NFL (2020-2024)

[Big John]

Antonio Brown took off his jersey and pads then ran off the field while the game was going on.  The Bucs immediately cut him.  With all the other things he, hope he gets serious mental help.

[KCRoadFan]

Wentz and a few other Colts are off the Covid list, so my new prediction for that game is 27-20 Colts.

Little bit off there. Raiders win 23-20.

[thspfc]

Wentz and a few other Colts are off the Covid list, so my new prediction for that game is 27-20 Colts.

Little bit off there. Raiders win 23-20.

My original prediction was closer. Should've stuck with it.

[NWI_Irish96]

One of the referees left the game with an injury. The Packers will be playing a man down the rest of the game.

[thspfc]

My slightly adjusted Super Bowl list:
1. Chiefs - not worried about the loss today
2. Buccaneers - seems like a lot of stuff is going wayward with this team right now, but, Tom Brady . . .
3. Packers - pending result tonight, should be a comfortable win
4. Rams - at this time, Cooper Kupp is the best football player in the world
5. Cardinals - figured they were capable of rebounding with all the talent they have, very impressive win today
6. Cowboys - really struggling to run the ball as of late, but we saw them run it well early in the season and nothing tangible has changed since then. Their offensive struggles might be something to do with some defensive schematics that certain teams figured out, but 1) I'm not smart enough for that, and 2) Washington's defense handled them fine the first time around, then gave up 42 in the first half in their second matchup.

Two 50-burgers this week: the Patriots' 50 and the Seahawks' 51. Belichick's dominance of rookie quarterbacks never fails. Except for when it's Davis Mills.

I'm as much of a 49ers hater as anyone, but not sure why so many people picked the Texans to win today, beyond just wanting to go for an upset. The Niners are still a half-decent team without Garoppolo, and Davis Mills is still a third round rookie playing for a team that will have a top 5 draft pick.

[thspfc]

One of the referees left the game with an injury. The Packers will be playing a man down the rest of the game.

That's actually a good joke, though the implied "refs favor the Packers" narrative is wrong.

[NWI_Irish96]

One of the referees left the game with an injury. The Packers will be playing a man down the rest of the game.

That's actually a good joke, though the implied "refs favor the Packers" narrative is wrong.

I've watched every game they've played against the Bears plus every Sunday night game they've played for several years now and they clearly get favored in nearly every game.

[thspfc]

One of the referees left the game with an injury. The Packers will be playing a man down the rest of the game.

That's actually a good joke, though the implied "refs favor the Packers" narrative is wrong.

I've watched every game they've played against the Bears plus every Sunday night game they've played for several years now and they clearly get favored in nearly every game.

Not even engaging in this.

[webny99]

Antonio Brown took off his jersey and pads then ran off the field while the game was going on.  The Bucs immediately cut him.  With all the other things he, hope he gets serious mental help.

And on a Super Bowl contender. Truly bizarre. A Bills player retired mid-game back in 2018, but that was nothing like this.

One of the referees left the game with an injury. The Packers will be playing a man down the rest of the game.

That's actually a good joke, though the implied "refs favor the Packers" narrative is wrong.

I've watched every game they've played against the Bears plus every Sunday night game they've played for several years now and they clearly get favored in nearly every game.

From my limited observation, the team with (a) the more marketable quarterback and (b) home field, tend to get more favorable calls. Most Packers SNF games are at home, which hits both criteria. It certainly seemed to be the case against Cleveland (that was Saturday night, but same idea).

[webny99]

My slightly adjusted Super Bowl list:
1. Chiefs - not worried about the loss today
2. Buccaneers - seems like a lot of stuff is going wayward with this team right now, but, Tom Brady . . .
3. Packers - pending result tonight, should be a comfortable win
4. Rams - at this time, Cooper Kupp is the best football player in the world
5. Cardinals - figured they were capable of rebounding with all the talent they have, very impressive win today
6. Cowboys - ...

