TMQ: No new housing but how ‘bout an NFL stadium?

Plus the new frontier in "wind confusion."

Maybe you think America needs more housing, better public schools, construction of highways and bridges. Governments at many levels think what America needs is new NFL stadia.

The Commanders will move back into the District of Columbia, at a glistening new stadium: key votes just occurred in Congress and the DC Council. The city’s old RFK Stadium is being demolished to clear space for what one dearly hopes is not dubbed RFK Jr. Stadium.

As of an announcement last month the Chicago Bears are likely to leave Soldier Field, with its historic name and spectacular lakefront site -- the finest stadium location since Vespasian began the Colosseum in the year 72 AD.

The Broncos will leave what’s now called Empower Field at Mile High for a stadium to be built above Denver railyards. The Bills are nearly finished raising a new stadium across the street from their existing facility. The Tennessee Titans are getting a new stadium, scheduled to open in 2027 and paid for mostly by public subsidies.

While most American cities don’t fund enough public housing – and actively stand in the way of new private housing, by slow-walking permits or imposing exorbitant pay-to-play standards on construction firms – there’s plenty of funds and legal approvals for whatever the NFL wants.

The Bears plan to decamp to suburban Arlington Heights, an hour’s drive from Soldier Field considering Chicago’s 24/7 traffic jams. (The traffic jams because Illinois has stopped building roads and public transit.) To soften the blow, the team insists this franchise is not the Chicago Bears, rather, the Illinois Bears or maybe the National Bears or perhaps the World Bears.

Note 1: grammar in the team’s press release is so awful, apparently the $23 billion league cannot afford an English major. Note 2: Chicago’s NFL club is now the World Bears to TMQ.

The Broncos and the World Bears contend no public monies will be spent on their new homes. We’ll see – the Rams and Chargers said this too, until a bill for about $3 billion in real estate acquisition and infrastructure upgrades was presented.

Washington being Washington, the powers that be are not even pretending not to squander public money.

The Commanders’ new facility started a year ago as a $2 billion proposal and already is up to $3.8 billion. Halliburton must be the prime contractor!

About $1 billion will come from public subsidies, the balance from the team and the league. Backing the deal, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the arrangement “A $2.8 billion investment in our city.”

Make that a $1.8 billion investment – subtract the public funds. This is an example of how contemporary government thinks about money. If corporations supply $2.8 billion and taxpayers supply $1 billion, that counts as $2.8 billion for government to spend – and creates pots of funny-money for pols to steal from.

Besides new stadia for Denver, Chicago, Washington and Buffalo, big renovations are likely for the Chiefs and Bengals, possibly a new suburban stadium for the Browns.

Money and legal permissions are sailing through, in the same way money and legal permissions sailed through for the new Los Angeles football stadium in the hardest place on Earth to get a building permit, California.

Buffalo’s new stadium will be first to go into operation, opening next season. See more below on this field and its architectural concept of “wind confusion.”

The planned new NFL stadium for Washington. Image courtesy SportsPro.

In other NFL news, what do Bad Bunny’s outfits have to do the next Canton Hall of Fame vote? What do Sydney Sweeney’s jeans have to do with American high schools? See below.

Mr. Bunny at the 2024 Met Gala. Photo courtesy Variety.

In defending champion news, the Eagles are 4-2. That’s an okay start to an NFL season – but Philadelphia plainly is struggling.

The Eagles have been outscored. (Negative-one point differential; last season their point differential was an outstanding plus-160 ). The Nesharim defense has forgotten how to tackle. At Jersey/A, a quick out to wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson should have been a short gain. Instead Philadelphia defensive back Andrew Mukuba fell off the tackle as if Robinson were made of Kryptonite, resulting in a long touchdown.

Eagles players are bickering in public, never a good sign. Rule for sports or for any organization: keep the bickering private. Jalen Hurts, so calm and cool last season, seems rattled. On his fourth quarter interception against Jersey/A, Hurts had A.J. Brown running a skinny post against man-to-man coverage with a “zero look,” meaning no safety in the end zone. Brown should win that matchup, touchdown. Instead Hurts threw sideways to a receiver who was well covered.

The vaunted Philadelphia run game has disappeared. At Jersey/A, more than once Saquon Barkley was hit in the backfield – he needed “yards after contact” just to reach the line of scrimmage – as the offensive lineman at the point of attack was shoved backward by G-Persons.

Second half possession results for the defending champion: punt, punt, punt, interception, lost fumble.

Demolition of RFK Stadium.

Last season Eagles general manager Howie Roseman employed creative accounting to hold the team’s salary cap together; inevitably that meant good players would leave in free agency, as they received more than the cap-strapped Eagles could offer. Free agency losses appear to have hurt a lot. Among them guard Mekhi Becton, the Eagles’ best run-blocker last season, now plowing the road for the Chargers.

We haven’t even reached United Nations Day, so there is time for the Eagles to get their act together. But when the defending champion is outclassed by a team with a rookie quarterback that entered the contest 1-4 – what just happened versus the Giants – signs and omens are not good.

The other most recent defending champion, Kansas City, is taking on water at 3-3, a 3-4 stretch dating back to last season. Patrick Mahomes is the Chiefs’ leading rusher, which is not sustainable.

At least Kansas City faithful can feel good about defensive performance Sunday night. The Chiefs held high-scoring Detroit to 17 points.

After the Chiefs scored to take a 27-17 fourth-quarter lead, the next Lions possession went: tackle for a loss, short completion, sack, punt. This was as strong a defensive series as any the Eagles hit the Chiefs with in the Super Bowl.

What’s up with Kansas City? In Tuesday Morning Quarterback’s view it’s not scheme, it’s not injuries, it’s not the distraction of America’s Boyfriend and America’s Prom Date. It’s that the Chiefs have reached the downslope of a talent cycle.

In more than one respect, Patrick Mahomes’s Kansas City Chiefs are the Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors of the NFL.

Under Curry the Warriors won the NBA title four of eight seasons, then their talent cycle turned from up to down. Now they’re still fun to watch but no longer dominant.

Under Mahomes the Chiefs won the Super Bowl three of five seasons. Now they’re still fun to watch but no longer dominant.

Mahomes’s latest record – fastest player to reach 300 touchdown passes, took him 139 games, took the previous titlist, Aaron Rodgers, 147 games – reminds of the basketball records Curry continues to set, even though his team no longer dominates.

Almost any NBA club of this generation would change places with the Warriors under Curry, as any NFL club of this generation except New England would changes places with Kansas City under Mahomes.

But athletic talent cycles end. For both the Chiefs and Warriors, a slide may be coming. Mahomes, Kelce, Curry and Draymond Green will need to decide whether to walk away when still on top.