NFL Football

[GoCubsGo]

Party Bears, disco light and all!

[Vrede too]

Carson Wentz is officially out for Sunday night

A lot of teams don't have backups that are theoretically as good. We'll see.

Foles did good.

Nick Foles will start Week 16; Carson Wentz “week to week”

Saints hang on for wild 12-9 win over the Panthers

The Saints may not have to play outside again this season.

And after the shift they put in against the Panthers, they’ll be glad to get inside.

The Saints hung on to a wild 12-9 win over the Panthers and moved to 12-2, giving themselves some margin in the quest for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

They finish up with the Steelers and Saints at home, and would play at home throughout the NFC playoffs as long as nothing weird happens.

Would playing themselves at home count as something "weird"? It's really the Steelers and then the Panthers again.

That’s important, since they’re 5-0 in the playoffs at home, and 1-5 in places other than the Superdome.

Maybe not that surprising and not a result of locale. Better teams get more home playoff games, worse teams get road games.

And even though the Panthers are now 6-8 and all but eliminated after losing their sixth straight game, they turned in one of their best performances of the season....

Too bad.

Go Seahawks (KC 12/23, 3-11 AZ 12/30), then Vikings (Lions 12/23, Bears 12/30) or Eagles (if not the NFC East winner, Texans 12/23, DC 12/30).
http://scores.nbcsports.com/fb/standings.asp?type=conf
Keep DC or possibly Dallas out.

[Vrede too]

TN 25, DC 16.

DC is probably out of the playoffs.
Ravens need to win out, are playing LAC right now, though QB Mariota in the playoffs is not terrible.

[Vrede too]

Defense forces three turnovers to carry Ravens to 22-10 win over Chargers



My unrealistic wish: Dolphins steal the AFC East from the Pats, Steelers and Ravens hang on to stay in the playoffs.

NFC playoff picture: Washington all but eliminated

LEADERS

1. Saints (12-2): May end up resting their starters in Week 17.

2. Rams (11-3): Two losses in a row at the wrong time.

3. Bears (10-4): Clinched the NFC North.

4. Cowboys (8-6): Will clinch the NFC East if they win on Sunday.

5. Seahawks (8-6): Sunday’s loss to the 49ers kept them from clinching.

6. Vikings (7-6-1): Put together their best game of the season on Sunday.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

7. Eagles (7-7): The defending champs are not going down without a fight.

8. Washington (7-8): Still in the hunt, but the odds are remote.

9. Panthers (6-8): Technically not eliminated from playoff contention, but with Cam Newton getting shut down it’s effectively impossible.

My unrealistic wish: Eagles steal the NFC East, Seahawks and Vikings get wildcards. Otherwise, Seahawks and either Eagles or Vikings, Dallas gets humiliated in the 1st round.

[Vrede too]

Cowboys are in - lose early, lose badly.
Seattle vs 11-3 Kansas City tonight, then finish vs 3-11 AZ.
Vikings win. Finish vs the uber-tough Bears.

Foles had a career game.
Think of all of the NFL's great TEs. Ernst had as good a game as any of them and has had a better year than any of them.
Still, the Eagles came thaaaat close to choking. The PK redeemed his earlier missed EP with a walkoff FG.
Finish vs DC.

[Vrede too]

Old man Brees and the Saints win home field throughout.

The Ravens now lead the AFC North. 7-7-1 Cleveland to finish.
The Steelers may not make it to the playoffs. 6-9 Bengals to finish.
Announcers say that the Ravens and Steelers can only win the AFC North, not a wildcard slot. So, go Ravens.
So, I prefer the Titans over the Colts. They play each other @ Tennessee for the final wildcard slot. Perfect.

Meanwhile, Cleveland has won its last 3, and 5 of its last 6. Yes, that Cleveland. It can't make the playoffs, but could mess up the Ravens.

[Vrede too]

Seahawks! Great game. Not just the #5 seed, but also proved that they can beat the NFL's best. Won 5 of last 6. Will play @Dallas, much better than Bears or Rams. The AZ game doesn't matter, can rest up.

