Super Bowl L

I started watching the National Football League obsessively as a sixth grader in 1975 (at the same time I was listening to David Bowie, The Eagles and Jefferson Starship on AM radio). That year, the powerhouse team trying to repeat as Super Bowl Champions was the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh was fortunate to host the 1975 AFC Championship because had the game been played in temperate Oakland the Raiders would likely have won and then been the ones to pummel the Cinderella Cowboys in Super Bowl X. As it turned out, playing on a field of iced green concrete in temperatures below 20 °F, the Steelers survived 16-10. I watched the game by myself at my grandmother's apartment in Mountain View not far from Moffett Airfield.

Today's Super Bowl, Super Bowl L, the golden anniversary, takes place at Levi's Stadium, about ten miles and 40 years from where I sat alone as kid watching the Raiders and Steelers beat the shit out of each other.

Times have certainly changed. The thing that snaps right out of the YouTube above is the human scale of the game. Money doesn't pulsate from the screen as it does now. Three Rivers Stadium looks like something you might find in Kazakhstan or Balochistan. And the fans aren't all decked out in pricey franchise bling. Solidly working class, yes. It is Pittsburgh after all. You don't see a lot of obesity. And on the field there is plenty of athleticism on display. Note in the first offensive series of the game how fast Oakland linebacker Phil Villapiano is in shooting into the backfield to drop Franco Harris for a loss. Also, look at how quickly and crisply the offense comes set in its formation. Why don't we ever see two running backs lined behind quarterback anymore? This is the way teams ran the ball in 1975. Now whenever there are two running backs in the game at the same time, unless it is one of the few teams like the NFC Champion Panthers who can run the read-option, it is in the I formation, and the fullback, usually some 250-lb. former lineman, is obviously there only to block. In 1975 both running backs lined up three of four yards behind the quarterback and were parallel or roughly parallel to one another, making it harder for the defense to read who was going to get the ball.

Looking at the video of the 1975 AFC Championship Game, which was played in January 1976, the conclusion that I draw is that while we might be wealthier in toto as a nation -- there is certainly more money in the financial system now than then -- it has come at the expense of the working class and equality in this country. Are we better off now with all our bright shiny lights and digital whistles or then, at the outset of the neoliberalism, when there was less inequality and more humanity?

I started on this 1975 AFC Championship jag because I have been thinking about Ken Stabler. In the run up to today's Super Bowl there was a story this past week about how Ken Stabler, the Raiders quarterback in the 1975 AFC Championship who would go on to win the Super Bowl the following year, had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.). He died last summer and his brain has since been dissected and studied and the results announced. That's what caused the bad press, like Ken Belson's "Roger Goodell Insists Football Is Safe: ‘There’s Risk in Life’," for the National Football League in its gala week leading up to the big game:

It was disclosed this week that two football greats, quarterbacks Ken Stabler and Earl Morrall, were the latest of dozens of players found to have had a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head hits.

Yet N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell, when peppered with questions about player safety on the Friday before Super Bowl 50, gave one of his most earnest endorsements of the safety of the game.

Most of his comments echoed previous statements: that the league is changing its rules to reduce risks, has adopted new equipment and technology, and is spending millions of dollars on research.

But near the end of a 45-minute question-and-answer session with reporters, Goodell seemed exasperated. When asked whether it was safe for young people to play football, Goodell said that he was glad he was able to play tackle football for nine years before college.

“If I had a son, I’d love to have him play the game of football,” Goodell, a father of two daughters, added. “There’s risk in life. There’s risk in sitting on the couch.”

Goodell’s comments came amid a renewed focus on whether football was too dangerous. By the N.F.L.’s own account, the number of diagnosed concussions rose by 31.6 percent this season over last season. Several former players have posthumously been found to have had the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., including Stabler, Morrall and Tyler Sash, a former Giant who died at 27. At least seven high school football players died last year. 

When asked about these statistics, Goodell often focuses on what the N.F.L. is doing to make the game safer. He bristled at the suggestion that more N.F.L. players were retiring because they were worried that extending their careers could increase their risks of brain damage.

