NFL 2026: Week 8 Power Rankings & The Rest

Tier I - The "Where Did It All Go Wrong" Uno

32.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  0-6  (90-151)

While they were on the bye they now become the sole winless team, and with underlying numbers more or less as bad as the Titans or Dolphins also. The clock is ticking on Harbaugh and probably well past that point for McDaniel. Most interesting thing for me to watch is if there is any reality to the idea they could explore a Herbert trade. I doubt it, but something that could definitely be on the table in the offseason.

Tier II - The "League Doormats" Quadro

31.) Tennessee Titans  =  1-6  (108-156)
30.) Miami Dolphins  =  1-5  (98-157)
29.) Arizona Cardinals  =  2-5  (142-208)

28.) Indianapolis Colts  =  2-5  (154-280)

They all have wins; heck, some have two of them. I don't know how many more will come - which is sad for the Colts given they don't have their first round pick (or a GM). The Titans still look lost on offense, and while I imagine Saleh gets more than one year, the heat will be fully on. The Dolphins looked competent and may be building something, but that roster is just so threadbare. I geuss there is a certain optimism if your team is openly roster poor. The Cardinals actually may be in a similar position. The talent is just lacking, but I do like the coaching staff. Ironically, a few similar things could be said of the Colts, as I do think there is a good coach hiding within Steichen, it just seems pretty clear it will be the next team to benefit on this if I am right. I do also wonder if at some point there is a pivot to at least give Richardson a few games, if only to generate some trade value.

Tier III - The "Unlikely To Spoil, But It Will Hurt" Quinto

27.) New York Jets  =  2-5  (137-150)

26.) Washington Commanders  =  1-4-1 (132-172)
25.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  2-5  (127-175)
24.) New Orleans Saints  =  2-5  (162-194)
23.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  3-4  (183-197)

It's amazing I had some optimism on the Jets early season start - as even in their 1-2 start they were generally competent. That is long gone, with two straight sloppy, sloppy, sloppy games and division losses. The Pats game was more frustrating (turnovers, short yardage) and thsi more embarrassing, and for the first time, I agree questions should be asked about Glenn. The Commanders get back from their bye with the good momentum of not giving up against the 49ers. I guess the division is theoretically in play as it is hard to know if the Giants are for real, but more theri goal should just be getting 11 more healthy games from Daniels. The Eagles are in a lost season, the main question now is does this became the opportunity to axe Sirianni. McKee had some moments, but doesn't help that he is missing any realistics weapons outside of Saquon. Dark season ahead. The Saints are a frustrating team with some highs but way more lows at this point, and I fear Tyler Shough is just not going to cut it. I do like Kellen Moore however, and hope he finds a better QB to hitch himself to. Speaking of QBs to hitch yourself to, I would give Cousins just one more game to put things relatively back on track as if he can't show up against this version of the Jets than it deserves to be Mendoza time. The defense is also super underperforming at this point.

Tier IV - The "Down Bad in Texas" Duo

22.) Houston Texans  =  2-5  (165-170)
21.) Dallas Cowboys  =  3-4  (189-180)

The Texans still have that -5 point differential to pretend that things are OK, but the more that this rests on an overperforming offense, the more worrying it gets. We know that defense is more volatile year to year, but even then, this is extreme in that sense. The pass rush apart from Anderson going silent is the weirdest part. Just stunning. It's hard to know fully what to read of that Cowboys performance. The offense was excellent, the defense had a hard time really putting distance between them and a team QB'd by Tanner McKee. At their best, they still seem like a dominant offense, but they still sit 2.5 games back of the Giants at this point.

Tier V - The "NFC South, As Always" Trio

20.) Carolina Panthers  =  3-3  (159-166)

19.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  2-5  (162-151)

18.) Atlanta Falcons  =  3-4  (171-173)

Ironically, I still think all three are reasonably average teams - hence their ranking. The Panthers took a lot of their goodwill and shot it right out the door with that disaster, but the season has still been a net positive given Bryce's play. The Buccaneers looked energized with Mayfield back, even if Baker himself did little to nothing in teh game. The defense has really been born again, exhibiting a lot of the good Bowles' traits - the manic pass rush, the speed. For the Falcons, a solid, if a bit predictable win, but one predicated a bit too much on turnovers. On balance, the Falcons are still having success with Penix and that offense - that was my main takeaway from taht game, that they could take full advantage of 49ers defensive lapses. I still think on balance the Falcons are the best team in the division. This week will give us a nice early look at this.

Tier VI - The "Someone Has to Win the NFC East" Uno

17.) New York Giants  =  4-2-1  (163-161)

The funniest part of this Giants season is that if not for the Skattebo fumble in OT against the Commanders, they would be 5-2 right now. Still, 4-2-1 is reasonable. They have a positive point differential. They went on the road and beat a reasonable team, and maybe, just maybe, McCarthy took his being run out of Minnesota as a challenge to give his career another real go. The base Giants talent level is good enough to win this godforesaken division with capable QB play. If anything, the McCarthy we've seen can get worse and still have a better chance of giving them that than Jameis did.

Tier VII - The "Weird, Weird AFC North" Trio

16.) Cleveland Browns  =  5-2  (133-146)

15.) Baltimore Ravens  =  4-3  (169-167)

14.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  5-2  (153-138)  

Clearly, there is one more AFC North team to come, but I will group these three together. It is interesting because in this grouping you get two 5-2 teams who don't seem as good as their record, and a 4-3 one that seems better in theory. Of course, that "in theory" bit is the full unknown of how much longer Lamar will be out. Was supposed to be a light injury is far into the "lingering longer than it should" territory now, and the defense is unable to keep sticking up for Huntley. The rest of the division has a chance to run and hide. Including tehse other two that are 5-2 despite being outscored, but the Browns have been respectable down to down for a few games now, and the Steelers defense and top skill guys are playing well enough to do what all the recent Tomlin-era Steelers have done. In the case of both the Ravens and teh Steelers, their massive coaching changes haven't really seemed to have changed anything.

Tier VIII - The "Upwardly / Downwardly Mobile" Trio

13.) Los Angeles Rams  =  3-4  (170-159)

12.) Denver Broncos  =  5-2  (144-141)

11.) New England Patriots  =  4-3  (160-143)

Another trio where the question is if the 5-2 team is worse than its record, and the other teams are better. The Rams were dominant for most of that game and should get Garrett back at some point. The losses are in the bank however, and the division is a good amount away. Their games against the Seahawks will really be critical - luckily for them Garrett may be in play for both. The Broncos defense has returned to its excellent play in recent weeks despite still missing corners. The offense finally showed some signs of life. So much of it seems to be just mental with Nix. If (and this is a giant "if") he can get over the dink and dunk prediliction, they could still be scary. For the Patriots, another solid game from Maye (even if I didn't think it was the second coming like many) but AJ Brown looks lost out there, adn the secondary played well below its standards on a day the pass rush couldn't get home. The schedule eases up, but this is a team that might be just a step below the other top ones all year.

Tier IX - The "Some Holes Exist" Quadro

10.) Green Bay Packers  =  4-3  (144-145)

9.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  4-2  (163-122)

8.) Detroit Lions  =  4-2  (184-165)

7.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  5-1  (143-103)

As always, we are hearing the old "there are no great teams" routine that we've heard absically every year since 2007, despite that there often are great team. The more interesting finding if you look at say the last 20 years of NFL, is generally the top teams by the end of the regular season are defined by great runs to end the year, rather than start it (say the 2019 Ravens, 2023 Ravens, 2010 Patriots, 2015 Panthers, and more). Anyway, weird aside, but tehse four are all solid. The Packers need to figure out why they often can't score more than 23 points, but the team is getting healthier and steadier. The Bengals defense is remaining league average, which as their offense showed in teh second half is all they need. Burrow looks calmer playing more from the shotgun again - in the end they have to stop trying to make him someone he just is not. The Lions quietly have one of the league's best offenses - they just need to stop fumbling or turning it over on downs. Goff looks amazing and in rythym and I like the more varied route tree Jameson has at this point. Finally for the Chiefs, yes that was a disaster. Hopefully Rashee Rice is back soon, and hopefully they can just chalk that up to a night game against a very motivated Seattle team. My bigger worry is their lack of pass rush, but largely, they will be fine.

Tier X - The "NFC Beasts" Trio

6.) Seattle Seahawks  =  4-3  (168-125)

5.) Chicago Bears  =  5-2  (180-143)
4.) Minnesota Vikings  =  6-0  (125-74)

The Seahawks are maybe the best team down to down. They turn it over too much, which cost them dearly in all three losses. Those three losses are there. The big problem they have is there are seven very good to great teams in teh NFC West and NFC North and at most five of them can make the playoffs. They still have Chicago, the 49ers (in SF) and both Rams games, but maybe they found somethign in the run game. The Bears look poised (other than of course that ridiculous pre-halftime play). Caleb looks settled. That was a really nice win, including a defense that is doing just good enough manufacturing pressure. For the Vikings, they have no problems manufacturing pressure. Kyler still doesn't look too settled, and more worryingly, he has not yet found a good chemistry with Jefferson, but if they have notable holes where they could improve and are still 6-0....

