National Football League

[on3m@n@rmy]

Happy Thanksgiving all! Or whatever day it is where you're at.

On this week, with all the news coming out, I have to feel horrible for RGIII. Just goes to show athleticism is no substitute for what I will simply call the mental part of the game. His situation is not fixable this season. But it is fixable starting in the offseason when there are no games coming up to focus on. Then he will have time to study, learn how to read defenses and understand their weaknesses (and where to attack!), practicing reading all his progressions, and then learning to get rid of the ball without hesitating. If he can make big strides there, then he has a shot to recover.

Of all the young QBs over the last few years to enter the league, Manziel should feel most thankful for not having been thrown to the wolves too soon. Like RGIII, he's got a ton of off season work to do.

 

[fatandfast]

Happy Thanksgiving all! Or whatever day it is where you're at.

On this week, with all the news coming out, I have to feel horrible for RGIII. Just goes to show athleticism is no substitute for what I will simply call the mental part of the game. His situation is not fixable this season. But it is fixable starting in the offseason when there are no games coming up to focus on. Then he will have time to study, learn how to read defenses and understand their weaknesses (and where to attack!), practicing reading all his progressions, and then learning to get rid of the ball without hesitating. If he can make big strides there, then he has a shot to recover.

Of all the young QBs over the last few years to enter the league, Manziel should feel most thankful for not having been thrown to the wolves too soon. Like RGIII, he's got a ton of off season work to do.

While I agree with your goodwill toward RG III the facts on the field are a lil' different. Once your front office puts you in some wildcat looking mess you are going to get slammed by everybody at full speed. Linemen to the corners hit this guy at 50mph in the open field because of an out of the pocket style that proved a failure when Kordell Stewart and his organization tried it years back.
The broken or weak parts of Griffin's body will need a miracle, not just an off season or two to rejuvenate and repair. The guy is young,motivated and talented but I fear that his injuries and body type don't match up with a team with a porous offensive line.
Getting thrown to the wolves without a line, scrabbling around, making things happen can work, but not for that many QBs.
Maybe when they change the name from Redskins to whatever, they can get some people to block for this guy...if he is even in the league at that point

 

[The Hitch]

What do people here think about who should get a playoff home game between a 7-9 division winner and a 12-4 division runner up.

The "American" attitude I encounter everywhere outside here is a macho, almost stereotypically american - attitude of favoring "winners" over "losers" - ie the 7-9 team is a winner, since they "won" their division, while the 12-8 team is a loser since they did not win their division, ergo the winner should get the home game and the loser should be happy the NFL allows losers like them a second chance.

It seems to me to be the same kind of attitude that judges quarterbacks by the number of rings they have, rather than how good they actually are- the idea that circumstances surrounding a situation do not matter, only the outcome.

I am 100% in disagreement with this and think that even if all division winners get into the playoffs, the seedings should be done on how well the 6 teams performed in the regular season, not who had the easiest division.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

What do people here think about who should get a playoff game between a 7-9 division winner and a 12-4 division runner up.

The 12-4 team should make the playoffs. At the very least, the 7-9 team should not host a playoff game, that's absurd.

QBs who have rings mean less than overall greatness. Who here thinks Eli Manning is a better QB than Dan Marino or Jim Kelly? Heck, Jim Plunkett and Ben Roethlesberger both have two rings. Marino was better than both of them too.

 

[The Hitch]

For survival Ill take New Orleans.

For elimination Ill take Alpes template (hope he doesn't mind) and add Kansas city and Pittsburgh.

AFC East
New England
NYJ
Miami
Buffalo

AFC North
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Baltimore


AFC South
Indianapolis
Tennessee
Jacksonville
Houston

AFC West
Denver
Kansas City
San Diego
Oakland


NFC East
Philadelphia
Dallas
NY Giants
Washington

NFC North
Detroit
Green Bay
Chicago
Minnesota


NFC South
New Orleans
Carolina
Atlanta
Tampa Bay

NFC West
Arizona
Seattle
San Francisco
St. Louis

 

[The Hitch]

The 12-4 team should make the playoffs. At the very least, the 7-9 team should not host a playoff game, that's absurd.

