2016 NFL Regular Season Thread

['7']

15 hours ago, Daniel said:

Being the "home" team for a game in London is required for any team that wants the Super Bowl played in their stadium.  So that's why Miami agreed to do it.  I mean, if there's even a small shot that you'll have a real home field advantage in the Super Bowl, I guess it's worth it to lose a home game. 

And I'll cut the league and Goodel a little slack for having the London games.  So far as I can tell, all of the NFL games that get played their are sold out in a big venue.  If the commissioner has any job it's to broaden the appeal of the game as much as possible, which the London games do accomplish.  You just have to make sure that you don't over-saturate.

As for the ratings overall this year, I can't really tell what's going on, except that there haven't been that many compelling match-ups, at least so far as I'm concerned (my attention wasn't distracted by any of the election stuff).  The Kaepaernick stuff did annoy me, and I was particularly irritated by the fact that the networks (the most guilty party being ESPN) decided to make a huge issue out of it to the point that I got push notifications on my phone about what each team was going to do during the anthem.  I can't say whether this caused me not to watch games that I otherwise would have, but it definitely was a turn off.   

The games do well in London that can't be debated, and the league will over-saturate as is their nature. Trouble is they are really taking us for granted, and this was the year it seems like the NFL fan bit back a bit. At least we've heard rumblings of canning Thursday Night Football. But it still hasn't happened.

It's a joke that such stipulations exist. Either play in London or no Super Bowl. It tells me that there are factions of owners who want no part of London but have ideas of hosting SB's in their shiny new stadiums. This was a way to keep them in line.

I got the Kapernick push notifications too. Actually I was waiting for some bloodwork results months ago...so I sit nervously all day and. All of a sudden my phone sounds like it's having a seizure. I look down. Is it my doctor? No. It's a Kaepernick alert. I wanted to throw that thing through the window

Edited December 14, 2016 by '7'

['7']

3 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Richard Sherman is a bit of a headcase and loose cannon, but I'm sure he's not alone among the players, regarding his opinion of TNF:

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18272300/seattle-seahawks-cb-richard-sherman-blasts-nfl-thursday-games

As for appealing to a broader fan base...I get that, but before the NFL starts expanding their house, they need to remodel the kitchen and bathroom first, and take care of some damage repair.  And all the 9:30 am London game starts do is add to the perception that the NFL is indeed becoming oversaturated.  Sunday afternoon, Sunday night, Monday night, Thanksgiving Thursday (which made the once-a-year Thursday games a great novelty), and a couple late-season Saturdays were more than enough.  I don't really blame the NFL for trying weekly TNF, but it's backfiring.  And it's not a great sign when you have players who aren't only not on board with these games, but actually feel like their league isn't concerned about their safety...along with some crappy matchups, that might explain why the quality of TNF often isn't anything to crow about. 

It's also not great that my mindset when it comes to Thursday/Sunday/Monday night games is "I hate when my team doesn't play Sunday afternoon."  The games are over around 11:30 pm to midnight.  Sucks for East Coast working folk.  That isn't a problem for everyone...West Coast and Mountain Time fans are definitely in bed at a reasonable hour, and even Central Time fans aren't getting it too bad...but considering that over half of NFL teams play in the Eastern Time Zone, that's a lot of fans who are getting to bed later than they'd like.  Three nights a week (all work nights) being up near midnight to watch NFL football is asking a lot...even of the most hardcore "I'll watch any two teams play" fans.

Sherman is tough to take as he vacillates from insightful to WWE cartoon character, but he's right

The NFL has actually set up an all football all the time system. There is no off-season anymore...you have Black Monday, the combines get a ton of coverage...way more than before. They've blown up the draft x100 and put it in Primetime, free agency, even the release of the upcoming years schedule is considered an event by the league. ESPN "Countdown to the 2017 schedule due to be released tomorrow..."

They never let you truly take a break from it. 

Thanksgiving should be one game, though I can live with two, a noon - 3pm game and an after dinner 7:30 game. At least give us the 3-7pm block where no football is being played and you can eat. Three is too much.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

12 minutes ago, '7' said:

Sherman is tough to take as he vacillates from insightful to WWE cartoon character, but he's right

The NFL has actually set up an all football all the time system. There is no off-season anymore...you have Black Monday, the combines get a ton of coverage...way more than before. They've blown up the draft x100 and put it in Primetime, free agency, even the release of the upcoming years schedule is considered an event by the league. ESPN "Countdown to the 2017 schedule due to be released tomorrow..."

They never let you truly take a break from it. 

Thanksgiving should be one game, though I can live with two, a noon - 3pm game and an after dinner 7:30 game. At least give us the 3-7pm block where no football is being played and you can eat. Three is too much.

And of course you now have the NFL Network broadcasting year-round; of course, you don't have to watch it, but yeah, you are right, more than ever, NFL football is everywhere, all the time.  And they need to start dialing it back. 

