What a Mess (and the Week 14 NFL TV schedule)

Posted on December 7, 2023 by guelphbossman

OK where do I begin here with the MILF Hunter? So The Athletic (I won’t say much about that website other than they believe much more highly of themselves than they probably should) reports that Zach Wilson does not want to start for the Jets. Would I blame him? No. The Jets O-line is basically papier-mache. Saying that, he’s a professional athlete and it is EXTREMELY rare to find the one that does not want to compete. And Wilson isn’t that guy.

So after seeing Tim Boyle (TIM FUCKING BOYLE) start and Trevor Siemian pass Wilson as the backup, Jets head coach Robert Saleh has finally seen the light (kind of) and put Wilson back under centre as the starting quarterback. Boyle has been released (and shouldn’t have got a shot in the first place) and Siemian can be the experienced backup. If…IF the Jets can somehow win their next three games, don’t be surprised if a certain recurring guest on the Pat McAfee Show makes his long-awaited return. That’s also if the Jets aren’t mathematically eliminated at that point as well which is a dicey proposition in the AFC as you will see later in this post. Look, the Jets do have a somewhat bright future if they can get some O-line help and have Rodgers for a full season. Barring that, it’s more agony for fans of the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

Huh, that’s two Jets introductions in a row. Must be a record. OK now let’s get to the schedule which does include the Jets and a very weird occurrence that’s never happened before.

American Networks


Jacksonville at Cleveland	1:00	All affiliates (except Burlington)
Houston at NY Jets	1:00	Burlington
Detroit at Chicago	1:00		Detroit
LA Rams at Baltimore	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Seattle at San Francisco	4:05		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
Minnesota at Las Vegas	4:05		Minneapolis
Buffalo at Kansas City	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

New England at Pittsburgh	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, FOX Boston, CTV2, TSN 1/+
Philadelphia at Dallas	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/4/5/+
Green Bay at NY Giants	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 3/+
Tennessee at Miami	Monday, 8:15, TSN 1/+

Just a Bunch of Schedule Notes

The games that will not appear on Canadian television networks (or American ones you can view) unless you have Sunday Ticket or RedZone:
- Tampa Bay at Atlanta
- Denver at LA Chargers
- Carolina at New Orleans
Oh, the NFC South. The worst division in football. And all four teams are not being shown here. Sounds like justice to me.
So you notice something about Monday night? Yeah, two games going on at the same time. The only thread between them? The ManningCast which is on TSN+. Get that, you can watch Peyton and Eli and whatever stupid guests they have try to watch and analyze two games at once. Interesting idea and again it’s a lookahead towards when the NFL expands (and they will expand, make no mistake about it).
The Thursday Nighter. My god. The schedule maker must have thought this was hilarious. Then again, I don’t think he could have even envisioned two offenses so woeful. At least the Steelers got rid of Matt Canada and are opening up somewhat on the offensive side of the ball. The Pats? They might as well tank at this point and get that ~~long snapper~~ quarterback of the future since Mac Jones ain’t it.
The Bills and the Chiefs get a national audience this week which is nice to see (only one really…Jags-Browns are close but no cigar). Now while the two teams are only two games apart in the standings, it feels like they are miles apart on how good they really are. The Chiefs are doing OK by recent KC standards but the Bills have been terrible at times. Just don’t have the Chiefs needing to score with 13 seconds to go since it might send the Bills (and their fans) over the edge.

Updated playoff picture time bitches!

AFC	NFC
#1 Miami (9-3)	#1 Philadelphia (10-2)
#2 Baltimore (9-3)	#2 San Francisco (9-3)
#3 Kansas City (8-4)	#3 Detroit (9-3)
#4 Jacksonville (8-4)	#4 Atlanta (6-6)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Pittsburgh (7-5)	#5 Dallas (9-3)
#6 Cleveland (7-5)	#6 Minnesota (6-6)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston (7-5)	#7 Green Bay/LA Rams/Seattle (6-6)

Not quite three-quarters of the way through the season but with 17 games there is no way to do fractions nicely so let’s just say we are in the home stretch. It’s December. Close enough. No one has clinched yet but there will be opportunities as I will state below. The NFC South is a complete fucking mess and I hate to say this but I hope the, ugh, Cowboys mop the fucking floor with whoever wins that sorry division. Pains me to even type that but I believe it.

Might as well get right to clinching scenarios. As you know, I do not include ties until the final week of the regular season and even then, only if I absolutely have to since otherwise the amount of scenarios goes through the roof. Let us begin.

Playoff Berth

Philadelphia clinches with a win AND (an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Green Bay loss AND a Detroit loss))
Dallas clinches with a win AND a Detroit win AND a Tampa Bay loss AND a Seattle loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR a New Orleans loss) AND a Green Bay loss AND a Minnesota loss
San Francisco clinches with a win AND (a Minnesota loss OR a Green Bay loss)

Elimination

Arizona is eliminated with an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win
New England is eliminated with a loss OR a Houston win OR a Cincinnati win OR (a Las Vegas win AND a Buffalo win)

OK that Dallas scenario is insane. Would be fun if it happened!

Everyone have a great rest of the week and enjoy the games…even tonight’s affair.

Seriously? The Week 13 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on November 30, 2023 by guelphbossman

Yes, that’s Aaron Rodgers. That was Aaron Rodgers THIS WEEK. And yes, he was tossing the pigskin. Not only was he tossing the pigskin, he was moving around like he was in the pocket.

A-A-Ron suffered that torn Achilles a little less than three months ago. Most athletes would take about six months to recover at best. There are rumours that Rodgers, who seems like Superman now, might be back in late January, meaning he would have been out a little less than four months. That is completely ridiculous. I get that he’s a high level athlete but even for an athlete of this calibre, this is remarkable. Now, will he actually end up coming back? I have a feeling the Jets will have to be in playoff contention for him to do so otherwise what’s the point? And if the Jets have a shot at the playoffs? The Jets could become a VERY dangerous team all of a sudden.

Alright enough of Rodgers (for now) and get to what you are here for…that’s right, ~~Frank Stallone~~ television schedules.

American Networks


Denver at Houston	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown
Arizona at Pittsburgh	1:00	Cleveland
LA Chargers at New England	1:00	Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Detroit at New Orleans	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit
Miami at Washington	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Carolina at Tampa Bay	4:05	Detroit
San Francisco at Philadelphia	4:25		All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

Seattle at Dallas	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, FOX Seattle, CTV2, TSN 1/5/+
Kansas City at Green Bay	8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5/+
Cincinnati at Jacksonville	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/+

NFL Schedule Points for this week (and this week only!)

You want to see these games? Better get Sunday Ticket or RedZone:
- Indianapolis at Tennessee
- Atlanta at NY Jets
- Cleveland at LA Rams
I guess the Browns-Rams game could have some interest since the Browns are still in the thick of things but the rest? Meh.
No surprise that the 49ers-Eagles game is national for us. Both teams are looking to build their already fairly sizable division leads (although the Eagles have those pesky Cowboys to deal with in their division). I’m kind of surprised the Broncos and Texans didn’t get the same treatment in the early window but I am guessing that’s mostly because of the Texans. They are playing well but they do not have a national following. Somewhat similar to the Broncos to be honest.
The TSN+ broadcast for Monday Night Football is the Manningcast just so you know. I can confirm that is the plan going forward is to keep this on TSN+ and make you pay whatever per month. I think it’s more than ESPN+ which is fucking preposterous considering how much live sports you get with ESPN+ compared to TSN+.
Yes, for people out west (or people with satellite) who get FOX out of Seattle, you can avoid going onto Prime to get your Thursday night football fix.

Alright, time for the updated playoff picture as of right fucking now!

