$.01--The Detroit Lions got their annual NFL spotlight game with the Thanksgiving Day special. As is the long-running custom, Detroit hosted the first game on Thanksgiving. As is also the growing custom, they lost in humiliating fashion to the three-win Houston Texans.  

The Lions kept the spotlight burning a little longer, however. On Saturday, owner Sheila Ford Hamp threw out the rotten leftovers from Thanksgiving and fired GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia. Speaking for all Lions fans--and media--everywhere, it was time. The joyous reaction on social media crowns any positive moment the team has experienced in the last 28 years, the one and only time in the Super Bowl era the Lions won a playoff game.  

Quinn and Patricia deliberately morphed a competitive, tight-knit but flawed veteran team into the slowest, quietest, most uninteresting NFL product. That can work if you’re winning, but the Lions were not winning and are trending badly in the other direction. This was a team built to win in 2019 and instead they went 3-12-1. Being 4-7 wasn’t enough progress for Ford Hamp’s liking, nor should it have been.  

Whoever takes over the Lions does not have an easy job. Matthew Stafford is 32 and isn’t as sharp in 2020 as he has been in recent healthy seasons. The top 4 wide receivers are all pending free agents. The defense is purposely constituted of big-and-slow in a league where the offenses are increasingly small-and-fast. There is talent but it’s been misused and has a finite ceiling without any true difference-makers or All-Pros anywhere on the roster. This is a franchise that absolutely cannot hire a rookie GM. My early, personal favorites for the Lions: Thomas Dimitroff as GM and Marvin Lewis as head coach. 

$.02--The Denver Broncos played a game against the New Orleans Saints with no quarterback. Really. 

Kendall Hinton started under center for the Broncos. He might have sold you something last month if you live in Denver. Hinton was a practice squad wide receiver existing on the fringes of the NFL, insecure enough in his football status that he worked a sales job on the side. But there was Hinton as the starting quarterback. 

No, Hinton didn’t win a contest or have a Make-a-Wish fulfillment. Who would wish to face the Saints defense? But the Broncos had nowhere else to turn after Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID-19 late in the week. 

Had the Broncos followed protocols, they might have been okay, But they didn’t, and the rest of the QB room--including starter Drew Lock--were deemed high-risk exposures to Driskel after it was determined they held a meeting without masks or proper distancing, according to several reports out of Denver. 

After fruitlessly trying to suit up a couple of assistant coaches, head coach Vic Fangio looked to the bottom of the desperation barrel and found Hinton. A one-time QB at Wake Forest, Hinton moved to wide receiver after his sophomore year and the Demon Deacons never really missed him at QB. That carried over to the game vs. the Saints.  

Hinton did complete a pass, and only one pass, of his nine attempts, netting 13 yards. The Saints won 31-3 despite their own WR-playing-QB, Taysom Hill, barely being better at throwing the ball (9-of-16, 78 yards, 1 INT) than Hinton.  

The treatment of Hinton was all over the place. Some mocked him, some championed him for his opportunity. My hope is that he winds up being the top example of just how weird the 2020 football season in the pandemic was when history looks back. Hinton’s name can be synonymous with “just how crazy was it?” in 2020. 

$.03--At least the Broncos played. The Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers showdown originally scheduled for Thursday night remains in real peril. After the game was moved to Sunday to help buy the Ravens some time with their COVID-19 outbreak, things only got worse in Baltimore. Now it’s tentatively set to kick off on Tuesday, but that possibility is hanging by a thread. 

The Ravens are completely ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. There were 20 players out of the team’s active 53-man roster who were on the reserve/COVID-19 list as of Saturday night. That list includes reigning MVP Lamar Jackson, who tested positive. Most of the players on the list are positive tests, which means they cannot play for a minimum of 10 days. Between the COVID and injuries ruling players out, Baltimore had just 30 players available Sunday morning.  

It’s a bad situation, albeit one the Ravens brought on themselves. It was determined the outbreak traced back to a coach who repeatedly violated the carefully crafted NFL/NFLPA protocols. That coach, strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders, has been disciplined by the team. Feel bad for the players who are infected and hope they come out the other end no worse for the wear, but because the team didn’t do what they were required, don’t feel bad for their once-promising season plummeting into the sickbay. If it means they have to forfeit a game or two, that’s the price they need to pay. That and paying the game checks for the players on the other team, who wouldn’t otherwise get paid for a forfeit.  

