At the moment, it’s Seahawks, 7-3, over Falcons; Browns and Ravens scoreless; Bills, 7-0 over Jets; Panthers, 9-7 over Raiders; Lions, 3-0 over Bears; Colts over Jags, 7-0; Vikings 7 and Packers 3, and Eagles 10 over scoreless Football Team.
I don't mean to brag, but I ONCE SPOKE WITH DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR CHAN GAILEY when he was head coach of the World League of American Football Birmingham Fire. I was sitting in some bleachers with some friends, watching the new team practice. He walked by, and I (think I) said, "Hey, Coach."
Packers now lead, 8-7, against Minnesota, and Lions and Bears are tied at 3. Otherwise, everyone who was leading, trailing or tied are still leading, trailing or tied.
OK, still 7-3, Patriots, at the half. Miami held New England to a second straight three-and-out and was out to midfield, but then Fitzpatrick threw another interception (no receiver slipped). The Patriots got moving pretty good, but then Christian Wilkins, last year's first-round draft choice (and a Hamilton fan), blew up the drive. Nick Folk, the first opening-day kicker other than Adam Vinitari or Stephen Gostkowski since 1996, missed a 45-yard-field-goal try on the last play of the half.
Ravens are up, 31-6, against Cleveland. Lions are up, 23-13, on the Bears (Michael Wilbon will be sad on the show tomorrow). No other lead changes. Football Team has closed to within 17-14 of the Eagles—whole fourth quarter to play.
Fitzpatrick interception in the end zone on an obvious penalty against New England (Cam Newton was awarded a touchdown when he was obviously out of bounds in the third quarter), and that'll do it. (Welcome to New England, Cam Newton, and welcome back, Brian Flores--it is what it is.) Bills are leading, 24-10, on the Jets with about 10 minutes to go. So it's looking like here will be the AFC West standings in about 30 minutes:
So we're down to the Bears, Lions and Dick Stockton from the early starts. It's 27-23, Chicago, and Detroit has the ball at the Bear 16 with 11 seconds to go ...
Now for the late-afternoon starts: Bengals up, 13-6, on Chargers; Saints up, 24-14, on Bucs, and 49ers up, 13-10, on Cardinals.
I've known fans of all of these teams except the Chargers. My brother rooted for San Diego when it had John Hadl and then again when it had Drew Brees, but I wouldn't consider him a Chargers fan. He also met Dan Fouts in an airport one time.
I'm really happy that the Browns have gone back to their good uniforms. I'm also really happy with Football Team's uniform, and with the Chargers' uniform. If not for the Rams, this would have been a really great offseason for uniforms. Also need to get the Dolphins back to their old uniforms.
I've ordered a Football Team mini-helmet, but it's not supposed to get here until December, and I'm really worried that it won't get here at all. I really like those helmets.
In fact, I've pretty much decided that I'm not going to use whatever new name they come up with. From here on out, they're going to be the Football Team to me.
I'm also sticking with the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.
Actually, I would be really happy if Washington became "Washington City Football Club," or Washington City F.C. Then I would call them "City," which would be even better than "Football Team. In fact, I may do that anyway.
I think Tom Brady is the greatest player in the history of the NFL, but I don't see how you could have watched him in the second half of that playoff game against the Titans last year and have a lot of optimism for the Bucs.
The Saints are going to win. The Cardinals (with last year's first-overall pick, Kyler Murray) are now up, 24-20, on San Francisco. And with 11 seconds left, the Bengals are trying to come back against San Diego. This year's first-overall pick, Joe Burrow, has led Cincinnati to the Los Angeles 3. The Chargers lead, 16-13.
So a game between the Rams and Cowboys in L.A. should be one of the prettiest games you can see. But not this year. Everyone knows that the Rams ruined one of the best helmet designs in football by switching over to a broken-horn look that no one likes. For this game, they are in some sort of cream-colored uniform with numbers that look like they should be on a NASCAR Oldsmobile from about 1971. Since L.A. is in cream, the Cowboys have to wear their blue uniform, which isn't as good as their white uniform. So it's all a mess.