The NFL is the premiere television product in the United States, really the only guaranteed "take it to the bank" eyeball draw left in our culture. As Mark Leibovich reports in "Roger Goodell’s Unstoppable Football Machine":

Put it on TV, and people will watch; put it on a jersey, they will wear it. The N.F.L.’s total revenue in 2015 ($12.4 billion) is nearly double that of a decade earlier ($6.6 billion). The price of television ads during the Super Bowl has increased by more than 75 percent over the last decade. This year’s conference championship games set yet another viewership record for the league: 53.3 million people watched the A.F.C. game on CBS; 45.7 million watched the N.F.C. game on Fox. Goodell talks constantly about ‘‘growing the pie,’’ finding new revenue streams and ways to make the N.F.L. a ‘‘year-round’’ experience rather than just during fall and winter. He has said he wants the N.F.L. to achieve $25 billion in gross revenue by 2027. No league is as relentless when it comes to growth and making cash for its billionaire cartel. It’s reminiscent of a shark that will die if it doesn’t keep moving and ripping little fish to shreds.

The NFL has made changes to try to reduce the number of concussions. But the tendency of the rule changes has been to enhance the overall speed of the game, which increases the impact of collisions. So there hasn't been any big bonanza of reduced injuries.

A lot of commentators compare the NFL to boxing, a blood sport that was enormously popular at one time only to sputter into irrelevance. But boxing's demise had nothing to do with its brutality. Look at the popularity of mixed martial arts today. Boxing lost its broad popularity because all its big fights went behind a paywall. If the NFL gets so greedy that it shunts more of its games away from broadcast TV, then something similar could happen I suppose; that combined with a loss of talent from parents preventing their children from participating in the sport.

In any event, the National Football League is who we are in the United States. And in 1975 it was also who we were. Today in Super Bowl L I like the Carolina Panthers. For the Broncos to win Peyton Manning would have to play a perfect game, matched by a perfect game by the Denver defense. I see no miracles today. It is Cam Newton's year.

NFL Week 12: Let's Get Caught Up, Again

This weekend of the Thanksgiving holiday marks three years that this page has been up and running. I started the blog when I got back from California, where I go every Thanksgiving to visit my father. We have a routine. We run a "turkey trot," one of these community fun runs that are popping up all over and are very popular now, so much so that the turkey trot is becoming as much a part of the Thanksgiving holiday as Black Friday and the National Football League. After we run the turkey trot, we return to my father's modest house in a suburban neighborhood close to downtown of the Solano County seat, and we watch football all day. The next day, Black Friday, I travel north back to the Emerald City. That's the routine.

There was some variation this year in that I decided to get my father a flat screen digital television. TV is very important for the elderly, something I found out one Christmas while visiting my mother, who resides in an assisted-living facility, when her universal remote quit on her. A panic attack ensued. Thank goodness it happened at a time, 4:30 PM on Christmas Eve, that I could run out and buy a replacement at the Radio Shack. If the remote had quit just an hour or two later, my mother, who can only move about with the aid of a walker, would have had to go without her regular televisual experience for more than 36 hours. A real crisis.

My father has had the same TV for years, a small -- 13-inch -- analog model with a picture tube and a built-in VCR; the same kind of TV that I have had for the last 12 years. We both have the analog-to-digital-antenna converter box. But recently a co-worker gifted me an older flat screen that she and her husband never used in a spare bedroom because they found something newer and larger on craigslist. And it was such a marked improvement from the old-school 13-inch, particularly for the type of programming that I use the television for -- the NFL -- that I decided my father, who watches TV every day, would benefit if he had his own.

So prior to my trip down to California, I went online and found a well-rated, reasonably-priced 2015 high-definition (HD) 32-inch LG flat screen. (Read Nicholson Baker's magisterial New Yorker piece, "A Fourth State of Matter," on the South Korean flat screen television industry. Samsung and LG are the two big South Korean producers.) The LG arrived at my father's house in a little more than a day, and he installed it himself. But by the time I arrived he was having difficulty picking up the same stations that he had with the old set.

