So here are my picks:
I’ve missed a lot of games this season and haven’t read up on it much. And honestly, I wasn’t that great at picking NFL winners even when I was more up-to-date on the league, though I usually managed not to embarrass myself in office pools.
I really hope I’m wrong about some of these. For example, I hope the Saints beat the Iggles. I’d be mildly amused if the Cowboys beat the Pats. I’d like to see the Bucs win their first home game since 2013 via a spate of scores by the defense while Jame-ass spends most of the afternoon on his butt under a pile of pass rushers. But these are my picks.
Feel free to tell me how full of shit I am in comments! Or discuss other topics — open thread!
cokane
Marshawn Lynch is out Betty. No fing way the Hawks win.
ThresherK (GPad)
Does it seem more games than typical have point spreads over 3, and also over 7, than typical for this early in the season?
Or are there simply so many teams which have settled on the ocean floor already?
Corner Stone
What is this “NFL” you Open Thread about?
dedc79
Yeah, and for me, sub in any other team for the Saints and it remains just as true.
Philly fans are defending Utley’s ditry play against the Mets last night, even though he plays for LA now. The country’s most obnoxious fans by far.
Corner Stone
Man, I sliced up some peppers the other day for a meal and thought I washed up pretty well after. But for the last few days every time I rub something or scratch something I have that pepper juice burn sensation for a few seconds. I’ve warshed and warshed but it’s sticking with me. The peppers themselves weren’t all that nasty so I have no idea why they’re sticking to me like stupid on a Republican.
waspuppet
Not NFL-related, but does anyone know how to stop the autoplay ads on this site from not only playing (tolerable, since they don’t automatically play audio) but from automatically scrolling to themselves, thus taking you away from what you were reading AND stopping you from scrolling back to it? I’m on Windows 10, though it happens on my Windows 7 work computer as well.
HumboldtBlue
The Eagles are simply dreadful and after nearly three years of giddily riding the Chip-wagon I have officially jumped off. Hell, former Phillie Chase Utley is more physical than the Eagles O-line.
There stands a good chance they lose by 30 today. Of course, this being Philadelphia sports, there stands a good chance they win by 30 re-igniting the breathless “Chip’s on track to take us to the Super Bowl!” talk.
BGinCHI
On that Pats-Cowboys game: rooting for injuries, especially to Jerry Jones.
What a dick.
Amir Khalid
@Corner Stone:
I’ve heard that drinking milk washes away the heat from chillis a lot better than drinking water does. So, I guess, you could try washing your hands in milk and then in soap and water.
shell
On CNN, or whatever, some other conservative whining that Paul Ryan should just get over it and accept the job as new Speaker, ‘for the good of the country!’
It was that last part that made me laugh out loud. Show me one thing the GOP has done for the good of the country as opposed to blatant self interest.
Corner Stone
@waspuppet:
I FREAKING hate that. IE does it when I’m trying to scroll through a local message board. Every few seconds it brings you back to the top of a thread and it takes a few seconds to navigate back to where you were. Then you get sucked back up a few seconds later. Arrrrgghh!
Corner Stone
Anyone else have the NFL network? If so, does your sound keep cutting out every few seconds?
Betty Cracker
@Corner Stone: Did you de-seed the peppers? Hubby grows all sorts of hot peppers and makes his own hot pepper sauces. He’s learned to wear gloves during the de-seeding process — even with relatively mild peppers — to avoid…interesting sensations while peeing later.
redshirt
@BGinCHI:
The Hardy quotes were just beyond belief, and then Jones backs him up. All class!
? Martin
@Corner Stone: Capsaicin is alcohol-soluable, so cleaning up with some rubbing alcohol may help. Won’t feel good doing it, though.
HumboldtBlue
@Corner Stone:
No, all is fine and Siciliano’s ears are still magnificent.
redshirt
Pats v Dallas would have been a great game with Romo and Dez playing. As it is, it should be a New England rout.
Amir Khalid
@shell:
Like i said yesterday: In the absence of anyone suitable among the volunteers, the Republicans might as well just pick someone at random and press-gang them into the job. Mind you, Paul Ryan himself isn’t particularly suitable. He is quite undistinguished except for his cargo-cult approximation of economic wonkery, and his turn as Mitt’s running mate in 2012.
Josie
@waspuppet: This keeps happening to me and it is making me crazy. I stayed off of the site last night because of it.
