Old dude, you're going to need to wake up from your beauty sleep and make a pick. You realize that the Packers and Vikings are playing on Thursday, right?
Wait, it's Thanksgiving already?
No, it's the greedy NFL forcing teams to play on Thursday because they want to make lotsa money and saturate the market with football. And they probably think there's gonna be some HYYYYYPPPPPE!
Man, it's too soon for that. But you're right about the motivation. Oh well, we'll need to make the pick, then.
That's right, Geritol Fan! Get ready for it. Watch me work!
Minnesota Vikings (+9.5) vs. Glorious Green Bay Packers. So the Packers woke up last week and beat the Bears like a rented mule. And the Vikings unleashed Teddy Bridgewater on the Falcons. But the problem is that Bridgewater got hurt and he's not been able to practice all week. Word is that it will be a game-time decision on whether he plays. And you know what that means, right? It could be Ponder time! What is strange is that the last time the Packers hosted a prime time game against the Vikings it was Ponder who did not go. Ponder is a real quarterback and can help another team in the future, but this is a tough deal in a monsoon. Look for the Packers to work on the run which could be the difference considering that Packer killer AP is not suiting up. As much as I wish the Vikings well, the way the Packers play at Lambeau and how they played on Sunday makes me feel hopeful. Packers 38, Vikings 27.
This is a dilemma for the Vikings. The early weather forecast for Green Bay is that it's going to a rainy night and the footing might be treacherous. Do you want to let your prized quarterback take a chance on hurting his ankle even more, or do you roll out Christian Ponder? Tough call, because the Vikings will need to score some points to beat the Packers in Lambeau. Based on what I've seen, the Vikings are on the right track, even without Adrian Peterson and Kyle Rudolph, but it's going to be tough to keep up. The Packers are happy to be home after playing 3 of their first 4 on the road. The run defense worries me rather a lot, but if Ponder plays, and I'm going to guess he will, the Packers will put 8 in the box and dare the Vikings to throw. If this game were on a Sunday, I'm certain Bridgewater would play. But this is too soon. Packers will win. Packers 31, Vikings 20.
Okay -- thanks for waking up long enough to make these picks, old dude! We'll reconvene later on for more brilliance. Ben out!
2 comments:
The Vikings weren't winning this game even when Adrian Peterson was still in the line-up. I doubt they'd win even if Bridgewater's ankle is healthy.
I can hope that Ponder realizes this is an audition for the rest of his career - in essence, showing that with different coaches/coordinators, he can be a more effective QB. But Ponder's problem has always been about confidence. Hit him a couple of times, get consistent pressure on him, and he falls apart like a Chinese motorcycle on the Autobahn. Perhaps in a decade he'll be a good college coach somewhere, because I think he understands the game quite well. He just can't execute it.
The Vikings have a favorable schedule coming up after Detroit, with Buffalo, Tampa & the Washington [redacted]. They could easily be 5-4, or even 6-3 if they manage to sneak by the Lions. Given the circumstances, that would be huge.
Well that was a train-wreck of a game. For the Vikings, and the NFL.
Thursday night games have been a ratings success for CBS - if only by comparison to last year's football-less line-up. CBS is up on Thursday night, with a 10.4 share from last night's game. That's great, but keep in mind that ESPN, a cable provider, gets around an 11ish rating for Monday night football. In theory, CBS has a broader reach than ESPN.
And I would imagine the Thursday night games will get sloppier as the season progresses, with teams increasingly beat up week to week, and unable to mount much of a performance on a short week. Plus, Thursday night games will feature every single NFL team over the course of the season. Any takers on the ratings for Jacksonville or Oakland's games later this year?
I understand why they don't treat Thursday night games like Monday night games - they don't want to put a franchise at a disadvantage by having them play repeatedly on short weeks. But unless the NFL does a flex schedule on Thursday games - or limits the number of them - people may just tune the whole thing out. Heck, it's been 8 years already and people don't seem motivated for Thursday night games.
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