1. The Minnesota Vikings are on their bye this weekend. Can it really be an NFL week without the Vikings. I don't think so.
2. Not only is there no Vikings game this weekend. There's no convening of the Vikings Donut Club.
3. This tweet from ESPN NFL Nation reporter Mike Reiss gave me a chuckle.
Some of the ugliest orange shorts are all around the Patriots locker room. Apparently too many players were taking the old gray ones home and not keeping them at facility as required. How to fix the problem? Change the color to something no one would want to be seen in outside facility.
Those silly Patriots are always having fun.
4. Media talking heads often talk about the longevity of today's NFL quarterbacks. It really isn't a new thing. Here's the age of some Hall of Fame quarterbacks in their final seasons.
Sammy Baugh, 38
Y.A. Titttle, 38
Sonny Jurgensen, 40
Bart Starr, 37
Johnny Unitas, 40
George Blanda, 48
Fran Tarkenton, 38
Ken Stabler, 39
Sammy Baugh made the Pro Bowl at 37.
Y.A.Tittle's best years were from ages 35-37.
Sonny Jurgensen's All-Pro 1969 season, at 35, was good enough that Vince Lombardi considered him the best QB that he'd ever coached.
The great Packers teams of the 1960s were fading as Bart Starr was reaching his late 30s.
Johnny Unitas won a Super Bowl at 37.
George Blanda was mostly a relief pitcher in his 40s. He put up some crazy passing numbers for the Houston Oilers in the early 1960s when he was in his mid-30s.
Some of the most prolific passing seasons of Fran Tarkenton's came at the end of his prolific passing career.
Several non-Hall of Fame quarterbacks had played, and some played well, into the late 30s.
Charley Conerly, 40
Earl Morrall, 42
John Brodie, 38
Billy Kilmer, 39
Dave Krieg, 40
etc., etc., etc....
They haven't all played at ripe ages like Tom Brady and Drew Brees but NFL quarterbacks playing as long as they can is not a new thing.
5. When the Carolina Panthers hired Norv Turner to be their offensive coordinator I thought that it was going to be a disaster. I didn't see the Tuner-Cam Newton union being a good one because I didn't think that the long-time coach would adjust his offensive scheme to fit the ridiculous, physical talents of his new quarterback. When Turner was with the Vikings, I watched him nearly get Sam Bradford killed because he wouldn't adjust his playcalling for a fragile quarterback playing behind a simply horrible offensive line. Instead of a disaster, Newton is probably playing the best football of his career. Turner has schemed receivers open and given Newton easy passes to complete. Despite a Thursday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that really got away from them in a hurry, the Newton-Turner union has been a good one and I am surprised.
6. Speaking of Thursday night's Panthers-Steelers game. I don't know the actual numbers but anytime there's one of these one-sided Thursday night games, and there have been a bunch of them, it's usually the visiting team that's getting blown out. The home teams have such an advantage in these Thursday games that they're fundamentally unfair. Horrible games are terrible advertising for the NFL but the suits obviously favor quantity (money) over quality (football).
7. Speaking of unfair advantages. The Week 11 Vikings-Bears game was flexed to the Sunday night window. That game was considered more desirable than the previously scheduled Steelers-Jaguars game. That's fine except for the fact that the Bears are scheduled to play the Lions on Thanksgiving morning. The usual three day turnaround for the Bears was cut by nearly a day. A couple years ago the league shortened overtime by five minutes. One of the reasons they did this was in the unlikely possibility that a team might have to play five minutes of extra time on Sunday and then turn around and play a Thursday night game. The hypocrisy of the league can be stunning.
8. If I was one to place a bet on an NFL game I would bet against the team that travels to the Thursday night game every single week. I would boost that bet considerably if the distance traveled is greater than across a river or a bay. There is no greater advantage that the schedule makers can give a team than to give them a home Thursday night game.
9. Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson recently said during a radio interview, if given the opportunity, that he'd like to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs. I'm sure that got the attention of a lot of Vikings fans. How could their former hero say such a thing? When asked about the possibility of a Vikings-Redskins playoff game, what's Peterson supposed to say? That he wants to lose because of the Hall of Fame career that he had in Minnesota. It drives me nuts when the media asks mind-numbing questions only to trigger a click-bait response.
10. I wish that I could find the exact quote but ESPN Jets beat writer Rich Cimini wrote something like this of the Titans offense. It looks like they are playing on an 120-yard field with a 10 degree incline. That's funny.
11. Sacks leaderboard
I still think that Hunter should have 12.5 sacks. He brought down Saints quarterback Taysom Hill behind the line of scrimmage at the end of their Week 8 game. I'm guessing that Hill's running talents and the lateness in the game prompted the official scorers to decide that the quarterback was attempting a run even though he had yet to show run or pass. It's a sound assumption but it's still an assumption. All we know for sure is that Hunter tackled the player that took the snap from center (in today's game that's the quarterback) behind the line of scrimmage before that player could reveal any intention. That's a sack in my book. So there.
Sammy Baugh, 38
Y.A. Titttle, 38
Sonny Jurgensen, 40
Bart Starr, 37
Johnny Unitas, 40
George Blanda, 48
Fran Tarkenton, 38
Ken Stabler, 39
Sammy Baugh made the Pro Bowl at 37.
Y.A.Tittle's best years were from ages 35-37.
Sonny Jurgensen's All-Pro 1969 season, at 35, was good enough that Vince Lombardi considered him the best QB that he'd ever coached.
The great Packers teams of the 1960s were fading as Bart Starr was reaching his late 30s.
Johnny Unitas won a Super Bowl at 37.
George Blanda was mostly a relief pitcher in his 40s. He put up some crazy passing numbers for the Houston Oilers in the early 1960s when he was in his mid-30s.
Some of the most prolific passing seasons of Fran Tarkenton's came at the end of his prolific passing career.
Several non-Hall of Fame quarterbacks had played, and some played well, into the late 30s.
Charley Conerly, 40
Earl Morrall, 42
John Brodie, 38
Billy Kilmer, 39
Dave Krieg, 40
etc., etc., etc....
They haven't all played at ripe ages like Tom Brady and Drew Brees but NFL quarterbacks playing as long as they can is not a new thing.
5. When the Carolina Panthers hired Norv Turner to be their offensive coordinator I thought that it was going to be a disaster. I didn't see the Tuner-Cam Newton union being a good one because I didn't think that the long-time coach would adjust his offensive scheme to fit the ridiculous, physical talents of his new quarterback. When Turner was with the Vikings, I watched him nearly get Sam Bradford killed because he wouldn't adjust his playcalling for a fragile quarterback playing behind a simply horrible offensive line. Instead of a disaster, Newton is probably playing the best football of his career. Turner has schemed receivers open and given Newton easy passes to complete. Despite a Thursday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that really got away from them in a hurry, the Newton-Turner union has been a good one and I am surprised.
6. Speaking of Thursday night's Panthers-Steelers game. I don't know the actual numbers but anytime there's one of these one-sided Thursday night games, and there have been a bunch of them, it's usually the visiting team that's getting blown out. The home teams have such an advantage in these Thursday games that they're fundamentally unfair. Horrible games are terrible advertising for the NFL but the suits obviously favor quantity (money) over quality (football).
7. Speaking of unfair advantages. The Week 11 Vikings-Bears game was flexed to the Sunday night window. That game was considered more desirable than the previously scheduled Steelers-Jaguars game. That's fine except for the fact that the Bears are scheduled to play the Lions on Thanksgiving morning. The usual three day turnaround for the Bears was cut by nearly a day. A couple years ago the league shortened overtime by five minutes. One of the reasons they did this was in the unlikely possibility that a team might have to play five minutes of extra time on Sunday and then turn around and play a Thursday night game. The hypocrisy of the league can be stunning.
8. If I was one to place a bet on an NFL game I would bet against the team that travels to the Thursday night game every single week. I would boost that bet considerably if the distance traveled is greater than across a river or a bay. There is no greater advantage that the schedule makers can give a team than to give them a home Thursday night game.
9. Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson recently said during a radio interview, if given the opportunity, that he'd like to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs. I'm sure that got the attention of a lot of Vikings fans. How could their former hero say such a thing? When asked about the possibility of a Vikings-Redskins playoff game, what's Peterson supposed to say? That he wants to lose because of the Hall of Fame career that he had in Minnesota. It drives me nuts when the media asks mind-numbing questions only to trigger a click-bait response.
10. I wish that I could find the exact quote but ESPN Jets beat writer Rich Cimini wrote something like this of the Titans offense. It looks like they are playing on an 120-yard field with a 10 degree incline. That's funny.
11. Sacks leaderboard
| Danielle Hunter | Vikings | 11.5 |
| Aaron Donald | Rams | 10 |
| Myles Garrett | Browns | 9 |
| J.J. Watt | Texans | 9 |
| Von Miller | Broncos | 9 |
I still think that Hunter should have 12.5 sacks. He brought down Saints quarterback Taysom Hill behind the line of scrimmage at the end of their Week 8 game. I'm guessing that Hill's running talents and the lateness in the game prompted the official scorers to decide that the quarterback was attempting a run even though he had yet to show run or pass. It's a sound assumption but it's still an assumption. All we know for sure is that Hunter tackled the player that took the snap from center (in today's game that's the quarterback) behind the line of scrimmage before that player could reveal any intention. That's a sack in my book. So there.
12. I am so tired of the LeVeon Bell-Pittsburgh Steelers soap opera.
13. The Kansas City Chiefs have yet to lose a coin toss this season.
14. I'm going to miss the Vikings this weekend.
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