they look even worse, ranking second to last in yards per game and bottom seven in passing, rushing, and points. It has been awful to watch and I know Ryan Fitzpatrick was getting a lot of pushback for what he said about Bo Nix, but I don’t think he’s wrong. His play has been disrespectful to the quarterback position. He doesn’t push the ball downfield at all even with the weapons he has. They have a top 5 offensive line in the league but the run game has been awful. They have zero big plays on the ground; their longest rush is for 17 yards. A run game averaging only 3.4 per carry is never helpful to the quarterback but a QB averaging only 5.6 yards per attempt is even worse. Courtland Sutton hasn’t been much of a factor, second year receiver Pat Bryant has looked decent, and Jaylen Waddle has not been able to produce how he was expected to after the trade. I don’t think the fault is all on the receivers since they have a quarterback who doesn’t try and push the ball down the field to them. Nix was fine the last two years but so far this year he has been terrible. It hasn’t killed them yet since they’ve been winning games but I don’t think this level of play is good enough at all. He needs to be better.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders surprised early by winning their first three games but they have lost three straight since then. They seem to be an average team and their defense had looked much better than last year, but recent games against New England and Buffalo have made me question how much the defense has actually improved. They have an average offensive line so far which is a great improvement for them which has helped Kirk Cousins be the league leader in passing touchdowns so far. Brock Bowers has been exceptional and has proved why he is the best tight end in the league. However, their biggest problem to me has been the run game. Backup Mike Washington has done pretty well with his limited carries but the RB1 Ashton Jeanty has disappointed. He has been solid in the pass game but as a rusher, he has been one of the worst in the league. He was otherworldly in college at Boise State but now against NFL defenses, he hasn’t been able to find success. I hope he turns it around but so far he has not lived up to being the number six pick in the draft. I expect Fernando Mendoza to take over later in the year if the losing continues but Kirk Cousins has done pretty well overall as the starting quarterback. I don’t think they’re a playoff team but I think they’re going in the right direction.

Los Angeles Chargers

Has anyone disappointed more than the Chargers? Last year they went 11-6, Herbert received MVP votes, they were a playoff team even with a depleted o line. They were expected to be good again this year and contend for the division. The offensive line was going to stay healthy, Omarion Hampton would take the next step, Ladd McConkey would play how he did his rookie year, the defense was going to be good, Herbert was going to win the MVP. None of that happened. Everything has gone wrong. The offensive line has been injured again, Hampton has not been good, McConkey isn’t even the leading receiver, Tre Harris is, the defense has been below average, and Justin Herbert has been terrible. I know drops have hurt the offense a ton, but even without the drops the team has been terrible. They had to start four rookies on the offensive line in a game and that went about how you would expect. Nothing is working for them offensively and they have the worst record in the league. They were expected to start 2-0 against Arizona and Las Vegas before the hardest part of their schedule started. There they would need to go about .500 in those games before finishing the season strong. That was the blueprint. Throw all that out the window because they have ended up losing every single game so far. Their season is over and I have very little hope that they can turn it around at all. They will be in top 5 pick conversations at the end of the year. They should look to sell older veteran players for picks since they obviously have no chance at this point. What a disappointment.

That’s all for the AFC West, the Chargers suck. The Raiders will be a mid-tier team, the Chiefs have the look of Super Bowl contenders, and the Broncos continue to win games despite their obvious flaws. I expect the Chiefs to win the division and the Broncos to contend for a playoff spot. The Raiders might contend for one in the end but I doubt it. And the Chargers? They should just give up.

Overall I think the Chiefs, Jaguars, and Bills have looked like the clear favorites in the AFC at this point. Then for the other four playoff teams, I expect it to be four of these six: the Bengals, Ravens, Texans, Broncos, Patriots, and Steelers. I think the Steelers are the worst team in that group but they always find a way. I think the Browns and Raiders will fall off despite their good starts and I expect teams like the Dolphins, Titans, and Chargers to continue to be some of the worst in the league. The AFC is a good conference and is pretty balanced across each division, with the North being the best and the South being the worst but it isn’t as unbalanced as the NFC which I’ll talk about tomorrow.

It is still way too early in the season to know for sure, but my pick for the AFC winner will be the Jaguars. I’m only picking them since they’ve never made it before. In reality, it’ll probably be the Chiefs again or maybe Josh Allen gets there for the first time, but I want Jacksonville at this point since Lawrence looks like the QB he was promised to be since high school and the defense is playing great football. But now that I picked them, I am fully expecting them to fall off and miss the playoffs. That does it for the AFC, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to the NFC tomorrow.

_{Images via PFF, Fox Sports, NFL.com, and Yahoo sports}

College Basketball is almost back. Preseason rankings released yesterday and the season opener is in less than two weeks. Rosters are still in question, teams have moved to new conferences, hundreds of players have transferred, and many key freshman look to make their mark.

This is my favorite sport of all and I love watching it every single week. Once conference play starts, Saturday is for college basketball from noon until midnight (and usually later). Before then, non-conference play has some incredible matchups and you can learn a lot about the teams. There are so many storylines to follow and players to watch and I can’t wait for the season to start.

Court injunctions and legal battles have been the story of the offseason. Players returning from the NBA summer league want to play college basketball again, many players are trying for a fifth year of eligibility even if they don’t have one, and many European players in their twenties are trying to play college basketball. It will be interesting to see who is able to play and who isn’t as the season goes on. It will suck if there are guys being added to rosters midway through the season and will also cause problems if there are guys being removed after the season has already begun. This post isn’t going to be about college basketball’s eligibility problem but I did feel the need to mention it. I want to focus on the positives such as the games to come.

November basketball has huge early tests for most contenders. Some years there will be teams that stand out and end up becoming clear championship favorites like 2025-26 Michigan or you’ll see a team like 2019-20 Michigan who looks really good early but don’t turn out too well. There will be teams that shine and show they will be favorites in March, but the games in November don’t say everything. November has Feast Week and all the MTEs (multi-team event) such as the Players Era, Maui Invitational, and Battle 4 Atlantis which always lead to fun tournaments early in the season. November basketball is a great time that a lot of people miss out on since they only become fans of the sport in March. College basketball is my favorite sport in the country and too many people say they’re fans yet only are fans of the tournament. I get it but they miss out on all the storylines and great matchups throughout the season by only paying attention to the end. Although the end of the season does happen to be the best tournament in sports.

So now to focus on the matchups. It isn’t in November but I want to highlight Duke at Florida on December 1st. For anyone interested in watching the sport, these look like the two best teams on paper and it could be a national championship preview early on. For preseason number 1 Florida, other key matchups in November are against 14th ranked Miami on the second as well as the Players Era Eight tournament in the third week of the season. The favorites in that MTE include Houston and Kansas as well and that will be a key one to watch during week 3. And for Duke, they play 6th ranked Michigan State, 3rd ranked Illinois, and 4th ranked UConn all in November. The game against UConn the night before Thanksgiving should be one of the best games of the year. UConn has Duke transfer Nik Khamenia and returning sophomore Braylon Mullins, who hit the game winning three pointer to eliminate Duke at the buzzer in the elite eight last season. It will be a huge tournament rematch for two should be contenders. I know there is an NFL game that night this year, but Duke vs UConn is a must watch.

