Hey! Turns Out It’s Hard to Win When You Give Up 21 Points in the First Quarter

• Well, then. That was not an ideal way to begin a game for the Green Bay Packers. Let’s run through the opening period real quick:
• TEN: onside kick; GB recovered.
• GB: 3-and-out.
• GB: missed opportunity to down their punt at the 1-yard line.
• GB LB Jake Ryan carted off with ankle injury.
• TEN: 75-yd rushing TD on first snap from scrimmage.
• GB: 12-yard drive before punting.
• GB OL TJ Lang carted off with an ankle injury.
• TEN: 21-yard play.
• TEN: 41-yard play.
• GB: Timeout to avoid 10-men-on-the-field penalty.
• TEN: touchdown.
• GB: 3-and-out.
• GB S Burnett injured.
• TEN: touchdown.

• So at the end of the first quarter, the score was 21-0, Tennessee. The Titans had 231 yards to the Packers’ 26; nine first downs to one; Aaron Rodgers had two completions; and Titans’ tight end Delanie Walker had gained more than three times the yards that the entire Packers offense had.

• The lack of pressure up front from the Packers defensive front seven further exposed a secondary that is reeeeeaaaaally struggling. Our secondary is just not good. Plus, they can’t defend tight ends, and Tennessee obviously knew that coming in -- wide receivers accounted for just 40% of Sunday’s receptions, the rest were to tight ends and running backs. Walker played with some extra juice, thanks to the a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel preview he felt had slighted him.

• Clay Matthews missed his third straight game and fourth of the season with a hamstring injury, which is too bad since he appears to be the only player on the defense capable of generating any pressure. I had reserved this space to rail against Matthews injury history and count all the games he’s missed and ponder if it’s really worth paying him so much money considering his availability. I looked up his stats, however, and he actually hasn’t missed nearly as many games as I thought. Packer fans, back me up -- it seems like he’s missed way more games than this, right?? 

• Speaking of players who are never healthy, backup running back James Starks made his return after missing four games, and I spent all last week reading about how James Starks being back in the lineup somehow assuaged the Packers’ concerns at that position, as if his return were the cavalry riding over the hill rather than someone who will waste possessions by falling down upon contact. HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY SEEN STARKS PLAY? The guy has averaged 1.8 yards per play this season! He had 33 yards on seven carries Sunday. Our quarterback had 27 yards on three rushes. Why am I the only person who notices that James Starks is not particularly good at his job? Even the coaches don’t seem to know, which is presumably why Don Jackson was a healthy scratch.

"How does James Starks have a job in the NFL??"

• And we’re all out of offensive linemen. The line has done a great job protecting Rodgers, but there has to be a lot of concern right now. Down center JC Tretter going into Sunday’s game, the Packers also lost right guard TJ Lang (who was on crutches and in a walking boot, eek) and left tackle David Bakhtiari, so they have zero available backup offensive linemen right now.

• The offense actually played fairly decently for the last three quarters. Just imagine what the game would have been like if they hadn’t spotted Tennessee 21 points before waking up and trying? (And if the Packers hadn’t unfairly lost a possession on Trevor Davis’ muffed punt, which should have been a penalty on Tennessee and Green Bay’s ball, not Tennessee’s ball on the 12-yard line!) One thing I could not fathom, however, was why a coach would continue to kick field goals when when you’re down three scores! Come on, McCarthy!

• I feel like Mike McCarthy is as dismissive toward aggressive fourth-down strategy as Aaron Rodgers is toward Matt Cassel.

"Aaron! Hey, Aaron! Remember me? I used to be a starter!"
"Sorry, no autographs. Thanks for watching, buddy."

• Sportswriters and announcers need to stop touting the Packers as a top run defense. They are not. They were ranked first in the league until this week (now fourth), but the truth is they’ve just played really bad rushing teams. Let’s run through the teams they’ve played and where those teams currently rank in rushing yards: Jaguars, 26th ; Vikings, 31st; Lions, 27th; Giants, 32nd; Cowboys, 1st (rushed for 191 against Green Bay); Bears, 21st; Falcons, 15th; Colts, 23rd; and Titans, 3rd (put up 162). Other than the Falcons (whom they held to 90 yards), every team they’ve played that’s ranked higher than 20th exceeded their average yards per game against the Packers. So, no, they are not a “top run defense.”