I maintain that if there's only 6 teams on the list, 5 can't be from a single conference.

[thspfc]

I think AB already gave us a winner for best sports meme of 2022. 2021's contenders are Cam Newton's "I'M BAAAAACK!", Immunized, Kirk Cousins' plexiglass, Innocent until proven Gylfi, and Factos.

[webny99]

This is such a depressing, yet somehow extremely fitting, way for this 2021 Vikings season to end. Zero multi-score losses until tonight. 14 of 15 one-score games. Never been above .500 all season, yet bounced back from 1-3, 3-5, and 5-7. And when they need to do it one more time, their QB gets Covid. Ugh. Their streak of making the playoffs every other year, active since 2014, will end at 7 years.

[webny99]

Today had to be just as disappointing for the Browns as it was for the Vikings, especially with the Rams doing their part to beat the Ravens at the last second, but then the absolute bonkers ending of Chiefs-Bengals ruining their playoff hopes, then remaining mathematically alive for a few more hours until Chargers-Broncos went final... all without playing a single snap themselves. Deflating to say the least.

Dolphins, Broncos, Falcons, and Washington were also eliminated from the playoffs today, while the Bills, Patriots, Bengals, Titans, and now Eagles have all clinched.

I was rooting for a Browns-Bengals division title game in Week 18, but even though that didn't happen, I'm still happy for the Bengals. In any case, with 6 of 8 divisions now clinched, there will be no division title games in Week 18. Only the AFC East and NFC West are still unclinched, but all four teams in contention have clinched playoff berths and none of them play each other next week.

With the Raiders somehow still alive, it looks like Chargers-Raiders, Saints-Falcons, and 49ers-Rams are the biggest Week 18 matchups, and almost all of the other games will have seeding implications.

[webny99]

With the Raiders somehow still alive, it looks like Chargers-Raiders, Saints-Falcons, and 49ers-Rams are the biggest Week 18 matchups, and almost all of the other games will have seeding implications.

Full Week 18 schedule is out: https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-announces-week-18-saturday-games-sunday-nighter

NFL showing zero respect for the AFC South here: Titans can clinch the AFC #1 seed with a win while the Colts can clinch a playoff berth, but both games were left at 1 PM. Those are the only games with a clinching scenario not to be flexed.

[triplemultiplex]

I get there's usually a lot of meaningless games the last week of the season, but with 17 games, it seems like that number is up.  This is pretty much what I figured would happen.  Place your bets now for how many substantive injuries will be suffered by playoff teams next weekend.

Also, don't forget to throw out all of the stats from the last 50 years or whenever it was they went from 14 games to 16.  You won't need those anymore since they will be meaningless in a couple of days.

I like football, don't get me wrong, but screw week 18; let's start the goddamn playoffs already.

[thspfc]

I get there's usually a lot of meaningless games the last week of the season, but with 17 games, it seems like that number is up.  This is pretty much what I figured would happen.  Place your bets now for how many substantive injuries will be suffered by playoff teams next weekend.

Also, don't forget to throw out all of the stats from the last 50 years or whenever it was they went from 14 games to 16.  You won't need those anymore since they will be meaningless in a couple of days.

I like football, don't get me wrong, but screw week 18; let's start the goddamn playoffs already.

Exactly how I feel. The only positive of the 17 game season is more cross-conference matchups that we don't get often (i.e. Packers/Chiefs, Cowboys/Patriots, Rams/Ravens to name a few from this season).

[webny99]

Alright, so speaking of which, here are the results of the extra games now that they've all been played:

Bills 43, Washington 21
Patriots 29, Cowboys 35 (OT)
Dolphins 20, Giants 9
Jets 18, Eagles 33

Bengals 23, 49ers 26 (OT)
Ravens 19, Rams 20
Steelers 23, Seahawks 20 (OT)
Browns 14, Cardinals 37

Titans 23, Saints 21
Colts 31, Bucs 38
Texans 9, Panthers 24
Jaguars 14, Falcons 21

Chiefs 13, Packers 7
Chargers 20, Vikings 27
Raiders 9, Bears 20
Broncos 38, Lions 10


By my count, at least half of those were pretty decent games, including three overtime games. Add in the fact that no one division swept another in the extra game, and it would be tough to convince me that those games didn't matter or didn't add anything to the season.

