#Finally! 2013 NFL season is finally here! My counter-intuitive predictions for the 2013 Miami Dolphins season is they stumble to 5-11; Over-valued, under-performing players plus a very tough early schedule may well render Dolphins winless by Bye week in Week 6; USA Today, Dan Patrick and Peter King's Super Bowl picks; Say hello again to our old friend, NFL East Coast/Cowboys bias!; @nfl, @SI_PeterKing, #Lombardi

Above, the scene on August 6th at my table at the Panera Bread in Hallandale Beach, FL, while sipping my Hazelnut coffee and munching on my Everything bagel. August 6, 2013 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

The moment I spied this Miami Herald sports section with a cover photo showing Miami Dolphin QB Ryan Tannehill's poor footwork in throwing a pass -NOT properly planted, NOT properly using his hips to throw the ball, but instead, going with the sort of off-stride sidearm delivery you see from a shortstop moving to his right who fumbles the ball and who's then rushing a throw to try to catch a speedy runner at first- and then saw the a propos headline reading, "Critics pan Tannehill, Dolphins," I instantly knew this would be the photo that I used for my predictions for the 2013 Dolphins season.

Despite having a great arm, whether you call it a gun, a rifle or bazooka, last year Tannehill's consistently poor footwork (and plain awkwardness) and his failure to consistently follow through on his throws, led to far too many passes not being right where they need to be when his receivers were open, which is why I've chosen to use the photo at the top.

And since every fan and observer of the Dolphins has known that one of the big problems that has plagued their receiving corps for years has been their inability to create separation, when they DO have some separation, Tannehill needs to be MUCH MORE ACCURATE.

I saw far too many wasted opportunities last year in games when they were still competitive, but when you don't take advantage, those close games become two TD deficits.

Tannehill and the photo of him is the Dolphins in a nutshell from my vantage point -they have the obvious ability, but do they have the means and will to get noticeably better?

That's an open question.

The difference between a successful person and others isn't a lack of strength, a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. #Lombardi
— Krysta Bear (@KrystaBear95) September 2, 2013

It's great to hear he's showing improvement in practice, but late in a close game, will Tannehill revert back to bad habits? 

Especially against a team whose defensive linemen consistently raises its hands at the line of scrimmage, as the Texans did so successfully last year, when Tannehill never adjusted, to the dismay of fans watching at home, who thought it seemed so obvious?

But instead of having Tannehill roll-out on some passes to break that pattern, they just kept doing the same thing that never worked, extending their record of futility against the Texans, a team they've never beaten in a regular season game, an embarrassing fact considering they were an expansion team. 

And so, that idea about Tannehill from a month ago has become reality today on the blog as the Dolphins start their 47th season in Cleveland against a rapidly-improving Browns team -a team with a new offensive-minded head coach with U-M ties, Rob Chudzinski - that unlike the Dolphins in my opinion, have multiple playmakers on both sides of the ball.

#Dolphins extension for LB Koa Misi? A 4-year deal worth $17M with $9M guaranteed, per source. Largest for 2-down LB? If not, it's close.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 8, 2013

*My last post on the Dolphins was my August 25th one here titled, Happy Miami Dolphins Anniversary; For some, the Dolphins' glory is like faded photographs in an album, but to me, it is as fresh in my mind as anything else in my memory. I only wish the people running and coaching the team now cared as much as I and some others do, who know what it's like to see and appreciate a thing of beauty -perfection- up-close and personal; Sports Fan in Chief Obama Honors Champion 1972 Miami Dolphins at White House

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/happy-miami-dolphins-anniversary-for.html

To quote myself above:

99% of anyone you see or speak to who is 27 or younger has NEVER BEEN ALIVE when the Dolphins were playing in a Super Bowl game.Now that's some perspective that really says something profound.

For the Jets, that's people who are 44-years old or younger.

Just saying...

'When you look back, you don't want to think 'what else could I have done to make it to the Super Bowl.'' http://t.co/B7IKoruuC3
— NFL (@nfl) September 7, 2013

The road to the Vince Lombardi Trophy starts tonight. Who takes this home? http://t.co/ArdldtWxce
— Pro Football HOF (@ProFootballHOF) September 5, 2013

The Herald photo and the headline fit everything I knew and have seen -and what most honest and discerning Dolphin fans and I have NOT seen- during the off-season and the five preseason games, which this year, included the Hall of Fame game in Canton against the Cowboys, who will likely share many of the Dolphin problems this year, namely, unrealized and unrealistic expectations for big improvement.

