WEEK ELEVEN CRYSTAL BALL - THURSDAY: A (Rare) Doubling
Published continually since 1994
My friends, THE GURU experienced the agony of defeat once again Sunday with MY BELOVED COMMIES losing to the tune of 44-22 against those powerful Dee-troit Lions. MBC fought hard, but, like yours truly at a dance, they were outmatched by the guys in Honolulu Blue from the get-go.
My squad’s loss was matched only by the ignominy experienced by LE GURU as I stumbled to a record of 7-7 (.500) to send the season mark to 80-68 (.541). I digress.
Interestingly, only four games - 4 (!) - in the National Football League’s 106-year history have finished with a 44-22 score but two of them were last weekend with Seattle doubling up Arizona in the other contest. Even crazier: a third such result occurred last month when MBC lost to Dallas on October 19.
The only other game to EVER end at 44-22 was way back in 1967 when the Raiders pulverized the Chiefs at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Indeed, even KC’s famed West Bottoms Stockyards never witnessed so much blood. My man ROCKHURST ROB, a passionate carnivore, will vouch for that.
The Raiders unleashed a lot of pain in 1967, winning seven games by at least 20 points and four by 30 or more, including a 40-7 pounding of the Houston Oilers in the AFC championship game. Alas, Oakland fell to Vince Lombardi and the Packers in Super Bowl II, 33-14, to finish 14-2 on the season.
Raiders head coach John Rauch would lead his team to another sparkling season in 1968 - a 13-3 season that culminated in an AFC title game loss to the Jets - before Mr. John Madden took the helm for the 1969 season.
As for this evening, we’ve got a divisional rivalry game Madden would love as the Patriots (8-2, 3-2 home) host the Jets (2-7, 1-2 away). New York is riding a two-game win streak and, yes, I believe in New York rookie head coach Aaron Glenn. But I trust Mike Vrabel & Co. even more.
Call it 32-20, New England, with Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung on the call. Amazon Prime Video has the action at 8:15 pm ET.
That’s all for tonight, folks. Enjoy the game and God bless!
The statistical oddity of three 44-22 games happening so close together is fasinating. When you considr how many different score combinations are possible in football, the probablity of this happening by chance is incredibly low. That 1967 Raiders team was absolutely dominant, and comparing those defensive performances to todays spread heavy offenses really puts things in perspective. Looking forward to seeing if the Pats can keep their momentum going tonight.