Tier XI - The "Top of the AFC" Duo

3.) Buffalo Bills  =  5-1  (197-171)

2.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  4-2  (154-104)

The Bills maybe had one of the great bye weeks of all time - the Chiefs lost and the Patriots lost, giving them now the clear path to the #1 seed and a 1.5 game lead in teh division. Yes, the only way the bye week could ahve gone better is if they traded for more defensive help, or Sean McDermott as DC. The defense is worrying, but the offense is playing at a near historic level in terms of drive success. The Jags loss to the Texans looks a bit worse, but at the end this is the ebst AFC team to me down-to-down. They have to cut the penalties but in a weakening division, staring other divisions where tops teams could knock each other around, they still ahve a great shot at a top seed.

Tier XII - The "Trust Shaken, Not Lost" Uno

1.) San Francisco 49ers  =  6-1  (197-139)

Yeah, I still have them here. That was about as predictable a loss as possible - injured, though in a state where some of them shoudl be back after their bye, along with a short week and a 1pm Eastern Time start, and it isn't surprising at all that the 49ers would have a sloppy, turnover filled game. Granted, if they didn't have the uncharacteristic turnovers (one of which was a once-a-year type play by Bates) then they may win the game anyway. The offense still moves the ball crazily well. I do hope Evans is back after the bye, or some reinforcements. This can be a special team. That one road loss against a team with notable highs doesn't change that view for me.

Looking Ahead to Next Weeks Games

Byes: New Orleans Saints (2-5), New York Giants (4-2-1), San Francisco 49ers (6-1), Houston Texans (2-5)

14.) Philadelphia Eagles (2-5)  @  Washington Commanders (1-4-1)  (SNF - NBC)

13.) Arizona Cardinals (2-5)  @  Dallas Cowboys (3-4)  (1:00 - FOX)

12.) Las Vegas Raiders (3-4)  @  New York Jets (2-5)  (1:00 - FOX)

I call it "Bad Against Bad" Sunday, as we get these three games with two teams each under .500. Usually, I save this more black and white approach at looking at games until later in the year, but this week does stand out in this way. As for the first one, still so ridiculous that the NFL did not flex out this Eagles @ Commies game. This truly might be the worst SNF game in memory. The other two are no better but at least shoved in the 1pm slot.

11.) Indianapolis Colts (2-5)  @  Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)  (1:00 - CBS)

10.) Los Angeles Chargers (0-6)  @  Los Angeles Rams (3-4)  (4:05 - FOX)

9.) Tennessee Titans (1-6)  @  Cincinnati Bengals (4-2)  (1:00 - CBS)

8.) New England Patriots (4-3)  @  Miami Dolphins (1-6)  (4:25 - CBS)

I call it "Bad vs. Good" Sunday, as we get four games that fit that definition. The Colts are in full firesale mode, and while it would be funny if they beat a far better team off of a bye, I just don't see any way that happens. The Chargers misery will also almost certainly continue. The Bengals defense should at least give some latitude to Cam Ward, which will be interesting to monitor. Finally, on paper the Patriots on a mini-bye should see a game in Miami as a gimme mismatch, but it will be interesting to see if the house of horrors that was Miami to Brady continues to the Maye era - especially after some signs of life from Miami last week.

7.) Carolina Panthers (3-3)  @  Green Bay Packers (4-3)  (TNF - Prime)

6.) Atlanta Falcons (3-4)  @  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5)  (1:00 - FOX)

I call it "The Tour of the NFC South" Thursday and Sunday, as we get our three most likely combatants for the NFC South across these two. The Panthers get a chance to get right after that disaster, but certainly the short week won't help against what should be a pissed off Packers team. The Falcons @ Buccaneers is a good matchup in a way, especially if the Panthers lose - technically the winner would be in first place. Someone will win this division - the only interesting watchout is if we ahvea  second straight sub-.500 division winner.

5.) Baltimore Ravens (4-3)  @  Buffalo Bills (5-1)  (1:00 - CBS)

I call it "Man, I Miss Lamar" Sunday, as I am ranking this off of the going in assumption that Lamar Jackson will miss the game. There is still some juice to it to see if the Ravens can avoid falling further behind their AFC North bretheren, and if the Bills can stop Derrick Henry for once. That all said, if Lamar is playing, this would be my #2. If I knew 100% he isn't playing, this would be #8 - so call this ranking the weighted average.

4.) Cleveland Browns (5-2)  @  Pittsburgh Steeler (5-2)  (1:00 - CBS)
3.) Kansas City Chiefs (5-1)  @  Denver Broncos (5-2)  (4:25 - CBS)

2.) Minnesota Vikings (6-0)  @  Detroit Lions (4-2)  (1:00 - FOX)

I call it "Still Early But Great Divisional Matchups" Sunday, as we get a preview of what late season looks like. Just a trio of graet inter-division games. Browns and Steelers is super unlikely that both are 5-2. The Browns best win by far was their win over Pittsburgh earlier in teh year. The winner will be a crazy 6-2. Super fun, even if both teams are a bit fraudelent. The Chiefs and Broncos has taken on new life after teh Chiefs loss - the winner in this would lead the AFC West. The Chiefs have an opportunity to really put the hammer down - effectively take a 3-game lead. The Chiefs also get a chacne to show that last week was a bit of a mirage. The Vikings blitz against the Lions suddenly good again OL should be fun, but more than that is just this being the Vikings real first test - a good team on the road. Excellent stuff here.

1.) Chicago Bears (5-2)  @  Seattle Seahawks (4-3)  (MNF - ESPN)

I call it "I Live For Monday" Monday, as man this is a great one. The Seahawks are still playing just dominant defense, and the Bears, given the command and calmnes of Caleb Williams at the moment, is a great test - for both sides really. Same with Allen's blitz-happy approach against a QB who can get rattled. There is obviously a 30% chance we get a classic Seahawks primetime game blowout (like of course we just did) but there is a better chance in my opinion we get a fun one in a game where if the Seahawks lose, they will be in really tough position with four losses.

The Merciful End of the Ballard Era

It was so obvious once it was clear the Colts were going to lose to the previously 0-5 Titans, easily what had been the worst team in the league. The Colts were not a good team already at 2-3, but still had some respectable moments. They've still given teh Chiefs a better game than anyone (just ignore the fact they got outgained by like 200 yards). They beat the Texans, a win that is looking better by the week. But in that desolate loss to the Titans, it was clear changes would be made, and they were made swiftly - Chris Ballard finally shown the door after nine-plus years.

It;s hard to believe he lasted nine years to begin with - in all honesty, the Grigson years seemed way longer than they actually were (just six seasons). For a few years, it was understandable why Ballard would keep his job. The Colts rarely bottomed out, except for the disastrous 2022 season (3-12-1) which I still don't know how Ballard survived. They then drafted Anthony Richardson at #4, in retrospect a diasstrous pick that was a huge gamble at the time. Somehow despite him being a bust, they went 9-8 and 8-9 over the next two seasons - not bad enough to get rid of. Then they went 8-2 to start last year, the best record in teh NFL at that tine, before Daniel Jones tore his achilles and they lost the last seven games. Another disaster. He only kept his job because after Jim Irsay's death, new owner Callie Irsay didn't yet want to change anything. Anyway, change is finally coming to Indianapolis.

I talk about that 2022 season because it was instructive in the fact it absolutely should have been the end of Ballard. It was his third straight season bringing in a veteran QB without a long shelf life. It worked with Philip Rivers in 2020 (a somewhat miracle 11-5 season), but then didn't with Carson Wentz, but the Colts still started 9-6 before Wentz absoluteyl went on a Wentzian bender the last two gaems (we will return to this). Then in 2022 they went with Matt Ryan, when he was absolutely already broken. They cratered, they did weird stuff like hire Jeff Saturday (admittedly, absolutely a Jim Irsay decision). They could've cut bait there - it had been six years with two playoff appearances and a four win season. It would have been so easy.

Hell, it would have been easier the year before when teh Colts lost in Week 18 to a 2-14 Jaguars team when a win would have won them the division. They lost in embarrassing fashion. Wentz took the blame. Somehow, despite an outcry from the fanbase, no one else did. ANd there liest the weird inconsistency of being annoyed of a team being for once quite patient. No one ever is in the NFL, but the Colts and Irsay were to a fault. It might be that Ballard was good in teh room (by all accounts he was very well liked in the community and building). It might be the contineud Chiefs success had some weird afterglow on Ballard who was around for the very beginning of the Reid era (though notably not when Mahomes was drafted). For whatever reason he did, and we were left with this crazy never-ending run of mediocrity.

The problems with Ballard were self evident and critical in terms of blockers for success. Namely, after inheriting Andrew Luck and then losing him, he was never able to find an answer at QB. You can say he got unlucky that Rivers retired after one year, but he was not unlucky that Wentz was scatterbrained, or Ryan was laundry, and his big bet on Anthony Richardson was a massive failure. He also spent a lot of resources on receivers and defensive lineman but other than Michael Pittman, seemed to have no ability to actually scout those positions. Guys like Laitu Latu and Kwity Paye are fine depth pieces - they were prime 1st or 2nd round picks. And then of course Ballard's obsession with guards - yes Quenton Nelson is a likely HOFer, but HOF guards by themselves don't do too much.

