Name XLI | Thursday Night Preview | NY Yankees & Jets Banter | Critiquing the Critics | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
This is the 41st Edition of “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls. Talk about committing to the bit. Nah, it’s more than that, not only is this a great tune but the lyrics fit what I mean by “His or Her Words, Not Mine.”
At the end of the day, or I guess we’re in the middle of the Week, I’m just a fan of sports with some other interests like I’d assume many of you are that are reading this. If you ever have your own take on sports, music, history, Guinness, or life, whether I’ve known you since Tee-Ball or just met you this week while drinking a pint, you can always fire away. “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.” I came up with that. Nah, that would be Oscar Wilde. Obviously, if you send me some unhinged shit that I wouldn’t even write on Week to Week Notes I’m not going to include you here, but for all the adults who read this, I value your opinion. Either way, I won’t tell no one your name unless you want your name on Week to Week Notes.
Thursday Night Preview
Tonight we are blessed with an AFC North matchup on Thursday Night Football. Both teams have elite QB play that has kept each team as perennial contenders. QB Joe Burrow has been a Bengal since ‘20 and has gone 29-21-1 (27-14 if you take away his rookie season). In the prior 4 seasons without the #1 pick of the ‘20 NFL Draft, Cincinnati was 21-42 and had not made a Super Bowl since 1989. QB Lamar Jackson took over the starting job for Baltimore in ‘18 and has amassed a 52-19 record since. While the Ravens have been for sure a much more competitive franchise without Jackson, the 5 seasons prior to his arrival they combined for a 40-40 record with only 1 playoff appearance. In the NFL there are QBs who put up flashy numbers on bad teams and then you have star QBs who win while putting up stats, these two fall into the latter category.
Both Burrow and Lamar are 26 years old with similar deserved massive contract extensions they signed this past offseason. Joe Burrow right before the season signed a 5-year deal with $219 million guaranteed while Lamar Jackson was franchised tagged at the start of the offseason before signing a 4-year $185 million guaranteed extension. In Lamar Jackson’s case, he negotiated the contract without an agent, the largest deal without representation in NFL history. In Joe Burrow’s case, he signed on the dotted line right before the season started and when he was currently dealing with a calf injury that had him out for all of preseason. At one point early in this season, there were guys who talk sports for a living who were questioning these deals and both these guys have quieted that noise since. After starting the season 1-3, Burrow since Week 5 has thrown 146 completions on 197 passes (74% completion percentage) for 1,480 passing yards with 12 TDs & 3 INTs. The Ravens only started this season 3-2, since Week 6 Lamar Jackson has thrown 94 completions on 133 attempts (71% completion percentage) for 1,147 passing yards with 6 TDs& 3 INTs. During this stretch, Jackson has also rushed for 216 yards and 1 score.
After going on hot streaks to right their ships in the middle of the season, both of these teams are coming off a tough loss where their opponents kicked game-winning field goals in the closing minutes of the game. The Bengals will be without WR Tee Higgins and pass rusher Sam Hubbard. For the Ravens, a name worth mentioning is rookie RB Keaton Mitchell who head coach John Harbaugh has said this week is in line for more reps on Thursday night. Mitchell broke out in Week 9 to the tune of 9 carries for 138 rushing yards and 1 TD. He followed that up with 3 carries for 34 yards and a TD last week to go with a 32-yard catch. The undrafted running back out of East Carolina has blazing speed and is averaging an absurd 14.3 yards per carry thanks to the 39 & 60-yard runs he’s broken in his 1st real NFL regular season action. I’d say look for him to break one tonight and I’ll take the Ravens, who are healthier and at home.
Prediction: 23-19 BAL (-3.5 BAL & Under 46)
NY Yankees & Jets Banter
11/9 ‘23
Bart knows
I agree with all of that. Zach still stinks.
And btw - your comparison of end-of-career Peyton Manning to our current President couldn’t be more accurate 😂😂😂
11/10 ‘23
Saw that. I’m not sure if he knows anything - but I hope he’s right.
Hope he’s got inside stuff on this. Also, I think Stanton has been treated pretty fair. He’s good with the media, and he’ll answer questions and take the blame, but he also came here coming off an MVP season, has been a Yank for 6 years, and only played over 140 games once as a full-time DH. I root for him but how can his tenure in NY not be looked at as disappointing?