Then again, the Steelers had a positive COVID-19 test of their own (reportedly RB James Conner, a cancer survivor) and could have issues growing out of that situation that throws a trash can of rabid raccoons into their undefeated season. 

$.04--Sunday’s matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans was hyped up as the best on the weekend slate, a showdown for the AFC South.  

The Titans roared out to a 35-14 halftime lead behind Derrick Henry’s 130 rushing yards and 3 TDs. Indianapolis’ vaunted run defense was no match for the power running and the precision play-action passing of Ryan Tannehill to A.J. Brown. Tennessee took its foot off the gas in the second half and the Colts at least made it interesting, scoring two TDs to close the gap. But A.J. Brown returned an onside kick for six the other way and the AFC South was all Titans. 

The Colts sorely missed DeForest Buckner and Denico Autry in the middle of the defense. It defanged any bite they might have had against Henry. On the flip side, that’s why Tennessee is such a tough out. Other than the Browns and (sometimes) the Ravens, no other team can consistently bludgeon with the run game but also snap big plays off on the ground. It’s why fans need to take the 8-3 Titans seriously as contenders. Most teams are constructed to stop the pass, but that’s not how the Titans attack to win. 

The loss dropped the Colts to 7-4 and into the seventh and final AFC playoff spot. Indy holds a 1-game lead on the Raiders, who got absolutely destroyed by the Falcons, and a half-game up on the stricken Ravens. They should be disappointed with the loss but not discouraged; as long as Buckner and LT Anthony Castonzo come back healthy soon, this is still a playoff team in Indianapolis.  

$.05--At the end of Thursday’s play, the Washington Football Team sat alone in first place in the NFC East. They were 4-7 after clubbing the Cowboys like the helpless baby seal Dallas is in the second of the Thanksgiving games. The 41-16 evisceration sent America’s Team to the bottom of the worst division in all of pro sports with little hope the injury-ravaged Cowboys can climb out of the cellar anytime this year.  

Washington seized the day with a combination of an effective run game with rookie Antonio Gibson and a smart, aggressive defense that seemed to know every play Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was dialing up. The Football Team is going to be a problem for teams that don’t have good offensive line play, and their defense feasted on what has historically been the Dallas strength. Montez Sweat’s glorious pick-six to cap the scoring was a fitting dollop of whip cream on a tasty holiday pie for Washington, which has won two in a row for the first time in a year and is trending in the right direction.  

Washington’s stay at the top was short-lived. When the New York Giants beat the meat puppet that’s left of the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Big Blue took over the NFC East at 4-7. The Giants swept the Football Team already this year to own the tiebreaker. New York’s 19-17 win over the 2-win, Joe Burrow-less Bengals moved them from No. 6 in the 2021 draft order to 19th. Like Washington, the Giants are quietly playing more stable football on offense and more consistent on defense. They’re not good, but they’re good enough to lead the NFC East. 

$.06--A little peek behind the veil of my workday on Sunday…

As managing editor of the Browns Wire, I cover that team and watched their early win over the Jaguars. I have the late afternoon game on but it only sporadically gets my attention while I write up postgame Browns stuff. But every time I looked at the screen in the early-going of the Kansas City-Tampa Bay game, I saw Tyreek Hill making a big catch behind the Buccaneers defense.  

I thought maybe I was catching a highlight reel or a replay, but no, each one was just different enough. After going for 34 yards on the game’s opening play, Patrick Mahomes and Hill proved unstoppable. Here’s 23 yards, then 75, then 19, then 44 and another TD.  

At the end of the first quarter, Hill had seven catches on seven targets, netting 203 yards and two TDs. In the first quarter! The torrid, record-setting pace proved unsustainable. Hill finished with 13 receptions for 269 yards and three TDs, still a monster game that carried the 10-1 Chiefs to a 27-24 win over the Bucs.

As I was wrapping up some more work during the second half, it felt like Tampa Bay was doing something great just about every time I looked up. Their fourth-quarter rally was impressive but too little, too late to catch Hill and the Chiefs. Some dumb penalties by the Chiefs defense (read: Frank Clark) helped close the gap, but an unfortunate Tom Brady INT off a lineman’s shoulder ended any real drama. 

I’ve avoided putting Mahomes at the top of my personal MVP list this year, but I’m not gonna lie: it’s going to be very difficult for Mahomes not to win another MVP if the Chiefs keep rolling like this. 

$.07--The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee whittled down the list of 130 initial nominees for the induction class of 2021 to 25 this week. The reduction made it a little clearer who will be among the finalists and ultimately earn enshrinement when the final votes are cast in January. 

