Tag: nfl

Pitch that game: NFL Week 2, 2015

Hello everyone and welcome to America’s favorite game show that… has never actually happened before and no one has heard of it… it’s Pitch That Game!

Here’s how it works. As your host, I have one minute to pitch a sporting event to someone who is not a sports fan. If, after my pitch, they’re interested in watching, I get a point! That’s it! Why would we play such a game? Well, it’s a good way to quickly learn about a set of games to see if you’re interested in following any of them. It’s also a great way for me to learn from you about what may or may not make a sport interesting to a layperson.

Our guest for this episode is Sonja Boet-Whitaker, a graduate student in City Planning, accomplished baker, aspiring driver, and also my partner. I pitched the five NFL football games available to people in the Boston area during the second weekend of the NFL season on Sunday September 20 and Monday September 21. For my thoughts on the other games, read on below the audio player.

Enjoy the show!

Sunday, September 20, 2015 1 p.m. ET

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings

Ah, the Lions and the Vikings. Both of these franchises have proud histories, but you have to be over the age of 35 to remember them. For the past twenty years or so, both teams have been lovable at times and laughable at times but always, always, losers. Sure enough, both teams lost in embarrassing fashion in the first week of the season. The Lions gave up 30 straight points in their loss to the San Diego Chargers and the Vikings were embarrassed against the San Francisco 49ers on national television. A win in this game will give their fans hope that this season might be different. A loss, and it’s going to feel like the same old shi…..ndig.

Arizona Cardinals at Chicago Bears

This game has all the makings of a win for the Cardinals. Arizona’s very good offense against Chicago’s bad defense and Chicago’s talented but questionable offense against Arizona’s potentially dominating defense. That said, even if things worked out that way, it could be a highly entertaining game. Chicago has enough talent and pride and desperation having lost their first home game to the Green Bay Packers, to fight for this one tooth, nail, claw, and fur — they are Bears, after all.

Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns

This game is going to be the second game in Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota’s career. It will also be the second game in a row that he’s faced a heisman trophy winning quarterback. Mariota won the heisman trophy, given to college football’s best player, last year. A worthy candidate on the field, his record was augmented by the fact that he seems to be a good person off the field. That’s different from the previous year’s winner, Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston, who has been accused of sexual assault and it’s different from Cleveland Browns quarterback Jonny Manziel whose problems with alcohol have been well documented. Mariota looked amazing in last week’s big win over Winston and the Buccaneers, and it should be fun to root for him again against Manziel and the Browns.

Houston Texans at Carolina Panthers

The quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, Cam Newton, is 6’5″ tall, 250 pounds, and such an incredible athlete that he’s simultaneously the team’s best quarterback and best running back. Even he may not be able to survive the onslaught of the Houston Texan’s defensive line. The leader of that line is J.J. Watt — who’s such a force that his nickname is simply J.J. Watt — and he’s supported by underachieving but still full of potential Jadaveon Clowney and long-time Patriots defensive leader Vince Wilfork. I, for one, will be tuning in hoping to see the three of them harass Newton throughout the afternoon.

San Francisco 49ers at Pittsburgh Steelers

It wasn’t just the fact that the 49ers won their first game, that made it the single most surprising part of the NFL’s first weekend, it was the way they won. Everyone was expecting the 49ers to be a shell of their former selves this year after losing their head coach, two best linebackers, best defensive end, best wide receiver, long-time running back, and two members of their offensive line over the summer. Turns out that doubt can be a powerfully motivating factor. The 49ers came out and physically dominated their opponents in their first game. Whether that same formula will work against the Pittsburgh Steelers who lost their first game to the defending champion Patriots, is another story.

San Diego Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals

If Phillip Rivers, quarterback of the San Diego Chargers, had the type of skilled players surrounding him at the running back and wide receiver positions that his counterpart on the Cincinnati Bengals, Andy Dalton has, the Chargers might never lose another game. On the other hand, if the Bengals had a quarterback three quarters as good as Rivers, they might never lose another game. This matchup provides a clear example of a perennial problem. If you can’t have a great quarterback and great players surrounding him, which do you choose?

