LA Rams @ Dallas (DAL -6.5)
Minnesota @ Green Bay (GB -1)
Atlanta @ Tennessee (TEN +2.5)
New Orleans @ Indianapolis (IND -1)
New England @ Miami (MIA -9.5)
NY Jets @ NY Giants (NYG +2.5)
Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh (PIT +2.5)
Philadelphia @ Washington (WAS +6.5)
Houston @ Carolina (CAR +3)
Sunday Late
Cleveland @ Seattle (SEA -3)
Kansas City @ Denver (DEN +8)
Baltimore @ Arizona (ARZ +8.5)
Cincinnati @ San Francisco (SF -5.5)
Sunday Night
Chicago @ LA Chargers (LAC -8.5)
Monday Night
Las Vegas @ Detroit (DET -8.5)
Last night, Buffalo totally outplayed the Bucs, but TB was inches away from winning the game on a Hail Mary.
I think the two best games on Sunday might be Jags/Steelers and Browns/Seahawks, while KC will go for its 17th straight win against the Broncos, this time in Denver.
The Bears aren’t exactly good, but they shouldn’t be giving 8.5 to the stinky Chargers and that putrid defense. The Bears have won 2 of 3 and we’ve been playing well on both sides of the ball. It will also basically be a home game in LA with all the Chicago fans in LA and travelling for a big weekend.
I mentioned this in the earlier thread that Brock Purdy may not play on Sunday due to a concussion. But the Niners are still 5.5 point favorites over the Bengals.
More to the point, there was a TD waiting to happen as the football fell in the middle of a bunch of people, right next to a Bucs receiver, but he couldn’t locate the ball as it fell. If he’d seen it, I’m pretty sure it would have been an easy score. And since the Bucs had gone for the 2 point conversion when they had scored earlier, and actually succeeded, they were only down 6, and getting a TD and an extra point in the final seconds would have clinched the game.
But it was chaos and I don’t blame a receiver for not seeing it. And there were a couple of defenders in the vicinity who had almost as easy an opportunity to grab it for an interception as well.
That was a really fun and crazy end to a game though. One of the best TNF games I can remember for a while now. Especially the late game drive by Tampa Bay where twice they went for it on 4th-and-long, and failed to convert both times, but got a first down each time from a defensive penalty. Just wild!
It was nice to see them go for 2 in that situation. That’s one of the situations where the analytics are overwhelming to go for it, so it’s nice to see coaches following the numbers.
I’ve always felt that there are times when it’s best to not intercept a ball, and this is one of them. Any attempt to catch the ball could mean bobbling it, and batting it around, and that’s one more chance for a receiver to grab it. If I’m a defender, the sooner the ball hits the ground, the better. Would it be legal for the defenders to just keep there hands above their heads as the ball is incoming? That would block the view of the receivers nearby, and any attempt to reach for the ball means their hands are coming down to spike it into the ground.
Actually, another question occurred to me as I watched that last night. Why do teams always wait for the final play to throw the Hail Mary? Suppose there’s 20 seconds left, you’re at midfield, and you need a touchdown (and it’s not fourth down). Throw that Hail Mary to the end zone. If it’s incomplete, you have time to try it again. Are you really better off to get 10 or 15 yards, and then need a 35-ish yard touchdown on the last play?
As long as they’re not physically impeding the receiver from catching the ball prior to the catch it should be fine. I mean, if you have a tall cornerback covering a short slot receiver, there will be times when they might be blocking the receiver’s view of the ball. Nothing illegal there.
In most cases, if a defender is close enough to be blocking the view of the receiver, a QB is taking a big risk throwing to that receiver anyway, since there’s pretty much no separation.
This gets to your first comment, that it’s better to knock the ball down instead of going for an interception on a hail Mary. That changes if it’s not the final play; it’s much better to try to intercept it in that case. And with 2-3 defenders downfield for every receiver, the odds aren’t good for the offense.
Still, in the situation I described, I wonder what would give the offense the best chance; two Hail Marys, or a 10-15 yard completion followed by a shorter attempt on the last play.
When the defense is in ‘prevent’ mode, a 15 yard pass is easier to complete than against a normal defensive alignment. And a 35-yard pass is easier to complete than a 50-yard pass.
That being said, a Hail Mary with 20 seconds left will probably not have the entire gaggle of defenders in the end zone like a Hail Mary with 5 seconds left.
One thing I’m watching for this week is the play of rumored “trade target” players. With the trade deadline coming up Tuesday, teams like the Titans (Derrick Henry/DeAndre Hopkins) and the Commanders (Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Jacoby Brissett) could be looking to sell, while contenders like the Ravens, Eagles, and Bills could be buyers.
Of course, there is always 1000% more rumors/speculation/half-assed fan dreams than real trading that happens. Maybe Kevin Byard will be the biggest trade this year.
Every time Miami has lost this season, I’ve reverted to the attitude that football is just a distraction and not that important.
So I’m only sort of interested in how they do this week. New England is playing good of late, so I wouldn’t put it past them to beat the Dolphins.
Miami does have Jalen Ramsey finally making his regular season debut, so hopefully there’s improvement defending the pass.
Also, Tyreek Hill is less than 100 yards from reaching 1,000 for the year. My worry is that they’ll try to force him the ball; Belichick is good at taking away an offense’s best weapon, so I’d prefer to see the team feed other weapons (Mostert is back. Waddle is blazing fast) early and then come back to Hill later in the game, after the defense is forced to rotate away from him.
Seahawks have signed Frank Clark, he has returned to his original team after a couple of years as a Pro Bowler in Kansas City.
The awesome thing is that most of the money he will get this year came from the Bronc, since he had signed with them first after leaving the Chiefs.
Frank Clark’s 1-year deal with the Seahawks is for $1.165M. He’ll collect the prorated version of that over the final 11 weeks of the season. Clark had also collected about $3.75M from the Broncos this season.
Denver continues to find ways to help Seattle, they are a swell organization.
Help, please. Watching Philadelphia vs. Washington. How do you leave play-by-play as-is and mute color commentary by Mark Schlereth. Would also accept replacing with Charlie Brown teacher noises. Need answer fast.
