NFL 2018

He's got one, Peggy. And may have had another or maybe even two if Goodell hadn't punished one team for the "ransom" scandal that was widespread.

Hodge's question did put me in mind of checking in on Drew's career stats, and how they're looking these days. I knew he'd broken a few records recently, so i went to old trusty football-reference.com and here are some of the highlights i found:

All-time leader in Pass Attempts, Pass Completions, Completion Percentage, Completions/Game, Passing Yards/Game, and Total Passing Yards.

3rd in Total Offensive behind Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. He's about 100 points behind Farve, less than 600 behind Peyton, and about 5000 points ahead of Brady, who's 4th all-time.

Tied for 3rd with Favre in Game-Winning Drives at 43. Marino had 47, Peyton had 54. Brady is 5th, only one behind with 42.

4th all-time in Passer Rating at 97.3. 0.2 points behind Brady; Russell Wilson has 98.9 and Aaron Rodgers is at 103.7 (!!!)

11-time Pro Bowler and a Superbowl MVP.

It seems pretty clear that among active quarterbacks, Brady and Brees are men among boys. Brady definitely has a lot of championships, but you'd be lying if you said Trent Dilfer was a better QB than Dan Marino. Not that Brady's a Dilfer by any stretch, but Brees does have a slight edge in the numbers, and with a year less played, too. They're both awesome. I like my guy, and if you can't see why, Peggy Sawyer, then that's your loss. I have nothing bad to say about Brady though.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

Hodge, for what my homer opinion may be worth, i feel like Brees has passed Brett Farve on the great QB list. He's getting close to Unitas and Elway. JMO

HRD, this portion of this post begs the question...Who's on your list of Top-10 QBs?

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

...Oh, and Hodge, on behalf of the New Orleans Saints, you're welcome. Thanks to their beating of the 'Skins, your 'Boys are only a half game out of first place behind a .500 team, instead of 1 1/2 back of a winning team.

I know, and it's much appreciated.

I bet you can't name a worse Division than the NFC-East? See, I knew you couldn't!

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

He's got one, Peggy. And may have had another or maybe even two if Goodell hadn't punished one team for the "ransom" scandal that was widespread.

Some might argue that the reason he won that title was because of the ransom strategy Gregg Williams instilled that year; I credit it to a highly questionable PI penalty against MN in OT.

I don't deny Brees his stats; they are incontrovertible, and I hope to see him in the SB against Brady before either retires. I guess I'm a little prejudiced against Brees for taking Doug Flutie's spot away from him on the Chargers and not doing much in his place, and I also thought he pushed for a little too much when negotiations for the last CBA took place. He's a number machine, though. If he had a consistent defense behind him the Saints might be unstoppable. As it is, they are formidable. I picked them to take the NFC this year (not that my picks are all that reliable). We'll see.

Lots of people have crap excuses why the Patriots shouldn't have won any titles since 2004, too, but crap excuses is all they are, just like blaming a championship on a bad call in OT. Some times the ball takes a funny bounce, some times a ref has a funny angle on a play (or an extra paycheck in his pocket) but it's all just part of the game, as are a thousand other unpredictable elements.

I personally don't think it's fair to count championships as a part of greatness, but then I grew up an Archie Manning fan. However, i also wouldn't count draft status against a player. I still think, and probably always will, of Brady as a modern day football equivalent of Lou Gehrig, which naturally casts Bledsoe as a modern-day Wally Pipp. It's not an apples-to-apples analogy, but i think it's as close as you'll find in the contemporary era.

I too would enjoy seeing the Pats and Saints in the SB. I still would've liked to see Archie's sons go head-to-head in it too, but each winning multiple championships and having HOF careers is a pretty nice consolation prize.

__________

Hodge, i'm going to pass on trying to name the 10 best qb's in league history. Maybe later i'll try for something slightly less challenging. I would remind you, however, that the defending Champions play in the NFC LEast, and that since that last post, those Champs have retaken a piece of the divisional lead with a 1/2 game lead on your beloved 'Boys and a "virtual tie" with the DC Racist Stereotypes.

