Week 8 Open Game Discussion

So, last week I learned Sunday Night Flex was a thing. That prevented the Rams from destroying the 49ers on prime time, and allowed the Chiefs to destroy the Bengals on prime time (Although the best way to flex would have been Ravens-Saints, but I still don't really know how it works). I wonder, does Monday Night Flex is a thing? Do they have to allow the Patriots to destroy the Bills on prime time?

Watching on Amazon for the first time. I like the UK announcers so far. It's a little rough around the edges still: they're often surprised about replays and graphics and have to react to them, they misidentified Adam Gase as Tannehill. But it's nice listening to announcers who seem to enjoy watching football, for a change.

Given The number of double teams ( or triple teams) Watt is getting, plus what they are doing to Clowney, I do not understand why Houston does not blitz more. Also, the officials suck, and that should have been a fumble by Brocktober.

The end of the half was totally hilarious. And unnecessary. Apparently, according to the announcers here, the main ref is a rookie. With about 16 seconds left, Watson kneels the ball and everyone starts going to the locker rooms. However, there was an illegal formation penalty, which Miami can't decline, but more importantly, couldn't be glossed over with just 16 seconds left and would not have made any effect. So everyone had to go back to the sidelines, Watson had to kneel it again, then everyone raced to the locker rooms again,

Holy cow! Great catch by Nuk ... that is nullified because he pushed the DB.

Incredible catch by Hopkins... Didn't even come close to bobbling it or letting it hit the ground.

Hopkins makes a ridiculous catch and gets called for offensive pass interference. And it was a bogus call. There was also a penalty on the defense so offsetting.

Good decision to rely on the run then dial up a trick play. Putting the ball in Osweiler's hands hasn't been working.

Amendola with the TD pass.

Hey, I've seen that play before.

How come the Texans' LB and Safety on that side of the field hadn't seen that play? It wasn't like OBJ's pass wasn't shown a gazillion times.

The Dolphins got creative. Double Pass for a TD.

Wow. I've seen plenty of deflected balls turn into completions, but I can't recall one ever flying that far down the field before being caught. Suddenly we're getting big plays left and right.

All right ... that's ... crazy awesome ... DaVante Parker made a catch ... that was catched before handed then sent flying about 10 yards down field. That's some crazy stuff right there.

Osweiler is the luckiest schlub…

Hmm, I'm not necessarily opposed to that onside kick attempt. However, if you want to take a risk, I think you should just go ahead and go for that fourth and three a few plays earlier.

Surprise onside kick called by Gase.

Didn't work, but good on him for trying to pull this out. Playing straight isn't likely to win the game, so I like the aggressiveness.

Dolphins kicking fg down by 15 instead of going for it on 4th and 4? SMH

Dolphins secondary with the penalty trifecta! Illegal contact, holding, and pass interference all on the same play!!

At least the final penalty (pass interference) prevented a touchdown.

That was a really nasty hit to the head on the last play. Miami could have just let the clock run out without calling that play. I hope the WR isn't hurt.

Just read Will Fuller is out for the year with a busted ACL. That really sucks for everyone…

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Hmm ... seems the Eagles struggle when they get close to the red zone. Not as bad as the Texans earlier this year, but it's close. A pick in the redzone, and another failed trip that ended in a field goal. That or the Jags are in gear again.

The Jags offensive strategy totally turned into "Hand it off, or fake the handoff and run the ball. Only throw screens and nothing else".

57 yards. Most of the time, I would say trying something like that, instead of going for it in 4th and 6 (which can be done), is dumb and bad. And this time it was no different. But Josh Lambo nailed that 57 yarder

You know, last year the Jags were known for a powerful ground and pound attack both during the start of the game, and to run out the clock. Was it all Leondard Fournette? Because, as of this writing, in this game, they have ran the ball 9 times, not counting the Bortles' scrambles. Yes, they are down, but why haven't they ran the ball a couple more times (Other than the fact that it is inefficient)?

Bizarre call on Bradham there - he is going to ground when Bortles slides, he leans back, does everything to back out of the tackle, extends his hands to cushion the impact, and doesn't make contact with the head.

How is that a penalty?

I am all in favour of the new player safety drive, but calls like that will just fuel the "Modern NFL is Flag Football" crowd.

