Carey

I think haters knew better than the GM.

That College HOF thing for Archie is an annual tradition here LOL! Swann probably doesn't wait that long had he played for someone other than the Steelers. Of course, there were a ton of Hall of Famers on that team, which isn't the case for New England. Or wasn't the case for the Steelers. Speaking of which, as mentioned on Sunday, I was happier that the Chiefs lost than the Steelers winning. For one, that 20-0 talk is dead. Whew! Plus that's good for Kansas City. Unlike New England and Indianapolis in 2007 and 2009, KC lost a game they were trying to win in a month that ends in an R as opposed to a Y. They've been fortunate and survived, but it finally caught up to them. Now they can address their issues while no longer having to worry about "perfection" in the regular season. On the other hand, they could be the 2011 Packers. They're just not that good, after having played until end city the previous year (2 years for the champs in this case). For Pittsburgh, the good news is that if they win out, they'll finally obtain the number one seed for the first time in the Tomlin Era, and the first time in 20 years. I do get that feeling from 2004, except that team was much better. Plus, this era of the NFL is brutal with all the Thursday Night Games and flexible scheduling. With that, no way good news is the story for the Steelers tonight. I've seen a ton of action for tonight's game; nothing for the Browns at all. Everyone's going black and gold. With a win from Cleveland, I think it might be the closest thing I've seen where a winless team knocks off an undefeated team, minimun of 10 games. Of course, if the Steelers escape, they'll clinch another non-losing season while the Browns will hit yet another losing season. Something that'll probably happen anyway regardless of tonight's outcome, but the percentage of that will not be 100% if the home team does win. BTW, I do think people are going to be wrong since a loss by the home team, IMO, will not be by more than a point or two. Maybe a FG margin. Line is 3.5 BTW, similar to the Jets/Steelers from a decade ago. Frustrating, but no surprise. Finally, with the Chiefs losing to Buffalo, it now means that Pittsburgh will get a much better version next month than they could've had Kansas City won. KC (and Pittsburgh based off of their current record) will be playing for the top seed. Steelers might be still having to hold off or catch Baltimore. Sadly, with a loss, it could be another year of PIT trying to win in Week 18 + get help just for a wild card. Which is a problem since the Bengals could also be playing for the playoffs. Despite 8-2, it's must win for the Steelers when you think about it. Unlike anybody else, they're next game off of extra rest, is against a team that has this week off. Then Cleveland again before the trifecta of horror or whatever someone calls it

And those two rings came against a team who's players from that era will be if they aren't already be in the HOF. Agree & disagree there. We know about Brady and Moss, as well as Seymour and Gronkowski. We'll see with Harrison & Edelman. Revis and Seau on the team was very short-lived, not sure about Vrabel, pretty certain about Vinatieri, but the majority of those players aren't getting in (unless people have a pleasant heart) While stopping New England in 2007 was rather impressive defensively like Seattle and Denver did in 2013 & 2015, when you persevere against Belichick in the biggest game, that means everything. Helped that the defense showed up, but that also helped Jared Goff in 2018. So that's a decent case, more than the name on the back of his jersey. Speaking of TB12, I should have mentioned that Tom is in and Drew Brees is in (unless proven otherwise). That QB "log jam" is based on everyone else, including Matt Ryan. Plus there's Nick Foles, who would have a better case than Eli if we judged things on Super Bowls more than anything else. Doesn't help that there are other people eligible in the next several years (Adam V, Suggs, Fitz (not Ryan), Withworth, AB, maybe AP). However, typically they'd like to get a QB into Canton & each QB class. I know Warner had to wait a minute, but he also didn't play that long either. No reason Edelman can't get in as mentioned, but I'm not going to be surprise if I'm proven otherwise. I did disagree a long time ago, but changed my mind FWIW. It had something to do with Josh Allen I believe.

I'd put him in. Like this year. Otherwise that might be a problem with all the other QB's that are due before the decade ends. On an unrelated note (for the most part) I think I've definitely changed my tune on Edelman's 2026 eligibility (well, starting in 2026). Screw the stats on the lack of First Team All Pros. Screw the stats on the lack of Pro Bowls. When you ball out in the biggest games, in January, and can play the game in multiple ways, I'd put him in ASAP.

Felt like the GOAT already got there a long time ago, but W.T.G. GENO!!

As awesome as Paul Skenes as a Cy Young winner would've been, I'm happy that the more deserving Chris Sale got it. The former did finish 3rd & that's great for the ROY. I tuned into local radio for a second (trying to get my music fix in during a rather rare radio listening segment before Friday when Christmas music starts 24/7 until the last Thursday of the year). The guy talking (sports radio here, no music outright) mentioned how he disagreed with Paul as the winner over Chris Sale. At first I wasn't happy since Sale basically earned a triple crown for pitchers. Then before I checked the results, I concluded that the guy talking was disagreeing with everyone that was upset that Paul didn't win it. Which isn't his fault. His debut was late in the year, and while was the best when he was up, I still think that Chris would've won the award. If all goes well, things might be positive for Skenes and company, but whew! The outcome was a total non-decision for the NL

Top 12 (From the 3rd TOP 25 Rankings) Oregon Ohio State Texas Penn State Indiana Notre Dame Alabama Miami Ole Miss Georgia Tennessee Boise State The Third Non-Permanent Playoff Slotting (According to ESPN & Off of the Rankings) Byes: 1. Oregon [B1G, Plays 8 vs 9 winner] 2. Texas [SEC, Plays 7 vs 10 winner] 3. Miami [ACC, Plays 6 vs 11 winner] 4. Boise State [GO5, Plays 5 vs 12 winner] 12/21/24 5. Ohio State vs BYU [05 vs AQ] 6. Penn State vs Georgia [06 vs AL] 7. Indiana vs Ole Miss [07 vs 10] 8. Notre Dame vs Alabama [08 vs 09] AQ: Represents BYU, currently Number 14. If things had ended over the weekend & they won their conference championship game, they'd get in over Tennessee. AL: Represents Georgia currently Number 10. If things had ended over the weekend, they'd get bumped down a spot. That is because 2 conference champions, including Boise State from the Mountain West, are ranked below them. The Mountain West is a Group of Five conference (GO5 or G5), and per the rules, the highest ranked GO5 team gets into the CFB Playoff. Given that one of the so-called Power 4 leaders are below them, based off of the rules that the 4 highest ranked conference winners get a first-round bye, they meet that criteria. The byes into the second round is not limited to the Power conferences (fortunately). Based off of most recent rankings, after wondering if the 11th ranked team can miss out due to the placements of the teams, it appears that my weekends thoughts were confirmed. In fact, both teams ranked 11 & 12 can miss out, and they would if Boise State were ranked lower. For example, if Boise State & SMU were flipped, so be it, as it changes absolutely nothing. Unless SMU beat Miami in a conference title game. That would mean Georgia is out, except not (Miami totally drops below Ole Miss & Georgia). Until proven otherwise, while the rankings are a fun exercise IMO, it's totally moot. Although it may be a stretch, the Big XII winner jumps Boise. I do think that the winner of BYU and Colorado (assuming that's the matchup) would have to win out. Plus they might not have to in the event Tulane beats Boise State

New York Fires General Joe Douglas

I think it's totally unnecessary. The current era of Survivor doesn't include anything that warrants a 4-hour finale. Unless the current season is actually on the level of Borneo or All-Stars. If it is, let me know, and tell me how time-permitting. Maybe they could do something that emulates Panama I can respect the decision. Otherwise it's still not necessary. Gotta have the fallen comrades walk or else you're doubling things up with crap ass content to where the December 11th episode should remain as the penultimate episode

I thought of honoring that day on Friday. While not the anniversary date, I was out & about on that Friday in 2004 on a day we call "Light Up Night" in my area. So if all goes well, I'll hit up the place I was at that evening

