Alright, Let’s Do This! The Week 18 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on January 6, 2024 by guelphbossman

Last year around this time we were discussing the final week of the regular season, sure. However, we were also kind of recovering from what happened to Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest. It was one of the craziest times in NFL history and I hope we never have to deal with something like that again.

This year, let’s look at the positive. All the playoff races that are left. And there are plenty. Let’s get to that schedule and then we will do my typical final NFL regular season week analysis. Here we go!

American Networks


Atlanta at New Orleans	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit
Cleveland at Cincinnati	1:00	Cleveland
Jacksonville at Tennessee	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Minnesota at Detroit	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit
NY Jets at New England	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Chicago at Green Bay	4:25	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland
Philadelphia at NY Giants	4:25	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Seattle at Arizona	4:25		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
Dallas at Washington	4:25		Minneapolis, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
LA Rams at San Francisco	4:25		Detroit

Canadian Networks

Saturday Games and Sunday Night Game

Pittsburgh at Baltimore	Saturday, 4:30, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5
Houston at Indianapolis	Saturday, 8:15, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5
Buffalo at Miami	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5/+

Some Super Special Last Regular Season Weekend Notes

As per usual, it’s all divisional matchups for the final week of the season. And there are a lot of playoff races as I will discuss later on.
You see the asterisks for the Bills-Dolphins game for TSN3 and TSN4. Well, the game will start airing on TSN3 after the Jets-Coyotes game and, for some unknown and stupid reason, Sportscentre. So it will start around 10:00: a little into the third quarter. As for TSN4, they have the Raptors and Warriors so they won’t get to the game until about 11:00. The football game should be well into the fourth quarter at that point. So really, stick to TSN1 or 5 (or + if you like the “enhanced” game feed).
The three national games were pretty easy choices, for the most part. Bills-Dolphins felt like a lock for the Sunday nighter once Miami was blown away by Baltimore. Texans-Colts was also pretty much a lock for a standalone game considering it’s win-or-go-home. The other choice was interesting for sure. A lot of possibilities. Steelers-Ravens makes sense just because a win by the Steelers makes the Buffalo-Miami game all the more important for the Bills. It becomes a much bigger risk-reward game for the Bills as they almost assuredly out with a loss in this case.
Games not being shown here unless you have the Sunday Ticket or RedZone magic potion:
- Kansas City at LA Chargers
- Tampa Bay at Carolina
- Denver at Las Vegas
No surprise really with the first and third games on that list not being available up here. The second one is a bit interesting since the Bucs win the NFC South with a win, no matter what happens with the Saints and Falcons. I think the issue north of the border was where would this be shown that would take the place of the other two games on in this timeslot on FOX. It probably could have replaced the Jets-Patriots game to be honest but I have a feeling that FOX figured the AFC East, even with a meaningless game, would be more watched than an NFC South matchup in the Northeastern United States and most of Eastern Canada. And they are probably right.
Hey thankfully I don’t have to go over the strangest set of scenarios ever like last season. Let’s hope that never happens again…more for Damar Hamlin’s case than anything.

So this is it. We have made it. The final playoff picture of the season:

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (13-3) (clinched home-field advantage)	#1 San Francisco (12-4) (clinched home-field advantage)
#2 Miami (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)	#2 Dallas (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)
#3 Kansas City (10-6) (clinched AFC West)	#3 Detroit (11-5) (clinched NFC North)
#4 Jacksonville (9-7)	#4 Tampa Bay (8-8)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)	#5 Philadelphia (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)
#6 Buffalo (10-6)	#6 LA Rams (9-7) (clinched playoff berth)
#7 Indianapolis (9-7)	#7 Green Bay (8-8)

Alright so what do we have left to determine? Four divisions still up for grabs as the AFC East, AFC South, NFC East and NFC South still hasn’t determined their champion. Also, one Wild Card spot in the NFC and two in the AFC with still a few teams in the mix there. A lot can happen during this weekend so let’s get right to the scenarios.

Pittsburgh at Baltimore

Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot under the following scenarios:
- A win AND either a Buffalo loss OR a Jacksonville loss/tie
- A win AND an Indianapolis tie
- A tie AND two of Indianapolis, Jacksonville, or Houston lose
- Jacksonville loses AND Denver wins AND either Indianapolis or Houston lose
Pittsburgh is eliminated under the following scenarios:
- A Jacksonville win AND a Buffalo win/tie AND either an Indianapolis OR Houston win
- A loss/tie AND either a Jacksonville win/tie OR an Indianapolis tie
- A loss AND a Denver loss/tie

Houston at Indianapolis

Indianapolis clinches the AFC South with (a win AND a Jacksonville loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Jacksonville loss)
Houston clinches the AFC South with a win AND a Jacksonville loss/tie
Indianapolis clinches a playoff spot with a win OR (a tie AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie)
Houston clinches a playoff spot wth a win OR (a tie AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie)
Houston is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND either a Jacksonville win/tie OR a Pittsburgh win)
Indianapolis is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a Jacksonville win/tie AND a Pittsburgh win)

Jacksonville at Tennessee

Jacksonville clinches the AFC South with a win OR (a tie and an Indianapolis tie)
Jacksonville clinches a playoff spot with (a tie AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Denver loss/tie AND either Houston OR Indianapolis loses)
Jacksonville is eliminated with (a tie AND a Pittsburgh win AND either a Houston or Indianapolis win) OR (a loss AND either a Pittsburgh win/tie OR a Denver win OR an Indianapolis tie)

Atlanta at New Orleans

Atlanta clinches the NFC South with a win AND a Tampa Bay loss
New Orleans clinches the NFC South with (a win AND a Tampa Bay loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Tampa Bay loss)
New Orleans clinches a playoff spot with (a win AND a Green Bay loss/tie AND a Seattle loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Green Bay loss AND a Seattle loss)
Atlanta is eliminated with a loss/tie OR a Tampa Bay win/tie
New Orleans is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a Tampa Bay win/tie AND either a Green Bay or Seattle win/tie) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND either a Green Bay or Seattle win)

