NFL Thread

[Magog]

How come there isn't an AFC team playing on Thanksgiving this year? This year, we have Eagles - Lions (FOX), Panthers - Cowboys (CBS), & Bears - Packers (NBC). Eagles - Lions is going to suck & the only reason to even tolerate this game is if the Eagles lose, watching Eagles Post Game Live (CSN Philly) would be fun to watch. Panthers - Cowboys could be fun, only if the Cowboys lose. Bears - Packers is somewhat OK. 

 

And what is with the halftime performances on the Thanksgiving games? Having it during the Super Bowl is very understandable. Having it during the Thanksgiving games is pointless & pretty much most of them suck. I don't know who is doing it this year, but its pretty much going to suck.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Magog

[merylinkid]

You will be happy to know that the halftime show for the Bears-Packers game is the retiring of Bret Favre's jersey by the Packers.

 

While I will watch the game and retch every time someone mentions how "great" Favre was, I will most emphatically not be watching the halftime show.   Anything would be better -- even Keeping up with the Kardashians.

[mojoween]

My father is 75 years old and unless the corpse of Elvis Presley comes out for a number he invariably bitches about whoever is doing halftime on Thanksgiving.

Addiction is terrible and Johnny Manziel really needs someone to help him stop being stupid all the time. I mean, his most recent antics have now cost him his job.

Edited November 24, 2015 by mojoween

[Rick Kitchen]

Anyways, I'm looking forward to John Football vs. Matt Schaub next week.

 

Manziel has been benched.  McCown is the starter for the Browns this week.

[nowandlater]

No AFC Thanksgiving teams last year, either. The Cowboys are playing the AFC East and the Lions are playing the AFC West this year. I'm sure they could've figured something out.

 

My disappointment is that the first game is the terrible game.

 

They should do: good game-bad game-good game.

[mojoween]

SI is doing a neat feature on little-known SB stories in the roll up to 50. This one is about how Joe Robbie got into the stadium business.

[yourpointis]

Can anyone tell me who was the quarterback that broke his leg during either a Monday or Sunday night game? I think it was pre-internet, but it was repeatedly shown on replay during the telecast. I know I know who he is, but it is driving crazy trying to think of his name. Any help will be greatly appreciated. 

[Danny Franks]

Joe Theismann? Redskins QB who had his leg broken and his career ended by Laurence Taylor?

[Ohwell]

That's what I was thinking, Theismann.

[BitterApple]

Manziel has been benched. McCown is the starter for the Browns this week.

Again?! How the hell do the Browns coaches expect the offense to get in any kind of rhythm when they're switching quarterbacks every other week?

[nowandlater]

Joe Theismann? Redskins QB who had his leg broken and his career ended by Laurence Taylor?

 

It happened Nov. 18, 1985. It was recently in the news because it was the 30th anniversary.

[stealinghome]

Again?! How the hell do the Browns coaches expect the offense to get in any kind of rhythm when they're switching quarterbacks every other week?

They wanted to go with Manziel the rest of the season, but a video of him partying and drinking just surfaced. They're trying to give him a wake-up call by benching him.

I think Manziel is a punk but I also feel bad for him. It's clear everyone around him is just enabling him--no one is really trying to help him.

[yourpointis]

Joe Theismann? Redskins QB who had his leg broken and his career ended by Laurence Taylor?

 

 

That's what I was thinking, Theismann.

 

Joe Theismann. Yes! Thank you thank you. It was driving me crazy because it was on the tip of my tongue, and I just couldn't think of his name. I was having a conversation with a fellow football fan about all the crazy injuries lately, and unfortunately I brought the Theismann injury but could not for the life of me think of his name. Again, thank you for the name. : )

[Rick Kitchen]

Manziel comes from a family that considers all of the family members entitled snowflakes.  It's in his genes.

[BrianJ62]

Manziel comes from a family that considers all of the family members entitled snowflakes. It's in his genes.

They're all from Douchebagistan.

[BitterApple]

So the Thursday night match up is going to be Matt Schaub versus Josh McCown? As if those games don't already suck as it is.

[xaxat]

I wonder how they are going to promo that game now. Yesterday's ad was "Johnny Football! Johnny Football!"

[BrianJ62]

I wonder how they are going to promo that game now. Yesterday's ad was "Johnny Football! Johnny Football!"

