$.01--In a driving snowstorm in Denver, the New England Patriots continued their quest for perfection. And for most of the game it sure looked like 11-0 was in the cards.

Then Brock Osweiler and the Denver offense mounted a masterful drive, capped off by a beautiful corner fade to Emmanuel Sanders to vault Denver into the lead. With just a minute left, Tom Brady led what’s left of the Patriots down the field for a game-tying field goal, a perfect 45-yarder from Steven Gostkowski that was never in doubt.

The Broncos defense held tough on New England’s opening overtime possession. C.J. Anderson ended New England’s vengeful tour with a 48-yard run around left end all the way to the snow-capped end zone.

And so it ends for New England. No 16-0, no defiant middle finger wagging in Roger Goodell’s face any longer.

When you consider the ravaging injuries, what the Patriots have done is even more remarkable…

 

In this game they lost stud LB Donta Hightower just before halftime. Tom Brady had just three wide receivers active for the game, missing his top two in Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola.

Yet nothing tops the sight of Rob Gronkowski being carted off late in the fourth quarter with an apparent knee injury. The tight end writhed on the ground in obvious pain after catching his knee on safety Darian Stewart’s shoulder. It came on a night where Gronk did something truly special, setting the record for most touchdowns by a tight end in NFL history. He passed Broncos legend Shannon Sharpe, who I’m sure has much to say about that.

It’s truly amazing the Patriots have accomplished this much with so many key parts missing. Yet it’s hard to see them winning it all without Gronk, no matter how awesome Tom Brady plays and Bill Belichick coaches.

As for the winners, the Brock Osweiler experiment is clearly going well in its initial stages. The strong-armed QB doesn’t yet have the timing down with his receivers, and he still struggles to move laterally. Yet even on a night where his best wideout, Demaryius Thomas, was abysmally ineffective, the young pro found a way to carve out a win against the best team in the AFC.

This sure looks like the end of Peyton Manning in Denver. Other than the game coming out of the bye, Manning never showed even close to the downfield zip or confidence in his arm that his replacement protégé has in wins over Chicago and now New England. Osweiler gives them a chance to win the AFC, whereas with Manning in his current state it’s hard to see them winning a playoff game.

$.02-- Thanksgiving was a real turkey in Dallas, where the host Cowboys suffered a 33-14 death blow at the hands of the undefeated Carolina Panthers. Stick a fork in the Cowboys, they are done in 2015.

2016 might be an issue, too. Tony Romo broke his left clavicle for the third time overall and second within three months. At 35 and with a shoulder apparently made of balsa wood, there is no guarantee Romo will ever get back on the field. At minimum, Cowboys fans will be on eggshells every time the defense drives the aging, fragile quarterback to the turf.

Here’s the dilemma for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys going forward: they must put in place a viable succession plan at quarterback, perhaps with their top 5 overall draft pick they will earn for finishing deep in last place in the NFL’s worst division. Yet if they do that, the glaring holes on the rest of the roster remain filled with an asphalt mix instead of the full repair it desperately needs. Running back, defensive tackle, pass rusher, linebacker, safety, tight end, wide receiver. Every one of those spots needs at least one new starter within the next two seasons. Investing in a quarterback, especially one who will sit behind Romo for a year or two, inhibits the ability to improve some of those other spots. The veteran scrap heap will have the likes of…

• Sam Bradford, who makes Romo’s increasing fragility look like Cal Ripken durability by comparison

• Drew Stanton, a better sideline dancer than actual passer

• Matt Moore, at this point indistinguishable from incumbent incompetent Matt Cassel

• Johnny Manziel, presuming Cleveland has had enough of his rampant immaturity

Carolina has no such problems. The Panthers are rolling at 11-0 with one of the smartest roster constructs in the league. Cam Newton belongs in any valid MVP conversation, like it or not. He’s the consummate leader and dominant personality every great team needs. The offensive line is solid, the running game a picture of grinding consistency. All three levels of the defense have legit Pro Bowl playmakers, and the entire D plays as a unit better than any other in 2015. They snuffed out Dallas so quickly in this game that the upset never had a chance.

