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How likely is every NFL stadium to host WrestleMania? An investigation

With the announcements of WrestleManias 37, 38, and 39, some users were critical of WWE selecting the same venues every year. Every WrestleMania since 23, with the exception of three in Orlando (two at the Citrus Bowl/Camping World Stadium and one at the Performance Center due to COVID-19), has been held at an NFL stadium. As something of an NFL stadium expert, I decided to examine each NFL stadium's likelihood of hosting a future WrestleMania. Please note that some stadiums are located just outside of the city limits listed, but I listed the major city most associated with it (so for instance, while AT&T Stadium is technically in Arlington, it hosts the Dallas Cowboys, so I listed Arlington.) I'm also giving WWE a significant benefit of the doubt and assuming they'd be interested in hosting a Mania outside of their usual go-tos.
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
AT&T Stadium, Dallas, TX
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Bills Stadium, Buffalo, NY
Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, CO
FedExField, Washington, DC (stadium located in Landover, MD)
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH
Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
MetLife Stadium, New York, NY (located in East Rutherford, NJ)
Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
State Farm Stadium, Phoenix, AZ
TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL
US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
submitted by iamnotacola to SquaredCircle [link] [comments]

Call me butthurt or a hater, but I disagree with people saying the bad calls by the refs didn't matter.

The bad calls made all the difference. When teams get bad calls. They lose momentum and morale. And when you lose momentum and morale it is hard to win. Most of football is mental. And when the refs working against you gain a sense of hopelessness because even if you try hard it won't matter. Because when the games on the line the calls will always go in the favor of Brady, we know this, we have seen it happen for years, and multiple games this season. This is not a new thing. I don't think the refs should even be in the discussion of favoring any team over another. Saying it didn't make a difference because it wasn't close enough is the exact thing cheaters would want you to believe. They said the exact same thing about spy gate, where knowing your opponents plays gives a huge advantage. The patriots went from the worst team in the league to winning multiple Super Bowls with spy gates. Because of this Brady gained stronger rosters for gaining the reputation of winning when he cheated in the first place to gain that reputation. He went undefeated a season because every team in the league had to switch up their play books and calls after learning they had been stolen. He lost to in the Super Bowl to a physically superior d line and a hurry up offense that moved to fast for them to call plays to counter them as they could still remember the calls. The reality is that knowing what your opponent is going to do in any competition is an unfair advantage. In a pro poker match the guy who knows the cards everyone holds and the order of every card in the deck is much more likely to win, I am not saying it is guaranteed, its not 100%, but the odds are in his favor. What the patriots did is worse than the equivalent to peaking at someones screen in a video game, or someone cards in the had of a Yu-Gi-Oh game, because it was a calculated and coordinated effort involving many people instead of just one individual cheater. Turns out they've been using deflated footballs. Again this gives an advantage, they are easier to catch, less likely to fumble, and you can run faster with deflated balls. It is easier to catch a deflated football than a highly inflated one, as it won't bounce of your hands as much. You can also do faster snaps while reducing the likelihood you fumble thus speeding up the whole offense. Still people said it didn't matter, as the seahawks should of ran the ball. But they shouldn't have been there in the first place, they used it to blow out the colts, and the colts had a different run defense than the patriots, which means if the Seahawks were in the same position against, they might have ran the ball. Unless Marshawn Lynch walked into the end zone without a holding call, if it came down to inches, it would go in the favor of Brady, because refs. In this case you have to work out the fact the refs will always favor Brady when the game is on the line and even when it isn't. And thus, it is better the throw the ball to ensure he is clearly in the end zone. Had it been the Brady who threw that ball, the DB who picked it off would have been called for a pass interference for bumping the guy out of the way before he even touched to ball. Now they also won a Super Bowl with a roided up wide out, they tested Eric Ried how many times? And how many times did they test Edelmen? Hence the double standard for roid testing when involving a guy playing with Brady. In addition in the Falcons game there was a clear face mask call that should of canceled out the holding call. If it was Brady in the position of Matt Ryan. The face mask would have been called and the holding would not have been called. A player on the Bucs held a linemen in the exact same fashion as the Falcon linemen and didn't get called against the Packers. And then there was the time when Gronk lay hit a guy, clear unnecessary roughness. In the Super Bowl against the Eagles. People said it didn't matter because Brady dropped the ball to a pass that was a clear touchdown. I am sure Eagles fans would have cared about that call more if they had lost. The refs need to make fair calls at all times. And they are clearly not doing this when it comes to Brady. The way they Refs get you is they make you think that it doesn't make a difference when it does. The Refs unfair calls should not tip the odds in favor of any team at any point of the game. Why? Because bad calls can decide possession. And possession decides who controls the game. If you get more possessions in the first half you can tire the opposing defense for the second half. You can also keep a high powered offense from picking up steam. You can also tire an offensive line, by having them drive all the way down, and then making a bad call. Penalties also decide field position. Field position decides who wins. Also the coin toss matters. The Chiefs elected to defer. The team in the half that receives first gains more possessions and more chances to score. If the team that defers is in within one possession, they have better odds at winning. If they are in the lead, they have even greater odds at winning. But if they need a couple of possessions to win, as was the case for the Chiefs because of the Refs. Then your odds are obviously less. The Refs made deciding call for possession and field position. Allowing the Bucs to gain a multi possession lead thus greatly titling the odds in favor of their favorite guy, Brady. I know you guys want to convince yourselves that the calls didn't matter. People will call you losers for seeing it any other way. But admitting that there were bad calls and then saying they didn't matter is a state of cognitive dissonance. Your very beliefs contradict each other. The calls were bad and they did matter. Some people are making an argument comparing the rigging of the NFL to the elections. These are totally different. Elections are a highly legally regulated environment. Any cases go before a fair judge, both sides can present their case, but it is down to the interpretation of the law. A player cannot litigate a play call, he can't take it to court, the most he can do is take a complaint to arbitration which is run by the NFL, even still he can't undo the call in the moment. If he tries to protest it he can get another call, a fine, or even ejected. In addition there was no evidence of election fraud. Yet we have literal video evidence of unfair calls clearly favoring Brady on repeated occasions. What is the motive? Why would the NFL do this? They want to call Brady the goat, they wanted the Super Bowl in Tampa. They want to compare him to Jordan, but they want to leave Bill Russell out of the discussion because that kills the debate. They want to undo the stain of the spy gates wins so people can say "Hey, he can win without spy gate, so it didn't matter." Well the league doesn't revolve around Brady. There are plenty of other fans who would love to see the team their rooting for win, and the player their a fan of win. And it is not fair to rig it in favor of a single team, let alone a single player. Now cheating in the way Brady does it doesn't guarantee wins, but it does increase the odds. I feel as if to make a fair analogy of comparing the rigging of the NFL to unproven claims of election fraud. The refs should release their tax returns to see if they are taking any bribes or placing any sports bets, similar to how a president might release his tax returns. I don't want to make this politcal I just want to remove the parody argument of comparing Brady's cheating and illegitimate wins, to legitimate presidential wins that were upheld by the courts, congress, our electoral college, and votes of the American people. If someone bribes a judge or jury or officer that is a crime. If it was found that a person had a large stake in a company being sued he wouldn't make a fair jury, thus a ref shouldn't have a stake for a certain team or player to win. And they must prove this by publicly release their tax returns. And if they falsify their returns they should be charged with tax fraud. Every ref in the NFL should release all their tax returns publicly. And the returns should go back to the beginning of Brady's career. This way we can prove once and for all that the refs were not rigging games in favor of Brady. And the jokes about the refs working for Brady will just be funny jokes. And we can take our loss in peace, or we can storm the NFL HQ demanding them to give the Chiefs the Super Bowl win.
​
TLDR: The refs calls titled the odds in favor of the Bucs, they should release their tax returns dating back to when Brady joined the league to prove they do not have financial conflicts of interests.
submitted by runepoon to KansasCityChiefs [link] [comments]

I got my ten-year-son enrolled in a coding class. He almost turned everyone into zombies. Until he nearly killed himself.

