Sports

[gardenman]

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@viva923 wrote:

I doubt the Packers can fight their way out of a paperbag now.

they are plain awful. looks like the team of the 70's-80's. 

I think the Pack had better begin rebuilding and finding players that will play as a team and not for themselves. 

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The problem with the Packers is that they've never really invested in the high end talent around Aaron Rodgers. They've settled for average to good players and trusted Rodgers to elevate them, which he's done. The problem is, when he's not there, there's no one to elevate them. That Packers roster isn't filled with players who would be starters on any team in the league they went to. A good percentage of the Packers offensive starters would be backups on most other teams. They can use that level of player and win football games because Aaron Rodgers is half quarterback and half wizard. But when he's not there, you've got a pretty average team. 

If they'd built a solid offensive line, got high end receivers, runningbacks, and tight ends then turned Rodgers loose, he could put up some amazing numbers. They just never make that investment though.

[sunshine45]

The achievement combines regular-season (90) and postseason (10) victories, and all of them have come with the Ravens. The modest Harbaugh said, “I guess it is” a notable milestone.

“You coach a lot of games, you better get a few wins,” he said.

“I will say this. Between Terrell Suggs and Joe Flacco, who have been a part of every one of those wins, I think we had a good moment after the game.”

Since arriving in 2008, Harbaugh has become the Ravens’ all-time winningest head coach, surpassing Brian Billick’s 85 career wins. Each head coach delivered a Super Bowl.

Harbaugh has produced the league’s fourth-most wins since he came to Baltimore, trailing just the New England Patriots (128), Pittsburgh Steelers (108) and Green Bay Packers (107).

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/John-Harbaugh-Reacts-to-Getting-100th-Career-Win-at-Hi...

[gardenman]

One of those rare, late season drug suspensions just got handed down to Marcus Gilbert, the offensive tackle of the Steelers. That's going to handicap their playoff run a bit, and maybe a lot, if Roethlisberger now takes more hits than he needs to be taking. Gilbert's a good tackle, and his backups, well, they're not so good.

The playoff picture is coming into focus a bit more after the Falcons' win on MNF.  The Eagles, Vikings, Saints, Rams, Panther, and Falcons would all be in now and all control their own destiny. As long as they all keep winning, they're in. Of course, they all can't keep winning as many of them play one another. The Eagles play the Rams. The Vikings play the Falcons and Panthers. The Saints play the Rams, Panthers, and Falcons twice. The Rams play the Saints and Eagles. The Panthers play the Saints, Falcons and Vikings. And the Falcons play the Vikjngs. the Saints twice, and the Panthers. With so many of those six playing one another it makes it likely that at least one of the teams now out of the playoffs will have a path in. 

Detroit, Dallas, Green Bay, and Seattle are the likeliest of contenders, but Washington, Arizona, and even Tampa are still somewhat alive. I would say Detroit and Seattle are the two most likely to contend for a playoff spot. Detroit's probably the most likely to contend. They've got the most favorable schedule and have stayed relatively healthy. Seattle has Russell Wilson who can pretty much will his team to victory. Green Bay has talent issues without Aaron Rodgers. If they can stay in striking distance and get Rodgers back, they could be trouble. They've got a tough game this week in the Steelers. That Marcus Gilbert suspension might give them a hand this week. After that they've got the Bucs, Browns, Panthers, Vikings, and Lions. Beat the Browns and Bucs (highly winnable games,) win those last three and they're likely in. Winning those last three though is the hard part. Will Aaron Rodgers be back for one or more of those games?

On the AFC side the Steelers, Patriots, Jags, Chiefs,Titans, and Ravens are all win and you're in teams. The Patriots have pretty much already clinched a spot with a three game lead over the Bills who are now rotating QB's in a bad way. That AFC West is pretty much up for grabs with the Chiefs sagging. If the Broncos, Raiders, or Chargers wake up, things could get pretty interesting out there. My gut says the Chargers make a push and sneak in for a round or two. They've been playing pretty well lately with a 3-2 record in their last five games. They play the Cowboys on Thursday in a winnable game, then finish against the Browns, Redskins, Chiefs, Jets, and Raiders. They could pretty easily finish 9-7 and sneak into the playoffs. (8-8 might be enough to get in on the AFC side this year.)

