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“It’s a QB World”
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If you have a good NFL-quarterback, lucky you.
If you don’t-you don’t have a chance.

This weekend more than any other time drove home that message, and raised a secondary question I will pose in a minute.

Patrick Mahomes continued to work his magic, this time in a road game for the first time, in the Kansas City Chiefs playoff win in Buffalo.  It was his (215Y) passing day, his leadership, his ability to hit passes to Travis Kelce and unleash RB-Isaiah Pacheco.  Sure he played a ton of games at Arrowhead Stadium, but he is now (33-12) away from home in games.  He is now (13-3) in postseason.  And he is (87-25) in his career.

Josh Allen is everything to Buffalo, despite not winning for a third time against Kansas City in the playoffs.  Granted he is (5-5) in his career in playoff games.  But he does it all, piling up (258APY) even in the gut wrenching loss.  He ends the season with nearly (5300Y) and 50-TDs this season.

Lamar Jackson willed the Baltimore Ravens to the AFC finals with another outstanding game in their lopsided win over Houston.  Pass-run-lead, he does it all and for the first time in his stay in the Charm City, the Ravens put a ton of quality skill people around him.

Jared Goff has resurrected his career thanks to a change of address, better coaching and maturity.  Goff is part of the ringleaders who will play in the NFC-title game next weekend, after throwing 34-TD passes this year in a star season in a city that needs a star.

Pick a star in San Francisco, and Brock Purdy finds a way to get him the ball.  It is a galaxy of great talent on the 49ers roster, but the last player picked in the NFL draft a couple of years ago, has a (113-QB) rating and (35TD) passes.

There are other quality QBs in the league, who put their teams in good situations this past fall.  Baker Mayfield fixed his career in Tampa Bay.  CJ Stroud did what no one expected in Houston.  We know about the Tua Tagovailoa season in Miami.  What Matthew Stafford’s career has been in LA.  That was some breakout first season as a starter for the Packers’ Jordan Love.

They have all won, gone into the playoffs, and some to a Super Bowl too.

You have to have a good-to-great quarterback to win in this league.  Those franchises mentioned above have them.

The Chargers have one also in Justin Herbert, who has never won a playoff game yet.  You salute the likes of the guy in Buffalo, the leader in Kansas City and other places.

You should question why Justin Herbert seems sentenced to mediocrity by the organization he plays for.  You have to imagine the knot in the pit of the stomach of Justin Herbert, seeing what all these other great NFL-QBs have done, and what he has not been able to do, because of how pitiful his organization is.

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Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast
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“NFL WEEKEND–PUT UP–SHUT UP”
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Ready-Set-Go.
A pretty good weekend of games ahead of us
And we now find out who is for real and who has to go home
As if seeing what happened to Miami-Philadelphia-Dallas wasn’t enough
We get to see this

CHIEFS-BUFFALO…Hard to believe Patrick Mahomes has never played a road playoff game in his career.  He is (10-2) in playoff games, all played at Arrowhead.  Now he plays the Bills, the Bills defense, Josh Allen, the snow, the cold and 86,000-Bills fans on Sunday.  There will be challenges.  How does Kansas City defend the Bills?  Spy Josh Allen, who has over (5,000) all purpose yards?  Can KC’s secondary hold up in single coverage on Stefon Diggs and those two pass catching tight ends?  How does the Bills defense control Mahomes from moving the pocket?  Can the Bills double Travis Kelce and yet holdup to the deep passes Mahomes wants to throw to his receivers?  If the weather turns bitter, will it be James Cook or Isaiah Pacheco who has the big game running the ball?

HOUSTON-BALTIMORE….What a great season the Texans have had, with the rookie season of QB-CJ Stroud and the dynamic pass catching campaign of WR-Nico Collins.  But now Houston has to tee it up without their other top receivers, Noah Brown-Tank Dell, both out with surgeries.  Then there is Lamar Jackson, running-throwing, his two pass catching TEs, and the 4-receivers, and a run game that is averaging (4.9YPC).  And if that’s enough, the Ravens defense has 60-sacks and 31 takeaways.

GREEN BAY-49ERS…Jordan Love has been marvelous and the fact he has done this with an almost all rookie WR-TE group is amazing.  The key may be can Aaron Jones-AJ Dillon run the ball on the Niners defense?  Of course the Packers must put a lid on QB-Brock Purdy, all everything RB-Christian McCaffrey and the big play pass catch antics of Ayuik-Deebo-Kittle.  And we haven’t even mentioned the Niners veteran laden defense.

LIONS-TAMPA BAY…Jared Goff finishing up an amazing bounceback season.  Baker Mayfield wrapping up a save the career type campaign at quarterback.  Detroit is so tough at home and so relentless.  Nice run for Tampa, but the Bucs are just (2-5) vs elite teams this year, and now they face an elite team again in Detroit.

Who puts up and moves on?  Who gets shut up and goes home?
It’s the playoffs come Saturday-Sunday…Ready-Set-Go.

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“LAKERS–MIA”
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Missing in Action…probably the best words to describe LA Lakers basketball…Again.

Hard to believe, a team with superstars Anthony Davis-LeBron James, are no different today than they were three years  ago, four winters back, 5-seasons later..

Struggling to get to the .500-mark.
Not to be confused  with being an elite franchise.
A mixed bag of players who just seem to be ill fitting.

GM-Rob Pelinka, for the third year in a row, sure seems to have alot of square pegs trying to fit into round holes.

Last year, after a series of off season deals, the Lakers blew up the roster at the trade deadline, rented a bunch of players, and got themselves to the NBA West finals before losing.  What worked with Rui Hachimura, the re-arrival of D’Angelo Russell, the growth of Jared Vanderbilt, in the back half of the schedule has not worked this season.

