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When it comes to calling the action, there have been legends like Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, but is Michael Cole the greatest of all time?
Michael Cole has been part of WWE since 1997. He worked as a backstage announcer and more-so at the commentary table. During that time, some of the best of called the action. That includes Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Corey Graves, Booker T, Wade Barrett, and many more. Lately, he has been paired with Pat McAfee and they have great chemistry that is purely organic. He has been the butt of jokes and taking some beatings. He worked as a face for the most part, while also being heel and scoring a win at WrestleMania.
WWE is always looking to change-up to the announce team. They like to add veterans, like Cole, with some of the newer faces still looking for their foundation. That could be said NXT commentator Vic Joseph. While speaking to TV Insider, Vic praised Cole as the best.
Absorbing Everything From The Veteran
“Michael Cole is the greatest of all time,” said Vic. “I’ll say it again. He is the greatest of all time. I’ve learned so much from him. Here’s the thing about Michael Cole. He doesn’t want me to be Michael Cole. He doesn’t want Corey Graves to be Michael Cole. We all have our own distinct voices. It’s how you as a listener hear it. I will take as much as I can from Michael Cole and Corey Graves, for that matter, and mold it into my own. Then hopefully get to their level.”
There is no denying Cole has evolved to be one of the greats. The greatest of all time seems like a stretch. That honor should either go to Jim Ross, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan or Lord Alfred Hayes. I am wondering what will be next for Cole. He works nonstop and will eventually need to step aside and let someone else take his spot just like Ross did.
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Andy Reid’s main flaw will cost Chiefs a trip to the playoffs
The Kansas City Chiefs' postseason aspirations suffered a massive blow after losing to the Dallas Cowboys 31-28 on Thursday. The loss dropped the reigning AFC champions to 6-6 on the season, leaving them with virtually no margin for error. The officiating made numerous questionable calls that may have favored Jerry Jones' team. However, the lack of discipline and numerous penalties have been a hallmark of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid's teams for years. Chiefs' lack of discipline will cost them a playoff spot Per OPTA Stats, the Chiefs committed five pass interference penalties in the second half alone, four of them on defense. That's the most PI penalties by any NFL team in the second half of a game in the past 35 years. When asked about it, Reid said they needed to be better in that regard, something he's said at least a dozen times this season. Then, he actually stood by the way his players tried to cover wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens: "I'm not always going to agree with the calls, but the calls were made," Reid said, per Charles Goldman. "They've got some big physical receivers, and my guys were fighting. You've got to stay aggressive against those guys. That's the way you do it." Granted, some of the calls were terrible, but this has been a frequent talking point with the Chiefs. Even if he actually agrees with the defensive players' approach to covering those two guys — which clearly didn't work, as they combined for 200 yards and one score — the lack of adjustments and accountability will ultimately doom this team this season.
Jerry Jones claims Jets turned down absurd trade offer involving Micah Parsons, Quinnen Williams
Patrick Mahomes has blunt take on Chiefs' disappointing season
The Kansas City Chiefs couldn't secure the win on Thanksgiving, dropping to 6-6 for the season after a 31-28 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys. All of Kansas City's losses have been by just one possession, and they might not even make the playoffs now. Thursday's loss followed an epic 23-20 overtime comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Every time it looks like the Chiefs will get back on track, they take a couple of steps back. That's why, even though he still believes in this team, quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a pretty blunt way of describing how the season has gone for Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes calls out the Chiefs' inconsistency “Our ceiling is playing in the Super Bowl," Mahomes said, per Marleah Campbell of KCTV. "We can beat anybody, but we’ve shown that we can lose to anybody.” Mahomes was the only bright spot for Andy Reid's team in the loss. He completed 66.7% of his passes for 261 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, and kept extending plays and making things happen behind a banged-up and inefficient offensive line. Kansas City's playoff hopes are alive for now, but it can't afford any mistakes from now on. They will face the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos at home, and they have road games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans. Of course, facing the best defenses in the game and three divisional rivals is far from ideal, but there won't be a better way to prove that the Chiefs' dynasty is far from over.
