Sez Me …
It’s easy to hope the real NFL has gone into a priest hole and is in hiding, waiting for the right time to come out and be somebody.
But I fear what we’re seeing is what we’re going to get. Not only is some bad football being played, some teams are playing bad football and getting away with it.
Last Monday night, I watched San Francisco-Carolina. Niners quarterback Brock Purdy threw picks on his first three possessions.
The Panthers responded with a pathetic offensive effort. A 49ers win was never in question.
You pull that kind of crap in a real game, and it’s over. But there’s no accounting for bad ball anymore. No defense for bad coaching.
This may be the craziest NFL season of my lifetime. We don’t know anything. Maybe the Rams are the best team. Until this week.
Maybe the Raiders — they just fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly — are the worst team. Until this week.
They play in their place today against the NFL Team That Used To Be Here, which is finishing its season in an ambulance with four flat tires. So maybe not.
But some things remain constant: Coaches.
They don’t know how to tell time. And history has no meaning, escaping their egos like Jahmyr Gibbs does an open-field tackle.
I’m thinking of Dan Campbell. He can coach, and I’m all for taking risks. But there comes a time when he takes gambling too far, going for it on fourth downs. It’s a game of blackjack and the other teams are dealers. He keeps hitting on hard 17s.
Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles, who comes highly regarded as a head coach, brought QB Baker Mayfield on to throw an unexploded bomb after he’d obviously injured his left shoulder at the end of the half vs. the Rams. Baker spent the rest of the game with his arm in a sling.
And the trick plays. (It happens in college football, too.) New Mexico opened moving right down the field Saturday on a good Aztecs defense, and what did it do? Ran a trick play on first down and lost 11. Ran a flea flicker a short time later. Failed. Blame it on Lobos coach Jason Eck, who still won the game.
Blame the Aztecs’ loss on a coach, Sean Lewis, whose offense suffered a massive lack of discipline with three straight presnap penalties in the second overtime. At Albuquerque High. Embarrassing.
Overcoaching is rampant. Shall we even get into my favorite, clock management? The great majority of coaches have no clue when it comes to time, the most precious commodity in life and football.
Too many pro and college coaches play scared, and a few who don’t have a huge gambling gene. The best ones know football is a game of real estate, of blocking and tackling, of establishing the run, and playing defense.
Tricksters go home. …
Why anyone thought Michigan was better than Ohio State escapes me. Just Sayin. …
It’s tough to say the Chiefs are done because of Patrick Mahomes. Dangerous, but not the same. Something’s missing. …
The Eagles have flopped. Nick Sirianni is one of those coaches I’ve been talking about. …
The networks televising Thanksgiving NFL games treated John Madden as a magical man who could do wonders with loaves, fishes and turkey legs. I liked John, but he coached 11 Hall of Fame players in Oakland and won one Super Bowl.
If Madden simply retired out of sight and sound and didn’t become famous, no chance he makes the Hall as a coach. …
And who got John all those Hall of Famers? Right. Al Davis. …
Jerry Jones says that, before the season, Dallas offered the Jets Micah Parsons and a No. 1 for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. A crock of presidential proportions. …
Fade patterns have around a 33% completion rate. The worst play call in football. But coaches. …
The best football player in the world this fall has been Myles Garrett. And he’s on a bad team. Unless Cleveland is good? …
Saints head coach Kellen Moore worked out Justin Tucker for the kicking job. Tucker may be the best ever, but he is also being accused of sexual misconduct (which he denies) by 16 Baltimore massage therapists. What’s next? Tucker didn’t get the job, and the Chiefs probably are upset they already have a good kicker. …
The Steelers have no quarterback, haven’t had one since Ben Roethlisberger, and they get rid of George Pickens to Dallas for a third-rounder. But Pickens’ contract is over. Can the Cowboys afford him and Ceedee Lamb? …
I forgot. The Steelers have Aaron Rodgers. But these days, he’s better at flipping the finger to people than footballs. …
I think this is it for Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh will have their third coach since Chuck Noll. …
So Tomlin will go somewhere else and win. …
I don’t know if it’s the hamstring, but Lamar Jackson, the best there has been at moving around, now is running scared. When he runs. …
I’m not one to give up on young quarterbacks. But J.J. McCarthy stinks. Hercules would shudder at the work this young man has to do. …
Did I hear McCarthy and a No. 1 for Justin Herbert? We are living during a time when people will say anything, but this would be directing “Hamlet” and casting Adam Sandler over Laurence Olivier. …
Dylan Cease gets a seven-year, $210 million deal from the Blue Jays after ripping a 4.55 ERA with the 2025 Padres. I’ll miss the guy. Facially, he looked like a 1980s porn star. …
If you don’t like the other team running up 70 points on a football field, the antidote is simple. Don’t give up 70 points. …
RIP, Dave Morehead. A baseball and basketball star at Hoover High School, he threw a no-hitter for the Red Sox in 1965. One of the fastest pitchers in San Diego prep baseball history. …
I see San Diego State’s lack of football attendance, and I think back to when athletic director Ken Karr used to actually pay teams to come here for a guarantee. In 1968, the Aztecs played nine games — eight at home, one in Bozeman, Mont. …
The Lions’ O-line was to be one of their strengths. It’s their biggest issue. Jared Goff has become the hunted. Football. Go figure. …
Jonathan Taylor ran the ball three times in the second half vs. the Chiefs. But Colts head coach Shane Steichen is another offensive genius. …
I picked the Lions to win the Super Bowl. Go figure, football. …
Steven Souza Jr. is the Padres’ new hitting coach. It’s a satisfying and prosperous position in Petco. Like being a tuna boat captain in Iowa. …
When San Diego State’s men’s basketball team allows this many points … well, it’s not San Diego State’s men’s basketball team. …
On Unsocial Media, they speak of “non-steroid” players. How the hell do they know who’s using and who isn’t? I hate to know how many. …
Spitting is good — if you’re in the dentist’s office. …
Have you seen the bottom of a dugout after a baseball game? Petri dishes. Disgusting. …
Interesting question the other day: Why isn’t the holder down in football? …
Fifty-fifty balls stink, 100%.