The Cardinals beat the Niners 24-20 in Santa Clara. That's not a good start for the defending NFC Champs. At this point, it looks like the NFC could come down to the Seahawks and the Football Team.
OK, now it's time for Sunday Night Football. Here's Carrie Underwood, with a lot of clips showing the Rams and Cowboys in better uniforms than we will see tonight.
Apparently this cream-colored look for the Rams is called "Bone." They have another set of uniforms, which are basically blue but which they call "Royal." And they refer to the yellow portion of the uniform as "Sol." I'm trying to imagine someone explaining all of that to Pete Rozelle.
The Rams' jerseys features little cards on the upper front of the jersey that say "LOS ANGELES RAMS." I guess they figured that people might not know who they were.
As for the new stadium, it appears to be a rip-off of Jerry World. All my life, one of the best things about watching football in California has been seeing the glorious weather -- especially when everything is gray and slushy back east. Now it looks exactly like you're watching a game in Dallas or Atlanta. That's a real shame.
Oh, and the Rams have cream-colored pants to go with the cream-colored jerseys. IT'S ALL CREAM ALL THE TIME! Fortunately, from a distance the ram horns on the helmets look about the same, so you can still tell it's the rams -- if the Rams decided to play in cream uniforms with numbers taken from those stick-on numbers I used to use for my middle-school science projects.
It's legitimately depressing to consider how many Super Bowls, playoff games, and college national title games I'll have to watch in this bleak and generic stadium.
1-10, Dall 9: Prescott throws a 5-yd pass (Rams have a 78.4 percent chance of winning) 2-5, Dall 14: Prescott throws a 7-yd pass. First Down TWO MINUTE WARNING
Chris Collinsworth did not like the offensive pass interference, which waved off a long pass that would have put Dallas in field goal range. But it looked like offensive pass interference to me.
Next up, the Football Team goes to play the Cardinals. That match-up always makes me happy because it allows me to pretend that the Cardinals are still in the NFC East.
Washington has an all-time record of 77-46-2 against the Cardinals. The only teams Washington has played more often are the Giants and the Eagles.
Giants and Steelers playing a great game on Monday Night. Giants lead 10-9, about halfway through the second quarter, but these two teams are just pounding each other.
I don't like it when NFL teams put the NFL logo at the 50-yard-line. I get it, you're in the NFL. Put your own logo out there. The only time I want to see the NFL logo at the 50-yard-line is at the Super Bowl.
Steelers take the lead 16-10 after James Washington fights through several hits to burst into the end zone. Pittsburgh has the kind of team where everyone hits each other after they make a big play. The Steelers are FIRED UP! But so are the Giants. This is the most intense game I've seen so far.
Oh, no! The Giants just had an 18-play drive that ended with Daniel Jones throwing a ball up for grabs. It was grabbed by a Steeler lineman. Steelers still lead 16-10. An unfortunately brain freeze by Jones, who has looked good for most of the game -- but who has also thrown two bad interceptions.
Yesterday the Football Team had 258 total yards, compared to 327 for the Eagles. But the Eagles had three turnovers, and the Football Team had none. RiveraStrong!
In all seriousness, the Steelers are playing as if someone told them that Tom Brady wasn't in the AFC any more. They are just HURLING themselves at the Giants. The Giants are at home, they have a new coach, and they were fired up for this game. But they have not been able to match Pittsburgh's intensity. People who complain about Mike Tomlin have no idea what it's like to watch the great majority of NFL teams.
Pittsburgh now matriculating the ball down the field. Their running backs do that thing where you think they're going out of bounds, but instead they throw themselves right at the defender, so that they will stay in the field.