Graphic courtesy the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Three first-time nominees dominate the headline. Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson are all easy choices worthy of busts in Canton. Manning and Woodson appear locks to make it on their first ballots, which is rarefied air amongst the Hall of Famers.  

Johnson is a difficult one. He’s eminently worthy of going in this year, but I can also see the selection committee shying away from giving him that status right away. Johnson played just nine seasons and only had two years where he finished in the top 10 in receptions. Even though he retired in 2015, it took until three seasons later for another wideout to top Johnson’s drop total in the decade of the 10s. But his peak from 2011-2013 is the best three-year stretch anyone has ever seen from a wideout, and even his worst season on some truly awful Lions teams early on in his career are better than many others who are already in Canton.  

Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne are also worthy HOFers on the list at wide receiver, and the logjam at the position has been a point of contention for some time. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. 

I’m an avowed Clay Matthews supporter. Again. This is the legendary Browns defender’s fifth time as a semifinalist. He’s got the kind of resume that works better in baseball than football for the Hall of Fame--a lot of years of being really good but few standout seasons where he was truly great. I grew up in Cleveland watching No. 57 always be in the right place at the right time and making plays, seeing every kid fight to wear that number in Pop Warner too.  

Willie Anderson is an underappreciated choice and I hope he gets in for being great a heck of a lot longer than Tony Boselli was despite playing in the relative anonymity of Cincinnati. Then again, Alan Faneca was better at guard than either Anderson or Boselli were at tackle. Tough choices abound when nearly everyone on the list is worthy of enshrinement. 

$.08--NFL Quickies

--How’s it going at QB in Chicago? Let’s ask my good friend, Bryan Perez, who has covered the Bears for a lot of years...

Trubisky had just thrown his second inexcusably ponderous interception of the night in the Bears’ blowout loss to the Packers. I concur with my old friend here: Trubisky is done. He’s certainly done in Chicago.  

--His Carolina Panthers lost when kicker Joey Slye’s last-second field goal missed, but don’t blame rookie safety Jeremy Chinn. He became the first defensive player in NFL history to score touchdowns on consecutive plays in Carolina’s 28-26 loss to the Vikings. Chinn scooped up fumbles on consecutive Minnesota plays in the third quarter, the first on a Zach Kerr strip-sack and the second when Chinn extricated the ball himself from Dalvin Cook.  

--Raheem Morris is doing a good job in his quest to have the interim tag removed from his head coaching job in Atlanta. The Falcons are responding well to his coaching touch and his defense continues to improve. Their 43-6 waxing of the Raiders shows the potential the Falcons have to fly above their current 4-7 record. Atlanta is 3-2 since Morris, the former Buccaneers head coach, took over by popular player demand. 

--After the team lost to Cleveland--a game the Browns played without its three best defensive players--the Jacksonville Jaguars fired GM David Caldwell. In eight seasons, Caldwell produced a record of 37-85 and lost 10 or more games in every year but one. That includes this year, in 11 games. It’s hard to be that bad at your job and stay employed that long. Coach Doug Marrone should quickly follow; his bizarre decision to go for 2 too early in the game ultimately cost the Jaguars a win. 

It will be interesting to see who the Jaguars can hire as Caldwell’s successor. There is some nice young talent to work with, but shaking off the culture of losing and the overarching fear (real or not) that the team will move to London at some point make it a tough sell. 

--Cleveland is 8-3 and the top Wild Card in the AFC. They’re not winning with style points, and the close shave in Duval illustrated some rookie coaching mistakes from Kevin Stefanski, but the Browns are looking very solid to end the playoff drought at 18 years. As is becoming his custom, Baker Mayfield vacillated from exceptional to terrible with little middle ground at quarterback. If he ever smoothes it out--and I don’t know if Baker can--Cleveland is a dangerous foe when the defense is healthy. 

$.09--College/Draft quickies

--Buffalo RB Jaret Patterson had himself a say on Saturday. How about 408 rushing yards and 8 TDs in the Bulls’ 70-42 win over previously unbeaten Kent State. Patterson had 18 carries for 267 yards and 5 TDs at halftime! He even earned a congratulatory Twitter message from Barry Sanders, who noticed the similar style the 5-9, 195-pound dynamo uses.  

Patterson projects right now as a middle-round draft pick, and he’s in my top 5 RBs in class. Don’t sleep on his big-play potential or his ability to create space where seemingly none exists. He’s done this against a lot more teams than just Kent State; Patterson chugged for 1,799 yards and 19 TDs in 2019. 

