Mike Florio, douche-bag though he can be at times, occasionally actually does have a good idea or two. He had one just a bit over an hour ago. In a long-winded post about the way "big ratings" could come from the Saturday night game (because it includes Tebow and Brady), he pointed out that the ratings could be MUCH higher by altering the playoff schedule.

One way to guarantee gargantuan ratings for games like this in the future would be to dump the Saturday-Sunday postseason format. A better approach, from a TV perspective, could be to break out a Thanksgiving-style triple-header on Sunday for the first two playoff weekends, with games at 1:00, 4:30, and 8:30 p.m. ET. Then, the fourth game would be played on Monday night.

The NFL hasn’t been bashful about shifting playoff kickoffs to maximize ratings. From the sliding of the Saturday games three hours later to the 3:00/6:30 p.m. ET start time for the conference finals, creative use of the clock generates bigger audiences.

So why not get really creative and avoid Saturday completely?

As to the conference finals, let’s go one step farther and play one game in prime time on Sunday night, and the other one in prime time on Monday night.

Frankly, it’s surprising that the NFL and the networks haven’t already done it. The only question how many more playoff cycles will elapse until they do.

This is actually a good idea. It would, of course, create many headaches. The worst one would be the way the MNF game from the wildcard weekened would potentially face a "short week" if they had to play on Sunday the next week.

But this exactly situation already exists anyway! Look at it this year. The entire playoff schedule (aside from where every single game is played) was determined during the Sunday night game in week 17. And while it's nice to know that in advance, this gives a huge disadvantage to team that goes from playing on Sunday to playing again on Saturday. With the Broncos playing on Sunday and winning, they get only 6 days to prepare for the Patriots, while the Texans got eight days to prepare for the Ravens. But had the Bengals pulled off the upset, all AFC teams would have had seven days. Yet had the Lions pulled off an upset they would have had eight days to prepare for the Packers while the Giants would have had only six days to prepare for the 49ers. There's simply no consistency or fairness to disadvantage a team with a six-day turnaround anyway, but if at least it was predictable well in advance (some sort of yearly rotation or something) then it would be at least a tiny bit more fair.

For that matter, we faced at least some degree of disadvantage (though at least equally so with the Lions) in that we had to play on Saturday night the first time after having just played on Sunday. And the Texans shared that disadvantage with the Bengals as well.

At any rate, with all such "potential problems" there are also potential solutions. I came up with one that I posted on PFT and I figured I'd share it here (below the jump) for comments / critiques / improvements.

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Wow. I hate to be the debbie downer, but I’m sorry, I saw that egg-laying coming a mile off. I wish I hadn’t. But I called it when I said that if "if we play even half as bad[ly] as we did last week, it will be [the last game of the season]". Well we played fully as badly, or perhaps even worse. And we had no chance at all. Now I still think Marvin has done great things in getting this team to be even competitive. But we clearly have a shortage of depth, and possibly also of elite players as well. We have more work to do before we can consider ourselves truly playoff-worthy, much less likely to (finally) win a playoff game or two (or hopefully more).

To close things out, we put up one of the worst statistical weeks in memory. We didn’t quite manage to have nobody score, which is why it’s only one of the worst… but this week was a close second. 31 people made legitimate picks, of which only Cedric Benson managed to score. We didn’t catch a single INT, didn’t force a single fumble, and didn’t even seem to put up a fight anymore in the fourth quarter. Well I guess that last bit doesn’t account for scoring in this game, but it was still pathetic and deserves to be lambasted.

Two people (Rocket_Man_G and 70sav) picked Benson so they will each earn 29 points. I’m a bit torn after that, however, as one of them wants to donate points to our resident player stuck on zero points all year long. I never made it against the rules, but I never said it was OK either. I guess for this year I’ll allow it… the future, however, I will not make any final commitments to at this time.

If you're viewing this in a list somewhere, then hit the jump for the final standings and awards section...

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I would like it if this isn't our last game weekend of the season. But if we play even half as bad as we did last week, it will be. I understand that our defense has been shot to hell and back by injury, but opponents aren't going to cut us any slack because of it. The survivors will simply have to step up.