QBs who have rings mean less than overall greatness. Who here thinks Eli Manning is a better QB than Dan Marino or Jim Kelly? Heck, Jim Plunkett and Ben Roethlesberger both have two rings. Marino was better than both of them too.

Yeah I meant home game.

I get that divisional winners (even if only 5-10) should make the playoffs, purely to keep division important, but imo it should stop there and to give them a home game is ridiculous.

Especially since New Orleans have such a home advantage, its really not difficult to see them win against Dalllas, SF, Philly, Detroit, in the dome, and then beat Arizona away (now that Palmer is out) and then all of a sudden they are in the NFC championship game

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

For the third time this season I've been burned in Survival football by picking a Dallas game. I believe last time I said I wouldn't do it again, and yet...

Philly did look good though. I loved the way they came right out and attacked in the hurry up. Classic Chip Kelly.

Seattle looks impressive, especially on defense. Is it just me watching, or does it also appear that the referees are giving Seattle no slack at all? This looks like the same team that won the Super Bowl last season, which can't bode well for other teams. But it's also been a miserable game for Colin Kaepernick. Seattle seems to have him figured out and/pr Kaep just hasn't seen the field, and his throws just haven't been accurate.

 

[Oldman]

For the third time this season I've been burned in Survival football by picking a Dallas game. I believe last time I said I wouldn't do it again, and yet...

Philly did look good though. I loved the way they came right out and attacked in the hurry up. Classic Chip Kelly.

Seattle looks impressive, especially on defense. Is it just me watching, or does it also appear that the referees are giving Seattle no slack at all? This looks like the same team that won the Super Bowl last season, which can't bode well for other teams. But it's also been a miserable game for Colin Kaepernick. Seattle seems to have him figured out and/pr Kaep just hasn't seen the field, and his throws just haven't been accurate.

Seattle needed to get a little healthier. They looked angry and from the first contact with 49 receivers Kaep and Company looked scared.
The next test in Philly will be a fun game. Hurry up doesn't work as well against Seattle as Dallas and Mr. Wilson commanded yesterday's game with minimal scrambling for his offense. Seattle's run defense will need to set the tone early if they expect to win.

 

[Tank Engine]

For the third time this season I've been burned in Survival football by picking a Dallas game. I believe last time I said I wouldn't do it again, and yet...

Philly did look good though. I loved the way they came right out and attacked in the hurry up. Classic Chip Kelly.

Seattle looks impressive, especially on defense. Is it just me watching, or does it also appear that the referees are giving Seattle no slack at all? This looks like the same team that won the Super Bowl last season, which can't bode well for other teams. .

I'm not surprised that the Eagles burned the Dallas defense both running and passing, but the Dallas offense also had an off day. I thought it was going to be a shoot out, but it was a firing squad. Fortunately, for the return match, the Cowboys will have "away field advantage" (3-4 at home, 5-0 away).

The Seattle defense is starting to really rock (not good for me, as I appreciate offense more).

 

[Oldman]

I'm not surprised that the Eagles burned the Dallas defense both running and passing, but the Dallas offense also had an off day. I thought it was going to be a shoot out, but it was a firing squad. Fortunately, for the return match, the Cowboys will have "away field advantage" (3-4 at home, 5-0 away).

The Seattle defense is starting to really rock (not good for me, as I appreciate offense more).

Michael Crabtree, meet Kam Chancellor.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Great decision by me to step away in time. The NFL hasn´t just become a greedy farce, no, it has become a complete and utter joke.

A 4-7 team will (likely) end the regular season with a 5-11 record as division "champ". I truly hope that team wins the Superbowl (only needing a 3 away wins streak a la NYG after the "earned" HFA in game one). A Superbowl "champ" with a negative 9-11 record. Yo. Wow. Sounds great, fair, and competitive....
Sell that to hillbillies, but the rest of the world could only shake their heads in disbelief how US major sports crown their "champions". Watta farce!