As regular readers of the blog and those who know the powers of the NFL's East Coast/

Cowboys bias, being bad will NOT prevent the Cowboys from being on national TV more than they should and even more than some of the better teams.

That's just how the NFL rolls.

The Cowboys get on high-profile TV times because... well just because its what the NFL and madison Avenue have been doing by rote for years, so they do it by default, despite the facts that the Cowboys last won a playoff game when?

Based on looking at the Cowboys schedule, it looks to me like 7 of their 16 games will be nationally-televised games, par for the course of late.

Why do you suppose tonight's NBC game is the Giants vs. the Cowboys instead of the 49ers and Packers, even though there's more interest in the latter game and not the former?

The same reason the NFL doesn't, hypothetically, have a Giants at Oakland game as the second part of the ESPN Monday Night doubleheader to start the year off.

There is no equality among the NFL's 32 teams as far as the NFL's TV folks are concerned, there's merely the illusion of equality.

To think otherwise is to publicly declare yourself naive.

http://mmqb.si.com/2013/09/06/eli-manning-new-york-giants-dallas-cowboys/

And so begins another year of irrelevance for the Miami Dolphins, to join all the ones that have come before the past 15 years.

Based on what I have seen, I think Jeff Fisher was right to turn down the Dolphins job last year and go with Rams, as in 2nd year of Joe Philbin head coaching experiment in Miami, it's entirely possible that lackadaisical Dolphins, poised for what I believe could be a yet another completely inconsequential season, may also be winless by their Bye in Week 6, and only 1-6 going into a nationally-televised Thursday night home game on Halloween Night against the offensive-minded Bengals that could well turn into rout in second-half.

With the Dolphins given an extra week to practice and play because of their Hall of Fame game and yet with little to show for that extra week in terms of Ryan Tannehill to Mike Wallace synergy in evidence, I am ready to say that I'm completely underwhelmed by almost every aspect of the team  and its coaching staff I have observed, save their rookie kicker, Caleb Sturgis, who could well be their MVP if that tells you anything.

For me at least, it's been like watching kids playing on 75-pound Optimist teams: I see lots of players whom I've never heard of and who never seem to get better or learn from their mistakes -just repeat them in new and more frustrating ways. 

(Yes, like the Miami Herald and the City of Hallandale Beach and Broward County and...)

How many plays per games are their #1 and #2 draft picks of the past 5 years actually playing? It's embarrassing!

Who moves up to #3 in the entire draft to select someone -Dion Jordan- who, it was speculated, might not even play the season-opener?

Guilty.

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2013/REG/Dolphins

1 SEP 8  1:00 PM EDT * AT   BROWNS 

2 SEP 15  1:00PM EDT * AT   COLTS 

3 SEP 22  4:05PM EDT )   FALCONS 

4 SEP 30  8:40PM EDT + AT   SAINTS 

5 OCT 6  1:00PM EDT *   RAVENS 

6 BYE 

7 OCT 20  1:00PM EDT *   BILLS 

8 OCT 27  1:00PM EDT * AT   PATRIOTS 

9 OCT 31  8:25PM EDT ,   BENGALS 

10 NOV 11  8:40PM EST + AT   BUCCANEERS 

11 NOV 17  1:00PM EST *   CHARGERS 

12 NOV 24  1:00PM EST    PANTHERS 

13 DEC 1  1:00PM EST * AT   JETS 

14 DEC 8  1:00PM EST * AT   STEELERS 

15 DEC 15  1:00PM EST *   PATRIOTS 

16 DEC 22  1:00PM EST * AT   BILLS 

17 DEC 29  1:00PM EST *   JETS

In the Historical Dept., I honestly think this Dolphins season may be the one where they travel west less than any regular season since I first started following them in 1970, as the farthest west they go is New Orleans. Weird.

SMYRNA, Tenn.--The RV, next to Uncle Bud's Catfish Shack. pic.twitter.com/wy6OWrXCJk
— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) August 8, 2013

Postcards from training camp: Miami Dolphins Source:SI The MMQB editor-in-chief Peter King discusses the loss of tight end Dustin Keller and the role rookie Dion Jordan is expected to play for the Dolphin's defense.