Minnesota at Detroit

Minnesota clinches a playoff spot with a win AND a Seattle loss AND a Green Bay loss AND either a Tampa Bay OR New Orleans loss
Minnesota is eliminated with a loss/tie OR a Seattle win/tie OR a Green Bay win/tie OR Tampa Bay and New Orleans both winning or tying

Tampa Bay at Carolina

Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win OR (a tie and a New Orleans loss/tie)
Tampa Bay clinches a playoff spot with a tie AND a Seattle loss AND a Green Bay loss/tie
Tampa Bay is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a New Orleans win AND either a Seattle win/tie or a Green Bay win)

Chicago at Green Bay

Green Bay clinches a playoff spot with a win OR:
- a tie AND (a Seattle loss/tie AND a New Orleans loss/tie) OR (a Seattle tie AND a Tampa Bay loss/tie) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Tampa Bay loss)
- a loss AND a Seattle loss AND a Minnesota loss/tie AND either a Tampa Bay or New Orleans loss
Green Bay is eliminated with (a loss AND either (a Minnesota win or a Seattle win/tie or (a Tampa Bay win/tie and a New Orleans win/tie)) OR a tie AND either (a Seattle win or (a Tampa Bay win and a New Orleans win) or (a Seattle loss AND a New Orleans win AND a Tampa Bay tie)

Philadelphia at NY Giants

Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with (a win AND a Dallas loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Dallas loss)

Dallas at Washington

Dallas clinches the NFC East with a win OR (a tie and a Philadelphia tie) OR a Philadelphia loss

Seattle at Arizona

Seattle clinches a playoff spot with a win AND a Green Bay loss AND either a New Orleans or Tampa Bay loss/tie) OR (a win AND a Green Bay loss/tie)
Seattle is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a New Orleans win AND a Tampa Bay win) OR (a tie AND a Green Bay tie) OR a Green Bay win

Buffalo at Miami

Buffalo clinches the AFC East with a win
Miami clinches the AFC East with a win OR a tie
Buffalo clinches a playoff spot with a tie OR a Pittsburgh loss/tie OR a Jacksonville loss/tie OR an Indianapolis tie
Buffalo is eliminated with a loss AND one of the following three scenarios:
- a Jacksonville win AND a Houston win AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie
- a Jacksonville win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie
- a Pittsubrgh win AND an Indianapolis tie
- a Jacksonville loss/tie AND a Pittsburgh win

If there is a tie….in almost any game….this is going to become a mess. Although it does become super interesting if that is the case and I do love chaos.

I was going to do tables to show where teams could land based on the scenarios above (obviously leaving ties out) but the NFC one alone would be insane. Viewing it on a cell phone would be impossible. Hell, viewing it on a wide-screen TV might be difficult. So I will not bother with that. Instead, I will do a seeding breakdown like I did last year. I will not include ties here. Here are the seeding scenarios.

AFC

#1 seed

Baltimore locked in

#2 seed

Miami – win
Buffalo – win

#3 seed

Kansas City locked in

#4 seed

Jacksonville – win
Indianapolis – win AND Jacksonville loss
Houston – win AND Jacksonville loss

#5 seed

Cleveland locked in

#6 seed

Miami – loss
Buffalo – loss AND Pittsburgh loss AND Jacksonville loss
Indianapolis – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo loss
Houston – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo loss
Pittsburgh – win AND Jacksonville loss AND Buffalo loss

#7 seed

Buffalo – loss AND (Jacksonville win AND Pittsburgh loss AND either Houston or Indianapolis loss) OR (Jacksonville loss AND Pittsburgh win)
Indianapolis – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo win
Pittsburgh – ~~dog’s breakfast~~ (win AND Buffalo win AND Jacksonville loss) OR (win AND Buffalo loss AND Jacksonville win AND either Houston OR Indianapolis win) OR (loss AND Jacksonville loss AND Denver win AND either Houston OR Indianapolis win)
Jacksonville – loss AND Pittsburgh loss AND Denver loss AND either Houston OR Indianapolis loss
Houston – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo win

NFC

#1 seed

San Francisco locked in

#2 seed

Dallas – win OR (loss AND Philadelphia loss AND Detroit loss)
Philadelphia – win AND Dallas loss
Detroit – win AND Dallas loss AND Philadelphia loss

#3 seed

Dallas – loss AND Philadelphia loss AND Detroit win
Detroit – loss OR Dallas win OR Philadelphia win

#4 seed

Tampa Bay – win
New Orleans – win AND Tampa Bay loss
Atlanta – win AND Tampa Bay loss

#5 seed

Philadelphia – loss OR Dallas win
Dallas – loss AND Philadelphia win

#6 seed

Green Bay – win AND LA Rams loss
LA Rams – win OR Green Bay loss

#7 seed

Green Bay – (win AND LA Rams win) OR (loss AND Seattle loss AND Minnesota loss AND either Tampa Bay OR New Orleans loss)
Minnesota – win AND Seattle loss AND Green Bay loss AND either Tampa Bay OR New Orleans loss
New Orleans – win AND Tampa Bay win AND Green Bay loss AND Seattle loss
LA Rams – loss AND Green Bay win
Seattle – win AND Green Bay loss

Holy shit we are in for one hell of a weekend of American Professional Football. I really don’t need to say this but enjoy the games everyone!

Remember when this used to be the end? The Week 17 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on December 28, 2023 by guelphbossman

It wasn’t long ago that Week 17 was the ultimate week. So much on the line. Playoff spots gained or lost. First round byes on the line. Entire seasons on the brink. Fantastic stuff.

Now, Week 17 is the penultimate week of the regular season. With the seventeenth game added to the regular season, it meant that Week 18 had to be added. My guess is Week 19 will be added soon enough to give each team two byes during the season and push the Super Bowl to around Valentine’s Day.

But just because this isn’t the final week doesn’t mean this isn’t a huge week! So let’s get to the schedule!

