Looks like the buttcrack-of-dawn London game is only on NFL Network, so I can’t watch it. Meh. As I post this, it looks like it might be an ok game, tied at 10 just before halftime. Figures. Most of the London games I’ve seen have been terrible.
I want Thursday Night games to go away. There, I said it. No one likes them, even when the matchups should be good they’ve been shit games, and it disrupts everyone. SHUT IT DOWN.
Speaking of bad ideas, I think the very first and glaring mistake Roger Goodell made when he became commissioner was to shut down NFL Europe. They have had no developmental league for almost ten years now and it’s showing. There’s a huge shortage of quarterbacks, just to name one problem. The CFL and Arena league aren’t an effective substitute because there’s not very much crossover between them; players tend to stay in the CFL and AFL when they go there. Yes, the league didn’t make a profit but profit wasn’t the goal; it was an investment in the future of the league. The German and Dutch teams did well enough in attracting fans, and if they’re successful in establishing a team in London it would make sense for them to try to do the same in Germany, where there are actually some American Football fans.
I probably won’t watch a lot of football today, because the Broncos don’t play till Monday night and also my partner has the day off, and he isn’t into football. He’s a retail store manager and he’s about to have a couple months with very little time off, so we’re going to make the most of it today. So, it looks like I’ll be missing Jaguars at Raiders and Vikings at Eagles early and Pats at Steelers late. I might see the Sunday Night game... dammit. It’s Seahawks at Cardinals. There’s another sucky prime time game. It’s weird that for last years’ NFC Championship Game teams, it looks like the wheels have come off.
Monday night. I’ve been waiting for this one. For the record, I don’t have any problem with Brock Osweiler making the choice he did. (I AM mad at the Eagles for causing the problem when they signed that ridiculous contract for Sam FUCKING Bradford.) That said, I still want Von Miller and Shane Ray to smear him to the turf and remind him of what he walked away from.
I think the Texans erred, though, and it’s not their fault. What was the quote from the owner, that all they needed was a mediocre QB and they would compete for a Super Bowl? Well, Brock is just the guy he was describing. I don’t think he ever will be elite, but he CAN be like an Alex Smith type mid-tier QB. Unfortunately, now they have two problems; they gave Brock a huge gob of money, and then JJ Watt got hurt in a way that may have diminished his ability to play at the MVP level he has been playing at for years. Now what? You’ve tied up elite-level QB $$ in a mediocre QB which will hurt your ability to build the kind of defense that would be required for him to help guide the team to a championship. That sucks. I sincerely hope JJ Watt can come back, because the league will be worse off without him.
Anyway, the Broncos are pissed off about the last two games, the coach is back, Trevor Siemian is reportedly feeling much better, and the fans will be geared up for this game. I don’t envy the Texans right now.
How’s your team looking?