We now face two good RBs and a truly elite WR who is probably at least mostly healthy for the first time in months. That's not going to be a good combo, even if we are facing a rookie QB who we might be able to sack a few times. Not unless we force a turnover or two, and definitely we have to score at least two TDs and/or 20 points. Even that might not be enough. But at least that would give us a chance.

As with 2009, we'll continue this game until we are eliminated from the playoffs. Hopefully Marvin can finally get off the schneid and we can play this game next weekend as well.

Please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Sorry I'm a bit late getting the new post up.

Well another week, another win, and another game in which we come entirely too close to blowing a lead against a clearly inferior opponent. This is not the way you win championships. On the other hand, I'm also not surprised by this, as our team is injured to hell and back and we just don't YET have the kind of depth that can sustain a team through an injury wave like this (unlike the Pack last year).

Still we are only one win from the playoffs. Even better yet, we can spoil the Ravens big plans for a division championship, a home playoff game, and a BYE. If only that didn't mean we would then turn the division over to the Stoolers instead. Bleugh. Well oh well. Let's at least give it the old college try anyway, and maybe we'll get lucky and the Browns will remember they're supposed to be pros and play decently as well.

On the plus side, with the Texans now locked into the #3 seed and our only playoff hopes as the #6 seed, we actually might have a half a chance to win a playoff game after all. We may fail, (and for that matter, we aren't yet even guaranteed to get to the playoffs in the first place) but again, if we do let's at least go down swinging.

Please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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You know what? They're right. He did.

It. Doesn't. Matter.

The debate over who should be the MVP -- or whether both are equally deserving -- should not come down to who had the better season statistically. Oh they're important, they're useful, but they are not the FINAL criteria, or the most important. This is not the Heisman Trophy, folks. It's not honoring who was the best player in the NFL that year. If it was, the award would clearly belong solely to Aaron Rodgers and that's simple fact, move on with life and get over it.

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Hmm, what to say about last week. We won. That's good. On the other hand, we came entirely too close to losing to a clearly inferior team for my taste. At this point it's clear this team has potential but it's simply not ready for primetime yet. Let's get a good draft class in next year and hope for better in the future. But the season isn't over yet and we do have at least two games left, maybe three. (If you really think we are winning a playoff game with this team and getting to four, I have some nice bridges that I would like to sell you...) And that means we can still get some more scoring in this game this year.

This week we have another team coming to town whose actually at least technically a playoff contender. Realistically the Cardinals are not going to make the playoffs barring a complete collapse by either the FoulClowns or the Hello Kitties (or both). Granted I suppose those are POSSIBLE... but one or both teams have to lose out and then the Cards have to win out. I'm not sure the Cards can take Seattle right now, and even if they do, do you REALLY think that the Foulclowns will lose to a Bumpkineer team in full-meltdown you're smoking something you really shouldn't be. And I really don't think Detroit is incapable of handling the Pack if they are resting half their starters now that the undefeated season is toast. But whether we make the playoffs or not, we can at least play spoiler and put the Cardinals out of their misery. I'm game for that.

Please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Well I'm sorta-back and at least feeling mostly OK. Not great yet. That will probably take another week or so. But I'm in one piece. Sometimes that's all you can ask for.

Yesterday royally sucked for our team, but we've got some weaker opponents we can hopefully pick on coming up and maybe we can at least get a winning record out of the year. That's a TON better than most people would have given us any hope for before the season. Sure we'd like better. But it's a step in the right direction. If we can continue to improve rather than just do it every other year or so, then maybe we can finally get where we really want to be in another couple of years. Next year we play the AFC West and the NFC East. Not exactly a cakewalk schedule but it won't be impossibly hard either. So we'll have a shot to at least achieve decency.

But that's for next year. This year we still have three games left and we need to do the best we can with what time we have left to set the tone for the future.

Please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Well I'm getting next week's thread up quickly so I can't forget to get it up in time. With my going for surgery on Wednesday there is at least the possibility that I will still be so under the weather I can't come handle the scoring and post for the next week after the game next Sunday. If that is the case, Aether will sub in for me to handle that. Of course I hope that I will recover quickly and be able to watch the game or at least handle the scoring and all. But until it's all over I won't know for sure.

