RANDALL’S RANT

Survivor pools take beating from Buffalo victory

Are you dizzy? If not, you haven’t been watching football. Who in their right mind can figure out this NFL? If you need evidence, just check out any survivor pools. For those unfamiliar, just pick one winner each week (no point spread) and advance to the next week. After just three weeks, most of these pools have about 10 per cent of their original contestants remaining! Talk about ‘any given Sunday’. Buffalo wiped out a gazillion pools Sunday. The 0-2 Bills had been outscored 88-23 in two weeks before defeating the Vikings as a 17-point underdog, the biggest upset in 23 seasons. And it was no fluke. Buffalo dominated Minnesota from start to finish in a 27-6 romp. Tampa Bay won its first game as a ninepoint dog in New Orleans before knocking off the Super Bowl champion Eagles in Week 2. Journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, now on his seventh team in his less-than-illustrious 10-year career, resembles Joe Montana as he leads the league (prior to last night’s game) in yards passing per game and yards per attempt. Detroit was schooled by Jets rookie QB Sam Darnold, making his first start. Two games later, those same Jets lost to a Cleveland team that had a 1-32-1 record heading into that game. Meanwhile, the previously tame-looking Lions dominated G.O.A.T Tom Brady and the Patriots on Sunday.

There is supposed to be some strategy to picking these games but this has become the modern day version of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Just how odd were Sunday’s results, you ask? Let us answer monetarily. Had you wagered a three-team parlay using just the moneyline (no point spread) combining the Bills, Lions and Titans, a $100 wager would have returned a whopping $18,078. Meanwhile, the Bears, Dolphins, Bucs and Titans are all leading their respective divisions. The Patriots are 1-2 and not looking very good. We’ve seen two ties already. Where does this madness end?

Stepping off the NFL merry-go-round for a moment, we turn our attention to the CFL where Hamilton coach June Jones is easily our nitwit of the week from any league. Jones botched a game after electing to punt for a single point rather than attempt a 44-yard field goal with a guy that can boot a ball from British Columbia to Alberta. Ticats were up seven points with 33 seconds to play. A field goal puts them up 10 and secures the game (also assures a cover as a 2½-point favourite). A missed FG results in the same single point. The punt put the Ticats up by eight before the Lions marched down the field and tied the game with a touchdown and two-point convert before the Leos won in overtime. No one on this planet, including Jones, can explain the bizarre move.