Tomlin Tuesday
Between introducing new Tomlinisms, extolling the efficiency and work ethic of San Francisco’s offensive line coach, and pointing out the jump in offensive productivity the Niners had post-Christian McCaffery and pre-McCaffery, one quote stood out above the fray during his first weekly meeting with the media.
Asked about the versatility of newly acquired defensive back Desmond King, Tomlin gave an inkling as to what positions could be most important to slowing down the 49ers offense.
“Week in and week out, we’re going to be willing to mix and match in an effort to get the appropriate matchups and best mix of people on the field. That could describe the strong safety position, the inside linebacker position, that could describe the nickel position,” said Tomlin.
“If you’re going to be excellent on defense, you better be mindful of matchups. I think it’s highlighted by my opening (statement) when I talked about dynamic players such as McCaffery, George Kittle, and Deebo Samuel. The people you put on them are significant.”
In other words, without newcomers Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, Kwon Alexander, Keanu Neal, and Patrick Peterson doing their jobs, things will become that much more difficult against the Niners.
Whether Nick Bosa is playing or not.
Skenes’ Season Done
Less than 24 hours after having him for an interview during a broadcast of their win over the Brewers, the Pirates announced that would be the last their fans would get to see of Paul Skenes until Spring Training ’24.
From the way it was explained by General Manager Ben Cherington, the cumulative amount of work Skenes had done this year between college ball and the minors, coupled with the fact that he’d accomplished all he could this summer, led the organization to mitigate any risk at all to Skenes pitching again this year.
It also sounds like Skenes wasn’t necessarily thrilled at the idea of shutting it down.
And now the long wait begins for a Spring Training filled with “will they?/won’t they?” questions about whether Skenes will break camp and head to Pittsburgh, or perhaps start in the minors.
Books vs. the ‘Burgh
In a report released yesterday by BetMGM, the Steelers are labeled as the sportsbook’s “Biggest Liability” in the Super Bowl Championship, AFC Championship, and AFC North winner markets.
For the sports betting novices out there, that means the books stand to lose the most in each of those markets should the Steelers win.
While the team’s odds have actually grown longer since the opening of the lines months ago on the AFC Championship (from +2800 to +3000) and Super Bowl (from +5000 to +6600), they’ve actually improved in the AFC North market, moving from +550 to win the division to +450.
The Steelers still sit in relatively similar positions in all markets, however: 4th in the division, 11th in the AFC, and 21st in the Super Bowl market.
None of this movement has slowed betting on the black & gold.
Despite the long odds, BetMGM says the Steelers are the most bet team to win their division, with 34.5% of all AFC North Division winner tickets laying on Pittsburgh.
They’re also 4th in the number of AFC Champion tickets that have been bet, and 5th in “handle,” or the amount of money wagered. They sit 9th in both tickets and handle in the Super Bowl market.
What’s all of this mean? Well, it’s safe to say, if you have a bet on the Steelers to win their division, the AFC Championship, and/or the Super Bowl, you’re not the only one.
It’s also safe to say that most people in Vegas won’t be rooting for you.
Rodgers’ Close Encounter
While it apparently happened well before Aaron Rodgers became enamored with the hallucinogenic qualities of ayahuasca, the season finale of HBO’s Hard Knocks had the Jets’ QB describing an experience with a UFO almost 20 years ago.
Just the trippy hippy down the block who won’t shut up about the virtues of naturopathy, does Rodgers still have enough gas in the tank to pay off on the outsized expectations of Jets’ fans and the New York media. I don’t think so. But he could always prove people like me wrong.
Or just get us all so damn stoned we have no idea what’s real, what’s not, and if a world really exists where the Jets can win a Super Bowl.