The entire season has come down to this: Rams vs. Seahawks. Fuck you, NFL! — WEEK 17 Thread

Dolphins at Patriots
Bills at Jets
Bengals at Ravens
Buccaneers at Saints
Panthers at Falcons
Vikings at Lions
Raiders at Chiefs
Steelers at Browns
Giants at Redskins
Cowboys at Eagles
Chargers at Broncos
Titans at Colts
Bears at Packers
Cardinals at 49ers
Jaguars at Texans
Rams at Seahawks (SNF)

Went 10-6 last week, and 141-99 on the season. Blech.

Dolphins at Patriots: PATS
Bills at Jets: JORTS
Bengals at Ravens: RAVENS
Buccaneers at Saints: SAINTS
Panthers at Falcons: FALCONS
Vikings at Lions: VIKINGS
Raiders at Chiefs: CHIEFS
Steelers at Browns: STEELERS
Giants at Redskins: GIANTS??
Cowboys at Eagles: EAGIRLS
Chargers at Broncos: BRONCOS
Titans at Colts: COLTS
Bears at Packers: PACKERS
Cardinals at 49ers: CARDS
Jaguars at Texans: JAGS
Rams at Seahawks (SNF): GORAMS

Uh oh, Garrard is out for the Texans game, so I'm switching my pick.

Packers/Bears at Lambeau will be huge. Hopefully Packers absolutely crush.

Eagirls still makes me lol

Rams at Seahawks (NSFW)

lol

SNF BTS

Why exactly did they flex that game into Sunday night? Maybe they're trying to force Al Michaels into retirement.

this is peter king's explanation from this week's mmqb

Why a game with two losing teams Sunday night? Come on now.

Obvious disclaimer: I work for NBC, so if you think that's going to so color my opinion on the game that's being aired in Week 17 Football Night in America, move along. Your call.

For those who stay, a couple of points. One: No teams are excluded from consideration for the final Sunday night game of the year. Networks cannot exercise veto power, as they can in Weeks 11 through 16, on some of their team's games. Two: The NFL has the juice to select the week 17 game. It's not something NBC strongarm. I said all along that the league would pick the game with the biggest playoff implications.

That game, clearly, is St. Louis (7-8) at Seattle (6-9) for the NFC West title Sunday night at Qwest Field in Seattle. It's the only game that you can look at, six days out, and say with certainty that it's a winner-take-all pre-playoff playoff game. And it's the only game, in my mind, that the league could have chosen to remain true to its word of putting the most playoff-significant game on TV in Week 17.

During Weeks 11 through 16, when NBC flexes games, there's no question that viewership has something to do with it. This weekend's choice of Philadelphia-Minnesota was obviously influenced by the raging success of Michael Vick as a TV draw, with the possibility that Brett Favre might play in the game. But in Week 17, all ratings concerns take a back seat to the game that mean the most to the playoff picture.

Overnight, I had scores of Twitter queries asking about three other games. Let's go through them and discuss why they weren't flexed into the Sunday night slot while the Rams-Seahawks was:

• Chicago at Green Bay. It's a playoff game for Green Bay, but not for Chicago, which has already clinched the NFC North title -- and which could enter a Sunday night game having clinched the second seed in the playoffs. The NFL could not wait until Wednesday morning to flex out the game, and even if the league did, it would still risk the Bears entering a Sunday night game with nothing to play for because Philadelphia would have finished its game with Dallas before the Sunday-nighter started.

• Tampa Bay at New Orleans. An intriguing game -- if the Saints lose tonight. (A Saints win at Atlanta tonight clinches a playoff spot for New Orleans.) But let's say the Saints lose tonight, and we enter next weekend with the scenario that the Saints would have to beat Tampa Bay to be assured of making the playoffs. The only way the Bucs can make the playoffs is if they win in Week 17 and either New York or Green Bay lose. If the Bucs-Saints is the Sunday-nighter, and the Giants or Packers both win earlier in the day, the Bucs would have nothing to play for.