Here our troubles began. I thought we would face only minimal difficulty in working out the kinks and matching the reception he enjoyed before because I had no problem with my own gifted flat screen. What I didn't take into account is that my flat screen was so old that it didn't have its own HD tuner; hence, I was able to use the same analog-to-digital-antenna converter that I used on my old-school cathode-ray-tube TV. These new flat screen televisions come equipped with their own HD receiver, and, apparently, at least what my father and I have learned, is that they are not as good as the analog-to-digital-antenna converters which were widely distributed when we the non-cable unwashed were kicked off the analog spectrum into the digital stream.

We then proceeded to problem solve for the next two days, our goal being to try to match the number of channels he had with the old technology; that, and be able to receive all three networks televising the Thanksgiving games -- FOX, CBS, NBC. This meant two separate trips each to both Target and Best Buy, and one trip to Sears. What we learned is that most digital antennas are useless, particularly if you live in an area that is windy and rainy and far away from the nearest transmission tower. My father lives in a wind corridor, and we learned by research online that the nearest transmission towers are 29 miles to the east. So we returned the first digital antenna we purchased at Best Buy and upgraded to one with amplification and a 40-mile range.

After purchasing 100 feet of coaxial cable at Target and walking the digital antenna all around his living room, dining room and kitchen; out into the front yard; and finally out into the patio area at the back of the house, we found the sweet spot -- the window in the living room at the front of the house. Thanksgiving Day was clear and not too windy so we were able to enjoy the morning and afternoon games on the big screen. But the winds picked up at night, and we were forced back to the old 13-inch to see Chicago hold on for a big upset of the Packers at Lambeau Field.

My takeaway from all this is that "superior" technology is not always better. Analog TV might not have been high definition, but neither was it so sensitive that a gust wind would lead to disintegrating pixelation of the picture.

If new, "higher" technology is not better then we as a society can expect nothing but trouble ahead because that is all that Western civilization has to offer its citizens these days -- the promise of "consuming" newer, more wonderful digital technologies.

As neoliberalism -- the divination of the market above all else -- continues to reign supreme despite its inability to deliver economic growth, as our political parties, in fealty to concentrated wealth, atrophy beyond recognition, as the Global War on Terrorism" leads to ever more terrorism, as the mass extinctions of anthropocene surge, we the people are cajoled to visit the big box outlet at the super mall and purchase the latest digital tech. That is our consolation. And having just "been there and done that," I am here to tell you it is no consolation at all. Pope Francis is completely on the mark when he says in his encyclical "On Care For Our Common Home" that the dominant technocratic, consumer-driven paradigm is killing the planet and needs to be overturned.

But this is supposed to be a post about the National Football League Week 12. Of two unbeaten teams, Carolina and New England, the Panthers are the team that has the best shot at going all the way. Why? Because they are playing the best defense -- hands down -- of any team. They have it all -- a fantastic secondary; super-fast smart linebackers; a steady stout line. As long as Cam Newton can keep his gigantic ego in check and play turnover free football, I like Carolina's chances.

The Patriots, always formidable, have issues, which were on display Monday night against mediocre Buffalo. Julian Edelman is Brady's go-to guy, and he's gone for the year. Maybe he could come back for the AFC Championship game or the Super Bowl, assuming New England is there, but it is doubtful. Dion Lewis is gone for the year too. The Patriots defense is beatable. New England depends on Brady controlling time of possession.

If Osweiler, who is good, can play well; or if Cincinnati can overcome there late season issues; or if Pittsburgh gets hot -- all could beat New England.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, the mood in Seattle is not buoyant heading into today's game with the Steelers. The young men in Seahawks gear I talked to on the flights down and back were not optimistic. The feeling is one of resignation. We've been burned too often this season to believe otherwise. The oddsmakers favor Seattle because the Steelers-Seahawks match-up is usually decided by who is playing at home. It should be a nail-biter. Again.

