The Week In Football: Tennessee Loses, And The AFC Is Loaded; Plus, What Should Tennessee Do With Lil Jon?

 

On Saturday night, for the first time since the Josh Dobbs era began on October 25^th against Alabama, Tennessee fans left a game feeling disappointed. Yes, of course I was unhappy about another loss to the Crimson Tide, but I was also excited, because I believed the Vols had found their QB of the future. And nothing has changed that. If anything, the power of Dobbs got us to believe that Tennessee was in every game again, and that there was no opponent that would completely overmatch the Vols. I heard a bunch of analysts and media pundits picking Tennessee this week, and they were even favored by three points against a team that was in first place in the East. Clearly, people thought the Vols were back, or at least legitimate again.

 

And that’s what made the loss so devastating. I’ve grown accustomed to Tennessee defeats over the years, though most of them leave me feeling one of two ways: either the Vols would get blown out by a superior opponent, leaving me thinking, “Oh my gosh, they suck, and they’re never going to contend for anything meaningful ever again”; or they’d be in a close game against a better team, scratching and clawing and fighting the entire time, looking like they might be able to squeak one out at the last moment, only to whiff so badly at the end (13 men on the field at LSU) that it almost made me laugh, before I realized how depressing it was that this was actually the team I rooted for.

 

Regardless of how those games ended, I always went into them thinking that they’d lose, or that it was going to be really tough for them to pull it out. But not on Saturday night. I expected the Vols to come out, execute in all phases of the game, squeeze the life out of the Missouri offense, and above all, win. There’s no worse feeling than losing a game you expect to win, and it sucks even more when you play the way they did. Dobbs was the worst he’d been since his miraculous rise (24-37, 195 yards, 1 TD, 1 pick, and only 13 rushing yards on 17 carries), and the offensive line returned to being the one that had tortured Vol fans all year (it seemed like Missouri defensive end Shane Ray was in the backfield the entire game).

 

We as Vol fans were so excited about the Dobbs era beginning that we ignored almost all the problems this team still had, or created for themselves. Not having A.J. Johnson because of his involvement in a rape investigation hurt them, as well as Brian Randolph’s first half suspension for the targeting penalty he got last week against Kentucky. Plus, the Tigers had the best defensive line by far of anyone the Vols have faced since Dobbs began starting, and the O-line just wasn’t up for it. They’re going to have to get significantly better up front if they’re going to contend in the SEC East next season. And then there’s the Butch factor. As much as I like him as a person, and think he’s done some great things down in Knoxville, I still have concerns about his clock management, decision making in crisis, and his overly conservative approach in almost all of their games. Case and point, it was a terrible decision to challenge that illegal touching penalty on the onside kick at the end of the game. The ball clearly didn’t go 10 yards, and losing that challenge cost the Vols a valuable timeout, one that they could’ve used to stop the clock and help them get the ball back. Yeah, they wouldn’t have had much time left had they been able to force a Missouri punt on that possession, but that challenged killed any chance of a miracle happening. And it’s not like they haven’t had an improbable victory this season. Remember the South Carolina game?

 

Who wants to hold the single game rushing record?

 

Last week, the Wisconsin Badgers’ Melvin Gordon obliterated the Nebraska defense for record an NCAA record 408 rushing yards. Really impressive right? Well this week, Oklahoma freshman Samaje Perine amazingly rushed for 427 yards against Kansas. How does that even happen? And how do you feel if you’re a defensive player for the Jayhawks? Perine had 34 carries, good for 12.6 yards per carry. These cartoonish rushing numbers, accomplished in a pass happy, all offense college football, speak more to the lack of defense today than anything. Don’t get me wrong, Gordon and Perine are both great players, but when you rush for over 400 yards in a game by yourself, it has a lot to do with the fact that the team you just went against played defense like a revolving door. There are only two teams that haven’t gotten torched by an opposing offense, Alabama and Mississippi State. Everybody else has had at least one stinker of a game on defense, and some teams (like Texas A&M and South Carolina) have had multiple. Kansas has been awful on D all year. They’ve given up 30 or more points 6 times this season, and the only teams they’ve held below 20 are Central Michigan and Iowa State. Obviously, you wouldn’t expect them to give up 400-plus yards rushing to one person, but it’s not completely shocking right?

