NFL 2020: Week 16

The Game Room
1

Covid: Deshaun Watson gets fined for violating Covid protocols while at his restaurant opening. Lions close their facilities after a couple of positive tests and most of their defensive staff may be unavailable as close contacts. I’m sure there’s other news, but nothing too major. I’ll be honest, I’m a bit surprised we haven’t have any games canceled, or any massive superspreader events at games or practices. I’d hate to give kudos to the NFL, but they seem to be doing a pretty good job, considering they continue to risk the long-term health of their players and coaches.

There’s not a lot of other news out there. Randy Moss and Jerry Rice throw shade. Kevin Greene passes away. And here’s hoping Josh Gordon can get his shit together, regardless of whether he plays football ever again. It’s the finals in many a fantasy football league this week (Go Jalen Hurts, Tony Pollard, Tyreek Hill, and Nick Chubb!!!) so a lot of tension around the games. And more and more games have playoff repercussions. Speaking of the games, we have a fair amount with this Christmas week. Here they are:

Friday, Dec. 25, 3:30 p.m CST

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints (-7, 52)

Saturday, Dec. 26

Noon: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions (+9, 53.5)
3:30: San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals (-3.5, 49)
7:15: Miami Dolphins vs. Las Vegas Raiders (+2.5, 47.5)

Sunday, Dec. 27

Noon

Cleveland Browns vs. New York Jets (+10.5, N/A)
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Houston Texans (-9, 45)
Indianapolis Colts vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5, 45.5)
Chicago Bears vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (+7.5, 46.5)
New York Giants vs. Baltimore Ravens (-9.5, N/A)
Atlanta Falcons vs. Kansas City Chiefs (-10.5, 53.5)

Late

Carolina Panthers vs. Washington Football Team (-2.5, 44.5)
Denver Broncos vs. Los Angeles Chargers (-3, 48.5)
Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks (-2.5, 47.5)
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys (+1.5, 49)

Night

Tennessee Titans vs. Green Bay Packers (-3.5, 56)

Monday, Dec. 28, 7:20

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots (+7, 45)

After the Vikings defense laid down against the Bears and the Saints offense took too long to get going against the Chiefs, the Christmas games seems like it will be a letdown. I was hoping the Vikes could sneak into the playoffs (and they still can), and a loss by the Saints certainly helps the Packers, but I doubt this will be much of a game. The Saints defense is too good and the Vikes defense is too bad.

Of the Saturday games, both the Niners/Cards and Dolphins/Raiders give me a chance to see some teams I haven’t seen enough of this year. I’m a non-believer in the Cards, but I love what Flores has done with the Dolphins. Those could be a couple of interesting games to me, I want to see if the Cards are for real (although the Niners, with their injuries, isn’t a great test), and, as always, I enjoy seeing the caricature that is John Gruden throw fits on the sidelines.

The Colts/Steelers should have been a great game, but, despite being in the top 5 healthiest teams in the NFL, the Steelers now are not the Steelers of a few weeks ago. Still, two playoff teams slugging away at each other. I actually think the Steelers have a good shot this week, although I am a bit surprised they’re 2.5 point favorites. The rest of the games are pretty big meh’s. Although I’m totally hoping for a Bears’ crushing of the Jags with an efficient performance by Mitchell Trubisky that keeps him as their starter next year.

I was completely shocked by the Rams loss to the Jets last week, but I think it was much more of a “trap game” and a blip than a sign that the Rams now suck. I expect them to beat the Seahawks and it should be a good game to watch.

Of course the Packers will be watched on Sunday night, and the game is a really good test of how good they really are. The Titans are a nightmare matchup (like the Niners last year) for a team like the Packers who struggle to stop the run and are struggling getting 4 good quarters from their offense. Should be a good game and a good test. Also, the Patriots upset the Bills is what I want to see on Monday night, but trotting out Cam Newton again isn’t going to help much.

So that’s it. With Christmas just around the corner, not much emphasis will be on the NFL this week, which is kinda nice. I’ll be spending time with my family, hopefully playing games and enjoying each other company. So best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!!

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I too was shocked that the Steelers opened as favorites. But the ‘smart money’ sees it differently. According to vegasinsider, the Colts are now 1.5 point favorites.

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Continuing this from the Week 15 thread:

So much of this perception, I think, is strictly recency bias and NFL starts. Or course there are more “good” young QBs because there are more young QBs. Guys you listed are first round picks who, generally, get at least 3 or 4 years of slack (barring complete Akili Smith level meltdowns) before they get judged. As long as they show “flashes” (whatever that means), they’ll be starting NFL QB’s. “Not sucking” is pretty much the only standard they have to meet.

