The NFL delivered another weekend of bread and circuses — Dallas imploding, the Chargers still winless, Houston barely surviving in London — while the country outside the stadium keeps losing.
The spectacle is the point. Two media outlets spent thousands of words breaking down passer ratings and playoff probabilities, and not one mentioned the inflation gutting working families, the border that won't close, or the crime that doesn't stop. The Ringer called Dallas's 23-13 loss to Green Bay a story of "two teams heading in opposite directions." USA Today counted up Super Bowl odds like it matters to anyone paying $5 a dozen for eggs.
Here's what actually happened on the field. The Cowboys fell to 2-4 after Dak Prescott posted a season-low 65.2 passer rating with a pair of interceptions — his first back-to-back sub-70 weeks since 2017, according to The Ringer. The Chargers dropped to 0-6 for the first time since 2000, per USA Today. The Texans needed a 49-yard field goal as time expired in London just to scrape past Jacksonville and claw to 2-4 after an 0-4 start.
London. That's worth pausing on. The league ships a game overseas — a marketing exercise for a product Americans already buy by the billions — and the press covers it like diplomacy. No one asks why a league subsidized by American communities is exporting its product to a country that doesn't care, while those communities back home can't afford a ticket.
USA Today noted the "changing of the guard" theme: the defending champion Seahawks already at three losses, the Rams fumbling away a home game to Arizona 18-16 on six field goals, the 49ers sitting undefeated at the top. The Ringer focused on Houston's C.J. Stroud, who threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns, and Marvin Harrison Jr., who had three catches in his Texans debut. Stroud said of reuniting with his Ohio State teammate: "It felt like old times, and I'm proud of (Harrison), happy for him."
Nice story. Doesn't pay a single grocery bill.
The NFL long ago figured out that a distracted citizen is a compliant citizen. Wave the flags, fly the military jets, run the social justice slogans on the end zone banners — then get back to selling overpriced streaming packages and moving games to time zones that suit nobody stateside. The press plays along, churning out power rankings and winner-loser columns like the rest of the country isn't circling the drain.
The Cowboys are 2-4. The Chargers can't win a game. The Texans needed a miracle to beat the Jaguars. And the same media apparatus that buries real news expects you to care about the playoff implications. The Romans had a word for this. They also had an ending.