I signed my son Rohit up for one of those young, online coders classes that are so notoriously famous these days. You see, my neighbor Sharma had his son Virat do really well in the school’s Young Innovators’ project. The boy was just ten, but he had a real flair for building robots, gadgets, and whatnot. Even bagged a Gold medal in the science fair.
But what was my Rohit doing?
He just liked to paint pictures of women in their ‘natural form’. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. I mean, sure; his art teacher always kept going about what real talent he had, and how he could make it big as an artist.
But…painting pictures of nude women? Is that a real way of making money?
I had to disagree. After all, I did happen to be running a fast-food place of my own. Bunty’s Burgers- Where the cuisine is right up your food palette.
Yeah, I was one of those passionate guys who treated their professions like art. Artist of electricity, artist of plumbing, artist of baking- yeah, artist my brown ass. I’d started on the food business 30-years ago, with nothing but raw passion to serve my customers the best food they would taste in their whole lives.
Fast-forward three decades later, and here I was, barely scraping by my decrepit, under-performing establishment. Bunty’s Burgers? I’d say even Bob’s Burgers was doing better than us.
Anyways, you get my sob story- I didn’t want my son to go down the same, sad path of self-employment. So, I looked for some good coding courses online- because let’s face it- coding is everything.
That’s how I came across Capped Coders Inc (CCI).
This was a US-based online, self-learning platform aimed towards ‘empowering young minds to code comprehensively’. How young, you ask? Well, they recommended starting their app development courses around the time of sixth-grade. That’d effectively be 11-12 years in the Indian schooling system. And my Rohit was just weeks away from celebrating his 11th birthday.
Wouldn’t hurt to get a head start, I figured.
*
I bought Rohit a course from the Capped Coders that would teach him to code in a variety of languages. The whole deal set me back by approximately INR 80, 000. Now, before you judge me- I’ll have you know that I watched all the child interviews and advertisements on their websites. I mean, who wouldn’t- they were all so damn impressive!
This one guy named Fox Kumar (weird name, but then I was called Bunty) was only 12 and had finished a course on Python last year. Now, he had landed an internship at Microsoft with a monthly stipend of USD 75,000. Then this other guy, Marcos Fernandez (11, Mexican), was making thousands of dollars every month at Tesla. All thanks to an Artificial Intelligence course from the CCI.
Can you imagine how much that kind of money means to a man whose idea for a fancy, Sunday night dinner is scrambled eggs?
I wanted Rohit to do well in life. Financially, and otherwise. So if I could virtually guarantee my boy a prosperous future at the expense of overtiming for a few weeks…I was gonna take the deal. No brainer.
So that’s how my Rohit started his courses. I’ll be honest- I didn’t, and still don’t have an accurate idea on exactly what all things he was learning. If I recall correctly, there was something about Python, some part Java, some C++, and…
Well, for as good a memory I have of taking long food orders, I didn’t have much aptitude for Rohit’s subjects. Like, at all.
Now that’s not to say I was an irresponsible dad, who left his impressionable, 10-year-old child all alone with the internet. I sat with him during his lectures, practicals, tutorials- even though I didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on-screen. I kept him motivated by serving him his favorite apple milkshake.
I just…wanted him to do good. Really bad.
And my Rohit did quite well! He scored consistent A’s and A+’s in all his assignments. His teachers were really impressed with his prowess. Hell, even the online answer-checking interface in the course videos cheered him on. Whenever he’d give a right answer, it’d flash a video of the CCI’s mascot- which was an owl wearing an orange cap- flutter its wings and squeak in its automated, pre-recorded voice:
“Congrats, buddy! You sure deserve a big thinking-cap!”
Yeah, that was kind of a hook CCI had going on. Kinda corny, but hey, the owl looked cute and made Rohit laugh.
But that was the other thing. There were a lot of things that could make my Rohit laugh, and he’d get distracted easily. I’d often take a break from my shift, only to find him playing Pokémon on his Switch…or doodling in his sketchbook…or be BB-gunning the hell out of the birds in the backyard.
I’d get worried. That’s not how my son was gonna land a white-collar job in the Silicon Valley.
I tried telling him many times; that painting women’s butts and bosoms wasn’t gonna sustain him for life, and that he was too old to live the Ruskin Bond fantasy life.
He’d nod his head in a silent approval. I figured he’d understood.
But the very next morning, he’d see hear the song of a magpie on his windowsill. That’d divert him again, and he’d ask me to take him hunting in the woods.
I’d sigh. Grooming my son was turning out a difficult job.
It was tough, very tough, but I had to be a strict father if I wanted my son to succeed. So, I started procrastinating his requests to go hunting. Every Sunday morning, Rohit would snuggle up to me on the bed, and use his baby doll eyes to lure me into taking him into the woods. I just kept changing my excuses; busy weekend, cricket-match, feeling under-weather…and he’d walk back to his room.
Well, that’s a start, I’d think to myself.
It took some self-control on my part, but it did work. With nothing much leisurely to do, my son was now spending more of his time studying coding.
But I wasn’t nearly as responsible for the coding-worm that my son would eventually catch.
That was all thanks to the Capped Coders. And their cursed thinking-cap.
*
On a random weekend, we had this package delivered to our doorstep from the CCI. Inside it, was the said cap, a certificate, and a flash drive. The certificate basically congratulated my son for how well his progress was coming along in his courses.
And, it also made an offer.
The certificate informed me that my son was in the top five-percentile of CCI’s young coders program. So, they were interested in offering my son a project. The flash-drive featured a video guide that’d help him get started on an online app based around creating a virtual-world simulation. It was like one of those RPG video-games: Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon (don’t judge me, at least I’m aware of Nintendo. And I’m 47!).
Rohit would have to make such a functioning app, with a full interface of interacting characters, NPCs, environment modifiers, and stuff. All by himself.
But it wasn’t just a mere project…it was a whole online competition. Out of all the participants, the one whose simulation app would be the best would get a direct recommendation from CCI. A recommendation; to big tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Tesla, who were looking to hire child-geniuses like Rohit.
Yeah, that’s literally what the brochure said- they called my Rohit a child genius.
It was motivation enough for me to put the thinking-cap on Rohit’s head, send him to his room, and start churning milkshakes for my boy.
I know, I know, sounds super authoritarian. Even I felt a bit guilty for just forcing Rohit into this stuff, not regarding his wishes or opinions whatsoever. I felt bad too- and to think I was supposed to be the bad father in the story!
But then, when I did walk into the room…my Rohit- he was hooked on his laptop! He had his headphones on, CCI’s flash-drive plugged into one of his laptop ports, taking active notes on his notebook.
Heck, he didn’t as much as bat an eye while sipping his drink…the whole time, his eyes were glued to the PC’s screen!
It was, like, my ten-year-boy, had fallen in love. With his studies.
I don’t know what else can make an Indian father happier!
The next few days, I spent my time-off watching my brilliant son code. I was so mighty proud of him, of whatever he was doing- even though I had no heck of an idea what was going on! He’d just keep humming, and type one line of code after another on his keyboard. Seconds later, they’d translate into on-screen magic, as lush green trees would come to life in his prototype, virtual world. That’d make my Rohit hum even louder.
Watching him…it didn’t look like he was coding some hard-lined program, no.
My Rohit…with his bright orange Capped Coders’ thinking-cap and a backpack, grinding away at his laptop…
He looked like a coding artist!
My son was hooked onto his coding. I wanted to be with him, but I really had to compensate at the shop for all those education loans I had taken. Besides, as time passed, Rohit seemed kinda bugged by every stupid interjection I would have, like “Woah, how did you make that pond’s water ripple?”, or “Wow, I can see the wind!”
But I was fine. After all, things were going so damn well.
But then, isn’t that the exact time when all hell’s supposed to break loose?
*
I’d keep Rohit asking about his progress from time to time. Sure, he was getting to the stage of becoming independent with his work, but God help me- I’m a curious father! He kept telling me how awesome his progress was coming; how all his trees, rivers, and mountains were just like the ones on his Nintendo Switch games.
Until one day, he hit a roadblock.
“The NPCs, dad. They are just so boring. I can’t think of any way to make them interesting.”
“Hmm…then why don’t you try modeling them after your real friends? You know; how they speak, what they speak, their mannerisms…that could be pretty interesting.”
“Huh. That’s actually a good idea. Thanks, Dad!”
Problem solved. Just like that.
Or so I thought…
“So I’ve added about 10 characters you can interact with all based on my real friends. But I think I’m gonna need more. I mean- it’s a virtual reality simulation after all. You want it to be as realistic as it can get, right?”
“I guess you do. Maybe you should try modeling some of the characters after kids other than your closest friends. That could be fun.”
“Hmm, I guess…”
But it didn’t turn out to be fun. In school, Rohit tried talking to one of his popular seniors, Jasprit, to get some ideas for his character. But that little shithead called my son a nerd and spilled juice on his shirt.
In front of the whole classroom.
Rohit’s self-esteem hit a real low. He came home crying, and told me how the other boys made fun of him for wearing his thinking-cap all the time- even though it wasn’t hurting nobody! They thought of him as a geeky loser.
I had a word with the school principal. While I couldn’t make that asshole Jasprit directly suffer for what he had done, I got him suspended for a week. A pretty severe punishment, if you think about it.
But the damage had already been done. Rohit’s confidence took a real beating from the whole incident. He felt like an outcast.
“None of the boys want to be friends with me anymore, Daddy. They think I lack personality.”
“Oh, come on, Rohit, you know that’s not true. And you can’t let those bullies get to you, son. You’ve gotta stand up for yourself. That’ll be the real test of your personality.”
But my son just kept staring into the plate of his pav-bhaji. I was gonna placate him when he said something that caught me off guard.
“Personalities are good for a person’s character, right, dad?”
“Of course, son. It makes you the strong-willed man that you are. Don’t you ever forget- “
“So people without personalities…they just. Exist. Without purpose. Like Non-Playable Characters. NPCs. Isn’t that correct, Daddy?”
“Umm…I guess.”
What an oddly specific observation, I thought.
That should’ve been the first red-flag I should’ve paid heed to. But I didn’t. Because a Karen-type customer at table number 7 kept bugging me to serve extra onions.
But I still had my chances. And I missed each one of them.
*
I got a call from the school next week, asking me to visit on immediate notice. When I got there, I learned that my son had spit a wad of his sputum in one of Jasprit’s friend’s lemonade cups. Mayank had just taken a sip when Rohit started giggling…and after a prolonged exchange of “you wouldn’t be laughing if you knew what I did…”, the school authorities were made aware of what my son had done.
It was in the middle of flu season, so there was a genuine risk of infection spread and whatnot. They weren’t overly stringent, but it was clear that they were disgusted.
As was I.
“Why on earth would you do something like that, Rohit?”
My son looked at me dead in the eye, straightening the thinking cap on his head.
“I just wanted them to show I had enough personality, Dad.”
I had nothing to say. Except ‘Sorry’ to his teachers, and take my son back home.
*
A week later, I got called again, and this time it was more serious. Rohit had bitten a boy called Shreyas while playing Kabaddi. He kept insisting that it happened on accident- and his teachers did believe him- but they weren’t gonna let two strikes slip by without consequences. He got suspended for a week.
I was much softer to my son this time. Mainly because he was crying.
“I just feel horrible, Dad. I didn’t mean to do it…my mouth was open, and when I tried to tackle him, his neck just touched, and I…”
“Hush, it’s okay, son, you didn’t do it on purpose. Injuries happen while playing, don’t beat yourself up for it.”
“I- I just don’t think that anyone will want to be friends with me anymore, Dad. I’ll just end up, like those boring, NPCs in video games.”
“Hey now, Rohit. That’s just stupid talk; nothing like that’s ever gonna happen. I’ll tell you what- next week, why don’t you invite your friends over to the shop for a tasty lunch? That’ll make them to like you, wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t know, Daddy. Lunch from you doesn’t sound like a tasty idea. Because you always serve healthy stuff like Charchari and Karela to my friends.”
He was fine now. Long as he was joshing my food, I knew he was fine.
“Oh, fine, I’ll serve you guys burgers! Happy?”
“What, like a brinjal burger?”
“No, proper-job chicken, mutton, and fish burgers, I- oh no, wait, it’s Navratri next week. Sorry, kiddo, I can’t serve meat, but I’ll cook up some juicy paneer and aloo-”
“That’s okay, I can cook non-veg.”“Son, we’ve been over this, and- “
“Mom said I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want, remember? I’m still part Christian. Besides, no one’s gonna come to eat aloo and paneer!”
“Always the mom card, huh? You know, son, eating a veg-kebab once in a while ain’t gonna kill you.”
“Daddy, we’ve been over this, there’s no such thing as veg-kebab…”
*
The day of the lunch came. I stayed as far ahead from the kitchen as I could. Dishonoring my religion was the last thing I wanted to do.
But I could still smell the waft of the meat patties my son was cooking.
Is it risky to leave a ten-year-old boy in the kitchen all by himself?
Absolutely. But when your boy has helped you manage your one-man food-franchise since he was six- and you can’t absolutely afford to offend your religious deities- you learn to live with these kinds of things.
And from the smell I was savoring, I could tell he was doing an amazing job. All his ten-twelve friends sitting at the booth, too, looked quite pleased with whatever was cooking.
Half an hour later, he walked out of the booth in his apron. A tray of sizzling, Mutton Galouti pavs in his hands. Bowls of mint chutney, tomato ketchup, and lachcha onions on either side.
“Bon Appetit, amigos!”
I watched those boys- my own mouth drooling- as they savored the succulent taste of my son’s food. The way they kept eating- from one burger at a time to three, even four…it was torturous, yet wild at the same time.
“Well. That oughta show them that you and your food, both have a lot of personality, son.”
“You say! That’ll show enough personality for a lifetime!”
Huh?
“Hey, dad, you mind watching the boys? I gotta take a potty break.”
“Yeah, no problem, go do your business.”
*
My son had left. The boys were finishing off the last bits off their trays. Looked like some of them were actually arguing over who’d get to finish the final portions.
When did my Rohit learn to cook such amazing food?
I was just starting to head off to a different line of thought when one of the boys started twitching awkwardly.
I rushed over, but soon as I did, every boy in the booth started getting uncomfortable. They were all holding their heads to one side, almost like they were having a terrible migraine. I made them drink water, but it did nothing to ease their discomfort. I turned off the mildly-pungent air-freshener.
Still nothing.
Had to be the food.
I was just one digit away from phoning the ambulance. That’s when I heard the low, guttural growl.
When I turned back, I was faced with a dozen 10-year-old boys. Their eyes looking blank, their mouths open agape, their bodies…twisted in awkward positions.
And then, they began biting each other.
I didn’t have the vaguest of the ideas how to react. Until, I saw the trail of blood they had made on the floor…and found one of the boys eyeing me.
I ran out of the shop.
But it was much worse here.
The street was in total mayhem. Opposite to the shop, six-seven-year-old kids were literally mauling each other in the playground. One of them reached the footpath outside and sunk his teeth into an elderly jogger running by.
Moments later, the old runner had the same look of blankness in his eyes as the boys inside my shop did.
Soon, cars started crashing, and out of them, walked out these dead-eyed people to confront each other.
My whole city…it had become a zombie city!
Whole city, but me! And my ten-year-old son, who was locked in the bathroom inside the house.
I had to get Rohit.
I made my way through the backway of my shop to reach the backdoor. It was no time to make observations…but I couldn’t help but observe that none of these newly-converted zombies had really tried getting to me.
I frantically keyed open the door. Soon as I made my way in, I knocked down on the bathroom door, calling out my son’s name louder than an Azaan chant.
But when it opened, my son wasn’t there.
I scoured through every room in the house, desperate to get him out of this nightmare. And when I did eventually find him- he was in his room.
Sitting peacefully. Smiling, next to his laptop. Wearing his Capped Coders thinking-cap.
*
None of this was looking good.
“Rohit. What- what’s going on here?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing…just the best virtual-world simulation project you can ever find,”. Something about his voice was unsettling. “Here, have a look.”
The laptop screen flashed with the familiar set-up of Rohit’s virtual world. Trees, rivers, cottages, mountains…just like he had shown me.
Except, not quite. There was one new entity, one that I hadn’t seen before.
Standing in the center of the frame, was a digital avatar of my son Rohit.
And next to him, stood a whole bunch of other characters. Each bearing a horrifying resemblance to my townsfolk. There was Jasprit, with his messy hair parted in the middle. There were Rohit’s friends from the shop, all huddled together.
And the longer I kept looking, the more characters popped-up on-screen. The kids from the playground. The elderly jogger. The owners of the crashed cars. All of them appeared…their 3D, virtual avatars hauntingly identical to their real-life counterparts.
In fact, if you looked closely, you could make an expression of terror on their faces. Arms waving, mouths open wide, bodies flailing in desperation…
Almost like they were trapped.
Inside my son’s virtual world.
“What…what have you done?”
“Well, dad. I really liked your idea of incorporating real-world personalities into my NPCs. But no matter how hard I tried…they were just as boring as ever! You can have all the coding knowledge in the world…but you just can’t control the personalities of non-playable characters. I mean, there is a reason they are called NPCs, right?
“But as it turns out, you can code real-world people. It takes effort, considerable effort, research, brain-work…but then you realize, no human is perfect! They are all mean, hateful, cruel, malevolent- heck, it’s like they are all flawed. Bugged, if we’re going for the more technical term. But not the kind of bug that you want them to have, no. That’s a bug you’ll have to incorporate yourself.”
I was stunned speechless.
“So that’s exactly what I did. I made my own bug. I propagated it- through food, through saliva, through my DNA…and I did it! They call it a virtual-world simulation, Daddy. But I- we- call this a hive. And we- us child geniuses- at Capped Coders Inc…we’re the queens of this hive. We are everywhere, deploying our bugs onto our horrible species from every corner of the world.
“We’ll change them…all these humans; we will bend them into something good. Something much nicer than they are now. Something, that perfectly fits our virtual-simulation. A simulation, that will soon transform into reality.
“And they’ll all be damn perfect…just like they were meant to be. Not bugged and flawed like they have been all their lives. No, daddy…that’s just one bad memory- a husk, if you will. And these lifeless husks…these bodies will keep on killing each other. Like they’ve always done. And the more they do so, the more they’ll spread my bug. The more our hive will grow. So I ask you, Daddy. Are you ready to rule this hive with us?”
“Rohit… this isn’t you. The Capped Coders have brainwashed you. Please, let me talk, I- “
“You know, you’re right, Daddy. This isn’t me- Rohit Bansal, sixth-grader at St. Mary’s school. But then who was I, really? A worker-child, working to realize the dreams that his father never could? A wannabe artist? A ten-year-old child who just happened to be good at coding? Tell me, daddy. Who was I?”
It took a long while before I finally managed, “A sweet young boy, who was hard-done-by his failure father. That’s what you were, son. That’s who you are.”
“Well…I think I like this version better. Part of me, part of you, part of an innocent child corrupted by the CCI- like an upgrade? And here in my hive, I can make all the friends I want. See, Daddy? Jasprit from school is waving at me! I can actually make him good to me here. This here…is my hive, Daddy. And I’m not gonna leave it. Ever.”
“I’m not gonna let you do it.” I clenched my fists.
“Spoken like a true father. Lucky for me, I got everything planned already.”
No sooner than he had said this, and no sooner than I had made my move, did I feel two pairs of arms grab hold of me. Soon, I was pinned to the wall. The zombie old jogger from the park, and Rohit’s now-zombie school teacher held me on either side.
Soon, a whole bunch of zombie townsmen had broken into my house. They were all standing around the door.
Rohit was right- he really had bugged them. All of them had these big, metallic spiders going around their heads. Their spines guarding the skulls, their eight limbs piercing at different corners of the heads. And each of the people these bugs were controlling; these people, with their pitch-black eyes, and drooling, bloodied mouths…
They were all dead from inside.
*
Rohit rose from his chair and started walking to me. “I’m disappointed, Daddy, you know. I had specifically programmed them to not bug you. I really wanted you in our team. Can you imagine, Daddy- we wouldn’t have to care about selling those stupid burgers anymore! We could’ve had the whole world to ourselves! Isn’t that something you’ve always dreamed of? For me- for us- to do something big?
“Guess it’s just funny how things turn out when they actually happen. Oh well. I suppose the least I can do is to get you into this new world. I mean- better it be your own son than some random zombie- right?”
Rohit hauled his jaws wide open. The moment he did, the grips on either side of my arms started loosening. This was my chance.
I kicked my son in the nuts, yanked my arm as fast as I could, and prepared to dodge every single zombie in my path.
I had dodged and flailed about half a dozen of them undead; until they finally overwhelmed and pushed me back into the room. So much for my escape plan.
“Really, daddy?” my son sneered at me. “You really figured you could outnumber all of them? There are about 200 of them here, and you are just a single, helpless, aging man trying…”
Rohit’s condescending tirade was actually helping. Because the longer he kept going on and on about how dumb I was, and the more time these zombies spent approaching me… I could get my hands under his bed.
To grab the BB-gun that lay on the floor.
I had a last-ditch plan. Wasn’t gonna work, most likely…but I was gonna shoot at the computer. Maybe that was the whole system that had connected Rohit with CCI’s interface? Maybe bringing it down was gonna solve this whole problem?
I had to try. What other option did I have?
My son stood plumb in front of me. A distorted smile on his face, looking mighty proud of the Armageddon he was about to unleash.
Unless his father did anything to stop him.
So I pulled out the gun and shot right into the laptop screen!
Nothing happened. To the laptop; the pellet just harmlessly bounced off the screen.
But my son…I could sense something in his eyes.
“Is that…my BB-gun? Are we…you’re taking me hunting, Papa?”
I was stunned speechless. Was I… getting my son back?
The very next moment, Rohit started screaming, grabbing the edges of his thinking cap.
“The cap…daddy. It…controls. Me”, he winced through the pain.
“I’ll remove it, son. Just hold it there- “
“No…bug rooted deep inside. Need to. Kill.”
Soon as he said that, the zombie townsfolk started closing in on us. I stood up and dragged Rohit behind me, hiding him under the bed.
But he started crawling on the floor, making his way to the other side. To the common space. To the backroom closet.
Where I kept our hunting rifles.
It happened so fast; I didn’t even have the time to register. My son pulled out the gun. Undid the safety. And just when I thought he was gonna shoot at the zombies, he aimed the muzzle to his temple.
Right against his thinking cap.
I tried jumping over the bed, but one of the zombies grabbed my leg. Not like it would’ve helped, anyway.
BAM!
Because Rohit had already snapped the trigger.
I watched horrified; as my son’s body fell limp on the floor. But even after he had fallen, my son grabbed the bloodied edge of his cap and yanked it off with whatever strength remained in his body.
It came off with a sharp metallic KLINK.
I walked over to my son. He was unmoving. But the thing that was inside his thinking cap…it was twitching like crazy.
A spider. A big, metallic bug, looking back at me with its big, soulless dark eyes. A whole bunch of metallic pearl eggs hidden under its body.
Its body. Its silver-plated body…stained slightly red and pink on the edges. With the blood and brains of my Rohit.
This bug, inside this orange thinking cap. That had killed the innocence in my son.
I stomped it. It was dead in a single motion,
And then I howled into the night like the traumatized, failure father that I was.
*
The gun-shot Rohit had self-inflicted had barely grazed past his brain. Doctors said the nerve damage he had done was irreparable. Doctors, who were no longer controlled by Rohit’s bugs. They were all dead once the queen bug was down.
In fact, everyone who had got infected by the bug threw-up big, pearl-sized, metal eggs once they weren’t bugged anymore. They didn’t remember nothing. Thought I was hosting some kind of restaurant special and wanted discounts. Course, once they saw what state I and Rohit were in, they rushed us to the hospital.
I would’ve much rather had them remember the whole experience that they were subjected through. Because no matter how much I try to explain them about CCI and its malicious plans, they just laugh it off like some outlandish story. “Stop selling burgers, and write science-fiction, Bunty,” they’d joke.
Then, they’d see my teary-eyed face and leave me to grieve by myself.
Rohit wasn’t lying when he was talking about the Capped Coders controlling a hive. Every post that I make against them; every expose that I try to do- it gets censored, blocked, or removed within seconds. I’ve also started receiving a whole bunch of threat emails and messages. “The hive is watching you”. That’s all they read.
I don’t respond to them. Don’t know what to say.
Speaking of selling burgers…I don’t own my restaurant or house anymore. All my money has gone into keeping my Rohit alive. He’s in a coma. The only thing that’s sustaining his life is a big, 32-inch monitor next to his bed, with a whole bunch of wires and dials.
“Mr. Bansal…you might want to be a bit realistic here,” the doctors tell me. “At this point, his brain is the only alive part of his body. And judging by his prowess, we aren’t even sure how long that’s gonna work. We…”
I don’t listen to them. I just watch my son and the pattern of lines that flashes on his monitor. Sometimes, when two of those lines cross, they kinda look like a woman’s legs spread wide open. Makes me think of all the beautiful, ‘natural-beauty’ sketches that my Rohit used to draw.
And then, I hear those familiar beeps and clicks of the machine.
And I’m reminded of my horrifying obsession…that has brought me and my ten-year-old son to this irreversible point of our lives.
submitted by Percybhowal to Wholesomenosleep [link] [comments]