Ballard was in many ways an even more of a "don't want to talk about Star Wars Numbers" than Ryan Grigson was - Grigson was not a success but was in many ways still somewhat forward looking. He overspent in free agency, but generally targeted prominent positions (other than the Trent Richardson trade... that one I will never get). Ballard was just dull - for years the critique was not spending despite cap room. He never did spend other than on extension for non prominent positions. He just never adapted to 2020s NFL, and it fianlly caught up to him.

Likely it catches up to Steichen to, but tehre is a world where he is a good play-caller that has been just blocked by bad personnel (helps when the Eagles offense has never been the same after he left). Likely he gets fired at the end of the season, but I do see a world where maybe he can make a case for his job. The real end goal though is a turning of the page - hopefully Callie Irsay knows what she is doing, but she almost undoubtedly does more than her dad did towards the end. Hoepfully she knows what works in the NFL in 2026 and finds someone who can lead that vision. Ballard wans't the guy, and the national (in Indy, at least) nightmare is finally over.

NFL 2026: Week 7 Power Rankings & The Rest

Tier I - The "Arch in Teal" Uno

32.) Miami Dolphins  =  0-5  (70-132)

Well, I hope they enjoyed the bye before we return to theri season of sadness. Anyway, let's just move on. It will be fun in their inevitable two wins.

Tier II - The "Dark Days Ahead" Duo

31.) Tennessee Titans  =  1-5  (84-129)

30.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  0-6  (90-151)

Yes, to me the Titans are still here - a fluke win over the Colts (the fluke being the punt block) doesn't change that. Cam Ward still just does not look good. I realize he is trying hard, seems to be a respected leader, but at some point production has to be there. For the Chargers, this disaster of a season just gets worse. Herbert is completely broken. I don't know why they are continuing the McDaniel experiment when it is ruining their only positive asset. Harbaugh seems like a dead man walking. We have to get ready for a full reset.

Tier III - The "Trust Us, We're Better Than our Record" Duo

28.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  1-5  (119-138) 

27.) Arizona Cardinals  =  2-4  (126-178)

For teh Bucs, it truly is impressive that they have built a passable offense with Jalon Daniels. Yeah, it requires a lot of broken plays and tomfoolery, but with their defense playing better, it is keeping them in these games. The division hasn't fully left them yet (a win this week over Carolina will really help things) but at least they aren't hopelessly boring. I do think teh Cardinals are the worst of this bunch, as the ceiling is just too low with Brissett, but once again they seem to try hard

Tier IV - The "Yuck" Quinto

26.) Indianapolis Colts  =  2-4  (144-164)

25.) Washington Commanders  =  1-4-1  (132-172)

25.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  2-4  (106-137)

24.) New Orleans Saints  =  2-4  (152-178)

23.) Atlanta Falcons  =  2-4  (142-153)

What's interesting this season is there is a startling lack of 3-3 teams. As in just two of them. Granted, there are two more sitting at 3-2, but still a really low number. That has resulted in this giant glut of 2-4 teams (with a few more to come). Generally two to three 2-4 teams end up in the playoffs, but really don't think it will be any of these. For the Colts, a full piece around the Ballard era finally, mercifully ending will come later this week, but needless to say they are in a pathetic place. The Commanders look decent at times with Jayden but also a bit worried about pocket presence. The team is still playing hard and will be feisty - and hell, in the NFC East they probably aren't out of it, partially because of the teat I'm about to talk about. For teh Eagles, similarly so with the Hurts news. I hope he recovers fine, but I do think with him out and the offense so clearly broken, thsi will probably spell the end of the Sirriani era. For teh Saints and Falcons, they have their moments, but are falling behind the Panthers right now, and their high variance play is hitting the low end too often for me to trust them any more.

Tier V - The "New York.... New York...." Duo

22.) New York Jets  =  2-4  (112-122)
21.) New York Giants  =  3-2-1  (136-140)

It's fun to keep ranking these teams similarly because while neither are good, they are both better than they have been in years (save for that fake 9-win 2022 Giants team). The Jets and Giants are both professional outfits but just a bit too lacking in talent across the board. There are pockets of excellence - Garrett Wilson, Abdul Carter, but too little there. I will say I do think the Giants should just go with McCarthy. We know what Jameis is at this point. Now, we probably know what McCarthy is as well, but there is a greater chance there is room for improvement there than with Jameis who truly looks like he has no control of the ball when throwing whatsoever. Oh, adn the Jets, maybe learn how to pick up a yard in short yardage. If you could, as that may have allowed them to get an upset brewing.

Tier VI - The "Spoilers and AFC North Pretenders" Quadro

20.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  3-3  (162-162)

19.) Dallas Cowboys  =  2-4  (151-159)

18.) Cleveland Browns  =  4-2  (106-122)

17.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  4-2  (137-128)

The Raiders showed a lot in the home losses to the Chiefs adn Bills - first, they have a great knack of scoring late TDs to make 10-point losses into 3-point losses, and second, they have a strong home field. Truly, Vegas took a while but it is Raider country now. Most evident when they leave the cozy confines and seem to get hammered (in New England, for instance). For the Cowboys, a bit of the same old, same old. Still not sure why we were all expecting a Brian Schottenheimer team to do well. For the Browns and Steelers, credit both I guess for being 4-2, but I don't believe any of it. Particularly Cleveland taht has needed mini miracles to beat backups QBs, and whose best win is against the other team I'm calling fake here. For the Steelers, Rodgers still ahs no pocket mobility and if their opponent can block, they can easily win. 

Tier VII - The "Ships Passing Through the Night" Duo

16.) Los Angeles Rams  =  2-4  (135-138)

15.) Houston Texans  =  2-4  (144-143)

The Rams and Texans are both 2-4, adn both were seen to be top teams coming into the season, but man is the commentary around these two so different right now. The Rams are broken, and now even more inured. They desperately need Garrett back and also McVay to live up to his reputation. For the Texans, if their defense plays up to its talent (which is a crazy thing to say) they can be a playoff team again. The division might be out of reach (though beating Jacksonville in their in theory Jags "home" game helps). The best piece of news from this year may be CJ STroud finally looking like the killer he was as a rookie. Again, if that defense can just play like it should, this could get interesting.

Tier VIII - The "Good, Bad Team or Bad, Good Teams" Duo

14.) Carolina Panthers  =  3-2  (146-123)
13.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  3-2  (128-109)

Both with their early byes make it heard to really know waht to think. The Panthers and Bengals offense have both been generally quite strong - the Panthers ridiculously so. The defenses are a combination of injured or somewhat questionable. They are kind of the conference versions of each other at this point. The big plus for the Panthers is the lack of competition in that division compared to Cincinnati, but both of these are teams that could go on little runs here, and especially so if the Panthers start getting their horses back on defense.

Tier IX - The "Hard To Know" Quadro

12.) Green Bay Packers  =  4-2  (127-125)
11.) Denver Broncos  =  4-2  (114-125)

10.) Detroit Lions  =  3-2  (164-148)

9.) New England Patriots  =  4-2  (136-113)

These four teams are all probably good. They all have decent shots at the playoffs. That all said, hard to really know. The Packers have now won three straight, but two were against backup QBs, and that game was a classic "The Packers look dominant on offense but somehow only score 23 against a bad defense" performance. The run game is still so inept. The Broncos whole offense is inept, but of course the defense is back to playing great and they keep winning. Something has to give here with Payton and that offense. The Lions may be the best of the bunch, but still hard to trust their defense - at some point we may start hearing about Goff as an MVP candidate given his level so far. Finally with New England, that was a weird game - AJ Brown back, Maye safe with teh ball, easy win, but they were outplayed on a per-play basis and had another few guys go down. Still, three straight wins, including taht fairly boring staid one, is a good sign.

Tier X - The "Your Reputation Precedes You" Duo

8.) Seattle Seahawks  =  3-3  (148-122)

7.) Baltimore Ravens  =  4-2  (156-132)

I still think both of these teams are good despite some troubling signs. First the Seahawks continued inability to play offense with that shell of a running game and the old Darnold. Granted, Darnold had some rough games last year and the defense remains fantastic. For the Ravens, much the same - I'm not going to get overly attached to the whole "same old blown leads" problem when they are playing a backup QB. Just let's hope Lamar gets back soon, please.

Tier XI - The "Top of the NFC North" Duo

6.) Minnesota Vikings  =  5-0  (109-64) 

5.) Chicago Bears  =  4-2  (150-119)

Really, it is super hard to rank the four NFC North teams right now, but for now these are the best two for me. The Vikings defense is still on an all time heater (that should continue this week...), and Murray gave some sign of life to that offense last week. If that lasts at all, they are a really dangerous team. The Bears look so composed in that game - they neutralized what had been a great Falcons pass ruhs, and Caleb looked composed and calm. Really promising sign ahead of what should be a great test against the Pats.

Tier XII - The "Flawed, Great Teams" Duo

4.) Buffalo Bills  =  5-1  (197-171)

3.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  4-2  (154-104)

The Bills have the leageu's second best offense (the best is yet to come). Allen is playing about as settled as ever. The run game looks great. They are scoring on drives (TD or FG) at a historic rate. All of that is 100% necessary because the defense sucks. Jim Leonhard has done seemingly nothing for the team, and truly at this point it seems clear to me they should have just kept McDermott who at least had some interesting tricks up his sleeve. For teh Jags, their big issue is penalties. They were slightly more composed this week but then also less physical - maybe they need to play on the edge a bit more. Still, both are great teams.