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (9-3)	#1 Philadelphia (10-1)
#2 Kansas City (8-3)	#2 San Francisco (8-3)
#3 Jacksonville (8-3)	#3 Detroit (8-3)
#4 Miami (8-3)	#4 Atlanta (5-6)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Pittsburgh (7-4)	#5 Dallas (8-3)
#6 Cleveland (7-4)	#6 Seattle (6-5)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston/Denver (6-5)	#7 Minnesota (6-6)

I’ve decided to switch to showing teams’ records since if you don’t know which teams are leading which divisions…well, I don’t know what to tell you. Three-way tie for the final Wild Card spot in the AFC with the Colts, Texans and resurgent Broncos at 6-5. And there are SIX other teams within two games of them. The only team truly out of it in the AFC is the Patriots. Imagine saying that any time in the past, oh, quarter-century. The Cowboys look like they will end up clinching at least a Wild Card spot unless they have a monster collapse so it’s down to two spots, really. Sure, the Seahawks and Vikings are in those spots right now but haven’t exactly looked like world-beaters over the past little while. Plus, we have the NFC South and their band of misfits. God damn it, I hate the fact that the team that wins that division will host a playoff game. Fucking stupid. That should have been changed as soon as they put a seventh team in the playoffs in each conference. Almost feels like beating a dead horse at this point with how much I have mentioned it but it still irks me.

Anyway, everyone have a great weekend and enjoy the games!

Can we all agree on one thing (other than the Week 9 NFL TV schedule)?

Posted on November 2, 2023 by guelphbossman

That Josh McDaniels should never get another head coaching opportunity?

Look, it becomes painfully obvious when a coordinator gets more than one shot at being the big cheese and can’t cut the mustard (and other food puns). Some coordinators were never meant to be head coaches. It’s the Wade Phillips Paradox. And McDaniels may have rocketed to near the top of this list of guys who have “Coordinator Ceilings.”

He wasn’t considered a great hire when the Raiders hired him and he has proven almost everyone right. He should go back to being a position coach somewhere. Kind of start over. He will get another offensive coordinator job and rightfully so. I just hope another team doesn’t make the same mistake since it would reek of desperation.

Also, let’s see what will happen if the Raiders go on a heater and are in playoff contention in the final couple weeks. Will they reward the interim coach by basically telling him to fuck off? I give it better than a 50/50 chance.

OK I’ve said enough about that. On to the schedule!

American Networks


Seattle at Baltimore	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Presque Isle
Arizona at Cleveland	1:00	Cleveland
LA Rams at Green Bay	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Detroit
Minnesota at Atlanta	1:00		Minneapolis
Washington at New England	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Indianapolis at Carolina	4:05	Minneapolis, Boston
Dallas at Philadelphia	4:25		All affiliates (except Watertown & Burlington)
NY Giants at Las Vegas	4:25		Watertown, Burlington

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games (and Morning Game)

Tennessee at Pittsburgh	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/4/+
Miami vs. Kansas City (in Frankfurt)	9:30 AM, NFL Network, TSN4
Buffalo at Cincinnati	8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 4/5/+
LA Chargers at NY Jets	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/+

Some Non-McDaniels Notes

Might as well start with the games not being shown up here in America’s Hat unless you have RedZone:
- Tampa Bay at Houston
- Chicago at New Orleans
Just two? Impressive. Plus they aren’t foisting the Chicago Bears on Canadians. That’s very nice of them.
What did the people of upstate New York and northern Vermont do to deserve this? They get the Giants and the Raiders? Ugh. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a part of the U.S. that has a LOT of Sunday Ticket and RedZone subscribers.
The ManningCast will be seen on TSN+ only and it looks like that’s the way it will be now. That sucks for people who enjoy it and like the alternative to Joe and Troy on the main feed and haven’t figured out how to get TSN+.
Lustig, wie das beste Spiel der Woche an einem Sonntagmorgen in Frankfurt ausgetragen wird. I will say that for all that the NFL is trying to do in England, Germany should have had games way before last year. They are NUTS about football, American-style. Kind of wish we could see the European League here although that just shows me that I am insane and need to take a break from football from time to time.

Let’s look at the relatively hilariously early playoff picture in the NFL:

AFC	NFC
#1 Kansas City (AFC West)	#1 Philadelphia (NFC East)
#2 Miami (AFC East)	#2 Detroit (NFC North)
#3 Jacksonville (AFC South)	#3 Seattle (NFC West)
#4 Baltimore (AFC North)	#4 Atlanta (NFC South)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Buffalo	#5 Dallas
#6 Pittsburgh	#6 San Francisco
#7 Cleveland/NY Jets/Cincinnati	#7 Minnesota/New Orleans

Good lord what the hell is this? The Wild Cards in the AFC are ridiculous. Are any of those teams playing really well? You could say the Jets have done better than advertised and the Browns have a great defense but other than that, meh. Shocking to see the Niners in the #6 spot. All it takes is a couple of weeks and you go from #1 to just inside the playoff picture. But….it’s early. No one has been mathematically eliminated just yet.

Let’s hope we don’t get snow like we saw during the MAC games a couple nights ago anytime soon. Don’t feel like getting my snow tires on just yet. Enjoy the games everyone!

Well that didn’t last long (and the Week 2 NFL TV Schedule)

Posted on September 14, 2023 by guelphbossman

Four plays. That’s all Aaron Rodgers got before this play ended in him injuring his Achilles tendon. Season over. Just like that, all the hype toward the New York Jets went down the toilet. As for how the rest of the game went, I’d rather not talk about it.

It always sucks when a team’s star player goes down to a season-ending injury. Especially when its that player’s first year with a team. And Aaron Rodgers is no spring chicken. He will be 40 before the end of the season. Now will he be back? Almost certainly. Will he be as good? Eh, who knows. Also, for all the sad Jets fans, how much more can you take? I’m a big Bills fan and I have taken a bunch of huge helpings of bullshit over the years. They are a frustrating team to be a fan of for sure. But I don’t think they can hold a candle to what the Jets have done, especially in the last couple of decades. Maybe they will surprise everyone and still be competing for a playoff spot come late December. Stranger things have happened.

OK enough of that since I don’t feel like even thinking about that game…ugh. Here is the NFL TV sked for us Canucks.

American Networks


Las Vegas at Buffalo	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Kansas City at Jacksonville	1:00	Minneapolis, Detroit
Baltimore at Cincinnati	1:00	Cleveland
Seattle at Detroit	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Detroit
Green Bay at Atlanta	1:00		Minneapolis, Burlington, Presque Isle
NY Giants at Arizona	4:05		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington
NY Jets at Dallas	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

Minnesota at Philadelphia	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/5/+
Miami at New England	8:20, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/4/5*
New Orleans at Carolina	Monday, 7:15, TSN 1/3
Cleveland at Pittsburgh	Monday, 8:15, ABC, CTV2, TSN 3*/4/5

Injury-less Notes

I mean I hope I don’t tear my quadriceps muscle or anything like that typing up this blog post. That would be brutal.
You will see some asterisks in the schedule. On Sunday night, TSN5 will get to Miami-NE around 11:00 (so sometime in the fourth quarter) after an MLS game. On Monday night, TSN3 will go to the Browns-Steelers game in progress after being done with the Saints-Panthers game. Wait….does that mean……
Yes, two Monday nighters! I am still not totally sold on this idea but at least they aren’t doing it one after another. That felt disastrous and I never watched the entirety of the second game. This will be interesting and I have a feeling this is what the NFL wants going forward, especially if they plan to expand in the next decade since they really can’t have fifteen or sixteen games during Sunday afternoon since some games will get almost no coverage (and some have that issue already).
Games not being shown here in Canada (unless you have the Zone of Reds):
- LA Chargers at Tennessee
- Washington at Denver
- Chicago at Tampa Bay
- Indianapolis at Houston
- San Francisco at LA Rams
Now do you see why they are doing stuff like putting two games on Monday night? It never used to be (at least for the past decade) that you would have five games that can’t be seen up here two weeks in a row. Sure it would happen a few times a season but this sounds like it will be the norm. Which is fine for people who have Sunday Ticket or RedZone. If not, you might miss one of your team’s games. No, there aren’t many Colts fans up in this neck of the woods but I assure you there are still quite a few Niners fans scattered around Canada.
Again, TSN+ gets a game that isn’t being shown anywhere else. Smart. That’s the kind of small thing that people like.
I am sure CBS execs are not pleased that Rodgers went down since most of the States and Canada get the Jets and Dallas this Sunday afternoon. Ouch. And the Jets have a lot of national games going forward so if they struggle, watch for a lot of games to be flexed out. Not great for ticket holders so just have to be watchful about scheduling changes.