OK next week we face the Texans. Let's face it, this game has defensive battle and single-digit scores (or maybe teens) written all over it. Our defense is pretty good when it isn't facing an exceptional (arguably elite, though I hate to say it) QB whose offensive linemen get away with holding every single play. What with facing a third-stringer (admittedly a pretty decent one, but he's still an inexperienced rookie) we've got a shot to hold their score fairly low. But their defense is ALSO very good and our offense hasn't looked very explosive very often of late. So I'm not exactly counting on our offense to put up a very large number of TDs either...

Please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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First off, we discussed last week the possibility of putting up our version of a protest over the atrocious "Calvin Johnson Rule". I'll admit that my anger over finally picking a scoring player (for ONCE after like 8 weeks) and having it stolen from me by the refs was pretty harsh. But on the balance, trying to fairly handle any sort of "override" of the official stats could very quickly devolve into an outright nightmare. So I'm actually fairly glad that the vote against the proposal was an unambiguous majority vote for no. That will make my life (and everybody else's, for that matter) much simpler.

Back to football... this has been an interesting year. We tend to win most of the games we should win, but we've lost a few that we really didn't want to. And the bad reffing and the few mistakes our boys made to cost us the Denver game is looking like it may come back to bite us now. And of course, some of those losses we weren't really "supposed" to win, I mean, we aren't really supposed to beat Pittsburgh... but we can. They're good, of course, but they aren't THAT great or THAT much better than we are. But will we manage to pull one off? I dunno. I hope so. Sure would be nice to take them down a peg at least once this year.

In the meantime, for those who have been following, my health issues are stagnated and aren't getting better. At least they are a LOT better than they WERE, but they aren't going to recover fully until I can get in for some surgery to fix the problem. This will leave me out of things for a week afterwards. I can't remember who filled in for me last time at the moment, but my surgery will probably be on either the 7th or the 14th. I'll put the final date in next week's post (and/or the next) once I know for sure. And if that same somebody would be kind enough to fill in for me for the weekend after my surgery, I would much appreciate it.

In the meantime, let's cheer our boys on to what we all hope will be a victory this weekend. I've had enough of the "moral victories" of hanging with the Stoolers. Let's beat them at least once this year.

Please remember to un-rec the previous week's post (and for that matter, the week 11 one as well) if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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ESPN had us at #3 last week and we fell to #4 despite a convincing win over the Giants, while the 49ers got pummeled by the Ravens but only fell to #3. Satch made a fan shot to complain about this, and I had to agree… but then I got to typing so much that it really is more of a fan post than a comment. And this is clearly a ludicrous vote. I could understand moving the Ravens up for their "quality win" (except was it really?) but jumping from 5 to 2 was ludicrous. Worse yet, the Ravens have had three utter stink-bombs this year, we’ve had only two, and we beat one of the teams the Ravens lost to already and probably will beat another shortly.

But despite all that, you know what really makes me laugh? That this is actually one of the HIGHER power rankings out there for the Saints.

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We've all griped a lot about Jermaine's stolen touchdown. So has just about every fan of the NFL whose team was robbed by the atrocious rule now colloquially known as the "Calvin Johnson Rule". (Although the rule itself actually significantly predates his "dropped" game-winning TD catch.) The NFL so far has refused to listen. And they probably wont until and unless their arrogance and stupidity starts costing them real money... which isn't going to happen. Ever. We'll gripe and complain and then turn on the TV again anyway. So I guess we are just going to have to live with it's effects in the game.

We do not, however, have to live with it in this game if we don't want to. Under almost every other circumstance the official game log at NFL.com is a great way to make sure there is no question on whether an act occurred or not and we don't have to worry about potential disputes. But since the rule itself is the problem here, I'm willing to consider allowing the rule to be ignored on a case-by-case basis, if most of the rest of you agree with me here.

In the mean time, we now face the Browns for the second time this year. Last time we faced them nobody knew what the season would play out like. Nobody knew Hillis would get the worst-ever case of the Madden Curse. Nobody knew that the Browns would lose to the "0-16 Cincinnati Bengals" on opening weekend... or that another team that previously had been a perrennial contender would actually be in danger of being that 0-16 team instead of us. Nobody knew we'd actually still be in playoff contention despite a 1-2 division record.

