OT: NFL

[Chuck Norris]

Good article in The Athletic yesterday about the NFL flexing games, particularly to Thursday nights, and how fans get left holding the bag. Several examples were shared where people buy tickets, flights, and hotel rooms for a Sunday game only to be told that the game is being moved to Thursday. They just did this for the Chargers vs Broncos game and fans who have to travel got totally screwed factoring in holiday travel and an inability to schedule new flights, time off work, etc. I follow the NFL and watch NFL games, but the way they run their business is gross. I probably only go to a game once every 3-4 years, if that. This comment below the article summed it up:

The commissioner’s quote (“There isn’t anybody in any of our organizations that doesn’t put our fans first.”) made me quite literally laugh out loud.

Fans do not come first. Player safety does not come first. Quality of the product does not come first. Integrity of the game does not come first.

Money comes first. Period. Actions speak louder than words, and the NFL has been tipping their hand for decades. It’s downright insulting to suggest otherwise.

This is the same league that crows about how they value player safety as they extend the season to 17 games, which will almost certainly become 18 games within the next several years, not to mention forcing more and more teams to make these ridiculous trips to Europe every year.

I get doing the big kickoff to the season on Thursday night, but other than that, Thursday night football needs to go away. The games are usually terrible, even if it’s a good matchup on paper. I know Monday Night Football isn’t going anywhere, but to me even it has run its course. It’s just not a big deal anymore. Football used to leave us wanting more. Personally, I rarely watch an NFL regular season game the Steelers aren’t involved in. Ideally they play at 1:00 and my football weekend ends as soon as the game is over. I get burned out.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Before even releasing the schedule (which is already a mess every year with leaks) the league needs to actually read it. Its like they just hit a randomize button and run with it. Before even releasing the schedule they should move all the games they need to. If the league hits randomize and sees " Week 1: Bills-Packers Sunday 1pm and Giants-Raiders Monday 8:15" they should swap those two games before even releasing the schedule. Prime time like Monday and Thursday nights need to be reserved for good football. Only the good teams deserve to see the limelight, teams like the Bears, Panthers, and Patriots have to wait until they are good again to see prime time. If the matchup starts to suck as the year goes on because of injury or whatever, that's tough. It was gonna be good until so and so got hurt and now its a bad primetime game, but it doesn't screw over any fans.

The only thing I like about bad primetime games is that it screws over Scamazon Prime, Peecock, and other streaming services. Maybe the NFL does have a plan...

The ironic part, however, is the Thursday game is typically terrible football -- regardless which teams are playing. Three days in between games is insane for NFL players. They all say the games on Sunday are so violent they cannot physically recover by Thursday (to play anywhere near 100%).

I often find the Thursday games to be nearly unwatchable.

But, the whores don't make the rules. The pimp does.


Going back 25 years or so ... I used to LOVE when there was (1) Thursday night college football game. It was on ESPN. It was a big deal to get one of those Thursday night games. It always had the 'A' announcing team.

[TheROCK]

NFL owners/TV/money have really changed the game of football. It is why I follow D2. Having ESPN provide cameras & broadcast for semi's and championship games really changed the flow of the game. ROCK games all season ran 2 1/2 - 3 hrs long. the semi game was over 3 1/2 hours long with a ton a commercials and a few senseless reviews.

[EyeoftheHawk]

NFL owners/TV/money have really changed the game of football. It is why I follow D2. Having ESPN provide cameras & broadcast for semi's and championship games really changed the flow of the game. ROCK games all season ran 2 1/2 - 3 hrs long. the semi game was over 3 1/2 hours long with a ton a commercials and a few senseless reviews.

Heck, it has extended all the way down to high school games. I’ve been to many high school football and basketball games that have media timeouts. It totally kills the flow of the game and makes it really difficult to maintain any momentum.

[IUPNation]

Kenny Pickett had a decent day going until
Micah Parsons dirty hit him……

[IUPNation]

Kenny Pickett had a decent day going until
Micah Parsons dirty hit him……

He was already playing with broken ribs too…

[IUPNation]

The Natives are getting restless at Areyousure Stadium.

[EyeoftheHawk]

The Natives are getting restless at Areyousure Stadium.

The Steelers could be irrelevant for a long time. They have no QB or reliable receivers, and they have a couple big holes on their offensive line. They’ll also likely lose Harris to free agency. Their defense lacks talent among their younger guys and their best players are aging fast. They haven’t drafted well in recent years and the huge mistake of drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round is going to haunt them for a long time. Where in the heck do you start in the draft? Ideally they could draft a receiver but I don’t know how they can without a decent QB.

Aside from personnel, for the first time I’m getting off the Mike Tomlin bus. At the end of the day, all those winning regular seasons are meaningless. He is who he is and I think he has his fingers into too much of the operation. On top of that, he has weak coordinators. Some of the offensive and defensive play calls last night were head scratchers. I’m not at all convinced Arthur Smith is the answer at OC.

[IUPNation]

The Steelers could be irrelevant for a long time. They have no QB or reliable receivers, and they have a couple big holes on their offensive line. They’ll also likely lose Harris to free agency. Their defense lacks talent among their younger guys and their best players are aging fast. They haven’t drafted well in recent years and the huge mistake of drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round is going to haunt them for a long time. Where in the heck do you start in the draft? Ideally they could draft a receiver but I don’t know how they can without a decent QB.