Dallas could still make a playoff push, but they've got issues. In their last two games they've been outscored 64-16. Their schedule has the Chargers, Redskins, Giants, Raiders, Seahawks, and Eagles. Of those six games, the Giants game is the most winnable. They could beat all of those teams, but they've got to fix the defense first and then find a way to score again. The Chargers and Redskins will be big early tests for them. Both teams can put up the points.

Kirk Cousins is dragging the corpse of the Redskins along with him as he tries to find ways to win games. Terrelle Pryor and Chris Thompson are now gone for the rest of the year, but Pryor's never really been there anyway. Vernon Davis is pretty much the entire Redskin offense these days. It might be a good time for the Redskins to poach some young offensive playmakers from other teams' practice squads. They got a young runningback from the Eagles, but they need outside help a lot too.

[Spurt]

@gardenman

Just like a turkey on Thanksgiving....stick a fork in 'em my Redskins are DONE! 

[Spurt]

@sunshine45

CONGRATS on Ravens win (very impressive)....and Congrats to Harbaugh.............I wonder if his brother will ever come back to the NFL.........

@yellowBeetle

CONGRATS to the Eagles but boy they got off to a slow start.....I was a tad worried because I didnt want the Cowboys to win--

[yellowBeetle]

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@Spurt wrote:

@sunshine45

CONGRATS on Ravens win (very impressive)....and Congrats to Harbaugh.............I wonder if his brother will ever come back to the NFL.........

@yellowBeetle

CONGRATS to the Eagles but boy they got off to a slow start.....I was a tad worried because I didnt want the Cowboys to win--

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@Spurt

Thanks! Yeah, they looked like the Eagles of last year during the first half!  Sorry for you about the Redskins....but this is a crazy year so they could still possibly pull out a Wild Card spot! 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

[sunshine45]

the mnf game last night was a fun one to watch. i didnt watch it totally because i was focused on dancing with the stars, but the parts i saw AND the end really made it an exciting and interesting game.

[Spurt]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

the mnf game last night was a fun one to watch. i didnt watch it totally because i was focused on dancing with the stars, but the parts i saw AND the end really made it an exciting and interesting game.

@sunshine45

Yep I was watching DWTS and came late to the MNF party too..... but WOW what a competitive enjoyable game....there have been so few of these lately!!!!  It seems the few strong teams the NFL has these days are blowing out the lowly competition, and the good teams seldom play each other.....Forget the protests, this is the real reason ratings are down.  Hopefully when we get to the playoffs we can see more good games....

[teganslaw]

The games might start to get more exciting now. The teams who are more likely to be in the playoffs will be facing each other.

This Sunday the Titans-Colts game will be on FOX. Normally the AFC games are on CBS, but the NO-LA Rams game was flexed to 4:30, and it changed the other schedules. If the Colts win, they will hurt Tennessee's chances.

Off topic: Since others have mentioned it, I've tried watching DWTS, but don't like the judges because they get on my nerves. The judges overreact, and it looks so fake IMO. If they would just focus on the dances and dismiss all the judges I would probably watch it. But then it wouldn't be a program. So count me as not a fan.

[teganslaw]

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@Spurt wrote:

@gardenman

Just like a turkey on Thanksgiving....stick a fork in 'em my Redskins are DONE! 

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Redskins vs Giants=The Turkey Bowl?  Sorry, SPURT, couldn't help it. Actually, the Redskins have a shot for wildcard if everything goes their way and the stars align right. May as well say the same about the Colts: done. The best the Colts can do is play spoiler for the others.