My epiphany while struggling through the turkey trot on Thanksgiving is that will power is a hard thing to maintain year in and year out. My times have really suffered lately. I'm not training like I used to. There are a whole set of reasons for this, but the end result is the performance. And my performances have been poorer.

The Seahawks are in the same place. This cannot be denied. The Seattle faithful, the 12s, long hoping for a turnaround I believe have accepted that the team is diminished and will be fortunate to win today. Something Seattle must do to remain in the hunt for a wild card playoff berth.

Some Unamazing Thoughts on the Beginning of the National Football League Season, Though I Do Manage to Mention Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus

The National Football League regular season gets underway today. Well, it actually started Thursday when New England's offense got the better of a confused looking Steelers D.

The talk coming out of the game was about Pittsburgh's sideline having the Patriots radio broadcast in the coaching staff's headsets. More allegations of New England's dirty tricks. Apparently it is a common occurrence for the visiting team at Gillette Stadium.

For a diehard Seahawks fan it was a tough way to begin the season: all the flashbacks of Malcolm Butler's Super Bowl interception; the repulsive Bob Kraft in hipster footwear hoisting the Lombardi trophy to the rapturous Foxborough masses; the tight camera shots of handsome Tom Brady; Julian Edelman making catch after catch. It was like sitting down to a several-course meal, and all the plates and bowls set before me were filled with steaming piles of shit.

But this morning hopefully things will turn out to be more appetizing. As a devotee of the Sunday ritual of television gazing, I usual begin each new season with trepidation. The thought is, "Oh, no. Here we go again." Seventeen weeks, plus the playoffs, from the end of summer to the beginning of winter, usually on my mattress on the floor, a newspaper or printout in hand, filled with stress and moments of ecstasy.

Sadly, it is what qualifies as communal activity in our digital age, a time when our political structures have been zombified by neoliberalism; it also connects us to the roots of our Western "civilization." Let us then call it essential activity.

I read a newspaper that features the writings of superb football reporter, Ken Belson; I get Dave Zirin's blog posts in my email inbox; and while I let my sub to Sports Illustrated lapse, I'll still pick up one now and then at the magazine rack of my local grocery store. That being said, I enter this season unprepared. I have followed very little the off-season and preseason developments, for instance, the huge loss of status of commissioner Goodell as a result of Tom Brady's Deflategate triumph in federal court. (I know enough to conclude that it is good for the players; the league office can no longer capriciously discipline individuals.)

The reason for my lack of preparation is the painful way the season ended. The Seahawks should be repeat champions with Marshawn Lynch the MVP of the last Super Bowl. The fact that they are not and the despised, corrupt Patriots are the world champions is a wound that has not healed.

But it makes this season one of incredible drama for Seahawks fans. This is most likely Marshawn Lynch's last year in Seattle. Once Beast Mode goes, the Seahawks will have a completely different personality; it will be a different team. So this is the year that the wound has to be healed. I liken it to Oedipus at Colonus. Can we come to terms with our past failures and be absolved by Zeus?

We'll find out. The morning is appropriately overcast and rainy. I am going to shelve plans for an eight-mile pre-game run and bunker in for the first NFL Sunday.

NFL Week 18: Wild Card Playoff Round

My biggest disappointment going into the weekend is that I will not be able to watch the Cardinals-Panthers game. Why? I don't have cable; I use digital rabbit ears. So if it is not on broadcast TV, I don't see it. Unless I go out to a bar. I did that once for one game of the 1998 World Cup, and I regretted it. I sat at the bar on a Saturday morning and tried to watch Italy vs. Norway while on either side drunks pestered me. They were like noisy children competing for attention, criticizing my interest in soccer as un-American.

Since the National Football League receives an antitrust exemption from the federal government, the principal advantage of which is that it allows team owners to bargain collectively with the television networks, a proviso should be added to the exemption that mandates all playoff games must appear on broadcast television.

This is the first NFL playoff game to appear exclusively on a cable channel. My fear is that this move means that the NFL will go the way of the NBA and Major League Baseball, leagues where most of the playoff games appear only on cable. I have written my Congressman.