NFL Power Rankings heading into the final three weeks of the 2020 season:

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As crazy as this sounds, we are only three weeks away from the NFL playoffs and the picture is starting to manifest itself. In this breakdown I’m ranking all 32 teams and I use different tiers to describe how I feel about them. While there are plenty of statistics to support the cases I want to make for them, I tried to limit those to a smaller degree, because at this point of the season it’s all about what I have learned from studying them every week and what my eyes tell me.
Here we go:

Top-tier:

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These are the four truly complete teams. You can find concerns if you nit-pick, but I don’t think there is an obvious weakness for any of them at this stage. The top three arguably have the three best quarterbacks in the NFL, while the other two have elite offensive play-callers and top five defenses. Football is all about matchups, so they could have a bad draw, but in general I think they are all winning at least one playoff game and have a legitimate shot to go the distance.
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1. Kansas City Chiefs (12-1)
You can find those little flaws if you are looking for them, but to me the Chiefs are still clearly the number one team in the league. They can lack some urgency at times and we have seen them let teams hang around for multiple weeks now, with no multiple-score wins since their week ten bye. However, even when they are down in games, you know at some point they will turn it on and make a run, like scoring 30 straight in 18 minutes last week at Miami. And if you give Patrick Mahomes the ball at the end of the game, whether you’re up or down, they will finish the job. Kansas City still number one in point differential for the season (+9.4) and until last week they were tied with Pittsburgh for number one in turnover margin (now +8). I think there’s about two teams in each conference that could make for exciting matchups against them, but I don’t think anybody is beating the Chiefs on a neutral field – and the playoffs will probably go through Arrowhead.
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2. Green Bay Packers (10-3)
Aaron Rodgers is my choice MVP right now. He has been absolutely phenomenal, with only one blemish to his record and that was the only time the Packers really didn’t show up, back in week six at Tampa Bay. The chemistry between Rodgers and Davante Adams is unbelievable, but that running back duo is phenomenal as well and the offensive line has been one of the most consistent ones in all of football. Plus, Matt LaFleur has turned himself into one of the top offensive play-callers in the game. Defensively, my one big issue was their interior front, which has been vulnerable to the run game, and that’s the one area you can still question, but since Dalvin Cook had that monster game against them, they have held opponents to under 100 yards rushing on average over these past six weeks. You can argue that the Saints are a little more complete in terms of NFC opponents, but the difference in quarterback play is substantial and they are becoming a better all-around squad.
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3. Buffalo Bills (10-3)
Where are the people who told me Josh Allen will absolutely not be an MVP candidate at the end of the season? After Mahomes and Rodgers there is no quarterback who you can tell me has clearly been better than him. While the run game hasn’t been very consistent, I like the combination of Moss & Singletary, while Allen is a major factor in that area as well, and Brian Daboll understands when he is in matchups where he can utilize it. Their defense has really come along as well, after they had some issues early on – especially defending the run, holding opponents to just 18.7 points since their bye three weeks ago – and I believe that has something to do with Sean McDermott getting more involved in the defensive game-planning. They do a tremendous job of taking away staples of the opposing team’s passing game and over this three-game stretch since their bye they have given up just under 70 yards rushing on average.
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4. New Orleans Saints (10-3)
This is actually the one team with a real question mark potentially, because we just don’t know for sure where Drew Brees is in his recovery and he hasn’t been great this season either way. However, assuming he is fine for their playoff run and they can win at least one more game to hold on to the division title, they are a very complete team that wins at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Sean Peyton is as good an offensive game-designer and team motivator as we have in the league and while that loss in Philadelphia last Sunday is obviously on our minds, let’s not forget that they had won nine straight before that. Now, you can argue that they have faced some clearly inferior teams, but they have won close and they have blown teams out. Since their week six bye, this past Sunday was their first time of not reaching 100 rushing yards (over 150 on average), while their defense has been phenomenal. What it really comes down to is that until their trip to Philly, their quarterbacks had not been sacked more than the opposing team’s since their early bye and they were recording 2.5 more sacks on a weekly basis. However, they are still the most penalized team in the league (843 yards)
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Contenders:

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These are all very good teams that have shown the ability to beat anybody in this tier or the one above it, but I don’t quite put them on that same elite level as the top four, because there is one clear weakness with them. Whether it may be a specific part like the pass-rush or skill-position talent, not having a schematic advantage in most weeks (at least on one side of the ball) or even team chemistry.
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5. Los Angeles Rams (9-4)
The only way you can make this team look bad is if you can mostly take away the run game, the boots and screens that mask Jared Goff, because we have seen that if you force him to be a drop-back passer and read the field, there are some issues. But just go back two weeks ago, when they played in Arizona – Sean McVay finds ways to move the pocket and he has become more diverse this season with his run schemes, rather than being a zone-only run team. The Rams have two of the most underrated receivers in the league, I like how they have used much more 12 personnel this season and making rookie Cam Akers their featured back is already paying big dividends. The star of the show however has been the defense, holding opponents to a league-low 4.6 yards per play and just 31 plays of 20+ yards. They have the best defensive lineman and the top corner in all of football, but it really has been the lesser-known commodities that have made the difference for them. Darious Williams as a phenomenal across Jalen Ramsey, rookie Jordan Fuller is a ball magnet and former first-round pick Leonard Floyd is turning his career around in L.A.
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6. Seattle Seahawks (9-4)
The Russell Wilson MVP run has completely disappeared when you look at the Vegas odds, but he is still having an excellent season, as he is on pace to complete 70 percent of his passes for the first time in his career and he has already reached a personal best 36 passing TDs. We have seen the turnovers ramp up and Seattle’s four losses have come in the games he has given it away multiple times, because they didn’t have much room for error because of their defense. The reason I have them this high is because they have seen more balance from them offensively, with an average of 124.6 rushing yards since their week six bye, and their defense has really made some strides. I know the two New York teams are in there, but since they got lit up by Josh Allen back in week nine, they have held opponents to just 16.2 points, without those major mess-ups and coming together as a unit. They are top ten in sacks (36) and make their opponents one-dimensional, holding them to just 3.9 yards per carry.
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7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-5)
When I was referencing team chemistry in the intro for this tier, this is the squad that primarily made me mention it. Tampa Bay beat the Panthers and Raiders by over 20 points since then, but most of that came in the fourth quarter until which those games had been very pretty competitive, so their last truly complete performance came against the Packers all the way back in week six. They have questions about their offensive identity (no matter how much Bruce Arians is puffing his chest out after last week’s win), they have gone away from the run game in their losses and when they go really shotgun-heavy, their O-line has not looked the same in those one-on-ones. Their defense has shown moments of dominance, with a very dangerous pass-rush (second-highest pressure percentage at 27.8%) and two linebackers that can really fly around, but their corners have gotten torched at times and the really good offensive play-callers have been able to take advantage of some of the tendencies they have shown.
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8. Baltimore Ravens (8-5)
So many people said the Ravens were dead three weeks ago – they had the biggest COVID outbreak in the league, Lamar Jackson was getting criticized by the media and the defense was getting banged up. Now all of a sudden they are on track for a Wildcard spot, if they can just win out with a pretty soft schedule ahead and all they need is for one of the three other contenders in the AFC to lose at least one game. Things have not come as easy for Lamar as they did in his MVP season, but the real issue for this time is a lack of play-making outside the numbers and not enough creativity in the drop-back pass game altogether. They have gotten back to punching people in the mouth with the run game and I’m glad to see them make rookie J.K. Dobbins their top option out of the backfield. We have seen defenses give them trouble when they crowd the middle of the field, but if they can evolve a little bit in their perimeter passing attack and open up the field, they can create a lot of problems. Baltimore’s defense just gave up 42 points, but when that group is healthy, they have the potential to be a top-five unit, with an elite secondary.
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9, Pittsburgh Steelers (11-2)
This is obviously a lot lower than where they would have been two weeks ago, when they were still the only undefeated team in the league and other than Kansas City, you probably couldn’t have put anybody else above them. However, they have now lost back-to-back games – in fairness those two teams will likely go to the playoffs – and their offense has been highly concerning. Over the second half of their season, they have reached 100 rushing yards just once and average just 54.3 yards on the ground over that stretch, plus through the air everybody is all over the quick game and the Steelers rarely attack beyond the sticks, other than trying to draw some pass interference calls on shots outside the numbers. With that being said, while drops have been a major issue recently, they have a dynamic receiving corp and while they have lost a couple of pieces to injury, their defense is still number one in points allowed, sacks (45) and pressure percentage (33.5%) , takeaways (25) and therefore also turnover differential (+11).
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10. Cleveland Browns (9-4)
If the Browns at least win two of their final three games – a two-week trip to face the New York teams and hosting the Steelers, who could have nothing to play for in the season finale – they are pretty much guaranteed to make the playoffs (as long as BAL, MIA, TEN & IND don’t all win out). I know they actually have a point differential of -20 on the season, but those 63 combined points they lost by in blowout fashion against the Ravens and Steelers early on are a major factor in that and if you look at their three matchups before this, they were actually winning big until opposing teams somehow added points late. Cleveland has the number three rushing offense (156.2 yards per game) with the premiere RB duo in the league, but they are still tied for fifth-most plays of 20+ yards (55) and Baker Mayfield arguably just played the two best games of his pro career these last couple of weeks. They can go 22 personnel and pound you with the run, but then also take play-action shots off it and then also create issues from empty sets. And until they had their number one corner Denzel Ward in the lineup, they were at least average in every meaningful statistical category, with a phenomenal D-line.
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11. Tennessee Titans (9-4)
I brought this up in my week 14 recap – Derrick Henry has a chance to break the single-season rushing record, if he can average 191 yards on the ground over these last three games, which all feature bottom-five run defenses arguably (DET, GB & HOU). Of course Henry is the heartbeat of the Tennessee offense, but also big plays, as only five teams have recorded more plays of 20+ yards (53), despite also only five teams having thrown the ball less. No team is better at getting chunks off play-action, with A.J. Brown and Corey Davis routinely catching deep crossers and in-breaking routes behind the linebackers. And Ryan Tannehill is having an excellent season in general, while we have seen him execute at a really high level with little time on the clock and make things happen when they needed to put the ball in his hands. The Titans are tied with Green Bay for the fewest turnovers committed in the league at nine – and a third of those came against Cleveland, where they got steamrolled in the first half before ultimately cutting the lead to one touchdown. The defense is concerning part, with a league-low 14 sacks on the season and the highest third-down percentage allowed (52.2%), while they have had some bad performances from their special teams.
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12. Indianapolis Colts (9-4)
The Colts surprisingly are just outside the top ten in scoring defense (23.0 points per game), but by far their worst performance came without their best defensive player DeForest Buckner against the Titans a couple of weeks ago, and they are outstanding in second halves, surrendering just 7.8 points on average. Their front-seven if phenomenal and they have guys in the secondary who can take away the ball, while having missed just 62 tackles all season long (second-fewest) and scored four touchdowns themselves (most). What I really like about the Colts is how much they improved in the run game, where they have gone from a surprisingly bad start to now have rookie Jonathan Taylor really becoming their workhorse, averaging 110 yards and six yards per carry over these last three games. And with Philip Rivers taking better care of the ball and delivering big throws on third downs, they have now had their best three-game scoring run (34.7) and they are tied for second in turnover differential on the season at +10. And only two teams have a better difference between their starting drives and the ones of their opponents at +5.
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Fringe playoff teams:

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None of these teams have a playoff spot secured and if my calculations are correct, only two of them control their own destiny, in terms of making the cut if they win out, regardless of what else happens around the league. And only two of them will ultimately make it most likely. None of these squads blow you away. They all have bad losses on their resume and there are multiple areas that has disappointed at times.
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13. Miami Dolphins (8-5)
The Dolphins came a little short from pulling off a comeback against the Chiefs this past Sunday after KC had that big run, and that most likely takes them out of the race for the AFC East, but they still control their own playoff destiny as far as I can tell. The Miami defense has been incredible. They are either first or second in points allowed (18.8), takeaways (25) and third-down percentage (33.1). Their coaching staff does an excellent job of teaching and game-planning for specific matchups. Offensively, injuries have been a story for them pretty much all season long, while the switch to Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback has certainly been in character with the horizontal passing attack from OC Chan Gailey. The big issue for them is the lack of explosive plays – only the Bengals (32) have less than their 34 plays of 20+ yards. And while they do run the ball at an middle-of-the-pack rate, they are averaging a league-low 3.6 yards per carry. That’s why they can’t really control the pace of games but also not be as dynamic scoring to keep up with the high-flying offenses. Still, before their loss to Kansas City on Sunday, they had won seven of their last eight and they are sixth in point differential with +6.5
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14. Arizona Cardinals (7-6)
This team is a little tough to figure out where to put. Everybody loved them when they were 6-3, but then then were a Hail Mary against Buffalo away from losing five straight and then they completely dominate the Giants, who were getting hyped up a week ago. In theory, they have one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the league, they have shown the ability to run the ball effectively, I like some of the things Vance Joseph does schematically on defense and some of their young players on that side of that ball have really come in their own. Unfortunately, Kliff Kingsbury’s offense leaves me wanting to see more, with opposing teams being able to just man up and anticipate passing concepts, while their 13th-ranked scoring defense only looks as good on paper as they do because they have feasted in their matchup versus three NFC East teams and the Jets (10.5 PPG in those matchups). They control their own destiny and could be lucky if their one true remaining test comes against the Rams in week 17, when those guys have nothing to play for potentially, but if they make it, I’m worried about what happens when the really well-coached NFC teams can solely focus on them.
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15. Washington Football Team (6-7)
Over their current four-game winning streak (second-longest active one to Kansas City), Washington leads all teams in point differential at +12.5 and the only teams that are actually close are the Saints and Seahawks, who had blowout wins over the QB-less Broncos and winless Jets respectively during that stretch. They have to hope that rookie RB Antonio Gibson can return without much of an issue from his turf toe, because the offense is really all about him and their one stud receiver Terry McLaurin. They are certainly limited in the pass game, with by far their best option at quarterback being somebody who couldn’t even walk properly at the start of the calendar year, who doesn’t really create out of structure anyway. At the same time, they just scored 23 points and won a game without an offensive touchdown this past Sunday. Their defensive line is absolutely loaded with first-round talent and they have no fear of attacking patterns and trying to take away easy yardage against the pass. That’s why they are tied for third-fewest yards allowed per play (5.0) and they are sixth in points allowed despite their bad start to the season (21.2).
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16. New England Patriots (6-7)
These Patriots are holding on for dear life here. They are not very talented. Cam Newton has not looked the same since missing time with COVID early on in the season, with more than 180 passing yards just three times on the year, none of their receivers would be more than a WR3 on teams with average pass-catching groups and if we can agree that Miami wasn’t who they are now in the season-opener, the only good defense they have score over 20 points against all season was the Ravens – and they were really banged up coming into that matchup. They still have one of the top secondaries in the league and are incredibly well-coached of course on that side of the ball, but they lack beef on the defensive interior, which has them as a bottom-ten run defense, and they have suffered blowout losses to elite offensive play-callers like Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. They are once again the least penalized team in the league (just 442 yards against) and they destroyed the Chargers 45-0 just two weeks ago, in large part because their special teams were so amazing and how much better their coaching was, but that’s not enough against great teams.
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17. Las Vegas Raiders (7-6)
This might be surprising to some people, but the Raiders are the only team in the league to score on at least half of their offensive drives. We have seen them beat opposing teams up with the run game, with a couple of 200-yard performances already this season, but they have almost gone 2-0 in shootouts against the Chiefs and Derek Carr has had his best season since making a run at the MVP award several years ago. Unfortunately, their defense has really only had a couple of good games. They are one of only three units to allow 30 points per game – and the other two are the Cowboys and Jets. And they also allow opponents to convert exactly half of their third downs (tied for third-highest). In college football-fashion, they have a few quality wins on their resume over the Saints, Chiefs and Browns – but they have fallen off dramatically recently. Over the last three weeks they have now lost by 37 to the Falcons, 17 to the Colts and they needed a miracle touchdown (and a really bad defensive call) to beat the winless Jets.
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18. Minnesota Vikings (6-7)
When you look at the numbers from Minnesota’s game against the Bucs, it almost doesn’t make sense that they lost by 12 points – ten first downs more and 18 minutes more time of possession. Their kicker Dan Bailey had a horrible showing, but special teams have been an issue all season long – only making a league-low two third of their FG attempts, untimely muffs and returns suffered. On paper the offense should be one of the best in the league, with a superstar running back, an outstanding receiver duo and Kirk Cousins capable of making big throws with the right pieces around him. Yet, if you take away the season-opener against Green Bay when most of it came in garbage time, they have only scored more than 30 points twice this season and their 22 giveaways are tied for fifth in the league. The defense has shown some improvement from their horrible 1-5 start, but they have nobody on the roster with more than 3.5 sacks at this point and their young corners have been taken advantage of routinely. I could see them win out potentially, but they still need some help to sneak into the playoffs.
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Striving to reach .500:

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While I believe about half of these teams have the potential to put together complete games and there is potential to good all-around, none of them have been able to actually do it for an extended stretch. For me one side of the ball has clearly held them back for most of the season and only one of them actually still has a chance to earn a winning record, while another one at best could finish a half game below .500 – but still somehow has an outside shot of winning their division.
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19. San Francisco 49ers (5-8)
One of the biggest disappointments of this 2020 season has been the 49ers. And it’s not really about their players messing up or anything like that, they have just been unlucky. No other team has put more players on injured reserve than San Francisco and it happened to key pieces. As brilliant as Kyle Shanahan I believe is and as well as that defense has played for the most part, somebody has to deliver the ball in the passing game and at some points those injuries will catch up to you. Nick Mullens has been rough to watch ever since taking over as the starter. They have gone 1-4 over that stretch and they have turned the ball over more than three times per game. Now only the Broncos have turned the ball over more than the Niners (25) on the season. And defensively I know elite quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Josh Allen carved them up, but when you look at the rest of the schedule, it was their offensive turnovers and their special teams in one matchup in particular that has set put their own guys in a bad position.
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20. New York Giants (5-8)
Just a week ago it felt like EVERYBODY was jumping on the Giants bandwagon and it’s like everybody has gotten off even quicker. Daniel Jones could not move because of his hamstrings and the Cardinals were able to completely out for the run, while recording eight total sacks once they got Big Blue in obvious passing situations and turnovers setting Arizona up in the red-zone twice. New York still has a top-ten defense in my opinion, where they throw a lot of different looks at opponents and only the Rams have surrendered less plays of 20+ yards (39). Their offense is certainly more troubling to me, but unless Jalen Hurts looks like he did in his first career start going forward, Daniel Jones is the best quarterback in that division and until this past Sunday, the G-Men had gone for over 100 rushing yards in eight games and averaged 148.9 yards over that stretch. They are still the second-worst scoring offense in the league (18.3 points per game), but those numbers are heavily influenced by their 0-5 start. Joe Judge and his coaching staff have these guy on the right track and they have the season-sweep over Washington. So if they can win one more game than the Football Team over these final three weeks, they host a playoff game – but they have a tough finish ahead.
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21. Philadelphia Eagles (4-8-1)
I think I would have originally had the Eagles five or six spots lower and in the tier below this one had I put out these rankings a week ago. So I’m glad I didn’t and waited to see what Jalen Hurts looked like in his first career start – and he was awesome. I didn’t understand the Saints’ defensive gameplan, but that team certainly had some juice with the switch under center, whether it’s the defense playing with their hair on fire or people like Alshon Jeffery even making big catches. Once again Philly has suffered a ton of injuries, especially on the O-line, but Hurts’ mobility can help out with that, if Miles Sanders has some space, he can be a dynamic player and all of a sudden Doug Pederson actually had a gameplan. Outside of their trip to Green Bay, the Eagles defense has been playing very well in recent weeks, with a hungry pass-rush and the back-seven aggressively coming upfield and punishing guys for touching the ball. At best, Philly can now finish 7-8-1, but as crazy as that sounds, if they win out, while Washington and the Giants at least lose one other game, the Eagles are your division champs. And what would be more NFC East or 2020 than that.
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22. Denver Broncos (5-8)
This is another tricky one. The Broncos started their season 0-3 with really tough games against the Titans, Steelers and Buccaneers. Since then they have gone 5-5 and played some really good football at times – wins over New England and Miami, a crazy comeback against the Chargers and playing the Chiefs close, plus one of those losses came when they didn’t have an actual quarterback on the roster. However, they also got blown their doors blow off by the Chiefs the first time around, the Raiders and the Saints (in that QB-less matchup). The big theme for this squad has been turnovers. They have given the ball away a league-high 29 times and they have forced the second-fewest turnovers (11), which makes their differential of -18 eight worse than any other team in the league. When you don’t convert your third downs offensively (only 37.6%) and allow big plays on defense (53 plays of 20+ yards), that is a problem. However, Drew Lock just played his best game as a pro and he has a lot of young talent around him catching passes, while they have averaged 127 rushing yards a game since their 0-3 start. And the defense has been getting after opposing quarterbacks – 32 sacks since then as well.
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23. Chicago Bears (6-7)
I don’t really like talking about the Bears anymore. When they started the season 5-1, I was among many to say they are not nearly as good as their record indicates – they lost six straight. When I put out my rankings of the top ten defenses about a month ago, I said they were the second-best unit in the league – they lay a complete egg and give up 41 points against the Packers and then pull a miracle in the wrong way to give away the Lions game and allow them to score 34. And then when I’m finally ready to fully write them off, they hold one of the hottest quarterbacks in football in Deshaun Watson to seven points and the offense finally wakes up in a get-right matchup against the Texans. I know they have faced poor defenses and he made some bad mistakes at Green Bay, but since Mitch Trubisky was inserted back into the lineup following their bye, they have averaged just over 30 points. And we know that defense can ball. When Akiem Hicks has been in the lineup, they have been elite or close to it in all areas. They could easily win at Minnesota and at Jacksonville and then we don’t know if the Packers have anything to play for when they come to Soldier Field in the season finale. So if that happens and Arizona just loses one game, they are most likely in the playoffs. Crazy.
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24. Detroit Lions (5-8)
A 5-8 record is not horrible and if they don’t blow that big lead to Chicago in the season-opener, they are well alive in the hunt for the NFC’s seven seed, with a win over Arizona and a chance to tie season-series with Minnesota. However, they are just looking to finish the year on a high note and make this look like a more desirable head coaching job. There is just nothing that really impresses you about the football team. They are bottom four in run offense and defense – so their opponents can always control the pace of the game. They are tied for the third-most yards per play allowed (6.0) and they have forced the third-fewest takeaways (12) – so there’s a heavy imbalance in big plays made between their defense and the opposing offense. And they are losing all the crucial situations when you compare their percentages with the ones of their opponents – minus 5.2% on third downs, 4.2% on fourth downs and 6.8% in red-zone scoring. Matt Stafford and Matt Prater have had moments of brilliance late in games, but as a team they just brought it enough on a weekly basis.
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Already out of it:

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The teams in this group have all been eliminated from playoff contention and show multiple issues. A couple of them have top ten quarterbacks this season in my book and I wouldn’t say any of them can’t win with who they have under center, but all five of them field bottom-half defenses and a couple of them just don’t know how to manage and win game at a high rate.
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25. Carolina Panthers (4-9)
This might be the best 4-9 team I have ever seen. Of course you can go back and look at times that have gotten hurt – and the Panthers have missed their best player in Christian McCaffrey – but in general they have been pretty healthy. Teddy Bridgewater has played the best football of his career under OC Joe Brady, they have a dangerous receiver trio, some of these young studs on defense have really shown up, like Brian Burns and Jeremy Chinn, and they have hung tough in pretty much every game all season long. They just haven’t been able to actually pull it off, with all but two of their nine losses being by one possession and those couple of matchups with the Bucs were competitive until the fourth quarter too. Matt Rhule has built a foundation in Carolina that will win him a lot of games sooner than rather and when you look at the rest of the NFC South, none of them have a long-term solution at quarterback and they will all face significant cap problems in the future. So bite the bullet here and maybe give it another year, because then this team is ready to take over that division.
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26. Houston Texans (4-9)
Man, I feel so bad for Deshaun Watson. That guy is an elite quarterback and with the way Bill O’Brien and the entire organization have conducted business, they probably cost him a chance to go to a Super Bowl potentially during his rookie contract. Hopefully this season is as bad as it’s going to get, because he has been the only real bright spot. The two obvious problems with this team – they can’t run the ball and their defense has been absolutely atrocious. They only have two runs of 20+ yards all season long and if you take their quarterback out of it, they are averaging a miniscule 3.5 yards per carry (would be worst in the league). And their defense is the only one that ranks bottom three in average yards allowed per pass (7.9) and run (5.0), while they are also the only unit with single-digit takeaways (eight) – and six of those came against the Jaguars and Lions. The only two times they have allowed less than 20 points came against Jacksonville in one of their matchups and then at Cleveland in the rain, when the final score was 10-7 for the Browns. So because of that, only the Jets have less time of possession (27:10). When you look at their four wins on the season, it was all about Deshaun – and he almost got them one each over the top two teams in the AFC South, but he never touched the ball against the Titans and a bad snap from the opposing two-yard line cost them the Colts game.
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27. Los Angeles Chargers (4-9)
I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a team with worse coaching than this one. When it comes to a lack of adjustments being made, disgusting time management, the amount of big leads this time has surrendered and so many other things. It has just been a joke. And I feel bad for the players, because Justin Herbert is having a phenomenal rookie season, most likely setting new marks in all the major categories, Keenan Allen has been incredible and Joey Bosa has been terrorizing opposing backfields when healthy. Yet, the only reason they lost last week is because they faced another team that has no freaking idea of how to win a game late and Matt Ryan gifted them a chance to pull it off in the end. When you look at total yards, explosive plays all kinds of statistics, it almost makes no sense. The craziest number I can bring up for this team is that if you take out their embarrassing 45-0 debacle against the Patriots, they have scored just 1.5 less than their opponents – and they are 4-9. I’m so annoyed that Herbert’s rookie season will be kind of forgotten because of how bad the team was, but I just hope they put a competent coaching staff around him and they can finally break this curse they have been under as a franchise.
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28. Atlanta Falcons (4-9)
I just talked about how the Falcons should have won that Chargers game last week – they had the ball twice in scoring range over the last four minutes and they blew it. Just like they did when they held a 15-point lead until five minutes left against the Cowboys in week two or when Todd Gurley fell into the end-zone when you were basically guaranteed a win if your kicker can just hit a 20-yard field goal at the end. Interim head coach Raheem Morris gave them some life in the middle of the season, but they disqualified themselves from any outside shot of somehow being in the playoff conversation with these last two losses, after they had a 43-6 blowout win over the Raiders. The defense has shown a lot of improvement since their 0-5 start, but the defense has not been able to get stops when they really needed it for the most part. And while the offense has a lot of firepower in theory, but Julio Jones has been banged up all season long, they are 25th in rushing offense and they have not scored enough points when they were put in those situations. Atlanta is one of only two teams in the league – to go along with the Jets – to not convert more than half of their red-zone trips into touchdowns.
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29. Dallas Cowboys (4-9)
Don’t let their 30-7 win over the Bengals fool you – this is not a good team. The Cowboys were 2-7 coming out of their bye week and then when pulled off the upset over the Vikings, everybody was like “Could they still win the NFC East?”, which is more an indictment on that division than where they were as a team. They went on to get embarrassed (again) on Thanksgiving by Washington and then Baltimore ran for almost 300 yards on them over the following two weeks. They have allowed the most points all season long (400) and they have allowed four different teams to go for over 200 rushing yards this season. That doesn’t mix well with turning the ball over at the third-highest rate league-wide (24 total) and your defense allowing opponents to convert half of their third-down attempts. Andy Dalton has played fairly well when available, but Zeke has been a major disappointment, the O-line has been devastated with injuries and I think I have said enough about their defense.
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Final tier in the comments!
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If you enjoyed this breakdown, I would really appreciate if you could visit the original piece - https://halilsrealfootballtalk.com/2020/12/17/nfl-power-rankings-heading-into-the-final-three-weeks-of-the-2020-season/
And make sure to check out my detailed recap of every game from the NFL's week 14 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tra31Htw-Ps
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You can find all my social media linked there as well!
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Game Preview Week 15 Philadelphia Eagles (4-8-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (7-6)

