NFL Thread

[AimingforYoko]

Fine Tampa, don't listen to me.

[Fukui San]

Receiving yards today

Tyreek Hill: 261 and counting

Combined Patriots and Cardinals, full game: 254

Combined Saints and Broncos, full game: 91

Edited November 29, 2020 by Fukui San

[Johannah]

2 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I watch Red Zone. It's football with ADHD. 

I think the Red Zone would be fun, but mostly when the bulk of games are being played, 1pm, and that's when my team usually plays and I'm watching that.  I'd have to pay extra for it, so it's not worth it for me.

[mojoween]

The Chiefs get handshakes, the Eagles do not.  Kansas City should be HONORED that his royal highness acknowledged their presence.

[basiltherat]

Perhaps Tommy wanted to breathe on Patrick just in case . . ..    

[shoregirl]

19 minutes ago, mojoween said:

The Chiefs get handshakes, the Eagles do not.  Kansas City should be HONORED that his royal highness acknowledged their presence.

Hey now Nick Foles didn't get a handshake when he beat Brady this year either 😂.  I still can't believe Brady did that in the Superbowl. it's joke now in my  family to see if Brady shakes the quarterbacks hand if he loses. He also didn't shake Jared Hoffa hand last week. 

[Lamb18]

Vikings played badly with some some moments of brilliance, namely Kirk Cousins's last drive. Why can't he play like that all the time? He does better when he just does his job without thinking too much about it. The game play depressed me (among other things in my life) and I was just sitting there, then realized, "Hey! We won!"

I decided it's in Vikings' best interest if Green Bay wins tonight but I feel like a traitor cheering for them.

This is going to be a weird football week.

[AimingforYoko]

1 hour ago, Fukui San said:

Combined Saints and Broncos, full game: 91

Oh yeah, Saints fans can rest easy, knowing Drew Brees' replacement is on the job!

[mojoween]

I literally just noticed that Aaron Rodgers has blue eyes.  Has he always had blue eyes?

[Carey]

34 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I literally just noticed that Aaron Rodgers has blue eyes.  Has he always had blue eyes?

I don't know if I would've bet on it.  I probably would bet that he never had brown eyes.  Maybe he had green eyes at one point or has them now but wears blue contacts.  On a related note, I've never seen him with glasses (I currently can't recall if he has).

 

Meanwhile, that Saints/Broncos game looked exactly the way I expected it to look any other day.  And I forgot that Richard Sherman was returning today; San Francisco escaped against the Rams and swept them.  That NFC West is basically the reverse of the NFC East.  The former could've had a team with a winning record in last place if it hadn't been for the Niners' awful luck in terms of injuries

[Court]

I don't understand why the NFL is insistent on having the Steelers/Ravens game on Tuesday. I feel for the Steelers but aren't the Ravens up to 19 people on the list now? 

[Carey]

10 minutes ago, Court said:

I don't understand why the NFL is insistent on having the Steelers/Ravens game on Tuesday. I feel for the Steelers but aren't the Ravens up to 19 people on the list now? 

The second-to-last thing the NFL wants to do is to have a game on the currently non-existent Week 18.  A forfeit is the last thing the league wants.  Unless the situation gets worse, there's no reason for them to postpone the game indefinitely.  Pittsburgh might end up losing to Washington, who will be super-rested.  Believe it or not, that is the one team they can afford to lose to (unlike Baltimore & Buffalo)

[Johannah]

1 hour ago, Court said:

I don't understand why the NFL is insistent on having the Steelers/Ravens game on Tuesday. I feel for the Steelers but aren't the Ravens up to 19 people on the list now? 

It's going to be like backyard football where everyone plays offense, defense and special teams.

[Carey]

What a lovely game at Lambeau Field!

 

30 minutes ago, Johann said:

1 hour ago, Court said:

I don't understand why the NFL is insistent on having the Steelers/Ravens game on Tuesday. I feel for the Steelers but aren't the Ravens up to 19 people on the list now? 

It's going to be like backyard football where everyone plays offense, defense and special teams.

For real.  Regardless, I imagine that both teams will have more completions than interceptions as a whole

[Haleth]

19 hours ago, emma675 said:

The Fox pregame show just stated one of Denver's QBs originally tested positive for Covid and the team was not forthcoming to the NFL about it. Then the NFL got a pic of all 4 Broncos QBs sitting together maskless in a meeting and pulled all 4 of them. Now they are stuck with a practice squad wide receiver at QB. Good grief. 

Is that why their game wasn't postponed like the Ravens' game was twice?  A punishment for bad behavior?  (Ostensibly.)  It would be nice if there was some consistency wrt teams missing numerous players due to covid.

