2014 NFL: WEEK SEVENTEEN

[dogwelder]

As expected Browns name Connor Shaw as the starter for Sunday.

[GojiColin]

Back again like an unwanted fruitcake its....

 

Top of the Bottom: The Battle for the Goodell Trophy

 

'Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Let us bask in football folly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! .  After taking a quick holiday break we are back for this, our last look at less then good football.  TO THE RANKINGS!!

 

1) 2-13 Tennessee

2) 2-13 Tampa Bay

3) 3-12 Jacksonville

4) 3-12 New York (Cannot Play) Football Jets

5) 3-12 Oakland Raiders

6) 4-11 Washington

7) 5-10 Chicago

8) 6-9 New York Football Beckhams

9) 6-9 New Orleans

10) 6-9 Minnesota

 

Teams eliminated:  Everyone but Tampa and Tennessee

 

This is it folks, the Superbowl of Suck is upon us.  Two teams vie for the right to draft someone who may or may not help them stay on the list next year.  Gone is the reigning champ Jacksonville and gone is the long standing leader Oakland.  Only two teams had the dedication to suck harder then a black hole and after this final week only one will be on top.  Will it be Tennessee, a team that you might forget even existed had they not sucked so much, or will it be my most beloved Bucs; who will probably draft a QB instead of one of the million other needs they have and then cut him after three years and be shocked that it didn't work?  By the end of this, our final football week of the year, we shall find out.

 

But let us not forget the other teams that didn't try so hard, who didn't get so far, but in the end it still didn't even matter.  Oakland looked like the sure shot winner, but they decided to give their fans hope for next year.  The Jets made a strong statement, but in typical Jets fashion it wasn't quite enough.  Jacksonville was a strong competitor it the art of not-competing, but it just goes to show you if your starting QB is "Anyone other then Blaine Gabbert" then you are bound to drop in the rankings. Washington wanted to earn the number one spot fair and square, but will have to suffice with trading away it's future again to get that draft pick.  And who can forget the Bears, who were the Little Engine That Couldn't this year.  Though if rumors are to be believed, Jay Cutler may be playing football in Tennessee next year; but sadly for him it will not be with Vanderbilt.

 

Things looked bleak for the Giants (and my posting privileges) for a while, but with the death of the team came the birth of a star in Odell Beckham; so perhaps things will be brighter in the future.  And besides, they are still better then the Jets.  Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta were teams predicted to lead the NFC South and they still might, it's just that no one predicted that they'd do it while in the hunt for a top ten pick in the draft.  The NFC South, your Top of the Bottom Power Conference ladies and gentlemen!  

 

And then there are the Vikings, who only blipped the radar when their star player got into legal trouble.  Now there is a question if he'll even be with the team next year.  Was this merely a bridge(water) year for them?  Will they be the dark-horse for next year's Goodell Trophy?  Only time, poor drafting and bad free agency pick-ups will tell.  But tune in to the post-season thread after this week for the finalized rankings and the presentation of the Goodell Trophy!!

[Tabe]

Who was the player who got hit so hard he had to have Ann organ removed a few years back?

He didn't have an organ removed I don't think, but the hit on Drew Bledsoe that gave us Tom Brady damn near killed Drew.

[GojiColin]

 

Who was the player who got hit so hard he had to have Ann organ removed a few years back?

He didn't have an organ removed I don't think, but the hit on Drew Bledsoe that gave us Tom Brady damn near killed Drew.

 

 

Yeah he sheared a blood vessel in his lungs, which I believe caused them to fill with blood.

[Kevin Wilson]

Ryan Clark had to have his spleen removed but that wasn't due to a hit, it was due to playing in Denver (sickle cell).  That is the only football player I can recall having an organ removed after a football game.

[Vincey Greene]

Rex Ryan cleaned out his desk, Daniel Snyder rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

[Brian Fowler]

Any team with halfway decent corners would be very smart to bring Rex in at d-cord.

[Raziel]

So that DQ's the Eagles and their corners that resemble Burnt Toast.

[Brian Fowler]

So that DQ's the Eagles and their corners that resemble Burnt Toast.

 

He's a great d-coordinator, especially with the secondary, but he's not a miracle working god that can make those goons good.

[RIPPA]

This technically could be in the Stupidity thread too but

Josh Gordon has been suspended by the Browns for violating team rules

I know you are all shocked

[Death From Above]

This is an interesting one because if they suspend him without pay he basically loses a year of free agency, but you know he'd be super-pissed with the Browns. If I'm reading it right they have the option to suspend him with pay instead. But is that really in the team's interests?

 

Weird.

[dogwelder]

PFT suggests that even if Gordon is suspended without pay, only playing 5 games will still count as a full year towards free agency based on an arbitrator's decision involving former player Joey Galloway:

 

“Th[e] consistent, long standing past practice of the parties compels the conclusion that players under contract who voluntarily hold out for less than a football season, or players under contract involuntarily suspended for less than a football season, may not have their contracts extended under Paragraph 16,” arbitrator Nicholas H. Zumas wrote in finding that Galloway’s contract didn’t toll for a year.

[dogwelder]

Also, the practice squad player the Browns called up to replace Gordon?  He's already been ruled out of Sunday's game.

[evilwaldo]

Just another normal week for the Cleveland Browns.

[Tabe]

Just another normal week for the Cleveland Browns.

All that's missing is three or four guys getting a staph infection.

[Brian Fowler]

Man, this year was even crueler by the Browns, teasing the fans for 2/3s of the season.

[ebbie]

So, the front page of NFL.com has this posted:

 

 

Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers are 6-8-1 but a victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday sends them to the postseason. What other teams can change their playoff hopes?

 

 

I wish I was incompetent at my job and still was in the running for a promotion. haha

[Raziel]

So, the front page of NFL.com has this posted:

 

 

Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers are 6-8-1 but a victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday sends them to the postseason. What other teams can change their playoff hopes?

 

 

I wish I was incompetent at my job and still was in the running for a promotion. haha

Get an MBA.  Seems to be the prerequisite for that career path.

[RIPPA]

For the rest of the day - put the coaching news stuff in the Offseason thread.

 

Meanwhile - Julio Jones in for the Falcons.

Stephen Jackson out

[dogwelder]

Cooley: RGIII is a symbol of what’s wrong with the Redskins

[Pete]

How the hell was that not a safety on Tannehill?

[RIPPA]

I am really starting to fall in love with this Giants offense

[Kuetsar]

How the hell was that not a safety on Tannehill?

Because science?

[Kuetsar]

Bills up 7-0, as Pats D appears to be in full don't-give-a-shit mode. . . . eh I'll take it. . . 

[Brian Fowler]

Chase Daniel looking pretty good early for KC.