Mon Blogcast: Broncos; new Tom Clancy novel; How do I flush?; Let NYC fail

NFL: Josh Allen is superman

I'll get to the Broncos game in a moment but I gotta say that Bills-Ravens game was absolutely nuts. There have been bigger comebacks in NFL history, but the Bills scored 3 times (for a total of 16 points) in about 4 minutes during the Sunday night game to erase a 15-point deficit and win by 1 point with no time left on the clock. The comeback began with a fumble by Derrick Henry who ran for 169 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns, a truly stellar night, that he will probably remember only for the fumble. The winning kick came off the foot of 41-year-old former Bronco Matt Prater who was just signed to the Bills' practice squad on Thursday and put on the active roster on Saturday due to an injury to the Bills' regular kicker, Kyle Bass. Prater is the second-oldest active player in the NFL and the oldest player (by 3 years) ever to play for Buffalo. Another data point from an article from a Rochester, NY newspaper: "Prater has made an NFL-record 81 career field goals from 50 yards or longer — nearly matching the 82 total from every Bills kicker in franchise history combined." First time Buffalo has come back from down 15 in the fourth quarter since 1967. Also, the Bills were playing with 52 players intead of 53.

And how about this? Josh Allen was 16 of 21 for 251 yards and a touchdown...in the fourth quarter.

Wow, what a game!

Baltimore Ravens v Buffalo Bills — ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 07: Matt Prater #15 of the Buffalo Bills celebrates with teammates after kicking the game winning field goal against the Baltimore Ravens Highmark Stadium on September 07, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)Photo: Bryan Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images

Just One Thing: Florida is only kinda sorta eliminating vaccine mandates

Well, that's a little embarrassing. I suspect that MAGA and MAHA were toasting with whatever beverage MAHA is allowed to drink when Florida announced last week that they were ending vaccine mandates for K-12 schools. Their state Surgeon General, who clearly needs a different job, said, "All of them. All of them. Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery." Oh, some folks were so happy. Rational folks weren't.

Even Donald Trump seems to be pushing back, albeit gently for now:

By the way, to reiterate my view: I'm against vaccinate mandates for adults, and they have the right to refuse to vaccinate their kids. But I don't think they should have the right to put an unvaccinated kid in a public school. As I said, not vaccinating is like getting drunk and going to school is like driving on a busy highway. You can do one or the other but not both.

Now we learn that all the excitement was mostly exaggeration as the governor's office and surgeon general only have the authority to get rid of a few vaccine mandates, but not most of them: Florida's plan to drop school vaccine rule won't start for 90 days | AP News

Per the AP: "Florida’s plan would lift mandates on school vaccines for hepatitis B, chickenpox, Hib influenza and pneumococcal diseases, such as meningitis." Further: "All other vaccinations required under Florida law to attend school 'remain in place, unless updated through legislation,' including vaccines for measles, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, mumps and tetanus, the department said."

So, actually they can't do most of what they wanted people to think they were doing unless the legislature acts. That oughta be interesting. The Florida legislature is very aggressive, quite MAGA, etc., but do they really want to be on record with such a stupid policy? Which member of the state legislature wants to be on record voting to end the mandate for polio or for measles and then to have a kid die from the latter (even though the mortality rate is very low) or be crippled by the former (even though the number of cases in the US is very low)?

I don't know what it is about these folks that makes them so eager to exaggerate...to the point of lying. I guess they're just channeling the president; but somehow he gets away with it when most other people can't.

I note that even Florida newscasts made it sound (at least until much further into the report) that all K-12 vaccine mandates were being eliminated.

One other thing that we'll surely be coming back to. It seems likely that RFK Jr will try to associate the use of acetominophen (aka Tylenol) by pregnant women with autism. There were a couple of studies that showed a very small possible connection but the biggest study, where they compare siblings in order to remove possible familial issues that weren't noticed or controlled for in the prior studies, shows no link. RFK has a history of ignoring any study that doesn't agree with his preconceived notion, and those are often the best studies. During his confirmation hearing, he tried to make a point by relying on a study that was so flawed that the journal where it was published had retracted it. (The retraction was shortly after initial publication years earlier but RFK quoted from the bogus study anyway. He's simply a liar and grifter.)

Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children's Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability - PubMed

One More Thing: Ugly but we'll take it

See pictures below, taken by Producer Dragon, of me working the sideline microphone at the Broncos game yesterday! I'm in the middle of the line of 5 people, wearing a lot of tan.

