NFL 2021: Week Fifteen Minutes of Fame

The Game Room
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Ding Dong the Douche is dead. Which old douche? The rich old Douche. Ding Dong the wicked douche is dead. Urban Meyer is head coach in the NFL no longer. With both him and Jon Gruden being fired, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Instead of an Atari 2600 (yes, I’m that old), I got two less hypocritical assholes polluting the NFL. Now if we could just get rid of Dan Snyder. And Stan Kroenke. And Antonio Brown. And Deshawn Watson. And Richie Incognito. And Ben Roethslisberger. And …

Wow, I could go on for awhile. But at least Meyer is gone, so there is that.

COVID decides to rear its ugly head and jump back into th NFL news cycle. Such is the price of complacency. WFT, the Browns, and the Dolphins RBs have been hit hard, as well as individual players like Odell Beckham Jr, Chris Jones, Jalen Ramsey, and other big names. Booster shots and more testing for everyone!! And here comes omnicron!

But the playoffs are coming in 4 weeks and theres a heap of teams still in the running. The Bengals, Browns, Broncos, Colts, Eagles, Vikings, etc. Lots on the line this weekend.

Lastly, byes are done and NFL football has arrived on Saturdays now. Lots more games to watch.

Enough rambling. Here’s your games:

Thursday, December 16th, 7:20 p.m.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Los Angeles Chargers (+3.5, 49.5)

Saturday, December 18th

3:30 Las Vegas Raiders @ Cleveland Browns (-6.5, 43)
7:15 New England Patriots @ Indianapolis Colts (-1.5, 44.5)

Sunday, December 19th

Early

Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants (+11.5, 45)
Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars (-3.5, 41)
Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers (+2.5, 41.5)
New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins (-8.5, 43)
Washington Football Team @ Philadelphia Eagles (-4, 44.5)
Arizona Cardinals @ Detroit Lions (+14, 47.5)
Carolina Panthers @ Buffalo Bills (-11.5, 44.5)

Late

Cincinnati Bengals @ Denver Broncos (-1.5, 44)
Atlanta Falcons @ San Francisco 49ers (-8, 44.5)
Seattle Seahawks @ Los Angeles Rams (-7, 47.5)
Green Bay Packers @ Baltimore Ravens (+6.5, 42.5)

Night

New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-11.5, 47.5)

Monday Night Football

Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears (+4.5, 43)

Helluva Thursday night game tonight. Chiefs/Chargers has it all: two high powered offenses, two better than you’d suspect defense, two great young Qbs, and they’re rivals playing for a divisional championship and high playoff seeding. You’ll want to watch this game. As an aside, I’m heavily invested in both these teams in fantasy, so here’s hoping for a massive shootout.

On Saturday, the Browns/Raiders will be interesting if only to see how badly Covid can decimate a team as the Browns HC, starting QB, starting WR and TE, and 2/5th of their O line could be missing for the game. The real game to watch is the Colts and Patriots. Run first teams with good defenses and both with playoff aspirations should make it a good, old school football game. The Colts O Line and Jonathon Taylor v. Belichick and the D line is not likely on most of the public’s “must watch”, but I’ll find it fascinating.

Sunday early games can be missed. Titans, Eagles, and Steelers are playing for something, but I’m not sure any of those games will be fun to watch. I do have a lot of leaves to clean up….

Sunday late games gives us at least one game worth tuning in for. The Bengals/Broncos matchup should be a close, well fought game. I always thought Teddy Bridgewater would be better than he has been. He’s efficient, and you can win with him, but he’s also not challenging defenses. I think this game could be interesting as the Bengals try to figure out if they’re actually good or not. Again, it won’t be an exciting offensive game on both sides, but it should be close.

Sunday night should be a snoozer as we learn, yet again, why Taysom Hill isn’t going to be a franchise QB in the NFL. Monday night could be an interesting game, and my devotion to NFC North will have me check it out. But it could also quickly turn unwatchable.

So, who do you want to see out of the NFL next? How is your team handling Covid? Should I just hire someone to clean up the leaves for me? And why aren’t there teenagers going around the neighborhood with rakes anymore? I made a ton of dough on weekends, enough to buy myself PacMan for the Atari, which was a whole tub of disappointment. Let’s hear from you!

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True, but I assume you meant to say “Urban Meyer.” :smiley:

3

Oops. I really need a proofreader for these things.

4

I’m surprised the line on the Browns/Raiders game is so high given how badly Cleveland has been hit by COVID. I guess the Raiders are just that bad.

5

Looks like the Lions will stay solidly in the running for #1 draft pick, playing the Cards on Sunday.

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IMHO the Steelers should be automatically out due to having tied the Lions. Same for the Vikings and their loss to the Lions, with their other game against the Lions being a skin of their teeth victory.

8

The Cardinals and Lions. If the Lions win, the world will turn upside down.

9

Based on what I’m reading on Reddit (people quoting Adam Schefter), the Browns are now up to something like 20 players in the COVID protocol, including both their starting QB, Baker Mayfield, and their second-stringer, Case Keenum. This may lead to Nick Mullens being their starter for Saturday’s game.

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I don’t know all the specifics, but I’m wondering if the protocols (in the NFL and other sports) are too strict. If you’re fully vaccinated, asymptomatic, and it only shows up on a test, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be able to play. Especially if they’re using PCR, which is probably too sensitive a test at that point to really be useful.

11

As I understand it, part of the issue - at least in the the NFLPA’s point of view – is that, unlike last year, they aren’t running daily tests on everyone; it sounds like daily testing is limited to those who are showing symptoms, or are unvaccinated (vaccinated players are only being tested once a week). If that is true, then it could be leading infections to spread when some of the infected are asymptomatic.

12

Looks like those were old odds. This morning it moved from -6.5 to +1.5, and it’s now +4.5.

13

I have some questions about Staley’s coaching decisionmaking in this game. I’m generally all for more aggression on 4th down, but they’re giving up sure points in a close game by going so often. Add in questionable red zone playcalling and a bad challenge, and I’m not on board with the latest kid genius coach.

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Luckily for him, Reid’s missed on his 4th down try too.

15

Yeah, huge miss by KC there. Second and 1 at the 2 and couldn’t get a first down or score.

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This game is insane. Feels like that Seattle/Arizona tie a few years ago.

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And these are two playoff caliber teams. Bad turnovers, iffy playcalling, and a steadfast refusal to kick field goals in a close game make it more like a Jets v. Giants game.

18

Gonna be freezing my balls off at the Link in Philly this weekend cheering on my Eagles. First NFL game that I’ve been at in 20 years. I’m just glad we’re this competitive in a “rebuilding” year. Go Iggles!

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I like the decisions to go for it, but too many passes on those plays. Chargers are running well, just punch it in.

20

Well, a field goal instead of a missed 4th down woulda won it for either team.