The Long Slow Continuing Descent into Madness of the Colts

The Colts are benching Anthony Richardson. Not that his play hasn't warranted it - what with the 44% completion percentage. But he's also showed flashes of brilliance. He has a great arm. He can read a defense. He can run. He's started just 10 games. The Colts are 4-6 in his starts, and are 4-4 this season adn in the playoff mix. This is a woeful decision. Sadly just the latest in a long line of them for this franchise, nominally the one I root. It's been 15 years of woeful decisions, ever since that wintery Week 16 in 2009 when the 14-0 Colts pulled their starters. 15 years later, the Colts have still not recovered.

It's not like hte Colts have been a pure embarrassment since then. They've made the playoffs eight times, and in the years they didn't, they generally hovered around .500. They've had some highs. They had Andrew Luck. But really it's been one long descent from that moment of being on top of the football world. Bill Polian made his decision, that resting up a team that wasn't 14-0 good anyway was mre important than chasing 16-0. I disagreed then. Many did. I don't know if I would call everything that's happened since karmic retribution, but it wouldn't be the worst throughline for a 10-part docuseries.

The story goes that Jim Irsay vehemently hated the fact that Bill Polian pushed coach Jim Caldwell to pull his starters and give up on the 16-0 season. Bill Polian was a noted asshole. He was our asshole, the Colts asshole, and ruthlessly good at his job. Jim Irsay hated the fact that Bill Polian basically pulled every string on that franchise. Irsay wanted his franchise back. After a fairly staid 10-6 season in 2010 (their worst in eight years), Peyton Manning got hurt in 2011. The Colts fell to 2-14, got the #1 pick that gifted them a generational prospect, and Bill Polian had everythign he needed to "take his franchise back." He fired Polian, cut Peyton, drafted Luck and it was all supposed to be hunky dory. It all may have worked also, if not for that darn Peyton.

The biggest risk in all of that was Irsay cutting Peyton - the guy who basically built this franchise and turned them into a professional outfit. Manning missed an entire season and had a scary neck injury. The only failure point to Irsay's plan was if Peyton returend as good as ever. It's one thing to cut a guy who wouldn't really play again. It's another when the guy you cut leads a team to a 50-14 record over four seasons, two Super Bowls, one title, and two incredible seasons, one of which would see him set all time records that still haven't been broken for yards and TDs. I honestly don't think Irsay could take the fact that Peyton returend as good as ever and he would be the known as the guy that "gave up on Peyton."

So what did Irsay do? He doubles down on this being his franchise - and namely that he went to some degree to put down the Manning/Polian era. He lamented them winning "just one" Super Bowl. He lamented their "star wars" numbers of offensive glory, noting how teams win on defense and running and that normal bullshit. Forget that the Manning era was incredibly successful in every way - won twelve games in a row seven straight years, had four MVP seasons from Peyton, etc. But no, Irsay wanted somethign different.

That something different ruined Andrew Luck's career. With Luck, he should've just repeated the Manning era - surroudn him with great weapons, invest in pass rush, build through the draft, etc. Instead, through GM Ryan Grigson, and coach Chuck Pagano, they did the opposite. The overspent in free agency on interior lineman and linebackers. They wasted picks on running backs (Trent Richardson!). They never got a real pass rusher. They had a terrible line, made worse by Luck's one failing of holding the ball too much. Luck was great enough to win a lot of games, but also couldn't hold up. He was beaten and battered into a shock retirement right before the 2019 season.

That leads to big mistake #2 (#1 being cutting Peyton and overreacting to Polian). Luck's retirement should have been a moment of introspection. Instead it wasn't that at all. By then Chris Ballard and Frank Reich had replaced Ryan Grigson and Chuck Pagano, and while both have been a step up, neither had the right approach. It's been five seasons since Luck retired and there's still undercurrents of that admitted shock being an excuse for why there is no answer. It definitely lasted through three years of recycling old QBs to worse and worse results (Rivets in 2020, Wentz in 2021, Ryan and 2022). None of those were even medium-term answer, but the Colts trod on.

And then came the Richardson pick. They got a top draft pick eleven years after getting the top draft pick that got them Andrew Luck. Anthony Richardson had a lot of red flags - not many starts, accuracy issues in college. It was going to take time. 10 games isn't enough time. But the rushed decision here, even if Shane Steichen is taking full responsibility, is another sympton of how broken this franchise is mentally. 

It was broken when Irsay "wanted his franchise back." It was broken when he demeaned the Manning era because he couldn't handle he cut a Peyton who could still play at an MVP level. It was broken when it literally broke Andrew Luck - something that was such a gift that they just wasted. It was broken when they decided to keep trotting out old QBs instaed of actually just re-setting thigns for the post Luck world years ago. And it is broken now when they are seemingly either fully giving up on a guy 10 starts in, or just wasting time to further evaluate by pushing that decision into 2025 to see if Flacco can go 9-8 like Wentz did in 2021. I don't think Irsay is a bad owner, but he's a rash and emotional one that has still not mentally recovered from 2009.

Someday the Colts will get out of this cycle of stupid decision making and mediocrity. When that day eventually comes, I hope we can look back at maybe this - the quick trigger failing of Anthony Richardson - being what set them back on track. Fifteen years ago, they pulled their starters. It was a fairly cowardly, weird move, but led to so much madness. Fifteen years later, they've pulled their starter at QB. It is fairly nonsensical. Hopefully not a perpetuation of a fifteen year nightmare, but the more I think about, the more I think it is.

NFL 2025: Week 9 Power Rankings & The Rest

Tier I - The "It's Lonely at the 1-loss Bottom" Duo

32.) Carolina Panthers  =  1-7  (124-271)

31.) Tennessee Titans  =  1-6  (120-196)

The Patriots close win gets them out of this bottom two for a week, replaced by the Titans - the classic team that loses some close games early and instead of that being a sign of better things to come, they start imploding. Granted that loss was about one unit specifically imploding in a historic way - but from the time they took a 10-0 lead against the Bills, they've been outscored 86-14. It's early, but I do worry if Brian Callahan is a bit overwhelmed. As for the Panthers, not great when a 14-point loss where the other team is openly mocking you, and your QB goes 24-37 for 224 yards and 2 TDs / 2 INTs is seen as a clear step-up in performance. Just nothing on that roster.

Tier II - The "Northeast Corridor of Sadness" Trio

30.) New England Patriots  =  2-6  (127-197)

29.) New York Giants  =  2-6  (117-175)

28.) New York Jets  =  2-6  (150-170)

The Patriots won that game, but I still don't like the vibes there - from the whole 'soft' controversy, and some even rumblings of a shock Mayo firing (even if those rumors in the moment seemed spurious at best). More broadly, if they're huge upside in performance is a close win against one of other worst teams in the NFL, I am not going to move them up for it. The Giants showed some life in that game, but their offense is just not good enough with Daniel Jones. That was a good Jones performance and didn't score more than 23 points. The defense and pass rush is insane, but we're also seeing more and more problems in a barren secdonary. For the Jets, this is just a disaster and the most predictable part was their defense collapsing after the Saleh firing. Not to say I have an ounce of sympathy. They laid their bed with Rodgers, they have to live with it. This really is just the most fascinatingly fun implosion in recent years.

Tier III - The "Sad Dome Teams" Duo

27.) New Orleans Saints  =  2-6  (185-206)

26.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  2-6  (144-210)

It's almost ludicrous to think the Saints were not only 2-0, but a dominant 2-0 with an offense that couldn't be stopped. Six weeks later they're playing 3rd string QBs and scoring 8 points in a game. Derek Carr seems to be on the way back, but to what end at this point? May as well see if Spencer Rattler is anything (assuming that the benching was a 1-week thing). For the Raiders, I guess I would say the same about just playing McConnell, but it's pretty clear that he doesn't have a long term future, and at least the team is a lot more enjoyable with Minshew Mania in there. Brock Bowers is great but they have so many other holes on that roster. A smarter team would absolutely trade Maxx Crosby.