Tier XIII - The "Let's Run It Back" Duo

2.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  5-0  (140-83)

1.) San Francisco 49ers  =  6-0  (177-110)

It became an early joke that we are in for a repeat of Super Bowls LIV and LVIII again but at this point that looks very, very realistic. The Chiefs dominated that game by way more than the 16 point score. Even missing guys, Mahomes looks great and of course the dominatn run game helps make it all hum. It is amazing how they unlocked the pass offense with a dependable run offense. The defense still needs to be way more consistent with the pass rush, but at their best, this could be the best Chiefs team since 2019. For the 49ers, I really hope Mike Evans is not out long term - they have a fairly mild game against Atlanta and then the bye coming up, so hopefully he can be back after that. If not, if they can find some other vertical option. The defense is playing above its level adn should improve if/when Bosa gets back, and the offense is still something special, but them turtling late in the second half was somethign to at least watch out for.

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

Byes: Buffalo Bills (5-1), Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2), Washington Commanders (X-X-1), Los Angeles Chargers (0-6)

14.) Cleveland Browns (4-2)  @  Tennessee Titans (0-6)  (1:00 - CBS)

13.) New York Giants (3-2-1)  @  Houston Texans (2-4)  (1:00 - FOX)
12.) Miami Dolphins (0-5)  @  New York Jets (2-4)  (1:00 - CBS)
11.) Indianapolis Colts (2-4)  @  Minnesota Vikings (5-0)  (1:00 - CBS)
10.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-5)  @  Carolina Panthers (3-2)  (1:00 - FOX)
9.) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)  @  New Orleans Saints (2-4)  (9:30am - NFLN)

8.) Denver Broncos (4-2)  @  Arizona Cardinals (2-4)  (4:05 - CBS)

7.) Dallas Cowboys (2-4)  @  Philadelphia Eagles (2-4)  (MNF - ESPN)

6.) San Francisco 49ers (X-X)  @  Atlanta Falcons (2-4)  (1:00 - FOX)
5.) Los Angeles Rams (2-4)  @  Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)  (4:25 - FOX)
4.) Cincinnati Bengals (3-2)  @  Baltimore Ravens (4-2)  (1:00 - CBS)
3.) Green Bay Packers (4-2)  @  Detroit Lions (3-2)  (4:25 - FOX)
2.) New England Patriots (4-2)  @  Chicago Bears (4-2)  (TNF - Prime)
1.) Kansas City Chiefs (5-0)  @  Seattle Seahawks (3-3)  (SNF - NBC)

Nostalgia Diaries, Pt. 34: 2016 World Series Game 7

I've rarely done one of these about a game / event that happened that not only happened during the time period of this blog, but in fact I wrote about it. There is a post about Game 7 of the World Series - I titled it "Game 7 and the Wildest Ride in Sports". I wrote it on November 7th, 2016, which was a good five days after the Game 7 happened. There's a very clear reason for that - I was in Peru when Game 7 happened. More specifically, I was in Cusco. I did watch the game live, as we will come to. But back to why I wanted to write about this, despite having written about this, is because that post took a very neutral perspective on it. I did mention that I was rooting or the Indians, but crucially did not mention how much I hated the Cubs, and more ridiculously, I only mentioned I was in Peru once. That isn't right - that was a central element of all of this, the weird way I (and two friends) experienced maybe the most famous baseball game of the past twenty years.

Let's start with the base facts - I was on this trip to Peru with two friends. We started in Lima (I flew down on the night of Game 3, landed on the night of Game 4). Me and one of the other two are die-hard baseball fans - he of the Yankees, which in 2016 didn't matter too much. The Astros had beat the Yankees in teh 2015 Wild Card Game, but realistically they weren't huge rivals yet (not that this really changed our friendship - helps the Astros own the Yankees which is a point in my favor, but the Astros cheated in 2017 which is a point in his). The third friend isn't a huge baseball fan, but generally a solid sports fan (biggest loves are college football & basketball, and soccer) who will get into anything.

The day we landed was Game 4, where the Indians would go up 3-1 (weird to remember that was their name at this point) and at this point we paid fairly little attention to either Game five or six - there was a new country to explore. Peru was my first time in South America. It was my first time going to a world famous restaurant - us dining at Maido during our time in Lima. It was a trip of many important firsts. It was also a trip of hostels, namely the Loki hostel chain.

There are many infamous hostels aroudn the world and in 2016, Loki was one of them, a chain of hostels scattered around Peru (maybe all of South America), including locations in Lima and Cusco. We probably could have afforded to stay in a real hotel - we all had solid jobs, but we were all 25 (or in the case of the Yankee fan, about to turn 25), and knew that staying in a hostel had other benefits. Namely, in the case of the Lokii, they had bars that were honestly more than just hostel bars, they were like actual city bars. Many people (including other tourists) would come to teh Loki Hostel Bar to start their night. in the case of Cusco, many to end the night.  Loki in itself was an experience - particularly the Cusco location. That was the pure shit.

You checked in at the bar basically, which when we arrived at the morning already had their cadre of random hot girls who are backpacking for months lingering around behind the bar or just doing stuff. Now, these weren't Insta Thots or something - most were actually quite cool to chat to and get to know, but yeah - it was the vibe. Each nigth around 10pm or so, the bar became a makeshift club with live music and merriment. Every now and then they would serve a roudn of blood bombs, which a Loki hostel staple - something of a jagerbomb with red bull. I'm sure it was nasty but it went down quick, and we would all do it after the main bartender / rabbel-rouser would exclaim "Loki, Loki, Loki" and we would all shout back "Aye, Aye, Aye." To many this may sound dumb, and looking back it probably was, but at the time it was perfect.

It was in this backdrop taht we watched Game 7 of the World Series. How did we do this? Well some ESPN America type channel was showing it and we connived Loki to put that on in the corner-most TV at one end of their long bar. It was muted of course as there was live music and DJs and all that, but wer were transfixed to watch waht was one of the best baseball games of all time. To be fair, we started watchign it at dinner at some burger place, one taht I am pretty sure is within the Gaston Acurio food empire. It was there when the Cubs took their 5-1 lead, including scoring against the heretofore unhittable Andrew Miller. By the time we got back to Loki, it was 5-3, we convinced them to piut it on and settled in for the long haul.

One thing to remember is Cusco is at an elevation of about 11,000 feet, so alcohol hits you hard, but damn us 25-year olds were going to test that theory, including the Yankee fan friend who was born on October 3rd (the game was October 2nd). We were already plying him with  blodobombs and cusquenas and whiskey sodas (along with us doing the same) while the game got tighter, and then got weird. By weird we mean the bottom of the 8th when the Indians tied it at 6, doing so with a Rajai Davis home run off Aroldis Chapman, maybe the most unlikely thing ever (more than Rojas). At thsi point we were pretty damn drunk (in a good way) and I was ecstatic - the joy of seeing the Cubs potentially blow it in this way.

Now, of course they didn't blow it in that way - they still ended up winning after a rain delay and more blood bombs and so much craziness. Because the game went to 10 innings and had a rain delay and a ton of pitching changes, it ended at 12:47 AM ET - which in Lima is 11:47pm - or in other words thirteen minutes before our friend would have his Birthday. What a surreal thirteen minutes, as you see by around the time the Rajai Davis home run happened, our hoots and hollers about this game attracted the attention of quite a few hostel-goers and Loki-partiers. We had created a mini watch party of say 10-15 of us (out of the totla say 50-70 in the bar). Most of the others weren't even American, let alone baseball fans - but exciting sports moments transcend borders. they were pumped, we were pumped, we were all drunk.

And then midnight hit, when the bar called both my friend and another person whose birthday it was (that old 35 people means 95% there is a shared birthday adage coming to life!) to stand on teh abr and down a double blood bomb as we sang happy birthday. There was still live music for hours more, during which time I started an impassioned rant about how Chicago doesn't actually deserve this because in their heart of hearts they were a football town.

Now, I should talk about why I was so anti-Cubs Shouldn't be that tough to figure out - despite the Astros now being in the AL for 15 years, and having their greatest run of success as an AL team, I grew up in a world where the Astros were in the NL. I grew up hating the Cardinals, and nearly as much hating the Cubs. Actually - in that time I hated the Cubs more - I respected the Cardinals, I feared the Cardinals. I hated the Cubs. I hated that people pitied them for not winning in 100 years, when my Astros hadn't ever won in 50. I hated that in the Astros admittedly smoke and mirrors 2008 season when they won 87 games (a complete mirage that dealyed their tear down by three years), when they were nearly catching up to the Wild Card, a Hurricane forced them to play against the Cubs in Milwaukee for a "home game" that was understandably 98% Cubs fans. Carlos Zambrano would throw a no hitter. The Astros wouldn't come that close to the playoffs for seven years.

