Is 10 days enough prep time for Washington vs. Steelers?
As a result of the NFL’s schedule rearrangement, the Washington Football Team has 10 days to get ready for Monday’s game in Pittsburgh, compared with only four days for the Steelers. Pittsburgh didn’t look sharp against sorely depleted Baltimore in what Mike Tomlin called a “junior varsity” performance. You think the 4-7 WFT has a chance to ... make it interesting?
Skepticism: The Steelers are resilient, but they aren’t nearly as good as their 11-0 record suggests. Everybody, Tomlin most of all, knows it.
Between the lines: Let’s be clear about this — last week, the Broncos weren’t the only team that played without a real quarterback.
Tripping up: The next TV analyst who calls the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott a “great” running back — I’m thinking of you, Troy Aikman — has to explain how that description fits with Elliott’s career-low 64.3 rushing yards per game — 3.9 per carry — and recent bouts of fumble-itis. Yes, he’s missing Dak Prescott and first-string linemen, but even so, shouldn’t we expect a great back to be better?
Relentless: The Titans’ Derrick Henry is a great back. Durable. Powerful. A gamebreaker. The last running back to win an MVP award was Adrian Peterson in 2012. Since then, all quarterbacks. Henry belongs on this year’s short list.
Finished: If Robert Griffin III hoped his emergency stint against the Steelers would produce an audition tape to show another quarterback-needy team, he’s better off destroying the evidence. When he went back to pass, he didn’t look fit enough to be a backup anymore.
On a knife’s edge: With his team having lost four of its past five (with Clemson up next, let’s call it five of the past six), Justin Fuente’s future employment at Virginia Tech may ride on the Virginia game. Can he survive a bad season after two losses in a row to the Cavaliers? In normal times, maybe not. But since there’s nothing normal about this year, I’d lean toward a mulligan for Fuente and other beleaguered coaches. Many boosters, no doubt, would disagree.
Local ties: It would be nice if Old Dominion played Norfolk State in basketball every season, but the established Division I structure isn’t built on being neighborly.
Hoop du jour: Could anything in sports be more 2020 than holding the Maui Invitational in Asheville, North Carolina?
Futurewatch: New 76ers coach Doc Rivers expressed a concern that should be shared by all NBA officials and players. With no bubble for the 202021 season and predictions of even more explosive COVID19 outbreaks, it’s naïve to think the season won’t be knocked off course.
High Tide: It’s strange that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of buzz around Alabama, which is only ranked No. 1 and in quarterback Mac Jones has a leading Heisman Trophy candidate. Is this a case of Bama fatigue?
On the move: Russell Westbrook got his wish to leave Houston rather than share the ball with James Harden — the feeling being mutual for Harden. After the trade that saw them ship out John Wall, the Wizards’ backcourt of Westbrook and Bradley Beal is the most potent in the East. All of a sudden, the Wiz are a marquee attraction.
Wondering: Who will set the over-under for canceled and postponed college basketball games?
Net results: You know what it means, don’t you, when highly ranked basketball teams — Virginia, Kentucky, Villanova — are upset this time of year? Means nothing.