There's also the fact that 14 of 16 regular season finale games have playoff/seeding implications this year, which is actually up from only 12 of 16 last year. So the argument that there are less meaningful games doesn't hold up, at least not this year.

With all that said, I didn't have any issues with a 16-game season. I would certainly prefer an even number of games, so if things are headed in the direction of more games, I wouldn't be opposed to an 18-game season that starts earlier in the year. You could maybe even have a 20-week season with two bye weeks per team, with the season starting in mid-August.

[thspfc]

Alright, so speaking of which, here are the results of the extra games now that they've all been played:

Bills 43, Washington 21
Patriots 29, Cowboys 35 (OT)
Dolphins 20, Giants 9
Jets 18, Eagles 33

Bengals 23, 49ers 26 (OT)
Ravens 19, Rams 20
Steelers 23, Seahawks 20 (OT)
Browns 14, Cardinals 37

Titans 23, Saints 21
Colts 31, Bucs 38
Texans 9, Panthers 24
Jaguars 14, Falcons 21

Chiefs 13, Packers 7
Chargers 20, Vikings 27
Raiders 9, Bears 20
Broncos 38, Lions 10


By my count, at least half of those were pretty decent games, including three overtime games. Add in the fact that no one division swept another in the extra game, and it would be tough to convince me that those games didn't matter or didn't add anything to the season.

There's also the fact that 14 of 16 regular season finale games have playoff/seeding implications this year, which is actually up from only 12 of 16 last year. So the argument that there are less meaningful games doesn't hold up, at least not this year.

With all that said, I didn't have any issues with a 16-game season. I would certainly prefer an even number of games, so if things are headed in the direction of more games, I wouldn't be opposed to an 18-game season that starts earlier in the year. You could maybe even have a 20-week season with two bye weeks per team, with the season starting in mid-August.

For the record, my main opposition to the 17th game is that the players didn't want it. You're right that the final week this year is still important as ever.

If the season were to go to 18 games per team, it would most definitely have to start earlier. In my opinion, the last day of the regular season should be the first Sunday after Christmas. This year that was the 26th, which was week 16 in reality. For a 16 game season, that would mean starting Labor Day weekend. For a 17 game season, the last weekend of August. Some might argue starting earlier isn't feasible because it's too hot or because of the hurricane risk in the southeast. But in that case the Florida teams and the Saints could just play more away games early in the season, and more home games later on. (or the Saints could, you know, move out of New Orleans  )

[NWI_Irish96]

For the record, my main opposition to the 17th game is that the players didn't want it. You're right that the final week this year is still important as ever.

If the season were to go to 18 games per team, it would most definitely have to start earlier. In my opinion, the last day of the regular season should be the first Sunday after Christmas. This year that was the 26th, which was week 16 in reality. For a 16 game season, that would mean starting Labor Day weekend. For a 17 game season, the last weekend of August. Some might argue starting earlier isn't feasible because it's too hot or because of the hurricane risk in the southeast. But in that case the Florida teams and the Saints could just play more away games early in the season, and more home games later on. (or the Saints could, you know, move out of New Orleans  )

I wonder if keeping the 16 game schedule but adding a 2nd bye for each team to expand the season to 18 weeks would have produced the same TV revenue windfall as going to 17 games.

[Henry]

For the record, my main opposition to the 17th game is that the players didn't want it. You're right that the final week this year is still important as ever.

