5-at-10: NFL Power Poll, college football statements, NBA predictions, Rushmore of all-time news conference rants from coaches

Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) is congratulated by head coach Sean McVay after Gurley scored a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans on an 80-yard pass reception in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) is congratulated by head coach Sean McVay after Gurley scored a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans on an 80-yard pass reception in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

NFL Power Poll

The NFL is about balance. There is the balance of the league. The balance of the salary cap. The balance of power. The balance of perception.


The rules - draft order and weighted schedules especially - are in place to make the optimum year with every team not quarterbacked by Tom Brady be 9-7 or 7-9.


That said, there is one thing that balance does not apply to anymore, and that is the balance between the importance of offense and defense in today's NFL.

Sure, it's the regular season, but under these new rules and with these high-flying offenses here's betting we will go a long time before we see a Ray Lewis-Ed Reed-Ravens or a Sapp-Brooks-Bucs defensive Super Bowl champ.

Look at the best defenses in the league. Jacksonville? Denver? Dallas, maybe?

By points allowed, the best defenses in the league, in order, are Baltimore (12.8), Dallas (17.2), Tennessee (17.8) and Chicago (19.2). Do any of those teams scare you come playoff time with the quarterbacking law firm of Flacco, Prescott, Mariota and Trubisky? Exactly.

And America is here for it. Sunday Night Football between the high-flying Chiefs and the traditionally awesome Patriots drew monster ratings with a 14.6 share. It's the best SNF rating since week one of 2017. It was a 34 percent jump from the weekly comp from 2017, which marks the fifth straight double-digit increase year to date for SNF. It was the best-ever Week 6 number in the 13 seasons of the NBC broadcast.

Now, to be fair, it will not be all about offense - Atlanta and Tampa Bay are among the top 10-scoring teams in the league - but powering today's NFL starts with points. Period.

Power poll

Los Angeles Rams (6-0). Todd Gurley is the best player in the NFL. And let's be honest, the average NFL defensive player makes several hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the guys who are asked to tackle Gurley earn every penny of that. (Points per game: 32.7, which is third in the league.)

Kansas City (5-1). Yes, the Chiefs lost to the Pats in Foxboro. Yes, there are major defensive issues for these Chiefs. But man, what an offense. Seriously. And here's a side note about all the rule changes: The smaller, shiftier slot guys now have more impact because DBs can't level those dudes coming over the middle anymore. And when those shiftier (a very scary word to type friends), smaller dudes have the next gear like Tyreek Hill, well, good luck with that. (PPG: 35.8, which is second in the league.)

New England (4-2). Uh, yeah, we can official poo-poo all those, "Pats are done stories" and changing of the guard conversations right? And yes, this is the same guy that a few weeks ago had these Pats in the powerless poll. While we are here, how often do you forget that Tom Brady is a 41-year-old man? Yeah, me too. (PPG: 29.3, which is fourth in the league.)

New Orleans (4-1). A lot was made of Drew Brees setting the all-time passing mark. And rightly so. But did you know there have been 11 seasons in which a qualifying quarterback has completed 70 percent or more of his passes. Exactly one quarterback has done it more than once, and Brees has done it four times. And, to make his command of the offense and the football even more impressive, he's completing almost 78 percent of his throws this season, which would top his own single-season record by close to 6 percent. (PPG: 36.0, which is first in the league.)

Los Angeles Chargers (4-2). Yes, it is the Chargers first appearance in the power poll. They have a great offense - notice a theme friends - and maybe the most balanced running attack in the league. The Chargers had seven non-QBs run the ball in the destruction of the Browns. Side question: Who has the better Hall of Fame chance, Philip Rivers or Eli Manning? (PPG: 29.2, which is fifth in the league.)

Powerless

San Francisco (1-5). We almost put the Bills here, and we were tempted to put the Titans here because, well, that's a rotten offense right now. But the 49ers have one win and will be stuck on that number for at least another week considering they have the Rams next Sunday. In an interesting side note, that game was originally slated for Sunday Night Football, but it was flexed out because of the 49ers struggles after the injury to Jimmy GQ. To the credit of almost everyone involved with that franchise though, the 49ers are still fighting.