I hated the Cubs even more because while the world got mad at the Astros for openly tanking in 2012-2013, the world didn't get nearly as mad at the Cubs for more or less doing the same thing. The world also got way more into the Cubs rise from teh tank than the Astros rise (remember, this was all before the cheating scandal would break). The Cubs had Theo Epstein, the greatest thing since sliced bread. The Astros had the dark and desolate Jeff Luhnow (again, before the scandal). I hated all of that, and hated that it paid off, and did in a year that was a disappointment for the Astros. Remeber in 2015 - both teams broke through and made the palyoffs for the first time in a while. The Astros blew a 2-1 lead to the eventual champion Royals in the ALDS (including a meltdown in Game 4). The Cubs made the NLCS - granted they got swept by the Mets (still crazy to think the Mets made the WS as recently as 2015!). The next year the Cubs just got better, while the Astros languised to a 86-win season and missed the playoffs. Looking back, it is hilarious how much more staying power the Astros rebuild had vs the Cubs, but at the time it seemed annoying the world loved the Cubs rags to riches story and ignored my team.

These pre-set feelings boiled over at Loki that night where I just decided this factoid taht Chicago is much more a football town. Now, I do think this is true. I exclaimed that most Chicago-ans would trade thsi Cubs win, despite the 108-years and what not, for a Bears Super bowl win. I still actualyl do think this is true. There are baseball towns - New York quietly is one (just so happens its split across two teams). Boston is one. St. Louis is one. Houston is one. Chicago is not - it is a football town. There's nothing wrong with taht - so is San Francisco, and Seattle, and Denver, and DC and many more places. But let's not kid ourselves - 80% of those fans celebrating in mosh pits in Chicago that night would trade that for a Bears Super Bowl. I believe that now, but I more vocally believed that then, making my case so impassionedly taht it continued when we got back to our room. It continued at probably 3am local time, when one of those girls knocked on the door to tell us to go to bed and quiet down, and thus ended one of the great nights of my life.

I don't know if there are any other days that lined up so brilliantly - a legendary sporting event with the location of a hell of a good time. In a sense, the ngith would have been amazing even if you remove the Cubs element - it was three graet friends in Cusco together at a world famous party hostel enjoying a great night where it was one of our birthdays (a special 25 at that). That's a 9.5/10 by itself - add in one of the iconic sports games of the 21st Century and you get a 10/10. The Cubs being the benefactor drops it back to a 9.5/10 - but my rant about the Cubs and Bears and Chicago fans hearts, and being told to shut up and go to bed (which should be impossible at a place like Lokie) brings it up to a 10.5/10 and a place in this list.

NFL 2026: Week 6 Power Rankings & The Rest

32.) Miami Dolphins  =  0-5  (70-132)

Obviously this season was never supposed to be anything, but even then it is surprising just how bad the Dolphins are. The best case scenario is this is something like 2019 where they were similarly, embarrassingly bad for much of it, before having a sneakily decent last half of the season. Maybe that is in Malik Willis and co's future, but anyway, for now they are the doormat we all predicted them to be.

31.) Tennessee Titans  =  0-5  (58-109)
30.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  0-5  (84-129)

The other two 0-5 teams are very bad, and deservedly 0-5, but the big difference is neither was supposed to be this bad. Hell, many had the Chargers as a playoff team if not a sneaky Super Bowl wildcard. That was always probably an extreme, but the Chargers are just lost right now. I can't believe how bad the Herbert & McDaniel pairing has gone. Yes, I realize the OL is in tatters, but still I would've thought there was some change-up. For teh Titans, to me the real goal of teh rest of this season is to figure out if CJ Ward is worth investing in further, or call it a day and dip back into the QB pool in the upcoming draft (a good QB draft, supposedly). That may seem extreme, but to me he is not developing in the least.

29.) Arizona Cardinals  =  1-4  (108-162)

28.) New Orleans Saints  =  1-4  (118-151)

27.) Washington Commanders  =  1-3-1  (115-149)
26.) Cleveland Browns  =  3-2  (93-112)
25.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  1-4  (110-112)

Yes, I 100% stand by putting a team above .500 on this list, but the Browns barely won their three games and have a pretty bad point differential more in line with teams in this range. I don't but that team longer term, with a weak schedule and one admittedly great win, keeping them afloat. For teh rest, the Cardinals, Saints and Commanders are all potential contenders for me "team that plays scrappy for 5-6 games but loses most of them and then starts imploding on themselves." Not sure which of them will fall most into that - the Saints are a good shout as Shough starts having rougher games as teams have done more to cover Olave. For teh Buccaneers - shocking win for a team that has done a great job having passable offense under the backup, and they grade out by some metrics as one of the better 1-4 teams of all time. They are still just one game back in that division after all.

24.) Indianapolis Colts  =  2-3  (124-138)

It's amazing over now basically two generations of football (~15 years), teh Colts have been laughably bad playing in Pittsburgh, and that shows itself mostly on defense, where they just have never been able to stops the Steelers there. Made more sense when it was Ben and the B's, but someone the same holds true with Rodgers and Warren. On their offense, it is concerning that Jones continues to play like Giants Daniel Jones, but I guess charitably he is still coming off of an achilles tear less than a year ago.

23.) New York Giants  =  3-1-1  (109-106)
22.) New York Jets  =  2-3  (93-96)

It's funny that the Commanders blowing the late game OT situation overlooks that the Giants fighting for extra yards in wet conditions on their OT drive was nearly as dumb. That was a gimme field goal before Skattebo fumbled. Anyway, somehow this team is still at just one loss and seeing most of the division implode around them. I still don't think it is in any way sustainable, mostly because of Jameis, but they stay competent. As do the Jets, who are just a solid team in a way that Robert Saleh tried to make them, but couldn't. I don't think they are good - but the defense is above average, and they have a good run game. I don't think either New York team makes the playoffs but we may at least have interesting late Fall football in New York for once.

21.) Houston Texans  =  1-4  (110-112)
20.) Dallas Cowboys  =  2-3  (138-136)
19.) Carolina Panthers  =  2-2  (121-109)

18.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  3-2  (132-129)

17.) Atlanta Falcons  =  2-3  (119-122)

I like pairing these five together because all things are possible here. One of these may end up 11-6 (mostly likely: one of the two NFC South teams). One may end up 5-12 (most likely: somehow maybe also one of the NFC South teams). Just hard to know which. The Texans defense finally settled (playing Cam Ward helps), and I do like the buy-low potential with MHJR, but that 0-4 start is probably a step too far to dig out of. The Cowboys loss was pathetic, as was the Raiders. Don't trust either of those teams over sixteen, but either can have a great game/. The Falcons really let that one slip away, but the offense when Penix is in there, remains strong and something to build around. Just have to hope he can stay healthy, which admittedly has been a big concern for him for years now. For the Panthers - fun bye week to exit it now being atop the division.

16.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  3-2  (111-109)
15.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  2-3  (92-112)

14) Green Bay Packers  =  3-2  (104-112)
13.) Denver Broncos  =  3-2  (97-111)

Call it the slightly better pedigreed version of the five teams before, with also some unpredictably where these end up, but some more upward momentum (e.g. wouldn't be shocked if any end 12-5 or better). The Steelers are a weird team where it seems they will get 9+ good Rodgers and run-game games to continue that .500 streak. The Eagles need to get healthy quick - a gutsy performance that they had no business almost winning, but it is clear the overall talent, when healthy, is still there. The Packers finally played like we expect - but how much of these last two weeks was playing adn dominating two backup QBs - and Love's deep ball over-corrected to somethign not sustainable in this one also. Finally for the Broncos, Payton taking the reins back didn't fix much, but teh defense remains excellent, and you just have to expect the offense to gel a bit more as the season goes on. If it doesn't, will be an interesting offseason in Denver as Payton may have to come to terms with his hand picked QB just not having it.

12.) New England Patriots  =  3-2  (110-94)

11.) Detroit Lions  =  3-2  (164-148)

10.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  3-2  (128-109)
9.) Baltimore Ravens  =  X-X  (XXX-XX)
8.) Chicago Bears  =  3-2  (119-96)

7.) Minnesota Vikings  =  5-0  (109-64)

6.) XXXXXX

5.) XXXXXX

4.) Seattle Seahawks  =  3-2  (134-105)
3.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  4-1  (123-70)
2.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  4-0  (118-77)

1.) San Francisco 49ers  =  5-0  (154-93)

A Weekend in OKC

With my parents still out of the country, and me being in Chicago one week and Atlanta the next (both for work) thought this was a nice random weekend to pick up and a find a place in our great country and explore. I avoided my normal spots (Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Phoenix) mostly because I've already done them all this year. I thought about Nashville or Houston or just staying in Chicago, but instead settled on Oklahoma City. Why? Fair question - but it was a combination of (a) close proximity to Chicago, (b) get to add a new airport, and more improtantly, a new state and (c) I'd heard decent things.

I landed around 10:30pm Thursday Night from Chicago, in their small but lovely little airport, got into my uber in a couple minutes (a tricked out Tesla) and had a deep conversation with teh driver with a great Southern accent for ten minutes on the way to my hotel - an airport Marriott for the first night. In that time, he gave a lot of facts about Oklahoma City - it is the 3rd largest state capital by area, the food is lovely including some recommendations he threw out, and that a significant portion of the town would be gone this weekend becasue it is the Texas v Oklahoma game, the Red River Shootout itself, in Dallas. On that last part, he may be absolutely right because it was a fairly quiet week, but also given how calmly spread out Oklahoma City is, and how everyone drives, it might just be like this.

