The Skolney Blog

PACKERS 33 VIKINGS 10 On Sunday afternoon, the woebegone Vikings caught a rare break. The Steelers pulled out a win up in Seattle. That result gave the Vikings back control of their playoff destiny.  And then the Vikings took this reprieve and handed it right back in a disgusting, insulting, shameful, and pretty much season ending blowout loss at home to the rival Packers in front of a national TV audience. One of the very worst performances I have ever witnessed. And I've been watching the Vikings since 1987. It was grotesque on an epic level. After Nick Mullens threw away the game last week, the decision was made to switch to rookie Jaren Hall for this game. I figured why not. How much worse can it be? I forgot that for the 2023 Vikings it can always be worse.  The first half of this game was a complete fiasco. The Vikings defense, which is somehow largely the same unit that spent about 2 months playing at a pretty high level, continued the collapse that began in the 2nd hal...

Thursday: BROWNS 37, JETS 20 The Joe Flacco hot streak continues, and the Browns clinched a playoff spot for just the 2nd time in 20 years.  Saturday: COWBOYS 20, LIONS 19 Did the Lions get screwed by that call at the end? Yes. Do I feel any sympathy whatsoever after hearing for the last week from asshole Lions fans that I should shut up about the horrible officiating in our game? Abso-fucking-lutely not. It's called karma, Lions fans (est. 2023). Drink it up.  Sunday: RAVENS 56, DOLPHINS 19 The Ravens emphatically took home field advantage, completely obliterating the Dolphins. If the Ravens of the last 2 weeks continue they will be in the super bowl without question.  BILLS 27, PATRIOTS 21 A bit of a slog for the Bills, but they won and set up a week 18 game in Miami for the division title  BEARS 37, FALCONS 17 The Bears late season surge continued in a snow game. Atlanta is somehow still alive for their division.  TEXANS 26, TITANS 3 Texans got CJ...

1993: Comedy sequels always get a bum rap. It's just assumed they will be inferior and so when they come out people just fall in line. Wayne's World 2 arrived less than 2 years after the original, which was a massive hit and to this day holds up as one of the funniest movies of the 90s. So the sequel came out and was instantly hated on and wasn't nearly as successful. Three decades later though the movie has achieved its own cult status as one of the best comedy sequels of all time.  WW2 is lighter on plot and higher on random absurdities than its predecessor. This time the main plot has Wayne trying to put on a giant concert festival. But we also have Garth getting into a relationship with femme fatale Kim Basinger. And Christopher Walken is a sleazy record exec trying to steal away Tia Carrere. This probably isn't quite as coherent or funny as the original, but it has huge laughs all over the place. Fun cameos (the Charlton Heston one is a classic). And go...

In theaters: NAPOLEON  Ridley Scott brings all his grand epic skills to this one. I really appreciate the production, and it has one battle sequence set on a frozen lake that is astounding. Joaquin Phoenix is very good in the lead. Vanessa Kirby is very good as Napoleon's wife. I liked the movie, but it definitely feels like a massively edited down film. And fittingly, Scott has said there is a 4 hour cut of the film that might get seen someday. I suspect that will be the superior version. GODZILLA MINUS ONE The absolute surprise of the year! I didn't even know this existed until just before it came out, and wasn't even interested in seeing it. I figured it was another man in suit movie. But I heard such good things and checked it out and holy shit was it excellent! I think it is without a doubt my favorite solo Godzilla movie. They really nail the grandeur of Godzilla, and the low budget fx work is pretty great. But the real key here is that this film does what none of the...

Thursday: RAMS 30, SAINTS 22 The Rams solidified their playoff position with a pretty easy win over the Saints in what amounted almost to a pseudo playoff game itself.  Saturday: STEELERS 34, BENGALS 11 A hugely surprising result, as the Steelers started Mason Rudolph and scored their most points in ages. A huge comedown for the Bengals after 3 big wins.  BILLS 24, CHARGERS 22 Got a little dicey, but the Bills got it done and kept alive the possibility of a week 18 showdown with Miami for the division title.  Sunday: PACKERS 33, PANTHERS 30 Could have used the pick me up here, where the lowly Panthers made a big 4th quarter comeback to tie the Packers up. But the cheeseheads escaped with a field goal at the gun, because why wouldn't they.  SEAHAWKS 20, TITANS 17 Thanks for nothing, Titans. We needed them to hold their late lead, but for the 2nd straight week Seattle got a last minute game winning TD drive, which moved them into the 7 seed.  FALCONS 2...

LIONS 30 VIKINGS 24 Like it could be any other way.  It took me a long time to catch on to what the 2023 Vikings season was always going to be. I kept thinking something, anything, could go right. I was a fool. That Bengals game broke my spirit, but it also gave me clarity. I knew now with a grim resignation that the season was doomed to fail.  So I entered US Bank Stadium for this Christmas Eve day game as devoid of hope as I have ever been. Given what a hellscape of a season this has been, how could we NOT suffer the indignity of having the Lions come in here and beat us (in excruciating fashion) to clinch their 1st division title since I was a high school freshman. Part of the reason for the complete abandonment of hope was how the defense completely imploded late in Cincinnati. And that ineptitude carried over to the start of this game, as the Lions took the opening drive right down the field, chewing up 75 yards and half the quarter for a 7-0 lead.  The Vikings offen...