• Titans’ defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is in his 59th season in the NFL as player or coach!

• Adding insult to insult, that cotton-mouthed Kenny Albert called Green Bay’s game. I had to listen to that voice for the entire painful game. And I’m sorry, but he looks like Peter Pettigrew from the Harry Potter movies, so I subconsciously mistrust him and think him cowardly.

• Hard to find highlights when you lose by 22 points, but here’s a nice moment of Jordy ninja-ing on the sideline.

• The Tennessee Titans have a better record than the Green Bay Packers. The Cubs won the World Series. A reality TV star is President. Hell hath frozen over, right?

• Luckily for the Packers, the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears also suck. The Detroit Lions were the big winners of the division this week by not playing. Who would have thought that the NFC North would have been one of the worst divisions?

• I’m pretty morose after this weekend, but you have to look for joy in the little things. For me, that’s Jay Cutler’s Sunday. In a 36-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jay had two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), two fumbles (one in the endzone, resulting in a safety), four sacks, and a 4.0 quarterback rating.

• Hail to the Redskins! And hail to Washington linebacker Preston Smith, who had two sacks and an interception in the Redskins 26-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

• The Vikings scored 20 points in the second quarter, and none in any of the other three quarters. Odd.

• Blair Walsh has missed FOUR extra points this season, along with four field goals. (This is not looped.)

• Bears' leading receiver Alshon Jeffrey was suspended for four games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. If I were team management, I'd be upset that he took PEDs because that's cheating and that's bad. But I'd also be upset that he cheated and only has one touchdown on the season to show for it.

• Robert Quinn’s celebrating his teammate’s game-winning interception is my new favorite reaction gif. I just need someone smarter than me actually to make this into a gif.

• Oh my goodness, the Denver Broncos-New Orleans Saints game had one of the craziest endings. In a tight back-and-forth contest against the Super Bowl champs, New Orleans got the ball, down six with 2:50 left in the game. Drew Brees marches his crew down the field and with 1:22 hits this absolutely gorgeous touchdown to Brandin Cooks. Yay Saints!!

• Everyone’s celebrating the New Orleans win, except they still have to kick the extra point … AND IT’S BLOCKED! And returned for two points!!!

• I thought that the officials had missed a penalty when the Broncos appeared to hold the Saints’ center down, but apparently that’s legal!? But the worst part is that it looks like the returner did, in fact, step out of bounds. Unfortunately for New Orleans, the referees did not have a definitive angle to overturn the call.

• You know what that makes me think of? The other incredibly painful New Orleans loss on an extra point. In 2003, the Saints were playing the Jacksonville Jaguars for the chance to make the playoffs. On their own 25-yard line, down seven points with just seven seconds left on the clock, the Saints throw a 25-yard completion to the wide receiver, who breaks one tackle, then more as he cuts across the field! At this point, the clock has run out so it’s all on this play. Around the 30-yard line, the receiver knows he’s in trouble and laterals it to his teammate, who has to go backwards, but then tosses it to another teammate behind him. Then that Saint throws it across the field to a wide-open teammate who runs it in for a touchdown!!! Pandemonium!! After the play has been reviewed and upheld, kicker John Carney comes onto the field for the extra point … and he misses it. The Saints lose! It’s one of the most heart-wrenching endings ever. I honestly want to cry when I watch it … though it is hard not to be amused by the play callers. You have to watch this with the sound on:

• Normally, punters don’t make the highlight reel, but Johnny Hekker isn’t a normal punter. Check out how far back the Jets returner has to go to field this!

• These NFL commercials showing how much they care about player safety are laughable. This is another factor in the NFL’s (slightly) waning popularity. Find me one NFL fan who reacts to those commercials with anything but derision. Does the NFL really think this is going to help their image at all on player safety? This will make people trust the league less because it’s so ridiculously transparent and phony.

• If you have to take a timeout before the first snap of the game, you might be the Cleveland Browns.

This happened at 14:55 in the first quarter.

• Not to rub it in, but Cleveland passed on Dak Prescott eight times in the draft. Eight.

