By James Turange, author of “The Holiday Killer”

When free agency destroyed all the ‘team concept,’ I ceased watching professional baseball and the NBA. This was difficult for me at first. I was a very young teenager when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, followed soon by the Minneapolis Lakers.

I was never a Los Angeles Ram fan in those days. They had a history of losing to several teams consistently; they were boring. I became a Pittsburgh Steeler fan in the early 1970’s.

Football is a different game. Coaching is far more important in a game which is complicated on both offense and defense. If talent alone defined success, the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys would have won 10 Super Bowls each by the 1990’s. 

Nothing proves this more than the 2019 season.

Without a doubt Bill Belichick is the most corrupt coach in football today, but he is also the best. It matters little who is playing for him; he is able to get the best out of every player and the reason why he is the only head coach with six Super Bowl wins. The fact that he lost three Super Bowls with Brady as his quarterback is even more impressive. In those years his team was not the best in the league but he still managed to get them to the big game.

This year, after the second week, the NFL has become boring. New rules, combined with poor execution has been painful to watch. Add to this reality, aging quarterbacks, combined with injuries to the leaders of teams who have won prior Super Bowls have already reduced the number of possibilities for exciting games each week and the eventual Super Bowl competitors.

The Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, is lost for the season. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference; the coaching staff is the worst in the AFC. Drew Brees, probably the best quarterback ever to play in the NFL, is lost to the New Orleans Saints for at least six weeks. Both teams were expected to reach the playoffs this season.

I watched several games this weekend but only one kept me from falling asleep in my recliner, and that was because there is only one exciting player in the NFL today.

Patrick Mahomes is one of a kind. I am old enough to have watched Bobby Lane, “Slinging” Sammy Baugh, and Joe Namath play the game. Mahomes is unpredictable and the full extent of his talents remain to be seen. He is the most amazing quarterback in modern history and appears to be unstoppable. If he can remain free of serious injury, he will become the greatest of all time.

The Kansas City Chiefs are talented; but not great. Mahomes and his coach, Andy Reid, are able to get 100 percent from every player on the team.

I may not watch many games this season. The Steelers will likely end 2019 with a record of 3 and 13. New Orleans is unlikely to make the playoffs. Teams which are demonstrating a lack of ability to have a winning season include the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Arizona Cardinals, the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants, the Miami Dolphins, the Tennessee Titans, the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets, the Washington Redskins, and the Chicago Bears. That is 10 out of 32 teams which have already shown NFL fans that they are incapable of winning consistently in the toughest game in professional sports.

Therefore, when the Chiefs and Mahomes are televised, I will watch the game. I doubt that I will watch many others. The competition level is very weak.

“The truth lives here.”

Op-ed by James Turnage

My seven novels are available on Amazon’s free Kindle app; CLICK HERE