NFL 2013-14

[RallyMonkey]

The NFL has got to get rid of these Thursday Night games, the play is just horrible.

With all due respect, I can't stand this argument. NHL teams can play 3-4 games a week for 81 games that are equally demanding physically and mentally, but these guys can't play at top level on the VERY occasional 3 days rest? Ridiculous.

[Rodster]

The NFL won't get rid of Thurs night games. It's all about about giving fans more of what they want, football. Don't be too surprised if sometime in the future you see Friday and Saturday night games. The NFL is all about expanding and keeping the fans tuned in. I'm surprised they haven't gone to 18 games yet.

[Brando70]

The NFL has got to get rid of these Thursday Night games, the play is just horrible.

With all due respect, I can't stand this argument. NHL teams can play 3-4 games a week for 81 games that are equally demanding physically and mentally, but these guys can't play at top level on the VERY occasional 3 days rest? Ridiculous.

Apples to oranges. Hockey is much more free-flowing and reactionary. Football depends a lot more on general strategy, timing, and synchronization than other sports. You have to get 11 people working harmoniously at the exact same time, especially on offense. Short prep times mess that up, especially for offenses, and that has always been the case. That's why preseason games and games where teams have hiccups in their prep time (like Thursday night games or the annual London games) are almost always awful shitshows. No disrespect to hockey, which is very difficult, but no sport requires as much film study and strategic preparation as pro football.

[Brando70]

The NFL won't get rid of Thurs night games. It's all about about giving fans more of what they want, football. Don't be too surprised if sometime in the future you see Friday and Saturday night games. The NFL is all about expanding and keeping the fans tuned in. I'm surprised they haven't gone to 18 games yet.

Friday and Saturday night would be okay with me, although I don't think they would impose on the NCAA with Saturday games. But having to play a game Sunday and turn around to be ready on Thursday is idiotic and why these games are universally awful, even when good teams play. It is true that the NFL won't change it, although I think the player safety issue will keep the 18-game season at bay for now.

The only time I watch a Thursday night game is if the Bears are playing or a I have a lot of fantasy players going in it.

[wco81]

It's all money. Thursday Night games on the NFL Network impacts their deals with the other networks.

They're doing two games in London this year, not even going out of a bye week for the Vikings and Steelers.

If they think they could get enough fans over there, they'd probably put a franchise in London.

And the 18 games and expanded playoff field are things the owners are going to keep pushing for.

Meanwhile, 49ers had a scare with their LT last night and most teams only have 7 offensive linemen on the rosters because the owners want to keep payroll costs down.

[RallyMonkey]

The NFL has got to get rid of these Thursday Night games, the play is just horrible.

With all due respect, I can't stand this argument. NHL teams can play 3-4 games a week for 81 games that are equally demanding physically and mentally, but these guys can't play at top level on the VERY occasional 3 days rest? Ridiculous.

Apples to oranges. Hockey is much more free-flowing and reactionary. Football depends a lot more on general strategy, timing, and synchronization than other sports. You have to get 11 people working harmoniously at the exact same time, especially on offense. Short prep times mess that up, especially for offenses, and that has always been the case. That's why preseason games and games where teams have hiccups in their prep time (like Thursday night games or the annual London games) are almost always awful shitshows. No disrespect to hockey, which is very difficult, but no sport requires as much film study and strategic preparation as pro football.

Apples to oranges stylistically, sure, but preparation for the talents of your opponents as well as how to execute your own game plan, not so much. I'll give you there are more schematics with the NFL, but to say they "need" those two extra days in order to execute effectively is absurd. A typical NFL week is Monday-Film Study/Injury Eval. Tuesday is a day off. Wed is Early Down Work, Thursday is Late Down Work, Friday is Critical Play Work (Red Zone, Goal Line, etc). And Saturday is walkthrough/travel. So if you remove the off day and Saturday is a nothing day, they use four days to prepare. A Thursday game gives them three. Not a difference that can be used to criticize the date of play during the week. Type of preparation? Sure. On field talent? Yup. But because they have to play on Thursday? No way.

The ONLY time I can accept a short week being an issue with execution is if a team is laced with injuries the week before and have to supplant regular talent with more inexperienced guys. That I can completely understand.

Not to mention, Alex Smith and the Chiefs looked just fine last week against the Eagles controlling the ball for nearly 40 minutes. And last night, SF's game plan looked fine with the clear plan of using the run to shred a weak Rams D and sprinkling in the pass effectively.

