Sunday early
IND @ BAL
ATL @ CAR
HOU @ CIN
MIN @ DET
TB @ JAC
PHI @ MIA
KC @ NYJ
NO @ TEN
NE @ WAS
afternoon
SF @ ARI
CHI @ DEN
OAK @ GB
BUF @ SD
SNF/MNF
NYG @ DAL
STL @ SEA
Not much going on at all this week.
The thursday night game kind of baffles me. There’s been a Cleveland/Pittsburgh Thursday night game for 4 or so years now, so it seems like they’re trying to start a tradition, but if they want a competitive game, why would they schedule a game 4 days after Cleveland faced Baltimore? You can’t recover from an AFC North game in 4 days to play another AFC North game. It’s also in Pittsburgh. Are they designing this game to be a low ratings blowout?
Very few games that are interesting at all this week. HOU @ CIN. NYG @ DAL. I guess maybe CHI @ DEN? ANd that’s about it.
Of course I’ll be watching the GB v. Oakland game to make sure the streak stays alive. And I know I should be interested in the Giants/Cowboys game, but, to be honest, I’m not in the least. The only game that grabs me is the Bears v. Broncos simply because it will tell us a bit about Tebow and more about the Bears. And I’m not too high minded to admit I’m hoping to see Julius Peppers sitting on Tebow’s head all game while Jennings drops easy INT’s and Von Miller and Elvis Dumervill make that Bears O Line look like bad Swiss cheese. This could be the first game in history where both teams score in the negative numbers.
By and large my interest will be solely on the fantasy implications of the games. With fantasy playoffs either starting or right around the corner (if I win, I’m in in my money league), I’ll be “that guy” for a week, more interested in whether or not Lagarette Blount gets a TD than in the actual score of the game.
A Steelers game may be a blowout, but it will never be low-rated. And I know you’re a Browns fan and have high hopes, but this late in the season you can’t possibly think that this would be a competitive game even if Cleveland had 3 weeks’ rest.
Hey, I want Cleveland to be good again. I also want the Bengals to be good. I enjoy seeing division games that matter, and I’d love to hate the Browns with feeling again. But right now they’re typically two wins a year and little more. Now watch Pittsburgh make a liar out of me and lay down like dogs.
When have I had high hopes? I’ve been laughing at my joke of a team since the season started.
But they could make it an interesting game maybe if the circumstances were reversed - if Pittsburgh was coming off a Baltimore game and it was at Cleveland. The way they set it up was just pointless.
Unless they’ve changed their basic plan, he won’t be on the game day roster. The Texans have been dressing 2 QBs and using the 3rd to run the practice squad. That’s why Yates never dressed until Schaub went down and why Owen Daniels was the backup, backup QB at Jacksonville instead of Clemens.
I guess we’ll find out, but I’d be surprised if it was more than Yates and Delhomme. Too many injuries at other positions to dress a 3rd QB if it’s not what they normally do.
The Rams looked fairly good last season, and expectations were that Sam Bradford would continue to get even better. The Seahawks were a playoff team last year (albeit the first 7-9 playoff team ever). Conventional wisdom would not have been that the two teams would only have 7 wins between them at this point in the season.
Seattle, I’ll grant you. They’re in about the same position they were last year from a win/loss perspective (though at least this year we don’t need to worry about them sneaking into the playoffs), and they just aren’t a very good team.
The Rams, on the other hand? They were 7-9 last year, and trending upwards. They had the offensive rookie of the year in Bradford, and had a lot of people thinking that they would be able to build on all of that this year. SI picked them to go 9-7 and win the NFC West. Nine out of twelve writers for ESPN.com picked them to win the NFC West.
Sure, but even if those two teams are playing well, is that a matchup that fans are clamoring for? (And I say this as a Pac NW resident who likes the Seahawks.)
Clamoring? Who knows? I do imagine that they suspected it would have playoff implications. (Also, keep in mind that it’s now Sunday Night Football, not MNF, which is supposed to be the league’s premiere showcase game…)
'Zactly. A Monday night game is more of a punishment than anything anymore – you’re looking at a short week the next week. It’s not the premier game of the week, and all you’re getting from it is a little extra meaningless exposure and the ability to influence the tiebreaker for a couple million football pools.
Which is why I’ll continue to press for my idea: 16 MNF games means all 32 teams can appear once each season in a divisional game.
Congratz Steelers on a solid win, Ben’s one tough SOB.
We’ve put up with a lot from Pat Shurmer, yea the short off season played hell with teams changing systems/ coaching staffs but Shurmer is making too many stupid mistakes. The following breaking news story:
Isn’t the league cracking down on this crap? If not they need to, it’s stupid to send a concussed player back on the field. The risk of additional injury being paramount but then there is the risk that, I don’t know, the player will make a brain dead mistake like the pick Colt threw three plays after reentering the game.
Yea, it’s a little weird for a newspaper to interview your QB’s father but Brad McCoy is a long time high school head coach, he does know what a concussed player looks like. But sadly, it doesn’t seem like Pat Shurmer can say the same.
I came here to post a link to the McCoy article. I did not see the game, but damn…sounds like the guy was in bad shape. How does this happen with the supposed emphasis on concussions this year?
In a lot of ways, I think he’s a great choice. Anyone you bring in isn’t going to know the system. The best you can hope for is a guy who can go out there and 1) not melt down and 2) improvise his way into a few plays. Garcia was always a pretty decent at that. If he still has a whiff of his mobility left, he’d be better than anyone else out there.
As soon as I heard them kicking it, I knew they were dead. What a pussy.
Now, one can certainly wonder, “did they sufficiently examine him in that limited amount of time (two plays) he sat out after the hit?”, as well as, “did they send him back in even if he was borderline?” ISTR that the player’s willingness to go back in (“McCoy told Shurmur ‘he was ready to go’ before going back in”) isn’t supposed to enter into the decision.
I would indeed imagine that it’ll be looked into. I know that the Browns have a less-than-sterling reputation for the health of their players over the past few years (including the whole staph infection issue from a few years back).