NFL Week XVI

[mike546 0]

How long has Fassel officially been calling the plays? He'll improve that offense a ton as OC.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

How long has Fassel officially been calling the plays? He'll improve that offense a ton as OC.

Hes been the OC all year.

 

All this talking about Boller and he goes and throws a bad INT.

[mike546 0]

Fucking jinxed him.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Maybe that sports psychiatrist that Boller saw the week before the GB game helped? I laughed at that cause WWE did the thing with Orton and the Sports Psychiatrist as well that same week..

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Fumble!

 

Game over.

[mike546 0]

Giants are going to the playoffs. They still better not fucking lose to the Raiders.

[Slayer 0]

Fuck, there went the Vikings slim playoff chances... of course if they didn't bomb the first half of their season away this wouldn't be an issue

 

Hopefully this means Zygi Nasser will finally dump Tice at the end of the season (two years overdue)

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Merry Christmas, Vikings fans. First a present in Chicago clinching the division, then now Vikings missing out entirely on the playoffs. Gotta love Tice.

 

 

*Dances to the Super Bowl Shuffle*

[Slayer 0]

On the NFC side, I predict that neither the Seahawks or Bears make the SB. For some reason I feel it will be one of the first-round teams.

[mike546 0]

I think for the Giants to have any chance of getting to the SB, They'll have a better chance getting there if they face teams with minimal passing games. I think they match up a lot better against Tampa and Chicago, then Seattle or Carolina.

[cabbageboy 0]

It's really not a bad prediction considering one team has anemic offense and the other has been insanely lucky all year in terms of getting every tough opponent at home (and getting miracle fluke wins then). What the hell, the Redskins have beaten the Seahawks, Bears, Cowboys, and Giants.

 

I have to wonder, would it be a good idea for the Patriots to lose one of the remaining games? If what I'm thinking occurs the Bengals will lose to KC next week (Chiefs still have playoff life), which would put the Pats in as the #3 seed. In theory that is a higher seed but it also puts them against a tougher 1st round opponent (Steelers insteaad of the Jags with David Garrard), and let's just say if I'm Bill Belichick I'd much rather go to a comfortable dome in Indy for that 2nd round if possible rather than travel to frigid Denver.

 

Of course that's assuming even if the Bengals are the 3 seed that they can make it past the Steelers.

[strummer 0]

Okay, the Seahawks,Bears, and Giants all have clinched playoff spots.

 

If Tampa wins, they win the NFC South

 

If Carolina wins, they're in the playoffs

 

So it comes down to the Redskins and Cowboys. If the Redskins win and Giants lose, the Redskins win the NFC East. The Redskins make the playoffs if they win. The Cowboys make the playoffs if they win and the Panthers and Redskins lose

 

I think I got it but I could be wrong on a few points

[snuffbox 0]

if I'm Bill Belichick I'd much rather go to a comfortable dome in Indy for that 2nd round if possible rather than travel to frigid Denver.

 

The fuck?

[razazteca 0]

Merry Christmas, Vikings fans. First a present in Chicago clinching the division, then now Vikings missing out entirely on the playoffs. Gotta love Tice.

 

 

*Dances to the Super Bowl Shuffle*

Superbowl XL: Bears vs Patriots

 

???

[Guest Vitamin X]

It could happen. Except with completely opposite results.

[iggymcfly 0]

Okay, the Seahawks,Bears, and Giants all have clinched playoff spots.

 

If Tampa wins, they win the NFC South

 

If Carolina wins, they're in the playoffs

 

So it comes down to the Redskins and Cowboys. If the Redskins win and Giants lose, the Redskins win the NFC East. The Redskins make the playoffs if they win. The Cowboys make the playoffs if they win and the Panthers OR Redskins lose

 

I think I got it but I could be wrong on a few points

 

That's what you were looking for. There's two spots up for grabs in the NFC right now. Carolina's a game ahead of Washington and Dallas, so if they win, they're automatically the 5 seed (unless of course they win the division). Meanwhile, Washington has tiebreakers with both Dallas and Carolina, so if they win and Carolina loses, they're the 5 seed, and if they win, they get at least the 6 seed no matter what.

 

Dallas, meanwhile has the tiebreaker with Carolina, so if the Panthers lose, the tiebreaker gets them in and if the Redskins lose, they get the 6 seed by virtue of better record. If somehow the Panthers and Redskins both lose, then Dallas would get the 5 seed and Carolina would get the 6 seed.

 

The only really tricky situation is if Washington, Carolina, and Dallas win while New York and Tampa lose. In that situation, Carolina wins the division and gets the 3 seed while Washington wins their division and gets the 4 seed. In this case, tiebreakers are first done within the division and the Giants have the tiebreaker with Dallas. Then between New York and Tampa, they'd be even on conference record and common opponents, so it goes down to "strength of victory" which means that if the Giants lose by less than about 30, they're the 5 seed. From there, the same criteria would be applied to Tampa and Dallas. They would also be tied on conference record and common opponents and would go down to strength of victory. Dallas is already ahead in that category now, so they would have the tiebreaker over the Bucs.