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton:

Give him Coach of the Year for this

https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/status ... 45/video/1

[neoplacebo]

Broncos and Raiders tonight; I don't know why, but I guess I'll watch.

[Vrede too]

Broncos and Raiders tonight; I don't know why, but I guess I'll watch.

I know that the NFL wants to be "fair" to all teams, but I don't know why they allow meaningless Thurs., Sun. and Mon. night games to happen. They should frontload the season with teams expected to do poorly and then allow the scheduling of games that matter late in the season.

[neoplacebo]

Broncos and Raiders tonight; I don't know why, but I guess I'll watch.

I know that the NFL wants to be "fair" to all teams, but I don't know why they allow meaningless Thurs., Sun. and Mon. night games to happen. They should frontload the season with teams expected to do poorly and then allow the scheduling of games that matter late in the season.

Hell, I'm not talking about fair....I want to see the Raiders kick ass; they used to have an awesome record on Monday night football, especially when wearing the black at home games. Oh, the glory days seem so far away. I don't really see any problem with the Monday or Thursday games; it's basically a marketing decision to generate more money for the owners and league. Capitalism in action.....I guess. I'm not sure, but it seems to me that when I was a kid, guys in the NFL tended to stay with the team they started with instead of moving around and being traded and stuff. I think it should go back to that. I also think it would be good to make all NCAA teams recruit only guys from their own state. Now that's fair and throws capitalism out the window.

[Vrede too]

Metaphor for the Panthers' season:

Falcons Punter (and kickoff specialist) Matt Bosher Body Slams Kenjon Barner

[Vrede too]

Hell, I'm not talking about fair....I want to see the Raiders kick ass ...

First blood!

Never saw that before - Denver trying to down a punt at the Raider 1, Raider picks it up and runs 99 yards for a TD. Wow, worth looking up on YouTube later, folks.

Matt Millen

Matthew George Millen (born March 12, 1958) is an American former National Football League linebacker and former executive. Millen played for the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins. In Millen's 12-year NFL playing career, he played on four teams that won the Super Bowl. Millen won a Super Bowl ring with each of the three teams for which he played; moreover, he won a Super Bowl ring in each of the four cities in which he played (the Raiders won championships in both Oakland and Los Angeles during his tenure).

Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders (1980–1988)
San Francisco 49ers (1989–1990)
Washington Redskins (1991)

Millen was diagnosed with the rare disease amyloidosis in 2017. Amyloidosis occurs when abnormal proteins called amyloids, produced in the bone marrow, build up in organs or tissue. In Millen’s case, the disease affected his heart, which now operates at about 30 percent capacity.

Matt Millen out of transplant surgery, heart “a perfect match”

Monday began with word from Peter King in Football Morning in America that former NFL linebacker and Lions General Manager Matt Millen was having heart transplant surgery after months in the hospital waiting for an organ....

Edit: Just before the half Denver tried a 52 yard FG, which would have been the kicker's longest ever. Right down the middle, came as close to the crossbar without hitting it or going over as I've ever seen, ouch. Raiders 17-0.

[Vrede too]

27-14. Might be the last time I root for the Raiders for awhile. I don't have anything against Vegas, but I can't believe that a 2nd Davis is abandoning Oakland. The Las Vegas Raiders sounds like the mob-busting days.

[neoplacebo]

27-14. Might be the last time I root for the Raiders for awhile. I don't have anything against Vegas, but I can't believe that a 2nd Davis is abandoning Oakland. The Las Vegas Raiders sounds like the mob-busting days.

Yeah, too bad the Raiders couldn't have started off this way back in Sept. But like Al used to say "Just win, baby."

[Vrede too]

Good news: The 10-6 Baltimore Ravens win the AFC North.
Bad news: They play the 12-4 Los Angeles Chargers in Baltimore.

Go 10-6 Seattle Seahawks vs 10-6 @Dallas Cowboys.
Go either 12-4 @Chicago Bears or 9-7 Philadelphia Eagles, but I imagine the smart money will be on the Bears. Backup Eagles QB Foles got hurt today, not sure how badly.

Playing out right now: Will it be the Indianapolis Colts or the Tennessee Titans vs @Houston Texans? Go Mariota and the Titans, but the surging Colts are up 14-0.