There you go. The schedule…it is complete. Like A-A-Rod’s season. Hi-Yo! OK that was mean. I honestly hate to see anyone lose their season to a bad injury. If they fuck up and do something illegal? Then they can lose their season, that’s fine by me. Enjoy the rest of your week and enjoy the games starting tonight!

I kind of hate myself for this (the 2023 NFL preview)

Posted on August 14, 2023 by guelphbossman

Ugh. I’ll be honest: I am not an Aaron Rodgers fan. Never really have been. I don’t hate the guy. I respect what he’s done on the football field. I just think he’s fucking weird and can be a complete crybaby pussy when things don’t go his way. Then again, I guess I could say that last part for many pro athletes.

OK Bossman, then why did you put his picture up to start this blog post? Well, as much as I dislike A-A-Ron, he’s still a top tier quarterback. And his move to the New York Jets after what seemed like a bunch of seasons being pissed off with Green Bay management (and rightfully so at times, I will admit) is the biggest offseason move in my opinion. It also makes it so he will be facing my favourite team, the Buffalo Bills, twice every season (and three if they meet in the playoffs). That’s a big deal. There is a shift in the AFC East and the AFC in general that’s a little more than your normal “Team A has improved and should fight for a playoff spot after not making it last year.” This is “Team A has acquired a gamechanger and could compete for the division title if the chips fall in their favour.”

It seems like every season I take a quick look at how I did the previous year with some of my predictions. So why not do that again right now? Because I don’t want to? Too fucking bad, it’s tradition. This is making me sound a bit schizophrenic.

I had Buffalo beating the Rams in the Super Bowl. Good fucking God. I mean yeah the Rams had injuries but what was I thinking?
Had the Chargers losing the AFC title game. Hey, they made the playoffs but lost in an epic collpase against Jacksonville.
In the other conference championship I figured Tampa Bay would make it there and then lose. Actually I had them with the second-best record in the league. They were good…but not that good. Even with Tom Brady.
I also had the Colts and Titans to make the playoffs. Woof.
I did have Houston near the bottom to get the top pick of the NFL Draft. I had the Falcons actually “winning” that pick and they weren’t too far off. Having the Jags, Giants and Seahawks that low though? Damn.

Alright enough of that memory shit. I think I’ll do better this time, no….I WILL do better this time. I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the butt. Let’s go with the projected standings where a funny little asterisk beside a team means they get to be a Wild Card team this season (I think):

AFC East		NFC East
Buffalo	13-4	Philadelphia	13-4
NY Jets*	10-7	Dallas*	10-7
Miami*	9-8	NY Giants	8-9
New England	7-10	Washington	7-10
AFC North		NFC North
Cincinnati	12-5	Detroit	10-7
Baltimore*	12-5	Minnesota*	9-8
Pittsburgh	9-8	Green Bay	7-10
Cleveland	8-9	Chicago	6-11
AFC South		NFC South
Jacksonville	10-7	New Orleans	9-8
Tennessee	7-10	Atlanta	8-9
Houston	6-11	Carolina	6-11
Indianapolis	4-13	Tampa Bay	5-12
AFC West		NFC West
Kansas City	13-4	San Francisco	13-4
LA Chargers	9-8	Seattle*	9-8
Denver	8-9	LA Rams	7-10
Las Vegas	5-12	Arizona	3-14

Notes on all this fun and crazy crap

I figured there would be a lot of parity last year. It didn’t quite work out that way with a few teams running away to the top of the league. I can’t see a 14-win team this season but you never know. I have the Bills, Chiefs, 49ers and Eagles all getting to the 13-win mark.
The best race in the AFC will definitely be in the AFC North. Cincinnati and Baltimore look like they should be neck-and-neck to win the division and you can’t totally count out the Steelers either there although they will have to show out and garner a couple of upsets to make it a three-way race.
In the NFC, the North is going to be closest divisional race there too. The Lions might finally be the class of the division although the Vikings are lurking and have been at the top many times over the last decade.
The NFC South should also be a good race but for many of the wrong reasons. I do have the Saints getting over .500 but I could see the division winner having eight wins which I cannot stand.
As for the Wild Card race in the NFC, it’ll be…alright. There’s going to be some eight-win teams in the mix late in December and into January and perhaps even a team like the Packers still alive going into the final week. Yeah, it might be that dire.
In the AFC it won’t be quite the same. The Dolphins, Steelers and Chargers I have fighting down to the wire for that final Wild Card spot with the Broncos and Browns maybe, just maybe, being in the mix as well.
It just feels like the Cardinals are already starting their race to the bottom of the league. Sure I have the Colts, Bucs and Raiders also not doing very well but Arizona…man, I wonder if three wins is too much for them. They could be that bad…even with Kyler Murray as their quarterback.
I thought Josh Allen would win the MVP last season. He had a good year but nothing compared to Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts, who battled it out for the award with Mahomes winning it. This year…I believe Joe Burrow channels his inner “final year at LSU” and goes off for a monster season to lead the Bengals to the AFC North title.
Should I pick a Rookie of the Year? Hey, I did well with my Aidan Hutchinson choice since I think he won one of the various rookie awards (although Sauce Gardner was the real revelation last season). This year I will go with Bijan Robinson on the offensive side of the ball and Jalen Carter on defense.
I should have went with Dan Campbell last year as Coach of the Year. Trust your gut, Bossman! This year my gut says Robert Saleh of the Jets will win it but don’t count out Sean Payton or Dan Campbell yet again.

Playoffpredictionslet’sjustfuckinggo!

Wild Card Round

Buffalo (2) def. Miami (7)

NY Jets (6) def. Cincinnati (3)

Jacksonville (4) def. Baltimore (5)

San Francisco (2) def. Minnesota (7)

Detroit (3) def. Seattle (6)

Dallas (5) def. New Orleans (4)

Divisional Playoffs

Kansas City (1) def. NY Jets (6)

Jacksonville (4) def. Buffalo (2)

Philadelphia (1) def. Dallas (5)

San Francisco (2) def. Detroit (3)

Conference Championships

Kansas City (1) def. Jacksonville (4)

San Francisco (2) def. Philadelphia (1)

Super Bowl LVIII

San Francisco (2) def. Kansas City (1)

Yes the Chiefs will get back to the Super Bowl yet again. It’ll help that I have the Bengals getting upset in the Wild Card Round by the Jets. The Niners will finally get the Super Bowl that has eluded them for almost three decades and they get revenge for the Chiefs beating them four years prior. Jacksonville will get close by getting to the AFC Championship and the Lions will win their first playoff game since 1991. I can feel it. I think.

We are getting closer. That’s right, the first college football schedule of the season is right around the corner. Sure it’s Week Zero but still…it’s WEEK ZERO! As is the norm, I am so looking forward to this season. Hell, I will be on the edge of my seat watching New Mexico State hosting UMass in less than two weeks! That’s how much I am looking forward to college football returning. You all have a great upcoming week!

Sure, let’s do a bit of a draft recap

Posted on May 10, 2023 by guelphbossman

I will get to this man a bit later since he went through quite the night.

As usual, the draft was a fun time…well, the first night was fun then it got steadily less fun until the final rounds when other than NFL Network’s Stump The Truck, almost nothing was really all that fun. But I watched most of it. What can I say, I am way into football. Probably too much but soon enough I will be on my own a lot more so football may be the only thing that keeps me company. God, that’s sad. Let’s move on.

