Any bets on whether Mark Sanchez breaks his leg? I mean, I hope he doesn’t, but it seems to happen to Redskins QBs more than others. Gah. I feel really bad for Alex Smith. When I heard that his leg is infected it scared the hell out of me. It seems like he’s been constantly shit on his whole career for the unforgivable crime of being an adequate QB. I hope he can recover soon and that it doesn’t get any worse for him.
I can’t believe we’ve lost Emmanuel Sanders for the season. In 4 days the Broncos lost two of their top 5 players. That’s in addition to losing Matt Lepsis, Jake Butt, and Jeff Heuermann. The OL seems to have gelled pretty well without Lepsis, but they’re starting to get pretty thin at receiver. The receiving corps is really young but there’s a lot of talent there. Tim Patrick in particular needs to step it up a bit. He flashed in training camp and has made some good plays, but he’s missed on a few. I have no idea if River Cracraft is any good. Matt LaCosse has been a nice surprise. One option I hope they don’t forget about is Devontae Booker. I hate when he carries the ball because he gains a yard and then falls down, but when they have him catch the ball out of the backfield or on screens he seems to always gain 5-10 yards. They need more plays where he and Philip Lindsey are on the field at the same time.
I think the Broncos can still make the playoffs, but boy they need some help. I’d like to see a few things happen; the Texans need to beat the Colts, the Pats need to beat the Dolphins, Baltimore needs to beat the Chiefs (but the Chiefs still need to win the AFC West), the Bengals need to beat the Chargers, and the Steelers need to lose to the Raiders. Ok, I know a couple of those might be long shots, but the Steelers have lost to every other AFC West team. I want to see the Steelers to keep losing and for Baltimore to take the division because the Ravens beat the Broncos earlier this season, but the Broncos hold the tie-breaker over the Steelers. It’s convoluted, but I’ll take it since 3 weeks ago they were 3-6 and thinking the coach would be fired.
We only get the afternoon game on CBS because it’s the Broncos at the Niners. On Fox we get the Saints at Bucs early followed by Eagles-Cowboys. Never mind that the Steelers-Raiders game is on Fox and is a million times more relevant to us in Denver. Yeah, I know, this will probably be a terrible game and the Eagles-Cowboys probably won’t be, I’m just salty about the NFL always trying to push the Cowboys on everyone. SNF is Rams-Bears. Man, the Bears have been in prime time a LOT this season. MNF is Vikings-Seahawks. I have a feeling the Vikings might miss the playoffs. How crazy would that be if the Broncos actually make the playoffs with the QB the Vikings didn’t want and the Vikings miss the cut?
The rest of the games I haven’t mentioned yet...
Falcons at Packers: I have relatives in the UP who are big Pack fans. They are sad right now. Hang in there, uncle Gary.
Giants at Redskins: Mark Sanchez. Sure, he’s better than Kaep. Sure.
Jets at Bills: This is a game that is happening today.
Panthers at Browns: I guess it’d be a good idea to root for the Panthers since the Browns are technically not out of it yet and the Broncos play them soon. I heard Cam’s hurting but it looks like he’s playing. That’s probably a good thing since I had to look up who his backup is (Taylor Heinicke).
Lions at Cards: This is also a game that is happening today.
I’m on call this weekend so I can’t have any beer today. Boo. Drink one or two or seven for me.