September 9, 2024
That was a tough loss for the Rams yesterday against the Lions to open the season. Not so much because of the loss, but more so because of the injuries to Puca Nakua, and the offensive line. It already feels like 2022 again. They had a great chance to win however, but they lost to a team that is very much a strong contender to come out of the NFC and make it to the Super Bowl. One thing is for sure though: Cooper Kupp has now re-claimed the #1 wide receiver role with the Rams. There’s a lot of fire power around him, but he’s the guy. Also, can we stop pretending like Aaron Donald is going to come back? He’s not. Dude was sleeping on his couch yesterday, and his wife confirmed as much over Instagram. Their defense is still pretty good anyway, but they’ll be put to the test next week at Arizona.
Meanwhile, the Chargers took care of the Raiders at SOFI Stadium. They played the Raiders, so no matter who was coaching them, they should have won, but the start of the Harbaugh era is what matters here. That means a big culture change, which means having the confidence to finish games much better, and having the confidence that they can do it. That’s exactly what happened yesterday after a slow start that saw them trailing at the half, before finally taking control in the 4th quarter. It’s nice to see J.K. Dobbins have a big game, because he’s obviously been through a lot with all his knee surgeries. The schedule is very much in the Bolts favor to begin the season, so let’s see if they can take advantage of it.
So far, USC doesn’t seem to be having any trouble with their Big 10 Schedule. But that’s probably also because they haven’t played any Big 10 Teams. They dominated Utah State 48-0 over the weekend, to improve to 2-0. Miler Moss only had to play 2.5 quarters and Quinten Joyner piled up the yardage and TDs on the ground, but the story was the defense. They pitched a shutout, which for them, would be unheard of last season. It’s amazing how much better you can be just by tackling people, let alone having a completely new scheme. A top 10 ranking is very much in play after that.
Wow what a difference a week makes for Notre Dame. They went from looking like one of the best teams in the country to one of the worst with one of the worst QBs. Usually the truth is somewhere in between, but the Irish have been playing down to some of their competition for years. Brian Kelly couldn’t win the big games, but now Marcus Freeman can’t win the small ones. He’s now lost to Northern Illinois, Marshall, and Stanford at home in 3 straight years. That’s nearly a fire-able offense for a program like Notre Dame. Aside from Freeman though, Riley Leonard looks like he can’t even throw the ball, as the team has one of the worst passing offenses in the entire country. Freeman is going to need another haircut to distract everyone from this poor performance!
In baseball, the Dodgers are still sitting with the best record in the league, but are dealing with more injuries in their starting rotation. The latest is Gavin Stone, who has been great, but suddenly seems doubtful to return this season with a shoulder injury. We need to stop talking about who should be starting on the mount during the playoffs, but rather, who is going to be healthy. We don’t know yet if Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw will be healthy to pitch, and pitch effectively. That’s why its imperative they actually manufacture runs, something they have struggled to do in previous Octobers recently. Also, people need to stop with the idea that Francisco Lindor is in the MVP conversation with Shohei Ohtani. It’s idiotic. Who cares if Ohtani doesn’t play defense. He’s recovering from Tommy John Surgery, and is about to become the first player in history to have a 50/50 season. He’s also statistically better than Lindor in almost every traditional metric. If you think Lindor is your MVP, you’re just an east coast homer, and you need to put down the crack pipe.
As for the Angels, they took a lot of criticism for not honoring Shohei Ohtani when the Dodgers came to town last week. I actually don’t think this is that big of a deal, and the fans giving him a standing ovation when he came to the plate is just fine. Video tributes are bit overdone these days for players that accomplish almost nothing with teams, and then come back with the opposing team. Ohtani accomplished a lot more than that with the Halos, but honoring him isn’t some requirement. I’m also amazed that the Angels have managed to only see a slight drop in attendance with Ohtani leaving, and Trout getting hurt again. However, it just goes to show you that when you have good weather and affordable tickets, you can survive. Unfortunately, knowing this won’t give Arte Moreno any more motivation to increase the payroll.
Finally, ESPN came out with some NBA standings predictions last week. In that projection, the Lakers aren’t even shown as a play-in tournament team! Even ESPN has lost it’s mind, but then again, we probably knew that a long time ago. As long as Lebron James and Anthony Davis are healthy, and the Lakers getting reasonable coaching, the Lakers are in the mix in the Western Conference. There’s also a lot of teams who have gotten much worse than the Lakers like the Clippers, Nuggets, Warriors, and Suns. It’s not even out of the question the Lakers are a top 3 team in the West. It’s called “continuity”. Heck, Jovan Buha has even lost his mind saying the Lakers have to make a trade by mid-season or it’s a failture. Again, I’ll ask the question: who do you want the Lakers to trade for? There are no franchise changing players available. So let’s stop throwing this idea out there when in reality, it makes no sense. This team is going to be better than most people think.