Can they go undefeated? With five games left, it’s certainly possible. The Falcons appear twice, including in Atlanta in Week 16 after Carolina travels to the dangerous New York Giants the week prior. The finale with Tampa Bay, which could be playing for a playoff berth (!?), looks tougher all the time too. But bet against Newton, Ron Rivera and the Panthers at your peril.

$.03--One week after seemingly getting back a few steps with an important win over Minnesota, the Green Bay Packers once again fell off the ladder in a 17-13 Thanksgiving loss to rival Chicago. The safety harness is holding on by a thread with the Packers now losing four of five games. None hurt more than this one, a primetime clunker on the night where the franchise retired Brett Favre’s jersey and welcomed Bart Starr back to Lambeau Field.

There are myriad issues contributing to the stunning drop in both prestige and the NFC playoff standings. From Aaron Rodgers not playing to his usual otherworldly self to a weekly offensive imbalance to a declining pass rush and poor game preparation and management from Mike McCarthy and the coaching staff, it’s a motley blend of negative factors.

The perceived infallibility of Rodgers is evaporating. Granted he gets no help from a group of wideouts who cannot get open against man coverage, or in Davante Adams’ case a maddening inability to catch the ball as well. The offensive line struggles to protect him, and the run game is sporadically great but generally unreliable. Yet Rodgers is definitely not playing to the astronomical level we’ve come to expect.

It’s clear the Packers cannot win without Rodgers being the best quarterback in the league. Over the last month, just two teams--the Jets and Rams, both of whom have used multiple passers--have lower completion percentages. Only those same Rams have a lower yards per attempt figure than Rodgers. Something is definitely wrong in Cheesehead paradise.

The Bears are quietly playing some pretty solid football in winning three of four. This was Jay Cutler’s first-ever win in Lambeau Field. He’s thrown just two INTs in the last five games while completing over 65% of his passes. The defense is coalescing into a solid group greater than the sum of its parts. Head Coach John Fox and Coordinators Adam Gase on offense and Vic Fangio on defense all deserve a tremendous amount of credit for making this team more competitive and tighter-knit than expected in their first year in Chicago. They have a favorable upcoming schedule with San Francisco and Washington both coming to Soldier Field. If they can win both and improve to 7-6, the Week 15 game at Minnesota could mean a whole lot in the NFC North and the overall NFC playoff race.

$.04--Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 5-6 Washington Ethnic Slurs. They are now leaders of the NFC East, a division which might be the worst in NFL history.

Washington sprung to the top with a 20-14 win over the New York Giants, also 5-6. The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicates, even though the Giants did have the ball at the end with a chance for a miracle. Eli Manning made sure Washington won with a(nother) abysmal outing, throwing three crushing interceptions before finally remembering what color his Giants teammates wear.

That’s a little too harsh, as the first two picks bounced off Giants. The third, however, ruined a deep drive into Washington territory on New York’s first possession in the second half.

 

At that point the score was 17-0 and the Giants desperately needed positive momentum. But once again, Manning provided the opposite. As the on-screen graphic noted, Manning now has 20 games with at least three INTs since 2004, his rookie year. The next closest is 13. Beyond the picks, Manning and the offense converted just 3-of-15 on third down while rushing for just 33 yards on only 13 carries. Washington’s defense certainly deserves credit, but this was one of those cases where the Giants banged-up offensive line and Manning’s D+ level game created their own downfall.

Kirk Cousins and the Washington offense avoided the pratfalls with an efficient passing attack and a dogged run game. Cousins threw for 302 yards on 29 attempts; Manning netted just 299 on 51 passes. They did not turn the ball over and grinded out a couple of critical first downs late to force the Giants into a series of laterals on a last-gasp try. Manning got the ball after a few other Giants touched it and proceeded to throw it wildly over everyone and out of bounds. It was a fitting, Manning-esque ending to a terrible game.