Johnny no mas football?

[merylinkid]

Johnny is not even the back up QB, he is the third stringer.   The Browns would rather have Austin Davis backing up a battered Josh McCown than reward Manziel any more.

 

Now he is 22, everything he did was completely legal.   But he promised no more headlines.   If you do that, you do not go to a club in Austin and party hard.   You want a party in your off week?   You do it in the privacy of your home and you confiscate all cell phones at the door.    He just doesn't get it that words must be suited to action.

 

As for the scheduling of games on Thanksgiving, Lions in the ET zone always get the early game, then the Cowboys in CT for the afternoon.   Those two teams always get to play on Thanksgiving because they agreed to do it when the NFL first wanted to put games on Thanksgiving and nobody thought anyone would watch or go to the games.   The thinking was everyone would be spending time with their families not trooping out in the cold to a football game or sitting in front of the tv to watch the game, while the women toiled in the kitchen.   Now it's a big deal, but the Lions and Cowboys are rewarded for the risk they took way back when.   

 

Quite frankly with all the other "innovations" in the game (color puke uniforms anyone?), I like that the NFL is sticking with this tradition.

[ganesh]

Is it though? It's another Thursday game. The quality of play on Thursdays is poor, and the teams aren't that good. So they added an additional game. I'd rather they try to schedule better teams than always stick with the same one. 

I think football is just oversaturated.

[Bastet]

The Joe Theismann injury is memorable not just for the footage of the obvious injury itself, but for Lawrence Taylor's reaction to it. 

 

(And, of course, that rather awful Blind Side movie begins with a VO about how that injury changed the game of football.)

Edited November 25, 2015 by Bastet

[FuriousStyles]

No AFC Thanksgiving teams last year, either. The Cowboys are playing the AFC East and the Lions are playing the AFC West this year. I'm sure they could've figured something out.

My disappointment is that the first game is the terrible game.

They should do: good game-bad game-good game.

I say get the bad game over with as soon as possible. In the early afternoon the tv is on just as background noise anyway.

[Rick Kitchen]

I say get the bad game over with as soon as possible. In the early afternoon the tv is on just as background noise anyway.

 

East Coast bias!  :)

[BrianJ62]

East Coast bias! :)

Midwest Strong here, specifically Kansas City

[Rick Kitchen]

Rams WR Stedman Bailey reportedly shot in the head.

[rallymantis]

I think Manziel is a punk but I also feel bad for him. It's clear everyone around him is just enabling him--no one is really trying to help him.

He is the monster partly created by ESPN with that stupid "Johnny Football" appellation.  I remember thinking at the time, "And what has he done to earn THAT name? this can't end well."  

I'm sorry I was right.

 

eta: Yay me for finally figuring out how to credit who I'm quoting!!!  *throws flowers*

Edited November 25, 2015 by gutette1

[Bastet]

 

I say get the bad game over with as soon as possible. In the early afternoon the tv is on just as background noise anyway.

 

 

East Coast bias!  :)

 

 

Or West Coast bias?  Since we may not get up until the first game is well underway and thus don't much care who's playing.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Bastet

[merylinkid]

Prayers up for the Stedman Bailey family.   Although his injuries are not life-threatening (how do you get shot in the head TWICE and not have life-threatening injuries?), the driver was shot multiple times and does have life threatening injuries.   The driver is a family member and was shot protecting the kids in the car with his own body.

[yourpointis]

O'Connor: Packers' Bart Starr is ready for his emotional homecoming

 

Though Starr's wife of 61 years, Cherry, said her 81-year-old husband doesn't remember specifics of his career and doesn't connect with old clips from his glory days, Starr's trainer, Brian Burns, said Tuesday his most resilient client can now recite a few basic facts he didn't know last month.

 

"I ask him what his number was, and he says, 'Fifteen,'" Burns said. "I ask him who he played for, and he says, 'Vince Lombardi.' I ask him what position he played, and he says, 'Quarterback.' One time he said, 'Linebacker,' and we got a good laugh over that. But he's made incredible progress. He is really coming back."

<snip>
"He never talks about himself," Bart Jr. said Tuesday. "He has no ego, and he wouldn't ever view this as having anything to do with him. He just wants to be part of an evening honoring Brett Favre." But it's not that simple. Favre is a beloved Green Bay figure who deserves credit for delaying his ceremony a year to give Starr a chance to attend it, but Starr is the icon who bonded with Packers fans like no other quarterback.