 

How good is Arkansas?

 

Over the last 3 games (at the time, #1 Mississippi State, #17 LSU, and #8 Ole Miss), the Razorbacks have only allowed 17 points, and they’ve pitched back-to-back shutouts against the Tigers and Rebels. They completely overwhelmed and dominated those last two opponents for the entire game, particularly Ole Miss (they forced six turnovers against Ole Miss, held Bo Wallace to a 51.6 completion percentage, and swallowed up the Rebels rushing attack, holding them to 63 yards). Plus, they threw a pick in the end zone against Mississippi State late as they were driving for the tying touchdown. Throw in their one point loss to Alabama, and I’m not sure there’s been a more overlooked solid team this season than them (in fact, they were so overlooked that I wrote things like “Arkansas is Arkansas” and that Ole Miss was better at both better quarterback and on defense on Friday. Whoops. The lesson, as always; I’m an idiot). Bret Bielema’s coaching tenure got off to a terrible start (he lost his first 13 SEC games), but it appears that he’s starting to get some of his type of players down there, and they’re implementing the type of style he wants to play. I’m interested to see what kind of game they’ll give Missouri on the road this week, as well as how they’ll look next season, the pivotal and always-important Year 3 for Bielema.

 

My 4 Team Playoff

 

1. Alabama. We literally learned nothing about the Tide this week, as they beat up on Western Carolina, who was more overmatched than your character was in Punch-Out when he had to face Mike Tyson. This week is the Iron Bowl, at home against Auburn, or, in other words, the most consistently redneck week in the state of Alabama. It inspires dumb Alabamans to become even dumber (who knew that was even possible?), call Paul Finebaum's radio show and yell like children, and poison hundred year old trees at Toomer’s corner. What a terrible week for anyone who has sense and can think rationally down there. I’m sorry, I really am.
2.  Oregon. The Ducks blasted Colorado this week, and they haven’t played a close game since their lone loss of the season on October 2^nd against Arizona. They and Alabama are the two best teams in the country right now, and I expect them to win their semifinal games and meet in the national title game, at least right now. Then again, both teams still have to play rivalry games (Auburn and Oregon State), and they’ll both have to win their conference championship games to even get there. A lot of crazy stuff can happen between now and the time the playoff committee puts out their final rankings in two weeks.
3.  Mississippi State. I bumped the Bulldogs over Florida State because of the Seminoles horrible play this week, this time against Boston College, though I realize it’s probably unreasonable to expect the committee to do the same thing. If Alabama knocks off Auburn this week (and I think they will), then the Egg Bowl on Saturday at Ole Miss will be the Bulldogs last game of the regular season. Will it be enough for the committee to keep them in? Or will one of the “co-conference champions” in the Big 12, Baylor and TCU, jump them, assuming all three of them win out? I hope they won’t, and I don’t think they should. I’d argue Miss State has a way more impressive resume than either of those schools. They have one loss in the best conference and division in the country, and that loss was on the road, at Alabama (the best team in college football), by 5 points, even though they out-gained them. Conversely, TCU blew a 21 point 4^th quarter lead to Baylor, and the Bears looked horrible in their loss on the road at West Virginia (the “scary” Baylor offense gave up 4 sacks and only scored 7 points after halftime).
4. Florida State. I’m tired of the Seminoles getting by week after week against mediocre to crappy competition. They clearly aren’t one of the four best teams in the country, but because they always finish each Saturday victorious, they won’t (and probably shouldn’t) be dropped out of the committee’s top 4. They still are in one of the Power 5 conferences (the ACC), and they’ve showed more resiliency than almost anyone (they have 5 wins by 6 points or less). And as much as I don’t like it, they’ll more than likely be there at the end of the season. Florida probably won’t be able to give them much of a challenge (they can’t score), and I’m not sure how good their opponent in ACC Championship Game, Georgia Tech, really is.

 

I’d rank Baylor 5^th, TCU 6^th, and Ohio State 7^th. And honestly, I think those 7 teams are really the only ones with a shot to make the playoffs. I don’t see 4 of these teams losing in the next two weeks, and I can’t see the committee putting a two loss Georgia, Missouri (assuming they win the SEC Championship Game), or UCLA (assuming they win the Pac 12 Championship Game) in over any one loss team. Then again, that’s just my feeling. I have no idea what the committee will do, because there really isn’t any precedent yet, as this is the first year of all of this. How much will they value a team being a conference champion? Do they care if the SEC (the best conference) is represented? I have no idea. We’ll have to see how it plays out.

