2012 NFL Week 16: It's a Greg McElroy world, we're all just living in it

Two more weeks left, let's go!

Saturday night:
Atlanta at Detroit

Sunday noon:
New Orleans at Dallas
Tennessee at Green Bay
Indianapolis at Kansas City
Buffalo at Miami
San Diego at NY Jets
Washington at Philadelphia
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
St. Louis at Tampa Bay
Oakland at Carolina
New England at Jacksonville
Minnesota at Houston

Sunday afternoon:
Cleveland at Denver
Chicago at Arizona
NY Giants at Baltimore

Sunday night:
San Francisco at Seattle

I bolded the biggest games for the playoff picture, depending on how you feel about the rest of the NFC North at this point. In italics we have the beginning of the McElroy era. Let's go!

If you'd told me at the beginning of the season that the games I'd care most about watching would feature one or more teams from the NFC West, I'd have laughed in your face.

yeah sf-seattle is like the biggest game of the year imo

especially if SF had lost last sunday night

really suck the Vikings have Houston, would be nice to have a weaker defense with Adrian chasing Dickerson's record

Falcons Rise the fuck Up and put a stake through the heart of Jim Schwartz's career.

Or they play like they did against the Panthers.

xp they play the Packers in Week 17 who seem to routinely get destroyed by ADP (but win anyway because lolVikings) and I'm not sure they'll have anything to play for if SF wins on Sunday.

I don't see how losing to a 12-2 team is gonna get Schwartz fired. As much as I doubt him as a coach I still think that 2011 playoff appearance should buy him at least one more year of goodwill. Lions are just screwed anyway beacuse they're kinda poorly built and I dunno how you're gonna fix things when so much salary goes to pay three guys

yeah i'm hoping he can hang 200 yards on green bay & squeak out 100 against houston

the vikings playoff "chances" are already pretty slim with some of the tiebreaker scenarios

yeah I have no idea how the 6 seed is going to play out (5 seed is almost certainly Hawks isn't it?) but I have a sinking feeling it'll be NYG @ GB again, thanks replacements

I don't see how losing to a 12-2 team is gonna get Schwartz fired.

^it may not. but its not looking good. If the falcons play like they did last week against the defending SB champs, they could hang 60 on Detroit.

what can Detroit do at this point to rebound?

At this point in the season? its totally over

If i were a Packers fan, i'd welcome the Giants. No way are they gonna blow 3 home playoff games in 5 years to the same team.

Jon Kitna rules

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--former-nfl-qb-jon-kitna-finds-%E2%80%98gold-mine%E2%80%99-at-a-school-where-other-teachers-only-saw-problems-194739063.html

cool story

I mean how are the lions going to compete for the next 3-4 years. Detroit fans are actively cheering their losses at this point bc of the draft pick.

Detroit definitely has some talent, they just play really stupid. They have given away at least four games on dumb play (although the Green Bay game was at least partially on a bad penalty call). Considering how long the Fords road pat in the Matt Millen years, I can't see them blowing it completely up and firing Swartz unless it looks like the club totally quits on them the last two games (which considering could happen).

Packers are going to be there next year. Minnesota's got a mix of vets and youth - kind of depends on how much Ponder can improve and the aging parts of the defense not falling apart (see Bears) to take a next step. Bears are going to have to rebuild, as the defense is getting old and thin and that offensive line is so freaking terrible. I figure they go 9-7 and miss the playoffs and most likely Lovie gets canned.

The Lions show just how much variance there really is in the NFL. They really don't seem worse than last year yet there's likely to be about a 5 win differential thanks to everything breaking their way last year and pretty much everything going against them this year. I agree that firing Schwartz isn't the answer right now and the fans are going to go nuts if they go through another rebuilding period. Their problem is that they have to find value somewhere - while they do have three of the best players at their position (and yeah I'm counting Stafford despite him tossing a lot of cookies lately) those guys are getting PAID like the best players at their position.

As for the Bears I can see them going either way. They've kinda fallen apart every year but they seem to manage 8-10 wins a year despite Cutler getting hurt all the time and numerous flaws on offense. With some offensive weapons who knows. That said yeah logically they've got to start crumbling soon. Hopefully this will be GB's division for some time to come; I love how they pretty much rebuilt half the defense over the offseason and seem to have some real studs in Hayward and Shields while running a ton of plays through a guy in his 2nd year despite having arguably the most stacked receiving corps in the game.

