National Football League

[Alpe d'Huez]

Well, their GM traded away their best defensive player. That didn't help.

Also, Dak has repeatedly shown he doesn't show up at clutch time in big games. He's great at piling up stats, making him look like an MVP, except when it comes to winning when it matters.

Cowboys may run the risk firing Schottenheimer that some potential coaches won't want to go there. But some will indeed think they can "fix" Dak. It won't be as bad as the Raiders who seem to fire head coaches every year, blaming them for a crap roster and dysfunctional org. Speaking of, there are more than a few people who think the Raiders are going to dump Geno Smith and try to trade/sign Murray. that would be a disaster IMO. But the Raiders have 25 years now of making really bad decisions, so who knows?

Ty Simpson absolutely looked like he needs to spend another year at Alabama.

 

[Oldman]

With that loss, the Cowboys' postseason odds drops way down to 9%. Jerry must be fuming & I'll bet that if the Cowboys, in fact, don't make the playoffs, Schottenheimer is shown the door. Lol

Unless Jerry is leading him out the door it's all getting down to a defense that can't keep them ahead of the scoring and Jerry owns much of that. Dak is doing what he can do. It's not enough but he isn't going to suddenly part the waters.

 

[Nomad]

Alpe, the Raiders should fire Carroll. He's failed to build an improved team. He's a veteran SB winning coach. As soon as he was hired, he should have been rebuilding that team from the ground up. And he should have drafted much better. He definitely made a mistake at QB. If I were him instead of drafting a RB with their high 1st rd pick, I would have drafted Jaxson Dart. I probably wouldn't traded the house away to get Ward, but since the Raiders picked way ahead of the Giants, I'd get the 2nd best QB in that draft class, and a dual-threat nonetheless. He could still keep Smith as his bridge QB but he would have his future franchise QB in Dart.

Remember this is what Quinn did when he took the Commanders job. He took the best QB on the board & then brought over Kingsbury to develope him. The Comanders became an offensive powerhouse with a below-average offensive line! Of course, Quinn couldn't anticipate that Daniels would be get injured this season playing in only 5 games so far (he might start this Sunday). If Daniels can get his injuries resolved, he's still their franchise guy.

Carroll has to be more than just a cheerleader for the organization. He needs to make better player personal decisions & it all starts at QB.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Here's the problem. The Raiders fire Pete Carroll, who will take the job? Seriously. No one in their right might would want it. Last year Ben Johnson turned them down. Liam Coen didn't even agree to interview, nor did Mike Vrabel, nor would Robert Saleh. Pete was the only one willing to try.

Whomever the next poor schmuck is he's going to be expected to be a miracle worker, take a crap roster in a dysfunctional organization undergoing change, and turn them into winners, or he too will be instantly fired. The Raiders have had more head coaches than any other team in the last 25 years. So, name someone who will take the job? Urban Meyer maybe?

 

[movingtarget]

Deshaun Watson (Achilles) unlikely to play this season, expected to be on Browns roster in 2026

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

What else could they do with him? They still owe him something like $130m, because they kept restructuring his contract, pushing the payday into the future. Now they're stuck with him for at least one more year. What a dumpster fire Cleveland is.

No thoughts or predictions this week. Too busy.

 

[Nomad]

I was wondering what happened to your weekly predictions & thoughts...always look forward to that segment of your posts.

Entertaining game in Buffalo with crazy weather conditions; cold, wind, snow, slippery field. Burrow is on fire. In fact, exceptional QB play on both sides.

Big trouble in Indy as Jones is knocked out of the game. Rookie Riley Leonard in relief.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Colts QB Jones suffers Achilles injury, ruled out

Colts quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a noncontact injury to his right Achilles, leaving him in obvious pain and out for the remainder of Sunday's pivotal AFC South game against the Jaguars.

www.espn.com

Huge window of opportunity for the Chiefs to limp in as the seventh seed.

 

[Nomad]

Bills looked very good - Allen outplayed Burrow who started off on fire. In fact, Allen was a one-man wrecking crew throwing for 251 & 3 scores & running for another 78 yds & a score. Can't rule Buffalo out as the best team in the AFC with Allen playing like this.

