Week Eleven Crystal Ball - Weekend: Imperfectly Perfect
Published continually since 1994
My friends, football is an imperfectly perfect game.
There are victories and defeats, catches and incompletions, first downs and fumbles, touchdowns and interceptions. About what you’d expect with the ball shaped the way that it is, I suppose.
Imperfectly perfect.
Some will have you believe that the sport is also a zero-sum game with winners on one side and losers on the other, the wheat meticulously separated from the chaff. All that matters is wins and losses, they say.
Respectfully, I disagree. And I disagree vehemently.
My latest reference point: the 2024 St. Peter’s Prep Marauders1, whose season ended with yesterday’s playoff loss to the St. Joseph Regional High School Green Knights.
A quick look online tells you that the team finished 4-6 and allowed more points than it scored. That they won four games by double digits and lost five games in that same fashion. That the team improved by three wins from last season while finishing under .500 for the second straight year.
But, as it is with numbers, they only tell part of the story, often omitting what’s most important.
In the case of the 2024 Marauders, here’s what matters: the players fought as one and built memories to last a lifetime, from the start of offseason training last December to yesterday’s final whistle. Obstacles were encountered. Trust was built. Lifelong bonds were forged.
That’s a testament to the character of the players and their devoted parents and also to the leadership of Coach Rich Hansen III and his staff, a dedicated group that truly has the players’ best interests at heart.
Being a football coach is a unique calling for a lot of reasons. The hours are long, but the hourly wages are often scant. You have to buy into something bigger than yourself. And you learn to live with the fact that many folks think they could do your job better than you do, even though very few possess the ability, wisdom and fortitude to walk a mile in your shoes.
As coaches, players and parents milled about the parking lot after yesterday’s game, there was plenty of sadness but, more than anything, I noticed a sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the 12-month marathon. Gratitude for the 10-week in-season sprint. Gratitude for one another.
It was, indeed, an imperfectly perfect ending to an imperfectly perfect season. And I’ll never forget it.
One thing I’d like to forget: Thursday’s NFL action as my boys from Washington (7-4) fell to the Eagles (8-2) in Philly. The loss drops the season record to 90-61 (.596).
Let’s pick the rest of this weekend’s slate with the Bucs (4-6), Cardinals (6-4), Giants (2-8) and Panthers (3-7) enjoying the bye…
1 PM, FOX
The visiting Packers (6-3, 3-1 away) beat Chicago (4-5, 4-1 home) for their eleventh straight win in the series. Green Bay is a scintillating 25-3 (.893) against their archrival since January 2011…
…the Rams (4-5, 1-3 away) fall to the host Patriots (3-7, 1-3 home). This game is a toss-up, but I’ll go with Jerod Mayo’s club, which has shown significant improvement with two wins in the past three weeks…
…the Browns (2-7, 1-3 away) drop one to the Saints (3-7, 2-3 home) in New Orleans. Of note: the home team’s interim coach, Darren Rizzi, is a proud alum of St. Peter’s rival Bergen Catholic in north Jersey.
Rizzi, by the way, is no relation to Manhattan youth sports parenting legend and IPA elitist REAL ESTATE ROB aka THE TRIBECA TORNADO. They share a surname - and likely a love for red sauce - and that’s it.
1 PM, CBS
The Lions (8-1, 3-1 home) roll the Jaguars (2-8, 0-5 away) in Dee-troit. Dan Campbell’s squad continues to look like the NFL’s best…
…the Vikings (7-2, 3-1 away) get a W in Tennessee (2-7, 1-3 home). Minnesota proved it can win with defense in last week’s victory at Jacksonville. I think it’ll be far more comfortable today…
…Vegas (2-7, 1-4 away) falls to the Dolphins (3-6, 1-3 home). Antonio Pierce and the Raiders are searching for answers but guys like Kenny Stabler and Clarence Davis are not walking through that door...
Baltimore (7-3, 3-2 away) nips the Steelers (7-2, 3-1 home) in a Pittsburgh thriller. That said, Russell Wilson & Co. impressed the heck out of me in their win over DC last week. They’ll be a major factor come January…
…In a rematch of Super Bowl III, the host Jets (3-7, 2-2 home) beat the Colts (4-6, 1-4 away).
4:05 PM, FOX
I’ll pick the Falcons (6-4, 3-1 away) in Denver (5-5, 2-2 home). I love what Coach Sean Payton is doing to transform the Broncos but, in a tight game, I’ll take the veteran QB, Kirk Cousins, to win…
…the Niners (5-4, 3-2 away) truck the visiting Seahawks (4-5, 2-1 away) for their seventh straight win in the series.
4:25 PM, CBS
The Chiefs (9-0, 4-0 away) suffer their first loss at Buffalo (8-2, 4-0 home). In many ways, this find-a-way-to-win Kansas City team is some of Andy Reid’s finest work, but they’ve been tempting fate. I think the clock strikes midnight today.
8:20 PM, NBC/PEACOCK
The visiting Bengals (4-6, 3-2 away) play the Chargers (6-3, 3-1 home) tonight as the memories start flowing of the 1981 AFC Championship game, the so-called “Freezer Bowl” at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.
The temperature was -9 Fahrenheit at kickoff but, with the wind chill, the real-feel was nearly -60, creating playing conditions that only a Yeti could love. The Bengals won and advanced to Super Bowl XVI vs. San Fran while Coach Don Coryell & Co. returned to sunny California, left to think about what might have been.
I could wax on about that contest but I prefer to think about their rematch during the 1982 season when San Diego tattooed the Bengals to the tune of 50-34.
In that game, Coryell’s brilliance was in full display as the host Chargers rolled up 661 yards of offense, still the fifth-best performance in NFL history. Dan Fouts threw for 435, wideout Wes Chandler had 260 and two TDs and running back James Brooks ran for 105 and three scores. Quite the track meet, it was.
As for tonight, I like the Chargers in just the second head-to-head matchup between Messrs. Herbert and Burrow. The first contest - in December 2021 - ended in a 41-22 LA victory with both men throwing for more than 300 yards. Tonight will be closer, for sure. Call it Chargers, 29-26.
MONDAY, 8:15 PM, ESPN
I like the Texans (6-4, 2-3 away) to win in Dallas (3-6, 0-4 home) to close out the week. It’s been rough for Houston of late but playing the Cowboys looks like the perfect elixir.
That’s it for this week, folks. Enjoy your Sunday and God bless!
As you might guess, my son aka THE TRE MAN in these pages, is a sophomore receiver on the team.