The Buffalo Bills are 17-point favorites over the Houston Texans. Vegas obviously thinks the Bills will run up the score. I’m not so sure. Rain is in the forecast and it could be breezy. How will your favorite NFL do today?
HOUSTON TEXANS VS. BUFFALO BILLS
Hahahahahahaha!
As long as the Saints show up in the Superdome today, they will win. Period. The Giants have plumbed the depths of ineptitude the last two weeks in particular, and there is NO WAY they are going to win today. Whatever the spread is, the Saints will probably cover
Jeff, the Giants are 7-point underdogs to the Saints.
The 2-1 Saints, despite hosting a “home” game in Jacksonville for their opener, host their first 2021 game in the Super Dome (now repaired after Hurricane Ida damage), taking on the 0-3 Giants. The Saints’ performance has been erratic so far this season, but the Giants have truly been hapless—so either the Saints will have a romp today or the Giants will pull off a surprise victory. Only time will tell.
Trust me, Deb. As I said above, as long as the Saints show up in uniform, they will win.
Deb, I would think that a return to the Super Dome would energize the Saints for a Big Win over the Giants who seem to be going Nowhere.
If you want a guaranteed ratings loser, show the Giants vs. the Jets. Neither team can score!
Jeff, I thought the Jets would do better with their new coach.
Giants win in OT. I called it….sadly!
I should add that, at least in our home, football is taking a backseat to baseball right now. Today is the last day of the regular season and neither the NL West title nor the AL East wildcards have been clinched yet. If the LA Dodgers win and the SF Giants lose today, the NL West will be tied and the Dodgers & Giants will have to play one game to decide which team gets the title and which gets to be the wild card team to take on the other wild card team, the Cardinals. Meanwhile, things are so crazy in the AL East wild card hunt, it’s possible there will be four teams with the same record depending on how today’s games involving the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Mariners play out. It’s going to be an exciting day—we rarely get to the last game of the season with so much left undecided.
/Sorry for unintentional thread hi-jack. Please resume football discussions.
Deb, many of my friends are die-hard Yankee fans and they’ll be on the edge of their seats today, hoping for a miracle!
Slight correction: the Wild Card teams for the entire American League have yet to be decided. Three of the teams in Wild Card contention (Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays) are from the AL East, but the other team, the Mariners, is in the AL West.
If the Yankees or Red Sox win today, they are in no matter what the other teams do. If Seattle and Toronto lose, they are out no matter what the other teams do. It is possible there could be a four way tie (if Boston and New York lose and the other teams win), and there could be a teo or three way tie for the first or second wild card.
At the moment, Toronto is up 11-1 so that is in the bag. Seattle is down 6-2, so not looking good. Boston is behind 2-1 and the Yankees are scoreless so those are undecided.
So, to sum up for the not mathematically inclined, if Boston and New York win, they are in the Wild Card game on Tuesday in Boston. If either or both should lose and Toronto doesn’t blow a ten run lead, there will be at least one play-in game to get to the Wild Card game. If you want more details (and feel free to skip this part if you don’t care): whichever team wins today, Boston or New York, would be the #1 seed. (This, obviously, is if just one of them wins.) The other team would play Toronto for the #2 seed. If both lose and there is a three way tie, Boston (best record among the three teams) would get to choose – either host a game tomorrow (not sure against who) and, assuming they win, host a second game the next day against the other team; OR, let New York and Toronto play tomorrow and play the winner (on the road) the next day, which I’m getting is not going to be the choice.
Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Of course, should Seattle come back to win that opens a bigger can of worms. I’m sure Jeff Smith is up on all this.
Jeff, I’m rooting for the Toronto Bluejays!
Update: Boston now losing 5-1.
Deb, the Giants are running away with it today, so that door is closing. Can’t believe the Dodgers might win 106 games and come in second. This is exactly what the Wild Card was meant to be for, not some of the other nonsense. I will never forget the 1980 season, when the Orioles won 100 games and fell to the Yankees, who won 103.
The Seahawks are in last place and not playing well, and the 49ers are on the rise, so I expect another loss. Then, on only 3 days rest they play the Rams. It could be a very bad week. Also, yesterday the Ducks gave Stanford the game in the last minute (with some help from a bad targeting call), and will drop out of the top ten (they were #3) and aren’t even in the lead in the PAC 12. Deb makes baseball sound more interesting, since I was a Dodger fan growing up.
Rick, with the new 17-game schedule, a lot of things can happen–good and bad.
I hate that longer schedule, 16 was hard enough on the players.
Rick, I agree with you on the expanded NFL schedule. It turns the season into an endurance test.
I just walked away from the TV since the Mariner and Seahawks are stinking up their respective fields!
Bob, the Seahawks have a Thursday Night Game with the Arizona Cardinals, who look very strong!
No they play the Rams
Rick, oops! The Rams will be pissed because the Cards beat them at home.
I don’t even know what to say, other than if you’re betting, always do the opposite of what I say. The Giants at the end looked like a totally different team than they did the last three weeks. Jason Garrett had a plan and they executed it. Unbelievable.
Jeff, it was good to see the two New Jersey teams finally win a game! The only New York State team, the Buffalo Bills, won convincingly over the Texans, 40-0.
Jeff: congratulations! Your mighty Giants have crushed their opponent.
George: 40-0? Wow.
Rick, the Bills take on the KC Chiefs next Sunday night. It won’t be 40-0 next week!
My least popular literary post in years, and as relevant to football as I usually get:
https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2021/08/william-campbell-gault-jack-ritchie.html
Todd, I actually read PLAYERS’ CHOICE way back in 1969!
Excellent! My father might’ve recognized Gault’s byline, my mother Ritchie’s…they would be All New to 4yo me…
Red Sox pulled it out, 7-5, and will host the Yankees on Tuesday. The Blue Jays are out.
Jeff, the networks will love the Yankees vs. Red Sox match up!
I assume Mariners are out too?
Yep! AL wild card game will be Yankee v. Red Sox; NL wild card game will be Dodgers v. Cardinals. It was amazing that both leagues still had games that had playoff implications on the last day of the regular season!