Tier IV - The "It Wasn't Supposed to Go This Way" Trio

25.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  2-6  (172-224)
24.) Cleveland Browns  =  2-6  (138-185)
23.) Miami Dolphins  =  2-5  (97-157)

All three of these teams came into the season with hope. For the Jags that 2022 was reality, and not 2023. For the Browns and Dolphins, that they would continue to build on playoff seasons. Instead, all three have been nightmarish. The Jags defense is just so terrible if they aren't getting pass rush, which when their top guys are high-variance players (Walker, Allen), it leads to games like that where Malik Willis it hitting bombs. For the Browns, nice for them to have a real offense for once. I guess there is some upward potential but the AFC middle class is way too packed to think they can make their way back in it. The Dolphins, by luxury of already having had their bye, I guess have a slightly better shot but those high-YAC plays that McDaniel could so often dial up didn't magically re-appear with Tua back, which is very concering. The floor of that offense is back to being respectable, but it may just be that his motion heavy scheme was "solved" to the point the ceiling isn't 45 points anymore.

Tier V - The "Somehow Not Worse" Duo

22.) Los Angeles Rams  =  3-4  (144-174)
21.) Indianapolis Colts  =  4-4  (175-172)

The Rams should be a disaster. They had woeful injury luck. They have limited defensive players and a make-shift line. Somehow, someway, they are 0.5 games back in that division with Kupp and Nacua back on the field. Long term wise, they might have been better off losing and trading Kupp, but there is a real scenario they steal that division at 10-7 or something if the 49ers can't figure their shit out. Stafford is clearly still good enough, and McVay still good enough. For the Colts, I don't know how a team that looks so bad down to down, on both sides of the ball, is not only still .500, but still with a positive point differential. They aren't bad enough for their own good. Richardson is trying to bring them down, but somehow, someway they remain stubbornly competitive. The worst outcome for them is a 8-9 season where Richardson doesn't make any noticeable improvement from where he is right now, but the record and close point differential keeps the Ballard / Steichen regime around longer. I guess it should be their credit that they mysteriously don't get blown out, but realistically it is just annoying to watch this masquerade.

Tier VI - The "Downwardly Mobile Contenders" Quadro

20.) Dallas Cowboys  =  3-4  (150-198)

19.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  3-5  (195-203)
18.) Seattle Seahawks  =  4-4  (190-195)

17.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  4-4  (235-213)

I guess call this the more salvageable version of the trio of the Browns, Jags and Dolphins further up. All four of these teams are at really precarious positions right now. The Cowboys seem broken, with only the return of Micah Parsons as anything of a positive to look to change this around. Prescott doesn't trust anyone not named Lamb and is becomign way too aggressive. For the Bengals, I actually think they still have a path (will require the Broncos/Chargers/Colts contingent to slip up) but that defense is just atrocious at this point. Higgins getting back healthy helps, but what was clear in that loss was they just are inferior in total against the Eagles, a team most thought was on the way down. The Bengals should not be in that position. The Seahawks need to just erase that game from the records, chalk it up to the Bills playing at their best, and move on. The run defense remains a huge problem - not a good one to have when your two biggest division rivals are run-heavy. For the Bucs, that was a far better offensive output than I expected in the first game without both Evans and Godwin. If they can remain around .500 until Evans come back they have some upward potential, but the Wild Card race in the NFC may require 11 wins this year given the strength of the East and North.

Tier VII - The "Upwardly Mobile Contenders" Quadro

16.) Chicago Bears  =  4-3  (163-119)
15.) Atlanta Falcons  =  5-3  (194-195)
14.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  4-3  (132-91)
13.) Arizona Cardinals  =  4-4  (178-205)

The Bears lost, but showed me a lot in that game, especially a red zone defense that kept it competitive. Waldron has to scheme up ways to give Caleb better protection though. That was a disaster, very reminiscent of their loss to the Texans earlier in the year. For the Falcons, it was nice to see Kyle Pitts have a great game, and Darnell Mooney continues to be a surprise star. The defesne still has issues, but the offense is now playing well enough to win enough shootouts to coast to that division - especially with a 2-0 record now against the Bucs. For the Chargers, another frustrating game on offense, but another game where the defense played well and, more importantly, no one on the defense got hurt. As long as they can remain healthy, they can remain a wild card team. For the Cardinals, they were my only real shock preseason playoff pick (I guess the Jags as well... oops...), and while I had them more as a 7th seed, they have a real shot at that division. Kyler is playing really well right now. Gannon is scheming a good defense. Talent limitations on the defensive side probably does cap their upside, but this is a team that can easily scratch its way to 10-7 in a division where they already have a head to head win over the 49ers in San Francisco.

Tier VIII - The "Defense-First Team? In This Economy?" Duo

12.) Denver Broncos  =  5-3  (173-120)
11.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  6-2  (187-119)

At some point, it becomes clear this Broncos defense is just good enough to make up for the poor offense. That poor offense is able to consistently put up around 20 points even with Bo Nix still not looking all that great. With that defense, that is all you need. The Broncos, in a way foreign to Sean Payton may be a playoff team yet. Speaking of Payton, his old QB is balling out so far. he still holds onto the ball too long sometimes, and yes the Giants secondary was a mess, but that was a really strong Russ game. in the end, though, that defense will make or break the team, but so far it is far more in the make column. Some gaps in the secondary as well that are worth monitoring, but right now this is a team playing with such good precision.

Tier IX - The "Second Tier Contenders" Trio

10.) Minnesota Vikings  =  5-2  (188-137)

9.) Washington Commanders  =  6-2  (236-167)
8.) San Francisco 49ers  =  4-4  (210-182)

The Vikings have obviously lost a bit of their shine in these last two games. The offense needs to do better in teh red zone and the defense needs to find a plan B if their blitzes aren't landing. I still think they've got enough runway to make the playoffs, but this has been a rough go the last few weeks. They get to beat up on the Colts as a get-right. For the Commanders, that was obviously a lucky win. They have to get better in the red zone. Two games now with way too many field goals. It's nice their offense can consistently move the ball but that inability to score TDs will bite them. The defense gets better every week however. The 49ers offense looked a lot better just running it outside. They got too far away from their roots, but this was a get-right game. Also encouraging are the reports of McCaffrey getting close to playing again, and even some hints that Dre Greenlaw could return in December. The division didn't run away from them, and they could take off here. Piersall being a reasonably good receiver also helps after the Aiyuk injury left them in theory short on wideouts.

Tier X - The "Good Record, but it Really Could go Either Way" Duo

7.) Houston Texans  =  6-2  (188-179)

6.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  5-2  (171-132)

Neither of these two teams are great despite their record, but they have the upside to play like their record. The Texans play way too mnay close games against bad teams. The pass rush is starting to really heat up with Anderson and Greenard. The OL continues to stink, and Diggs's injury could be a big factor. For the Eagles, they got so much shit the first few weeks its hard to remember that this is a very talented roster that at their best can just outplay teams on talent and some scheme. That beatdown of Cincinnati was a great example. Hurts looks way more in command and their OL has really settled down.

Tier XI - The "I Wish They Were Slightly Better" Duo

5.) Green Bay Packers  =  6-2  (216-170)

4.) Baltimore Ravens  =  5-3  (242-209)

The Packers defense took a week off this time, so it's nice that Josh Jacobs decided to have another monster game. The Jordan Love injuries are worrisome if they become something that just continues to linger as the season goes on. The Ravens just have to stop losing these games. The offense remains great (drops aside) but poor field position hampered them. Of course so did the pass defense. You have to hope the secondary gets better. The talent is still very much still there but their inability at times to stop top receivers is very worrisome. This is just a bizarre version of the Ravens - on pace for 484 points scored and 418 points allowed if this was the old 16-game season. Something a 2008-2012 Ravens fan would find mindblowing.

Tier XII - The "Real Teams" Trio

3.) Buffalo Bills  =  6-2  (230-146)

2.) Detroit Lions  =  6-1  (234-134)

1.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  7-0  (173-123)

The Bills offense just looks so composed and complete with Cooper - even if he didn't do that much in the game. Everyone else's role just seems so much more defiend and proper. The defense was excellent as well, and will be getting Von Miller back just in time as well. They still have a habit of falling behind early too often, so it was nice to see them just dominate a team. The Lions are crazy at the moment. I still do worry when they have to play a top offense without Hutchinson. I still wish they went out and got a pass rusher, but their wins since Hutchinson went out probably exclude that as a possibility. For the Chiefs, at this point I feel like they're underrated. The defense is jsut simply excellent, in both scheme, coaching and personnel. The offense hasn't been great, but they've consistently moved the ball, rarely punted, and had soem really unfortunate turnover luck with so many batted ball interceptions. The Chiefs also have a cake schedule. I still doubt 17-0 is a thing, but a likely outcome at this point is probably 15-2.