• Arrrgghhh I just knew the stupid Dallas Cowboys would pull out some ridiculous win. Even after the Pittsburgh Steelers took a one-point lead with 42 seconds left on a fake-spike touchdown play, I knew that was going to be too much time with Dallas having all three timeouts. Helped by a 15-yard facemask penalty, Dallas was already in field goal range when -- who else? -- Ezekiel Elliott broke loose for a touchdown. That’s eight-straight for the rookie-led Cowboys. I hope Tony Romo’s agent is working the phone lines.

• I wonder if Tony’s face is frozen like this since he knows the camera cuts to him after every play. “Just smile. Don’t… stop… smiling.”

• Here’s a less controversial touchdown in the Broncos-Saints game that I thought was one of the most impressive of the weekend. The defender is incredible in dislodging the ball as he’s falling, but Denver receiver Jordan Taylor not only lands in-bounds and makes sure he gets two feet down after getting hit in the air, but he also manages to regain possession before going to the ground.

• And he looks like a merry little cherub.

• There must have been tremors in Foxborough on Sunday night with the presence of both The Emperor and The Robber-Barron. I envision it as something out of MacBeth, with vultures taking to the skies, plants mysteriously wilting, babies wailing, and animals fleeing.

"Muuahahahahahaha!!!"

• And what do you know? Mysterious forces were at work. Once again, the Seattle Seahawks won a night game at the last-minute on a controversial no call when Kam Chancellor appears to have held Rob Gronkowski on a fourth-down pass in the endzone that would have allowed the New England Patriots to tie (or take the lead) with 11 seconds left. I don’t feel bad for the Patriots because 1) they’re the Patriots, and 2) they had four chances to score from the two-yard line and didn’t.

• Philip Rivers threw four interceptions … in the fourth quarter! Somehow, despite this, the Miami Dolphins only won by seven. Definitely calls for a Rivers’ “Worst Day Ever” throwback.

• The Jacksonville Jaguars’ colors are black, teal, and gold. That means the equipment manager had two other options besides golds for the mouthpieces, either of which would have been better than making your players look like they haven’t brushed their teeth since Jacksonville had a winning season.

• The Pack plays the Washington Redskins on Sunday Night Football next week. The most likely scenario is Green Bay getting humiliated on primetime national television, but maybe, just maybe, they’ll get Clay Matthews, Damarious Randall, and Jared Cook back. Maybe they’ll put James Starks on the practice squad and give Don Jackson a chance. Maybe the offensive linemen will magically heal. Maybe Aaron Rodgers will trust his receivers enough to make accurate throws. And maybe they’ll actually reward his trust instead of dropping passes. That’s how I see next Sunday going. A girl can dream, right? Right, Aaron?

That Was Very Bad

• Look, I knew things were going to be ugly when the Green Bay Packers were playing against the number one offense in the league and a top-five defense, but that was way worse than what I was fearing. The Arizona Cardinals had twice as many yards, and the Packers managed just 2.8 yards per play and were a dreadful 5-for-17 on third down conversions. The Arizona defense outscored the Green Bay offense.

You can tell by Aaron's expression that he saw this
coming pre-snap and had just resigned himself to it.

• Worst of all was the turnovers. Previously one of the best teams in the league at protecting the ball, Green Bay turned it over four times. In the first 14 games of the season, the Packers allowed just 24 points off of their turnovers; on Sunday, they allowed 28 points.

• Aaron Rodgers took eight sacks in the game behind a woeful offensive line. Green Bay’s line has been dealing with injuries all year. Left tackle David Bakhtiari was out for the game, meaning Don Barclay was in, so Rodgers should have known he was in for a beating. (Barclay was responsible for four of the sacks and God knows how many quarterback hits.)

"Hmm, it's funny that I don't have anyone to block. Maybe they
dropped extra guys into coverage. I'll keep my post, though. After all,
it's my job to protect Aaron, and he's counting on me."

• Things got a lot worse when right tackle Bryan Bulaga left the game with an injury. Backup/turnstile Josh Walker replaced Bulaga, but he was so bad that they had to play their backup center JC Tretter at right tackle. For 90% of the game, coach Mike McCarthy refused to give his offensive line help. By the time he eventually did put a tight end on the line, it had all the effect of bailing water on the Titanic.

"Heh heh, oops. My bad. Again."

• In McCarthy’s defense, when much of the problem is your receivers’ inability to get open, I can understand not wanting to take a receiving option out of the field of play.