Oakland (1-5). The only fighting left for the other NFL team in the Bay Area is in-fighting. We ask it again: How good was Jon Gruden anyway, if you believe he got this mythical-like rep because of some clever phrasing and interesting sideshows on ESPN? Also, if we had to ask if Gruen's resume is not that much better than, say Brian Bullock's, what would you say? If you think those guys are close, then Gruden got $10 million for a Chucky-like stare and some Maddenisms in the booth. Yeah, Romo is doing fine behind the mic and the Corona desk during commercial breaks. Pretty sire I don't want my team giving him a nine-figure deal to run my 10-figure operation either.

Indianapolis (1-5). Andrew Luck is operating with a surgically repaired shoulder. Well, apparently they must think it's robotic. After digging early holes, here are Luck's attempts in the last three games: 43, 59, and 62. The Colts lost all three despite averaging more than 30 per. Egad. And here's the crazy thing, in a completely untrustworthy AFC South, the Colts are only two games back and no way out of this puppy.

New York Giants (1-5). How do the Giants break up with Eli Manning, because it's time. In some ways though, it's also fitting, considering that Manning waited his rookie year behind Kurt Warner before getting the reins. Maybe the long-term answer is not on the Giants roster, but we know that Manning is at the end. And the theory of New York dealing Eli to Jacksonville for a late push, well, who knows.

Arizona (1-5). Gross. We have affirmed that points are power right. Try this on for the most powerless. In five games, the Saints have 180 points. In six games, the Cardinals have 82 points. That's six more than the Bills, who have been forced to turn to Nathan Peterman more than once.

photo Georgia freshman quarterback Justin Fields had two rushing touchdowns during the Sept. 29 win over Tennessee but has not thrown a pass in the Bulldogs' last two road games.

Statement games

We love college football. You. Me. Alejandro. Even Spy, as long as it's not Georgia. Or Clemson. Or anyone playing the Irish.

We wait eight months trying to convince ourselves that recruiting and spring practice and the speaking tour of coaches and selected players tides us over during the lean times.

But when fall lands and we slather ourselves in the sounds and sites, the traditions and the possibilities, we realize that those 14 Saturdays are sports at their best.

And maybe that's why the losses hurt so bad. Yes, we have long believed that one of the sad side-stories of sports in general is that the losses are more painful than the wins are enjoyable. That fact was galvanized for a lot of us by the avalanche of smack talk, which started in sports, has covered most all forms of society and the vitriol has escalated because the political discourse around us.

The angst of being a sports fan became the anger of being a polarized American.

Let's roll with some statements.

Justin Fields needs more action. Understatement. The Georgia back-up quarterback with an electric skill set has been used mainly as a Wild Dawg runner and that's it. Dude brings too much to the field - and entirely too much to the opposition's defensive focus - to not be on the field more and not be out there looking to make plays down the field. Hey Jim Chaney, get dude some more reps. He needs them, and you need him. Lon Chaney, Darrel Chaney, heck, even Gold Chaney can see that.

Notre Dame's chances to get into the playoff - and take a 42-point loss to Alabama in a semifinal - keep getting better. Statement. Here are the odds for making the playoff for the top four after the UGA loss last weekend: Clemson at 82 percent; Alabama at 80 percent; THE Ohio State at 72 percent; the Fightin' Rudys at 65 percent. Georgia (27 percent), Michigan (22 percent), Oklahoma (22 percent), and LSU (10 percent), are the only schools left with a double-digit percentage chance according to the ESPN computer models. Amazingly, two undefeated teams - NC State and UCF - have minuscule chances to make the dance. The Wolfpack according to the computers have a 1 percent chance and UCF has less than a 1 percent chance.

