Soup Szn Week Two: Avoiding CATastrophe

Throw out everything you learned last Sunday, it’s a new week and we’re back to the drawing board. You can’t win a Super Bowl in the first two weeks of the season, but your chances can feel all but lost if you’re off to a slow start. The Soup-er Bowl is no different.

Week to week games are won, and lost in the trenches. Chicken noodle soup is a nose-to-the-grindstone, run it between the tackles, all-time classic. It’s gritty. When you have a cold, it’s the first soup you’ll turn to. If you’re coming off a heartbreaking loss like the Lions overtime loss to the Seahawks that’s a soup, you’ll want in your corner. And why steer away from a system that works? This week we doubled down on the ground and pound and kept our sights on the nourishment of the earth. You guessed it, beef vegetable soup.

I’m going to come out and say it, like Zach Wilson, I was a little more involved this week than I was originally planning. McKayla and I made our grocery run first thing Sunday morning, and I was throwing out suggestions like Baker Mayfield throwing dimes to Mike Evans in the Bucs 27-17 win over the Bears.

Once we returned home from the store it was time to get the cooking started. Step one was slow cooking the beef tips. While I was no where to be found on this play, my attention was focused on defense. Our cat, Ruby, was pressuring the beef tips harder than Jonathan Cooper got after Sam Howell. Ruby hopped on the counter as the beef broke free of the packaging. Just as the beef was setting up a reservation for the crockpot, she nearly interfered with the play…but I came to the rescue! Without hesitation I scooped her from the counter forcing her to fumble this opportunity…much like the Patriots fumbled opportunities of their own in the 24-17 loss to division rival Dolphins.

Crisis averted!  

Once the beef tips made their way safely in the crockpot, we were able to relax and watch the early afternoon slate of games. McKayla and the animals took this as a chance to take quick nap. I, on the other hand, was laser focused on three TVs at once. I looked like the Bills carving up the Raiders, with as many TV remotes as the Bills had touchdowns in their 38-10 win.

A leader finds a way to rally the troops when motivation is at it’s lowest, and I was afraid we were hitting that point as the girls were waking up from their nap. But luckily it felt almost as effortless as the Colts 31-20 win over the Texans. McKayla got the vegetable soup warmed and prepared, adding in the beef tips and tortellini noodles as I kept the pets at bay. (Admittedly, this mostly consisted of watching the 4:00pm games…occasionally distributing a few boops, and head scratches between commercial breaks.)

At halftime of the late afternoon games, the soup was ready, and it was time to eat!

As a reminder to new readers, McKayla and I are ranking these soups between ourselves, and we aren’t revealing our standings to each other until the end of the season. Therefore, I do not want to give an in-depth analysis of the soup and where it stands compared to last week, but I can tell you, it was great! Better than I was expecting. It was the kind of soup that had no business being as good as it was. Kind of like how the Rams had no business going for a last second field goal against the 49ers, losing the game 30-23.

We’re already looking forward to week three and we will be announcing the soup of the week in the next few days.

Enjoy Monday Night Football!