"Please, Mr. Freeney, sir, don't hurt me. I promise
I won't try to stop you; just don't hurt me!"

• With the game quickly out of reach and Rodgers was getting assaulted nearly every snap, I kept on praying that McCarthy would pull Rodgers and put in backup Scott Tolzien. It then occurred to me that it must kind of suck to be a backup quarterback: “Hey, our starting quarterback is getting creamed by defenders every single play. He’s too valuable; you go take the hits instead.”

"Uhhh, this doesn't seem very fair, guys."

• James Starks shouldn’t be allowed to touch the ball again, not after he fumbled yet again on Sunday. Davante Adams, too, should be black-balled. I just have no faith left in him. The only thing he’s consistent at is dropping touchdowns.

• Captains Josh Sitton and Casey Hayward look like they somehow looked into the future and saw exactly how the game was going to go.

They don't seem to have shared their knowledge with Joe Thomas, though.

• There’s not much to say about the defense. They seemed to have played fairly well against the top offense in the league. You can’t really judge their play when they’re put in a 28-0 hole by turnovers. Right guard Josh Sitton put it best when he said, “I’d be pissed off at us if I was our defense.”

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!"

• I’m worried about cornerback Sam Shields. He was inactive again this week, meaning he still hasn’t recovered from his concussion two weeks ago. It was a nasty concussion -- he slammed his head against the concrete ground on the sidelines -- and it’s always scary when they linger. I hope he’s okay.

• The best part of the game, by far, was the impressive and impressively loyal Packers fans at the game. Arizona was practicing a silent count at home prior to kickoff because of the amount of Green Bay fans. Even very, very late in the game, you could hear (drunken, I assume) “Go Pack Go” chants. Way to represent, fans.

• 95% of Joe Buck says, “Hey, I’m super cool. You can tell because I dress just like the super cool kids do.” But then his clear plastic old lady glasses say, “Excuse me, dear, could you read this for me? They make the writing so small on everything nowadays...”

• The Atlanta Falcons won their first division game of the year on Sunday … against the previously undefeated Carolina Panthers. I’m pleased that Carolina lost. One, because I think it’s always more fun and interesting when the top teams lose. Two, because I hold them responsible for this idiotic dabbing trend that won’t go away.

• In a 7-7 game against the Carolina Panthers, the Atlanta Falcons got the ball back with 1:38 left before halftime, 99 yards to go, three timeouts. They started with a quick first down to Julio Jones ... and didn’t take a timeout. Then they picked up six yards over the middle ... and didn’t take a timeout. Then they had a three-yard run … and didn’t take a timeout … and let the clock run out. Are we sure Mike Smith isn’t still coaching from the shadows? I mean, isn’t that exactly the situation for which a two-minute drill is designed?

• I guess those kind of decisions don’t matter much when you have JULIO JONES!!

• Look at the effort!

• I’m not really sure how, but the Kansas City Chiefs clinched a playoff berth on Sunday, even though the Denver Broncos -- who had not yet clinched a berth (they played on Monday) -- led the division.

The "x" denotes that the team has made the playoffs. I only
took this screenshot to prove that I'm not crazy.

• As I’ve mentioned, I’m a big Ryan Fitzpatrick fan, so even though I don’t like the New York Jets, I was really, really pleased to see them defeat the New England Patriots in overtime. (So was Fitzpatrick.) After winning the coin toss to begin overtime, New England chose to kick off rather than receive the ball, and watched the Jets march down field for the game-winning touchdown.

• Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jason Peters took himself out of Saturday’s game against the Washington Redskins as soon as it was clear the Eagles were not going to win. While everyone can understand not wanting to get hurt for nothing, this is not a good look. It just seems like a guaranteed way make your teammates hate you.  

• My sorta-kinda-maybe belief in Kirk Cousins was validated when he threw for 365 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions against the Eagles to secure a spot in the playoffs for the Redskins. My sorta-kinda-maybe faith in him was shaken, however, when, with six seconds left before halftime, up six, on the six-yard line, he knelt down and ran out the clock when Washington could have kicked a gimme field goal. He seems to have thought the clock was still running (it wasn’t) and that he needed to spike the ball (he didn’t), but instead knelt and then tried to spike it after he kneeled. Not his finest moment.

No, no, Kirk! Put your thumb down!