2-years ago (2022-23), the Lakers went thru the ‘veterans experience’ the arrival of Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverly, Dennis Schroedeer, Malik Beasley.  None survived

3-years back, (2021-22)  they tried a combo of Carmleo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Avery Bradley, Taylor Horton-Tucker and Rajon Rondo.  A year later they all exited.

4-years ago (2020-21) there was Alex Caruso, Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol, Montrzl Harrell, Wes Matthews and the fast developing Kyle Kuzma

5-years removed (2019-20) , you remember Kantavius Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and more.

Since 2019-Pelinka keeps making trades, spending money, moving draft picks, and what we have now is no better than then, a .500-team buried in the standings, with no future assets and two aging superstars.

So you will have to tell me.  The franchise that gave us West-Baylor-Wilt…Kareem-Magic-Worthy…Kobe-Shaq now cannot find the right mix around King James-AD.

Is it the GM’s failures?  The incoming player’s failures?  Or is it AD-LeBron cannot play with other people?

Lakers tradition no longer carries clout.  The franchise seems MIA.

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“BASEBALL QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING”

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Throwing questions at a dart-board, waiting for you to answer.

BLAKE SNELL…Still unsigned, as agent Scott Boras asks for the moon in contract talks.  Yes, a two time Cy Young Award Winner.  Yes, recovered from elbow surgery in Tampa Bay.  Yes, a 5-inning average starting pitcher.  Yes, the asking price (7Y-210M) per MLB sources.  No doubt a reliable somewhat workhorse starter, but there’s this.  He has pitched (180-Innings) only one time in San Diego.  His other years were (50-128-128) innings.  You going to give a 5-inning pitcher (30M) a year to go 5-innings a start for the next seven years?

AJ PRELLER…I don’t like the look of this, wheeler-dealer AJ Preller heavily shopping Ha Seong-Kim, coming off a very strong season.  Why?  Because he is due 8M this year and becomes a free agent at the end of the season.  This is a bad sign.  You have already dealt away Juan Soto’s big bat and contract.  Now you move a popular Kim too?  This looks like a salary dump.  Are you getting fair value for Kim if the return is 2B-CF-Jazz Chisholm, coming off an injury riddled subpar season.  Or maybe back of the rotation starter Jesus Luzardo.  Tell me this is not a salary dump, please?

DODGERS…So if you are keeping score at home, the Dodgers have spent (1.2B) on payroll to acquire Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Yosh Yamamoto.  And the cost, aside from writing checks, with lots of deferred money, all they gave up was P-Ryan Pepiot, a star in the making.  The Dodgers last  week moved AAA-hitting star Michael Busch in a deal for a top lower minor league pitcher, to clear roster spots.  How brilliant is the Dodger trading powers?  Is the deferred money issue a real injustice to the rest of baseball that cannot structure contracts that way?

ANGELS…I am waiting, so are the fans.  So GM-Perry Manasian gives us all this rhetoric about ownership willing to commit to have a strong payroll.  If that is the case why have you not spent the (30M) paid to Ohtani, who has left, to go get another star?  The Angels have signed 8-journeyman pitchers and players to fill empty slots on the roster at minimal cost.  As of last weekend, the Angels had taken on (6.8M) in new salary with all these one year contracts.  You’re not telling me ex Padres reliever Luis Garcia puts you in the playoffs?  Still out there, established starters, toxic talents Trevor Bauer-Julio Urias.  You’re worried about negative public reaction from the fans?  What do you think the reaction is right now in the 714-949-area code to what the Angels have done so far this off season?

I asked questions.  Looking for answers.
Join me with a response.

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“WOEFUL END-WILDCARD WEEKEND”
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It ended badly, these two Monday NFL playoff games, capping off Wildcard Weekend.  The stories about what’s next for the losers, will dominate the headlines.

TAMPA BAY-EAGLES…How do you go from (10-1) to losing (6-of-7).  Please email your theories to Nick Sirianni-head coach-Eagles, who went from a Super Bowl team to a toilet bowl finish to the season.  No defense the back half of the season.  Everytime you looked up there was a Tampa Bay tight end or wide receiver running opens in the secondary.  Everytime there was a tackle to be made, a Buc ran thru it.  Baker Mayfield completed his redemption tour with a (337Y-3TD) night, finishing off the Eagles and putting himself in line for a big contract extension with his 31-TD season.  Jalen Hurts lost 3-receivers at the tail end of the season, and his run game disappeared, and he took a real battering.  I stood there watching the second half and saw Matt Patricia’s defense collapse, all these bad outings even after he took over playcalling at mid season.  Another example of an assistant coming off the Bill Belichick tree and failing elsewhere.  Some bad days coming for the Eagles coaching staff.  Another game for the Bucs to be played.

BILLS-STEELERS…Josh Allen can beat you so many ways.  Just ask the Steelers and the weatherman, as the Bills slugged their way to a playoff win in the (4-degree) weather in a snow clogged stadium.  Allen lit up the secondary, throwing for 3TD and (203Y) in a biting cold wind.  He ripped off a 56-yard TD run too, making himself the equal of Baltimore’s dart-dash Lamar Jackson.  And that Bills defense swarmed everywhere.  Interception in the end zone.  Fumble recovery in at the 18-yard line.  Mason Rudolph did not have much room to operate in trying so hard to rally Pittsburgh.  Just too much cold weather, too much Josh Allen.  And now we wait to see if Mike Tomlin has had enough.  All those really good non losing seasons in the Burgh, but only 3-playoff wins in 13-years, not what Steelers football is all about.

So on we go on a short week to get to the Divisional playoff games next week.  Another topic for another day, but the Chiefs go on the road to play in Buffalo, upstart Houston is Baltimore.  Then the Bucs head to Detroit, and Green Bay goes to San Francisco.

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