[Blade]

I was shaking my head, looking over my notes, as John Mackey walked into my office.

“What’s up, Bear?”

I was surprised by the intrusion, as I was not expecting to meet with Mack for another two hours.

“Uh, just going over my notes. You are here early. I thought our meeting was scheduled for 2.”

“You know how it is. Apparently there is some urgent meeting I have to attend, dealing with some anti-trust suit or something. Just a waste of time, but I guess it is something I have to deal with. Anyway, I thought we could quickly go over things now, then I can head off to that meeting.”

I nodded absently, organizing my notes.

“Well, what can I say? We are 8-4, tied for the best record in the AFC. We are leading the AFC West, thanks in part to another damn last minute win over a good team, San Diego. Just when you think this team is down, they find a way to win. The funny thing is, they are still largely inconsistent, as the loss over Denver should not have happened.”

Mack finally took a seat and smiled. “Yah, I saw that game. If we played more like that this year, we wouldn’t have any problems.”

“Tell me about it. As it is, we are still getting some good performances from some players, primarily Moss. He hasn’t had 100 yards receiving in a game for a few now, but he is still on pace for the damn single-season receiving yards record. That is something that the fans are buzzing about, and something that will haunt me if he gets it this year. I am hoping that he is tiring out now as the season wears on, but something tells me that is not truly the case.”

“Well, I am not sure if there is anything we can do, but I will think on it.”

Again, Mack had that tone.

“Alright, but let’s just be careful. There is still a lot of questions being asked about the elevator incident, and regardless of how it happened, we do not need more accusations going on here.”

Mack just nodded, but said nothing. After a few uncomfortable seconds, I continued on.

“The other key offensive players are still doing well, too. Collins is the third highest rated QB in the league, and still leads the league in passing yards. Jordan has fallen off his pace somewhat, but is still high in rushing yards, third overall, I believe. Defensively, we are still not great, being ranked 22nd overall in rushing yards against and 28th overall in passing yards against, but the defence is starting to play better. We are still pretty undisciplined as a team, being tied for fourth overall in penalties against. Oh, and I think we are ranked third in the AFC Power Ratings.”

Mack nodded again. “Four games left, huh?”

“Yah, we have four games to go, and we are playing some weaker teams. I am not sure if that is good, yet. We should be able to kill them, but the Denver game showed me that it may not be as cut and dry. That said, I think we have to expect at least ten or eleven wins by the end of it, and maybe a first round bye. That is going to hurt our ‘proposal’ in the off-season, not to mention the crappy spot we will be getting for our draft. Things are definitely not looking good for our plans.”

Mack stood up. “Pretty much the same message you have delivered over the past few meetings then. Alright, well, we will have to see what will happen. Thanks, Bear.”

I was about to say something, but Mack just turned and started to walk out. As he was leaving, I thought I heard him mention Moss’ name again, though I could have been mistaken.