Not many saw it, as this observation from the middle of the first quarter can attest:

 

Washington has a golden opportunity to keep the tiebreak in their favor. They host what’s left of the Cowboys next Monday night, the first of two games left with Dallas. A trip to Philadelphia sure looks like a promising divisional win, too. That gets them to 8-8. New York still has games with undefeated Carolina and a trip to Minnesota, which is a matchup nightmare for the Giants. Their O-line injuries got worse with right tackle Geoff Schwartz leaving this game with a broken leg. I just can’t see the Giants as they exist right now matching those eight wins. 

$.05--A few weeks ago the AFC South looked even worse than the NFC East. The Colts and Texans were both 3-5 but tied for the division lead. Some folks (read: me) prognosticated the first team to 6 wins would run away and hide with the division title.

Flash forward to the present. Both Houston and Indianapolis have rattled off three wins in a row to improve to 6-5. The Jaguars had even won two straight to keep it more interesting before they collapsed in a home loss to San Diego.

That the Colts are now 6-5 is nothing short of a miracle. Andrew Luck has missed the last two games and will likely miss the next couple of weeks as well with a lacerated kidney. 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck has piloted the team to the last two wins and is now 4-0 as a starter this season. For the mathematically challenged, that means Luck was 2-5. Not saying, just sayin’…

Indy nosed above .500 by thwarting Tampa Bay’s progress. The Bucs had won three of four to get to 5-5 themselves with a combination of an opportunistic defense and the Jameis Winston/Doug Martin backfield combination playing well. Winston had some moments but struggled to find Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson down the field, and the Colts brought serious pass rush all day (5 sacks, 14 hits). The defensive vitality is a welcome development for Indy.

Houston has had no such defensive problems. Now that the offense is finally catching up, the Texans look pretty impressive. Sunday’s easy 24-6 suffocation of New Orleans was a perfect epitome of Texans football at its finest. Brian Hoyer was sharp and efficient with the ball, spraying it around to nine different receivers. The offensive line continually sustained blocks to help the run game log 167 yards on a staggering 38 carries. J.J. Watt got to know Drew Brees on an intimate level, sacking him twice and hitting him--hard--several other times.

The Texans have allowed just 6 points in three of those four consecutive wins. With the inconsistent Bills up next, it’s possible that excellent run continues. After that, a visit from the Patriots will be a big test. That sets up a Week 15 meeting in Indianapolis which should decide the division. Look for both teams to wind up with at least 8 wins, and there’s a real chance this formerly sorry division could actually send two teams to the playoffs. It’s that kind of year in the bottom-heavy AFC.

$.06--Rivalry week in college football proved not quite as epic as expected. Several huge games with big college football playoff implications turned into blowout yawners. Ohio State embarrassed Michigan in Ann Arbor. Florida State so thoroughly dominated punchless Florida it should drop the SEC East champs out of the top 20. Oklahoma ran all over Oklahoma State in Bedlam to capture the Big 12 title. Alabama had little trouble in toying with Auburn in the Iron Bowl, while Michigan State hammered Penn State to advance to the Big Ten championship.

There was some drama. South Carolina put a real scare into top-ranked Clemson before falling just short. The Gamecocks wound up 3-9, not exactly the kind of quality momentum Clemson wants to have heading into next week’s ACC Championship game with criminally underrated North Carolina. Then again the Tar Heels’ only loss came to South Carolina in the opening weekend.

As it stands now, the 4-team playoff will look like this when the rankings come out Tuesday night:

1. Clemson

2. Alabama

3. Oklahoma

4. Iowa

5. Michigan State

The winner of the Michigan State/Iowa game will get a berth. Alabama is safely in unless they somehow lose to Florida, which seems about as likely as Bernie Sanders winning the Republican presidential nomination. Clemson gets in with a win over UNC. Oklahoma, the only team finished playing, seems solidly in.

