Boy, the NFL and the CBS corporate suits in New York really screwed over Packers and Steelers fans in a lot of markets this week. It's almost like they want to leave money on the table and make me go to a restaurant to watch the Packers again.
They take a lot of ads for Buffalo Wild Wings. Just sayin'.
Meanwhile, the Packers did calm me down a little bit with their performance last week, and it was good to see.
It helps when you play terrible opponents.
I am feeling the HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPPPPEEEE! and ready to pick some games. Watch me work.
The Bronze Turkey Bowl: Knox College Prairie Fire, Baby! (NL) vs. Monmouth College Scots Ah yes, the Bronze Turkey Bowl. This is one of the oldest rivalries in college football, and the type of local rivalry that is still maintained despite the best attempts of college presidents to chase the television dollar. Longtime readers know that I am a proud graduate of Knox, the greatest institution in the state of Illinois. Monmouth is our biggest rival, and this is the last game of the year. Knox has improved this year, and is going to finish in the lower middle part of the Midwest Conference. Monmouth is trying to win the league. This is where I remind you that Monmouth is an inferior school and when I got a salad at the cafeteria freshman year, Monmouth gave me a degree in nutrition with highest honors and I was named valedictorian. It's time that Knox ruins their season, and we get the Turkey back home where it belongs. Blaze The Knox Fox 24, Scots 21.
Monmouth may be academically challenged, but they tend to kick big butt on the football field. And unfortunately your Knox squad is gonna get squashed. Monmouth 54, Knox 17.
Minnesota Golden Elite Rowers of the Boat (-1) vs. Purdue Spoilermakers The Gophers were looking like they were going to have a good win against Illinois, before they inexplicably decided to play prevent defense and let the Illini score in the last minute. You really hate to see it. PJ has to rally his troops by using more of his motivational speeches and create new slogans to put on oar branded merchandise available at Goldy's Locker Room. Purdue hasn't claimed their annual how did they win this game win, and Purdue Pete needs to get his quota. Maybe Purdue could stop being mad at Michigan, but that is another topic for another day because that story is moving way too fast. The Gophers are officially on Spoilermaker watch. Spoilermakers 35, Row Row Row Your Boat Elitely 28.
West Lafayette is not a pleasant place to visit. I think the Gophers will win, though, as Purdue hasn't shown much this year. Minnesota 24, Purdue 17.
Northwestern Purple Nerds (+10.5) vs. Beloved Wisconsin Badgers That was a game that the Badgers shouldn't have lost last week, and it falls on the coaching staff. Indiana played hard, and the Badgers came out sluggish, played uninspired football, and Longo didn't put his offense in a position to win. You can't do that in Big Ten play. Northwestern has done a lot better than most people thought after their offseason from hell, and the Purple Nerds tend to save all of their annoying voodoo for Wisconsin. But if the Badgers can get healthy and play better, this game is very much winnable. Get the bowl game and those extra practices now, guys. Badgers 42, Purple Nerds 11.
Bucky will be motivated. Bucky is still a better team. The result? Wisconsin 27, Northwestern 17.
New Orleans Saints (-3) vs. Minnesota Vikings I have no idea how the Vikings won last week, and Josh Dobbs might bring back the magic of 2017. So in the interest of full disclosure, I only saw the last minute live because I was paying close attention to the Packers. But what I did see was the Vikings pulling out a game that they had no business even being close to winning after Hall went out. Now, Dobbs gets a full week as the starter, and will have a better command of the offense as one might reasonably expect. The Saints aren't great this year, but the good news for them is that they play in the putrid NFC South, where all 4 coaches are terrible, nobody knows how good each team is, and someone is going to get a home playoff game over a more deserving 5 seed. The Vikings are very much in playoff contention, and they could play their way back into something greater if the LOLions aren't careful. Vikings 28, Saints 0.
This season is weird. I don't know if the Vikings are legit or not. Dobbs is a pretty good stopgap until whatever quarterback future the Vikings will have arrives. Having the game here will help them, too. Vikings 24, Saints 20.
Glorious Green Bay Packers (+3) vs. Pittsburgh Yinzers So despite the fact that WCCO would love to air this game, they can't because the NFL wants me to watch the Vikings despite the fact that this game would get better ratings than the Chargers/LOLions game. Screw you, CBS and the NFL. Once again I will have to make plans to go to a restaurant to watch the game. The Packers last week finally played well, even though the Rams were terrible. The defense did their jobs, the offense looked better, and the team fought through some bad turnovers and more terrible penalties. The Steelers are above .500, which makes no sense. The Matt Canada offense is really bad, and the Steelers rely on their defense and high end talent to bail themselves out of trouble. What really concerns me is that the Packers are banged up on the offensive line. That won't go well with TJ Watt on the other side and the Steelers pass rushers. If you love ugly football, than the matchup between the stoppable force of the Steelers offense and the movable object of the Packers defense is the matchup you wanted. Now, I ask a Yinzer to comment on the Steelers. Warning, this video may include NSFW language.
Now that we have that out of the way, a score: Packers 28, Steelers 20.
I agree with you that the Steelers aren't anything special this year, but the Packers have not solved their myriad problems. And if you hadn't heard, the Packers have not won in Pittsburgh since 1970. That was a different time. Steelers 24, Packers 20.
And now, time for me to rant about the NFL and how they should have fixed the broadcasting situation involving the Packers in the Twin Cities. I wouldn't be writing this if the Packers game was on Fox just like the Vikings game. I get that you gotta do what you gotta do in that situation, and it happens multiple times a year. But seriously not allowing CBS to air the Packers game in the early window here? What did they spike your deli with in the NFL office? People are going to hit me with, you live in Minnesota and you should just buy Sunday Ticket. Here is the thing, the Vikings game was going to sell out, and the Packers and Steelers fans here aren't going to watch that game in person. Not everyone in the Twin Cities is a Vikings fan, and there is a strong fanbase. Heck, KFAN has a Packer preview show. That's right, the flagship Vikings station has a show dedicated to the Packers because it makes money. The Steelers are a national brand, and this game is going to do very well and keep CBS competitive in ratings terms vs. Fox getting the Cowboys/Giants game as their top game in the late window. Also, I get a vast majority of Packers games in this market anyway between the Packers being on national tv a lot and WCCO and KMSP always choosing the Packers when the Vikings are not on their airwaves. Why should I pay 400 bucks for Sunday Ticket when it's cheaper to go to a restaurant to watch the Packers. What the NFL should have done is allowed WCCO to air the Packers-Steelers game opposite the Vikings game, and then have the Cowboys game be the only game in the late window. That makes the NFL and the local affiliates more money, and gives this market a slate of games that better reflects the NFL rooting interests of the Twin Cities. But when I emailed WCCO to mention that, I got a reply stating that the NFL makes the rules. But thankfully, I have an idea that would make sure that this wouldn't happen.
Uh-oh, you've been brainstorming again.
Yes I have, old dude! Not cool your jets and listed up. So in this plan, each week is a double doubleheader week, similar to Week 1 and Week 18. What I would do is to take a page from college football, where as soon as the schedule is finalized but before it is released to the public, Fox and CBS get 8 weeks each where each network gets the first two picks of Sunday afternoon games. The first pick would be the featured late game on the network, and the same network gets to pick the best early game. Then, the network who doesn't have first pick gets to pick the third game for their featured late game, and the fourth pick is their best early game. The featured late game on both FOX and CBS is protected from flex, with NBC getting to pick from the rest. What I mean by taking a page from college football is that with the Big Ten, Fox, CBS, and NBC get to choose in order which week they want to have the best Big Ten game. Since Fox has the first pick, they naturally will take the Michigan-Ohio State game every year.
Not much interest in the Rutgers/Nebraska tilt, I suppose.
I just about fell asleep at the mere mention of that game, old dude! But Fox and CBS also get a couple of other things. I would add 4 more international games, and Fox and CBS each get two of them to get a tripleheader that they can advertise. I'd also give them each a Saturday double header late in the season that is exclusive to their network, so that they can run with that.
Speaking of international, is the game on at the International House of Pancakes?
Stop huffing the maple syrup, Geritol Fan! Is the idea perfect? Of course not. No idea is. But this would serve fans better by giving them better games, and Sunday Ticket would still be a thing.
Don't count on it, but we'll see.
Roger, have your people call my people. In the meantime, as always, enjoy your football this weekend. Ben out.
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