[merylinkid]

That Broncos game was just ... sad.   But you know that emergency QB gave it his all.   He got no reps at all in practice.   Did not know the play calls.   But he went out and TRIED.   Mad respect for him.

By the way, an interesting factoid that got lost in all the Covid absences -- Callie Brownson, the assistant Chief of Staff of the Browns, coached the Tights Ends in their game yesterday.   The first woman to coach a position in an NFL game.   She was pressed into service when the regular coach went to be with his wife who gave birth last week.    1) Kudos to the Browns for letting the coach spend time with his wife and new baby instead of "you must play the game, the kid will still be there on Tuesday" and 2) for putting a woman in as the substitute.    The Coach was HIGHLY complimentary after the game -- he called her a utility player that can do anything.   

 

As for the Steelers-Ravens - the STEELERS had players test positive on Saturday.    So it's not just the Ravens dealing with players, its both teams.   I think the NFL needs to take this as a sign and SHUT IT DOWN.   Play tonight's game.   Then call the season.    Yes, the Steelers only played 10 games.   It is what it is.   This is a weird year, not everyone gets to play the same number of games.   

[mojoween]

Mitch Trubisky would have never been Patrick Mahomes if Mitch ended up in Kansas City.

But if Mahomes played in Chicago, would his numbers be the same as they are under Andy Reid?  Would DeShaun Watson be as explosive (and also, DeShaun has been to the playoffs more than Mitch, I think, but his NFL resume doesn’t blow Mitch away because his team is almost as bad)?

I’m just wondering if Chicago is the problem, not Mitch’s objectively suspect skills that caused Chicago to draft up for him.

[cambridgeguy]

2 hours ago, merylinkid said:

As for the Steelers-Ravens - the STEELERS had players test positive on Saturday.    So it's not just the Ravens dealing with players, its both teams.   I think the NFL needs to take this as a sign and SHUT IT DOWN.   Play tonight's game.   Then call the season.    Yes, the Steelers only played 10 games.   It is what it is.   This is a weird year, not everyone gets to play the same number of games. 

The only way the NFL shuts it down is if people start dying and/or suffer permanent damage.  They had to have known this was a distinct possibility at the beginning of the season and went ahead anyway, so it's full steam ahead at this point.  Let's be honest - if health and safety trumped all other concerns then the season never would have happened in the first place. 

[mojoween]

I’ve been waffling about this lately because they are paid to play football.  It’s their JOB.  My husband and son have worked non-stop since March and they work out in the public and deliver to other places every day (I don’t count myself because I’ve worked from home for seven years, nothing changed for me).

So they have to play football to do their jobs, and lots of places didn’t shut down in the midst of a pandemic.  It’s a slippery slope and I personally don’t know if there is even a right answer.  (College, on the other hand...those kids are doing jobs to make OTHER people money)

[Kip Hackman]

18 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I watch Red Zone. It's football with ADHD. 

Switched to AT&T TV this year, so no Red Zone.  And I hate it.

What? Watch one game at a time? What is this, 2010?  😡

 

 

 

[meowmommy]

8 minutes ago, Kip Hackman said:

Switched to AT&T TV this year, so no Red Zone.  And I hate it.

What? Watch one game at a time? What is this, 2010?  😡

 

I thought I heard they offered you folks free Sunday Ticket this year, which comes with its own Red Zone channel. 

[merylinkid]

@mojoween my husband has also worked since April (3 week shut down when they couldn't get materials).   He is in an "essential" industry.   I've worked since March too because I am essential (yes lawyers actually are essential, so there).   Of course I always worked from home and court CAN be done virtually.    But that's the difference to me.   Is the job essential?  Then yes, sorry you do your job (and they should ALL get bonuses for keeping the country running).   But football is not essential.   We could have gone without it.   They only played because of the tv money.   Pure and simple.   Would I miss it if it shut down?   Sure.   Do I want someone to risk their long term health just so I have my Sunday (Monday, thursday) football?   No.   

[Kip Hackman]

8 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

I thought I heard they offered you folks free Sunday Ticket this year, which comes with its own Red Zone channel. 

I don't have DIRECTV, I have AT&T tv.  No NFL Network or Red Zone channel available.

[meowmommy]

2 minutes ago, Kip Hackman said:

I don't have DIRECTV, I have AT&T tv.  No NFL Network or Red Zone channel available.

Oops, my bad.  I don't have DirecTV either, although I had it for ten years.  Suffered with their overpriced product and terrible customer service for ten years just to keep Sunday Ticket.  Now I have the streaming version of Sunday Ticket without DTV.

