OFFICIAL 2012 NFL week 15 thread

[hclarkjr]

THU, DEC 13
Cincinnati at Philadelphia 8:20 PM NFL
SUN, DEC 16
NY Giants at Atlanta 1:00 PM FOX
Minnesota at St. Louis 1:00 PM FOX
Jacksonville at Miami 1:00 PM CBS
Green Bay at Chicago 1:00 PM FOX
Washington at Cleveland 1:00 PM FOX
Denver at Baltimore 1:00 PM CBS
Indianapolis at Houston 1:00 PM CBS
Tampa Bay at New Orleans 1:00 PM FOX
Detroit at Arizona 4:05 PM FOX
Carolina at San Diego 4:05 PM FOX
Seattle at Buffalo 4:05 PM FOX
Pittsburgh at Dallas 4:25 PM CBS
Kansas City at Oakland 4:25 PM CBS
San Francisco at New England 8:20 PM NBC
MON, DEC 17
NY Jets at Tennessee 8:30 PM

skins play the brownies this week, still no word yet on if RG3 is playing or not.
http://espn.go.com/travel/stadium/_/s/nfl/id/10

 

[dougp]

Wow, that is an absolutely terrible MNF. I'm sure Cincinatti is hoping Dallas beats the Steeler's this week.

Games of the week have to be:
Giants @ Falcons
Colts @ Houston
49ers @ Patriots

Outcome of the Packers @ Bears game will be interesting but I don't have high expectations for the Bears any more, and Denver is trying to keep it's position though I'm not sure who they'd rather position themselves to play, Texans or the Patriots.

 

[Ausm]

Da bears are going down to my team this Sunday!

 

[darkewaffle]

A number of good looking games this week. Hoping for a Steelers victory and Colts/Bengals/Ravens loss, though I definitely wouldn't bet on it.

 

[ichy]

I wouldn't be surprised if you get your Ravens loss. Steelers victory seems much less likely.

If the Ravens do win and Flacco plays well I suspect that level of praise for Jim Caldwell will reach truly absurd heights. Cam Cameron will also be about as popular as Billy Cundiff in Baltimore.

 

[bignateyk]

Steelers need to fire Todd Haley and their special teams coach ASAP. The running backs and receivers need to stop fumbling and dropping the ball. Ben can't do it all by himself. The offensive line is terrible, yet Haley insists on wasting 2 downs every time trying to run the ball when it's obvious it's not working.

 

[techs]

Parity along with the 16 game season and the NFL playoff configuration really does come together to make the last few weekends of the season interesting every year.

 

[bigrash]

Giants vs Falcons should be a good game. So should the 49ers vs Patriots.

 

[diesbudt]

Parity along with the 16 game season and the NFL playoff configuration really does come together to make the last few weekends of the season interesting every year.

Yes, 1 of the charms on the NFL. Unlike baseball or basketball that plays so many games, that with last weeks or so too many lockups on some playoff positions have happened.

 

[darkewaffle]

Steelers need to fire Todd Haley and their special teams coach ASAP. The running backs and receivers need to stop fumbling and dropping the ball. Ben can't do it all by himself. The offensive line is terrible, yet Haley insists on wasting 2 downs every time trying to run the ball when it's obvious it's not working.

I actually like what the Special Teams have been doing on receiving at least, Steelers finally have a consistent returner (and a threat) in Rainey which is a luxury they haven't had in quite a while. Defending, they could stand to work on their tackling imo, too many good returns are allowed that should have/could have been cut down quicker.

I think the problem with the running backs and receiver core is that injuries have forced them to spread the ball around a lot, in a bad way. It seems like each week they're trying to find a "go to" guy but inconsistent playing time, opportunity, and results leaves them juggling them each week, which ultimately is kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. Haley also I think could stand to spread the field a bit more, the Steelers do have some awesome, fast, young receivers and it seems like getting the ball up in the air down the field a bit more could take some of the pressure off the line and really let the receivers shine.

While I'd love to see Wallace stick around, I can't blame him for wanting the money and you kind of have to question how much of a role can he really play with Sanders & Brown (I consider them equally valuable but with less baggage), Cotchery (who has been very solid for PIT thus far) and Burress (who is getting a bit old, but can fill the role of the "big" receiver) all available as well.

The O Line still needs to get it's act together to really judge the running backs imo (and while Mendenhall has been disappointing since his return I still think he needs to see more game time to make a call), but they're all very hot or cold. Dwyer has had great games and crummy games, Redmon is an acceptable short yardage situation kind of guy but I don't see him expanding on that really, and Mendenhall I think has potential but I don't know if he'll ever really have the hands or the mental fortitude for it if he doesn't already.