10000% agree. When your best attribute is owning up to failures - you have not met expectations. I like him too but we need to move on.
I agree too. Stanton is a good guy who is trying his best and has always been accountable, and he’s had some clutch moments. He’s also been a pretty big disappointment all things considered and his inability to stay healthy or play the field has really hurt our roster flexibility.
11/11 ‘23
Who is that?
Caleb Durbin. Going to be 24 and plays 3rd, should get a spring training invite.
(@YouTheReader Caleb Durbin was acquired from the Atlanta Braves farm for Lucas Luetge last winter. Durbin last year in 69 games on the Yanks Single A+ and Double AA teams hit .304 with 36 stolen bases and only struck out 18 times. This past Arizona Fall League season, where some of the premier minor league talent play a mini-season, Durbin in 23 games hit .353 with a .456 on-base while going yard 3 times with 21 steals. He has the potential to have an impact in the Bronx this upcoming season.)
11/12 ‘23
*Pre-game*
Jets 24-13
A two-score game would be nice.
The Giants sucking much worse than the Jets doesn’t really mean much - but it’s fun to see anyway.
They are an unmitigated disaster
0 mitigation.
*Game time*
Shannon just burst out laughing at “And the jets have scored on their first possession for the first time this year”… So did I tbh
How’d the Pats do today? Long flight home.
“I knew that was coming”
Penalty and a drop from their best receiver - but I guess Zach sucks.
They can’t get out of their own way
Flag on every good play
They have to get rid of Uzama
Get him off the field
4 runs - no passes. o coordinator sucks.
Yup. Becton also totally whiffed on that block
Arron hates it too.
Saleh can’t keep saying self-inflicted wounds. Basically saying they have no discipline - which is coaching.
It’s terrible. They should be winning this game by at least 10.
Zach was playing well first couple of drives - looked comfortable. Then we just run and run. Zero balls downfield. Boring at shit and doesn’t work. So either Saleh wants this or he should do something about it.
Penalty every play. Joke.
Every single play
It’s insane
Awful - it’s coaching
GW is hurt
He needs to get back in the game
Yup
We’re not scoring again on offense tonight. Need to hope the defense can get a pick 6
Pathetic
Yanks should have done this. Jets too (in their own stadium).
Down 7 in the 4q. Hopefully, we can score 3 field goals and win the game.
Hackett can’t be back next year. Idc if he and Rodgers are friends. He is a disaster
Saleh saying that we are so close is a bad look.
If Garrett Wilson waited half a second that would have been a touchdown. Although Lazard probably drops it tbh.
Lazzard ran out of bounds instead of running upfield. Garret had nowhere to throw the ball. Lazzard is bad.
Defense getting bitched all over the field. Game is over
We got 2 field goals left in us. Let’s go !!!!
I think they’re gonna say he’s down (Josh Jacobs fumble)
Nah. Lazzard sucks - even when he catches the ball.
Same old jets. Season is over.
Lazard stinks. That pick was on him. The offense is so bad - never seen anything this bad. And I honestly think the coach with the weird eyes would do better than Hackett. We just lost to a back up rookie qb and an interim coach. We have 1 TD in 3 games. Saleh in the press conference - first 2 sentences “self-inflicted wounds” “shooting ourselves in the foot”. I’m sick of it.
He’s being put in a terrible spot bc Rodgers made the Jets hire this clown. We went all in on Rodgers and had to get all the stuff that came with it - except we didn’t get Rodgers
He’s gonna get Saleh and JD fired. They were building something good and now, unless Rodgers comes back healthy next year, they are done. Teams that make too many penalties usually have bad coaching. I would bench Lazard and Uzama - and show the team there has to be some accountability.
I agree. They both absolutely suck. Zach is bad and not the answer. Tonight was not on him though. Felt like he played alright.
He was fine and would have been better if he had help.
But 1 touchdown in 3 games in not acceptable and realistically QB is most important position. But we failed to acquire a real backup this off-season or mid-season so Zach is definitely the best option we have. Josh Dobbs was traded for a 7th-round pick and has won 2 games.
