2021 NFL Thread v. Super Bowl 56: Rams vs Bengals

[KevShmev]

Oh no, St. Rodgers is upset that people found out he was unvaccinated.  You got caught. Man up and own it. Stop acting like a little bitch.

https://nypost.com/2021/11/05/aaron-rodgers-furious-over-vaccination-drama/

Honestly, the league needs to nail his sorry ass, and the Packers organization to the wall over this. They were fining teams and docking draft picks for trivial violations last year. Because this is Aaron Rodgers they're going to let the whole thing slide, though. What a joke.

(the other chatter in this thread since aside), I totally agree.  The NFL needs to come down hard on both Rodgers and the Packers organization.

[MusicMaker]

Well, after agonizing over the outrageous (in my opinion) costs, I ultimately pulled the trigger on Thursday.  My 7-year-old son and I are going to SoFi Stadium tomorrow night to watch the Titans vs the Rams (Sunday night football!).  50 yard line, 3rd row of about the 3rd section up.

I've previously attended exactly 1 professional football game.  Houston Oilers vs the LA Raiders at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a preseason game back in 1993 or so.  So, this is not a common thing for me.  Not to mention that tomorrow night's game is the first time in just over 27(!) years that the Oilers/Titans have played in Los Angeles.  They played "at" the LA Chargers two seasons ago, but that game was actually played in London.

There were too many things for me to pass up with this opportunity, and I ultimately decided I had to go with a "no regrets" approach and just do it.  As I mentioned, Titan visits to my part of the country have been quite rare.  Plus it's the (current) top team in the AFC versus the (current) top team in the NFC.  Theoretically, if both teams win out (yeah right), this is a preview of the Super Bowl in this very same stadium come February.  And oh yeah, about that stadium...  It's supposed to be unbelievable, and as a southern California native I have to see this $5B Wonder of the World at some point.  Also, there should be no fewer than MINIMUM 4 future Hall of Famers in this game (Julio Jones, Adrian Peterson, Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey)- plus a bunch of other more-than-decent candidates down the road.  It's just too rare of a happening for me to miss, when I *could* do it.  So I am.

My one HUGE regret is Derrick Henry's injury from last Sunday.  Man, if not for that, this would be absolutely perfect (not to mention, a 5th Hall of Famer...).  I feel like I HAVE to see this man play at some point.  One of my father's biggest sports regrets is that he never got to see Sandy Koufax pitch in person- it just didn't work out.  I am so bummed that he (Henry) won't be part of this game, and a bucket list entry ticked off on this visit.

I'll be rooting for the Titans, but regardless it should be a great game, and a great experience and memory for me and Mini-MusicMaker.

I know some people go to tons of games- I am not one of those people.  We're both pretty pumped.

[KevShmev]

I think it is way too early to call Jalen Ramsey a future Hall of Famer, especially when you left out Von Miller, who probably has his gold jacket already locked up, but that is neither here nor there.  Have fun at the game! 

[El Barto]

Four weeks go I thought to myself "any time Brandon Bolden is having to play on offense you're in deep shit." Damned if that boy didn't turn into a real stud. I honestly had no idea he could actually play outside of special teams. Hell, I'm not sure Bill did. 

[King Postwhore]

Somehow, he sticks around but it's because he can fill in and produce just enough. He's having a hell of a season so far.

[KevShmev]

Somehow, you just know many around the league are seeing the Patriots getting better and thinking to themselves, "Uh oh..."

[MusicMaker]

...especially when you left out Von Miller, who probably has his gold jacket already locked up...

He probably does.  I'm not an avid fan/follower of him or the Broncos overall, so I know him more by reputation/highlights than actual career stats.

When I posted, though, Von Miller wasn't expected to play today (an ankle issue if I recall).  I appreciate his ability and success, but he's not a once-a-generation one-of-a-kind must-see draw for me personally in the way that Derrick Henry is.  So I guess I just left him unmentioned.  Would be very cool to see him play too!

[TheCountOfNYC]

Somehow, you just know many around the league are seeing the Patriots getting better and thinking to themselves, "Uh oh..."

The 50 burger New England dropped on my Jets two weeks ago made me mostly check out of this season. It’s becoming increasingly harder for me to care when the team I root for is stuck in neutral while their biggest rival always seems to have the answer. There’s only so much Patriots success and Jets failure I can take, and I think I’m close to my limit.