The only hope for the outliers, namely Ohio State, is chaos. North Carolina beating Clemson would send shock waves. It’s hard to imagine the committee selecting either one-loss ACC team over the defending national champs coming off such a convincing devastation of a well-respected Michigan team. Two-loss Stanford can stake a strong case if they whip USC in the PAC-12 title game, thanks to ending Notre Dame’s dream. That win hurts Clemson’s case, as the Tigers best win came at home over the Irish. Now their best win is Florida State, which figures to crack the top 10 but doesn’t have the cache of the other teams up there.

It gets very interesting if Alabama loses. The team they lost to earlier, Mississippi, is the only other top-20 team in the SEC. The Big 10 has three in the top 7 and five in the top 20, the ACC three in the top 10. Three or perhaps four (depending on Baylor) Big 12 teams will be in that top 20, too. Will the selection committee reward the top-heavy ACC, the quality depth of the Big 10, or turn blindly away from reason and keep a 2-loss Alabama from the fourth-best power conference this year in the mix?

$.07--College football gets two full cents this week, as a lot more intriguing things are happening at the “amateur” level. Namely, the coaching carousel spinning out of control.

Check this out, courtesy of Reddit CFB…

 

Georgia firing Mark Richt just hours after LSU opted to keep Les Miles after a week of rampant reporting he was out left many heads spinning.

Here is my stab at putting the right folks on the right animals on the coaching carousel…

Richt to Virginia to replace Mike London, who should go to ULM (that’s Louisiana-Monroe) because he deserves another shot.

Current Western Michigan coach PJ Fleck to Maryland. He would have been a better fit at Illinois but the Illini strangely opted to stick with former WMU coach Bill Cubit, a choice about as inspiring as a damp bagel

Alabama stalwart assistant Kirby Smart to Georgia. It’s time to leave the Saban next, and the SEC East is an easily winnable dumpster fire. Seriously. Florida wouldn’t finish in the top four of the Big Ten East and they ran away with the SEC East. South Carolina in the same division needs to land Houston’s Tom Herman, but instead they’ll tap into the pro ranks and get a current NFL assistant. Detroit DC Teryl Austin would be a good one.

Some MAC school, perhaps Western Michigan to replace Fleck, needs to tap former Michigan (and Ball State) coach Brady Hoke.

Memphis has to replace new Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente with a new up-and-comer. My suggestion is Ferris State coach Tony Annese, who has built an exciting D-II powerhouse despite having a couple of skeletons in his closet.

Maryland needs to tab Bowling Green coach Dino Babers and his Baylor-style offense. Now that Rutgers has fired both its head coach and athletic director, those two Big Ten programs should be in a bidding war for the deserving Babers. Late edit--there are reports Babers has taken the UCF job.

Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley should land a job. Rutgers makes sense, but if that jump is too great, Tulane would be a nice fit. 

$.08--NFL Quickies

--The Cleveland Browns did not play yet in Week 12, but they’ve already lost. Johnny Manziel broke out the party boy Johnny Football once again, got busted and then tried to cover it up by having his friends lie. This has to be the last straw for the exasperated team management. It’s entirely possible he doesn’t get another chance elsewhere, either. And I’m not sure that would bother him…which is why his career is on very thin ice.

--Don’t look now but the Detroit Lions have won three in a row to improve to 4-7. They carved up a pathetic excuse of an Eagles team 45-14 on Thanksgiving, dropping Philadelphia to that same record. Quietly, Matthew Stafford has been outstanding lately: 73-of-111 (65%), 861 yards, 8 total TDs, 1 INT & 106.5 rating in the three-game win streak. No NFL QB is spinning it any better in that timeframe, which coincides with the firing of Joe Lombardi and promotion of Jim Bob Cooter to Offensive Coordinator.

--Keeping with the Lions, here’s an outside contender for Defensive Player of the Year:

 

--Pittsburgh lost to both the Seahawks and the officials in Seattle, who benefitted from a great deal of home cooking on a few calls. Russell Wilson helped some too, I suppose. He threw for five touchdowns to take advantage of some dreadful Steelers coverage and tackling.

