Some random takeaways from Week 7:1) On one of the postgame shows on Sunday, this question was asked:“Which AFC team scares you right now?”The first thought that popped into this writer’s head was Kansas City. No, they aren’t as invincible as in past years, but they still have Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. In January, they will always be a dangerous club. So yes, they do scare me right now.And here’s another team that scares me: Denver.The Broncos staged a not-to-be-believed if-you-didn’t-see-it comeback against the visiting Giants. Trailing 19-0, they came all the way back in the fourth quarter and won it on a walkoff field goal. Yes, they were playing the Giants and Jaxson Dart looks like he could be the saviour of the G-Men. But Bo Nix is right behind Drake Maye as the best second-year quarterback in the NFL.2) It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. The Patriots are going through the softest schedule in the NFL right now. The Patriots are playing good to outstanding football at this point in the season. What happens when the weather gets colder, the games get more meaningful, and the opposition all of a sudden looks like the second coming of what your Patriots used to look like?Let’s repeat ourselves: live in the present, enjoy where the Patriots are and what they seem to be becoming. Quit looking ahead to the postseason. The Patriots haven’t done nothin’ yet (Belichick, 2003), so let’s reserve our applause and our annointments until they truly deserve them.Weeeeelll, applause is fine. Cheer loud and long. If this were dinner, cheer for what’s on your plate, not for what you wish you had (prime rib will do fine for now, the filet mignon can wait).
(PHOTO: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)
3) NBC’s Mike Florio seemed to put Mike McDaniel on notice regarding his job as head coach of the Dolphins. He predicts that he will last at least the rest of the year. But then he mentioned something about owner Stephen Davis’ track record on pulling a quick trigger on firing coaches, and now this writer is inclined to think that he may want to watch his back starting right now.4) Geek(s) of the week: All those people who thought it was a good idea to fire Mike Vrabel.5) Which brings us to Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk. She has also been known as an owner with a quick trigger. The perception of the Titans franchise now is”where is the stability?” Like many other women owners in the league, she more or less inherited this job as owner. Virginia Halas McCaskey is being honored with patches on the Bears uniforms this year after a long ownership following the death of her father, Bears (and NFL) founder George Halas. Sheila Ford Hamp now owns the Lions; she is a descendant of William Clay Ford, the longtime previous owner and part of the Ford Motor Company family. Carlie Irsay-Gordon just now took over the Colts upon the recent passing of her father Jim Irsay. Denise DeBartolo-York took over the 49ers from her brother Edward DeBartolo, then passed the team onto her husband John York, and then to their son Jed York.Strunk’s father was K.S. “Bud” Adams, the founder and owner of the Houston Oilers. Adams was one of the most visible and powerful owners in the AFL, and he was one of the key owners in the development and growth of the AFL. He eventually moved the team to Tennessee. Adams was described by CBS News former anchor and fellow Houstonian Dan Rather as a “roll your sleeves up, let’s have a beer and a whisky chaser and let’s do a deal!” sort of guy. While the franchise still has no Super Bowl wins to its name, the franchise for many years was strong and prosperous.Now we invite you to check the record in the years where Strunk has been an owner. Alongside that, one of the biggest gripes about Strunk is her invisibility. She seldom if ever makes media appearances, she is seldom there when hirings and firings are made, and her record of holding on to head coaches is not too good. Thus the letter that was put on Vrabel’s desk this weekend.
