Mike Tanier

Also: lots of jokes about Chuck Pagano in the snow and Steve Spaguolo, the bold tactical renegade of interim coaches.

Also: Jimmy Garoppolo's quietly impressive 49ers debut and the mystery of how a team can "win the draft" for two years yet still turn to a player who has been out of football for three years to be the focal point of their offense.

A rematch of the Patriots-Eagles Super Bowl looks so inevitable right now that Donovan McNabb is already getting queasy. (Kidding!)

I am not a traitor to the analytics cause.
I am a Defender of the Faith.
I am the Martin Luther of Moneyball.

In this week's Digest ...

• The Patriots give Tom Brady a special teams boost.
• The Saints treat the Bills the way a garbage disposal treats a moldy meatball.
• The Jaguars try to cough up a big game in the fourth quarter but cannot out-choke the Chargers.
• The Steelers limbo even lower than usual to play down to another opponent.
• Another fluky touchback robs the Bears and the NFL of a little bit more fun and fairness.
• Strip-Sack Savage rides again for the Texans

...and much more.

Also: psychoanalysis of the Falcons, the sad truth about the Broncos quarterback situation, the lessons of the Andrew Luck fiasco, and a Stranger Things spoiler or two.

There are no great teams this year. Just good teams that beat a lot of bad teams.

In which I not only get lovey-dovey with the Rams but magical realist with the foggy Falcons, hate on the Tyrod Taylor haters and become a vindictive dungeon master for the Browns.

With Aaron Rodgers probably done for the year and the Kansas City Chiefs looking like the Chiefs again, are we back to a default of the New England Patriots solving their defensive issues to become Super Bowl champions? Who can emerge when the playoff picture has been thrown into such disarray? Also, jokes about how the Arizona Cardinals have a lot of old guys.

A little bit of everything this week, from a Packers-Cowboys rundown to images from the Cutler-Cassel matchup of the ages to a statue for The Unknown Quarterback.