Projecting the Playoffs

AFC

1.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  14-3

2.) Buffalo Bills  =  13-4

3.) Houston Texans  =  12-5

4.) Baltimore Ravens  =  12-5

5.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  11-6

6.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  11-6
7.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  10-7

NFC

1.) Detroit Lions  =  13-4

2.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  12-5
3.) San Francisco 49ers  =  11-6

4.) Atlanta Falcons  =  10-7

5.) Green Bay Packers  =  12-5

6.) Washington Commanders  =  11-6

7.) Minnesota Vikings  =  11-6

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

Byes: Pittsburgh Steelers (X-X), San Francisco 49ers (X-X)

15.) New Orleans Saints (2-6)  @  Carolina Panthers (1-7)  (1:00 - CBS)

14.) New England Patriots (2-6)  @  Tennessee Titans (1-6)  (1:00 - FOX)

13.) Las Vegas Raiders (2-6)  @  Cincinnati Bengals (3-5)  (1:00 - FOX)
12.) Houston Texans (6-2)  @  New York Jets (2-6)  (TNF - Prime)

11.) Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)  @  Cleveland Browns (2-6)  (1:00 - CBS)
10.) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6)  @  Philadelphia Eagles (5-2)  (4:05 - CBS)

9.) Washington Commanders (6-2)  @  New York Giants (X-X)  (1:00 - FOX)

8.) Dallas Cowboys (X-X)  @  Atlanta Falcons (5-3)  (1:00 - FOX)

7.) Miami Dolphins (2-5)  @  Buffalo Bills (6-2)  (1:00 - CBS)
6.) Indianapolis Colts (4-4)  @  Minnesota Vikings (5-2)  (SNF - NBC)

5.) Los Angeles Rams (3-4)  @  Seattle Seahawks (4-4)  (4:25 - FOX)

4.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4)  @  Kansas City Chiefs (7-0)  (MNF - ESPN)
3.) Denver Broncos (5-3)  @  Baltimore Ravens (5-3)  (1:00 - CBS)

2.) Chicago Bears (4-3)  @  Arizona Cardinals (4-4)  (4:05 - CBS)
1.) Detroit Lions (6-1)  @  Green Bay Packers (6-2)  (4:25 - FOX)

NFL 2025: Week 8 Power Rankings & The Rest

Tier I - The "2025 is only ten weeks away" Sixto

32.) Carolina Panthers  =  1-6  (110-243)

31.) New England Patriots  =  1-6  (99-175)

30.) Cleveland Browns  =  1-6  (109-162)
29.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  2-5  (124-183)

28.) Tennessee Titans  =  1-5  (106-144)

27.) New York Giants  =  2-5  (99-149)

I'm of the opinion the high end of the NFL is better than many years, even if there's no out and out dominant team yet. Well, conversely, the bottom of the NFL is as bad as it has ever been in some sense. These bottom six are just dreadful. The Panthers have hit a new rock bottom, to the point where I'm really wondering if they go back to Bryce Young at some point. The Patriots had that Week 1 win and all the "breath of fresh air" at head coach, but they're learning that maybe firing the best coach ever will not lead to a bouncehabck. The Raiders need to start scouting QBs yesterday - granted it seems like they've definitely embraced the tank. The Titans and Giants similarly so are having lost seasons, though in both cases you can say that is somewhat to plan.

Tier II - The "2024 week one was only six weeks ago" Trio

26.) Los Angeles Rams  =  2-4  (114-154)

25.) Miami Dolphins  =  2-4  (70-129)
24.) New Orleans Saints  =  2-5  (177-180)

While those first six are hopeless, these three are hopeless, but started the season with some promise. The Rams back when tehy were somewhat healthy seemed like a fringe playoff contender. Kupp coming back may help turn things around but to me it's a case of just too many injuries, and not enough growth yet from the young defensive players. The Dolphins appear to be getting Tua back soon but I can't in good faith trust that will last at this point. For the Saints, that 2-0 dominant starts seems a long time ago. Derek Carr in theory should be abck in a couple weeks. The NFC South hasn't fully run away from them yet, but Carr's absence has exposed a ton of other problems. Losing the top two receivers doesn't help either.

Tier III - The "This wasn't supposed to happen...." Duo

23.) New York Jets  =  2-5  (128-145)
22.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  2-5  (145-194)

Both the Jets and Jaguars came in with hopes that their QB would lift them, but have quickly found out there's a lot more flaws to paper over. The Jets took the first easy route by making the HC change, but that seemingly has resulted in what many thought was the real downside: the degradation of the defense. The OL also remains a mess. Similarly so with the Jags, where Lawrence hasn't had much time. He's also just not playing all that well under Pederson's scheme. The defense finally played better against the corpse of the Patriots offense. I don't think that was anything other than them beating a worse team.

Tier IV - The "Stumbling, Bumbling" Duo

21.) Indianapolis Colts  =  4-3  (155-149)
20.) Arizona Cardinals  =  3-4  (150-178)

Neither of these teams is good - even with teh Colts doing their annual routine of somehow staying near .500 that they've done since 2022 when it all went to shit (the Matt Ryan year...). The interesting contrast hear is the Colts have been decent in spite of their scattershot QB so far, while the Cardinals have been elevated by Kyler's play leveling up a scattershot team. The other link I guess is that both feature the ex-coordinators of the 2022 Eagles team. I don't expect either to seriously threaten for a wild card, especially with the Colts about to enter a real schedule up ahead.

Tier V - The "Ships Passing in the Night" Trio

19.) Dallas Cowboys  =  3-3  (126-168)

18.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  3-4  (178-166)

17.) Denver Broncos  =  4-3  (145-105)

The Cowboys and Bengals had a lot of expectations coming into the year. The Broncos had little to none. I would say not one of these teams is playing above average at this point, but I definitely sense a ships passing in the night here. The Broncos defense, pass rush specifically, has been so good so far. Bo Nix hasn't, but that defense is good enough to linger around the wild card hunt. For the Bengals - they've done their job going 3-1 the last four games, but not really looking good when getting there. The offense still can't really protect. The defense played fine against some awful offenses but no real way to know if that lasts against better ones (starting this week...). For the Cowboys, they are one of the worst 3-3 teams I've ever seen. Let's hope the bye stabilized things, particularly the defense doing anything productive off of Mike Zimmer's scheme.

Tier VI - The "Good Record but still wanting more" Quinto

16.) Chicago Bears  =  4-2  (148-101)
15.) Atlanta Falcons  =  4-3  (163-169)

14.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  3-3  (106-83)
13.) Houston Texans  =  5-2  (165-159)

12.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  4-2  (134-115)

The Bears by stats are quite strong. This might be just a concern of them really having beat up on minnows these past few weeks. Things change soon with a fun matchup on a team to come. If they can continue to block for Caleb Williams they could be having a special season. The Falcons defense really let them down against the Seahawks. The offense had some flukes go against them, but at least kept things competitive. Cousins still doesn't look great but I do like how the offense is using their skill position players - novel concept, I know. The Chargers defense is still excellent, and for now healthy. That game, though, laid bare the problem with their "rebuild and focus on the run for the year" approach. Herbert was great but throwing to no one. Just not really sustainable. With the Texans, they are by far the least impressive two-loss team in teh NFL. Granted, they've banked those wins, should have Nico Collins back soon and the defense has really impressed. For the Eagles, they are a better but as frustrating version of last year's team. That was a beatdown but you would like to see the passing offense get more consistent traction aside from the odd bomb to AJ Brown. 

Tier VII - The "Turn Injuries Off, Please" Trio

11.) Washington Commanders  =  5-2  (218-152)

10.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  4-3  (209-182)

9.) San Francisco 49ers  =  3-4  (180-158)

Really hope the Jayden Daniels injury is just for a couple weeks and not something that lingers for longer That team is so fun. I don't know what it is about early Kliff with a QB (see the 2021 Cardinals with Kyler) but he had even the Mariota verson humming. For the Bucs, it is just so depressing to see their WR injuries. Everything up through the Evans injury showed a team that could compete with the best. Then Evans goes down, Godwin goes down, and this team looks suddenly fallow. The Ravens will do that type of performacne to a lot of teams, but that was a depressing end to what had been one of the better stories of the season. As far as the 49ers go, the Aiyuk news is horrible, but there seems to be a light at the end of the CMC rehab. Just in time. That offense is not sustainable at the moment with the lack of weapons and iffy line play. Fix one of the two and they can corral down the Seahawks - especially given they already have the head to head lead winning in Seattle.