Philadelphia Eagles (4-8-1) vs Arizona Cardinals (7-6)
The Jalen Hurts era started in Philly with a bang as the Eagles knocked off the number 1 seed Saints being a strong rushing attack led by Hurts and Miles Sanders. The defense was the real winner in this game as they completely shut down the Saints offense for most of the game. But the win came at a cost, Rodney McLeod tore his MCL and will be out for the season and a number of other defenders left the game and will be questionable going into the game this week. The Eagles also lost starting RT Jack Driscoll for the remainder of the season to a MCL sprain.The Eagles with their rookie QB at the helm will travel to Arizona this week to take on the Arizona Cardinals who need a win to stay close in the playoff hunt. The loss of McLeod will be felt as the Cardinals come in with an impressive passing attack led by Kylar Murray and WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk. Jim Schwartz will need to come up with a game plan to shutdown the Cardinals big time WRs with a banged up secondary. At the same time they will need to slow down the Cardinals running game where Murray is also dangerous, but Kenyon Drake is the real threat. The Eagles will also unfortunately still be fighting for a playoff spot by winning the NFCE shitpile, but will be eliminated this week with a Washington win and an Eagles loss. Here is to an injury free game.
General Information
Posting Rules and Guidelines
Remember to Join us on Discord during the game!
New to the Eagles? Take a look at our New Fan Page!
Score Prediction Contest
Date
Sunday December 20th, 2020
Game Time Game Location
4:05 PM - Eastern State Farm Stadium
3:05 PM - Central 1 Cardinals Drive
2:05 PM - Mountain Glendale, AZ 85305
1:05 PM - Pacific Wikipedia - Map
Weather Forecast
Stadium Type: Open Air
Surface: Grass
Temperature: 61°F
Feels Like: 61°F
Forecast: Clear. Clear throughout the day.
Chance of Precipitation: 0%
Cloud Coverage: 0%
Wind: 3mi East MPH
Betting Odds
Oddsshark Information
Favorite/Opening Line: Arizona -6.5
OveUnder: 49
Record VS. Spread: Eagles 5-8, Cardinals 6-7
Where to Watch on TV
FOX will broadcast Monday’s game to a national audience. Brandon Gaudin will handle play-by-play duties and Aqib Talib will provide analysis.
Week 15 TV Map
Radio Streams
List of Eagles Radio network member stations with internet broadcast availability
Radio.com 94.1 Desktop Streaming
Listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (44th season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.
Location Station Frequency
Philadelphia, PA WIP-FM 94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA WCTO-FM 96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey WENJ-FM 97.3 FM
Levittown, PA WBCB-AM 1490 AM
Northumberland, PA WEGH-FM 107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA WPPA-AM 1360 AM
Reading, PA WEEU-AM 830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD WAFL-FM 97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA WEJL-FM 96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD WAFL-FM 97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD WEJL-AM 630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD WBAX-AM 1240 AM
Williamsport, PA WBZD-FM 93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE WDEL-FM/AM 101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA WSOX-FM 96.1 FM
Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo and Bill Kulik will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.
Location Station Frequency
Philadelphia, PA LA MEGA 105.7 FM
Allentown, PA WSAN 1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ WIBG 1020 AM; 101.3 FM
Cardinals Radio
Arizona Sports (98.7 FM) is the flagship station of the Cardinals Radio Network.Dave Pasch handles the play-by-play duties, Cardinals FB Ron Wolfley provides color commentary for the Cardinals.
National Radio
NA
Satellite Radio
Station Eagles Channel Cardinals Channel
Sirius Radio SIRI 138(Streaming 825) SIRI 81(Streaming 800)
XM Radio XM 381 (Streaming 825) (XM 226 (Streaming 800)
Sirus XM Radio SXM 381 (Streaming 825) SXM 226(Streaming 800)
Eagles Social Media Cardinals Social Media
Website [Website](https://www.azcardinals.com/
Facebook Facebook
Twitter Twitter
Instagram Instagram
Snapchat: Eagles Snapchat: SnapAZCardinals
NFC East Standings
NFC EAST Record PCT Home Road Div Conf PF PA Net Pts Streak
Football Team 6-7 .462 3-3 3-4 3-2 4-5 287 275 12 4W
Giants 5-8 .385 2-4 3-4 3-2 4-6 238 291 -53 1L
Eagles 4-8-1 .346 3-3-1 1-5 2-2 4-5 277 328 -51 1W
Cowboys 4-8 .308 2-4 2-5 1-3 3-6 298 400 -102 1W
Series Information
The Arizona/St.Louis/Chicago Cardinals lead the Philadelphia Eagles (59-57-5)
Series History
Head to Head Box Scores
First Game Played
November 10, 1935 at Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL. Chicago Cardinals 12 - Philadelphia Eagles 3
Points Leader
The Philadelphia Eagles lead the Arizona/St.Louis/Chicago Cardinals (719-680)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 1-0 vs. the Cardinals
Kliff Kingsbury: 0-0 vs. the Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Pederson vs Kingsbury: First Meeting of the coaches.
Quarterback Record
Jalen Hurts: Against Cardinals 0-0
Kylar Murrayl: Against Eagles: 0-0
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Jalen Hurts vs Kylar Murray: This will be the first matchup between the QBs in the NFL
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Eagles lead: 3-2
Record @ State Farm Stadium: Cardinals leads series: 3-0
Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 23 - Cardinals No. 14
2020 Record
Eagles: 4-8-1
Cardinals 7-6
Last Meeting
Sunday, October 8th, 2017
Eagles 34 - Cardinals 7
The Eagles scored early and often in this game, for their first blowout win of the season against the Arizona Cardinals. Carson Wentz found tight ends Trey Burton and Zach Ertz for early touchdowns, and later connected with wide receiver Torrey Smith for a 59-yard touchdown to finish the first quarter. Following Smith's touchdown, the Eagles unveiled their baseball home run celebration for the first time all season. The closest the Cardinals came was in the second quarter when they trailed 21–7 following a John Brown 13-yard touchdown. In the mid third quarter, on 3rd and 19, Wentz found wide receiver Nelson Agholor for a 72-yard touchdown pass, on which Agholor juked rookie safety Budda Baker and finished the play with the Nestea Plunge. The final score was 34–7, and Wentz threw for four touchdowns, including three first quarter touchdown passes.
Click here to view the Video Recap
Click here for box score
Last 10 Meetings
Date Winner Loser Score
10/08/17 Eagles Cardinals 34-17
12/20/15 Cardinals Eagles 40-17
10/26/14 Cardinals Eagles 24-20
12/01/13 Eagles Cardinals 24-21
09/23/12 Cardinals Eagles 27-6
11/13/11 Cardinals Eagles 21-17
01/18/09 Cardinals Eagles 32-25
11/27/08 Eagles Cardinals 48-20
12/24/05 Cardinals Eagles 27-21
11/17/02 Eagles Cardinals 38-14
Injury Reports Depth Charts
Eagles Eagles
Cardinals Cardinals
2020 “Expert” Picks
Week 15 - "Expert" Picks
2020 Team Stats
Eagles Season Stats
Cardinals Season Stats
2020 Stats (Starters/Leaders)
Passing
Name CMP ATT PCT YDS TD INT RAT
Wentz 251 437 57.4% 2620 16 15 72.8
Hurts 25 45 55.6% 309 2 1 82.5
Murray 309 461 67.0% 3231 23 10 94.7
Rushing
Name ATT YDS YDS/G AVG TD
Sanders 132 746 74.6 5.7 5
Drake 201 848 70.7 4.2 9
Receiving
Name REC YDS YDS/G AVG TD
Fulgham 33 467 46.7 14.2 4
Hopkins 94 1155 88.8 12.3 5
Sacks
Name Sacks Team Total
Graham 7.0 43
Reddick 10 37
Tackles
Name Total Solo Assist Sacks
Singleton 87 55 32 1.0
Hicks 101 67 34 0.0
Interceptions
Name Ints Team Total
Singleton/McLeod/Mills/Riley 1 4
Peterson/Kirkpatrick 3 10
Punting
Name ATT YDS LONG AVG NET IN 20 TB BP
Johnston 58 2794 66 48.2 42.5 20 4 0
Lee 45 1979 58 44.0 38.7 16 2 0
Kicking
Name ATT MADE % LONG PAT
Elliot 18 13 72.2% 54 18/20
Gonzalez 22 16 72.7% 56 38/39
Nuggent 4 4 100.0% 56 2/2
Kick Returns
Name ATT YDS AVG LONG TD
Scott 20 438 21.9 46 0
Edmonds 18 417 23.2 54 0
Punt Returns
Name RET YDS AVG LONG TD FC
Ward 17 116 6.8 22 0 15
Kirk 20 132 6.6 24 0 6
League Rankings 2020
Offense Rankings
Category Eagles Stat Eagles Rank Cardinals Stat Cardinals Rank
Total Offense 326.1 26th 389.5 4th
Rush Offense 126.2 9th 151.2 4th
Pass Offense 199.8 28th 238.2 18th
Points Per Game 21.3 26th(t) 27.5 10th
3rd-Down Offense 37.4% 28th 42.5% 14th
4th-Down Offense 37.0% 28th 70.6% 6th
Red Zone Offense (TD%) 61.1% 13th 68.8% 7th
Defense Rankings
Category Eagles Stat Eagles Rank Cardinals Stat Cardinals Rank
Total Defence 347.9 14th 344.5 12th
Rush Defence 127.3 24th 119.5 18th
Pass Defence 220.6 9th 224.9 11th
Points Per Game 25.2 19th 23.3 13th
3rd-Down Defence 37.6% 9th 41.3% 16th
4th-Down Defence 37.5% 4th 62.5% 23rd(t)
Red Zone Defence(TD%) 66.7% 26th(t) 53.3% 6th
Team
Category Eagles Stat Eagles Rank Cardinals Stat Cardinals Rank
Turnover Diff. -10 29th(t) +3 12th(t)
Penalty Per Game 6.2 21st(t) 7.2 32nd
Penalty Yards Per Game 48.3 16th 55.9 24th
Connections
Cardinals MLB Jordan Hicks was drafted in the 3rd round in 2015 NFL Draft and played 4 seasons with the Eagles.
Cardinals LB Hassan Reddick is from Camden NJ, and attended college at Temple in Philadelphia.
Cardinals RB James Saxon played one season for the Eagles in 1995.
Cardinals LB Coach Billy Davis served as defensive coordinator of the Eagles from 2013-2015.
Eagles S Rudy Ford played two seasons with the Cardinals from 2017-2018.
2020 Pro Bowlers
Eagles Cardinals
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter) WR DeAndre Hopkins(Starter)
OG Brandon Brooks (Starter) OLB Chandler Jones (Starter)
TE Zach Ertz FS Budda Baker (Starter)
C Jason Kelce (Starter)
LS Rick Lavato (Starter)
General
Referee: Craig Wrolstad
Jalen Hurts started his first career game in Week 14 vs. New Or-leans, leading the Eagles to a 24-21 victory over the 10-2 Saints. Hurts, the Eagles’ youngest starting QB since Jack Concannon in 1964, became the second QB in NFL history to beat a team on a 9+ game winning streak in their starting debut, joining Ron Jawor-ski (12/20/75 vs. Pittsburgh with L.A. Rams - snapped Steelers’ 11-game streak). He also became the first NFL QB since 1950 to throw a TD pass and rush for 100+ yards in their first start.
Miles Sanders (746 rushing yards, 5 TDs), ranks 2nd among NFL RBs in rushing average (5.7), behind Nick Chubb (5.9) (min. 125 attempts). In Week 14 vs. New Orleans, Sanders recorded an 82-yard rushing TD, marking the 4th-longest rushing play in Eagles history. He is the first NFL RB with 3 rushes of 70+ yards in the same season since 2012, when Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson each accomplished the feat.
Philadelphia’s defense ranks 2nd in the NFL with 43.0 sacks, trail-ing only Pittsburgh (45.0). Since Week 10, Fletcher Cox ranks 1st among NFL DTs with 4.0 sacks, while Javon Hargrave is tied for 2nd with Aaron Donald and Leonard Williams with 3.5 sacks.
Dallas Goedert is one of three NFL TEs with 250+ receiving yards (261) and 2+ TDs (2) since Week 11, joining Travis Kelce (481 yards, 3 TDs) and Darren Waller (386 yards, 3 TDs).
Draft Picks
Eagles Cardinals
WR Jalen Raegor OLB Isiah Simmons
QB Jalen Hurts OT Josh Jones
LB Davion Taylor DT Leki Fotu
S K’Von Wallace LB Kamal Martin
OT Jack Driscoll DT Rashard Lawrence
WR John Hightower LB Evan Weaver
LB Shaun Bradley RB Eno Benjamin
WR Quez Watkins
OT Prince Tega Wanogho
LB/DE Casey Toohill
Notable Off-season Additions
Eagles Cardinals
DT Javon Hargrave WR DeAndre Hopkins
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman DT Jordan Phillips
CB Darius Slay LB Devon Kennard
LB De’Vondre Campbell
DT Trevon Coley
Notable Off-season Departures
Eagles Cardinals
S Malcom Jenkins RB David Johnson
CB Ronald Darby DE Rodney Gunter
RB Jordan Howard DT Cassius Marsh
WR Nelson Agholor DT Zach Kerr
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai DT Cararun Reid
LB Kamu Grugler-Hill CB Bradon Williams
RB Darren Sproles WR Pharoh Cooper
DT Timmy Jernigan WR Damiere Byrd
LB Nigel Bradham LB Joe Walker
OT William Sweat
Milestones
Eagles DE Vinny Curry (29) needs 1 sacks to move up to 18th on the Eagles all-time sack list passing DT Jerome Brown
Eagles TE Zach Ertz needs 40 yards for 6000 career receiving yards.
Food for Thought
The 1948 Philadelphia Eagles-Chicago Cardinals Championship Bout
Eagles fans recall Super Bowl LII with wonder and relish in it. These days, that date seems so very long ago, but there was another magical Championship game I’d like to remind you of, as the Eagles and Cardinals face off (and the Northeast just got a snow dump), the Eagles’ first championship. Sure, this team the Eagles will face is not the Chicago Cardinals or the St. Louis Cardinals or the Phoenix Cardinals, but it’s the same franchise of course.
As far as snowy games, fans typically recall the Eagles’ fun snow game of 2013 against the Lions in which players made snow angels in the endzone, but there was an even more memorable one, one which Eagles RB Steve Van Buren didn’t even think was going to take place. With a blizzard harrowing Philadelphia: “I was sure they wouldn’t be able to play and went back to bed,” Van Buren told [Joe Jonas]. “Then, ‘Greasy’ (coach Earle Neale) called and told me the game was on and to get a move on. I had to take a trolley, then the El, and then a second trolley. When that trolley bogged down in the snow, I had to walk down Lehigh Avenue through the drifts about two miles to the park. I got there just a couple of minutes before the kickoff.” source. Van Buren and the Eagles proceeded to run amok all over the Cardinals that fateful day.
Where the Cardinals managed 34 rushes for 96 yards, Van Buren led the Eagles to a 57 for 225 line day (let’s disregard Eagles QB Tommy Thompson stumbling toward a 0.0 passer rating: 2/12 for 7 yards and 2 INTs). Despite the Eagles controlling the game--in fact, the Eagles scored on the 1st play of the game, but it was called back for Offsides--it wasn’t until a minute left in the 4th that either team scored, a 5 yard rush by Van Buren. In victory, the Eagles exacted revenge on the Cardinals for losing the championship matchup the year prior 28-21.
Matchups to Watch
Arizona rushing attack vs the Eagles front seven
The Eagles have repeatedly struggled this season with teams who have mobile quarterbacks, who are able to escape the pocket. They did well last week against Taysom Hill, however this week they will take on Kylar Murray who is a lot closer to Lamar Jackson than Taysom Hill. The Eagles gave up 100 yards and a TD when they faced Jackson this season.again Like Jackson, Kylar Murray has the ability to break off big runs, as he is second to Jackson in rushing yards by a QB this season. Murray has over 700 rushing yards and a league leading 10 rushing TDs by a QB this season. Pair that with the impressive running attack of Kenyon Drake and the Eagles front seven will have their hands full on Sunday. With a talented receiving corp of the Cardinals the Eagles will not be able to stack the box and it will be on the front seven to keep contain and stay in the lanes to keep Murray and Drake in check. If they don’t and allow the Cardinals to establish the run look for the Cardinals to pound the run and look for a big play off play-action to one of their talented WRs.
Eagles banged up secondary vs the talented receiving corp of the Cardinals
In their win over the Saints, the Eagles lost their two best players in the secondary in safety Rodney McLeod and CB Darius Slay. McLeod unfortunately tore his MCL and will miss the remainder of the season and Slay suffered a concussion and while he has progressed through the protocol he has not been cleared as of the time of this writing. If Slay misses the game the Eagles will most likely lean on Avonte Maddox to cover All-Pro WR DeAndre Hopkins which is not good news for the Eagles. Last time the Maddox was asked to cover an All-Pro he was absolutely torched by Davante Adams. Hopkins is also questionable for the game, but is trending towards playing.Eagles DC Jim Schwartz will need to get creative with his coverages and hope his front four can continue to wreak havoc like they did last week where Hill was under constant pressure. If given time, Murray will cut up this secondary and have some big plays against the Eagles backups.
Jalen Hurts and Doug Pederson vs Vance Joseph
Cardinals’ defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will have the job of stopping the Eagles rookie QB who ran all over the Saints number one ranked defense last week. Doug Pederson said earlier this week that the Eagles simply shot themselves in the foot in the second half against the Saints, but rewatching the game it looks like the Saints made some adjustments at halftime that were effective in slowing down and confusing the rookie QB. Unlike the Saints, Joseph will have a full game tape to review and prepare for Hurts. Of course, Pederson and Eagles know what they put out on film too and will have to adjust to how they played in the second half against the Saints. It’ll be up to them to have a counterpunch ready to go depending on how the Cardinals play the rookie quarterback. Hurts was far more effective with his legs than his arm against the Saints, so I would not be surprised to see Joseph put a spy on Hurts to limit his ability to run. If the Cardinals do spy him, it will most likely go to former Eagles Jordan Hicks who is extremely athletic for an LB and should be able to match Hurts speed and athleticism. With the spy that’s one less player in coverage, which should open some up some things in the passing game if Hurts can take advantage of it. The Eagles have a lot of offensive coaches on the staff and it is their job to put him in the best position to be successful, but that is something they have failed to do with a number of guys on the offense this year, so it remains to see if they can do it with Hurts when the other team is gameplanning for him. If they can and that is a big IF Hurts will still need to execute and continue to show the same poise he did last weekend.
Special thanks to abenyishay for their help in creating this Game Preview.
submitted by Rsubs33 to eagles [link] [comments]

Coastguard #13 - Jace Effects

DCNext Proudly Presents…!

