Today, two NFL teams who are just playing out the season meet in a nearly meaningless game. The Bills have a number of their starters injured so it will be interesting to see who plays in today’s game. St. Louis defeated the mighty San Francisco Forty-niners last week, but somehow the bookies aren’t impressed because the Bills are 3-point favorites. How is your favorite NFL team going to fare today?
I passed a business yesterday with a sign outside that read: “Roger Goodell–the Grinch who stole our Christmas.” That pretty much sums up the feelings here in southeastern Louisiana–the Saints have had a dreadful season and it’s all on Goodell, starting with his precipitous actions on the “Bountygate” scandal, suspending Sean Payton for whe season and other coaches and some players for parts of the season. The Saints missed Payton’s consistent coaching and the team played inconsistently. We had high hopes because the Super Bowl is in New Orleans this year and we wanted to be the first team to go to the Super Bowl when our city was hosting. Ah, well…so instead of watching the team play out a meaningless line, I’m going Christmas shopping!
Roger “The Commish” Goodell is the Cover Boy on this week’s TIME MAGAZINE, Deb. I’m sure this issue will be a hot seller in the New Orleans area. Like the Saints, the Bills are just playing out another lackluster season. Diane and I went Christmas shopping Friday for SIX HOURS and pretty much bought everything on our Christmas List. No more fighting crowds or standing in long lines to check-out! Good luck with your shopping!
I will continue my policy of pretending the Lions don’t exist.
Six months ago, many NFL “experts” were picking the Detroit Lions to go to the Super Bowl, Patti. You, Deb, and I are in the same place with our emotions about our NFL teams.
I am baffled by tthe Giants. They not only beat but totally dominated the 49ers (in San Francisco!) and Packers, then gave away games they should have won to Pittsburgh and Washington. They should dominate the Saints today (sorry, Deb) but the way this season has gone has not made me overconfident.
The Giants are usually tough to beat in December, Jeff.
Glad I don’t have to worry about the Broncos this weekend. Got the Ravens next game.
So, George, what do the Bills need to do to make you a happier fan? I almost get the feeling you’d like to see the organization mostly leveled then rebuilt. (An intriguing idea.)
The Bills have been mired in mediocrity for 13 seasons (since 1999 when Wade Phillips and Doug Flutie took the Bills to their last Playoff appearance), Drongo. I would be happy with changes from top to bottom, from owner to water-boy.
The Bills are still ahead with a quarter to go. More importantly from my point of view, the Cowboys and Redskins are both trailing.
The Bills once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, Jeff, losing to the Rams in the last minute of the game. A better Draft Pick looms!
So Deb, you condone the bounty system the coaches put into place and think there should have been no consequences? I have to disagree with that, regardless of the effect on the team.
As for the Seahawks and Niners, I have no idea who they are playing or when or where, so I’m out of it this week. We did get a Christmas tree yesterday, which means decorating, or at least hauling boxes of stuff upstairs for that. This will be the first weekend in a while I’ve watched no sports. Won’t hurt me. I’ll run the vacuum cleaner instead.
No, I don’t condone it–but I do think Goodell acted hastily and without getting the players’ side of the story. The fact that Vilma was able to force Goodell’s hand tells me that he (Goodell) didn’t feel that he was standing on particularly solid ground. I don’t approve of paying someone to deliberately hurt someone else, but in a tough, physical game where the goal of the defense is to prevent the other team from moving forward, there are going to be some injuries. The fact that while the bounties were supposedly in play no refs apparently called unnecessary roughness or illegal hits on any of the defensive plays seems to prove my point that Goodell acted before he considered all the facts.
/Dismounting soapbox now!
//Ended up doing laundry, so am watching the not-very-good Saints game. Perhaps some shopping is in order.
The weather in the Meadowlands certainly didn’t help the Saints but then neither did David Wilson. What a game!
I was sorry to see Dallas and Washington pull out last minute wins. And what about Arizona? When they were 4-0 my father told me they weren’t that good but 58-0? Wow – that is embarrassing.
And next Sunday, Jeff, the woeful Bills play the team that hung that 58-0 whipping on the Cards: the Seahawks!
Yes, Jeff, the Seahawks embarrassed the Cardinals today, but it was nice to see them totally dominate a team for once. Especially a team that beat them earlier this season.
We put up the tree after the game. Tomorrow I’ll add some outdoor lights, if it doesn’t rain, and call it done. I dread the thought of shopping.
Diane and I are done with our Christmas shopping, Bob. We ordered more stuff online than last year! Who needs stores?
The Saints game was turning into such a debacle, I ended up turning to PBS and watching Antiques Roadshow. I think the Keno twins could have played better than the Saints did in the second half of that game.
Deb, I would have watched STORAGE WARS (if it were on) instead of the Bills game.
I caught the scores in the highlights much later on… wish now I’d watched that thrashing of the Cardinals after that shouldn’a happened win over the ‘Hawks at the beginning of the season. Looks like the Niners won too, but they have two games that could be tough coming up, Patriots and Seahawks, though I think the Niners can beat the Seahawks without too much trouble. We’ll see.
The Seahawks are on a roll, Rick. Like the Giants, they may be invincible in December.