Betty Cracker
@redshirt: Ugh — just Googled that shit. What a bunch of assholes. Now I hope Brady & Co. kick their asses like they’re almost certain to do.
Corner Stone
Wow. Saints at Iggles or Bills at Titans.
The NFL Experience!
redshirt
@Corner Stone: But college football is good?
Josie
@Corner Stone: Try adding some salt or coffee to your soap suds the next time you wash your hands. Those two items will wash garlic odor off, so maybe they would work with peppers.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker: No, I almost never de-seed in general. And it hasn’t bothered me for the longest time so not sure what this is about. Must’ve caught a live one.
redshirt
The Bills are absolutely ridiculous with the amount of penalties they get.
Atta boy, Rex!
Mike J
So, so, so pissed. NBCSN said there would be a replay of the F1 race at 9am, so I wouldn’t need to watch at 3:30am, or even bother to record it. Instead they’re showing nascar, and the race replay on their god awful website doesn’t work, and it’s hard to even google around for a replay without reading the results. Grrrrr.
Fuck NBCSN with an ERS.
? Martin
@Mike J: Yeah, that’s shitty. The NASCAR race was rained out yesterday which is why the schedule changed.
Just finished watching the F1 race. It was decent, not great. But we’re getting on the end of the season so races have big implications. TiVo is almost mandatory to be an F1 fan, especially as NBC keeps moving the races around their networks.
J R in WV
So I’m watching Bengals-Seahawks on Fox. The play-by-play is in Spanish!! I don’t know how this is happening. Our TV infrastructure involves a tool called HD-Homerun, which lives in a server, converts over the air TV signals into ethernet, which then is translated into something displayable on my laptop screen,
Whoops, here we go, back to English!!
I bet the wing-nut Hispanic haters were popping their brains hearing the Spanish play by play.
Now we’re back to Spanish!!
No telling what’s happening where. The Spanish broadcast is scattered with English place-names, school names where stars played in college, “Play Action” etc.
I wish I thought I could learn Spanish like this!!
Fox, who would have thought?!!
Bill D.
49ers: 12 points scored per game average, worst in the league.
redshirt
@Bill D.: The 9ers are a dumpster fire. Worst ownership in the league?
J R in WV
@waspuppet:
Browse with Firefox, with any ad blocker software plug-in installed and running.
Some sites whine and beg for you to white-list them, so their “site will work better for you” but I just laugh and browse ad-free!
Poopyman
Getting way too knowledgeable on how to repair a Whirlpool Duet washing machine. “Repairing” may be too strong a word, since reseating the wiring harness didn’t solve the problem. Might have to call in professional help.Can’t figure out how to take off the MCU.
Back to looking for a Youtube video with a relevant model ….
themann1086
@dedc79: as much as I love utley and the effort he put in throughout his career, that was a dirty play last night. There’s a reason that the 2nd worst part of being a philly sports fan is other philly sports fans.
? Martin
@Bill D.: My neighbor was a 49er cheerleader about 10 years ago, so they are massive 49er fans, and after every game you can see on the entire family how badly they suck. They just carry it on them like they just witnessed someone stomping on a kitten.
OldDave
@? Martin:
NBCSN’s F1 coverage is abysmal. I like two of the three in-studio talking heads (Leigh Diffey not so much) – but the number and length of the commercial breaks is just beyond annoying.
Hamilton is having a most excellent year.
Yatsuno
@cokane: Rawls is pretty damn good as a backup.
J R in WV
With 3:45 left in the first quarter, back to English, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck I think…
ETA: Back to Spanish!! at 1:40 or so… Wonder what’s going on??
Will anyone talk about it on air? Is it just me? But I’m not changing anything…
Bill D.
@redshirt: Keep on picking players with violence problems and not dealing with the results proactively. You’re right, the problem goes to the top.
@? Martin: Outscored 90-25 in two successive games. Demote to NCAA Div. II?
redshirt
@Bill D.: More to the point, they forced out the best coach they’ve had since Siefert. The 49ers looked poised to be a dominating team for years, and within the span of 1.5 years they blew it all up such that now they might be the worst team in the league.
I used to be awed by Kaepernick. Now I don’t think he’s NFL QB worthy.
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: What’s the point of removing seeds from hot peppers? The hotness resides in the seeds, if you want it less spicy use fewer peppers instead of deseeding them.
khead
Man, there’s a lot of money on Arizona and New England. When it gets to 80-90% on one team, I usually fade the team being bet on by the world or pass. But I took New England because they appear to be on a mission to drop 50 on the entire league. Left Arizona alone.
