Howdy again, everyone!

Normally, I'd have something to say about how last week in football went down, but the problem is that this time, the real story to emerge from last weekend is the referees. And who the heck wants to talk about them? So no, we won't be discussing the thirty (30!!!) flags thrown in the Seattle-San Diego game. And we definitely won't be talking about a couple of officials getting suspended for (apparently) being sassy with the players. That's what I call a big, big mess, folks, and it's probably better if we pretend it just never happened. Anyway, we've got another excellent slate of football games on tap for this weekend, so how about we get right into it?

Georgia vs. Alabama, Saturday, 10/10, 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET, ABC
Georgia has won two national championships since Alabama last won one, and somehow the Crimson Tide have still taken ten of the last twelve meetings between them. Last year the Bulldogs finally flipped it when it counted. Alabama won the September game in Athens, but Georgia got the rematch in the SEC Championship Game and won it going away, 28-7, with Gunner Stockton named MVP. Tonight's matchup in Tuscaloosa has both teams undefeated and ranked in the Top 10, and both scoring around 50 points a game. If that sounds like a lot of offense, you're right - it's a LOT of offense. Alabama's surprise has been Keelon Russell, a first-year starter who showed up with modest expectations and has turned into a Heisman candidate, while Stockton has quietly been the most efficient passer in the conference. Whoever wins takes the inside track to Atlanta, and if last year taught us anything, the loser may well get another crack at them in December.

Las Vegas vs. New England, Sunday, 10/11, 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET, CBS
Eight months ago, Klint Kubiak was calling plays for the Seattle offense that beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and the Raiders liked what they saw enough to give him the head coaching job a few days later. It's working better - and much faster - than anyone expected. Las Vegas went 3-14 last year, bad enough to earn the No. 1 pick in the draft, and they're 3-1 now with that pick, Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, still waiting his turn on the bench. New England, meanwhile, spent September looking like a team that hadn't gotten over February, and Drake Maye, last year's MVP runner-up, was the biggest reason why. Then last week in Buffalo, he looked like himself again, and suddenly so did the Patriots. The man best qualified to tell us whether the Patriots have gotten better, or just had a good day, will be standing on the other sideline.

That should just about do it for now. Now, i wanted to tell you to have a great weekend and enjoy the games, but I just got flagged for excessive talking, so I'll have to do it from fifteen yards back. Sheesh.