Veteran Sports Illustrated writer and frequent Dan Patrick Show guest Peter King sees them as a 6-10 team, while CBS Sports/nfl.com writer Pat Kirwan sees the Dolphins as slightly better at 7-9.

My friends, I think in mid-November, we'll all be thinking that a 7-9 record would be nothing short of a small miracle, with 5-11 my actual prediction, but 4-12 a real strong possibility, too.

http://mmqb.si.com/column/monday-morning-quarterback/

https://twitter.com/theMMQB/the-mmqb

Peter King @SI_PeterKing https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing

There's still room for big improvement, but I can't help but wonder if a terrible start -as I expect- will tap the emotional resolve of many of the younger players who seem not quite as intense as players and teams of the past.

Yes, consistently inconsistent effort and serial under-performance in the clutch have been the hallmark of the Dolphins since I returned to South Florida almost ten years ago from the Washington D.C. area, where I probably saw about 70% of their games.   

I'm not a big believer in cautious optimism for NFL football teams, because at this level, with teams so even, I believe there has to be something that your team does well consistently that you can draw strength from when you get behind against better-quality teams.

Unfortunately for the Dolphins, I see that being their kicking game.
That's why, unfortunately, a record of 5-11 sounds pretty accurate to me.

'GameDay': 2013 Bold Predictions 

Published: Sept. 4, 2013 at 11:25 p.m

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/0ap2000000238524/GameDay-2013-Bold-Predictions

Who will hold the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season? Globe staff predictions: http://t.co/QRgeDK1W5N
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) September 7, 2013

USA TODAY Sports' 2013 NFL predictions 
Staff report, USA TODAY Sports
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/09/04/2013-staff-picks-season-predictions/2768317/

TheDanPatrickShow YouTube Channel video: Peter King on the Dan Patrick Show 9/3/13. Peter's Super Bowl prediction is Seattle vs. New England. Uploaded September 6, 2013. http://youtu.be/ayQPoUyVkU4

TheDanPatrickShow YouTube Channel video: Dan's Super Bowl Picks 9/4/13. 

Dan's prediction is Denver Broncos over Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on February 2nd in Super Bowl XLVIII, which everyone I know -plus me-hopes is a snowstorm. Uploaded September 4, 2013. http://youtu.be/ziuas6ZKKeU

TheDanPatrickShow YouTube Channel video: Rich Eisen on the Dan Patrick Show 9/6/13. Uploaded September 6, 2013. http://youtu.be/zFDuJJW9_zI

Sunday is almost back to normal! #BackToFootball #AZvsSTL pic.twitter.com/l2OA8TdZsB
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 8, 2013

NFL's East Coast/Cowboys Bias may be crushed Sunday night, which would be sweet justice for NFL fans! If Redskins beat Cowboys, strong chance no team from 5 of U.S.'s Top 6 TV markets will make NFL playoffs: No NY, no LA (not even Chargers!), no Chicago, no Philly, no Dallas. Plus, we'll finally be free of analysis of Romo & Roethlisberger's angst! Hooray!!!

NFL's East Coast/Cowboys Bias may be crushed Sunday night, which would be sweet justice for NFL fans! If Redskins beat Cowboys, strong chance no team from 5 of U.S.'s Top 6 TV markets will make NFL playoffs: No NY, no LA (not even Chargers!), no Chicago, no Philly, no Dallas. Plus, we'll finally be free of analysis of Romo & Roethlisberger's angst! Hooray!!!

It's all up to the Redskins to make this reality come true Sunday night when they host the Cowboys in a battle for the NFC Eastern Division title that I believe may well be a Redskin rout by the middle of the third quarter, a result that should lead to the Cowboys making major changes that are long overdue, including a change at head coach.

If the Redskins win Sunday night, the only team from a Top 6 U.S. TV market will be the San Francisco 49ers, at number six.
http://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-markets

That will mean that what seems like the majority of the teams that the NFL and Madison Avenue have foisted upon us this past season via nationally-televised Sunday Night, Monday Night and Thursday Night football ballgames will be completely absent from the playoffs: Cowboys, Giants and Jets. Buh-bye!

