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NFL Drama

2020 Draft: Well Done Despite ESPN

April 26, 2020 by Micheal Savoie

The world needed a distraction. Sickness/fear/isolation was the anvil dangling over all of our collective heads, hanging by a worn thread. Sports were all suspended indefinitely – no hockey, no basketball, no baseball. After streaming the Star Wars trilogy of trilogies for the fifth time, the world needed something to watch. Enter the NFL Draft, the ultimate reality show.

Think about it. Kids who started with nothing but a dream of something better went out on a football field in school and found that they were good at it. They rose through the ranks of high school sports and were recruited by colleges and universities – given the opportunity to get an education that many could never dream of being able to afford. Many of those kids kept playing at a high level and earned an opportunity to show off their skills at the NFL Scouting Combine – although a few skipped the combine because of health issues or because they wanted to invite scouts to their schools’ Pro Day. Unfortunately, Pro Days were canceled because of the illness spreading across the nation. Teams’ scouts and general managers were told to stay home, which dashed the hopes of many of the players who didn’t participate or had a bad showing at the Combine.

The Draft put cameras in the homes of team representatives and the top rated players considered for this draft. This allowed the people starved for something to watch the ability to see how the NFL sausage was made – at least for the NFL Draft. We got to see a piece of the home life of GM’s, Head Coaches. Owners, and the families of many of the top players. Some of these peeks revealed the family life of people we don’t associate with families. Seeing a Head Coach or a GM interacting with their children (or grandchildren) while working revealed a cool part of their lives that is often ignored.

The Commissioner, Roger Goodell, allowed the world into his man cave, where we got to see a more human look at the big guy. He encouraged fans to boo him, which has taken on a life of its own over the years. But Goodell used it to help feed the people who are unable to afford to buy food during this period when jobs are paused to help avoid spreading a disease that could eliminate a large portion of our elderly or at-risk people. After 3 days, the NFL had raised over $100 Million through their NFL.com/relief link that they promoted throughout the entire event.

My only gripe about the coverage of the draft was giving control of it to ESPN. The ESPN announcers know each other and they do have a fan base, but the rest of the world – the ones who can’t afford ESPN on their cable service – has no clue who these yahoos are. Or, they may remember them from 20 years ago, and did not grow up with them. 20 years has not been kind to a lot of these guys. After a while on Saturday, it was getting difficult to follow what was happening with the top 2/3 of the screen talking about one player while the bottom of the screen was trying to keep up with the actual timeline of the picks. Sometimes, the guys talking were skipping over some of the picks to catch up, and they spent some time reintroducing people to the old timers. Mort almost lost it when they played his 30 year highlights tape and Mel Kyper was unrecognizable in the tape of his history…

Maybe I am just getting old, or I am just used to the NFL Network team’s draft coverage in the past, but it just did not sit well with me. It seemed like the personalities didn’t fit well together. Maybe next year, the people will mesh better, and they will still allow us into the homes of the GM’s and Head Coaches again, because that was my favorite part of the draft. Well, that isn’t quite true. My favorite part of the draft was seeing the joy in the faces of the players who went from nothing to a career that will set their families up for the rest of their lives if they don’t do anything stupid.

Filed Under: News, NFL Draft, NFL Drama, NFL News, Socially Speaking, Trades Tagged With: NFL Draft

Is Week 2 Developing Into Nightmare Scenario For Your Team?

September 19, 2016 by Micheal Savoie

What could possibly go wrong in Week 2 of the 2016 season?

You could lose your starting QB: Jimmy Garoppolo for the New England Patriots, who will miss the Week 3 game against the Texans on Thursday Night Football.

You could injure your starting RB:

  • Adrian Peterson – Minnesota Vikings
  • Jonathan Stewart – Carolina Panthers
  • Doug Martin – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Thomas Rawls – Seattle Seahawks
  • Danny Woodhead – San Diego Chargers
  • Ameer Abdullah – Detroit Lions
  • Arian Foster – Miami Dolphins

We are still waiting on MRI details for these players to know whether we will see them Week 3.

You could injure one of your standout defensive players: 

  • DeMarcus Ware – Denver Broncos (out a few weeks with a broken bone in his forearm)
  • Robert Ayers – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (ankle, being evaluated)

You could be at the bottom of your division already.Are the weeks 2 teams letting you down?