[MadDog2020]

Hey why stop at London? How about... CHINA? http://www.12up.com/posts/4270254-report-nfl-committed-to-playing-a-game-in-china-in-2018?a_aid=36534 [emoji35][emoji849]


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[Daniel]

20 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Hey why stop at London? How about... CHINA? http://www.12up.com/posts/4270254-report-nfl-committed-to-playing-a-game-in-china-in-2018?a_aid=36534


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Well there are more than a billion people there.  Don't see it as all that much different than MLB playing a few games in Japan or when the NHL played some games at the start of the year in Europe (which always seemed to involve the Rangers).

You keep it to one game a year to see what kind of interest it draws.  I don't think it's a big deal.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The shark is swimming, the ramp is up, Roger's got his leather jacket and waterskis on, and the boat driver is firing the ignition...

In other news, Roger is anxious for the first Mars landing mission to be a success...the sooner this happens, the sooner he can schedule an NFL game to be played on Martian soil.

['7']

11 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Well there are more than a billion people there.  Don't see it as all that much different than MLB playing a few games in Japan or when the NHL played some games at the start of the year in Europe (which always seemed to involve the Rangers).

You keep it to one game a year to see what kind of interest it draws.  I don't think it's a big deal.

It's more doable in baseball...you have 162 games. Football is more sacred, you only have 8 home games. China is going to be particularly testy...especially explaining to your passionate blue collar fans that you're taking a home game from them and giving it to the peoples republic. There could be some major blow-back here. 

[NJDevs4978]

1 hour ago, '7' said:

It's more doable in baseball...you have 162 games. Football is more sacred, you only have 8 home games. China is going to be particularly testy...especially explaining to your passionate blue collar fans that you're taking a home game from them and giving it to the peoples republic. There could be some major blow-back here. 

Yeah not to get this thread thrown into the politics forum but I don't think diplomatic relations with China are going to improve over the next few years the way things have been going recently.

And lol CR that's not too far from the truth re: Mars.  If there were people or aliens with money there Goodell would already have been on the moon.  I do get it to the degree that every other sport attempts to 'expand' overseas, and basketball's done it with a fair amount of success, baseball has too with the WBC though it's still primarily a North/Central American and Far East (Japan) base.  Football has green eyes and wants a piece of that pie.  If the NHL wasn't already so international they'd do it too, as it is they're trying to divest OUT of the Olympics.

Edited December 15, 2016 by NJDevs4978

['7']

27 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Yeah not to get this thread thrown into the politics forum but I don't think diplomatic relations with China are going to improve over the next few years the way things have been going recently.

And lol CR that's not too far from the truth re: Mars.  If there were people or aliens with money there Goodell would already have been on the moon.  I do get it to the degree that every other sport attempts to 'expand' overseas, and basketball's done it with a fair amount of success, baseball has too with the WBC though it's still primarily a North/Central American and Far East (Japan) base.  Football has green eyes and wants a piece of that pie.  If the NHL wasn't already so international they'd do it too, as it is they're trying to divest OUT of the Olympics.

Plus I think the NFL has long term plans for Mexico and London as it's pretty much maxed out in the states. Toronto and Vancouver are probably not thought of as viable because of their proximity to Seattle and Buffalo. They're kind of "in" those markets anyway without literally being in them. Now that LA is covered I think they are envisioning and NFL with permanent franchises in Mexico City and London. 

China on the other hand will never happen. This would be a cash grab game and nothing else.

The new normal they are trying to get us used to is every team playing internationally at least once a year, alternating home and road. They want an international game every week.

Just like they tried to make Thursday Night Football the new normal. It failed.

The NHL went overboard with outdoor games as well. It also failed.

[Daniel]

14 minutes ago, '7' said:

Plus I think the NFL has long term plans for Mexico and London as it's pretty much maxed out in the states. Toronto and Vancouver are probably not thought of as viable because of their proximity to Seattle and Buffalo. They're kind of "in" those markets anyway without literally being in them. Now that LA is covered I think they are envisioning and NFL with permanent franchises in Mexico City and London. 

China on the other hand will never happen. This would be a cash grab game and nothing else.

The new normal they are trying to get us used to is every team playing internationally at least once a year, alternating home and road. They want an international game every week.

Just like they tried to make Thursday Night Football the new normal. It failed.

The NHL went overboard with outdoor games as well. It also failed.

Don't see permanent franchises in Mexico City or London.  Mexico is basically a third-world country, and I doubt you're going to find players that would be thrilled to play in a city with a kidnapping/ransom problem.  (Weren't Raiders/Texans players advised not to leave their hotels unnecessarily while they were there).  Plus, you're never going to get the money that the NFL demands be spent for an updated stadium and all the training facilities in Mexico City, unless it's Carlos Slim that owns the team.

I doubt London could field a permanent team, mainly because of the time difference.  It's basically a guarantee that you're home town fans will not be watching Thursday, Sunday or Monday night football if the game is played in the States.  So imagine if a London team actually becomes good, and competes or actually plays in the Super Bowl.  You're asking a lot of your home town fans to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning to watch a game, in a country where I think the pubs still have to close before then.  At most, you might see a team like Jacksonville play half of its home games in London and be the "Jax/London Jaguars."  But to make that work, you'll probably have to give some major incentives to the owner and the teams' players since I imagine the tax burden that goes with deriving a significant amount of your income internationally is enormous (although I'm not a tax attorney so don't quote me on that).   

