2017 NFL football

Well, the SOBs took a knee , and my Bears won.....good Sunday afternoon.

The lions missed beating Atlanta by an inch. Good game tho.

My dolphins lost big against the worst team in football. But I was proud of the owner's statement this week and happy to see the guys kneeling on the sidelines.
Jay Cutler sucks.  Matt Moore has never been given a decent chance with the Dolphins. I'm sick of seeing him on the sidelines every week when he's the best QB in the stadium.

I normally do not watch Monday night Football. However, I am very proud of the former plantation system of professional sports finally showing some signs of individual thought and protest.

In regard to Jay Cutler, he can be the best one week and the worse the next, but over his career he was ALWAYS in the top half of NFL QBs. That is what was so frustrating for fans. He really is a better qb than most of the NFL, but when averaging his games, he has incredible games and absolute disasters. You really want your qb to be tight and consistent in the top 15 and you will as a team do much better, but when he is good, he is very good.

The entire Cowboy team took a knee tonight on Monday Night football. I did not get to watch it because I was watching ABC thinking it was on that network not realizing that ESPN was covering it. You might say I had withdrawn from pro football with the brain damage issues, but I will watch as many games on my roku which gives immediate ratings for the NFL.

I've only watched Cutler for the first 2 games of Miami's season, I never watched the Bears when he played there because they weren't a team that interested me. I know he never took them to a Super bowl though. He was on target in San Diego when Miami finally started calling passing plays, but Sunday he was just god-awful. Matt Moore is always aggressive in the passing game and even though he occasionally gets intercepted, he's a game-time QB that is fun to watch. He usually either wins or competes well in the games I've seen him play. Miami has held him in reserve now for what seems years and years. Last season he took over at the end of the season and led them into the playoffs, at least. I don't think they treated him fairly by going out and picking up Cutler. I think Cutler was Adam Gase's buddy in Chicago so when the coach took over Miami he may have already been thinking of bringing Cutler down.
I've been a Miami fan since 1971 and Sunday was one of the worst games I've ever seen them play. I was very proud of their sideline protest though, that almost made up for the loss.

I disagree that the jets are the worse football team in the league. With Matt Forte almost getting 100 rushing and mcgowan is a largely underated qb, they appear to have ate up clock, while it appeared that Miami did not play good defense. The qb and running back played for the bears and they were a formidable combination when culter was hurt. I think you will find that the Jets defense is pretty good and having played Oakland which is a good team, I think it is too early to declare them the worse and give up on Miami.

I personally thought Cutler never got protected. He needs protection. If Miami has no O line, then it will be a long season.

Miami has had O line problems for years and I don't understand why they don't seem able to solve them. I'll admit, Cutler did have to do a lot of dancing around back there before he could get off any passes. His receivers are good though, and he seemed to be passing into some very tight coverage. Maybe the Jets do have a better D than I thought. I was basing the"worst team in football" on the power rankings last week on TV. I haven't actually seen the Jets play this year.
I just think Matt Moore has never been given a fair chance. When he's given a chance to play, he's a great QB, and he can get out of trouble without the greatest O line in football to protect him. He got them to the playoffs last year for the first time in ages.

The Bears vs Packers game Thursday night should be fun. I had cut back my NFL viewing, but I am now going to watch all the games I can. I still do not like the concussion protocols which I believe have to go much further to protect players, and I believe a lot of this protest crap is a cover which the NFL loves because dropping attendance is not all tied to protests, but like myself people who would not want their children playing football.

In any regard, I think the Bears will win.

I don't expect Miami to win Sunday against the Saints. I'm afraid the Cutler experiment will be just like the Chad Henne experiment and the Ryan Tannehill experiment for the last 4 or 5 years. Miami has had QB's who were "learning to be better each year, " supposedly. I think a QB either has it or he doesn't when he comes into the league. Marino had it, and for awhile they traded for Chad Pennington who also had it, but over the last 40 years I can only name two or three Miami QB's worth being on the playing field. I don't give up though- real fans don't quit their teams just because they lose. I know the Bears/Packers rivalry is huge up North, I'd be a Green Bay fan if I had to adopt one of them just because my Dad was a Packers fan. I also like it that the city owns them.