First of all, I will take a look at my mock draft and compare it to the actual draft results and…yep, I got basically nothing right. I couldn’t even get the first two picks right. I had C.J. Stroud going first followed by Bryce Young. I think Carolina made the right pick out of the two but I was sure they had their sights set on Stroud. Funny enough, though, I got two picks exactly right: Zay Flowers to the Ravens at #22 and Wanya Morris to the Chiefs at #92. That really doesn’t make any sense but it’s the truth. Other than that, everything else wrong and some were REALLY wrong.

Reaches

It’s always too soon to look at this but there seem to be picks that were universally thought of as reaches: as in a team picked a player way earlier than they probably would have gone. I know some teams absolutely want a specific player and worry about not getting them that much that they either take them too soon or trade up to get them when they didn’t need to. Still doesn’t mean it wasn’t a stretch for that player. Let’s look at a few that felt obvious.

Darnell Wright (#10 overall to Chicago) – I, along with most others, had Wright pegged as a late-1st round/early-2nd round pick at best. The fact that the Bears also passed on Peter Skoronski, from Northwestern (supposedly Chicago’s Big Ten school) is the real headscratcher here.

Jahmyr Gibbs (#12 to Detroit) – Speaking of headscratchers, it’s like Detroit brought back Matt Millen and his new focus wasn’t wide receivers but running backs. Detroit did not need help at running back but took Gibbs at this point anyway. I had figured he’d end up on the Bills which didn’t thrill me but Gibbs is better than what they have at this point. Anyway, Detroit ended up trading D’Andre Swift to the Eagles because of this pick. I don’t get it.

Deonte Banks (#24 to NY Giants) – Did the Giants need a cornerback? Absolutely. Was Joey Porter Jr. still on the board? Absolutely. Was Kelee Ringo still on the board? Absolutely. Was Cam Smith still on the board? Absolutely. I could go on and on but Banks wasn’t a first rounder and I’d be shocked if he plays like one.

Derick Hall (#37 to Seattle) – The Seahawks didn’t exactly need a defensive end but they decided to pick one anyway. OK, that’s fine. To pick Hall when there were a few other guys on the board who were rated way higher made no sense. Hall was barely a second rounder in most mock drafts.

Steals

On the other hand, we have our draft steals. Every draft has their steals and yes I know Tom Brady was a “steal.” Actually, no, at the time, no one thought he was a steal of a pick. No one. At all. If you say you did, you’re a dirty fucking liar. Again, this is way too early so by the time the next draft occurred, yes, Brady was considered a massive steal. Hell, he would have been a steal as a late second rounder.

Christian Gonzalez (#17 to New England) – The biggest steal of the draft in my opinion. I had him going third overall and many mock drafts had him in the top seven picks. Did the Pats need any help in the secondary? No, but how do you pass on a guy that has dropped approximately 10 spots or so in the first round when you don’t have a huge need? Once again, Bill Belichick is playing 4-D Parcheesi while everyone else is playing Snakes and Ladders.

Dalton Kincaid (#25 to Buffalo) – I was not happy when Bijan Robinson was off the board super early. Man did he go from not even a first rounder like a month ago to Top 10 pick. Anyway, the Bills did the next best thing (that they needed) by getting the best tight end in the draft in Kincaid. Josh Allen could make the guy…well, not a star but a very dependable receiver.

Joey Porter Jr. (#32 to Pittsburgh) – How did the last into the second round? There were easily six different teams that should have taken him and passed. Yeah I’m looking at you New York Football Giants (or GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-Men in honour of Chris Berman). He may make a couple of teams pay for passing on him this coming season.

Jalin Hyatt (#73 to NY Giants) – So the Giants make one of the worst picks of the early part of the draft and then somehow snag Hyatt in the third round. Hey, whatever works. I could have also put Hyatt’s Tennessee Volunteer teammate Cedric Tillman here as he went one spot later to the Browns.

Alright let’s get down to the Will Levis situation. ESPN did this man (and his family) dirty. Well, most of them. I think the girlfriend loved the attention. Still though, to spend four-plus hours in that room and not get your name called has to suck. And ESPN loved it. You know they did. Most people had him going in the #7-#13 range. I had him going to Washington at #16. Then someone on Reddit (I think) tweeted that the Panthers were considering him for the top pick. All of a sudden, people became a lot more interested in him. It also meant that every draft pick that wasn’t him would make him look worse. And yes I know there are others that suffer the same plight but he is, by far, the most hyped of anyone who has had that happen. Also, why didn’t Tennessee move up into the first round to get him? Now they lose a potential option year if he ends up being good. Poor management by the Titans there.

Best Draft

Again, this is way too early but you can kind of tell when a team probably had a good draft (unless one of their top picks is a flop). Here is my list of the top three teams from draft day.

Philadelphia – It feels almost unanimous among experts (which I am not one of) that the Eagles had the best draft. Not only did they continue their Georgia Bulldog-riffic defense picking Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, but they also drafted Bama’s Tyler Steen who could potentially anchor the offensive line soon enough and somehow had Kelee Ringo (another Bulldog) fall into their lap in the fourth round. Finally, Detroit’s stupidity made it so the Eagles got D’Andre Swift in a trade with the Lions. An all-around great few days for possibly the NFC favourites.

Indianapolis – No, this isn’t all about the Anthony Richardson pick although that is what much of the Colts’ draft will hinge on. They had a great draft otherwise, though, with a huge value pick in the fourth round, nabbing Adetomiwa Adeboware. Really, it’s Richardson and Adeboware for the Colts. If they both hit then this will end up being the number one draft crop in hindsight. Otherwise….yikes. Huge risk-reward for a team that feels the time is right to make huge moves.

Pittsburgh – The Eagles’ cross-state rival also had quite the good, if not underrated, draft, looking like the smartest team coming out of the draft. They filled pretty much all their needs in the first three rounds and then got some great value late. Porter is a steal and teams may regret not picking him.

Worst Draft

Very rarely does a team get selected having the worst draft and then it ends up that everyone was wrong in hindsight. So yeah, this is not a good group to be in.

Jacksonville – Third worst on our list is the Jags with a bit of a perplexing draft. Things were looking great for a team that looked like it may run away with the AFC South over the next few years. That may not be the case anymore, and this draft didn’t help matters any. Unfortunately, the Cam Robinson situation forced them to pick O-line early but Anton Harrison may not have been the guy. Tank Bigsby was a pretty bad pick and could have been got two rounds later. And for a team that needed a tight end as another weapon for Trevor Lawrence, getting Brenton Strange isn’t it with other guys on the board. Just weird all around.

Minnesota – Look, they did pretty well with the Jordan Addison pick. Beyond that? Woof. Every other pick was a reach and they really didn’t do anything to help Kirk Cousins beyond getting Addison to hopefully pair with Justin Jefferson. Cousins is in the last year of his contract and this felt like the year the Vikings really had to try and go for it or start building for the future and they did neither.

San Francisco – Just like Philly, it’s a pretty unanimous vote on the other end of the draft grades. The ass end, if you will. The 49ers did a deplorable job this time around. Lucky for them, as long as Brock Purdy and/or Trey Lance are ready to go, this team is ready to battle for the NFC title at the very least. But holy shit, you’d think you would draft one guy that would help the team this coming season. Especially on the offensive line, where they needed help and drafted nobody. But hey, they drafted a kicker. Before the 100th pick. For fuck’s sakes what a joke.

Finally, a quick look at the two networks showing the draft. Most people seemed to be watching ESPN, as per usual. The NFL Network picked up the rest of the viewers. Problem was, the amount of complaints I heard about ESPN were staggering. Yet, these same people obviously outright refused to just, oh I don’t know, turn to the other network with draft coverage. I get that hearing the old NFL Primetime music is great (it really is) but if the coverage sucks then change the channel. My opinion, as you may know, is that the NFL Network has always had better coverage since they started showing the draft. I mean, that’s their whole thing: the NFL. ESPN suffers from trying to put in as many horrific stories about the draftees and too many people involved in the production. At least a quarter of the people involved could have been axed because they sucked at their job on this night.