[GoCubsGo]

Interesting playoff picture, only one prohibitive favorite with New Orleans, the rest feels like a crapshoot. The shine is off both KC and LA.

[Vrede too]

Interesting playoff picture, only one prohibitive favorite with New Orleans, the rest feels like a crapshoot. The shine is off both KC and LA.

If the Seahawks beat the Cowboys there's a good chance they'll visit New Orleans while you'll visit the Rams and could win. I'd root for the Bears over the Rams. Not sure who I'll root for in the other game, but would bet on the Saints.

[Vrede too]

Mariota was out with an injury this game, though. Go Texans vs Colts.

[Vrede too]

Go either 12-4 @Chicago Bears or 9-7 Philadelphia Eagles, but I imagine the smart money will be on the Bears. Backup Eagles QB Foles got hurt today, not sure how badly.

Interesting playoff picture, only one prohibitive favorite with New Orleans, the rest feels like a crapshoot. The shine is off both KC and LA.

Eagles confirm Nick Foles will start on Sunday

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was hopeful after Sunday’s win over Washington that his injured ribs wouldn’t stop him from playing against the Bears next weekend, but added he was going for more tests on Monday.

A report about Monday’s test results indicated he’d be good to go and head coach Doug Pederson confirmed as much at his press conference a short time later. Pederson said “everything was good” with Foles’ tests and that the quarterback is “feeling good” as the week of preparation for the Bears gets underway.

Pederson said he didn’t anticipate a need to change Foles’ practice routine, but that the team would do so if necessary when they get on the field later this week.

Pederson was asked about Carson Wentz‘s status and said there was no update, which means Nate Sudfeld should be backing up Foles again in Chicago.

We'll see. In the first couple of weeks bruised ribs can hurt as much as broken ones. Vegas says:

Sat.
Houston -2 vs Indianapolis
Dallas -2½ vs Seattle

Sun.
Baltimore -2½ vs L.A. Chargers, interesting
Chicago -6 vs Philadelphia

[Vrede too]

Doug Williams apologizes for “insensitive” comments about Reuben Foster

Washington Senior Vice President Doug Williams took a bad situation and made it worse yesterday when he justified the team acquiring linebacker Reuben Foster after the 49ers cut Foster following a domestic violence arrest. Today he tried to make things better.

Yesterday Williams said that plenty of people “have done far worse” than what Foster is accused of doing to a woman in the 49ers’ team hotel, and that compared to some of those worse actions, “this is small potatoes.” Today Williams stepped in front of the media at the team facility and gave a one-minute statement apologizing for those actions.

I'm sad that it's Williams in this position.

“I apologize to the organization, my wife, my mom, my sisters and the six daughters that I have,” he said. “Never in my life could I have stated anything so insensitive as I said. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses because there is no excuse.”

That's about as good as an apology gets.

Williams’ comments were ineloquent, but it’s unclear why Williams is the one being put out to talk publicly about the team’s decision to add Foster. Owner Dan Snyder or President Bruce Allen should come forward and explain from the team’s perspective why Foster was worth signing. Williams is taking the heat for the move, but the buck should stop at the top of the organization.

That was my thought.

The story does have one aspect not always present. Foster was accused of domestic violence - and he may have done it, I'm not saying he didn't. But the accuser is the same person who accused him once before and then recanted. Questions include: did the first event happen or not? some people recant because they just don't want to proceed, not because it's not true. why would he stay with someone who falsely accused him in the first instance? But for the time being, a team used to public abuse like the 'Skins might take a chance that Foster is vindicated in this instance and after the dust settles they'll have a top shelf bargain. Yeah, I know - nobody who's involved in of-field violence is ever really a bargain, but still. Worst case, he gets convicted, 'Skins drop him, lose some money, and gets more public abuse. I guess it was a risk that prick Snyder is willing to take.

Thanks, I have not followed the story closely enough to form an opinion on whether Foster is guilty of DA.

November domestic violence charges against Reuben Foster dismissed

We'll see what else comes out, but for the moment DC is at least partially vindicated.