NFL WEEK 15 Minutes of Fame

The Game Room
1

So the Patriots are accused of cheating. Again. It appears pretty clear that the violated the rules and didn’t notify the Bengals that they were going to be shooting the game. From some reports, they shot around 8 minutes of the Bengals’ sideline, including coaches’ signalling plays. It is much more than they would have had to for a report on the job advanced scouts do, which is their cover story.

Oddly enough, I believe Bellicheck that he knew nothing about the shoot and that he, nor the upper levels of his coaching staff, would have ever seen the video. But there is no way in hell I’d give them the benefit of the doubt.

It will be interesting how the NFL investigates this. Do they go really in depth and demand texts like Deflategate? And how badly do they punish the Patriots for the admitted rules violation even if they don’t believe it was done to cheat? Amusing stuff.

As to actual football, we’re getting down to the nitty gritty of playoffs. Weirdly, the Bears are back in the hunt, as are the Steelers and even the Browns. Three legacy franchises making nice little comebacks to push for the playoffs. Cool story, bro.

Here’s your games:

Thursday, December 12

New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens (BAL -14.5, 45) 8:20 p.m., FOX/NFLN

Sunday, December 15

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions (TB -4, 47.5) 1 p.m., FOX
Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins (PHI -4.5, 40) 1 p.m., FOX
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (GB -4.5, 41) 1 p.m., FOX
New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals (NE -9.5, 40.5) 1 p.m., CBS
Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans (TEN -3, 50) 1 p.m., CBS
Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers (SEA -6, 48) 1 p.m., FOX
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs (KC -9.5, 46) 1 p.m., CBS
Miami Dolphins at New York Giants (NYG -3.5, 46.5) 1 p.m., CBS

Jacksonville Jaguars at Oakland Raiders (OAK -6.5, 45.5) 4:05 p.m., CBS
Cleveland Browns at Arizona Cardinals (CLE -2.5, 48) 4:05 p.m., CBS
Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Chargers (MIN -2.5, 44.5) 4:05 p.m., CBS
Atlanta Falcons at San Francisco 49ers (SF -11, 47) 4:25 p.m., FOX
Los Angeles Rams at Dallas Cowboys (DAL -1, 49) 4:25 p.m., FOX

Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers (PIT -2, 36.5) 8:20 p.m., NBC

Monday, December 16

Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints (NO -9, 46) 8:15 p.m., ESPN

Thursday’s game should be a snoozer. Lamar Jackson got dinged up a bit last week, but should start. And the Ravens are starting to complain about the hits he’s taking, even asking the refs to keep an eye on him. This game shouldn’t be very close, so I expect a much more sedate Lamar Jackson.

Of the Sunday early games, the Texans v. Titans game has serious playoff implications as both teams are 8-5 and battling both for the division and for a potential wild card spot. The Titans are interesting, with a retread QB and reborn RB churning out the offense while the defense is surprisingly in the top 10 in scoring allowed (but 19th in yards allowed. There’s a bit of luck going on there). And after last week’s debacle, the Texans are in danger of folding like a tent. Should be a good battle.

And, or course, it’s Packers/Bears week. Bears getting back to the short, quick passing game they used last year to help out Trubisky, and they found success last week. And the defense is still playing quite well (#4 in scoring). I’ll admit, I’m a bit scared, but I really do think the Packers should get the win this week. Definitely worth a watch.

Of the late games, only the Rams/ Cowboys interest me (although I’d be fine if the Chargers upset the Vikings). Wunderkind, turned joke, Sean McVey appears to have finally made some adjustments and has the Rams offense going pretty well recently. While the Cowboys, after feasting on creampuffs early in the year, have now realized that maybe there are teams that play defense against them. And while the Rams aren’t great (11th in scoring defense), they may pose enough of a problem to stop Dallas. I’m still trying to figure out how a coach who doesn’t give the richest RB in the NFL, who is averaging more than 4 ypc against good defense, more than 20 carries, still has a job. But I do love to see Jerry Jones (who, by the way, said he was the best GM in the NFL, despite not making a single Conference Championship game in 22 years) lose, so I might give it a watch.