For the Cowboys, this absence will mean that the following is now true: the Cowboys have won one playoff game in the past 16 years.

Now say it over to yourself and ask yourself whether this self-evident fact will prevent the NFL and Madison Avenue from force-feeding the Cowboys down America's throat next year on the tube?
No, more likely, they will front-load many of those Cowboys games at the beginning of the season and cross their fingers to get some games at the end of the season on the flex schedule.

As I've written here before, one of the few conspiracy theories in America that is actually TRUE is that the NFL props-up the Cowboys in ways that it doesn't seem to for any other team.

At one point in this past season I had figured out that over half of the Cowboy 16 regular season games had been on national TV broadcasts, and with the flex schedule going into effect for Sunday night's Redskins, I believe that makes either 8 or 9 Cowboys games out of 16 that will have been nationally-televised.
Why so much pushing for such a mediocre team?

A few years ago, ESPN commentator and NFL Hall of Fame QB Steve Young succinctly tore into the Dolphins and the Vikings organizations as THE most over-rated NFL teams of the past 10 -or 15?- years.
To that he could have added the Jerry Jones Cowboys of the 21st Century.

No, contrary to what is said perpetually on ESPN, especially by Jon Gruden, the Cowboys are NOT one of the most-talented teams in the league, they are one of the most under-performing.

As a matter of fact, as far as most NFL fans are concerned, the Cowboys and Giants don't need to always have one of their two games be a nationally-televised game, or even rate a 4:15 p.m. Sunday kickoff.
It's not the 1990's anymore, capisce?

An exciting team on the rise like the Seattle Seahawks needs to be on national TV more and I don't mean 1 p.m. Eastern kickoffs against the Dolphins, either.

But don't kid yourself.
The Cowboys will be on more national TV broadcasts next year than the Seahawks even if Seattle gets to the Super Bowl. Even if they win it.
Rest assured, the powers-that-be at NFL HQ will see to it.

NFL Odds & Ends

When he was still head coach at Texas Tech, I used to wonder what a brilliant mind like offensive-minded coach Mike Leach would do if given the keys to the Cowboys, the Chargers, Jets, Bucs or the Ravens, five perpetually under-performing NFL teams, none of whom have made the Super Bowl despite having had numerous opportunities before collapsing. 

I still wonder about that now that Leach is at Washington State, but only re the Ravens.

My January 6, 2009 post on Leach going to the Bucs was titled, 
So THAT'S why newspapers are dying? BORING!; Jon Gruden must go!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/so-thats-why-newspapers-are-dying.html

As someone with a few Ravens t-shirts and jackets in my bedroom closet and who's rooted for the Ravens since they moved to Baltimore -and who came this close to becoming a Ravens season ticket holder that first year when I lived in Arlington County, VA- while it might be heresy for some to hear, while I think he's a good coach, I believe John Harbaugh's era at Baltimore could and should come to an end if they lose in the playoffs against either the Colts or the Bengals. 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bal-updated-ravens-nfl-playoff-scenarios-20121224,0,345461.story
At home. 
Mercifully.

They no longer have the number and caliber of defensive playmakers to mask his bad coaching decisions:

Ravens Have Underperformed During John Harbaugh’s Tenure
By Zach Wilt
ttp://baltimoresportsreport.com/ravens-overvalue-john-harbaugh-35505.html


Bloomberg News
Oakland Pays $17 Million for NFL Raiders as Cops Fired

By Darrell Preston & Aaron Kuriloff - Dec 20, 2012 5:58 PM ET

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/oakland-pays-17-million-for-nfl-raiders-as-cops-get-cut.html

Halfway thru 2011 NFL season, TV's East Coast bias in scheduling Sunday & Monday Night Football games, esp for Cowboys, Jets & Giants, is clear to see

clevelandthundercat video: A Browns Fan's Reaction To Today's Game Against Houston

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRBDMMVctu8&feature=colike

Brilliant!

Within my lengthy post Tuesday about Peter Schweizer's hot new book titled "Throw Them All Out," about insider trading and crony capitalism on Capitol Hill,

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/insight-into-world-of-insider-trading.html

I included a pithy and accurate secondary comment regarding what I called the "NFL/Madison Avenue nexus."

