National Football League

[Alpe d'Huez]

You mean 4 of 14 picking Washington.

Here's why: Chargers have a powerful offense, and Rivers is like the Rivers of 2010 again. The Skins have a poor defense. Now, SD's defense is weak too, but while the Siibs offense is ojay, RGIII has been sketchy and still not 100%. Their OL is porous, and they play in the worst division in the NFL without question.

While hindsight is 20/20, it retrospect it was a mistake (again) for Shanahan to start RG3 in week 1. He should have sat him the first several games, regardless of what Griffin thought, and eased him into games in the weeks to follow. This is especially true as both Cousins and even Grossman looked plenty good in the pre-season.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Phew. We almost threw it away, but what a great drive in OT to take the deserved win!

 

[The Hitch]

Told yall

I seen yall in here suggest Chargers can take that playoff slot but I can't see it.

Speaking of that 2nd AFC wildcard spot, Jets

When they are bad they are awful but they can play really well at times as well as can Geno.


And my god did Cowboys have a close brush there.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Christ, what's going on in Seattle?

Will the Ravens ever learn to play in the first half too?

 

[Merckx index]

This Sunday is a good illustration of why I don’t bet on NFL games. Seattle losing at home in the 3d quarter to TB? By 17 points at one point? I expect them to come back, but after barely beating the Rams last week, they are looking extremely vulnerable these days.

Nick Foles has thrown six TD passes—that’s not a typo—and it’s still the 3d quarter. Sure, it’s the Raiders, but six TD passes? One more and he’ll have done something Manning I think has never done? Anyway, it appears the demise of Chip Kelly’s offense was greatly exaggerated.

Edit: I didn't realize Manning did it in the season opener. But it was the first time anyone had thrown that many in more than 40 years. And Foles ended the game with more TD passes than incompletions. That can't have happened very often, either. And the Raiders gained 585 yards and were still blown out. That sure ain't common.

The Chiefs beat the Bills, as expected, but were outgained by more than 2:1, and won only because of two turnovers returned for TDs--the only TDs the Chiefs scored.

The Jets over the Saints. If the Jets make the playoffs, they will be a very dangerous team. The kind that knocks off a heavy favorite, then loses against a weaker team the following week, allowing said weak team to go deep into the playoffs.

Marquee game next week could be SF vs. Carolina. They’re riding win streaks of 5 and 4, respectively, and the Panthers are another team that should have beaten Seattle. This is the third QB on Kaepernick’s “revenge tour”. Locker, Gabbert and now Newton are all QBs who were taken ahead of him in the draft in 2011.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Foles, 400 yds, 7 TDs. Mother of God.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

You mean 4 of 14 picking Washington.

Correct, but at least I had in favor of Bolts right.

Phew. We almost threw it away, but what a great drive in OT to take the deserved win!

Me too... phew! Only in ref to Seattle.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Seattle was down 21 points. They do look vulnerable. The issues are OL (still down both starting O tackles, probowl C Max Hunger lost in 2nd half to concussion, and backup RT Bowie playing injured and being spelled by 3rd stringer Bailey... both whom are rookies.) and defense that is trying to.create takeaways by tackling the ball instead of the ball carrier (not wrapping up). Those Defense issues are fixable. The OL issues won't be helped until week 11 when Okung is expected back, and Breno also around then. Unger is expected back next week at the Falcons.

Best part is no quit in them. Down 21-0 at half, but won 2nd half & OT 27-3... final score 27-24 Seattle.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Chiefs are 9-0 but have not played Denver yet. Enough said.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Exploring human behavior can be interesting. Take this Miami Dolphin's Jonathan Martin story about bullying/hazing, or whatever we might call it, for example. (LINK). To me, it is purely criminal for vets to take advantage or rookies or anyone like some members of the Fins have done. I guess I'm not surprised since some of the culprits are tools. Fin Olineman Richie Incognito, alleged to be one of the culprits, makes a 2013 base salary of $4 million (LINK). Most rookies would be making somewhere in the $400K to $1M range. The alleged $30K pleasure bill racked up by vets on a rookie ATM card would be 7.5% of a rookie's pay who earns $400K base. How would Richie's boys like it if their $4M at 7.5% (or $300K, nearly a year's pay for a $400K/yr rookie) were taken away against their will and given to the rooks? If I was Roger Goodell I'd get the message out that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated, even if it means handling such behavior as criminal offenses.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

This Sunday is a good illustration of why I don’t bet on NFL games.