American Networks


Miami at Baltimore	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland
New England at Buffalo	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
LA Rams at NY Giants	1:00		Rochester, Watertown, Burlington
Pittsburgh at Seattle	4:05		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Boston, Presque Isle
Cincinnati at Kansas City	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

NY Jets at Cleveland	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, ABC Cleveland, CTV2, TSN 1/4/+
Detroit at Dallas	Saturday, 8:15, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/5
Green Bay at Minnesota	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/+

New Year’s Notes and Thoughts

There are games upcoming that you will not be able to see if you do not have Sunday Ticket and/or RedZone. They are as follows:
- Las Vegas at Indianapolis
- Carolina at Jacksonville
- Atlanta at Chicago
- Arizona at Philadelphia
- Tennessee at Houston
- LA Chargers at Denver
Now this is some horseshit right here. Six games? SIX? That’s insane. And that’s after TSN decides to put a different game on TSN+ for some variety. I don’t get it. Not saying many of these games are worth watching but if you are trying to push people to order Sunday Ticket or RedZone, you may be succeeding. Or you may be pushing them to go the route I took that I will never come back from, IPTV. Either one, congratulations assholes.
No Monday Night Football this week as that would go up against the College Football Playoff semi-finals and even the NFL knows when to take a step back. What does that mean? We have the game essentially being moved to Saturday night. And it is a massive one. Lions-Cowboys in what could be an NFC Championship preview.
I don’t know how many people can even get ABC out of Cleveland so I listed it here. UPDATE: No one can but there are some who can get it out of Toledo. How about that? You learn something new every day.

Things are getting very interesting. It’s the second-last playoff picture of the season:

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (12-3) (clinched playoff spot)	#1 San Francisco (11-4) (clinched NFC West)
#2 Miami (11-4) (clinched playoff spot)	#2 Philadelphia (11-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#3 Kansas City (9-6)	#3 Detroit (11-4) (clinched NFC North)
#4 Jacksonville (8-7)	#4 Tampa Bay (8-7)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (10-5)	#5 Dallas (10-5) (clinched playoff spot)
#6 Buffalo (9-6)	#6 LA Rams (8-7)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston/Pittsburgh/Cincinnati (8-7)	#7 Seattle (8-7)

Look at the ridiculous logjam in the AFC. So many teams for, well, still quite a few spots. The Wild Card race is going to be insane and will require some logic puzzle-style explanations. The NFC is not much different even though it doesn’t look like it. There are 4 teams just a game back of the Bucs, Rams and Seahawks. Hell, even the Bears are technically still in it. Yeah it’s this crazy.

Before we get to the clinching scenarios, here is your updated list of eliminated teams (in order of draft position):

Carolina
Arizona
Washington
New England
NY Giants
LA Chargers
Tennessee
NY Jets

Just a reminder that the Bears have the Panthers pick because the Panthers’ front office are idiots.

Now it’s time for the clinching scenarios and, as per usual, I will not include ties until the final weekend of the regular season.

First Round Bye and Home Field Advantage

San Francisco clinches with a win AND a Philadelphia loss AND a Detroit loss
Baltimore clinches with a win

Division Title

Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win AND a Dallas loss
Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win
Baltimore clinches the AFC North with a win OR a Cleveland loss
Miami clinches the AFC East with a win OR a Buffalo loss
Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win OR (a Denver loss AND a Las Vegas loss)
Jacksonville clinches the AFC South with a win AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss

Playoff Berth

LA Rams clinch a playoff berth with a win AND a Seattle loss
Cleveland clinches a playoff berth with a win OR a Pittsburgh loss OR a Buffalo loss OR a Jacksonville loss OR (a Houston loss AND an Indianapolis loss)
Buffalo clinches with a win AND (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Cincinnati loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss) OR (a Cincinnati loss AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Cincinnati loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss)

Elimination

Minnesota is eliminated with a loss AND a Seattle win AND an LA Rams win
Green Bay is eliminated with a loss AND (a Seattle win OR an LA Rams win OR (a New Orleans win AND an Atlanta win AND an Arizona win AND a Dallas win AND a Washington win AND a Cincinnati win AND a Cleveland win AND an Indianapolis win AND an Jacksonville win AND a Denver win))
Chicago is eliminated with a loss OR (a Seattle win AND an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Green Bay win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Minnesota win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Minnesota win)
New Orleans is eliminated with a loss
Atlanta is eliminated with a Tampa Bay win AND (a loss) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Seattle win)
Pittsburgh is eliminated with a loss AND a Buffalo win AND an Indianapolis win AND (a Houston win AND a Denver loss) OR (a Houston win AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Kansas City win) OR (a Jacksonville win AND a Denver loss)
Cincinnati is eliminated with a win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Buffalo win
Houston is eliminated with a loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville win AND (a Buffalo win) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Pittsburgh loss AND a Denver loss)
Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss
Denver is eliminated with a loss OR (a Kansas City win AND a Buffalo win AND a Pittsburgh win) OR (a Kansas City win AND a Buffalo win AND a Houston win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Kansas City win AND a Houston win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Pittsburgh loss)

Alright, should be a fun few days of football. Chances are this will be my final post of the season so I hope each and every one of you have a happy New Year! See you all in 2024 and, as always, enjoy the games!

What a dreadful existence – Week 16 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on December 21, 2023 by guelphbossman

This was the scene at Bank of America Stadium this past weekend in Charlotte for the Falcons-Panthers game. And if you think that’s just maybe part of the upper deck, think again. The entire stadium looked like this. Don’t believe me?

That is during the game as you can see a play going on in this picture. How sad is this? How dreadful must it be to be a Carolina Panthers fan right now? Not only does your team suck-diddly-uck but you don’t even get the chance at the number one draft choice. Why? Well, the Panthers wanted Bryce Young so badly that they exchanged first round picks with the Bears last year. The Panthers had to sweeten the deal so sent a 2025 second rounder, D.J. Moore and…..their first round pick in the upcoming draft. Yeesh. There is a good chance that will be the #1 pick and Bears fans are salivating at the thought. Marvin Harrison Jr.? Caleb Williams? Drake Maye? Maybe another position of need since they aren’t very good either? The possibilities are endless.

