I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! We certainly ate too much, drank just enough, and enjoyed the company of family and friends. As for football? It was a great week here at the Gridiron Voice! 14 – 1 on the week so far, and still looking for a Denver win tonight.

But not everything was perfect on Thanksgiving. Bears fans can attest to that. The only thing worse than that final possession by the Bears is Coach Eberflus saying, in effect, he had no problem with how that drive went. WHAT? Of course, he’s no longer Coach Eberflus after that. Time management, penalties, and a general lack of situational awareness cost them at a minimum, overtime. Is the fault of the last drive squarely on the coach? No, the players on the field need to shoulder most of it. But failing to call the final timeout to preserve time on the clock, to ensure the team has the right play called, that is absolutely on the coach. And he needed to be fired for it.

Caleb Williams has shown more confidence on the field. He’s throwing a better ball than earlier in the season. But I don’t know if he’s improving as a quarterback. This final series tells me a lot about his ability to lead an offense right now. Quarterbacks aren’t leaders because they can yell or do “rah! rah!” speeches. Quarterbacks become leaders when they get the team lined up. When they get the offense into the right play. When they make the play that’s needed at the end of the game. Right now, no matter who the coach is, Caleb Williams isn’t that quarterback. Yet.

Now on to the other hits and misses from the week:

Hit
Miami in cold weather. Kind of a layup here, and nothing that everyone else hadn’t already said. But I bring it up because on the broadcast they talked about how some Dolphins players were wearing wetsuits under their uniforms to stay warm. I remember hearing that last year in their playoff game against Kansas City. Not the most comfortable things to wear, and certainly restrict some mobility. Maybe being athletic is more important than being warm?

Miss
Washington slipping out of the playoffs. There was a real chance of the Commanders’ losing streak keeping them from the postseason. Getting a dominant win over a Titans team that has been playing well lately is a great way to get things back on track.

Hit
Kyler Murray throwing 45 times in a loss. I said before, this team needs to be a run first, power team. Putting the ball in Kyler’s hands to go win the game is not going to bring long term success. They have the blueprint to win big games – run with Conner and play excellent defense. They just couldn’t put it all together for four quarters in Minnesota.

Miss
I said the Steelers would be in trouble if they got into a shootout with the Bengals. Well they managed to hold on and win the game. With the Baltimore loss, the Steelers are back in the driver’s seat for the Division crown.

Hit
Atlanta and Tampa Bay. I called this a few weeks ago. Atlanta is fading, Tampa is surging and the schedules are the big difference. I’ll keep banging this drum, the Buccaneers are winning the NFC South.