Monday Morning Coffee

 Chargers running back Austin Ekeler dives for a touchdown past Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens.

October 3, 2022

Welcome to October!  For a moment the Chargers looked like they were gonna “Charger” that game against the Texans yesterday.  However, Justin Herbert looked like he was healthy again, and Austin Ekeler returned after disappearing for a few weeks like Hodini.  It’s good to see the Bolts find the win column again, but the win doesn’t come without concern.  They are still getting ripped apart on the ground, giving up another 131 yards to Dameon Pierce.   That of course has to do with the fact Joey Bosa is going to miss the next 8-10 weeks after having groin surgery.  Nevertheless, the next two games are very winnable against the Broncos and Falcons, so let’s see if the Chargers are game, even with the injuries.

The Rams and 49ers will get after it tonight on Monday night football.  The Niners are actually 1.5 point favorites here, which may seem surprising but it’s really not.  The Rams may have beaten the Niners in the NFC title game last year, but San Fran owns them in the regular season.   In fact, it’s to the point, where I’m rather nervous about the game tonight, and the Rams actually being able to win.  The Niners have always played much more physical, and constantly find a way to win the battles at the line of scrimmage.  That could once again be a problem tonight, as the Rams o-line isn’t exactly it’s biggest strength.

Elsewhere around then NFL, I still can’t believe Tua was allowed to play on Thursday night, and it could have killed him. So much for NFL player safety protocol, which would have even let JFK back in the parade. Patrick Mahomes cooked the Bucs, while Tom Brady is still getting cooked at home by Gisele for playing football. The Raiders beat the Broncos, and ironically, the Broncos look an awful lot like last year’s Seahawks. Antonio Brown showed more D yesterday than the Seahawks and Lions combined.  The Bills came back from the dead to beat the Ravens.  The Giants got by the Bears and the last play of the game took about an hour when the Bears tried for their own version of the Music City Miracle.  The Jets took down the Steelers and Zack Wilson was dancing like he had another Netflix and Chill planned with his mom’s friend.  The Packers got by the Pats, and Bill Belichik is probably going to hold QB tryouts this week with fans because they have no signal callers left.

In College Football, USC took down Arizona State on Saturday at the Coliseum to stay undefeated. Jordan Addison went crazy with 8 catches and 105 yards in the Victory. The Trojans also now have 12 interceptions in 5 games, which is amazing, considering they were basically playing arena football for the first handful of games. USC played like they were out partying at the Kappa house the night before in the 1st half, but Lincoln Riley must have slapped the fellas around at halftime. They probably won’t get much of a test next week against Washington State at home, but then things get real after that against Utah.

Calen Bullock runs for USC as coaches, teammates and fans cheer

As for UCLA, they have our attention now. The Bruins ran all over Washington at the Rose Bowl and shocked all of us. I did not expect UCLA to win that game, let alone any of the two after that. However, if DTR is going to turn into Michael Vick and play the game of his life, that is going to change things. UCLA is dominating at the line of scrimmage, and they might just have an elite running game to go with it. It’s not exactly how we envisioned a Chip Kelly offense, but to his credit, it’s working. And yes, I realize that last thing any of you want to do is give Chip Kelly credit. Nevertheless, the Bruins might just be a real contender in the PAC-12. We’ll find out for sure in the next two weeks.

The Lakers have kicked off training camp and a few things have stood out in the first week. First of all, Russell Westbrook still shoots worse than that gorilla you see in all those internet memes. Second, somehow, the Lakers still view this guy as a starter, or at least are giving him that opportunity to begin with. I have no idea why, but once he starts destroying value again, he must be sent home immediately. Then there’s the Pacers. Indiana is still trying to negotiate with the Lakers through the media, leaking that they would gladly deal Buddy Hield and Myles Turner to LA for two 1st rounders and Russ. We get it Indy. You want two 1sts, but the Lakers won’t give you that, even though Russ isn’t good at basketball anymore.

To baseball, where Dave Roberts cannot have it both ways. Roberts told us before the season started that the Dodgers were going to win the World Series. However, yesterday, when asked about the perception of a “win or bust” mentality of fans, he suggested that they just don’t know how to enjoy the ride, and that they were only interested in the team during the postseason. Sorry Dave, but none of that is true. Dodger fans aren’t interested in only the postseason, because they’ve been packing the stands for six months, and even switching cable providers just to see your games. However, we are also LA sports fans, and whether you like it or not, the mentality of an LA sports fan is “championship or bust”. That’s the standard of excellence professional and college sports franchises have set in this town. Don’t try to tell me otherwise. Dave knows it, but he’s deflecting the noise. That’s also the last thing I want to hear with the Dodgers heading into the postseason.

The Angels terrible season has almost come to an end, and the only intrigue left is whether or not Shohei Ohtani can win an MVP award. Unfortunately, he probably won’t, because Aaron Judge has people that actually stay up and watch his games. If we’re being honest though, Shohei Ohtani’s season is far more impressive than Judge’s. Judge is having a a nice season, but passing Rodger Maris and Babe Ruth in the single season home run catagory isn’t as impressive as it used to be. Baseball made us feel this way by watering down the home run, since everyone is swinging for the fences now. On the other hand, to hit 35 home runs and win 15 games as a pitcher on a terrible team is way more impressive. Aaron Judge may be doing something more impactful, but since when has the baseball MVP ever really been about who is “more valuable”? It’s really a “who is having a better season” award.

Finally, House of The Dragon’s 7th episode went down on HBO last night. Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it, so read no further if you plan on watching it later. It’s official, incest went down, and let’s be honest…..most of you we’re totally ok with it and even liked it. I truly enjoyed watching those kids fight more than I probably should have. How evil is Alicent for suggesting that Rhaenyra’s son needs to lose an eye for justice? In the end, what a stunt pulled by Rhaenyra, where she gets what she wanted, and so does Laenor. It was riveting and honestly, I can’t wait for the next episode!

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