Let me start by saying that Oklahoma City is not likely to enter the rotation of the four other cities I threw out earlier. I wouldn't say this is a surprise. While those four aren't New York or something, they are generally still seen as regional tourism and life hubs. Oklahoma City is not that. I don't expect to make another trip back out here in the next couple years (pending work travel, I guess) but taht does not mean in any way I regret coming here. Seeing new places and learning their stories is fun, and in the "their stories" part, Oklahoma City has a lot to offer.

I lighter than expected workday on Friday gave me a few more hours than I was expecting to kill sightseeing on Friday, to which I went to two Art museums - teh first the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and the other the Oklahoma Contemporary Collective. The second one is smaller, free and a bit light, but had a nice "whismy and funny" exhibit on the top floor which had some really striking paintings. The main Art Museum, however, is a nice example of what I mean about Oklahoma City. It is a lovely museum, with most rooms having a discernable theme that takes your through hundreds of years of art styles in one go. The contemporary and modern section towards the end has some great stuff. They have a couple Warhols and Renoirs and, of course, a Monet. The real star though is their large semi-permanent collection of Dale Chiluly, the world famous glass-blower artists. It is the biggest collection of his in the world and it is phenomenal. OKC did a good thing, finding one specific area to highlight where it can be world class.

The other main museums in Oklahoma City are also quite excellent as well. There are three main ones that make up the normal tourist hit list, and all have some wonderful aspects. First is the First Americans Museum (ironically, went there last) which is a lovely modern building that houses two floors on the history of the Native Americans. Unlike the Heard Museum which is more of an art museum on the topic, here the bottom floor is mostly about telling the story of the Natives slowly losing their land to the US Government in pretty painstaking detail. The museum isn't all negative - half of the bottom floor is about their culture, particularly contributions to sports and war. The top floor is more traditional museum, stuff with art, clothing, tapestries, etc., All in all, a nice museum to a graet topic.

A better museum to an even better (if more harrowing) topic is teh National Memorial Museum which is the current Memorial Fountain/Park and then Museum taht sits at the site of the Murray Building which was bombed in 1995. I knew loosely the story of it, but to be honest forgot it was in 1995 (for some reason thought it was the late 90s), forgot how quickly McVeigh was caught, forgot just how much damage the bomb immediately caused, and just didn't plain know that there were co-conspirators and what not. The museum is just hauntingly well done. The first room a run through of OKC up until 1995 and then a bit about the Murrah building itself, and then the second room which is a makeshift room of the Department of Water where there was a water-rights hearing going on at 9am. You sit there and they play the tape of the hearing until the two minute mark when there is a loud, loud explosion. That was so bone chillingly well done. The rest of the museum, from talking about teh damage, the historic recovery efforts, the manhunt around McVeigh and then the recovery, was all great. Truly, this museum was reayll well done, and is getting an expansion next year as well.

The final museum was probably my favorite. About a ten minute drive North of teh city sits the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, which is a giant museum on a giant plot that goes deep, wide, broad, and everything in between on life on teh West and the history of the Cowboy. The first few rooms are more art museum in style with incredible paintings, sculptures and what not of the Western scenery - stuff that I just love. There was also a showcase of handicrafts for sale (all like 10,000+) of custom beautiful saddled, bits, spurs and boots. Further back in the museum it becomes more about history and culture of Cowboys, of Natives, of Cowboys in Film and of so much more. They also have these large, beautiful giant sculptures littered about as well that are all so well done. As well done is "Propserity Junction" a fake mock-up of an outpost style town befit with mock schoolhouses, churches, saloons, mercantiles, stables and more - all indoors. Truly, this place was insane, in the best way. I cannot recommend the National Cowboy museum enough, In terms of Museums, OKC stacks up with my Big four from above easily.

Where OKC starts to fall off a bit is the lack of any great outdoor sights. Now, I should be clear it isn't like there are none - there are a couple nice ones. The Myriad Botanical Garden is interesting, especially the "Crystal Bridge" large glass tropical biome, which is just lovely. Also the canal winding through Bricktown is nice to walk around the banks of, and could easily be way more played up and commercialized than it is (this is to OKC's credit), but there is only so much you can do in the large expanse of middle America with its flat land everywhere. Oklahoma City surprisingly (to me, at least) is at a 1,100 foot elevation, but all of it is basically at that elevation. The exterior of OKC is just a bit staid.

The food is quite good - starting with my lunches that were at three different BBQ places, the best of which was Edgecraft, a wonderful BBQ spot serviing great crusted brisket, but also random other asides, from czech sausages to tri-tip to so much more. Their sides are also great, includ9inga  really inventive, gourmet-i-fied version of cole slaw. The other standout was King's Custom Smoke Meats, which had probably better sides (a really great Mac & Cheese) but maybe not quite as good brisket - bigger portions though. From speaking to a few locals, I was told that OKC is surprisingly less of a BBQ town than you would think given its location and how often Oklahoma BBQ is played up - apparently that is more of a Tulsa thing; speaking of which, Tulsa trip in 2027?

My dinners were all excellent. Two were local tasting menu spots - one a bit more avant garde in Nonesuch, and the other a bit more formal and played up in Grey Sweater, though oddly the meals themselves were fairly similar (in a good way). Both also had quite interesting setups, housed in what from the outside look like fairly empty urban buildings, shrouded behind black curtains and tinted windows - both places welcome you into this room of magic. Both had most diners setup on a long rectangular bar front with space in teh middle to watch the cooks and barmen operate (Grey Sweater also had normal tables). Both were 10-course meals that were all lovely. Not especially "Oklahoma" in terms of produce or whatever (like no big steaks) but both quite good.

Grey Sweater was probably the better of the two (also the more expensive, but not by much). Their duck pre-main was one of the best duck dishes I've ever had. Their pavlova dessert was so interesting in terms of the fruits they added in. The pork belly main had one of the best pork head sauces I've ever had. Overall, Grey Sweater was awesome. Nonesuch was nearly as good - their own pork main with galangal and cilantro was one of the better pork loin dishes I;ve had (they really cooked it well in teh sous vide). They also had some amazing fish dishes, and a wonderful dessert. On the whole, both of these two showcase that great food is available anywhere. I should note, I'm not some trailblazing discoverer here, as Grey Sweater is a James Beard winning place, and after going I can see why.

The nightlife and adult beverages scene in Oklahoma City is quite nice, if few standouts. The craft beer scene is plentiful - IPA and summer ale heavy, given that this was, as a few locals told me, the first week that it dropped below 90 in quite some time. For this reason, there were few stouts, other than at Prarie OKC (probably my favorite brewery I went to) which had three, all 13% or more. The other stops were all large, a nice collection of indoor and outdoor space, and all as friendly and inviting as you would expect. It is clear that craft beer is not religion here the way it is in say Minneapolis or Denver, but it still is really strong.

The cocktail scene is great, even if my first spot I tried going to - Good For a Few - was too busy. Weird, since it clsoes at midnight, but anyway, it's reviews were slightly worse than both of teh places I did go to. First was Lunar Lounge, which is very nice but also the weirdest combination of things - a speakeasy type door where you have to press a hidden button to get the door to break from teh wall, but then inside it is a semi-arcade, futuristic type spot, that also happens to have craft cocktails. The drinks were sharp, if a bit too fruity (the two I tried), but the whole experience was just interesting.

The real star, however, was Palo Santo - wihch was not a surprise. All my reddit based research on best cocktail bars in OKC kept repeating taht name time and time again, and it is a fantastic place, They had a menu of about 15 cocktails - some seasonal, some standards (aong with an extensive bar menu otherwise) and crafted the hell out of them. Many were Japanese inspired - like a Tokyo Old Fashioned or a Japanese Peppercorn laced martini, but then you had some great ones like a "Basquerac" which is a Basque fortified wine style Sazerac. On the whole, Palo Santo was great and is making my cocktail list whenever I next update it.

The one place OKC was lacking was EDM - or at teh very least a dependable spot. There is an Instagram EDM.OKC that tracks and showcases the various bar and lounge shows that happen all the time, but it seemed a bit too clubby or mellow, with no real in between (at least this weekend). There is one strange spot - an after-hours club (12am - 6am, no alcohol) called Flux, which was as described. It very much is teh place many come to after the rest of the city shuts at 2am - far busier when I left each day around 3 then when I got there. The music the first day was great, teh second a bit too mainstream, but overall a nice spot, but would've rather had a more traditional setup.

In the end, OKC probably exceeded expectations, even if it did not rise to its other flyover state favorite spots and enter into my work weekend rotation. It's still a town worth visiting, especially for someone wanting to check off all the states. There is absolutely 2-3 days worth of things to do to make it worthwhile, including as mentioned some of the better focused museums I have been to. My memories of the city will be of its cloudless blue skies, the brilliance of the National Cowboy Museum, the solemn brilliance of the Memorial, and of drinks at Palo Santo. There are definitely worse ways to spend a weekend.

Nostalgia Diaries, Pt 33: Pitching Against My Couch

This post is going to get personal and introspective and emotional, because it is something that hit me recently that I have completely left behind. Now, many will say I should have left this behind years and years before I actually did. Two things caught me offguard this week that made me remember it so fondly - first was realizing this was the first playoffs I was watching in my parents new house. Now, we had already moved out of the old house by last year's palyoffs, but it was still during this transitory period. Now they have a new house, in some ways I have a new house, but it doesn't have a basement. Why that matters? I have no place where I can setup a makeshift pitchers mound to home plate setup and repeatedly throw baseballs against. Yes, I did this often from about 2003 through I would say, realistically, 2022 or so, in my parents basement. I won't ever again. But it is the second element that really hit me - that these are the 2026 playoffs, a year away from the start of a fake dynasty that I created in my head and old notepads and then computers twenty years ago.