Archie Manning?? ugh.

Top 10: Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, Johnny Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Peyton Manning, Terry Bradshaw, Steve Young, Brett Favre

Man, those New York "football Giants" looked awful in last nights TNF.

Manning looks like a scared rabbit in the pocket. And, OBJ is blowing up on the sidelines again.

I think whoever represents the nfc east (one team or more) will merely stumble in. Imo it's virtually the same for everyone else. Except the Rams who currently own the NFC. At least so far. They sputtered last season though. They seem like a better team this year. In the AFC there might be more competition for Kansas City's best record. We'll see how KC does in New England. If a KC win then they may be almost unstoppable. Of course however KC is a team that sputters in the second half of the season almost habitually.

But looking at a team like Philadelphia they might not have as good a season win-loss at last year but it's a team that might get hot around playoff time. Any team in the playoffs can stumble into a stellar game or conversely into a horrible game. Just ask the 49ers of the past. They did both.

Hodgepodge wrote:

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

Hodge, for what my homer opinion may be worth, i feel like Brees has passed Brett Farve on the great QB list. He's getting close to Unitas and Elway. JMO

HRD, this portion of this post begs the question...Who's on your list of Top-10 QBs?

Jeez, Hodge. Only ten? You just know a bunch of the true all-time greats will snubbed that way, but i'll give it a quick shot...

In no particular order, i think the ten best NFL QB's who played mostly in the superbowl era are....

Peyton Manning
John Elway
Joe Montana
Steve Young
Tom Brady
Drew Brees
Troy Aikman
Dan Marino
Brett Favre
Aaron Rodgers

Bart Starr may have won the first two Super Bowls, and Unitas won one too, but in my own mind at least, they belong to an earlier era and shouldn't really be compared directly with more recent QBs. So these, i think, are the true historical standouts from that earlier era:

Bart Starr
Johnny Unitas
Otto Graham
Y. A. Tittle
Sammy Baugh

Honorable mention in this category for Norm Van Brocklin.

Now, obviously some really good quarterbacks were left off the list. Warren Moon, Archie Manning, Kurt Warner, Jim Kelly, Fran Tarkenton, Terry Bradshaw, and Roger Staubach, imo, are all QBs who were truly great, but didn't make my Top Ten list.

There are some active quarterbacks who might end up in there too, aside from the three i already listed (and btw i shouldn't have left Rodgers out of my "Brees and Brady are men among boys" comment, my bad). Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, and Ben Rothlisberger have all had pretty darned good careers so far, and any or even all of them (or maybe even none of them) could elbow their way onto the honorable mention or even Top Ten list. Eli may have a better than even chance at the HoF, and i'll agree that he deserves to be considered one of the elite QBs of his era, but i don't see a way for him to make my Top Ten, i wouldn't necessarily rule him out of my honorable mentions, but he's not there yet. Russell Wilson is still very young, if he has a long career and stays at top levels of productivity he has the potential to be one of the VERY best.

I could blather on at considerably more length, especially about more guys with less than ten years in the league yet, but probably most of you haven't read this far anyway.

Peggy Sawyer wrote:

Archie Manning?? ugh.

Top 10: Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, Johnny Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Peyton Manning, Terry Bradshaw, Steve Young, Brett Favre

Your reaction to the mention of Hall-Of-Fame QB Archie Manning makes me wonder who you grew up rooting for. You come across as having far too strong a sense of history to be young enough to have grown up on Tom Brady, even though he has been playing a LONG time. Your top ten list even includes two guys who retired (as players, at least) well before the first Superbowl was even played.

Did you only become a Pats fan when they started winning? Because i'm easily old enough to remember when the Patriots were the worst team in the league, and it lasted a WHILE, capped by the sale of the team following a sexual harassment scandal in the locker room! So either you rooted for some schmuck a lot worse than Archie or you weren't a Pats fan growing up, unless you're a lot younger than i think.

The Saints had been the worst team in the league well before that. By that time the Saints were regularly posting at least 5 to 9 wins in a season. But i'd been rooting for them through the paper bag mask era. Because, you know, REAL fans stick by their team through thick and thin.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

Peggy Sawyer wrote:

Archie Manning?? ugh.

