NFL (2024 Season)

[ilpt4u]

Wow, what a wild ending to the Seahawks-Washington game. Why on earth didn't Washington kick a field goal to go up 11 points at the Seattle 3 yard line with under 3 minutes remaining?

Their kicker hurt his hamstring.

WFT Kicker got hurt on the Blocked XP Kick that the Seahawks returned for a Defensive 2-Point Conversion, to make the game 9-9 at halftime

[webny99]

Wow, what a wild ending to the Seahawks-Washington game. Why on earth didn't Washington kick a field goal to go up 11 points at the Seattle 3 yard line with under 3 minutes remaining?

Their kicker hurt his hamstring.

WFT Kicker got hurt on the Blocked XP Kick that the Seahawks returned for a Defensive 2-Point Conversion, to make the game 9-9 at halftime

OK, I missed that. Makes sense too why they went for 2 after the TD in the third quarter.

[1995hoo]

Apparently the coaches didn't feel confident in the punter, Tress Way, stepping in to placekick (except kickoffs) because he has minimal experience and they believe his range is somewhere around 30 yards, which is shorter than the extra point distance. Funny thing is, that two-point conversion made the difference and likely decided the game–had they kicked the PAT, Seattle would have tied the game and forced overtime with a PAT kick, but as it was they had to go for two.

From the replay, it looked like he slipped and twisted his left leg awkwardly resulting in a hamstring injury.

I remember in the first game of the 1987 season, the Redskins' placekicker, Jess Atkinson, got hurt and the punter, Steve Cox, stepped in to placekick. He occasionally kicked super-long field goals (55+ yards) but had never kicked short ones; while he made the PATs and some field goals, he said it was an utterly awkward experience for him and they signed Ali Haji-Sheikh the next week and went on to win the Super Bowl. Strangely, the following year Cox got hurt in the season opener and then a few weeks later the new punter, Tommy Barnhardt, got hurt during pregame in Dallas and the placekicker, Chip Lohmiller, had to punt.

[webny99]

Apparently the coaches didn't feel confident in the punter, Tress Way, stepping in to placekick (except kickoffs) because he has minimal experience and they believe his range is somewhere around 30 yards, which is shorter than the extra point distance. Funny thing is, that two-point conversion made the difference and likely decided the game–had they kicked the PAT, Seattle would have tied the game and forced overtime with a PAT kick, but as it was they had to go for two.

I was thinking that. It's a good thing they got that 2pt conversion because if they had failed there, or attempted a PAT and missed, Seattle could have not only tied, but stolen a 1-point win with a PAT of their own. Can't help but wonder if Washington would have tried the short field goal at the end if they were only up by 6 points instead of 8.

[1995hoo]

I had thought Way was a former rugby or Aussie rules punter and it made me wonder whether he might be able to dropkick the ball, but apparently I'm thinking of someone else–I looked up his biography and it has no mention of any such. I think it'd be very interesting to see that happen. I seem to recall Baltimore's punter dropkicking an onside kick last year or the year before.

[JayhawkCO]

Boring day at work, so I'll pre-empt thspfc in picking this week.  I won't bother going into scoring.

CHI over DET
DAL over LV
BUF over NO
JAX over ATL
SF over MIN (sadly)
PIT over CIN (biggest upset compared to Vegas odds)
TB over IND
MIA over CAR
NE over TEN
PHI over NYG
DEN over LAC
NYJ over HOU
GB over LAR
BAL over CLE
SEA over WAS

A meh 10-5.

Here goes this week.

NO over DAL
IND over HOU
MIN over DET
MIA over NYG
TB over ATL
NYJ over PHI
ARI over CHI
CIN over LAC
JAX over LAR
LV over WAS
BAL over PIT
SF over SEA
KC over DEN
NE over BUF

[Roadgeekteen]

Apparently the coaches didn't feel confident in the punter, Tress Way, stepping in to placekick (except kickoffs) because he has minimal experience and they believe his range is somewhere around 30 yards, which is shorter than the extra point distance. Funny thing is, that two-point conversion made the difference and likely decided the game–had they kicked the PAT, Seattle would have tied the game and forced overtime with a PAT kick, but as it was they had to go for two.

From the replay, it looked like he slipped and twisted his left leg awkwardly resulting in a hamstring injury.

