Are you ready for some Football?!? (NFL)

[John Crichton]

Colts...not looking good in the late season for some reason...Oh wait- they have no run defense!

Ain't that the truth. The rest of the D isn't lookin' too hot either. That team simply isn't built to play from behind at all.

Again, someone annoyed the Chargers and paid the price. I'm thinking that to beat them, you have to shoot LT with a tranq dart. The man is going to finish the season with more TDs than some teams will have dropped passes.

He's an amazing player in an incredible offense. They have to be the favorite to go to the Super Bowl right now with both the Colts and Pats looking terrible.

Funny thing- thanks to the vagaries of chance, the 2 teams that were playing tonight as foes will be cheering each other next week, when the Cowboys play the Falcons and the Saints play the Redskins.

The 'Boys will certainly not be routing for the Saints against the Skins. They will want NO to lose so they have a shot at the 2 seed. And vice versa. The Falcons are in no position to make a run at the NFC unless the Saints fall apart and if that is the case, they won't be worried about seeding. So the Saints will want Dallas to go down so they have a bye plus a home game in the playoffs.

And as it stands right now, the two best teams in their respective conferences are the Saints (leapfrogging Dallas) and Chargers (getting stronger as the season grows longer). It should be an interesting last 3 weeks to see how the seedings pan out and if any key injuries come into play. Could be the Brees Bowl this year. QB plays his former team and the rookie QB he mentored for 2 seasons.

Not what I'm looking for as a Giants fan, mind you, but that's the week 14 view of things from where I sit.

 

[John Crichton]

What's the over/under for next Monday night? 70? 80?

Good question. I'd put it at 75 right now. Manning at home on Monday night. Palmer and Ocho Cinco in a dome - on Monday night. All kinda of playoff implications for both teams.

The only thing that will stink about the game is the ESPN presentation and the booth announcers + too many special guests.

 

[DaveMage]

The only thing that will stink about the game is the ESPN presentation and the booth announcers + too many special guests.

Agreed.

Man I hate their broadcast now....

 

[Crothian]

It doesn't bother me as much after they got rid of the one guy from last year.

 

[John Crichton]

It doesn't bother me as much after they got rid of the one guy from last year.

Which one?

And the guests that they have in the booth that take up almost a whole quarter don't annoy you? They keep cutting to the booth for interviews, concentrate less on the game and aren't even talking about football most of the time.

 

[Crothian]

Which one?

I think it was McGuire he does college football stuff now

And the guests that they have in the booth that take up almost a whole quarter don't annoy you? They keep cutting to the booth for interviews, concentrate less on the game and aren't even talking about football most of the time.

MNF always had this during the slow parts of the game. It's better then Madden going off on one of his pointess confusing rants.

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

The only thing that will stink about the game is the ESPN presentation and the booth announcers + too many special guests.

Theismann has got to be the worst color commentator ever on MNF. I haven't liked him... well... ever as a sports announcer.

Kornheiser is also awful. I wish he and Theismann would just be quiet.

Tirico is the only good one but he is surrounded by two terrible analysts, it would be a better if he was the only one speaking in the booth.

Kolber and Tafoya do a good job as well.

All of the above IMO of course.

Oh, and GO SAINTS !!!!

 

[Crothian]

I like Kornheiser, I've always enjoyed his sense of humor. Theismann is not that good, but not annoying to me which is important.

 

[kenobi65]

Tirico and Sterling Sharpe did a game for ESPN last year, when they had two games on a Sunday night, for some reason, and he struck me as really good in that game. Which means that at least one of the following was true:
(a) He was just better than normal that night
(b) He's getting different direction now that he's a headliner on Monday night, and result of that direction is ticking off the serious football fan
(c) He's suffering from a bad pairing with Kornheiser and Theismann.

I just can't believe that ESPN stuck with Theismann. That old Sunday night crew, with him, Paul McGuire, and Mike Patrick, was excruciating to listen to. I'm astounded that any of them still have jobs announcing (Patrick and McGuire are now doing college ball for ESPN).

As for Kornheiser...I enjoy him in PTI. I think he's still struggling to figure out how to fit into the booth.

And, oy, those celebrity interviews. ESPN has said that they're staying, that they're important for attracting the casual fan...but, boy, they detract from the game. The one with Brian Bosworth a few weeks ago, when Seattle and Green Bay were playing, was particularly bad...his 15 minutes of fame ended a long long time ago, and he had nothing to say. Tonight, we'll be treated to Jim Belushi, who they drag out every time the Bears play, because Jimbo has a show on ABC.

 

[John Crichton]

MNF always had this during the slow parts of the game. It's better then Madden going off on one of his pointess confusing rants.

They occassionally had someone in the booth, but it was only for a little bit. And it rarely detracted from the game. They way they are doing it now is much more and they are in there for about 15 minutes. The producers have flat out said they people don't want to watch 3 hours of football.

What!?!?

It's the most popular sport in America. Ugh. Just show the dang game. Talk about the game. It's why people watch the game. If we wanted interviews with celebs we'd turn on E! or somesuch...