Now that I covered the two favorites, I want to highlight other key non-conference matchups in the first month of the season. The first full night has matchups like Arizona vs UCLA, Gonzaga vs Purdue, and Ohio State vs BYU. Arizona vs UCLA should be a nice former Pac-12 matchup but I expect Arizona to come out on top. The Friday of the first week features a Final Four rematch between UConn and Michigan, although Michigan will look extremely different after losing coach Dusty May to the Dallas Mavericks along with multiple starters. To close out the first week, John Calipari’s Arkansas squad, featuring the top recruiting class, takes on Virginia in a top 12 battle in Washington DC. That’s all in the first week alone.

Week two features the Champions Classic as always with the matchups this year being Michigan State vs Duke and a blue-blood battle between Kansas and Kentucky. Kansas features the number 1 recruit in the country: Tyran Stokes. I don’t have much faith in Kentucky this season but they could surprise me. If they don’t have a good season, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mark Pope loses his job. On the other side, I think Bill Self will retire after this season which could mean both the Kansas and Kentucky job could be open next offseason. 3rd ranked Illinois also takes on Texas Tech that night in a rematch of last year’s regular season game. This should also be good and I expect Illinois to contend again after making the Final Four last year.

In the third week, the Players Era Eight begins but that isn’t it for huge matchups. There are two top 5 showdowns on the schedule: Duke vs Illinois and UConn vs Arizona on back-to-back nights. Illinois will want a better showing than the last time they played Duke and UConn will want revenge for last year’s November loss to Arizona. The rest of the week isn’t packed but that changes for the next week leading into Thanksgiving.

Feast Week is arguably the best time of the year for college basketball outside of March. Highlighted by MTEs liked the Battle 4 Atlantis which features Virginia as the favorite, the Maui Invitational highlighted by Arizona, and the Players Era 16 this year. The Players Era looks to have improved a lot since last year since it know features an actual bracket instead of a flawed two game round robin format from last year. This year’s tournament includes numerous ranked teams like Gonzaga, Iowa State, Alabama, Michigan, Texas Tech, and Miami. Along with Baylor who knocked off Florida recently in a preseason exhibition, Oregon and Creighton with new head coaches, and three more ranked teams: Tennessee, St. John’s, and Louisville who all have a case for the best transfer class in the country. This looks a lot better than last year and will have a championship game on Saturday November 28th. As previously mentioned, this week has UConn vs Duke on the 25th in one of the most anticipated games of the year. Thanksgiving features a battle between Calipari and Izzo as Arkansas takes on Michigan State in Detroit too. This week looks to have a ton of great matchups and it tends to tell a lot going forward. 20 of the past 21 national champions have been undefeated through Thanksgiving so it doesn’t guarantee anything but it does paint a pretty accurate picture of who has a shot.

I’m very curious to see how the top transfer classes like St. John’s, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, and Texas do as well as the top recruiting classes like Arkansas, Kansas, and Duke. It should be a great season and I can’t wait for it to start.

I want to talk briefly about a few more changes to the sport. First, the Pac-12 is back… kind of. It only shares two members with the former conference but I am excited to see how this new conference stacks up in basketball. Having frequent tournament teams like Gonzaga, San Diego State, and Utah State should lead to a competitive conference that will probably be one of the seven best in the country and should get multiple bids. Actually it should for sure get multiple bids due to the next change I want to mention: the expanded tournament. If you read my most recent post about college football, you already know I’m not in favor of this. 76 teams is too many for March Madness. Having 24 games in the opening round before the Round of 64 is too much. I would be in favor potentially if it leads to many more mid-major schools who didn’t win their conference getting in, like Belmont last year or Indiana State a few years ago. But I fully expect it to be almost all power five schools and will pave paths for teams like Auburn last year. Auburn was not a bad team but to me, any team that is 17-16 shouldn’t be a tournament team. I get they played a great schedule but I would rather reward the teams that win and not constantly allowing the biggest conferences to get almost every team in. I’m not a fan of expansion and I don’t like trying to mess with something that is already spectacular. The bubble in recent years has already felt extremely weak and it’s only going to keep getting weaker.

But enough with the negativity, this sport is fun and the season is still going to be amazing. Huge matchups take place early between top ten teams, big MTEs will lead to top teams facing each other, and Feast Week will be awesome as always. I can’t wait for the season to start and I look forward to watching more preseason matchups too.

For my way too early prediction, I think the Final Four will include Duke, Florida, Illinois, and Arkansas, with Duke winning the title. I know I picked the top three teams but they’re the top three for a reason. So many other teams look capable of contending but I do think it could be a three team race most of the way.

I’ll talk about the season extensively as it goes on and as it gets to February and March, I usually work on my own bracketology. I’ll make another post in the coming days about Duke’s season and I hope you’ll enjoy. Thank you so much for reading, it’s almost time for the best sport to be back.

_{Photo credits go to Bleacher Report and ESPN}

Expansion killed the sport for me. I’m not only talking about playoff expansion; I’m also talking about conference expansion. 24 teams making the playoff is too many in my eyes but even worse to me are 18 team conferences.

College football was about the rivalries, the history, the pageantry, the tradition; but now all it seems to emphasize is giving everyone a shot at the playoff and a chance for the national championship. I used to enjoy college football more than the NFL but that is no longer the case anymore, partly due to the Lions being good for once, but primarily due to the changes made in the college landscape.

My view is largely based on emotion and personal preference instead of logic, but to me college football was emotional. It’s why it was special. It was unique. It wasn’t like professional sports where the championship was the prize. Beating your rival, winning your bowl game, winning your conference were huge achievements for teams but today they don’t feel like they matter much since it isn’t a national title. That’s a problem with “ring culture” as a whole. I primarily see it in the NBA which is more reasonable since there are only five starters per team but it is still a stupid idea in my eyes. Yes winning the national championship is the ultimate prize; however, you can still have a successful season without it. With the CFP expansion to 24 teams, it feels like more and more teams will adopt a playoff or bust mentality.

