Taking Comfort In The Things We Understand
Welcome back football! Week 1 is almost in the books (tune in tonight to watch the Giants shit the bed!) and it felt…honestly pretty normal. The differences didn’t bother me much at all. The lack of fans wasn’t that noticeable. The sounds were the same. It felt comfortable, like slipping into an old pair of shoes that you recently replaced the laces on. It felt right. I genuinely want this to work out and I hope it doesn’t fall apart.
We had our usual gaggle of week one nonsense too. Teams with hype getting punched in the dick (The Bucs Super Team!), teams that nobody thinks are good giving us the best games of the week (Colts/Jags and Raiders/Panthers ruled!). A general air of uncertainly because we still have no idea which of these wins and losses were flukes yet. But some things felt constant. Like the Lions!
So I actually had this comic idea pretty early in the Lions/Bears game. I got it started, and the final panel was a bears fan going “At least Trubisky still sucks”. Then, as Redzone swapped back to the Bears game right when Trubisky threw the go-ahead touchdown to complete the Bears 4th quarter comeback, I realized I had to scramble to change the panel to the other constant that gives us all comfort in these trying times: the Lions tragically snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Remember when Jim Cladwell got fired for Matt Patricia? Jim Caldwell deserves more credit. The Lions have been a joke under Patricia and losses like this are just a prime example why. This felt inevitable in the way only a continuous disaster can. The Lions made Mitch Trubusky look good for one quarter and they fumbled a 3 score lead. It came down, as it tends to do, to a heartbreaking single play in the final drive, this time being D’Andre Swift catching the game winning TD in his hands and dropping it. The Lions can’t let you down easy. They go out of their way to stomp on your hope with exceptional malice.
Welcome back, football!
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Hey so uh, my state is on fire and I can’t go outside without literally risking my lungs, but a lot of other folks have it even worse and have had to leave their homes to burn. If you want to help people out, here are some places to donate.
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could’ve used a Browns fan for the last panel too… or did you specifically want to avoid the low-hanging fruit?
sigh… all I wanted was for them to look like they had some idea what they were doing…
All the Georgia fans here are crying.
And Dave, watch Gridiron Heights!!!
The browns oline was the only thing that was solid for them.They got plucked apart by a Ravens receiving core Lamar didn’t run much and threw three touchdowns and looked like an MVP
Last year (?), the Detroit Free Press ran an article saying that Matt Patricia was doing worse than what got Jim Caldwell fired.
Well, it looks like my Vikes are in a rebuilding year. Any suggestions on a good bandwagon team?
The Titans
http://www.thedrawplay.com/comic/wait-a-minute-are-the-titans-good/ Dave you set this up in 2016 and now i can use it
I wouldn’t panic about the Vikings yet. Out of every team that lost I think the Vikings have the least to worry about so far.
No one should panic after week 1, especially after this weird offseason. Every year people overreact to week 1 and every year the overreactions feel dumb by week 3
Seahawks. Their fanbase is already 90% bandwagon, so you’ll be right at home!
I love how the ball just shot out of the Lions player’s hands the moment he crossed the goal line. It’s like victory slides off the Lions like they’re made of teflon.
It’s like William Clay Ford and Paul Brown were on a road trip and ran over an old gypsy man’s daughter or something.
And with the win over the Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars seize sole possession of 1st place in the AFC South, even if my Titans win tonight. Same for the NFC East because the Washington Football Team beat the Eagles and now are in first place. The world is backwards
GO WASHINGTON FT
PUT SOME RESPECT ON OUR (AWFUL) NAME
Hey Dave, are you going to do a “Tom Brady exposed as system QB” comic?
I know you’re mostly being funny, but after everyone gave the Giants so much shit for picking Daniel Jones only to have him be decent as a rookie, can we let Judge & Co. take the field before crapping all over them? Case in point, let’s see how the qbs we “should have taken instead” fared:
Darrrrnold – took 50 steps backwards
Haskins – inaccurate 1st half, gives “””AMAZING””” halftime speech, then turns in mediocre performance… in a game where his defense REPEATEDLY handed him the ball in PHI territory.
Crapfield – including him cuz he threw shade at Mr. Jones and me – managed a hot steamer on the field for OBJ.
If Daniel-San can improve timing and reduce fumbles, the Giants at least have a *shot* at being competitive in the division. Based on his history of incompetence, McCarthy will be worse than Garrett, the Eagles just had their crutches knocked out from underneath them, and Haskins’ inaccuracy will likely torpedo the possibly-stellar defense the Washington Asshats seem to have assembled.
Yes, yes, the Giants have more losses than anybody else since 2017, but I know Iggles fans who are more open-minded about the Giants right now than you – a fan – are. Wassup wit dat?!?!? 😯
Ok, *NOW* you can say they’ve still got a ways to go. But they didn’t shit the bed. The effort was there, and they were still in the game even after the turnovers. The new-look OL needs some time to gel and Danny Boy needs to keep gaining experience and learning the system. The Steelers defense has continuity going for it, but Garrett did a nice job calling plays. That one 19-play drive was some hope for the future, even if it ended in an interception. At the very least, I expect the Browns will soon get their most-losses-over-the-last-few-years crown back. XD
The Giants have the worst record in football the last 3 seasons and are now dealing with a young, inexperienced team and coach in a season without typical practice time to focus and gel. They are not going to be good this year, ceiling at probably 8 wins at best, and I don’t see them gelling into a true team unit till around midseason. I’m guessing 5-6 wins. Any team with a good D-line is going to pick us apart.
Week one reactions are pretty worthless but the defense looked better than expected. The line was meh in pass protection and atrocious in run blocking. Thomas looked alright considering the defense he was up against. I actually had no real problems with Danny outside his second incredibly stupid pick. Slayton rules. I’m tired of waiting for Engram to live up to his athletic reputation. Saquon has no room to run but he needs to stop trying to Barry Sanders every play and take the straight 3-4 yard runs when he can so we stop having 2nd and 14s. Garrett’s playcalling was about as uninspired as I expected.
This is a rebuild year and a bizarre season mulligan anyway and all I’m hoping for is some basic progression as a unit.
All that said I feel like we can probably beat the Bears next week
I’d say we’re more or less on the same page, then. As long as the product on the field doesn’t resemble drunk blindfolded rodeo clowns trying to punch a bull in the balls, I’m ok with the work in progress, given the various obstacles they’ve got going against them. They gave good effort to the last play, and at least we’re not the Jets (PRAISE JEEBUS!). If they can get that OL to just hold together so Saquon doesn’t get mauled by 5 dudes before the ball is even in his hands, I think 5-8 wins is a good target. Anything above that is a delicious frothy topping.
As for Engram, yea, show that dude the door. It seems like anytime he’s given a perfect pass that lands right in his hands, there’s a 60% chance he’ll drop it, 90% chance if it’s 3rd and short. Once Golden is back, he and Slayton should be the focus, and if that run game doesn’t improve, move Saquon into Engram’s spot – dude can catch a ball.
Matt Patricia has needed to go for years
Indy hasn’t won a season opener since 2013, and prior to that they hadn’t won one since 2009, so in theory I’m not worried, but in practice Felipe Rios confirmed my worst fears about him. Two picks and should’ve had a third if not for a penalty calling it back. Good thing we paid him virtually the same amount of money as Brissett to be a marginal at best improvement!
As someone from Chicago, don’t worry, Trubiscuit still sucks.