I think that’s the first draft recap I have done in a long time. I don’t feel like looking. I’m not really a recap kind of guy but I figured what the hell. We are now 107 days away from the college football season and the posts will start coming along more frequently once again. We are getting close to true football season, folks! Not that I’m minding the XFL since it has been pretty good. The USFL, on the other hand, ugh. Have a great rest of the week everyone.

It Actually Happened (the Week 17 NFL TV Schedule)

Posted on December 29, 2022 by guelphbossman

I kind of joked earlier in the year that I think Nathaniel Hackett should have been fired during the season. I think quite a few people said it as well. The thing is, that happens rarely in the NFL. This isn’t college football where there are coaching changes all the time.

But guess what? It happened! It actually happened! The Denver Broncos pulled the trigger and shitcanned Hackett. I am actually surprised since I figured they would let him finish out the season and then fire him on Black Monday. Problem is, the Broncos looked so horrifically bad in their loss to the Rams this past weekend (where I am surprised Nickolodeon didn’t run out of slime despite the fact it’s all animated) that I think they had no choice but to axe him. It’s a smart move. No head coach has looked as inept at his job than Hackett did (although Jeff Saturday is trying his best to change that mindset). He was not ready and to be honest, I don’t think he will ever be ready to be a head coach. Good offensive coordinator, bad head coach. It’s the Wade Phillips corollary (paradox? equation?). Not every coordinator can run a team. And Hackett can’t…..hack it.

Let’s get to the schedule, which will not contain Nathaniel Hackett. It’s the second-last week of the season so a lot can happen and I’m not just talking about the standings. Here we go.

American Networks


Indianapolis at NY GIants	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown
Miami at New England	1:00	Minneapolis, Cleveland, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Chicago at Detroit	1:00		Minneapolis, Detroit
NY Jets at Seattle	4:05		All affiliates (except Minneapolis & Detroit)
Minnesota at Green Bay	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

Dallas at Tennessee	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN1
Pittsburgh at Baltimore	8:15, NBC, CTV2, TSN1/3/4
Buffalo at Cincinnati	8:30, ABC, CTV, TSN3

Non-Nathaniel Things

I get that Jeff Saturday is an interim head coach and not the full-time guy but still, he’s terrible. And shouldn’t be back next year in any capacity.
If all you can get is games from the American networks (I don’t know why that would be the case) then this may be the worst week ever. Five games over the entire afternoon? That’s the kind of schedule you would get in 1992, not 2022.
Canadians have it a bit better obviously but they are still missing games: Jaguars/Texans, Rams/Chargers, Saints/Eagles, Browns/Commanders, Cardinals/Falcons, 49ers/Raiders. Six. That’s not good either.
I am sure at least a few people are pissed off that the NFL is on New Year’s Day and the Rose Bowl isn’t. Too fucking bad. They decided to move last week’s games to Christmas Eve and they damn well weren’t going to do that this weekend. Put the games on New Year’s Eve when you don’t have to? Ratings suicide. And this is coming from a huge college football fan who still thinks ESPN is leaving viewers on the table by having the College Football Playoff semi-finals on New Year’s Eve.

UPDATE: I forgot about the small tweak to the smart time of the Monday night game. It will start at 8:30 and not 8:15. The Rose Bowl is on immediately before it so don’t be surprised if we don’t get to actually start watching the Bills-Bengals game until close to 9:00.

Almost there! This week and next week and it’s playoff time. Here’s what the playoff picture looks like at this point:

AFC	NFC
#1 Buffalo (clinched AFC East)	#1 Philadelphia (clinched playoff berth, leads NFC East)
#2 Kansas City (clinched AFC West)	#2 Minnesota (clinched NFC North)
#3 Cincinnati (clinched playoff berth, leads AFC North)	#3 San Francisco (clinched NFC West)
#4 Jacksonville (leads AFC South)	#4 Tampa Bay (leads NFC South)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Baltimore (clinched playoff berth)	#5 Dallas (clinched playoff berth)
#6 LA Chargers (clinched playoff berth)	#6 NY Giants
#7 Miami	#7 Washington

And here is your list of eliminated teams (whether you like it or not):

Houston
Chicago
Denver
Arizona
Indianapolis
Atlanta
LA Rams
Cleveland

That’s it? Yep. This is what happens when you have two atrocious divisions. I don’t think that’s ever happened before and I hope this makes it so the NFL changes their ridiculously dumb playoff structure. Division winners should only be guaranteed a playoff spot. Maybe a top 5. But not a home playoff game. That’s dumb. It’s why I hope both the AFC South and NFC South champs have losing records. To shed light on stupidity.

Anyway, when it comes to the draft, the Texans can clinch with a loss and a Bears win. It feels like a guarantee that Bryce Young is going to be Houston’s new quarterback but stranger things have happened.

Now for the clinching scenarios list which is getting much longer (and what’s most of us are watching these games for anyway):

First Round Bye

Philadelphia clinches with a win OR (a Dallas loss AND a San Francisco loss AND a Minnesota loss)
Buffalo clinches with a win AND a Kansas City loss

Division Title

Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win OR a Dallas loss
Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win
Cincinnati clinches the AFC North with a win AND a Baltimore loss

Playoff Berth

NY Giants clinch with a win OR (a Washington loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Washington loss AND a Seattle loss) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss)
Washington clinches with a win AND a Seattle loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss
Miami clinches with a win AND a NY Jets loss

Elimination

New Orleans is eliminated with a loss OR (a Tampa Bay win AND a Washington win) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win)
Carolina is eliminated with a loss
Washington is eliminated with a loss AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win
Detroit is eliminated with a loss AND a Washington win
Green Bay is eliminated with a loss AND (a Detroit win OR a Washington win)
Seattle is eliminated with (a loss AND a Washington win) OR (a loss AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win)
New England is eliminated with a loss
NY Jets are eliminated with a loss
Pittsburgh is eliminated with a loss OR a Miami win
Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss OR a Miami win OR a NY Jets win

Washington is in an interesting and relatively rare spot. It’s the penultimate week of the season yet they have both playoff clinching and elimination scenarios and both of them involve the same two teams, the Lions and Packers. You don’t see that very often. Also, there aren’t that many clinching scenarios to be honest. Yet, look at the sheer list of teams that could be eliminated this week. Ten. That’s a lot. Won’t happen but it’s still a lot.

As for the final week, the schedule will have, as far as I know, two Saturday games, one Sunday night game, and the rest of the games on Sunday afternoon with the more important ones falling in the 4:25 timeslot. What could we see? Here is what I think will probably happen:

It is a foregone conclusion that the Tennessee-Jacksonville game will be either the Saturday night or Sunday night game. I am going out on a limb and saying they will be the Saturday nighter.
Baltimore-Cincinnati is the favorite to be the Sunday nighter. I can’t see NBC picking Baltimore twice in a row. It’s their fault for picking them this week to begin with (I believe the pick this week is baffling). So no Ravens-Bengals Sunday nighter and they can’t be on Saturday because the Bengals are playing Monday night this week. So as long as the Bengals don’t clinch the AFC North this week, it will be a Sunday late game.
If New England and the NY Jets win this week, I see the Pats-Bills game being the Sunday nighter. The Pats would be in a win-and-in situation. The Bills could also be in a situation where they would need to win to get the first round bye. So a lot would be on the line.
If New England loses but the Jets win, then we could see the Jets-Dolphins game slot into the Sunday night spot.
Alright I will have to make a concession: if the Pats and Jets both lose this week then I do have a feeling NBC might just pick the Ravens-Bengals game (as long as the Bengals haven’t clinched the division).
Now…..ugh…if all three situations above don’t occur then the next game up would somehow be Lions-Packers but a bit has to happen for this game to get this slot (and we might be in a situation where the final game of the season means nothing because of what could happen earlier in the day).
If the Bucs don’t clinch the NFC South this week then the Saturday afternoon will probably be Panthers-Saints, especially if the Saints also win this week. It would be for the NFC South title I believe (I would have to check the tiebreakers but I think the Bucs would have the lowest percentage chance to win the division if both Carolina and New Orleans win this weekend).