The regular season is what made college football special to me. Every week mattered and every loss mattered. To have a chance at a title, you truly needed to be the best. It was different than other sports, in pro sports the best team is not the champion a lot of the time. The 2007 Patriots for example went 16-0 in the regular season but lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl. That works for the NFL, that’s how the NFL is. But college football has always been about the regular season, there used to not even be a national championship game, but once there was it was between only the best teams. The team crowned champion was still almost always the best team. Then it went to four teams for the playoff in 2014 which still was good at deciding who the best team was for the most part. There is a little more room for upsets at four teams but for the most part, there are four teams that are good enough to contend for a championship each year. But with having 5 power conferences, if all the conference champions had a great year, someone would be left out. This was clear in 2023 when Michigan was 13-0, Washington was 13-0, Texas was 12-1, Alabama was 12-1, and Florida State was 13-0. All of them won their conference championships but Florida State was out after they lost their starting QB to an injury. They did get killed in their bowl game by 12-1 Georgia, who was another great team but they lost in the SEC title game and finished sixth in the last CFP ranking, but that’s not the point. They were deserving of making the playoff but they did not since they were deemed the least worthy of the five power conference champions. Overall though, most years had all the deserving teams in. During the four team era, no team that lost two or more games ever made it. The regular season was still rewarded and so were conference championships. Winning mattered most and the teams that had great regular seasons were rewarded. Other good teams still got to play bowl games but those already began to seem less important.

Then the playoff expanded to 12 which to me was a huge jump from 4. I think I would have gone to 6 or 8 teams if expansion was necessary. This would allow teams like 2014 Baylor and TCU to make it, 2017 Wisconsin, and 2023 Florida State and Georgia to make it. This still would still keep it exclusive to great teams and I think an 8 team format with the 5 power conference winners, the top group of five team and two at-large bids could have been great. Instead they went for 12. I know in the first two years of the 12 team playoff, a team seeded 8 or lower has made the championship both times, with the 8 seed winning it in 2024. That is not my point though. I know there are teams left out that are playing great football at the end of the year and are capable of going on a run, but that does not mean I think they even deserved to have a chance in the first place. To be crowned champion used to be reserved for the best of the best which I think should reflect the entire season. Two loss teams are capable of knocking off top opponents, but I don’t think two loss teams should be playing for a chance at the title to begin with. You can be a great team with two losses, but to me you aren’t the best. You lost twice. How are you the best? You might have finished the season strongest, but your overall body of work wasn’t the best. To me that really is shown by 2024 Ohio State. They won it all but they finished the regular season 10-2, lost to a mediocre Michigan team to end the year, and finished 4th in their conference standings. That team was not the best team that season. But the loss to Michigan was a wake up call and they went on a great run to win it all. I’m not saying they weren’t good enough, I just don’t think they were deserving enough to have a chance. Just looking at the CBS sports image below, so many of these schools don’t seem like title contenders yet they’ll have a chance.

I love college basketball and they have a much larger postseason than college football but they’re also different sports. I have a problem with expansion there too but college basketball at least gives autobids to every conference winner. Basketball is also less taxing and is played more frequently so it is easier to have a postseason format with more teams. The entire NCAA tournament for basketball takes about 3 weeks. The CFP already takes a month now that it is at 12 teams and will only take longer once it’s expanded to 24. So yes March Madness has more teams, but at least it gives every conference a chance and takes less time. Though I do have issues with how much power conferences are rewarded in basketball too but that’s a topic for another post. So expanding isn’t wrong as a concept, 24 teams works for the FCS but to me, it stops feeling like college football. It doesn’t need to be like other sports, it was unique and special as it was.

My major issue isn’t even expansion of the playoff, it’s conference realignment and the formation of huge conferences. With conferences in the size of 10-12 teams, it was easy to tell who the best teams were after the regular season and I personally liked the conference championship game. Since you don’t play every team in your conference, not everyone has an equal schedule so it gives you a chance to decide the conference winner between the two best. Teams played similar enough schedules so it made sense. Now with 16-18 team conferences like the SEC and Big Ten, you could play a completely different schedule than other teams in your conference and potentially even have no common opponents. It doesn’t even feel like a conference at that point to me. Two teams could play wildly different schedules now compared to before when they had to be similar. At least before you could figure out pretty easily who the best of the conference was, but now the conferences are so huge that you can have a general idea about who the best is but it won’t be shown purely through results on the field. So an expanded playoff does make sense with the expanded conferences in order to decide who the best is. But for that, conference championships are out the window and rightfully so after how much they’ve been devalued with conference realignment. Expansion makes sense for football with the model that they’ve created. That doesn’t mean I have to like it even if it is logical.

To me, the death of the Pac-12 along with Oklahoma and Texas transitioning to the SEC killed my love for the sport. Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12 led to a 16 team SEC, followed by the death of the Pac-12 leading to an 18 team Big Ten, 18 team Big 12, and a 17 team ACC for football. To me, conferences need to be based on your geographic region to keep the culture and tradition in tact. I need to care about the historic rivalries, I need to care about why these teams hate each other. But now there are California teams in the ACC, the Big Ten is primarily the Midwest but now with four west coast teams, the Big 12 is the entire country at this point besides the east and west coast. So many conference games mean nothing to me now compared to before when almost every game had history behind it. And I know playoff expansion won’t reward the other conferences at all. The playoff will primarily be the SEC and Big Ten invitational. The little guys aren’t going to win a title regardless but if you’re expanding, give them a shot. What’s the point even for Conference USA teams, for MAC teams, for Sun Belt teams, etc. Schools might have a required minimum games against power conference schools. I think that is good for more exciting non conference matchups, but so many smaller schools get a lot of their funding from scheduling power conference matchups. If there are less of those, there is less money and less opportunity for the smaller schools. As it already stands with the transfer portal, these schools lose all their players anyway to top schools. Good for the players but it sucks for the schools. They’ll have good seasons but aren’t able to sustain it since they lose everyone after one good year. So at this point it gets into how I think the transfer portal has also ruined what made college sports so unique. The transfer portal is necessary for the players and what’s best for them, but for me as a fan, it has killed a lot about what made college sports so special. Same with NIL, I do think that is great for the players but I don’t like how it has impacted the on field product.

So in the end, I think conference’s growing, CFP expansion, and to an extent the transfer portal and NIL have killed my enjoyment in college football. You used to truly need to be one of the best to have a chance at the title but you could still have successful seasons otherwise. Now to me I think teams that aren’t deserving will have a chance like 9-3 SEC and Big Ten teams and even an 8-4 team probably. Plus those 24 spots will likely go almost entirely to at large power conference teams. I love college basketball and one great part is seeing the great teams from smaller conferences have their chance vs Goliath. They have a better chance for an upset in basketball than football but at least the little guy has a chance to make the tournament. I don’t think any system they come up with will get me on board for an expanded playoff, but I hope it isn’t basically all power conference teams. I haven’t cared much about the sport since 2023 anyway, I barely watch games in their entirety anymore since the magic is gone to me, but that is my own personal preference.

