By Tim Clark / September 8, 2024 / Column, Tim's Two Cents, Football
Two

The NFL is a long, grinding 17 game season. One week —especially after most starters played very little in preseason games— means very little in the grand scheme. Trying to give hot takes on teams and players is an iffy proposition. Plus, we have all been told not to jump to conclusions since we were in the third grade.

But, what fun would that be?

Of course I am going to give hot takes. That’s part of the job.

Some of these hot takes are so verifiably true that they are really only lukewarm takes. Many should be taken with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Remember, it is football and it is supposed to be fun.

Let’s get this fire started with my Two Cent hot takes.

—-Tyreek Hill was pulled over for speeding on his way to the stadium for Miami’s home opener. He ended up in handcuffs and on the ground face down. He still had a great game and the Miami-Dade police have put one officer on modified duty. The police union says Hill was uncooperative, and the officer followed proper procedure. More on that in my Two Cent Takes.

 


Oh, I’ve got hot takes on this, and none of these will require much imagination. Well, maybe one.

  • Police will continue to target black men in fancy cars.
  • Police will continue to overreact far too often.
  • Trouble will continue to find Tyreek Hill. Karma and all that.
  • Hill will continue to do everything fast, much to his wife’s dismay.

Hill says he wants to be a cop one day, citing the fact he has a trooper’s hat. Weird, I had a Pirates batting helmet as a kid, yet never made it to the major leagues. Hill is great at what he does, so hopefully he will keep his focus there.

—-The Baltimore Ravens had the defending champs beat three different times late in their game last Thursday. Lamar Jackson missed two open receivers then hit Isaiah Likely for the game winner, but his big toe was just barely over the end line. After the game Jackson insisted he still thought it was a touchdown. The Ravens will win their fair share of games, but Jackson just isn’t a good enough thrower. He never has been and never will be.

 

 

This great ending allows me to spread these hot takes all over Baltimore.

  • Lamar Jackson will continue to say dumb things.
  • Isaiah Likely will switch from size 14 to size 13 cleats.
  • Taylor Swift does indeed have magical powers.

It could have been worse for Jackson. He could have been Joe Burrow.

—-The Steelers beat the Falcons with six field goals from Chris Boswell. Justin Fields stepped in and was serviceable at quarterback. George Pickens flexed his muscles, as did Najee Harris. But this was the defense’s day. TJ Watt was unstoppable, despite getting no help from the officials. Russell Wilson will want to get back for next week in Denver. I would keep a package for Fields in play. And how about Steelers Nation showing out in Atlanta. Pittsburgh truly is America’s team. The Terrible Towels make every road game feel like a home game.

 

 

 

 

Here we go with some Steel City hot takes.

  • TJ Watt will continue to get screwed by officials. Holding calls not made and now phantom offsides.
  • Russell Wilson won’t start more than 8 games for the Steelers. Get used to seeing games like Sunday with Justin Fields.
  • The Steelers will go wire to wire in the AFC North only kicking field goals.
  • Mike Tomlin will make kissing players on the head cool.

—-DeShaun Watson has the worst contract in the NFL. Maybe ever. Plus the Browns gave up tons of draft capital to sign Watson. Watson was an unmitigated disaster on Sunday.

 

 

Not to be outdone, Daniel Jones probably has the second worst contract in the NFL. Maybe ever. The Giants let Saquon Barkley walk and kept Jones. 

 


Call these the terrible two hot takes.

  • Jones and Watson will battle to see who gets benched first.
  • At least one of these two teams will fire their GM/coach.

—-Jim Harbaugh is goofy. Jim Harbaugh is strange. Jim Harbaugh is a winner and can motivate players. That is the only of those facts that matter. The Chargers played an ugly game against the Raiders, but they were able to grind out a win. The road will have potholes along the way, but Harbaugh has already got his players on board.

 

 

Harbaugh has a high end quarterback to build around his way. Here are some Harbs hot takes.

  • Harbaugh will have the Chargers in the playoffs by next season.
  • Justin Herbert will not put up as big of numbers under Harbaugh, but he will become a better player.

—-Okay, so there are still more week one hot takes. Or are they predictions. Tomato, tomato. Here is my quick list.

  • Josh Allen will have to carry the Bills more than he already does. This will lead to some missed time due to injury.
  • Jerod Mayo got to experience that winning feeling in New England. He shouldn’t get used to it. The Pats won’t win many more.
  • Joe Burrow will remember he is a really good quarterback. The Bengals will be fine.
  • Sean Payton and Bo Nix are both overrated.
  • Dak Prescott won’t come close to living up to that contract.
  • Caleb Williams stinks. Caleb Williams is a bust. No, I won’t jump to that conclusion. Williams is going to be very good. There is a learning curve for everyone.
  • Jared Goff makes me worry about my Super Bowl pick.
  • Sam Darnold will make himself some money this year, and he will quarterback the Steelers next season.
  • Kyler Murray is hanging out in the DeShaun Watson/Daniel Jones neighborhood.
  • Saquon Barkley will stay healthy and win the MVP.
  • Kyle Shanahan makes everyone look great in his offense. No Christian McCaffrey. No problem. Plug in some guy named Jordan Mason and let him rush for 147 yards. Niners have the best team in the NFC.
  • Can we put the brakes on the Jets hype train? They have some good players. Aaron Rodgers can still sling it. Overall team is average. Head coach Robert Saleh won’t survive a .500 or below season.