As for the games of the wildcard round, here are my picks:

Cardinals at Panthers: Vegas has lost confidence in the miracle workings of Bruce Arians. Carolina is a six-and-a-half-point favorite at home, equal to the margin granted to Cowboys over the Lions. I am not a Cam Newton fan, but his play has improved as the Panthers have gone on an end-of-season tear. He has thrown only one interception in the last three games. I have yet to see the rejuvenated Panthers play. The last full game I saw is when Seattle beat them in week 8, and then Carolina was a team in free fall. I have seen the Cardinals play recently. And with Ryan Lindley at the helm, they are a team in free fall. Take the Panthers.

Ravens at Steelers: This is a tough one. The Vegas line is Steelers by 3. It is hard to go against Pittsburgh at home, but Le'Veon Bell is out. The Ravens get Haloti Ngata back from his Adderall suspension. Plus, I like Justin Forsett. Possibly Roethlisberger could win this game with his arm. Look what Philip Rivers did to Baltimore. Nonetheless, take the Ravens.

Bengals at Colts: The Vegas line is Colts by three-and-a-half points. Even though A.J. Green is out and the Bengals don't win in postseason, I'm going out on a limb here to say Cincinnati will triumph. I like the Bengals defense and their running game with Jeremy Hill; also, Andy Dalton running the read-option. The Colts have not impressed me this season.

Lions at Cowboys: Dallas could be playing the best football in the league right now. The Cowboys are an offensive juggernaut. Everyone is peaking: Romo, Witten, Murray, Bryant, Beasley. There is a possibility for an upset here though. Detroit's fearsome defensive line could knock Romo out of the game. Dallas will counter by running the ball with Murray or going with the quick dump off pass to Lance Dunbar and Cole Beasley. On defense, the Cowboys will devote all their attention to Golden Tate and Calvin Johnson, daring the Lions to beat them with Joique Bell. I would like to see Detroit win this game, but I don't see that happening on Sunday. Take Dallas.

NFL Week 17: Home Field for Seattle

I realized last night as I watched Snowpiercer (2013), Bong Joon-ho's innovative post-apocalyptic thriller that doubles as an allegory for how traditional societies (as well as storytelling) work, what a degradation of one's humanity it is to toil at a job 50-out-of-52 weeks a year.

Hard on the heels of this realization was the thought that what keeps the passengers pacified as the U.S. train hurtles off the rails is the National Football League. The NFL is the preferred opiate of the American masses. Without it there would be little coherence to our national character right now. One can safely assert, I think, that the National Football League is the only game in town.

Then I went to bed thinking about the four games the Seattle Seahawks lost this season. What stands out about those games is that the Seahawks can definitely be beaten. You beat them by running the ball, dumping the ball off to a back in the flat, and connecting with the tight end. That is on offense. On defense you shut down Marshawn Lynch and you keep Russell Wilson in the tackle box.

Two teams -- San Diego in week 2 and Dallas in week 6 -- dominated Seattle this season. The two other losses by the Seahawks -- St. Louis in week 7 and Kansas City in week 11 -- were fourth quarter nail-biters and could have easily gone Seattle's way, the kind of games that routinely went the team's way last year's Super Bowl season.

So to take a stab at the question -- "Can the Seahawks repeat?" -- we need to zero in on the San Diego and Dallas games.

In both those games the Seattle defense was on the field far too long. The Chargers killed the Seahawks with Antonio Gates and Danny Woodhead; Philip Rivers connected on short-to-medium range passes all day long. Kam Chancellor was not a 100% coming back from off-season hip surgery. K.J. Wright couldn't cover Antonio Gates. In the game against Dallas it was running backs DeMarco Murray and Joseph Randle who did the real damage. The Cowboys racked up 401 yards to Seattle's 206. Byron Maxwell and Bobby Wagner left the game with serious injuries.

In those two games the Seahawks offense was a Formula One race car with timing problems; it couldn't sustain drives. It would score quickly; then, in succeeding drives, would repeatedly go three-and-out. This was in the Harvin era.