I remember in the first game of the 1987 season, the Redskins' placekicker, Jess Atkinson, got hurt and the punter, Steve Cox, stepped in to placekick. He occasionally kicked super-long field goals (55+ yards) but had never kicked short ones; while he made the PATs and some field goals, he said it was an utterly awkward experience for him and they signed Ali Haji-Sheikh the next week and went on to win the Super Bowl. Strangely, the following year Cox got hurt in the season opener and then a few weeks later the new punter, Tommy Barnhardt, got hurt during pregame in Dallas and the placekicker, Chip Lohmiller, had to punt.

If they made the PAT then they would have been able to kick the game-sealing field goal instead of going for it on 4th down.

[1995hoo]

Apparently the coaches didn't feel confident in the punter, Tress Way, stepping in to placekick (except kickoffs) because he has minimal experience and they believe his range is somewhere around 30 yards, which is shorter than the extra point distance. Funny thing is, that two-point conversion made the difference and likely decided the game–had they kicked the PAT, Seattle would have tied the game and forced overtime with a PAT kick, but as it was they had to go for two.

From the replay, it looked like he slipped and twisted his left leg awkwardly resulting in a hamstring injury.

I remember in the first game of the 1987 season, the Redskins' placekicker, Jess Atkinson, got hurt and the punter, Steve Cox, stepped in to placekick. He occasionally kicked super-long field goals (55+ yards) but had never kicked short ones; while he made the PATs and some field goals, he said it was an utterly awkward experience for him and they signed Ali Haji-Sheikh the next week and went on to win the Super Bowl. Strangely, the following year Cox got hurt in the season opener and then a few weeks later the new punter, Tommy Barnhardt, got hurt during pregame in Dallas and the placekicker, Chip Lohmiller, had to punt.

If they made the PAT then they would have been able to kick the game-sealing field goal instead of going for it on 4th down.

Maybe. Maybe not. They had a PAT blocked (and returned for two points), so there's nothing to say they'd have made the field goal!

FedEx Field has been notorious for the poor turf condition for years. I wonder to what extent that contributed to the kicker getting injured. They've already gone through three placekickers this year–they released Hopkins for performance reasons, then Blewitt lived up to the sound of his last name, and now the new guy is hurt.

[thspfc]

Seahawks = forked

[JayhawkCO]

A fun stat that I read yesterday.  The Jets have more wins over teams with winning records than the Rams do.

[thspfc]

A fun stat that I read yesterday.  The Jets have more wins over teams with winning records than the Rams do.

Last year the Jets had as many wins over such teams as the Packers did in the regular season.

[thspfc]

I remember thinking about that Jets and Packers thing before the Packers' week 17 game against the Bears. It was an interesting paradox. The Bears were 8-7, and the Packers had beaten them earlier in the season. Therefore, if the Packers beat them again, they would end the season with 2 wins over above .500 teams (Saints and Titans). But if the Packers lost to the Bears, they would end with 3 such wins. So losing the game would have meant winning the "battle"  with the Jets.

[hotdogPi]

I remember thinking about that Jets and Packers thing before the Packers' week 17 game against the Bears. It was an interesting paradox. The Bears were 8-7, and the Packers had beaten them earlier in the season. Therefore, if the Packers beat them again, they would end the season with 2 wins over above .500 teams (Saints and Titans). But if the Packers lost to the Bears, they would end with 3 such wins. So losing the game would have meant winning the "battle"  with the Jets.

Have there been any situations in the past where it's the last week and two teams playing each other would both be guaranteed playoff spots if they tie? (It's happened in soccer before.)

[JayhawkCO]

I remember thinking about that Jets and Packers thing before the Packers' week 17 game against the Bears. It was an interesting paradox. The Bears were 8-7, and the Packers had beaten them earlier in the season. Therefore, if the Packers beat them again, they would end the season with 2 wins over above .500 teams (Saints and Titans). But if the Packers lost to the Bears, they would end with 3 such wins. So losing the game would have meant winning the "battle"  with the Jets.

Have there been any situations in the past where it's the last week and two teams playing each other would both be guaranteed playoff spots if they tie? (It's happened in soccer before.)

I don't know the answer to your main question, but in soccer, that's why they play the last two games in the group stage at the World Cup at the same time, so you can't collude to tie as easily.

