Today’s Coping With Loss article is unique in a number of ways.
One, it’s the seventh one I’ve done this season — I’ve never done more than five. Two, it’s coming on a Saturday; I don’t think I’ve ever posted one of these on a Saturday before. And three, it’s following a Thursday night loss, which I don’t think I’ve experienced since I started writing for the Pulpit.
Which makes this one triply un-fun to write.
No more Thursday night games. On the plus side, that’s that for Thursday Night Football. I fully acknowledge that this point is a complete cop-out by me, as the Pats/Rams game marked the first TNF game I watched all season, so it’s not like I was forced to watch any of the others. It’s already clear that I have watched virtually zero non-Patriots football this season, so I’m kind of reaching here. But seeing as how I’m not 10 positive points beyond what I’ve done in the past with these articles, I don’t have much choice but to reach.
Josh Uche and Adam Butler. Adam Butler is becoming an absolute force along the defensive line, and Josh Uche has had a nice second half of his rookie season. No matter the score, these two remain a bright spot week in and week out, and since it’s all about individual players from here on out, I’m looking forward to watching both.
N’Keal Harry. I thought he deserved his own bullet point here, as I get the feeling that there might possibly be a few people out there who are a little down on Harry’s production thus far in his career. N’Keal Harry had a very good game on Thursday night, as a route runner and as a receiver. Does it mean he’s turned some kind of corner? Possibly. I don’t want to make that kind of speculation based on one good game. But this is the first time I’ve even thought about putting Harry on here, and that has to count for something.
Now we can all relax. Season over. Playoff chances gone. I know that technically the Patriots are still in the hunt, but the number of things that need to happen in order for them to get a Wild Card spot at 9-7 isn’t even worth breaking down here. And with the postseason off the table, we all get to start relaxing a little earlier than usual. I wrote in my last Coping With Loss article of 2019 that I was kind of looking forward to just enjoying the playoffs and not spending the entire month of January stressing over the playoffs. I can now apply that to the month of December
Weekend off. I have watched maybe a combined 27 minutes of non-Patriots football this season, and with the game already out of the way I don’t have to turn the NFL on at all this weekend. In normal years, I’d be going out somewhere and doing something productive, like drinking alone at a bar, but this year I’m not sure what I’ll be doing this Sunday. I just know it won’t be watching football at all, and that’s pretty nice.