If you like an expanded playoff, good for you. I think it’s good for mid tier power conference schools to have a chance at a title. However, I feel it makes it feel less like what college football is. It devalues the regular season in a way. Yes a lot of games will matter that didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things before, but they’ll matter in terms of seeding and seeing which mediocre 9-3 team can get in. More teams in means a lot more schools will get a chance that they’ve never had before, but to me that isn’t what makes college football unique. Expanding the playoff in my opinion makes the sport lose some of it’s individuality and makes it more like any other sport. Thinking back, changing the clock rules for first downs also changed the game for me. You don’t see many shootouts like you did before, in the Big 12 especially, now it is more similar to the NFL and the scores reflect that. So many rules and new changes have gotten rid of individual identities of college football.

This isn’t an argumentative post, this is just my opinion on why I think expansion has led this sport to feeling less unique and losing a lot of the stakes and story it had before. Thinking back on one of the most insane college football moments of my life: Davis’ kick six to win the Iron Bowl, that wouldn’t have knocked Alabama out. It would have been great for Auburn for seeding, but so much of that meaning and excitement is gone. Yes it’s still a great play, but the stakes are so much lower. I liked college football most when the stakes were so high every game and perfection was necessary for the best teams. Now it feels like an NFL-lite to me. So many teams get in and have a shot which works for the NFL but does not mean college football should copy it.

I have not enjoyed watching a Lions game as much as I enjoyed this one in a long time; probably since the game against Washington last year. First drive of the game seemed like it would be a repeat of last week’s horrific defense but we got back on the right track after that and ended up with an offensive masterclass to take down Arizona. The Cardinals are not a very good team so this win does not get rid of every concern, but I’m still going to enjoy going into the bye week coming off a win and being above .500. It wasn’t perfect, there are still glaring issues with the team, but it feels so much better than it did last week.

Thoughts on the Offense

If you told me that we would score 45 points, I would not think the slow starts would have continued. The offense has been pretty bad early in games and that was no different yesterday. The first quarter was putrid on offense, we had 9 plays for -9 yards. Goff took three sacks and the offensive line was looking shockingly outmatched by their defense, but things turned around quickly after those drives. Following those three subpar drives, we put together seven scoring drives in a row with six of them being touchdowns. Gibbs was nearly unstoppable, LaPorta was excellent, Goff and Jameson Williams finally connected on a deep ball for a score, St. Brown was getting his yards, the offensive line looked better, everything was clicking. The second quarter was the highest scoring quarter for the Lions since 2013. It was so much fun watching the offense yesterday and had shades of 2024 to it. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing dialed up some trick plays, the team was aggressive and successful on 4th down; it was almost like watching the 2024 offense. I’m not saying this team is as good as the 2024 team, it isn’t. But it sure looked quite similar offensively yesterday.

Jared Goff was surgical. After struggling for the first couple of drives, he locked in was near perfect. He leads the NFL in passing yards with 1,485. He has thrown 12 touchdowns without an interception. He is third in passer rating and he had a rushing touchdown yesterday. He is playing like an MVP and if the team starts to go on a winning steak, he will be one of the favorites. He has the most passing touchdowns ever by someone without a turnover through five weeks. Russell Wilson also had 12 passing touchdowns to zero picks in 2019 at this point but he had lost a fumble. Goff has been near perfect all year, the final drive against Carolina being an obvious exception. He deserves to be seen as a top eight quarterback in the league in my opinion but he never gets any respect since he isn’t flashy and isn’t mobile. On a week 5 recap, someone on CBS Sports said “Jared Goff for sure isn’t helping them out” and I’m going to assume he doesn’t watch the games at all. People are so stuck on how they viewed him before his Rams exit and refuse to change the perception of him. Yes he isn’t mobile and yes he isn’t flashy, but Jared Goff is a very good quarterback in this league.

The offensive line played pretty well for most of the game. I’ll start with Penei Sewell: he’s figuring out left tackle. Sewell is the best tackle in the league in my opinion but it is taking him time to adjust moving over to the left side. He has had some moments this year where he didn’t look unbeatable but he was near perfect yesterday. He earned a PFF grade over 90 and is currently the highest rated offensive tackle in the sport. He will be a top candidate for the protector of the year award and is the anchor on this line. There are other good candidates like Darnell Wright, Amarius Mims, Creed Humphrey, and Trent Williams to name a few, yet there is a reason Penei Sewell is the current favorite. Christian Mahogany has also been surprisingly really good this year for the most part. Playing next to Sewell helps out a lot but he has been one of the top guards in the league so far. Ratledge and Miller on the right side didn’t have their best days yesterday but they’re both super young and have also been above average this year. Blake Miller struggled a bit with penalties and rookie mistakes, but he was good enough to get the win. Juice Scruggs has been a good center in the time he has had to play; however, Cade Mays is going to be back after the bye and he will get the job. He was signed to be the starter and that is what he is going to be. Scruggs has played well and will be a great depth piece to have just in case, though Mays should make this line even better. It is not perfect all game and there are a couple of times a game where they make stupid mistakes, but I believe this group is going to be one of the best offensive lines in the league this year. They probably won’t be as good as the 2024 o line which they don’t need to be. It is a huge improvement from last year and has helped Goff look like an MVP candidate early on.

The receiving duo looked good this week. Jameson Williams caught two touchdowns and St. Brown had 6 catches for 69 yards. The wide receivers weren’t the focal point yesterday but they didn't need to be. Following what were probably the two best games of his career, Isaac TeSlaa didn’t record a catch. Obviously he didn’t need to since the score ended up how it did and with how many options the offense has, there were other mouths to feed this week. Sam LaPorta was incredible yesterday. He is all you can ask for from a tight end and hopefully will be re-signed after the season. He needs to be. The offense does not function anywhere near as well without him which was clear last year. He caught multiple big fourth downs, led the team in receiving yards, and had a touchdown. He currently leads all tight ends in receiving yards this season. He is going to get a pay day in the offseason and hopefully it is with Detroit.

Then lastly for the offense you all know who I’m going to talk about again and gush over: Jahmyr Gibbs. Over 200 yards and two touchdowns for him yesterday. He is a monster on the ground and as a receiver, his vision is excellent, he bounces off the tackles and turns nothing into something constantly, he leads the league in scrimmage yards, and he has nine touchdowns through five games. He is on pace to break the scrimmage yards record and to finish just shy of the scrimmage touchdown record. It is only five games in but if he keeps up this pace, he will have arguably the best season ever by a running back. I know I said Goff deserves MVP consideration but if he keeps this pace up, so does Jahmyr Gibbs. He leads all running backs in receiving yards and is third in rushing yards right now. I doubt he keeps up this great of a pace but finishing with over 2000 scrimmage yards and 20 total touchdowns seems like the expectation at this point. He is incredible and is always reliable. Plus his pass protecting has looked so much better in recent weeks than it did against New Orleans and Buffalo.

The offense was excellent and leads the NFL in scoring, but they also have a lot of room for improvement. The penalties are down but the offensive line still has a couple of mental errors per game that will be fixed. Cade Mays’ return after the bye should help them improve too. The offense might be a bit too reliant on Gibbs but how could they not be with how good he has been? My main concern is the slow starts. We have one of the worst first quarter offenses in the league and have only scored on one opening drive. That needs to change or else this team might be playing from behind more than they should be. The Cardinals are not a great team so it was good to look great against them, but there will be harder tests almost every week. Improvement is still necessary.