Bottom line is you just have certain players/coaching staffs that are better at preparing than others, whether it be Thursday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

[Brando70]

I don't think they can make a London franchise work. Even if they thought about moving Tampa, that's an enormous financial risk for Malcom Glazer. The travel disadvantage would be huge, they would probably really suffer with luring free agents due to distance and potential tax issues, and there just isn't a reliable fan base. Imagine the headaches of the draft if a top pick said he wouldn't play overseas.

I also don't think they will get an 18-game season any time soon. The Thursday night games are probably here to stay, but two more regular season games is a lot to ask of the players. An expanded playoff field seems more likely than that, although I hope that does not happen.

[Rodster]

and potential tax issues, and there just isn't a reliable fan base. Imagine the headaches of the draft if a top pick said he wouldn't play overseas.

That's the biggie right there. Ask lefty how he felt after winning the British Open? He had to pony up 61% of his earnings for taxes.

[Brando70]

Apples to oranges stylistically, sure, but preparation for the talents of your opponents as well as how to execute your own game plan, not so much. I'll give you there are more schematics with the NFL, but to say they "need" those two extra days in order to execute effectively is absurd. A typical NFL week is Monday-Film Study/Injury Eval. Tuesday is a day off. Wed is Early Down Work, Thursday is Late Down Work, Friday is Critical Play Work (Red Zone, Goal Line, etc). And Saturday is walkthrough/travel. So if you remove the off day and Saturday is a nothing day, they use four days to prepare. A Thursday game gives them three. Not a difference that can be used to criticize the date of play during the week. Type of preparation? Sure. On field talent? Yup. But because they have to play on Thursday? No way.

Then why have the Thursday night games been so bad? There are bad games each week, sure, but there has been one game the last two years on a Thursday that I would consider a good game where both teams executed well, the Steelers-Titans game last year. Much of the time the first halves in particular are sloppy and unexciting. A team has three days to travel and practice between game days when they play Sunday and then Thursday. Generally speaking, a team won't get much done on a travel day, so you're looking at cramming the Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday schedules into two days. I think that reflects on the quality of the play.

I don't think there is any way to say whether one sport is more difficult than the other, but I think football is more complex in terms of strategic preparation. There are more players, more schemes and plays, basically just more to keep track of. And while hockey is physically demanding and the big hits are probably bigger than the NFL, NFL games are about constant physical contact, often with players getting hit by multiple players. It's a very difficult sport to recover from -- I've seen NFL players talk about how they can barely move the day after a game.

Not trying to make an argument for one sport over another. The bottom line is that generally NFL teams play better when they have a week or so between games. As a fan, I would rather see the teams play well rather than squeeze in a subpar game for revenue purposes.

[wco81]

Reason why they do the London games is that they probably get double or more for tickets than they do in the US.

London is a very rich city and despite the taxes, it has no problems attracting the best soccer players. Well England has no problems that is.

It would be tougher though for players earning only a couple of million a year vs. big soccer stars who make well into 8 figures.

But NFL would have to get the UK and European fans hooked on a lucrative TV deal. NFL packages are available there but probably don't bring a lot of money to the NFL, which probably notices the kind of TV money that EPL and Champions League matches generate.

NFL would never be as big as soccer over there but maybe thinks it could increase its TV rights over there by stoking local interest in the sport.

Can a London team be competitive if free agents don't want to go and it has to travel so far for road games? They'd have to take advantage of travel-weary visiting teams.

[Brando70]

and potential tax issues, and there just isn't a reliable fan base. Imagine the headaches of the draft if a top pick said he wouldn't play overseas.

That's the biggie right there. Ask lefty how he felt after winning the British Open? He had to pony up 61% of his earnings for taxes.

Not to mention the visa issues with some of these knuckleheads. Could a team trust that a Pacman Jones could make it through a whole season without getting deported when he's charged for assault for using British pound coins to make it rain?

[Rodster]

Reason why they do the London games is that they probably get double or more for tickets than they do in the US.

London is a very rich city and despite the taxes, it has no problems attracting the best soccer players. Well England has no problems that is.

It would be tougher though for players earning only a couple of million a year vs. big soccer stars who make well into 8 figures.

But NFL would have to get the UK and European fans hooked on a lucrative TV deal. NFL packages are available there but probably don't bring a lot of money to the NFL, which probably notices the kind of TV money that EPL and Champions League matches generate.

NFL would never be as big as soccer over there but maybe thinks it could increase its TV rights over there by stoking local interest in the sport.