That is to say, the guiding hand at NFL HQ that causes the schedule-makers to force Cowboy, Jet and Giant football games down the country's throat before the holidays, in order to maximize the TV network's ratings, even if those particular games are crummy match-ups by the time they roll around -or worse- are of little general interest outside of certain East Coast area codes in and around the island of Manhattan.

Well, perhaps as a testament to how much some of you recall from what I right -or my ability to mention something here that's of interest to me that you find yourself in agreement with- I've received quite a few short emails from readers and NFL fans around the world who seconded my motion -and then some.

The general consensus for the past forty years among serious NFL fans I know and columnists I trust is that for the TV networks, the best scenario has always seemed to be having the Cowboys as a good team and playing at home or on the road against an East Coast city, regardless of how good the Cowboys actually are that year, since New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Atlanta are large markets.

(Obviously, you already know that they are all NFC and Fox-TV markets.)

In fact, more than any other team, it's been noticeable to even the most novice fan that even when the Cowboys are mediocre to average, as usual, the NFL has scheduled them for late season national games at times on Saturdays or Sundays that more-deserving teams should be paying at, almost as if the NFL marketing folks are closet Cowboy fans with their thumb on the scales.

Most NFL fans I believe could tolerate the schedule-makers giving the benefit of the doubt to the Steelers or the Patriots, as nobody ever thinks both teams will be bad in the very same year, but last I checked, the Cowboys haven't played in the NFC Championship since 1995, 16 years ago, yet they are forever the fair-haired favorites at NFL HQ.

That appearance and the simple facts that one can deduce from simply examining the schedule in even a cursory fashion, hardly seems to matter to the NFL, since the schedule this year once again seems to be set-up with the NFL's firmly hoping for the Cowboys to be good down the stretch.

But when has that hope become a reality the past few years?

For the Cowboys, December has been the month of giving -giving away ballgames they should've won.

The proof of that isn't just what we have already observed this year, but the fact that once again, the Cowboys are scheduled to host one of three late afternoon post-4 p.m. games on Christmas Eve Day, against... yes, an East Coast team, the Eagles.

For the record, the other two games are San Diego at Detroit and San Francisco at Seattle.

Seriously, which game do you think will be on local TV where you live that Saturday afternoon?

Now as we all know, there are supposedly limits on how often NFL teams can appear on Sunday or Monday Night Football, but for most fans, it rarely seems that way in practice, does it?

No, it seems that Mark Sanchez, Tony Romo and Eli Manning & Company are shoved down our throats at every single opportunity, and are always featured as pre-game or halftime interviews, despite the fact that we all have seen enough to know that they are not exactly sparkling conversationalists.

And, not surprisingly, given the common sense of most of you readers, some of those emails I received suggested that I print the entire NBC Sunday Night/ESPN Monday Night football lineup, plus the Thursday NFL Network schedule -which starts tonight with a Jets game!- so you can see for yourself whether or not it shows that East Coast bias, coupled with the Cowboy/Jet/Giant bias we've all come to expect from the NFL and the NY-based TV networks; with table scraps thrown to the rest of the country.

This year, for example, is a perfect example of what I was saying about the NFL schedule-makers loading-up for TV ratings sake.

It was a good month -four weeks- before there was a single Sunday night or Monday night football game that DIDN'T include either the Cowboys, Jets or Giants, who as of today, Thursday morning, have a combined record of 16-11.

Thru the first 12 weeks of the NFL season, there is NEVER more than ONE WEEK going by without an appearance on a Sunday, Monday or Thursday night game of the Cowboys, Giants or Jets.

How do you reconcile that?

In fact, if you look at the schedule for the first twelve weeks of NBC's Sunday night game, the farthest west they go is Kansas City, which will be two Sundays from now.

Not exactly a cross-country tour of America's love affair with the NFL.

Below, I'm going to highlight these three teams nationally-televised games on Saturdays, Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday night, and let you see whatever you want to see. Perhaps it'll be a pattern.

That's what I see.