If the season were to go to 18 games per team, it would most definitely have to start earlier. In my opinion, the last day of the regular season should be the first Sunday after Christmas. This year that was the 26th, which was week 16 in reality. For a 16 game season, that would mean starting Labor Day weekend. For a 17 game season, the last weekend of August. Some might argue starting earlier isn't feasible because it's too hot or because of the hurricane risk in the southeast. But in that case the Florida teams and the Saints could just play more away games early in the season, and more home games later on. (or the Saints could, you know, move out of New Orleans  )

I wonder if keeping the 16 game schedule but adding a 2nd bye for each team to expand the season to 18 weeks would have produced the same TV revenue windfall as going to 17 games.

I will maintain once again that my preference would be for an 18-game season, although an early start may not be what the owners wanted. No matter what sport, an even number of games just works better, because at least you'd have a breakeven point of .500 (e.g. 9-9 would be the old 16-game equivalent of 8-8). The current schedule is just an unnecessary change for me.

[Big John]

If the season were to go to 18 games per team, it would most definitely have to start earlier. In my opinion, the last day of the regular season should be the first Sunday after Christmas. This year that was the 26th, which was week 16 in reality. For a 16 game season, that would mean starting Labor Day weekend. For a 17 game season, the last weekend of August. Some might argue starting earlier isn't feasible because it's too hot or because of the hurricane risk in the southeast. But in that case the Florida teams and the Saints could just play more away games early in the season, and more home games later on. (or the Saints could, you know, move out of New Orleans  )

When the NFL regular season started on the Labor Day weekend, ratings were lower.

[NWI_Irish96]

If the season were to go to 18 games per team, it would most definitely have to start earlier. In my opinion, the last day of the regular season should be the first Sunday after Christmas. This year that was the 26th, which was week 16 in reality. For a 16 game season, that would mean starting Labor Day weekend. For a 17 game season, the last weekend of August. Some might argue starting earlier isn't feasible because it's too hot or because of the hurricane risk in the southeast. But in that case the Florida teams and the Saints could just play more away games early in the season, and more home games later on. (or the Saints could, you know, move out of New Orleans  )

When the NFL regular season started on the Labor Day weekend, ratings were lower.

If the season gets any longer, I think we end up with an even later start to the season, a 2-week break from December 25-January 8, and a Super Bowl in March.

[jlam]

If the season were to go to 18 games per team, it would most definitely have to start earlier. In my opinion, the last day of the regular season should be the first Sunday after Christmas. This year that was the 26th, which was week 16 in reality. For a 16 game season, that would mean starting Labor Day weekend. For a 17 game season, the last weekend of August. Some might argue starting earlier isn't feasible because it's too hot or because of the hurricane risk in the southeast. But in that case the Florida teams and the Saints could just play more away games early in the season, and more home games later on. (or the Saints could, you know, move out of New Orleans  )

When the NFL regular season started on the Labor Day weekend, ratings were lower.

If the season gets any longer, I think we end up with an even later start to the season, a 2-week break from December 25-January 8, and a Super Bowl in March.

If it is too late in March, it would conflict with March Madness.

[hotdogPi]

What about having the games slightly closer than a week apart? For example, a team plays five consecutive games on Sunday, Friday, Thursday, Monday, and Sunday. (This would also be made easier if games existed on all seven days of the week.)

[NWI_Irish96]

If the season were to go to 18 games per team, it would most definitely have to start earlier. In my opinion, the last day of the regular season should be the first Sunday after Christmas. This year that was the 26th, which was week 16 in reality. For a 16 game season, that would mean starting Labor Day weekend. For a 17 game season, the last weekend of August. Some might argue starting earlier isn't feasible because it's too hot or because of the hurricane risk in the southeast. But in that case the Florida teams and the Saints could just play more away games early in the season, and more home games later on. (or the Saints could, you know, move out of New Orleans  )

When the NFL regular season started on the Labor Day weekend, ratings were lower.

If the season gets any longer, I think we end up with an even later start to the season, a 2-week break from December 25-January 8, and a Super Bowl in March.

If it is too late in March, it would conflict with March Madness.

The Super Bowl is the #1 American sporting event. It can be whenever it wants.