• In Sunday night’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants, Minnesota had two more first downs that Giants, five more total yards than the Giants, and one yard fewer per play than the Giants, yet the won 49-17. Three Eli Manning interceptions will do that to you.

• The Oakland Raiders pulled out an overtime win against the San Diego Chargers on Thursday night, but it was ugly -- barely competent -- all around. This quote from the recap pretty much sums it up: “The Raiders won despite 16 penalties, including five on their overtime drive, and despite getting their only first down of the second half on a 3-yard touchdown drive.” Ew.

• I didn't watch the Detroit Lions-San Francisco game, so I have absolutely no idea what is going on here, but how did this play even happen? It hasn't even started...

• Miko Grimes, the, uh, outspoken wife of Miami Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes was, once again, talking a lot of trash on Twitter about her husband’s teammates. Best known for her foul-mouthed Twitter rants and getting arrested before a game for headbutting a police officer, she is not one to shy away from expressing herself. Apparently, she is not a fan of quarterback Ryan Tannehill: “How many people does ryan tannehill have to get fired before you realize he’s the problem,” read one tweet. Another: “yall do realize that no legitimate coach will come here if he’s our qb, right? we’re screwed as long as he’s under center!” I’m sure her husband had a lot of fun walking into the locker room the next day. Thanks, babe!

• The Arizona Cardinals have a little weekly competition among the quarterbacks each week, and the loser has to wear something ridiculous, and, apparently, Carson Palmer was this week’s loser.

• The San Diego Chargers and safety Eric Weddle are going to part ways after nine years on a very sour note. Weddle and the Chargers have been unable to come to a contract agreement this season, setting up Weddle’s likely, but not guaranteed, exit. Two weeks ago, however, in San Diego’s final game in their stadium, Weddle skipped halftime (without informing his coaches) to watch his daughter dance in a special halftime performance. Weddle was fined $10,000 for this, but did not say anything because he didn’t want to air dirty laundry in public. This week, the Chargers put Weddle on the injured reserve list against Weddle’s wishes. Not only does that essentially end Weddle’s career with the Chargers, but they then told him there was no room for him on the team plane for next week’s game against the Denver Broncos -- Weddle’s last game with the team he has played with for nine years. It was after that move that Weddle’s agent tweeted about the halftime fine. It’s very sad for Weddle, and kind of ridiculous that the Chargers are ending his time with the team like this.

• St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long was caught on camera saying what looked to be some naughty words to the Seattle Seahawks crowd.

• But Long was able to explain what was really going on after the game.

• Awww here’s a sweet video about James Jones’ journey back to the Packers.  He and Jordy Nelson and their families are such good friends, that Jones’ wife felt bad that Jones was benefiting from Jordy’s injury, and Jordy told her, “If there had to be someone brought in because I’m hurt, who better to bring in than James?”

• The only, only silver lining to Coach Jordy’s absence is getting to see how good he looks in street clothes.

And he looks very, very good.

America's Team 28, Dallas Cowboys 7

• My brother always says his two favorite teams each week are the Green Bay Packers and whoever is playing the Dallas Cowboys, so Sunday was a good day for him. It was a good day for America, really.

• Head coach Mike McCarthy was back on play-calling and the results were … fairly good. If you cut out the third quarter -- in which the Packers punted four times and allowed the Cowboys’ only score -- Green Bay had a great game! That third quarter, however, was a replay loop of the Packers’ persistent problems this season: third-down failures, inability of the receivers to get open, Aaron Rodgers looking hesitant, &c.

• McCarthy didn’t do anything radically different with the calls, but I liked that he did just enough to mix things up a bit. Randall Cobb spent some time in the backfield, I saw receivers in motion on occasion, and at least a couple of instances of stacked receivers sets -- nothing wildly exotic or surprising, but enough that it didn’t feel like Green Bay was trotting out the exact same plays every single series.

James' lucky hoodie probably helped, too.

• Green Eyes had eight catches for 81 yards, but more than that, found ways to get open for important plays, particularly third downs. He also got more than one shout-out on the broadcast for his blocking, which is not something you hear slot receivers praised for a lot.

No, sir -- thumbs up to you.

• Little-used but fan favorite wide receiver Jeff Janis was a beast on special teams coverage, blasting Cowboys’ returner Lucky Whitehead on all three of his punt returns, giving Whitehead a total of -6 yards in those situations.