Pittsburgh just rammed the ball straight down the field, and scored on a little pass to take a 26-10 lead and put this game away. Now I'm really looking forward to the first Pittsburgh/Baltimore match-up.
I always feel bad for the teams that get stuck in this second game on the first Monday Night of the season. Tennessee beat both New England and Baltimore last year, and went all the way to the AFC title game. The Titans deserve better than playing in the middle of the night at Denver.
First scoreless first quarter in 15 years in the Miami-New England series, Jim Nantz notz.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, it’s Seahawks, 7-3, over Falcons; Browns and Ravens scoreless; Bills, 7-0 over Jets; Panthers, 9-7 over Raiders; Lions, 3-0 over Bears; Colts over Jags, 7-0; Vikings 7 and Packers 3, and Eagles 10 over scoreless Football Team.
ReplyDeleteCam Newton-quarterbacked New England driving, and I'm sorry to say that I believe I had this.
ReplyDeleteNewton runs in. It's 7-0 with 13:12 to go in the second quarter.
ReplyDelete9:09 until half ... Dolphins force New England to punt after they took over in Miami territory on a Ryan Fitzpatrick interception (receiver slipped).
ReplyDelete3:53, and Miami gets on the board: 7-3.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to brag, but I ONCE SPOKE WITH DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR CHAN GAILEY when he was head coach of the World League of American Football Birmingham Fire. I was sitting in some bleachers with some friends, watching the new team practice. He walked by, and I (think I) said, "Hey, Coach."
But I don't mean to brag.
Packers now lead, 8-7, against Minnesota, and Lions and Bears are tied at 3. Otherwise, everyone who was leading, trailing or tied are still leading, trailing or tied.
ReplyDeleteOK, still 7-3, Patriots, at the half. Miami held New England to a second straight three-and-out and was out to midfield, but then Fitzpatrick threw another interception (no receiver slipped). The Patriots got moving pretty good, but then Christian Wilkins, last year's first-round draft choice (and a Hamilton fan), blew up the drive. Nick Folk, the first opening-day kicker other than Adam Vinitari or Stephen Gostkowski since 1996, missed a 45-yard-field-goal try on the last play of the half.
ReplyDeleteGetting back to action in Foxboro, and I've gotten half a load of laundry folded and all three toilets cleaned. The NFL is effective CTH Music for me.
ReplyDeleteIn progress:
ReplyDelete— Seahawks 14, Falcons 12
— Browns 0, Ravens 0
— Bills 21, Jets 3
— Raiders 17, Panthers 15
— Bears 6, Lions 6
— Colts 7, Jaguars 0
— Packers 22, Vikings 7
— Eagles 10, Football Team 0
14-3, Patriots, at 10:14 of the third quarter.
ReplyDeleteDolphins close to within 14-11 with 10:31 to play.
ReplyDeletePatriots, 21-11, with about five to go.
ReplyDeleteRavens are up, 31-6, against Cleveland. Lions are up, 23-13, on the Bears (Michael Wilbon will be sad on the show tomorrow). No other lead changes. Football Team has closed to within 17-14 of the Eagles—whole fourth quarter to play.
ReplyDeleteFitzpatrick interception in the end zone on an obvious penalty against New England (Cam Newton was awarded a touchdown when he was obviously out of bounds in the third quarter), and that'll do it. (Welcome to New England, Cam Newton, and welcome back, Brian Flores--it is what it is.) Bills are leading, 24-10, on the Jets with about 10 minutes to go. So it's looking like here will be the AFC West standings in about 30 minutes:
ReplyDeleteBills 1-0
Patriots 1-0
Dolphins 0-1
Jets 0-1
I love it that Dick Stockton is still out here shaking it, doing the Lions-Bears game for Fox.
ReplyDeleteFootball Team leads the Eagles, 27-17! Wow!
ReplyDeleteMost of the coverage on WJFK this week will be about how Football Team will match up against the other NFC powerhouses in the playoffs.