Gus Malzahn is on the hot seat. Overstatement. Hey, I'm as flummoxed as any AU fan anywhere. OK, my father-in-law is more upset, but that surprises no one who knows him. And this year has been a flaming mess. But not to be a sunshine pumper, the divide between 4-3 and wondering if you can find a way to step up and make the Music City Bowl and either 6-1 or 7-0 is, in order a fourth-and-9 stop at home against LSU; two questionable calls closing the goal line each way and an awful overthrow in Starkville; and too many mistakes against UT to even name, but let's say Jarrett Stidham does not make either of the two inexplicable turnovers and who knows, right? Regardless, though, unless there are off-the-field issues that allow Auburn to potentially run Malzahn with cause, there simply is no way Auburn - or really any university - can afford to pay any one man $32 million not to coach. (That said, the erstwhile website coacheshotseat.comhas Malzahn at 3, behind Kansas coach David Beaty and Rutgers coach Chris Ash. Others of note are UNC's Larry Fedora at 5, Louisville's Bobby Petrino at 7, Tech's Paul Johnson at 9 and ol' mullet-wearing, free-press-hating Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State.) As for Malzahn's status, here's first-year AU AD Allen Greene discussing Malzahn and the disappointing start to the season.

It would be OK for a grown man to wear this college football jersey. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/the-waterboy-is-marking-its-20th-anniversary-with-sclsu-mud-dogs-special-edition-jerseys/ Overstatement but every so slightly. Hey, everyone around these parts knows my view on dudes in jerseys: If you are over the age of 14 the only jersey you should be wearing was handed to you by some one you call coach. But those jerseys above - the 20th anniversary of the Bourbon Bowl champion SCLSU Mud Dogs and Bourbon Bowl MVP Bobby Boucher - make the closest thing to a strong case to be worn. And for those of you looking for a late Halloween idea, you could do worse than going as The Waterboy. (Side note: Anyone else feeling a little long in the tooth with the knowledge that The Waterboy is 20 years old. Dang.)

photo New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis, center, goes up for a shot as Golden State Warriors' Kevon Looney, bottom left, and Kevin Durant defend during the first half in Game 5 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Tuesday, May 8, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (Ezra Shaw/Pool Photo via AP)

Jump ball, get it, get it

The NBA tips off tonight.

Thank goodness for Pete Maravich's sake, they've been off for like 36 or 48 hours.

Seriously, the NBA - or as some call it the 'Never-ending Basketball Association' - gets underway tonight.

And it may be the strangest of any season we can remember of the big three professional leagues in a long, Long, LONG time. Why?

Glad you asked.

We could do a season preview, but it's going to look a lot like a season review.

The story is not who will win it all, it's who the champ will beat to get to the finish line.

Barring injury - and some might say barring multiple injuries - Golden State will win its third title in four years. Who they play in the Finals and the who they beat in the Western Conference Finals now that LeBron is in L.A. have more intrigue and unknowns than picking the champs.

How one-sided is the view of the Warriors? Well, Bovada has Golden State a -195 favorite to win the whole thing. Yes, you have to bet almost $200 to win a $100. For comparison, Alabama was +300 (bet $100, win $300) before the college football season started. If you are bigger favorite than Nick Saban, then you are locked and loaded.

To make matters even more surreal for this NBA season, the real intrigue will come after the champion is crowned. Where will Kevin Durant go? Who will LeBron James lure to the Lakers? What about the rest of the league and how do the pieces fall?

The present of the NBA has never been strong but the truth is the NBA's present is about its future. Strange right?

Anyhoo, here are five quick projections for the upcoming NBA season, and here's hoping these are better than those dreadful baseball picks we dropped in late March.

Lakers and LeBron win 50-plus games (the over/under is 48) and push hard for the 3 seed. (Is there any bigger gap in seeding anywhere than the difference between the 3 and the 4 seed in the West since the 4 gets the Warriors in round 2.)

Anthony Davis is the next player to force a trade, and we think the Unibrow could be Lakers-bound. And yes, LeBron's management team signed Davis and yes, there has to be some hand-wringing in a lot of NBA camps about James and his Crew having that many avenues for power in the league.

Boston struggles out of the gate. The melding pot that was all that young and athletic talent that soared in the postseason will have to figure out a way to mix in two 20-shot-a-night stars in Gordon Haywood and Kyrie Irving. Yes, those dudes can play and the Celtics are the most talented team in the East, but Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum look ready to take the leap and there's only one basketball. Yes, Spy, the C's are still the best team in the East and we think they will beat the Sixers to get a chance to lose to the Warriors, but get ready for the storyline of "What's wrong with the Celtics?" sometime between Christmas and Thanksgiving. (And know this: There's a real chance the Celtics could have picks somewhere in the neighborhood of 2, 8 and 28 in next summer's draft because of all the moving and shaking Danny Ainge has done in recent years. That amazing young roster is about to get more amazing and younger.)