[DoctorAtomic]

I think you still could have had football and prevented the mess it is in now with some forward, proactive thinking, especially given the lead in time to when the season starts. The arrogance of the league itself is causing all these avoidable issues. The other sports accepted that they weren't going to have a 'real' season, and still were able to put out a quality product. The league could have done the same. 

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

Is that why their game wasn't postponed like the Ravens' game was twice?  A punishment for bad behavior?  (Ostensibly.)  It would be nice if there was some consistency wrt teams missing numerous players due to covid.

No.  Moving games has nothing to do with favoring a team or punishing a team because of COVID tests.  It has to do with when a team last had a positive test and how many they've had. 

Broncos, from what I know, had a QB test positive last week.  They moved the other QBs to the reserve list because of the picture showing close, maskless contact (who the heck sent in the picture?) but they are yet to have another another positive after that as far as I know.  They were able to practice on Saturday.  That's why the game remained on the schedule.

The Ravens had multiple days of positive tests come back which indicates that it wasn't a contained outbreak.  The Steelers also has some positive tests on Friday. 

I don't think the NFL cares how many players are out.  Have 12 men?  Play them on offense, defense and special teams. 

4 hours ago, merylinkid said:

As for the Steelers-Ravens - the STEELERS had players test positive on Saturday.    So it's not just the Ravens dealing with players, its both teams.   I think the NFL needs to take this as a sign and SHUT IT DOWN.   Play tonight's game.   Then call the season.    Yes, the Steelers only played 10 games.   It is what it is.   This is a weird year, not everyone gets to play the same number of games.   

Why would they shut it down?  We've reached week 12 and they haven't had to cancel a game yet.  They're close this week but if the Steelers and Ravens can play this week and Cowboys/Ravens next Monday, the juggling will have worked. 

A lot of people are working right now.  Not just "essential" workers.  These players don't get paid if there are no games.  I guess I think most of the protocols they have in place are decent.  Most teams have had positive tests but, in large part, it seems as if they were contained. 

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

I’m just wondering if Chicago is the problem, not Mitch’s objectively suspect skills that caused Chicago to draft up for him.

I think it's both.  Chicago has had a lot of quarterbacks.  They've also had a lot of coaches and GM changes. 

[emmawoodhouse]

Niners will play their next two "home" games in Arizona.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIOY_NXh93o/?igshid=1ong4n5rdyy8h

[emmawoodhouse]

Ravens/Steelers has been moved to Wednesday. Will this madness ever end? I get catering to the good teams (rather than letting Denver twist in the wind and play with no QB), but this is ridiculous.

Edited November 30, 2020 by emmawoodhouse

[Carey]

3 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Niners will play their next two "home" games in Arizona.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIOY_NXh93o/?igshid=1ong4n5rdyy8h

I wonder how Buffalo will perform having to go back to the scene of their painful loss.  First time in quite awhile a team had to travel to another venue to face an opponent from the same conference (excluding the postseason)

[mojoween]

Allegedly the Ravens were threatening to strike tomorrow (due to lack of practice?  not sure about the deets) and that is part of why the game was moved again.

[stealinghome]

2 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Ravens/Steelers has been moved to Wednesday. Will this madness ever end? I get catering to the good teams (rather than letting Denver twist in the wind and play with no QB), but this is ridiculous.

I have a feeling this game may just never get played....

[mojoween]

Well well well what do we have here?

 

[emmawoodhouse]

6 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Well well well what do we have here?

 

It's not even live here on the west coast. 

[Carey]

I wonder if FanDuel or DraftKings had a bet available on their app on whether the Jaguars & Jets would have fewer or more combined wins than the total number of Ravens/Steelers schedule changes

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Ravens/Steelers has been moved to Wednesday. Will this madness ever end? I get catering to the good teams (rather than letting Denver twist in the wind and play with no QB), but this is ridiculous.

I still don't think this is about catering to good teams/bad teams.  Denver twisted in the wind because they had one positive COVID test last Wednesday and none since then.

The Ravens game was moved again because of continuous positive tests on the Ravens team including one more today.

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

Allegedly the Ravens were threatening to strike tomorrow (due to lack of practice?  not sure about the deets) and that is part of why the game was moved again.

I haven't read about a strike but I did see concern about safety.  The players suggested moving the game to Thursday but I guess Wednesday was the compromise.

They also had another positive today but I guess it's from a player who is on injured reserve and doesn't have day-to-day contact with the team.