[thspfc]

I remember thinking about that Jets and Packers thing before the Packers' week 17 game against the Bears. It was an interesting paradox. The Bears were 8-7, and the Packers had beaten them earlier in the season. Therefore, if the Packers beat them again, they would end the season with 2 wins over above .500 teams (Saints and Titans). But if the Packers lost to the Bears, they would end with 3 such wins. So losing the game would have meant winning the "battle"  with the Jets.

Have there been any situations in the past where it's the last week and two teams playing each other would both be guaranteed playoff spots if they tie? (It's happened in soccer before.)

I don't know the answer to your main question, but in soccer, that's why they play the last two games in the group stage at the World Cup at the same time, so you can't collude to tie as easily.

France and Denmark still figured it out.

[jmacswimmer]

I remember thinking about that Jets and Packers thing before the Packers' week 17 game against the Bears. It was an interesting paradox. The Bears were 8-7, and the Packers had beaten them earlier in the season. Therefore, if the Packers beat them again, they would end the season with 2 wins over above .500 teams (Saints and Titans). But if the Packers lost to the Bears, they would end with 3 such wins. So losing the game would have meant winning the "battle"  with the Jets.

Have there been any situations in the past where it's the last week and two teams playing each other would both be guaranteed playoff spots if they tie? (It's happened in soccer before.)

Not the answer to your question, but it reminded me of another unique situation: In week 17 of the 2018 season, the Colts & Titans faced each other on SNF.  Both entered at 9-6, and the winner would earn the 6th seed in the AFC (I think the Texans had already clinched the AFC South a week or 2 earlier).  However if the Colts & Titans tied and finished 9-6-1 each, then both would be eliminated and the Steelers (who did finish 9-6-1) would have snuck in as the 6th seed.  Ultimately the Colts won that game and eliminated both the Titans & Steelers - imagine being a Steelers fan during that game and cheering for a tie!

[1995hoo]

I remember thinking about that Jets and Packers thing before the Packers' week 17 game against the Bears. It was an interesting paradox. The Bears were 8-7, and the Packers had beaten them earlier in the season. Therefore, if the Packers beat them again, they would end the season with 2 wins over above .500 teams (Saints and Titans). But if the Packers lost to the Bears, they would end with 3 such wins. So losing the game would have meant winning the "battle"  with the Jets.

Have there been any situations in the past where it's the last week and two teams playing each other would both be guaranteed playoff spots if they tie? (It's happened in soccer before.)

I don't know the answer to your main question, but in soccer, that's why they play the last two games in the group stage at the World Cup at the same time, so you can't collude to tie as easily.

That's one of the big complaints about the new format being implemented in 2026 as part of the change to a 48-team World Cup: There will be 16 groups of three teams each, thus making it impossible to play the last two games at the same time. I presume part of the issue is that (a) 12 groups of four teams each might be problematic in countries that don't have as many stadiums available as the US, Canada, and Mexico (the 2026 joint hosts) unless you lengthen the tournament's duration to allow for more games per venue and (b) eight groups of six teams each would require lengthening the group stage because of the need to play five games per team instead of the current three.

[1995hoo]

Wow, what a wild ending to the Seahawks-Washington game. Why on earth didn't Washington kick a field goal to go up 11 points at the Seattle 3 yard line with under 3 minutes remaining?

Their kicker hurt his hamstring.

This afternoon the local media are reporting he'll be out for at least three weeks.

[webny99]

Have there been any situations in the past where it's the last week and two teams playing each other would both be guaranteed playoff spots if they tie? (It's happened in soccer before.)

Again, not an exact answer to your question... but last year the Rams and Cardinals would have both been in if they tied. It wasn't guaranteed, though, as it also required the Bears to lose to the Packers. That did happen, but the Cardinals lost, so the Bears got in on a tiebreaker over the Cardinals.

In that case, it was an advantage to the Cardinals to tie, but it didn't mean anything to the Rams one way or another. The Bears' loss clinched their spot even if they lost. Of course, the games were going on at the same time, so the Rams still had an incentive to win.

[1995hoo]

BTW, I saw a local reporter make another point about why Washington's punter didn't take over placekicking duties last night: As is common around the league, he's the regular holder for placekicks, and I gather the backup holder (backup QB Kyle Allen) and the punter just haven't practiced that much to the point where the coaches felt any level of confidence.

[thspfc]

A fun thing I'm doing this week: all predictions will be loosely based on past scores from the same matchup of teams within the past few years. There's almost certainly not a correlation, but whatever.