--No Nick Saban? No problem for Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Saban missed the Crimson Tide’s 42-13 romp over rival Auburn after testing positive for COVID-19 during the week. Steve Sarkisian ran the show for Alabama impressively in Saban’s absence. 

It’s worth noting that Saban is 69 years old and (presumably) cannot coach forever. This trains-on-time rollick over a ranked rival should help keep Sarkisian as the front-runner to be Saban’s successor...or land him a lucrative gig elsewhere.  

--Ohio State canceled its game due to a COVID-19 outbreak that includes head coach Ryan Day. It’s the second Ohio State game off the calendar, and it leaves the Buckeyes in real peril. If they lose another date off the schedule, Ohio State won’t have enough games played to qualify for the B1G Championship. Ironically enough, Day and the Buckeyes were one of the driving forces in creating the rules to get back on the field in the conference. 

--Kyle Pitts and Florida continue to tear up SEC defenses. The “tight end” scored three more TDs in the Gators’ 34-10 win over Kentucky. I use the quotes around tight end because in the NFL, Pitts won’t be a traditional tight end. He’s built almost exactly like Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, and his game is similar, too. That shouldn’t diminish Pitts value as a weapon, but understand that teams without some creativity and imagination are never going to know how to use a player like that. Florida does and it’s fantastic to watch. 

--I didn’t catch one snap of the action, but Oregon State beating Oregon in what used to be known as the Civil War should at least get mentioned here East of the Mississippi. The rivals smartly dropped the game’s nickname this year.  

--Michigan State upended unbeaten Northwestern in a game I watched more of than expected. The Spartans, clad in their unashamedly obnoxious neon “State” uniforms, stepped up on defense and made just enough plays on offense to ruin Northwestern’s playoff hopes. That’s a great--and needed--win for first-year head coach Mel Tucker, whose team had looked awful since beating rival Michigan earlier this season.

--About those Wolverines...Jim Harbaugh is the dead horse that Michigan must stop allowing everyone, including most every B1G rival in the last decade, to keep beating. Losing to the worst Penn State team ever (really--they were 0-5 for the first time in history) should be the end of the failed Harbaugh experiment in Ann Arbor. 

$.10--Like many Americans, our family had an unusual Thanksgiving day. Instead of traveling to be with our extended families in other parts of the midwest, my family of four stayed at home in West MI and celebrated in a new-fashioned way.  

We decided to embrace the change. Instead of turkey, we splurged and bought lobsters instead. When there’s literally nothing to spend our money on--no sports, no concerts, no movies, no bars, no travel sports for our kids--we figured, why not? My daughter channeled her inner Gordon Ramsay and got the thrill of her first time preparing lobsters. They were very good, though I have a feeling we’re veering back to turkey in the future.

We had a Zoom meeting with our families. Was it ideal? No, but I know my parents in Cleveland loved seeing my family, my brother and his family in South Carolina and my sister and hers across town from my parents. My brother’s daughter in Connecticut even got to join. We’re a pretty close family spread far apart and it was great to spend an hour getting caught up with all the growing faces and loved ones. We later did the same with my wife and her side of the family, and that was also a nice treat. 

Not one of us left our house on Thursday. We did no in-person Black Friday shopping, breaking a long-running string for me (I’m an outlet mall junkie). It’s been strange. It’s been difficult to not do so many things we’re used to doing, things everyone is accustomed to doing. 

Different doesn’t mean bad. Knowing that it’s a temporary--it had better be anyway--setback, we’re trying to adapt and stay positive. It’s the only way I can cope sometimes. 

It’s not easy. We’ve had good friends lose their businesses, their life’s work and dreams. Several friends who work in live events and production have had their lives turned completely upside-down with no real promise of normalcy anytime soon. We’ve suffered through political divisiveness that has cost us relationships with some loved ones, too. I personally know three people who have passed away with at least partial blame to COVID, one of them this week. 

Most people who have read this column at least semi-regularly since it started some 15 years ago know I use the tenth cent often as a way of writing therapy. It’s often a distraction from the drudgery of covering the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns on a professional basis. This time, I’m hoping those who need it find some therapy of their own. It’s been a rough year but we’re still here. I can sense we’re starting to come back together and more folks realize that we’re all better off doing it together than apart. Please embrace that spirit. It’s what I’m thankful for and all I want for Christmas all at the same time.