COASTGUARD

Issue #13: Jace Effects

Written by Fortanono
Edited by dwright5252
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It took longer than Lorraine Reilly wanted to admit to figure out that Helga wasn’t taking her to the airport.
She remembered flying into the brand new airport for New Coast, where the paint was still wet in some places and hardly any planes were touching down. She was on one of the first ever flights, she remembered. The memory of starting a new life, away from her father and all the prying eyes in a brand new city--it was just as clear to her now as it was then. So how, Lorraine wondered, did she let Helga drive a few miles on the highway before she asked a question?
Lorraine took a deep breath. Clearly, there was a reason behind this, right? Helga was driving her to LAX to avoid her attackers finding her, perhaps. Yeah; that had to be it. She was worrying too much. She turned to her left and looked at Helga, who was concentrating, deep in thought about something as she drove along the crowded freeway. She seemed tense; something was worrying her. Lorraine tried to convince herself once more that she was safe, that Helga was only doing this because she needed to get her out of the city, but it didn’t give. She took another deep breath in; she needed to ask Helga about this. Maybe then she would feel just a little bit safer.
Lorraine’s words came out meekly, more quiet than she had hoped. “Um… weren’t we going to the airport back in the city? What exactly is the plan here?”
”Shhhh!” Helga leered aggressively at Lorraine as she spoke. “Listen; I’m trying to concentrate, trying to figure something out. Wherever we end up going, they can reach us. I have to figure out a place where they won’t think to look.”
Lorraine was startled by Helga’s sudden aggression; she seemed more and more worried by the minute. She hadn’t been privy to any information about who these insurgents were, or what they wanted, but clearly, it was a lot worse than she had been told. Finally, after a few seconds, she got up the courage to speak. “What’s going on? You aren’t telling me anything about this group of people that are trying to kill me. I just want to know what’s happening.”
Helga huffed. “Well, I suppose that we are going to be in this together for a while, so I might as well tell you. Kobra, the group that we’re running from, aren’t coming after you. Hypothetically, I could have dropped you off back at the airport, and you’d no sooner be able to forget about this mess than when you boarded the plane. No; the reason I’ve decided to take a different route is because I’m worried for my own safety.”
Lorraine stared at her, unsure what to think. “Okay, but why am I still here then? Why are they so obsessed with you? Couldn’t you have dropped me--”
“Because, Lorraine,” Helga interrupted, “I’m not what the rest of my team thinks I am. Kobra managed to get their hands on a few video tapes from behind the scenes of my TV show on a few of my bad days. Getting impatient, yelling, the type of thing that has ruined other celebrities’ careers. So, I made a deal with them. I do what they want, and they give me the tapes back. However, as it turns out, their plan was instead to hold those tapes over my head for an indefinite period of time while I slave away to do their bidding. So I left, but it turns out they want to do a bit more to me now than ruin my legacy.”
Lorraine’s stomach dropped. Her more base instincts proved to be right; Helga wasn’t trying to help her at all. She clenched her fist in her lap. “So all of this was for what? Over a tape? Over your reputation? You evil bitch. What did they ask you to do? What did you do for them? Why am I here?”
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Helga snarled. “In the world of show business, image is everything. Besides, if the media were to start digging deeper, they would find some of my… experiments, and if that happened, I could face federal prosecution. My life would be over, although it’s not quite like it isn’t now. To answer your questions, because I don’t see a need to really hide anything now: one, I helped fake the death of a Coastguard team member--I’m sure you’re aware of who it is I’m speaking of--and found a way to control him and his powers. Two, and there’s no pretty way to say this: I’m not just worried about Kobra. My team is going to untangle my web of lies at any moment now, and I need them to have a reason not to go after me. I’m sure we’ll grow to bond and enjoy each other’s presence in the next few days, but right now, you are, to put it bluntly, a hostage.”
Lorraine’s breathing quickened. She couldn’t get out of the car; there was no way for her to escape right now. She had to save her energy for when she could. Helga wouldn’t kill her; she needed her for the time being. Besides, Coastguard was going to swoop in and save her. Right? Every thought she had that would be reassuring only made her panic more and more. Just earlier that day, she had never had to worry about her life being in danger. Then came the Rocketstar attack, and now this.
Lorraine had never felt so terrified in her entire life.
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February 8th, 1992
Radiance, PA
Gregor Jace snarled as he walked into the classroom. His wife, Marina, followed him in, taking in the scenery. Educational posters about plants and cell biology filled the hallway walls; Marina wondered to herself what they might be saying. Science had never been her strong suit, but she had always been somewhat interested in it. She had never felt like she had a fair chance at learning what she had wanted.
The married couple sat in a pair of seats that had been in front of the teacher’s desk, although they were clearly meant for students on a regular day. A well-groomed man in a suit with black hair sat across from them. “Mr. and Mrs. Jace,” he chuckled. “It’s good to see you both!”
Gregor nodded as he shook the hand of their daughter’s teacher, who, according to the writing on the whiteboard behind them, was named Mr. Beechem. He reached over to shake Gregor’s wife’s hand as well.
“She doesn’t speak a lick of English,” Gregor said. “If there’s anything to say, tell me, and I’ll say it to her in Markovian.”
“Understood,” Mr. Beechem nodded. “Well, Mr. Jace, it’s very nice to have you here. I’m here to talk about your daughter, Helga.”
“Course you are,” Gregor grunted in his accented English. “I thought we were here to have tea and discuss the weather. What’s that girl done now?”
“Helga’s been nothing but wonderful,” Mr. Beechem said. “She walks into our biology class with a smile on her face every day, and she gets every answer right. The reason I’m talking to you is actually because she seems to already know everything I can teach her. She’s read the entire textbook I’ve given her, and the public school system isn’t letting me consider creating a gifted program for her. As is, however, she knows so much that she isn’t feeling engaged in the work, and often answers questions when it’s not her turn.”
Gregor turned to his wife and spoke to her in Markovian. “” Marina recoiled; she didn’t know much about this conversation, but she could tell from Mr. Beechem’s tone that he wasn’t scolding her and that her husband was editorializing for him.
“The reason I particularly wanted to talk,” Mr. Beechem continued, “was that I have a few recommendations for biology textbooks and courses you could purchase for Helga, to help engage her interest in my field quite a bit more. I would be more than willing to help pay for the courses if money is an issue.”
“Helga doesn’t need more worthless knowledge,” Gregor mumbled. “She’s not going anywhere, and I don’t want to fill her head with any lies that she is.”
Mr. Beechem stared and blinked at the imposing man that was sitting across from him. He had dealt with his fair share of nasty parents, but every time felt like something new, and he truly believed that Helga deserved better.
He sighed. “Well, if you change your mind, I have a list of potential coursebooks you could purchase.” He fiddled through the desks in front of him and handed the paper to Marina. She quickly shuffled it into her purse. Even if she might not know at first what to do with the paper, Mr. Beechem hoped that she would be able to get Helga the education she deserved.
Gregor stood up. “” he said to his wife in Markovian as they left.
Mr. Beechem looked through his desk after the Jace parents were gone. He pulled out an essay that Helga had written only a few days before, the letters neatly scribbled onto the lined paper. The title at the top read, The Biology of the Metahuman: Theories and Notes on Superman, the Flash and the Freedom Fighters.
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Now
Lorraine sat silently for several minutes on the drive. Exits zipped by as they went. She had taken to checking Helga’s gas meter several times a minute; if they stopped at a gas station, that could easily help with her attempts to escape. Helga had already taken her phone without her noticing; somehow, she had gotten into Lorraine’s pocket before they started taking off so she couldn’t call for help. Her only hope would be to wait until Helga stopped driving.
A blue glow surrounded the car; from the rear-view mirror, Lorraine could see Dan summon a portal behind them. She let out a sigh of relief; they were here to save her.
“Looks like your heroes are here,” Helga grimaced. She pressed a few buttons on the dashboard as the Ray, Blue Devil and Thunder burst out of the portal. Lights on the sides of her car activated as they kept driving. “Good thing I know what I’m doing.”
Lorraine felt an impact hit the top of the car. It didn’t take long to figure out that that impact was the Ray, who had fallen mid-flight.
“Meta-dampeners,” Helga chuckled. “Same kind they use in maximum-security prisons. Not always 100% effective, but they work well enough here.”
Lorraine looked behind her; Anissa was struggling to keep up with the car, her strength sapped. She felt the Ray pound on the roof of the car above her, saw the look of despair in her girlfriend’s face as Helga drove further and further away from her. Blue glowing portals appeared every so often as the Blue Devil tried to grab onto, and narrowly missed, the car.
Helga pressed another button on the car. Suddenly, the side windows were covered with water; the Ray fell limply to the side of the road. The Blue Devil finally managed to latch onto the car roof, quickly recoiling in pain from the effort. The car was dented now, but Lorraine could tell that didn’t matter. As the Blue Devil fell off, Lorraine could see a series of pink-red sores covering his arm and torso.
“Trust me,” Helga chuckled, “getting enough priests to bless that amount of water was an ordeal and a half. Definitely panned out though.”
Helga kept driving, seemingly shrugging off what had just happened. A portal appeared in front of them, the now-injured Blue Devil walking out and flanked on both sides by Commander Steel and Technocrat.
“Lesson one of betraying your team,” Helga noted. “Any gadgets you help make for them must have an override.” She pressed another series of buttons on her car. Technocrat’s suit deactivated, falling limp. Helga could see Curtis struggling to support his own weight under the now-useless suit. Meanwhile, the energy cannons on the sides of Commander Steel’s suit let loose a pulse of blue energy, knocking all three of the heroes back. Helga swerved around them as she kept driving.
Lorraine’s heart was now pounding. Helga had worked intimately with Coastguard, learning how to deal with each and every one of them, and now, Lorraine had no one to save her. It was now up to her to save herself.
Lorraine took another look at the gas meter. The tank was still nowhere near empty. She remained silent, her mind now slowly filling with despair.
Another blue glow illuminated the back of the car. This one was more of a deep sea-blue color; immediately, Lorraine realized that this wasn’t the Blue Devil. This was someone else, quite possibly from Kobra.
Looking in the rearview mirror, her suspicions were confirmed. This was Vibe, the teammate that Helga had helped to fake the death of, hovering just above the highway behind him. Around him, small metal objects began levitating around him. His hands caught on fire, and he began launching balls of fire at them. None of them hit, but Helga’s breath quickened. She seemed panicked, more so than before. She pulled into the grass on the side of the road, the car now bumping across the dirt as the car squeezed between a series of tall trees. And then, Helga stopped.
Lorraine stared at her captor, who had completely stopped the car, and realized that she was now looking to Helga as a potential savior. “Well, what now? You have to do something!”
“I am,” Helga said. She pulled out a small cylindrical container of a lotion-like substance and began to rub it on herself. “This,” she said, “is primer. My own invention. Increases the likelihood of those with the metagene to have it triggered in a near-death experience. Trust me, Lorraine, I know what Cisco is capable of--I’m the one who taught him how to do most of what he can do--and we are as good as dead.”
“Wh--what can he do?” Lorraine muttered meekly.
Helga didn’t look up as she spoke, frantically applying the primer to her back. “Well, currently, he’s able to manipulate seismic energy, fire, electricity, magnetism, cryonic energy, and a specific type of vibrational energy tied to the universe itself. I’ve also worked on a few more experimental power sets that aren’t fully complete but that Kobra could use, including the control of gravity and… nuclear energy.”
Lorraine’s heart sank, but didn’t have a chance to respond before everything went white.
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February 10th, 1992
Radiance, PA
“...So, in conclusion, even though cases like the Flash and Superman may seem like a recent occurrence, there have always been metahumans in some form or another. We just haven’t always had the words to classify them.”
Helga stopped reading from her paper and put it down. Mr. Beechem smiled. “Thank you, Helga, for reading to us. Going forward with the next paper, it might do a lot of you good to try and be more like Helga. She’s diligent, and she cares about what she’s researching. Find something that gives you that spark like she did. That’s about all the time we have for today. Have a fantastic day, all of you, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you.”
Helga walked out of the class, slightly annoyed at Mr. Beechem for putting the spotlight on her. She enjoyed sharing her work, but what she didn’t enjoy was what came after. See, in class, she was untouchable. Not so much out here.
“Hey, trash-girl,” Helga heard Katie’s voice say. “Those were a lot of big words you decided to use today. It’s kinda cute how you think you’re not gonna die a whore with a heroin needle in her butt.”
Helga ignored Katie’s words and continued to walk. Katie cut in front of her, stopping her from continuing to her next class.
Katie smiled, a sickening smile that Helga had seen a million times. “Do you shit on the floor here too, or is that just in your house? You know, in America, we have toilets. Maybe try those?”
Helga pushed past Katie, just trying to get to English on time. Katie grabbed her backpack in retaliation.
“You dumb slut,” Katie snarled. “When I’m talking to you, you listen. And you don’t fucking touch me, okay? You worthless whore.”
Helga once again ignored Katie as she kept walking. From here, her tormentor didn’t seem to bother her anymore. It pained Helga with every bone in her body to ignore Katie, but she couldn’t do anything now. She couldn’t effect real change talking back to someone in the school halls, or starting a petty fight. No; she just needed to wait a few days. Then, finally, she could kill Katie.
She had thought about this for months now. The first part was simple enough; she had to find a place off of school premises where both she and Katie would be. Luckily, Helga had scored an invitation to a house party that one of the juniors was hosting. What to do afterwards was a bit harder to figure out. She couldn’t just kill Katie right then and there. The best option was to spike her drink and to take her somewhere else from there. The problem would then be how to slip out with her undetected. To do this, she had visited the house in question beforehand in order to figure out its layout. Good news was, there was a back door in the basement that she could sneak out of if she was just cautious enough.
Everything was in its place. Helga just had to wait patiently until the plan could fall into place.
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Now
Lorraine woke up. It was now the middle of the night, she could tell. The car was completely gone; she could see that much. How she survived, she had no idea; as she came to consciousness, she realized that she lay in the middle of a massive dirt crater.
She stood up, covered in dirt, and limped towards the sound of cars on the highway. She had to hitch a ride to New Coast, tell people that she was alright. She looked around; from what she could tell, Helga was nowhere to be--
“Well, this is odd.”
Lorraine looked around for the source of Helga’s voice. Fuck. Her nightmare wasn’t over just yet. As she looked through the trees in the dead of night, however, Lorraine couldn’t for the life of her figure out where Helga was, even though she sounded so close.
“Yes, of course,” Helga’s voice said. “I must say, I’ve never seen any sort of metahuman mutation quite like this. A nuclear fusion of some sort…”
“What’s going on?” Lorraine asked frantically.
“Well,” Helga’s voice replied, “it looks like my primer worked. It also seems like you have the metagene as well, or we wouldn’t be in this scenario in the first place. I must admit, I said that I expected to bond with you, but I definitely did not expect to be *this close when we were on the run.”*
Lorraine gritted her teeth. “Where are you?”
Helga’s voice laughed to herself. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m in your head! Something went wrong with the metahuman triggering process, and now we’re fused together, as one being. I can see what you see, feel what you feel, but you seem to be the one in control. That’s unfortunate, although I must say, downright *fascinating. So, turns out, we’re still stuck with each other for a while. Isn’t this fun?”*
Lorraine didn’t respond. She walked up to the side of the road and tried to wave down a car. Eventually, a man in a red pickup truck pulled over. He had long brown hair and a scraggly beard, a bottle of Soder Cola half-drunk in the driver-side cup holder. If Lorraine hadn’t gone through what she had just gone through, every instinct would tell her to run. Now, however, he didn’t seem so scary.