 

[Amsterhammer]

Ray Rice reinstated.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/11/28/7171719/ray-rice-reinstated-nfl-appeal

 

[Oldman]

Great decision by me to step away in time. The NFL hasn´t just become a greedy farce, no, it has become a complete and utter joke.

A 4-7 team will (likely) end the regular season with a 5-11 record as division "champ". I truly hope that team wins the Superbowl (only needing a 3 away wins streak a la NYG after the "earned" HFA in game one). A Superbowl "champ" with a negative 9-11 record. Yo. Wow. Sounds great, fair, and competitive....
Sell that to hillbillies, but the rest of the world could only shake their heads in disbelief how US major sports crown their "champions". Watta farce!

Foxxy-I totally agree; that would be a FARCE. But there's hope:
AFC-New England is on top of their game and face a rival tonight they generally handle very well. A victory pretty much secures their path to the Superbowl

NFC-Philly looked good beating the Cowgirls yesterday. Cowgirl Coach Jason Garrett said the keys to beating the Eagles were "closing the edges" and good pressure on the QB de jour, Mark Sanchez. Is there a team that can do that?

There's a little squad that was written off as over-hyped and greedy that's starting to play well. In the past weeks they faced serious division rivals in back-to-back must win circumstances and defensively dominated. San Francisco held to 3 points and sub-150 yds of offense; in San Francisco. They will face SF at home in their little small town stadium but first must do what Jason said: close the edges, rush the QB. It looks like they could be the right team to face New England in the SB. If only I could remember the name of those guys.....

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Great decision by me to step away in time. The NFL hasn´t just become a greedy farce, no, it has become a complete and utter joke.

A 4-7 team will (likely) end the regular season with a 5-11 record as division "champ". I truly hope that team wins the Superbowl (only needing a 3 away wins streak a la NYG after the "earned" HFA in game one). A Superbowl "champ" with a negative 9-11 record. Yo. Wow. Sounds great, fair, and competitive....
Sell that to hillbillies, but the rest of the world could only shake their heads in disbelief how US major sports crown their "champions". Watta farce!

Sooo, why you still here? (Just kidding)

I agree that divisional winners with worse records than another division's second place finisher (wild card berth) should not host. Not only would it be fair to the wild card team with a better record, it might give divisional winners with crappy records more incentive to do better in the regular season knowing that hosting in the playoffs would not be a given simply by winning their division.

But I think the NFL is corrupt to some extent. I don't have facts to back that. That's just a gut feeling. But I know and have facts that the NCAA is corrupt by breaking their own rules to suit the NCAA. They sometimes don't give a darn about what is fair to NCAA schools.

As for officiating the SF vs SEA tilt: It's not just you, Alpe. It appears to me that the referees are giving Seattle no slack on some calls. I'm pretty objective even when it's against my team. Any team is going to get those, and they just have to suck it up. But in that game probably the worst call came against SEA defender Avril for "illegal use of hands" on a TE in SF's backfield while Avril was rushing to get to Kaep who had rolled out right to Avril's side. Avril did use his hands, but it was in an effort to get the TE out of his way and rush Kaep. That official's call was cough, BS, cough.

I know it works the other way too. SF area radio said last night they were appalled about the poor officiating in favor of SEA. (Yeup, out here in the desert of E. Washington we often do receive radio from as far away as San Fran). And SEA did get away with one no-call when SEA was punting and had an illegal man (non-gunner) downfield they should have tossed the flag on. This punt was on the muffed handling of the snap by punter Ryan, who just managed to get off the punt. Mishandling the ball screwed up the timing and the interior lineman went a few yards downfield before Ryan picked up the ball and booted it. So SEA got away with that one, right after SF had the same penalty called against them. Overall though, I think SEA got the worse of the officiating.

Health-wise, SEA defense is getting healthy at the right time. But the OL needs to get healthier. This was LG Carp's first game back, but C Unger is still out. Unger could possibly return for the Iggles, away.