Now we know all of that, and if we want to get to the playoffs we need this game. And Cleveland has looked putrid for most of the season so far, while our guys continue to show signs they want to play hard and win. So I think we have a good chance. But it's still a division game, anything can happen.

Oh and please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules. (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.) Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Well that was an interesting week.  And I'm not just talking about the game, necessarily.  I'm partially back and that's going to have to be good enough for now.  I just wish the refs would figure out how to get their eyes fixed.  Then again, when you give up two touchdowns in the first 3 minutes of the game (even if one of them was of debatable legality) you don't really deserve to win anyway.  Despite that, the boys fought hard and they deserve some respect for that.

Well now on to Baltimore.  We've had their number for most of the last few years but we are now missing our two best cornerbacks from previous years and I don't know how that's going to affect things.  If our DL can get enough pressure on Flacco, maybe it won't matter.  If they can't, it almost certainly will, however.

Oh and please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Guys, I'm sorry but I have felt extremely horrible for a few days now.  I'm going on ahead and getting the new thread up so you guys can start making your picks for next week, but I don't have the energy or mental balance to handle trying to calculate last week's score right now.

I have strong hopes of feeling better later in the week -- i already do seem to be making at least SOME improvement -- so hopefully I can get the points calculated by the weekend.  But I can't guarantee it.  I will also plan on coming back to this post and adding a proper write-up, the points, and the rules links and all that other fun stuff just as soon as I can.  But don't know precisely when that will be.

In the meantime, start making your picks and let's hope our boys will be fully ready on Sunday to beat the Steelers!

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OK so this time we weren't quite as good as previously in that we had a few penalties and we gave up a sack, but we still did pretty good on offense.  And special teams and defense really stepped up, so major kudos to them.  I was a bit worried about their special teams but it turned out to be OUR special teams that really turned the game for us.  Congrats to Tate for finally finding the endzone and for Pacman for getting things started by setting us up for a short TD drive early in the game.  And of course we mustn't forget Nelson bringing home the game-icing pick-6 for the knockout blow.

Unfortunately the running game didn't do as much as we hoped.  Now don't get me wrong, it was fairly decent and it was a pretty good defense we were facing off against as well.   But I also figure we all hoped to see Scott (or at least somebody) make it into the endzone on the ground and it never happened.  Well maybe next week.  Still Scott showed that in space he can be pretty dangerous, so we need to use him more.  Hopefully we will.

We didn't fall for the trap game last week, will we fall for it this week?  We have four critical games against division rivals coming up in the very near future, are we going to make the mistake of overlooking the Titans?  The way they beat up on the Colts suggest we would be unwise to do so.  Oh I still think we can beat them, but it probably won't be a pushover unless we turn ourselves into one by overlooking them.

Oh and please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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While no doubt some of you will complain about us trying to run the 3-4 defense, that's not my point here.  We do OK at it, not great but OK, so I'm not going to complain about it.  Not right now at least.  OK is a hell of a lot better than sucking, and for now I'm willing to take that.

But I AM going to point out that we simply can NOT handle the 3-4 defense going up against our OL.  Just can't do it.  We absolutely suck at it.  Some of our most embarrassing losses have come when we faced a 3-4 team.  We lost to GB.  OK that one wasn't embarrassing, but anybody else notice just how poor our run game was against the monsters of the 3-4 middle?  We came entirely too close to losing to Houston.  The only reason we didn't is because Lance and Drew found a weak cornerback to pick on, and because our OL actually played better with the subs in after the injuries.  Tampa I pin on Kreutz, at least for now, because it's the outlier in this discussion.  But once again we face a 3-4 defense yesterday in St. Louis and Long has a free shot at Drew (or the RB) all. day. long.  It was a joke.

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Last game we did exactly what I said we had to do to win the game.  We had to step on defense, we had to keep Dalton clean (no sacks all game long), and we especially had to limit the big play in the fourth quarter.  Well when the opponent's longest play of the entire day was a 22-yard pass and no individual player cracked 60 yards rushing or receiving, I'd say our defense did its job quite well.

