The Frankish Reich

Well that's just silly. They made it through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl twice. Wilson performed very well overall in both, one a laugher win and one where they were 4th and goal at the 1 with time expiring. I guess Terry Bradshaw should give back his rings because his defenses were dominant.

Umm, they won 43-8. Russ went 18-25, 206 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 123.8 passer rating. Yes, the defense largely won it. But you might as well criticize Josh Allen for throwing for under 100 yards in our stomping of the Cowboys a couple weeks ago ... It was a stupid play. But it came close to winning a Super Bowl. A Pats guy made a play. Bottom line: Russ's Seahawks won 1 Super Bowl easily, and came within one play of winning another. Nothing to sneeze at.

Not that it justifies it, but Pizzagate Jack pretty much swatted Comet Pizza first by claiming that slave children were held in its basement ....

Good to see Glenn Greenwald, basking in the freedom, law, and order that is Brazil, now doing the classic right-wing "the mainstream media will defend her." I watched CNN this morning. I saw no defense of her comments, just her tepid attempted damage control "correction" that of course the Civil War was about slavery, and it was also about what system of governance we will have. This is the Democratic version of "what is a woman?" "What caused the Civil War?" apparently scares them to death. Both of these say a lot about their respective parties and how they've been taken over by what used to be their radical fringes.

Got it. And I agree. Payton never got over Russell Wilson giving up 70 points earlier this season. That's what I don't get about Payton, or why the Walmart guy hired him. What is the plan? I'm guessing it's like McD/Beane when they came in. They stuck with Tyrod and tried to field a competitive team that first year. But then they signaled "tank the rest of the season" by going to Peterman for that one unfortunate half. Then they were backdoored into the playoffs. Then they did get their QB in Allen the next year, and started off with another "we'll be kind of competitive before handing it over to Allen" concept by bringing in AJ McCarron. Then they changed their minds and cut him and started the season with ... Nathan Peterman at QB. Then they were forced to bite the bullet and go straight to Josh. It started working the next season. Of course the Bills had their cap issues and they started dumping bad contracts like Dareus. But the Broncos situation looks, at least now, much worse. And they don't have the draft capital to get their Allen, even though this looks like a pretty good QB draft class. So ... I have no idea where they're going. Payton is no kid and I assume he doesn't have a Four Year Plan, but it's hard to see the Broncos fielding a good team before 2025 at the earliest, probably 2026 more realistically, when Payton is 62 years old. Oh, and Happy 60th Birthday (tomorrow), Sean Payton. The more I see of you, the less I like.

Belichick saw no reason to hang onto Stidham. Neither did Josh McDaniels, preferring to bring back Jimmy G. even though Stidham performed decently in last year's 2-game "audition." I don't think he's horrible, but I do think he's a Kyle Allen at best.

Not with the Chargers and Raiders as the only 2 teams left on the schedule. I thought the consensus was that not giving the ball to Marshawn blew it.

Yep. That (and of course the contract extension) was the real harm of the trade for Russ.

I love living in Colorado, but that means I have to put up with a lot more Broncos football than I'd ever choose. Wilson has looked like ... Wilson. Not particularly efficient when on schedule (as they say), but still capable of buying time and making some big plays. The same things we've always seen: not great in the pocket, averse to throwing in the middle of the field, etc., etc. But behind a pretty bad O line and with questionable talent at WR (Jeudy: just not that good; Sutton: great end zone talent, never catches anything up the middle; no TE of value) he played pretty well.

The thing is that Payton is more responsible for the Broncos falling out of the playoff race than Wilson or anyone else. Horrible clock management in last week's loss to the Pats after Wilson actually had two 4th quarter TDs (with successful 2-point conversions on both) to tie the game. The Pats were ready to run out the clock and go to OT (2 rushes with less than a minute left) and Payton used Broncos timeouts in a stupid effort to try to get the ball back. Result: one nice Zappe pass, one 56 yard FG, one more Broncos loss. And it wasn't just that game - Payton made a lot of questionable decisions in a lot of games. Wilson was awful last season with Hackett, but he was about what any reasonable person could have expected at age 34/45 when the Broncs traded for him and gave him that huge contract before last season. Payton has been itching to move on from him, so we have an unusually big contract for Stidham as backup (maybe he'll surprise like in garbage time last year?) but no realistic way to bring in a potential game-changer at QB next season. You could waive Russ and try to bring in Geno Smith (second go around following Russ?) or someone like that, but that's really unlikely to accomplish anything. Payton is a man with a huge ego, a huge contract, and no reasonable plan.

You mean other than Nathan Peterman getting the start over Tyrod Taylor?

Yes, if he'd come out of the game with a stinger.

When they're behind by 21 with 7 minutes left?

Amazing Sam Darnold Fairytale Ending Ends.

Damn real grass injuries piling up!

IF they score ... I really want to see something better than today's onside kick rules to give a team a fighting chance to get the ball back. Just for fan service.

I've always liked Sam. I do think he'll have a second act somewhere. Hey, maybe starting right here!

I am actually hoping they cut away from the game action to a full 10 minute Corgi replay.

Right now, I'd agree with you. Not because the Rams are what they were a couple years ago, but just because the rest of the NFC "leaders" look like paper tigers. In SF: Sam Darnold time?

But are all of those teams in the AFC? Who is stopping them in the NFC? The Lions with their D? The Cowboys D that James Cook shredded for 240 yards? The fading Eagles?

I can't really believe it, but Flacco is playing better now than at any point since his weird/outlier 2012 Super Bowl playoff run. They would be toast if Watson hadn't been injured again.

He's just having an awful night all around. That's always been the reason for hope for the rest of the flawed NFC competitors - Purdy against a good D, particularly when playing from behind, is still very much unproven.

Because it's so much more fun to go for the big hit. The one that Deebo bounces off of.

Weirdly boring for a game between teams with the best records and various explosive players. I don't know if I'll stick around much longer.

Agreed. I've not given up on him as a player. There's always next year. But I have given up on him as anything other than a rotational JAG this season.