• Tennessee at Indianapolis. Other than the fact that the Titans look like your classic mail-it-in team with bags packed for the offseason, the AFC South race has one fatal flaw: If Houston beats Jacksonville earlier in the day, the Colts would be the division champs and have nothing to play for. And when the Colts have nothing to play for, it's Curtis Painter time. And nobody's watching that outside of the state of Indiana. And, come to think of it, probably inside the state too.

One side note: Looks like the league's plan to play all division games in Week 17 has panned out to give us at least one division title game in the last week of the season. Even though it's a title game in the worst division in NFL history, it's still a game where the winner goes on and the loser goes home.

This is a cyclical league. Bad teams get competent. New stars get cycled into the mix every year. Will Sam Bradford ever be a Manning? Who knows? But I think it's good to see new teams get exposure. You're going to be watching Sam Bradford play for a long time (and, from the looks of it, play big games for a long time). This is his first really big one, and it's the one most deserving of a national airing Sunday night -- even though, and I understand why, a lot of you will use the time to catch up on the Food Network episodes you've been DVRing all fall.

there are 0 games i want to watch this week

i guess ill still do picks -- terrible 7-9 last week, 141-100

Dolphins at Patriots - pats
Bills at Jets - jets
Bengals at Ravens - ravens
Buccaneers at Saints - saints
Panthers at Falcons - falcs
Vikings at Lions - vikes
Raiders at Chiefs - chefs
Steelers at Browns - steels
Giants at Redskins - giants
Cowboys at Eagles - eagles
Chargers at Broncos - broncos
Titans at Colts - colts
Bears at Packers - pack
Cardinals at 49ers - 9ers
Jaguars at Texans - jags
Rams at Seahawks (SNF) - squawks

I'll probably get Bucs/Saints and maybe Fins/Pats at 1pm, and likely Jags/Texans at 4. Then Rams/Squawks. Only looking forward to one of those.

i might have missouri stockholm syndrome but i'm excited for rams-hawks -- it's a playoff game! and will obv bring the lulz w/ charlie whitehurst starting -- rams offense can be fun to watch at times

the last week of the season they allow the double doubleheader (or at least they have the last few years) so u should get 2 games at 1 & 4

gotta think ill still just watch redzone if anything

yea i kinda like a lot of the components of the rams team when ive seen them (pass rush, bradford, amendola) but they seem to blow or let a lot of games stay too close. i legit think the squawks are garbage but picked them based on home field adv

guys this
<3 tomlin

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-sound-efx/09000d5d81d4de76/Sound-FX-Tomlin-wired

tomlin: hey, you know how to dougie?
roffles: no
tomlin: hey! hey byron! teach him how to dougie!
roffles: i don't wanna know how to dougie

what's up dennis

best video of all time

"what's up dennis?" is the name of my new mike tomlin fan blog, if anyone is interested in posting

Want Mike Romlin to be my life coach

Tomlin, obv

mike tomlin is so fun! i mean, it's prob easy to be fun in a late-season game against the panthers, but still!

it's v sweet when he shakes that kid's hand

that video really made me like mike tomlin and the steelers. he seems like a pretty down-to-earth dude that puts a lot of faith in his team.

"what's up dennis?" is all-time for real

love that.

He's the most chill, simultaneously crazy-intense dude. LOVE him.

lol @ the 'I don't want none a your John Wayne bullshit' to Big Ben

Even Ben seems awesome in that.

Yeah, he has that cool line in the huddle: "It's December football. If you don't know what that means, ride with someone that does."

Last week 11-5, for the year 159-81

Dolphins at Patriots - Pats
Bills at Jets- Jets
Bengals at Ravens- Ravens
Buccaneers at Saints- Saints
Panthers at Falcons- Falcons
Vikings at Lions- kind of a tough call, I'll go Vikings
Raiders at Chiefs- Chiefs
Steelers at Browns- Steelers
Giants at Redskins- Giants
Cowboys at Eagles- Eagles
Chargers at Broncos- Chargers
Titans at Colts- Colts
Bears at Packers- Bears
Cardinals at 49ers- Cards
Jaguars at Texans- Texans
Rams at Seahawks (SNF)- Rams