DeleteOh, cool ... according to Wikipedia, Dick Stockton has a podcast. It's called Stockton!. That's a good name.
ReplyDeleteFinals: Ravens 38, Browns 6 ... Jaguars 27, Colts 20 ... Raiders 34, Panthers 30 ...
ReplyDeleteOh, good! The Bears have come back to take the lead over Detroit! I'm so glad for Wilbon.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to have back the NFL, even with the Dolphins' loss.
ReplyDeleteFinal: Seahawks 38, Falcons 25.
ReplyDeleteChiefs, of course, beat the Texans on Thursday, 34-20.
ReplyDeleteFor most of that game, the Chiefs looked like the greatest team in the history of the NFL. They were toying with the Texans.
DeleteFinal: Bills 27, Jets 17.
ReplyDeleteFinals: Football Team 27, Eagles 17 ... Packers 43, Vikings 34 ...
ReplyDeleteFootball Team just physically dominated the Eagles in the Second Half. It was something to see.
DeleteSo we're down to the Bears, Lions and Dick Stockton from the early starts. It's 27-23, Chicago, and Detroit has the ball at the Bear 16 with 11 seconds to go ...
ReplyDeleteMatt Stafford pass to the left corner of the end zone ... DROPPED!
ReplyDeleteSix seconds ...
ReplyDeleteDeflected! Game over. Final: Bears 27, Lions 23. Good for Wilbon!
ReplyDeleteNow for the late-afternoon starts: Bengals up, 13-6, on Chargers; Saints up, 24-14, on Bucs, and 49ers up, 13-10, on Cardinals.
ReplyDeleteI've known fans of all of these teams except the Chargers. My brother rooted for San Diego when it had John Hadl and then again when it had Drew Brees, but I wouldn't consider him a Chargers fan. He also met Dan Fouts in an airport one time.
I'm really happy that the Browns have gone back to their good uniforms. I'm also really happy with Football Team's uniform, and with the Chargers' uniform. If not for the Rams, this would have been a really great offseason for uniforms. Also need to get the Dolphins back to their old uniforms.
ReplyDeleteI've ordered a Football Team mini-helmet, but it's not supposed to get here until December, and I'm really worried that it won't get here at all. I really like those helmets.
DeleteIn fact, I've pretty much decided that I'm not going to use whatever new name they come up with. From here on out, they're going to be the Football Team to me.
DeleteI'm also sticking with the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.
Actually, I would be really happy if Washington became "Washington City Football Club," or Washington City F.C. Then I would call them "City," which would be even better than "Football Team. In fact, I may do that anyway.
DeleteI think Tom Brady is the greatest player in the history of the NFL, but I don't see how you could have watched him in the second half of that playoff game against the Titans last year and have a lot of optimism for the Bucs.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it's nuts that the rest of the league allowed the Patriots to have Cam Newton.
ReplyDeleteI'm sad about the Rams moving out of L.A. Coliseum. Football never looks better than it does in L.A. Coliseum.
ReplyDeleteThe Saints are going to win. The Cardinals (with last year's first-overall pick, Kyler Murray) are now up, 24-20, on San Francisco. And with 11 seconds left, the Bengals are trying to come back against San Diego. This year's first-overall pick, Joe Burrow, has led Cincinnati to the Los Angeles 3. The Chargers lead, 16-13.
ReplyDeleteOh, no ... offensive pass interference on Cincinnati! Imagine they'll try for the tying field goal now ...
ReplyDeleteAnd the Bengals miss the 31-yard-field-goal try!
ReplyDeleteFinal: Chargers 16, Bengals 13.
Lions lose at home to Chicago 27-23 after their receiver dropped the game-winning pass in the end zone.
ReplyDeleteBengals lose at home to San Diego 16-13 after Cincy misses a 31-yard FG on the last play of the game that would have forced overtime.
ReplyDeleteEagles go up 17-0 at Football Team, lose 27-17. Biggest comeback in history by Washington against Philly.
