HOW CAN PATS BE WEAKEST LINK?
Brady likes to toot the underdog horn too much, too often
Isn’t this rich? Tom Brady and the Patriots are working hard at claiming the underdog role in the playoffs.
“I know everybody thinks we suck and can’t win any games,” he said after New England’s rout of the Chargers. If that’s what Brady needs to do to create motivation for himself and the team, so be it. But he sounds ridiculous.
Job One: Kansas City’s defense and everybody else in Chiefs red are cooked if K.C. doesn’t find a way to pressure Brady. Against the Chargers, he worked out of such a clean pocket he could have been wearing a tuxedo.
Replay possibility: A Patriots victory would put Bill Belichick and Brady in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years. Try to contain your excitement.
Not so Big Easy: If only because they’re at home Sunday, the Saints should be a slight favorite against the Rams. New Orleans beat L.A. 45-35 at the Superdome in November, but are Drew Brees and Co. up to the task this time? Over their last six games, the Saints have averaged only 19 points.
Roman style: Clever tweet from radio talk-show host and
NFL Network reporter Rich Eisen: “In order to play the Super Bowl, shouldn’t Maroon 5 have to change their name to Maroon V?”
Star trekking: College football players who want to switch schools must enter what the NCAA now is calling the “transfer portal.” Who’s in charge of this portal, Captain James T. Kirk?
Future watch: Chances are good that Kyler Murray will choose football over baseball, and not only because he’ll reap a larger financial payout just for signing with a team.
As a quarterback in the newlook NFL, Murray’s blazing speed can make up for his lack of size. But if he can’t hit the curve ... well, nobody’s ever been able to steal first base.
Hoops du jour: If watertight, experienced and undefeated Virginia isn’t favored over injuryrattled, young and point-guardmissing Duke on Saturday, the touts and sporting public just aren’t paying attention.
Radical idea: Former Michael Jordan running mate Scottie Pippen thinks Duke freshman Zion Williamson should quit the college game this minute, lest he injure himself and risk his No. 1 NBA draft status. He compared it with college football players skipping bowl games.
Zion won’t go that route. But on another note, with his build, aggressiveness and athleticism, college refs don’t know how to officiate him.
The run-up: Judging by the screaming that’s coming from my TV, basketball mavens are working hard to gin up interest in the college game. And yet, it’s still too soon. Without the brackets, college hoops is intramural sweating.
Wild, Wild West: Informed after his team’s victory over New Orleans Wednesday night that Steph Curry just became the first NBA player to make eight or more 3-pointers in three consecutive games, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “James Harden didn’t do that?” My reaction, precisely.
Launching: In the New Orleans-Golden State game — final score 147-140 — the teams combined to make 43 3-pointers, breaking the record set by the Warriors and Sacramento Kings just 10 days earlier.
And in Brooklyn Wednesday night, the Nets scored 46 points in the fourth quarter alone against Houston to send the game into overtime before beating the Rockets, despite Harden’s 58 points.
The axiom that nothing succeeds like excess is being stretched to the limit by scoring orgies and 3-point onslaughts. Just wait. There will be a fan and media backlash.
The future: There shouldn’t have been a second of doubt or controversy over who would be the Eagles’ No. 1 quarterback next season. It was always going to be Carson Wentz. Mainly because he’s younger and better than Nick Foles, if that counts for anything.
Flesh tones: In explaining why Sports Illustrated is pushing its annual swimsuit issue from February to May, editor MJ Day said, “It’s always hard to think about buying a swimsuit when it’s 18 degrees out.”
Right. Because all these years, the swimsuit issue was meant to be a bikini catalog for women, not a guilty pleasure for boys and men. How did we get that so wrong?
And finally: The Briefs will be taking a “bye” week. See you back here soon.