The opponent is worthy

ACQUIRE as NEEDED (daily) December 7 Monday Night Footballs Today, because of covid postponements, there were two Monday Night Football games, although only the later of the two was billed as such and broadcast on ESPN. The Bills bullied the decimated Niners, 34 - 24. Ten of San Francisco's points were practically in garbage time. Because the local Fox affiliate in Portland decided not to air the NFL game in the 2 pm spot over regularly scheduled programming, I turned on the TV in the shop to be greeted by People's Court or some shit. I read the outcome after the fact, as my job duties kept me from regularly checking the score. The Steelers' loss to the Football Team, 23 - 17, is the first of three games I want to highlight. I enjoy watching the NFL for many reasons, not the least of which is streaks. Whether an individual player that puts up consistent stats week after week or a team that goes unbeaten, I root for those things to continue. So, I have been stoked to watch the Steelers keep winning each week. Some of the pickles they got into and then out of, as they climbed to 11 wins and 0 losses, were the stuff blooper reels are made of. Admittedly, I don't have the time to watch all of the Pittsburgh game tape or even highlights, but I saw, heard and read enough to know, eventually, one of those bounces was gonna go the other way. It's comical to me that they were finally bested by a team with no name. Secondly, for many weeks, I've heard folks saying the Chargers find new ways to lose football games. Well, this past Sunday, Los Angeles found an old way to lose: don't score. Whether it was Belichick's savvy with defense and special teams or Lynn's ineptitude offensively, the Chargers had a Dickens of a time getting anything to go right. While Justin Herbert has shown an ability to play well at the professional level, Belichick continues to make Holiday meals out of new quarterbacks. Though the Force is strong in this young Jedi from the University of Oregon, Herbert just didn't have the in-game experience to lead his faltering squad against the Sith Lord of the League. New England beat them 45 - 0 and it looked even worse than my mixing of metaphors. Thirdly, I like to think of myself as the left guard of my family. Like in most families, I presume, the bride is our quarterback. She's really the only one on our team with the skills and perspective to see the whole game plan. As you can likely imagine from my prior articles, I'm good in the moment, but have little to no long range vision. Our team often competes against the same opponent weekly, sometimes nightly. Our big divisional rival is trauma. Our two adopted children, Mayfare and Amos, are in a lifelong matchup against the experiences from their early years. Our QB has studied playbook after playbook looking for a scheme that will be successful. While many have held serve for a time, ultimately, our rival has figured them out. The shame, depression and acting out that comes from it sneak across my line and get us in the backfield. I wouldn't compare our team to the winning ways of this season's Steelers or to the hapless Chargers. We're probably more like the Browns. We've won some we were expected to lose and lost some we were expected to win. We've got decent weapons and a good run game, but some days we just can't put it all together. Ultimately, I trust our Coach. He's provided the foundation for victory and practices with us every time we're willing. He never tires and is always gracious. Win or lose, He's patient while never lowering the standard or withdrawing favor. I believe this compels us to be the fierce competitors I think we are. The opponent is worthy. We are steadfast. This is bakesHere.