 

[bignateyk]

The O Line still needs to get it's act together to really judge the running backs imo (and while Mendenhall has been disappointing since his return I still think he needs to see more game time to make a call), but they're all very hot or cold. Dwyer has had great games and crummy games, Redmon is an acceptable short yardage situation kind of guy but I don't see him expanding on that really, and Mendenhall I think has potential but I don't know if he'll ever really have the hands or the mental fortitude for it if he doesn't already.

Even if Mendenhall was consistent I'd still get rid of him since he can't stay healthy. Since he's both inconsistent, and prone to injury, I think it's a no brainer at this point to dump him.

 

[purbeast0]

will be happy if rg3 can play, but if the docs don't clear him then i hope he doesn't play. he got extremely lucky that he only had a stage 1 lcl sprain, that hit really bad, especially in slow mo when you see his knee hyper extend.

 

[Red Storm]

Yes, 1 of the charms on the NFL. Unlike baseball or basketball that plays so many games, that with last weeks or so too many lockups on some playoff positions have happened.

The upside of longer seasons (I personally think baseball is just way too long, and basketball should be a bit shorter) and a playoff series is that the better team wins, which is kinda how it should be. The NFL's one and done is much like college basketball, very exciting, but is effected much more by random good and bad luck.

I prefer basketball's method, but I know that wouldn't work for football, so I enjoy both.

 

[Imported]

Cincinnati at Philadelphia 8:20 PM NFL
SUN, DEC 16
NY Giants at Atlanta 1:00 PM FOX
Minnesota at St. Louis 1:00 PM FOX
Jacksonville at Miami 1:00 PM CBS
Green Bay at Chicago 1:00 PM FOX
Washington at Cleveland 1:00 PM FOX
Denver at Baltimore 1:00 PM CBS
Indianapolis at Houston 1:00 PM CBS
Tampa Bay at New Orleans 1:00 PM FOX
Detroit at Arizona 4:05 PM FOX
Carolina at San Diego 4:05 PM FOX
Seattle at Buffalo 4:05 PM FOX
Pittsburgh at Dallas 4:25 PM CBS
Kansas City at Oakland 4:25 PM CBS
San Francisco at New England 8:20 PM NBC
MON, DEC 17
NY Jets at Tennessee 8:30 PM

Didn't realize we had such a crappy MNF game this week..

 

[diesbudt]

The upside of longer seasons (I personally think baseball is just way too long, and basketball should be a bit shorter) and a playoff series is that the better team wins, which is kinda how it should be. The NFL's one and done is much like college basketball, very exciting, but is effected much more by random good and bad luck.

I prefer basketball's method, but I know that wouldn't work for football, so I enjoy both.

Because the San Francisco Gaints team was the best team this season and not just on a hot streak at the end?

amirite?

Baseball is probably 50+ games too long. Basketball is probably 25+ games too long.

The playoff system works for them, but that would never work in football, with 1 game taking literally almost a week needed to rest.

Any game with playoffs throws the notion of "best team that season" out the window.

Because when baseball plays close to 200 games, the team with the best record after that long of a season, should be considered the best, after all those games. WIth law of averages/statistics being more "correct" as the more games are played.

Playoffs just allow hot streaks to happen. Example: Last MLB season and the SF Giants, last 2 NFL seasons (Green Bay packers and New York Giants)

 

[Red Storm]

Because the San Francisco Gaints team was the best team this season and not just on a hot streak at the end?

amirite?

Baseball is probably 50+ games too long. Basketball is probably 25+ games too long.

The playoff system works for them, but that would never work in football, with 1 game taking literally almost a week needed to rest.

Any game with playoffs throws the notion of "best team that season" out the window.

Because when baseball plays close to 200 games, the team with the best record after that long of a season, should be considered the best, after all those games. WIth law of averages/statistics being more "correct" as the more games are played.

Playoffs just allow hot streaks to happen. Example: Last MLB season and the SF Giants, last 2 NFL seasons (Green Bay packers and New York Giants)

The better team wins a playoff series because they were the better team in that series. Regular season wins only guarantee you favorable positioning, nothing more. The only thing the regular season is for is to find out who are the best teams, and then you have a playoffs to see who is the best of the best. Crowning a team champion because they beat more cellar dwellers than other teams is a stupid idea.

I agree it would never work in football for many obvious reasons.

 

[diesbudt]

will be happy if rg3 can play, but if the docs don't clear him then i hope he doesn't play. he got extremely lucky that he only had a stage 1 lcl sprain, that hit really bad, especially in slow mo when you see his knee hyper extend.

He is out this week. Maybe next week. But that should be it at most.

 

[diesbudt]

The better team wins a playoff series because they were the better team in that series. Regular season wins only guarantee you favorable positioning, nothing more.

I agree it would never work in football for many obvious reasons.