When all is said and done, the big coaching misfire for Pete Carroll's staff this season will be the inability or the mistaken decision to try to convert the Seattle offense, oriented primarily around the rushing of Marshawn Lynch, to a sleek, super-fast pass-first West Coast-style offense. For whatever reason, it didn't work. Carroll and Bevel couldn't get the parts to mesh and Harvin was sent packing labeled as a malcontent. I think the real reason for the failure is that to run that type of offense you need a drop-back passer with an acute sense of timing and a lot of touch. Drew Brees, who is maybe an inch or a half-inch taller than Russell Wilson, can run that type of offense. But at this stage in his career Russell Wilson cannot. Russell Wilson is a scrambler and a superb rushing quarterback who can drop a ball in over coverage but he is not an "all eyes on me" pure passer. He needs a Marshawn Lynch in the backfield to anchor his attack.

Once the Seahawks returned to the offensive scheme that won them a Super Bowl and the defense returned to health they have been the best team in the league. If they were to play either San Diego or Dallas now Seattle would win. Outside of the 49ers and Frank Gore during the first half of the game in week 15, no team has run on the Seahawks defense since KC's Jamaal Charles in week 11. And no team has beat them this year by throwing long. Beast Mode is cranked up and running. Russell Wilson is connecting to Owen Willson, who finally realized his speedy potential as a receiving tight end last Sunday night. The offensive line has been a shambles and the defensive line is penalty prone. But besides these two shortcomings, the Seahawks are sound. They are young, still hungry and filled with leaders -- Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, et al.

The Vegas line has Seattle by 13 over the Rams. If the Rams hope to win, St. Louis will have to play an error-free game while at the same time hoping that Seattle self-destructs with turnovers and key injuries. Such an outcome is unlikely. The Rams will need to run the ball and Shaun Hill must be able to complete passes to his tight end Jared Cook. We will know quickly if St. Louis has a prayer.

I say Seattle wins this game and cinches home-field for the playoffs. In many ways, the Seahawks are a better team than they were last year at this time.

In the AFC, the only team at this point that I can see beating New England is Pittsburgh. The Ravens might sneak in if the Chiefs can beat the Chargers, which I think is probable. And Baltimore has shown a knack for beating Belichik in the post-season. So all hope is not yet lost. The Patriots might yet be kept from the Super Bowl.

NFL Week 3: Seahawks Triumph, Pittsburgh Better Than Anticipated

The point of these posts on the National Football League is something akin to a dream journal. I don't spend a lot of time on them. Very few people read them, fewer even than the other posts on this page. Around mid-season I will shift, as I did last year, to predictions for the coming week. It takes a couple of months of spending every Sunday in front of my small color TV watching the games to get a feel for who is up and who is down.

For instance, the conventional wisdom on the Steelers is that they're rebuilding, and they are not a serious threat to anybody. But based on the Sunday night game, Pittsburgh is not a team to look past on the schedule. LaVeon Bell after dropping weight in the off season looks quicker and stronger than last year. And the defense played well against Carolina. Granted, Cam Newton is playing hurt, but that doesn't explain Pittsburgh's offense moving the ball up and down the field against the celebrated Panthers defense.

Earlier that day I rode the Seahawks roller coaster as hometown Seattle hung on in OT to win their rematch of February's Super Bowl with the Broncos. I shouted at the television when Russell Wilson threw his pick in the 4th quarter and Marshawn Lynch was tackled in the Seahawks end zone for a safety. Peyton Manning lived up to his hype by executing a drive in the last seconds that brought Denver even. But in the end Russell Wilson channeled his inner Joe Montana, something he does better than most if not all NFL quarterbacks, and engineered a game-winning drive in OT following Tarvaris Jackson correctly calling the coin toss and electing to receive the ball.

Really, in the end, watching the NFL on Sunday is an excuse for me to recline on my mattress on the floor. All day. A welcome rest for my legs, a chance to forget and merge with the American hive mind.