Tier VIII - The "Russell Wilson Reunion" Duo

8.) Seattle Seahawks  =  4-3  (180-164) 

7.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  5-2  (161-101)

The Seahawks took a few weeks off, but we saw the good Geno and weapons for once. What I really liked was how they used Walker in the passing game - helps when you have Geno arcing perfect wheel routes for TDs and the like. Defense still needs help. For the Steelers, it will be interesting to see if that offense was a one week boost with Russell Wilson, but man if they can get anything out of that offense near say mid-20 points, this is a dangerous team given how good that defense has been.

Tier IX - The "Great NFC North Race!.... Huh, What's That!?" Duo

6.) Green Bay Packers  =  5-2  (186-143)
5.) Minnesota Vikings  =  5-1  (168-107)

The NFC North is just really good man. For the Packers, the defense is getting better game by game. Jeff Halfley really seems to have a great sense of calling blitzes. It helps when your opponent just decides to not block, but still it is impressive. Jordan Love has to stop being so cavalier with the ball sometimes. That's somewhat true of the Vikings also, That team is quite talented and schemed up, but a little too much playing on tilt for my liking in that game. In the end though, this is a really good team.

Tier X - The "If there's a fair God, it is one of their years" Duo

4.) Buffalo Bills  =  5-2  (199-136)
3.) Baltimore Ravens  =  5-2  (218-180)

For both of these two teams, they fell behind 10-0 and then dominated. The big difference at the end is the Bucs at home were good in garbage time while the Mason Rudolph experience couldn't do anything. For the Bills, the Cooper trade seems to be already paying dividends, but more than that their running game has stayed consistent. For the Ravens, I do have concerns on the defense. The pass rush needs to get better. Picking nits to be fair, but that defense has to be better against better competition. The turnovers help, but that was a lot more bad Baker than anything great from the Ravens.

Tier XI - The "Just lose a game Chiefs so I can flip the order" Duo

2.) Detroit Lions  =  5-1  (182-120)
1.) Kansa City Chiefs  =  6-0  (146-103)

The Lions are to me the league's best team, especially as they get more creative with their blitzes to make up for losing Hutchinson. I still think they should go out and trade for an edge to replace him for this year, but right now that offense is just unstoppable. Of course, if there's a defense that could stop them, maybe it is the Cheifs. The weirdest thing about people getting mad or questioning this Chiefs team is that you know who they remind me of: the 2003-2004 Patriots -a  team that did just enough on offense to score 20-30 points a game with a defense they knew would almost always give up less than that. Of course, that recipe won back to back Super Bowls and people extolling Tom Brady. Somehow Mahomes doing a 2003-2004 Brady impression draws ire....Real talk, the Chiefs offesne probably isn't sustainable at this level, but they've also had some awful turnover luck that belies a team that has actually moved the ball consistently for 2-3 straight games now.

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

Byes: None - no idea why randomly we get a week midseason with all teams playing....

16.) New York Giants (2-5)  @  Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)  (MNF - ESPN)

15.) Arizona Cardinals (2-4)  @  Miami Dolphins (2-4)  (1:00 - FOX)

14.) New Orleans Saints (2-5)  @  Los Angeles Chargers (3-3)  (4:05 - FOX)

13.) Carolina Panthers (1-6)  @  Denver Broncos (4-3)  (4:25 - CBS)

12.) Kansas City Chiefs (6-0)  @  Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)  (4:25 - CBS)

11.) Tennessee Titans (1-6)  @  Detroit Lions (5-1)  (1:00 - FOX)

10.) Baltimore Ravens (5-2)  @  Cleveland Browns (1-6)  (1:00 - CBS)
9.) Minnesota Vikings (5-1)  @  Los Angeles Rams (2-4)  (TNF - Prime)

8.) Green Bay Packers (5-2)  @  Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5)  (1:00 - FOX)

7.) New York Jets (2-5)  @  New England Patriots (1-6)  (1:00 - CBS)
6.) Dallas Cowboys (3-3)  @  San Francisco 49ers (3-4)  (SNF - NBC)
5.) Buffalo Bills (5-2)  @  Seattle Seahawks (4-3)  (4:05 - FOX)

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

3.) Indianapolis Colts (4-3)  @  Houston Texans (5-2)  (1:00 - CBS)
2.) Philadelphia Eagles (4-2)  @  Cincinnati Bengals (3-4)  (1:00 - CBS)
1.) Chciago Bears (4-2)  @  Washington Commanders (5-2)  (4:25 - CBS)

Rafa Nadal - Linking to the Past

I'm still getting through my thoughts about Nadal as a whole, but what's an interesting area I wanted to highlight is just the amount of times I wrote about him. Purely him. Yes, I've written a ton about Peyton Manning, or others, but given tennis is an individual sport, a lot of pieces were truly just about him. This came to me when reposting the "22 memories" article, in that there's a good number of those where I wrote a whole piece around that win. So, for my next Nadal retrospective I wanted to link back to those moments.

2008 Wimbledon - Nostalgia Diaries: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2019/05/nostalgia-diaries-pt-17-2008-wimbledon.html

This one is really memorable because I wrote about watching the match with my Aunt who would die a few months later (she was already quite ill), where I learned at that moment that she was not only a big Tennis fan but a Nadal fan. ALso of course it was the greatest match of all time.

2009 Australian Open - Nostalgia Diaries: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-nostalgia-diaries-pt-25-2009.html

His last title win before the start of the blog - a lot of talk here about the changing of the rivalry and the friendship between Nadal and Federer that started that day.

2010 French Open - The Changing of the (Swiss) Guard:  https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2010/06/there-is-man-in-switzerland-today-man.html

I;m honestly a bit sad I focused so much of Nadal's win here to be about the demise of the reign of Federer. Of course, that was largely true - this was Nadal's 7th slam, and since then Nadal would win 15 more and Federer just four more.

2010 US Open - The Reign of Rafa: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2010/09/reign-of-rafa.html

All about him being the undisputed king. Of course a fellow named Novak woudl rise up right after this, but at this moment Rafa's future seemed limitless. Of course even I probably wouldn't have thought the best case scenario would be thirteen more titles!

2014 French Open - Rafa Nadal - Reaching the Highest of Expectations:  https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2014/06/rafa-nadal-reaching-highest-of.html

I;m shocked I didn't write about the four wins in interim, especially during his dominant 2013 season. Oddly, I did write about him in August 2013, when he beat Djokovic in a stellar final in Toronto. Anyway, I did in 2014, the same time I made a bet with a friend that he would exceed Federer in slams. Of course, he wouldn't win for another three years. 

2017 French Open - La Decima: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2017/06/la-decima.html

As you'll see, I wrote about basically every slam win from here on out. Being Nadal, most are at teh French Open, and most are actually quite similar. All increasingly slack-jawed at Nadal's craziness of racking up titles at Rolland Garros.

2017 US Open - Rafa's Sweet 16: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2017/09/rafas-sweet-16.html

The win over Kevin Anderson was the most lowkey, easy final to watch. There was like zero chance he was losing. Allowed me to get a bit more introspective on teh career and what-not than the match itself. It was a lot about him winning a non-clay slam for the first time in four years.

2018 French Open - La Undecima de Nadal: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2018/06/la-undecima-de-nadal.html

Again, it's basically about "isn't it just crazy that we have a guy who has won eleven French Open titles!?" Also will say that the funniest part here is that I actually didn't watch a second of this Final - it taking place early with me being on the West Coast and it being basically a fait accompli that he was going to win.

2019 French Open - Rafa's Dozen: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2019/06/rafas-dozen.html

Broken record here - him winning a ludicrous twelfth Roland Garros. Let's just proceed.