John fox fired

inevitable i guess. i hope he gets a shot somewhere else

9-7 last week, 148-91 on the season

Dolphins at Patriots - pats
Bills at Jets - jets
Bengals at Ravens - ravens
Buccaneers at Saints - saints
Panthers at Falcons - falcons
Vikings at Lions - vikings
Raiders at Chiefs - chiefs
Steelers at Browns - steelers
Giants at Redskins - giants
Cowboys at Eagles - eagles
Chargers at Broncos - chargers
Titans at Colts - colts
Bears at Packers - bears
Cardinals at 49ers - 49ers
Jaguars at Texans - jags
Rams at Seahawks -seahawks

happy new years ilnfl!

http://www.mocksession.com/30fps//2010%20December%2031%2020%2032%2015.jpeg

i heard broncos trying to get frazier as head coach, but maybe fox?

148-92 on the season, 8-8 last week

Dolphins at Patriots pats
Bills at Jets jets
Bengals at Ravens ravens
Buccaneers at Saints saints
Panthers at Falcons falcons
Vikings at Lions lions
Raiders at Chiefs chiefs
Steelers at Browns steels
Giants at Redskins gigantes
Cowboys at Eagles eagles
Chargers at Broncos chargers
Titans at Colts colts
Bears at Packers pack
Cardinals at 49ers 49ers
Jaguars at Texans tex
Rams at Seahawks (SNF) rams WHY

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/extramustard/hotclicks/12/30/alyssa-milano-2010-year-in-review/index.html?eref=sihp

has anyone linked to the video at the bottom of the linked page before, it's how wilson makes nfl footballs? much more hand fabrication than i would have guessed.

one part of me wants to see a 7-9 team win the West just for the "lol told you so" nature of it, but another part of me doesn't because of how the NFL may overreact and needlessly tinker with teh playoff system.

but all in all I think I'd like to see the Rams return to the playoffs. interested to see what they bring to the table next year.

i daresay u get ur wish

God forbid the Seadorks go any further

also dolphins are gonna lose big tomorrow and I'm not even gonna watch. not sure I want to see Sparano go though. definitely has done some "o_O" things this year but I do think he was largely responsible for the return of swagger to the franchise. if only he was coaching like he did in 08.

I still harbor resentment for the Seahawks contributing to one of the worst, most boring Super Bowls of all time.

"We want the ball and (I'm going to throw an interception")

it's v sweet when he shakes that kid's hand

totally. i love hearing those "wired" features. i'd like to compare and contrast tomlin's sideline demeanor with, say, bill bellichek.

Vege I felt bad for Hasslebeck in that scenario cuz it was nice to see that kinda child-like 'street football' excitement when he said that.

It was like an after-school special on the meaning of hubris, lol.

I actually like old man Hasselbeck for the most part

fuck the BCS suits, TCU just won. lols at them defending the broken system after this.

i am so baffled by this talk of charlie weis going to florida. after a few years of being portrayed as a clown the dude is finally scooping plaudits again at KC. even if dude has unresolved issues re college ball he isn't gonna get over that by being OC at florida. my first thought was that maybe pioli was maneuvering him out to get mcdaniels in, but wtf would you do that when the offense has clicked so nicely this year, and weis is mcd mk I anyway. plus some dude on espn says mcd isn;t going there anyhow.

me idgi

ppl are saying that weis is just trying to better position himself to get another college head coaching job

also apparently todd haley isn't the easiest person to work for

I would really like to see the Cardinals re-emerge though, because it was nice to see that wasteland of a franchise achieve some continuity and become a contender, right now the NFC West is like a Senate race where all the candidates try to concede

I think Aeneas Williams was quoted, after he signed with the Rams, as saying that in ARizona he had learned that "winning only happens sometimes"

;_;

Coach beats me because I cry

How shite must Matt Leinart really be, to get canned out of that situation? "Forget that guy, give me Derek Anderson and what ever scrapings are out there and I will give you a winner."

Jeff Garcia must have ticked off the wrong people or they think he has really slid off as he really wanted to play and even if he couldn't, criminy the guy can complete more than 51 percent of his passes with a blindfold and a busted shoulder. C'mon...if you need a one year answer, that's a guy that you could have gotten. Criminy he was a backup in Philly in all 09, so they saw something in him.