Thoughts on the Defense

The secondary showed improvement. There was more man coverage than previous weeks and coverage was stickier. D.J. Reed had a much better game, Keith Abney II made his debut at safety and looked decent. His tackling was pretty good and he came down with his first career interception. It was not perfect but he looks promising. Ennis Rakestraw Jr. continued to show improvements as his opportunities grow. It would be so beneficial for the team and secondary if he lives up to his second round draft position. Chuck Clark struggled and looked out of position often. He came down way too much and left guys open over the top, allowing for big plays. On both touchdowns to Teagan Quitoriano, the defense was out of position and allowed him to get wide open. Lastly for the secondary, Roger McCreary was targeted a ton and did allow over 100 yards, but he only allowed a 50% completion rate and had 6 passes defended. He was hit and miss but wasn’t awful. Jalen Mills was fine in his limited snaps but what stood out to me most was that Christian Izien did not log a single snap. He was not good at all last week and seemed to be replaced by Abney for this game. And Abney capitalized when given the opportunity so I expect Izien to continue to have very few snaps for the time being. Brian Branch should be back next game after the bye which will be a huge addition to the secondary. Adding the young pro bowler back should help this defense out a ton and hopefully bring the group closer to league average. I did see a reporter say Kerby Joseph will also be back eventually but I believe that to be purely speculation at this point. I love Kerby and hope he can return to the field, but I won’t believe it until I see him suit up on gameday.

The defensive line continues to play well, sacking Brissett 5 times and bring the season total to 20. 20 sacks through 5 games is the most in franchise history and is so nice to see after recent years. D.J. Wonnum had a pair of sacks, bringing his season total to five which leads the team. Aidan Hutchinson recorded half a sack with Malcolm Rodriguez, Alim McNeill and Skyler Gill-Howard combined for a sack as well. Tyleik Williams’ snap count was down this week but I think that is largely due to him dealing with an injury all week. Derrick Moore played over a quarter of the snap as well which is encouraging for the second round rookie. Tyler Lacy and Levi Onwuzurike were unimpressive to me, especially Onwuzurike but the rest of the defensive line showed up again. During the past few years, a major complaint has always been who is going to be the second edge rusher next to Aidan Hutchinson and Wonnum has clearly excelled in that role to start the season. Wonnum, Hutchinson, and McNeill are all currently top 15 in the league in sacks and this defense currently has the most sacks of any team in the league. With how the defensive line is playing, this defense does have the potential to be very disruptive if the secondary can improve and start to force some turnovers.

Linebackers were better this week than they have been. Jack Campbell played like his 2025 self finally although he did allow a touchdown. It was not his fault at all; it was an incredible catch by Trey McBride. Derrick Barnes had a sack and played well, Malcolm Rodriguez was decent, but Devin White did break his forearm and will miss a couple weeks. White has not been good this year but he was playing well yesterday when on the field. Hopefully he has a smooth recovery and can be back contributing in a couple of weeks. If Jack Campbell continues to play well, this group will look so much better than it has been which would be a huge boost defensively. Coverage still could be a bit better but I’ll take the small victories for right now.

Overall I liked what I saw defensively but it was against the Cardinals. After allowing only four three and outs in the first four weeks, the defense was able to force five in a row in the first half. There were still times where guys were not where they were supposed to be which led to a few big plays, but it was nowhere near as bad as it has been. Covering slot receivers and tight ends is still a major problem for the group, but it was not a bad day as a whole for the defense yesterday. Run defense was so much better than it was against Carolina and Jeremiyah Love was held under 2 yards per carry. Arizona only had 56 rushing yards as a team and 18 of them came on a scramble by Brissett. The defense shut down Arizona’s run game and played much better pass defense once the offense gave the team a big enough lead. I was on the fire Kelvin Sheppard train last week and am not off of it yet. I still think he needs to do better but I will happily say I was wrong if he continues to adjust well and the defense continues to improve. We are still only 5 games in and a lot can change in the next three months.

Final Thoughts and What’s Next

This game was against the 1-4 Cardinals so we’re not magically fixed and flawless. The defense and offense both have issues that need to be addressed and improved. Getting healthier should help but I still think trading for a starting corner is needed if this team is going to make a postseason run. Making the playoffs will be tough as an NFC North team yet I still think this team will make it. I need to see them start stringing together wins because it has been over a year since we had a winning streak during the season. Weeks 4 and 5 last year were the last time we won back to back games in the same season. I am feeling more confident about this team; however, I still need to see how we fare against divisional opponents and better offenses.

The next two games after the bye will be important division games. We’ll be hosting the Packers and Vikings and it should give a better idea if this team has a chance to win the division. The Packers have not been great, their offensive line has been one of the worst in the league but they have a deep passing attack that will probably trouble this secondary. Christian Watson and Matthew Golden have had great starts to the year and give Jordan Love targets to go to that can destroy this defense. Plus Tucker Kraft is a good tight end and our defense has been horrible against tight ends this year. Green Bay does not have a good run game so I expect Love to air it out and find success similar to how he did against Chicago. It still should be a Lions victory with the return of Brian Branch and debut of Cade Mays. The Packers defense and secondary are not great and they could still be without Micah Parsons. If our offense continues to execute and play well, I expect them to beat Green Bay. The following week is against Minnesota and a game against that defense and Brian Flores will be a major test. Their defense is the best in the league and I need to see how our offense stacks up against it. No Lions football next week but the next two games coming out of the bye will show if this team is able to compete this year.

I’m hopeful for this team and cautiously optimistic, but either way it was fun to see a relatively stress-free victory this week. Hopefully we can string together some wins and go on a little run as we get deeper into the season. Playoffs are still my expectation. The offense will continue to be good and if the defense builds on this performance and improves, winning 11 games is reasonable.

Stars of the Game:

Jared Goff: 19 for 30, 271 yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, 125.8 passer rating

Jahmyr Gibbs: 25 carries, 151 yards, 2 touchdowns, 5 receptions, 56 receiving yards. 207 yards from scrimmage overall

Sam LaPorta: 5 catches, 88 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 fourth down conversions

D.J. Wonnum: 2 sacks

Penei Sewell: best tackle in football

Thank you for reading and I’m so happy I can be more positive than I was last week. Hopefully this game is a sign of things to come but now it’s time for the bye week.

