NFL Week 15

Cafe Society
1

Pretty good game last night on the ol’ NFL Network for two reasons. First, it was a good game in general. And second, Bryant Gumble was out sick! \o/ Tom Hammond was infinitely better.

Nice play overall by the Texans last night. Sage Rosenfels (who has the lamest first name and coolest last name of any QB in the league) looked good, as did Ron Dayne. On the other side Jay Cutler was ok, but not great. He played well for a while, but I spotted the precise moment when he became useless. It was during the third quarter (if I remember correctly), and after he got sacked on third down by Super Mario someone flew in from off camera and nailed him way late. He sat up and did everything short of pounding the ground with his tiny fists when he saw no flags were forthcoming.

Here’s where the NFL Network’s amateur presentation becomes noticable. We get a replay of the sack, but not of the possible late hit. The announcers never mention the late hit, even though Cutler is obviously furious, screaming at the refs both after the play and after the missed fourth down conversion attempt that followed. Fortunately, during the replay you could just barely see that the defender that knocked into Cutler on the third down play got knocked himself, so it appeared to be a good non-call. Still, I wish the presentation would have covered it so we could see for ourselves. There’s no doubt Al & John would have shown us what’s up.

As for this weekend, thoughts on a couple random games:

Jets at Patriots

I may have to watch this one based on the miniscule chance that NY will pull an upset. If that happens, Belichick’s head will pop off and rocket into space.

Eagles at Cowboys

I’m not going to even try to predict this one. The Boys are 4 - 0 against NFC Easters this year thus far, but the Eagles can bring a good game if they want to (just ask the Pats). If I had to guess, the Cowboy defense will suffer a little, but Romo and friends will put enough points on the board to save the day. In other words, just like every week. :wink:

2

**Cardinals ** vs Saints .

Fitzgerald is looking better for the Cards, plus there is no weather factor.

The Cards have to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. If the Cards win this one, they end with the Falcons and Rams. Both of those are very winnable.

The Saints beat up on the hapless Falcons on Monday night, but they’re coming off the short week.

Go Cards!

3

Some interesting stuff happening this week.

I’m thinking either the Jets upset or NE breaks the NFL scoring record (73). No middle ground.

Big Ben out (?) for the Jax game doesn’t look good.

Miami has another shot at its first win this week.

Speaking of Miami, I understand that by the end of this season, Dallas may regain the title of best winning percentage of all NFL teams in history (surpassing Miami and Chicago).

Speaking of Dallas, Terry Glenn is back at practice :smiley: and may start in the next couple of weeks (not this week). If he’s back to form, watch out Pats!

I wonder what would happen if ATL played at MIA this week.

ARZ @ NO is a tough pick. Either way, I hope either one of them makes the playoffs instead of MIN. I tend to root for teams that have never been to the Super Bowl. However, with MIN hosting CHI then WAS, it looks like MIN will be in (unless Orton proves himself worthy … what are the odds on that?).

BUF @ CLE is another tough pick. It’s hard not to root for both of them, they way they put together scrappy wins. I would normally root for CLE given they have never appeared in a Super Bowl, except that Dallas traded for CLE’s first 2008 draft pick, so GO BILLS! This is a virtual early playoff game since the winner will have a leg up on the 6th playoff seed. How fun!

4

I was trying to determine if what hit him was “someone” or a 230 lb cherry. Worst. Uniforms. Ever. They made kickoffs and returns look like meteor showers.

As for the Eagles at Dallas, the Boys don’t ever overlook Philly and can’t afford to give the Pack a leg up. I look for the Boys to win and barely cover. Plus, they rarely look awful two weeks in a row.

Jets at Patriots - I’m going with a very loud buttwhippin’. The line’s 24. I don’t see anything less than a 35 point split. For this game I’m going to turn the woofer way up just for fun.

5

I agree, except that the weather forecast looks pretty bad. It’s calling for a high temperature of around freezing, with wind and a high chance of precipitation. Could be tough to throw those bombs to Moss in that kind of weather.

Or I could be rationalizing, since I have Welker in my fantasy league and I want them to run possession routes and throw to him a million times :slight_smile:

6

Agreed - should put a damper on extreme scoring.

