NFL 2012

The Jags suck and the Colts are a nice story, but looking at the rest of Indy's schedule I think 9 wins is about the most they can pull off and 8 is more likely. That's a very nice improvement over last year, but I'm not sure the playoff talk is justified.

The rest of the Colts schedule is: @NE, Buf, @Det, Ten, @Hou, @KC, Hou. 3-4 the rest of the way and a 9-7 record seems pretty plausible, especially if they can pull off one upset against NE or Hou. If nothing else, there's a decent chance they'll be 9-6 or at least 8-7 heading into a final game against a Houston team who'll probably have nothing to play for.

The other half of the equation is: who else is going to get to 9 wins and oppose them for the 6 seed? Assume the first five spots go to NE, Bal, Pit, Hou and Den. Right now, that leaves the 4-4 Chargers and Dolphins and the 3-5 Jets, Bills, Bengals and Raiders trying to get to 9 wins. There are not a lot of likely candidates in that bunch.

By no means do I think the Colts are a lock to make the playoffs, but the talk is justified. They've already beaten Miami straight up, so unless the Chargers rattle off 6 in a row, the Colts have positioned themselves to be a factor in the playoff chase for the rest of the year.

On a totally separate note: I was only half paying attention to the postgame and looked up to see a promo for next week's Miami/Buffalo game where they flashed the following across the screen in giant text:

SEE

YOU

NEXT

THURSDAY

Have they been doing that all year? If so, I'm surprised it hasn't made any waves, even little ones.

Why would that be something that would make waves?

Reference to the recurring John Landis gag film See You Next Wednesday?

I hate to beat around the bush, but in this case that seems more appropriate than spelling it out.

C
U
Next
Thursday

Yeah. The reason it raised an eyebrow for me is because "see you next Tuesday" is already existing slang for the C-word. And the way the promo was structured, they were practically spelling it out for you.

New one on me!

Yeah, that wasn't what popped into my mind either. Its possible its purely coincidental, or it could be that someone slipped it past people who don't see it. Several years ago the then Sonics play by play guy used the phrase "two in the cake and one in the pudding" on a broadcast, and the phrase was then replayed on the station as the phrase of the game without anyone realizing what the term is used for until someone called up and pointed it out. So that stuff can happen.

Holy. Shit. I knew the Saints had a lot of problems in the secondary, especially with corners that can't cover, tackle or intercept, but after watching Playbook on NFL Network where Baldinger, Sharpe and McNabb were laughing themselves through a potpurri of blown coverages, I'm preparing for us being blown completely off the field. This, I'll have to remind you, was in a win against the Eagles. Man, at some point it would be awesome to hear what Spagnulo really thought when he understood just how poor the Saints D had been coached before he got there.

Wait, the defense that won a Super Bowl not that long ago was poorly coached before Spagnulo got there? If he's such a great coach, why can't they tackle this year? It's not like he didn't have a full training camp.

You're free to check out the 2010 playoff loss to Seattle if you don't believe me. Beast Mode had a touchdown run which featured IIRC 13 broken tackles. Yes, some players missed twice. 2009 Saints D had one thing going for them - they were fantastic at creating turnovers. Darren Sharper was crazy good at it. I thought/hoped that the Saints secondary had gotten over their penchant for completely blowing coverages like they have been the two previous seasons. Turns out it's still as bad.

Also, please point out to me where I claimed Spagnulo is a great coach. I'll take him any day over Williams though, thanks. I prefer defenses that are built on fundamentals - not stunts and db blitzes.

Darren Sharper was not among those that tried twice. Still the best pro-level stiffarm I've seen.

They were payed to kill people.

Well, yeah. With their heads.

Beast Mode! Bayou Style!

Very nice run. Gets the Saints back in it, which is more then you can say about the Giants.

Highlights, plz, CBS.

A last-minute, goal-line stand ..by the Saints!

You can't make this stuff up.

Rams are up 14-0 and marching down on the 49ers. Didn't really see that one coming.

Seattle seems to have weathered some early mistakes by the offense but they are still very inconsistent on that side today. They should have gotten at least 3 more before the half. Hope that doesn't come back to bite them in the ass.

Jets offense looks completely terrible though, least from what I've seen on RedZone.

And now Smith is out with a concussion so it will be interesting to see what Kaepernick can do.

Lol, Norv Turners meltdown. :-)

I haven't been high on Russel Wilson for most of this season, but once in a while he just makes a beautiful pass and I question my lack of high.

Aaand another beautiful TD throw by Wilson. Maybe I should become a believer!

HOLY SHEEIT. What a game for Golden Tate.

No kidding. Seattle looks really good. On the other hand, it is the Jets.

I don't think the Jets plan to rattle Wilson has really worked out . . . :-)

Onside kick attempt coming from Philly!

Witten recovers for the 'boys.

Delay of game?!?!?!?! What the fuck, Rams????

I love Zuerlein as much as the next guy, but a 58-yard attempt at Candlestick?

Man, St. Louis, you are doing everything you can to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I think they're just aiming for a 70 yard attempt at the gun, and they'll make Greg spin around 20 times before snapping the ball.

Playing the Lions is just what a struggling young QB needs, apparently.

Man, the officials in the Niner/Rams game were almost replacement level. First they somehow don't fix the minute and a half that ran off during a chain measurement even after going to replay to check the clock, and then they somehow screw up the spot of the ball with 30 seconds left in overtime and cost the Rams 6 seconds. They caught all of the Rams' bone-headed self-destruction though, so good on them. I don't know if I've ever actually watched a football game end in a tie before. I know it happens, but watching all that failure is something different.

Nice to see Kaepernick step in and play well, he came in down by seven and brought them back for the tie, which is more than you can say for that guy the Eagles were talking about straight-up benching the dog-murderer for. Guess what Eagles fans, QB isn't your problem. Might want to have a left tackle before you put a QB you care about on the field.

The local radio stations here in Philly will be screaming for blood tomorrow. The agony I'm going to hear expressed tomorrow from the fans will be positively delicious.

Well, they got what they wanted, which was for the DC to be fired. Turns out the defense is even worse now, probably because the players are all like "WTF?" about the whole thing. I suppose they could fire Reid but I don't see where it matters at this point one way or the other unless you want to be vindictive. As Jimmy Johnson pointed out on Fox prior to the game the loser of Cowboys/Eagles was done. The Eagles lost, so their season is done. They might as well play Foles the rest of the way to see what they have, but as many have noted its hard to do much in the NFL when you are playing backup offensive linemen on a team where the offensive line wasn't that great to begin with.

Coaches I think are going to get fired after the season and deserve to: Turner, Reid, Ryan, Wisenhunt, Crennel

Coaches I think deserve to get fired after the season but won't: Gailey, Garrett

Coaches that don't deserve to be fired after the season but might be anyway: Shurmur, Munchak, Mularkey, Rivera