About the only things to dislike from this game were the way Gresham disappeared gain and 'Rome didn't make the end-zone.  Otherwise, even our offense did a pretty good job too, at least on the passing game.  The rushing game... not so much.  Benson better use his week off to figure out how to run again.  Sure he got in the end-zone but he didn't earn a whole lot of love (much less a contract extension) by rushing for 57 total yards (57!) with a YPC of 3.56 and a long carry of NINE yards.  Yuk.  Just plain YUK.  Either we really need more talent at the RB spot or we need a LOT more talent at the OL.  Or maybe both.  Yeah yeah I know the Colts have fast flow LBs that makes it hard to get big runs... yeah well the Saints just abused them for 236.  Something needs to improve in our run game.  Maybe it's the blocking.  Maybe it's the runners.  Maybe it's the play-calling.  But something needs to improve.

And frankly, this week should scream "trap game" to anybody with ears to hear.  Oh the Seachickens are NOT a good team.  Anybody who thinks they are is brain-dead... or worse.  Or at least they didn't watch that utter snooze-fest last weekend against the Browns.  Their offense is utterly putrid and inept.  They rank #28 or worse (usually 30s) just about any way you slice it, and even 3rd down percentage they are #26.  Their special teams aren't exactly special IF we can contain their kickoff returns.  Just boot those kickoffs out of the end-zone please, folks, OK?  Don't give me heart trouble on this stuff here.  If we let him, Leon Washington is more than capable of winning the game single-handedly on a couple of kickoff returns.  Don't let him.  If you have to, deliberately kick it out of bounds and let them have the ball at the 40 and trust our defense  Just do NOT let Leon get his hands on the ball on a kickoff return.  Period.

Their defense, on the other hand, is decent.  They are at #11 in points per game, #15 at yards per game, and #11 in rush defense.  It's only in pass defense (at #20), sacks, and their weak turnover numbers where their defense shows its not all that good.  On the other hand, it's not like we have the #1 passing offense, and our run game has been missing-in-action pretty much all year long.  Our boys really need to step up this week, especially what with the 3 time-zone flight involved and already making it harder for us.

Worse yet, the Seachickens have a legitimate gripe with the officials for "stealing" the game from them last week on a phantom block-in-the-back call.  We need to go lay down a beat-down on them or they may use that emotional lift to propel themselves to an upset and we do NOT want to see that happen.

Oh and please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Aside from coming entirely too close to making me look like a prophet when I mused that we might find a way to throw a game we should have a legitimate shot at, yesterday's game was actually fairly good.  We weren't great in pretty much any area, but we were mostly good enough in almost every area.  At least this week we accomplished the comeback, rather than falling short of it.  But is it too much to ask for us to play somebody and just beat the tar out of them?  Well, it probably is.  There just aren't very many truly terrible teams in the NFL.  You'd think when we decided to stop being one of them that somebody else would step into our place.  Maybe they did and we just don't get to play them this year.

Oh well, enough on last week.  Up next we have the winless Indy Painters, who can paint any field with lots of yards and points but so far no wins.  I for one would really like us to avoid going down in the 2011 NFL annals as the first team to lose to them.  If our defense keeps doing its job and our offensive line can keep Andy clean (sad to say that is NOT an easy task against Mathis and Freeney), we do probably have a shot at winning.  But it will take all our boys have, on both sides of the ball.  We can't let somebody get ridiculously open for another 74 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter or anything.  Garcon is good enough as it is, and he and Painter have great chemistry, we can NOT just let him run around free to paint the scoreboard.

Oh and please remember to un-rec the previous week's post if you rec'd it previously...

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Well I said that I had zero faith in our team's ability to pull off the upset, but that I would be delighted to be wrong.  Guess what.  I was wrong.  And I'm delighted by it.

It's a pity that the local fans didn't get to see the game live, but between replay broadcasts and Game Rewind and highlight reels I suppose most fans will get to see at least part of it.  That's good.

Well we've managed to right the ship back to .500 at 2-2, and we now go back on the road for a game that we really should have a legitimate shot at.  Does that mean we'll find a way to suck and throw the game?  I sure hope not.  But it's going to be a clash of two rookie QBs and two pretty stiff defenses -- including the #1 overall (us, can you believe it? sweet!) and theirs which was ranked in the top-5 until NO shredded them on Sunday -- and anybody who thinks this is going to be anything but a defensive slug-fest is going to be ridiculed publicly.  Note that I didn't say they're going to be wrong.  In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they weren't.  But nobody will believe them if they try to predict it.