 

Now, onto the NFL….

 

San Diego stays alive for another week

 

The Chargers (my preseason AFC Champion) won on Sunday afternoon, ensuring that their season will live on for another week. They couldn’t have afforded to drop to 6-5, particularly with how tough the AFC is right now. Here are the records of all the teams in the playoff hunt:

 

New England: 9-2

Denver: 8-3

Cincinnati: 7-3-1

Indianapolis: 7-4

Pittsburgh: 7-4

Kansas City: 7-4

San Diego: 7-4

Cleveland:7-4

Baltimore: 6-4 (they could get their 7^th win tonight in New Orleans)

Miami: 6-5

 

That’s 10 teams still very much alive with only 5 weeks left! Only six can make it. Miami, who is a really good team that blanked the Chargers 37-0 in Week 9, might be done right now after losing their fifth game yesterday in Denver. Look how many teams they have to climb over! And how about the AFC North? All 4 teams could have seven wins after tonight, and everyone still has at least two division games left.

 

I’m going to go ahead and pencil in New England in the AFC East and Indianapolis in the AFC South. That leaves us with 8 teams fighting for four spots. I think the Broncos will win the West, though they do have 3 tough road games remaining (at Kansas City, at San Diego, and at Cincinnati). The North is wide open, but if you held a gun to my head, I’d take Pittsburgh to win the division. They just got to rest up this week because of their bye week, and the schedule breaks nicely for them. They host New Orleans this week (the Saints suck outdoors, and I’m sure it will be cold outside in Pittsburgh), followed by back-to-back road games at Cincinnati and at Atlanta. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be at least 2-1 in those games. They’ll then finish with home games against Kansas City and Cincinnati. Again, not horrible. They get to face the “we hate outdoor games” Saints, the inept Falcons, Andy Dalton twice, and the King of Clock Mismanagement, Andy Reid, and his sidekick, quarterback Alex Smith. I have no faith in Cleveland and Brian Hoyer, because they’re the Browns and haven’t won a championship in 50 years for a reason. And I think Ravens will lose this upcoming week at home against San Diego, and ultimately falter either because they secretly aren’t that good (there best win was over the Steelers, in Baltimore, in Week 2) or they won’t have any of the tiebreakers in their favor (Cincy beat them twice). The Bolts have a brutal schedule left (at Baltimore, home against New England and Denver, and at San Fran and Kansas City), but because I’m tremendous homer and a guy that sticks by his predictions until I look like an idiot, I’ll roll with the Chargers to somehow sneak in the playoffs. It’s not a crazy pick right? Baltimore is overrated; Denver seems to have lost their physical edge on defense, they can’t consistently pass block, and they can’t (or won’t) run the ball; and San Francisco secretly hasn’t played a good game on offense almost all year, as they’ve only scored 30 or more points in a game once this season. As far as the other playoff spot, I think it’s going to be….. the Bengals. And even typing that makes me uncomfortable. Do I really have to bet on Andy Dalton? They’ve got a great roster, but I just don’t trust the Carrot Top look-alike/wannabe they’ve got playing quarterback for them. His debacle against Cleveland this season will forever be burned in my mind. And even if they do make the playoffs, I think they’ll be one and done, just like they were the last 3 years.

 

Seattle also survives to fight on… for another week

 

Their victory yesterday against Arizona was the most Seahawk-like game they’ve played since Week 1 against Green Bay. Seattle ran for 124 yards, while holding Arizona to just 64 on the ground, and also controlled the ball for more than 35 minutes. They sacked Drew Stanton seven times, and the Legion of Boom actually looked like that great and frightening secondary we thought they were. They, also like the Chargers, couldn’t have afforded to drop to 6-5, because the NFC is also challenging. If the playoffs began today, both Detroit (who was the two seed just two weeks ago) and San Francisco would be out. This Thursday’s game in San Francisco is probably the second most important Niners-‘Hawks game ever (after last year’s NFC Championship Game), because the loser would be 7-5, down a game to the winner, and out of the playoffs with four weeks left. Are the old Seahawks back? It’s hard to say. It’s only been one game, this is the same team that got gashed on the ground in Kansas City eight days ago, and this is the most limited they’ve been offensively since Pete Carroll got there. Regardless, I can’t wait for that slugfest on Thursday night. But more on that game on Wednesday.