_{All photos are from the Lions X account, all credit goes to Fox Sports, the NFL, and the Detroit Lions}

With the 4-3 defeat last night, another Yankee season comes and goes with the same result: October disappointment. After the loss on Monday I came to terms with it and accepted that we were not going to win the series, so immediately after last night’s loss I was not too upset. The inevitable had finally happened and it felt like we made it exactly where we were expected to make. It wasn’t painful like the past few years. Last year we wasted an elite Aaron Judge postseason, the year before was the World Series run and losing Soto. Those hurt more than this one. This one was numb. It wasn’t painful, it was only depressing. It felt like the same song and dance as last year and ended with the same result.

Hours later the reality hit that we were out and sadness started to wash over me. Will Aaron Judge ever win a ring? Will Gerrit Cole? Will Giancarlo Stanton? Some of the guys who have been with us for years are aging and won’t have many more chances and it’ll break my heart to see them retire without ever reaching the mountaintop. And for other players it might be my last time ever watching them in a Yankee uniform. Some I won’t complain to lose but some others I’m going to miss if this is it with them.

We shouldn’t run it back for a third year in a row so there will be additions to the team and there will be losses. Seeing some players leave might be rough but we cannot go out and try the same thing again. I know injuries hurt the team this year, losing Aaron Judge is catastrophic to the offense, but the offense side of the ball ruined what was an elite pitching staff. Defensive miscues and errors also hurt but we had a Cy Young season from Cam Schlittler. Then Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, and Carlos Rodon all had good seasons as well. All three of them landed on the injured list at some point throughout the season but they were all healthy for October. Pitching showed up in the postseason but the offense was absent against Tampa. Allowing, 1 earned run, 2 earned runs, and 4 earned runs should not be all it takes to eliminate you. With that pitching performance, we should not be out at this point but the lifeless offense couldn’t even get one game. It was better in game 3 but still not good enough. I still like our pitching and am glad nearly all our pitchers are still under contract, but changes need to be made offensively so we can capitalize off this pitching staff while we have it and before guys get too old.

I think we need a new voice in the clubhouse. Aaron Boone needs to go. He was not terrible this year, in fact I would say pretty good overall to lead this team to 93 wins after all the injuries. However, in the biggest moments, he is consistently out managed and the players constantly beat themselves with errors and bad defense. Boone isn’t out on the field so it is not entirely his fault, but after nine years of coming up short, I think it is time for a new voice and a new philosophy. Just because he hit a walk off in game 7 in 2003 does not mean he should be allowed to stay manager forever. He has an all time great Yankees moment, but that should not mean we cannot cut ties. I think he needs to go and I think it is time for someone new. I don’t know who at this point but nine years of this is enough. Then I also think Brian Cashman probably needs to go but I think Boone needs to be the first one out the door. Cashman’s seat should be hot and if we don’t get it done soon, he should be next. He has a great history, but he has not won anything since 2009. I will say he has made some good moves, he has helped build this pitching staff with elite arms, the Soto trade prior to the 2024 season was a big splash and I think he needs to try and go out and do something like that again this offseason. Obviously it won’t be for Soto again, but the one time since 2009 that we have made the World Series is when we acquired a superstar in the offseason. Give up a lot of prospects, I don’t care, most don’t pan out anyway. Find a second superstar to pair with Judge and win number 28.

The Upcoming Free Agents

The personnel needs to change too. Upcoming free agents this offseason include Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm Jr., David Bednar, Tim Hill, Paul Goldschmidt, John Schreiber, Amed Rosario, Ryan Yarbrough, and Paul Blackburn. Most of these guys can go.

Grisham had a great 2025 season but that is the only season he has had in years that is above average offensively. I didn’t want him back after last year because I thought whoever got him would overpay him. Turns out that team would be us on a qualifying offer. Grisham didn’t have a very good year as he continued to decline defensively and he regressed greatly on offense. He was the most obvious regression candidate on the team and unsurprisingly he did. I’ll appreciate his 2025 season but I don’t think he should be a Yankee again next year.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. can be a very good baseball player and when he is doing well, he is extremely fun to watch. In his first 162 games as a Yankee, he hit 40 home runs and stole 48 bases. He is a fun and electric baseball player. The summer of 2025 he was elite and one of the best second baseman in the league, both offensively and defensively. But this year he wasn’t. Defensively he was not very good and that showed in game 2 against Tampa. He tries to make the big play too often sometimes as shown by trying to turn two when the play wasn’t there, resulting in an error and a run for the other team. The bat never woke up either. He said back in April that he cannot hit well in the cold and one thing that I know about New York is that it can get pretty chilly, especially in October. Because of this, I don’t think he is a great guy to have batting everyday in a playoff lineup. He never could get it going in the postseason, having a .559 OPS in 2024, .598 in 2025, and .490 this year. All well below league average. And if we want to look only at batting average, he had the same batting average every postseason run as a Yankee: .182 all 3 years. Not good enough when it matters most. So I do like Jazz a lot. He is a great player when things are going well but the lows can get quite low. And with the contract that I think he is going to demand, I don’t think he’ll be back. We might offer him the qualifying offer but if not and he’s gone, I enjoyed the good times with Jazz.

Goldschmidt and Rosario are great vets to have on the team for morale and experience, but they’re both old and probably won’t be back. Rosario is one I am very confident won’t return. He didn’t do much as a Yankee but I’ll always remember his two home run game against the A’s. I watched that with a friend and each time he was up, he would play the same song for Rosario, who had his best game as a Yankee and won us that game with his heroics. Goldschmidt has been a much better Yankee than I expected. He has crushed lefty pitching and I think he is a good player still. Defensively he is sound but I think he might be gone because we still have Ben Rice and Luis Garcia Jr. as first base options.

For the bullpen guys, Schreiber is probably gone and I would assume Yarbrough is too. Tim Hill will be gone as well which is the right move. He wasn’t good this year but he was a huge piece of our pen in 2024 and 2025. It is time to move on from him but he had his great moments in pinstripes. The two guys I would try to bring back are David Bednar and Paul Blackburn. Bednar has been our consistent closer all year and has been lights out in almost every key situation. We need to bring him back or the closer role will be vacant. Blackburn was a huge surprise this year and I think after the year he had, he needs to stay. He was awful after we acquired him in 2025 but this year he had a 1.69 ERA and was one of the best relief pitchers in baseball from June until the end of the season. He was great against Boston and Tampa in the playoffs as well, throwing 6 shutout innings in 4 appearances. I never expected this from him but I would welcome him back.

So with the free agents plus the final $15 million of DJ LeMahieu’s contract coming off the books, that leaves nearly $75 million to work with if we want to keep the same payroll. Some of that will be used on Bednar and Blackburn I would think but with that much available to the owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman, I really hope we try to acquire another superstar. I know that it is very unrealistic and almost every team will not be willing to trade an elite player away and there aren’t many good free agents available this year, but I hope we try and find someone through trade that will elevate this team in a way similar to Juan Soto. No one available is Juan Soto but try and acquire a bit piece that will help shoulder the load and will be able to provide great at bats in the playoffs and throughout the entire season.

