The Diamond In The Rough

They were 2-3 to start the season before their bye week. Since then they are 6-2 with a current 5-game winning streak. No one expected the team to accomplish that this season to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two of their wins during that win streak were against likely playoff teams in Kansas City and Seattle. Their next game is a crucial one against the Dallas Cowboys which could decide their standing in the Wild Card race and for the division title. Currently they are tied with Atlanta at 8-5. If they do lose to Dallas, but beat New Orleans and Carolina to finish the season. You could see the up and coming Buccaneers back in January.

Rain, Sleet Or Snow

He caught 4 passes for 62 yards, but ran for 236 yards and scored 3 touchdowns on the ground. Most of that was accomplished while the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing in the snow against the Buffalo Bills. What this shows you is that the Steelers are no where near out of the playoff race and that Le’Veon Bell is the best running back in football. I’ve said many times that Antonio Brown, who happens to also play for Pittsburgh, is the best wide receiver in football. It just doesn’t seem fair that they have those two. Not since Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin could you argue that one team has the best running back-wide receiver combination. Of course you need to have a great quarterback and Dallas had Troy Aikman then and the Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger right now. Bell will be hard to contain going forward which makes Pittsburgh a tough matchup come playoff time.

A Regime Change In LA

I actually find this whole thing to be really funny. What was the reason the Los Angeles Rams decided to fire Jeff Fisher after another embarrassing loss? Take your pick; was it infighting within the organization, Eric Dickerson being told to stay away, players losing motivation, having no direction on offense. There are countless reasons. This move was inevitable if the Rams had a subpar record. If they finished at 8-8 maybe he gets another shot, but after getting thumped in their last three games, they needed to act now. One other reason for this and really the main one in my opinion is the fan base was turning on the franchise rapidly. With speculation that the San Diego Chargers are going to move to Los Angeles next season, Rams owner Stan Kroenke doesn’t want to lose any fans to a potential roommate. The next coach is going to be under intense pressure to win now. There are some pieces in place, but a lot of it will depend on how QB Jared Goff performs in his last three games. If he gets worse than it will continue to be a rough road for him with the constant questions and doubters wondering if he was worth trading up for the number one pick.