The Raiders are actually pretty fun to watch. First off, usually Kevin Harlan does their games which is a big plus to begin with. Secondly, they have an explosive offense with Derek Carr flinging the ball all over the field. Thirdly, with Jack Del Rio at the helm you know they will have at least a good defense. Finally, they are doing all this with being, arguably, the least disciplined on-the-field team in football in the last decade. They had the most penalties in a single game EVER and still won on Sunday. Yes it was Tampa Bay but the Bucs aren’t a bad team, they’re just mediocre like 80% of the teams this season. Oh, and by the way, with all this going on, the Raiders are quietly moving into the 2-spot right behind New England in the AFC. And in the background, you have a move to Las Vegas looming over this entire thing. To be honest, Oakland’s success and a potential move to Vegas spells disaster for the NFL. If the Raiders stunk then fine. No one (other than some people in St. Louis) cared that the Rams moved to Los Angeles. Why? Because the Rams have been shit for over a decade. But the Raiders are starting to taste success and with the team they have, they should be top tier for at least the next few seasons. It would be like all of a sudden moving the Seattle Seahawks to Portland. The NFL would take shit for that because it’s a successful team moving elsewhere.
Other action this weekend:
Oh ho, it is going to be VERY interesting when Tony Romo comes back. I have said it before but it would make me laugh if Tony the Baloney Pony and his candy corn bone structure comes back as the starting QB and Dallas starts to struggle. I hate it when guys go out because of injury and lose their starting spot in the meantime; however, there are some cases when you need to keep going with the hot hand until it’s not hot anymore. Until Dak Prescott struggles, Jason Garrett should keep him in. Once he does though, it’s Romo time!
So Cam Newton doesn’t feel safe. I can kind of understand that. He takes some brutal hits. And he’s a former MVP. So he should have some semblance of protection from dirty hits. Saying that, he isn’t the only quarterback facing this. There are a few others who have been brutalized so far this season and you haven’t heard much about it. What I hope Cam means is that there is a trend towards an epidemic of quarterbacks being targeted in the league. Unfortunately, I think for now, Cam is just talking about himself. Until another quarterback takes the same kind of stand Newton does, it will fall on deaf ears.
So the Vikings lost to the Bears last night. I get that in single game scenarios, anything can happen. So who are the elite teams in the NFL? The ones that will get at least 11 wins and look like true Super Bowl contenders. I think I can do it with one hand. And that’s what is sad. Already, I would say at least ten teams are completely eliminated from a chance at the Super Bowl. In a few weeks, that number should jump to 17 or 18. Even the teams that do make the playoffs, a few of them will have almost no chance of winning the whole thing. Anything can happen in the playoffs and I understand that but there hasn’t been a year where there are this many teams probably out of it in a long time.
New England beat Buffalo. Not so surprising. In other news, a dildo was thrown on the field during the game. Considering the fan base, also not surprising.
So finally there were two fairly decent teams playing in London. Washington, who is surprisingly better than many thought and Cincinnati, who many believe will come back to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. So what happens? After a fairly entertaining regulation time, neither team scores in overtime so we end in a tie. Unlucky, really. Would have been much more satisfying to have one of the teams win in OT and end another season in England on a high note.
Is Cleveland going to lose all their games this season? Let’s look at the rest of their schedule:
- Dallas
- At Baltimore
- Pittsburgh
- NY Giants
- Bye week
- Cincinnati
- At Buffalo
- San Diego
- At Pittsburgh
This is not an easy schedule for any team, let alone the Browns. You could stretch and say the Ravens, Giants, Bengals, or Bills are winnable games but that is a stretch. The only truly winnable game, I believe, is the home game against San Diego and probably because it should be cold that day (the game is on Christmas Eve). Other than that, Cleveland will have to pull off an upset to avoid the indignity of being 0-16.
Alright, alright, alright. That’s enough of the NFL for now. Tomorrow I will have an updated bowl projections post followed by the CFB schedule and then the NFL schedule. Tonight we have a couple MAC games on the specialty pack. Also, the first College Football Playoff rankings come out tonight just before the games begin. Probably still a bit too early considering what has happened in the past but everyone loves rankings so we have to do them at least a few weeks before the end of the season.
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