Yeah, we can’t believe it, either. We want to try on our best Don LaFontaine voice. “In the future world of 2018…”
And that’s as far as we’ve gotten. “…you will believe that a famous chef sends out an apology for sexual harassment that includes his recipe for cinnamon buns“? Nobody would believe that.
“You will believe that Gregg Easterbrook watched football on New Year’s Eve”? That might work.
After the jump, this week’s TMQ…
“a super-sophisticated proprietary algorithm” also known as “picking the list completely at whim, because TMQ has no methodology or standards”.
Skipping over the crap, Easterbrook actually has some decent thoughts to offer on the playoff teams. In an attempt to summarize:
Jacksonville: great defense, but defense doesn’t win games.
Atlanta: Matt Ryan has “honked many playoff games”.
Buffalo: just making the playoffs is a success. They’re not going to win.
KC: “Reid must play to win, rather than to avoid losing, if the Chiefs are to advance.”
Rams: something something.
Tennessee: the best thing to do is let Marcus Mariota run the ball.
Philadelphia: it all comes down to defense. And weather.
Carolina: “…the Cats’ mojo is not good”.
Saints: Good offensive line, good stats for points allowed and points scored, and a good chance they will play all their games in domes.
Pittsburgh: Mike Tomlin can’t beat Bill Belichick. (Preview: especially with the refs on
Belichick’s side.)
Minnesota: undrafted quarterback, best defense, and they might just be able to play all their games at home.
New England: the dynasty. And one thing you can say for Belichick, he gets the most out of previously discarded players.
Is TMQ a gin drinker? Actually, all of those spirits sound good to us. Any New England readers willing to put together a care package?
Chicken-(salad) kicking by losing teams. Stats. (We’ll note that stat #5 is wrong, but we’ll also point out that the news of Lewis’s contract extension broke after TMQ went up.)
Sweet: Buffalo, New Orleans. More sweet: more Buffalo.
And hasn’t TMQ spent a lot of time in previous columns condemning players for concentrating on celebrations, rather than, you know, acting like a professional (“act like you’ve been there before”) or even basic fundamentals like holding on to the ball?
Sour: Baltimore. Mixed: Raiders-Chargers.
Almost 1,400 words on how unrealistic “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is. We don’t want to seem like big wimps here: we could engage with this, beyond just pointing out the sheer absurdity of writing 1,400 words on how unrealistic a “Star Wars” film is. The problem is that TMQ’s item is heavily spoiler-riddled, and we’re sure a lot of our readers haven’t seen the movie yet. (We haven’t either, but then again, we don’t give a flying flip at a rolling doughnut about spoilers, or “Star Wars”.)
Cutting taxes without cutting spending is bad, m’kay?
Well, that’s certainly a possibility. Are there any others, Gregg? It is interesting, though, as TMQ points out, that so many of these calls favored New England.
Has easy travel killed the California glam factor? Signs point to “yes”.
16 games is too many for high school kids to play. (Ding!) Apparently, “30 games over two seasons” is too. (Odd way to put that. Are they playing 15 games a season? 16 in one, 14 in the other?)
Dom Capers was the scapegoat for Aaron Rodgers injury. Mike McCarthy pinned the blame for Green Bay’s season on Capers. Never mind the fact that Green Bay’s defense hasn’t been great, Capers is unfairly blamed.
More chicken-(salad) kicking: University of Washington. The 500 Club. The 600 Club.
“Single Worst Play of the Season—So Far”: Baltimore’s offense after the Darqueze Dennard interception.
And that’s all for this week, folks. Tune in next week. Perhaps Gregg Easterbrook can spend the remaining weeks of the season explaining how unrealistic all the other “Star Wars” movies were. (Okay, maybe he can skip the prequels.)