Sort of a quiet Thanksgiving around here, with a relatively small number of family able to gather. On the plus side, it enabled me to spend a whole lot of time watching football, with fewer distractions than in many other years. A few takeaways.
Lions 45, Eagles 14. I wish I had put more stock into the notion that the Lions are playing pretty well these days and the Eagles maybe have tuned out the coaching staff. Not sure what else you can conclude after the Lions marched up and down the field through Philadelphia like a hot knife through turkey. After the game you had Eagles players voicing support for Chip Kelly and Kelly saying they'd get things turned around and all that, but action speak louder than words. The defense was sleepwalking out there. Philadelphia's next game is in New England. I realize the Patriots have some injuries, but their defense is pretty good. It seems like another week when Philly's offense will fall into a deep hole and be unable to run the ball, and the passing game disappoints as the quarterback gets knocked around. And are any of these receivers much good? Hasn't looked like it lately. When they lose at New England they'll be 4-8. Season over.
For the Lions, they're looking strangely competent these days. Matthew Stafford has been very good of late, Calvin Johnson is tearing it up, even Golden Tate has got back on the map. Eric Ebron is still terrible. The running game has looked a little more functional, They host the Packers next Thursday and it looks like their offense will be OK in that game.
Panthers 33, Cowboys 14. You kind of feel bad for Tony Romo, well I do anyway. Seems like a good guy and doesn't deserve another bad break. But the Cowboys offense is now well and cooked. I don't think you want to be starting any of their receivers the rest of the way, including Dez Bryant, who will probably kind of lose interest in things. Cole Beasley should catch a lot of passes, I guess. Terrance Williams can be cut. About the only Cowboy I think might be OK is Darren McFadden. Not that he'll run for very much out there, but he's a big part of the passing game and that should continue. Next two games are at Washington and Green Bay, and it's possible McFadden will be the only guy you really want to start.
As for Carolina, they're similar in many ways to the Seahawks of the last couple of years. Maybe it's just because their entire wide receiving corps is kind of useless in fantasy leagues. Team is playing fantastic defense, and the dual-threat quarterback is doing it all without really having to throw to wideouts. Jonathan Stewart is playing great. Defense, kicker, Newton, Olsen. Three of the next four are against bad Saints and Falcons teams. Others are against Giants and Bucs teams that are plenty beatable.
Bears 17, Packers 13. The Bears are suddenly 5-6 and if the Vikings were to lose at Atlanta Sunday would be only two games out of first in the NFC North. Kind of crazy. Jay Cutler looks like a new quarterback, playing with confidence and carefulness. Making accurate throws and good decisions. The team has two very good running backs and a great receiver, couple of good receiving tight ends. Defense is impressive all of a sudden. Chicago is home against San Francisco and Washington the next two weeks. Winnable games, clearly.
With Green Bay, it's not hard to look at the drops by the wide receivers as being a huge part of the problem. This offense really misses Jordy Nelson, has all year. Davante Adams may be talented but he's turned in some clunkers. James Jones disappears for large portions of games, almost like he's a mediocre talent given up on by a couple of different teams in the last year. Randall Cobb was a lot better as a No. 2 than a No. 1. Only Eddie Lacy looks really good right now, even though he fumbled yesterday and was damn lucky to get credit for a touchdown when he tossed the ball away just short of the end zone. How hard is it to hang onto the ball until you're actually fully across the goal line? Good grief.
I don't think the Packers are going to put up big numbers the rest of the way, either. They're at Detroit, no gimme right now. Home against Dallas -- a win, certainly, but the Cowboys defense has been stingy for most of the season. At Oakland and at Arizona.
We were talking about the NFC Playoff picture the other day. So the top two seeds are almost certainly going to be Carolina and Arizona. The NFC North will send two teams to the playoffs, and the NFC East will send one who will get quickly dispatched by a wild card team. Not hard to see Seattle being the one to do it. Will be shocking though if we don't get Carolina versus Arizona for Super Bowl 50.