Eagles' grip on NFC East suddenly in danger of slipping away amid spiral, Cowboys' resurgence
Life comes at you fast in the NFL, and the Philadelphia Eagles are finding that out right now. Now they are in a position where what looked to be a runaway lead in the NFC East is rapidly shrinking, and it could be in danger of completely slipping away after an ugly 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears on Friday. Especially after the Dallas Cowboys won again on Thursday, continuing to narrow the gap in the division. Could the Eagles actually lose the division? The odds are still in the Eagles' favor, but given the way both teams are playing right now, nothing should be considered a given. Dallas has rapidly become one of the hottest teams in the NFL with three consecutive wins, and boasts one of the league's best offenses. The Cowboys' much-maligned defense has also been given a massive boost thanks to the trade-deadline addition of defensive lineman Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets. Dallas really started to get some belief for itself when it rallied to beat the Eagles in a massive NFC East game a week ago. It continued on Thanksgiving with another big win over the Kansas City Chiefs. With Philadelphia's loss on Friday, the gap in the division is now down to just a game-and-a-half with five weeks to go in the season. Hardly insurmountable. Are the Eagles still in the driver's seat? Sure. Would they trade positions with the Cowboys right now? No way. But that doesn't mean anybody in Philadelphia has to be feeling good about any of this given the way the Eagles are playing. Especially when it comes to the team's offense. The Eagles offense has been a struggle for much of the season, and it is getting progressively worse with each game. The passing game has been non-existent. They entered play on Friday with the 23rd-ranked passing offense in the league, and it looked worse than that against the Bears. Quarterback Jalen Hurts has struggled with consistency, the team's best wide receiver — A.J. Brown — seems perpetually miserable with his role and usage, and the play-calling has become shockingly conservative and bland. The running game that carried the Eagles to the Super Bowl a year ago has struggled to build any sort of a rhythm, and Saquon Barkley has been a shell of what he was last season. Even worse, they have almost completely eliminated any designed runs for Hurts, something that was a major X-factor for the offense in recent years. If all of that is not concerning enough, a new issue emerged on Friday — the defense that has helped keep the Eagles afloat this season and lift up the inconsistent offense was completely dominated by the Bears' running game. They were pushed around, bullied and could not get off the field on important third downs. It just looks like a team that has no confidence and nothing going for it. Conversely, the Cowboys all of a sudden look like a team that can do nothing wrong and they are suddenly breathing right down the Eagles' necks. Philadelphia still has games against the Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders (twice) remaining. The Cowboys still have the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Chargers, Commanders and New York Giants. The schedules are pretty similar. But the division might not come down to the opponents. It might come down to what the Eagles and Cowboys can do on their own. The Cowboys should be very confident right now, and the Eagles should not be.
High marks on Chicago Bears report card for brutal physicality
After Ben Johnson had put his shirt back on and the media got into the Bears locker room on Friday, defensive back C.J. Gardner Johnson was asked about the significance of beating his old team, the Philadelphia Eagles. He felt closure, after two stints playing for the Eagles, including a world's championship last year. "We could finally close the chapter on something," Gardner-Johnson said. On a broader scale, it said something for the team. "It's hard to get wins in this league, and to win in a stadium like this against the defending champs it just shows you that you have a lot of confidence in your teammates and this team has a lot of confidence in each other," Gardner-Johnson said. The confident Bears seem to have caught the rapid elevator up, to have gone from a Matt Eberflus-induced 10-game losing streak to a point where their coach is stripping for the internet after wins so people get free hot dogs. There was very little in between, but of such meteoric rises storybook seasons are made. It's easy to find such rags-to-riches tales and but most don't end in a Super Bowl. It usually takes a year or two to build it, but Johnson has a team missing key defensive players at four starting positions still playing well enough to reduce the defending champions to rubble and send their fans scurrying for the exit as they booed. As Gardner-Johnson said, they're playing with the confidence they need to do such things. He saw it up close only a year earlier when he won a ring. Here are the grades