I've been in an online survival football league, and a weekly NFL pick'ems contest, for years now, but we only play for bragging rights. And a virtual trophy. The only kind of money I would bet is Monopoly money, football is too unpredictable. (And the men's NCAA basketball tourney is even worse, I'm not sure why people would ever bet $$ on that one.)

Seattle was down 21 points.

Seattle nearly gave me a heart attack with that game. I thought a 0-7 Tampa, and the fact the Hawks hadn't lost a home game yet would have meant an easy-breezy win, not so. As they say, on any given Sunday...

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Smart men are those of you who don't bet real money or real big money on NFL games.


You may already know Fins OL Ritchie Incognito has been suspended indefinitely by the Dolphins. Here's an Incognito quote that reveals the sort of classless character he seems to be:

"Hey, wassup, you half n----- piece of s---. I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. [I want to] s--- in your f------ mouth. [I'm going to] slap your f------ mouth. [I'm going to] slap your real mother across the face [laughter]. F--- you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you."

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That hazing crap is almost as bad as Bountygate. I understand the tradition of rookies carrying luggage, showering last, etc, but having to pick up a $30k tab? That's just BS. And Incognito is obviously the real piece of sh!t here.

Mind boggling game by Foles. And that may be the end of Vick in Philly. Who knew Foles could move that much, and throw that well on the run? Incredibly impressive.

Great call Hitch on the Washington game.

Agree with everyone on betting. No thanks for me. Way too many intangibles.

Agree with Merckx on the Jets. They do look like a 9-7 wildcard who takes out a top team, then falters. As a matter if fact, they did just that in 2010. After getting blown away by New England in December, they took them on in the playoffs, and eeked end out a win against a flat Brady, after the Pats had gone 14-2. The following week, the Jets badly lost to the Steelers.

I like the Panthers, but the 49ers are just a better overall team. Still, any given Sunday...

We will definitely know more about the Chiefs when they see Denver in two weeks. But the rematch in Arrowhead three weeks later may tell most of all, about both teams.

I'm not writing Seattle off just yet, but as on3@my says, they must improve when Unger, Harvin, and especially Okung return. And their defense needs some coaching discipline. They are young at many positions, and playing just as young as well.

Props to the Browns, in second place! Decent game by Campbell, and a great effort on defense.

Crazy game last night. Keenum did a good job of pulling the trigger on smart choices in ways that Schaub didn't, but they faltered in the end badly, and will have a new kicker next week. Hope Kubiak is okay. Partly for the Texans as a team, as Wade Phillips is a worse coach than Kubiak.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Great call Hitch on the Washington game.

Like he was the only one?

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Despite those clogs you're wearing as a disguise, I know you're biased, regardless of the odds.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

This Sunday is a good illustration of why I don’t bet on NFL games.

May there is an assumption here that I bet much and often on NFL games (actually I did it last in the last playoffs).
Well, I too think betting on NFL games (or in general sports) is not good, actually it´s financial suicide over the long run because of the 10% comission. To beat that, you need to pick at least 56% correct vs. the spread. That is impossible, unless you have real good inside information...
But there is some ineffectiveness in the Vegas lines. B/C the general public tends to pick heavy favourites too often (Vegas lines try to image the average public pick to have max. profit), the lines are too high for big favourites (good example: DEN-JAX). This loophole is good for making some money. But never risk too much (best is to apply a "Paroli" tactic i use in the playoffs), and only bet on games where the line is really off.
After all, again i´ll bet in the playoffs against the big favourits. I´ll do it as long as it works. Can´t wait for another Manning meltdown there.

And the Raiders gained 585 yards and were still blown out. That sure ain't common.

Actually it was 560 yards. Anyway, that´s crazy. OTOH, that was the reason i picked the Eagles to cheer for this year. Lots of points (unless Gnarls Barkley or whatever his name is takes over).
We got lucky the game was choosen for the weekend in german TV, so we could see it. We were a little disapointed at the end that Chip didn´t go for 8 for Foles. He´d be in the record books as sole No. 1 for a very long time.

The Chiefs beat the Bills, as expected, but were outgained by more than 2:1

The lucky team of 2013. Early exit in the playoffs...

And that may be the end of Vick in Philly

Why should it? Vick plays a solid season so far, and he adds the run to Chip´s game. Chip said some weeks ago, if Foles goes 100 for 100 he might change his starter. Good that Foles game was "only" 22 of 28.

I like the Panthers...