Corner Stone
Anybody else watching the Buff/TN game see that wall of man DT run down Buff QB Taylor and make it look easy?
ETA, had wrong name on the sack.
redshirt
@khead: Revenge Tour 2015.
The NFL will pay for Ballghazi.
Geoduck
@cokane: More than Lynch being out, it’s a question of whether or not the patched-together mess that is the Seahawks’ offensive line can do its job. One quarter in, they aren’t getting blown out, so..
khead
@redshirt:
Vegas (and probably DE where I bet) is rooting like hell for the Cowboys today.
? Martin
@OldDave: Fox/Speeds wasn’t great either, though. They’d move some races to Fox and shift the schedule and change the commentators. Those were horrible. I’m also glad they’ve held onto Hobbs/Matchett – they’re pretty good. They were a bit more fun at Speed, though because you got the sense that bosses were never listening so they were a bit snarkier there.
Hamilton is having a great year. Makes me wish I could have gone to Austin, but there’s no way I could have gotten off work. Maybe next year. I went to Indy in 2006 and got to camp out in the infield the night before. That was pretty fun, even if the race wasn’t very interesting that year.
khead
I might’ve been a year early on Cinci. Took them and Detroit as long shots(~25-1) to win the SB last year only to come up short. Because Andy Dalton. The Bengals opened at 40-1 in DE and now they are 10-1. Took Cinci today too.
Goblue72
@redshirt: On the road to #5.
? Martin
@redshirt: Yeah, that’s what its looking like. That NE has almost no injuries makes that all the easier to pull off. Garoppolo must be drinking heavily by now. Not only did he not get his 4 starts, but Brady appears to want to twist the knife on every game.
redshirt
@Goblue72: Our odds are good. The AFC seems particularly weak this year.
khead
The Eagles and Falcons are going to give me an ulcer.
Edit: Bengals too. What did I just say about Andy Fucking Dalton?
zzyzx
@J R in WV: In English in Seattle.
Goblue72
@redshirt: Agreed. Though Jets are looking better so far.
J R in WV
Is anyone by me watching Cinci and Seattle? If you are watching Fox, are you hearing a Spanish play-by-play? Or it just my local Fox station?
It’s pretty interesting, I don’t know much Spanish, but the play-by-play is going as fast as he can in Spanish, and then he says “Quarterback Sneak!” or “Play-Action Pass!”
Or “La Tooooouuuuuuchdoooooown” just like they say SCORE in a Soccer game. Pretty interesting.
Still Spanish at this moment…
redshirt
@Goblue72: Agreed, but are the Jets a super bowl contender? Seems unlikely.
khead
@J R in WV:
I don’t have the game on CBS – I have Balt/Cleve. But Redzone is playing the English feed.
redshirt
@J R in WV: I got the Spanish audio for a game a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed it.
dedc79
@themann1086: yeah, I mean I get that he wanted to break up a potential double play jut he’s got to make some effort to actually slide into the bag and not just crash into a defenseless player who isnt even facing him.
Suzanne
@Corner Stone: Weird. I started the day by getting hot sauce in my eyes at breakfast.
This shit better get better from here.
khead
@themann1086:
I think most of the unwritten rules in baseball are horseshit. But I would make sure Utley got drilled in as many at bats as possible after last night.
Steve from Antioch
http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2015/10/10/should-high-schools-field-football-teams-or-are-risks-to-players-too-great/
Svensker
@redshirt:
So glad he’s in Buffalo. Do the Bills have a 1st down yet? Good riddance, Rex.
redshirt
Fantasy has convinced me I am cursed for generations.
Sibelius
@J R in WV: You don’t happen to have a monkey named Marcel do you?
(Friends reference for those that don’t remember: Ross’s monkey Marcel steals the remote and changes the TV to Spanish). I couldn’t find a clip.
JPL
@redshirt: Hopefully, you are right. Texas beat Oklahoma yesterday so anything can happen!
jurassicpork
I wouldn’t be at all amused if the Cowboys beat my Pats. Not that that’s even a remote possibility.
Meanwhile, it’s Good Times at Pottersville: Political Darwinism edition: The De-evolution of the Republican Party in Eight Panels.
khead
@redshirt:
Point spreads for me. The fantasy folks will tell you they aren’t gambling though. :)
redshirt
@khead: “Game of skill”.
khead
@redshirt:
Yeah, like poker. Heh. Also, fuck the Redskins too.