“Man,” he laughed. “I don’t know what kinda day you’re havin’, but it looks bad. The world we live in nowadays…”
“You have no idea,” Lorraine chuckled as she climbed in. “Hey, if it’s possible, can you take me to New Coast City? I’m trying to get to my friends there.”
“Well,” the trucker said, “I was headin’ in the other direction, but something like this don’t happen every day. I got some time to kill, so why not? But first, you gotta tell me what happened to your hair!”
“My… hair?” Lorraine looked in the rearview mirror, puzzled. She stared at her own reflection for nearly five whole seconds before realizing what was happening. Her hair was glowing a bright blue; it looked almost like it was on fire.
“Honestly,” Lorraine said, “I have no idea. Seriously.”
Helga’s voice spoke for the first time in several minutes, a painful reminder to Lorraine of the situation she was now in. “You idiot,” she said. “Your--our hair is like this because we’re a metahuman now. You don’t need to be a scientist to figure that out, do you?”
“Shut up,” Lorraine muttered quietly, hoping that the trucker didn’t notice. After a long pause, Lorraine finally spoke again. “Hey, could I borrow your phone, maybe? I need to make a call to someone, let them know I’m okay.”
“Yeah, sure,” the trucker smiled, handing her his phone from the top of his dashboard. Lorraine hastily dialed Anissa’s number and called, hoping to hear something. After a few rings, Anissa answered. “Hello?”
“Anissa,” Lorraine sighed. “It’s me. I wanted to let you know that I’m fine, but things are a bit weird right now. Helga’s--”
“Lorraine,” Anissa said, overjoyed. “Oh my God, I’m so glad to hear from you. We got to a motel in Whitewater after the fight; we’re going to be heading home tomorrow. Did you escape? Is Helga still out there? What’s going on?”
Lorraine cleared her throat. “It’s… uh, really complicated. Helga isn’t a threat right now, but we were attacked. By… um, by Vibe, actually. And… How do I explain this? We kinda--”
“Our metagenes were triggered,” Helga’s voice huffed. “That’s all you need to say.”
“Our metagenes were triggered,” Lorraine repeated. “Helga used some sort of substance that made it easier for her to become a metahuman, and we sorta… we fused.”
“What do you mean?” Anissa said, alarmed. “Like, conjoined twins or something? Lorraine, is everything okay? Are you safe?”
“Not quite like that,” Lorraine said. “Helga’s sorta… trapped in my body now. I can hear her voice in my head, telling me things, but she doesn’t seem to be able to do much else. And I look the same, not like her at all, but… my hair’s on fire. I know, I know, it’s crazy. And it’s blue. Geez, this sounds so ridiculous when I say it out loud.”
“Hold tight,” Anissa said. “I’m just glad you’re safe. If possible, try to meet us at Whitewater, and we’ll figure the rest out from there.”
Lorraine nodded. She turned to the trucker, planning on telling him that their destination had changed, that they needed to get to Whitewater rather than New Coast… but nothing came out of her mouth. Slowly, but surely, her muscles began to lock, and she couldn’t seem to say anything.
“Lorraine,” Anissa said, noticing the silence on the phone. “Lorraine, are you okay?”
“I’m just fine,” Lorraine heard herself say, feeling her mouth speak the words. It was her voice, but it had the cadences and ups and downs of Helga’s voice, and she could tell she wasn’t the one talking. “New discovery: control of this body is entirely dependent on willpower, how much you want to control it. I’ll be taking over for the time being. Don’t try to find me, although if you do, you might need to kill me. And that, of course, would also kill your dear Lorraine. Sorry it had to come to this, but it is what it is.”
Lorraine felt her thumb move onto the “hang up” button, and her hand point towards the trucker next to her. A blast of blue fire flew out of her hand, incinerating him and half the car. “No…” Lorraine said, but the words didn’t come out. “You didn’t have to do that!”
“Easier without loose ends,” Lorraine heard herself say. “Simpler. Sorry about that.”
And then, Lorraine felt something she had never felt before, for the thousandth time since the attack on the Rocketstar. She felt herself flying.
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February 15th, 1992
Radiance, PA
Parties were never something Helga enjoyed--she would be reminded why as soon as she walked into the house. Loud music was blaring from a boombox in the corner; everyone was loudly socializing. Braden had gotten alcohol for the party and clearly, everyone was already enjoying it quite a bit.
Helga kept her head down as she scanned the area. She would have to be decisive about this and make sure that nobody saw her. She checked the inside of her jean-pocket; the small chalky white tablet was still there. Good. She saw Katie in the corner wearing a white satin dress, talking to two of her friends. She would have to get her alone, but she had all night.
Several minutes passed. Helga helped herself to a bowl of chips on one of the coffee tables. Eventually, she watched as Katie went off to the bathroom, leaving her drink on the windowsill nearby. Quickly, she darted amongst the crowd and dropped the tablet in the beer. Nobody saw. Helga walked back and tried to act natural, like she was waiting for the bathroom to free up, just in case.
Katie walked out. “What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked drunkenly. “I thought you’d be, like, doing homework or fucking people for money or something.”
“Listen, Katie,” Helga said. She took in a deep breath; she needed something to enrage Katie enough that she followed her away from the crowd, against her better instincts. She hated herself for having to do this, but it was logical. “I know you keep making fun of me and stuff, but I’ve always wondered: what if there’s, like, something between us? Like, I’ve always stolen a few glances at you and just… been curious, y’know?”
Katie blinked, completely silent. “You absolute slut,” she grimaced. Helga ran out of the room and towards the basement door; just as she had planned, Katie followed. She pulled up her hoodie, just in case this scene she was causing would be memorable enough to cast blame on her. No one seemed to look, however, until Katie ran past them. The joys of being invisible.
When Helga next saw Katie, she checked if she still had her drink in her hand. If not, she could do this another time, but she’d have to deal with Katie for a few more weeks. Even worse, a very enraged Katie. Thankfully, Katie not only had it with her, but was actually taking a sip as she got here.
“I always knew you were more fucked-up than I thought,” Katie snarled. “But you know, I didn’t fucking expect this. I didn’t think you could be so--”
Helga smiled as Katie began to collapse to the ground. She grabbed Katie’s limp body mid-fall, making sure no one heard the sound, as she opened the basement door. Slowly, methodically, she dragged Katie down the stairs, across the dark and empty basement, and out the back door of the house. The hard part was over.
Helga reached into Katie’s pocket and pulled out her car keys. She found Katie’s car, a silver convertible that she just loved to flaunt around, immediately, and tossed her in the back seat. Just in case anyone noticed, she pulled her hood over her head further and put on a red bandana that she had stolen from her mother’s closet.
”” Helga whispered to her former tormentor in Markovian.
Helga started the car. She had hoped to find some way to tell Katie how much she hated her before she died, to see the look of terror on her face as she did so, but she figured out quickly that there was no way of doing that without risking the whole thing.
Helga drove through the streets of Radiance before she got to the bridge she was looking for. It was an old bridge, dating back to before the Revolutionary War. It was one of the few interesting things that this stupid town seemed to have. She parked Katie’s car and picked her up again.
“I’ve been waiting to do this for far too long,” Helga smiled, barely containing herself as she flung Katie’s body over the railing and into the river.
It was done. It was over. Helga felt overjoyed that everything she had planned had worked out, that she was free from her bully’s consistent abuse over the years. Now, she had to take the car to the scrapyard, and funnily enough, the part that might take the longest would be to walk home.
A stirring noise. Helga looked around; she could have sworn that she had heard something coming from below her. Suddenly, the water started splashing up around her; out of the river flew some sort of green blur, some kind of strange, reptilian creature. Helga took a few steps back in fear as it fell back down into the water. The creature jumped back up, nearly making it onto the bridge. Helga recoiled as its massive green claw swiped at the side of Katie’s car, making an unearthly screeching sound and letting loose a few sparks.
It was then that Helga could get a good look at it. The creature was huge, much bigger than any animal could reasonably be. It was covered in deep green scales; its head was completely hairless, with two glaring yellow eyes peering at Helga. But one thing struck Helga most as the creature dove back down into the water: it was wearing the same white satin dress that Katie had just been wearing moments ago.
“Metahumans,” Helga murmured in amazement. She had really done it. She had not only seen an actual metahuman face-to-face, she had created one.
Helga got back into Katie’s now-damaged car to continue with the plan. Her father, Katie, the other kids glancing at her in the halls: they all thought that she wasn’t going to do anything with her life. Now, she knew otherwise.
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Now
The ride back to New Coast was grueling and silent. Anissa had only gotten an hour of sleep the previous night; she was too busy obsessing over what had happened. It had all felt like a fever dream, hearing Lorraine’s voice in Helga’s tone, even the idea that Helga had betrayed them in the first place. It all felt so unreal, and yet, it felt more real than anything else at the same time. She still didn’t understand much about what Lorraine had said about her condition. Her hair was on fire, she shared the same body as Helga… the words made sense, but the totality of those words still didn’t. Either way, she was certain about one thing: she had to save her.
When she did get to sleep, she dreamed about Lorraine. She dreamt that she was back in the White House; her father was meeting with some senators about some sort of bill. Lorraine’s father was one of them, she remembered. She peered in through the crack in the doorway, watching the meeting silently like she had done so many times as a teenager. She never understood what they were talking about in those meetings, and this meeting was no exception. Then, from the ceiling, Anissa watched as Lorraine jumped down with a loaded pistol. She fired several rounds, killing everyone in the room. Lorraine’s father was the first to go; hers was the last. She dreamed that she heard her father, the strongest man she knew, gasping for air as he died.
Then, Anissa remembered, Lorraine looked straight at Anissa. Her voice was strained as she spoke. “I’m sorry, baby… they made me do it. I hope you can understand.”
“I understand,” Anissa remembered herself say to Lorraine, even though she didn’t.
They returned to New Coast the next morning, all recoiling from a failed mission. As they gathered in Room 103, the others remained silent, but they were all looking at her. They knew that she was the one who lost someone, that she would be suffering the most. Those stares hurt, even though she knew that her teammates were trying to be supportive.
“So,” Ray said after almost a minute of them all sitting around in the room. “I’m gonna be the first to ask it. What now?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” Curtis said, shaking his head. “I’m working on removing the malware Helga had installed in my suit when we were building it. But you all have to realize that we are not prepared for a fight. For one, Dan has to let his wounds heal. The rest of you are lucky that it wasn’t a lot worse.”
“Hey, I’m fine,” Dan said. “I’ll help where I’m needed. It’s what I have to do.”
“No,” Curtis replied. “You’re in no fighting condition. Your entire right side is covered in burn marks. I won’t let you go out.”
The room fell silent for a few seconds again.
“However,” Curtis continued, “I’ve begun to conduct the beginnings of a plan. In the meantime, I’ve developed a way to track Helga. Her--or rather, Lorraine’s--body is emitting large amounts of radiation that otherwise shouldn’t be there. Using drones to track her flight path, I figured out that she retreated to an abandoned warehouse in Blüdhaven.”
“We got a teleporter there,” Dan called out. “We can get there as soon as possible.”
“Do I need to remind you why we can’t do that?” Anissa snapped. “Lorraine is still in there, and I need her. We can’t just go in there fighting Helga, or… No, we just can’t do it.”
“I’ve been thinking about that too,” Curtis said. “I figure that if we can get someone with psychic abilities to help out, we can either split Lorraine and Helga back up, or we could suppress Helga’s consciousness in Lorraine’s body. I’ve been looking through a series of local articles and found several metahumans who meet the description, judging each one by apparent power level and ability to handle themselves in combat scenarios, and I think I’ve found our winner.”
Curtis turned on the screen. On it was a Detroit Free Press article headlined, “Local hero saves Detroit citizens--but not in the way you’d expect.” On the monitor was a picture of a young teenaged girl with light brown skin and short pixie-cut hair.
“This,” Curtis said, “is Cindy Reynolds. She seems to possess the ability to enter the minds of other people and figure out the roots of their trauma. She’s seen as a healer by many, both helping PTSD victims and stopping criminals nonviolently by helping them understand what they’re doing. She’s saved lives this way, and from what I can tell, she can still hold her own in a fight if she needs to.”
“I’d be a bit worried about bringing a kid into this,” Marc said. “But right now, I’m open to any option. If this girl is our one chance at saving Lorraine, I say we do it.”
“Agreed,” Ray said. “Just one question: we’re gonna have to go to Detroit, right? With”--Ray gestured to the world around himself--”all of this happening in New Coast. Seems like a bad idea, doesn’t it?”
“We can’t do anything to challenge Kobra right now,” Marc replied. “I wish we could, Ray, but… right now, I think our top priority is to help our friend and stop Helga. All in due time, I promise.”
“Gotcha,” Ray said. “Alright, so what then? How do we even find this chick? And how do we know we’re not walking to our deaths when we confront Super-Helga-Lorraine or whatever we’re calling her?”
“I know someone who can help,” Curtis sighed. “I’m not happy about it or proud of it, but we can get other allies in this fight. This guy, he’s a master strategist, he’s smart--he’ll know what to do.”
“Who is that?” Anissa asked.
“It’s his brother,” Dan answered for Curtis. “They haven’t spoken in months, but he would definitely be a big help. One of the world’s smartest men. Michael Holt, also known as Mr. Terrific.”
NEXT TIME: Coastguard takes on Helga with a help from Mr. Terrific and Cyborg in a crossover special!
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Now, it has examined the latest 2021 Super Bowl NFL odds and NFL betting lines from William Hill, simulated every snap 10,000 times, and its predictions are in. Head to SportsLine now to see them all. Super Bowl MVP Odds. Patrick Mahomes: +100. Tom Brady: +210. Tyreek Hill: +1200. Travis Kelce: +1300. Leonard Fournette: +2500. Clyde Ewards-Helaire: +2800. Super Bowl MVP is one of the most popular bets for the Super Bowl. MVP AND FIRST TO SCORE A TOUCHDOWN ODDS. Super Bowl MVP. Patrick Mahomes (KC) 5/6. Tom Brady (TB) 9/4. Tyreek Hill (KC Exact 1st Score. Kansas City Passing TD 9/4 The Kansas City Chiefs square off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55 in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida at 6:30 p.m. ET. One of the most decorated Super Bowl traditions is the extensive and exquisite Super Bowl prop bet menu, which ranges from coin flip results to who will score the last touchdown and everything else in between. The pick: SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh says that his initial Super Bowl simulations have the Chiefs as a 55 percent favorite to defeat the Buccaneers with an average score of 28-26.While Bovada has released exact Super Bowl matchup odds on which teams will collide in the big game in Tampa on February 7, and the usual suspects are topping the list. Chiefs vs Packers is the likeliest outcome on the board at +145 in exact Super Bowl matchup odds, followed by Bills vs Packers (+240), Chiefs vs Buccaneers (+350) and Bills vs Buccaneers Current odds to win Super Bowl LV: 3.5 to 1. Here's why: The Bills' bandwagon is getting full, folks, but there are plenty of things to like about Buffalo which will be facing the banged-up Chiefs.

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The Normal Distribution and the 68-95-99.7 Rule (5.2 ...

About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators ... Welcome to UnspeakableGaming, a channel with Unspeakable content! Minecraft, Gaming, Challenges, Roleplays, Custom Maps, along with tons of other awesome vid... Learn what it means to bet the Total and how to read the odds when it comes to picking the Over or Under. This Sports Betting 101 video will have you cashing... This video is NOT sponsored by Doritos, we just love their Super Bowl commercials! Top 30 Superbowl Ads of ALL TIME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsTG8D... Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. ClairefontaineTV - Chaîne officielle Clairefontaine www.clairefontaine.com Go to https://buyraycon.com/idubbbz for 20% off your order! Brought to you by Raycon.airsoftfatty: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo0QZK9Yo32ObNbjp1kjBSQUn... We have some incredible contestants on Wheel of Fortune. Take a look at our top five most amazing solves!Subscribe to Wheel of Fortune for exclusive content:... Learn about the normal distribution and how the value of the mean and standard deviation affect it, and learn about the 68-95-99.7 rule.Table of Contents0:00...

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