And I don't see how the Ravens can keep the coach who allegedly is the source of all these positives.

Dallas is the team getting screwed here.  No positive tests and now the Monday game is being moved to Tuesday. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Irlandesa

[mojoween]

This is the first time I have paid attention, and I do love him, but whoever told Boomer it was a good idea to paint his hair that shade of orange is only pretending to be his friend.

[merylinkid]

Thursday would have been better.   Then no conflict with the Rockefeller tree lighting.

It doesn't really matter WHEN the Ravens- Cowboys game is played -- the Cowboys are going down in flames no matter what.   

The NFL is running out of room to slide games and re-arrange the schedule.   But they are realllllllly resisting that Week 18 game with all their might.  

[AimingforYoko]

Texans' Will Fuller (and Bradley Roby) suspended six games for PEDs.

[BitterApple]

19 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Ravens/Steelers has been moved to Wednesday. Will this madness ever end? I get catering to the good teams (rather than letting Denver twist in the wind and play with no QB), but this is ridiculous.

Wow, the NFL is certainly going overboard to protect their pets. At this point Baltimore should've activated their entire practice squad or been forced to forfeit. One postponement, okay, but three? That is beyond ridiculous. If I were the Steelers, I'd be furious. 

Also, dumb move by NBC. There's more football fans than there are people who give a shit about lighting a tree. This is really the weirdest year ever. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by BitterApple

[Carey]

41 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Also, dumb move by NBC. There's more football fans than there are people who give a shit about lighting a tree. This is really the weirdest year ever. 

I have to disagree here.  Not about the fans part.  No way a tree lighting show is beating a football game anywhere.  However, I can't fault NBC at all here.  Football is their top program, but they have a lot of other businesses & programming in addition to football.  The network was ready for the best game of the year on Thanksgiving this time a week ago.  It would've done great, especially with a bigger audience as more people are at home these days.

 

I would bet NBC is more upset with Baltimore than the NFL is and the cost of losing Thursday's game.  So maybe the league should do a better job in terms of rescheduling their games so that we're not talking about NBC refusing to alter its schedule for the 3rd time thanks to a some franchise that's been in existence for just one quarter of a century.

 

Well, the NFL is something and 2.  As in 100plus-2.  The two losses come courtesy of the annual lighting of the tree & before that, the government in California forcing the NFL to redo their plans as it relates to the Niners

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Texans' Will Fuller (and Bradley Roby) suspended six games for PEDs.

I was just thinking that we hadn't had many drug suspensions this year.

47 minutes ago, Carey said:

I have to disagree here.  Not about the fans part.  No way a tree lighting show is beating a football game anywhere.  However, I can't fault NBC at all here.  Football is their top program, but they have a lot of other businesses & programming in addition to football. 

I agree.  I was actually pleasantly surprised that they weren't bumping the tree lighting. I'm guessing they probably have guests lined up who agreed to appear for prime time face time. If they play their cards right, it might even bump up the ratings for the lighting.

[DoctorAtomic]

I was thinking there were probably some strong ad contracts that made the tree lighting set too. I also don't think the NFL is as essential to the fabric of American society as it thinks it is. I also don't think they should get a break for creating an avoidable problem that literally every other pro sports league worked on anyway of them. 

[meowmommy]

9 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Thursday would have been better.   Then no conflict with the Rockefeller tree lighting.

The later you go, the harder it is to schedule the followup game.  The weeks are pushing into each other as the season finishes up.  I suppose it's a miracle they've gotten this far.

But, not surprisingly, more and more players/staff testing positive, leaving fewer and fewer windows and venues for moving games around.  If they don't seriously consider a bubble for at least the playoffs, they'll be playing the SB in June.

[emmawoodhouse]

4 hours ago, Carey said:

I have to disagree here.  Not about the fans part.  No way a tree lighting show is beating a football game anywhere.  However, I can't fault NBC at all here.  Football is their top program, but they have a lot of other businesses & programming in addition to football.  The network was ready for the best game of the year on Thanksgiving this time a week ago.  It would've done great, especially with a bigger audience as more people are at home these days.

 

I would bet NBC is more upset with Baltimore than the NFL is and the cost of losing Thursday's game.  So maybe the league should do a better job in terms of rescheduling their games so that we're not talking about NBC refusing to alter its schedule for the 3rd time thanks to a some franchise that's been in existence for just one quarter of a century.

 

Well, the NFL is something and 2.  As in 100plus-2.  The two losses come courtesy of the annual lighting of the tree & before that, the government in California forcing the NFL to redo their plans as it relates to the Niners

Small correction: it's Santa Clara county that's forcing the Niners to play elsewhere, not the state. Otherwise, the Rams and Chargers would also be looking for places to play.