2019 US Open - Watching Rafa: Emotionally Drained, Completely Energized:  https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2019/09/watching-rafa-emotionally-drained.html

This is probably my most introspective article about a single match. It isn't all that much about the career. About the chase of the all-time record (this brought him to within one of Federer). It was about that magical five hour match against Medvedev. Honestly, maybe my favorite piece I wrote about Nadal.

2020 French Open - Rafa: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2020/10/rafa.html

Not sure why I went so simple with teh title. This was still during Covid. He throttled Djokovic, who clearly was nipping at his/Federer's heels at this point. It seemed more important at the time.

2022 Australian Open - Rafa Climbing the Mountain:   https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2022/02/rafa-climbing-mountain.html

If not the 2019 US Open one, this might be my favorite. For twelve years I was waiting to write this. For eight years I was financially wanting to write this (the bet with my friend). On the whole, it was a thrill to jsut be able to. Again, I'll always just love the fact that for a small moment in time, Rafa was alone at the top of the slam leaderboard.

2022 French Open - 14 for Rafa:  https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2022/06/14-for-rafa.html

In the end, not a surprise this was the last one. For those that remember, there was some weird retirement talk during this tournament, largely squared around the resurfacing of a foot issue that first troubled him in 2006. A month later he would get hurt at Wimbledon, pulling out before his semifinal against Kyrgios. Obviously he came back, but was never really right, so in a way the weird retirement cloud at the time of the 2022 French Open makes this more poignant.

NFL 2024: Week 7 Power Rankings & The Rest

Tier I - The "Is it 2025 yet?" Duo

32.) Carolina Panthers  =  1-5  (103-203)

31.) New England Patriots  =  1-5  (83-143)

Not to beat around the bush, but sometimes it's clear that you have to start looking at next year. For the Patriots, they've started that process by ripping the band-aid off and goign with Drake Maye. Just have to hope it isn't a David Carr situation given how bad that OL is. For the Panthers, they've almost done the reverse in essentially ripping the band-aid off as it relates to admitting Bryce Young is a mistake. At least for them they have their #1 pick this year, which very well may be #1 in the draft again. 

Tier II - The "Schadenfreude at its Finest" Uno

30.) Cleveland Browns  =  1-5  (95-141)

It's just so hilarious how bad the Watson situation is in every way. Of course, screw him all the way to hell. I hope they don't bench him because that ownership group should reap every single awful moment that they sowed, and Watson should doubly so get humiliated weekly. If anything, my only hope is they trade some of the good players away. I don't fault the Myles Garrett's and the like for this disaster.

Tier III - The "Just Bad Football" Quadro

29.) Las Vegas Raiders  =  2-4  (109-163)

28.) Jacksonville Jaguars  =  1-5  (113-178)

27.) Miami Dolphins  =  2-3  (60-113)

26.) New York Giants  =  2-4  (96-121)

As we'll get to in a bit, I actually think the upper end of the league is quite strong this year, but the converse is there's a good set of bad teams. The Raiders changed QBs but that hasn't changed their offensive outlook at all. Can they just go and trade Devante Adams please!? For the Jags, it's jsut a top to bottom disaster. I guess there is always a chance Trevor Lawrence starts to play better, which is the one thing keeping me from having them even lower. Similarly, I guess Tua could come back at some point? It is amazing though how awful that offense looks without Tua though. I do wonder if there is a view that the crazy offense has to some degree been very much foudn out. For the Giants - the defense remains quite good but to no one's surprise Daniel Jones cannot lead a fully functional offense. I like a lot of what the Giants have built outside of the QB, but that is irrelevant if they don't cut the cord.

Tier IV - The "Better Luck Next Year" Duo

25.) Los Angeles Rams  =  1-4  (94-139)
24.) Tennessee Titans  =  1-4  (96-110)

Both these teams are probably better than one-win through five games. The Rams are definitely better if they didn't have a cascade of injuries reminiscent of say the 2020 49ers. Technically I guess that 49ers team lost their QB as well, but Stafford is hanging in there. For the Titans, it's been depressing to see how far Will Levis has fallen this year compared to the sprightly QB who could throw a gorgeous deep ball last year. Given it's year one in a new regime, I'll cut them some slack that this is very much not a finished product.

Tier V - The "Depressingly Poor" Duo

23.) Dallas Cowboys  =  3-3  (126-168)

22.) New York Jets  =  2-4  (113-108)

The Cowboys are truly bad right now. Yes, their defense has been fairly decimated by injuries. But still they should not be giving up 40+ in two of their three home games so far. The offense is also a shell of itself, and this is all after their big extensions to Lamb and Prescott. I think we're super close to this being a situation where they missed their chance in 2022 and are playing out the string. My ranking of the Jets isn't really impacted all that much by the Devante Adams trade because the Jets main problems to me aren't materially solved there - their OL stinks and the defense is already showing some holes post Saleh. Maybe it was one game, but the run defense was pathetic. That is a bad combination here.

Tier VI - The "Middling Middlers" Quinto

21.) Arizona Cardinals  =  2-4  (133-163)

20.) Indianapolis Colts  =  3-3  (139-139)
19.) Denver Broncos  =  3-3  (112-96)

18.) New Orleans Saints  =  2-4  (157-147)

17.) Seattle Seahawks  =  3-3  (146-150)

The soft underbelly is a monster at the moment with these five. The Cardinals are still exciting, and I believe in Kyler again but that defense needs a lot more in the DL to make them passable. The Colts are doing basically what they did last year - playing awful football but somehow stringing together a few wins. The Broncos defense will keep them in games, but Nix's lack of progress should call into question a bit Sean Payton's QB development skills in teh 2020s. For the Saints, they have to hope Derek Carr gets back soon, and more than that the defense can start tackling again. The underlying stats will still be good, but that was a very, very troubling game. The Seahawks run defense has to get better or they'll never head above .500. With teh 49ers slow start that division is there for the taking, but the defense that started out well has really started to sag the last few games.

Tier VII - The "Upside Potential" Duo

16.) Philadelphia Eagles  =  3-2  (106-112)
15.) Cincinnati Bengals  =  2-4  (157-152)

The Eagles seem like a mess, what happens when you end 1-6 the year prior and have things like the head coach jawing at home fans. But they're getting the calvary back - Hurts looks good. If not for the freak block FG that was a calm, cool win. They haven't solved a lot of their issues coming into the year, but remain talented enough to sneak a wild card (or the division if Washington cools off...). The Bengals would be a lot easier to get behind if they didn't fool around and lose to what has revealed itself to be an awful New England team. Their schedule remains easy, and the upside is still there. It will be interesting to see if they can build anything off their first decent defensive performance to date.

Tier VIII - The "Better than Middling Better than Middlers" Quadro

14.) Atlanta Falcons  =  4-2  (149-135)
13.) Pittsburgh Steelers  =  4-2  (124-86)

12.) Chicago Bears  =  4-2  (148-101)
11.) Washington Commanders  =  4-2  (178-145)

The biggest development to me of the Falcons in recent games has been the rediscovery of Kyle Pitts. Now, let's see it against teams not named the Panthers and such, but there's some life there. For the Steelers, I could write the same thing but replace the name "Kyle Pitts" with "Najee Harris", and similarly so the Raiders taking the place of the Panthers in the sense of "prove it against a real team". For the Bears and Commanders, it's all about the rookies. Caleb Williams has feasted against bad defenses these last few weeks - but in reality so has Jayden Daniels for his best games (Bengals, Cardinals). Both are clearly good enough that it is almost assured they won't be busts, but I think there's a chance both come back towards the mean QB performacne for the remainder of the season. Not that this should be seen as anything other than a positive first season for both.

Tier IX - The "They Might Be Great" Duo

10.) Los Angeles Chargers  =  3-2  (91-66)

9.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers  =  4-2  (178-141)

I don't think either of these two are great yet, but have some underlying strengths if they can remain healthy. Particularly, the Chargers defense has played great so far. Granted, against some truly awful offenses, but their starters should be good if they can stay healthy. A big if to be sure. The Buccaneers similarly have such frontline talent if they remain all on the field. The offense is playing like it did at the peak of the Brady years. The defense needs more teeth but some of that is the style they employ under Todd Bowles, especially needing more blitzing to generate consistent pressure. 

