Situational football would dictate that, holding a 28-12 lead with just under 10 minutes left to play, you run the dang ball.

Moving the ball on the ground, or even trying to, takes precious time off the clock. In this particular situation, it would have kept Tom Brady off the field, limiting his ability to do what Tom Brady does to devastate his opponents.

Nick Saban, a former Belichick assistant, is Alabama’s head coach and helps oversee the defense. Brian Daboll was hired as Alabama’s new OC after Steve Sarkisian took the Atlanta Falcons OC job (another connection) after last year’s national championship game. So yep, Daboll was on New England’s sidelines during the comeback last year.

Jerry Richardson, a cornerstone of the league since being awarded an expansion team for the Carolinas in 1993, would likely have been forced out in this #MeToo American climate anyway after a damning Sports Illustrated investigation accused him of sordid sexual fetishes and payoffs to employees in the organization who had been the alleged victims of Richardson’s workplace misconduct.

Much more about that later. But one little nugget before we get back to this crazy game, and these crazy plays at the end of the game: It is not certain—at all—that the league will rest and drop the investigation into Richardson. Given the seriousness of the allegations, that’s wise.

There is no logical segue from one of the most powerful men in pro football, in apparent shame, suddenly putting his team on the market to one of the most dramatic games in years. So we’ll just start with a dreary, great, dramatic, heartbreaking, the-fix-was-in, what-is-a-catch, receiver-did-not-survive-the-ground, wonderful, inspirational afternoon at the confluence of the Three Rivers.

It was a game in which the Steelers’ offense appeared to play directly to the strength of the Jaguars’ defense, while Roethlisberger had one of his worst performances as a pro, with five interceptions, two of which were pick-sixes. At the same time, the black-and-gold defense allowed Jags’ running back Leonard Fournette to break loose for 181 yards, with about half of those yards coming on a 90-yard, game-clinching TD run late in the fourth quarter.

Kamu Grugier-Hill, linebacker/punt-rusher, Philadelphia. With the Eagles surprisingly down 20-13 late in the first half against the woeful Giants, and Brad Wing back to punt for New York deep in his own territory, Grugier-Hill burst through the line over right guard and smothered the punt. Eagles ball, Giants’ 18. Three plays later, thanks to a Nick Foles touchdown pass, the Eagles took a 21-20 lead.