St. Louis Rams at Washington Redskins

This game has a wonderful plot. Three years ago, the Washington Redskins traded a slew of draft picks to the St. Louis Rams in order to move up in the draft and choose a player when the Rams ordinarily would have. That pick was quarterback Robert Griffin the third, who has not worked out for the Redskins. Since that time, the Rams coaches and players have seemed to live only to beat the Redskins, to show them that team matters more than a single star player. It’s a nice message, and one that continues to provide motivation for the Rams, even long after anyone would argue that the Redskins got the better of the deal.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints

It’s the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and I recently read a wonderful article by Wright Thompson about the city’s efforts to recover and how important a role the Saints played. If that weren’t enough to have me rooting for them, their opponent in this game is the Buccaneers, a hapless franchise that gave away its lovable loser element when it drafted Jameis Winston, who was accused of and is almost definitely guilty of rape. Go Saints.

Sunday, September 20, 2015 4:30 p.m. ET

Baltimore Ravens at Oakland Raiders

The Ravens are who the Raiders should aspire to be. They are a defense first, highly adaptable team that seems to be able to continue to win no matter what players they lose because of free agency or injury. Unfortunately, the Raiders insist on trying to be the Raiders — a team that takes risks on other team’s cast-away players and tries to throw the ball way down the field more than any other team. It’s a formula that worked in the early 1980s but it hasn’t worked in this millennia and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be working any time soon.

Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars

Football “experts” have all been assuming that Miami was a team on the rise and Jacksonville a team on the… well, I guess you’d say the float? A terrible team that’s not getting much better. Miami won their first game and Jacksonville lost, which you’d think would confirm that suspicion, but Miami looked so bad in winning and Jacksonville showed just enough oomph, even in a losing effort, that the so called experts will be on the edge of their seats to watch this one. If you like chaos and comeuppance, root for the Jaguars.

Should I play daily fantasy sports (DFS)?

Dear Sports Fan,

Yesterday you wrote a post explaining how daily fantasy sports work. Thanks! My question is, should I play daily fantasy sports (DFS)? I love fantasy football, so it seems tempting.

Thanks,
Fred (who isn’t me just lobbing a question back at myself. No, really)

Dear Fred,

No. You should not play daily fantasy sports (DFS).

Daily fantasy sports are a hot topic these days. If you watched football at all during the first weekend of the NFL season, you were inundated by ads for the two major daily fantasy sports companies, DraftKings and FanDuel. The two spent more than $27 million combined on television advertising during that period! In the days following that media blitz, there’s been a quick backlash against the industry. This wave was led by Joshua Brustein and Ira Boudway of Bloomberg Business, whose article, You Aren’t Good Enough to Win Money Playing Daily Fantasy Football described a landscape full of predatory professional gamblers armed with advanced statistics and personally designed spreadsheets. Their well researched and convincing argument was picked up by a horde of other newspapers and blogs, all quick to jump on the bandwagon and point out to their readers that they shouldn’t play daily fantasy sports because they won’t win. It was an important article, because it pierced through the advertising campaigns that suggest easy money is just around the corner. But, with apologies to Brustein and Boudway and the many people who agree with them, they are missing the point when it comes to deciding whether or not you should play. Gambling can be fun, as long as you don’t risk more than you can afford to lose. Long odds are not a sufficient argument against daily fantasy sports. The reason why you shouldn’t play daily fantasy sports isn’t because you’re almost certain to lose money, it’s because it’s not fun.

Daily fantasy football takes virtually every element of traditional fantasy football that’s fun and strips it from the game.