The Sunday night game will be fascinating, both because it has huge playoff implications, and it should be a defensive battle. I’m surprised how well the Steelers are doing despite some serious injuries. Of course, any team that gets to play the Bengals twice, the Browns twice, Miami, and Arizona, will always have a shot at wins. And I’ve adopted the Bills as my backup team, but I still think Josh Allen is really holding them back. Should be a good game.

Monday night … Meh. Just Meh.

Let’s hear from you guys. Which teams are playoff bound? Which teams are going to flounder? Why would anyone watch the Browns v. the Cards?

2

And, as an aside, can I say that I’m sick and tired of the over-reaction, hot-take based commentary on the NFL?

Because of George Kittle’s catch and run gave the Niners a win last week, now Jimmy Garoppolo is “elite” and an MVP candidate.

The Broncos’ problems are all solved now:["The feeling that almost every Denver Broncos fan had last Sunday was one of relief in knowing that the quarterback position no longer feels like a giant question mark for this team. Drew Lock’s historic performance was that authoritative.

While some in the media and blogosphere are wringing their hands about fans not getting too carried away with the Lock hype in the wake of just a two-game sample size, the reality is, the rookie second-rounder not only passed the eye test but also produced on the field with gusto."](https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/news/john-elway-denver-broncos-are-very-excited-to-see-where-drew-is)

The Patriots have no shot. The Texans are done. The list of over-reactions and adamant refusal to look at an entire season instead of the most recent game is inane and bugs the hell out of me.

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

3

I could probably succeed in the NFL if all I did was throw to Kittle.

(Okay probably not, I’d be in a body cast after the first QB hit.)

4

Interesting playoff implications with The Titans-Texans both this week and again in week 17. Not sure what to expect from those two games.

5

I doubt that anybody, outside of the most fervent Patriots supporters, is.

Yup.

Here’s your games:

Unless the Ravens do a face plant the way the Texans did last weekend I don’t see how the Jets stand much of a chance in this one.

An old NFC Central match-up. Does anybody outside of either of those two fan bases care about it?

Watching them this year it’s almost hard to believe that the “Iggles” won the S.B. a mere two seasons ago.

An old classic. I expect a Green Bay victory but I wouldn’t lay much money down on that.

I was surprised to see B.B. and T.B., et al, lose a 2nd straight game last weekend. I’ll be shocked if they lose to the “Bungles.”

Can the Texans bounce back from their wretched performance from last Sunday?

The Seahawks’ road bubble was burst last Sunday in convincing fashion. Can they keep from being upset by the Panthers?

Go Chiefs!!

Ugh. Another match-up only for fans of these two teams.

Can anybody really tell if hiring “Chucky” for the 2nd time has been worth it for the Raayyy-daaaahhhhs?

This is a GREAT match-up in my virtual Greatest Players of All Time League. In real life in 2019? Meh.

Who knows? I’m going with the “experts” in this one.

SHOULD be a relative cakewalk for the current N.F.C. West leaders.

Boy am I torn on this one. On the one hand it would definitely be better for the Seahawks if the Rams were to lose this one. On the other I very seldom find it within myself to pull for that team from Texas and I don’t see quite enough reason to this time. Go Rams!

I actually think this’ll be a pretty good game. Buffalo’s been better this year than I thought they’d be (when I thought about them at all) and I think they stand a real shot to win this one.

I fully expect the Saints to bounce back after that tough loss last Sunday and win next Monday.

The playoff teams from the N.F.C. should be: San Francisco, “Nawlins,” Seattle, Minnesota, the Rams, and Green Bay. But of course the NFC “Least” is guaranteed a playoff spot and I think that spot is going to go to the team with “the best owner in the N.F.L.” {snicker} and that team is going to make the playoffs at the expense of the Rams.

In the A.F.C. I see New England, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Buffalo making the playoffs. Beyond those four does it even really matter?