Thoughts on the Guys Under Contract

Aaron Judge is Aaron Judge. If he comes back healthy he’ll be fine and I’m not worried about him. The 2022, 2024, and 2025 AL MVP will be back and assuming he is on the field, he will be one of the best hitters in baseball. My only question with him is if he will be playing in right field everyday or if he will be the DH a lot more to try and prevent injury. He has 5 more years on his contract; I think the front office needs to do everything they can to try and get Judge and this team a ring.

Cody Bellinger needs to be better in the playoffs. He is a very good outfielder, arguably the best defensive left fielder there is. I am happy with his performance this year but it was a bit worse at the plate. He is being paid a ton of money, $42.5 million this year and in 2027, then just under $26 million for 2028-2030 and he needs to play a bit better to justify this. At Yankee Stadium, he is an elite hitter but he is average to below average on the road. In 2025 he had a .909 OPS at home and a .715 away. This year he had a .919 at home but a .628 away. At home he is a very good bat in the lineup but his road splits are quite frankly terrible for someone being paid as much as he is. Then in the postseason he had a .651 OPS last year and a .524 this year. He had a great series vs Boston, which was played at Yankee Stadium, but then he went 1-12 against Tampa in the divisional series. If we can get home field advantage and play a majority of our games at home, that would be excellent news for Bellinger but as things stand, his bat is made for Yankee Stadium and doesn’t do much elsewhere.

Ryan McMahon needs to go but I don’t think he will. He sucks offensively. Pure garbage. Then defensively he was supposed to be elite but like other guys, he has regressed there too. I knew he was not that good at the plate, but I expected his lefty bat to excel at Yankee Stadium. Yes it is a bit above league average at home but that does not make up for how bad he is on the road. He hits .176 with a .510 OPS on the road. In 2026, the American League average OPS is .712 and the league batting average is .241. Ryan McMahon falls well below both of them. He can’t hit at all and he now plays as a below average glove at third base. There needs to be a better option there. But I don’t think he will be gone since he is making $16 million and I doubt the organization wants to cut ties and then be stuck paying that much and getting nothing out of that money. Maybe we can attach a prospect or two and try and trade him to somebody to take his contract but I doubt it. I don’t want to see him as a Yankee again.

Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodon are all still under contract. Cole and Rodon through 2028 and Fried through 2032. We need to capitalize in the next 2 years with these guys powering the staff along with Cam Schlittler. I have faith in this group and I know if I was Carlos Rodon, I would feel sick knowing that I never got to pitch in the postseason after having a very good season. He went all year without allowing more than 3 runs in a start, yet he never got the chance in October even after shutting the Rays down for 8 innings in his last start against them.

Then there’s Stanton. I don’t even know how to describe his time with the Yankees. He has never reached the heights he did in Miami and he has missed 591 out of 1356 (43.58%) of his regular season games as a Yankee, but his postseason heroics will make his time here unforgettable. With all his injuries and the Marlins paying $10 million yearly of his remaining contract, I won’t be shocked if we choose to move on or if he retires. One of the best sluggers of the generation but now likely won’t get to 500 home runs due to injuries. I don’t think he’ll be a hall of famer since he will fail to reach that milestone and since he has never won a ring. But he has had some great moments. His duo with Aaron Judge was supposed to be one of the best home run hitting duos ever. And it kind of was. We won nearly every game when they both homered. I know we lost the game but Game 3 of the 2024 ALCS, Emmanuel Clase had been unstoppable all season but then Judge and Stanton went back-to-back off of him to give the Yankees the lead. If this is it for him, I’m going to miss that duo. I’m going miss how hard he hits the ball. I’m going to miss the towering moonshots. I might not miss all the strikeouts on sliders low and away but I’ll miss Stanton. It probably is the time to move on. He does clog the DH spot so we can’t put Judge or Rice there if he is in and with his injury concerns he isn’t the best anyway to still keep around. He was great in the 2018 regular season, elite in the 2020 postseason, was good in the wild card against Boston in 2021, had a legendary postseason run in 2024, and had a great 2025 regular season. He had many great and memorable Yankee moments, but injuries have taken their toll. I loved that 2024 team, it is my favorite Yankee team I remember watching. I loved Juan Soto and Aaron Judge had his best season, but 2024 postseason Giancarlo Stanton was something special. He had 7 homers and a 1.048 OPS. Had the game winning home run in game 3 of the ALDS, 4 homers against Cleveland in the ALCS to help send us to the World Series, and homered to give us the lead in game 1 of the World Series. I wish 2024 ended differently. Soto magic in the playoffs and Stanton with an otherworldly run but it came up short. And that might have been Big G’s best chance at a ring and now he might never win one. He wasn’t the best Yankee but he cared about winning and would constantly show up when he was needed. If this is the end for him, I’ll miss him.

Under Arbitration

The rest of the guys are still young and don’t have enough service time yet or they are under arbitration. They are still under team control and won’t be going anywhere next year unless they are non-tendered. The guys under arbitration this year are Luis Garcia Jr., Clarke Schmidt, Anthony Volpe, Luis Gil, Jose Caballero, Fernando Cruz, and Ryan Weathers.

Garcia was a good deadline addition and made an immediate impact. His first game he hit the go ahead home run against St. Louis to go up 7-6. Sure we lost 13-7 but that was such a fun moment seeing a new addition start off so well. His September was pretty bad and he seemed to swing at every pitch no matter what in October, but he should be good next season. I wonder if we’ll try to play him at second or third, but his defense has not been good there in his career. We’ll see how we make it work.

Volpe will be back for sure. I think he looks better at second base than he did at shortstop. He had an up and down season and was sent back to the minor leagues for the first time in years. It was deserved and he worked on his game, came back and did pretty well. It was a small sample size but he hit a grand slam in his first game back and did well in his limited postseason action. He won’t ever live up to what he was hyped up to be but I know he has heart. He has never been able to put it together for a full season but he has had moments. The start to 2024 was excellent for him, he started strong in 2025 too. He had a rough year this year but he was one of the few to do anything against Tampa Bay in the end. I hope he can put it all together and make an impact at second base.

Ryan Weathers had a good season and will be back as the number 5 starter. He had a couple of rough outings but his last month of the season was excellent. Based on his performance I’ll gladly have him to close out the rotation. He also showed briefly that he can come in as a reliever if necessary, with 2 scoreless outings against Tampa.

Caballero will be back and he’ll continue to be a great base stealer. He should be a utility guy who can play all over the field if needed and can come in as a pinch runner when necessary. I like Caballero and like how he plays, but he should not be getting over 400 at bats per season. He doesn’t have a good enough bat to have such consistent playing time at the plate.

Clarke Schmidt I think returns but I don’t think he will be a starter anymore. I think he’ll go back to being used as a bullpen arm which he has had success as before. Coming off Tommy John surgery, he barely pitched and then went on the IL again. I believe using him as a starter will be too many innings for him and he’ll be a reliever again next year. We might start him for a few games when necessary but I don’t think he will be a consistent starter again even though he had success there in 2024 and 2025.

