Speaking of Sports.....

I have to say that the football season thus far, both NFL and NCAA, has been nothing short of terrific.  (Caveat: this excludes the prime time games that the NFL has been feeding us on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays.  By and large, THOSE games have been clunkers.)  So much so, that I am going to start this little treatise by going back a week to the Sunday morning game in London between Green Bay and the New York Giants.

The Giants cemented their title as "Surprise Team of the First One-Third of the Season" by handing it to Aaron Rodgers and the Pack that morning (and what exactly is wrong with an NFL game to watch at 9:30 on a Sunday morning??), and they doubled down on it by beating the Ravens this past weekend after Lamar Jackson spit the bit not once, but twice, in the fourth quarter.  The Giants now sit at 5-1, and who saw THAT coming?   

The rise of the Giants also ties in with another unexpected rise, that of their Meadowlands co-tenants, the Jets, who now sit at 4-2 after beating those same Packers at Lambeau Field this past Sunday.  

Come to think of it, perhaps it's the Packers who are the "Surprise Team of the First One-Third of the Season", although not in a good way.

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The best game of this past weekend was the marquis game between the KayCee Chiefs and the Buff Bills headlined by the QB match-up of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.  The Bills won this one 24-20 when Allen hit  tight end Dawson Knox for a touchdown with 1:04 remaining in the game.  This TD pass was preceded by a drive-preserving run for a first down by Allen that included this jaw-dropping move:

Yep, Allen did his best Edwin Moses impression by fully in stride hurdling the Chiefs safety.  Like I said, it was jaw-dropping, and Allen has clearly established himself as perhaps the leading MVP candidate in the League at this point.  The Bills and the Chiefs are also clearly the two best teams, certainly in the AFC, at this point, and we can all only hope that they meet once agin in the Playoffs come January.

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This brings us to the local gridders, the Steelers.  After being handed a 38-3 loss to Allen and the Bills in Week 5, the Steelers had dropped to 1-4, and the season appeared to be headed to the dumper.  Especially with a Week 6 matchup against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in Week 6.  The game appeared to be a hopeless cause for the Steelers in light of the fact that both TJ Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick and their top three cornerbacks were out for the game as well.  Surely Brady would carve them up like a Thanksgiving turkey, right?

Steelers 20 - Buccaneers 18.

This is why you play the games, and games like this are why you follow sports.

The improbable hero was much maligned QB Mitch Trubisky who came into the game for an injured Kenny Pickett, and led the team on a touchdown drive that culminated in a TD by the other offensive hero of the day, Chase Claypool, and another drive that ran out the clock to preserve a two point lead, a drive that featured two no-chance-in-Hell third and long conversions by Trubisky that maintained possession and allowed him to take a knee to end the game.

This still most likely will be a rebuilding year for the Steelers as Pickett, who will probably sit out this week's game against Miami in concussion protocol, develops into the quarterback the Steelers and their fans hope that he will become.  However, they are now 2-4, tied with the Browns and one game behind the 3-3 Bengals and Ravens in the AFC North, and this is the NFL, so you never know, do you?

Anyway, some scenes from a joyous Accrisure Stadium this past Sunday.

The heroes....

And some Heroes with the G.O.A.T.....

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Okay, I've gone on too long to go into the college football scene, but the two games of most interest this past weekend were:

Tennessee 52 - Alabama 49

Michigan 41 - Penn State 17 (and the game wasn't even that close)

Both stunners.

Maybe next week will be the time for The Grandstander to delve into the NCAA doings.

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One final sort-of-football note.

Billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft ("billionaire" being perhaps the key word here) married Dr. Dana Blumberg this past weekend.  Dr. Blumberg, you can see, is an attractive blonde and is 34 years younger than Kraft.  Blumberg is a doctor, so presumably she has a great degree of intelligence so maybe this isn't the embodiment of the cliche of Rich Old Goat Marries Hot Much Younger Woman Looking For A Sugar Daddy.

No word in any of the news stories as to whether or not attendants from the Orchids of Asia Health Spa served as bridesmaids.

Steelers 16 - Jaguars 15

 

Thoughts, comments, and take-aways from last night's Steelers win, which, we all need to be reminded, was a practice game.

• Mitch Trubisky started and played three series.  The Steelers didn't score while he was in there.  The most encouraging thing about his performance was his ability to get out of the pocket and move away from pressure.   That is going to be a really, really important attribute to have given how the team's offensive line performed.
• Kenny Picket played two series, went 6-for-7, and produced a TD drive in the last minute of the half that gave the Steelers a 7-6 lead at intermission.  He looked poised and calm and like a veteran NFL QB.  Again, let us all remember that this was a practice game.
• Mason Rudolph played the entire second half, went 17-21, and led a late fourth quarter drive himself that produced the winning touchdown for the Steelers.  He was also called for intentional grounding in his own end zone that resulted in a safety for Jacksonville, and undoubtedly THIS is what the talk show crowd will focus on all week.
• That said, if the Steelers are showcasing Rudolph in advance of a possible trade, last night did not hurt that cause.
• Dionte Johnson played and looked like his brief hold-in had no adverse affect on him.
• TJ Watt played, had one sack, and looks ready to defend his DPOY title.
• Najee Harris didn't play, and the running game was not as impressive as it was in the prior week against Seattle.
• The Steelers offensive line, as noted above, appears to be a cause for concern.  The Jags applied great pressure on the Pittsburgh QB's and the running backs were held pretty much in check.
• Jacksonville seemed to have success, at least when their "varsity" was playing, running up the middle against the Steelers.  Whether this is because Cam Heyward wasn't playing or because the Steelers inside linebackers aren't any good, I will leave for others to discuss.  That said, I didn't see Devin Bush make any plays of note.
• Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence.  He's pretty good.  For his sake, I hope that the Jags organization can build a team to take advantage of his obvious skills.  He'll be fun to watch if they do.
• Finally, they say that it is foolish to bet on NFL exhibition games.  All I can say is that last week I bet the Steelers on the point spread and last night the Steelers on the money line.  Won both bets!

As I said at the beginning, we all need to remember that these are exhibition games.  Many of the guys playing will be selling mutual funds or coaching high school football a year from now, so who really, outside of the coaches, knows what these games portend.  Still, it's better to see your team win them than lose them.