NFL - Random Opinions

Have loads of pages to catch up on and no time for a long post now, just want to say that if the CBSucks message board had still been going this would have been such a fun week. Cos i would've taken that resident clown Lions board to hell and back haha. You really miss the CBS days sometimes don't you.

 

Oh there's no try about it, the Lions were being deceitful. Campbell admitted as much during his post game presser. It didnt break any rules per se, but it was built around deceit. If it wasn't #70 wouldnt have run towards the official, he had no reason to be there his path should've taken him straight to the huddle. So yeah the official made a mistake, but the potential for a mistake to happen was entirely created by the Lions. Hell they wanted the mistake, they're just upset the wrong person made one.

Again, it didn't break any rules, but to me at least the feel of it all had a certain "Belicheat" vibe that doesnt sit well.

 

True the Lions were trying to pull a fast one it's part of the game. Also true mistakes are part of the game. Where the NFL is failing IMHO is blurring the response. There was an error made own up to it and find ways to prevent it from happening again. Dont one one hand demote a crew from the playoffs then try to blame the mistaken in the lions. Only 1 guy said he was eligible even if two went over that way. If they both said they were eligible that's when you have an officials time out to straighten everything out instead of making it up as you go.

 

Went back and forth on the Texans and Colts. Yes that is the Saints. I like the Bears to show up vs this Jekyll and Hyde Packers team and the Cardinals to do similarly to the Seahawks.

 

An all #7 seed Super Bowl would be interesting... especially if it's Bills vs Vikings.

 

I guess it is part of the game since this kind of thing has happened before, but personally im not a fan. The "any advantage within the rules" crowd won't agree and strictly speaking they aren't wrong to have that belief. I sit more in the "spirit of the game" camp thats all and this stuff is right at the margins of that. If you wanna go for a two pointer to win the game then nut up and go for it. But don't draw up something tricky and base the whole thing around using the official as some kind of prop, thats bullshit imo.

Where i def agree is the handling of this all afterwards by everyone involved. The NFL should've come clean about the whole thing. Admit there was a mistake, state publicly that at the very end of a high pressure game 50/60 something year old men can be mentally tired too and the Lions shouldn't have put them in that position and your gonna work towards improving eligibility rules. Right off the bat you can change the rules to say only the reporter can approach the official, wouldn't that clear this up? Cos there were 3 Lions near the official on that play when they didnt all need to be.

I thought the Lions came ut of this looking just as bad though. They should've just fronted up and said yeah we were trying to deceive, thats what this play is built around, and it blew up in our faces. If it had worked it worked, but it didn't. But don't go crying about it to the media afterwards. Mr Tough Guy looked like a whiny bitch in that post game presser. That said, i fully expect Campbell to turn this into an advantage going forward by using it as an "us against them" thing in his locker room. Prob a good move. He's def one of the smarter knuckle draggers you'll ever meet.

 

It'll end up a tie.

 

@LAOJoe

You actually think the Vikings have a shot?

 

I do but the Bears and Cardinals need to show up for sure. They are in the late window so you'll need a Saints or Bucs loss to be alive for that scenario, along with your win.

 

Interesting. I really dont believe the Vikings will beat Detroit in Detroit, but if they do, its still a pipe dream, IMO. IF they make the playoffs, it will be one of the worst beat-downs against them ever, lol.

 

The Vikings actually need... (1) a win over the Lions; (2) a loss by the Packers to the Bears; (2) a loss by the Seahawks to the Cardinals; and (4) a loss by the Buccaneers to the Panthers or a loss by the Saints to the Falcons.

 

The hardest part may just be winning. All the help is well within the realm of possibility.

 

Should Minnesota keep it close in a slow-paced game then Detroit should rest their starters if Dallas is well on their way to beating Washington.

Also Will that scenario is what I essentially said.

 

Never mind. I'm wrong. The NFL butchered the schedule. They purposely scheduled Detroit first so they have to try all game with no chance to rest their starters because of other results. Weird decision but I guess it makes sense on a competitive level as Philly and Dallas must still play it out for a certain amount of time.

 

They did the same thing to Indy/Houston. They play Sunday night, then the winner will have to sit around until Jacksonville plays the next day to find out their fate. The winner also still has a chance at a wild card, so they would be playing hard regardless, but I think the NFL does a good job of incentive scheduling these last few weeks of games.Keeps everything very interesting.

 

Houston vs Indy won't know if they won the division but they know it's win and in and lose and out. I think the Steelers were picked to play early so they wouldn't be incentivized to rest if the Jags and Raiders are losing.

 

That last drive by Pittsburgh was a thing of beauty. I loved the o-line trench battles in the slop. Good stuff. Harris in for the score, 7-0 Steelers.

 

TOP in the first so far, 10:55 to 1:29, Steelers.

 

Ravens woke up. Gus Edwards on a long run and then a TD by Likely. 7 UP.

 

One good drive by each team.