  • In traditional fantasy football, you play against your friends. Last weekend I beat my friend Brian in our fantasy league. This weekend, I face a tough game against my friend and old boss, Jack. In my only foray into daily fantasy sports, I came in 158,247 place out of 331,428 entries in a contest for $100,000. Who won? I have no idea, but it certainly didn’t contribute to any friendships. Traditional fantasy football leagues provide a way for distant friends to stay connected and close friends to get even closer.
  • Traditional fantasy football creates lasting ties to players. One of the arguments against getting involved in traditional fantasy football is that it changes a fan’s focus from their favorite team to the set of players who are on their team. Daily fantasy goes even farther in divorcing your rooting interest from the sport itself. In daily fantasy sports, you pick players for your team and discard them the next day. There’s no time to build lasting affection, like I have for some players who I’ve had for full seasons or more on my traditional fantasy team. For example, I might not know that Brandon Marshall is a mental health advocate if I hadn’t been following him carefully because he was on my fantasy team. Daily fantasy sports wouldn’t inspire me to celebrate when one of the young players who I’ve stashed on my bench for weeks gets an opportunity in the starting lineup or feel sad when an elder statesman loses his job.
  • Traditional fantasy sports encourages interaction between people and teaches basic negotiating skills. In a traditional fantasy league, if you want to improve your team during a season, you need to trade with another owner in your league. You need to look at her team and think about what she needs compared to what you need. Most trades happen when one person identifies something the other person needs and offers it to them for something they have a surplus of. It’s not about tricking the other person, it’s about analysis and negotiation. Daily fantasy sports are between you and your computer and that’s it.

So yes, you shouldn’t play fantasy sports because it’s a money pit, but so is taking up ice hockey, owning a boat, or having kids. At least those three things are fun!

Thanks for reading,
Ezra Fischer

How does DFS or daily fantasy sports football work?

Dear Sports Fan,

I keep seeing ads for DraftKings and FanDuel, two daily fantasy sports (DFS) websites. How does DFS or Daily Fantasy Sports football work?

Thanks,
Ted

Dear Ted,

In the football version of daily fantasy sports also known by its abbreviation, DFS, your job is to predict the combination of real world football players who are going to generate the best statistics in the coming week of games.

You are given a set amount of fake money to build your team with. In DraftKings, this is $50,000. In FanDuel, it’s $60,000. (I have half a mind to set up a competitive DFS site called CamelCaps.) The websites set fictional prices for each real-life NFL football player each week depending on how well they think those players are likely to do. A very well-regarded player in what looks like an easy matchup will be on the expensive end of the spectrum. A relatively unknown player or an unexciting player facing a difficult opposition will be on the cheaper side. Your job is to select nine NFL players (really eight players and one team’s defense) whose cumulative salary is less than or equal to the fictional pot of money you begin with.

Then, you sit back and watch the weekend’s NFL games play out. Just like in traditional fantasy football, your success as a fantasy owner corresponds directly to the success of the real players in their real games that you’ve selected to be a part of your imaginary team. At the end of the weekend, the imaginary team that has accumulated the most points from their players’ real-life performances, wins.

How is daily fantasy sports different from traditional fantasy sports?

If you want a primer on how traditional fantasy football works, read our post on the subject.

One key difference between traditional fantasy sports and daily fantasy sports is that in the daily game, your selections have no bearing on anyone else’s. If everyone in the world decided they wanted Eli Manning on their roster one weekend, they could all have him. In traditional fantasy sports, once a player has been selected by an owner, he is unavailable to everyone else. Traditional fantasy sports are a zero sum game. Daily are not.

This non-zero-sum nature enables DFS to involve far more people than a traditional fantasy league. By the time you’ve reached 14 to 16 people in a traditional league, it gets very difficult to find players who generate enough statistics to be worth using on your team. Think you know football pretty well? Talk to some 16 team (or deep) fantasy football owners and see how many of them are conversant with the fourth wide receiver on each of the 32 NFL teams! In DFS, your choice to have Eddie Lacy on your team doesn’t inhibit my choice to put him on my team, so there’s no upper limit to the number of owners who can compete against one another. Indeed, the competitions we hear the most about in television commercials – the ones that “guarantee a prize” of over a million dollars – have tens of thousands of teams competing directly for that prize. Notice the word “team” instead of person. In a traditional fantasy league, those two terms should be synonymous. In DFS, a single person is allowed up to 500 teams or entries in a single contest.

This brings us to the final key difference between traditional and daily fantasy sports – the stakes and the presence of professionals. Traditional fantasy sports are a bad bet for professional gamblers. First of all, they take a long time to pay out. Compared to a bet on a single game, which will pay out within hours of the game ending, tying your capital up in a proposition that will take 16 weeks (for football and longer for other sports) is virtually a non-starter for someone who wants to use their money to make more money. It’s just too slow. Daily fantasy sports speed up the process so that it is more attractive for professional gamblers. Likewise, the amount of money involved is much higher. Many traditional fantasy leagues have each owner risking $100 for the season. That may seem like a lot, and certainly winning $500 to $1,000 if you win a league is no joke, but spread out over the whole season, that’s only $6.25 a week. That’s less than going out to a movie! That’s less than just the popcorn at some movie theaters. Daily fantasy sports, with its multiple entries per contest and many potential contests per week, facilitate much higher stakes.