for a game when the Bears left no doubt they could bully even the biggest bullies with the best of them. Running game: A+ They don't make a grade high enough for this. If all they did was produce 39:18 of possession time to keep the Eagles' offense off the field it would have been sufficient, but they not only held the ball, they stuffed it into the end zone. Starting Ozzy Trapilo at left tackle didn't prove a problem at all after their run blocking had slowed in his first start against Pittsburgh. Kyle Monangai and D'Andre Swift both ran hard off the edge of the wall in the zone blocking scheme and sometimes didn't get touched until they made it 10 yards downfield. This was definitely not cute or fancy. It was one big punch to the nose after the other and the much acclaimed Eagles defensive line couldn't take it. Passing game: C+ When your running game dominated so thoroughly, it should be much easier to efficiently run the play-action passing game but the Bears looked wonky. It wasn't all on Williams, although he did throw one of the worst passes since Garo Yepremian turned from kicker to Bob Griese wannabe in Super Bowl VII. He also missed on an easy touchdown throw to Rome Odunze at the goal line. The intercepted screen pass very nearly wrecked the game. Receivers kept falling when Williams did deliver a good ball. Despite the terrible 56.9 passer rating, he made the one throw that counted most perfectly despite a bad wind, and that was the 28-yard TD to Cole Kmet. Run defense: A- They reduced Saquon Barkley and his spinning backward leaps to a distant memory with an inconsequential 56 yards. Jalen Hurts' running resulted in one 23-yard scramble and a tush push that ended without the ball in his hands. Cornerback Nahshon Wright struck a blow for those who hate the wretched play across the NFL by stealing it right out of Hurts' hands. Philly fans cried about forward motion being stopped. All football allows for second effort by the runner. They've been doing it for several years with their ugly, unwanted tush push play and no one in Philly complained then. You can't have it both ways, but if it makes them feel better, they'll like it next year when the play is finally and decisively banned. Pass defense: A- Their only real flaws came on Gervon Dexter's stupid play and also, as it has several times this season, after punter Tory Taylor pinned the Eagles back at their own 8-yard line. For some reason, they seem to let up in coverage with an opponent pinned deep. They gave up four quick first downs and a touchdown in five plays. The other Eagles' TD was more an act of playing soft zone and letting them eat half the remaining time off the clock while fans exited. Jaylon Johnson had a few plays where the rust was there and Nashon Wright got victimized for the 33-yard TD to A.J. Brown when he was in perfect coverage to knock it down, much like on a few other TDs he allowed this year. What the secondary did as well as they have all year was rally to the ball and make sure any gain didn't come with yards after catch. Special teams: A- It wasn't the Bears but the Eagles missing two kicks, including a critical extra point, and also a two-point conversion that they stupidly attempted at the wrong point based on a completely incorrect algorithm found somewhere out in cyberspace. You make it a one-score game when three minutes remain. Give Philly's Nick Sirianni the dunce cap. Cairo Santos got away with another low kick to the corner that reached the end zone and resulted in a touchback to the 20. Five straight times in the second half Eagles possessions after kicked footballs resulted in field position inside their own 28, and that's coverage with today's messed-up kicking rules in the NFL. Coaching: A+ The only weakness Vic Fangio's Eagles scheme has is if the opponent runs it on them and is patient enough and successful enough doing it to expose their desire to play back in a shell pass coverage. The Bears really didn't take advantage of a lot of underneath pass routes opening but their running game plan couldn't have worked better. And Ben Johnson had the mindset to stick with it when it was working. Dennis Allen loses another cornerback and merely moves Nahshon Wright over, then expertly blended in two players who have been out for weeks. He somehow has practice squad linebacker D'Marco Jackson and special teamer Amen Ogbongbemiga playing like Pro Bowl candidates wit Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Noah Sewell and Ruben Hyppolite II all out injured. Putting that kind of game plan together in a work week shortened by a few days didn't seem to be a problem for anyone on the coaching staff. Overall: A To the late-arrivals from national media, this seemed like it would be the ultimate test for what the Bears are capable of but playing two games in three weeks in December against the Packers always was going to be more significant. Yet, the Bears have risen to every challenge to this point, so only a fool would doubt them capable of beating the Packers.
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