Tier X - The "They Are Great" Quadro

8.) Green Bay Packers  =  4-2  (162-121)

7.) Houston Texans  =  5-1  (143-135)
6.) San Francisco 49ers  =  3-3  (162-130)
5.) Buffalo Bills  =  4-2  (165-126)

I don't know what it really says, but my Top-8 teams have seven of the eight teams that played in the divisional round last year, and the other 5-0 team. I'm sure we'll get more variance as we go, but so far these four have all done well. The Packers finally gave Love some protection and it looked all better. The defense has also started getting more pressure. For the Texans, it's a good sign that there are some weaknesses to point to (protection, some accuracy issues) and the team is still 5-1 and clear in that division. For the 49ers, that was a get-right game, while they await even more reinforcements. Purdy is playing great, and I count at lease one of their losses (primarily the Cardinals one) to flukes. For teh Bills, that was a heartening game in the sense they lose that in recent years, with teh hail mary, the bad penalty calls. The heartening part is while they're dealing with some injuries, those aren't long term. More than that though, Amari Cooper is a great fit for what they need on offense for Allen.

Tier XI - The "Revenge Tour" Duo

4.) Baltimore Ravens  =  3-2  (177-149)

3.) Detroit Lions  =  4-1  (151-91)

Twelve years ago, the Super Bowl was between teh two teams that lost the prior year's Conference Title Games in heartbreaking fashion. One of those two was even the Ravens. Not to say that's definitely happening here, but we're on our way in a sense. The Ravens really blew that Raiders game, otherwise their record would better match their actual level so far. Jackson looks great, Henry looks great, and the defense is starting to get more dynamic. For the Lions, I'm really hoping they trade for some edge help, be it Myles Garrett (the Cooper trade at least indicates they may be open for business) or Maxx Crosby, or someone else. That offense is humming, but Hutchinson was such a key element of them being a super bowl caliber defense.

Tier XII - The "Resting Up for the Long Haul" Duo

2.) Minnesota Vikings  =  5-0  (139-76)

1.) Kansas City Chiefs  =  5-0  (118-85)

Boring week in a sense where the two remaining 5-0 teams were both on a bye. Both have nice tests coming up, with teh Vikings hosting the Lions and the Chiefs taking a trip to San Francisco. So far, nothing much to report here.

Looking Ahead to Next Week's Games

Byes: Chicago Bears (4-2), Dallas Cowboys (3-3)

15.) New England Patriots (1-5)  @  Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5)  (9:30am - NFLN)

14.) Carolina Panthers (1-5)  @  Washington Commanders (4-2)  (4:05 - CBS)

13.) Cincinnati Bengals (2-4)  @  Cleveland Browns (1-5)  (1:00 - CBS)

12.) Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)  @  Los Angeles Rams (1-4)  (4:05 - CBS)

I call it "Look far away" Sunday, as

11.) New York Jets (X-X)  @  Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)  (SNF - NBC)
10.) Tennessee Titans (1-4)  @  Buffalo Bills (X-X)  (1:00 - CBS)

9.) Denver Broncos (3-3)  @  New Orleans Saints (2-4)  (TNF - Amazon)

8.) Los Angeles Chargers (3-2)  @  Arizona Cardinals (2-4)  (MNF 2.0 - ESPN)

I call it "There's better things to do on a October weekend" Thursday, Sunday and Monday, as

7.) Philadelphia Eagles (3-2)  @  New York Giants (2-4)  (1:00 - FOX)

6.) Miami Dolphins (2-3)  @  Indianapolis Colts (3-3)  (1:00 - CBS)

I call it "Weirdly interesting...." Sunday, as

5.) Seattle Seahawks (3-3)  @  Atlanta Falcons (4-2)  (1:00 - FOX)

4.) Houston Texans (5-1)  @  Green Bay Packers (4-2)  (1:00 - CBS)

I call it "The beginning of something great" Sunday, as

3.) Detroit Lions (4-1)  @  Minnesota Vikings (5-0)  (1:00 - FOX)

2.) Kansas City Chiefs (5-0)  @  San Francisco 49ers (3-3)  (4:25 - FOX)

I call it "Undefeated, but not Unchallenged" Sunday, as

1.) Baltimore Ravens (4-2)  @  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2)  (MNF - ESPN)

I call it "Just good ol' fashioned football" Monday, as

Re-Post: Rafa: 22 Memories for 22 Slams

I'll have a lot more about Rafa in the coming days/weeks. He's the last player that I followed to the degree of obsession that I have painted ont eh blogs side wall. Brodeur and Oswalt retired in 2013. Manning in 2016. Bill Walsh died in 2007. And then there was Rafa, who somehow made it to 2022 as a top player, and 2024 as an athlete. This day was inevitable, and honestly way delayed. You can ask the most ardent Nadal fan in say 2010 and it would seem ludicrous Nadal would be an active player in 2024. But we got that. Anyway, to start, I'll re-post my 22 memories for Rafa's 22 slams. At teh end of the day, I'm so happy that even though it was short-lived, Rafa did have the slam lead for a bit. He was the GOAT for a time, even if he isn't anymore. Anyway, for the first of probably, inevitably 6-8 Nadal posts - here we go.

*****************************************************************************

I admittedly posted this right after Nadal beat Medvedev in the Australian Open. I like the fact that five months later it was already outdated. Let this not be the last entry....

1.) 2005 French Open - def (UR) Mariano Puerta  6-7  6-3  6-1  7-5

I was in Chicago visiting my great Aunt when this match took place. I remember watching it on their small tv in a corner of the guest room I was staying at. Even then something was special about Nadal - mostly his speed and ability to track down ridiculous shots that no one else would even come close to. Overtime many players became as audacious in their defense as Nadal was but then it was new - as were the capris and the muscles and the grunts. The real star match was the semifinal win over Federer in four sets, but here too he was challenged but got his reward: for some reason Zinedine Zidane - a full year before he would rule the world at the World Cup - being the guest of honor handing out the trophy. A great respect and friendship started that day, between those two, and between me and Rafa.

2.) 2006 French Open - def (1) Roger Federer  1-6  6-1  6-4  7-6

By this point Nadal was probably already being hailed as well on track to being the best clay court player ever, but still seeing him lose the first set 1-6 is staggering. He quickly, as in immediately, reversed course rolling Federer 6-1 in the next set. Overtime I came to appreciate this weird foible of all the rivalries of the big-3, that every now and then, even within the same match, one would just randomly put on 'God' mode for a set or two. The last two sets were somewhat forgettable but overall looking back I just love the symmetry of those two 6-1 sets.

3.) 2007 French Open - def (1) Roger Federer  6-3  4-6  6-3  6-4

This was the match that made me, and probably many, think that yeah, at some point he's going to beat him on other surfaces. About a month before this match Federer hammered Nadal at th Hamburg masters. I believe Federer was the betting favorite entering this match for some reason. Instead, Nadal won a calm, if well played, four setter. My memory of the match is somewhat hazy aside from the growing sense that Rafa is just inevitable on this surface and on this court, and finally the French crowd was starting to realize that their favorite boy Roger wouldn't be able to beat him.

4.) 2008 French Open - def (1) Roger Federer  6-1  6-3  6-0

The scoreline 6-1, 6-3, 6-0, will always be my paragon of Nadal's clay dominance. And it was every bit as dominant - with the first and third sets taking abuot 30 minutes each - hyper-fast in Nadal's world. I remember Federer just being passed so easily time and time again, he started going up to the net already with slumped shoulders knowing it was pointless. Rafa ended up winning this tournament without dropping a set -- a feat he would match three more times -- but never at the level of play that he did here. His scorelines against great players is just insane - none much more than when he just eviscerated Federer to a level heretofore unimaginable.

5.) 2008 Wimbledon - def (1) Roger Federer  6-4  6-4  6-7  6-7  9-7

I wrote a Nostalgia Diaries piece about this game, namely how we watched the epic match across the four and a half hours of gameplay, and multiple rain delays, with my Aunt who would die a few months later. She was a Nadal fan. We entered this one confident, given it came a month after the massacre at Roland Garros, and moreso after Nadal calmly won two sets. But of course Federer rose to the occasion and gave us what will always be known by anyone who isn't a Novak fan as the Greatest Match of All Time. Maybe more than any of these pre-2010 major wins, this one is seared in my mind.