The Denver Broncos won one of the sloppiest NFL games I've ever seen. Bad tackling by Denver and a couple of bad coaching decisions (like not kicking off into the end zone after scoring near the end of the first half). And an insane decision by the Titans to not run out the clock with about 2 minutes to go in the first half and instead run 3 pass plays in a row -- all of which were incomplete -- giving the Broncos great field position (which they capitalized on). And a really dumb personal foul with less than two minutes left in the game where a Titans player ran into a Broncos player well after the play was over, ending the opportunity for Tennessee to try to drive for a game-tying touchdown (which would have required a two-point conversion.)

I think the line for the game started around Denver -7. Maybe 7.5. Then the money started coming in on the Broncos and it moved to 8 and then 8.5. The Broncos were up by 8 with less than a minute to go with a 4th and 8 at the Titans' 36 yard line, meaning a 53 yard field goal attempt which is not a chip shot but still very makeable for Broncos kicker Will Lutz. Instead of kicking the field goal, Sean Payton dialed up a pass, perhaps designed to run a few more seconds off the clock, a high floater to Marvin Mims running toward the right side of the end zone. But the pass was too far out front and landed incomplete, and everybody who gave 8.5 lost their money.

Overall, while the Broncos had a pretty good fourth quarter, they didn't play well and have a lot to learn from the tape. Next week they play Indianapolis which had a very good game on Sunday. The Broncos were lucky to start against a bad team because a decent team would likely have beaten them.

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Today's Guest

M.P. Woodward has the honor and challenge of continuing the Tom Clancy series of books starring Jack Ryan Jr (with some brief appearances by Jack Ryan Sr, whom I still picture as Harrison Ford.) The latest fun ride is Terminal Velocity, about an Islamic terrorist group plotting a mass-casualty event in the US and a terrorist attack in Central Asia at the same time. As always, a fun read...

Tom Clancy Terminal Velocity (A Jack Ryan Jr. Novel): Woodward, M.P.: Amazon.com: Books

M.P. WOODWARD

Other Stuff

Nothing will be undone but this is truly a shameful story for our country, and the people who were involved should be ashamed of themselves (but I'm sure they aren't): 1 big thing — Scoop: Biden aides protested autopen pardons (Axios.com)

Checked out: Biden staff scrambled to make thousands of pardons look presidential - Washington Times

Don't you feel like a LOT is changing in this conversation despite the last bullet point here? 10 Nutrition Myths Experts Wish Would Die - The New York Times

Charlie has his own version of Atlas Shrugged: Let Zohran Mamdani win the mayoral race so NYC can start over from scratch

Palestinian terrorists attack bus stop in Jerusalem: Six killed, 6 seriously injured in Jerusalem as terrorists open fire on bus, pedestrians | The Times of Israel

This is remarkable. A guy who appears to be a disgruntled employee of an organization providing food aid in Gaza claimed that the Israeli military killed a young boy who had just gotten some food. It turned out the boy was alive and well, though probably hiding due to threats of Hamas who were all too happy to use this former employee as anti-Israel propaganda.

Gaza aid group says boy reported killed by IDF at site is alive, safe, and living outside Gaza | The Times of Israel

'Abboud' found alive after contractor claimed he was shot dead in Gaza | Fox News

Related: it sure seems like he's made this threat before. And, what exactly would Trump do that would scare Hamas? They probably hope the US jumps into the quagmire.

White House envoy sends new proposal to Hamas through Israeli peace activist

After Trump issues ‘last warning’ to Hamas, terror group says it's ready to restart talks | The Times of Israel (Remember, 99% of everything Hamas says is a lie.)

For my Catholic friends and listeners: Pope Leo canonizes Carlo Acutis, Catholic Church's first millennial saint

Pope Leo XIV declares Carlo Acutis the first millennial saint | AP News

Carlo Acutis - Wikipedia

Some fun things to do in Colorado this fall: 8 fun fall activities in Colorado - Axios Denver

I'm not as surprised that Nantucket levels are high as I am about the average numbers for the rest of the country. And why are they doing this anyway? Nantucket cocaine levels are 50% higher higher than US average, sewage tests show

I wonder how big the meteorite was just before it hit:

Do you find this as funny as I do?

The tag line for this shampoo/conditioner combo, as you can see at the top of the bottle, is "Made without weird stuff". Now read the ingredient list.