(PHOTO: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
6) You have to admit. The more you see Vrabel, the more you have to ask yourself, “How in the heck did Tennessee let him go?”Cam Ward and Bryce Young, two young quarterbacks the Patriots have defeated this year, are both terrific young QBs with not much of a team around them. Young has been vilified for being a draft bust in Carolina, but after some thought, hold off on final judgment of this guy until you see him with a good team surrounding him. Ditto for Ward.7) Mike Tomlin might be somewhat correct in spouting off over the trade of Joe Flacco from the Browns to the Bengals. He needs to shut up and watch out for the league fining him for inflammatory remarks.That said, to somewhat support his hissy claims, he does have some merit in his complaints.It really is rare for a team to trade a quarterback within their division. The Patriots traded Drew Bledsoe to Buffalo in 2003, but that was before the season and not during. According to ESPN, the last time a quarterback was traded within the division during the season was 1974, when Dallas sent backup QB Craig Morton to the Giants.8) Also, why would Cleveland want to help Cincinnati? These teams really hate each other. Paul Brown founded both teams. The Browns (read: Art Modell) fired Brown in the mid-1960s, then Brown got back in through the AFL and took the exact same colors. Sam Wyche made his famous speech in 1989 about throwing snowballs in Cincinnati and “You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!” became instantly classic.9) Back to school: I sincerely hope that Clemson, short of a scandal breaking out, never fires Dabo Swinney. He’s too good a coach, too good a spokesman for his program, and too good a spokesman for college football in general for the Clemson admins to not tolerate an occasional downer season. I never root for Clemson in general, but I’m a big Dabo fan.10) T.J. Hockenson is the most torqued off NFL player right now. Unfortunately for him, replay stops or ends a lot of arguments. If replay were around in the days of Earl Weaver and Billy Martin in MLB, you fans would barely know those volatile guys. I’m glad we have it. It’s not perfect. Hockenson may have been squeezed, but at least the mechanism was in place to examine the call.
(PHOTO: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)
11) Honk if you think Drake Maye throws a better deep ball than Tom Brady did.12) Ugh. Here’s a great chance for the Chargers to get a stronger foothold in their still-new city, and they cut a stinker at home against the resurgent Colts. Like the Rams, most of the fans at SoFi Stadium root for the visitors. And yes, the fan base for the Chargers is still in San Diego. Maybe Jim Harbaugh will admit his mistake and amble on back to Ann Arbor to finish his great coaching career.13) ESPN’s Chris Berman said this: “The Chargers should get rid of those orange uniforms and never wear them again!” I agree with Boomer. Their base uniforms were recently chosen as the best in the league.14) We are still experimenting with NFL football in Europe. What is badly needed over there is a barnburner of a game between two great teams. In other words, the equivalent of 1) the 1958 NFL title game, 2) another Super Bowl LI comeback, or 3) another Malcolm Butler pick to seal a win. Then see how the Euros react to that.Of course, we’re still waiting for Man U to come over here and play a mega-match in either MetLife Stadium or the Rose Bowl.15) Is Brady concerned that Maye broke his Patriot record for highest completion percentage in a game? Not on your six Vinces and all those other bleeping records he holds.16) Remember him: Who says UMass players don’t make it to the NFL? From 1966 to 1975, the Cleveland Browns had a tight end named Milt Morin. This guy is more Bay State than Tip O’Neill. Born in Leominster, died (2010) in Northampton. Attended UMass (in the Yankee Conference days). First round selection of the Browns in the 1966 draft. Two-time Pro Bowler (1968, 1971). Played entire career in Cleveland. His UMass and NFL careers slightly overlapped former UMass QB Greg Landry. Morin and Landry may have been the most prominent New England collegians to make it to the NFL until Doug Flutie.17) This has happened in other cities from time to time (and here as well). How did Lumen Field in Seattle look so full and so into football on Monday night while way over yonder in Canada, their Mariner baseball team was battling for one last chance to win their first ever American League pennant. There was a paltry crowd at T-Mobile Park next door at a watch party.Anyway, ESPN reported that the crowd at Lumen Field groaned when they learned that George (it is still okay to despise this former Astro) Springer belted a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 7th inning to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-3 win and a berth in the 2025 World Series. Seattle has still never won a pennant in their 48-year history, and remains the only MLB team without a World Series berth on their record.Looks like Seattle is a football town. The Hawks are 1-1 in Super Bowls, and you can’t beat the 12th man for just overall loud noise and boosting their home team.18) Meanwhile, back in Seattle, it’s actually 49 years if you count the one-year-only Seattle Pilots (1969), who just the other day got eliminated from the NLCS by the Dodgers. The Pilots are now known as the Milwaukee Brewers.But the Seahawks are very much alive, and the Mariners will be forgotten in a day or two.We invite you to catch Bob George’s Boston Sports Podcast, broadcast on YouTube. Go to YouTube handle thepic413 to view the podcasts. Please click on the Subscribe button so you don’t miss any of the podcasts. Also, please follow Bob on X at @bobgeorge413.
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