Jaguars slaughter the Colts once Jones left the game. Leonard overwhelmed in his first action in the regular season & clearly not ready to start. Lawrence actually looked real good playing one of his better games this season. Looks like a season-ending injury for Jones & the end of the season for the Colts as well.

Big game by JJ McCarthy. And what is Daniels doing playing in a meaningless game - injured again.

Are you kidding me -Tyler Shough beats the Buccaneers with his legs? 7 carries for 55 yds and 2 scores including the go ahead TD! The power of a big, mobile, athletic QB.

 

[BullsFan22]

Colts QB Jones suffers Achilles injury, ruled out

Colts quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a noncontact injury to his right Achilles, leaving him in obvious pain and out for the remainder of Sunday's pivotal AFC South game against the Jaguars.

www.espn.com

Huge window of opportunity for the Chiefs to limp in as the seventh seed.

I hope not.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Jones was able to walk. Almost always when you have a full achilles tear you can't walk 10 feet. So we'll see. If not, Riley Leonard has to be the man.

Ravens maybe got the shaft with that "not complete possession" TD taken away. As bad as the Megatron call. He caught it, took three steps before it was batted away and he lost control. Ravens still not out of it though.

Bengals had the Bills beat, but two tipped balls by Burrow led to interceptions late. And Allen was mega clutch capitalizing on it. Buffalo goes to New England next week. We'll find out who's for real then, but I wouldn't relish playing Buffalo right now.

Tyler Shough did look for real. With his arm, and legs, and some smart play and good decisions.

That was JJ's best game.

Commanders aren't the most injured team, but they might as well be, now with Ertz out.

Awesome weather games today. Going to suck when Cleveland, Chicago and Tennessee all move to domes.

 

[Nomad]

I've seen players walk off the field/court with a torn Achilles. When Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles he actually came back onto the court to shoot free throws before exiting on his own power. Same with Kevin Durant. And the situation with Jones is that if it's only a partial tear, it still needs to be surgically repaired (a surgically repaired partial tear has a better outcome vs non-surgical rehab for professional athletes). Assuming Jones is done, then the Colts are done. Leonard isn't going to be the man. I think they would have a better chance with AR - is he's still on IR? Jacksonville looks to be in control of that division now.

Didn't watch the Bronco game. I didn't want to miss my Sunday gym workout for a boring game like that. I already blew my morning/early afternoon watching the Bills/Bengals game which was well worth it though.

Good Packers win over the Bears. The Pack comes into Denver next Sunday - maybe that'll be a good game to watch.

 

[movingtarget]

Colts QB Jones suffers Achilles injury, ruled out

Colts quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a noncontact injury to his right Achilles, leaving him in obvious pain and out for the remainder of Sunday's pivotal AFC South game against the Jaguars.

www.espn.com

Huge window of opportunity for the Chiefs to limp in as the seventh seed.

Colts in big trouble at the QB position. Third loss in a row as well.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Either way, Jones is done for the season. Richardson on IR, won't play for the Colts again, maybe someone will take a flyer on him next year. Leonard may develop into a solid backup for teams someday. But the Colts are done.

Zack Ertz has a torn ACL, done for the year for Washington.

Wanye Morris injury for KC pretty gresume if you watch the replay. His knee basically bent the wrong way about 30 degrees. Not surprised NBC didn't show a replay. Don't click if you don't want to see it:

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7581293461471546655

 

[SHAD0W93]

Texans with a huge win over the Chiefs and showing why they’re the best defense. I thought the way the third quarter started going for the Texans they were in bad shape but their defense came up huge and the Chiefs continued to implode. If you told me at the beginning of the year Dolphins would have the same record as Chiefs and Ravens at this point I’d be ecstatic.

Steelers with a good win and helped out with Bengals imploding. Rodgers could be the second quarterback to win the division in each conference. AFC North is wide open still though with I think the biggest losers being the Bengals. They had many chances to be closer or even leading the division even with Burrow’s injury.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Chiefs luck ran dry.

 

[Nomad]

Unbelievable...the Chiefs dynasty is over. Their playoff chances are slim to none...essentially over. Incredible game by Houston. Superb defensive effort. Houston 5 game winning streak just one game behind the Jags now.