The Jets will explore all options with Sanchez, including a trade, and the team plans to part ways with Tebow after the season, league sources said Wednesday.

what a bunch of clowns

lmao can you eat salary in the nfl?

i will be amazed if he isn't on the jets' roster next year - certainly they can't cut him when it'd be so much more expensive than just paying him to be QB3 - but someone will probably take him off their hands, at punitive terms no doubt, but even tho it seems inevitable i will still be amazed.

i'd be surprised if they let tannenbaum lead the rebuild so if they fire him i could just see them getting rid of sanchez, eating whatever money they have to in 13 and starting over again in 14

personally i think they'll give the gang one more season

how can you bring them all back.

i mean just how.

yeah i don't know... i just feel like it's a really stubborn organization

Ima forego my ban on the abuse of the word "delicious," because the tebow to the jets thing has been so great I can taste that shit

i really hope the full story of tebow and the jets comes out someday

T-t-t-tebow and the jetssssssssssssssssssss

i really hope the full story of tebow and the jets comes out someday

― an eagle named "small government" (call all destroyer), Thursday, December 20, 2012 11:16 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark

yes

rumour: jets seeking to trade sanchez for vick

hahaha perfect! that's a perfect way for them to ditch tebow and sanchez yet assure that the 2013 jets is a complete fucking circus

I don't get why they traded for Tebow if they weren't going to give him a shot at all, even in some meaningless end of season games. They'd really rather try the third stringer?

who would want to get into the playoffs as the broncos did? the jets have ~standards~ and so, we all have to miss the resurrection of the tebow.

I don't get why they traded for Tebow if they weren't going to give him a shot at all, even in some meaningless end of season games. They'd really rather try the third stringer?

― pun lovin criminal (polyphonic), Thursday, December 20, 2012 2:15 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

been thinking about it a lot. only thing i can come up with is that the trade was ordered from above and tebow sucked enough in practice that the coaches wouldn't let him see the field.

even in the broncos days he was reportedly a shitty practice player.

Not that passer rating means anything, but Tebow's last year (72.9) was better than Sanchez's career number thus far (72). Sanchez's best year was a 78.2.

i have to admit, on a wild prayer i checked sanchez's stats against brady quinn the other day. quinn is still slightly shittier.

even in the broncos days he was reportedly a shitty practice player.

yes. you'd try to explain that the guy who drafted him wouldn't play him, he was that bad.

living the tebow era in denver was fucking amazing. up til broncos clinched you'd still hear ppl call in to sportsradio all butthurt over the trade of tebow.

sort of afraid he'll somehow get reunited with hoodie jr, and hoodie sr will turn him into some unstoppable force at te with his dark magicks. it cant be more crazy than what actually happened last year, right?

I don't get why they traded for Tebow if they weren't going to give him a shot at all, even in some meaningless end of season games. They'd really rather try the third stringer?

I've been wondering this too, randomly calling shitty Wildcat plays for 2 yards three times a game is probably the worst way to use him. McElroy isn't going to be a starter next year so I dunno why you don't just run Tebow, pray he does well, and up his trade value a bit

Tebow was always destined to be the Jaguars' qb. It's just a waiting game.

Sanchez would be super lolzy in Philly.

I don't bet much. But the best team in the nfl only laying 4 tonight? I'm all in, motherfucker. P

Rise up

We're gonna kill these fuckers

merry christmas ILNFL

this came on the radio today and I was about to drive off the side of the road from laughing so hard, I can't even

https://soundcloud.com/chrispaulcomedy/redskins-remix-2012-week-16

was going to go to the grocery store before it closes at 11, sort of concerned about car parked on city street with a bunch of stuff in the back.... do I really want to leave now and miss Megatron breaking this record? no

Megatron's record irrelevant. Falcons

merry christmas ILNFL

yes!

Lions are collapsing like jerks

They blow chunks.

Merry Christmas!

foles looking great. i think he's got a future as an nfl qb tbh

formidable jax jags schooling the pats here

Tennessee just threw an incompletion on 4th and short from FG range. Curious.

In related news, this is THE BEST GAME YOU GUYS. AARON RODGERS IS SO GOOD AT FOOTBALL

kaepernick looked stressed before that time out

no one has ever said it as "notre dahm", he was bust being a weirdo

wonder how he pronounced the first word actually.. I also have always heard the first part as "noh-ter" instead of "notruh"

def being weird

god i could revel in the squawks kicking ass at home if not for one peter clay carroll

yes

beast mode = best mode

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20121221/coaching-book-excerpt/

Parcells was the tough Jersey guy. He had friends in the Boston media. Carroll was California cool, and that didn't play well in one of the toughest sports towns in America. He used to wear sandals to work, not that there is anything wrong with that; it just didn't play well in Beantown. "Can you see Bill Parcells coming to a meeting in sandals?" Kraft said. "Pete is one of the truly great guys in the coaching fraternity, and I didn't give him all the support he needed. Pete was inclusive. Look, in the end, I needed someone to make me feel good. It was good for me to have a guy like Pete Carroll because he's my kind of guy. I mean, we loved Pete. You want Pete to marry into your family. I love the guy to this day. He's an awesome guy."

belongs in a yet-to-be-created thread for inscrutable excerpts

btw this game is why college football is so rad... there's only a few crowds like this in the nfl

good lord kaepernick almost got vernon killed

this game

omg

what in the world

omg

this game

hahaha did not actually read other posts before typing that

red bryant is amazing

I kind of like the matchups for the first round if the Yahoo playoff generator plays out.

First Round.

Bengals @ Pats - Probably a gimme for NE, but oddly enough I think Cincy matchs up better with the Pats than the Colts with their defense and vertical passing game.
Colts @ Ravens - Raven's fans are probably smelling blood for this game, but I think the Colts might be a tougher matchup for the Ravens than Cincy, as there is less familiarity and they both kind of win ugly.