Are there Super Bowl rematches every week this NFL season?

Dear Sports Fan,

Is it true there will be a rematch of a prior Super Bowl every week this season?

Thanks,
OmitsWordsByAccident

Dear OmitsWordsByAccident,

Not quite every week, but there are a surprising number of them. In all, there are 19 Super Bowl rematches this season, but not every week has one. The large number of rematches is no coincidence, it’s part of the NFL’s promotional campaign to promote this year’s Super Bowl, the league’s 50th. The exact number of the Super Bowl is always a little confusing. For one thing, the league insists on labeling the game with Roman Numerals instead of numbers. Since most of us were not educated in late 19th century elite prep schools, a number like XLVIII (48) is not intuitively obvious. This year, for the 50th, they are going with the number “50” and not just “L”. For a second level of obfuscation, the Super Bowl for each calendar-year season occurs in the next calendar year. When I was writing a series of posts describing what was special about each NFL team, I was never sure whether to refer to a Super Bowl by the year it was in or the year of the regular season it crowned the champion of. Lastly, the numbering is tricky because it’s hard to remember when the first Super Bowl was.

The NFL is much older than 50 years. It’s first year of competition was in 1920, and by 1930, five of today’s teams: the Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions were in existence. The reason why the Super Bowl is not 95 years old instead of 50, is that it began specifically as an end-of-season competition between the NFL and a competing league, the American Football League. The American Football League was founded in 1959 and began play in 1960 in direct competition to the NFL. By 1970, the two leagues had merged. So, if you count back 49 from 2016, you should get one of those years – 1960 or 1970 – right? Nope – you get 1967, a year that hasn’t popped up in conversation yet. Why? The NFL and AFL actually agreed on and announced their merger in 1966, it just took four years for them to merge the operations of the leagues and begin playing as one. The one major element of merging that they decided to act on immediately was the creation of what they called the “AFL-NFL World Championship Game“. It wasn’t until the third such game, in 1969 that the game became known as the Super Bowl.

Celebrating past Super Bowls by inserting rematches into this year’s schedule is a nice idea (although it must have been a tricky scheduling feat). Here, taken directly from the Super Bowl 50 website, with my links, are the games:

Thanks for reading,
Ezra Fischer

Why aren't football players arrested when they break the rules?

Dear Sports Fan;

Football is a rough sport, I get it, players get hurt in normal competition. But why isn’t someone like Pacman Jone criminally charged after wrestling an opponents helmet off and then slamming his head into it?

Is a fine or even a suspension (which it appears he will not be subject to) enough?

Thanks,
Al

Dear Al,

You pose a good question, and one that I’ve addressed before on this site, but it’s worth thinking about again. Why is a violent act, which would be worthy of a criminal charge in other contexts, not illegal in the context of a sport? Why aren’t football players arrested when they break the rules?

First, let’s take a look at the incident:

Jones is the player on the Cincinnati Bengals, wearing white and orange, who tears the helmet off of Oakland Raiders rookie wide receiver Amari Cooker and then jams Coopers head back into his own helmet. Cooper’s teammates quickly come to his defense and a bit of pushing and shoving follows as the referees throw their yellow penalty flags to show that a foul has been committed.

Jones’ act is clearly against the rules of football. It would just as clearly be defined as assault if it happened outside of the context of football.

 

The rules of any sport describe a set of expected behaviors that fall on both sides of the line between allowed and not allowed. Fist fighting is illegal in ice hockey and golf, but you can get a good sense about which sport expects their players to fight by looking at the two rule books. Ice hockey has a clear rule about fighting – players who fight are given matching five-minute penalties. Golf doesn’t have a rule at all. A hockey player who fights is very unlikely to be prosecuted. A golfer… may just be in cuffs by the end of the day. Why the difference? A reasonable hockey player assumes the risk of being confronted with violence, legal and illegal, when he or she steps onto the ice. A golfer doesn’t. Even though fighting isn’t as prevalent in football as it is in hockey, it is a violent sport and its players reasonably assume the risk of being confronted with violence when they play. Athletes in contact sports have implicitly consented to violence.

Even if a player or an authority did try to prosecute a player like Jones, who goes to far, it would be a hard case to argue. Consider how difficult it would be from an outsider’s perspective to compare legal and illegal forms of violence. Here’s another incident which happened during this year’s preseason, in a game between the San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers:

In this film, former rugby star Jarryd Hayne finishes a run by lowering his shoulder into a defender’s chest and knocking him to the ground. Let’s apply the same two tests to it: it would clearly be considered assault if it happened on the street but in the context of football, it’s not only legal, it’s deeply admired. I’m not a legal scholar, or a practicing lawyer, or even the fiancée of Vinny Gambini, but I feel like it would be very difficult to convict someone of assault for one incident on a football field if opposing counsel could show equally violent or even more violent acts that are explicitly allowed in the context of football. And I don’t think the legal system cares very much about whether an act is strictly allowed or not allowed by a sports league.

Aside from being flagrantly against the rules of football, what quality would one use to argue that Jones’ act is more worthy of prosecution than others? It’s not more damaging – earlier in the day, a New York Jets player was taken off on a stretcher and hospitalized during a legal play. Other injuries from just yesterday’s action included a torn Achilles tendon, a broken bone in a foot, several strained or torn knee ligaments, and several other concussions. Cooper, on the other hand, seems to be fine. How about force? Jones certainly didn’t use as much force on Cooper in that video than he would in a normal tackle.

This doesn’t mean that within the context of a sport, anything could and should be allowed to happen. For example, a player who snuck a knife onto the field and attacked an opponent would surely be prosecuted. No one assumes the risk of being stabbed during a sporting event. (Except fencing accidents, I suppose.) Our attitudes on this issue may also change – may even be in the process of changing already. Not so long ago, the law held that a married woman assumed the risk of being raped by her husband by entering into a marriage contract. That’s no longer the case and the world is a better place for it. With what we now know about the damaging effects of brain injuries on athletes, it’s possible that we are moving towards a world where flagrant and intentional violence toward a player’s head will be subject to legal charges.

Thanks for your question,
Ezra Fischer

One line to fool them all – 9.14.15

Sports talk is frequently used as a common language but it’s far from universal. If you’re someone who doesn’t follow or even understand sports, you can find yourself at a disadvantage in common small-talk situations like in an elevator, waiting for a bus, sitting at a bar, or around the proverbial water cooler at work. Even if you are a sports fan, it’s impossible to watch everything and know everything. To help in these situations, we provide lines to use when engaged in a conversation about all of the high profile sporting events of the day, plus explanations of what they mean.

U.S. Open Tennis

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in four sets

Line: Roger Federer may be the best ever but Djokovic is just too good.

What it means: This seemingly confusing statement makes sense because of the two players’ relative ages. Federer, who is now 34, is thought to be one of the greatest players ever. He holds records for being ranked number one in the world for almost six years consecutively, and for winning 17 Grand Slam (the important four tournaments) titles. Djokovic, on the other hand, is just 28, firmly in his tennis prime. Although he’s not (yet?) thought of as a player with the type or extent of greatness that Federer is, given the disparity in age, he is demonstrably stronger than Federer now. He’s won the past three Grand Slam finals that the two have met in.

NFL Football

Kansas City Chiefs 27 at Houston Texans 20

Line: So maybe Alex Smith just didn’t have good receivers.

What it means: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has been criticized throughout his career for being unable or unwilling to throw the ball down the field. Last year he didn’t throw a single touchdown to a wide receiver all year. He still hasn’t, but he already looks more comfortable with throwing it downfield, perhaps because he has much more talented players to throw the ball to.

Indianapolis Colts 14 at Buffalo Bills 27

Line: The Colts won’t win until they can compete physically.

What it means: Of course, it’s silly to claim any professional football team isn’t physical but the Colts have lost their last two games (last year in the playoffs against New England and this game) because they couldn’t keep a more physical team from pushing them around.

