NFL 2014 NFL - Week 16

[balmainforever]

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19 @ 12:30 PM
Tennessee at Jacksonville LIVE

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21 @ 8.30 AM
Philadelphia at Washington LIVE

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21 @ 12:25 PM
San Diego at San Francisco LIVE

MONDAY, DECEMBER 22 @ 5:00 AM
Atlanta at New Orleans
Baltimore at Houston
Cleveland at Carolina
Detroit at Chicago
Green Bay at Tampa Bay
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Minnesota at Miami
New England at New York Jets

MONDAY, DECEMBER 22 @ 8:05 AM
New York Giants at St. Louis

MONDAY, DECEMBER 22 @ 8:25 AM
Buffalo at Oakland
Indianapolis at Dallas LIVE

MONDAY, DECEMBER 22 @ 12:30 PM
Seattle at Arizona LIVE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23 @ 12:30 PM
Denver at Cincinnati LIVE

AUSTRALIAN T.V. GAMES
LIVE ON ESPN AT 12.30 PM ON 19/12 : Tennessee at Jacksonville

LIVE ON ESPN AT 8.30 AM ON 21/12 : Philadelphia at Washington

LIVE ON ESPN AT 12.25 PM ON 21/12 : San Diego at San Francisco

LIVE ON ESPN AT 5.00 AM ON 22/12: ESPN Redzone (for all day games)

LIVE ON 7MATE AT 5.00 AM ON 22/12 :

LIVE ON 7MATE AT 8.25 AM ON 22/12 : Indianapolis at Dallas

LIVE ON ESPN AND 7MATE AT 12.30 PM ON 22/12 : Seattle at Arizona

LIVE ON ESPN AT 12.30 PM ON 23/12 : Denver at Cincinnati

NB: VIC, NSW, TAS times
less 30 mins SA
less 1 hour QLD
less 1.5 hours NT
less 3 hours WA[/QUOTE]

 

[balmainforever]

NFC

CLINCHED: Arizona Cardinals
ELIMINATED: New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers
The Cardinals clinch NFC West and home-field advantage throughout NFC playoffs with win over Seahawks.
The Lions clinch a playoff spot with:
1) a win
2) a tie plus an Eagles loss or tie
3) an Eagles loss
The Lions clinch the NFC North with: a win and a Packers loss.
The Lions clinch a first-round bye with a win, a Packers loss and a Cowboys loss.
The Cowboys clinch a playoff berth with: a win plus a Packers loss or tie plus a Lions loss or tie as long as both results don't tie.
The Cowboys clinch the NFC East with:
1) a win plus an Eagles loss or tie
2) a tie plus an Eagles loss.
The Seahawks clinch a playoff spot with:
1) a win plus an Eagles loss or tie
2) a win plus a Lions loss or tie
3) a win plus a Packers loss or tie
4) a tie plus an Eagles loss
5) a tie plus a Lions loss and a Packers loss
6) or an Eagles loss and a Cowboys win or tie.
The Packers clinch a playoff spot with:
1) a win plus an Eagles loss or tie
2) a win plus a Cowboys loss or tie
3) a tie plus an Eagles loss
4) a tie plus an Eagles tie and a Cowboys win or tie
5) an Eagles loss plus a Cowboys win or tie.
The Saints clinch the NFC South with a win plus a Panthers loss.
AFC

CLINCHED: New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos
ELIMINATED: Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets
The Patriots can clinch a first-round bye with:
1) a win
2) a tie plus a Colts loss or tie
3) a Colts loss plus a Bengals loss or tie, a Steelers loss or tie and a Ravens loss or tie.
The Patriots clinch home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with a win plus a Broncos loss.
The Broncos clinch a first-round bye with:
1) a win
2) a tie plus a Colts loss or tie.
The Bengals clinch a playoff spot with:
1) a win
2) a tie plus a Ravens loss
3) a tie plus a Chiefs loss or tie and a Chargers loss or tie
4) a Chiefs loss plus a Chargers loss and a Bills loss or tie.
The Bengals clinch the AFC North with a win plus a Steelers loss and a Ravens loss or tie.
The Steelers clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Chiefs.
The Ravens clinch a playoff spot with:
1) a win plus a Steelers loss and a Bengals loss
2) a win plus a Chiefs loss or tie and a Chargers loss or tie
3) or a tie plus a Chiefs loss, a Chargers loss and a Bills loss or tie.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

************

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I was close this time

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

137

Tennessee at Jacksonville
Philadelphia at Washington
San Diego at San Francisco
Atlanta at New Orleans
Baltimore at Houston
Cleveland at Carolina
Detroit at Chicago
Green Bay at Tampa Bay
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Minnesota at Miami
New England at New York Jets
New York Giants at St. Louis
Buffalo at Oakland
Indianapolis at Dallas
Seattle at Arizona
Denver at Cincinnati

Them road wins

 

[Exe Gesis]

Subscription renewed.