I also would have never wanted my son to play football. Its too dangerous a sport. The guys that do it do it for money though and also because they love it. My dad was a pro boxer and he loved it too.
He had severe Parkinson's when he died, probably due to doing what he loved.-,and also what supported him during the depression.
I think he'd have done it all over again, given the chance.

I think that part of that problem is that most teams have measurements of a prototypical qb. They fit a mold for height and delivery and speed... etc. I see this as a flawed procedure. I'd take a winner over all those numbers everyday. It's considered an intangible... but it's the most important aspect. I can't tell you how many flashy tennis players I beat or saw beat that looked great... but didn't know how to win. The muscle between the ears is the difference.

I agree. All the individual stats do not mean a thing if you do not win. The funny thing about Cutler is that he is the all time stat and win leader for Bear QBs, but because of the way he looks and the way his attitude is perceived people just do not like the man. They get the feeling that he just does not care, and that rubs people the wrong way. His entire career with the Broncos and the Bears he was in the top half of QBs in the NFL, yet everybody thinks you have to have the top QB to win in the NFL. The historic 85 Bears had a mediocre QB, yet they crushed everybody. I predict that Cutler will have some atrocious games and some brilliant games and that once more he will finish the year as a top 15 QB in the NFL. NO has a brilliant defense, so do not expect much this week. I cannot wait until kickoff tonight as I have not been watching NFL thursday night games for the last four years.......Football has my attention again.

LOL- they didn't beat my Dolphins in 85 though. If they had, they would have joined Miami for the only undefeated season in league history. I'll give you that the fridge was a great player.

I remember that game well. I'll bet a lot of Bears fans do too.

I remember that game well. I'll bet a lot of Bears fans do too.

Yep, some think that Bear team was the greatest NFL team in history, but with Dan slipping a couple passes in, and their losing......it will always be debated. The Bear defense that year was incredible. Walter Payton was such a treat to watch. I became a ritual for my wife and I to watch the Bears, and only about five years ago we just gave it up. rain delay.....got to watch em fumble some more.

Walter Payton was a good guy too. What was it they called him -"sweetness?"

But Dan Marino was, IMO, the greatest QB in NFL history. I know that's a debatable point, but I'll always think so.  
My second pick is Dan Fouts, btw, and I'm sure I'd get a lot of disagreement on that one too.

My son's middle name is Daniel, partly after Dan Fouts and partly after the song "Danny Boy." And I wasn't even particularly a San Diego fan at the time. Fouts and Kellen Winslow were just an amazing combo.

I am sick of the narrative being completely changed in the NFL. I am so done with militarism in America and this artificial bond of the same with the NFL. Bombing hospitals in third world countries is NOT defending America, and using propaganda and group think to further a military recruitment objective or sanitize what our military has become does not belong in football. Patriotism and love of country does not require America killing innocents and then telling those who protest what we have become that they are less American.

I agree with you completely. This country has killed far more innocents during their conquests in the middle east than they have terrorists.  Americans have a lot of reasons to feel shame in our country, but then again,we have also done some very good things in the world, particularly during the two World Wars. The good MAY, and I say MAY because I'm not sure, outweigh our genocide towards the first nations and the over a hundred years of acceptance of slavery as a practice, but the good also does not erase the bad and make us perfect. We are certainly not atoning for our past by our latest military actions in the Middle East.And we certainly cannot be proud of an electoral system that allows the cretin in the White House to occupy it.
All that being said, my Dolphins did not even score today against the Saints. Since I love New Orleans and my son lives there, the defeat wasn't horrible for me, but now the Dolphins coach says the Dolphins have "been worse." He's gonna keep Cutler in at QB. I've watched Miami since 1971 and I've never seen them have an 8 point scoring average over 3 games.
I don't see any way they could BE worse. It makes me sick to see Matt Moore standing on the sidelines.