Offensive coordinator, penalties, drops. Not defending Zach - but look at the Vikings game. How many of those did they have? And if Zach is so bad in year three that they can’t run basic plays - then everyone should be fired for drafting him and/or keeping him. It’s not him (he’s not good I know) - but he is not the reason they are not scoring. He played better than the porn star-looking guy tonight. They stopped trying after the 3rd drive. No idea why.
No playoffs since I was in 8th grade. Need to go to bed. That was brutal.
If we just ever had an offense - we could have kept Rex. He would have been an elite head coach. And watching the post-game - all of our guys Breece, Sauce, Garret - seem so dejected. So bad.
11/13 ‘23
The more I think about it I really don’t know what Saleh is supposed to do. He’s been given no options. Aaron Rodgers hand-picked offensive coordinator (terrible) and hand-picked wide receivers (Cobb is so bad he isn’t even active and Lazard is terrible). The offensive line is injured and inconsistent (Joe Douglas was supposed to be Mr. OLine - failure). Joe Douglas refused to give up on his failed top-pick QB and trusted him to back up a 40-year-old with ZERO plan if Rodgers got hurt (even if he just missed a few games, still a terrible plan). The only other QB on the active roster is Rodgers buddy and basically not a real football player. How is he supposed to do anything about that?
No idea. But that’s his job - and he’s going to lose the locker room if they don’t do something. Read/watch the comments. Players are disgusted - not just the defense - the offensive players too - they know something is really wrong. And if Zach is the problem it’s on Saleh at this point for not benching him. And if it’s much deeper than Zach - Saleh has to be able to talk to Rogers and let him know why he has to make changes. Rogers is literally on the sidelines and sees the same things we all do. The offense sucks. They have 2 wide receiver - and he has drops too. This is why Rex got fired.
Agreed but I also think it’s on Joe Douglas then more than anyone else. Why is our offense worse than it was with Adam Gase? We have no talent at receiver other than GW. Why didn’t we draft one instead of a defensive end who barely plays?
It’s terrible. Saleh being a defensive coach too is probably bleeding into offense. Him telling Dungy in the pregame that the game is a “race to 20” in today’s football isn’t great. Sure, us fans can say that, but if the team/defense has to play with no margin for error, stuff spirals when they make mistakes (penalties, drops, etc.)
Pass rusher was probably them giving themselves leverage with Huff, plus can never have enough pass rushers. WR wasn’t supposed to be a need, during draft they almost had too many (Corey Davis). If Rodgers were healthy they probably would’ve overspent at deadline to get Adams/Evans. Now choice will be paying Huff or going after one of vet WR.
They have no excuses tho, half the league is playing with 1st time starters or backup QBs, the Jets got a head start with theirs and the offense is the worst or 2nd worst to the Giants.
If Saleh had a below average defense - they’d be 6-3 if not 7-2. What they are rolling out here is a disgrace and it will cost him his job if he doesn’t do something. I have no idea what they saw during the game, but what I saw and whatever everyone seemed to see was - 1st three drives offense moving the ball and Zach playing with confidence. “Shooting our selves in the foot” crap but the offense was moving. Then they basically just ran the ball up the gut and played scared the rest of game. Like they wanted to win 9-6 or something. Horrendous.
I agree that Saleh quote was bad. I like McDonald and think he’ll be good, it’s just so frustrating that this team consistently fails to find any kind of playmakers on offense. Maybe it’s bc our QB sucks but why does every team have 2 or more receivers that can do something and we don’t
All gas no brake - BS - foot is on the brake the whole game.
This draft we should literally only draft o-lineman and wide receivers. Which is crazy bc I’ve been saying that for the past 5 drafts but it’s true. We are terrible at those 2 positions and that’s why we suck (aside from horrible QB)
We have 1 - and I agree at one point it seemed like we had too many. We did - too many that can’t catch or separate. If rogers is healthy and committed to coming back - I agree. If not they have to draft a QB (and probably have to anyway).
Allen Lazard has to be hurt or something. He runs like he has cinderblocks for shoes
They match his hands.
This is probably what saves Saleh go 1 more year.
Gross
This is me.
Yep. It has been a terrible day.
Rogers may have set the franchise back 5 years.
Need to draft a QB.
Judge’s guy
Unbelievable they roll him out on 3rd down all the time
Cash either wants to get fired or he’s trying to get Stanton to ask for a trade. I don’t think what he said was wrong - but not very cool thing to do to one of your players.