6.) 2009 Aussie Open - def (2) Roger Federer  7-5  3-6  7-6  3-6  6-2

I wrote about this one as well, and the lasting moment will be either the best single point the two ever played, where each hit about two winners before Rafa's outstreched actual winner, or of course Federer's breakdown at the end. Seeing Federer burst into tears was a mix of harrowing and hilarious at the time, but you can understand it. Nadal broke him. In seven months he blasted him embarrisingly on clay, stole his glory at Wimbledon and now beat him on hard court. That said, what has now become a truly close friendship probably started that day too, with Nadal consoling Federer, arm around his shoulders, before publicly reassuring the world that he felt Federer would pass the '14 of Sampras.' How little did we know how prescient those words would be.

7.) 2010 French Open - def (5) Robin Soderling  6-4  6-2  6-4

This was the first of many 'Nadal comes back and wins his first slam after a prolonged injury' wins for Nadal, but to me the most memorable. His injury that forced him out of Wimbledon and made him play at about 80% thereafter was novel, it was scary and seemed to confirm many of the fears or projections many had about Rafa's style of play. But then he came back and won the French Open again without losing a set, and this time doing it by exacting revenge on teh guy that beat him the year before. It wasn't his most dominant run - in truth he had more dominant runs where he lost a set or two - but it was maybe the most fulfilling.

8.) 2010 Wimbledon - def (12) Tomas Berdych  6-3  7-5  6-4

For whatever reason, I have this match taped on VCR then converted to DVD. I have no idea why. It wasn't a particularly close match (obviously) and Rafa seemed so preordained to win it seemed a bit ordinary. His real test was the Semifinal against Andy Murray which he also won in five sets. At this point, Nadal did seem like the best grass court player in the world too - winning it for the second straight time he played the event. Little did we know how much of a horror show he would soon become on grass, for what are still inexplicable reasons given how he turned it around in 2018-19.

9.) 2010 US Open - def (3) Novak Djokovic  6-4  5-7  6-4  6-2

I would posit Nadal's peak as a player was this tournament run. He won the US Open dropping just that one solitary set in the final. He maxed out the one 'weakness' of his game, suddenly smashing 130+ mph serves routinely, including three straight service winners to close out the third set. He never really served that fast again (Nadal claims it impacted his shoulder), but in that moment he had no weakness. How good was he? He dropped serve one time period prior to the final. Every now and then I do wish Nadal brings back the huge serve again. It really made him for a two-week stretch the perfect player.

10.) 2011 French Open - def (3) Roger Federer  7-5  7-6  5-7  6-1

This was the tournament where this Nadal fan finally started to come around on Roger - I even think I wrote something about it at the time. Why? Because Roger beat Djokovic in the semifinals - Novak's first loss of the year. Nadal was 0-4 that year against Djokovic losing in the finals of Indian Wells, Miami, Rome and Madrid. I guarantee Djokovic would've won again, but instead Federer took him out - and Nadal beat Federer as he does. This was a treat though I don't think I ever would've imagined it would be the last fnal between the two for six years.

11.) 2012 French Open - def (1) Novak Djokovic  6-4  6-3  2-6  7-5

Honestly, I don't know if Rafa was ever as content and pleased after a win than this one. He had lost the prior three finals all to Djokovic. As good as Djokovic was in 2011-12, Nadal was like 95% as good, but lost the key matches. Here he won the key match getting a bit of help with rain that came right after he lost the third set. He steadied in the 4th, which I followed on my phone on the NJ Transit heading up to my internship. This was before network was nearly as good to watch it on the phone, so I was maddeningly refreshing the French Open's score app. Not a fun way to watch a final.

12.) 2013 French Open - def (5) David Ferrer  6-3  6-2  6-3

This match took place two days after I returned to the US from my 'Around the World' trip. It was a letdown given the real final was Rafa's semifinal marathon win over Djokovic in a weird mirror version of their 2012 Oz Final epic. That match took place the day I returned, and I had my parents DVR-it. For whatever reason teh DVR failed and when I got home, Nadal was serving for the match. That was quite a welcome-home gift after four months away. People talk about that match being this close epic, and it certainly was, but I'll never forget that Nadal had more winners than Novak, less errors, and won way more points.

13.) 2013 US Open - def (1) Novak Djokovic  6-2  3-6  6-4  6-1

The final took place on a Monday which coincidentally was my 2nd day of work as an adult having started the Friday before. We were at a pasta making class & dinner while it was going on. I wasn't the only one very interested, and I do remember we reached back to the hotel the company put us all up in that week in time to watch the ending getting drunk at the bar in the hotel. It was an amazing first week, and while this wasn't the highlight, it wasn't too far behind. I definitely bonded with a few colleagues over our shared love of Rafa, who pulled off a miracle in the 3rd set before just rolling and finishing off his most dominant year yet.

14.) 2014 French Open - def (2) Novak Djokovic  3-6  7-5  6-2  6-4

Five years after Nadal reduced Fed to tears, he reduced Djokovic to tears here - not as pronounced but every bit as real, as for years of getting closer to beating Nadal at the French, he won a set but then was overwhelmed. Of course, just like how Federer would go on to win three of the next four slams post-bawling, so too would Novak. Separately, it was after this win that I bet my friend the $200 that Nadal would beat Fed. Who could blame me, Nadal was three behind having won three of the last five slams, and Federer hadn't won one in two years. It took seven years, and ten combined slams, but finally I was right.

15.) 2017 French Open - def (3) Stan Wawrinka  6-2  6-3  6-1

The fact that there is this two-and-a-half year gap in Nadal's run will never not amaze me. Same with Djokovic's similar gap from 2016 Wimby through 2018 French. But rise like a Phoenix he did. If any tournament has a claim to match his dominance in 2008 it was this one where he won by similarly lopsided scores, admittedly against lesser players. The final over Stan was also cathartic given his loss to Stan in the 2014 Australian Open final. The real memory for me was it was Rafa's 10th French Open, a fact Roland Garros basically assumed would happen given the vast amounts of '10' signage they immediately unfurled when it was over.

16.) 2017 US Open - def (24) Kevin Anderson  6-3  6-3  6-4

The final was fairly routine here - once again the Semifinal was the real test, this time against Juan Martin del Potro. Nadal look flustered early against Delpo, before rolling off 10 straight games while winning the 2nd and 3rd sets 6-0, 6-3. My real memory of this tournament was actually Delpo's win over Federer, which I watched on my computer in a bar in Wallingford, chatting with my friends. I was about 30 seconds behind which they used to hilariously evil impact. For a pretty mediocre project, memories like that night at that bar will always be with me.

17.) 2018 French Open - def  (7) Dominic Thiem  6-4  6-3  6-2

I think this is maybe the only final on this list that I know I didn't watch any of. I was in Vancouver, and given the time difference it was largely over by the time I woke up at 9am or whatever. It wasn't too surprising. Thiem was a great clay court player, but Rafa was on a roll and beat him rather easily. At this point, him winning the French was basically a guarantee, so honestly I was perfectly fine sleeping in my Vancouver AirBNB while this was going on.

18.) 2019 French Open - def (4) Dominic Thiem  6-3  5-7  6-1  6-1

Things seemed a bit more tricky this time around. Thiem survived a five-set war with Djokovic in the semifinal and really played Rafa to a draw in the first two sets. Then Rafa unleashed a level of clay court playing who would rarely match with its brutality. Double breadsticks to end it absolutely encapture just how great Rafa was on the day. I left thinking Thiem would be the next non-Rafa player to win the French. While that sadly isn't true, I do for sure hope he wins one.

19.) 2019 US Open - def (4) Daniil Medvedev  7-5  6-3  5-7  4-6  6-4

I watched this match in its entirety, sitting in the same old chair we brought over one year from India, barely getting up or moving for the run of its nearly five hours. It was a thrilling match because of how new it was. This was the first time (not including 2017 against Anderson which was a fait accompli) that Rafa was facing a serious contender in a non-French Open final that wasn't Djokovic or Federer. Daniil was excellent. He played excellently. He was the fresher guy in the 5th. But Nadal pulled it out. Around this time, an old college friend nad I started chatting mosly around our shared love of Nadal - or at least that is how it started. I remember furiously pinging DMs back and forth throughout this incredible match, easily the best of his non-historic wins (e.g. teh 21st, his first Wimbledon and Australian/hard court, etc).