[Carey]

1 minute ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Small correction: it's Santa Clara county that's forcing the Niners to play elsewhere, not the state. Otherwise, the Rams and Chargers would also be looking for places to play.

Oh, I know.  It isn't "state mandated" but just the area close to where the 49ers operate.  I didn't know whether to refer to San Francisco or Santa Clara, and that's why I said "The Government in California" as opposed to "California Government"  so as not to place responsibility on Governor Newsom for nixing all sports in his state

[Lamb18]

https://www.vikings.com/video/adam-thielen-goes-crazy-from-home-as-chad-beebe-scores-the-winning-touchdown

This little video of Adam Thielen, Vikings wide receiver, watching the Vikings game at home is fun to watch. His two boys are cute. I watched him play catch with his little boy at end of practice during training camp last year. Thielen has been on the Covid reserve list. I haven't heard any updates on his status lately.

In two weeks Vikings play Tampa. If Vikings are going to win, they'll have to do it by offense because our defense probably will not stop Tampa very well. If Cousins can get in the mode he was in during the Vikings' last drive for most of the game, we'll have a good chance of winning. I was thinking of going to that game - it would have been a fun trip - but I decided it would be wiser not to.

[Carey]

6 hours ago, meowmommy said:

But, not surprisingly, more and more players/staff testing positive, leaving fewer and fewer windows and venues for moving games around.  If they don't seriously consider a bubble for at least the playoffs, they'll be playing the SB in June.

I hear they are considering a playoff bubble down the road.  We'll see.  I would feel bad for a team like Pittsburgh who could clinch the Top seed only not to have one.  However, I would not.  While the 1978 comparisons are real, the Steelers have not made the Super Bowl as the number one seed since 1992.  Of course, the teams that beat them were very close to being the AFC top seed (or in Buffalo's case, and New England, the best team of that period) so it wasn't too much of an upset.  I don't think the Steelers are going to hold off the Chiefs anyway, and even if they did, I don't think they'll win a home game against Kansas City to go to the Super Bowl, even if it's a normal year with fans.

Same goes for Kansas City, New Orleans, Seattle, the Rams, and Green Bay.  It'll suck to lose out on the benefit, but not really.  I think the league is focused on a bubble setting close to the team's venue.  If that's the case, then great.  This year isn't one to get upset over no fans, which would be the case, I think, in the postseason.  That's regardless of the state's rules or lack of rules

[Irlandesa]

Interesting thought.  You're a team that has secured the highest seed you can secure whether it's home field advantage of the division.  Do you play the last game or do you forfeit?

[Carey]

8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Interesting thought.  You're a team that has secured the highest seed you can secure whether it's home field advantage of the division.  Do you play the last game or do you forfeit?

Three years ago, the Steelers were playing the Browns at home with a chance to give the NFL its third winless team in the modern era & its second 0-16 team since 1978.  While Pittsburgh rested their starters, they had a chance to clinch the Top seed over New England.  In a reverse of two years prior to the 2017 season, the AFC East did not defeat the Patriots in Week 17.  I believe the Steelers needed the Pats to beat the Jets in Week 16 in 2015 but NE threw the game (and the next one against Miami where they had a shot at the Top seed against Denver, who held on to it).  Pittsburgh still made it in 2015 thanks to Buffalo winning.

 

The Steelers beat the Browns in 2017, but they weren’t risking their starters in what may have been a meaningless game and a meaningless win

 

To best answer your question, Irlandesa : No way anyone forfeits that last game if they have the top seed clinched, or if they’re locked into a spot in the postseason (i.e. wild card or a division winner that can’t move up or down).  A team in question needs to hope the league cancels that game.  If a team forfeits, then they don’t get paid, and they will add a fifteenth and sixteenth team to the postseason, which wipes away the top seed bye.  I think it’ll be the same as before; rest as many people as possible and go from there

[meowmommy]

1 hour ago, Carey said:

The Steelers beat the Browns in 2017, but they weren’t risking their starters in what may have been a meaningless game and a meaningless win

In 2011, Green Bay was on its way to a one-loss season and a first round bye and everyone assumed they were on their way to a SB win.  They sat Aaron Rodgers and several other starters in the final week, giving Matt Flynn his one shot at overrated glory.  Combined with the first round bye, the Packers were so rusty that they got their butts kicked by the NY Giants on the way to their SB win.

Not sure if anything I'm saying is apropos of anything you said.  I just like re-living that SB season.  😜