NFL Week 16: Beyond The Thunderdome

The Coffee Shop
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**Saturday games: **
Houston Texans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs are without their top two receivers (Evans and Godwin). I don’t trust the guys stepping up to replace them (Perriman?) so I think Jamis Winston is due for another unpleasant multi-interception game. The Texans need to close out strong to claim the AFC South. Houston wins 32:21

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots: A rock solid Bills pass defense will probably force the Pats to run more. A rock solid Pats pass defense will for the the Bills to run more. The Bills have improved their running game since their first meeting in Week 4. Devin Singletery is better than any of the Pats RBs. This will be a low scoring affair, Bills will squeak out a 20:17 win.

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers: The Rams occasionally show flashes. Last week they were a flash in the pan. I don’t see them doing much better in SF against a team fighting for the Bye. SF wins 32:14

Sunday Games:
Jacksonville Jaguars at Atlanta Falcons: The Jags got lucky last week and it could happen again, but I trust Matty and Julio more than Uncle Rico and Leonard Fournette. Remember toward the end of last season how engaged he was?

New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans: Tennessee needs this game badly. Ryan Tanenhill is no Drew Brees, but this game is at home and the Titans are motivated. Could go either way but New Orleans is a better team - NO wins 28:24,

New York Giants at Washington Redskins: Meaningless game except for draft position. I don’t care enough about this game to really think about it, so I’ll pick NYG to win 24:17 simply because Saq Barkley is better than anyone on the Washington team.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets: The Jets suck but every few weeks they have a good game. But the Steelers have something to play for. With Connor back to running the ball, I think Tomlin will tell Duck Hodges or Mason Rudolph to hand off the ball far more than throw. The Steelers should win 21:17.

Cincinnati Bengals at Miami Dolphins: Meaningless game except for draft position. I do like Fitzpatrick - he’s an underappreciated journeyman. He’s got enough heart to take his rag-tag group of Dolphins to victory over these Bengals. Miami wins 32:18. Cinci wins #1 Draft spot.

Carolina Panthers at Indianapolis Colts: The Colts are a more complete team, and at home. Indy wins 28:10.

Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns: Do you think the Ravens want revenge? Lamar wants to sew up the MVP? Harbaugh want to lock down the AFC home-field? The Ravens will be playing for keeps this week. The Ravens win 38-16

Detroit Lions at Denver Broncos: The Lions have lost their playmakers, and hope. The Broncos ain’t great but they are at home and have more healthy players. Denver wins 33:21

Oakland Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers: On paper the Chargers are a better team. But the game is played on turf, not paper. LA will see tons of Raiders fans - there may be more Black&Silver than Blue&Yellow in the stands. Philip Rivers looks older each week - by week 17 he’ll be using a walker. I’ll take the Raider in a small upset 26:21

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles: The Cowboys should be a better team. But the Eagles are at home. Dak may have hurt a hand. Close game with a lot at stake - I’ll take the Eagles 28:24

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks: The Cards have surprised a few teams. But they won’t do that to an experienced Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson (the 2nd best Coach/QB combo in the NFL). Seattle wins at home 32:16

Kansas City Chiefs at Chicago Bears: KC won’t mind the cold weather, but if its windy and snowy then their superior passing game may be negated a little. Even then, KC is better coached and deeper. A close game, KCs win 21:18

Monday Game:

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings: Good game. The Vikings are basically certain of the 6th seed. Their only hope is they beat GB and the Bears at home next week, AND the packers lose to DET next week. That ain’t very likely. The Vikings have some injury issues - Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Xavier Rhodes. Based on this alone I’ll predict the Packers win. GB wins 24:23 on a missed Vikings field goal.

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GB wins 24:23 on a missed Vikings field goal.

Dick move man, we have too much heartache over this crap. SKOL

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Thought I’d throw this out there, I found it interesting.

https://eatdrinkandsleepfootball.com/schedule/strength-of-schedule.html

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Thought I’d throw this out there, I found it interesting.

https://eatdrinkandsleepfootball.com/...gth-of-schedule.html

Teams at the bottom have one thing in common - they’ve played the Bengals.

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Winners Below

**Saturday games: **
Houston Texans

New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers

Sunday Games:
Atlanta Falcons:

New Orleans Saints

Dallas Cowboys

**Monday Game: **

Minnesota Vikings

.

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GB wins 24:23 on a missed Vikings field goal.

Dick move man, we have too much heartache over this crap. SKOL

For the love of Fred Cox Vikings fans need to get over Gary Anderson, Blair Walsh & Daniel Carlson.