 

[scaryness]

Titans @ Jaguars
Eagles @ Redskins
Chargers @ 49ers
Falcons @ Saints
Ravens @ Texans
Browns @ Panthers
Lions @ Bears
Packers @ Buccs
Chiefs @ Steelers
Vikings @ Dolphins
Patriots @ Jets
Giants @ Rams
Bills @ Raiders
Colts @ Cowboys
Seahawks @ Cardinals
Broncos @ Bengals

 

[Exe Gesis]

Tennessee at Jacksonville............with nothing to gain or lose, both teams will just run an entire game of trick plays.
Philadelphia at Washington.........the ultimate ignominy to have Washington end their playoff dreams.
San Diego at San Francisco...........Harbaugh is salivating at working for the Raiders already. Imagine that!
Atlanta at New Orleans.............maybe they should bring in a new rule called the nfc south rule, where if you finish less than 7-9 and win the division you forfeit your spot in the playoffs.
Baltimore at Houston................Houston could've played spoiler if they had a qb.
Cleveland at Carolina.............the Browns are dust.
Detroit at Chicago...................dunno how the Lions are 10-4, given they probably could've lost about 10 of those games.
Green Bay at Tampa Bay..............battle of the bays. Tampa to win in a canter.
Kansas City at Pittsburgh..............many playoff implications, cracking game expected.
Minnesota at Miami................I have nothing to say about this one.
New England at New York Jets..............Rex will go out with a bang, another nfl brawl, bountygate on Brady and co. Maybe Rex and bill can also get involved.
New York Giants at St. Louis.............Missouri is not a place for the faint of heart.
Buffalo at Oakland.............somehow Oakland wins this one, typical kind of game to game form.
Indianapolis at Dallas..............if Romo wins a super bowl does he go to the HOF? Thought I'd ask that here.
Seattle at Arizona............not since the rumble in the jungle has there been a bigger contest.
Denver at Cincinnati...........both teams could cause the other some grief in terms of playoff seedings.

 

[royals1922]

Dwayne Bowe of KC needs about 70 yards of touchdown free receptions at pittsburgh to get the record for most reception yards without a td. 70 blessed yards....

 

[juice t]

Dalton shits himself in prime time again

 

[Blacky]

Fingers crossed

 

[Blacky]

Romo HoF?

Come on GG

 

[Exe Gesis]

Romo HoF?

Come on GG

If he wins a Lombardi, why not? Someone like Peyton Manning will get in there with 1 SB. Someone like Joe Namath got in with 1 SB and barely decent stats. Romo's regular season stats are right up there in the all-time list, aren't they. So why not?

 

[Blacky]

Comparing Romo to Peyton?

For a guy who says that Marino is the goat you sure don't give Peyton much credit because of his post season record

Romo has won what, one playoff game to this point?

 

[Exe Gesis]

Has JJ Watt even had a bad game this season? It's another reason why he should be MVP, whereas Brady, Manning, Murray, Rodgers, etc have had bad games.

--------------

NFL morning after: Bucs should quit the quest for a quarterback
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 15, 2014, 6:19 AM EST

AP
With Sunday’s loss, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped to 2-12 and remained in the lead for the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft. If the Bucs lose the next two games, we’ll spend months speculating about whether they’ll choose quarterback Marcus Mariota or quarterback Jameis Winston.

Here’s my advice to the Buccaneers: Draft neither.

Instead, the Bucs should try something truly radical to turn their franchise around: Give up on the whole idea of a franchise quarterback altogether. While the 31 other teams value quarterbacks above all else, Tampa Bay should do something completely different and make quarterback their last priority, while building a great defense and a good running game.

First, Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith should make a firm commitment to building a team with a great defense (something he’s done before in Chicago) and making the offense revolve around the running game, not the passing game. Smith should hire an offensive coordinator from a college with a run-heavy offense like Georgia Tech, which is the No. 12 team in the country this year using an offense in which the quarterback runs more often than he passes. The Bucs should aim to run the ball 50 or so times a game.

