Sports

[gardenman]

In a shocking twist, we start out this week with a good Thursday night football game between the Packers and the Niners. The 

Niners lost Jimmy G and Kittle again which handicaps them quite a bit. The Packers refused once again to get Rodgers more weapons at the trading deadline. In an odd twist, the Packers' injury report is longer than the Niners, but the Niners injuries are to more important players. I'll take the Packers in this one.

The Giants go to the WFT (Assuming there still is a W for the FT to play in after the pending riots, chaos, whatever. And yeah, I know the WFT don't play in W, but you get the point.) In my schedule breakdown in last week's thread, I gave this one to the WFT, so I'll stick with that. I think this will be a battle of the lines the WFT defensive line is better team the NYG offensive line. 

Chicago goes to Tennessee. Both teams have lost two in a row. One of them will break that streak. I'm just not sure which. Guys like Nick Foles can drive you a bit crazy when you make picks. When he's on, he's unbeatable. When he's off, he's really off. I guess I'll take Tennessee, but nothing would surprise me in this one.

Detroit goes to Minnesota. You probably could have made some decent money in Las Vegas preseason by saying Detroit would be ahead of the Vikings in the standings at this point of the season. I think the Vikings even things up with a win this week. I'll take the Vikings.

Carolina goes to KC in a measuring stick game for Carolina. Carolina's a young, up and coming team that doesn't truly know how good they are. Carolina jumped out to a 3-2 start only to lose their last three. I'll take KC in this one, but expect Carolina to give them a decent fight.

Houston and Jacksonville are locked into an epic battle for a high draft pick with each team only having one win. Houston already has their QB in DeShaun Watson while the Jags desperately need a QB. I've got the Jags losing this one to get the higher pick to try and land a top tier QB. The Texans for the win.

Baltimore takes on Indy in a pretty good matchup. Both teams are 5-2 and likely heading for a playoff berth. Both teams are playing well defensively (second and third in the AFC behind the Dolphins.) The Ravens have gotten away from their three tight end alignment that gave teams fits. With three tight ends defenses tended to stay in their heavy defense only to find Lamar Jackson zipping past their big, heavy, slower guys. Defenses more or less decided to go with more of a nickel look to get faster, more athletic guys on the field, so the Ravens got out of the three tight end look to try and match up better athletically. It's not working out so well for them. Expect to see more of the old three tight end alignment coming back and Lamar Jackson becoming more of a beast. I'll take the Ravens in this one. The Covid-19 situation with the Ravens could hurt them a bit, but not enough. 

Seattle goes to Buffalo. This should be a good one. I'm not sure what the weather will be in Buffalo, but I'm guessing it won't be Seattle-like. Seattle has the better QB. Buffalo may be the better overall team. Seattle's favored but I'm giving the teensiest edge to Buffalo. I'm taking the Bills.

Denver goes to Atlanta. I don't know about this one. The Broncos have a very good, expensive, and veteran defense, and a very young, inexpensive, inexperienced offense. The offense and defense got a bit heated with each other in last week's game which is seldom a good thing. I guess I'll take Atlanta. The Broncos need to find a way to pull that team together.

The Raiders take on the Chargers in the battle of the nomad teams. The San Diego, uh Los Angeles Chargers take on the Oakland, Los Angeles, Oakland, Las Vegas Raiders. Yeah, I think that's right. Maybe. At least for this year. The Chargers have found themselves a QB in Justin Herbert. They're a pretty balanced team scoring 179 and giving up 185. The Raiders are a tick less balanced with a minus 16 point differential. (That's not horrible though. The Jets are a minus 144. Yikes!) Who will win? Hard to say. Both teams are arguably the home team in this one. I guess I'll take the Chargers and their kid QB.