ReplyDeleteVikings lose 43-34 at home to the Packers. Browns lose 38-6 at Baltimore. Tampa Bay is getting beat 34-23 at New Orleans.
ReplyDeleteI think the Lions, Bengals, Eagles, Vikings, Browns, and Bucs all have to be really disappointed with how today went.
ReplyDeleteFinal: Cardinals 24, 49ers 20.
ReplyDeleteSaints coach Sean Payton is wearing a mask memorializing Breonna Taylor of Louisville.
Final: Saints 34, Buccaneers 23.
So a game between the Rams and Cowboys in L.A. should be one of the prettiest games you can see. But not this year. Everyone knows that the Rams ruined one of the best helmet designs in football by switching over to a broken-horn look that no one likes. For this game, they are in some sort of cream-colored uniform with numbers that look like they should be on a NASCAR Oldsmobile from about 1971. Since L.A. is in cream, the Cowboys have to wear their blue uniform, which isn't as good as their white uniform. So it's all a mess.
ReplyDeleteThe Cardinals beat the Niners 24-20 in Santa Clara. That's not a good start for the defending NFC Champs. At this point, it looks like the NFC could come down to the Seahawks and the Football Team.
ReplyDeleteI'm not kidding when I say that the numerals on the Rams' uniforms is the worst font I've ever seen on a football uniform. And it's really not close.
ReplyDeleteOK, now it's time for Sunday Night Football. Here's Carrie Underwood, with a lot of clips showing the Rams and Cowboys in better uniforms than we will see tonight.
ReplyDeleteApparently this cream-colored look for the Rams is called "Bone." They have another set of uniforms, which are basically blue but which they call "Royal." And they refer to the yellow portion of the uniform as "Sol." I'm trying to imagine someone explaining all of that to Pete Rozelle.
ReplyDeleteThe Rams' jerseys features little cards on the upper front of the jersey that say "LOS ANGELES RAMS." I guess they figured that people might not know who they were.
ReplyDeleteThis game will be much better on the radio.
As for the new stadium, it appears to be a rip-off of Jerry World. All my life, one of the best things about watching football in California has been seeing the glorious weather -- especially when everything is gray and slushy back east. Now it looks exactly like you're watching a game in Dallas or Atlanta. That's a real shame.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the Rams have cream-colored pants to go with the cream-colored jerseys. IT'S ALL CREAM ALL THE TIME! Fortunately, from a distance the ram horns on the helmets look about the same, so you can still tell it's the rams -- if the Rams decided to play in cream uniforms with numbers taken from those stick-on numbers I used to use for my middle-school science projects.
ReplyDeleteIt's legitimately depressing to consider how many Super Bowls, playoff games, and college national title games I'll have to watch in this bleak and generic stadium.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Rams come out in their no-huddle offense, and they drive straight down the field. They have a first and goal at the Dallas 2.
ReplyDeleteTouchdown, Rams! Malcolm Brown scores from 1 yard out. That was easy.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sufficiently invested to blog this game. I may check in later.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the uniforms, the stadium and the pitch to Rozelle.
ReplyDeleteCowboys lead 14-13 at the half.
ReplyDeleteThe Football Team had eight sacks today. I'm not sure Washington has had eight sacks in most of the last 10 seasons.
ReplyDeleteThe Rams' stadium feels like the generic place the NFL would go to play if it had to implement the NBA's bubble strategy.
ReplyDeleteOK, here we go. The Rams lead 20-17 with 2:28 left in 4th Quarter. Dallas has the ball at its own 9.