That hasn’t often happened in the NFL, but the Jets tried that strategy on a Monday night this season against the Dolphins, and it actually worked fairly well — by the Jets’ standards. They ran 49 times for 277 yards and would have beaten the Dolphins had Nick Folk not missed two field goals. If a terrible team like the Jets can find some success employing a run-heavy offense only after realizing that their quarterback situation is a disaster, think what some smarter team could do if it built a roster specifically tailored to that approach.

Such a commitment to running the ball would liberate the Bucs from having to go through the growing pains of a rookie quarterback, or having to spend a fortune on a starter in free agency. Instead, the Bucs should sign run-first quarterbacks like Terrelle Pryor, Vince Young or Tim Tebow, all of whom can be had for the league minimum salary. The Bucs have two good wide receivers in Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, but they should be traded for draft picks who can help build the defense. The wide receivers who remain in Tampa Bay should be good downfield blockers who can be had for the league minimum. Even at running back the Buccaneers shouldn’t spend a lot of money because they’ll be running these guys into the ground. Go for depth at running back instead of one expensive star.

The only spot on offense where the Buccaneers should spend a lot of money is on the line, but even there they shouldn’t spend a fortune. They don’t have to out-bid other teams for great pass-blocking left tackles, they just need five above-average run blockers.

With all the savings on offense, the Buccaneers would have more cap space available for defense than any other team in the league. That means they can sign good free agents who fit in Smith’s system to add to an already talented defense that includes Gerald McCoy, Jacquies Smith, Lavonte David and Alterraun Verner. The Bucs could also add a bounty of picks by trading the first overall pick next year to a team that wants Mariota or Winston, as well as trading Evans and Jackson. They could use all of those picks on bolstering the defense. They should be able to build the best defense in the NFL because they’re devoting more resources to defense than any other team in the NFL.

Do this right and the Buccaneers will have the No. 1 defense in the NFL, to go with an offense that has an unconventional approach that NFL defenses aren’t accustomed to playing against, and aren’t built to stop. This could work.

Maybe you think the NFL is a quarterback-driven league and a team is doomed to failure if it writes off the quarterback position. But I say there are a limited number of great quarterbacks, and the teams that are really doomed to failure are the teams that devote the draft picks or cap space to a quarterback they hope will be great who turns out to be something less than great.

I hesitate to use the term “Moneyball” in the NFL because revenue sharing and a salary cap makes football fundamentally different from baseball. But there’s something to be said for looking at what everyone else values (building a great passing game) and trying to do the opposite. That’s what the Buccaneers should do. Smith is the right coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl with a great defense and a mediocre offense. He’s done it before in Chicago. But when Smith was the coach in Chicago, the Bears were trying to build a conventional NFL offense, they just didn’t do a very good job of it. In Tampa Bay, the Bucs should make a specific point of saving resources by building an unconventional NFL offense, and reaping the benefits on defense.

Would it work? Maybe, maybe not. But the Bucs have tried and failed to build a team the conventional way with quarterbacks like Josh Freeman, Mike Glennon and Josh McCown. It’s time to try something different.

Here are my other thoughts:

The best play of the day didn’t count. Colts receiver Donte Moncrief had a sensational touchdown catch on Sunday against the Texans, diving to snare a deflected ball out of the air on a pass on which he wasn’t even the intended receiver. It was a phenomenal play by Moncrief. Unfortunately, Colts offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo was holding Texans defensive end J.J. Watt on the play, so the whole thing got called back on a penalty. Still a great play by Moncrief.

Watt is the NFL’s best player. Speaking of Watt, he remains the best player in the NFL. Although the Texans lost to the Colts on Sunday, Watt was the best player on the field. He had five solo tackles, two sacks, one pass defensed, two quarterback hits and forced that holding penalty that negated a Colts touchdown. There’s no way a defensive lineman on a .500 team will win the MVP award, but he’s the best player in football.

Aaron Rodgers is human after all. Rodgers had an ugly stat line against a good Bills Defense on Sunday, completing just 17 of 42 passes for 185 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions, for a passer rating of 34.3 — the lowest passer rating for any game in his career. Rodgers may still win the league MVP, and the Packers remain the favorites to win the NFC North, but Sunday’s loss makes it tougher for the Packers to earn home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, and gives hopes to other teams that Rodgers can be stopped.