Seattle @ Washington - Nice marquee matchup between rookie QBs and really I think this is a total pick 'em game.
Bears @ Packers - One of these days the Bears is going to win one of these (aren't they?)

They got
#1 seed AFC Texans, #2 Broncos (I swear I wrote Colts first time...old habit.)
#1 seed NFC Falcons, #2 Niners

that would be quite a matchup @ NFC - Seattle knocked Washington out of the playoffs in the wild card game the last time they made it into the postseason, that was the year Sean Taylor died

They are pretty even steven matchup I would think. Seattle's got a bit better defense and run game, but the Washington offense has tuned up and is pretty high powered now.

Lets say the Colts upset the Ravens and the Pats win out - you got Pats/Broncos Brady/Manning in second round and Texans having to beat Colts again. If Ravens win you got the classic B-more still hates Manning in 2nd round and Houston gets a chance to make a new jacket then get whomped by the Pats, which would possibly lead to Brady/Manning in AFC title game.

Cincy upsetting the Pats would be cool as crap, but probably as unlikely a playoff win going back to when the Vikings upset the Niners years ago back in the Montana era.

if the seahawks ever get homefield one of these years they're going to the super bowl

I'd like to see Cincy win a couple of playoff games and make a nice run of it. The fans in the area are still so ticked off at Mike Brown for 20+ years of BS and the whole jailbird saga they just can't get into the club and it's going to take the Bengals winning a couple of big games in the playoffs to heal the divide.

hines ward should not be employed by a television network

i know i keep posting this, but once again halftime makes you wonder if harrison and patrick really dislike each other & harrison and dungy don't get along too well either. it's good tv, nbc better not change anything

ward is eh but maybe he'll get less awkward next season assuming they keep him around? rodney was awkward the first year he was on

i want hines ward to do well, he seems like a really nice guy, but he is absolutely hopeless at this

fuck hines ward

good lord

i think i feel abt the steelers like cankles does about the saints

i have no idea how the seahawks are doing this btw

not entirely sure what is happening here. it seems like niners D is going thru a shit patch, but seattle seem like they have legit come together on O. i guess recent history has made it hard for me to believe of a seahawks team, but how many teams do they have to pulp in a row before i buy in

seems like a classic game of one team being way more amped than the other.. combined with the crowd...

also they're gonna have some issues if sherman is out for the entire playoffs

it's awesome how even more obvious that golden tate hail mary non-TD becomes with time. there will come a point in a few years when the tape will show that tate wasn't even in for that play.

can you guys believe that we're gonna have a chance at watching the cowboys blow their playoff chances in prime time for the second year in a row? what a time to be alive

russell wilson can probably do a mean tiger woods impersonation

what a time to be alive

lol

Looking at the NFL passing stats I noticed something I thought kind of interesting, Matthew Stafford has thrown the ball already 685 times in 15 games. That's like 45.67 times a game. Season record is oddly enough held by Drew Bledsoe from 1994 with 691, so barring injury or something weird going down, Stafford will set the record next week.

That pretty much says to me that Detroit's running game must really suck and they are always playing from behind.

Also on that list, Drew Brees will have 5 of the top 11 seasons in total attempts. Only Drew Bledsoe in 94 and 95 and the run and shoot Warren Moon from '91 in that top 11, the rest from 2007 to present (including Bree's 5 seasons).

detroit's running game sucks, has sucked for years, will prob suck forever

yeah I thought it was pretty much a given that Staff was going to break that record someday

I'd say last night was the next chapter in the Pete Carroll vs. Jim Harbaugh rivalry and possibly round 1 of a new NFC West- Seahawk/Niner rivalry. The next couple time those clubs meet could be pretty interesting.

sorta like being able to root for pete carroll

I think Pete Carroll is pretty damn good tbh though still-inexplicably angry Boston columnists wd have you believe the opposite.

harbaugh is a total 100% dbag tho he might be a better coach, carroll just sorta a ridiculous human being and is basically charming. I technically had to hate him when he was the usc coach but now that he's persona non grata there I think it's okay to embrace the seahawks.

i'll always dislike him a little for the Golden Tate thing but otherwise I do wish him well

I think Pete Carroll is pretty damn good tbh though still-inexplicably angry Boston columnists wd have you believe the opposite.

― LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Monday, December 24, 2012 2:18 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i assure you it is quite explicable

Well yeah after I said that I realized that if you accidentally say "wannstedt" in Chicago you can get murdered.

I think Pete Carroll is pretty damn good tbh though still-inexplicably angry Boston columnists wd have you believe the opposite.

― LIKE If you are against racism (omar little), Monday, December 24, 2012 2:18 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i assure you it is quite explicable

Browns fans still swear that Belichick sucks. Being a NFL coach is tough.

carroll's record at ne isn't even that bad

that '96 team should have made multiple deep runs, they were really good. under carroll's watch the whole thing fell apart in like three years.

Carroll did draft some of the pieces that made up the core of the Bellichick defense though, so there is that also in his defense.