Told you so last season. The numbers were there, everything looked great, only that Rivera was §hit. And now the unbelievable metamorphosis happened: Rivera changed to be a risky & agressive coach ("We we do that often now (going on 4th downs early)" he said some weeks ago. And yes he stands by his words).

I'm not writing Seattle off just yet

All good in Seattle. Good teams also have tight games during a season. So nothing to worry here.

 

[Merckx index]

Yeah, Foxxy, you're right, it was 560 yards for the Raiders. This is just what I was complaining about before. The box score lists 585 yards, and from force of habit, I forgot my recent lesson that that does not include sack yards lost. Still, of course, a ridiculous amount of yards for a team that was never in the game. Pryor seems to be like Tebow with more speed, and one presumes more upside as a passer.

Teams that have a lot of close, cliff-hanger type games are sometimes nicknamed the Kardiac Kids, but for Indy that label is literal. The last two HCs who have played the Colts have ended up in the hospital. And their own HC missed most of last season because of health problems.

Forty-niners have activated Aldon Smith and Mario Manningham, while cutting Nnamdi Asomugha. Smith should make a big impact on the defense, once he gets back in shape, though it's interesting that the team's five game win streak began right after he went into rehab. Arguably, none of the teams they have played in those five weeks is as good as the three teams they played first--GB, SE and IN--and a cynic might suggest that they're bringing him back now because they have some upcoming games where he's really needed. You'd have to be pretty naive to believe that Smith has worked out all his problems in this period of time. I agree with Alpe that their remaining schedule is soft, but they may have to run the table to catch Seattle, will certainly have to beat the Seahawks in the rematch.

Manningham will give Kapernick another deep threat, which the team really needs until Crabtree gets back. AFAIK, Crabtree and Manningham have rarely played together, one or the other has been out much of the past two years, and with those two, plus Boldin and Davis, the passing game could be very scary. Kaepernick vs. Newton looks like a fascinating matchup, two of the best athletes in the NFL.

Rather shocking article on the bullying in Miami. Some sportswriters are, incredibly,arguing that Martin should have "manned up" and confronted Incognito (I thought it was a typo of some kind when I saw this name; he is anything but now). Maybe the guy Aaron Hernandez apparently murdered would still be alive if he had pleaded for help sooner. There seems to be a clique of journalists who believe the locker room culture is sacred, and that anything that happens in there, even if it's possibly criminal, should be resolved at that level--that it's somehow evidence of weakness to take the case public, to appeal to the laws of society.

University of Minnesota basketball coach Clem Haskins was fired in the late 90s for, among other things, trying to cover up a sexual harassment charge against one of his players. It was the same locker room mentality, that we can handle it among ourselves, we don't have to tell the University administration, let alone the police. Or consider the Sandusky case at Penn State. It's the same mentality, really.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Rather shocking article on the bullying in Miami. Some sportswriters are, incredibly,arguing that Martin should have "manned up" and confronted Incognito (I thought it was a typo of some kind when I saw this name; he is anything but now).

Couldn't name any specific journalists at the moment, but I've certainly read quite a few comments from some of the keyboard warriors out there who think Martin should just "man up", they think that bullying of an adult just isn't possible. (I think they are the very same ones who complain the NFL is becoming too pussified with all the rule changes brought about by concers regarding concussions and stuff.)

In my advancing years I thought I had just about seen it all, but the level of macho-ism, sexism, racism, and general ignorance on sports message boards still can shock me at times.

On a side note - Don't even get me started on the whole Penn State thing, supporters of Paterno thought he was just god. And you still have some apologists out there, they think he did all he was technically required to do, and that was that. SMH

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Latest QB news...

Aaron Rodgers is said to be out for possibly up to three weeks due to a fractured collar bone. If true I think Green Bay is cooked.

On the other hand, Cutler may be back this weekend... while I'd love to see Smokin' Jay Cutler back I'd really prefer for him not to rush it.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That would be bad news for the Packers, and right when they looked like they were going to make a serious run. Considering how flat Wallace was, the elephant in the room is that Matt Flynn was just released by Buffalo...

The entire Incognito/Martin thing has now mushroomed, even though neither of them have said anything publicly, nor released statements even. There is so much blather in the blogosphere its astounding. From people saying Martin should have just punched Incognito out, to others saying Incognito could be facing RICO charges for extortion. I have a hunch we've only heard the beginning of the story. But for the Dolphins, they're out two offensive linemen.

Agree with Merckx statement on the 49ers. If those two question marks of Kaep and his receivers, and Aldon Smith, turn out positive for the team, they look in prime shape.