[Skeever]

I hear you, but the Jets are in the past position they've been in since the Tannenbaum/Ryan years. You can't expect a rookie QB and nearly brand new coaching staff to make a difference overnight, and so far a lot of Joe Douglas's moves seem to have been good ones. The hoodie is almost 70, also.

[Stadler]

This was one of those weeks I LOVE.  "Any Given Sunday".   Denver had no business beating the Cowboys, but they did.  Jax had no business beating Buffalo, but they did.   IMO, Atlanta had no business beating New Orleans, but they did.   And two others that could have gone either way - Cle/Cin and LV/NYG - and it was a great week, even if I didn't pick any of them.

Nothing that hasn't been said already about Aaron Rodgers, except to note that the Fox Sports panel was pretty unanimous and pretty insightful; they were all rather critical about Rodgers, but focused almost exclusively on his honesty (which is where I'm parked; I don't care what he does - I really don't; he's entitled to forego the vaccine if he chooses, and that's regardless of where he gets his information from - but be honest about it.)

[hunnus2000]

This was one of those weeks I LOVE.  "Any Given Sunday".   Denver had no business beating the Cowboys, but they did.  Jax had no business beating Buffalo, but they did.   IMO, Atlanta had no business beating New Orleans, but they did.   And two others that could have gone either way - Cle/Cin and LV/NYG - and it was a great week, even if I didn't pick any of them.

Nothing that hasn't been said already about Aaron Rodgers, except to note that the Fox Sports panel was pretty unanimous and pretty insightful; they were all rather critical about Rodgers, but focused almost exclusively on his honesty (which is where I'm parked; I don't care what he does - I really don't; he's entitled to forego the vaccine if he chooses, and that's regardless of where he gets his information from - but be honest about it.)

Yeah, I love "Any Given Sunday" too except when it happens to my team. Cowboys fans and media (including myself) went into this game thinking, 'we've got this'. My first moment of dread was at the very beginning when they showed the stats of the Broncos defense and Teddy Bridgewater I perked up and thought - 'holy shit, these guys can play some "D" and Teddy's stats aren't too shabby'. Everything went to hell and a handbag after that. BTW - Micah Parsons is a BEAST!

As far as Rodgers goes - I don't buy this 'my body, my choice' BS when we regulate people's body ALL THE TIME but I have posted before that from a competitive advantage, it just makes sense to get vaccinated.  And I don't believe one iota that he did his research and he's allergic to a couple of ingredients to the mRNA vaccine. The Pack needs a QB because I don't see Rodgers back in GB next year and this time, Love is not the answer.

[DragonAttack]

The Beatles would disagree with you 

[hunnus2000]

The Beatles would disagree with you 

Thank you for getting the joke! 

[Grappler]

On the heels of Aaron Rodgers' touchdown celebration against The Bears ("I own you!")....

https://wgntv.com/news/trending/the-wieners-circle-pokes-fun-at-aaron-rodgers/

[pg1067]

This was one of those weeks I LOVE.  "Any Given Sunday".   Denver had no business beating the Cowboys, but they did.

Man...it was SO...MUCH...FUN!!!  Before the Rams and Chargers moved back to LA, I could see the Broncos with some frequency.  Now I get to see MAYBE three games per year.  A guy I worked with called me on Friday to talk a bit of pregame smack, and I basically conceded that the Broncos had no chance.  But they put up a game that would've made them competitive against 99% of teams in NFL history.  Any given Sunday, indeed!

The only bummer was that, with about 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter, Fox switched over to a "more competitive game."  Seeing as how the Cowboys scored two touchdowns in that time, I guess I'm better off that they did that.  LOL!

Hopefully it's not a complete aberration.

[faizoff]

Has there been any study or analysis done on how teams perform coming off their byes? Generally speaking, is getting a bye during any point of the season an advantage or disadvantage? My general assumption is that a bye during the middle of the season is a sweet spot. Not sure if players or coaches have any preferences of when they'd like to get the bye.

I'd take a guess it's more trivial than anything but I was thinking about teams that get their bye super early in the season, doesn't seem like they get a chance to recuperate or sorts during the end of the season.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Teams usually prefer to get their bye week towards the middle of the season.

