Random Shots From Week 15

Joe Bryant's Random Shots From Week 15 Joe Bryant Published 12/20/2023

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 brain 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

The Holidays are upon us. Let's open like we always do with the best rendition I've heard in a while of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" courtesy of that noted Holiday Crooner - Bill Belichick.

Just like last year, I'm starting right off the bat with the music as we cover all the Holiday bases. First, a Run DMC - Charlie Brown mashup of Christmas in Hollis from the Best Christmas Movie Ever - Die Hard.

Next up is Adam Sandler with the classic Chanukah Song.

Elvis sings my favorite Christmas song.

And for a picture of cool personified, he butchers the words but still kills it live.

Long live the King.

Lastly, one of my favorite Sports Illustrated covers from a few years back featuring Belichick Santa.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Footballguys.

I truly hope it's a sweet time of the year for you.

I'm not sure how far the Rams will go. But Cooper Kupp shows here what a leader looks like. All WRs naturally want the ball. But Kupp is secure enough to know the best outcome for the team is when others perform well, too. I'll be surprised if, years down the road, Puka Nacua can't point back to this kind of encouragement being a positive factor in his career.

Down 56 points, you look for anything positive.

Brandon Staley sealed his fate a few weeks ago.

Every year, I find myself surprised to remember we have Saturday NFL Football, and every year, I have the same reaction.

One of the more ridiculous plays I can remember.

Steeler fans.

It's the little things that make a difference. Well done, NFL Network.

Vikings fans.

Kyle Pitts was all of us here.

Mt. Rushmore is the perfect caption for this one.

With that said...

Titans paid the price for taunting Football Karma wearing the Oilers throwback uniforms against Houston.

The downside.

The upside is Bijan Robinson made this kid's day.

Weird note that probably interests just me: I didn't know Robinson was left-handed.

King.

On the likability front, Joe Flacco and Deshaun Watson sit at opposite ends of the spectrum for me.

My biggest miss this year was easily the Giants.

Aaron Rodgers was all of us.

Hard to blame him. Or us.

Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history. That's a given.

But quarterbacks matter. A lot.

And to be fair, I'm with Kelce here.

Multiple things can be true at once.

What a chip on the shoulder looks like.

Well done, Jake Browning.

I'm no defensive coordinator. But playing the Rams, I'd prioritize putting at least one guy on Cooper Kupp.

And yes, I know it was busted coverage. Work with me here.

Tough week for the top quarterbacks.

And

Saunders kept it real.

You had to love Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams throwing back to Rob and Big.

If you know, you know.

I'm drafting Raheem Mostert every year until he retires.

Punter Jake Bailey has him on his fantasy team, and he told Bailey, "I got you. We're in this together."

It's a beautiful game.

This Woman.

Njoku too.

And Stefanski.

NFL Screen Writers making Rudolph the Steelers starter on December 23 is a next-level flex.

On repeat.

Back in October, the Jets posted the tweet at the bottom with Will Smith.

After Monday's game, the Seahawk social media team was ready for the follow-up...

Lamar Jackson is a problem.

And hats off to Baltimore's front office. Pulling a guy as good as Isaiah Likely from the 4th round is impressive.

Pete Carroll rocking the backward baseball hat got me.

Bart knows.

Plus this.

You know who else knows what's up? Matthew Stafford's daughter with good advice.

Drew Lock after the Monday Night game is why I love sports. Few things give us the opportunity to see hard work and perseverance pay off in real time. He'll likely head back to the bench when Geno Smith is ready. But for this game and those few hours, he seized the opportunity and made the most of it. Well done.

And Lisa Salters deserves credit here, too. She did a masterful job navigating the interview and developing a real conversation instead of the typical cliches we often see.

Wrapping with this one. I said this last year, and I'll say it again. This has been an awesome year for many folks. And it's been a challenging year for many people. Maybe you're in both those groups. I am. For the challenging side, the Holidays can make it even tougher for some.

Shauna Niequist is a writer I enjoy. She wrote this a few years ago, but I think it applies now.

"My prayer is that what you've lost, and what I've lost this year, will fade a little bit in the beauty of the Christmas season, that for a few moments at least, what is right and good and worth believing will outshine all the darkness, within us and around us."

That's my hope for you. That the pain of what you've lost this year may fade a bit as we seek out and focus on what's right and good and worth believing. That the light outshines the dark. If it's tough for you, give yourself some grace. I'm with you.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours from all of us at Footballguys. Rock on.

That'll do it this week. Thank you for being with me on this goofy journey.

Love your neighbor and stick together.

Peace and Grace to you.

J

Photos provided by Imagn Images
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