2014 NFL Regular Season, Week 3
 

Thursday
Tampa Bay at Atlanta

Sunday
San Diego at Buffalo
Dallas at St. Louis
Washington at Philadelphia
Houston at NY Giants
Minnesota at New Orleans
Tennessee at Cincinnati
Baltimore at Cleveland
Green Bay at Detroit
Indianapolis at Jacksonville
Oakland at New England
San Francisco at Arizona
Denver at Seattle
Kansas City at Miami
Pittsburgh at Carolina

Monday
Chicago at NY Jets

Denver @ Seattle being the obvious big one. With the Lions secondary beat up, it might not be the right time to play the Packers, but for the Lions it never is. :lol:

Bengals trying to get to their Bye week 3-0 with a slew of tough games following the bye... with the injuries they already have, an early bye week will be huge.

Also, the Bengals facing their first local blackout in 2 years... local media saying they are far short of the self-imposed 85% threshold at which they have pledged not to blackout games.

I thought I heard the FCC was working on eliminating those blackout rules? They need to pick up the pace.

This is the NFL equivalent of a snuff film.

So Seattle will be 2-1 and coming off a win against the Broncos going into their bye, or 1-2, coming off back to back losses include one at home.

I'm almost curious to hear what the panic would be like on Seattle sports radio if they drop this one to the Broncos. That said, I'd be very happy if I'm left wondering what it would be like. Really hoping for a very good bounce back performance, but their lack of depth in the secondary right now could be a big tipping point in this matchup. Front 4 will have to play lights out for Seattle to win this one.

Also very curious to see how SF/Ari unfolds.

I'm looking forward to a prime time game for Carolina. Charlotte has a reputation for having a ton of Pittsburgh fans though, I hope the crowd isn't too much like that San Francisco crowd from week 1 in Dallas. The last time Carolina started 3-0 was 2003, hell the last time they started 1-0 was 2008.

Its probably asking too much to hope for the Saints to lose to Minnesota, but I'll be rooting hard for it. Thursday Night Football is such a shitshow that anything can happen there, so I'm hoping Tampa can find a way to pull that out.

Colts need the win here or it's going to be a loooooooooong season.

49ers/Cardinals is going to be an ugly, ugly game. It should be good and close, but it'll be ugly.

from another article I saw about this:

"If Dwyer is shown the door, the Cardinals would be able to call on practice squad running back Chris Rainey to fill Dwyer’s spot on the 53-man roster. There is one problem, however. Rainey has previously been released from a team because of a domestic violence incident."

Well that's just fantastic.

I expect JJ Watt to have 7 sacks

Is it like...a rite of passage for running backs to beat up women?

At this rate we probably need an NFL abusers thread so the weekly thread can be a place to discuss the games.

if Carson Palmer is still out, I expect it will be very ugly indeed for my beloved Cardinals.

Unfortunately my beloved Cardinals have a history of domestic violence cases including even Larry Fitzgerald.

Domestic Violence Allegations: An "Unpleasant Piece of Status Quo for the NFL"

Here's a good one for the thread...(hey, at least it's stats and has a database!)

NFL Arrests Database | UTSanDiego.com

Enjoy...

Since 2000...I couldn't search for "domestic" but you could at least tally up by team and position.

Here's the by position breakdown
CB 167
DL 126
WR 122
LB 95
RB 79
OL 67
TE 35
QB 15
K/P 12
FB 11

Hope we rest Tez. It will be great to get him two straight weeks off.

BTW, what a terrible Thursday night game.

:)

Having done both, I will say that it is much more pleasant to cheer for a team with a great defense and a bad offense than to cheer for a team with a great offense and a bad defense. (Looking at you, Rob Ryan).

As for week 3, I think that the Saints will beat the Vikings, but that has much more to do with the Vikings than the Saints.

I am also convinced that the only 100% surefire way to make money in Vegas is to take the general preseason consensus about how the NFC South will go and then bet the exact opposite. Year to year, it is the most unpredictable division in football.

Having done both, I can't disagree with you more.

Nothing is more soul crushing than years of watching the Bears defense slaughter teams, then trot out shit on offense (particularly at QB). Trestman/Cutler may have their issues, but watching a big boy NFL offense is so much more enjoyable.

I think the Jags get their first win of the season this week.

I don't

It's a nice feeling as a football fan when you can't remember who your team is playing this weekend and it turns out to be at home V. Oakland.

Same thing here, molson. I don't pay much attention to past or future games, just the upcoming one. I too was glad to not only seeing the Pats play Oakland but at home finally.

