2021 Miscellaneous NFL News

[OldHeidelberg]

Crazy to think Cowboys-49ers have not met in playoffs since 1994. Off the top of my head the Packers have played the niners 7 times in playoffs and the Cowboys 3 since then. Remember when they both seemed so invincible before we finally broke through?

[adambr2]

Crazy to think Cowboys-49ers have not met in playoffs since 1994. Off the top of my head the Packers have played the niners 7 times in playoffs and the Cowboys 3 since then. Remember when they both seemed so invincible before we finally broke through?

 

How is Cowboys/49ers not the MNF?

[OldHeidelberg]

I am surprised they put a west coast game on Monday as it is 5pm local kickoff. Will be interesting to see how the ratings are for weekday playoffs, fantasy season over and maybe nfl burnout for fans whose teams are done.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

MNF isn't the eyeball advertising timeslot, Sunday is. SNF has had superior games for years. That Monday night slot is probably the worst one of the weekend other than Saturday afternoon.

 

It's not a coincidence that KC/Pitt and SF/DAL got the Sunday spots.

 

The Monday game being 5pm isn't really of much consequence. I am guessing the ratings will be just fine if not quite high. Football fans love the playoffs. I don't even catch every Packer game but I will likely check in for at least part of all these games. Really looking forward to them. There was really nowhere else to put it though; not a chance AZ/LAR was getting prime time.

[nodakfan17]

I preferred the triple header setup on Saturday and Sunday. It’s far easier for me to catch a few minutes of a game on the weekend than it is a weeknight, plus it keeps the net rest for playoff teams more balanced.

[Vgmastr]

MNF has to be a 4 vs 5 game so they can release the Divisional Weekend schedule on Sunday. That way teams don't wait until Monday to know if they have to play Saturday. Leaving a 4 vs 5 game means all the matchups are set, as a 6 or 7 seed winning would shift things around.

[patrickgpe]

I preferred the triple header setup on Saturday and Sunday. It’s far easier for me to catch a few minutes of a game on the weekend than it is a weeknight, plus it keeps the net rest for playoff teams more balanced.

me too, but there is way more money for the NFL putting a game in primetime Monday than a noon kickoff on Saturday. Plus they can do their Manningcast

[OldSchoolSnapper]

MNF has to be a 4 vs 5 game so they can release the Divisional Weekend schedule on Sunday. That way teams don't wait until Monday to know if they have to play Saturday. Leaving a 4 vs 5 game means all the matchups are set, as a 6 or 7 seed winning would shift things around.

 

That's a great point. And I can't imagine them putting NE/BUF on Monday night instead of Saturday night. I believe Monday night is the biggest general TV night in the country but that means competition. There's not a lot of that on Saturday at 7pm or Sunday ever. Saturday afternoon would seem to be the weak slot and the matchup seems to fit that.

[Joseph Zarr]

The 49ers Dallas game is all sorts of 'Must Watch' for me. That's an extremely intriguing matchup. Other than that, the only remaining game I see as a good match-up at face value is Buffalo vs NE.

 

I just could care less about Rams vs Cardinals...and every other game has distinct Blow-out potential as I see it.

[Outlander]

I certainly think 49ers at Cowboys has blowout potential as well. Just don't see much in this 49er team.

[Joseph Zarr]

I certainly think 49ers at Cowboys has blowout potential as well. Just don't see much in this 49er team.

 

I think I could say just the exact same thing about the Cowboys. I find both teams completely perplexing in their accumulated Talent vs actual performance. The Cowboys, at face value, have infinitely more offensive firepower BUT the 49ers have an infinitely more spicy scheme - ie McCarthy negative factor. BUT, you certainly could be right. I just find the match-up wayyyyy more appealing overall for the myriad possible outcomes?

[PinaMadness]

I certainly think 49ers at Cowboys has blowout potential as well. Just don't see much in this 49er team.

Dallas is 6-5 outside of their pathetic division and 1-4 against teams with double digit wins. They are the biggest fraud in the NFL and I would be very surprised if they beat the 49ers. If they somehow manage to win they will certainly lose the following week no matter who they play.

[PinaMadness]

That being said, here are my predictions for this weekend.

 

Raiders over Bengals

Patriots over Bills

Buccaneers over Eagles

49ers over Cowboys

Chiefs over Steelers

Cardinals over Rams

[OldSchoolSnapper]

That (DAL/SF) is the real toss-up game of the weekend for me where I can see a blowout either way or a very good game.