Finally, Kaepernick thoughts. Is it just me, or is SF trying to turn him into a pocket passer? Just seems he has not been the same this year. And it seems they are asking him to stay in the pocket. If that is so, big mistake. He's not a pocket passing QB. He's more of a gunslinging QB in the mold of a Brett Favre. You know, get out, roll out, move around, and scare defenses with possibilities that come as a result. But move around to throw, not move around to run. In his defense, RT Jon Martin (the ex-Fin) is really soft, weak, and easily overpowered by much smaller DE's; plus, LG Iupati has been hurt.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Foxxy-I totally agree; that would be a FARCE.

Nice to hear being on the same page here.

Sooo, why you still here? (Just kidding)

So that you guys don´t get bored. What would be the NFL thread without my rants?

Serious: You may have gotten wind of, that I don´t talk actual game-day action anymore. 1.) Because I don´t watch the games anymore 2.) Because I don´t care. (That´s how it started with cycling back in 1989/90. I had a gut feeling something got wrong. In hindsight I was right about it. It took me 7 years to come back, but only because a young german made some noise. Said goodbye to Baseball for an even longer period when Steroid-Rod signed that insane 250-Mio-Contract in around 2000. Took me 13 years to see another full Baseball game. Let´s see if I ever come back to watch a whole actual NFL game. I have the same gut feeling like 25 years ago: Something is really wrong.)

But to talk history and the things around the games (I mean that´s what it is all about, just ask the players and owners: The market and the business, the games themselves are just a side-effect like headaches are from good beer nights) are still interesting.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

A 4-7 team will (likely) end the regular season with a 5-11 record as division "champ". I truly hope that team wins the Superbowl (only needing a 3 away wins streak a la NYG after the "earned" HFA in game one). A Superbowl "champ" with a negative 9-11 record!

The scary part is that if you look at YPP (your favorite stat), I believe New Orleans is one of the best teams in the NFL. They also lost some close games early they could have won. It's feasible they get hot heading into the playoffs, win that first home game, get some balls to bounce their way. I mean, they have the coach, QB and other talent - at least on offense...

But I think the NFL is corrupt to some extent. I don't have facts to back that. That's just a gut feeling.

Well, everything is based on making more money, that's for sure. I won't be shocked if they do what the NBA is doing and partner up with some fantasy football thing with gambling.

I know it works the other way too. SF area radio said last night they were appalled about the poor officiating in favor of SEA.

Look, I kind of like both these teams about the same, but that was an absurd comment by some serious homers. Just look at the stats. 14-105 against Seattle vs. 3-20 against SF. The 49ers are lucky the score wasn't double that.

SEA defense is getting healthy at the right time. Unger could possibly return for the Iggles, away.

Yeah, kind of scary for opponents.

Finally, Kaepernick thoughts. Is it just me, or is SF trying to turn him into a pocket passer?

I think in this game Seattle was just considerably better in almost every respect. It wasn't that Kaepernick was bad, Seattle played great, and SF played average. Why they threw at Sherman as often as they did is a bit puzzling. Maybe an ego thing with Kaepernick? But two picks (that should have been 3) is startling.

In other games this year Kaep has played well. Not Johnny Unites well, but good. Enough to start as a QB in the NFL, and make good throws, and he's run sometimes too. That could mean great things ahead. That's not what 49er fans expect though, after coming so close to winning the SB two years ago with many of these same players.

But this game Kaep was just flustered, as well as making a few mistakes. He still has some issues with reads and his eyes - and they showed that last night the way Wilson was looking the linebackers and DB's away from the play until the last second in some throws - something Kaep wasn't, or really needs to work on. But Kaep, despite having a strong arm, isn't consistently accurate either. That's partly why I joke about asking if it's too late to apologize to Alex Smith?! But mostly I think the expectations are too high, and SF as a unit has issues. Getting rid of Kaep (or Harbaugh) would be steps in the wrong direction. But I fear they may just dump Jim. That's what everyone is saying.

In his defense, RT Jon Martin (the ex-Fin) is really soft, weak, and easily overpowered by much smaller DE's; plus, LG Iupati has been hurt.

