Cosmic Charlie, how do you do?

Week 2! TNF

Sep 14, 2023

This Eagles Fan was at the Linc at 4:30AM (16hrs before kickoff).

For those that don’t know, he’s tailgating in The South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which consists of several major sports venues, including:

Lincoln Financial Field (home to the Philadelphia Eagles, NFL)
Citizens Bank Park (home to the Philadelphia Phillies, MLB)
Wells Fargo Center (home to the Philadelphia 76ers, NBA, and the Philadelphia Flyers, NHL)

Also in the parking lot is Xfinity Live!, a five restaurant and entertainment venue.

XFINITY Live! is a joint partnership between Philadelphia-based Comcast-Spectacor and Baltimore-based The Cordish Companies.

The Cordish Company was founded by a a cigar manufacturer, Louis Cordish in 1910.

The tradition of cigar celebrations in the NFL can be traced back to the early days of the league.

Chuck Bednarik smoked a cigar and a cigarette after defeating Vince Lombardi's Packers in the 1960 NFL Championship

Bednarik, nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was a first round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1949 NFL Draft and is ranked one of the hardest hitting tacklers in NFL history and was one of the league's last two-way players.

Bednarik's legal and brutal tackle on Gifford is often considered one of the NFL's hardest hit. It left Gifford unconscious, requiring hospitalization for ten days. This forced his NFL retirement, but he made a brief comeback in 1962 before retiring for good in 1964 after a year and a half of recovery.

Numbers

2: Matthew Stafford "possibly" will be on season two of Quarterback, if there is one.

1: NFL officials told Dan Campbell that St. Brown was one pump away from a flag.

218: Warrick Dunn Charities has now built 218 homes for single parent/low income families.

36: The Steelers offense has now gone 36 straight games under OC Matt Canada without gaining at least 400 yards of offense. There have been 269 instances since 2021 where an offense has gained at least 400 yards in a game. But again, ZERO by the Steelers during that span.

4 [TRIVIA]: Since 2018, Justin Fields is one of 4 QBs that had an avg time to throw of above 3.21 seconds, and an ADOT of 5 yards or lower in a single game. Who are the other3 QBs?

Quotes

“I know I’m in Tampa but I’m a Texas Rangers fan, not a Houston Astros fan. So we’re not going to condone that.”

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield on if he picked up signals from the Vikings

“There's no control over Stefon Diggs...He's going to do what he wants to do...He'll look in my face and say F-you, it's how he treats everybody."

Bills reporter caught on hot mic shit talking Stefon Diggs

"That's what Tutu had been doing going months back."

Coach Sean McVay on WR Tutu Atwell

"Shoot, if he wants a headset he can have one."

Robert Saleh on Aaron Rodgers

“Low-key mid.”

Kyle Hamilton on the Ravens’ playoff loss to Cincinnati last season

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Picks

Thursday, 9/14 @ 8:15pm

Vikings (+6.5) at Eagles (Amazon Prime)

In 2022, the Vikings had an incredibly fortunate season, winning 11 out of 11 close games, which is much better than the average NFL team's expected .500 win percentage in such games. This stroke of luck added nearly 5.5 wins to their season, helping them achieve a 13-4 record and secure a playoff spot. They also had good luck with injuries, ranking fourth in that regard.

However, their luck seems to have turned in the current season. Despite outgaining the Baker Mayfield-led Buccaneers by 159 yards in total offense, the Vikings lost to them by three points. They had a -3 turnover differential, with two of those turnovers happening inside the Bucs' 30-yard line. The other turnover gave the Bucs a short field, even though they didn't gain a single yard on that drive but managed to score three points. This loss was the Vikings' first one-score defeat since 2021, and they were unlucky not to win it.

In contrast, the Eagles had a stroke of luck in Week 1, being the luckiest team according to Action’s Luck Rankings. Their defense scored a Pick-6 on the opening drive and recovered a fumble on the Patriots' second drive. Despite being outgained by 152 yards, the Eagles held on for the win. They are undoubtedly a strong team, but the market might overreact to their Week 1 victory and the Vikings' loss.

This Week 2 matchup is the most significant in terms of luck, with a Luck Difference of 27 and a Luck Gap of 133.5%. Historically, when a game has a Luck Difference of 24+ or a Luck Gap of 50%+, the unlucky team (in this case, Minnesota) has covered the spread 64% of the time since 2018, going 96-54-4.