So there you go. A lot of possibilities for next week’s single-game timeslots and we should find out late in the afternoon Sunday as to what we will see. It’s the time of season where there is a shit-ton of football on, both college and the NFL. So enjoy it because you know it doesn’t last. Have a Happy New Year everyone!

Welp, he’s back (and the Week 13 NFL TV Schedule)

Posted on December 1, 2022 by guelphbossman

Deshaun Watson will play his first game of the season after serving an eleven-game suspension for violating the NFL’s vague personal conduct policy. He committed sexual assault on a LOT of massage therapists. Like a lot. He truly believes every massage leads to a happy ending. I’m sure if he had a male masseuse, he might grab the guy’s junk.

His first game back? In Houston against the Texans. Yeah, that wasn’t set up. Sure. My eyes are rolling while I’m saying that just so you know.

I can’t see him playing well for most of the rest of the season. I think he will have his flashes of brilliance but he has been off for so long that it’ll be a lot of rust to shake off. So any Browns fans out there (I actually know one!) who think they will run the table the rest of the way, think again. The playoffs are pretty much entirely out of your reach.

Alright time for the sked for this week.

American Networks


NY Jets at Minnesota	1:00	All affiliates (except Cleveland)
Cleveland at Houston	1:00	Cleveland
Jacksonville at Detroit	1:00		Detroit
Washington at NY Giants	1:00		Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Seattle at LA Rams	4:05		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
Miami at San Francisco	4:05		Minneapolis, Buffalo
Kansas City at Cincinnati	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

Buffalo at New England	Thursday, 8:20, Amazon Prime, ABC Buffalo, FOX Boston, CTV2, TSN1/4/5
Indianapolis at Dallas	8:15, NBC, CTV2, TSN1/3/5
New Orleans at Tampa Bay	Monday, 8:15, TSN1/3

Notes and things and information and shit

Rumour has it that there will be quite a bit of flexing of games late this season. More than there ever has been in the past. We already see one for next weekend. The Chiefs-Broncos game has been flexed out of the Sunday Night Football spot in favour of Dolphins-Chargers. Good choice. Could they not have done that this week? Colts-Cowboys? Woof.
The CBS schedule is rather easy to figure out this week. Unless you get your affiliate out of Cleveland (which is the case for, I believe, like 15,000 people at most), you get the following doubleheader: the Jets traveling to Minnesota to face the Vikings followed by the Chiefs and the Bengals in an AFC Championship rematch. Two very good games. I’m still happy I have RedZone though because I am a sucker for watching a close game, even if it’s between two terrible teams. And speaking of RedZone…
Games not being shown in Canada (unless you have the almighty RedZone):
- Denver at Baltimore
- Pittsburgh at Atlanta
- Green Bay at Chicago
- LA Chargers at Las Vegas
That feels like a lot of games but it’s actually about on par with what we used to see all the time just a few years ago. It’s rare nowadays to see more than three games not being shown anywhere in Canada whereas, say five years ago, you’d see upwards of six in a week not being shown. And this was before I had RedZone or Sunday Ticket. I don’t know how I did it.
Also, when is the last time a Packers-Bears game hasn’t been shown anywhere in this country?
One note about the Monday nighter: it says TSN 1 and 3. TSN1 is the normal MNF broadcast and TSN3 has the return of the ManningCast.

Time for the updated playoff picture:

AFC	NFC
#1 Kansas City (AFC West)	#1 Philadelphia (NFC East)
#2 Miami (AFC East)	#2 Minnesota (NFC North)
#3 Tennessee (AFC South)	#3 San Francisco (NFC West)
#4 Baltimore (AFC North)	#4 Tampa Bay (NFC South)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Buffalo	#5 Dallas
#6 Cincinnati	#6 NY Giants
#7 NY Jets	#7 Washington

Look at the NFC East. That is incredible. Philly holds on to the #1 spot by a two-game margin over the Vikings. Meanwhile, the division’s other three teams are in the conference’s Wild Card spots. Will it stay this way the rest of the season? Doubtful, especially with a few games inside the division left for them. It’s still impressive that at this point of the season, all four teams are in playoff spots. And the AFC East is almost at that point with New England just a game behind Cincinnati and the Jets for the final Wild Card spot.

On the other end of the spectrum is the woeful NFC South. Tampa Bay leads at 5-6, a half-game ahead of the Falcons. I think they end up taking the division and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Bucs get to 10 wins. But as of right now it looks like a division wholly undeserving of any playoff spot, let alone a home date in the playoffs (I won’t get into that since I have said it countless times before and I don’t feel like getting into a rant about it).

I hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys the games!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (the Week 11 NFL TV Schedule)

Posted on November 17, 2022 by guelphbossman

This might end up being a live look at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo this Sunday. They are calling for, potentially, upwards of SIX FEET OF SNOW.

SIX. FEET. Full disclosure, I’m 5’10”. The mere idea of six feet of snow scares the shit out of me.

As of this point, the league is not considering moving the game or postponing it to Monday, when the snow will have long stopped coming down. It wouldn’t surprise me, though, if this storm came to fruition, that the NFL would have to do something. This could end up being one of the most crippling winter storms of the last decade or so. The problem comes with the fact that the Bills play the Lions on American Thanksgiving. A Thursday. There is no way they would have the Bills play on Monday and then turn around and play on Thursday. So if there is a postponement of this Sunday’s game, expect a postponement of the Thursday game as well. Could be interesting. And awful to shovel out from.

UPDATE: The Browns-Bills game has been moved to Detroit. It will still be at the same time and aired on the same affiliates.

Alright let’s get to the schedule where many of the games will not feature snow. Hell, one of them is in Mexico City.

American Networks


Philadelphia at Indianapolis	1:00 PM	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, ~~Detroit~~
Cleveland at Buffalo (in Detroit)	1:00 PM	Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Detroit
NY Jets at New England	1:00 PM	Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Detroit at NY Giants	1:00 PM		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Detroit, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Presque Isle
Chicago at Atlanta	1:00 PM		Minneapolis
Las Vegas at Denver	4:05 PM		Buffalo, Boston
Dallas at Minnesota	4:25 PM	All affiliates (except Cleveland)
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	4:25 PM	Cleveland

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

Tennessee at Green Bay	Thursday, 8:20, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN1/4
Kansas City at LA Chargers	8:15, NBC, CTV2, TSN2
San Francisco vs. Arizona (in Mexico City)	Monday, 8:15, TSN1/3/4

Notes That Don’t Require a Snowblower

Mexico City Football! Smart idea to make this the Monday nighter as it doesn’t interfere with anything else and the NFL and ESPN can promote it like crazy. A nice change from the morning football games which are almost more of an irritant than anything…well at least for me since I am up the night before until usually about 3 in the morning watching college football.
Games not being shown in Canada (unless you have the almighty RedZone):
- LA Rams at New Orleans
- Washington at Houston
The Grey Cup is this Sunday so the rest of the TSN channels will be more than busy all day and night. Normally this would mean that TSN would start showing more games but that might not be the case going forward and I will explain later in the post.
I hope you like the Dallas Cowboys because they are getting a lot of eyeballs in this country. Last week you basically had to watch their game against the Packers. It’s almost the same way this Sunday with their game against the Vikings. I guess that’s what happens in the late window more often than not.

UPDATE #2: The game has been moved to Detroit and now CBS has decided to air the Browns-Bills game as well instead of the Eagles-Colts game.