[CRASHER]

The green of profit outweighs ANY form of politics.....especially in the NFL, even over quality of game.....

and Has the only reason the NHL wants out of the Olympics is because they are trying to shove the World Cup down our throats as the alternative and more profitable option  

[NJDevs4978]

6 minutes ago, CRASHER said:

The green of profit outweighs ANY form of politics.....especially in the NFL, even over quality of game.....

and Has the only reason the NHL wants out of the Olympics is because they are trying to shove the World Cup down our throats as the alternative and more profitable option  

Yeah but why are they doing the WC in the first place?  Because they don't want to go to the Far East for these Olympics.  They'll go when every other Olympics is in North America but when you have two-three in a row with a several hour time difference, different story.  The WC is their 'compromise' to grease the skids for leaving the Olympics.  And tbh the pros probably shouldn't be there anyway, although you've seldom had amateurs there in the first place with all the faux amateurs for the Cold War countries.

Honestly I'm surprised the NFL hasn't tried to nose in on the Olympics yet  Not that most of these nations could actually be representative for like half a century and most of the real NFL players wouldn't play for us, so it'd be our scabs/arena league players against Canada, England and American Samoa lol.

Edited December 15, 2016 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

More fugly uniforms and another sh!t game.  TNF is alive and well.  Thank you Roger.

[MadDog2020]

The Seahawks look like they're attending a Halloween party dressed as bike reflectors.


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[NJDevs4978]

21 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

The Seahawks look like they're attending a Halloween party dressed as bike reflectors.


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I thought I was watching the Oregon Ducks when I saw the game on TV for a minute.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

4 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

I thought I was watching the Oregon Ducks when I saw the game on TV for a minute.

I felt like I was watching the old WLAF league Orlando Thunder.  Yikes.

[MadDog2020]

Schefter reporting Rex is done in Buffalo after the season: http://deadsp.in/zWidDim


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[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Glad to see the Pats get out of Denver with a win.  Hate going there.  Always seems like a house of horrors.

 

[MadDog2020]

Glad to see the Pats get out of Denver with a win.  Hate going there.  Always seems like a house of horrors.
 

I felt dirty doing it, but I rooted hard for the Pats today- and now all we need is to beat Buffalo on Christmas Eve and have Denver lose to KC on Christmas night and the Fins are in the playoffs. [emoji120]


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[Colorado Rockies 1976]

With the game being up in Buffalo, I think there's a chance that the Dolphins lose...but if I had to bet on it, I'm taking Miami.  I think they'll find a way to win that one, though I have a feeling it will be a little ugly.

Jets about to play what amounts to their yearly Super Bowl:  having a chance to screw up playoff seeding for the Pats by beating them.  Pats need to take them seriously and make it a laugher by halftime.  

Edited December 19, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Any word on Tannehill?  Will he play in Week 17?

[MadDog2020]

With the game being up in Buffalo, I think there's a chance that the Dolphins lose...but if I had to bet on it, I'm taking Miami.  I think they'll find a way to win that one, though I have a feeling it will be a little ugly.
Jets about to play what amounts to their yearly Super Bowl:  having a chance to screw up playoff seeding for the Pats by beating them.  Pats need to take them seriously and make it a laugher by halftime.  

Oh it's gonna be a VERY tough game for us to win, especially with a backup QB. Buffalo would love nothing more than to end our season- we better come out ready for bear or we're gonna have problems. That's gonna be Rex's Super Bowl with the rumors of him being canned as soon as the season ends, and I'm sure his players will play balls to the wall for him- the Fins better be ready to match that intensity.


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[Colorado Rockies 1976]

4 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

Oh it's gonna be a VERY tough game for us to win, especially with a backup QB. Buffalo would love nothing more than to end our season- we better come out ready for bear or we're gonna have problems. That's gonna be Rex's Super Bowl with the rumors of him being canned as soon as the season ends, and I'm sure his players will play balls to the wall for him- the Fins better be ready to match that intensity.


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Pretty much my take on it too.  Rex and his team are frontrunners...if they get a 14-point lead early, then they'll make it a game.  If it goes the other way, they'll fold.

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Any word on Tannehill?  Will he play in Week 17?

Between slim and none.

[nmigliore]

The Phins fans here are going to really hate me when I say this but they really haven't looked like a playoff team, regardless of who the QB is. Their post-bye schedule has been really soft - Jets twice, Chargers, Rams, 49ers, Cardinals - and outside of this most recent game against the Jets, they've won by a TD or less against each of those teams. They did beat the Steelers at home in Week 6 but they've lost to every other competitive team on their schedule. They kind of feel like the Lions of the AFC - it hasn't always been pretty but somehow they sit 9-5. I think just getting into the playoffs should feel like a win (especially with the current QB situation); anything else from there would be gravy. 

Edited December 19, 2016 by nmigliore