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21 Oct 2011

Week 7 N.F.L. Matchups

The big story here is that I learned too late that it is OK at the Times to call beanbag toss "cornhole." I mean, who would have thought? So I tap dance around the game's name in the Chiefs comment, when every fiber of my being longed to put the words "cornhole" and "Todd Haley" in one sentence.

Posted by: Mike Tanier on 21 Oct 2011

29 comments, Last at 23 Oct 2011, 9:57pm by bigsigh

Comments

1
by Travis :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 8:20am

It is, however, not OK at the Times to use the phrase "Suck For Luck."

"From Seattle to Miami, rather than root for a win, fans root for him. Their feelings are summed up in a coarse three-word rhyme that has given shape to Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and dozens of Web sites. It implores downtrodden teams, in essence, to play really, really poorly for Luck."

5
by Thunderbolt of ... :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 9:11am

The Washington Post is currently having an internal debate over whether to use profanity if avoiding its use would diminish the accuracy of a story. This seems to fit firmly into that category, assuming people think "suck" is a profanity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/coarsening-the-news/...

7
by Kevin from Philly :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 10:15am

I believe the New York Post also had that debate. For about a millisecond.

20
by Jim Glass (not verified) :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 4:21pm

"I believe the New York Post also had that debate. For about a millisecond."

NY Post's headline today:
~~~~~

KHADAFY KILLED BY YANKEE FAN

Gunman had more hits than A-Rod

2
by nat :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 8:24am

The Chargers still have a bobble-head logo. It's enough to make me root for the Jets.

No. No, it's not.

3
by erniecohen :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 9:02am

How in the world is GB-MIN only 9.5 points?

15
by Arkaein :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 3:02pm

Probably because a lot of people think GB still has problems in domes (they haven't since Holmgren), especially the Metrodome.

One more relevant fact is the problems GB's backup left tackles have had in the dome against Jared Allen. It's seems like Clifton is always hurt in this matchup, and Allen has gotten a lot of sacks in home games against GB.

I don't really see it mattering myself. GB's current left tackle, Marshall Newhouse, has played better than some of the emergency fill-ins GB has had to play previously. Minnesota is also banged up in the secondary, so GB could do a lot of max protect and still attack Minny's DBs with superior talent.

18
by nuclearbdgr :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 3:40pm

Newhouse did miss practice on Friday - but it seems to have been for personal reasons, not injury.

4
by Eggwasp (not verified) :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 9:10am

are you allowed to call Todd Haley the Great Cornholio?

23
by Marko :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 10:00pm

Are you threatening me?

Heh heh. That was cool.

6
by Kevin from Philly :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 10:13am

So, what you wanted to say was: "The cornhole offers almost as much resistance as the Colts and the Vikings"? I think beanbag was the proper choice.

8
by Jesus (not verified) :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 12:44pm

Through the Jets’ first six games, Sanchez has already thrown for 1,372 yards, with 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

And don’t forget the 3-3 Jets have already played games at New England, where the Patriots have won 20 consecutive regular-season home games, and at Baltimore, which is 22-5 since John Harbaugh became coach in 2008.

Let’s take a closer look.

Want to talk about Sanchez’s 9 touchdown passes so far? If so, you should know that it ranks tied for eight in the N.F.L., with Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Philadelphia’s Michael Vick and Tennessee’s Matt Hasselbeck. Eighth out of 32 teams? If you do the math, that ranks in the top quarter of the league.

And want to talk of Sanchez’s 5 interceptions in 198 attempts? According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, Sanchez’s interception percentage of 2.5 ranks 12th in the N.F.L. And of the 12 quarterbacks who have more pass attempts, only four — Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Chicago’s Jay Cutler and Cleveland’s Colt McCoy — have thrown fewer than Sanchez’s five interceptions.

In another key statistic, Sanchez is tied for 11th (with Roethlisberger) with 20 completions of 20 or more yards.

9
by drobviousso :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 1:10pm

Man, if only we had some statistic that compared Sanchez's every play to some sort of league wide average, and could use that to compare quarterbacks. I mean, it wouldn't be as cool as # of completions over 20 yards, but it, you know, might be more informative.

10
by Verifiable (not verified) :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 1:17pm

Unless you are George Bretherton you should be ashamed of yourself. This is stolen verbatim from an article by Bretherton on the NY Times Fifth Down blog, http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/defending-mark-sanchezs-pe...

12
by dryheat :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 1:42pm

So George Bretherton is Jesus?

19
by nuclearbdgr :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 3:46pm

(Not Verified)

13
by Eddo :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 2:01pm

As many touchdown passes as Matt Hasselbeck?! A worse interception rate than Jay Cutler?! ELEVENTH in twenty-plus-yard completions?!

Start chiseling his bust for Canton NOW!

27
by LionInAZ (not verified) :: Sat, 10/22/2011 - 3:44pm

Sanchez's stats don't matter much if he still sucks.

11
by TomKelso :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 1:36pm

If the Jaguars' injury problems continue, Terrell Suggs will be facing someone named Guy Whimper Monday night...

Dave Barry is smiling somewhere.

14
by Intropy :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 2:42pm

Homer Simpson-meets-Pagliacci is such a perfect description.

16
by JPS (not verified) :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 3:02pm

This was my hearty laugh of the column.

25
by TomC :: Sat, 10/22/2011 - 11:54am

Mine too. Well played indeed.

(I also very much enjoyed: "Pete Carroll said he may not choose his starting quarterback until Sunday. The Browns are preparing for both by trying to keep a straight face.")

17
by Led :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 3:26pm

Chargers at Jets features a matchup of the best KO return team by DVOA against the worst KO coverage team by DVOA. That should be fun.

21
by Anon Guest (not verified) :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 5:23pm

NFL coverage on Channel 4 in the UK lasted from 1982 until 1998 (and apparently started again recently). The generation of us who started getting interested in the NFL when they started showing it would've grown up with the Bears being prominently featured. Most people I knew in the UK who were interested in the NFL were fans of the Dolphins, 49ers or Bears because they were the teams you'd hear about week in week out.

22
by ammek :: Fri, 10/21/2011 - 7:13pm

I don't know that there's previously been a weekend featuring rematches of two of the past three Superbowls, but if there has it seems unlikely that the teams in question combined would have been below .500.

24
by Raiderjoe :: Sat, 10/22/2011 - 10:10am

Falcs 23, Loins 20 ovrrtime
Redskins 24, panhhers 23
Raiders 13, chiefs 0
Jets 21, charfers 16
Bucccas 22, beraas 20
Saimts 41, Clots 17
Ravens 20, jaguars 13

Qull posy others picks later

26
by Raiderjoe :: Sat, 10/22/2011 - 2:26pm

Ithers-

Broens 31, Srahawks 21
Dolphins 19, broncos 13
Titams 23, texams 21
Sfeelers 27, cardinals 20

Cowbpys 30, rams 22
Packers 35, Bikings 13

28
by LionInAZ (not verified) :: Sat, 10/22/2011 - 3:49pm

Calvin Johnson understands what Larry is going through now.

29
by bigsigh (not verified) :: Sun, 10/23/2011 - 9:57pm

Yes, Indy is horrible. Yes, Manning is out with a serious neck injury. But I will claim with no reservations that even if Manning were healthy, this team would be a bottom feeder. Bad drafts have caught up with Indy - they do not have the players.

And I hope NE beats them to a sad, runny pulp.

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