For Panthers fans, though, the possibilities aren’t. They won’t pick first overall, they very well might finish last in the league and unless some of their young players (and 2024 draftees) step up in a hurry, this is not a playoff team next season. Nowhere close. Frustrating for sure.

Not frustrating? Getting to watch NFL football on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!! Let’s fucking go! Here’s the schedule to get you all amped up!

American Networks


Seattle at Tennessee	1:00	Seattle, Spokane
Cleveland at Houston	1:00	Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Detroit at Minnesota	1:00		All affiliates
Jacksonville at Tampa Bay	4:05	Minneapolis, Detroit
Dallas at Miami	4:25		All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime & Saturday & Monday (Christmas Day!) Games

New Orleans at LA Rams	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/+
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	Saturday, 4:30, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/4
Buffalo at LA Chargers	Saturday, 8:00, NBC Buffalo, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/5
New England at Denver	Sunday, 8:00, NFL Network, ABC Boston, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/5/+
Las Vegas at Kansas City	Monday, 1:00, CBS, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5/+
NY Giants at Philadelphia	Monday, 4:30, FOX, CTV, TSN 1/3
Baltimore at San Francisco	Monday, 8:15, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5

Christmas-y Type Notes

There are some games on this week that, somehow, are not being shown here in Canada without the assistance of a Sunday Ticket or a RedZone:
- Washington at NY Jets
- Green Bay at Carolina
- Arizona at Chicago
How in the blue hell can three games not be shown at all here with how spread out the games are this week? The power of scheduling. Maybe they do need to go to Matt Zemek’s idea of three Sunday timeslots.
Look at all the national and almost-national telecasts. It is, I believe, an NFL record for the most national broadcasts in one week with seven. Then there’s two on Sunday that might as well be national broadcasts as well.
Just so you know, the Bills-Chargers game will be joined in progress on TSN3 and TSN5 at about 10:30 after the World Juniors pre-competition game between Canada and the U.S. (on TSN3) or the Lakers-Thunder game (on TSN5). Man, TSN loves the World Juniors.
As I said before, a lot of nationwide broadcasts. If you love watching football on CTV, then I hope you love one of four teams because those are the only ones appearing on Sunday afternoon. Lions-Vikings followed by Cowboys-Dolphins across the entire network. At least they should be two really good games.
Finally, the Nickolodeon game is back. This year’s “Nickmas” game will be the early Christmas Day affair between the Raiders and the Chiefs. It’s only on TSN+ up here but if you have it and have younger kids who may be interested it’s….kinda fun, not gonna lie.

OK we are getting close to the end of the season. Three games remain. Here’s what the playoff picture looks like at this point:

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (11-3) (clinched playoff spot)	#1 San Francisco (11-3) (clinched NFC West)
#2 Miami (10-4)	#2 Dallas (10-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#3 Kansas City (9-5)	#3 Detroit (10-4)
#4 Jacksonville (8-6)	#4 Tampa Bay (7-7)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (9-5)	#5 Philadelphia (10-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#6 Cincinnati (8-6)	#6 Minnesota (7-7)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston/Buffalo (8-6)	#7 LA Rams/Seattle/New Orleans (7-7)

As I’ve said before, this Wild Card race may be the wildest in years, no pun intended. Oh and my dream of a 7-10 NFC South champion has gone up in flames as the Bucs and Saints face each other next week so the division champion can have no fewer than eight wins. Damn.

And behold, your list of eliminated teams:

Carolina
New England
Arizona
Washington
NY Jets
Tennessee

Only six. And only maybe three or four will join the list after this week. Good to see a lot of teams still in the mix instead of a few of the seasons in the recent past where half the league was pretty much done with a couple weeks to go.

Now some clinching scenarios. That’s what we are looking at these days anyways and wait until you see some of the scenarios. Fucking ridiculous:

First-Round Bye and Home-Field Advantage

San Francisco clinches with a win AND a Dallas loss AND a Philadelphia loss AND a Detroit loss

Division Title

Detroit clinches the NFC North with a win
Baltimore clinches the AFC North with a win AND a Cleveland loss
Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win
Miami clinches the AFC East with a win AND a Buffalo loss

Playoff Berth

Detroit clinches with an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss
Miami clinches with a win
Cleveland clinches with a win AND (a Denver loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Buffalo loss AND a Miami win) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND (a Denver loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Denver loss AND a Miami win and one of Buffalo/Indianapolis/Jacksonville losing) OR (a Buffalo loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss AND (a Miami win OR a Kansas City win)))

Elimination

Chicago is eliminated with loss AND (an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND one of Minnesota/Green Bay/Tampa Bay winning) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND one of Minnesota/Green Bay/NY Giants winning)
NY Giants are eliminated with a loss AND (an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND (one of Minnesota/Green Bay/Tampa Bay winning) OR (an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND (one of Minnesota/Green Bay winning) OR (an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)) OR (a Minnesota win AND a Green Bay win AND an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win) OR (a Green Bay win AND a Chicago win AND an Atlanta win)
Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss
LA Chargers are eliminated with a loss OR a Jacksonville win OR (a Cincinnati win AND an Indianapolis win AND (a Houston win OR a Denver win OR two of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Houston win AND (a Denver win OR three of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Denver win AND (a Las Vegas win OR one of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND four of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Houston win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Houston win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Green Bay/New Orleans/Arizona/Baltimore/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Denver win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Cleveland win AND one of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Houston win AND two of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND a New Orleans win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Green Bay/Arizona/LA Rams/Baltimore/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND an LA Rams win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND three of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)

For fuck’s sake that is crazy. But if you are a betting man (or woman) you could make a boatload of money if one of these stupid Chargers scenarios hits.

So there you go. Enjoy the NFL football over the holidays and have a Merry Christmas!

Brazil? – The Week 15 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on December 14, 2023 by guelphbossman

Yep, the NFL is heading to Brazil next year! Not Rio, which is pictured here but Sao Paulo. The plan is to have a game at Corinthians Arena and it will be the fifth country outside the U.S. to host a regular season game after Canada, England, Mexico and Germany.

So how do I feel about this? Eh, I’m fine with it. It won’t be played in the morning which makes me happy and I’m sure the NFLers that get to go there will be happy to enjoy some Brazilian culture like walking down the beach and things that occur on LiveLeak.

I think the bigger story was after this when it was announced that there would be EIGHT international games in 2025. My guess is, at some point, every team in the league will play one international game a season until the NFL eventually expands there because that’s what Commissioner Goodell wants, dammit!

Until then we are stuck with 32 teams and schedules that still aren’t too large. So let’s get to that not-too-big schedule followed by a few musings:

American Networks


Tampa Bay at Green Bay	1:00	Minneapolis, Detroit
NY Jets at Miami	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Presque Isle
Kansas City at New England	1:00		All affiliates (except Rochester & Watertown)
NY Giants at New Orleans	1:00		Rochester, Watertown
San Francisco at Arizona	4:05	Seattle, Spokane, Cleveland, Boston
Dallas at Buffalo	4:25		All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime and Saturday Games!

LA Chargers at Las Vegas	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/3/+
Minnesota at Cincinnati	Saturday, 1:00, NFL Network, CBS Minneapolis, TSN 1/3
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis	Saturday, 4:30, NFL Network, TSN 1/3
Denver at Detroit	Saturday, 8:15, NFL Network, FOX Detroit, TSN 1/3
Baltimore at Jacksonville	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/+
Philadelphia at Seattle	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/+

Non-Brazilian Musings

Are you ready? Are you ready for some football? A, uh, Saturday afternoon and evening partayyyyyyyyy? Yep, it’s that time of year where the NFL says fuck it, we are taking over more days and if we were allowed we’d have games every day of the damn week. Problem for me is that it’s the start of Bowl Season. Will I watch some of these games? Sure but my focus is almost always on college football (sorry pro football enthusiasts/college football haters).
Games not being shown in the region of Canada without the use of Sunday Ticket or RedZone:
- Houston at Tennessee
- Atlanta at Carolina
- Washington at LA Rams
Quite the mixed bag for all the non-Sunday afternoon games. For every Ravens-Jags there’s a Chargers-Raiders. Can’t win em all with six games in those timeslots. Hey, at least we get Kevin Fucking Harlan on the call for the Saturday nighter which is a Mount Everest-sized step up from the earlier play-by-play guys, Chris Rose and Rich Eisen.
For the first time in a long time, we have an Absolute National Game. The Cowboys and Bills are on every FOX station in the U.S. meaning the same thing in Canada. Not surprising with so many games not on Sunday but in previous years the Niners and Cardinals would have been shown on televisions in about 53 combined city blocks in the cities of San Francisco and Phoenix. Why I’m so glad the true AFC on CBS/NFC on FOX thing has ended. Progress. Should have done it years ago.

Hey let’s get an updated playoff picture since there’s a team ACTUALLY ALREADY IN THE PLAYOFFS (it’s the Niners):

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

Holy shit. What an absolute clusterfuck at the bottom of the Wild Card list. In each conference, five teams are tied for the final spot with the first team in each list (the Colts and Packers) holding what I assume are insane tiebreakers over the other four teams. This could end up being one of the best final months of a season in a long time.

And now on to the teams that have been officially eliminated:

Carolina
New England

That’s it. Two. With three games to go. Yeah this is nuts. This week that number should go up but maybe by only a couple as you will see in all the clinching scenarios:

Division Title

San Francisco clinches the NFC West with a win OR an LA Rams loss

Playoff Berth

Philadelphia clinches with a win OR (a Minnesota loss AND an Atlanta loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win))) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Tampa Bay win AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win))) OR (a Green Bay loss AND an Atlanta loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win)))
Dallas clinches with a win OR (a Tampa Bay loss AND (a Detroit win AND a San Francisco win) OR (a Detroit win AND an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Detroit win) OR (a Minnesota loss AND an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Seattle loss)) OR (an Atlanta loss AND a Green Bay loss AND (a Detroit win OR an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss)) OR (a Seattle loss AND (an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a NY Giants win AND a New England win AND a Cleveland win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Tennessee win AND an LA Chargers win))
Detroit clinches with a win AND (a Seattle loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (a Seattle win AND a LA Rams loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND an Atlanta loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND a Tampa Bay loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND a Green Bay loss AND an Atlanta loss)
Baltimore clinches with a win AND (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Buffalo loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss and a Denver loss) OR a (Buffalo loss and a Denver loss) OR (a Cleveland loss AND a a Buffalo loss) OR (a Cleveland loss AND a Denver loss) OR (a Houston loss AND a Buffalo loss) OR (a Houston loss AND a Denver loss)

Elimination

Arizona is eliminated with a loss OR (an LA Rams win AND a Minnesota win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a New Orleans win AND a Chicago win AND an Atlanta win) OR (a Minnesota win AND a Green Bay win AND a New Orleans win AND an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)
Washington is eliminated with a loss
Tennessee is eliminated with a loss AND (a Pittsburgh win) OR (an Indianapolis win) OR (a Cincinnati win) OR (a Denver win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Denver win AND a LA Chargers win)
NY Jets are eliminated with a loss AND (a Buffalo win AND an Indianapolis win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Pittsburgh win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Houston win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Cincinnati win) OR (an Indianapolis win AND a Cincinnati win AND a Houston win) OR (a Cleveland win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Cincinnati win) OR (a Cleveland win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Houston win)

For fuck’s sake that is ridiculous. And it’s only Week 15. Can you imagine that last Dallas scenario hitting? It would be the ultimate parlay win. A $10 bet would probably make you a millionaire. OK enjoy the games everyone and remember there are Saturday games this week (although the NFL will never, EVER let you forget).

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!

It’s Turkey Day Time (South of the border) – Week 12 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on November 22, 2023 by guelphbossman

Let’s start with a ranked list since this blog totally needs to be Buzzfeeded…I am sure someone over the age of 70 would not understand most of that sentence. The definitive ranking of Thanksgiving foods! And I am going to include some American delicacies that I may or may not like. Here we go:

Mashed potatoes. Easy choice at #1.
Stuffing. Another easy choice at #2.
Gravy. Yeah you need a good gravy.
Turkey. Sure, some people are ham people and I respect that but turkey is just the quintessential Thanksgiving meat.
Ham. I like ham too! Especially those spiral hams. God damn delicious!
Apple pie. Oh man, apple pie is the perfect dessert.
Corn. Got to have at least one good Thanksgiving veggie.
Rolls. Again, rolls are made for holiday dinners.
Peas. Peas are fine but corn is the better veggie in this case.
Glazed carrots. Don’t see it too often but carrots (and parsnips) done in butter and brown sugar is quite tasty.
Mac and cheese. I would put it higher but it’s just not something we serve up here at Thanksgiving.
Cornbread. I actually like cornbread but it feels not Thanksgiving-y? Maybe I’m wrong.
Candied yams or sweet potato casserole. Not really a fan of either but will have a bite or two.
Brussels sprouts. Now, I’ve heard they are good cooked with bacon. Maybe I should try that.
Pumpkin pie. Not a fan and hate the pumpkin spice craze that still goes on.
Salad. No one wants a fucking salad at Thanksgiving.
Cranberry sauce. I hate cranberries in general for a few reasons that I won’t get into here.
Rotten garbage.
Green bean casserole. The dirt fucking worst. Green beans? Tasty. But when you add all sorts of stuff to it it turns into shit for some reason.

There, the definitive list. I’m sure I missed something here but I think I got most of the Thanksgiving staples. Don’t @ me, as the kids say.

Schedule time!

American Networks


Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	1:00	All affiliates
New Orleans at Atlanta	1:00		Minneapolis
New England at NY Giants	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Cleveland at Denver	4:05		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Detroit
Kansas City at Las Vegas	4:25	Seattle, Spokane
Buffalo at Philadelphia	4:25	All affiliates (except Seattle & Spokane)

Canadian Networks

Primetime, American Thanksgiving & Black Friday Games

Green Bay at Detroit	Thursday, 12:30, FOX, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/5
Washington at Dallas	Thursday, 4:30, CBS, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/5
San Francisco at Seattle	Thursday, 8:00, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5/+
Miami at NY Jets	Friday, 3:00, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/5
Baltimore at LA Chargers	8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/4/+
Chicago at Minnesota	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/5

Some Turkey-Related Comments (with Gravy, of course)

The following games will not be shown in relatively turkey-less Canada unless you have a subscription to Sunday Ticket or RedZone (or both):
- Tampa Bay at Indianapolis
- Carolina at Tennessee
- LA Rams at Arizona
With the games as spread out as they are, we somehow still have three games not being shown up here on regular cable. It’s going to be very interested when the NFL expands, even if it’s just by two teams since that will just mean more games not available on cable.
Do you think there will still be people that struggle to realize that the Thursday afternoon game will be on CBS and not FOX? I’m sure those people still exist.
Now that they CFL season is over, TSN will step up and show NFL on damn near every one of their channels. You know, unlike college football where they barely make one or two available.
The Thanksgiving sked is not bad although I could easily see blowouts in the first two games. The night game has become very interesting as the NFC West is now a bit of a tighter race with San Fran having their struggles and the Rams getting back into the thick of things.
Yes, you read it right. The NFL is putting a game on Black Friday. “Wait, Bossman, I thought the NFL couldn’t air games on Fridays.” That’s kind of correct. The NFL cannot overlap high school football games and many of those leagues are deep into the playoffs now. But those games are always evening games, obviously. This game should be done by around 6:00 (unless there’s overtime) so they are able to skirt around this rule. Also, Amazon is trying to get more eyeballs on Prime so they asked the NFL to move the game to Friday. Amazingly enough, Amazon trails the bigger shopping outlets like Walmart and Target by a very wide margin when it comes to Black Friday shopping. So of course they want to close the gap and they believe this will help. Yes, money is always involved in these decisions even if it isn’t the main reason.

Playoff picture time! Has the gap between the haves and have-nots widened in the NFC?

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

It hasn’t widened but the teams on the outside haven’t gained any ground. I am sure more than half the teams that are in playoff spots going into Thanksgiving probably end up making the playoffs, if not close to two-thirds. So this weekend becomes a big deal for some teams hanging around the bubble. In the AFC, the Bills, Colts, Broncos and Bengals are just out of a playoff spot so it’s not going to be easy for the current playoff teams to hold them all off. Interesting point here: the Panthers, at 1-10, cannot be eliminated from playoff contention this weekend. That is how bad the NFC South is this season. No teams can be eliminated this week although several can lose their chance at the #1 seed, not surprisingly, with losses. The Patriots-Giants game is basically a Loser-Can’t-Be-Top-Seed game.

Savour this, people. So much football. And, if you decide to, make a big meal. Enjoy yourselves. And enjoy the games.

What is happening in Buffalo? And the Week 11 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on November 16, 2023 by guelphbossman

As you probably know, Ken Dorsey was fired as offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills earlier this week. Was it a surprise? A bit of one, sure.

Despite the stats that say the Bills have one of the best offenses in football, you can also honestly say they are wildly inconsistent. Josh Allen has one of the best completion percentages in the league yet the throws that aren’t complete are what take centre stage. Overthrows by 10 yards, throws into double and triple coverage constantly, leading the league in interceptions. He has become one of the biggest risk-reward quarterbacks in recent memory. He either does amazing things or does stupidly shitty things and there seems to be very little in-between.

Also, the Bills running attack has been non-existent for years. And when it did show up it was usually Allen running the ball, almost daring to get injured. This past Monday night, they showed they can run the ball when they need to…with their running backs. They aren’t great but they can be good enough when needed.

So putting this all together, Dorsey has to be responsible for some of this. His playcalling is not good. Period. The results may a lot of times end up being great but it’s not because of him. The talent on the field is there. Saying that, he does feel like a bit of a scapegoat. He was promoted when Brian Daboll left to become head coach of the New York Football Giants and who knows if he was truly ready for the job. He has no say in the personnel he has to work with and who knows how much influence Sean McDermott has over the offense. McDermott has to take some of the blame, as does general manager Brandon Beane, for all of this. It’s a bit of a mess right now as a team that was supposed to contend once again is failing to do so.

Will firing Dorsey help? It remains to be seen. Sometimes change for the sake of change can be a good thing. Either way, something has to be done. This is a franchise that feels like it has been broken twice in the past two seasons. The unbeliveable loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs in 2021, followed by Damar Hamlin’s on-field heart attack last season seem to have partially destroyed this team. They aren’t excuses: it just feels like the franchise isn’t what they were or what some thought they would become. As a fan of the team, I hope they can turn it around but at least for this season, it doesn’t look promising for them.

OK that’s enough Bills talk. Let’s go to this week’s schedule which…OK it does have the Bills on it but they aren’t the feature this week, make no mistake about that. Well, that’s not entirely true either. A lot of the country will be…let’s just get to the damn schedule.

American Networks


Pittsburgh at Cleveland	1:00	All affiliates
Dallas at Carolina	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Boston, Presque Isle
LA Chargers at Green Bay	1:00		Minneapolis
Chicago at Detroit	1:00		Detroit
NY Giants at Washington	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington
Tampa Bay at San Francisco	4:05		Spokane
NY Jets at Buffalo	4:25	All affiliates (except Seattle & Spokane)
Seattle at LA Rams	4:25	Seattle, Spokane

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

Cincinnati at Baltimore	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/+
Minnesota at Denver	8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN2
Philadelphia at Kansas City	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/4/+

Potentially Important Notes and Things And Trash and Such

What did people do to deserve the Giants-Commanders game? Upstate New York always seems to get stuck with these shitty games but it’s rare for western New York to get them as well. Hopefully who gets their FOX affiliate from that area has Sunday Ticket or RedZone. Otherwise, ugh.
Speaking of Sunday Ticket and RedZone, here are the games not being shown in Canada if you don’t have one of the two, at least:
- Tennessee at Jacksonville
- Arizona at Houston
Finally done with the morning games. Thank god. I sincerely hate them. As you can tell, I am not a morning person. At all.
The Grey Cup is this Sunday. This is why only TSN2 is being used for the NFL. After this weekend, though, it should open up quite nicely the rest of the way.
So yeah the Bills are in a prominent spot since most of the country will get their game with the Jets. And, fair enough, it is an important game in the AFC East since the loser is going to have a very tough time making the playoffs.
Finally, look at the primetime slate. Now that’s what I’m talking about. The worst team of the bunch, by far, is Denver and they have started to turn things around. This is always what the NFL was looking for when primetime football started decades ago and, unfortunately, they have gotten away from that. I understand that it’s nice to see your team in a primetime, standalone game. But it also means you have to shut your trap when we are stuck with the Panthers and the Bears. Can’t have it both ways.

Alright now let’s get to the playoff picture which is still pretty AFC North-heavy:

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

You have three teams half-a-game out of the final Wild Card spot in the AFC and three more teams only one game out. Realistically, the Patriots are the only team truly out of it in the conference. Imagine typing that any time this century. As for the NFC, there seems to be a gap between the top teams and the teams either trying to claw their way into the playoff picture or coming close to tanking to get a better draft pick. That’s why it already sucks when two teams who have combined for a 6-14 record so far this season is the game in your area.

A reminder that next week is one of America’s football celebrations: Thanksgiving (south of the border)! So if you want to partake as well, go ahead and make a 40-pound turkey for four people, enough mashed potatoes to drown a rhino and that fucking disgusting green bean casserole that could be used as a weapon in ground warfare. I will try my best to get the blog post out next week in time for you to have all the information you need. As for this week, just enjoy the games everyone! And if you want to make a turkey this weekend as well, have at it.

DOBBS! – The Week 10 NFL TV Schedule

Posted on November 9, 2023 by guelphbossman

I’m a Bills fan as you know. And yes, Damar Hamlin returning to Cincinnati for the first time since last year’s horrific incident was a big story. But I have to admit there was an even bigger story coming out of the NFL this past weekend.

How about Josh Dobbs? He went from playing in Cleveland to being traded to the Cardinals to replace injured starter Kyler Murray to being traded yet again to the Vikings to replace another injured quarterback, this time Kirk Cousins who is out for the season. He joined the Vikings after he was acquired last Tuesday at the trade deadline. He had almost no time to prepare but no big deal, right? He was the backup to Jaren Hall. Well, Hall ends up getting a concussion in the first quarter so in comes Dobbs. He had to go over cadences with the offensive line since he hadn’t done that before and the O-line hadn’t heard him do it. Hell, he barely even knew most of their names yet.

So this ended up in disaster for the Vikings, right? Nope. The Vikings ended up scoring 31 on the Falcons, including the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left on a drive engineered by Dobbs. That win put the Vikings back not only in the playoff race, but back in the NFC North race which no one expected to happen. It would be something if they could make the playoffs and its not out of the realm of possibility if Dobbs develops a great chemistry with his teammates.

OK let’s get to the schedule, which does include the Vikings and Dobbs!

American Networks


Green Bay at Pittsburgh	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
San Francisco at Jacksonville	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
New Orleans at Minnesota	1:00		Minneapolis, Detroit
Cleveland at Baltimore	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester
Detroit at LA Chargers	4:05	Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland
Washington at Seattle	4:25		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
NY Giants at Dallas	4:25		Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games (und das morgendliche Spiel)

Carolina at Chicago	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/4/+
Indianapolis vs. New England (in Frankfurt)	9:30 AM, NFL Network, ABC Boston, TSN4
NY Jets at Las Vegas	8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/+
Denver at Buffalo	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/+

A Little Random Notes and Shit

Hey, no one gets stuck with a shitty game while you know the rest of the country can enjoy a good football matchup (at least on paper). Unless you count the potential blowout with the Cowboys and Giants.
Games not being shown up here in now suddenly cold Canada (at least where I’m from) unless you have the Reddest of Zones:
- Tennessee at Tampa Bay
- Atlanta at Arizona
Only two games not appearing on Canadian television this Sunday and let’s be honest: I doubt many people give a shit about any of those four teams right now unless you are gamblers or fantasy football players. Hmmm…I guess that actually means a lot of people would care about those games. Well, get Sunday Ticket or RedZone or stop complaining then.
With the CFL moving the first two rounds of their playoffs to Saturdays, it frees up more TSNs to show the NFL. That’s why you will see three (count em, THREE) TSN stations showing games on Sunday. This will change next week with the Grey Cup so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Oh, is this the worst Thursday Night Football matchup ever? It very well could be.

Hey, let’s look at what the updated playoff picture looks like:

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

How about the AFC North? I know we are only going into Week 10 but holy shit to have all four teams in playoff spots is pretty damn amazing. The Eagles already have a one-and-a-half game lead on the field in the NFC and looks like they may waltz to that number one seed in the conference. The AFC is a hell of a lot tighter as all seven current playoff teams are one-and-a-half games apart. Yes, the same amount that the Eagles lead the #2 seed Lions. Impressive. By the way, the Cardinals can already lose their shot at the #1 seed this weekend. I know…I’m shocked as well.

Wow, we had shitty weather yesterday in my neck of the woods. And I know many parts of Canada have had either freezing rain or snow already and we are still in early November. So good thing we have FOOTBALL to keep us company inside while the weather sucks outside. Enjoy the games everyone!

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!

Do you believe in Al Michaels (and the Week 8 NFL TV Schedule)?

Posted on October 26, 2023 by guelphbossman

OK I don’t really believe in the former anymore but I believe in the schedule (I mean otherwise why would I be doing this blog?).

When it comes to football at the NFL level, Al Michaels is one of the greatest play-by-play announcers of all-time. I would put him number two behind Pat Summerall in that category. So it’s a bit of a shock to hear him these days on the Thursday Night Football broadcasts. He seems bored, detached, distracted and just doesn’t seem to give a shit some of the time. I get that TNF has had their share of stinkers and, other than the Sunday morning Europe broadcasts, many could do away with these Thursday nighters. No care for player safety is a big part of it but NFL football is, for the most part, meant to be played on Sundays (with one game on Monday…and the occasional late season game on Saturday and the Thanksgiving games that are on Thursday…you get my point). That doesn’t, though, give Al the right to just cash his cheque and show up to do a piss-poor job. If he hates it that much he can retire. There are plenty of up-and-comers out there that would love that spot and would do a much better job. You never know: this may be Al’s last season and none of us know it. It may be for the best. Must suck to be Kirk Herbstreit who does this on top of all his college football duties and has to try and keep things moving in a positive direction as Captain Curmudgeon acts like he’s getting his toenails pulled out by pliers.

Alright, time for the schedule which does include a game called by Al Michaels:

American Networks


Jacksonville at Pittsburgh	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland
NY Jets at NY Giants	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown
New England at Miami	1:00	Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Minnesota at Green Bay	1:00		Minneapolis, Detroit
LA Rams at Dallas	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Presque Isle
Cleveland at Seattle	4:05		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Boston
Cincinnati at San Francisco	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Primetime Games

Tampa Bay at Buffalo	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, ABC (Buffalo), CTV2, TSN 1/+
Chicago at LA Chargers	8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/+
Las Vegas at Detroit	Monday, 8:15, ABC, CTV2, TSN 1/3

Random Analysis

I love when there’s a game in the late window that’s available only to people within 10 kilometres of the stadium the game is being played in and anyone who owns a hat of the visiting team. But at least if you have Sunday Ticket or RedZone you don’t have to worry about it since they all come in glorious HD. Speaking of RedZone…
Games not being shown in the Great White North unless you have RedZone…hosers:
- Atlanta at Tennessee
- New Orleans at Indianapolis
- Houston at Carolina
- Kansas City at Denver
- Baltimore at Arizona
The Chiefs-Broncos game seems like a relatively big one (mostly because of the Chiefs) and to not have it available anywhere here is quite surprising to be honest. Realistically, other than Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis and most of Texas, this game is being shown in the somewhat unpopulated American, uh, west part of the Central Time Zone and into the Rockies. A big area for sure but not a ton of eyeballs.
Let’s see if the Bills will fuck up tonight. And if they do, how they do it. Since that seems to be the entertainment these days. I wonder if Vegas has odds on stuff like that. Ah, who am I kidding…they have odds on damn near everything sports-related.

I am hoping we are in for a fun Sunday (and Monday) of professional football. Lately, it hasn’t been that great to be honest. I mean I still watched most of it but the games have been lacking. Let’s hope the entire league gets out of its funk. Enjoy the games everyone!


Jacksonville at Tennessee	1:00	Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Atlantic
Atlanta at New Orleans	1:00		Vancouver Island, Alberta	TSN1, TSN4, TSN5
Minnesota at Detroit	1:00	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg	All affiliates (except Vancouver Island & Alberta)
Chicago at Green Bay	4:25	Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Ottawa		TSN1, TSN4, TSN5
Philadelphia at NY Giants	4:25	Montreal, Atlantic
Dallas at Washington	4:25	Kitchener, Toronto
Seattle at Arizona	4:25	Vancouver