7

As of Friday evening, the Sunday Foxboro forecast remains grim:

8

#1 AFC South 24-10 (71%)
#2 NFC East 23-11 (68%)
#3 NFC North 20-14 (59%)
#4 AFC North 16-16 (50%)
#5 AFC East 13-19 (41%)
#6 NFC South 12-20 (38%)
#6 AFC West 12-20 (38%)
#8 NFC West 10-20 (33%)

#1 NFC 27-27 (50%)
#1 AFC 27-27 (50%)

It is worth pointing out that these numbers do not include last night’s game, which was yet another AFC South win. Also of note is that the NFC East has a bye this week.

9

Bengals continue their wretched season and lose to the lowly 49ers. As a Cleveland fan, the result of that game pleases me. Two bad teams put up what sounds like (no nfl network and not worth going out for) a pretty bad performance. They’re the Cleveland opponent in weeks 16 and 17.

[Browns-centric talk]
The Bills/Browns game tomorrow is probably the most interesting game available in terms of playoff implications, but no one seems to be too interested outside of those cities. The Browns clinch a playoff spot with a win and a Tennessee loss, but even without the latter, they set themselves in great position with a win. The weather is supposed to be bad - snowy, windy, classic Cleveland December weather. Unfortunately I’m not sure the Browns have a classic Cleveland December offense.

Fortunately Lewis has recovered from his mid-season suckitude and has rattled off a month of good performances. I think the Browns could be a better rushing team with a back more suited to their style of blocking, though. The Browns have such a player on their roster - Jerome Harrison - who sees a few carries in the game, looks great on them, and then gets put on the inactive list for another month. I don’t know what the kid did to deserve his treatment, but he’s been electrifying on nearly ever run I’ve ever seen him make and yet he’s never given opportunities.

The Bills really aren’t a very good team. They’re statistically near last in both offense and defense, and 4 of their 7 wins were against Miami and the Jets. Still, they’re no pushovers and it’s a huge game. I expect the weather to be an equalizing factor as a significant advantage of Cleveland - the downfield passing game - will be somewhat nullified and the Bills run it decently.

Arguably the biggest regular-season game of the Browns in the last decade - in 2002 when they went to the playoffs they needed to have other teams win after their game, so they didn’t have their fate in their own hands like they do tomorrow.

If they win tomorrow, facing Cinci and SF for the rest of the year, they could win out and finish 11-5. Who’d have guessed? Unfortunately the Steelers have the tiebreaker, and it would require them to drop 2 and finish 10-6 to give up the AFC North title. In any case - go Jacksonville.

[/Browns-centric talk]

Courtesy of Omni:



Cincinnati	8.0	 	SAN FRANCISCO	SF 20, Cin 13
TAMPA BAY	3.5		Atlanta	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
Tennessee	4.0		KANSAS CITY	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
Seattle		7.5		CAROLINA	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
Green Bay	10.0		ST. LOUIS	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
Baltimore	3.5		MIAMI	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
NEW ENGLAND	23.5		New York (NYJ)	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
NEW ORLEANS	3.5		Arizona	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
PITTSBURGH	3.5		Jacksonville	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
CLEVELAND	5.5		Buffalo	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 12:00 pm
Indianapolis	10.5		OAKLAND	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 3:05 pm
SAN DIEGO	10.0		Detroit	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 3:15 pm
DALLAS		10.5		Philadelphia	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 3:15 pm
NEW YORK (NYG)	4.5		Washington	--	Sun, Dec 16 at 7:15 pm
MINNESOTA	10.0		Chicago	--	Mon, Dec 17 at 7:30 pm
10

I’m a big fan of the Billies this year. They’ve been absolutely wrecked by injuries, with something like 8 starters gone for the season by week 3, but they come out and play tough every game. (Except against NE, but that’s not a big shocker.) Two of their losses were games they could’ve and should’ve won.

Against the Broncos they had the lead, but Denver had the ball with no timeouts, and finished a play with the clock running at 17 seconds left. 17 seconds left when the play is whistled dead, and the Broncos somehow managed to sprint the kicking team onto the field, line up, and snap it in time to kick the game-winning FG.

Against the Cowboys, they picked off Romo 6 times (IIRC) and led all game, but it was back in the earlier part of the season when the Bills were snakebit, so Dallas managed to pull out the win.

The Billies are no longer getting the worst breaks; I see them at least beating the Browns, if not outright pounding them into the dirt.