 

Note that if the Giants win the division, the Bucs are automatically in, as they have the tiebreaker with Washington, and thus would get the five seed.

 

 

So to recap:

 

Seattle, Chicago, NY Giants: clinched

 

Tampa Bay: In with a win or tie or a Dallas loss or tie or a Washington loss or tie or a Carolina loss or a Giants win, tie or loss by 26 points more than Tampa.

 

Carolina: In with a win or tie or a Washington loss or tie or a Dallas loss or tie.

 

Washington: In with a win or a Dallas loss or a tie and a Dallas tie.

 

Dallas: In with a win or tie and a Washington loss or a win and a Washington tie or a win and a Carolina loss or a win, a Tampa loss, and a Giants loss by no more than 24 points more than Tampa.

 

If Dallas, Washington, and Carolina win and the Giants lose by exactly 25 more than Tampa, then I'm not sure who gets in. It gets into more complicated tiebreakers at that point.

 

 

I guess there must be something wrong with me, because writing that out was surprisingly fun.

Edited December 26, 2005 by iggymcfly

[Gert T 0]

It's amazing how good a QB can look after playing the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.

[Guest Arnold_OldSchool]

http://www.robertlalasz.com/packers

 

Black or white? Vase or face? Not even the professionals can agree about whether Brett Favre is done, according to today’s MJS column by Bob McGinn, our own personal GBP savior.

 

One personnel man who watched The Game That Dare Not Speak Its… (all right, the Ravens’ game) serves up the usual holy card to Brett’s memory:

 

"Brett Favre’s problem is the people around him," the scout said. "The stiff receivers. The stiff backs. The stiff coordinator. Maybe it’s because I like Brett so much, but if you had him with the right people he’s still a Pro Bowl quarterback. Brett Favre is as strong as he’s ever been, he can throw the ball as good as he’s ever thrown it and he can still move around as good as he’s ever moved. Brett Favre is not the problem."

 

Maybe it’s because I like Brett so much…that’s what it seems to come down to for so many of us these days.

 

Maybe it’s because I like Brett so much that I spent an hour at dusk trying to hang a short string of pathetically twisted Xmas lights outside in a stupid attempt to compete with our neighbor’s $1,000 display, which has been up since Thanksgiving Friday. (I did get those ghastly Christmas spotlights plugged in and pointed in the vague direction of the house, where they "throw" an almost imperceptible red and green wash on the siding while also blinding you as you walk out the front door.)

 

The Brett excuse could be useful with the unknowing, but it doesn’t wash with another "longtime personnel man":

 

On Dec. 1, when the Packers were 2-9, another veteran executive in personnel decided to spend several hours satisfying his curiosity about Favre. He pulled out four tapes from this season, including games against Pittsburgh and Atlanta, and broke down Favre and the offense.

 

"I love the guy, but he can’t do it anymore," the personnel director said. "He’s done. Last year, I could see a little slippage. This year, I see a huge dropoff. I just was amazed he’s dropped off this much. When it starts to go, it really goes. You get just a little bit of hesitation. Then they start thinking they can do the things they used to be able to do with their arm and they start making bad throws.

 

"That fumble for the touchdown against Pittsburgh, that was brutal. But that’s what happens when guys are at the end. They can’t make those plays anymore. That never would have happened to him five years ago. All he had to do was hit the tight end."

 

The personnel man said Favre’s arm was fine.

 

"When he’s 55 he’ll be able to throw it hard," he said. "It’s the mechanical things that start to fall apart. Legs. Body control. Quick mental reaction to things. His accuracy is what I can’t believe. I mean, he misses wide-open receivers. Deep and intermediate. And he throws dumb interceptions.

 

"It ends for all of them at some point. I’d be playing the other guy today. If he comes back, they’re in trouble."

 

McGinn also points out that only two of the 29 quarterbacks now in the Hall of Fame (John…grrrr…Elway and Fran…f*cking p*ssy…Tarkenton) made the Pro Bowl in their 16th season, and none after that.

Next season would be Favre’s 16th.

 

Not even Tom Rossley seems sold on Favre anymore. Asked on Friday what had happened to Favre over the last two months, McGinn reports that Rossley paused for 10 or 20 seconds before lauding an impossible throw that Favre had made in practice the other day.

 

Even the braintrust at 1265 can’t ignore what’s happened. Favre can’t do it anymore, Rodgers can’t yet do it, and Nall never could. A Victorian slum of past, present, and future that’s worthy of Dickens.

 

Which brings us to McGinn’s real point: It’s not about Favre anymore. Odds ar GBP will have a chance to pick one of three QBs—Leinart, Young, or Cutler of Vanderbilt—in the first round this year. Whether Favre stays or goes, the focus needs to be on whether Rodgers can do it, and if not, what to do about it:

 

This is when Thompson will have to make the decision that could determine the Packers’ course for years to come.

 

If he truly believes in Rodgers, then he will bypass the quarterbacks and go after a player at another position. If he doesn’t, then he will dump Rodgers for whatever he can get and draft another quarterback.

