Tom Brady

Thursday Night Football is a sad occasion due to the mess that it tends to be with the short rest and the lack of practice time dulling any sharpness. Last night was very bad.

There are a lot of reasons why Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are in trouble. There are a lot of schematic things that experts can draw out, the miscommunication he and his receiver seem to can't escape, the throws he's not making anymore, or the additional hits and pressure he's taking. For someone who knows more about football and the NFL, that is all I have to say. Everyone can see that the experience is sad.

I'm not sure if the shock for all of us is that Brady can feel human emotion at all, instead of pantomiming what other people do, which is what I and most everyone else assumed. Brady has had everything he could have ever wanted professionally or personally, and this isn't meant to make him feel bad. Money can't buy everything. If all the rumors are true, we have been there. When a break up coincides with another part of one's life falling apart, it's the worst. That is his professional one. He was the major pillar of his life and his family was close to one. He was faking it. Something is collapsing either way.

The Seattle winter is cold and dark, but not so bad that it can break someone, and Brady and the rest of the team just have to carry it. Every throw that lands at a receiver's ankle on the bounce, every sack he takes, every pass that is almost picked off, could be soundtracked by Joy Division. It has become more than just a chore for some people. They are forced to go through it because no one is happy with it.

It's spread beyond Brady. Brady is going to let the cameras know who he thinks was to blame for the drive that ended in a field goal, because no one is going to blame him. The defense is tired of carrying an offense that can't rouse them from their sleep. The coaches don't know what to do.

It would be difficult to watch if it wasn't for Brady. The smile on Brady's face was plastered all over our TVs and websites as he acted as if he was impervious to anything. Someone who looked impenetrable break was refreshing.

The thing looks like it is 300 pounds to carry. It is sluggish and it is joyless. They don't run as fast as they used to. They are just watching the rest of the league and world from a different place than they can access.

It's possible that when Brady did living above what plagues every other human, when it actually hits, it hits like a sledgehammer. Everyone with you, that's it. They are sad.

Connor McDavid plays with his food

It isn't that big of an accomplishment to rack up a hat trick against the Hawks, no matter how spiky they've been in the beginning of the season. The second goal was good.

You have to give him something of a gap if you want him to go around you for a tour of the net. He is the only player on Earth capable of picking that corner.

McDavid is the only player who can do that.

You can pick up your soul at Palace Grill. McDavid deposits that shot five-hole with the same precision and lack of emotion that you and I pick off the cookies in the store. Hopefully, he won't be going through a public divorce of his own when he's older.