Quick Takes Edition 2
Buffalo Bills (1-1)
Following the dominating performance by Buffalo over the Raiders I messaged my cousin, “Amazing what they can do when they play disciplined, and just do the job.” A good chunk at that was aimed at Josh Allen, but he wasn’t the only player as there had been some reckless play on the other side as well against the Jets. Actually even before the Jets as some of the undisciplined play was already seeping in last season. There was none of that Sunday against the Raiders, and I think the coaches got their point across last week. Of course time will tell if Josh and the boys slide back to old ways, but we’ll have to wait and see. Everyone always needs to remember they’re professionals on the other sideline as well, and while you never want to take away the gunslinger mentality that makes any quarterback, especially Josh, a quarterback, there is a fine line between gunslinger and undisciplined. Turnovers lead the list of reasons, and you can’t expect to win if you just carelessly give the ball to the professionals on the other side. Next up are the Washington Commanders.
Chicago Bears (0-2)
The ten point loss to the Buccaneers was not as close as the score would seem. It also included what I estimate as the shortest Pick-6 in Bears history of about a half a yard. It was a devastating play by Fields in his own end zone, and when you throw in the disorganized and woeful play by the defense this season is not looking good. Really not good. Unless things change quickly this week in Kansas City, if they don’t look competitive, there are going to be consequences for Matt Eberflus and company. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s one of the first firings of the NFL 2023 season. Even further fans will be gathering outside Soldier Field with torches and pitchforks by Halloween if it hasn’t happened before then. It’s going to get ugly very quickly.
New York Yankees (76-75)
It’s the final stretch, and there isn’t anything to say I haven’t already on this team, on this season, from this point forward. They remain inconsistent. They struggle to score and thereby struggle to win – every night you don’t know what you’re going to get. This is all of their own doing – particularly of Cashman and the Analytics Team. It was said at another point during the broadcast, “No one could have predicted this disastrous season.” I take acception to that. I predicted it. So did many other Yankees fans. We saw where this was heading, and the trend had been there over the last couple seasons in spite of playoff appearances; not because of them. It was a house of cards. Another broadcast cliche I take issue with is, “Players need to perform to the back of the their baseball cards.” That is such a failed argument that misses the point entirely. The back of player’s cards in any sport are statistical summaries of the type of player they once were; not the type of player they are today, and not the player you hope they’ll be again. The back of baseball cards are like rings on a tree. If there are only a few rings maybe the player can turn it around – presumably if they’ve had a rough go of late related to injury. However, the more lines on the back of that card, the more seasons (rings), the less likely they will return to the level of their earlier days. That’s exactly what the Yankees have. They’ve poured a substantial amount of money on trees that have a lot of rings around their trunks, and they’re expectations are not in line with this reality. So this was all predictable. The only real puzzle is why it didn’t happen sooner?
Notre Dame #9 (4-0)At 4-0 they’ve won all the games that were expected of them. Something they struggled with last season. Now comes a big test at #6 Ohio State. The Irish, like the Buffalo Bills, have trended on being that peripheral team in recent memory. A team that is good enough to be in the playoff mix, but not good enough to move past any of the teams cemented there. For the Bills it has been the Chiefs and Bengals. For the Irish it has been teams like Clemson, the Crimson Tide, and Ohio State. Which makes this a test for the Irish. It is their first opportunity to move that trend line in a different direction.