Yeah as a long-time Miami fan I've seen both combinations, and seeing excellent defenses wasted time and time again by an offense that can't move the ball is no fun.

So 729 NFL players arrested in14 years? Total players during that time is what? I am going to guess about 12,000, would that be in the ballpark? That would mean an arrest rate at 6 percent. Doesnt seem out of line of the standard population to me.

Having done neither, I have no comment on this topic.

Agreed. I would argue that it is even a little low. The interesting data is why are certain positions more apt to have issues.

Then again, how many didn't get arrested or were swept under the rug because of who they are? Granted, hopefully not enough to drastically change the % being discussed, but even look at Rice and how quickly he was on his way. Had that video never surfaced, how different would the last few weeks have been?

I just bristle a bit at comparing to the "standard population" because how the two sides are dealt with when it comes to legal matters rarely seems comparable.

It's not a perfect comparison, but 49% of black men and 40% of white men are arrested at some point before they turn 23. I would bet the number for players entering the league at about that age is a lot less than that. And if we could somehow compare young men ages 23-32 in the NFL v. that age group in the general population, I'm sure NFL players would represent themselves well there too.

Study: Nearly half of black men arrested by age 23

I don't think there's any epidemic of criminality in the NFL. Just some bad seeds that need to be dealt with more harshly.

I tend to agree. It's just the bad apples get a ton of media attention.

You don't hear as much about the guys who do charity work and raise families and etc.

And you know - maybe that's something the NFL should work to change. Instead of directing media attention onto the bad apples (and thus perhaps inadvertently promoting that type of behavior) maybe they should have an ongoing ad campaign/series of puff pieces talking about players doing good things and being productive members of their communities.

Sure, we get occasional bits on that, but maybe it needs to be more constant.

40-50% of men are arrested by 23?! What the hell are you all doing down there?

Seriously - that's crazy.

this has been going around TV media recently... the percentage of NFL players arrested is almost perfectly in line with their age group in general.

I would be interested to know if the types of crimes are different. Are NFL players more likely to be arrested for crimes of violence than the average person? You'd likely see a whole bunch less property crime, wouldn't you?

I'm a very data driven individual. The numbers from that website pretty much confirm to me there is no problem with NFL players that we already don't have in society. The image of roided up players ravaging the countryside appears to me to be overblown.

There is an article on Grantland now called "the history of violence in the NFL" or something like it. They may as well have a companion piece title "The history of violence since the first person walked the earth"

Goodall handled this thing like crap. The NFL deserves some bad publicity. yet three bad incidents in a week (Rice, AP and now Dwyer) doesn't really seem all that out of control to me. Take some random samples of 1900 guys 22-32 and I'm fairly certain that most of those samples will show more than 3 guys with issues.

Looking at the info in the linked story, the rate of arrested by 18 vs arrested by 23 goes up by 50% or more for all three ethnic groups mentioned.

That might be one of the most striking arguments I've ever seen for prohibition.

Except that very prominent public figures (as nfl players) are generally more likely to be emulated and followed than regular folks in that age group. I would say that puts a more extra burden on behavior. If you are on stage and are paid like a 1%, then they cannot act like they are not. With fame comes responsibility.

I would like to know what percentage have been arrested, in all ethnic groups, that have at minimum attended 3 years of college and makes at least 6 figures a year.

I bet that number is much lower.

All class

Devon Still of Cincinnati Bengals, Sean Payton of New Orleans Saints talk for first time - ESPN

I think you could even knock it down below 6 figures and have it be much much lower.

Payton has some bad karma to work off. This should help.

I'm NOT saying they shouldn't be banned for life or that they have a higher level of responsibility. I'm saying the majority of NFL football players don't knock their wives out, beat their children, drive drunk, sexually assault, murder someone, or commit any crime. The "NFL is raping and pillaging the entire country" talk is more than a little overblown.

Buccs better figure out how to guard Jones.

I knew I should have laid the points on Atlanta tonight

we may see our first ever real life NFL rage quit (ala Madden)

This got out of hand quick.

Good thing the Bucs brought in a proven veteran QB

I don't think I've ever seen such a blowout. Anything comparable recently?

Seems I was right! For once... :lol:

Lovie's offenses are never out of a game...

I don't believe that I have ever seen an NFL team get their asses kicked this bad. It's like Alabama playing a bad D1AA team. No idea why I am still watching this.

McCown should be forced to send half of his paychecks to Marc Trestman

I think I'm safe with my survivor pick of Atlanta this week. :D

Looks like their QB next year is going to be Mariota

Baylor vs some small conference school. :lol:

Start the countdown to some moron claiming Florida State could beat the Buccs.