No reason why anybody outside of those two fan bases should. But I bet you would if it were a “Greatest Players of All Time” for each franchise match-up!

6

I couldn’t agree more on this. That’s why I don’t pay much attention to that sort of thing.

7

Going in and out of Packers/Bears and the number of dropped passes, close but no cigar passes, and a dropped interception are costing the Packers.

8

Snow game in KC is wild. Joe Mixon rumbling all over the Patriots as the Bengals basically only have Tyler Boyd out there catching passes. Cethan Carter catches the Bengals lone TD so far. I know, who, right? And just now Dalton throws his second consecutive pick, this one a pick six. I’d say game over. Fuck, it was competitive for a half!

9

Redskins fucked up good and proper. Made it look good, kept it close until the end; winning doesn’t help them.

ETA: Yes, I know that’s pathetic. But it’s all I got. :wink:

10

And it wasted a Sunday afternoon for me

11

Packers won a squeaker against the Bears, and the Rams loss locks them into a playoff berth. Today was a good day, even if the win was ugly.

12

It is a relief that the Packers can win even when Aaron Rodgers isn’t very good. They put up some points against a very good defense, so there is some hope.

I also got a bit of a smile when Trubisky called out Nagy in the post game press conference. Should be an interesting week for Chicago.

Meanwhile, the Vikings look legit too. Interesting times.

13

Wow. Nice “facemask” call by the officials, handing the Steelers a bullshit first down.

Bills got it back almost immediately, though.

Can I just say that I’m not generally someone looking to squash the fun in pro sports, but I’m pretty sick of large groups of players who feel the need to run 70 or 80 yards for a photo celebration when one of them makes a play.

14

Video of the video/security interaction. 8 mins is a heckuva lot of B-roll footage. Guilty as Hell!

It’s interesting, all we can see is the monitor, not the camera so we don’t know what the camera is but in the video we hear the Cheatriots videographer immediately give up & offer to delete the video. There’s no doubt that he knew what he was doing was wrong from that interaction.

I know film cameras, some of which are sometimes used for professional video, can contain two card slots. I can & do set my two cards to run in parallel, recording the same to both cards. That way, if one is damaged in any way I still have my footage on another card. I’d love to know what camera was being used & if it has the capability of multiple memory cards & therefore, if his offer to delete the video was utter bullshit because he could delete it from/turn over one card & still have all of the footage on the other memory card.

15

Once again I find myself disturbed by how good I think the Bill’s could be with a actual competent passing QB.

16

I turned that game off in disgust after the kick catch interference call that negated a Packer fumble / Bears recovery, and ultimately lead to the Packers scoring first.

There’s been a little too much of this bullshit against division rivals in Lambeau this season.

17

That’s too bad. You missed the missed DPI call that cost the Packers a first down and forced a punt, coincidentally leading to the Bears first score. Or the “holding” penalty that gave the Bears a first down just before their lone touchdown.

Shitty calls go both ways. Whine that your team could have played better, instead of whining that you got hosed by a shitty call.

18

To be fair, it’s perfectly reasonable to think that all the good calls go to the Packers if you always stop watching after you see the first questionable call go the Packers’ way.

19

And to be fair, at Lambeau Field it is, in fact, likely, that the Packers will get more borderline or plain old bad calls in their favor than the opposition.

In studies by sports economists, a few have found that officiating tends to favor the home team. In fact, in at least one study, the authors identify this is the biggest factor in home field advantage across a wide variety of sports.

They go through various pieces of conventional wisdom about why teams win more at home, such as the effect of travel on the away teams, the idea that home teams have a gentler schedule, and the notion that teams can take advantages of the peculiarities and unique characteristics of their home turf. They even exclude home fan cheering, at least in terms of its effects on the playerss themselves.

As the quoted paragraph above suggests, though, home fans do play a role in home team advantage, but not because of how they influence the players; rather, they influence the officials.

20

I had a feeling the Cardinals would beat the Browns (my home team). Can’t wait to see them play Baltimore next week. LOL.
Loved the last desperate play by the Bears, they almost did it, too.