One more week and two more losses.   What an NFL season this is turning into.

The big difference this week was that only the Giants lost on Sunday.   The Jets got it over with early and lost on Thursday night.

Both games were closer than last week’s blowouts, which I suppose is something to be thankful for.   (But not much).

Aside from that, the theme was more or less the same as the first couple of weeks.   The Jets were defeated by the Denver Broncos 37-28.  They actually scored first in this contest, and led again (briefly) in the second half, but of course they fell apart at the end.   It was the closest contest they have had all year, but that was not entirely encouraging.   The Broncos are another dreadful team, though plainly not as dreadful as Gang Green.  Denver was also 0-3 entering the game.   Now they are 1-3 and the Jets are 0-4.   Worse, the Broncos were the weakest opponent the Jets are going to face for quite a while.  Looking at what lies ahead for them in the weeks to come, I think there is a very real possibility Gang Green may be 0-7 or 0-8 or 0-9.  They even have a chance to go 0-16, which would at least get them first pick in next year’s draft.   There’s supposed to be a red hot can’t miss quarterback coming out, which some might think means hope for the future… except I remember when Sam Darnold was the red hot can’t miss quarterback coming out, so…

The Giants loss was to the LA Rams, a much better team than Denver, and they played the game in Los Angeles.  Away games are always harder, even when they have cardboard cutouts in the stands in place of fans.   A loss is a loss is a loss, but I have to say, the G-Men gave a really good effort in this one.  The final score was 17-9, but the Giants had a chance to tie the game and maybe even win it right up to the last minute of the fourth quarter, when Daniel Jones threw a drive-killing INT near the Rams goal line.   That was his only turnover of the game, however; despite being sacked numerous times and pressured constantly, he did not lose a fumble, which came as a huge relief.   Meanwhile, the defense did a really good job of holding the potent Rams offense, which has been scoring 30 a game, in check.   The biggest problem continues to be the O line.   The Giants have been trying to bolster that for years, with trades, free agent signings, and high draft picks, but it remains a mess.   Maybe one day..

The Giants are not going to be going to the playoffs.  All chance of that ended when Saquon Barkley went down.   But I think they might manage to win a few games before the season ends.

I am not so sure about the Jets.

Current Mood: depressed

Life is meaningless and full of pain.   At least on Sunday.

The Jets and the Giants did it to me again.   Two more losses.   Horrible losses.

The Giants lost their first two games, but at least they were competitive.   They hung tough in those contests, even had a shot at winning or at least taking the lead late in the game.   Not today.   Today the G-Men looked as bad as the Jets.   The 49ers crushed them.   A debacle, start to finish… and what was worse, they lost to a backup quarterback and San Francisco’s junior varsity defense.   Depressing.

Come the afternoon game, the Jets were miserable again.   The season’s first two losses were hideous, but this was the worst one yet.    Adam Gase needs to be fired.   Jets ownership thinks he is an offensive genius, yeah… but you know how you can tell if a coach is an offensive genius?   Their offenses score some points.   The Jets are getting worse, not better.   And Sam Darnold, our heralded quarterback of the future, is regressing.   He threw three INTs this afternoon, and gave up a safety.   He was supposed to be the best prospect in his draft class, but right now he is looking like the worst.   Gase is supposedly a “quarterback whisperer.”  I have no idea what he is whispering to Darnold, but it isn’t working.   Looking at the schedule in the weeks to come, Gang Green could easily go 0-8 or 0-9, unless they win one soon.

Most of the year, I work seven days a week.   The exception has always been Sundays in the fall, when I take off to watch NFL football.   This year, that is starting to look like an exercise in masochism.

Current Mood: discontent

Well, today was my name day, and my birthday gift from the Giants and Jets were two more losses.

Pretty depressing.