Johnny Football was terrible. The Browns gave Johnny Manziel his first career start on Sunday, and he did not rise to the occasion. Manziel completed 10 of 18 passes for 80 yards, with no touchdowns, two interceptions, three sacks for a loss of 26 yards, and a passer rating of 27.3. I think the Browns did the right thing by giving Manziel the start over Brian Hoyer, but that loss showed that Manziel has a long way to go, and the Browns have a long way to go.

Tom Brady can run! Who knew that Brady still has wheels? Well, he’s not exactly Russell Wilson, but he showed on Sunday that he can still move on occasion. On a third-and-11, Brady dropped back, didn’t see anyone open and decided to take off running. He picked up 17 yards and was feeling so exhilarated that instead of sliding he lowered his shoulder, took a hit and got up yelling and screaming. That was Brady’s longest run since 2007, the year before he suffered a torn ACL.

When you’ve got a quarterback like Brady, you don’t want him running very often. But there aren’t many quarterbacks like Brady. The teams that don’t have a quarterback like Brady would be better trying something different. C’mon, Tampa Bay. Do it.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Comparing Romo to Peyton?

For a guy who says that Marino is the goat you sure don't give Peyton much credit because of his post season record

Romo has won what, one playoff game to this point?

Marino was so great he didn't need to win SBs to earn a HOF. Some QBs need the SBs to get in. Some have multiple SBs even and apparently wont ever get in (Plunkett).

Explain why Romo cant be a HOF'er, IF he wins a Lombardi? If you want me to use a different example than Peyton....Drew Brees.

 

[Blacky]

Drew Brees has won many playoff games and broken countless records

Romo goes to water every year

He has made zero all pros and there pro bowls.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Drew Brees has won many playoff games and broken countless records

Romo goes to water every year

He has made zero all pros and there pro bowls.

It's a team game tho. Awards are generally there due to the team itself being good, allowing individuals to collect personal awards, MVPs, and even pro bowls.

 

[aussiedude]

F**k i hate late season games in Florida. I feel like we will drop this one. we struggled early in the season at Miami now in mid Dec we have to play in Tampa when we are now used to the cold.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Oh you will lose. Book it.

 

[Sven]

Thursday night football blockbuster!

With both teams near the top of the 2015 NFL Draft Order a win see either drop at least a couple of spots in the draft. The titans would go below The Raiders and the Jags to below Washington.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2-12 (.479 SOS)
2. Tennessee Titans: 2-12 (.491 SOS)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars: 2-12 (.509 SOS)
4. Oakland Raiders: 2-12 (.585 SOS)
5. Washington: 3-11 (.495 SOS)
6. New York Jets: 3-11 (.550 SOS)

 

[Sven]

...
Minnesota at Miami................I have nothing to say about this one.
....

You'd have to gives the game to the Dolphins at home. Both teams match up very favourably and have eerily similar defensive and offensive stats. The lack of a Vikings running game since Jerrick McKinnon went onto IR is the difference.

I'd give the Vikings a chance if Bridgewater can play a decent game, but the two interceptions he threw against the Lions were howlers (one over the intended receiver, and one way behind the intended receiver) and therefore I have my doubts.

 

[Sven]

BTW the WR riches of the 2014 draft are plain to see - Odell Beckham (972 yards receiving), Kelvin Benjamin (952), Sammy Watkins (850) all have a chance to go over 1000 yards in their rookie season. One per year is rare, two or even three would be unprecedented.

recent history:

1995 Joey Galloway 1,039
1996 Terry Glenn 1,132
1998 Randy Moss 1,313
2003 Anquan Boldin 1,377
2004 Michael Clayton 1,193
2006 Marques Colston 1,038
2011 A.J. Green 1,057
2013 Keenan Allen 1,046

 

[ausbacker]

I've almost forgotten how much it sucks to support a 1-4 win team. Outside of the Jets, you guys have my sympathy.

 

[Sven]

I've almost forgotten how much it sucks to support a 1-4 win team. Outside of the Jets, you guys have my sympathy.

Peterson completely stuffed up the season for the Vikings. A solid running game would have taken the pressure off Bridgewater, but Asiata is not, and will never will be, the answer in the backfield. McKinnon had a pretty good rookie season, but too many plays finally broke him.

Coupled with that were key OL injuries (starting RT and RG on IR) and that was all she wrote.

It looks like the Vikings biggest offensive needs going into 2015 are OT, OG and RB. Matt Kalil has regressed this year and Charlie Johnson must surely go. 5th rounder David Yankey has been inactive all year and therefore it's difficult to know if he;s going to be a factor going forward.