This is the sucky part of the year and it only lasts 6 more months. And in certain climes it’s cold to boot. [West Coast commenters push each other into on-coming traffic in order to be the first to brag about their weather] It’s ok, we’ll make do as we always have. I send out kudos to those that will keep our interest going and invite others to yak about their interests through this dark time. Seriously, if you’d like to write about something we’re all ears.

As I do every Monday, let’s take a gander at events and wax non-philosophical about them.

Fallout:

-I’m guessing that if the Pats brain trust has anything on the ball they’ll draft an offensive lineman very early (first 2 rounds) and sign another during free agency. Maye was sacked 21 times during the postseason, breaking Burrow’s “record”.

-Speaking of, poor Will Campbell. He allowed 14 QB pressures on 43 dropbacks which is…not good. That’s a coaching failure of monumental proportions because it was very clear he was being eaten alive and no adjustment of a second rb or a blocking tight end was sent in to give him help. How can you run your offense when one fella is failing so badly?

-I’ll wager that the Pats will have a poorer record next year (their sked was very weak) but be a better team.

-No one really remarked about the refs because they did their job well and only threw 2(!) flags during the first three quarters.

-Hosannas belong to Seahawks GM John Schneider, who has constructed two SB-winning clubs with two different coaches and two entirely different rosters. He made a calculated gamble by not re-upping Geno and signing Darnold instead. That’s a career-defining/career-killing gambit that he played perfectly. Roseman, step aside, there’s a new smartest guy in the room. (I say that unironically)

-Darnold. What can you say at this point? The guy has corrected most of his flaws and is an incredible 31-7 in his last 38 games. He’s the only QB SB winner to not have a single turnover over the course of the playoffs.

-Moving Forward: The top UFA’s available this offseason? (this is a super-biased list on my part because there are some really old guys and some others that have plenty of baggage that I’ll be eliminating from Spotrac’s list) They include-Trey Hendrickson, Daniel Jones, Joey Bosa, David Njoku, Kyle Pitts (who knows what he could accomplish in another environment?) Matt Milano (if he could stay injury-free he’d be a fantastic one-year rental at linebacker) Jauan Jennings (there was a ton of talent in front of him but he always performed when put in a starting role) Rasheed Shaheed (your UFA status couldn’t have occurred at a better time) Kamren Kurl (if you want to shore up the back end of your secondary). There are others but I’m way over my word count so I won’t elaborate further.

As for my interests going forward? In college-ball I’ll be following Texas Tech because I like what McCasland is doing, NC State because Qadir Copeland is in the middle of a transformation that I think borders on the impossible, Sillycuse because lately it’s been a race to get to 20 wins and it tends to slow to a crawl once they get into the meat of the ACC sked [heavy sigh]. I’ve also picked up on Pacific because Canada’s all-time winningest coach Dave Smart is there and I’m curious as to what he can accomplish. The Senators are there as well-they’ll have to win at a 68% clip to get into the playoffs and that’s not happening. I’m also fooling around with making protein-friendly meals from different cultures around this non-globe.

What are you doing to pass the time/entertain yourself? Meet me in the comments.