Nfl week 9 from outer space

The Game Room
1

Well, that trade deadline was a dud. None of the exciting, possible trades happened, and teams mostly just stood pat. I wonder whether selling teams were asking too much, or if buying teams were too stingy. It’d be fun to see the offers.

But when Andy Dalton getting benched is the big news of the week, you know it’s boring.

Here’s your slate of games:

Thursday, Oct. 31

8:20 p.m. San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (NFLN/FOX) SF -10 43

Sunday, Nov. 3

9:30 a.m. Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars (NFLN)* HOU -1 46.5

1 p.m. Washington Redskins at Buffalo Bills (Fox) BUF -9.5 37
1 p.m. Tennessee Titans at Carolina Panthers (CBS) CAR -4 41.5
1 p.m. Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles (Fox) PHI -5 42.5
1 p.m. Minnesota Vikings at Kansas City Chiefs (Fox) TBD TBD
1 p.m. New York Jets at Miami Dolphins (CBS) NYJ -3 41
1 p.m. Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers (CBS) IND -1 43

4:05 p.m. Detroit Lions at Oakland Raiders (Fox) OAK -2 50.5
4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks (Fox) SEA -6.5 51.5
4:25 p.m. Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos (CBS) CLE -3 39
4:25 p.m. Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Chargers (CBS) GB -3.5 48

8:20 p.m. New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens (NBC) NE -3.5 45

Monday, Nov. 4

8:15 p.m. Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (ESPN) DAL -7 48

Once the trick and treaters are done, I’ll be checking out tonights game. I haven’t seen the Niners yet, and I’m wondering if Garoppolo is anything more than a short passing, game manager or if he is actually good. Not that Arizona is a great test, though.

Call me crazy, but I love me some Sunday morning football. With my old man, non church going schedule, I have Sunday mornings all to myself. Sitting watching football while reading the paper and having my morning tea is bliss. Plus, I get to watch my guy Gardner Minshew play, so there is that. Go Moustache!

The Vikings/Chiefs game is the one I’m really interested in. I’m hoping Mahomes can play, but I also like Matt Moore. Either way, it will be fun to see the Andy Reid/Mike Zimmer chess match. Should be a good game. I will keep an eye out on the Jets/Dolphins game, not because there will be good football played, but that I think Miami actually wins a game this weekend.

Of the late games, I’m most interested (outside of the Packers of course) in the Browns. I predicted their regression this year, but didn’t expect Baker Mayfield to have an awful year like he’s having. Now he’s throwing hissy fits at reporters, it might be fun to see if his meltdowns continue.

Sunday night’s game should be great too. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense has really impressed me this year. While Lamar is still developing as a passer, he seems to protect the ball well and damn, he’s fun to watch run. The Ravens also use him pretty well, and pretty unusually. It will be fun to see Bellicheck’s gameplan for him. I’d rather both teams lose the game, but hey, it might be some interesting football.

Monday night, I might just go to bed early; I’m not too interested in watching the most overrated/overhyped division in football.

Anyone else on board?

2

Garoppolo plays like a game manager but he does just what’s needed of him and he’s good at it. With a great defense and running game he doesn’t need more than that. His 9:7 TD:Int rating isn’t good but he’s getting almost 70% completion. Just shy of 213 yards per game passing.

3

Surprising absolutely no one, the Redskins stand pat when they shockingly weren’t offered the moon AND a first round pick for Trent Williams, who subsequently reported to the team so he can count this year against his contract, and then immediately failed his physical checkup so he wouldn’t have to actually practice or play for the team.

Well played, Trent. [golf clap]

I hope the team doesn’t have any illusions that he’s going to play, but I’m certain they do because they actually are that dense.

4

But they can put him on NFI and then not pay him, so I don’t know how clever that is.

5

Yes, he has a almost 70% completion percentage, but he’s only averaging 6.5 intended air yards (yards in the air to the intended receiver). That’s the lowest of starters in the NFL. Compare that to, say Lamar Jackson, who is IAY is 9.4.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, and combined with that defense and the running game, it’s racking up the wins. But considering they made him the highest paid player in the NFL when they signed him, that’s not great value for someone who is, so far, a highly paid Teddy Bridgewater. Maybe, if he’s ever asked to or has to, he can be a “win because of” QB, not the “win with” QB he has been so far.

6

That’s exactly how I feel. He’s not asked to do much but he’s doing fine at what he’s asked to do. Overpaid, maybe, but most starting QBs who don’t stink are overpaid if they’re not in that elite category. Because it’s hard to find a QB who doesn’t stink at the NFL level. Even being a competent “game manager” is hard.

7

Washington’s football team is very, very dysfunctional, but I’m not sure even they would stoop to not paying a guy because he had surgery on a tumor on his head.

It could certainly get that ugly though. If the Washington RacistNames think Williams’ “injury” is like Jalen Ramsey’s back “injury”, they could file a grievance and everything could turn really bitter and ugly. And, from most of what I can gather, Williams is pretty adamant about getting out of DC.

I should be surprised that they couldn’t find an offer they liked for Williams, but, man they are a horribly run team. Which is nice because Fuck Dan Snyder.

8

See, I disagree. Brigewater. Kyle Allen. Gardner Minshew. Jacoby Brissett. Tannehill. Mason Rudolph. I think this year especially has emphasized that you can find QB’s who fit the “doesn’t stink” category without having to pay them $25-$30 million a year.