 

[merylinkid]

Oh bullshit, this is his night.    Favre just happens to be there.    Starr was an original.   Favre was just a spoiled baby who whined when he didn't get attention and tried to screw the Packers over.   Starr never did that.

[yourpointis]

Oh bullshit, this is his night.    Favre just happens to be there.    Starr was an original.   Favre was just a spoiled baby who whined when he didn't get attention and tried to screw the Packers over.   Starr never did that.

 

I would love to give this post a million likes if I could. 

[mojoween]

The Panthers whose shoes are the same color as the pants DO look like smurfs!

[merylinkid]

True.   But these two are by far the least annoying Color Rush "uniforms" so far.

[BitterApple]

I love country music and Luke Bryan, but damn, that was the most anemic response to a halftime show I've ever seen. Maybe the fans were in a food coma or something.

[Ohwell]

I haaaaate Dallas, but I also hate for any player to get injured so I hope Romo's shoulder is ok.

[FuriousStyles]

This was a great day for my Giants. I mean, if we dont win the division now...

The eagles look horrible, and it seems like the team has quit on Kelly. And the Cowboys. I dont wish harm on any player, but the way Romo was playing in the first half wasnt exactly striking fear in anyone. They were gonna lose this game even if Romo finished it. Tough break for Romo personally, but I couldnt care less about the team itself.

So much for the ugly game only being the early one. I wonder if Cutler will try to go for the trifecta....maybe throw 3 picks and lose 2 fumbles or something.

Edited November 27, 2015 by FuriousStyles

[merylinkid]

Romo is going to have to retire.   His shoulder cannot take the abuse any longer.

 

Not that the Cowboys were winning with him in the game either.

 

The only good part of the game was the Greg Hardy didn't get to beat the team that benched him and cut him.  You notice that without him playing the Panthers have only gotten better-- going all the back to last year when he was suspended with pay and not near the team?   Makes me wonder what kind of leader in the locker room he really is.

[stealinghome]

Aaaaaaand THAT'S why you don't play your fragile franchise QB when your season is already lost.

[ganesh]

I was going to say, I wonder if had Dallas not been 0-7 without Romo, maybe 4-3, 3-4, if he would have played. I don't think their season was over before the start of the game. Being in such a deplorable division, had they run the table, they would have made the playoffs. Romo shouldn't come back this year though. Heal up. 

[mojoween]

I know he got hurt at the end of the play, but Rodgers yelling "fuck" after the bad snap gave me the giggles.

I thought the halftime was well done and it was so great for Starr to come out.

[stealinghome]

Johnny Manziel, you are an idiot.

[twoods]

Is ther a reason why the night game couldn't have been in one of the early game dome stadiums? Those poor fans and players/coaches look like they are freezing.

Impressed with the Bears so far, but that shouldn't last for long.

Cassel looked sharp against the Panthers D at the end. I feel bad for Romo but he shouldn't have come back so quickly.

Eagles look painful. They looked so good at the start of the season- yikes!

[HalcyonDays]

I haaaaate Dallas, but I also hate for any player to get injured so I hope Romo's shoulder is ok.

 

I feel so bad for the guy - truly - because let's face it, as much as the Cowboys are hated, Romo's a pretty amazing QB. He's a tough motherfucker (seriously) who deserves at least a chance at a SuperBowl, but circumstances, and life happen. This is a guy who was undrafted for years, and managed to get onto the starting QB position due to injuries and brillantly excelled. Just look at his stats - dude is a absolute star. He really is.

 

When I saw that sack, I knew Romo would be out. Just one minute before, I was talking about how the last time Romo broke his collarbone, that the opposing teams were classy, in that they "sacked" Romo with respect - i.e. not toppling Romo to the ground. Then the next play happened...

[twoods]

Carolina, opposite of classy. I want to root for them but their showboating is ridiculous. Yeah they are undefeated but they haven't won anything yet. The guy who hit Romo didn't even see if he was okay.

[FuriousStyles]

I dont think the sack was bad. It didnt look like as hard a hit as the one that broke the collarbone the first time. I think the ones to blame are the powers that be who allowed him to come back. I mean the guy broke his collarbone...apparently in 6 places I think I just heard, and basically like 2 months later he's thrown back into the fire that is the nfl.

I really question Jason Garrett here because of his post game comments on the subject. For one, he sounded a bit defensive when asked if he thought they brought Romo back too soon. He said something about there being no evidence to support that. And then to top it off, he said he would absolutely put Romo back in if he were able to come back before the season was over, regardless of what their record was. "All hands on deck" as he said. I know maybe he said that just to say it, but that really struck me. Like really? You'll be 5-10 maybe 6-9 and want to put him back out?

You know Rodgers wanted to put on a show infront of Favre and Starr (mostly Favre). So while im sure he's pissed at the loss itself (to the Bears at home no less) its just a tad bit more painful on the night when Favre is being honored. You know its burning him up inside, especially since they had a chance to win at the end. And yes, I giggled a little bit too.

Im at the point where im convinced Manziel just wants out of Cleveland, and he'll do it by any means necessary even by sabatoging his own career. Its a stupid idea, but not as stupid as just be so insanely unaware. I mean come on man. You finally get the starting spot and not a full week later go get caught clubbing and then somehow think its a good idea to lie about the timeline of the video. Like the Browns or TMZ wouldnt be able to verify dates? He's one guy I wish would go away, but I have a suspicion Jerry Jones might get cute, and try to get him, assuming the Browns cut ties with Manziel, as they should.

Edited November 27, 2015 by FuriousStyles

[BitterApple]

In hindsight, the Cowboys probably should have scrapped the season, let Romo heal and come out firing next year.

I agree the Panthers shtick is getting old. I don't have an issue with guys being a little cocky, but they're drinking way too much of their own Kool-Aid. Time will tell if they can keep it together during the playoffs.

[caracas1914]

Rogers has first and goal on the 8 yard line and cant get the TD in 4 tries?

Yikes!

[Jx223]

I hated to see that injury happen to Romo. I wanted to see him stay healthy. He really does give his all to his team.

 

Stephen A. Smith seems to think Johnny wants to get out of Cleveland and is doing this on purpose. I don't know that he's doing anything on purpose, but I do believe he'd be happier out of Cleveland. He definitely was wrong for lying.. But personally I don't have a problem with him going to clubs as long as he's working hard in the building and on the field. According to his teammates and his coaches he's doing that and I think that has shown on the field. I don't think he has to completely change who he is, but I think he needs to make smarter choices. He makes poor decisions.

 

I do think he needs to learn to stay out of the spotlight off the field. One report said that he went to club and no one was allowed to take pics/videos of him. He would be better off staying out of clubs for the time being, but if he's going to go to them, tell them no one is allowed pics or videos. 

 

He's fortunate that he's in the NFL. As a fan of him, I think he might be better off if the Browns release him.. Might be best for him in the long run.  It could be a wakeup call for him, plus I think there's a chance he'd end up on another team in a better situation. I think that Cleveland may not be the best spot for him.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Jx223

[cattykit]

Stephen A. Smith seems to think Johnny wants to get out of Cleveland and is doing this on purpose. I don't know that he's doing anything on purpose, but I do believe he'd be happier out of Cleveland. He definitely was wrong for lying..

Another one of Stephen A's impeccable sources?

 

Manziel needs to remember that team after team passed on him in the draft and that he was lucky to have been picked at all.  What has he done since he arrived that would make anyone want to hire him?

 

Iggles lost, Dall-ass lost, Packers lost.  That's (especially # 1 and 2) a happy Thanksgiving for me.

 

I don't wish injury on anyone either, but if I had to hear another minute of Romo's return being fellated as the Second Coming, I was going to lose it.  Any other 3-7 team with a starting QB returning wouldn't have garnered a tenth of the coverage.  I thought the CBS guys came just short of outright saying Romo's return was pushed too soon.

 

Nice of Brett Favre to doll up for the occasion.  All he needed was the shopping cart to look completely homeless.  I had to FF past most of the slurpfest (I've started time-shifting everything except Sunday afternoon games) or I would have lost it then, too.  And I love how they're rewriting history as if BF hadn't left on such ugly terms.

[caracas1914]

As cocky as Carolina is, at least they haven't recorded their own " Super Bowl shuffle" aka the 1985 Chicago Bears who were nigh insufferable that year. God I wanted them to lose that year