Can a London team be competitive if free agents don't want to go and it has to travel so far for road games? They'd have to take advantage of travel-weary visiting teams.

IMO the two biggest reasons the NFL is in London is not only to expand it's fan base but to counter Soccer's expansion as well. Soccer has been expanding even in the US and in Seattle their crowd's match the atmosphere of an EPL match.

[XXXIV]

Okay Im pissed and a bit messed up but seriously, the last three weeks is the worst I have seen this team look in 10 years and that is saying alot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disgusting!

Disgraceful!

I turned it off.. the 49ers are a much better team.. but for pete's sake here, the Rams look like s***.

I wish I had turned it off. Talk about chickens with their heads cut off.

I really cant understand how they have gotten worse than they were last year.

Anyway...

On the bright side. They are the youngest team in the league so maybe they will grow into something else. I wont give up but this is going to be ELEVEN straight seasons of losing and that does take a toll.

GO RAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bulls23]

It's all money. Thursday Night games on the NFL Network impacts their deals with the other networks.

They're doing two games in London this year, not even going out of a bye week for the Vikings and Steelers.

If they think they could get enough fans over there, they'd probably put a franchise in London.

And the 18 games and expanded playoff field are things the owners are going to keep pushing for.

Meanwhile, 49ers had a scare with their LT last night and most teams only have 7 offensive linemen on the rosters because the owners want to keep payroll costs down.

Speaking of the 49ers LT (Joe Staley), when the cart came out to get him, he waved it off. Don't remember ever seeing that before. That's a tough SOB.

He walked off under his own power with help from medical staff. Also inspired an epic tweet:

http://www.49ers.com/news/article-3/Joe ... 2a1072c7aa

[wco81]

Wow if Schaub was being paid to throw the game, he couldn't have given a bigger gift to the Seahawks, lobbing it up like that when he had no reason to throw the ball.

[jLp vAkEr0]

Season is over for my Giants...

See ya in 2014...

[Rodster]

I'm no fan of Greg Schiano. The Josh Freeman incident was poorly handled. He's definitely a better QB than he's shown this year. Freeman's replacement gives the game to Arizona. So the Bucs are 0-4 but each loss was close.

[XXXIV]

Season is over for my Giants...

See ya in 2014...

Welcome to the out it by week four club!

The lambs will not lose today. YAYY!!

EDIT: I feel bad for Eli . Now he has to watch his bro throw another 100 TD passes.

[DivotMaker]

Wow if Schaub was being paid to throw the game, he couldn't have given a bigger gift to the Seahawks, lobbing it up like that when he had no reason to throw the ball.

Third week in a row Schaub has thrown a pick 6. Third week in a row he's has thrown 2+ picks. He is killing the Texans and needs to be benched. Texans dominated the first half and did not score a point in the second half. Out coached in the 2nd half and Kubiak and his staff need to be put on notice. Texans play the Niners at SF next week and I look for Houston to get rolled. Also looking like they may miss the playoffs as you do NOT recover from losses like this. The Texans have great talent but make way too many mistakes and do not execute like their talent suggests. The Texans will never winthe big games with Gary Kubiak as HC.

[10spro]

With injuries creeping up, R. Wilson was an easy target much of the game until he took command in the 4th quarter with his scrambling abilities. Not much offense was produced as the OL was awful. Still, they managed to steal a W in OT and go 4-0.

[DivotMaker]

With injuries creeping up, R. Wilson was an easy target much of the game until he took command in the 4th quarter with his scrambling abilities. Not much offense was produced as the OL was awful. Still, they managed to steal a W in OT and go 4-0.

Three points by the Texans offense in the 2nd half would have secured a win. Pathetic coaching and no adjustments by the Texans. Utterly ridiculous loss at home.

[Diablo25]

Eagles facing Manning is tough enough and then you get bullshit f***in interference calls like that one. f*** me.

[XXXIV]

With injuries creeping up, R. Wilson was an easy target much of the game until he took command in the 4th quarter with his scrambling abilities. Not much offense was produced as the OL was awful. Still, they managed to steal a W in OT and go 4-0.

You did a gift from Shaub but that potential Bronco Seahawk SB is one week closer. ....I am assuming Peyton cant be stopped.

hate your coach but love your players desire.

[Rodster]

I think the only way Denver can lose is if they miss their flight to the game. Holy hell that's a scary football team.

[XXXIV]

I think the only way Denver can lose is if they miss their flight to the game. Holy hell that's a scary football team.

Injury and or last years example of prevent defense could also come into play but yes, at this point, they are as good as it gets.