Week 10 of the NFL season is over. Who are your top 10 teams? Outperforming their talent-level? Underperforming relative to their talent level?
Here are ESPN's power rankings for Week 11, and I think they're about right [1]:Outperforming:San Francisco 49ersNew York GiantsChicago BearsCincinnati BengalsDenver Broncos - particularly after their Thursday night win over my Jets.Underperforming:Philadelphia EaglesDallas CowboysSan Diego ChargersNew York Jets - And I'm a Jets fan...[1] http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrank...
Would it be better if the NFL divisions were changed on a yearly basis to take away unfair advantages/disadvantages? Why not equalize the difficulty of each division based on the last year's results?
No. The reason for this is that it makes the PLAYOFFS more exciting (in my opinion, anyway.)Another major upside of keeping the divisions as they are is that, traditionally speaking, you have some great rivalries. This is because many divisions are grouped by particular regions of the country. For example, the NFC East (Cowboys, Eagles, Giants and Skins) have played one another twice a year for something like 50 years. The fans really look forward to those games.I’m guessing you might be comparing the NFL’s current scheduling to the English Premier League, where the teams at the bottom of the standings (table) drop to a lower league at season’s end (also known as relegation.) Let me ask this: my understanding is that West Ham and Millwall had a great rivalry at one point in time. Do those two teams even play each other anymore? Their rivalry seems like a thing of the past nowadays. I’m interested in Tottenham Hotspur vs West Ham, but Millwall? Not so much. I reckon the EPL equivalent is Derby week, but division games make up about a third of each NFL team’s schedule. That is both exciting and engaging.Another thing to keep in mind is that two games each season are played against teams from the same conference that had the same division ranking. For example, the Vikings play the Eagles and Saints this season, since they all placed #1 in their division last year. Those games aside, all NFC North teams will compete for the division crown (and its playoff spot) with a record based on largely similar opponents (6 games vs division rivals, 4 vs NFC West, and 4 vs AFC East)The last thing I would mention is you contend that teams have unfair advantages/disadvantages. All NFL teams operate within a salary cap. There aren’t too many structures more fair than that when you add in the draft order based on the teams’ win-loss record of the previous season. I think you’d be hard-pressed to develop a better system, but I’m sure people would be on board if you discover one! Shuffling the divisions based on previous season’s win-loss record isn’t really the answer as long as people enjoy watching the playoffs.
If you could change any NFL rules, what would they be?
I'd change: 1 foot inbounds maintained possession instead of 2 (makes the game more exciting, more points, less replays) Get rid of false starts and illegal motions (who cares if someone is moving on offense, last I check is the defense can move all they want) Punter kicks it out of bounds is a 10 yard penalty (if you are going to penalize the kickoff for kicking it out of bounds then you should penalize the punter, plus forces potential punt returns) pass interference (unless grabbing or holding a body part or jersey, holding calls still stand) Also... 2 minute warning clock starts when the chains are moved
Can you be a fan of two NFL teams?
Sure, why-not? I know people who change teams every other week! But if you want to be loyal, then no!
Should the NFL expand the season to 18 games?
No.In fact, not only should they not expand the regular season games, I think they should still go ahead and cut the preseason to 2 games. This notion that cutting two games from the preseason would do anything to these players is ridiculous. Most starters don't play by preseason week 3 and 4. You rarely see players getting injured in the preseason, let alone major injuries, but once you start playing more games that matter, it's over. You have two more games to get injured in, one more home game to sell out, one more road game to travel to; it's a mess. Add to that the fact that the parody in the league won't change, so crappy teams will remain crappy for longer in the year, and good teams will have even more games to be careful over and try not to lose players when they made the playoffs months ago. In my opinion, every other sport league in the US have seasons that are too long. The NFL season is the perfect length. It's long enough to allow for small stumbles from teams, but not too long that it gets drawn out. As it is, there is genuine interest in every week of the season, and in every playoff game. This is not the case for the NBA, where 82 games seem to go on forever, and the first round of the playoffs have a best of 7 series. The MLB is 162 games; I don't need to say more.On top of all that, none of the other sports have to worry about being contact sports (minus hockey, but I don't know the injury/season length situation in hockey), so they don't have the same problems as the NFL. Even then, they still go on for much longer than they should, and they are no fun to watch towards the tail end of the season.My vote will always go to player health. While I love watching these games, I understand that I am supporting a dangerous game. The humans come first. Money, more playing time, higher stakes, and everything else comes second.
Is it okay to go to nfl game at 26 weeks pregnant?
This is not a problem! Babies ( born or in the womb) like for their mothers to feel happy and healthy, and they are perfectly well protected from little things like cheering and music as long as mum is enjoying it. Women all over the world carry on with their normal lives while pregnant, and only change things if they get extra tired, sick etc - being pregnant is not an illness, it's a healthy state unless there's complications. I walked up Snowdon when I was 5 months pregnant, carried on supporting my local rugby football team, worked, played my rock and punk music as usual etc. Neither you or your baby need to be wrapped in cotton wool- tackle this with him now or what's he going to be like when the baby is actually born?! As long as you feel well and up for it, carry on- no doubt your new son or daughter will be a massive nfl fan too, and have the same joy you get from it as they grow. Why cut them off from one of the things you love?
What was the biggest upset in Week 2 of the 2014 NFL season?
In my estimation the four biggest surprises wereBrowns over the Saints 26-24Bills over Dolphins 29-10. Chargers over the Seahawks 30-21Bears of 49ers 28-20The Seahawks losing is to the Chargers is the most surprising because they are looking so good, though the Chargers are a very good team. It might indicate that the Seahawks are paper tigers outside of Seattle.The Bears beating the 49ers is a close second. The Bears were injured coming in and the 49ers played extremely well the first game of the season. I'm not totally shocked because I'm not optimistic this season for the 49ers (despite being a fan). The Browns over the Saints winning is definitely a bigger surprise and the Saints being 0-2, given that they were a lot of sleeper picks for the Super Bowl.Though the Bills taking the lead in the AFC East 2 weeks in is fairly shocking.There still is the Monday night game: Eagles-Colts still to be played, though I could imagine either side winning, so either outcome wouldn't be a huge upset.
Has an nfl team ever played on a monday night, and then thursday that same week?
Has a team in the NFL every played a Monday night football game, and the in the same week, was forced to play the Thursday night game as well? Or do they often try to avoid that from happening. Is there a certain amount of days each team is guaranteed practicing before each game?