  • AFC East:
    • Patriots 2-0
    • Jets 1-1
    • Bills 0-2
    • Dolphins 0-2
  • AFC North:
    • Steelers 2-0
    • Ravens 2-0
    • Bengals 1-1
    • Browns 0-2
  • AFC West:
    • Broncos 2-0
    • Chiefs 1-1
    • Chargers 1-1
    • Raiders 1-1
  • AFC South:
    • Texans 2-0
    • Titans 1-1
    • Jaguars 0-2
    • Colts 0-2
  • NFC East:
    • Giants 2-0
    • Eagles 2-0 or 1-1, depending on the results of Monday Night Football
    • Cowboys 1-1
    • Redskins 0-2
  • NFC North:
    • Vikings 2-0
    • Packers 1-1
    • Lions 1-1
    • Bears 1-1 or 0-2, depending on the results of Monday Night Football
  • NFC West:
    • Cardinals 1-1
    • Rams 1-1
    • 49ers 1-1
    • Seahawks 1-1
  • NFC South:
    • Buccaneers 1-1
    • Panthers 1-1
    • Falcons 1-1
    • Saints 0-2

With only a couple games under their belts, some of these teams are clearly in a good place, while others are looking at a bleak picture for the remainder of the season. With fans judging their attendance on how likely their team can pull off a win, a slow start could mean poor home team help from the fans.

Of course, it is only Week 2. If you start judging your team when they have a sluggish start, you could be damning them to a bad season when all it would take is a little more support from the fans. A strong showing from the home crowd goes a long way to bring up the spirits of a losing team. But fans are pretty tough on a team with a bad record, so those with 0-2 records have to really play good from here on out to get their fans back into the building. Otherwise, they will need crying towels to get through the season…

 

Filed Under: AFC, Injury Report, NFC, NFL Drama Tagged With: #Bears, #Bills, #Browns, #Dolphins, #Saints, Colts, Jaguars, Redskins

2015 Week 6 Notes And Predictions

October 18, 2015 by Micheal Savoie

Week 6 PredictionsThe Falcons (5-0)traveled to New Orleans (1-4) for a Thursday Night battle of NFC South teams. They were the favorites, even Micheal had picked them to win. But Drew Brees played decently and the Falcons offense looked like the Buccaneers on week 1, turnovers making it easy for Brees to put points on the board.

Why is it that a dominating team can look like the Keystone Cops on the National stage? How can a weak looking defense turn into King Kong for one night? Is it the limelight?

Revenge is a dish best served deflated…

A game that is getting a lot of life in the media is the New England Patriots (4-0) going to Indianapolis for a grudge match with the Colts (3-2). As you may remember, the Colts warned the officials about the air pressure in the Patriots’ balls. This shoved Tom Brady and the Patriots into the DeflateGate Tornado. The media was relentless on Brady and he received a 4 game suspension after the dust settled. Brady contested the punishment and won a reprieve when a judge overturned the decision of the NFL. Of course, the NFL is appealing said decision, but the courts will not hear this case until after the Super Bowl next year.

But expect the Patriots to embarrass the Colts in this game. Their offense has been playing with an edge never seen before. Brady throws the ball as though he is trying to wound his opponents. His supporting cast (Gronk, Edelman and Blount) are playing lights out. Belichick is orchestrating a defense that puts the ball back into Brady’s hands quickly.

Is the Super Bowl in their future? Is a perfect season in their future? It is very possible!

Week 6 Predictions

Thursday – Falcons (5-0) over the Saints (1-4) (yeah, Micheal missed on this one Saint won handily)

Sunday –

  • Cincinnati Bengals (5-0) over Buffalo Bills (3-2)
  • Denver Broncos (5-0) over Cleveland Browns (2-3)
  • Chicago Bears (2-3) over Detroit Lions (0-5)
  • Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) over Houston Texans (1-4)
  • Minnesota Vikings (2-2) over Kansas City Chiefs (1-4)
  • New York Jets (3-1) over Washington Redskins (2-3)
  • Arizona Cardinals (4-1) over Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
  • Tennessee Titans (1-3) over Miami Dolphins (1-3)
  • Seattle Seahawks (2-3) over Carolina Panthers (4-0)
  • Green Bay Packers (5-0) over San Diego Chargers (2-3)
  • San Francisco 49ers (1-4) over Baltimore Ravens (1-4)
  • New England Patriots (4-0) over Indianapolis Colts (3-2)

Monday Night – Philadelphia Eagles (2-3) over New York Giants (3-2)

What are your picks? Let us know in the comments or on the Blog Talk Football Fan Page!

Filed Under: NFL Drama, Opinion, Predictions, Schedule Tagged With: 2015 Season, NFL Football, Week 6 Predictions

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