Yeah, I agree. Total crime that they passed over Garcia.

the Rams being great also feels eons ago. it's kind of funny how for that short window of time they were treading the ground the Patriots have now, unstoppable offense, solid defense, 'can anybody beat them', then after that Patriots upset, it was over before it began.

Nothing surprising about that in this era of football but there was 'dynasty' talk (lol) in 2001 before the Super Bowl and in the end their little reign turned out to be nothing more than a footnote.

re: Leinart, yea, the QB Class of 06 sure have turned out to be a bunch of fuckups

Yeah, what the hell happened there.

Vince Young - can play, but is his own worst enemy, probably insane
Jay Cutler - can play, but has a bit too much 'gunslinger' in him, possibly prick?
Matt Leinart - pretty much like some of those Miami-U busts in that it was the guys around him that must have made him look good. Probably lazy.
Kellen Clemens - NFL backup, probably not much else.
Tavaris Jackson - probably gettinglate to try and turn him into Randle El. Too short but good athlete.
Charlie Whitehurst - heck, the guy only started his second game and won...criminy maybe still open for debate. Looks like a stoner.
Brodie Croyle - NFL backup, psyche probably permanently scarred from the cursing he has gotten by Todd Haley in 09.
Brad Smith - good running back/slash kind of player - probably will hang around a lot longer than these 'qbs' - probably knows his limits
Ingle Martin - WHO?
OMar Jacobs - Never heard of him.
Reggie McNeal - don't remember him
Bruce Gradkowski - actually to me looked pretty decent at times both with the Bucs and Raiders, too bad he has been injury prone - not bad though for a 6th rounder, i'd give him a shot as a backup - probable future coach type? Our buddy Jon Gruden drafted him and the Bucs cut him lose after he was gone.
DJ SHockley - Total homer pick by the Falcons - probably a wasted draft pick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_NFL_Draft

looks pretty good compared to 2007

Cutler fit better with the Broncos offense IMO. though it's funny he's struggled for reasons different than most theorized he would (ie, "omg he has no receivers").

I forgot B-Grad was 2006 draft. Feels like he's been around for longer.

there's still a lot of QBs playing at a high level now. much as I love the NFL, I will never again in my life want to sit through years like 2000-2001 with some of the most putrid quarterbacking the league has ever seen. It's no wonder a team like the Ravens would win a title with Trent Dilfer.

Jay Cutler is doing OK, I think he has looked pretty shell shocked at times, but I have to think that they are trying to stretch the field a bit more than they should with their o-line. Their tackles are rookies or really young and have looked totally green and gotten abused at time. The recieving corps have improved quite a bit and they were totally green in his first year. Heck they were starting a newly convered DB and two rookies. If they can keep the core together and beef up the line, they should be even better next year. Cutler had a very veteran offensive line and skills players when he started. Ron Turner shouldn't have been the Illini offensive coordinator, let alone the Bears.

A team with a hopeless QB situation should seriously give Brady Quinn/Matt Leinart a serious shot. Neither really got one.

cutler is far and away the best of that lot, it's not even close. vince young is second best based on his career but who knows what will happen from this point forward with him? leinart had it so easy at usc and he was expecting it to be the same deal, or just didn't care. he probably signed that $51 million deal and figured he would coast. i don't think he ever really cared to be a starter. tavaris looks to have been supplanted by webb. kind of a sad draft when you consider that the guy who may in fact have the best future out of that lot beyond cutler is charlie whitehurst.

i'm still dumbfounded that Oakland went 6-0 in their division and didn't make the playoffs. boggles my mind coming from a guy whose team routinely goes 1-5 in their div.

still boggling that Leinart really is that bad. I mean worse than DA? bizarre

totally boggled beyond boggled

i'm boggled here

what it takes to qb in the nfl is a hard thing to figure (aka boggling)

i don't think whisenhunt is a moron, so he must've known something about matty lite that the rest of us don't beyond his mediocre numbers.

lol matty lite

i don't think whisenhunt is a moron, so he must've known something about matty lite that the rest of us don't beyond his mediocre numbers.

I don't think he's a moron, but I think he strongly overvalued Derek Anderson and Max Hall all season long.

i'm guessing it might come down to DA and max hall being well-liked dudes and maybe ML being a douchebag with zero support from his teammates? maybe whisenhunt felt, as with kurt warner, that he could return DA to the form he showed w/cleveland (though if that's the case, i think that was a little naive.)

