The NFL is Poop - Week 11

The Thing That's Going to Ruin Football
With his team trailing 20-17 with about 3 minutes to go, Drew Brees, faced a 3rd and 2 at the 49ers 35, not quite reliable field goal range. Brees was sacked by Ahmad Brooks for a 10-yard loss, which would have forced the Saints to go for it on 4th and 12, but there was a penalty for a hit to the head/neck area of the quarterback. The foul was not blatant, it wasn't excessively violent, it seemed accidental, but it was surely a penalty under these rules. And this is the threat to football. It's not that the kids won't play the game. It's not that people will feel guilty for rooting for others to suffer violent hits. And it's not even that if violent hits are legislated out of the game, people will no longer watch football.
The biggest threat to the long-term health of the NFL is that too many penalties on these type of plays will occur at crucial times and end up deciding too many games. That's what will make the games, boring, disappointing and not fun to watch. And I don't really have a solution. The NFL can't reverse course and start allowing hits to the head. And I don't think there is a way to prevent players from accidentally hitting quarterbacks and other players in the head occasionally.
And if and when a flag like this, or even more questionable than this, decides a playoff game or a Super Bowl, that is when the NFL's popularity will be in decline.

Like I Said
There's nothing more hollow than a game ending on a questionable call. That's why so many people are pissed about the ending of the Patriots-Panthers game. Rob Gronkowski was clearly held by Luke Kuechly, and the flag was thrown, but it was picked up when the referees conferred and decided the ball was uncatchable. It's technically the correct call because Gronk would have had to turn around, run in 5 yards and knock away a defender in order to match the catch. But we were robbed of the chance to see Tom Brady with one untimed down from the 1-yard line to win the game. I think it was the correct call by the rules, but the infraction was so blatant, I think the flag could have stood. And from an entertainment standpoint, I wish it had.

Through the Rain and Stormy Weather
We saw the very rare rain delay at Soldier Field as tornadoes were in the area. The Ravens led 10-0 when the game was postponed, an hour and 55 minutes later, the game resumed and the Bears woke up, taking a 20-17 before ceding a late field goal that sent the game into overtime. A Robbie Gould field goal in overtime gave the Bears the win, 5 hours and 17 minutes after the game started.

The Backup Quarterback Theory is Alive and Well
Even I doubted my own supposition that you can't doubt bad teams that are starting backups quarterbacks. Because in the case of the Raiders, their QB of choice was former Penn State Nittany Lion Matt McGloin. But thanks to some typical play by the horrible turnover prone Texans, McGloin took the Raiders in for two early scores, then tacked on a couple more and was able to lead his Raiders to victory.

Does he throw the ball with his hand on the ball and not the laces?

Doesn't Mean Shit
A lot is being made of the Jets trip to Dave and Buster's, before the Bills game, as if their night of merriment meant they were taking the Bills lightly. Even some of the Bills bought into this, saying they felt disrespected. I can assure you this had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of this game. The Jets weren't distracted or looking past the Bills, the Bills weren't angered and inspired and disrespected. The Jets win-one, lose-one pattern had more to do with their ass-kicking than this ridiculous story bought into and played up by a mindless media swarm who as a group isn't smart enough to intelligently understand what causes teams to win or lose, so they make up shit they think sounds good.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins

The Redskins stink. About 5 players on this team are good (RGIII, Garcon, Morris, Orakpo and Kerrigan), the defense gets killed and the offense stinks too. Make nothing of this comeback, it only happened because the Eagles were up so much they stopped trying. Kyle Shanahan is awful and predictable and everything RGIII said is true, but he shouldn't have said it. He should have played a little better and not thrown a horrible interception on 3rd and 1 late in the game. He also missed so many other open receivers, including Logan Paulsen for a sure touchdown in the first quarter, that he is reminding me of when the Redskins had Donovan McNabb. I do think RGIII can still be great, I'm just a little less certain that he will be.

Game of the Week
Denver Broncos 27 Kansas City Chiefs 17
This game didn't quite live up to the hype as in the second half the Broncos took a commanding lead and won without much drama. But it did give me a little bit of hope that when they meet again in Arrowhead Stadium in two weeks, the Chiefs could pull out the win. If they do that, they have a great shot at home field advantage and the Super Bowl.

Game of Next Week
Denver Broncos at New England Patriots

I never want to count out the Patriots, but I just don't see them beating the Broncos right now even at home.

Picture of the Week
Ryan Tannehill runs on the field during introductions.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Denver Broncos 21 Seattle Seahawks 20
I still think Denver is the best team in the league, if they can get their defense playing on that level on a more consistent basis. The Seahawks are up and down and I have my reservations about Russell Wilson, but I can't quite put the Panthers in this spot yet.