For what it's worth, Dallas nearly turned the ball over before the drive ended. Near fumble lost, and then a near pick six. As mentioned, the Cowboy should have taken the points. You're not a Detroit or Philadelphia where you can score at will, and Houston's defense isn't as horrible as Cincinnati's defense or the Jets & Panthers. If you were accept the penalty, maybe go for it over a 64 yard field goal. Which you shouldn't do if it's 4th and a lot. At which point, just punt there. It's a moot point because Dallas is done anyway. IMO, what's different between Jason & Mike is that the former was one of their own. However, "batting" .500 each of your first 3 seasons losing out on a chance on not just a winning season but the division title is tough. Especially when it benefited every other team in the division. Since then 2 division titles & a playoff win. However, running into prime A-Rod wasn't pleasant. First loss was sort of questionable, the second one was just unlucky. In between that was dealing with a banged up TR. While his final three years concluded with another NFC East title & playoff win and not getting it done in 2019, the way things shaped up helped a guy who collected 3 rings with the same franchise. The other guy is just another dude from Western Pennsylvania who has only one playoff win against a guy in his mid 40s before losing to Jimmy G and later on to 7th seeded Green Bay.

The thing is Houston is currently borderline. If you're Detroit (Dallas totally isn't), then taking the penalty totally makes sense regardless of the outcome. Same with Baltimore, Buffalo, Philadelphia, etc. On the other hand, if you're a team (that includes the teams I just mentioned) facing a team like Kansas City, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, or any team with solid defense, you have to take the points. Especially off of a great but no longer unprecedented 64-yard field goal. Of course, if you can score, then I'd do what Dallas did. Unless you weren't having any success within that game. The Cowboys are done. Mike McCarthy is done. Doesn't really matter thinking about that blunder. Maybe he thinks it through any other time, but a lost season with nothing to lose makes it moot. I do not think Jerry Jones is rewarding the guy with an extension had they converted there. Or even if they win the game

Makes sense. The NFL has a lot of fans. So it's fitting that the professional team from the Lone Star State makes the time to root on a real professional football team

Congratulations to Luis Gil & Paul Skenes! A great start to a story, and when all is said & done, a great one at that!

Not much to talk about in terms of the rankings. Except for one thing, but before I get to that: BYU and Tennessee dropped, with the latter doing so as expected with a loss to Georgia. As for BYU: it'll be interesting to see what the committee does on Tuesday. Colorado is still ranked outside the Top 15 (BYU is in there in both rankings). Those are the highest ranked teams in the Big 12. It'll be rather odd to see Colorado suddenly rise a ton, or BYU hardly drop. Plus, it'll be interesting seeing Warde Manuel explain Colorado being in the Top 10. Though they have looked pretty good, it isn't that necessary since it's not a big deal if TWO conference champions are outside the Top 12 By the way, you can find the Week 11 Rankings right here. The 2nd College Football Playoff Top 25 are included in those. As for the "bracket" Top 12 (From the 2nd TOP 25 Rankings) Oregon Ohio State Texas Penn State Indiana BYU Tennessee Notre Dame Miami Alabama Ole Miss Georgia The Second Non-Permanent Playoff Slotting (According to ESPN & Off of the Rankings) Byes: 1. Oregon [B1G, Plays 8 vs 9 winner] 2. Texas [SEC, Plays 7 vs 10 winner] 3. BYU [XII, Plays 6 vs 11 winner] 4. Miami [ACC, Plays 5 vs 12 winner] 12/21/24 5. Ohio State vs Boise State [05 vs G5] 6. Penn State vs Ole Miss [06 vs 11] 7. Indiana vs Alabama [07 vs 10] 8. Tennessee vs Notre Dame [08 vs 09] G5: Represents Boise State, currently Number 13. If things had ended last week & they won their conference championship game, they'd get in over Georgia.