Time Out for Sports Talk: By the Bye
Todd: Obvious theme for this week’s TOST blog entry…
It’s all about the bye, as the 3-0 Patriots get an early one this year, and don’t tell me the Commish didn’t have something to do with that.
Not much to say about last week’s expected blowout of the Jaguars other than Tom Brady and the offense already looking like they’re in playoff form. Nine scores on their first nine possessions? Granted, not every opposing defense will lack the resistance the Jags did, so it won’t be this easy all the time. But anyone who thinks these Pats are going to match their ’07 counterparts with a 16-0 regular season are dreaming, so say bye to that possibility.
Some other NFL byes, although these teams don’t have the week off. Let’s start with the Baltimore Ravens, who were 0-3 before rebounding with an overtime win against a Steelers team minus Ben Roethlisberger and an accurate kicker (Pittsburgh could soon be holding auditions for their fourth placekicker this season). But don’t get too excited about that win just yet, John Harbaugh. I think the absence of Terrell Suggs is going to be too much for the Ravens’ D to overcome.
Also say bye to the 0-3 New Orleans Saints, who themselves said bye to Jimmy Graham, Kenny Stills and Pierre Thomas from last year’s offense. Not related, but now Drew Brees’ shoulder is ailing him. Wonder if he’s just ailed by what he has left for pass catchers? Trading for tight end Michael Hoomanawanui—who said bye to the Pats earlier this week—is not exactly the answer.
As the Pats enjoy their bye, we can conveniently say bye to the 2015 Boston Red Sox, who wrap up their season in Cleveland this weekend and, at best, will finish .500. But to their credit, the Sox have been an entertaining bunch over the last six weeks (for anyone who’s still watching them).
The infusion of energy has been led largely by the kids—Bogaerts, Betts, Bradley Jr., Shaw, Swihart, Rodriguez and Owens—who I hope all manage to stick around next year. 35-year old southpaw Rich Hill has also been a nice comeback story after pitching this summer for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. In four September starts with the Sox, Hill went 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA and 36 strikeouts over 29 innings.
The question for the Sox is who will VP of Baseball Ops Dave Dombrowski say bye to this offseason? Might interim manager Torey Lovullo be gone if he gets an offer to manage elsewhere? The Sox have gone 28-16 with Lovullo filling in for his friend John Farrell, who continues to undergo chemotherapy for his lymphoma diagnosis. A report yesterday indicated that Farrell will return to manage the Sox in 2016 if healthy, but the young Sox players have played better since Lovullo took over. Just a coincidence?
The Sox also said bye to Hanley Ramirez this week, as in sending him home with a week left in the season. Originally thought to get a late-season tryout at first base, Hanley was shut down in part due to nagging issues with his shoulder. How bad does Dombrowski want to make Hanley’s bye permanent? But how much money will John Henry have to swallow to make Ramirez’s remaining 3-year, $66 million contract palatable to another team?
I can’t believe I fell for the Hanley signing last offseason, thinking that the guy was going to change. But former GM Ben Cherington should have known better, given that Ramirez originally came up through the Sox farm system. The guy could hit, but didn’t care much about the rest of his game and couldn’t even stay healthy enough for the one part of his game he did care about to actually work.
Finally, one other bye—to the staffers at Sports Illustrated who are in charge of making predictions. Let’s just say 2015 hasn’t exactly been their best year. First, they had the Indians over the Nationals in the World Series, and neither club is even going to be playing this postseason. (How about old friend Jonathan Papelbon likely saying bye to his time in Washington thanks to displaying the perfect symbol of the Nats’ season, a choke?) And with SI’s 2015 NFL preview only a few weeks old, that Ravens Super Bowl selection isn’t looking so hot either. But speaking of hot…
Week 4 Picks (2-1 last week, 8-1 season): I guess if there’s a theme to my picks this week, it’s choosing teams that are a combined 0-for-6 in Super Bowls, with one of them featured in a SB revenge matchup…is Scott Norwood available to perform a ceremonial kickoff? Bills over Giants, Falcons over Texans and Cardinals over Rams.
Mike: Ahh, the bye week. It's like a mini vacation for the fans during the season as well. No pressure on Sunday, you can get some stuff done and not have to worry about when the Pats are on. It's very relaxing!
And I wouldn't want to be in Pittsburgh right now. After watching that debacle against Baltimore, I can't imagine what the fans are going through. After all, the field goal kicker cost the the team the game. But the coaching staff also made some decisions that are questionable. Twice in overtime, they passed on makeable field goals (for anyone but their kicker) to go for it on fourth down, missing both times.
Those decisions had as much to do with the Steelers' loss, since it gave the Ravens multiple second chances, and they were bound to cash in on one eventually.
Can you imagine that happening here? There would be riots in the streets! But, come to think about it, Steelers' coach Mike Tomlin probably thinks the kicking problems are the Patriots' fault. Yeah, that's it, the Pats interfered with the communications on the sidelines in Pittsburgh and that led to the loss. Isn't everything New England's fault anyway?
As for the theme of byes, it looks like Don Orsillo is saying "bye" to head off to San Diego. It's a good move for him, but one that never should have happened. His departure has so grossly mishandled, it's almost comical. It will be interesting to see what happens to Jerry Remy in the offseason. I'm thinking he's going to quietly go bye as well.
Week 4 Picks (2-1 last week, 3-6 season): I still have some work to do to catch up here. I'll take the Chargers over the Browns, the Jets over Miami in London and the Cardinals over the Rams.
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