You can keep talking of Vick, Foxxy, but even if Kelly sticks with him, I'll be really surprised if he ever amounts to anything ever again. Not that he ever did much in the first place. Just a huge amount of hype, repeated over and over.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I agree with Alpe that their remaining schedule is soft, but they may have to run the table to catch Seattle, will certainly have to beat the Seahawks in the rematch.

If Seattle keeps playing like the last 2 weeks, 9ers may not have to worry about catching Seattle, who have @Falcs, Vikes, bye, and Saints up next before playing @SF. If SEA loses just 2 of those 3 (Falcs, NO) then it's game over for SEA. And the way SEA has given up yards against the run they cannot overlook the Vikes and Peterson. So, if SEA does not watch out they could lose all 3 of those matchups. I'm making no prediction because SEA needs some fixing as mentioned up-post.

Latest QB news...

Aaron Rodgers is said to be out for possibly up to three weeks due to a fractured collar bone. If true I think Green Bay is cooked.

On the other hand, Cutler may be back this weekend... while I'd love to see Smokin' Jay Cutler back I'd really prefer for him not to rush it.

Remember what I said about Josh McCown a few pages back? (efficient, athletic). He's not Cutler, but he can get it done until Cut is really ready.

That would be bad news for the Packers, and right when they looked like they were going to make a serious run. Considering how flat Wallace was, the elephant in the room is that Matt Flynn was just released by Buffalo...

We have an "unofficial" saying at my workplace, "We are so worried about the p!ss-ants that the elephants are going to run us over". If the Pack has a chance to get Flynn, they should. (that in itself would be a hoot... coming full circle... especially if he performed well for the Pack) But the Pack simply cannot go out a get Flynn outright, since the Pack is 23rd in the waiver wire pecking order (CBS Sports Link). There's a good Bleacher Report on that topic here (Bleacher Link). One reason why Flynn could work back in the Pack is rookie Bama RB Edie Lacy, who's getting the job done @ 4.4 YPC (2013 Stats). The 5'11" 230 pound bruiser is just what an ailing passing game could use. The only thing now is they have to balance that production against his health, which due to a previous concussion had the Pack wanting to limit his carries to 20 per game prior to last weekend (NFL.com Link). I don't think it would take Flynn long to reacclimate to the Packers. If Flynn was available (no other team ahead of them on the waiver wire pecking order takes Flynn), then the Packers should go get him.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Funny video capturing Romo cheating by nudging football with foot:

http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=46b6f700-e94a-4934-9810-f0cf2ca110ca

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Advanced NFL Stats rankings are out. They got a lot of flak when they had CAR high last year, and ATL low the past two seasons*.

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2013/11/team-efficiency-rankings-week-9.html#more

So after all that´s the best rankings there is. (Almost) all other rankings go by W-L record literally (which means nobody needs such rankings, standings are enough then).

* = Well, they were right about them (CAR finishing 6-3, ATL early exit as usual), as they were about many others (the best still GB high when they won the SB after a 10-6 season)

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2013/11/team-efficiency-rankings-week-9.html#more
So after all that´s the best rankings there is. (Almost) all other rankings go by W-L record literally (which means nobody needs such rankings, standings are enough then).

Agree Foxxy. Rankings are fun to discuss once in a while, like now, but when I saw the rankings yesterday my thought was more on the standings, remaining schedule of teams, and then on who's likely to get home field advantage. I usually don't bother reading the captions or explanations of power rankings anymore (edit: tho there was a time I did).

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Agree Foxxy. Rankings are fun to discuss once in a while, like now, but when I saw the rankings yesterday my thought was more on the standings, remaining schedule of teams, and then on who's likely to get home field advantage. I usually don't bother reading the captions or explanations of power rankings anymore (edit: tho there was a time I did).

The good thing about true (advanced) rankings is they are very good at ignoring the "noise" in teams performances (speak: random turnovers, random special teams play, etc.). That´s why they have good records (i must admit they even had the NYG on 4th (!) after the RS when they won the SB two years ago. Their best call ever.). I mean it´s obvious to everybody that KC is the fluke of the year, but it´s interresting to see that SEA & CIN are still ranked high. Those teams seem to be real. I especially don´t worry about SEA.

OTOH you have guys like Prisco or ESPN who have KC at No. 1. Of course they are 9-0, everybody can see that. But Prisco & Co ignore that they are tremendously lucky (playing vs. 2nd-4th string QBs the past 5 weeks or so, getting presents like goal line Ints returned for TDs every other week it seems, etc.) and had a soft schedule so far.