GO FALCONS!

yesterday=

but I'm still sad that football is pretty much over

well, at least one of those 3 teams you mention are winners this year.

wait... let me check...

Yup, Cubbies are still the World champs. Cool, still has not changed.

Pretty much true all around other than Falcons pulling in to the SB. Of course if they get blown out by 30 then there goes that

Just released the video of Pacman's arrest, talk about being a total asswipe..... He's more than just an embarrassment to Cincy and I have to believe that even though Mike Brown believes in giving players a second chance, Pacman will be gone. The NFL is going to suspend him for a large part of the season; I'm thinking 5+ games atleast.

I'll bet you 40 quarters he gets released.

Are saying he'll be released from the Bengals? I said that when he first got arrested, and again in the post above. If you are saying he'll be released from charges filed I don't think so.....Mayor Cranley and a few others in judicial positions with the city have stated he's a cancer for Cincinnati as a whole, City and the Bengals as a sports franchise. Cincy has spent a lot of time and money to improve their image and Mike Brown I think will not allow one player to undo what has been accomplished thus far.

Looks like you've changed your stance. You're saying now that the league is going to suspend him. No mention of release in your new statement. I'm changing my stance too. I say he gets released.

No I've always thought he'd be released and suspended from the start, and to be honest Chuck it's a damn shame because he has played well since coming to cincy. Just can't understand why these players think they're above the law or any other institution us normal folks follow on a daily basis.

Yeah man. Especially since he's had like 10 chances. You'd think it would click eventually.

TV rating for NFL games were down even more than I thought. 8%. That's a significant loss of viewers.

http://nypost.com/2017/01/23/nfl-tv-viewership-fumbles-for-the-first-time-in-4-years/

That comment in the article about too many commercial breaks is so true. You really notice it when you go to a game. They need to speed up the challenge process. Mike Periera seems to be able to make a determination pretty quickly and accurately.

I think they should do it like baseball and have a guy in NY or wherever make the final determination.

NHL was the first to do that I think, at least in the playoffs. NFL has a hybrid version of that now where party douche Dean Blandino sort of looks at them and selects which replays the refs on the field see... As you csn tell it is still confusing

Personally, the replay isn't overly horrible to me...i mean the time it takes isn't as bad as they STILL get it wrong half the time. The Brady obvious fumble and clear Pitt recovery was another one that makes no sense (not that it mattered much).
It's just bad when the Announcers are ripping on the decisions

I've lost a lot of interest in the NFL over the last few years due to the high amount of advertising. Even in the PITT v KC game when PIT had to convert the final 3rd down of the game to win, they cut to a LONG commercial break and came back right as Roethlsburger hiked the ball, threw it, game over. Ridiculous commercial breaks kill the flow and anticipation of the sport. They need to run it more like soccer with sponsored advertisements pop ups next to score.

Pro Bowl is rumored to be going away; supposed to be an announcement next week on it. They should experiment with the pro bowl and do no commercial breaks. Shorten the game to 2 hours.

They should get rid of the pro bowl.
No one wants to play in the game and risk injury.
Oh look, the 6th best qb in the nfc said no so I get to go. Big whoop.
All Pro is what/all they need.

Not worried about the time it takes as long as the call gets made correctly most of the time. I feel like it's 50/50 when a play is reviewed that they actually get it right.

Concussions, new penalties and commercials are killing the sport. Maybe for good reason. The fact that a lot of these guys die early makes it a very weird sport to root for. Plus, the alcohol culture surrounding the game gives me zero desire to actually attend, and I'm a Patriots season ticket holder.

I friend of mine from NY went to the Jags/Broncos game and couldn't believe how mellow the crowds are here. Of course, having a perenially shitty team can temper one's enthusiasm.

The sport with the best replay system is tennis. They have a computer generated replay which is very definitive whether a ball is in or out. It literally takes them 5 seconds to review and make a decision.

I understand the concussion protocol and think it's a good deal for players. I just wish they'd do away with or modify the "to close to call or change call" crap during reviews. There are more than a few times it ends up wrong but because it's not glaringly obvious they are hesitant to make the call.

Totally agree. Use your gut. If your gut says you shouldn't have called this play this way in the first place, reverse the call.

Anyone know what the line is and over/under for SB is? Let's hear predictions.

My prediction:
ATL: 24
NE: 23

I used to like it the way it was; after the Superbowl. It's a bullshit game that's a good way to wind down after the season.
You got your skill comps and it's just a joke game with big plays and shit. Now it's before the SB so all the SB players don;t play in it yada yada.
Never understood people that hate it so much for being an exhibition game...just a reason to have 1 more Sunday of drinking after the SB.