Read the edit. Again it doesn't show which team is the better team. It just shows hot streaks.

The giants undoubtablly were on a hot streak.

And unless every team plays every team in a series in the playoffs, you can't determine the best team. As sometiems teams act like a rock-paper-scissors.

 

[Red Storm]

Read the edit. Again it doesn't show which team is the better team. It just shows hot streaks.

The giants undoubtablly were on a hot streak.

And unless every team plays every team in a series in the playoffs, you can't determine the best team. As sometiems teams act like a rock-paper-scissors.

Read my edit. Regular season records are not indicative either, because you have good and bad teams in the mix. The playoffs attempt to eliminate the bad teams from the equation, and they do a fairly good job of it (I'm talking about basketball, I don't watch baseball).

 

[BergeLSU]

Baseball is probably 50+ games too long. Basketball is probably 25+ games too long.

Football: 1 game per week
Basketball: 2 games per week
Baseball: 3 games (1 series) per week.

This would be my ideal situation. I think it is enough to keep interest without feeling like a game means nothing in the long run. I know it will never happen. I feel like the games are going in the other direction.

 

[AMDZen]

Wow, that is an absolutely terrible MNF. I'm sure Cincinatti is hoping Dallas beats the Steeler's this week.

Games of the week have to be:
Giants @ Falcons
Colts @ Houston
49ers @ Patriots

Outcome of the Packers @ Bears game will be interesting but I don't have high expectations for the Bears any more, and Denver is trying to keep it's position though I'm not sure who they'd rather position themselves to play, Texans or the Patriots.

Denver @ Baltimore is clearly the game of the week. We aren't positioning ourselves on who we would play, we are going for the first round buy and home field advantage.

Also, MNF and TNF both suck.

 

[AMDZen]

Cincinnati at Philadelphia 8:20 PM NFL
SUN, DEC 16
NY Giants at Atlanta 1:00 PM FOX
Minnesota at St. Louis 1:00 PM FOX
Jacksonville at Miami 1:00 PM CBS
Green Bay at Chicago 1:00 PM FOX
Washington at Cleveland 1:00 PM FOX
Denver at Baltimore 1:00 PM CBS
Indianapolis at Houston 1:00 PM CBS
Tampa Bay at New Orleans 1:00 PM FOX
Detroit at Arizona 4:05 PM FOX
Carolina at San Diego 4:05 PM FOX
Seattle at Buffalo 4:05 PM FOX
Pittsburgh at Dallas 4:25 PM CBS
Kansas City at Oakland 4:25 PM CBS
San Francisco at New England 8:20 PM NBC
MON, DEC 17
NY Jets at Tennessee 8:30 PM

 

[dbk]

THU, DEC 13
Cincinnati at Philadelphia 8:20 PM NFL
SUN, DEC 16
NY Giants at Atlanta 1:00 PM FOX
Minnesota at St. Louis 1:00 PM FOX
Jacksonville at Miami 1:00 PM CBS
Green Bay at Chicago 1:00 PM FOX LOCK
Washington at Cleveland 1:00 PM FOX
Denver at Baltimore 1:00 PM CBS
Indianapolis at Houston 1:00 PM CBS
Tampa Bay at New Orleans 1:00 PM FOX
Detroit at Arizona 4:05 PM FOX
Carolina at San Diego 4:05 PM FOX
Seattle at Buffalo 4:05 PM FOX
Pittsburgh at Dallas 4:25 PM CBS
Kansas City at Oakland 4:25 PM CBS
San Francisco at New England 8:20 PM NBC UPSET PICK
MON, DEC 17
NY Jets at Tennessee 8:30 PM

 

[purbeast0]

He is out this week. Maybe next week. But that should be it at most.

no he isn't, and nothing has been said either way yet.

he's actually practicing as we speak.

http://www.csnwashington.com/footba...actice-wednesday?awid=7072368475005612974-849

 

[MetalMat]

Because the San Francisco Gaints team was the best team this season and not just on a hot streak at the end?

amirite?

Baseball is probably 50+ games too long. Basketball is probably 25+ games too long.

The playoff system works for them, but that would never work in football, with 1 game taking literally almost a week needed to rest.

Any game with playoffs throws the notion of "best team that season" out the window.

Because when baseball plays close to 200 games, the team with the best record after that long of a season, should be considered the best, after all those games. WIth law of averages/statistics being more "correct" as the more games are played.

Playoffs just allow hot streaks to happen. Example: Last MLB season and the SF Giants, last 2 NFL seasons (Green Bay packers and New York Giants)

I think too many teams get to the playoffs in basketball (hockey as well). Having 16 out of the 30 teams in the post season is just plain dumb. I like the new MLB postseason changeup as of last year but they really need to cut down on some of their games and start the post season earlier.