Pittsburgh goes to Dallas. Suffice to say this won't be one of the more competitive games this week. The Cowboys will be starting someone at quarterback, we think so anyway. It could be Ben DiNucci, Garrett Gilbert, or Cooper Rush, assuming Cooper's cleared the Covid-19 protocols after being signed last Wednesday which takes about a week to clear. Andy Dalton has cleverly started hanging around with Covid-19 positive people so he gets to be on the Covid-19 watch list and not subjected to having his head removed by angry defenders who his o-line lets through unblocked. Given a choice between a deadly virus and head-hunting defenders, he's wisely chosen to take his chance with the virus. The rest of the Cowboy veterans might be wise to follow his lead. Expect the Steelers to win big in this one.

Miami heads to Arizona to take on the Cards. A battle of two promising young QBs in Kyler Murray and Tua. I'll give the edge to Murray and the Cards in this one.

New Orleans goes to Tampa Bay in a battle of the geriatric quarterbacks on Sunday night. Tampa's on a bit of a roll and have scored more points and given up fewer points than New Orleans. I expect that to continue and Tampa should get the win. Drew Brees seems to have had his arm fall off this year and he's mostly making short to mid-range passes. That makes life a bit easier for a defense.

And our epic Monday night battle for AFC East inferiority takes place between the 2-5 Patriots and 0-8 Jets. (Seriously? Who do we see about firing the schedule maker?) Well, any question people had over whether Brady made Belichick or Belichick made Brady has been answered pretty clearly. Brady's playing for a new team and squarely in the playoff hunt while the Patriots are meandering about in no man's land where they'll be too good (if you call it that) for a tiptop draft pick, but too bad to be considered a contender. A loss to the Jets (possible) would vaunt them closer to a top draft pick, but the Jets are stubbornly holding onto that first overall pick and seem unwilling to let it go. Trevor Lawrence is praying for the Jets to find a way to win a few games. Good college QBs go to NYC and the Jets to die. Sadly, I don't see the Jets winning this one. I'll take the Patriots.

The trading deadline passed without either of the two QBs (Haskins and Darnold) most likely to be traded being moved. Kind of a missed opportunity for some teams in my opinion unless the asking price was too high. I'd have made the deal for a later round pick and put the kid at third or fourth string and worked on getting them into the system for the remainder of this year, then let them compete for the job next year. Both kids are pretty talented. Both are in a bad situation right now. I hate to see kids with their potential just parked on the bench (Haskins) or thrown into horrible situations (like playing for the Jets.) Oh well, we'll see what happens to them this offseason.

[gardenman]

In the "Okay, that's a bit odd" category, the Titans are releasing three veteran players. Defensive end Vic Beasley who was the former eighth overall pick of the Falcons, cornerback Johnathan Joseph, and their long snapper Beau Brinkley are all being cut free. You're in the middle of the playoff hunt and you cut three veteran players? I suspect there's more to this story than we're being let in on. 

If you've got a term that's in the tank, cut whoever you want. When you're in the playoff hunt though, you generally don't get rid of three vets at one time.

[teganslaw]

I checked further into this, and it seems that Vic Beasley didn't get along with Vrabel. Beasley reported late to training camp; he had gotten into a disagreement with the team officials. Also, according to what I read, Beasley showed no effort on the field. He was getting a high salary for basically doing nothing. The Titans had enough of his attitude, so are planning on releasing him. 

I'm not sure about the others, but maybe they weren't doing very well, either. Probably losing to the Bengals didn't help matters.  

[Spurt]

WOW!!! Week 9 already.....the NFL season is going by fast.....  Time to make some picks! 

Packers vs 49ers---- The 49ers continue to lose players to injuries, meanwhile the Packers surprisingly struggle...But I put my trust in Aaron Rodgers, so I'm going with the PACKERS!

Giants vs WFT---   I think the WFT has a better O-line and D line and are coming off a bye week.  Meanwhile the Giants are giving a good effort...but somehow they always seem to mess things up....whether it be their QB or bad coaching decision.  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and going with my WFT for the WIN--PLEASE!!! 

Bears vs Titans---- Nick Foles is inconsistent, and the Titans seem to be struggling a bit, but Im going with RB Derrick Henry and a WIN for the TITANS!

Lions vs Vikings---- The Vikings were on life support but came through and got a surprising win over their rival the Packers..... The Lions lost but have had two good wins.  This is a toss up....Im going with the VIKINGS at home, but it could go either way! 