Both of these things sound a bit confusing and strange. They both are. So let me explain one by one - first the pitching in teh basement thing. That isn't all that weird - that is, after all, the origin story of many a pitcher - granted its usually kids no a farm pitching rocks against a barn until their old man or the town crank exclaims "By Golly, that boy's got a cannon!" or some such. I guess sometimes it was in the basement. It was for me, starting around that 2003 point when I really got into baseball, and my parents had a TV in the basement, and I was old enough to watch playoff games until late. It was a nice setup, me standing in the middle, facing the wall on the short end, with the couch in front of me. An old,, fairly useless couch for its stated purpose (comfortably seating people) but wonderful for its true purpose - eating fastballs. Now, it was probably only 20 feet away, so even if I could throw heat there wasn't enough room to reach max velo - but I threw all types of junkballs at that thing - eventually wearing out the springs (I also played tennis - teh couch height more or less the same as a net!). I did this from that 2003 or so date through around 2012, when the couch finally just gave out beyond repair.

This should've been the end of it - I turned 21 taht year anyway, so a natural point to stop. But that year we replaced the couch with a large screen TV that I bought with my sign-on bonus money from my first job. That TV is god well beyond its years - it still wroks really well in 2026. That sits where the couch did - but that just made me get more inventive. You see, if I stood where I used to when pitching at the couch (now TV), I could turn 90 degrees to my left and face the further wall - this one about 40 feet away. Now, there was nothing on that wall but a dresser. But you see, that's when i got the idea that I could atke one of the four mattresses we had in teh basement (a lot of extra sleeping space!), prop it up against the dresser and alas, a slgihtly less springy version of the couch, at alength a bit closer to actual home plate. Thus was born the second era of this game - one far less frequent as it would match up only with the few weekends in October that I was at home (so say two to max three a year), but oh so fun.

If anything, more fun - the extra space made the pitching more real, if anything. The weirdest part of all of this is I didn't play little league. Not that I would've been some star never to be discovered. But who knows? My parents weren't anti-sports - I just never asked to play baseball I guess. I played youth soccer, tennis and basketball (my main love), and even outside of organized sports, was a crack roller hockey player (honestly, if roller hockey was a school sport and not "ice" hockey, I would have been varsity), but other than this pitching against the couch thing, never really played baseball. I loved baseball though - I still do even if my "watching the games" interest has waxed and waned more than maybe any other sport. The pitching against the couch was a magical release, and as no one would be hitting the balls but I could see the movement of my curveball or 2-seamer (the change-up was always out of my grasp...), I could pretend I had the great command.

And this brings us to the second part of this - the 2027 thing. See, when I was a kid (and this is like from 10-15 at its peak) I would make up players and teams and stats and built out storylines way into the future. Since that was 2001-2006, I would often pick the late 2020s for baseball, and weirdly the 2030s-2040s for football to create these conconted leagues and worlds. Actually teh delay on football makes sense as that definitely happened a few years after I started doing this for baseball. Now, this is definitely spectrum behavior - but I'm fine with that - it was glorious and fun to go back to. In this world, I had created a San Francisco Giants ultimate dynasty that went from 2027-2033 in which they would win four World Series, including three straight from 2027-2029. It started after an epic loss in seven to the Mets in the 2026 NLCS. The dynasty Giants would peak at a 110-52 record in 2028, led in all three years by their star all-time great Center Fielder Joe Montero, and their nearly as great pitcher Jeff Freeman.

Looking back at my fake stats for these teams - it is a great time capsule of how the game has changed. The stats Montero put up would be in-line with say prime Albert Pujols when I made him up, but would be earth shattering today - his magical 2027 season was a .361 / .456 / .728 with 56 HRs, 141 RBIs. Now, that was his best year, but to take a more on-the-nose comparison - his 2026 was .325 / .415 / .626 with 46 HRs and 134 RBIs. Obviously these are comical lines, but in the mind of someone in 2010 or so, they were just "a bit better than the best player", not something out of a dream. If anything, the stats for pitching great Jeff Freeman were even crazier. His best year was 2030, where he went 24-5, pitching 257 innings of 1.89 ERA, with 339 Ks and a 0.83 WHIP. Funnily enough, the WHIP and ERA aren't crazy - players had better seasons thereafter like from DeGrom or more recently Miz, but the innings count is just not possible. This is less possible than a Montero season.

My fake stuff wasn't limited to just this dynasty Giants team, though for no other did I go that far of making up full careers. There was a close-to-dynasty that would follow from them in the name of the Portland Bogies - what's weird is I don't think I ever defined if this was an expansion team or someone relocated to Portland - but they were the Bogies, they played in a riverfront ballpark with a makeshift Evergreen forest beyond the left-center field wall. It was all a dream, but so damn fun. But it went back to that fake dynasty Giants team, where I would generally throw against the couch by pretending to be the Giants, either Freeman or their #2 John Palyout (no idea where I got taht name from....). I even had made up pitching motions for them, that of course weren't based on any real pitcher to any degree (other than Freeman had some loose correlation to Cliff Lee - but right handed). This was all weird, I admit, but all so fun the darkness of my basement.

What really hits home is we are finally at the precipice of a year where these fake years are now reality. I would mock pretend to be pitching Game 4 of the 2027 NLCS while watching Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS and we are almost there. In a way, its thrilling to see how different everything is, but also sad that the fantastically great careers I made up for Freeman and Montero are all but impossible in today's game. But in that way I am so glad their fake career existed to document what we may have lost, or what I have lost in finally growing up (way too late) from this whimsy.

**quick aside - teh football version of this is teh 2037-2046 Houston Texans dynasty, QB'd by Jake Wright - which while other not predicting the advent of a 17-game season, has numbers that would look not out of place in 2026, or in 2009 or so when I first invented him. If anything, the most ridiculous version of this is in Tennis, as I've written about previously, concocting a guy named Juan Marino Icar taht would win 16 slams - which when I made him up would be the record, but doing so by 2022 or so. I made him up in probably 2006, of course in no way thinking Nadal himself would win slams in 2022**

It's interesting since both of these phases of my life are over, mainly for the same reason - and that reason is not that I am 36. It is because I no longer have a basement. The making up fake careers and what not hasn't been a thing in probably 10 years - it is notable that when I post a pic of Joe Montero's career later, that I had him as a rookie in 2018. We are well into his career. But the throwing baseballs at a mattress continued thereafter, and gave me a reason to load up those files once a year and marvel. And also have fun, and ultimately that is what it is about. Throwing baseballs at a matress in dim light in a basement, with actual playoff baseball going on 90 degrees to my right on a large screen was a fun glow up from when it was throwing baseball at a couch with playoff baseball going on a small screen 90 degrees to my right. That's connective right there, and one of those memories that I will never not forget, and more than that, never not regret that I squeezed every ounce out of.

Jeff Freeman's Career (and yes, in my weirdness, I conconcted a weird medical story of why he had a gap between 2030-2033)

And Joe Montero's career which would probably rank him as like the best baseball player ever, or 2nd to Willie Mays.

And finally - the Giants dynasty - my stats from earlier were wrong, they would win five world series spanning from 2021-2025.

The Pope's Team

So far, the 2026 MLB Playoffs haven't been great for me. The Astros once again limped out of the AL Wild Card Round, for the second time in three years doing it by losing both of the first two games at home. We are now a staggering nine straight home losses, as I detailed in my screed a few days back about the ills of the Crane ownership. But this isn't about them. If anything, this makes me feel better about them, because what if, just what if, the team they lost to is a wagon lifted up by teh Holy Father?

Let's start with the facts - the White Sox were 60-102 in 2025. They were also 61-101 in 2023. The year in between they were 41-121, finsihing just one game up on teh famously-shit Mets of 1962 who went 40-122. The White Sox were laughably bad with seemingly no future. And then you get this year, where they go 84-78, and if anything that was an underperformance on a pythag record of 88-74. They are legitimately a decent team after being legitimately a terrible team for a number of years. This is sudden, and shocking and inexplicable - except for one small thing in that the current Pope is a Chicago White Sox fan.

I remember watching CNN when Pope Leo (Cardinal Prevost) was announced, stunned like most that they picked an American. It seemed inconceivable they would. Hell, for centuries it seemed inconceivable they would look outside Europe. That obviously ended some time back, but still to with an American was stunning given our outsized importance in the world and, while being a Christian country, a country where Cathlocism is not the top religious sect. Granted, Leo was most recently archbishop in Peru, and hadn't live in America for a long time - but he speaks English and it is very clear he is a sports fan.

That last part is just weird to think about. It hit a crescendo when the Nova Knicks won their title, with of course the three notable Villanova alums (Brunson, Hart, Bridges) where Pope Leo was an alum. But the real connection was Chicago, where he grew up. There were a lot of tweets that came out when he was elected around how strange it is that the pope "would remember the career of Mitch Trubisky" and what-not, but that is strange. The Pope is this god-like figure (literally). Now, notably recent popes have been sports fans, like Pope Francis being a big Argentina soccer fan (and his predecessor Benedict a big German soccer fan), but add to it the inclusiveness of US Sports (the national leagues taking precedence over Team USA) and it got just that much weirder.