Top 10: Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, Joe Montana, Tom Brady, Johnny Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Peyton Manning, Terry Bradshaw, Steve Young, Brett Favre

Your reaction to the mention of Hall-Of-Fame QB Archie Manning makes me wonder who you grew up rooting for. You come across as having far too strong a sense of history to be young enough to have grown up on Tom Brady, even though he has been playing a LONG time. Your top ten list even includes two guys who retired (as players, at least) well before the first Superbowl was even played.

Did you only become a Pats fan when they started winning? Because i'm easily old enough to remember when the Patriots were the worst team in the league, and it lasted a WHILE, capped by the sale of the team following a sexual harassment scandal in the locker room! So either you rooted for some schmuck a lot worse than Archie or you weren't a Pats fan growing up, unless you're a lot younger than i think.

The Saints had been the worst team in the league well before that. By that time the Saints were regularly posting at least 5 to 9 wins in a season. But i'd been rooting for them through the paper bag mask era. Because, you know, REAL fans stick by their team through thick and thin.

I'm Hodge's age (wheeze). And yes, I rooted for the Pats (among other teams) before they were what they are today. But rooting for someone and considering that person a great player are two different things. I may have rooted for Steve Grogan and Drew Bledsoe, but I wouldn't put them in the HOF (though they are both in the Pats HOF). I don't think Archie is HOF material either. He sired Peyton and Eli (and Cooper) which may qualify him, but when I think of his career, I remember the "Aints" and the brown bags (and, to be fair, a couple of good seasons statistically--he did not have much of a supporting cast).

I can appreciate your fandom, Mo; I have had a lifelong love for some teams in other sports (the Mariners, for instance) who've probably lost at a ratio higher than the Pats have won at. I'm a student of the history of the game, so I greatly appreciate players like Baugh, Graham, Tittle, et al, who played when defense was king. I recognize the Saints ascendency, but they haven't won me over yet. I do hope to see a Brady-Brees showdown in the SB, but for that to happen Sean Payton will need to find a better DC than Dennis Allen, Rob Ryan, or Gregg Williams. (Or maybe the Saints should hire a better HC.)

Now, to speak of my game last night, I think it lived up to its hype. I trust everyone saw it through, including you Hodge, who picked KC? I won the pick 'ems by one over you this week, Hodge (pending Monday) because you picked a rookie starting QB to beat the Pats at Gillette (a scenario that's resulted in a win for the rookie something like once out of the last 80+ such games). I'll grant the Cowboys had a bigger margin of victory in their game, but NE took out an undefeated team as time expired, and that's better. Exciting to see a healthy team with a lot of weapons hitting its stride just before a three-game road trip. Loving me some Gronk, Gordon, Edelman, Hogan, Hightower, White and Michel today.

Hell, i'm a grandparent now, and there's another on the way already.

That was a fine post overall and i appreciate your fandom as well. All i can say is that Archie Manning played on terrible teams and he IS in the Hall (enshrined in Canton) whether you like it or not. I've never actually checked but i bet he has the lowest winning percentage of any HOF QB. Hey, does Brett Favre still hold the all-time INT record?

Mrs. Mo and i both stayed up to watch that game. It was a great one. I'd even say it exceeded its hype, because no matter how hyped anything is in this day and age, hype can still only be hype, and that game was better.

Oh Zaphod, the Broncos have to have tonight's game. They can't let the Chiefs just steamroll the AFC-East.

SOMEBODY GET HODGE A COMPASS AND QUICK!

There were some fine games across the league yesterday, no big upsets this week.

The Saints managed to come from behind on the road and squeak out a one point win against a quality opponent in Baltimore. I'm pretty sure Drew Brees had another Game Winning Drive, which will put him all alone in third place for that statistic all-time.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

There were some fine games across the league yesterday, no big upsets this week.

The Saints managed to come from behind on the road and squeak out a one point win against a quality opponent in Baltimore. I'm pretty sure Drew Brees had another Game Winning Drive, which will put him all alone in third place for that statistic all-time.