Alright, now let’s look at the updated playoff picture:

AFC	NFC
#1 Kansas City (AFC West)	#1 Philadelphia (NFC East)
#2 Miami (AFC East)	#2 Minnesota (NFC North)
#3 Tennessee (AFC South)	#3 Seattle (NFC West)
#4 Baltimore (AFC North)	#4 Tampa Bay (NFC South)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 NY Jets	#5 NY Giants
#6 Buffalo	#6 Dallas
#7 New England/LA Chargers/Cincinnati	#7 San Francisco

Buffalo drops from #1 to #6 with one loss. That tells you how good the AFC is this season. I wouldn’t worry if I was a Bills fans, which I am. I also wouldn’t start Josh Allen this Sunday in a blizzard against the woeful Browns but that’s just me. In the NFC, the Eagles and Vikings feel like they are way out in front of every other team but they aren’t. The Giants and Cowboys are close by and I have a feeling the Bucs are going to go on a bit of a run.

OK I mentioned that TSN might not have more games on their channels going forward and that’s because of the World Cup. CTV and TSN are showing games starting Sunday morning and going until the final on December 18th. Including this Sunday, that’s five weeks of NFL football. Takes us almost until the end of the season. So just a warning for all of you. Enjoy the games everyone!

OK wait what’s going on here (plus the Week 4 NFL TV Schedule)

Posted on September 29, 2022 by guelphbossman

Look I saw the play that resulted in Mac Jones’ injury last week. He looked in pretty rough shape. Behold the pic above! He was in agony. First report was that it was an ankle injury and that he would miss some time. Then came the report that the Patriots only wanted him to miss four weeks whereas Mac was fine missing six to eight if that’s what it took for his ankle to come back to full strength.

Then all of a sudden, at a Bill Belichick press conference, he intimated that he Jones has made a lot of progress and might be able to return. Excuse me, what? He said Brian Hoyer would play if Mac couldn’t go. If? IF? This is ridiculous. He is going to miss at least a couple weeks. There’s no way he’s coming back until sometime later in October. So what is Billy Football trying to pull here? Is he trying to convince people that Mac might be back this Sunday? Why? It’s so ridiculous. I can’t stand his press conferences but the NFL media fucking love them because they lick his feet at every juncture. I get he’s the best head coach of this generation (and possibly all-time) but call out his bullshit when he’s bullshitting. Can we just do that?

Ugh. OK, enough of that. Let’s get on to the schedule for the week which may or may not be altered because of that asshole, Hurricane Ian.

American Networks


Buffalo at Baltimore	1:00	All affiliates (except Cleveland)
Cleveland at Atlanta	1:00	Cleveland
Seattle at Detroit	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Detroit
Chicago at NY Giants	1:00		Minneapolis, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington
Washington at Dallas	1:00		Boston, Presque Isle
Arizona at Carolina	4:05		Buffalo
Denver at Las Vegas	4:25	Seattle, Spokane
New England at Green Bay	4:25	All affiliates (except Seattle & Spokane)

Canadian Networks

Primetime (and Morning!) Games

Miami at Cincinnati	Thursday, 8:20, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN1/4
Minnesota vs. New Orleans (in London)	9:30 AM, NFL Network, ABC (Minneapolis), CTV, TSN4
Kansas City at Tampa Bay	8:15, NBC, CTV2, TSN1/3/4/5
LA Rams at San Francisco	Monday, 8:15, TSN1/3/5

Bryan Hoyer-esque Comments

The ManningCast is here again and it will appear on TSN3. Also, I don’t have TSN4 listed but the Monday nighter will appear there at around 10:00 (or around the start of the third quarter).
CBS early game is one of two choices but they want most of the country to have Bills-Ravens. I don’t blame them. Would you prefer that or Browns-Falcons (sorry to the people who get their CBS affiliate out of Cleveland)?
The CBS late game follows the early game, at least up here. Most of the country will get the Patriots-Packers game which I’m sure most people will be happy with since they avoid watching Nathaniel Hackett try to coach football (although the Broncos are 2-1 so what the fuck do I know).
Games not being shown here in Canada (unless you have RedZone):
- Tennessee at Indianapolis
- NY Jets at Pittsburgh
- LA Chargers at Houston
Oh god an early London game. I get trying to grow the game. I don’t think the British are as enamored with football as many want to believe but I digress. After staying up until God knows when the previous night/into the morning, I will miss at least the first half of this one, as I always do. Does the Berlin game start this early? Let me check…….
……ok it’s not Berlin, it’s in Munich. My bad. Now Germans? They fucking LOVE football. The fact it took this long for the NFL to go there is honestly perplexing. Anyway, yes it’s a 9:30 AM start as well so I can’t see me watching the first half of that one either. Oh, and there’s another early London game next week. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Oh I’ve made sure to include Amazon Prime in the listings for the Thursday nighter and will do that from now on. I have Prime. I don’t watch it on Prime but maybe I should try it out and see how it is.

Hey let’s hope for more exciting games and chaos since that’s what the NFL has brought us so far this season. Scott Hanson is having a whale of a time doing RedZone because so much crazy stuff happens. It has been a ton of fun to watch. Could we see four weeks in a row of this insanity? I sure as hell hope so. Enjoy the games everyone!

OK that’s a new one (and the Week 4 College Football TV schedule)

Posted on September 21, 2022 by guelphbossman

Hey, remember when Lane Kiffin was fired on the tarmac while at USC? Good times. Well, Herm Edwards has just done one better.

After Arizona State’s horrible loss to Eastern Michigan, he was called over to the end zone by ASU athletic director Ray Anderson and ASU president Michael Crow. They had a brief conversation with Herm nodding a few times and then he said OK a couple of times and then was escorted off the field. It seems like he was fired in the fucking end zone after the game. That is impressive. The ASU brass are not messing around with this. I am honestly surprised Herm lasted this long. I guess he didn’t play to win the game in the end.

Coaches are getting fired left and right. It’s like the coaching hot seat is trying to out do realignment. Look, let’s just get to the games and try and move most of that shit to the offseason. Agreed?

Thursday

		US	Canada
West Virginia at Virginia Tech	7:30 PM
Coastal Carolina at Georgia State	7:30 PM
Chattanooga at Illinois	8:00 PM

Three games to start the week in college football. None of them super important. The best game actually might come from the Sun Belt as both Coastal and GSU are looking to somehow win the crowded East Division. The other game is between two Power Five teams who could be considered disappointing so far this year. The Mountaineers lost to Kansas and Tech lost to Old Dominion. I don’t know which loss is worse but they are both bad (as of this point). And with the NFL’s Thursday Night Football game being the Steelers and Browns, I can see not a lot of people watching any of these games (unless they are close, obviously).

Friday

		US	Canada
Virginia at Syracuse	7:00 PM
Nevada at Air Force	8:00 PM
Boise State at UTEP	9:00 PM

This is better than Thursday night’s sked for sure. At least here there is a team that should be ranked in Syracuse. They could be 4-0 if they can beat the Cavaliers which would feel crazy but there are always a few teams that surprise everyone and the Orange are definitely one of them. As for the other games, does anyone want to win the Mountain West Mountain Division? Boise State has looked poor and Air Force laid an egg against Wyoming last week. Utah State got destroyed by an FCS school and New Mexico and Colorado State have been predictably below-average. Maybe Wyoming is the team to beat in the division, who knows?