Thursday: RAIDERS 63, CHARGERS 21 The axe came down on Brandon Staley's head after this embarrassing loss to the Raiders, who scored 63 more points (a franchise record) than they did 4 days earlier.  Saturday: COLTS 30, STEELERS 13 The fast fading Steelers got handled by the Colts, who keep pace in the south. Could this be the final days for Mike Tomlin?  LIONS 42, BRONCOS 17 That's just great. So nice of the Broncos to choose this game to revert to early season form. I swear, that Lions playoff loss is gonna taste like premium prime rib.  Sunday: BUCCANEERS 34, PACKERS 20 Exxxxxcellent! Baker Mayfield played one of the best games of his career, lighting up Lambeau. Massive loss for the Packers playoff hopes. Tampa stays atop the south.  BROWNS 20, BEARS 17 Joe Flacco had a rough start with several picks, but then he got all elite in the 4th quarter and led a big comeback. The Bears had a shot with a hail mary at the end but it was dropped.  PANTHERS...

BENGALS 27 VIKINGS 24 OT Yeah I don't think I can do this anymore. I've tried to maintain a positive, optimistic outlook throughout this 2023 season from hell that the Vikings (and Vikings fans) have endured. Call it defiance, delusion, or whatever. I have refused to give up. Well I give up. The 2023 season from hell is never going to stop torturing us. Torturing us with bad luck. Torturing us with the tease of what this season could have and should have been. Never was this more clear than on Saturday afternoon, where the Vikings controlled most of the game against the Bengals, only to implode so thoroughly that this feels like the moment the season became unsaveable. The Vikings started Nick Mullens, their record 4th starting QB on the season, and the early returns were good. He led a touchdown drive right away, a score by Ty Chandler (starting for the injured Alexander Mattison). The Vikings defense let Jake Browning lead an opening field goal drive, but otherwise was shutti...

Thursday: PATRIOTS 21, STEELERS 18 A 2nd straight disastrous home loss for the Steelers, who have probably sacrificed any chance to make the playoffs. Sunday: BEARS 28, LIONS 13 The frauds got exposed yet again, and this time the Bears didn't give it all away at the end. Honestly at this point in time Chicago is the better team.  RAVENS 37, RAMS 31 OT A wild game, in which there were numerous lead changes. The Rams have really figured things out. Thankfully the Ravens made enough big plays, and then got the walkoff punt return in OT.  BROWNS 31, JAGUARS 27 Trevor Lawrence surprisingly played just 6 days after an ankle sprain, but maybe shouldn't have, as he had several turnovers and got outdated by Joe Flacco, who I am really glad to see having success again.  BENGALS 34, COLTS 14 The resurgent Bengals got another good game from Jake Browning and took care of the Colts, who blew a chance to tie the Jaguars.  JETS 30, TEXANS 6 Sure. The Texans, who had won...

VIKINGS 3 RAIDERS 0 Yep, that was the final score. The Vikings 1st ever trip to Las Vegas was certainly memorable. Even if we would all probably prefer to forget.  Coming off the bye week, which followed two last second losses, it felt like this hellish Vikings season was tumbling towards extinction. The playoff odds had basically been cut in half in 2 weeks. The decision was made to stick with Joshua Dobbs at QB despite the Chicago disaster, and the coaching staff hinted at catering more to Dobbs's skill set better. And the return of Justin Jefferson after 2 months out figured to help some. But no, nothing was any different. The gameplan was basically the same big fat nothing, with Dobbs kept in the pocket, and so it was very apparent early that playing Dobbs was pointless. Now to be fair, Dobbs was given little help by his receivers, who had several drops. But Dobbs was also quite inaccurate at times and indecisive, and one bad throw to got Jefferson drilled in the ribs and knock...

Thursday: COWBOYS 41, SEAHAWKS 35 Seattle put up a much better fight than I would have expected, but Dallas was able to rally let to stay within reach of the Eagles.  Sunday: LIONS 33, SAINTS 28 Another week where the Lions are exposed as the frauds they are, yet escape anyway. This time they jumped out to a big lead, and because Derek Carr got knocked out, were able to hold off a Saints comeback.  TEXANS 22, BRONCOS 17 The Broncos win streak ended in a close call at Houston. Russell Wilson threw 3 picks.  DOLPHINS 45, COMMANDERS 15 Miami dominated another inferior opponent, and actually finished the week as the AFC's #1 seed.  COLTS 31, TITANS 28 OT Some major special teams blunders by the Titans helped the Colts escape with a win that kept them in a wild card spot.  CARDINALS 24, STEELERS 10 A massive failure by the Steelers, who were pretty much thoroughly handled at home by the then 2 win Cardinals. And they lost Kenny Pickett.  FALCONS 13, ...