Florida State could beat the Buccs...

;)

Probably won't see Rainey again tonight.

The way the Falcons and Ravens have dismantled opponents makes me feel good about the Bengals.

#burningclown

Funny but sad...another rock bottom adventure brought to you by my Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We have now crossed into ROFLSTOMP territory

Flags flags flags. If there's one thing I love more than a shitty one sided game it's a shitty one sided game with a delay after every play

That was pathetic

Buccaneers making last week's Steelers performance look inspired.

Time for the Bucs to retire these jerseys

This game fits right in with the rest of the Murder Porn on CBS's schedule.

Dear NFL, thank you for Thursday football...

Offensive pass interference, right in front of the ref. No call. (Not that that ever gets called).

Tampa scored guys. Atlanta is DONE.

The come back is on!

6 more of those and TB is right back in this!

Just realized I picked up Atlanta's D this week. I was debating between Atlanta and Dallas, phew. Made the right call.

That's very true, although I guess the issue for me is hat I would expect the league and the teams to be interested in having a below-average arrest record for their players and pro-actively trying to work towards that.

You can hire better law talking guys to get the record expunged

Unless your D is so good you can win a Super Bowl like Baltimore I agree. However the patriots have been a perfect example the past decade and nothing is worse than knowing you have no chance against manning, or even Flacco, unless your offense puts up 40.

Yeah it must have been so terrible to be a Patriots fan in all these recent years of losing.

Lovie has performed better than I could have possibly hoped for.

Jerome Simpson can't help himself from being stupid apparantly:

Jerome Simpson, in more trouble, released by Minnesota Vikings - ESPN

By the numbers, the Patriots defense has always been a lot better than the reputation. Their rank in points allowed the last 10 years is 13th, 10th, 9th, 15th, 8th, 5th, 8th, 4th, 2nd, 17th. And in that stretch they've been above average in the football reference simple defensive rating 8 out of the 10 years.

And only three teams have scored 40 against the Patriots in that stretch. Manning once, Flacco never, and the Chargers and 49ers each once.

+1

Just awful

Abraham to IR, time to retire.

Yep I agree-he was likely to be suspended anyway for off-field actions, so best to call it a day here I think. He's 36 so not too much time left in the NFL anyway.

Of course as a fan of a Cardinal team in desperate need of defensive help I selfishly want him to stay, but in the end this was the right decision I think.

As for another injured Cardinal, looks like right now QB Carson Palmer's shoulder injury is going to keep him off the field against the 49'ers, but I think it will come down to a gameday decision just like last game. He has been practicing but not full out the past two days, and HC Arians was saying earlier in the week that Stanton was the starter for now because of Palmer's injury. Can't see Stanton beating 49'ers, even at home and with a good defense effort either.

PFTCommenter has the perfect corporate sponser to fill the hole left by P&G.

Fleshlight should sponsor the NFL since Proctor and Gamble won’t

Clearly Roger was prepared and ready to speak. Can't even start his own conference on time.

not watching, fill us in on anything noteworthy he says please?

Roger starts off by reiterating he got the Ray Rice situation wrong. Says he will get it right going forward and the NFL won't repeat this type of mistake again.

After that and currently ongoing, Bill Simmons most recent tweet sums it up "blah blah blah blah blah..."

He sums it up pretty well here to.

It's always inspiring when someone robotically says "you know I feel passionately..." as he's glancing down to read his speech.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) September 19, 2014

Condensed NFL press conference: "We promise a full slate of vague steps forward until we all have the courage to never speak of this again."

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) September 19, 2014

Nailed it.

Of course. It's the goose with the golden egg and too many people want that egg.

The entire pink month thing annoys me. I wish it was limited entirely to one weekend.

There's no way they'd sell enough pink jerseys in just one weekend.

Now we take you live to Roger Goodell's PR team for comment. pic.twitter.com/4dWzuyg8O4

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) September 19, 2014

While I want to agree with you here, I think it's more like he should send payments to Marshall, Jeffrey, Bennett, and Forte. Cutler should, too.

Have you watched the defense?

Rainey by the way has been released as well-Coach Arians insists its for fooball reasons only:

Arizona Cardinals move Jonathan Dwyer, cut Chris Rainey; re-sign Jalen Parmele - Revenge of the Birds

Just about very game. They did have a stretch of 3-4 years where they ranked near the bottom of the league in yards allowed, but they've consistently been in the top half of the league in fewest points allowed. They certainly don't need to score 40 "to have a chance" against anyone. Flacco, from your example of a guy they can't contain, only scored 7 against the Patriots the last time they played