Sports

[Spurt]

Well I'm off to a rousing start with my picks!!!!  ............Da Bears couldnt even hang on to the darn ball and dug themselves a huge hole!!!  ....SHEESH!  

@AuntGWOW what a job by  Aaron Rodgers even with all the injuries he still got the job done!!! GO PACK GO!!!

[Spurt]

WOW--former NFL WR Henry Ellard who played for the Rams (83-93), my Redskins (94-97), Pats (98) and Redskins again (98) is a high school wide receiver's coach here!!!!

He moved here to be near his in-laws and his daughter who attends college at Trinity University.

Good Luck Coach HENRY!!! #HTTR!!!

[Greeneyedlady21]

Female fans weren't "done with the NFL" because of the complete lack of a domestic violence policy and treating domestic violence like it's completely irrelevant-but they are because of this? The domestic violence stuff is far, far, far more offensive to me. I have opinions on the other stuff that I can't talk about here.

Not just female fans either, male fans should care about the domestic violence issue too. The silence from so many is deafening. Where is the outrage about that? I was so outraged about it that I almost stopped watching. But I love the sport and couldn't do it. 

I'll be watching my team this weekend and as many other games as I can.

[misscecille]

I was at the game last night.  When Davante Adams was hit the stadium went completely quiet.  Absolutely no reason for that hit.  Now, Mike McCarthy is dealing with an "internal issue" with Damarius Randall.  Supposedly the coach removed him from the game because the Bears scored on him.  Then he went to the sidelines and argued with the coaches.  Mike McCarthy had him escorted to the locker room where he showered and then left the game before it was over!  What arrogance from a young player.  He didn't produce and now he's mad at the world!  Go figure!

[gardenman]

Being a coach requires insane people skills. They need to be a psychologist as much as a strategist. (In many cases a child psychologist given the mental state of some players.) Temper tantrums aren't all that unusual when they aren't allowed to play. (Adrian Peterson in week one is another example.) If you're playing poorly enough for a coach to yank you, you should be mad at yourself and not the coaches. This is especially true of solitary positions like cornerback. Damarius Randall is out there on an island and mistakes when you're all alone are hard to blame on anyone else. You've got to be a man and own up to your mistakes and work hard to correct them.

On some positions on the field, you can be a complete disaster and no one ever notices. An offensive guard might go the whole game with never being man to man on a pass rusher going against a 4-3 defensive alignment. The nose tackle will engage the center and each offensive tackle will take a defensive end, so the guard just more helps out and isn't counted on to really do all that much in the passing game. Unless a linebacker or safety blitzes his whole game can be composed of largely just standing there. If the QB is sacked, it's not his fault as it wasn't his guy.

A cornerback on the other hand is exposed and out there in plain sight the whole game. Make a mistake or two there, and everyone notices. Those guys have to be mentally tough and own their mistakes and it sounds like Damarius Randall is neither mentally tough, nor owning his mistakes.

It's not hard to go from being a starter in the NFL to being out of the league and right now Damarius Randall looks like he's heading for the exit. 

[yellowBeetle]

@Spurt

My cat Mr. Whiskers wanted to give a shout-out to your kitty, Figgy! Mr. Whiskers, like Figgy, urges me to choose the feline teams. And this week he convinced me, against my better judgment, to pick the Panthers over the Patriots...but that is one pick that I wish I could take back! 

Does Figgy also want you to pick the teams with bird names? One of Mr. Whiskers' favorite hobbies is bird watching, so the Cardinals, Seahawks, Ravens, and of course our Eagles are favorites of his...but he was not persuasive enough this week to get me to pick the Seahawks or the Cardinals...

Enjoy the games!!  

[gardenman]

It's game day! Yea! The Eagles hobble out to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers. Our defense has been bruised and battered the last few weeks, but they're still alive. Two of our wounded players are likely to play this week in safety Rodney McLeod and middle linebacker Jordan Hicks. That should help things out a bit. We ended the game last week down six defensive starters which is largely how the Giants went from being shut out for three quarters to scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter. We'll still be a bit wounded this week, but God willing the tide has turned.

Who will win this week? That's largely up to Philip Rivers. He's one of those streaky quarterbacks who can look great one week, and horrible the next. He's one of those quarterbacks that drive GM's and head coaches nuts. He's got all of the talent in the world and can play great, then he can turn around and play horribly. You can't really let him go for fear he'll start playing well consistently for someone else, but you also can't rely on him to win games for you. He's won all of, let's see now, no Super Bowls? He's set a boatload of records for the organization, but never quite got them where they need to be. If you have a list of the maddening QB's who tease you with their talent, then fall just short of greatness, he'd be at the top of the list. He's better than a Mark Sanchez, Jay Cutler, etc. but still in their overall range, just better than them. He's probably the best of the teaser QB's who falls just short of being elite.