Still we have the front-four that can get after a rookie and our DBs and LBs are playing well enough that we should have a shot at a turnover or two, maybe even a defensive score or two.  I doubt we'll see a game like last night (seriously now, five D/ST scores between the two teams?  You gotta be kidding me!) but we ought to see at least one or two.  Hopefully it's our boys doing so and not theirs! :)

I'm also going to hope that the Jaguars have by Sunday at least taught their field crew how to properly paint the arrows on the numbered yard lines before next week.  Some people even accused them of doing it on purpose to try to generate extra home-field advantage.  While I don't buy that, it's still an embarrassing gaffe.  Hopefully it's fixed by next week.

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Oy vey.  For once, I'm glad the game was blacked out.  I have Game Rewind and I could watch it if I wanted.  I don't want to.  I'm sorry, San Fran is not as horrible as they used to be, but they are not a good team.  We should have been able to do better than this.  Even if we still didn't win, we should have at least managed one offensive touchdown and cracked the 10-point line.

Oh well.  On to the next week.  I was hoping we'd come into this week at 2-1 because after Buffalo destroyed us last year and now even beat New England, I have absolutely zero faith in our guys to be able to pull off the upset.  Oh I'll be absolutely delighted if I turn out to be wrong.  But who here really thinks I will be.  Anybody?

Well hopefully we can at least put some touchdowns on the board this week.  Fitzy threw two INTs last week against a defense that might well be even worse than ours, so we've got a chance to get some turnovers.  And Buffalo's defense isn't superstar-quality either, so hopefully our offense can at least punch it in once or twice.  Or maybe more if we're really lucky.

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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I don't know what's worse, losing the game, or knowing that we really didn't play that great yet and didn't really deserve to win... yet we had a chance anyway... and didn't pull it off.

Oh well, one more week in the bank, and we are 1-1.  We still have a shot to win at least a few more games before the year is done.  Maybe even more.  But we won't if we don't figure out how to play well for FOUR quarters instead of one or two.  We played pretty good for parts of the game yesterday.  But only parts.  That's two weeks in a row.  Three weeks in a row of that is completely unacceptable.  Step it up guys.

Still, it's not like next week we have to face the greatest quarterback in the history of ever, ever.  If our DL keeps playing as well as they have been and we do NOT let Ginn rip off 100+ yard kickoff returns, then I'd say we have at least a shot on this game.  Plus its a 1pm start for a west coast team coming to visit our home turf.  That's almost as bad for them as going to the west coast is for us.  We've got a shot.  Not sure how good of one, but we've got one.

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

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Well, I don't know about you, but an opening day win over a division rival is always a bit sweeter when the opponent was so much better than us they should be "embarrassed" if they lose to us. :)

But that's just week one.  There are 15 more games over 16 more weekends.  And while 1-15 is a whole lot better than 0-16, I'd like our record to be just a bit better than that.  Wouldn't you?  So hopefully our boys will come out and play hard at Denver (where, by the way, they haven't won since before the Carter administration) and maybe we can come out with a win there too.   It won't be easy.  Kyle Orton is clearly a legit QB, and while Quinn may suck and Tebow is unproven the rest of the team is at least decent.  Of course, we haven't even seen whether they're any good this year yet, because they don't play until later tonight.  But I know John Fox and he's not a superstar coach but he's also quite good at making lemonade out of lemons (i.e. making decent teams out of pretty crappy ingredients).  Even if the entire team sucked he'd still find a way to make them put up a fight.  And the entire team doesn't suck.

Still, if our team is resilient and Dalton is healthy enough to play, I expect we should at least put up some points in this game.  And that's the point of these posts, after all.

Scoring recap post from last week is repeated below the jump as well as the summary version of the rules.  (Review the original full write-up of the rules here if you like.)  Pick your player in the comments and have fun!

Note: I do not delete previous week threads in case there is any dispute over the scoring.  If you gave last week's post a rec, please go and undo that so it can vanish into the history in a timely fashion.

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