 

Finally, my Angry Old Man. He’ll probably be upset that he was relegated to the bottom of the page this week, but he’ll figure out how to make it work. Plus, it’s not like he hasn’t been dealing with things he doesn’t like (anyone under the age of 50) for the last decade. He’s used to it. Anyway, he was riled up by a column written by John Adams of the Knoxville News Sentinel, which encouraged the Vols to say goodbye to “3^rd Down For What?” and rapper Lil Jon, because of his explicit lyrics. His words, “I’m a Butch Jones fan, but he shouldn’t be embracing all that rap crap you and your idiot friends like (just for the record, I think the song ‘Turn Down For What’ is a hot piece of garbage. What does that even mean?), particularly if he advocates raping women in his other songs, like his newest piece of art, ‘Literally I Can’t’. I have a problem with that personally, and I don’t like the team I root for embracing him all that garbage, because it’s wrong. Plus, they do have two football players involved in a rape investigation! Get that clown out of there!”.

 

I do think it’s interesting that people embrace, listen to, and even purchase this type of music. Because if you listen to most rap music nowadays, women are objectified as objects that are only on earth for male sexual pleasure. And how does Chris Brown still have a career? He punched Rihanna right in the face, and then acted like an idiot when he was asked about it by Robin Roberts. As far as I can tell, he’s never shown all that much remorse for it, and actually mostly just made excuses as to why it happened. Now he’s releasing songs with lyrics like “these hoes ain’t loyal”, which people are listening to like it’s going out of style (the video has more than 180 million views on Youtube).

 

Why are we as a society fine with musicians saying whatever they want? If I went around, publicly announcing, “these hoes ain’t loyal” or calling women the “b” word, I’d be skewered by the media (and I probably should be). But if I put music to those words, suddenly it’s “art” and it’s no big deal. There has to be some line where it’s no longer “art” right?

 

And just for the record, I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with cuss words, or suggestive themes in songs or movies or television shows. How does the musician, or artist, or actor feel about what he is saying? How is he/she being portrayed? Are we glorifying rape and violence against women, children, and the innocent? Sometimes those things can be a theme, but the lifestyle isn’t exactly being celebrated. When I listen to a song like “Loyal” or “Literally I Can’t”, rape, the objectification of women as sexual objects, and the “B***h, shut the F Up” culture are glorified and perpetuated. Contrast that with a Tupac song like “Life Goes On”, or “Wonder Why They Call U B***h”, and while themes like gang violence, going to prison, disrespect of women, and murder are discussed, they aren’t being given the thumbs up. If anything, they have a somber, reflective, sad tone. They recognize the importance of human life, and how heartbreaking it is when that life is mistreated, wasted, or ended. To me, that’s how rappers should be, telling stories about their lives and what they saw, advocating changes in their communities, and dismissing the ideas that the “gangsta” lifestyle is awesome, and that having sex with whoever you want whenever you want, regardless if they’re willing, is ok.

 

So back to Lil Jon. Simply because Tennessee has two players involved in a rape investigation, I’d be fine with the program disassociating themselves with him. I don’t think his lyrics caused A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams to do anything nefarious, as was suggested by some fool that called Paul Finebaum’s show this week, but I’m also not sure he’s a great a guy to be involved with the Vol program right now, particularly with his lyrics, and the serious allegations against two players. My Angry Old Man thinks this is a black eye for Butch Jones, and that this will hurt recruiting, because other SEC coaches could tell recruit’s moms that Tennessee, Lil Jon, and pro-rape lyrics go hand in hand. I don’t think it would be all that much of an advantage, but that’s just me. I think people are selectively offended by things, and music is one of those things that just doesn’t bother them. That’s why I think it’s up to us as good people to stand up and say, “Wait a second, we can’t be ok with these lyrics, and these themes talked about in a positive way. It harms our communities, and tells men that women are only as good as the sex they can give us”. Do you feel great about, “B***h, I don’t wanna hear no from you” being spun in a positive light? I know I certainly don’t.