V's Rabbit Hole

  I hear a lot of people talking about certain teams as being “soft”. Namely the Los Angeles Rams. There seems to be a lot more quibbling about what it means to be soft or whether certain talking heads are willing to get into the “soft” conversation than actual debate about softness, but-- When I hear football players call a team soft, I hear them saying they aren't physical – specifically that they are being pushed around at the point of contact. All of these men are strong and tough. There's no question about that. The question becomes one of stamina, or a willingness to initiate and win contact for 18 weeks. I was watching LaVar Arrington's first-ever broadcast this weekend. (Congratulations, by the way to LaVar. He didn't have a lot to work with, but I remember more than a few of his observations and had he not said it was his first, I wouldn't have noticed.) (That's the kind of analysis you're only getting here, folks.) the Lions/Browns contest. Gus ...

  What a Sunday of football that was. While not exactly the gambler's nightmare of the last two weeks, there were still six teams whose offensive gameplans were dead on arrival. Which I wouldn't even complain about, except I got to watch four of them. I'm not going to waste either my time or yours by breaking down ATL/DAL, CLE/NE, SEA/GB, or KC/LV in great depth. I learned very little watching these games. In fact, I was barely able to keep my eyes on them for long stretches. Every Dallas scoring drive annoyed me – the Atlanta defense couldn't do simple things right. And their offense was Matt Ryan throwing prayers to Kyle Pitts and Cordarrelle breaking off a long run here and there. Nothing else worked at all. That was the game I kept on the TV. Because the other 1 o'clock game was Cleveland @ New England, and every time I turned over there to get a reprieve from Atlanta, the Browns were taking an even worse ass-whoopin. Which is how I know I'm not actuall...

  So, hey, turns out working from a template makes this much easier, take significantly less time, and I need almost no words to get ramped up to talk about these games. So the opening for this one is only going to be this long. Week 9 Game Power Rankings, Previews, and Predix #13 Miami Dolphins (1-7) @ Houston Texans (1-7) I cannot believe that I'm about to write about how the Dolphins should win this game, but Tua has a hand injury that leaves me wondering what sort of performance we can reasonably expect this weekend. This guy.... I shouldn't feel as strongly as I do about Tua not being the guy , but I do feel this strongly. And everything that comes out – about the team, about him, about ownership – confirms my bias so firmly, I'd be stupid to try to argue it with myself. To say nothing of insane. Everyone should be given the time and opportunity – and environment – to develop. And if I were a fan of the team still and not intellectually stimulated by...

  Week 9 Thursday Night Football Recap New York Jets (2-6) @ Indianapolis Colts (4-5) Well, shit. I should really be more careful about what I say and the way I phrase it when I'm writing these things. I should have just pretended like the Away team doesn't no-show on Thursday. Then maybe the Jets wouldn't have no-showed. Poor Mike White. Here's his chance to beat an actually-vulnerable team in a totally winnable game— And he gets some fluke wrist/forearm injury. I haven't read yet what the nature is, but he finished the night on the sidelines looking like someone had ripped his heart out right in front of him. Like that Simpsons gif of the girl with Bart. Or that scene in Dumb and Dumber . But I'm not putting this one on the offense or Josh Jackson. They played about as well as you'd expect, especially once you consider their backup quarterback went down. The only person that liked seeing that was Joe Flacco. (Do we really think his heart is t...

  What a great day for the Jets to be playing. One thing that I too-briefly, even abortedly, touched on in Week 8's Game Rewatch Rankings was the idea that – or the question of whether – teams play differently for their backup quarterback. I want to ask whether they play better, but that word is inadequate. What I mean is whether they play truer to the letter of the playcall than to its spirit. That's awkward. A better way to wonder at this would be to ask whether, because they haven't worked with him as much, the receivers run more textbook routes and patterns for the backup because they don't have the mindmeld that lets them play how the quarterback wants it. I'm not sure that's what I saw with Cooper Rush and Mike White and Trevor Siemian. I'm honestly not sure I know what I saw. But I do have to wonder whether it means something that the consensus is that this is the first week the Jets have looked like they have a competent offense. We'll get ...

  Oi. I had the Game Rewatch Power Rankings all written up and ready to publish last night – later than I originally expected by at least eight hours, but ready – and then my word processer crashed and took the file with it. That is what I get for not having better saving habits. I will learn from this and get better. You see, it's a week-to-week process. I was going to make a more elaborate coach speak analogy, but I'm anxious to get to the Rankings. Oh. I have Game Pass, now! That's why it took me so long to get these out. I didn't expect to have it when I woke up, then a generous reader helped me with the first month's fee. Somehow I didn't anticipate 15 half-hour games to take more than eight hours. Look – no one has ever accused me of being smart. Week 8 Game Rewatch Rankings, Reviews, and Reax #15 Jacksonville Jaguars (1-6) @ Seattle Seahawks (3-5) This game was torturous. I got to it pretty late in my film-watching day, and I'm...