Saturday Early

The best early slate so far this season by a country mile. Clemson and Wake Forest square off in the first round of the ACC Atlantic round-robin, that will eventually include Florida State, NC State and possibly even Syracuse. I still believe College Gameday should have gone to Lawrence for Duke against Kansas. That would have been wild. Both teams are undefeated. I don’t want to guarantee that the winner will be ranked but they should be. Also, I am sure Nebraska is watching the Baylor-ISU game closely as Matt Campbell is one of their coaching targets, along with Mark Stoops and Gary Patterson. No, Urban Meyer is not going to coach the Huskers.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
UCLA at Colorado	2:00 PM
Notre Dame at North Carolina	3:30 PM
Middle Tennessee at #25 Miami	3:30 PM
Minnesota at Michigan State	3:30 PM
#20 Florida at #11 Tennessee	3:30 PM
FIU at WKU	3:30 PM
#22 Texas at Texas Tech	3:30 PM
Indiana at Cincinnati	3:30 PM
Toledo at San Diego State	3:30 PM
Georgia Tech at UCF	4:00 PM
#15 Oregon at Washington State	4:00 PM
Tulsa at #16 Ole Miss	4:00 PM
Arizona at California	5:30 PM

The Third Saturday in September highlights the afternoon timeslot. Too bad it’s actually the Fourth Saturday in September. Why the hell is the UF-UT rivalry even called the Third Saturday in September if you’re not going to SCHEDULE IT FOR THE THIRD SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER? Dumb. If you had Wazzu undefeated and a challenge for Oregon, raise your hand. Now put them down because no one thought that. That could be an intriguing and close matchup on the Palouse. Somehow Cincy is favoured by more than two touchdowns against Indy. I feel a close game there. Finally, the Irish have a chance to prove that they are not going to struggle to go bowling this year although the Tar Heels are better than last season.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
UNLV at Utah State	7:00 PM
#10 Arkansas vs. #23 Texas A&M (in Arlington)	7:00 PM
Northern Illinois at #8 Kentucky	7:00 PM
Iowa at Rutgers	7:00 PM
Marshall at Troy	7:00 PM
Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State	7:30 PM
Miami-OH at Northwestern	7:30 PM
Florida Atlantic at Purdue	7:30 PM
Charlotte at South Carolina	7:30 PM
Vanderbilt at #2 Alabama	7:30 PM
Boston College at Florida State	8:00 PM
Kansas State at #6 Oklahoma	8:00 PM

You’ll notice the only TSN game this week is here. And of course they simulcast the ABC game. Nice. TSN has President’s Cup golf and the CFL on during the afternoon so that meant college football is out earlier in the day. Oh and they also have curling and NASCAR pushing college football aside. I just wish they would do the ESPN game and not the ABC one for people that don’t have the specialty pack. Oh well. Wildcats-Sooners is always interesting as OU always seems to have trouble with KSU. And the Southwest Classic (I think that’s what it’s called) is in JerryWorld and this time both teams are ranked so the stakes are a bit higher this time around.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#7 USC at Oregon State	9:30 PM
Wyoming at #19 BYU	10:15 PM
Western Michigan at San Jose State	10:30 PM
#13 Utah at Arizona State	10:30 PM
Stanford at #18 Washington	10:30 PM

Wow the Pac-12 Network scored a big one. Or, you could say that USC-Oregon State was somehow relegated to the Pac-12 Network. I know they are doing this so that they can get a USC conference game early in the season since they need to show at least one of every team as per the contract. Thing is, Oregon State is probably just outside the Top 25 and USC is solidly in and may be the Pac-12’s best shot at the College Football Playoff this year. So not a good look. Well, it would be OK if the Pac-12 Network was shown in more homes but it’s not.

Big Games O’ The Week

Clemson at Wake Forest (Noon, ABC) – Many thought that this would be a huge early ACC game and they are right. Clemson, despite being ranked 5th in the nation, have looked shaky at times, especially at the quarterback position. Sam Hartman has looked great returning from injury but the Wake defense has been subpar. Why this didn’t get the ABC primetime spot, oh yes…the Big Ten. Say no more.

Florida at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – This is the Vols’ chance to prove they are…well, at least the third-best team in the SEC East. The division is improving. The Gators are better. The Gamecocks are better. Vandy is playing well. Kentucky has been lights out so far this season. It’s not the case anymore that one team dominates and the rest kind of suck.

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington) (7:00, specialty pack) – I don’t know if the Aggies are still stinging from the Appalachian State loss or the video that came out of their Midnight Yell practice that made fun of App State. All I know is that the swagger might be gone from this squad. Arkansas, on the other hand, survived Petrinomania last weekend in a game that shouldn’t have been as close as it was. So, really we have two teams who aren’t playing their best against each other inside a division that is still a damn juggernaut. Should be fun!

USC at Oregon State (9:30, YouTube) – The Beavers’ 3-0 start has to be shocking some people. And they’ve looked pretty good doing it. You know who has looked even better? Yep, the men of Troy. Again, I get why this game is on the Pac-12 Network but man does it suck from a visibility standpoint for the conference. No wonder USC and, at this point, UCLA are heading to the Big Ten.

Baylor at Iowa State (Noon, specialty pack) – Baylor lost once, to BYU, but has looked good otherwise. Iowa State is undefeated thanks to a sloppy game (that’s putting it mildly) beating Iowa for the CyHawk Trophy. Both teams have sights on JerryWorld in December so games like this are almost must-win. Plus, I’m sure many in the Cornhuskers athletic department will have interest in this game, as I mentioned above. If I’m Matt Campbell, I use that interest to get a bigger deal in Ames since I don’t know if I’d want to coach in Lincoln. Now if it was me, I’d take the massive contract, not give a shit, make them buy me out, and never work again but that’s just me.

Duke at Kansas (Noon, FOX Sports One) – College Gameday, you cowards. I have to lean Kansas in this one because Duke has had success in the past decade; the Jayhawks, not so much.

Psycho Game of the Week

UNLV at Utah State (7:00, CBS Sports Network) – Utah State is quite bad. Worse than pretty much anyone thought they’d be. Sure, the Rebels are a better team this season but until they become bowl-eligible, they will be considered a below-average program at best. Too many choices in the primetime schedule to this is an easy one to avoid.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Vanderbilt at Alabama (7:30, specialty pack) – As good as the Commodores have been so far this season, this is a whole different animal. I expect the Tide to punish Vandy all night.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Figured I would add another section to the blog posts. Feeling generous, I am. So here we go with some stats to send you into the weekend:

Since the Badgers upset Ohio State in 2004, Wisconsin is 0-5 in Columbus.
Oklahoma has lost six Big XII games in the last decade. Three of those have been to Kansas State.
Cincinnati is 17-5 in non-conference games since Luke Fickell was hired as head coach.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

9-4 this past week against the spread. That’s quite good if I say so myself. I picked WKU to lose but cover against Indiana. Same with LSU against Mississippi State. Unfortunately I also thought BYU would do that and that game wasn’t close. Can’t win em all. OK, on to this week’s picks:

Virginia Tech (+1.5) over West Virginia with the outright win
Virginia (+9) over Syracuse (but Cuse wins)
Buffalo (+6) over Eastern Michigan (but EMU wins by a field goal)
Central Michigan (+28) over Penn State (but the Nittany Lions win fairly easily)
Bowling Green (+30) over Mississippi State (the Bulldogs win by about three touchdowns)
SMU (+2) over TCU (with an outright win)
WKU (-31) over FIU
Texas (-6.5) over Texas Tech
Notre Dame (+1.5) over North Carolina with the outright win
Washington State (+6.5) over Oregon (but UO wins a close one)
Marshall (-3.5) over Troy
Iowa (-7.5) over Rutgers
Wisconsin (+18.5) over Ohio State (tOSU wins but it may be closer than we think)
Wyoming (+22.5) over BYU (Cougs win this but it’s close)

There you go. A lot of info for ya to peruse before your viewing commences. I’m hoping for another solid weekend of college football action. It’s never good when there’s a full slate of games and by the end you feel completely underwhelmed. Hasn’t happened often but when it does it’s such an empty feeling. Anyway, enjoy the games everyone!

		US	Canada
#5 Clemson at #21 Wake Forest	Noon
Rhode Island at #24 Pittsburgh	Noon
Central Michigan at #14 Penn State	Noon
Buffalo at Eastern Michigan	Noon
Missouri at Auburn	Noon
#17 Baylor at Iowa State	Noon
TCU at SMU	Noon
Maryland at #4 Michigan	Noon
Duke at Kansas	Noon
Bowling Green at Mississippi State	Noon