Man, those Saints should've lost that game.

The Ravens Kicker had never missed an extra-point until that one. HRD, your Defense is the only scary part of your team. And, it might get exposed this week against the Vikings.

Well, it might, but the Saints D got a good upgrade by acquiring a top-flight corner from the Giants in Eli Apple.

After the Vikings is the Rams. There's probably no scarier two-game stretch in the Saints' schedule this year.

That list of guys who straddled the line of Super Bowl Era has a glaring omission...Sonny Jurgensen. He never played in the game itself, but only because he was injured early in the season and the guy who had been hired to be his veteran back-up filled his spot, only to get buzz-sawed by the only team in the Super Bowl Era to complete an entire season including the play-offs undefeated. Billy Kilmer, the back-up, had his own checkered career. Drafted by the Niners, never took a snap at QB, played H-back instead for a season and then missed a season after driving his car drunk off the Bayshore Freeway (US 101) into San Francisco Bay. He wound up being selected by the Saints in the expansion draft and starting at QB for their first four seasons, but becoming expendable when they drafted Archie Manning, and so was dealt to the Redskins. He frequently started for Jurgensen for the next several years as Sonny remained injury prone, never quite healing from the knock he picked up in '72.

Before that, however...When Vince Lombardi left Green Bay to take the job as head coach of the Redskins he said this upon his arrival: "If we'd had Jurgensen in Green Bay we would have won every game we played." Hyperbole, to be sure, and not so much a slight at Bart Starr as a nod to the talent of Jurgensen. At the time probably the only QB with a higher level of skill and talent was Unitas. He's in Canton despite the fact that he sat on the bench in Philly his first four seasons behind HoFer Norm VanBrocklin. Yet somehow, he's almost completely forgotten today.

and let's just get flags every single play Denver and KC, this makes for a fun no momentum at all game

ah man broncos gonna lose, seattle wins, bad football day for moi

TBC, Sonny Jurgensen is absolutely not forgotten in DC. And I think he's still doing radio broadcasts for Washington home games.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have personal ties to the synagogue that was attacked, and the players, coach, and owner Art Rooney have all stood up for the community. As a DC-area resident, I envy Stuntdawg and other Steelers fans, who get to root for a team whose owner has at least some notion of decency and class. I wish I knew what that was like.

I think dbl is a Cleveland native. You remember what happened to the Browns, right, Maturin? They moved to Baltimore and promptly won a Super Bowl.

________

Man, Eli Apple really looked great in his Saints debut! That was definitely a big missing piece for this Saints team, i think the defense will only get better as he settles in and the defense gets used to having him. One thing i noticed was that he was used exclusively in coverage; it's only a matter of time before they start using his blitzing ability.

The Saints won their 6th in a row, on the road, and looked very solid across the board against a quality opponent in Minnesota.

I'm a little concerned about going to L.A. this coming week to face the NFL's last remaining unbeaten team, the mighty mighty Rams. But i expect the Saints to be in the game, and if they don't disappoint me, i'll probably start thinking championship thoughts - hopefully not too terribly early in the season, so many things can and will go wrong between now and January. Hell, it's theoretically possible they could even wash right out of the playoffs; they have depth at a lot of positions but only so much.

Regardless of how it all ends, i've really been enjoying watching them as much as i have this year, and last year too, for that matter. Yesterday's game was particularly fun. Payton and the offense pulled out so many trick plays that George Edwards's head must've been spinning. Plays with 3 quarterbacks on the field, with Drew Brees lining up at wide out... and they worked. Great scouting and game planning.

________________

I've rarely been so glad not to be a Bucs fan. They keep riding the Fitz express (to a sub - .500 season) instead of developing their young QB. Man is that the wrong way to go.

What happens when Wilson has a quality RB to hand off to and a half decent line in front of him: 14 for 17, 248 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, sacked twice for -11 yds, 2 TCB for 25 yds, 98.9 QBR, perfect 158.3 Passer Rating.

