September 12, 2022
What a brutal first game for the Rams against the Bills on Thursday night. Buffalo basically “Negan’d” them on their home field. Cam Akers had the same number of rushing yards as Queen Elizabeth, the O-line was awful, Allen Robinson looked like he was back in Chicago, and Matt Stafford looked like he was back in Detroit. The good news for Robinson is that he ran a bunch of routes, so he at least got some great cardio in. The O-line is by far the most concerning thing for the defending champions. If they can’t protect Matt Stafford, they won’t be able to run the ball, and Stafford isn’t mobile enough to create offense. How long before the Rams make calls to Andrew Whitworth and OBJ? The only good news is that it seems to be a rough week for everybody in the division. The bad news is they have a lot to fix before week 2 against the Falcons.
Meanwhile, the Chargers got their revenge on the Raiders by taking them down yesterday at SOFI. Don’t be fooled by Twitter, as it was nearly 50/50 Charger and Raider fans in the building, and maybe even slightly more Bolts fans. Justin Herbert is amazing, and Khalil Mack is making that defense elite already. However, Brandon Staley looks like a kid who is just learning the Madden Playbook with some of the moves he’s making. Somebody unplug his PlayStation because if it weren’t for some terrible Derek Carr throws, this might have been a Raider victory.
Elsewhere around the NFL, Dak Prescott needs surgery and will be out, while Cowboy fans are blacked out after last night’s loss to the Bucs. Botox Brady wasn’t all that sharp, but good enough to win a game. Michael Thomas remembered how to play football again in the Saints comeback win over Atlanta. The jury is still out on Trey Lance, but I guess he’s not good enough to overcome 12 penalties and a Monsoon. The Lions are still the Lions. Baker Mayfield is still Baker Mayfield. The Colts finishing with a tie against the Texans is like taking a kick to the balls for Indianapolis. The Steelers took down the Bengals, in a game of “whatever you can I can do worse.” Tua owns Belichik and the Patriots, Lamar Jackson took his contract anger out on the Jets, Patrick Mahomes singlehandedly dismantled the Cardinals, and Aaron Rodgers probably needed to take more psychedelics to get him through that loss against the Vikings.
To the NBA, where I think it’s time we give up hope on the Lakers moving Russell Westbrook before the season starts. Whatever offers are out there, they seem to be requiring multiple first round picks, Westbrook, the Laker girls, and a copy of the Playboy that Jeanie Buss posed in. I personally think Buddy Hield and Myles Turner are worth two 1st round picks if the Pacers are willing to accept that. Apparently Rob Pelinka doesn’t think so. If it’s cap space the Lakers are concerned with next summer, Turner is a free agent, and Hield will be easy to move with one year left on his deal. Not to mention there are no elite free agents worth pursuing. Given that there will be no Westbrook trade, it looks like at best, the Lakers will be a fringe playoff team.
Ok USC fan I get it. You beat Rice and now you just beat Stanford. You’re looking good, but let’s not get too crazy yet. Some of you are pretending like USC just chased the Russians out of Ukraine. The Trojans are basically playing Big 12 Football: Basketball on a football field. No defense whatsoever. Pretty soon they might not even be hitting people. To be fair, you can’t help but be impressed with both Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley, but there is still a lot of work to be done. They will best tested. Maybe not next week against Fresno State, but shortly after that. Vegas is apparently sold though, because the Trojans improved from 14-1 to 12-1 odds to win the National Title. USC is now up to #7 in the pool
As for UCLA, they took down Alabama State on Saturday, but the story of the game was the QB situation. Dorian Thompson Robinson was injured, and Chip Kelly is releasing about as much info on the injury, as the CIA releases classified information. Ethan Garbers came into the game and looked like a very capable QB. Call me crazy…..I’m sure you all have if you’ve been reading Jock Talk, but I want to see more of what that kid can do. I still don’t really think this team is that good, but there schedule is extremely soft, so they might win more games than you think, which means Chip Kelly might stick around a little longer. I’m sure something that every Bruins fan is just loving hearing.
What a wild weekend around College Football, and by “wild” I mean downright terrible for Notre Dame. The Irish were upset by Marshall over the weekend, and it’s becoming apparent their quarterback play is in shambles, as is their o–line. The worst part is their schedule gets even tougher. Clearly, Marcus Freeman wouldn’t trust Tyler Buchner with with a cup of coffee right now. Meanwhile, Texas A&M lost to Appalachian State, which means they will likely punish their players by confiscating all the Ferrari’s they bought them in the off-season. Alabama narrowly escaped an upset by Texas, and now the referees are probably the top candidate in the Heisman Trophy race as far as they are concerned. The upsets kept coming though with Wisconsin, Pitt, Houston, Florida, and Baylor getting their weekends ruined, and likely free falling from the Top 25.
This is the part of the Dodgers season where I’m getting nervous about injuries. Blake Treinen is back on the injured listed with shoulder troubles. Tony Gonsolin’s recovery from his forearm issue doesn’t seem to be progressing fast enough, and Gavin Lux is now banged up too. I’m beginning to worry that all of these key pieces are in jeopardy of missing the postseason. Then there’s Cody Bellinger, who continues to fall off a cliff in terms of production. There is simply no amount of quality defense Bellinger can play that can justify keeping him in the lineup with an average under .200. He’s become a strikeout machine, and an easy out for opponents. On the bright side though, Justin Turner has really caught fire, and been on of the best hitters in the NL in the 2nd half of the season. Nevertheless, the next few weeks for the Dodgers are going to be very critical in terms of getting healthy.
Finally, House of The Dragon went down on HBO last night with episode 4. Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it yet. Did the King just Door Dash his daughter some Plan B after all her shenanigans? Rhaenyra really went off the rails in this episode. She nearly smashed her Uncle, did smash Ser Criston, lied on her mothers grave to her best friend, and then gaslighted her father into firing Otto. Weird because I still found myself in her corner after all that, given the world that they live in. It’s all clear now though: Daemon wants both Rhaenyra and the Iron Throne. Poor Viserys. It’s like he shows up to work in a family business everyday, but his family are all idiots. I’m beginning to think that the King is going to die in the next couple of episodes, and at that point all hell will break loose in terms of trying to vie for the thrown. The show is getting good already after four episodes. Looking forward to next week!