ReplyDelete1-10, Dall 9: Prescott throws a 5-yd pass (Rams have a 78.4 percent chance of winning)
ReplyDelete2-5, Dall 14: Prescott throws a 7-yd pass. First Down
TWO MINUTE WARNING
1-10, Dall 21: Prescott throws a 4-yd pass
ReplyDelete2-6, Dall 25: Prescott is SACKED for a 7-yd loss
3-13, Dall 18: Prescott scrambles for 12 yards
4-1, Dall 30: Elliott runs for 4 yards
ReplyDelete1-10, Dall 34: Prescott pass incomplete (37 seconds left)
2-10, Dall 34: Prescott pass incomplete (31 seconds left)
3-10, Dall 34: Offensive pass interference
3-20, Dall 24: Prescott pass incomplete (13 seconds left)
ReplyDeleteTIMEOUT RAMS
Chris Collinsworth did not like the offensive pass interference, which waved off a long pass that would have put Dallas in field goal range. But it looked like offensive pass interference to me.
ReplyDelete4-20, Dall 24: Prescott pass incomplete. GAME OVER. Rams win 20-17.
ReplyDeleteThe Rams really stifled Dallas on that last drive. It seems pretty clear that the Football Team is now the favorite to win the NFC East.
I'm so happy for Football Team.
ReplyDeleteNext up, the Football Team goes to play the Cardinals. That match-up always makes me happy because it allows me to pretend that the Cardinals are still in the NFC East.
ReplyDeleteWashington has an all-time record of 77-46-2 against the Cardinals. The only teams Washington has played more often are the Giants and the Eagles.
Giants and Steelers playing a great game on Monday Night. Giants lead 10-9, about halfway through the second quarter, but these two teams are just pounding each other.
ReplyDeleteI don't like it when NFL teams put the NFL logo at the 50-yard-line. I get it, you're in the NFL. Put your own logo out there. The only time I want to see the NFL logo at the 50-yard-line is at the Super Bowl.
ReplyDeleteThe Steelers and the Giants, for the record, are wearing their classic uniforms. Both teams look great.
ReplyDeleteSteelers take the lead 16-10 after James Washington fights through several hits to burst into the end zone. Pittsburgh has the kind of team where everyone hits each other after they make a big play. The Steelers are FIRED UP! But so are the Giants. This is the most intense game I've seen so far.
ReplyDeleteOh, no! The Giants just had an 18-play drive that ended with Daniel Jones throwing a ball up for grabs. It was grabbed by a Steeler lineman. Steelers still lead 16-10. An unfortunately brain freeze by Jones, who has looked good for most of the game -- but who has also thrown two bad interceptions.
ReplyDeleteYesterday the Football Team had 258 total yards, compared to 327 for the Eagles. But the Eagles had three turnovers, and the Football Team had none. RiveraStrong!
ReplyDeleteStillers still lead 16-10 after 3 quarters. Pittsburgh has the ball at the NYG 30.
ReplyDeletePittsburgh kicks a field goal, now leads 19-10 with 14 minutes left.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, the Steelers are playing as if someone told them that Tom Brady wasn't in the AFC any more. They are just HURLING themselves at the Giants. The Giants are at home, they have a new coach, and they were fired up for this game.
ReplyDeleteBut they have not been able to match Pittsburgh's intensity. People who complain about Mike Tomlin have no idea what it's like to watch the great majority of NFL teams.
Pittsburgh now matriculating the ball down the field. Their running backs do that thing where you think they're going out of bounds, but instead they throw themselves right at the defender, so that they will stay in the field.
ReplyDeletePittsburgh just rammed the ball straight down the field, and scored on a little pass to take a 26-10 lead and put this game away. Now I'm really looking forward to the first Pittsburgh/Baltimore match-up.
ReplyDeleteUnless the Giants make a miraculous comeback, the standings in the NFC East will look like this:
ReplyDeleteFootball Team: 1-0
Cowboys: 0-1
Eagles: 0-1
Giants: 0-1
I always feel bad for the teams that get stuck in this second game on the first Monday Night of the season. Tennessee beat both New England and Baltimore last year, and went all the way to the AFC title game. The Titans deserve better than playing in the middle of the night at Denver.
ReplyDelete