Weekly Takes - Monday, November 20th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, November 20th Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs comeback win against the Red Wings on Friday…

1. William Nylander

2. Tyler Bertuzzi

3. John Tavares

A dominant performance from the Leafs second line, with Bertuzzi having his coming-out party.

It turns out the Bertuzzi and Max Domi signings were not so bad after all.

2. My three stars from the Leafs overtime win over the Wild on Sunday…

1. Nylander

2. Morgan Reilly

3. Auston Matthews

An ugly win for the Leafs, who did not play well at all, outside of a 10-minute span in the first period, but when you have superstars on your team, you can overcome that.

Nylander is a superstar.

3. Ken Dorsey is a great offensive coordinator who helped propel the Bills to the top of the NFL in terms of efficiency at moving the football.

His firing is a scapegoat firing. A new offensive coordinator cannot fix the turnover issues. The only ones who can do that are the players, who should all feel awful that they cost Dorsey his job.

4. The Bengals should be stripped of, at worst, a day-two pick for not disclosing Joe Burrow’s wrist injury.

You cannot shove gambling down everyone’s throats only to let the Bengals away with a decision that ended up costing a lot of people their hard-earned money.

If it ends up being a first-round pick that they lose, then so be it.

5. It is tough not to be completely out on Kenny Pickett if you are the Steelers.

A loaded roster, outside of the centre position, yet they are 6-4 and a coin flip to make the playoffs, despite half the starting quarterbacks in their division being done for the season.

A lot of blame deserves to go to Matt Canada, of course (it is embarrassing how disorganized Pittsburgh looked on offence against the Browns), but Pickett, outside of being clutch in the fourth quarter and being able to protect the football, has done nothing to show that his ceiling is high enough to take Pittsburgh into Super Bowl contention.

I fully expect the Steelers to double down on Pickett through at least the 2024 season, but that would be a mistake, with their star defensive players not getting any younger.

In a great quarterback draft class, the Steelers should seriously consider making a move. Or perhaps look at Justin Herbert or Kyler Murray, should either become available.

That would vault them into Super Bowl contention.

6. My Week 12 NFL Picks, after going 7-6 in Week 11.

• Packers (+7.5)

• Commanders (+11)

• 49ers (-6.5)

• Dolphins (-7)

• Giants (+3.5)

• Colts (-1.5)

• Saints (+1)

• Titans (-3.5)

• Steelers (+5.5)

• Jaguars (+1)

• Cardinals (+1.5)

• Broncos (-1.5)

• Kansas City (-9)

• Bills (+3.5)

• Ravens (-4)

• Vikings (-3)

On the season, I am now 79-78, with MNF still pending.

7. The Caleb Williams hype has stalled out and rightfully so after a tough finish to his college career, but that does not change the fact that he is the most talented quarterback to come out since Patrick Mahomes.

His situation at USC, with an overrated head coach and awful defence, did not exactly set him up for much success.

I am still buying the Williams stock.