The capper was when the video of him at Game 1 of the 2005 World Series came out. I still wonder what intern sat through re-watching the TV tape of that game seeing if he would show up on camera, and what do you know? He did, and he did for a while. That is divine stuff working literally 20 years before his papacy would begin. At that moment, I watched that clip in awe but I also had a huge weight lifted off me, as a realize that my Astros, the team that lost the 2005 World Series, were destined to lose. It was memorably the closest sweep of all time - the game he attended was the "least competitive", a fairly routine 5-3 White Sox win. 

The next three all featured some ridiculousness that went in favor of the White Sox - from Konerko's grand slam to take a 6-4 lead (after a controversial wrongly called HBP), and the Podsednik walk off HR after he memorably did not hit a homer all season, to Game 3 which the Sox won in 14 innings after coming back from a 4-0 deficit, winning on a home run by journeyman Geoff Blum, and Game 4 which they won 1-0. It was magical - that Sox team was great already (99-63, 7-1 in the playoffs heading into the World Series) but that win seemed divine.

It all came rushing back when right before the playoffs started there were two notable Pope moments. The first is when he was talking to people on a flight to Europe, a passenger asked him what he thought about the White Sox making the playoffs after having the worst record the year before, and the Pope corrected him that it was the worst record over the "past two years." Maybe more than anything this shows how still connected he is to the sport - he literally knew that they have been incredibly bad two straight years. Then, to double down, he released a statement / blessing for the White Sox. This was the capper. I can't be surprsied that they then brushed aside the Astros (who admittedly, are not good) so easily, and are now 2-0 up on Cleveland heading back to Chicago.

The White Sox are the perfect team of destiny because in this case the Vicar of Christ is literally backing them openly and publicly. How can anyone compete? I mean, so far, no one has. Also helping the case right now is I don't know if a Pope has ever been more popular in the USA than he is, at least for left-leaning Catholics like yours truly.

My worry when he was elected was that he would be somewhat too conservative and, more worryingly, give Trump someone to take credit for, and saddle up to - you could've almost hear in his head saying "I brought you a US pope!" Shockingly, he didn't and if anything Pope Leo has come out against this administration and their beliefs, to the points JD Vance (converted Catholic) literally came out saying he thought Leo should educate himself on issues, which is about as dumb as a move he could make if he wasn't already so politically un-savvy. More than that, Pope Leo has been remarkably level-headed, most recently comign out against AI at a time where that is such a frougth subject. Truthfully, Pope Leo has lived up to every expectation as a Pope. Beyond that, it is just still weird, and cool, that he is American and a sports fan. And for that reason, more than any other, I am all with the White Sox. Murukami is just the cherry on top.

The End of the Astros

It's weird that after an nine year period of success (2015-2023) that I never thought would be possible - seven straight ALCS appearances, eight times to the playoffs, four AL Pennants, two World Series Titles, multiple series wins over the Yankees (three, excluding the 2015 Wild Card game) and Red Sox (two) - it came crashing down in a way that is maybe all too familiar. Well, I don't know that yet. But history seems to be a scary sign at the moment. The Astros just limped out of the playoffs against a White Sox team that was as recently as last year a mockery. Granted, the Pope may have helped.

But in all seriousness, this is now twice in three years the Astros lost in teh Wild Card round, losing both of their two home games without even forcing teh third. In the year in between, they didn't make the playoffs with a huge September collapse that would've been more talked about had other teams not had worse collapses that same September. This was after losing the 2023 ALCS, and a chance to play a plucky but eminently beatable Diamondbacks team, getting blown out in Game 6-7 at home, this after losing Games 1-2 at home as well. If you include their loss at home in Game 2 of the 2023 ALDS (they won that series in four), we are up to a staggering nine straight home losses. It's debilitating, and it finally broke.

The last period of sustained success (1997-2005) ended in the same way. That stretch had the team make the playoffs six times, make an NLCS and make their first World Series. In year 10 (2006), they won 82 games and would have made the playoffs under the current six-team field. In year 12 (2008) they won 87 games inexplicably. This all made then owner Drayton McLane keep thinking the team was in good footing and closer than it was. Seriously, it was so apparently obvious to anyone with eyes that the Astros were aging, with a laughable farm system. It took three more years until the teardown finally began in 2011, the year that ironically McLane sold the team to Jim Crane.

He was supposed to be different. Hell, he was - he hired Jeff Luhnow in 2012, the tank continued but slowly but surely they made great draft picks, they scoured the international leagues like nobodies business, they had a near unparalleled pitcher development system that despite never having top pitching prospects, so many would develop (ironically, their most acclaimed pitching prospect in this era, Forrest Whitley, never made it). Of course, they stole signs and what-not - but other teams did and even there the Astros were on the leading edge. They then entered this run that at times seemed endless - even after Luhnow was fired and banned after the sign stealing scandal. Crane replaced him with James Click, an established SABR-mindful executive who led the team brilliantly to restock and make smart trades even as the minor leagues were thinning out.

Of course, this culminated in the 2022 World Series Title, when a mostly young Astors team, with just four rostered players as holdovers from 2017, won again. It was a triumph. My post right after on the 22 memories from that run had my #1 as "The Dynasty to Come". I made a compelling and sensible case at the time, but no one could have forecasted the biggest change - that Crane and Click would ahve a huge falling out, Click would be fired, and the fox woudl run the henhouse in the naem of Jeff Bagwell - obviously a legendary Astros but somehow who connived his way into silently running teh Astros (much like say Jack Easterby who did the same with the Texans). It's infuriating because it was all so obvious the second at the end of November (the same month that started with the WS win) Bagwell said publicly that "players win games, not computers." From that moment you draw the line to where we are today - from the awful Abreu signings, the random money thrown at bad relievers (Hader accepted), and so much more. The Astros lost their edge that second and Jim Crane better wake up.

The biggest mess of this is that Jim Crane oversaw a dynasty built using "computers", but also so much more - the scouting, the player development - all of it was first class. I get that he may have felt burned by Luhnow, but the weirdest part is then he went and hired Click who was very similar to Luhnow when it came to how they viewed the game - and by all accounts that worked, but something then broke. I liken it to Jim Irsay deciding one day to stop being in the background and let Bill Polian run the show and decideing to meddlesome and go away from "star wars numbers" and all that stuff - but Irsay was a whack-job. Crane by all accounts is not.

**Quick aside, one of the pieces of evidence, hilariously, to credit Crane with is he is one of the few white billionaire sports owners who is not openly a GOP and/or Trump supporter. In fact, Crane donated to Biden and Harris (granted, gave barely anything). He's not a democraft, like say the Eagles's Jeff Lurie, but he leans left and is by and large super smart**

I hate to blame Bagwell, but that link and change in Crane's outlook is so stark once Bagwell became his sideline sensei. Granted, Bagwell now is somewhat out of the picture (hopefully for good) so maybe there is time yet for Crane to learn the error of his ways. The team will need a serious rebuild, but if he starts that now in a smart way, they won't need to go all the way down like the 2011-2013 Astros did. There is one other problem though, I don't think that will ever get fixed as long as Crane is the owner - and it brings us back to our friend Jeff Luhnow.

Jim Crane has done a lot to excise Jeff Luhnow from Astros history except for one annoying thing that he has retained, which is that Jeff Luhnow put it in his head to never give long term on contracts. Granted, the math probably backs that up, but backs it up less when you have a bunch of superstars coming to free agency before they hit 30. Still, the most years Crane has given in a contract is six (Altuve). The 2019 Astros had Altuve, Springer, Correa, Bregman, Tucker, Yordan, Cole, Verlander. Now, Verlander was too old to go more than six years, and with Yordan lets see. But the heart of the issue is that piece is the middle. They let Springer walk after 2020, ostensibly to pay Correa, who they let walk after 2021, ostensibly to pay Bregman, who they let walk after 2023, ostensibly to pay Tucker, who they let walk after 2025. Now, some of these guys were bad investments for their new team (Correa, Tucker), but still it just sets a terrible tone for the franchise.

The irony isn't that thsi isn't a "Jim Crane is cheap" attack. Crane is not, especially by MLB Owner standards, cheap. When the team was tanking and spending $30m for teh team, he said he would spend when they got good. The Astros got good and he spent - the Astros have carried a Top-5/10 payroll for most of this entire run, including these last three years. Therein lies the problem - he is willing to spend but spend in the wrong ways - throwing money in short term at Abreu (both Jose and Brian!), at Christian Walker, at other long relievers. The money they "saved" by not extending the core young guys they've wasted on worse players. 

Anyway, we sit at the precipice - they won the division again but as the worst division winner ever. They have the likely AL MVP who will still be great, but present another case for Crane to deal with money wise in a years time. They have little else in terms of young talent, but some interesting tradeable assets (Pena, Paredes, hell, even Hunter Brown). The next few yaers are dark - but I've lived through darkness before, and it will be very tough for this upcoming darkness to match 2011-2013. What I hope though is to get us out of the darkness we don't need to change owners, but every year and decision that goes by, I do worry that is more and more the case.