Mo, I do recall what was revealed. The Browns/Baltimore thing came up in Pittsburgh coverage over the weekend (bc the Steelers' owners stood by Cleveland).

That move is linked to one terrible night years before when a bunch of moving vans stole the Colts from Baltimore. (The vans allegedly all took different routes out of Maryland to elude state police. :p) One reason the Browns were able to keep their name, history, etc., in Cleveland was the bad feelings about the Colts name (based on Maryland's horse-racing history) going to a horseless, soulless abyss.

The only thing of greatness about this is that the marching band didn't want to leave Bawlmer, hid its stuff, and hung around long enough to become the Marching Ravens. Or in other, better words: The marching band refused to yield.

Hey...there's lot of horses in Indianapolis. You can hear thousands of them at that huge oval track just outside of town every Memorial Day weekend.

There was a hell of a football game in New Orleans today.

The Saints just keep getting better week-to-week over the last two months, and i still see more improvements.

The Saints' are through what should be the toughest part of their schedule unscathed by it, but there are no ducks coming and the Panthers are only a game back, with always dangerous Atlanta only two back of Carolina.

The only team left on their schedule that currently has a losing record is the 3-4 Dallas Cowboys. Up next is a road game at 5-3 Cincinnati, then they host the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Saints still have 4 divisional games ahead of them too, and the other game is hosting Pittsburgh. 2 of those divisional games are against the Panthers, too.

HRD, that's definitely a tough schedule, but from what I saw this past Sunday, I don't see them having a tough time with any of them.

So far, we've only heard about Gurley and Mahomes vying for the Leagues MVP. I think you can add Brees to that conversation. He was on fire in the game against the Rams.

Dez Bryant has signed a 1-yr prorated contract with the New Orleans Saints. That adds a nice deep threat weapon to the Saints' offense. Bryant's not expected to start this week's game in Cincinnati, but he could play some limited snaps.

The Steelers' win yesterday gives New Orleans a little bit of breathing room in the division, too, as Pittsburgh beat Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. Hopefully the Saints can take advantage of that with a road win in Cincinnati. Carolina and New Orleans still have both of their head-to-head matchups later this season, so Carolina's definitely not out of contention in the division even if the Saints otherwise win out.

I feel for Dez, injuring his Achilles during practice Friday. I really hope he comes back from it. I don't know why there wasn't greater interest in him; he's a passionate guy, but so competitive. And 30 isn't over the hill for a wide receiver. Might have been interesting in NO.

With Dez Bryant, Cameron Meredith, and Ted Ginn Jr all out for the foreseeable future, the Saints will be casting about for some veteran receiver help. Brandon Marshall and Kamar Aiken both auditioned for the Saints Tuesday, before the Saints signed Dez. Presumably one of them will be signed next, but for now, the Saints activated an undrafted rookie, Keith Kirkwood, from the practice squad. He had two catches for 45 yards in the win in Cincinnati today.

I feel bad for Dez too. He's not too old to come back from this, i hope he recovers fully and quickly.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

Dez Bryant has signed a 1-yr prorated contract with the New Orleans Saints. That adds a nice deep threat weapon to the Saints' offense. Bryant's not expected to start this week's game in Cincinnati, but he could play some limited snaps...

Didn't get off the practice field without ending his season.  

As I mentioned in another post...It was nice of the Saints players, those who scored a TD, to throw-up the X-sign in deference to Dez.

HRD, the Saints look unbeatable! That's two weeks in a row, they've put up 50+ points on an opponent.

Also, who in the HELL is this Michael Thomas? He must be leading all receivers in every category. What were his stats last season?

And, finally, Brees is being talked about as the League's MVP. I think he's a winner, if the season ended now.

Okay, are the Raiders vying for the 1st-overall pick in next years draft? Man, they look bad. Add to the mix, the Giants winning against the 49ers, puts them one behind Oakland.

Hodgepodge wrote:

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

Dez Bryant has signed a 1-yr prorated contract with the New Orleans Saints. That adds a nice deep threat weapon to the Saints' offense. Bryant's not expected to start this week's game in Cincinnati, but he could play some limited snaps...

Didn't get off the practice field without ending his season.  

