Official Week 14 Thread

[madducks]

Panthers fire head coach Ron Rivera after nine seasons.

[DMT]

I think Saints are currently #1 seed.

[madducks]

Bears WR Taylor Gabriel is out for Thursday night.

Bears TE Ben Braunecker is also out.

[revo]

Daniel Jones is out, so Eli Manning will start
Evan Engram also is finally making his return

[madducks]

Steelers RB James Conner out.

[madducks]

Steelers WR Juju Smith-Schuster out.
Saints TE Greg Olsen out.
Colts WR T.Y. Hilton out.

[revo]

Le’Veon Bell Out
Evan Engram Out

[Judge Jude]

wild finishes!

AFC
2 PATRIOTS 10-3, 5 BILLS 9-4
1 y-RAVENS 11-2, 6 STEELERS 8-5
4 TEXANS 8-5, Titans 8-5
3 x-CHIEFS 9-4

NFC
4 COWBOYS 6-7, Eagles 6-7
2 PACKERS 10-3, 6 VIKINGS 9-4, Bears 7-6
3 x-SAINTS 10-3
1 49ERS 11-2, 5 SEAHAWKS 10-3, Rams 8-5

x - won division
y- clinched playoff spot

...............................

FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS - a look ahead to the spring 2020 NFL Draft to be held there

1-12 - Bengals

2-11 - Giants

3-10 - Redskins, Dolphins
3-9-1 - Lions, Cardinals

4-9 - Falcons, Jaguars

5-8 - Jets, Broncos, Panthers, Chargers

6-7 - Colts, Browns, Buccaneers, Raiders, Eagles

[Judge Jude]

definition of "karma" - disgraceful Pats fans boo their historically all-time great dynasty off the field at halftime.

the universe then takes away two Pats TDs in the second half with terrible calls.

maybe that will help those drunks in the stands gain a little perspective

............

we've all noticed that NFL teams FINALLY are listening to the many of us who have winced for years/decades at seeing ridiculous punt decisions late in games (ok, the Giants still do that), bad math on 2-point decisions (ditto), and other no-brainers to all who don't wear NFL coaching hats.

but the Bills did something I've awaited for years but doubted I'd live long enough to see.

they trailed 24-9, midway through the 4th quarter, scored a TD - and went for 2!

now, announcers always say to go for 1 there because a) they are idiots and b) it makes it a "one-score game"

but in the real world, the Bills benefit greatly from knowing if they need one score or two. it informs how they handle play calls, when to use timeouts, and so forth. now, they happened to score to make it 24-17 (which was the final). but if they hadn't, even that bummer info was advantageous to them.

on the Ravens game last week, they noted that BAL has a 25-year-old Ivy League grad who explains all this stuff to Harbaugh - and his team is doing ok.

I do expect teams to overreact at first - the 'win probability added' numbers exist in a vacuum, to an extent. a QB sneak on 4th and 1 makes less sense if the QB is hurting, and an onside kick decision depends partly on what the coach knows from seeing attempts in practice (with some of the modeling likely based, say, on an assumption of an average-level onside kicker as opposed to that ATL master of the dark arts).

but that's ok - at least we're getting into the 21st century - if a little late.

[revo]

It's certainly been a "Tale of Two Halves" for the Pats.

First half, facing the likes of the Dolphins, Redskins, Jets x2, Giants, a dysfunctional Browns team, and the Steelers & Bills, they averaged 31 ppg. They went 8-0.

Second half, facing the Ravens, Eagles, Cowboys, Texans and Chiefs, they're 2-3 and averaging 17 ppg. They're 2-3 over that span.

[Judge Jude]

'what have you done for me lately' dept:

last two Super Bowl champs have now been booed off their field at home at halftime in Week 14

[revo]

Critical loss for the Giants. I have no idea what they were thinking trying to win that game! Could have been the difference between Chase Young and no Chase Young.