Let’s get to it.

Fallout:

-As another Brooks once said, “It’s good to be king but it’s not good being a Panteros running back”. Johnathan, after a laborious rehab regimen, was showing his wares and almost immediately tore the ACL in his previously injured knee. Thing is, he may have been able to help Carolina get a step up. They are now a surprisingly tough out. Since losing to the Broncos they have one and three point wins and their last losses are by 3, 3 and 6 points. Canales is doing something good here.

-Does anyone in their right mind think Belichick is going to take this UNC job? He just wants to keep his name in the news. Above everything else, he wants that all-time coaching wins record as well.

-Jameis keeps the starting QB job going forward because once you’ve moved on from the ickiest player in the league it’s up to the bean counters to do their [waves fingers] “abacus tricks” and figure when it’s best to jettison Watson.

-“Everything Detroit Touches Turns To Gold” is a thing that has never been typed/thought about before but here we are. The Lions/Packers tilt set a streaming audience record. Oh, did you think it was Green Bay that everyone wanted to watch? Streaming audiences overall are up 15% overall over last year which was up 9% over the previous season.

-The Lion In (Early) Winter: (great movie, btw) Cousins has to go a long way to prove that he’s not washed. Over his last four games he has 0 TD’s and 8 INT’s. (Darnell Mooney went for 142 but being a Bears castoff he’s uniquely suited to adjust to lousy QB play). Everyone keeps waiting for Darnold to collapse but it’s been put off for yet another week. Vikes coach O’Connell might be the very first coach that plays to his strengths. He had 5 completed passes of 15+ air yards and three that were 30+ yards.

-I Remember The NFC West: Seattle is on top and their point differential is +19. The Rams sit second in the division and their PD is -19, the Cards are at -5 and the Basement Niners are at 0.

To The Game!

Bengals/Cowboys:

-ESPN (they’ve gotta do some sort of hype job, right?) described Dallas as “suddenly surging”. They’re 2-5 in their last seven and if you’ll recall, they beat the pathetic Giants by just one TD back when we were all stuffing our faces with bird. Those 5 losses were by a combined 102 points.

-I figure this will be a high-scoring tilt but it’ll be by virtue of defensive breakdowns, linebackers tripping over refs, safeties blowing assignments, too many men on the field-that sort of thing.

-Can we institute a “Shining Diamond in the Outhouse” Award? Good god, Burrow leads the league in passing yards, completions and TD’s.

-Despite Joe’s Herculean efforts, Cincy hasn’t yet beaten a team with a winning record.

-The Lamb Lays Down In Arlington: Ceedee’s catch percentage on the road is (rounded up) 70%. At home he’s sitting at 53%.

Have at it.