Thanksgiving NFL Games

For many years, after I had given up on living with a woman but I still maintained a girlfriend, I rigorously defended my right to spend Thanksgiving alone. I refused all offers from friends, family, girlfriend and girlfriend's family to share their table and give thanks collectively in favor of spending the day alone in my studio watching the Thanksgiving Day National Football League telecasts.

I have fond memories of these Thanksgivings. The apartment building would be quiet, deserted; the other tenants, gone elsewhere to celebrate the holiday. I would go out for run in the morning, and then spend the rest of the day cooking, eating a meal and watching the games. A small slice of nirvana.

This Thursday the games on tap are less than ideal. The first Thanksgiving game is always hosted by Detroit. This year it features the wounded Packers with high-priced castoff Matt Flynn almost certainly to start. The Lions have difficulty with Green Bay; lately Detroit has been playing unfocused football, losing to Pittsburgh and Tampa. The line has the Lions three-and-a-half point favorites, and they're at home. But I consider the game a toss-up. It's Flynn for Stafford. I've got to go with Stafford. Take the Lions.

The next game, which is now the second game since a night game has been added to the Thanksgiving schedule, is always hosted by big D. The Raiders -- perpetually wounded, perpetually suffering -- arrive in Arlington six-and-a-half point underdogs. The Cowboys looked decent against the Giants (giving me my only loss in games that I have picked so far this year). New York was not able to exploit the absence of middle linebacker and defensive signal-caller Sean Lee. Bruce Carter played well. Romo was solid. But Dallas has a nasty habit of playing poorly when the team is a favorite at home. While I'd love to see Oakland win, I think it would be a huge upset if they did. Take the Cowboys.

Finally, the Thanksgiving evening game on NBC features two perennial powerhouses each now staggering in Week 13 at 5-6. Pittsburgh deserves credit for scratching its way back into contention. Baltimore appears to be a shadow of the team that last year put together one of the most remarkable playoff runs in NFL history. This is another toss-up. Ray Rice appears to be running better in the last couple of games, but Dennis Pitta is still on injured reserve. The Steelers receivers are coming into their own. Pittsburgh is on a three-game win streak, but the Ravens are at home. I'm sitting this game out. May the best team win.

A word on Week 12. I threw in the towel on the Sunday night game at halftime. I figured that the Patriots were cooked. Twenty-four to zero with no evidence that Brady could thrown in the wind and the Broncos running backs racking up big yardage on the ground, the game, for all intents and purposes, was over. I felt shameful for having picked New England at home. But in the end, plaudits for Belichik's Patriots, a team I loathe, for hanging tough and coming back to win in OT against a formidable Denver team. It's a kind of win that could loom large for New England come the playoffs.

NFL Week 3: The Poverty of Pittsburgh

Granted, only the third game of the season is complete; and granted, the team the Seahawks thrashed 45-17 this past Sunday was the rebuilding Jacksonville Jaguars, led by former Seattle defensive coordinator of the last four seasons Gus Bradley, it is nonetheless beginning to look like Pete Carroll has a bona fide Super Bowl contender.

The National Football League is hard to gauge this early in the year. It usually takes until the end of November to get a sense of which teams are peaking. And even then it's still a tough call. Who could have foreseen the amazing playoff run the Ravens put together last season?

One of the nice things about the lopsided Seahawks-Jaguars game is that it allowed me to unyoke myself from the television and wash a sink of dirty dishes.

The morning began with a study of the Green Bay loss at Cincinnati to the Bengals. It looks like it's going to be a long, stressful year for Aaron Rodgers. A porous defense, injuries at running back and tight end and some poor throws by the Packer quarterback portend trouble ahead.

By far the strangest spectacle from Week Three for me was the Sunday night game. I can't recall having seen such a weak Steelers team. (There was a time after Bradshaw retired and Mark Malone was QB that Pittsburgh was woeful, but that was long ago.) Pittsburgh managed to claw back into the game against the visiting Bears before Roethlisberger fumbled and Julius Peppers returned it 42 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown.