Whenever I’d travel for business to what folks I grew up with and my fellow executives who never bothered to schlep on planes to what they’d all diss as “flyover states” I’d get very defensive. Not that I was making many friends of my own in the process. But I’d often experience at least some form of prejudice from folks I’d interact with just by asking for directions or handing them my oversized luggage to load into a trunk or onto a cart. Whether it was a teeth-clenched “what brings YOU here?” or a muttered “friggin’ big shot from the Coast” I’d know they were only dealing with me by necessity.
I suspect if any of them happen to be NFL fans they’re probably doing backflips at least in the minds based on the results of yesterday’s games. Both sets of teams that share the stadia in Inglewood and East Rutherford all suffered losses with few signs of even competitiveness in the process. Perhaps the most surprising and embarrassing was what I thankfully avoided seeing in person despite a last-minute outreach by someone with a spare ticket since my current employer is none too forgiving toward folks who don’t provide 48 hours notice. It took both Nate Atkins and Doug Haller to detail this one for THE ATHLETIC:
The preseason Super Bowl favorites are now 2-4 after a stunning 18-16 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
After the Los Angeles Rams took the lead with 47 seconds left — when punter Ethan Evans, filling in for injured kicker Blake Grupe, converted his first NFL extra point — the Cardinals immediately responded. Wide receiver Jalen Brooks caught a 21-yard pass, but the play went for 36 because of an unnecessary roughness penalty on cornerback Josh Wallace.
That set up Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland for his sixth (and most important) field goal of the game — a 43-yarder as time expired. The Rams, who entered Week 6 with the NFL’s No. 1 total offense, managed just 286 yards against a Cardinals defense that was allowing a league-worst 32.4 points per game.
The fact that the Rams have at least on paper a favorable run immediately in front of them is more than offset by the reality that they have now lost two consecutive home games within six days, the latest being to a team they were favored by 12 1/2 points to whup–the biggest outright upset of a pointspread favorite this season. And they now have the same exact record as a team that can’t seem to put together consecutive weeks of competence in their own right. The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS’ Antwan Staley was forced to describe this one:
The Jets keep finding ways to stay in games. Then they find ways to lose them. A touchdown erased by a penalty. Three red-zone trips without reaching the end zone. Two takeaways that produced just six points. The opportunities were there Sunday. The Jets squandered enough of them to leave Gillette Stadium with a 26-19 loss to the Patriots and another week of explaining what went wrong.
Through six games, the Jets (2-4) have repeatedly undermined themselves with costly penalties, turnovers, stalled possessions and an inability to capitalize on opponents’ mistakes. The details change. The damage does not.
At least they can hang their helmets on the likelihood they will not wind up with the conference’s worst record as they have twice before this decade. That distinction appears all the more likely to wind up with the Rams’ SoFi Stadium roommates. And as ESPN’s Anthony Gharib wrote last night all signs are that things could be getting way worse:
Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said “we have to address everything, and especially offensively” after his team crumbled again in a 22-6 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
The defeat moved the Chargers to 0-6 for the first time since 2000, a campaign in which they went 1-15 and Harbaugh suited up for the team in his final season as a player. The franchise has been 0-6 only one other time, in 1975.
The Chargers’ misery mostly lies on the offensive end this season, the first under new coordinator Mike McDaniel. After scoring a season-low six points Sunday with just 259 total yards, the Chargers lowered their 30th-ranked points-per-game average to 15.0. When asked whether McDaniel will continue to call plays, Harbaugh said, “We’re going to look at everything.
Given that Mikey Mac’s most immediate prior employers, the Miami Dolphins, are currently the only other winless team in the NFL it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he doesn’t get thrown under a bus. Were Chargers ownership even slightly more passionate than they are one would think they would be seriously thinking of Harbaugh joining him. But if recent history is an indicator it’s entirely possible they both might stick around and at least ensure two breathing humans will be watching the balance of this lost season play out.
If there is a ray of hope to be found among this moribund quartet it is with the Giants, somehow still in first place in a pathetic NFC Least despite what USA TODAY GIANTS’ WIRE’s Dan Benton detailed:
The New York Giants lost to the New Orleans Saints, 34-27, on Sunday at MetLife Stadium and dropped to 3-2-1 after a late comeback fell short.
Jameis Winston started and went 14 of 26 for 152 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions before giving way to J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy went 11 of 21 for 243 yards and a touchdown as New York scored 17 points in the fourth quarter but could not erase a 34-10 deficit. Malik Nabers caught 12 passes for 165 yards.
The most glaring takeaway from Sunday is that running back Cam Skattebo took just six snaps, the second-fewest on the team. That’s especially notable because it wasn’t just a snap decrease; it was essentially a role elimination. In his absence, Giants running backs gained just 34 yards on 14 carries (2.4 ypc).
This now leaves the two most likely candidates to not have to pay for a meal on the New York sports scene—Skatt and the already done-for-the-year MAGA apologist quarterback Jaxxon Dart—effectively as observers and yeah, people who will probably have to tip even bigger than I did when I was hoping to get my luggage back in one piece.
But thanks to the fact that the equally quarterback-lacking Iggles and the listless Cowboys both lost the Giants are somehow in line for a home playoff game—likely against a flyover state representative with a better record whose fans will be forced to schlep to Jersey in January. Always a fun jaunt.
At least their cabbies and bellhops can treat them the way I was.
Courage…