Aside from personnel, for the first time I’m getting off the Mike Tomlin bus. At the end of the day, all those winning regular seasons are meaningless. He is who he is and I think he has his fingers into too much of the operation. On top of that, he has weak coordinators. Some of the offensive and defensive play calls last night were head scratchers. I’m not at all convinced Arthur Smith is the answer at OC.

Tomlin looked like he didn’t want to be there last night.


Kenny Pickett played with broken ribs last and threw a few TD’s before Parsons dirty hit him out of the game.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tomlin looked like he didn’t want to be there last night.


Kenny Pickett played with broken ribs last and threw a few TD’s before Parsons dirty hit him out of the game.

He's washed and they stink.

It's real simple.

That said, the total Tomlin thing to do would be win at Baltimore in Round 1 (then get blasted in Round 2).

[IUPNation]

He's washed and they stink.

It's real simple.

That said, the total Tomlin thing to do would be win at Baltimore in Round 1 (then get blasted in Round 2).

Even his.didibe interview was cringy..like the dude wanted to be at the casino next door instead…

[Chuck Norris]

He's washed and they stink.

It's real simple.

That said, the total Tomlin thing to do would be win at Baltimore in Round 1 (then get blasted in Round 2).

Between The Fan and DVE it was an entertaining morning commute. A month ago the Steelers had a two game lead in the division and every conceivable tiebreaker over Baltimore even if they lost the 2nd meeting. They wound up losing the division by two games. It’s actually an impressive display of ineptitude. Saturday was just an embarrassment.

It’s time for Tomlin and the Steelers to part ways. Both parties have to recognize they are spinning their wheels. Art II needs to be his own man. Dad and Granddad are gone. Heck, even Dad wouldn’t give in to Cowher’s demands and helped nudge him to CBS. Tomlin won’t have any shortage of opportunities in coaching and beyond.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Between The Fan and DVE it was an entertaining morning commute. A month ago the Steelers had a two game lead in the division and every conceivable tiebreaker over Baltimore even if they lost the 2nd meeting. They wound up losing the division by two games. It’s actually an impressive display of ineptitude. Saturday was just an embarrassment.

It’s time for Tomlin and the Steelers to part ways. Both parties have to recognize they are spinning their wheels. Art II needs to be his own man. Dad and Granddad are gone. Heck, even Dad wouldn’t give in to Cowher’s demands and helped nudge him to CBS. Tomlin won’t have any shortage of opportunities in coaching and beyond.

Coaches have a shelf life. Now, he's obviously never getting fired.

They haven't won a playoff game in, what, 7-8 years now. That alone gets most canned in the NFL.

He's loaded by this point, financially. The networks would literally have a bidding war for him. I do wonder how much longer he wants to stay in the game.

Your boy, Big Sexy Double M, will be fantastic later today.

[Fightingscot82]

The Bears won, but Bagent should have played yesterday. Caleb Williams ain't progressing with that line.

[IUP24]

Between The Fan and DVE it was an entertaining morning commute. A month ago the Steelers had a two game lead in the division and every conceivable tiebreaker over Baltimore even if they lost the 2nd meeting. They wound up losing the division by two games. It’s actually an impressive display of ineptitude. Saturday was just an embarrassment.

It’s time for Tomlin and the Steelers to part ways. Both parties have to recognize they are spinning their wheels. Art II needs to be his own man. Dad and Granddad are gone. Heck, even Dad wouldn’t give in to Cowher’s demands and helped nudge him to CBS. Tomlin won’t have any shortage of opportunities in coaching and beyond.

The entire outfit is low rent. I like the Steelers, but I don't pretend to live and die with them, mostly because over the last decade, I've come to pretty clear grips with exactly who and what they are under Tomlin.

Here's how I mostly evaluate coaches in high level sports...

Coaches all have a plan and a game script that they want to follow. At the core, coaches want a game to follow a traditional script. But sports are disruptive. And the immediate responses in those disruptive moments separate good coaches from bad ones, and good coaches from those who are elite. The sequence at the end of the 1st half against the Bengals is exhibit A of the Steelers under Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin needed to be explained by the officials how the 10-second runoff worked in that specific situation (he did not know the rule). The traditional game script for how you would envision the half of a football game to end was thrown off, and the Steelers got thrown into chaos. They had no clue what to do. They were indecisive in the moment. They were late getting guys onto the field and they looked so unsure of themselves at every level. And here's the deal... Whether you go for it there on the 4th and 1, or if you punt... I truly don't care. But whatever you decide, you have to be sure. And that decision has to be immediate. They looked so chaotic and unprepared for the situation. And every time those types of moments pop up in a game, it's ALWAYS the same with the Steelers.

Say what you want about guys like Dan Campbell and Nick Sirianni (they are both riverboat gamblers and arguably way too aggressive). But if you watch those guys coach, they have 2-3 situations every game where things get off script and a unique situation pops up requiring an immediate decision. If you watch those teams, there is never a doubt. Their sidelines are a well oiled machine. Cohesion at every level. Coaches, players, support staff. They all know EXACTLY what to. You don't need to be an analytics nerd to be organized and have some semblance of a plan. The Steelers are so far away from that. And that ALL starts with the head coach.