I think ml is prob like the 28th best quarterback in the nfl, which in theory would make him a fine short-term investment for lots of teams, but the douche factor probably is enough to knock him out of consideration

haha lots of teams meaning 4, by my math

He does seem very douchey

man when i saw m. lite play at usc i thought THIS GUY can't miss in the nfl

::quits job as talent scout::

this doesn't belong here but the schedule is out for 2011

Home games: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, St. Louis, Seattle, Tennessee and Miami.

Road games: Arizona, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Houston, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Oakland

10-6 browns

i meant 18-0 browns

other two teams not listed, Bowling Green & UTEP

I'd figure the Cardinals deal with Anderson comes down to money, as he was available and affordable. Wisenhunt probably just hoped he could maybe tap into the guy that got hot for a few weeks, which didn't happen. The Bidwell's are known to be pretty penny pinching as owners (some of that might have changed a bit since the elder Bill isn't running the biz but probably not puch).

A bunch of teams could have gotten Jason Campbell who was run out on a rail like McNabb the previous year. While Campbell isn't a genius, he sure looks better than some of the other QBs that were available and at points did enough to win a few games. Thing is that the offenses are so weighted, you can't really get by very much with a guy who just doesn't screw up, as guys like Brady and Manning are like the Stealth Bomber of the NFL and will put you down and out of the game before it even starts. And a guy like Campbell with the Raiders recievers is just not built to come back from 17 down.

i'm gonna ask a question that is really not meant as an asshole question
it's from somebody who never lived in a state where garcia qb'd so i dunno what the public eye is for this guy, but
does anyone think that the possibility of Garcia being (or being perceived as) gay is part of the reason he can't get an NFL qb position?
or is he some sort of unbelievable massive asshole?

He seems nice and has a really hot wife (although, it wouldn't be the first time a gay man has had a hot wife).

I mean, HELLO

http://union.sportsblognet.com/files/2008/10/jeff_garcia_and_carmella_de.jpg

yeah, she's like a penthouse pet or something. does not address my question

does anyone think that the possibility of Garcia being (or being perceived as) gay is part of the reason he can't get an NFL qb position?

He's also 40, undersized, and freelances too much. And his brief time with the Raiders suggests that he isn't really willing to be a backup on a bad team.

shrug, maybe just me wishing and hopin and prayin on his star
his hot hot star

The dude was playing in the UFL or whatever it was called, so he was wanting to play. Going into the Cards would not have been like going into the Stalag 18 Raiders club he was on a few years back. Criminy they got Larry Fitzgerald, that's got to count for something for a pigskin slinger.

They just didn't call or maybe he wanted too much dough.

ITT we compare Jeff Garcia's season with the Omaha Nighthawks to Brett Favre's season with the Minnesota Vikings
based on the reading i did, garcia is getting paid 25k per game which doesn't even sound like the veteran minimum? i don't think they called.

"Brief" time on the Raiders no kidding, felt like 2 weeks or am I remembering that wrong. It was SUPER short. Like he was catching the bus to another team and Oakland was the transfer station, lol

xxpost to Brownie, so you coming to Oaktown or what?

Home: San Diego, Denver, Kansas City, New England, New York Jets,
Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland.

Away: San Diego, Denver, Kansas City, Buffalo, Miami, Minnesota, Green
Bay, Houston.

18-0 Raiders: Browns Raiders superbowl is my wild prediction

That is wild, considering how they're in the same conference.

ANOMALY BOWL 2011

Patriots vs. Miami Heat!

imo Patriots defense gonna have their hands full with Chris Bosh. could really be the 'trump card'

Stanford to join the NFC West

man when i saw m. lite play at usc i thought THIS GUY can't miss in the nfl

::quits job as talent scout::

― brownie, Monday, January 3, 2011 9:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

lol me too bro... i thought leinart was p. much a sure thing *kanyeshrug*

as for Garcia... the guy IS ancient, plus he's a pretty unconventional player - has a lot of sandlot tendencies, may not slot into a lot of offenses very well

"slot"