9

Allen, Rudolph, and Minshew are on rookie contracts. Brissett was a backup until Luck suddenly retired. Bridgewater is still a backup. Tannehill also has only been a starter for a couple of games with the Titans, and while he has been pretty good he stunk for most of his 6 years in Miami. So none of your examples were decent starting QBs when they signed their deals.

Jimmy came into SF signing a non-rookie contract as a starter with a good resume and got paid like most in his position would.

As a Seahawks fan I remember how great it was to have a QB like Wilson who was dynamite on the field (even as a rookie who was still learning) and pay him peanuts. They could afford to pay everyone else so much. Now he’s the highest-paid player in NFL history (until probably next year when another starter gets an extension) and he’s carrying the team on his back.

I think the importance of having a QB that doesn’t tank your team is too important for most teams to pinch pennies. If you don’t pay him somebody else in the league will (see Kirk Cousins).

10

We ALL might’ve seen the 49ers by now this season if the league or the T.V. networks didn’t have “a thing” for showing teams like the Patriots and a particular team based in Texas in match-ups that shouldn’t interest anybody outside their own fan base.

IIRC, when he went to S.F. he claimed that he was every bit as good as Tom Brady. I don’t believe that for one second but he DOES have an impressive record as a starter.

The Cardinals are rarely a great test for anybody.

With all the mention of last week’s Chiefs game being a “rematch of Super Bowl I,” no mention of this week’s Chiefs game being a “rematch of Super Bowl IV”?

It would be just like the Jets to have beaten the division leading Cowboys and then lose to a previously-winless team.

I recently read something about Ryan Leaf stating that he sees the same traits in B.M. that kept HIM from becoming a solid (if not superstar) N.F.L. quarterback. The attitude, the whining, the seeming unwillingness to listen to anybody else (when other players questioned his attitude, recently, he shot back: “That’s the attitude that took me from walk-on to Heisman Trophy winner.” So humble). So we’ll see where this all takes him but I’m not expecting much (the Browns’ starting QB turnover since the turn of the century isn’t very reassuring, either).

This is the game of the week that I’m most looking forward to. Lamar Jackson is a heck of a “wild card.” He’s the kind of player that can mess with the best laid plans of even a coach like Bill Belichick.

Well, ONE team, in particular, anyway. Personally, I’m slightly more interested in next Monday’s game than I was last Monday’s. . .but not by much.

11

Doesn’t that actually support my point about being able to find serviceable QB’s without breaking the bank?

He had all of 7 starts before he was made the highest paid player in the NFL.

And he was a 3rd round draft pick. How cool is that?

And, again, I think over-paying for “not sucking” is a poor choice, especially when teams continue to find “not sucking” QB’s on the cheap. But hey, the more teams that pay for “not sucking” like Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Jared Goff, Nick Foles, Sam Bradford, Matt Cassell, and on and on, the better for the Packers. You break the bank for elite, not “not sucking”.

12

I’ll add one: Chicago @ Philadelphia in a rematch from last year’s playoffs and one week after “Da Bears” lost another game on a last-second missed FG. Ouch!

13

I recently read an opinion that Dan Snyder is THE worst owner in the N.F.L. (yes - even worse than J.J. down in Texas). Here’s a sample of such an opinion right from a “Natives”’ blog.

14

Michael Bennett (former Seahawk; now down in Texas) is not one to hold his opinions back on anything. I can’t find it right now but I’m pretty sure he once stated something along the lines of: “Quarterback is the one position in the N.F.L. where you can get paid well for being mediocre.” I don’t agree with Michael Bennett on everything he says but in this case I think he makes a strong point. Here’s the remark: Michael Bennett says Sam Bradford is mediocre, rips overpaid QBs - CBSSports.com

15

I don’t have anything pertinent to add except that I’ve been enjoying Hamlet’s thread titles. Carry on…

16

I agree but it’s almost like the nuclear arms race. I wonder if sometime in the near future the owners will get together and agree that they’re paying too much for QBs, and then ease off on the craziness that’s happening now.

17

That’d be fantastic but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

18

Not a single one of those guys was designated as the starter in camp. That really strongly implies that the teams they were on had no idea that they didn’t stink. When building a roster from scratch you pay a QB too much money in order to reduce your level of uncertainty, but except for very rare exceptions, that almost never reduces to anything close to zero.

Saying you’re going to go with Gardner Minshew instead of paying Garappolo a boatload of money assumes that you a) can get a Minshew and b) predict that a Minshew is going to be exactly this good.

It’s like saying…“why would any fool go to work for 40 hours a week, why don’t they just pick the winning lottery numbers instead!”

19

Which is why the fact it’s not just Minshew, but also Bridgewater, and all the other QB’s I mentioned, that is important. While I totally have a man-crush on Minshew, it’s not like he’s a beautiful diamond in a world of garbage. He’s a serviceable QB who may, or may not, develop into an elite QB. But he’s not a “lottery ticket”, he’s a “hey, this guy will work”, which is, as has been my point, not an impossible thing to find. Any team in the NFL could have had Minshew. Or Bridgewater. Or Kyle Allen. Or Mason Rudolph. Or any of the other average NFL QB’s, without having to pay them as if they’re elite.

Finding an elite QB certainly can be a lottery ticket. Which is why you draft a QB every year. But finding a serviceable QB at a reasonable price isn’t a lottery ticket. It’s just smart football.

20

You take that back, his moustache is magical. :mad: