robsam
2901
I respect Tennessee, and like their style of football, but they are the Oilers to me. Also, they were a “stolen” team, and that still bugs me. I do cheer for them most of the time. I was also in a really pissy mood when I wrote that in case you didn’t notice. ;)
sluggo
2902
Mark Asher of St. Louis proposes, “Booth review of suspect hits, initiated by the booth official not a coach’s challenge. If the review booth finds there was a flagrant helmet-to-helmet hit, eject the offending player. Using replay would relieve officials on the field of making split-second judgments about body position at game speed. If NFL players know the action can be stopped to review a hit, they may think twice about unnecessary roughness.”
I don’t think mid-game suspensions make any sense. What happens if the hit comes with 3 minutes left in the game? The guy gets a three-minute suspension, in a game that possibly might be out of reach? And how do you dock the guy’s pay after he’s played three quarters?
I like the way the NFL is handling it. The hits get reviewed after the weekend, and if a hit is flagrant enough, you get suspended a week and a full paycheck. I think that’s going to get the players’ attention.
Shmtur
2903
I’ll have to agree with that; I’d also add that there’s no way I want the game put on hold while they review a hit to see if it was helmet to helmet. The games take long enough as it is, thanks.
It shouldn’t take very long at all - maybe 30 or 45 seconds to wind back a couple of times - and those hits are thankfully few and far between. It’s not like a fumble where you have to look at a million angles to see when a knee touches or who had more posession in the bottom of a pile.
Also, an ejection would be a prelude to further action by the league office. Refs don’t rule on suspensions.
Shmtur
2905
The way it is handled now is fine. It won’t take just a few seconds; it would get turned into a TV timeout, wasting several minutes of our time on something that’s best left entirely in the hands of the league office.
Not that it matters anyway; it’s an idea that will never be considered, much less implemented. The NFL instituted replay reviews to fix bad calls, not to catch missed penalties. This has no chance of happening, and that is a very good thing. It’s a huge can of worms. Can the replay only be done immediately after the play it occurred on? What if the offense is going no-huddle? Can it be reviewed several plays later? And in that case, if you’re going to let the player in question stay on the field for several plays, why not just let him play out the rest of the game?
Yeah, and half the time the game is stopped anyway when one of the players doesn’t get up so there’s time to review.
As to ejections, they eject players now for other things. I don’t see why they can’t eject a player for an intentional helmet-to-helmet hit.
DT1
2907
Safety definitely should count for something. One issue I could see would be roster size. Most teams carry about 6-7 DBs on the active roster each week. Between injuries and in-game suspenions that might make for a pretty thin secondary in a given week. (Might get Troy Brown back in the league though!)
It works fine in the NHL now; referees can assess game misconduct penalties without the benefit of video review. If the league feels that additional discipline is required, fines and/or suspensions can be handed out after the game.
Players and coaches can be ejected mid-game in MLB too, right? What makes football different?
Romo out 6-8 weeks. IT’S KITNA’S TIME TO SHINE!!!
ScubaV
2910
Green Bay just added a 10th player to their injured reserve, a list that includes 5 players who were starters at the beginning of the season. If injury karma exists, we’ve earned enough to be injury-free for the next several years.
The Redskins are very much injury free (except Clinton Portis)
This, and the current 4-3 record, with all 4 wins in the NFC . . . had me eyeballing playoff scenarios.
The 'Skins must, must, must beat the Lions this week - they can’t roll over like they did for the Rams.
The Lions are definitely not the pushover they’ve been in recent years – expect an exciting game :)
Plus, the 'Skins have a tendency to play up or down to the level of their opponent. I expect they’ll win, but it will not be a blowout.
Two truths in this post. Yes, they do play to the level of their opponent, which is infuriating as a fan. They also are in every game to the end, which is also infuriating. The team just loves to have the games decided on the final play. Just once I’d like to see the Skins go up on an opponent, and then just run away with the game…
Oh and more importantly, the Skins lost to Detroit in Detroit two years ago, breaking that awful winless streak for the Lions. I expect a Skins loss again.
I’m really hoping Washington wins. And since I live in KC, I don’t get to see it! Talisker, I’m expecting you to freak out in humorous fashion during the game so I can pretend I’m watching it with you.
I also agree that Washington needs to just blow someone out already. My heart can’t take too many more of these last-play-of-the-game shenanigans.
Every time this year, the Redskin’s offense has been in a ‘stomp on them while they are down’ scenario - they have come up short.
This Detroit game is very similar to me - they have a chance to go 5-3 and be one game behind their division leader - the division leader they play twice in the upcoming games.
Vegas betting has the Lions favored by 2 points.
Why do you think God(ie Al Gore) invented the Internet and streaming of games?
To add insult to injury in screwing the Dolphins, the NFL has now added an interception for Chad Henne that clearly hit the ground…
WTF??
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=capress-fbn_dolphins_stat_reversal-4966396
Sarkus
2920
I’m confused as to why there is so much speculation over the question of whether Favre will play this weekend. It seems to me the obvious thing Childress should do is tell Favre he will start if he feels he’s up to and then makes clear he will replace him if Favre’s injury is clearly impacting his play. That way if Favre doesn’t start it’s Favre’s decision and Childress can still justify replacing him if Favre shouldn’t be in there. Since Favre has missed most of the practices this week Jackson is just as ready as he would have been. Seems like the no-lose way to go for the Vikings and Childress.
But then again I wouldn’t be surprised if Childress makes the decision because he’s kind of clueless when it comes to knowing how to handle things.
