TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – Because of injuries that both the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks have suffered on the defensive end and because the teams have explosive offenses, experts are expecting a wild shoot-out Sunday when these two teams meet in an empty CenturyLink Field in Seattle. Most of the experts I have read figure the score to be about 35-30. The over-under is 55.5 when I last looked. When you can’t press the quarterback, the scoreboard explodes. The Hawks have not shown they can pressure the opposing quarterback in its first two games. They have won both games because quarterback Russell Wilson is playing out of his tree. So I can see them giving up at least 30 points. And I can see them scoring at least that many. It seems to me that it’s always something with the Hawks. It was for a while a bad offensive line and then average receivers and then injuries to running backs that kept them from advancing far in the playoffs. Now it’s a pass rush that is below average, and that is being kind. If an opposing quarterback – Dak Prescott this week – can sit back in the pocket, pick his nose, eat his lunch, check his phone for messages before he passes the ball to a wide-open receiver there is something drastically wrong. So if you like wide-open scoring, tune in Sunday at 1:20 p.m. to get your fix. I figure the score will be 50-49, and you pick ‘em. … So the Pac-12 joins the Big Ten and reverses course and now will play football this fall. The first set of seven conference games is set for Nov. 6. Washington’s opponent has yet to be announced. The conference will set schedules next week. I honestly don’t know what to expect. And you shouldn’t either. Washington has a new coach in Jimmy Lake and a new offensive coordinator in John Donovan. The Huskies will also be without two of their best defensive players –lineman Levi Onwuzurike and linebacker Joe Tryon – who declared for the NFL draft. They will also have a new quarterback. Competing for the starting job are Ethan Garbers, an incoming freshman, Jacob Sirmon, a redshirt sophomore, graduate student Kevin Thomson, who comes Sacramento State via Auburn Riverside High School, and Dylan Morris, a redshirt freshman. So if you have a brand new QB and a brand new head coach, what should we expect from the Huskies? Historically, not much. It’s tough to put those two things together and expect great things. Not that they could not happen. Just that history tells us it’s rare. But then everything about football in 2020 is crazy, so who really knows? It will be fun to watch football, though. I just hope the virus doesn’t win in the end. I don’t know the odds of that, but let’s cross our fingers and plan for the best. .. I find it enjoyable watching women’s pro basketball, especially the Seattle Storm. They are one-win away from advancing to the WNBA finals. They play their third game in a best-of-five series against Minnesota Sunday at noon. Seattle has beaten the Minnesota Lynx eight straight games. The Storm was led Thursday to an 89-79 win over the Lynx by 5-10 guard Jewell Lloyd, who is unbelievable. Lloyd is averaging over 70 percent shooting from the field. They are not easy shots, either. She has nailed 14 of 19 three-point shots in the playoffs and is averaging 22.5 points a game. The Storm is a deeply talented team that plays quick and a bit ragged at times, but, man, can they score in a hurry. It’s fun to see. Okay, that’s it for today.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.