Quick Takes Edition 1
Rather than write individually I figure it’s best to recap the action the last few days with some brief takes of my own.
Notre Dame @North Carolina State.
The Irish won 45-24. No secret I’m a Fighting Irish fan, and the second season of Marcus Freeman has proven promising. They’ve beaten the teams they should have beaten. I realize the true test is when they jump up in weight class in a couple of weeks against Ohio State. Still, the word is promising. They are working hard and the trend line of improvement is moving in the correct direction for Irish fans.
New York Yankees
It only occurred to me recently that the Yankees are the only professional sports team in the NYC region I’m a fan of – a direct result of my Father being a fan. I get it, but pinstripe blood was infused in me at an early age.
That being said, how bad is this team? Really? Just how bad? Luis Severino is back on the IL. I know injuries aren’t a player’s fault – professional athletes want to play – but he has spent enough time on the IL he should have a timeshare on it. If that wasn’t bad enough, add Jasson (two S’s as every broadcaster apparently needs to say) Domínguez has a torn UCL and requires Tommy John surgery. Again, seriously, I ask how bad is this organization? This is not a good look for anyone in the organization. Fans worry about Stanton even walking to first less he pulls something, Severeino’s IL stints are like a phone book, Hicks (when he was around) wasn’t much better, and I’m not even going to mention Jacoby Ellsbury. Severino couldn’t get through a month. Domínguez couldn’t get through eight days of being with this major league club without needing Tommy John. If I ever need any physical therapy I’ll make sure none of the PT folk were ever the strength and conditioning staff of the Yankees. I’m not going to take that chance. Cashman calls this a disastrous season. Yes, but it’s one of their own making.
Chicago Bears
Nothing’s changed. Aaron Rodgers has gone to the Jets, and the Monsters Of The Midway seemed to have taken the stance that it’s a new era. A fresh start. It isn’t. The Packers again beat the Bears, this time 38-20, and it wasn’t even that close. While it seems idiotic to throw in the towel when it’s only the first game I don’t think Halas Hall quite understands that this game 1, opening against the hated Pack, was a statement game. In one perspective it was. It showed that once again they are outplayed, out matched, out classed by their rivals. I’ve mentioned this before – Green Bay vs. Chicago is not unlike Ohio State vs. Michigan. Each one has to beat the other. That’s the mission. If you beat your rival then other things, such as being a legitimate contender, fall into place. Otherwise you’re status quo, and the Bears are status quo.
Buffalo Bills
Here is another disturbing unchanged trend. There is actually no legitimate reason for the Jets to have beaten the Bills 24-21 in overtime on Monday Night Football. Yes, I’m aware of of the Jets defense being formidable and I acknowledge that, but the Bills – particularly Allen and Milano – largely lost that game on their own. They lost it by allowing the Jets to hang around too close for too long. They were ripe for a loss having lost Rodgers on the fourth play of the game.[1] Struggling to move the ball against a touch defense they could have continually nickel and dime field goals to keep the score a two or more possession game. They didn’t.
Milano’s taunting penalty in the first half was crucial – the Bills would have had the ball fairly deep in Jets territory. Instead they were backed up. Allen’s throws were undisciplined. The questionable passes that were intercepted inexcusable. To his credit Allen took the responsibility for that after the game, but he said the same thing after doing the same thing following the Packers game last season. I’m glad you’re taking a leadership role and accepting the responsibility for your actions, but we are past that now. Why do you keep doing it? At one point Allen took an unnecessary hard hit along the sidelines after ducking back into the field when he could have easily stepped out to avoid the hit (first quarter). The broadcast did not mention it but the camera caught McDermott on the sidelines pointing to his head and the lip reading, “Be smart!” That was directed at Allen. The Bills are really nothing without their franchise quarterback, and you don’t want to take away his aggressiveness, which is his strength, but there’s aggressive smart and there’s aggressive selfish. Allen has been the latter more times than he should, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a clear the air meeting after this first week of play.
So, like the Bears, the Bills are unchanged, and that should be disconcerting to Bills Mafia. Unchanged means probably a 13 or 14 win season, but outclassed or over-matched in the playoffs. There a lot like Notre Dame in that regard – good enough to be in the mix, but not truly at the level where they can actually win the championship.Again, we’ve only finished Week 1; there’s lots of football left. However, it’s not like where I’ve said in the past that I ignore April baseball and October hockey because there are way too many games ahead. Football isn’t like that. It’s once a week and that compresses the season in defiance of five months’ worth of games (depending if there are playoffs). So from that perspective Week 1 does matter. It’ll be interesting where the Bills go from here. They are, however, in a better situation than the Bears or Yankees, but that’s a low bar.
Rodgers has a torn Achilles and is out for the rest of the season.