Behind the Line

This week in our What's Real/What's Fake segment:

 

Has Dak Prescott played his final game for the Dallas Cowboys?

 

Are Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns a playoff team?

 

Did Kyle Shanahan bench Jimmy Garoppolo to protect him?

 

Did Derek Carr silence his critics with that upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs?

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was on ESPN's NBA Countdown earlier this week...and he was asked about the NBA's approach to social justice politics heading into next season. Silver explained that the league was removing Black Lives Matter from the court...removing messages from player's jerseys...and insinuated the political propaganda would need to be an off the court issue.

We were pleasantly surprised by his answer. Someone in a leadership position in the NBA is finally admitting that the infusion of politics into the league has been unpopular. The question is...is it too little too late?

We explain why the damage has already been done to the NBA...and that removing politics heading into next season won't be enough to regain the millions of viewers they've lost. It's likely the NBA won't recover until LeBron James retires.

We're only four weeks into the 2020 NFL regular season...and we already have four head coaches on the hot seat. A couple of them are at real risk of not even making it through the season.

We take a look at the four coaches who are facing unemployment...and explain how they got into their situations. We determine which coaches will make it through this season...and which are likely to be fired during the season.

The 2020 NBA Finals...led by LeBron James chasing his fourth title...has been a complete disaster. The lowest viewed NBA Finals games in NBA history were Games 1, 2, and 3 of this series. I thought LeBron James was the NBA's biggest draw...?

The typical sports media continues to do everything they can to deflect the public from the poor NBA ratings by making excuses for the league. We prove why these excuses are invalid and aren't the reason for the NBA's decline in popularity.

We also explain who will eventually be the fall guy for the NBA decline...and how he could lose his job over the NBA's embrace of social justice politics.

The Houston Texans finally had enough of the incompetence...and made the decision to fire head coach Bill O'Brien Monday afternoon. Although the timing is a bit strange...we explain why firing O'Brien was the right move for the Texans.

Where do the Texans go from here? Will they be able to attractive a big-name NFL head coach? Is Deshaun Watson enough to make the Texans an attractive job? We answer these questions...and explain why the Texans may have to pursue a younger coach to come in and clean up the mess left by Bill O'Brien.

The Dallas Cowboys have many problems...but one of the problems being overlooked right now is Dak Prescott. The media and Dak fan boys are covering up for Dak because of the record stats he's putting up. We explain once again why Dak Prescott is fools gold...and is a key part of the problem with Dallas.

Minshew Mania has continued in 2020. The question is...why? We ask why there's so much hype once again surrounding a quarterback who's accomplished nothing at the NFL level.

Matt Patricia will be the fall guy in Detroit...but is Matt Stafford also part of the problem? We explain why Stafford isn't blameless for the Lions 1-3 start...and how this could possibly be his last season in Detroit.

Also...fear spread over the weekend that the NFL season could possibly be canceled due to the minor COVID outbreak. We dispel this notion...and explain why a Superbowl winner will be crowned in February.

Last week...we predicted on this channel that this year's NBA Finals would be the least watched in the history of the NBA. The ratings for Game 1 Thursday night came in over the weekend...and it was ugly for LeBron James and the NBA.

Clearly the majority of America doesn't care about the NBA right now. The league's embrace of social and racial politics has turned off millions of people.

However...ratings for the NFL have rebounded since Week 1. Though NFL ratings are down five percent this year...there have been several games that were up double digits.

We explain why the NFL is in better shape right now than the NBA. We go into a major advantage the NFL has over the NBA...relatable players. Players the American public support. Currently...the NBA has no superstar players that the majority of Americans like. Quite the opposite...the NBA is full of players Americans don't like.

The question is...will the NBA recover?

There have been endless discussions the past 2-3 months about whether or not the 2020 NBA Champions will have an asterisk by their title. This year's NBA season and playoffs have been far from normal...with television ratings and the popularity of the league reaching all-time lows.That being said...if the Los Angeles Lakers win the title this year...will LeBron James and Anthony Davis have an asterisk by their championship? We analyze recent comments made by Scottie Pippen...and explain how the basketball in the bubble isn't the equivalent to NBA basketball. Even though the playoffs have been competitive for the most part...will the majority of people consider the NBA Finals winner a real champion?

When you have a collapse as monumental as the Los Angeles Clippers...someone has to be the fall guy and take the blame. That someone was Doc Rivers...as he was fired earlier this week by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.Was Doc Rivers to blame for the Clippers collapse? Did he deserve to get fired? We look into both of those questions...and explain who shares the bulk of the blame for the Clippers early playoff exit. We also look into where Doc Rivers could be coaching next season.

Sam Darnold and the New York Jets are off to an 0-3 start...and the conversation is re-emerging as to whether or not he's a bust. Some Jets fans are already talking about the team tanking the season to draft Trevor Lawrence next year.We explain why it can't be determined right now whether Sam Darnold is a bust...because he is a victim of his circumstances. We make a comparison to another NFL quarterback who was thought to be a bust early in his career...and ended up revitalizing it.