Hot sauce is a way of life in Cajun culture. Whether it is Crystal, Louisiana, Tabasco, Cajun Chef, or some other brand, you can find it slapped on almost any dish in the state of Louisiana. Going up north to Buffalo, hot sauce became a way of life for Sundays when the Bills were playing. That pathos of hot wings spread all across the country so that hot sauce is now a staple of football viewing parties.
For nine weeks, I’ve done my “Hot Sauce Hot Takes” on podcasts only, but much like you can put hot sauce on everything, I’ve decided to move it over to the written word as well. Make sure to subscribe to the SumerDaily podcast, where you can add a little more improvisational spiciness to pair with your dash of zing in this article. Both will be coming to you on Wednesdays moving forward.
Panola Clearly Hot Sauce: Justin Herbert is in a tier with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson.
Panola Clearly Hot Sauce is a quirky clear sauce that is basically vinegar, a pepper, and a bulb of garlic. Because it’s clear, all the ingredients are there for everyone to see, but it still has a little spice to it.
Before the season, I had Justin Herbert just outside of the “Elite Club”. While his arm strength and ability to make throws were near the tops of the league, I bemoaned the fact that he did not like to creatively expand the game outside of the pocket. I belabored this to the point that I convinced myself that he should be running the ball by design. And boy did he have the setup to do so. The Chargers have two elite talents at tackle in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt. Moreover, Greg Roman is most known for his accomplishments with Colin Kaepernick and Lamar Jackson, who he turned into rushing supernovas at the quarterback position.
As the season went on, I very nearly gave up. Herbert was playing well, but the offense seemed to struggle as a result of his injuries and a dearth of depth at the receiver positions. For much of the year, he remained in the pocket and played a very traditional game, as he had in past years.
But then it happened.
Not only did we get Herbert crossing dudes up like a point guard, but we also finally got the Sam Bruchhaus Designed Run Club’s Holy Grail, a red zone designed run for a touchdown from Herbert.
If this is what we are to expect moving forward from Herbert, Roman, Harbaugh, and team, not only will Herbert become a certified alien level quarterback, but the Chargers will become an absolute must watch team every single week.
The formula was there the whole time, and the Chargers are now poised to shoot to a new level in the second half of the season. I was bullish on the Chargers in the preseason due to their unique blend of talent at key positions, so if we continue to see Herbert create with his legs, I may become the biggest holder of Chargers’ playoff success stock.
Tiger Sauce: Jalen Milroe Will Be a Heisman Finalist.
This New Orleans’ based hot sauce is often marketed along with the LSU Tigers, who Jalen Milroe has owned the last two years.
Coming into the season, Jalen Milroe was my selection to win the Heisman trophy. After a Georgia game where he put up a collective 491 yards of offense en route to a Crimson Tide victory, he certainly looked like the favorite. Following that game, Alabama went 1-2. Milroe had a 3 to 5 touchdown to interception ratio in that period and was held below 40 yards rushing each game.
Since then, he has massively bounced back. In a sequel to last year’s game, Milroe demolished LSU. The Crimson Tide quarterback sliced up the Tigers for 294 total yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. The big victory marks the second straight blowout of a ranked SEC opponent, preceded by a 34-0 stomping of Missouri.
The argument for Milroe’s Heisman candidacy, despite the poor midseason play, is that he is currently the best player on the highest quality team in the nation. ESPN’s FPI metric, which is designed to predict team performance for the remainder of the season, currently has Alabama ranked as #1 in the nation. As a result, the Tide sit with the second highest probability to win the SEC behind one-loss Texas.
Milroe now sits at sixth in Heisman odds (as of November 12th, 2024), though if he puts another SEC championship under his belt, especially if that includes more big time performances in big time games, expect those to improve.
Bayou Butt Burner Hot Sauce: The Winner of the NFC South May Currently Be in Contention for the First Pick.
HongryHawg’s Bayou Butt Burner Hot Sauce is made for one very clear reason that I would rather not discuss in detail. As a result, it should likely be stayed away from at all costs, but I’m sure there are SOME use cases for the hottest of the Louisiana hot sauces. Clearly, this is one of those use cases.
The NFC South has one of the poorest collective records in the NFL, matched only by the AFC South. Despite that, it contains tons of fun zaniness, big names, and a virtual guarantee to have continued unpredictability moving forward.
To recap this week’s proceedings the Panthers and the Saints, both of whom currently sit at 3-7, which is 6th worst in the NFL, won in their respective matchups on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Falcons took that loss to the Saints, and the Buccaneers lost their 4th straight game in heartbreaking fashion (again!).
The Saints (as of November 12th, 2024) sit at +5000 to win the division. Their victory was quite shocking, especially given the seeming acceptance of the rebuild last week by relieving Dennis Allen of his duties and trading away multiple time All-Pro Marshon Lattimore. The path to the playoffs for them is simple, though unlikely. Alvin Kamara continues to be one of the most dynamic tailbacks in the league, Derek Carr recaptures his early success despite the dearth of wide receiving resources, and the Saints defense — which was amongst the best in the league in previous years — recaptures that form. Adding back All-Pro Erik McCoy will certainly help that cause, as well.
More interesting though is the path to the division title for the Panthers. Carolina sits at +15000 to win the South, triple the Saints odds. A look at the aggregate statistics for the year indicate they don’t have even a sniff of the division title. Coming into Week 10, the Panthers sat at 30th in expected points added per pass and 25th in expected points added per rush offensively, alongside being last in the league in expected points added per play defensively.
Looking at the trends from the last three weeks though, a sunnier picture emerges. The Panthers are still not very good at throwing the ball, but Bryce Young has been able to avoid negative plays for the most part and put up his two highest QBR scores at volume for this year. However, the Panthers are very good at running the ball. The running game, led by newly extended tailback Chuba Hubbard, has broken the top ten in expected points added per rush over the past three games. Moreover, their passing defense has been at a top ten level in that period as well.
The Panthers have progressed to an average team (at least for the past few games) under their young coach Dave Canales and being an average team in this division means you have a shot.
The Saints and Panthers horrendous starts certainly have put severe restrictions on their chances to achieve a division title, but I wouldn’t count them completely out of this wild division just yet.