11

I’m not overlooking the Bills, and I like them. Buffalo fans and Cleveland fans share some similarities and tend to get along well. I’m generally rooting for them, except in as far as it conflicts with the Browns.

The Browns are 5-0 at home with Derrick Anderson starting this year. Buffalo has caught a big break with the weather conditions (possible white out at game time - not good for my Browns-centric fantasy teams… tempted to start Lewis over Grant in the auction league though). I wouldn’t say Buffalo should “at least” win as if they were the favorite. At best, I think they win a sloppy 17-13 type game hampered by weather.

12

I was conflicted at the end of the Miami/Baltimore game.

On one hand, it’s tempting to want to witness history. 0-16 Miami would be notable.

On the other hand, if Miami has to win a game, I’m glad it’s up against those asshats. There isn’t a team more deserving of meltdown and embarassment. One potential downside of that though is that a complete meltdown may result in Billick being fired. I used to enjoy those meaningless end of the year games when Boller would throw for 350 yards, and they’d keep Boller and Billick for another year. I’d like to see that combo twice a year for some time to come.

At least. :slight_smile:

The Browns have found quite a running game when they’ve had to. I’m surprised. They rushed for like 12 consecutive plays in the 4th quarter and only one was unproductive. I was worried that the conditions gave a significant advantage to Buffalo… and they probably did, it probably would’ve been a 14+ point win in clear weather.

I see both Pittsburgh and Cleveland winning out (At St. Louis, At Baltimore for Pit and At Cinci, Home vs SF for Cle) which means that Pittsburgh wins the AFC North based on tiebreakers. However, if Baltimore could play for pride, stop sucking, and beat Pittsburgh decisively at the end of the season that would be great. If one game both ensured that Billick stayed around and the Browns won the AFC North it would be so awesome.

13

It would have been downright poetic if they lost and then went 0-16 this season, while the Pats went undefeated. Oh well.

14

I was incredulous when the Browns trotted out Phil Dawson for a 49-yarder in those conditions. The sports bar (mostly CLE and NE fans) went crazy when that thing went through. It looked like it hit the support bar again. What’re the odds?

That was a great win, though. The weather conditions certainly favored Buffalo, with Cleveland’s high-scoring attack, but they pulled it off. It just wouldn’t feel like a Browns win if they didn’t nearly blow it in the end. The Houston game is the only win I remember this year that didn’t come down to the last couple of minutes. Oh, and the first Baltimore game.

The guy next to me at the bar kept laughing at the Lions’ difficulties. He suggested they move the team to Las Vegas. It made me wish Vegas had some sort of professional sports team. Considering what happened during All-Star weekend last year, it’s no wonder. Anyway, what is that, 6 straight losses for Detroit? What a meltdown. They were 6 and freaking 2 at one point this season.

15

The Browns board I visit most had a thread suggesting it be renamed the “Dawson Bar”.

That really was a remarkable kick. It was nearly white-out conditions, there was snow everywhere, with major gusts. Dawson lined up abnormally - he only took a few steps back, and only one or two steps left. He was much closer to the ball with much less “wind up” than kickers usually take. When he kicked it, it was ugly - low, wobbly, off-target. It turns out the off-target part was Dawson factoring the wind, and it got carried in. A 48 yarder in those conditions was clutch and a remarkable kick.

16

The Pats will never go undefeated this season. They are playing my beloved Dolphins next week, and we’re on a winning streak, baby! :wink:

17

Heh, that’s pretty good.

Oh I totally forgot about the Dolphins! Someone here called that a couple weeks ago. I think it was SenorBeef, but I’m not sure.

18

I think the Pats are counting on Dolphin complacency.

19

I’m not sure I called it. I may have said that the pathetic ratbirds were in mid-implosion and were Miami’s best chance, or something. I can’t recall specifically what I’ve said on the issue.

I just hope the embarassment makes them hungry, and makes them want to play their hardest to recover some of their pride, perhaps upsetting their rival from Pittsburgh in one last almost meaningless game…

20

Favorite play of the day: Brian Westbrook kneeling on the 1 instead of going in for the easy touch to take an 11 point lead.

Probably altered the odds of losing that game from one in a thousand to one in a million, but it was still the right decision. Teams have lost games by scoring too early before. Completely heads-up, unselfish, smart play.