Must be very rare for a 1-6 team to be favorites over a division-leading 4-2 team. That's the situation in the Giants-Redskins game today. I'm quite surprised, this Giants team is terrible.

Philip Lindsay's helmet tip just reaches his linemen's shoulder pads when they're standing up LOL

Well, in the very early going the Broncos are doing something to justify that 5th place DVOA ranking. Up 7-0. As great as the Chiefs have been, they are in a position where a drop in play could mean they might not win the division. The Chargers are only a game behind.

The Bears kicking woes continue as Parkey misses a 40-yard attempt and it wasn’t even remotely close. Ryan Pace spent serious money on him despite him not having much leg because he was supposedly so good from 40 yards and in.

Kevin Harlan is a fantastic PBP guy, he was born with the perfect voice for it. Pair him with Kremer or Storm and you've got an all-star booth! Dammit this will never happen.

I don't remember Rich Gannon being especially bad, but every time he chimes in today I mentally cringe.

Ravens just ran the same trick play punting on 4th and 1 that burned them last week. Only this time they ran it inside their own 20! Would've had a first down by 5 yards except for an illegal shift. Told y'all that play is undefendable.

WTF is with Denver's playcalling? 3rd and 2 on the KC 35 or so, and instead of running forward they lose 8 on a ridiculous slow-developing end around

First two passes to Antonio Brown, wide receiver screens for loss or minimal gain. Second two passes to Antonio Brown on downfield patterns, big gain for first down, 43 yard touchdown. I suppose the screens may be ‘setting up’ the other plays, but please can the wide receiver screen be left to fade into obscurity?

Man, this Chiefs-Broncos game looked promising early, but now the Chiefs are rolling up and down the field, it's 16-7, and it seems unlikely that Denver will get back into it.

The Bears defense is sackless through the first half and Trubisky is 5 of 13 for 117 yards, about 60 of which came from Cohen’s run after the catch on the 70-yard TD.

I know the Bears are up by 4, but this is not a good performance against the Jets by any means.

Once again, eschewing field goal and playing boldly is rewarded.

Browns look like a team that could be on the rise. Mayfield sometimes demonstrates that he is a rookie, but shows ability and potential to grow. Chubb appears to be a good running back. Garrett, Ward, and some others are talented young defenders. One more losing season and an influx of more high draft choice players could make them a contender.

Carolina have been starting Torrey Smith ahead of rookie DJ Moore all season. Smith is injured so Moore gets the start today, and he has 7 touches for 129 yards at half-time. Are you honestly telling me that they were better off starting Torrey Smith all this time?

Oh my god. NOW they call roughing the passer. It's literally fucking random. There is zero consistency.

ETA: it would be nice if the refs didn't call back every Broncos 20+ yard play with iffy penalties

Denver might have to score a TD on every one of their remaining possessions to have a chance in this game. They did well to force a punt on the first drive of the game, but since then they've shown no sign of being able to stop the Chiefs.

Does CBS have the F- production crew in KC? Earlier there was a graphic that said "Patrick Mahomes' 23rd touchdown. Ties Rich Gannon with 14". I don't have any idea what that was supposed to mean. Now in a graphic they unnecessarily abbreviate "games" as "GMs", which is also something totally different.

How about that. Bud Dupree (edge rusher) pretty much got tackled in the endzone by Desmond Harrison (A lineman). A hold was called, and it was a safety.

So how the hell is this challenge with a declined penalty gonna work in Det vs Sea?

Browns miss extra point. Is kicking in general off this year? If there has been an analysis, I’ve missed it.

The Broncos declined a holding call to get a 4th and 6, rather than 3rd and 26. Even against the Chiefs that's not a good call.

Is Tarik Cohen high? The Jets punt and the ball lands at about the 10. He lets it bounce and kind of half heartedly swipes at it and touches it, then appears to start to turn away from it as the Jets converge. Then he incredibly luckily falls on it.

I have never seen a play like that in the NFL. I don’t understand how that happens. It’s like he thought “what is the dumbest possible thing I can do right now?”

Seahawks at their own 1 on fourth down, up by 14. Punter looked like he was supposed to take the safety, but instead sees open field and rumbles 11 yards for the first down to put the nail in the coffin on this dominant Seattle win.

I'm guessing Baker Mayfield will be the winner of the Blake Bortles Garbage Performer fo the week. Was 17 of 29 for 111 yards, a pick and a TD before the 2 minute warning in the game.