What can you say about the Chiefs implosion in 2025? Alpe you should be thrilled - there will be no Chiefs contending for a SB this year. Lol. 6 dropped passes all on 3rd & 4th down - the most in the Mahomes era. Kelce 2 dropped passes right into his hands including one he tipped for a pick. Mahomes 3 picks. The Chiefs are now under .500 in the month of December for the first time in over a decade.

The great dynasty of the Chiefs is over. Some predictions for the off-season:

Kelce & Reid will retire.
Spags will take a HC job.
The GM will blow up the team & start a rebuild.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

You might be right about all three of those. If they are hoping to milk what they have to wins, that seems very unlikely. The smart thing would be to accept a rebuild now, accept 2026 and maybe 2027 could be painful, and then ride out what they can with Mahomes to the end.

Reid retiring after this season would also be a good time to do it.

Back to Pete Carroll, he should honorably retire too. He wouldn't even have to admit he doesn't have it anymore. Just say he's going back to teaching and spending time with his grandchildren. No one would question him for a second.

 

[movingtarget]

Unbelievable...the Chiefs dynasty is over. Their playoff chances are slim to none...essentially over. Incredible game by Houston. Superb defensive effort. Houston 5 game winning streak just one game behind the Jags now.

What can you say about the Chiefs implosion in 2025? Alpe you should be thrilled - there will be no Chiefs contending for a SB this year. Lol. 6 dropped passes all on 3rd & 4th down - the most in the Mahomes era. Kelce 2 dropped passes right into his hands including one he tipped for a pick. Mahomes 3 picks. The Chiefs are now under .500 in the month of December for the first time in over a decade.

The great dynasty of the Chiefs is over. Some predictions for the off-season:

Kelce & Reid will retire.
Spags will take a HC job.
The GM will blow up the team & start a rebuild.

Sure Kelce will retire. He was supposed to be close at the end of last season.

Spags was turning down head coach jobs but who knows ?

No doubt the Chiefs need at least a makeover. Last season's SB beatdown made me think then, the dynasty might be over. The 49ers are in year one of their rebuild and have no SB to show for it after making it to three in 11 years. At least the Chiefs won multiple titles, two against the 49ers.

The Colts playoff chances are almost done. Cowboys and Chiefs are gone or hanging by a thread in the Chiefs case. Two teams with momentum seem to be the Texans and GB. The Ravens are almost done. Will Allen get a better opportunity of at least winning the AFC with probably no Mahomes or Lamar to worry about ? The Jags are doing better than I expected as are the 49ers. The Buccs seem to be in danger of losing their division to the Panthers who are erratic kinda like the Bills ! Bears have done well but their final four games will test them and the Patriots are the biggest surprise of all with Vrabel surely winning coach of the season. Denver and the Texans are riding their defense and so far it's worked.

Falcons coach will probably be the next to go. Caroll will probably get another season. Another one and done for Tomlin in the playoffs will probably be the end for him. Rams are looking good to win the NFC unless they have another form reversal re the Panthers game. I view the Lions, the same way I view the Bills, in two minds. Looking like any team in the playoffs could win the SB this season with maybe one or two exceptions.

 

[Oldman]

Seahawks great second half appeared to reveal the moment Sam Darnold's brain locked onto the concept of wasting a bad pass rather than throwing an INT! Their defense plays vengeful 'ball.

 

[Oldman]

Unbelievable...the Chiefs dynasty is over. Their playoff chances are slim to none...essentially over. Incredible game by Houston. Superb defensive effort. Houston 5 game winning streak just one game behind the Jags now.

What can you say about the Chiefs implosion in 2025? Alpe you should be thrilled - there will be no Chiefs contending for a SB this year. Lol. 6 dropped passes all on 3rd & 4th down - the most in the Mahomes era. Kelce 2 dropped passes right into his hands including one he tipped for a pick. Mahomes 3 picks. The Chiefs are now under .500 in the month of December for the first time in over a decade.

The great dynasty of the Chiefs is over. Some predictions for the off-season:

Kelce & Reid will retire.
Spags will take a HC job.
The GM will blow up the team & start a rebuild.

That two great passes were dropped by solid, dynasty players says everything. Patrick on the turf watching it was tough. The last drop( INT courtesy of Kelce's helmet juggle) will haunt the entire squad; especially the exhausted O-line guys that haven't been invited to any parties with Taylor.