I noticed Bruce Irvin had a superb game. Martin consistently struggled whenever he had to block him, even on run plays.

Lots of fans ripping Kaepernick. Some are pretty funny, if not very fair.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Those memes: ouch and ouch. Funny. I might have seen the Sherman meme before, but not the Harbaugh one.

Irvin has been getting better each year really learning a new position. The best part, he has not plateaued.

Avril also did pretty well vs Martin, including bull rushing him almost completely back into Kaep.

My point with Martin was that in order for Kaep to improve it would help if he had a real RT playing the position. Just like RT Polumbus in Wash gets beat quite a bit. And like Dallas in past years, but now that they've addressed the OLine Romo is much deadlier... most of the time this year. Same with Russell in SEA much of this year, where he's had to bail out of the pocket when they were playing so many 2nd and 3rd string OL guys (the 3rd stringer was the Center, but last week they upgraded to 2nd stringer Lemuel Jean-Pierre, who's actually not bad). OLine guys never get any glory, but often aren't the first to take the blame either, but should.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

WAS@IND - Nightmare with RG3 behind them, still a lock for Indy.
TEN@HOU - Both teams have no QB.
CLE@BUF- Both teams fighting for playoff spot, good at times.
SD@BAL - Both teams actually decent. Went with home.
NYG@JAX - Both teams suck. Went with home.
OAK@STL - Both teams on the up, Rams further up!
CIN@TB - Won't pick NFC South teams to win anything.
NO@PITT - Won't pick NFC South teams, though Saints O good.
CAR@MIN - Won't pick NFC South teams.
ARI@ATL - Won't pick...
NE@GB - Game of the week. Both hot, Pats hotter, more experienced. Game may be high scoring, but not insanely high.
DEN@KC - KC coming off loss to Raiders, extra rest, must win. Broncos sketchy of late, but still very good team.

MIA@NYJ - Miami still in fight for playoff spot. Jets miserably bad.

 

[Amsterhammer]

WAS@IND - Nightmare with RG3 behind them, still a lock for Indy.
TEN@HOU - Both teams have no QB.
CLE@BUF- Both teams fighting for playoff spot, good at times.
SD@BAL - Both teams actually decent. Went with home.
NYG@JAX - Both teams suck. Went with home.
OAK@STL - Both teams on the up, Rams further up!
CIN@TB - Won't pick NFC South teams to win anything.
NO@PITT - Won't pick NFC South teams, though Saints O good.
CAR@MIN - Won't pick NFC South teams.
ARI@ATL - Won't pick...
NE@GB - Game of the week. Both hot, Pats hotter, more experienced. Game may be high scoring, but not insanely high.
DEN@KC - KC coming off loss to Raiders, extra rest, must win. Broncos sketchy of late, but still very good team.

MIA@NYJ - Miami still in fight for playoff spot. Jets miserably bad.

I updated my picks on my previous loser bowl post. I think my NYG reasoning was identical to yours.

 

[Merckx index]

Survival: CAR

Past picks: MIA*, NYJ, MIN, TE, BUF*, OAK, StL*, BAL, JAX, CHI, TB*, WASH, ATL*

My “kiss of life” jinx did it again. Got an underdog team you desperately want to win? Let me pick it for survival, and it will win*. Did anyone think Atlanta had a prayer against AZ, even at home? Sure enough, they won, and it wasn't that close. NO also won, so I guess the NFC South winner will at least be 6-10, and I’d put my money on the Saints.

I had second thoughts after picking Atlanta, thinking I should have taken SF, and I will almost certainly take them in two weeks when they play in Seattle. After the way they played at home, I just see no way they can beat the Seahawks in the Clink. This is not a team that has ups and downs, looking really good some games, and not so good other games. They have been consistently a little better than mediocre all season.

*Sorry, Amster, even my powers of wrong prediction weren’t strong enough to help Washington last week. But even they almost won a game that wasn’t supposed to be close.