Panthers vs Chiefs---Those Panthers are a fiesty bunch as they rebuild, but the Chiefs just have more talent---CHIEFS!

Texans vs Jags--- The Jags are changing QBs but thats not going to help.  The Texans have a better QB and JJ Watt....TEXANS for the W!

Ravens vs Colts---  This will be a good game! An interesting contrast at QB--- old school Rivers vs young mobile Jackson.  I like the Colts defense and think it will give them a slight edge!  Taking the COLTS!

Seahawks vs Bills--- Let's see Russell 

Wilson vs a more balanced team in the Bills.  I'm taking the BILLS on a hunch....

Broncos vs Falcons---  How bout those Broncos with that comeback victory!  The Falcons have also seemed to have found their groove with a win.  This game could go either way, but Im taking the FALCONS at home!....

Raiders vs Chargers--- The Chargers have their franchise QB in Herbert.  The Raiders are a difficult team to figure out....I dont quite trust the Chargers coaching and game plan....so Im going with "Chucky" and DA RAIDERS! 

Steelers vs Cowboys ---- Two teams headed in opposite direction!!!  The undefeated well coached Steelers vs the Cowboys with yet another backup QB and a poor defense...STEELERS no contest! 

Dolphins vs Cardinals--- Wow, the Dolphins D got their team a win behind their young rookie QB Tua.....Now they face a more talented team ....CARDINALS for the WIN!

Saints vs Bucs---  Drew & Tommy meet in a battle of the veteran QBs....Brees seems off to me this year, the Saints wins are against weak teams.....I think Tom has more weapons, and is starting to get in a rhythm with his WRs, and the Bucs D has been playing well....taking the BUCS

Patriots vs Jets---  My my how the mighty Patritots have been humbled this season....and Cam continues on his inconsistent and the mistake ridden path that got him replaced by the Panthers with Teddy Bridgewater...Meanwhile the Jets look good....good for the Trevor Lawrence Sweepstakes....PATRIOTS!  Gee, perhaps ESPN should rerun old games of these teams in their glory years in order to keep viewers AWAKE....Think Ill watch DWTS instead of DVRing it.....more excitement....

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

I checked further into this, and it seems that Vic Beasley didn't get along with Vrabel. Beasley reported late to training camp; he had gotten into a disagreement with the team officials. Also, according to what I read, Beasley showed no effort on the field. He was getting a high salary for basically doing nothing. The Titans had enough of his attitude, so are planning on releasing him. 

I'm not sure about the others, but maybe they weren't doing very well, either. Probably losing to the Bengals didn't help matters.  

---

@teganslaw  @gardenman 

Good research Tegan!...

Ya know it has to be "locker room issues" when a playoff bound team makes major changes and cuts when ya got a good portion of a season to go.......

[Spurt]

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@gardenman 

Things just get "better" for the Cowboys....now their punter,  Chris Jones, will be out a few games as he has surgery on a core muscle injury......Hunter Niswander, a punter currently on the Cowboys’ practice squad, is expected to be called up 

[jeanlake]

Is it okay to brag on KC Chiefs' quarterback, Patrick Mahomes? Here's a few human nature story factoids - In July of this year he became partial owner of KC Royals Baseball org. As a locker-room kid, when his dad pitched pro baseball, he has a love of baseball, too. He also split the cost with KC Arrowhead football stadium to open stadium up for voters on Nov 3. Just a good guy - like many of your hometown players.   

[yellowrose]

What's not to like about Patrick?  Good guy, and so cute.

You forgot the "cute" part @jeanlake 

Whitehouse, TX is very proud of their hometown boy.

[jeanlake]

@yellowrose Y'all raised him well!

[teganslaw]

The 49ers closed their practice facility yesterday because of a positive COVID test: WR Kendrick Bourne, who won't play this week.  The team is doing contract tracing, and WR Brandon Aiyuk , and Deebo Samuel are also out. 

The game with the Packers will still be played Thursday as scheduled. 

Josh McCown signed with the Texans. Since he's in Texas, it made sense for him to go with that team.