Why have a kicker kick onsides? Why not just have your fastest guy do it?

The Broncos defense has greatly improved in this fourth quarter. They've repeatedly stopped the Chiefs. Problem is the Broncos have mostly been stopped themselves, so they never made much progress in closing the defecit. On the road against the 1. DVOA team I'd say this has been a pretty good overall performance by Denver. Unfortunately, when you have a 3-4 record a solid game that ends in a loss is still very bad for you.

Could the Bucs-Bengals game be headed to OT? I'm rooting for tghe Bucs in thsi one so I hope that, either they get to OT or Marvin Lewis plays it convervative and runs the clock out.

Looks like FitzMagic is back.

Just in time for Halloween!

Wow, Fitzmagic is back. The Bucs are back from 18 down to tie it up after Jameis is benched.

And what a ridiculous team the Bucs. Incredibly bad defense, but they reliably put up absurd passing yard. Jameis and Fitzpatrick have 472 yards combined in this one. If they had stuck with one QB for the whole season that guy would have a serious shot at setting the season yardage record.

The Rams field looks terrible, like embarrassingly bad. The NFL should be fined $50M payable to fans watching on TV

Today's a weird day. First, we had the Desomnd Harrison hold that resulted in a safety. Now, Josh Rosen gets flagged for Intentional Grounding in the EndZone, which is a safety. What's next, OPI in the endzone?

Mike "Heavy" Pettine

Packers looking good against Rams, but Admiral Armbar is going to get caught with holding on a big play soon. He's already gotten away with one blatant hold.

Goff gets away throwing it away while still within the tackles. Should have been intentional grounding. Does that sort of thing go into the referee reviews? Just curious.

The Rams offense seems off. Which is VERY odd this season.

Also, they are in Los Angeles, yet the crowd is Packers biased!

FWIW, it's practically a home game for the Packers in Los Angeles. Not sure of the ratio of Packers vs Rams fans. But the Packers fans are definitely louder.

"I don't think you're going to see that call ever" -Aikman

We saw that exact call earlier today in the Broncos game

The Rams O-Line, which has been dominant during the season, is now losing the trenches.

As I wrote that, the Rams called up a fake punt.

Mike Pettine is up for this, but maybe not Ron Zook-- that fake may be a game changer

You know, your great special tems just gifted you a first down following a fake punt, which means that trick won't work again. You should start to get 1st Downs on your own, otherwise that fake punt goes for naugh, like it just did.

After about a billion years, the Niners get a turnover, thanks to Josh Rosen. Maybe Arizona will realize sending a rookie straight into the fray is ... not ... a good idea. Even if Ben Roethlisberger can prove otherwise, it's not always smart

So ... How many safeties today? 3?

packers should let them score

rodgers wont have a chance now

How is it that a game in the modern NFL doesn't have over 10 combined points by half time?

They still lead by 2, but can't help but feel the Packers just wasted a near-heroic 1st half effort by their defense.

GB is breaking out the Iowa State/Big 12 defense I've been waiting to see more of in the NFL in this one: play 6 DBs on every down, dare the Rams to run the ball, and stop them anyway when they do. It's been a really admirable effort so far, even on that TD drive the Rams needed a couple very slim margin-of-error plays to get the ball downfield. I just don't know if they can keep it up in the 2nd half...

Amazing job by the Packers defense to keep Jared Goff hovering a bit below 50% completions (Although the drops by the Rams receivers help), and making Todd Gurley a non factor on the ground.

You know, with a D-Line which has Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh as your interior linemen, I would expect your run defense to be pretty good. But somehow, the Rams are 24th in Run defense DVOA. How?

Rosen's season has not been that great, but this last quarter was pretty good for him. Hell of a pass to tie up the game, and hell of a lead taking (And could be game winning) drive.

And the Niners center botches the snap, sends it over C.J. Beathard and he can't send it out before the game clock reaches 0.

And so starts the movie. With 2 minutes to go, Aaron Rodgers has to lead a comeback drive. I wonder if it is the same ending as every other time?

EDIT: Welp, wrong movie. Ty Montgomery fumbled the ball, so game is over.

WTF? Why did Montgomery even take the ball out of the end zone? Even without the fumble, you take one extra play from Rodgers. STUPID!!!!!