All this is further fueling the Harbaugh will be gone talk, with rumors that the Raiders and the Jets might be among his suitors. I still think the 49ers would be nuts to let him go, assuming he would stay if asked at this point. This is his worst season by far, and they still have a shot at the playoffs, and will almost certainly finish above .500. I don’t know what’s wrong with the offense, but the defense is playing pretty well now, considering all the pieces aren’t there.

Elimination. The following teams are left: NE, DEN, SD, AZ, SF, GB, PHI, DA

To be removed this week: SF, AZ. I’m regretting a little eliminating SE. They now can win the division if they win their remaining games, and almost certainly will be a WC in any case. But then they will have to win three games on the road.

RGIII’s plummeting value:

Of the five evaluators contacted about Griffin, one believed Washington might be able to get a conditional third-round pick for him, two believed a fourth-rounder was fair value, one said a fifth-round pick and one suggested a sixth-round pick that moves as high as a fourth-rounder based on how much and how well Griffin plays with his new team.

Of the possible teams that might be interested in Griffin, two seem especially interesting. One is the Rams, who might be giving up on Bradford. That would be ironic, because Washington got Griffin by trading all those first round picks to the Rams for the second pick overall in 2012. If the Rams got RGIII for a relatively low round pick, it would complete Washington’s utter humiliation on the deal, and for the Rams be almost like getting him for free.

The other is the Eagles. Coming out of college, RGIII seemed the perfect QB to run Kelly’s system, which at Oregon always involved a guy who could run as well as throw. The question is, does Kelly want to consider replacing Foles? His performance before he got injured this year was quite a decline from last year, though to be fair, very few QBs in history have performed better than Foles did last year. Or maybe Kelly would view Griffin as just a backup. But if any coach in the NFL can get the best out of RGIII, it ought to be Kelly.

Speaking of Chip Kelly, could this be his big year? Consider:

1) the Eagles are genuine SB contenders, with about as good a shot at winning it as any team right now
2) Oregon, which Kelly built into the team it is today, is one win away from making the new college playoff, meaning it has a real shot at winning its first national championship. If that happens, Kelly will deservedly be given a lot of credit for it.
3) Marcus Mariota, whom Kelly recruited and developed, is the favorite for the Heisman Trophy. If he plays fairly well at the Pac 12 Conference Championship game this Friday, I think he’ll win it.

And I can’t think of a better national championship matchup than Alabama vs. Oregon, which could happen if they both win their final games and finish 1-2 in the rankings. Arguably, they have been the best two teams in the country during the past five years. Bama has all the titles, but Oregon has been consistently one of the winningest teams during that stretch, undefeated in one regular season and making it to one national championship game, and in the hunt until late in the season in the other years. I think a lot of people really want to see those two teams play each other.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'll say what I did before Merckx about Harbaugh. If the 49ers dump him, instead of getting rid of some of the knuckleheads they have on the team, it would be a huge mistake. As a Raiders fan, I'd be more than happy if the Silver and Black picked him up the minute he's axed.

As someone once said, before you fire your coach, you better have a good idea who you're going to take next. You might find yourself firing a Marty Schottenheimer to hire a Norv Turner, and all the potential talent in the world from your players can't overcome that.

As to RG3 going to Philly, that's interesting for another reason. Chip Kelly is of the mindset that he wants two starting QBs on his team. He doesn't think it's smart to put all your chips into one QB, due to injuries and other possible factors. So let's say Barkley ends up somewhere else, and RG3 to Philly in the off season. Who's odd-man out there? Foles? Sanchez? RG3? All have had excellent games (plural), and all have struggled at times.

Did anyone watch the Denver-KC game? If I haven't eliminated KC already, I will now. I have little faith in Andy Reid. Why did KC give up on the run so easily? They have one of the best RB's in the NFL, and they handed him the ball 10 times? They can't pass block great, so they tried anyway, and allowed Alex Smith to get sacked six times? And pressured numerous other times, plus into a pick to Ware. The weather was windy, so they rarely played press, or tried to force PM to throw deep? Instead offering some sort of containment package on multiple numerous plays? Big props to the Broncos though for getting it done on the ground. Big boost for them. I was ready to eliminate them this week, but will hold on.