 

[Unchained]

Too many great games! Weather made everything much enjoyable to watch. I am midway through some flu symptoms, turn on Buffalo game and it was too hot where I was sitting to wear socks! Blizzard and I am in shorts, flip flops and short sleeve t-shirt!
My prediction about what Isiah Pacheco would bring once he returned was wrong. Commentary team said positive things about Kareem Hunts ability to edge block, cool but he didn't run anywhere near previous games. KC offensive line was decent, PM had time, nobody could catch on the few times they got open.
California miracles for Aaron Rodgers and Josh Allen.. Both would have lost if other team protected the ball.
Bears and Packers was great, all around. Lots of NFL quarterbacks are doing moves that look more like Harlem Globetrotters instead of NFL! Absolutely awesome dexterity and thinking about getting it done.
I am nervous for tonight. Chargers don't have good options.. every game is important but if you play Herbert against struggling Eagles and lose or lose Herbert for the rest of the year or last few games.. Yikes. NFL typical defensive strategy is knock QB down whenever legally possible, so Herbert might not take a shot to injured hand but collateral injury is likely. I would sit him. It's 50-50 no matter what.
Gooey game of the week was supposedly great Broncos squeezed it out passed a substandard Raiders. Geno Smith playing hurt is just the state of the team not Pete Carroll. Geno is in decline, nobody on the bench is better. Team just doesn't have front office to draft a decent QB.
Because I am a Charger fan, getting a decent QB is all the organization is good at..Raiders should let someone else, everyone else get playing time, Geno Smith era has passed.

 

[Sciatic]

Texans with a huge win over the Chiefs and showing why they’re the best defense.

Hmm; Did you watch the Houston-Seattle game earlier this season?

 

[SHAD0W93]

Hmm; Did you watch the Houston-Seattle game earlier this season?

Seahawks have a lot better offense than the Texans. The team with the superior offense and similar defense is always going to beat the inferior offensive team. The Texans held steady in the game till their defense couldn’t overcome the offensive struggles.

Texans 20th in offensive points and yards, 1st in defensive points and yards.
Seahawks are 2nd and 9th in offensive points and yards, 2nd and 6th in defensive points and yards.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'll be surprised if the Colts win another game. They play @SEA, SF, JAX, @HOU. They will quite likely finish 8-9, after starting 7-1. This year is a double disaster in that they went all-in on this season, trading two first round picks to the Jets to get Sauce Gardner.

I would rest Herbert. All the Chargers have to do is win two remaining games to get a WC playoff shot, and they aren't winning the division, Denver is. If they lose 3, and KC wins out, they are out. There is no point in pushing Herbert out there IMO.

Pete Carroll should just retire when the season is over. Let the Raiders rebuild with a new HC, this one chosen by GM John Spytek, and accept they need a true rebuild. Also, Kenny Pickett definitely looked better than Geno this Sunday. Granted, the Broncos were playing soft at that point, but Pickett got rid of the ball quicker, he looked a lot more mobile (Geno was somewhat mobile years ago), and threw some nice passes. Raiders need to just cut bait with Geno after the season. Accept the dead money, move on. He's washed. Raiders lose out they win the Fernando Mendoza sweepstakes. Seems destiny to me a hispanic QB would be in their future (Plunkett, Tom Flores years ago). Kid is bilingual as well. Would sell a zillion jerseys in California alone. And maybe even a couple pirated ones will be seen in Cuba.

If Seattle can beat the Rams in two weeks, at home, they will be in the driver's seat to gain the top seed. They almost beat them a couple weeks ago in LA, so it's definitely possible. One thing about the Rams is if someone can get pressure on Stafford he doesn't play as well. He's always been great moving out of the pocket and throwing on the run, but the Panthers showed he's slowing in this regard. Pressure him, he's not as good. Cardinals couldn't do that at all, Rams OL gave Stafford all day to throw. As explosive as the Rams are, they look beatable to me.

I still like Tampa to win that division. They are scheduled to get Mike Evans back in two weeks against Carolina (they play Atlanta on Thursday). He's actually practicing now, but I doubt he'll suit up this week. They've also been missing all-pro LT Tristin Wirfs, and he's scheduled to return Thursday.

My concerns for both NE, and SF, is that their schedule has been soft. We'll see next week if the Pats are for real when Buffalo comes to town.