• But the game really belonged to Eddie Lacy and the Packers’ running game. Lacy had a season-high 24 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown. James Starks provided a nice complement to Lacy with 71 yards and a touchdown of his own. (I like Starks well enough as a change-of-pace back; it’s just when he’s the featured back that I tear out my hair.) It was nice to see Lacy back in Hulk form.

• It was also nice to see how much support Eddie had from his teammates and the fans. His teammates were clearly happy for him. He and Starks, in particular, are adorable in how much they support each other and obviously love each other. Awwwwwww!

• The defense continued to play well, aside from allowing Cowboys running backs Darren McFadden and Robert Turbin to get loose on a couple of significant plays. Jason Witten led all Cowboys receivers with 40 yards, and Dez Bryant had only one catch for nine yards. Sam Shields (before he was lost to a concussion -- get better, Sammy!), Micah Hyde, and Demarious Randall played especially well, though all of this should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes against a Matt Cassel-led team. Sunday was a little rough for Matt (but then again, most Sundays are for him).

• I was going to suggest that maybe Dallas needs to move away from Cassel, but then I Googled Kellen Moore. I kid you not, this is an actual picture of the Cowboys’ backup quarterback.

• The Cowboys turnover differential is by far the worst in the league at -15!! NEGATIVE FIFTEEN.

• The Oakland Raiders had -12 yards in the first half. They had 126 yards total. 80 of those yards came on a single drive; otherwise, they had 46 yards of offense. They didn’t even reach 100 yards in passing. They had eight first downs the entire game. Their quarterback only completed 41% of his throws. AND THEY WON!

• The only stat in which the Raiders came out ahead of the Denver Broncos was sacks. Oakland sacked Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler five times. Well, actually, Khalil Mack sacked him five times. He’s pretty good.

• Even with my beloved Matt Hasselbeck, the Indianapolis Colts are really, really terrible. What on earth happened to the team that went to the conference finals last year? On Sunday, the Colts lost 51-16 to the Jaguars -- the Jacksonville Jaguars!

• You know who else is really awful? The Atlanta Falcons. Yes, they were playing the undefeated Carolina Panthers, but in a season-deciding, make-or-break game, the Falcons managed a grand total of zero points. Yeesh, guys. At least pretend to try.

• Boy, I feel for the Cincinnati Bengals. They came into Sunday’s match against the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers at 10-2 and looking like they finally had the team to break their one-and-done recent history in the playoffs. And then quarterback Andy Dalton threw an interception. That's not the bad part. The bad part came when Andy tackled the interceptor and broke his thumb in the process, likely ending his season. The Bengals also lost tight end extraordinaire Tyler Eifert (concussion) and the game.

Tyler should have asked not to get injured instead. =(

• This whole “dabbing” thing cannot die soon enough for me.

• Holy wow, Odell Beckham Jr. You'd think we'd all eventually get bored with his weekly circus catch, but not yet. On Monday night, Beckham was so sick with a stomach bug that he needed three IVs to get through the New York Giants' game against the Miami Dolphins, but that didn't stop him from racking up 166 yards and two touchdowns. Near the end of the third quarter, on the Miami 6-yard line with the Dolphins up a touchdown, Eli Manning rolled out under pressure and threw to OBJ in the front right corner of the endzone. The refs called it incomplete, because there was obviously no way Beckham could have gotten his feet in bounds in that space. Beckham protested to the refs that he had gotten his feet in bounds, and they were all, "Yeah, right, buddy."

• But the Giants challenged because he's Odell Beckham Jr, and sure enough -- INSANITY!

• If the Packers make the playoffs, I hope we don’t have to play the Seattle Seahawks. They are on fire, particularly Russell Wilson. In the last four games, the Seahawks QB is completing 75% of his passes, and has thrown 16 touchdowns to zero interceptions.

• What are the chances that Rob Gronkowski’s helmet is actually one of those beer hats and his chin straps are the straws? 10%? 25%? 75%?

• The Detroit Lions lost. The Chicago Bears lost. The Minnesota Vikings lost. It was a good week in football.

• No ugly sweater can diminish Jordy and Randall’s stunning good looks.

Davante Adams is just kinda taking up space that
could have gone to a closer up of Jordy and Randall.