[DragonAttack]

after a bye week

https://www.predictem.com/nfl/nfl-records-ats-after-the-bye/

You can also google various coaches.  For instance, John Harbaugh's record is 10-3

[hunnus2000]

Has there been any study or analysis done on how teams perform coming off their byes? Generally speaking, is getting a bye during any point of the season an advantage or disadvantage? My general assumption is that a bye during the middle of the season is a sweet spot. Not sure if players or coaches have any preferences of when they'd like to get the bye.

I'd take a guess it's more trivial than anything but I was thinking about teams that get their bye super early in the season, doesn't seem like they get a chance to recuperate or sorts during the end of the season.

I don't know if the NFL has done such a study but I'm sure you can find stats somewhere. I'm not sure you can come to any conclusion because there are way to many variances that you would have to consider such as coaching, injuries, strength of personnel etc...

Other thoughts from the weekend:

This was a strange football weekend. Cowboys lose, Raiders lose, Rams lose......

Baker Mayfield must be feeling vindicated.

Cardinals are fo real!

I  need to watch Manning Mondays because I hear they are awesome.

I still think we need TNF but I think it's time to retire MNF.

[Stadler]

I watched Manning Monday last week and I was SOLD!   I don't know that it is on this week, but I'm a fan.

[Skeever]

The Manning Broadcast is exceptional. I was groaning about whether I even cared enough to watch the Steelers and the Bears, and seeing that Peyton and Eli are taking a break from broadcasting this week pretty much seals the deal for me that I probably won't.

[faizoff]

after a bye week

https://www.predictem.com/nfl/nfl-records-ats-after-the-bye/

You can also google various coaches.  For instance, John Harbaugh's record is 10-3

Awesome thanks!

[romdrums]

Glad that the OBJ drama was dealt with and the Browns can move forward. I've got a good feeling that the Browns will be playing in January, while OBJ is sitting at home.  Would love to see the Lions claim him, or the Jets, just to troll him.  The Browns won't miss him.

[El Barto]

Glad that the OBJ drama was dealt with and the Browns can move forward. I've got a good feeling that the Browns will be playing in January, while OBJ is sitting at home.  Would love to see the Lions claim him, or the Jets, just to troll him.  The Browns won't miss him.

From what I can tell, the Browns did him no favor when they sent his contract along with him. Seems to me that only 10 teams have the cap space to make a waiver claim, and only one of them is a likely playoff contender (SD). The Lions have already said they're a hard pass, and the Jets don't have the space. He may well find himself in Jacksonville, though.

[KevShmev]

OBJ or not, the Browns are at their best on offense when they run it well.  Mayfield only had 21 attempts yesterday, and they ran for over 150 yards on the ground. That is the recipe for a victory if you are the Browns.

[Dream Team]

It’s sickening how much the NFL is in bed with the military. All I see is camo everywhere I look.

[TheCountOfNYC]

It’s sickening how much the NFL is in bed with the military. All I see is camo everywhere I look.

I have so much respect for our troops, but not for the actually military itself. I also think that all public “support our troops” campaigns by multi-million dollar entities are completely meaningless and nothing more than a publicity stunt unless the powers at be in those companies regularly donate some of their excessive wealth towards PTSD research and helping homeless veterans. It seems people only respect the troops who died but not the ones who survived and suffer when they come home.

[KevShmev]

I'll take cameo over (if I may paraphrase Bill Burr) them dressing the players up like newborn babies in October every year. Thank goodness that is over.

[Dream Team]

For anyone watching, this is totally on-brand for a Mike Tomlin defense. Terrible secondary play all game.

[KevShmev]

That sequence that led to the taunting penalty late in last night's game might be the most absurd thing ever in an NFL game.

I get that the taunting penalty is a point of emphasis this year, and that the Bears player should have toned it down a touch after the sack, but no flag was thrown by the official watching it until after the Bears player ran by him and contact was initiated with the official...that the official initiated!!  The official literally stuck his butt out to make contact with the Bears player and then threw the flag.  I didn't watch the game, so I didn't see it until this morning, and I had to watch it twice to make sure that I actually saw it right, and yep, that is actually what happened.  Unreal.

[Stadler]

It’s sickening how much the NFL is in bed with the military. All I see is camo everywhere I look.