--In that game, Seattle TE Jimmy Graham suffered a gnarly knee injury and will be out the rest of the season. It’s a bad break, as Graham was finally starting to look comfortable in Darrell Bevell’s peculiar offense.

--Nice win for the New York Jets in stomping the fading Dolphins 38-20. It was 35-7 at one point, with Miami fans taking to social media to decry Ryan Tannehill as their starting QB and demanding a complete overhaul. The win pushes the Jets to 6-5 and creates some space between themselves and both the Dolphins and Bills below them in the race for second place behind New England.

--Remember when Atlanta was 5-0 and Matt Ryan was a top MVP candidate? No? Neither do Falcons fans after yet another lifeless loss, this one a 20-10 decision at home to Minnesota. Ryan has been so awful that Falcons owner Arthur Blank had to publicly declare him still the starter. Ouch. 

$.09--College/Draft Quickies

I’ll keep this one brief. My current top 20 overall prospects. This is not how I think the draft will play out, this is how I rate the players.

1. Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State

2. Laremy Tunsil, OT, Ole Miss

3. Reggie Ragland, ILB, Alabama

4. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State

5. Jalen Ramsey, S, Florida State

6. Andrew Billings, NT, Baylor

7. DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon

8. Vernon Hargreaves III, CB, Florida

9. Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss

10. Mackensie Alexander, CB, Clemson

11. Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis

12. Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State

13. Myles Jack, OLB, UCLA

14. Jonathan Allen, DE, Alabama

15. Jayron Kearse, S, Clemson

16. Jaylon Smith, OLB, Notre Dame

17. Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor

18. Jeremy Cash, S, Duke

19. Laquan Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss

20. Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson

Hope to have an updated mock draft before Friday!

$.10--Even though Thanksgiving weekend is replete with a resplendent football schedule, some of my time was carved out for minor league basketball. My son and I were fortunate enough to attend two Grand Rapids Drive games in the NBA D-League.

Minor league basketball is an interesting experience. There is a balance of under-developed NBA prospects, young dreamers and minor league veterans still trying to carve out a living in basketball as long as they can. The Drive have a few in each group, as did the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Iowa Energy, the visiting teams.

Grand Rapids is affiliated with the Detroit Pistons, and the logo is a dead giveaway the farm team is beholden to the NBA parent. Much like minor league baseball, there are fan contests, giveaways and near-constant interactions to keep the 3,000 or so fans engaged. Seats are reasonably priced and frequently come with promotions to keep it even lower; we sat in the third row, almost center court, for just $16.

The action on the court is pretty strong quality. Befitting its professional status, it’s well above college hoops but a definite step below the big leagues. Some of the names are instantly recognizable to college and NBA fans, including Perry Jones, Lorenzo Brown and Henry Sims. Most of the players are quite appreciative of the fans, more than willing to bump fists on the way off the court. The Drive make two players available after games for autograph and photo sessions and they seem to genuinely enjoy interacting with the youngsters. We even bought a game-worn novelty jersey after Wednesday’s game and got to spend a little time with Kamm Holsey, one of the Drive’s big men and a great basketball ambassador. 


I’ve written before about the potential for minor league football, a bridge between college and the NFL. Markets like Grand Rapids, a metro area of 1 million that is a 2.5-hour drive to both Chicago and Detroit, are perfect proving grounds. Bigger metroplexes with no major league level teams are underserved and would support minor league football…if done correctly. It must be owned by the NFL and have strong affiliation. NFL owners must be prepared for small crowds and losing money in the first few seasons. It’s sunken costs that might not ever get recouped, not financially. But the prospect of player, coach and officiating development will strongly bolster the NFL. That’s truer in football than in the NBA D-League.

Thanks to the Grand Rapids Drive and the NBA D-League for interjecting some much-needed non-football entertainment into a great Thanksgiving weekend.