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You talk about Rhodes injury as a bad thing…when he wasn’t in the game things have looked better in the secondary. I heard an interesting stat this morning on the sports radio station that the Vikings are the only team left in the league with an undefeated home record this season. If they can pull off a win out against the Pack and Bears they will somehow be the only undefeated home record team in the playoffs but still could not be allowed to host a playoff game.

Their best shot is to hope for the 49ers to fall to wild card and overtake the 5th seed to get the NFC East division winner up first round. Winning the NFC north isn’t easy even if they beat the Packers unless by some stroke of bad luck for the Pack they lose out the rest of the way (can’t see that happening). That and the Bears have been the Vikings kryptonite the last few seasons…they always stink it up against them offensively under Zimmer.

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I was looking for this type of thing the other day. Funny that the redskins are still only 3-11 despite the easiest schedule in the league

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Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots: A rock solid Bills pass defense will probably force the Pats to run more. A rock solid Pats pass defense will for the the Bills to run more. The Bills have improved their running game since their first meeting in Week 4. Devin Singletery is better than any of the Pats RBs. This will be a low scoring affair, Bills will squeak out a 20:17 win.
Sorry about your Bills. They’re legit and clearly on the rise. Coming in to Foxborough in a game the Patriots needed/wanted as badly as the Bills, Buffalo played really well. The Patriots were the better team but they also pulled out all their tricks and it’s not like winning in NE is all that easy.

On the flip side this is the first time the Patriots offense looked like the offense of old, at least against a quality opponent (those early-season games don’t count for much given their opponents). Very encouraging. If they get a 1st round bye you’d imagine Sanu, Edelman and the line will heal up a bit and Harry is turning into a legit weapon. They’ll be a tough out in the playoffs.

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That was a huge game for the backs. Sanu on the other hand was underwhelming.

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Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots: A rock solid Bills pass defense will probably force the Pats to run more. A rock solid Pats pass defense will for the the Bills to run more. The Bills have improved their running game since their first meeting in Week 4. Devin Singletery is better than any of the Pats RBs. This will be a low scoring affair, Bills will squeak out a 20:17 win.
Sorry about your Bills. They’re legit and clearly on the rise. Coming in to Foxborough in a game the Patriots needed/wanted as badly as the Bills, Buffalo played really well.

Wrong. The Bills played like crap. Saying the Bills played really well is just another way of patting your team on the back.

Their execution was poor and their gameplan, especially on defense, looked like they hadn’t bothered to watch any of the video from the last 5 NE games and their tackling was atrocious. If they had a plan on offense it wasn’t discernible because Allen was, yet again, hot garbage and couldn’t execute it. Yes I know, he made nice toss for a near TD at the end of the half, but he also missed a ton of make-able if not easy throws and opportunities to run and keep a drive alive.

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Wrong. The Bills played like crap. Saying the Bills played really well is just another way of patting your team on the back.
Their execution was poor and their gameplan, especially on defense, looked like they hadn’t bothered to watch any of the video from the last 5 NE games and their tackling was atrocious. If they had a plan on offense it wasn’t discernible because Allen was, yet again, hot garbage and couldn’t execute it. Yes I know, he made nice toss for a near TD at the end of the half, but he also missed a ton of make-able if not easy throws and opportunities to run and keep a drive alive.

I agree that Bills looked crappier than usual - but I’ll chalk that up to the Bill Belickick factor. Sean McDermott is a good coach but Bill Belichick is on a whole different level. The Pats “simply” took away our strengths, exploited our weaknesses and played to their strengths. Yet, despite all that, the Bills were competitive - even leading - most of the game. That’s a good sign. TB12 is clearly at deaths door (I’m kidding - but he is really showing age related decline). The Bills will only be stronger next year. Next year the Bills should be a legitimate challenger for the AFC East, and in two years, the Bills (and maybe Jets) should be ahead of the Pats.

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Does no-one want to win the NFC East?

Does no-one want the #6 wildcard in the AFC? Common Steelers and Titans… you can do better.

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Oh, and the Seahawks. WTF. They were my pick to come out of the NFC. And now they have lost all 3 of their RBs. Chris Carson is gone and CJ Prossie and Rashad Penny are injured.

They have some Homer as their 4th stringer (Travis Homer) and Xavier Turner on the practice squad but this will put a serious crimp in their chances.

I guess it’ll be NO at SF in the NFC championship?

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Wrong. The Bills played like crap. Saying the Bills played really well is just another way of patting your team on the back.
Their execution was poor and their gameplan, especially on defense, looked like they hadn’t bothered to watch any of the video from the last 5 NE games and their tackling was atrocious. If they had a plan on offense it wasn’t discernible because Allen was, yet again, hot garbage and couldn’t execute it. Yes I know, he made nice toss for a near TD at the end of the half, but he also missed a ton of make-able if not easy throws and opportunities to run and keep a drive alive.