20.) 2020 French Open - def (1) Novak Djokovic  6-0  6-2  7-5

This was the sequel to his 2008 massacre twelve years later and maybe more brutal in its efficiency. To see Nadal go 6-0, 6-2, against Djokovic was stunning. He was insanely good in this one, that just ike Federer reacted after 2008, I still remember Novak's post-game speech saying 'well, I guess this is why your are the king of clay'. There's no agument, even after the events of the French Open the following year. You can play the French Open in winter, in a closed roof, all things that were supposedly to Djokovic's advantage, and it didn't matter. The king stay the king.

21.) 2022 Aussie Open - def (2) Daniil Medvedev 2-6  6-7  6-4  6-4  7-5

What more to say - I just wrote a few thousand words on this yesterday. The only thing I'll mention is truly how much I expected Medvedev to win. And not even in any weird reverse jinx way. I felt it going in and seeing Medvedev race to a 6-2 first set just compounded that feeling. Which is then to say how gleeful, much like Rafa himself at the end, I was that he pulled it off. The 21st, the 2nd career slam, all incredible memories that can help block out bad ones, and it all crested in the craziest way possible. Insane, as Rafa is, was and will always will be.

22.) 2022 French Open - def (8) Casper Ruud  6-3  6-3  6-0

I'm not going to talk about the injury stuff, or my thoughts on the ludicrous 14. Forget all that. I'm going to talk about Nadal and Ruud, and namely how uniquely excited Casper Ruud was to get hammered. There was a slice of the internet that was upset that Ruud wasn't committed enough and didn't want it enough and all that garbage. You know what? Ruud was right. He's not a nobody, being a top-10 player coming into this tournament. But still, while he will make a good life for himself playing on tour another 7-10 years, he may or may not win a slam. You know what he will have: being the guy who played a French Open Final against Nadal. There is no shame in losing one of those - literally everyone has. He just had the smartness to realize that in losing, you still win because you were there to witness greatness at its highest extent.

2024 India Trip: Amritsar

Amritsar was a welcome change because it was the anti-Lucknow. Granted, that isn't always great - the food was definitely better in Lucknow. But man, Amritsar can bring it with sites. From the famous (the Golden Temple) to the austere (the Jailanwala Bagh Memorial), to the educational (the excellent Partition Museum) to the entertaining (the Attari / Wagah border performances). Amritsar had everything going well.

Amritsar also knows this about itself, maybe a bit too much. The are surrounding the main sites are really well laid out, clean, manicured and beautiful - white tile stone streets that are pedestrian only, really nice store signage. It's a glorious center of the city. Go a few blocks outside of that and you get into the bustling, dirty maw of any Indian city. Half of me wishes they gave more of the city that level of attention. But so be it.

I'll reverse the order of how I wrote about Lucknow, to focus on the food first. Punjab is a fairly heavy vegetarian state - some of their most notable restaurants, be it more street food "dhaba" style spots or what gets advertised as fancier versions of classic Punjabi cuisine. Not to say this was bad. Firstly, I had overindulged in non-veg in Lucknow (it is what is best), so getting a couple veg meals was quite welcome. 

The first meal was at Swagtam Dhaba, a hole in the wall type restaurant taht serves basically set Kulcha meals - where you get a Kulcha (regular, or stuffed with onion, cauliflower or paneer; I chose paneer) with two dals, channa and onion pickle. It was a super simple meal, by far the simplest I had on the trip overall. But so good in its simplicity. So many of these Indian street restaurants hide fairly clean, cozy eating areas behind the veneer of dusty, grimy street-faces. You have to see what's within.

The other veg lunch needed no such act of bravery, as I had a meal at Haveli, a reputed fancy, old-style, veg restaurant serving Punjabi classic. The restaurant was a large, two story area, well adorned with classic Phulkari embroidery table runners and tablecloths. The food was graet as well, as I ordered a okra masala fry dish (great, crunchy, spicy), and a shahi paneer curry, which was so smooth and hearty. I can't do veg food day after day, but a couple lunches fit quite well.

Dinner was non-veg (has to be), and it was two similar spaces. Both far out of the city (to which it was a bit tough to get an uber back). Both were large spaces, with tables in lush gardens with ponds, trees, greenery, and a mix of indoor and outdoor seating. It was perfection in terms of a setting. I was indoors the first day, but outdoors the second, under a lovely breeze and fairly cool (for India) night. Both places also had fairly robust menus that combined Western food (e.g. pastas), Chinese food and Indian classics. I stuck, stubbornly so, to Indian food to quite good results.

The first place was called The Bagh, and the second the Elgin Club. The food was probably a bit better at The Bagh, but both were similarly quite strong. At the Bagh, I got a chicken kalbi kebab platter and then a mutton curry - both were presented excellently, with sizable portions as well. The Elgin Club was fairly similar in ordering, getting a mutton chapli kebab, and mutton roganjosh, with a nice roomali roti. The only real complaint was the mutton curry at the Elgin was too bony, but it is what it is.

Amritsar also has a decent nightlife scene, focusing around an up and comign area around Ranjit Avenue - a 4x2 block area Northeast of city center. In that area are multiple developments of 4-5 floors each, packed with restaurants (Haveli was here) and bars and lounges in the like. I went to a couple places, firstly being an outpost of Brewdog (yes, the Scottish craft brewery), which had live music and a really nice tap list. I tried another more local brewery (Brewmaster) which also had live music (seems to be a thing here), and four of their own brews. They were tasty, but contineud the weird aspect of too many Indian breweries serving beer close to room temperature. The final spot was the Liquid Room, which was a nice club, playing pretty great Punjabi music, with cheap, good drinks. Alcohol on the whole is fairly cheap in Amritsar, another plus about the place.

Okay, enough dabbling. Let's get to the sites. The best one is the Golden Temple, a beautiful, pristine, large Sikh temple complex that is one of their most holy places in Sikkhism. The complex has white marble 4-wall exterior, with a large lake with teh Golden Temple (gold leaf over the marble) in the middle. It is gorgeous, it is stunning. It was enthralling during the day, but doubly so when it was perfectly floodlit and I went back during the night (honestly, worth going to it for both). It is a staggering sight, especially with the throngs of supporters chanting, praying and singing, all circumnavigating the square.

Honestly, the site would be architecturally notable even if you remove the actual golden shrine in the middle. The artwork, the detailing, the beauty in the walls and gates and the like on the four sides of the rectangle are nice enough. But then add in the Golden part, and it is really say India's version to the Kinkaku-Ji in Kyoto. Incredible place.

Separately, there are great sights that speak to Amritsar's position as the one of teh first cities on the India side of the India-Pakistan border. Notably, when the British negotiated redrawing borders when India and Pakistan got its independence from the UK, they drove a line right in the middle of Punjab (which exists today as a state in both countries). Millions of Muslims fled to Pakistan, crossing through Amritsar. Millions of Hindus and Sikhs went the other direction. Hundreds of Thousands died. The Partition Museum in Amritsar goes through this in great detail, with rooms talking about the decades of rebellion leading up to Independence and Partition, and then the massacre and fallout thereafter. It doesn't play sides. It tells a true retelling of a harrowing time.

The other notable massacre in the town was at the height of Indian discord with the crown, when they quelled an uprising that killed thousands of Indian rebels in the Jailanwala Bagh area of Amritsar. Today, taht area is turned into a memorial park with more history in four exhibits. These areas are clean, solemn, picturesque and just overall great sights. Amritsar is like that a lot.

The final sight was maybe the most interesting - the Atari/Wagah border (Atari the town on the border on the India side, Wagah on the Pakistan side). Each day there is a demonstration, ran by members of the border guard from both coutnries, right at the border - as in the area near and between two fences. Every day at 5pm, thousands gather (literally, India built a 25,000 seat stadium there - Pakistan is currently buidlign one) to watch the border guards perform, dance, chant, march leading to the joint lowering of the flag. Sure, it is all a bit nationalistic. Sure, the patronage and cooperation in this display here is not representative of the deep fractures between the two countries in reality, but it is still a great time.

As was Amritsar as a whole. Granted, there is better food elsewhere in India. Secretly, I wish you can combine the food in Lucknow and the sites in Amritsar and you get a top tier city. That said, it isn't like the food is bad in Amritsar. It's fine - the veg stuff is unique. The nightlife is good. The sites are great. Amritsar was a great ending to the trip/