 

Obviously, there has been altogether too little time to judge Rodgers. But that’s too bad. Nobody put a gun to Thompson’s head after Rodgers crashed in the draft and forced him to take the guy. He was hired to make monumental personnel decisions on whatever evidence is available.

 

Four NFL people cautioned last week that it would be foolhardy to discard Rodgers after one season. Under normal circumstances, maybe it would be. But this also is time of crisis for the Packers, and their future is at stake.

 

In 2000, Ron Wolf traded a second-round pick, cornerback Fred Vinson, after watching him play nickel back for one season. He was a lone wolf on many personnel issues. It’s one crucial reason why his teams won.

 

Then McGinn gets out his chains and starts rattling:

 

Here’s one scenario:

 

Favre comes back in 2006, only gets worse or injured, and then retires. Rodgers starts in ‘07, ‘08 and ‘09, showing some of the same type of erratic promise that sustained Kyle Boller in Baltimore, Joey Harrington in Detroit, David Carr in Houston and Tim Couch in Cleveland.

 

Now it’s 2010, the Packers haven’t had a winning season since ‘04 and they don’t have a quarterback. Sherman is long gone by then and Thompson is recently fired, just as Brian Billick probably will be fired for Boller, Marty Mornhinweg, Steve Mariucci and Matt Millen either were dismissed or probably will be dismissed for Harrington, Charley Casserly and Dom Capers probably will get the boot for Carr and Dwight Clark and Chris Palmer were cashiered for Couch.

 

I was having a nice holiday. You?

[Slayer 0]

Don't forget the AFC playoff scenario, though it's much clearer than the NFC with only the 6 seed open

 

Steelers: Win and in

 

Chiefs: Win and Steelers loss

[Guest Arnold_OldSchool]

With their loss on Saturday to the Bucs, unless the Falcons upset the Panthers next week... ... the 'birds, in their 40 year history, will still have never had back to back winning seasons.

[cabbageboy 0]

Slayer, there's slightly more to it than that. The Steelers should kill the Lions easy enough and get in the playoffs. However, the Chiefs will still have something to play for vs. Cincy this week and the seedings will be up in the air. I'm thinking that KC beats the Bengals and the Pats win out, and both finish 11-5. This knocks the Bengals down to the 4 seed while the Pats get the 3. It'd also give us one hell of a first rounder with NE vs. Pittsburgh and a solid rematch of Cincy/Jax. Hell, that beats the alternative with the 3rd game between division rivals (Pitt/Cincy) and the Pats/Jags game that no one would care about.

 

Snuffbox, here is what I meant earlier. If I'm the Pats, who do I want in that 2nd round? Would I want the Colts in Indy, a team I'd beaten the 2 previous years in the playoffs (not to mention the Colts are looking more and more vulnerable)? Or would I want to travel to Denver, where the Broncos are 8-0 this year and it might snow a foot?

 

I'm telling you guys, that Cowboys loss was a fiasco for the Panthers. I think the Falcons will summon up some crazed effort to knock them off next week, while the Cowboys and Redskins both win.

[nl5xsk1 0]

It's laughable to suggest that the Patriots would be concerned about having to play in snow. Not sure if you realize this, but it snows occasionally in New England. And I think one or two of the Patriots' players might have played a game or two in cold or snowy weather.

 

If given the choice of playing the remarkably overrated Snake Plummer or the guy that's playing among the best QB'ing on the planet ... methinks that the Pats would be willing to risk the 'frigid' weather of Denver.

[packwingfn 0]

And everyone is just thinking New England is just gonna walk all over Pittsburgh? I'm not a fan of either team but I think it will be a good game where Pittsburgh could possibily win especially since the Patriots aren't unbeatable at home nowadays. And the Steelers are probably better off away then home right now in the playoffs.

[nl5xsk1 0]

No, I don't think that people are taking New England > Pittsburgh for granted ... it's just not what's being debated.

 

As a Pats fan, I'd rather they play JAX in the wild card round, and then have Pittsburgh beat Cincy, leaving Pitt vs. Indy & NE vs Denver in the second round. That scenario is the one that I think would be most favorable for the Patriots.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Until Ron Dayne runs all over the Patriots for 190 yards... ok it won't happen.

[mike546 0]

With Chase Blackburn now out for the season, the Giants gave JESSE ARMSTEAD a tryout for the LB position.

 

Please god, let Pierce's ankle heal. Please.

[cabbageboy 0]

I didn't say the Pats couldn't play in snow. I'm just saying anyone would rather play in a nice dome rather than freezing cold weather with snow. It goes into a larger point that if Denver somehow gets 2 home games in the playoffs, it's over (with an Indy 2nd round loss). They're unbeaten at home and it'll be extremely tough to go there and win in the playoffs. If the Broncos go to Indy for the AFC title game, forget it. I can't see Jake Plummer winning that one.

[Guest Smues]

Ok I think I've seen this retarded Mazda ad at least five times and we're half an hour into the game. Thanks ABC.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Ty Law shouldn't be doing that when he's talking about the possibility of returning to New England next season.

[razazteca 0]

Ted Brushi hurt?