As much as we want to pick LeBron James as the MVP, we're going with Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks. Like James he will lead his team in points, rebounds and assists. The Greek Freak will also make a hard charge for an all-NBA defensive team and the Bucks are a top-four-seed lock in the watered down East. (James second and Joel Embiid third in the voting. Sneaky outlier: We'll go with a motivated Kawhi Leonard if Toronto gets back to 60-plus wins.)

As for the rest of the awards, we'll take Dallas guard Luka Doncic who will fill a lot of stat columns over DeAndre Ayton, who had to take a pay cut to leave college basketball, for rookie of the year. (That said, we like a couple of UK rookies in Knox and Alexander too.) We'll take Brad Stephens as coach of the year as the voters make up for not giving him the award last year. We will take Anthony Davis as defensive player of the year, especially if he does not get traded because those Pelicans are pretty stout on D. Rudy Gobert is right there in Utah too. Sixth man, we'll lean toward Marcus Smart in Boston because, after the slow star, the Celtics will come at folks in waves. Give me Brandon Ingram under the wing of James for the Most Improved Player.

This and that

- Too much to get to today, and the Packers, who scored 10 points in the final 2:00 to beat a depleted San Francisco bunch, were fun viewing last night. We've said it before and we'll say it again, if you think MJ and Brady are the GOATs in large part because of their resumes, then Aaron Rodgers and LeBron James are the best players in their sport/position I can ever recall watching.

- The Tennessee Titans are not bottom five, but they may be closer to that distinction rather than the top five. Consider this fact from Sunday: The Titans allowed 11 sacks with the highest paid offensive lineman in the history of the NFL at one tackle spot and a Top 10 pick at the other one.

- Did you see the most recent MMA flavor of the month - the dude that dropped Conor McGregor recently - wants to fight Floyd Mayweather? Makes good cents. And a lot of dollars. Mayweather even told CBS, Showtime and whomever else to get out their checkbook.

- Dodgers dropped a floater against Milwaukee in Game 3 of the NLCS. Not sure if I can prove this or not statistically, but we're pretty the teams that score 0 runs have won 0 playoff games. So it goes. On to Game 4.

- The knucklehead who threw a beer in Tyreek Hill's face Sunday night has been banned from Gillette Stadium and is being prosecuted by Foxboro authorities. Good. Dude was identified as a 21-year-old and here's hoping this serves at least as some sort of deterrent for similar acts in the future. Think about that: Beer to the face at work for doing the job well and knowing that if the player responds he will get at best suspended and possibly sued.

- Paul Allen died Monday. Dude was 65, and the Microsoft co-founder and owner of the Trailblazers and Seahawks was worth a cool $15.8 billion, according to Forbes. Which proves that it does not matter if you have two pennies to run together or are one of the five richest people in the U.S., cancer don't care, don't play and works on its time. Period.

- Here is a story of a squirrel that became an interweb sensation in Japan. The big deal was this squirrel's ample bosoms. Seriously. You could say the squirrel drove everyone nuts. (Sorry. Mostly.)

Today's questions

True or false. True.

True or false, Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback physically to ever play the position. (This is not resume or GOAT. This is the best to ever play it.)

True or false, you pick the Warriors over the field to win the NBA title.

True or false, it will be Houston-Milwaukee in a World Series that will play well in Lubbock and Sheboygan and get swallowed by football everywhere else.

True or false, the Halloween Reboot - what is this, really, like Halloween 22 - looks like a grand ol' 1980s scary movie.

Answer a few, leave a few. Hey, let's enjoy the day.

As for today, Oct. 16, well, there are a few things to discuss.

BYU was founded on this day in 1875. Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas on this day in 1492. Tommie Smith and John Carlos give the black-gloved salute on the medal stand on this day 50 years ago.

Angela Lansbury is 93 today. Bryce Harper is 26. Manute Bol would have been 56. Tim Robbins is 60 today.

As for a Rushmore, on this day 12 years ago, Dennis Green unloaded his epic Monday night football rant about the Bears being who they thought they were... and they let them off the hook.

Rushmore of coach rants in a news conference. Go.

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