In many ways, a replay of last week.   The Jets were terrible, just awful.  Awful offense, awful defense.   The 49ers scored a Td on the first play of the game with an 80 yard run from scrimmage.   That never would happened if Jamal Adams was still in green and white.   Every game, every play, letting Adams go looks worse and worse.   Sure, sure, you can say maybe the Jets will pick up some future Hall of Famers with those draft choices.   Maybe, perhaps, mayhaps.  But it won’t happen.   Adams, however, is a sure bet to go into Canton if he keeps playing at this level the rest of his career.  Sadly, he won’t go in as a Jet.  Oh, and letting Robby Anderson go is looking pretty bad as well.  Darnold has no one to throw to.   If they keep playing at this level, Gang Green will be competing for the #1 overall pick in the 2021 draft.

The Giants lost too, of course.   But just like last week, it was a much better loss… if any loss can be considered good.   Danny Jones committed too many turnovers, and of course the loss of Saquon to injury was devastating.  For the game, the season, and maybe for Big Blue’s future.   He was and is the best player on the team.   That being said, despite the turnover and the injury, the Giants hung tough and were in the game right up to the final play.   One more completion from Jones, on the last play of the game on the Bears goal line, and we’re talking about a come-from-behind victory instead of a second loss.   But… sigh… it did not happen.   So both the New York teams are 0-2.

Oh, and the fake crowd noise continues to be annoying.   Especially when the guy in the booth dialed up a chorus of BOOs from the “home town” crowd in Chicago on a penalty that went New York’s way.   Come on, NFL.   That is so stupid.  What’s next, a laugh track?

Anyway… life is meaningless and full of pain.   At least where football is concerned.

(Yes, that’s a lot of other misery going on outside the stadiums, but I will save that for another post).

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Current Mood: grumpy

The NFL season has begun.   The strangest NFL season of my lifetime, maybe of anyone’s lifetime.  Teams playing in empty stadiums, to the sound of piped-in crowd noise.

The empty stadiums are a necessity in the midst of our pandemic, of course.   That needs to continue to keep everyone safe.

I could live without the fake crowd sounds, however.   The whole cool thing about playing before a crowd is the reactions of the fans… the roars that greet a good play by the home team, the groans and curses that greet a bad play, or a good one by the visiting team, the boos that rain down from time to time.  Trying to replace that with some guy in a booth twisting dials just adds an element phoniness we do not need.   Let them play in the quiet.

The Jets played on Sunday… and lost to the Buffalo Bills, 27-17.

The Giants played on Monday night… and lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 26-16.

But scores can be deceptive.   The Jets game was not nearly as close as the score would indicate.   The Giants game was much closer than the score would indicate.   The Jets were never in their game, not for a second.  The Bills beat them every way a team could be beaten.   Gang Green’s offense was terrible and their defense was worse.   You kind of had to expect the D to stink, since they traded away their best player (Jamal Adams) for some magic beans.  You hoped the O would be better, since this was the third year for Sam Darnold, who was drafted third overall and thought by many to be the best QB coming out of that year’s class.   Clearly he is not.   The Bills Josh Allen outplayed him from start to finish, and down in Baltimore Lamar Jackson is setting the league on fire.   The Jets could have had either, but chose Darnold instead.  More and more, that is looking like a bad decision.   An even worse decision was hiring Adam Gase as coach.  The team was not ready to play.   You can blame the coronovirus and the lack of a pre-season, sure, except the Bills had the same handicaps, and they looked just fine.    The Jets may need to clean house AGAIN.

The Giants, on the other hand, were right in the thick of the things from opening kickoff to the moment Dan Jones threw that awful interception in the end zone.  Aside from his two INTs, however, Danny Dimes looked very good.   Way way better than Darnold, though he has been in the league only half as long.   Big Blue’s defense impressed as well.   They came hard after Big Ben all night, hit hard, hung tough.  Pittsburgh stacked the line to shut down Sasquan Barclay and New York’s run game, daring Jones to beat them… and he almost did.   That 19-play drive was a thing of beauty till the end, and the bomb to Slayton was lovely to watch as well.   This was the first outing for new head coach Joe Judge… and a definite upgrade over what we saw under Pat Shurmur.   I don’t know how many games the Giants can win this year, but I see hope.

A loss is a loss is a loss, of course… but some losses are better than others.

A few wins down the win, in these bleak and bitter times, would do wonders.

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Current Mood: gloomy