KC plays at Arizona next week. The loser may be done for the season. One team must rebound from this.

That GB-NE game was super, even though the Packers were ahead most of the game. It still had all the feel of a playoff game, with excellent playing on both sides of the ball by both teams. If they play again in the Superbowl I won't complain. Nor be surprised. The loss doesn't hurt the Patriots at all, and these two teams still look like the cream of the NFL crop.

Who here thinks Seattle can overtake Arizona? Me, check. Merckx, check. Anyone else?

 

[Tank Engine]

That GB-NE game was super, even though the Packers were ahead most of the game. It still had all the feel of a playoff game, with excellent playing on both sides of the ball by both teams. If they play again in the Superbowl I won't complain. Nor be surprised. The loss doesn't hurt the Patriots at all, and these two teams still look like the cream of the NFL crop.

Who here thinks Seattle can overtake Arizona? Me, check. Merckx, check. Anyone else?

I second you on both of those points. Apparently that was the first time that Rogers and Brady have faced each other. I hope for another meeting this year based on that.

Arizona's bubble seems to be bursting and the Hawks are on the up.

 

[leftover pie]

As Did anyone watch the Denver-KC game?

I saw as much as I could at work without being obvious, KC looked dysfunctional, maybe even a little overwhelmed. They couldn't even move the ball in garbage time.

That GB-NE game was super, even though the Packers were ahead most of the game.

my son slept in on Monday morning, til 7am !

So I got to watch the first half uninterrupted, a rare treat.

Eddy Lacy is a beast. Would love to see them play again in the SB.

 

[ChewbaccaD]

I think you mean Jamaal Lewis?



Not only that, but there are scenarios in which a 12-4 NFC team could miss the playoffs. Pretty unlikely, but 11-5 would not be a huge surprise, and 10-6 is quite possible. I’m kind of hoping something like this happens, as if that wouldn’t push the NFL to revise the postseason rules, nothing would.

Remember, 12-4 NO had to play at 7-9 SE a few years ago, and in a weird twist of fate, it’s quite possible a WC SE team with double digit wins could play at below .500 NO this year. There was also 12-4 Pittsburgh at 8-8 Denver the following year. Both times the home team won despite being I think a massive underdog, which I guess says something for Foxxy’s system.

In any case, what we can be quite sure about is that the winner of the NFC South will have a much worse record than some teams that fail to make the playoffs. NO or Atlanta would have to win 3 of their final 5 games to finish 7-9, and quite likely 10-6 won’t be good enough for a WC. One sportswriter even suggested the winner of the NFC South should voluntarily give up its playoff spot to a more deserving team, such as one in the AFC North, which has three teams with a record three games better than the best teams in the NFC South, and which is 10-1-1 vs, teams in that division.

I can't wait to hear the rumblings from Charlotte when the Panthers send out their bills for mandatory playoff ticket purchases...I can hear the Permanent Seat Licenses dropping to the floor from here.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

True or False?

1. After starting 6-1, the Cowboys will miss the playoffs (they are currently 8-4).

2. JJ Watt will be the first defensive player since Lawrence Taylor to win MVP.

3. Johnny Manziel will QB Cleveland the rest of the season.

4. RG3 will never take another snap for Washington.

5. Ray Rice will play again this season.

6. No team in the NFC South will win 8 games.

7. Cincinnati will take the AFC North, and again lose, at home, in their first playoff game.

8. Seattle will overtake Arizona to win the NFC West (Seahawks play @PHI, SF, @ARI, STL; Arizona plays KC, @STL, SEA, @SF).

9. New England will run the table to take HFA (@SD, MIA, @NYJ, BUF). (Denver plays BUF, @SD, @CIN, OAK).

10. More than seven coaches will be canned on Black Monday (five were last season, 7 the year before). Top contenders currently include: Rex Ryan, Mark Trestman, Tom Coughlin, Ron Rivera, Ken Wisenhunt, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Smith, Marvin Lewis, Jay Gruden. Plus Tony Sporano by default.