NFL - NEWS & NOTES

I honestly have zero problem with how that played out. If you are relying on an official being right in a player's shadow at the very end of a game just so you can have 1 more second on the clock then you're relying on far too much and certainly not yourselves anymore which is what every team in the league preaches to itself. Control what you can control. Dak don't run that far up the field. Don't call a stupid ass play that guarantees you cant stop the clock without another play. Dont put yourselves in that position in the first place with a hundred other mishaps, penalties, bad calls and on and on.

Blame it on any one of those but don't blame it on an official not running a sub10 100.

 

Well i doubt either of us has the specific ratings in front of us on an hour by hour basis, but its very obvious that if a game isnt competitive more people are gonna turn it off early. Thats why announcers NEVER say a game is over when its a blowout early in the 3rd Q. They're told not to do that cos it will hurt the ratings. So in terms of that, no, i highly doubt blowouts is exactly how they wanted it to go. Also, with it being only the 2nd year of 7th seeds, no, of course they dont want to see both 7ths getting wiped out like that cos it makes including them look less worthwhile. Ultimately it makes the product look worse. Which, frankly it does.

Ad revenues this weekend may not have been affected by any of this since that space will already have been paid for. But in fairness you guys are talking about slightly different things here aren't you. You're not wrong, but you're talking about the here and now. He's talking about the future.

Uncompetitive games and games where we're talking about the officials is not want the league wants to see. Thats obvious.

 

It's his job though.. I've seen countless other games where the referee is right where he is supposed to be to set the ball. I'm not blaming the refs, I just felt that was worse than the Bengals whistle call, which I though was nothing.

I couldn't care less who won either game..

 

Strictly speaking it is his job. But imo all things considered its very very hard to hold him to account for doing his job 1 second slower than you would ideally like to see. Its not his fault that 1 second was the final second, thats nothing to do with him, thats on the Cowboys. There was most certainly a second to be had if he didnt have to fight thru 2 players to get to the ball. Far as im concerned the Cowboys brought that on themselves.

I agree the Bengals whistle call was a lot of nothing, the tv guys made too much of that imo. The whistle didnt effect anybody and the right call was made.

I didn't care who won the Cowboys game. Neither is beating the Packers anyway. I was kinda hoping the Bengals would win cos it had been so so long since they'd won a playoff game it was great for their fans. No one should have to go 30years not seeing their team win a playoff game. Well, maybe residents of Michigan...

 

Arizona at Los Angeles Rams, 8:15 p.m. EST. Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray makes his postseason debut for the Cardinals (11-6), who split two regular-season games against the NFC West-rival Rams (12-5). Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford is looking to win his first playoff game after three losses during his 12 previous seasons with Detroit. It will be the second playoff game between the longtime opponents; Los Angeles defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1975 postseason.

 

I agree with Irish on that the Bengals TD wasn't affected by that whistle. The ball is already midair in the endzone when the whistle came. Even the defender chasing him just knew he was beat. By rule it is a redo but if you are gonna die on that cross when it's 100% obvious the whistle didn't affect the play then i dunno what to say. Live I even told my buddies this coming back because the ref is blind and the Bengals are getting robbed a for sure TD.

 

Fair points.

Otoh they’ve been actively making the product worse throughout the entirety of Goodell’s tenure and the ratings and revenues still just keep going up and up.

 

The audience they are attracting loves drama. That’s how they are increasing revenue.

 

Rams advance by thrashing Cardinals 34-11 on Monday night

 

Better situational awareness would have made a difference. By lining up, the Cowboys blocked the umpire from getting to the ball. Even if they don't hand the ball to a ref, if Dak and the center simply get the hell out of the umpire's way they save two seconds.

I wasn't particularly rooting for either team, but for me it was interesting to watch a Dan Quinn defense up against a Kyle Shanahan offense with the season on the line - just to see which one would manage to choke the game away. Turns out they both tried.

 

All Dak had to do was go down earlier. He should have known how many yards to run before he had to get down. His OC or QB coach should have been in his ear telling him that. If they weren't then they deserved their fate.

 

That's what is being glossed over, IMO.

It is as much, if not more (I believe more), on the coaching staff for not making sure that the 'i's were dotted when they ran the play.

I actually like the play call, but the lack of situational awareness on the sidelines is the reason why it went South on the field.

 

NFL fines Bruce Arians $50,000 for his interaction with Andrew Adams



Football coaches have plenty of different ways to coach football players. Laying hands on football players should no longer be one of those ways, regardless of whether it was ever acceptable (and, for decades, it was).

That’s the message the NFL sent on Wednesday, loudly and clearly, by imposing punishment on Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians for slapping the helmet of defensive back Andrew Adams, and then following through with an elbow.


The league has announced, through its in-house media conglomerate, that Arians has been fined $50,000 for the incident. PFT previously has explained that, despite the absence of much discussion nationally or locally on the matter, the situation was “being handled” by the league.

Arians expressed defiance when asked about the situation on Monday, saying “I’ve seen enough dumb” and explaining that Adams was about to be penalized for pulling an Eagles player away from a pile resulting from a muffed punt.

As previously explained here and during our weekday real estate on Peacock, it was critical for the league to send an unmistakable message to coaches at every level of every sport. There is a boundary that cannot be crossed when it comes to interacting with players.

Plenty will disagree. If you do, you’re wrong. Too many yay-hoos and bullies who coach youth football used to think it was OK to verbally and/or physically abuse players. By fining Arians, the NFL has reminded all football coaches and those responsible for hiring and firing them that there is a bright line that cannot be crossed, even in the name of tough love or “hard coaching.”

PFT

 

NFL's Wild-Card Round TV Ratings Increase 21% Over Last Year

 

Just make it no bye week and only seeding that teams play for.

 

Aussie Rules (aka "footy") has another variation that I find interesting. I don't know if the NFL would ever even consider it, but it would be a way for the league to work in eight teams per conference and even get in two extra games per conference on top of that.

The idea is the first weekend of the postseason is a "qualifying" round. The five through eight seeds (the top four non-division winners) play each other, with the winners of those two games earning the two wild card spots. Meanwhile, the four division champs also play each other. The winners of those two games earn the bye week and host the games in the following round. The losers of those games have to host the two wild card teams.

From there, it's the same 6 team per conference format we had for so many years. I kinda like the idea because of that - if the league is going to expand the playoffs and go for more games, this gets them even more extra games but still winds up with the same structure we had before. As fans, we would simply have to get used to the idea of having a "qualifying round" or whatever name the NFL put on it. Personally, I like the "prove yourself" aspects of it. The one good team in a soft division in any given year wouldn't be a near-automatic postseason bye anymore. You'd still have to beat another division champ head to head to earn it. It also makes that #7 seed (and all four of the wild card wanna-bes, for that matter) prove they belong in the postseason before they get to go up against a division champ.

 

Also... for me, the bigger issue is this 17-game season. I think what irks me most about it is that half the league gets eight home games while the other half gets nine. Unless they plan to have every team play a London / Mexico / Japan game, it's not balanced, and half of the cities and teams are getting short-changed economically every year as a result. It's all about generating that revenue in the first place, right? So keep it equitable, at least in theory.

Better alternative... go back to 16 games and add a second bye week per team in the regular season. You'll still have 18 weeks of regular season network TV revenues, and the players would have an extra week to rest and get healthy during the season.