Green Bay Packers 31 at Chicago Bears 23

Line: Did you see what Matt Forte said at the press conference? LOL.

What it means: The Bears were a giant disaster last year and, after their loss today, their star running back Matt Forte had this to say:

As reasonable as this might seem, it comes off as unintentional humor in a culture that believes there’s no other goal but winning.

Carolina Panthers 20 at Jacksonville Jaguars 9

Line: Who needs offense when you’re playing the Jaguars?

What it means: The biggest concern for the Panthers this year is their lack of quality wide receivers for quarterback Cam Newton to aim for. Today’s game didn’t lesson that concern, but since the Panthers were playing one of the weaker teams in the league, the Jacksonville Jaguars, they were still able to win.

Cleveland Browns 10 at New York Jets 31

Line: Johnny Football didn’t look half bad!

What it means: “Johnny Football” is the nickname of Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. Manziel was a popular figure when he played in college but has not been a success so far in the NFL. He wasn’t supposed to play in this game but after the starting quarterback, Josh McCown, left with an injury, he was forced into action. He played decently despite the large loss.

Miami Dolphins 17 at Washington Redskins 10

Line: The Dolphins won, but I think I’d be more optimistic if I were a Redskins fan.

What it means: How happy you are as a fan is all about expectations. Dolphins fans thought their team was going to take a leap from good to great this year. Redskins fans thought their team might not win a game. They didn’t win this one, but they played much better than expected.

Seattle Seahawks 31 at St. Louis Rams 34

Line: The Seahawks finally gave the ball to Beastmode and they still lost.

What it means: Last season, the Seattle Seahawks lost the Super Bowl when a pass near the goal-line was intercepted by the New England Patriots. Many people felt they should have handed the ball off to running back Marshawn Lynch, nicknamed “Beastmode” and one of the best in the league. In this game, facing a must-have fourth down in overtime, they did just that – hand the ball to Lynch – and he couldn’t get the first down.

Detroit Lions 28 at San Diego Chargers 33

Line: Classic Lions, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

What it means: The Detroit Lions were winning 28 to 3 in this game before everything went wrong for them and everything went right for the Chargers. Unfortunately for Lions fans, this type of monumental collapse is not uncommon. The Lions have been known as an immature team for so long that some of their players have gotten old without ever shaking that label.

New Orleans Saints 19 at Arizona Cardinals  31

Line: The Cardinals are great, I just don’t think Palmer can last the season and I can’t believe they still don’t have a reasonable backup. What a waste of surrounding talent.

What it means: The Arizona Cardinals are both very good and very lovable. Their Achilles heel is that their starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, is slightly old and slightly injury prone and their offensive system requires him to get hit over and over and over again. Combine that with their not having a good enough backup and their seasons tend to get torpedoed by injury. It’s fun to root for them early in the season though, before the injuries pile up.

Cincinnati Bengals 33 at Oakland Raiders 13

Line: And just like that, all the positivity around the Raiders is gone. Same old Raiders.

What it means: The Oakland Raiders have been bad for most of the past 15 years. Their fans were hoping that they had improved this year, particularly because of their promising second year quarterback, Derek Carr. But by halftime of the first game, Carr was gone because of an injury, and the Raiders were being beaten badly.

Baltimore Ravens 13 at Denver Broncos 19

Line: Don’t be surprised, this is the new Broncos.

What it means: For the past few seasons, ever since quarterback Peyton Manning came to the Broncos, they’ve been a team that was built around offense. They scored a lot of points. This year, they’re likely to win more games like this one – low-scoring, closely contested contests. It may take casual fans some time to adjust, so you can sound really in-the-know by pointing it out.

Tennessee Titans 42 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14

Line: Good riddance. I would be happy if every game Jameis Winston played went like this.

What it means: This game was billed as a matchup of the two top rookie quarterbacks, Marcus Mariota for Tennessee, who was picked second overall in this year’s NFL draft, and Jameis Winston, who was picked first. Partially because Winston is so obviously not a good person, Mariota has been cast as the good one in the nascent rivalry. Well, everything went right for Good in this game and everything went wrong for Evil.

New York Giants 26 at Dallas Cowboys 27

Line: More dramatic than good.

What it means: The Sunday Night Football game is always one of the highest rated football games of the weekend and for this one, the NFL schedulers picked two of the highest profile teams to play each other. The game came in first place in our NFL Forecast. It eventually was worth it, as the Cowboys came from behind to score a touchdown with less than 15 seconds left that won them the game, but despite the game’s exciting ending, it was played sloppily by both teams throughout.

Pitch that game: NFL Week 1, 2015

Hello everyone and welcome to America’s favorite game show that… has never actually happened before and no one has heard of it… it’s Pitch That Game!

Here’s how it works. As your host, I have one minute to pitch a sporting event to someone who is not a sports fan. If, after my pitch, they’re interested in watching, I get a point! That’s it! Why would we play such a game? Well, it’s a good way to quickly learn about a set of games to see if you’re interested in following any of them. It’s also a great way for me to learn from you about what may or may not make a sport interesting to a layperson.

During this episode I’ll be pitching the fifteen NFL football games that will take place during the first weekend of the NFL season on Sunday September 13 and Monday September 14. Our guest is Max Nisenbaum, a New York City resident, rock climber, and cognitive behavioral therapist.

Enjoy the show!

What do I need to know about the 2015 Washington Redskins?

National Football League (NFL) previews abound at this time of year. We’re close to the start of the 2015 NFL season and basically everyone in the sports world is in a tizzy, anticipating another great season of the country’s favorite sport. Whether you’re a beginning NFL fan, the family member, friend or partner of an NFL fan, or simply someone who doesn’t follow the league during the offseason, our team previews should get you ready for the season to begin.

If you’re curious about the history and culture surrounding the team, and not just the plot and characters of this edition of the team, read What’s special about the Washington Redskins?

How are Washington Redskins fans feeling heading into the 2015 NFL season?

Pissed off

When are the Washington Redskins on national television?

Use this to know when you should host a party with locally (or favorite team-ily) themed food!

Week 3 – vs. the New York Giants on Thu, Sep 24 at 08:25 PM.
Week 13 – vs. the Dallas Cowboys on Mon, Dec 7 at 08:30 PM.
Week 16 – vs. the Philadelphia Eagles on Sat, Dec 26 at 08:25 PM.

When is the Washington Redskins bye week?

Use this to know when to plan that camping trip you’ve been wanting to go on.

Week 8

What was the Washington Redskins record last season, in 2014?

Expressed as: wins – losses – ties (if any).

4 – 12

Who are the Washington Redskins most important departed characters?

Although he’s officially still on the roster, Robert Griffin III, the once and future hope of the Washington Redskins at quarterback for the past handful of years is seemingly gone. After oddly annoucning that he would be the starter this spring, coach Jay Gruden recently announced that he would be going with Kirk Cousins for the entire season instead. Once thought the complete package as a quarterback, RGIII is now a discarded delivery on the side of the road.

Who are the Washington Redskins most important new characters?

Offense, as terrible as it was, wasn’t even the biggest problem for the Redskins last year; that would be defense. The team’s defense was unrealistically bad, something which Redskins fans hope they addressed by bringing in cornerback Chris Culliver from the San Francisco 49ers. Culliver is better than anyone they had before, and entering the second year after an ACL tear, a prime prospect to improve even more.

Who are the Washington Redskins most important characters?

Owner Daniel Snyder is the cloud that looms over all of the dysfunction that Washington generates. Oh, sure, he can’t be blamed for Congress but his finger seems to be in every pot of ugly as it relates to football. The whole RGIII saga may have been over two years ago if it weren’t for Snyder who was either bamboozled into thinking RGIII could recover the excellence of his first year or furiously trying not to admit the trade Snyder pushed to acquire RGIII was a mistake.

What is the most pivotal pivot point for the 2015 Washington Redskins?

A quiet 3-13 season would actually be a success for this team. Anything, even 0-16 would be fine if they could, once and for all, figure out how to operate like a business instead of a reality show.

How will the 2015 Washington Redskins fare?

Too talented to go 0-16. Too messed up to win more than four games.

What do I need to know about the 2015 Tennessee Titans?

National Football League (NFL) previews abound at this time of year. We’re close to the start of the 2015 NFL season and basically everyone in the sports world is in a tizzy, anticipating another great season of the country’s favorite sport. Whether you’re a beginning NFL fan, the family member, friend or partner of an NFL fan, or simply someone who doesn’t follow the league during the offseason, our team previews should get you ready for the season to begin.

If you’re curious about the history and culture surrounding the team, and not just the plot and characters of this edition of the team, read What’s special about the Tennessee Titans?

How are Tennessee Titans fans feeling heading into the 2015 NFL season?

Guarded

When are the Tennessee Titans on national television?

Use this to know when you should host a party with locally (or favorite team-ily) themed food!

Week 11 – vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thu, Nov 19 at 08:25 PM.

When is the Tennessee Titans bye week?

Use this to know when to plan that camping trip you’ve been wanting to go on.

Week 4

What was the Tennessee Titans record last season, in 2014?

Expressed as: wins – losses – ties (if any).

2 – 14

Who are the Tennessee Titans most important departed characters?

Jake Locker, the hyper mobile, athletic quarterback from a West Coast college who the Titans selected high in the draft and pinned much of their hope on is gone, having failed at his task to lead the Titans to the playoffs.

Who are the Tennessee Titans most important new characters?

Marcus Mariota, the hyper mobile, athletic quarterback from a west coast college who the Titans selected high in the draft and pinned much of their hope on is here! Drafted second overall from Oregon, Mariota is the new guy in town and the season’s (and perhaps the coach and general manager’s jobs) outcome are riding on his shoulders.

Who are the Tennessee Titans most important characters?

Marcus Mariota was compared endlessly to Jameis Winston throughout the last year of college football and in the months preceding the NFL draft. The consensus is that he’s a much better person and a slightly worse football player.

What is the most pivotal pivot point for the 2015 Tennessee Titans?

Surprise, surprise, Marcus Mariota is the pivotal pivot of this season for the Titans. Just like with Tampa Bay, when you break the bank for a rookie quarterback, how he plays is the most vitally important piece of information for your team’s season.

How will the 2015 Tennessee Titans fare?

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I imagine Mariota doing well in the NFL. Oregon quarterbacks have been criticized in the past for having developed in an environment that’s too dissimilar to the NFL but the NFL has been copying so much from Oregon and other college teams like them that that criticism may no longer be valid.

What do I need to know about the 2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

National Football League (NFL) previews abound at this time of year. We’re close to the start of the 2015 NFL season and basically everyone in the sports world is in a tizzy, anticipating another great season of the country’s favorite sport. Whether you’re a beginning NFL fan, the family member, friend or partner of an NFL fan, or simply someone who doesn’t follow the league during the offseason, our team previews should get you ready for the season to begin.

If you’re curious about the history and culture surrounding the team, and not just the plot and characters of this edition of the team, read What’s special about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

How are Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans feeling heading into the 2015 NFL season?

Guilty

When are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on national television?

Use this to know when you should host a party with locally (or favorite team-ily) themed food!

Week 15 – vs. the St. Louis Rams on Thu, Dec 17 at 08:25 PM.

When is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bye week?

Use this to know when to plan that camping trip you’ve been wanting to go on.

Week 6

What was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers record last season, in 2014?

Expressed as: wins – losses – ties (if any).

2 – 14

Who are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers most important departed characters?

Three defenders, defensive end Michael Johnson, linebacker Mason Foster, and safety Dashon Goldson are gone. Bucs fans won’t miss any of them — they didn’t play very well last year, but they should hold judgement until they see who they’ve been replaced with…

Who are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers most important new characters?

With the number one overall draft pick this year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected quarterback Jameis Winston. Winston was the subject of a colossally bungled investigation that resulted in no formal charges being brought against him for sexual assault while simultaneously providing little doubt that Winston had assaulted someone. His position as the NFL’s number one draft pick and the presumptive face of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise is not a good thing.

Who are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers most important characters?

Jameis Winston. Grrr.

What is the most pivotal pivot point for the 2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Jameis Winston. Gahhh!

How will the 2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers fare?

Alas, being good at football is not correlated or even perceptively affected by being a good person. The Bucs will improve this year, perhaps even to around 6-10.