As I mentioned in another post...It was nice of the Saints players, those who scored a TD, to throw-up the X-sign in deference to Dez.

HRD, the Saints look unbeatable! That's two weeks in a row, they've put up 50+ points on an opponent.

Also, who in the HELL is this Michael Thomas? He must be leading all receivers in every category. What were his stats last season?

And, finally, Brees is being talked about as the League's MVP. I think he's a winner, if the season ended now.

Okay, are the Raiders vying for the 1st-overall pick in next years draft? Man, they look bad. Add to the mix, the Giants winning against the 49ers, puts them one behind Oakland.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/ThomMi05.htm

Thomas is a young guy who made his first ProBowl last year, his Sophomore year in the league.

HRD, those are mighty stats.

He's already got 78 receptions for a total of 950 yards. Just damn!

I heard this from the games announcers...Michael Thomas catches 90% of every target Brees sends his way. That's an astronomical number of receptions.

Yeah, he's got great hands, great breakaway speed, great agility, and a hell of a jump.

With 6 teams out of action for byes this week, the 1 o'clock slate didn't offer a lot of matchups. Nevertheless 6 games in that slot were decided by a field goal or less, and Pittsburgh's last second TD gave them a 4 point margin of victory only seconds after a Jacksonville IT was negated by a penalty.

The Saints are hosting the Defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles, who will be highly motivated after a humiliating home loss to the Cowboys. That game starts in just a few minutes. The Cowboys, Giants, and Detroit Lions all helped out the New Orleans team today by beating, respectively, the Falcons, Bucs, and Panthers. Thanks, guys. :)

Washington lost its qb, Alex Smith, in some kind of Joe Theismann callback curse: Both players suffered a broken right fibula and tibia. Both injuries occurred on the same date (33 years apart), both games ended with the same score (though flipped), both hits occurred near the 40 yard line, and both involved three-time Defensive Players of the Year.

Thinking about putting a salt circle around my house, because clearly something's up.

Freaky.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

...The Saints are hosting the Defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles, who will be highly motivated after a humiliating home loss to the Cowboys. That game starts in just a few minutes...

HRD, knowing you, you're going to downplay the Saints win against the Eagles. I'm telling you, it won't work anymore.

That was a complete annihilation! 48-7. Three games in a row scoring 40+ points.
I'll reiterate...The best all-around team in the League.  

Maturin wrote:

Washington lost its qb, Alex Smith, in some kind of Joe Theismann callback curse: Both players suffered a broken right fibula and tibia. Both injuries occurred on the same date (33 years apart), both games ended with the same score (though flipped), both hits occurred near the 40 yard line, and both involved three-time Defensive Players of the Year.

Thinking about putting a salt circle around my house, because clearly something's up.

Maturin, I've only watched the play once, just like the Theisman play. They're both to hideous to watch more than once.

The 'Boys came back to win another game. As I mentioned in another post...This is the second time I've picked against them and they've won. I'm sure everyone knows what that means?

Really looking forward to tonight's MNF. Chiefs vs. Rams! Two 9-1 teams going at it. May the best Team win,

Hodgepodge, my old friend, i'm not looking to downplay that win.

There was a moment in the second quarter, with the Saints up 17-7, that it looked like Philly was marching down the field to make it close, but that Big Easy D stepped up with a big pick and the team never looked back from that point on.

At this point i'm declaring the Saints' bandwagon OPEN FOR FRONTRUNNER FANS!!! Feel free to jump, Hodge old buddy, there's plenty of room and we'll be happy to have you back! fellow Dallas Cowboys fan Mrs. Mo has already claimed shotgun though.

Wow, that Chiefs-Rams game was insane. I'm glad, from a Pats point of view, that the AFC team (which we've already beaten) lost. In spite of the announcers' absolute fit of excitement with every play, however, I found the game depressing. The era of defense is utterly over. It doesn't surprise me that these young QBs are completely confident of every throw...they simply have no concern about defenders. On those occasions when Mahomes was actually under pressure, he showed some inaccuracy. But that's rare, and when it does occur, QBs know the defender has to be aware of exactly how to tackle. It is in a defender's head, but not the passer's; how couldn't we end up with scores like 57-54? Give me a showdown between top teams that ends 6-3, and I'll be a lot more excited than I was on Monday.