New Orleans has a very good defense. Miami was not going to beat that team. If they cannot adjust the offense, Cutler will be sitting, but as usual that is looking for a scapegoat when their problems are much more on offense than QB. The Bears will be switching QBs again when they play next week. There was a graphic comparing QBS between the two teams over the last twenty or so years. The Bears have had twenty plus, and Green Bay has had three. Every time the QB gets scapegoated in Chicago, they find out that it is more complex. However, saying that.....I think the rookie is the way to go.

When the Anthem and the Flag were added to the opening of games, the addition was to honor our Veterans. To conduct a "protest" during that time is disrespectful to our military not to mention to our country and our flag.

The anthem and the flag were not added in 2009 to honor our veterans or to boost patriotism.
They were a part of professional football as far back as I can remember, and I've watched pro ball my whole adult life. I don't know who started the rumor that they started in 2009 to boost military recruitment. That simply is not true.

We used to have a satellite dish that was able to show every game in the NFL and the anthem was always a part of the pre-game. However, it was played during the commercials or when the broadcasters were talking about the game.
When I was in high school, at Escambia High, the national anthem and a prayer were regular pre-game activities.

This goes back to at least the 1950's. I can't say anything about pre 50's because I was not here, but I promise you, it's not a 21st century event only.It was played in the 1950's when baseball was played in Pensacola with a semi-pro team called the Pensacola Angels and later on the Pensacola Senators.

The flag salute means whatever it means to whoever is taking the action. It's not defined as being a salute to veterans. It's a salute to a symbol of America, an imperfect country. Every American has a right to salute or not salute. Our constitution, which is NOT a symbol, guarantees that right.

Here's a link. The playing of the anthem at sporting events started during WWII with major league baseball and later spread to nearly every sport played in this country.

https://briancain.com/blog/the-history-of-the-national-anthem-at-sporting-games.html

And it was also played at football games during and after WWII. Here's another link:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/us/nfl-national-anthem-trump-kaepernick-history-trnd/index.html


What happened in 2009 was the NFL (as a business) mandated that their players (as employees) be on the field and stand for the anthem. It's not a law and employees can protest all they want to protest. Employers can fire them, but it ain't likely to happen. Americans expect the best players to be on the field, no matter their political views.

And here's a poll that proves that- 61 percent of Americans OPPOSE firing players who do not stand for the anthem.

http://www.newsweek.com/poll-whos-backing-nfl-protesters-answer-may-surprise-you-671279?yptr=yahoo?src=rss

That's a good, solid majority.

As legend has it, singing the national anthem at sporting events began during the 1918 World Series, when the nation was at war. As recounted by the New York Times of Sept. 6, 1918, it was the seventh-inning stretch of the first game between the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox.

“As the crowd of 10,274 spectators — the smallest that has witnessed the diamond classic in many years — stood up to take their afternoon yawn, that has been the privilege and custom of baseball fans for many generations, the band broke forth to the strains of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’

“The yawn was checked and heads were bared as the ball players turned quickly about and faced the music. Jackie Fred Thomas of the U.S. Navy was at attention, as he stood erect, with his eyes set on the flag fluttering at the top of the lofty pole in right field. First the song was taken up by a few, then others joined, and when the final notes came, a great volume of melody rolled across the field. It was at the very end that the onlookers exploded into thunderous applause and rent the air with a cheer that marked the highest point of the day’s enthusiasm.”


The event had a public relations bonus for ballplayers in 1918, as there were people wondering why they were on the ballfield rather than the battlefield.

The idea caught on.

“Not to be outdone,” writes Marc Ferris in his cultural history of the anthem, “Red Sox owner Harry Frazee opened each game in Boston with it.”
Washington Post




President Herbert Hoover signed a bill into law making "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official anthem of the U.S. in 1931, giving the country a national anthem for the first time.

I'll bet old Herbert Hoover couldn't hit the high notes in it either.
It's nearly impossible to sing by most people.

America the Beautiful is an easier song, not so warlike, and wouldn't be the same tune as God Save the Queen. That's the only problem with My Country 'tis of Thee, the tune is so very, very British.

My son and his work people are going to the Bears game tonight. The owner of the company picks up the tab...400 dollar tickets...Damn

Wow... must be nice. Tho I'm sure the owner appreciates them and they deserve it. My lions lost Sunday... but I'm really happy with how they're playing.