Sure Mahomes, likely Watson, are elite NFL QB’s. But Jackson, Mayfield, Murray, and Burrow all have their ups and downs as the game adjusts to them and, while , they’re capable of greatness at times, it’s still too early to judge them. Look at Carson Wentz, who has gone from the next great elite QB to dumpster fire in a couple years. And, as an aside, Jones and Lock belong nowhere on a list of better than average NFL QB’s.

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Amen to this. I’ve seen speculation that Jones might be more successful if he was with a better organization but I’m very skeptical.

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The Lions head coach and ALL of their defensive coaches are out on Saturday due to close contact with COVID.

6

I find it ironic that the Minnesota Vikings receivers are in New Orleans doing a dance (the ‘griddy’) that was basically started in New Orleans.

7

Wow Kamara!

8

What’s with the SF-Cards game being on “Prime Video”. I’m watching it on the Fox affiliate, but the entire broadcast seems to be transported in from a parallel universe. No Fox bug, nor the local affiliate, nor any mention thereof. I don’t think there are even commericals that aren’t either for the NFL or Amazon Prime movies.

It’s very twilight-zoney.

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And the ever-reliable Robbie Gould continues to give the Cardinals a chance in this game. He’s missed 2 FGs and an XP.

10

Crazy ending to the MIA-LV game. Fitzpatrick throwing the ball while somebody is yanking on his face mask was amazing.

I don’t get the Raiders strategy at the end. I know it’s considered the correct play to not score the TD and let the clock run down. It seems to me that going for the TD should be the better play. First off, a FG is not automatic, so there’s a chance of failure there. Plus, with a TD the other team has to score a TD to win, not just a FG. I’m sure that the numbers say that the Raiders did the right thing but is it too much to ask your defense to not give up a TD with less than a minute to play and no timeouts?

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The best part is that because of that result the Browns’ Doomsday scenario is still in play. There exists a (distinctly possible) scenario where the Browns miss the playoffs with 11 wins, and for that to happen it would be at the hands of the Steelers in the last week.

Just imagine: the Browns vs. the Steelers in Week 17, with the Browns winning the division if they win and going home if they lose. I don’t really want it to come down to that, but destroying the soul of every Cleveland fan would be a thing of beauty.

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18 years since the Browns have made the playoffs. It’s just mean to take joy in them missing out at 11-5.

It’s the Browns who are most responsible for destroying their fans’ souls.

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The 3rd-and-goal snap occurred with 1:05 on the clock. If they score a TD, there’s still a minute left for the Fins to move down the field to try to score. I think it was the correct strategy. Leaving a receiver wide open down the sidelines for a 34 yard gain was not, however, the correct strategy.

14

You’re completely ignoring the difference between being ahead by 2 points, so a field goal beats you, and being ahead by 5 or 7 points, where a TD is necessary. The Raiders fucked up by taking a knee instead of pushing for the td and making the Dolphins need a Td to win.

15

Big game for the Seahawks. If they beat the Lambs then they are the NFC West champs. If not, then the bleaters have the tie-break going into the last week.

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I’m not ignoring the difference in points needed for the win. But you have to weigh the point differential versus the time on the clock. There’s a huge difference between 60 seconds and 19 seconds. Although you are correct in that Miami needed 40 fewer yards for the FG rather than the TD. Certainly there are two different schools of thought on the strategy to be employed in this situation.

I would also note that Miami was perfectly willing to let the Raiders score a TD to preserve the time on the clock.

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Looks like the Browns are going to be without their top 5 WRs today, 4 of them thanks to “close contacts” in a recovery pool with someone who tested positive. May it be a huge Nick Chubb day.

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For fuck’s sake, the Holy Roller rule just fucked the Browns.

So Baker lost the ball, but Hunt snatched it out of the air before it ever touched the ground as it was heading backwards. Why is it a fumble rather than a lateral? Are they judging the intentionality of it?

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So when the fucking rats are negligent and fuck up and get a COVID scare, the NFL rearranges the whole fucking schedule to make sure they get everything they need to win the next game.

The Browns have a pretty significant contamination but followed the rules so it was limited to just one position group, and of course they’re told on the day of the game that their top 4 receivers are out, and they have to fucking bring practice squad members up to speed in a freezing parking lot before the game.

So I don’t know what the lesson here is: be one of the NFL darling’s and we’ll bend over backwards to accomodate your negligence and make sure you never have to suffer for your bad decisions, or maybe be less responsible and break more safety rules and make sure COVID spreads further and wider so you get the schedule rearranged for you rather than having to play at diminished strength.

20

I assume your talking about the Ravens. The difference, as I understand it, is that the Ravens had several positive cases of Covid so the NFL was worried about an outbreak, so they postponed the games and rearranged the schedule. The Browns case was due to close contact, not several players testing positive so the game was played as were other games that were played. games like the Broncos with no QB’s, the Lions with several coaches out and others.