Weekly Takes - Monday, December 5 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, December 5 Edition

1. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Red Wings on Monday…

1. Matt Murray

2. Mitch Marner

3. Auston Matthews

One of their more uglier wins of the season, but not every win needs to be pretty. Goaltending was the difference in this one as Murray continues to excel.

2. My three stars from the Leafs win over the Sharks on Wednesday…

1. Marner

2. Ilya Samsonov

3. William Nylander

Another game where they were not at their best, but a win is a win. It was quite cool to see Marner tie the point streak record and it was even cooler to see how Matthews reacted to it.

Do you think he does not care about his and his teammates’ legacy here?

3. My three stars from the Leafs loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday…

1. Marner

2. Mark Giordano

3. Matthews

The Leafs were the better team at even strength, on the power play, and on the penalty kill, but still lost. That happens, more so when the officials gift Tampa one power play after another in the third period while not calling Victor Hedman’s hold on John Tavares late in the game.

An impressive performance for the Leafs, on the road against an elite team without their top pairing. No question in my mind the Leafs are the better team.

4. Jacob deGrom, if he somehow manages to stay healthy, makes the Texas Rangers a way better baseball team.

But their ceiling is still third place in the AL West. And the contract comes with an absurd amount of risk.

Chalk this one up to “the risk does not meet the reward.”

5. They have had red flags all season long, but make no mistake about it any longer: The Bengals are a Super Bowl-contending team.

Joe Burrow is every bit as good as any quarterback in the NFL.

6. Not that there was any doubt before, but Kyle Shanahan is the best offensive head coach in football.

The 49ers played pretty much the entire game with their third-string quarterback, yet it never felt as though the Dolphins were going to stop their offence.

They are so good.

7. My Week 14 NFL Picks…

• Raiders (-5)

• Cowboys (-15.5)

• Browns (+4.5)

• Jets (+9.5)

• Giants (+6.5)

• Titans (-3.5)

• Vikings (-1)

• Steelers (+4)

• Kansas City (-8.5)

• Seahawks (-6)

• Bucs (+6.5)

• Dolphins (-1.5)

• Cardinals (+1.5)

I went 4-10 in Week 13, with MNF still pending. On the season, I am 88-99.

8. The committee got it right regarding the four College Football Playoff teams, but that does not mean the Playoff will be all that interesting leading up to the National Championship Game.

It is a virtual lock to be Georgia versus Michigan.

9. My takeaway from Canada’s loss to Morocco on Thursday…

• A solid, worthy performance from the Canadian side – their second of the tournament — but their inability to turn great opportunities into great chances was the story yet again. For all the talk about Canada’s backline, their midfield will need to see drastic improvements as they head into the next cycle.

To 2026 we go.