Patriots 27
Falcons 24

Not sure if I'm even gonna watch it.

At least the NFC South is representing in another Super Bowl.

Falcons 38

Patriots 27

NE 38
HOT 28

I'd like Falcons to win but there's just too much going against them.
Defense vs offense, NE running game, NE wearing white

Line is NE -3
57.5 total

I liked it too the week after the season also. One last weekend to get a teaser in. Miss the old qb challenge they did every year too.

My biggest complaint is the nfl award show where they announce the Hall of Famers now.

I used to look forward to a couple hours of nfl network covering the nominees waiting to see if they get a call and then a make shift press conference broke out and we got to see how happy the guys and their families and peers are for them. One of my favorite nights of the season.

Now we get a list of guys and come out to a small audience, clapity clap clap and it's over. Booooo

Anyone want to take a poll. Kust curious who pinside favors.

Ps. My gues is anyteam but the patriots

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/patriots-v-falcons-who-do-you-want-to-win

Pats 34
Falcons 23

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Houston stadium is artificial turf right? Does this give Atlanta an edge? All their playoff games were on turf vs patriots playoff games in outdoor cold grass weather.

I think it puts them on closer to even footing (PUN INTENEDED) with the Pats but I don't think any team could have an edge in this game unless Brady wasn't playing.

Pats play on turf also but they aint no soft dome team like atlanta. Move the superbowl to a tough cold climate and watch the dome teams sh*t their pants.

* bring on the anti pats down votes

There's one coming up in NY isn;t there? Anyway I totally agree...i love how the people that complain the most against a cold SB are sports writers. Tough life having to go to the SB every year

NY was in 2014 I think. SEA v DEN. That 40 something to like 3 blowout.

Oh duh right.

They could have the Super Bowl in the north if they played the game in the afternoon, like they should. A 30 degree day in the sun is great football playing weather. It still sucks for the fans in the stands. Of course, the NFL has to maximize their profits and will never move the game from prime time.

The Colts, a dome team, played their '06 Super Bowl in the rain in Miami against an outdoor team in the Bears.

The Indy Super Bowl was also one of the most praised because of Indy's great downtown culture surrounding the stadium. Wasn't it the year before they had that ice storm at Dallas before the SB? I think any city should get a chance to host a good SB no matter the climate.

I actually prefer the old tradition of blow out SBs and exciting conference games.

Wasn't that always part of the reason for watching any physical display of excellence? Seeing these people stretch the limits of physical or mental prowess all the while risking injury or worse, death. It was the reason people watched auto racing, boxing, and every other sport.

The only way to reduce concussions significantly would be to get rid of hard helmets. I'd be for that. Return football to it's roots.

Um, hard helmets are safer. They absorb a lot of the impact.

The days of leather helmets where the average linebacker weight was somewhere around a buck fifty are gone. The athletes today would be literally committing suicide if they went back to leather. These guys are averaging 6'3"-6'9", 350-380 front lines, 250-280 for the average linebacker and move like 200 pounders but, you are correct, we'd have less concussions and more out right deaths on field!

How that bears team got to the SB is a total mystery....what a joke.

Pro bowl needs to just go away. The NFL has made such a mess of this once meaningful event it's a tragedy.

Only way to reduce concussions is to reduce impact. Period. Helments dont do much when concussions are caused by your brain bouncing around the INSIDE of your head. Cant put a helmet in there.

Even small collisions over time cause CTE in athletes. Have them start playing flag football and you will see less concussions along with less revenue. Never going to happen. The nfl doesnt care about player safety they just care about money

I just imagine football without helmets would be like rugby. You don't hear about many deaths in rugby.

Rugby players are much, much smaller than the average NFL player.

All right, Super Bowl week

Haven't checked the books since last Monday but our national lottery has the line set at -3.5 NE, 58.5 o/u.

Pats 15 - 3 ATS this season.
Falcons 12 - 6 ATS this season.

At 3.5 I'm leaning Falcons but will probably end up betting heavy on the pats as weekend approaches.

We always do a prop pool with 15 to 20 game props. $5 entry. Winner takes the pot. Fun way for the non fan/casual observer of the game to have some fun too. Photocopy a stack and hand them out before the game.

I wonder if we get a Eugene Robinson/Barret Robbins this week?

"CAN'T WAIT"

I saw about 2 minutes of the Pro Bowl. The uniforms looked like the horrible Thursday night game uniforms. I saw Dree Brees miss a wide open receiver. Apparently, even he did not care about the game.