Suezboo
Excuse me .. Go, Packers. Annihilate those Rams !..Or am I too late for a little encouragement from over here?
JPL
Holy fk… they over turned an Atlanta touchdown. ..
JPL
phew.. They scored again.. Now Washington only has 24 seconds left..
Steeplejack (tablet)
D.C. Fox station hinked over to the Spanish audio on the Washington-Atlanta game a few minutes ago. Weird. I saw where Corner Stone mentioned this earlier re the NFL network.
ETA: Now we’re going to “tiempo extra.” ¡Ay caramba!
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack (tablet): Not me, some kook in WV. My NFL Network had the sound cutting out, no espanol.
Steeplejack (tablet)
Browns-Ravens a barn-burner too.
Corner Stone
TOUCHDOWN…errr…Browns??
ETA, that was a laser by McCown to get the extra 2.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Corner Stone:
Oh, yeah. Were you talking about the network feed on a “regular” channel or were you talking about the NFL cable channel? If the latter, I couldn’t understand why you would be watching that, since it’s NFL GameDay all day.
Corner Stone
That was a bad call against the CB for Browns.
redshirt
@Corner Stone: That was a terrible call. Like a game changing bad call. Like a gambling call.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Corner Stone:
Yeah, looked like he was already there.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack (tablet): The NFL Network cable channel. I like watching their pre-game better than other options. And since the Texans played Thursday, poorly, the live lineup I had available was not very enticing. So to GameDay it is! Off and on, with some Man Fire Food and Taco Trip thrown in.
Corner Stone
Uh-oh Forsett.
redshirt
@efgoldman: DC Ethnic Slurs for the win!
redshirt
C’mon Browns!
Corner Stone
What is Cleveland doing not using a timeout?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Corner Stone:
Gotcha. I always get the Redskins and the Ravens, so I don’t watch much while waiting for the late game. But today both of their games have been very good. Don’t care if they win, of course.
Corner Stone
You have to throw that ball away McCown. Bad decision.
ETA, and I have to ask again – why didn’t CLE take a timeout when Ravens were driving to score on their last possession?
Steeplejack (tablet)
Huh, Fox went to Seattle-Cincinnati after the Falcons won, and this game has Spanish audio too. Go figure.
Corner Stone
Down goes Wilson! Down goes Wilson!
raven
Da Berz and Da Falcoms. Better day than yesterday!
Steeplejack (tablet)
@J R in WV:
Just got the last bit of the Cincy game, but, yeah, Spanish (D.C. station).
JPL
@raven: It was a nail biter though.
Shana
@J R in WV: We here in the DC market are getting spanish on the R******s game too. Hubby has muted the TV and is listening to the game on the radio and watching on TV. We had the same reaction re: typical Fox viewers.
ThresherK
@Corner Stone: Hey, I thought I was the only one who saw that. I don’t want to go all Zapruder on the replay, but in how few hundredths of a second can he stop fixin’ to hit someone who drops a fairly catchable ball?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@raven:
I saw the Dawgs recap after I got home from a kids’ birthday party and knew you must be hurting.
Corner Stone
And motherfuckers act like they forgot about Dray.
/Browns TE
Steeplejack (tablet)
@efgoldman:
I haven’t heard him in a while. He sounds like he took a correspondence course from the Jon Gruden Famous Commentators School.
Betty Cracker
Chin Dimple getting sacked a lot. WTF?
raven
@Steeplejack (tablet): We’re just not that good and they are just not that bad. Add in the fact that they were due and Chubb was gone after the first play. . .the table as set.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@raven:
And, not to single out one guy, Reggie Davis must be on suicide watch after that missed pass at the end. Could’ve gone the other way.
raven
@Steeplejack (tablet): Yea but he had two TD’s as well. The Michel fumble that allowed them to score twice in 37 seconds and get back in the game was as crucial.
Corner Stone
@ThresherK:
I thought at first they had called helmet to helmet contact, which would have been weak but at least there was slight actual contact. But to call it a late hit on a defenseless player was an awful call. Could’ve been the game right there, and almost was.
Corner Stone
I don’t see how Wheedon starts another game for Dallas.
Corner Stone
New England is lucky to get Brady out of there upright. He took a real beating in that game.
If Dallas was healthy right now they may be odds on favorites to challenge GB for the NFC.
Too bad.
? Martin
Dallas should be pretty thankful for those 5 sacks. That could have been a lot worse.
donnah
Bengals, Betty, Bengals.