NFL - Random Opinions

Maybe it was placement. That bolded part just didn't stand out to me.

 

It was a typo on my part. I referenced the 99 season at the top of the post. I believe that is what Joe was referring to.

Moving on -

If Tom Brady were to retire at the end of this season it would change the view of the top 3 quarterbacks in the league. Although many would point towards Ben Roethlisberger, I believe Russell Wilson would be third behind Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.

 

It was the second to the last sentence before he said fisher sucks lol

 

NFL still can't do video review. Heck this is the wrong thread as it's not even an opinion, it's fact. Houston gets called short on 4th. They review and they say it stands. The Network shows us it frame by frame and how the ball is spotted. It was surely a good few inches off. the NFL says meh close enough to say it stands. Dude. Just mark it a few inches downfield and measure again. If Houston loses don't look further than that call. BTW the Raiders just scored a few plays afterwards.

 

By the way on the Hopkins non-TD called OOB I wish the NFL would officiate those close plays differently. Yes there is safety but let those plays continue. After the play is over don't rule the TD. Call it out at the 36. That is the call on the field but now it can be overturned on review. Now I look at it and It is hard to tell if he was out. The NFL's explanation is bunk as the VP of officiating shows photos and says "as we see the heel appears to be down" and then all other simultaneous looks use that assumption. However that assumption is wrong as the heel was up in the air! The part of the foot in the air obstructs the rest of the shot. Here is the photo.



There is also a sideline shot obstructed by players on the sideline and the video in slow mo shows the same uncertainty as that photo.

Now I think it would have stood on review and I personally think that he did step OOB and the ref looking right there at the best angle possible probably saw it correctly but they need to delay calls like that. This play didn't screw Houston, the ball spot on 4th down in the 4th did.

 

I think an argument can be made, rather easily, that Anquan Boldin is the most under-appreciated receiver of the last decade.

 

I am not sure if anyone touched on this throughout the thread or not but my biggest beef with NFL officiating is when replay gets it wrong. IMO, the NFL has dropped the ball in not following the layout of the MLB. Any replay should run through a hub where there is a room full of screens for someone to get the call right. You can't convince me that a little booth for a ref to step into is better than just a relay of information from people who are better informed. The people in the hub start reviewing as soon as the button is pressed, no delay for ref to walk over to the booth so it would save time as well. For once, the MLB got it right. Just my opinion. Happy Bird Day!

 

He isn't spectacular, but he makes many difficult catches.

 

Couldn't agree more, JS. Why, as obvious as this seems to be, they have dropped the ball on this is ridiculous. The NHL even has a 'War Room' in Toronto, where everything is reviewed that is questionable, especially game changing events.

This would be fantastic for the NFL as you stated and would eliminate a ton of controversy and 'dumb' calls.
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John Madden says 'Thursday Night Football' doesn't work. I think it could do much, much better if they played a meaningful game. Jaguars football and a few other teams is not going to draw an audience. If the NFL had a weekly flex schedule made for Thursday games, I bet they could create some better matchups.

 

That's a good point. But, I don't think a flex schedule will work for Thursday games. It's one thing to tell a team that kickoff is delayed a few hours on Sunday. It would be a logistical nightmare to move a game a few days earlier.

I think the logistics present enough challenges as it is and it results in underwhelming matchups. I'm leaning toward the notion that they should be scrapped.

Maybe the league could schedule two MNF games, and then decide which game to feature on TV. That could bring some luster back to MNF (better games) but not be difficult logistically.

 

Flex schedules only work for the time of day the game is played, not the day of the week it's played.

 

Lets look at it this way. Would it work if 2 weeks from this Thursday a matchup between two playoff contenders was scheduled. I'm thinking 2 to 3 weeks would be enough time to handle the logistics. Not every Thursday would be a flex game... maybe incorporate the flex at the mid-point of the season.

iirc, arnt the end of the season Saturday games flexible? If so, why not for Thursday also?

 

IDK, I still think it would be too hard to flex the Thursday schedule. The only way I see that they could make these matchups more compelling would be to have two Thur. games scheduled and put the best matchup on TV. Of course that would piss off two teams that had to play on a short week but not get prime time coverage.

 

That is pretty interesting but the issue is hotels and travel dates for fans. Going away from viewership, there is the safety aspect. They could just have team start their byes in week 3 or something and those teams on Bye play on Thursday. Sure there would be Byes until week 15 but if everyone gets a week and a half before and after a Thursday game it takes away most the competitive advantage of rest away but keeps teams from going in short weeks. Going from a week 3 bye to Week 15 that is 15 Thursday games with Turkey Day. They could find a way to get a double Thursday-nighter or two in certain weeks if they want like they do with the 1st Monday night (would have to find at least 1 more to accommodate 2 more byes). The 1st couple weeks play on short rest but they are still fresh and can get a couple teams to play Thursday twice a season.

Of course you'd still have the crappy teams playing, but it would solve other issues, and Mondays can be reserved only for games that are likely to be huge, not might be huge. No Titans or Browns ever until they prove it the season prior. Thursday may not get better but Monday would and it solves some of the injury and bye date fairness issues.

 

ID rather they get rid of Thursday games and play 2 Monday Night Games.

 

What's prime time coverage? 7 or 8 o'clock until 11? I consider Thanksgiving Day prime time. Any place I go to on Thanksgiving the games are on. Plus the fact I don't think the players care as much as the owners do. I don't think the players like to play on Thursday but I don't think they care if their on prime time so much as just beating the teams on their schedule.....It's not so much when they play as it just winning. Winning cures all ills for everybody........

 

For NFL any game that isn't Sunday afternoon (or Saturday afternoon) is considered a prime slot, even though in law it isn't the case for the earlier Thanksgiving games.

 

Circling back to Thursday night, you cannot use a flex schedule to get more intriguing matchups (see Joe's message above).

The short week makes it harder to prepare and also less time to recover physically.

Generally speaking the games have proven to be lousy. Perhaps a big factor is the point above.

Eliminate Thur. night games? How about curtailing them? First, to make game prep. easier and to reduce travel, only schedule divisional rivals. Second, to increase the odds of them being good matches, only schedule the top two teams in each division.

There are 8 divisions and in theory that adds up to 16 games with a H&A. Screw that, play 8 Thur. night games. Give fans a break from games where players are going through the motions.

 

If the Chargers had a defense... they would be scary good.