DON'T READ TOO MUCH INTO SAINTS' THUMPING OF BRADY'S BUNCH
This week's crazy NFL results remind us anything can happen on any given Sunday
Don't ever read too much into a single midseason NFL Sunday. Just don't.
A true gauge of any athlete's or team's in-season worthiness seldom can be drawn from a single performance, from one snapshot in time. Especially one from the so-called dog days of a season, long after the excitement of the new campaign wears off, and well before good teams get dialed in for a pre-playoff ramp-up.
One-offs are called that for a reason. Other names: Outliers, flukes, exceptions, asterisks.
As I often say, you and me and Tiger Woods could all get one crack at a 20-foot putt on a freshly cut green at Augusta — and you and me make it, but Tiger rims out. But who would be likeliest to sink the most putts if given 20, 50 or 100 attempts? Right.
Another example: I've told my daughters twice since mid September: “Well, that's it. That was the last day of summery weather. Pack away your shorts.” So of course, some nine days after the first snowfall in Toronto's northern suburbs, we're nearing the end of an entire week of rare, late-summery daytime highs. Shorts weather. In early November. Go figure.
Now, apply this to Sunday's NFL results.
How could a visiting 5-2 New Orleans Saints team on Sunday night possibly destroy, so thoroughly, the 6-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers? It was 31-0 by halftime and 38-3 at game's end.
The same Saints were fortunate to win any of their three previous games — against the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers and L.A. Chargers — two of which required overtime, all of which required mixes of late-game, skin-of-their-teeth heroics and good bounces.
And only three weeks ago, the Bucs rammed a cork in Aaron Rodgers' gun and blew apart the then 4-0 Green Bay Packers.
To a lesser contrast, two weeks ago the Buffalo Bills couldn't score a touchdown against a
New York Jets defence that still ranks last in the NFL in a slew of bellwether categories. Yet on Sunday, the Bills scored five easy-breezy touchdowns and added three field goals to pulverize the previously 6-1 Seattle Seahawks 44-34.
As for individual performances, how do two lowly regarded quarterbacks making their first professional starts — sixthround rookie Jake Luton of Jacksonville and seventh-year undrafted journeyman Garrett Gilbert of Dallas — put up way better numbers than Tampa Bay's Tom Brady did on Sunday in his 293rd start?
Luton drove the Jags the length of the field to score a touchdown in the waning moments, but misfired on the two-point conversion that would have tied Houston. The 24-year-old hit on 26-of-38 throws for 304 yards, a touchdown and a pick, with a solid 90.2 passer rating.
Gilbert threw crisp passes all over the field early on, then nearly rescued victory from defeat for the Cowboys against undefeated Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old hit on 21-of-38 for 243 yards, one touchdown and a pick, with a way-better-thanDalton-and-DiNucci 72.6 passer rating.
Brady — who entered the game having thrown the most TD passes in the NFL since the end of September (14) — flailed for the entire game against the
Saints' pressure defence. He completed 22-of-38 for 209 mostly garbage-time yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions, with a meagre 40.4 passer rating.
Now. Would you pick Luton or Gilbert to quarterback your team over Brady?
Of course not. That's the point. Did Luton and Gilbert show promise? More than anyone expected? Sure. Did Brady suck worse than probably he ever has in 21 NFL seasons? Sure.
Can the Bills' offence embarrass any defence this season, the way QB Josh Allen has proven he can now play, if not every week? Sure.
But are the Bucs that bad? No. Just as the Saints aren't that good. Only believe what you saw Sunday night if it continues into December.
Trends matter most. Not coincidences. Nor blips. Never forget that.
Especially if Tiger ever dangles a 20-putt wager at Augusta.
Just like that, Christian McCaffrey is hurt again.
Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said Monday his star running back hurt a shoulder on the last drive of Carolina's narrow loss at Kansas City, and that McCaffrey is day-to-day prior to Sunday's divisional game at Tampa Bay.
McCaffrey had returned against the Chiefs after being out since Week 2 with a high ankle sprain.
The New England Patriots announced on Monday that the fan ban at Gillette Stadium will indeed extend through the 2020 season, as expected.
Yes, because of COVID-19 concerns. Yes, it was a decision made jointly with local health and political authorities.
The Patriots thus join other teams such as the Las Vegas Raiders that have announced season-long fan bans.