NFL Week 17

[SenorBeef]

Sunday early
DET @ GB
TEN @ HOU
IND @ JAC
NYJ @ MIA
CHI @ MIN
BUF @ NE
CAR @ NO
WAS @ PHI
SF @ STL

late
SEA @ ARI
TB @ ATL
BAL @ CIN
PIT @ CLE
KC @ DEN
SD @ OAK

SNF
DAL @ NYG

My rooting interest only relates to the draft. I want Minnesota and Indy to win, and I won’t go as far as saying I want the Browns to lose, but really, it’d be a costly pointless win.

It sucks that fantasy season is over.

They moved the PIT @ CLE game to 4:15 for some reason I can’t figure out.

What are the various playoff implications? What I can see is:

NE needs to win for homefield advantage
Cin in if they win, or nyj+oak loss, or nyj+den loss
Balitmore needs to win to keep the AFC North title, if they lose Steelers need to win to take it
Broncos win and they’re in (amazing, considering it seemed like their season was in garbage time around week 5), or oakland loses and they’re in
Oak win + denver loss gets oak in, or wild card with cin/ten loss, or cin loss/nyj win
NYJ needs win and cin/ten/oak or cin/ten/denver loss
Tennesse needs to win and cin loss, nyj win, and (oak or den) loss; or cin/nyj loss and oak/den win
SF wins a first round bye with a win or NO loss
NO takes the bye with a win and SF loss
And… winner of NYG/DAL is in.

[SenorBeef]

FWIW, I fully expect Indy to tank. Maybe not every individual player, but they’re going to suffer bad playcalling and generally the sort of poor high level decisions that lose games, at the very least. But man would it be awesome if they won. Fuck that team. Ironically it’ll be like the 5th week 17 game they tank in the last 7 years or so.

[SenorBeef]

My football games on local tv today:

Panthers at Saints
Jets at Dolphins
Bucs at Falcons
Chargers at Raiders
REALLY, YOU CAN’T GIVE ME ANY OF THE FUCKING INTERESTING GAMES

I mean ffs, Cinci and Baltimore is obviously a top game this week. Denver/KC would be a clearly better AFC West game than oak/SD.

garbage.

[SenorBeef]

Flynn will get to audition as the starting QB of another team next year today.

[Airman_Doors_USAF]

@SenorBeef

They moved the PIT @ CLE game to 4:15 for some reason I can’t figure out.

I suggested the reason why last week.

To get more people to watch? Both AFC North games were flexed, probably to add drama. The NFL probably would have made them the Sunday/Monday night games if they could have. Instead, they made them late games, with less TV competition and last-minute watch-the-scoreboard hype.

Was it too obvious?

What are the various playoff implications?

I’m concerned mostly with the AFC North, which is fairly straightforward compared to some of the more convoluted scenarios. From my Steelers thread:

OK, so here it is:

Pittsburgh- #5 seed guaranteed at the minimum. #2 seed if they win and the Ravens lose to the Bengals in Cincinnati. #1 seed if they win, the Ravens lose and the Patriots lose in Buffalo.

Ratbirds- #2 seed with a win. #5 with a loss and a Steelers win at Cleveland.

Bengals- #6 seed with a win, or with a loss and a whole truckload of help that they won’t get.

The Bengals are going to play hard before a sellout crowd with the playoffs at stake, and the Ravens don’t do well at Paul Brown Stadium. The Patsies don’t do well at Buffalo, either. The Steelers have a very real shot at the #1 and #2 seeds.

[SenorBeef]

Yeah, I don’t think the Browns/Steelers will warrant that much national attention. If you’re looking for AFC North playoff implications, the Bengals/Ravens game has much more interesting possibilities. Since they’re both CBS, it’s not like you can have both on different channels. If you wanted to maximize viewers who wanted to see how the AFC North shook out, you’d have to Browns/Steelers game first.

[Wolverine]

@SenorBeef

What are the various playoff implications? What I can see is:

NE needs to win for homefield advantage
Cin in if they win, or nyj+oak loss, or nyj+den loss
Balitmore needs to win to keep the AFC North title, if they lose Steelers need to win to take it
Broncos win and they’re in (amazing, considering it seemed like their season was in garbage time around week 5), or oakland loses and they’re in
Oak win + denver loss gets oak in, or wild card with cin/ten loss, or cin loss/nyj win
NYJ needs win and cin/ten/oak or cin/ten/denver loss
Tennesse needs to win and cin loss, nyj win, and (oak or den) loss; or cin/nyj loss and oak/den win
SF wins a first round bye with a win or NO loss
NO takes the bye with a win and SF loss
And… winner of NYG/DAL is in.

One more dealing with 5th and 6th seeds in NFC.
Det takes 5th (and NYG/DAL winner) if they beat the Packers
Atl takes 5th if they win and Det loses

[Airman_Doors_USAF]

@SenorBeef

Yeah, I don’t think the Browns/Steelers will warrant that much national attention. If you’re looking for AFC North playoff implications, the Bengals/Ravens game has much more interesting possibilities. Since they’re both CBS, it’s not like you can have both on different channels. If you wanted to maximize viewers who wanted to see how the AFC North shook out, you’d have to Browns/Steelers game first.

The NFL surely wanted the games to happen at the same time given the implications. If the Ravens played first and won the second game wouldn’t matter. Also, the Steelers always warrant national attention.

Incidentally, you can watch any game you want to without buying the Sunday Ticket. I’ll be watching both games at the same time, and I won’t be at a bar.

[Xema]

@Airman_Doors_USAF

The Patsies don’t do well at Buffalo, either.

Nor will they be called on to do so - they’re at home this week.

[SenorBeef]

@Airman_Doors_USAF

Incidentally, you can watch any game you want to without buying the Sunday Ticket. I’ll be watching both games at the same time, and I won’t be at a bar.

I actually know this, but thanks for the helpful instructions in case I didn’t

It’s still not as good as having it on your TV, quality wise.

[Kiros]

I am apparently getting Chiefs and Broncos in the 4pm slot instead of Baltimore and Cinci. Another reason to hate Tebow, since that’s the only reason they could have made that decision.

NFL hangover football on New Year’s Day is way, way better than NCAA hangover football.

[Kiros]

The Bills pulled out the fake punt on the first drive of the game… I expect lots of the tricksy stuff from them today. Interference on a deep ball on the next play, Buffalo is at the doorstep to put the Pats behind yet again.

[SenorBeef]

No passes yet attempted in the IND/JAX game. I think they’re both trying to tank it.

[SenorBeef]

Jags up by 7, game over. Indy runs up the middle 50 times to run out the clock.

[Omniscient]

The Bears look like they are fully prepared to lose this game. I’m actually hoping for it, I want the significantly higher pick and it might help nudge them over the top if they are still debating firing Jerry Angelo. Rumor has it that he and everyone else will be back, but an embarrassing loss here might change that.

[Omniscient]

OK, it legitimately looks like the Bears are fumbling on purpose and Hester is fair catching everything.

[MsRobyn]

How did the Patriots get a bye with a defense this bad?

[Oakminster]

A dispute between DISH and my local station means no Saints game for me today. Sigh.

Last I heard, Saints up 14-7, and Brees has a TD pass to keep his streak going. Rams were up 7-0 on the 49ers. A Saints win and a 49ers loss would give the Saints the #2 seed in the NFC…

[Omniscient]

Wow, the Vikings apparently have a real skill at fucking things up. This race to the bottom will be a tight one.

[Omniscient]

Joe Webb time! The Bears are finished.