I have so much respect for our troops, but not for the actually military itself. I also think that all public “support our troops” campaigns by multi-million dollar entities are completely meaningless and nothing more than a publicity stunt unless the powers at be in those companies regularly donate some of their excessive wealth towards PTSD research and helping homeless veterans. It seems people only respect the troops who died but not the ones who survived and suffer when they come home.

How is it different than any of the other publicity stunts they run?   I can't even watch the pregame shows anymore* because there is literally EVERY WEEK on EVERY SHOW at least one story that is equally as pandering and false and scheduled, all intended to pull at my sympathies and further etch the in-group and out-group mentality.

[hunnus2000]

It’s sickening how much the NFL is in bed with the military. All I see is camo everywhere I look.

I have so much respect for our troops, but not for the actually military itself. I also think that all public “support our troops” campaigns by multi-million dollar entities are completely meaningless and nothing more than a publicity stunt unless the powers at be in those companies regularly donate some of their excessive wealth towards PTSD research and helping homeless veterans. It seems people only respect the troops who died but not the ones who survived and suffer when they come home.

How is it different than any of the other publicity stunts they run?   I can't even watch the pregame shows anymore* because there is literally EVERY WEEK on EVERY SHOW at least one story that is equally as pandering and false and scheduled, all intended to pull at my sympathies and further etch the in-group and out-group mentality.

From my understanding, the military pays the NFL millions of dollars for the National Anthem and unfurling that huge flag and a military fly-by so the NA is nothing more than a minute and a half of advertising. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if last weeks tributes to the troops was nothing more than paid programming billed to Uncle Sam.

Personally, I would love to go back to the players stay in the locker room during the NA and then get introduced to the crowd like in the old days.

[Dublagent66]

For anyone watching, this is totally on-brand for a Mike Tomlin defense. Terrible secondary play all game.

Yeah, Pitt pulls one outta their butt once again.

[Ben_Jamin]

About Rodgers...

You mean to tell me that all Rodgers told the media was he is Immunized and the rest of the world and media assumed he was vaccinated based on his answer of "I'm Immunized"?

That's hilarious if so, because it's the media and everyone else's damn fault for ASSUMING.

He also did take Monoclonal Antibody Treatments. Which many people who do get some harsh symptoms are being prescribed to take by their doctors.

I know people who were vaccinated, got some mild symptoms, prescribed these and felt better.

If Rodgers caught it, took these Monoclonal Antibodies, and is fine. There is some good in these things.

Also, the entire team knew he was unvaccinated, he knew what protocols need to be followed, and yet the league still allowed him to play.

Why is the blame being placed on Rodgers when the League knew of his status and didn't say anything about it until now. I figure it'd be quite hard to lie about a vaccination status. Which Rodgers did not lie about. He answered a question with wise word choices and people assumed their own meaning to his answer.


And also, it's pretty sad when your team relies so heavily on one man that when he isn't there, the entire team looks lost and can't even hold up the other team. At least they didn't get Trampled on like the Cowboys did, but still.

[Ben_Jamin]

It’s sickening how much the NFL is in bed with the military. All I see is camo everywhere I look.

I hate to break it to you, but Nations have used Sports for purposes of Nationalism and Militarism for centuries. Look at how Hitler utilized calisthenics to train his military. Just look at the Olympics and how it's one entire contest of Nations showing their strength of their Nations through their athletes.

I am taking a class on learning History through Sports and what is termed "Modern Sports" or what makes a sport "Modern" and it's fascinating how much emphasis was placed on Nationalism and Militarism during the late 19th, early 20th century. Nationalism in The US meaning being proud of being American, having a game that is "American", played by "Americans", created by "Americans, and America can claim as it's own. By showing this pride at every game.

So therefore, the emphasis of Nationalism is part of the basis for why they created the National Football League. To garner a sense of Nationalism and Militarism opportunities to generate strong men and boys who will show the same passion and determination that they shown on the field, in the line of duty. This is why there are many "athletes" who do join the military, many people who play sports usually join the military.

And to honor the vets, they use sports to sort of pay back and recognize their sacrifices for joining the military. The pay back is the sport of football everyone gets to enjoy, because America is still America.

It's really fascinating if I do say so myself.