 

KC is going to destroy Pitt

Tampa is going to win

I like the Bengals but that one is certainly up for grabs, should be somewhat good

I think Rams stomp Cards

I like Buffalo, should be a good one too

[PinaMadness]

I have zero trust in the Bengals and Bills. Those two teams have a penchant for laying a massive egg just when you think they are about to establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with. Having watched the AFC North this year because the Packers played that division this year, I thought the same thing for all those other teams as well. Pennsylvania is going to have an ugly weekend. I've already stated what I thought of the Cowboys, and Matt Stafford is the quarterback of the Rams.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Those are definitely my less confident picks, but I don't have a ton of faith in the Raiders either. Burrow is really good, I'm basically picking Cincy because of him and they're at home.

 

NE over Buffalo wouldn't shock me at all. That game's a toss-up to me, just not one where I see a blowout though. I have no read at all on DAL/SF. If I had to pick one, I'd pick Dallas, but I don't think they are long for these playoffs. I'd love for SF to win though.

 

I will say though, I know nothing about the Chargers OL, but seeing the way LAV abused them, that does not bode well at all for Cincy.

[homer]

I wish DAL and SF weren't playing each other. I think both would beat AZ or LAR

[OldHeidelberg]

The talking heads sort of act like Dallas is a budding super team held back by their bumbling coach. I am sort of glad they have to win 2 to get to us just so we can likely avoid the MM-Rodgers hype. But head to head Rodgers is much more in control of who gets even, not sweating that matchup much.

[young guns]

I feel like cinci is going to put up 50 on the Raiders. I also am fairly confident in Buffalo, tampa, KC, and slightly in Arizona. The sf/Dallas game is a complete toss-up to me.

[PinaMadness]

With all the off field drama that happened to the Raiders this season I thought they would go into a tailspin down the stretch like they had been doing the past few seasons before anyway, and it indeed looked like it at first. But they won their final four games to turn their season around and playing as well as anyone right now. Yes the Bengals have a scary offense but they've lost some games this year they shouldn't have and I think Crosby and company can put the pressure on Burrow and pull off the upset.

[nate82]

The Bengals would be a really good Super Bowl team but that OL is absolutely garbage!

[adambr2]

MNF isn't the eyeball advertising timeslot, Sunday is. SNF has had superior games for years. That Monday night slot is probably the worst one of the weekend other than Saturday afternoon.

 

It's not a coincidence that KC/Pitt and SF/DAL got the Sunday spots.

 

The Monday game being 5pm isn't really of much consequence. I am guessing the ratings will be just fine if not quite high. Football fans love the playoffs. I don't even catch every Packer game but I will likely check in for at least part of all these games. Really looking forward to them. There was really nowhere else to put it though; not a chance AZ/LAR was getting prime time.

 

Then why is the Steelers/Chiefs the SNF? That's an awful game. Probably among the two worst of the weekend. The Steelers are about as poor as you can get for a playoff team.

[PinaMadness]

That's why I hate playoff expansion. It just waters down the competition and now we're most likely going to get two terrible games because of it.

[OldHeidelberg]

I am sort of annoyed that there is no nfc game today. They couldn’t flip the early weekend games? Eagles played on Saturday and Raiders had OT Sunday night.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

MNF isn't the eyeball advertising timeslot, Sunday is. SNF has had superior games for years. That Monday night slot is probably the worst one of the weekend other than Saturday afternoon.

 

It's not a coincidence that KC/Pitt and SF/DAL got the Sunday spots.

 

The Monday game being 5pm isn't really of much consequence. I am guessing the ratings will be just fine if not quite high. Football fans love the playoffs. I don't even catch every Packer game but I will likely check in for at least part of all these games. Really looking forward to them. There was really nowhere else to put it though; not a chance AZ/LAR was getting prime time.

 

Then why is the Steelers/Chiefs the SNF? That's an awful game. Probably among the two worst of the weekend. The Steelers are about as poor as you can get for a playoff team.

 

Steelers are a massive viewing audience, probably behind only Dallas and maybe the Packers. I am a little surprised SNF isn't Dallas/SF though. I could be wrong but I think the Networks have to be appeased, too. As in, it's in the contracts that you can't stick NBC with Bengals Raiders and Rams Cards; I think they have to share the wealth between the networks.