This is a big game for the Eagles. Being 3-1 is much better than being 2-2. The chemistry between Alshon Jeffery and Carson Wentz continues to grow. That pass at the end of the game last week to set up the winning field goal was into tight coverage with a very small window and Carson trusted Alshon to make the play and he did.  A play like that, that's largely forgotten after the long field goal, helps to form a bond between the QB and his receiver.

If the Eagles can ever connect on one of the deep balls (they've been just overthrown or just underthrown each week) that could make this offense really explosive. Expect Zach Ertz and maybe Trey Burton to have big games today. The Chargers' safeties and linebackers aren't reportedly good in coverage and those guys will work the underneath and middle of the field. Backs out of the backfield may also be big weapons for the Eagles today.

The Chargers have two great pass rushers in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, but they'll be going against two really good offensive tackles in Jason Peters and Lane Johnson, so that's largely a wash.

I've got the Eagles winning a close one this week, but it could get a tad one-sided if Rivers is having another off day. The Giants largely showed the league how to avoid the Eagles' pass rush last week by getting rid of the ball quickly. It wasn't effective early in the game as the defense was able to make the tackle quickly on the short passes, but late in the game it started to click for the Giants. (Largely because half of our defense was in the locker room inured.) Still though, it gave a blueprint for how to counter the Eagles' pass rush.

I suspect you won't see Philip Rivers taking many seven step drops and bouncing in the pocket waiting for a receiver to come open. The Eagles can counter the short passing game by cheating up and jumping those routes. That can often result in a touchdown one way or the other. Make the pick and there's no one between the defender and the endzone. Miss the pick and there's maybe a safety back there to stop the receiver, but it's a big field and a shifty receiver can make the safety look stupid one on one. Expect the Eagles to try to go deep yet again this week. (Sooner or later one of them should connect.) Also expect to see a lot of runs again this week as we tweak the offense without Darren Sproles.) Don't be shocked to see a big run back on special teams by Kenjon Barner of the Eagles. He was signed to replace Sproles and has excelled in that role previously with the Eagles.

It should be a good game today. I'd love to come out of this week at 3-1.  

[yellowBeetle]

@gardenman

Great pre-game analysis, as always!! 

I keep remembering the winning combo of Torrey Smith and Joe Flacco for making those deep throw connections! I'm hoping Smith and Wentz will be able to replicate that at some point!!

Should be an exciting game...enjoy!

[gardenman]

This early game from London is taking forever and may set back football more than the protests.

[Spurt]

---

@yellowBeetle wrote:

@Spurt

My cat Mr. Whiskers wanted to give a shout-out to your kitty, Figgy! Mr. Whiskers, like Figgy, urges me to choose the feline teams. And this week he convinced me, against my better judgment, to pick the Panthers over the Patriots...but that is one pick that I wish I could take back! 

Does Figgy also want you to pick the teams with bird names? One of Mr. Whiskers' favorite hobbies is bird watching, so the Cardinals, Seahawks, Ravens, and of course our Eagles are favorites of his...but he was not persuasive enough this week to get me to pick the Seahawks or the Cardinals...

Enjoy the games!!  

---

@yellowBeetle

Hi YELLOWBEETLE! 

Figgy appreciates the shoutout from your Mr. Whiskers!!!   What kind of a kitty is Mr. Whiskers?  Yep, those cats stick by their feline teams don't they--   Fur is thicker than water I guess....LOL!!!  Nope, Figgy does not like the bird teams at all!!!---But in real life, she recognizes the Cardinal's song (my favorite bird).....and she cries to go out on the patio to watch them....now the birds are safe since she only gets to go to my fenced in patio....but she doesnt have that bird's eye view of them....(pardon the pun).... and no harm can come to any birds........

So Mr. Whiskers used his feline expertise to convince you to go with Panthers over Pats---Good Luck!  If Cam Newton gets up to speed who knows, Mr. Whiskers could be right....the Pats D isnt all that this year....and Mr. Tom has felt some of pressure and got sacked too..But funny thing is ya never know about those Patriots. I swear Coach Beli seems to be like Faust and sold his soul the way those Pats manage to get some of their wins....like the Texans last week..........

You and Mr. Whiskers enjoy the football games and GO FELINES!