Week two will undoubtedly throw cold water on some of these hot takes. For example, the Steelers may score a touchdown. Saquon Barkley may pull a hammy. DeShaun Watson’s teammates may rally around him and lift him up.

 

 

Okay, so maybe not that last one.

It was the first week of a regular season that won’t end until 2025. Why not have some hot take fun. It is football. Football is fun. There is plenty of time to get serious.

For now, I will seal this week’s column with a kiss.

 

 

Two Cent Takes

NFL

~It didn’t take long for officials to become a focal point. The Steelers/Falcons game was horribly officiated, with most of the poor calls going against the Steelers.

~Tom Brady was okay in his debut. Not great. Not terrible. Okay. He will need time to grow into the role, but you can’t help but feel bad for Greg Olsen. Olsen was demoted to make room for Brady on the first team for FOX. Olsen is really good.

~I continue to like Cris Collinsworth in the booth. He and Mike Tirico are a solid tandem for NBC.

~The Giants can never wear these uniforms again.

 

 

MLB

~Two teams that won’t have quite enough to sneak into the playoffs but have gained great momentum for 2025: Detroit and Chicago Cubs. Detroit will have the Cy Young winner in the AL in Tarik Skubal. The Cubs have one of the best managers, Craig Counsell, in baseball.

~The Pirates find new ways to embarrass themselves each week. Last week they get no hit by the Cubs while having Rowdy Tellez pitch for the third time in ten days. Tellez is a position player. Manager Derek Shelton will be the first to go.

~Paul Skenes is a bright spot for Pittsburgh. He lowered his ERA to 2.10 last night and is now up to 151 strikeouts in only 125 innings. He is the obvious rookie of the year in the NL, and could finish third in Cy Young voting.

~The Phillies will more than likely hold off Milwaukee for the second bye in the NL playoffs. The jury is still definitely out on whether you want that bye. I think you want it to set up your rotation for the longer series.

~White Sox watch: 112 losses. Unbelievably bad.

College Football

~Maybe the MAC is better than we thought. Penn State, and more-so Notre Dame, think that is true.

~Boise State had Oregon on the ropes but couldn’t quite finish the job. To date, Oregon has been the least impressive team in the top ten.

~Texas is as good as I thought. Michigan is as poor as I thought.

~Last year USC would have beat Utah State 41-35. This year they beat the Aggies 48-0. The defense is notably different. That sets the Trojans up for a big road matchup at Ann Arbor in two weeks.

~Keep an eye on Tennessee. The Vols definitely look like an upper echelon SEC team.

~This is an honest, emotional reaction to beating Notre Dame, for one of the biggest upsets in college football.

 

Fantastic stuff.

~Weeks like last week and this week are bad for college football. Fans have very few good games to watch.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

#CrazyAB for the win this week.

 


A Penny For My Final Thought…

Notre Dame lost at home to Northern Illinois.

Notre Dame should be eliminated from the college football playoff talk.

The Irish sanctimonious stance on joining a conference, or anything really, is enough to have me eliminate them from consideration. Notre Dame won’t have the opportunity to fight for a conference championship. Almost every team can afford to lose a game and still have a legitimate chance at a playoff spot.

Not Notre Dame. 

The Irish are lucky that Louisville is good again this year. And USC ‘s uptick this year helps strengthen the Notre Dame schedule. Unfortunately Florida State won’t help the Irish schedule strength this year. Two MAC schools —one they already lost to— along with the service academies, Purdue, Stanford, and a few ACC teams makes up the schedule. Why they don’t just join the ACC for football is beyond me.

If they were in the ACC, all would not seem lost. That conference championship would still be dangling there for Notre Dame to grab. Wins over Texas A&M, Louisville, Florida State, and USC would all be good wins. The only one of that bunch that could be a great win is USC. Otherwise, none of those wins offsets losing to Northern Illinois at home.

I am not sure how good this Irish team is. Riley Leonard doesn’t seem up to the task of playing at a high profile school.

I am also not sure how good of a coach Marcus Freeman is. It appears the players like him, but the record is the record. In his first year he lost to Marshall and Stanford at home. Last year he lost to Louisville and a mediocre Clemson team. Now, he loses to Northern Illinois at home. That doesn’t fly in South Bend.

None of that is the point here.

As long as Notre Dame is an independent, they should be treated differently. Isn’t that what they want anyway? To be special.

Without the rigors of a conference schedule, a lack of quality opponents, and no chance at a conference championship, Notre Dame has to walk the tightrope to be included in the playoffs. Losing to a MAC team at home should knock them off that tightrope.

It was a crushing loss, and I would certainly not be surprised if there are more losses to come.

Any way you cut it, there is no way a non conference championship team that lost to Northern Illinois at home should be considered for a playoff spot.

Hopefully the committee will see it the same way. Or maybe by the end of the season Notre Dame will have bigger problems.

Just my two cents…