Then for the other two guys, I think Fernando Cruz is gone. I liked him out of the pen with his great splitter, but he’s old and will likely need surgery to repair a partially torn UCL. It sucks to end this way with him but I think that’s the way to go. Then Luis Gil. He was so good through May of 2024. He was an ace for two months. But since then everything has gone wrong. His command isn’t great, his velocity is down, he doesn’t have it anymore. I won’t be shocked if we get rid of him. I would love to try and trade him for something since he really isn’t helping us by sitting down in the minor leagues all year.

The Young Players

Now for some closing thoughts on some young guys who haven’t started salary arbitration yet. Focusing on Ben Rice, Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr., Heliot Ramos, and Austin Wells. I would assume all five are going to be back next year. Rice and Lombard for sure. Jones we might try and trade but I think he stays. Then Wells and Ramos I think will both return. Ramos will be a backup and Wells not be the near everyday starter anymore if we sign a righty catcher to go alongside him.

Ben Rice was the best hitter on the team this year and it wasn’t close. In the regular season he hit 41 homers, the next closest had 19, he had 97 RBI, next closest was 73, he tied with Bellinger for the team lead in batting average, he led the team in on base percentage, led the team in slugging, and finished the year with a .897 OPS. He was one of the best hitters in baseball and will finish top 10 in AL MVP voting. He had a great year and should be even better next year if Judge is healthy. Having Judge next to him in the order helped Rice get off to an incredible start. He cooled down a bit without him but still had a great year before getting hot again before the playoffs. When Judge was healthy, Rice had a .306 average, .397 OBP, and a 1.056 OPS. Having Judge after him allowed him to get more pitches to hit and he capitalized. He had a bad June, great July, and bad August but got hot again in September. Hitting .333 with a .450 OBP in the month and a 1.055 OPS. This hot streak continued into October where he hit .421, had a .500 OBP, slugged 1.105, and had a 1.605 OPS with 4 homers and 9 RBI. He was the best hitter in the playoffs and it sucks that we wasted such an incredible stretch of his.

Spencer Jones struggled his first time up in the big leagues but he crushed it when he was called up the second time. He was one of the best hitters vs lefties but really struggled against righties which is odd for a left handed hitter. He has had some hiccups defensively at the MLB level but I think the plan might be to have him take over as the center fielder. So the outfield would be Bellinger-Jones-Judge. Or maybe they saw his struggles vs right handed pitching and they think that he will continue to strike out a lot and might look to trade him. Maybe some team will see his stats and think that he has the potential to be one of the best hitters in the league and trade for him. I don’t know. I want him to succeed in New York but if there is an offer too good to pass up, we might have to trade him away.

The first week of George Lombard Jr. was amazing. He was playing at a gold glove level at short, he homered in his first game, it was awesome. Then he struggled for a bit, had a streak of errors, then hit for a bit more power in September before having a decent playoff run. From what I saw from the 21 year old shortstop in the Bronx, I think he will be the guy at short for years. I think the glove will continue to get better and be more consistent. He has had flashes of defensive greatness and I think over the course of an entire season, he’ll be playing gold glove caliber defense. I think that bat will also improve and he’ll be around a .760 OPS guy next year which would be a huge improvement over anything we’ve had at short for years. I think he’ll be a core member of the team for years to come.

Then in the minors we also have Jasson Dominguez, Elmer Rodriguez, and Carlos Lagrange. I don’t know what we’re going to do with Dominguez. He is still super young but has never really hit the ball well in the majors. He probably has very little trade value at this point so he is someone that I have no clue what we’ll do with him. Elmer Rodriguez pitched a bit in the majors this year and was fine. Him and Lagrange are two young pitching prospects that should be ready to be major leaguers next year. However I’m not sure how they fit in with the depth we have at starter. Speaking of starter depth, we still have Will Warren who had a fine year. He’s probably the number 6 starter but he is good depth to have in case we deal with injury again. We might send some of the prospects to the bullpen to add some depth there. We only had a few reliable arms all year like Bednar, Blackburn, and Brent Headrick. Headrick pitched in over half the games and had a scoreless outing in around 65 of them. He’ll also be back next year.

Then there is one key contributor I haven’t mentioned too much that is still very young. That being the soon to be AL Cy Young winner: Cam Schlittler. What a year he had. After his pretty good rookie season in 2025, I expected him to be a good number 4 starter behind Cole, Fried, and Rodon this year. He blew by those expectations and was an ace. He was the best pitcher in the American League and had one of the best Yankee pitching seasons ever. 239 strikeouts, an ERA under 2 at 1.95, a 0.92 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched), and only 49 walks in 193.2 innings. He had a 1.16 ERA on the road which is one of the lowest in history. He was nothing short of extraordinary. He had 25 starts where he allowed 1 or fewer earned runs which is a record for starting pitchers in the live ball era (since 1920). He made 33 starts in the regular season and in my opinion he only had 2 bad starts, vs Cleveland at the start of June and vs Detroit at the end of that same month. The other 31 ranged from pretty good to excellent. 8 innings with 1 earned at Boston in April, 6 innings with 13 strikeouts vs the Reds in June, 8 innings with 1 run at Tampa in July, 7.1 shutout innings with 12 strikeouts at Philadelphia, 7 innings with 1 run and 11 strikeouts vs Atlanta in August, then of course the 6.1 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts vs Boston in the playoffs. He was our best pitcher and our best player. He has a real case for the AL MVP which I don’t think he’ll win but he should be a unanimous Cy Young winner. He’s still only 25 years old and should be around a long time. Plus if his curveball improves and maybe works on his slider more that he rarely uses or some other breaking pitch, he can get even better. He was phenomenal to watch all year and I look forward to many more years of dominance from Cam.

Closing Thoughts

It was a decent year, winning 93 games with an injury-riddled team wasn’t easy, but there needs to be changes. I want Boone gone. I want a new third baseman, hopefully a new catcher to pair with Wells, and I want a star who can make a huge impact in this order. Too many times we get to the postseason and can’t hit the ball. We need an impact bat for the middle of the order. I have hope for us in 2027 and beyond but we need to change our approach. Things have not worked in October the past two years and I think we need to get more guys that can hit the ball and get on base. We sell out for power a lot but having someone who can keep rallies going and can drive in runs is a necessity in my eyes. I know it sounds so simple and in my opinion batting average does not mean that much in today’s league. However, I want a guy that I can rely on to get a hit. Sure it might not be extra bases or a homer, but we already have a lot of guys that can do that. We strike out too many times and having someone who can put the ball in play more would help the lineup in my opinion.

Anyway, thank you for reading, I know this was a long post but I had a lot to say. I’ll always be a Yankees fan and I love these players and the team, but I want them to do better. As I have had to say for years now: “Maybe next year.”