Colts 31, Texans 13 (31-3 Colts earlier this year)
Vikings 30, Lions 23 (30-23 Vikings in 2017)
Dolphins 34, Giants 20 (36-20 Giants in 2019)
Buccaneers 41, Falcons 24 (44-27 Buccaneers in 2020)
Eagles 27, Jets 17 (24-17 Eagles in 2015)
Cardinals 16, Bears 14 (16-14 Bears in 2018)
Bengals 29, Chargers 24 (24-19 Bengals in 2015)
Rams 45, Jaguars 7 (this is not based on anything, but it gets an exception because I predicted a 45-7 final for this game before the season)
Washington 30, Raiders 17 (27-10 Washington in 2017)
Steelers 24, Ravens 14 (23-16 Steelers in 2018, 19-14 Steelers in 2020)
Seahawks 28, 49ers 17 (28-21 Seahawks earlier this year)
Chiefs 24, Broncos 20 (27-24 Chiefs in 2017, 27-23 Chiefs in 2018, 22-16 Chiefs in 2020)
Patriots 19, Bills 16 (20-13 Patriots in 2015)

[webny99]

All six remaining Bengals games are going to have big time playoff implications, which is not something I thought I'd be saying entering the season.

[thspfc]

If it was any other team besides the Cowboys, the main story from last night would be how the defense picked off Taysom Hill four times. Instead, the stories are, the offense "struggled mightily"  (i.e. gained 377 total yards and only had one turnover), "couldn't run the ball"  (i.e. 146 rush yards), and "the refs handed them the game"  (entirely based off of one bad call in the third quarter that, had the correct decision been made, it would have granted a first down in minus territory to an offense that sucked until the fourth quarter. Also conveniently ignores the missed roughing the passer on the interception Dak threw.)

By the way, the Cowboys were missing their head coach, their #2 WR, and their top RB was banged up.

Don't really care, any day that the Saints lose is a good day. Not having to listen to their fans cry about referees in the playoffs will be nice.

The Superdome is not a hOsTiLe EnViOrNmEnT. Not sure why this objectively false narrative continues to be perpetuated. The Saints are 1-4 at home and 4-3 away from home. Since 2018 they are 21-13 at home and 24-7 away from home. In three consecutive seasons they've lost a playoff game in their own building, and now they've lost two games that were effectively playoff games in their own building in a week, because they're for sure done now.

[DenverBrian]

The Superdome is not a hOsTiLe EnViOrNmEnT. Not sure why this objectively false narrative continues to be perpetuated. The Saints are 1-4 at home and 4-3 away from home. Since 2018 they are 21-13 at home and 24-7 away from home. In three consecutive seasons they've lost a playoff game in their own building, and now they've lost two games that were effectively playoff games in their own building in a week, because they're for sure done now.

I perceived much greater crowd noise/cheering for the C'Boys than for the Saints during the game.

[JayhawkCO]

If it was any other team besides the Cowboys, the main story from last night would be how the defense picked off Taysom Hill four times. Instead, the stories are, the offense "struggled mightily"  (i.e. gained 377 total yards and only had one turnover), "couldn't run the ball"  (i.e. 146 rush yards), and "the refs handed them the game"  (entirely based off of one bad call in the third quarter that, had the correct decision been made, it would have granted a first down in minus territory to an offense that sucked until the fourth quarter. Also conveniently ignores the missed roughing the passer on the interception Dak threw.)

By the way, the Cowboys were missing their head coach, their #2 WR, and their top RB was banged up.

Don't really care, any day that the Saints lose is a good day. Not having to listen to their fans cry about referees in the playoffs will be nice.

The Superdome is not a hOsTiLe EnViOrNmEnT. Not sure why this objectively false narrative continues to be perpetuated. The Saints are 1-4 at home and 4-3 away from home. Since 2018 they are 21-13 at home and 24-7 away from home. In three consecutive seasons they've lost a playoff game in their own building, and now they've lost two games that were effectively playoff games in their own building in a week, because they're for sure done now.

If you watched though, the Cowboys couldn't run the ball, and when they do run it, they run it with their 2nd best RB. Take away two long runs (one my Pollard and one by CeeDee), they had 55 yards on 22 carries.  A solid 2.5 yards per carry.  If you can't run the ball consistently, you shouldn't make it a focus of your offensive game plan.  It will come back to bite them in the playoffs.