I agree that Bills looked crappier than usual - but I’ll chalk that up to the Bill Belickick factor. Sean McDermott is a good coach but Bill Belichick is on a whole different level. The Pats “simply” took away our strengths, exploited our weaknesses and played to their strengths. Yet, despite all that, the Bills were competitive - even leading - most of the game. That’s a good sign.
I mostly agree with this, I know he was responding to me but I thought the Bills played a strong game, with two things to call out:

  1. Allen was impressive, he made some great throws, showed off his arm strength, and largely did well against a fantastic defense. First TD allowed by Gilmore this entire year. The Pats D has given up more than 14 points four times this year, including this game.
  2. The Bills D faced a Patriots offense that seems to be figuring out some things, especially the O-line. Wynn played great, Mason is rounding into form after some injuries, ditto Cannon. When they’re able to run block effectively it opens everything up for the passing game and Brady is deadly when he has a little extra time and the middle is opened up w/ play action.
    TB12 is clearly at deaths door (I’m kidding - but he is really showing age related decline). The Bills will only be stronger next year. Next year the Bills should be a legitimate challenger for the AFC East, and in two years, the Bills (and maybe Jets) should be ahead of the Pats.
    I agree on the second half - insofar as the Bills have a young and improving roster and the Patriots will surely decline as Brady does. That said I thought if any game showed that Brady still has more than enough in the tank it was this one.

Their O-line has been decimated, and they’ve had a revolving door at WR. Edelman is playing hurt, Sanu is playing hurt, Harry is still being reintegrated. they’ve had no run game because of the O-line issues. For those reasons Brady has had 1. no time, and 2. no open receivers, or receivers not on the same page. He has absolutely looked worse than in years past, but it’s been way overblown because of all the other issues. Seeing them on Saturday against a stellar Bills defense, he looked much better - largely because the O-line is rounding into form which opens up the run game, and they’re figuring out how to use Harry more.

The Bills will be a tough out in the playoffs and their future is definitely looking bright, but this Pats team led by Brady still has a few years near/at the top of the AFCE in my opinion.

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Does no-one want to win the NFC East?

They flexed the NYG/PHL game to 4:25, same time as WSH/DAL, so neither will know if they have the Division until both games are over

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Does no-one want to win the NFC East?

Does no-one want the #6 wildcard in the AFC? Common Steelers and Titans… you can do better.
The Cowboys are such a waste of talent this year. It’s still remarkable that Garrett is somehow still employed by Jerry Jones.

Will be fascinating to watch next week for the AFC 6 seed. Ahe Steelers are playing the Ravens, who’ve wrapped up HFA - do they rest their starters? Play to win knowing they have a week off? Titans are playing in Houston, who they just lost to at home, but Houston is also locked into their spot - hosting a WC game. For the Titans and Steelers it might just come down to which of their opponents is less motivated.
Meanwhile Philly is @NYG, Dallas is vs WAS. Does anyone doubt that Philly could lose, Dallas win and the NFCE is won by an 8-8 Cowboys team that went 2-4 down the stretch?

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Seattle is without healthy quality Running Backs.
Rumor is that the Pete Carroll has called Marshawn Lynch and asked him to rush down to Seattle.
Marshawn snidely replied, “I think I’ll pass.”

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14578484/2015/02/malcolm-butler-super-bowl-int.jpg?w=625&h=352&crop=1

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Seattle is without healthy quality Running Backs.
Rumor is that the Pete Carroll has called Marshawn Lynch and asked him to rush down to Seattle.
Marshawn snidely replied, “I think I’ll pass.”

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14578484/2015/02/malcolm-butler-super-bowl-int.jpg?w=625&h=352&crop=1

LOVE IT!!!

Quoting in full so this glorious picture gets posted again. Nothing beat the 2001 playoffs and Super Bowl, first franchise win and totally improbable. But this win, looking SO MUCH like either of the Giants gut-punch losses where Brady drives the team down for a score, only for Seattle to march down the field, an improbable catch is made and they score the winning touchdo—NOT THIS TIME! Man that was amazing.

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Seattle is without healthy quality Running Backs.
Rumor is that the Pete Carroll has called Marshawn Lynch and asked him to rush down to Seattle.
Marshawn snidely replied, “I think I’ll pass.”

https://media3.giphy.com/media/3o8dFBcecbeoHgQTFS/giphy.gif?cid=790b761149cdbbaaa6ffb62235e3ec0011de0840df022584&rid=giphy.gif