Hi Folks,
We do a ton of insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with smart people thinking deeply for you.
This is not one of those features.
This is Random Shots and it's a few pages of me downloading my goofy and dysfunctional mental hard drive that gets stuffed with way too many random items from too many hours watching, reading about, and listening to football every weekend and throughout the week. It's the only way I manage. Here's hoping it has some value for you.
We'll see. Now let's get to it.
J
Drew Brees has been hitting that buffet line...
Thanks to Memes Of The NFL for that one.
I've said it before, I should publish my Footballguys Email Box from every Monday morning.
This one was fun with the followup.
Oh, Bears Fans...
Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for that one.
Sometimes, (oftentimes?), the difference between success and failure is pretty small...
When the Boss shows up on Friday afternoon...
Thanks to Footballguy Daniel Simpkins for that one.
After Baltimore dismantled the Texans, a few of the Talking Heads declared their hot takes saying they now considered the Ravens the best team in the league.
That's not exactly a shaky limb.
What's next, Lamar Jackson for MVP?
Oh, wait...
Tony Romo Knows...
A good lesson in perspective.
I have a good friend who's a life long Eagles fan. Monday morning in a group chat he was voicing his concerns about the team's struggles and his doubts that Carson Wentz can be "the guy".
Another friend in the chat is a life long Arkansas Razorbacks fan. His response to the Eagle fan's misery was noting Arkansas is a 44 point underdog to conference opponent LSU Saturday.
And he was taking the Tigers.
To be fair, I think my Eagles buddy was mostly just feeling this...
Ok, Then.
Erik Burkhardt with why Agents Matter.
Should've used this guy...
Thanks to @dhambrick63 for that one.
Music Note Of The Week: A sweet live performance from Sharon Van Etten and Justin Vernon.
If you know me, you know I love Justin Vernon and his work with Bon Iver. For Emma, Forever Ago is a classic.
This song, “Trials, Troubles, Tribulations” was from a gathering a little ways back and it's gorgeous.
Cheerleaders have to keep their heads in the game.
To his credit, he owned it.
Rock on, Johnny G.
Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray that one.
Drew Brees says Dak has nothing on him...
Ezekiel Elliot says the same.
Chandler Jones is special. And has been for a long time.
I love the little things like this. I hope it was Matt Patricia forcing the Cowboys out of their normal white jerseys. Or maybe it was just Patricia trying to switch it up.
I say it every year but I cannot wait for the Will Ferrell playing Ben Roethlisberger movie...
New England. You're kind of ridiculous.
Bill Belichick does not forget.
After the Eagles won the Super Bowl, Philadelphia tackle Lane Johnson ripped the Patriots during an interview on the Barstool Sports podcast “Pardon My Take.” Johnson took his shot at some of New England's core philosophies.
“I just think that the Patriot Way is a fear-based organization,” Johnson told the podcast’s hosts. ... "Do I think people enjoy [it] and can say, ‘I had a lot of fun playing there’? No, I don’t. ... "You only get to do this job one time, so let’s have fun while we’re doing it. Not to be reckless, but I’d much rather have fun and win a Super Bowl than be miserable and win five Super Bowls.”
After Sunday's win over the Eagles, Belichick dropped this gem.
“It looked like everyone had fun out there today and we played a lot of good energy and it was good to come down here and get a win,” Belichick said.
Savage.
It's a violent game.
If the Colts were as good at Football as this guy is at Air Guitar...
It's official. Don't ever challenge a call hoping for Pass Interference.
On a tangent, it seems odd for a SportsCenter Anchor to announce they don't watch the games. But that's just me.
Here's the flipside to that "Always Keep The Play Alive" theory.
On the other hand, there's this...
And...
Marlon Mack wound up leaving the game with a hand injury, but he was on fire early on.
Lamar Jackson channeling Kent Tekulve here.
That's so weird. I haven't thought of Kent Tekulve in 10 years.
Something's happening in Baltimore. Lamar Jackson's been doing this "run to the sideline then cut back in" move for a while. But now the tight ends are into it.
Although Lamar Jackson pretty much has dibs on this type of running.
Remember when Houston was fixing their offensive line trouble?...
DeAndre Hopkins, you're kind of ridiculous.
There was some initial question as to whether Hopkins was in bounds.
He said he was.
He was right.
I'm with Robert Mays, when Hopkins says he got his feet in, he got his feet in.
Taking Hopkins at his word reminds me of a Rod Carew story. For you young guns, Rod Carew was a fantastic hitter known for having a great eye for the strike zone. There was a retired Major League Baseball umpire being interviewed and he was asked if the batter affected how he called balls and strikes.
He laughed and said, "Of course it does. If Rod Carew's up there with a full count and he takes the next pitch, it's a ball. You think I see better than Rod Carew?"
I guess Kent Tekulve has me thinking about old Baseball Players.
Quenton Nelson with the keg stand TD celebration.
The internet lost it's mind calling it "epic" and "amazing".
It was a keg stand.
And turns out he got stuffed at the one-yard line and it wasn't even a touchdown.
Relax.
Jeff Driskel with more rushing TDs over the past two years than Patrick Mahomes II, Frank Gore and Le'Veon Bell. Just like we expected...
Texans mood.
Going into today, teams trailing by 20 or more at half were 0 for 99.
Vikings made it 1-99.
I'm surprised by that stat.
The Future:
Truth.
Julian Edelman threw a touchdown Sunday. You knew Bill Belichick wouldn't let that go.
Jon Gruden seems like he's having fun.
Oakland's rolling a little bit and some in the sports world can't seem to handle it.
SI.com's Conor Orr wrote this week:
For those who regularly read The Morning Huddle, you might be familiar with how I thought this season in Oakland would go. Jon Gruden spent most of this offseason being a rambling, destructive ham, and yet, the team has weathered not only his chaotic roster building strategy but one of the most difficult logistical schedules in the NFL this season. The 2019 Raiders are the equivalent of a contractor hurling a bunch of nail-infested scrap lumber into a woodchipper and watching a sensible colonial come out the other side.
This seems fascinating to me. Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden and the rest of the Raider front office and staff are just sitting back while the team just falls into place by itself? Every team's got a ton of moving parts involved and ultimately, players have to play. But to give them no credit seems odd.
In fact, I'm much more inclined to lean towards our friend Doug Farrar here.
It seems like just yesterday when Mayock was a laughing stock in "way over his head" unable to handle Antonio Brown.
Carson Wentz raising eyebrows with his new "sleeve"...
Wrapping with this one.
Here's my challenge to you. And to myself.
Be this kind of friend.
This is one of my all-time favorite gifs. So much goodness packed into a short clip.
The taller player wearing #1 is freshman Moses Brown. He'd just made an ugly error in overtime throwing the ball away and it looked it might cost the team the game. Teammate Jaylen Hands instantly did the right thing.
The Bruins recovered and wound up winning the game. But the win isn't the point here.
Basketball isn't the point here. Don't think this doesn't apply to you because this is big-time sports and these are elite athletes. Sports are an easy illustration but this kind of thing can happen every day all around us. You just have to be aware. Find the person in your life that could use a little of this. Be like Jaylen Hands to them.
Be that kind of friend.
Thanks to Footballguys Keith Overton, Clayton Gray, David Dodds, and Daniel Simpkins for the help on this one. If you've got a Random Shot of your own, send me an e-mail at bryant@footballguys.com.
Thanks for playing along and I hope you make the most of whatever you're doing in your life. Love your neighbor and stick together.
Peace and Grace to you.
J