I feel like the era of defense was over a long time ago and we're now entering an era of hyper-offense. Monday night's game was a perfect example of the product that Goodell has always wanted to offer: two high-powered offenses in a slugfest, with lots of big plays, lots of lead changes, and lots of scoring. Very high entertainment value even if it's not quite up to the standards the NFL used to represent as far as sportsmanship and athletics. There are good reasons that people compare Goodell to Vince McMahon not Vince Lombardi.

But Monday night wasn't happening in a vacuum. Only a handful of teams scored less than 20 points this past week, only two of them less than 16, and no winning team scored less than 20. And that's the new normal in the NFL. 25 years ago, a QB throwing for 400 yds in a game was a very big deal. Hell, 300 yds was well over average. Not anymore.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

...At this point i'm declaring the Saints' bandwagon OPEN FOR FRONTRUNNER FANS!!! Feel free to jump, Hodge old buddy, there's plenty of room and we'll be happy to have you back! fellow Dallas Cowboys fan Mrs. Mo has already claimed shotgun though.

HRD, I'm definitely jumping onboard.  

TPTB (Mrs. Hodgepodge), has already started to get her paraphernalia together for the Super Bowls parade. She's now threatening to buy one of those small umbrellas so she can practice her Mardi Gras dance.  

Peggy Sawyer wrote:

Wow, that Chiefs-Rams game was insane. I'm glad, from a Pats point of view, that the AFC team (which we've already beaten) lost. In spite of the announcers' absolute fit of excitement with every play, however, I found the game depressing. The era of defense is utterly over. It doesn't surprise me that these young QBs are completely confident of every throw...they simply have no concern about defenders. On those occasions when Mahomes was actually under pressure, he showed some inaccuracy. But that's rare, and when it does occur, QBs know the defender has to be aware of exactly how to tackle. It is in a defender's head, but not the passer's; how couldn't we end up with scores like 57-54? Give me a showdown between top teams that ends 6-3, and I'll be a lot more excited than I was on Monday.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

I feel like the era of defense was over a long time ago and we're now entering an era of hyper-offense. Monday night's game was a perfect example of the product that Goodell has always wanted to offer: two high-powered offenses in a slugfest, with lots of big plays, lots of lead changes, and lots of scoring. Very high entertainment value even if it's not quite up to the standards the NFL used to represent as far as sportsmanship and athletics. There are good reasons that people compare Goodell to Vince McMahon not Vince Lombardi.

But Monday night wasn't happening in a vacuum. Only a handful of teams scored less than 20 points this past week, only two of them less than 16, and no winning team scored less than 20. And that's the new normal in the NFL. 25 years ago, a QB throwing for 400 yds in a game was a very big deal. Hell, 300 yds was well over average. Not anymore.

Lets not forget, there were 7 turnovers in that game brought about by great Defensive plays.

Although, I do agree with both of you that the League, and Goodell in particular, has moved games to this threshold.

Great defensive plays or offensive predictability? And I might be a little biased but I still think there's a place in the league for shut-down defense. Most of the teams are living in fear that Pete Carroll will return the Seahawks D to something near 2013 level, especially since Ken Norton, Jr. is back with the staff as the DC. In case you have forgotten, that squad ranks alongside the '84 Bears and some of the great Steeler dynasty teams as one of the stingiest defenses in the Super Bowl Era, and they took on that season's top offense in the Super Bowl with the final score being 43-8 with the 8 being a 4th quarter TD engineered by back-up QB Brock Oswieler while Peyton Manning sat on the sidelines singing "Wish I was in Omaha" to the tune of the Nationwide Insurance jingle in his head over and over and over...

That Saints defense is finally firing on all cylinders. Dennis Allen put Eli Apple on Julio Jones and used him on a few corner blitzes as well. I've never seen Matt Ryan with the look in his eyes like he had in the second quarter tonight. That wasn't ice water in his veins anymore.

The Saints offense wasn't playing their best tonight. Michael Thomas had a quiet night and we saw the punter 3 times (very rare this year so far) but Brees still managed to throw TDs to four different undrafted receivers.

And, for the moment at least, the Saints have the best record in the NFL.

ETA: Did anybody else notice that Sean Payton iced the kicker on an onside kick? With less than two minutes left and ATL down by 14? Odd thing to do. I guess it worked though. This team has some tricky shit up their sleeves.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

...The Saints offense wasn't playing their best tonight. Michael Thomas had a quiet night and we saw the punter 3 times (very rare this year so far) but Brees still managed to throw TDs to four different undrafted receivers...

He also threw his second INT for the season.
Think about that for a minute...This is week 12, and he's only thrown 2 INTs so far this season. That's mind blowing!


ETA: Forgot to add this lil tidbit...If Marvin Lewis, the Bengals HC, doesn't loose his job after this season, there's no God.

Alright...Iggles did the job on MNF I was hoping they would. Now the Seahawks have the top wild card spot, their only hope for playoffs at this point, with a favorable schedule down the last quarter of the season. So far it appears they will face off against whichever mediocre team emerges from the NFC East, which right now I would guess would be Philly.

TBC, were you as gratified as i to see Tampa take down Carolina this week? Maybe more gratified than i, even?

I don't think Philly's a safe bet at all out of the East. They go to Dallas next week - Dallas beat them in Philly about a month ago and have playing better football since then, and after that Philly still has road games in LA and DC, and host the Texans.

By contrast, after next week Dallas will visit Indy and the Giants, and host Tampa.

It probably doesn't matter a whole lot to the Seahawks who they visit in the first round of the playoffs, but if they were my team, i think i'd rather see them visit the defending Champs.

For those wondering, Seattle's remaining schedule involves hosting Minnesota, visiting SF, then hosting the Chiefs and Cards.

I don't know if you've seen any games in New Orleans this year TBC, but the Superdome has been extraordinarily loud. I think the natives down there are at least giving Seattle fans a run for the money. I'd be interested to know if anybody has been taking decibel readings. I'll try to remember to look that up at some point.

TBC wrote:

Alright...Iggles did the job on MNF I was hoping they would. Now the Seahawks have the top wild card spot, their only hope for playoffs at this point, with a favorable schedule down the last quarter of the season. So far it appears they will face off against whichever mediocre team emerges from the NFC East, which right now I would guess would be Philly.

If the playoffs started today, the 'Hawks would be the 5th-seed and play the 4th-seed the 'Boys in Dallas.
The Vikings, the 6th-seed would play the Bears in Chicago.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

...I don't think Philly's a safe bet at all out of the East. They go to Dallas next week - Dallas beat them in Philly about a month ago and have playing better football since then, and after that Philly still has road games in LA and DC, and host the Texans.

By contrast, after next week Dallas will visit Indy and the Giants, and host Tampa.

It probably doesn't matter a whole lot to the Seahawks who they visit in the first round of the playoffs, but if they were my team, i think i'd rather see them visit the defending Champs.

For those wondering, Seattle's remaining schedule involves hosting Minnesota, visiting SF, then hosting the Chiefs and Cards.

I don't know if you've seen any games in New Orleans this year TBC, but the Superdome has been extraordinarily loud. I think the natives down there are at least giving Seattle fans a run for the money. I'd be interested to know if anybody has been taking decibel readings. I'll try to remember to look that up at some point.

Thanks HRD for the remaining schedules in the NFC-East.
I agree, the 'Boys remaining schedule is more conducive to coming out on top in the East.
That game the Eagles still have with the Rams should be the deciding game in the East.

The Washington Repellents need one or two backup quarterbacks, and maybe a starter, if anyone here is interested in suiting up.

I like my legs the way they are. Thanks though.

What's a couple fibulas (fibuli?) between friends?

Talking about bad luck.

Two QBs from the same team go on IR with the same condition.
I'd apply, but I'd wear Hockey Goalie pads for protection.