Week 1

Sunday, Sept. 11th Dallas 24 @ NYJ 27

Monday Sept. 12th New England 38 @ Miami 24, Oakland 23 @ Denver 20

Week 2

Sunday Sept. 18th Philadelphia 31 @ Atlanta 35

Monday Sept. 19th, St. Louis 16 @ NY Giants 28

Week 3

Sunday Sept. 25th Pittsburgh 23 @ Indianapolis 20

Monday Sept. 26th Washington 16 @ Dallas 18

Week 4

Sunday Oct. 2nd NY Jets 17 @ Baltimore 34

Monday Oct. 3rd Indianapolis 17 @ Tampa Bay 24

Week 5

Sunday Oct. 9th Green Bay 25 @ Atlanta 14

Monday Oct. 10th Chicago 13 @ Detroit 24

Week 6

Sunday Oct. 16th Minnesota 10 @ Chicago 39

Monday Oct. 17th Miami 6 @ NY Jets 24

Week 7

Sunday Oct. 23rd Indianapolis 7 @ New Orleans 62

Monday Oct. 24th Baltimore 7 @ Jacksonville 12

Week 8

Sunday Oct 30th Dallas 7 @ Philadelphia 34

Monday Oct. 31st San Diego 20 @ Kansas City 23

Week 9

Sunday Nov. 6th Baltimore 23 @ Pittsburgh 20

Monday Nov. 7th Chicago 30 @ Philadelphia 24

Week 10

Sunday Nov. 13th New England 37 @ NY Jets 16

Monday Nov. 14th Minnesota 7 @ Green Bay 45

Week 11

Thursday Nov. 17th NY Jets @ Denver 8:20 PM

Sunday Nov 20th Philadelphia @ NY Giants 8:20 PM

Monday Nov. 21st Kansas City @ New England

Week 12

Thursday Nov. 24th Thanksgiving Day

Green Bay @ Detroit

Miami @ Dallas

San Francisco @ Baltimore, the Harbaugh Bowl

Sunday Nov. 27th Pittsburgh @ Kansas City 8:20 PM

Monday Nov. 28th NY Giants @ New Orleans 8:30 PM

Week 13 is when it gets interesting since though the NFL says that weeks 10-15 and 17 are when the "flexible schedule" kicks in for moving one Sunday afternoon game to Sunday night for NBC's telecast, they weren't/aren't about to abandon the Jets for Week 10 and the Giants for Week 14, were they?

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/tv/flexible

http://www.nfl.com/schedules

Thursday Dec. 1st Philadelphia @ Seattle 8:20 PM

Sunday Dec. 4th

The two games most likely to be moved are Detroit @ New Orleans tentatively listed for a 1p.m. kickoff and Green Bay at, yes, the NY Giants slated for 4:15 p.m.

Monday Dec. 5th San Diego @ Jacksonville 8:30 PM

Week 14

Thursday Dec. 8th Cleveland @ Pittsburgh 8:20 PM

Sunday, Dec. 11th

What do you know, NBC has tentatively listed the NY Giants at Dallas for Sunday night, though by then, the Cowboys may already be eliminated from playoff contention.

What are the odds that NBC tosses this game?

We know the answer to that, don't we -ZERO chance!

Mon, Dec. 12th St. Louis @ Seattle

Week 15

Thursday Dec. 15th Jacksonville @ Atlanta

Saturday, Dec. 17th Dallas at Tampa Bay 8:20 PM

Sun, Dec. 18th

Tentatively scheduled for Sunday night is Baltimore @ San Diego, but they could drop that if Chargers are out of playoff contention by then -quite likely- and go with Seattle at Chicago, Detroit at Oakland or NY Jets at Philadelphia. Hmm-m...

Monday Dec. 19th Pittsburgh at San Francisco

Week 16, Dec. 22nd-25th, has a condition that weeks 10-17 didn't have -a guarantee.

The NFL guaranteed Chicago at Green Bay on Christmas night to NBC, and there are no night games on Christmas Eve.

See, the NFL really does care about its fans. LOL!

At first glance, the only surprising thing is that the Giants at Jets game was scheduled for 1 p.m. and not 4:15 pm, but then you noodle it thru and you see what the NFL has done for Fox-TV.

It has given them all three teams we've discussed in this blog post on what will likely be a huge viewing day on a day that American families will be, theoretically, together, with the Philadelphia at Dallas game following the battle of the two New Jersey teams.

No chance they were going to have two west coast teams playing in the second game, right?

It would be a real shame if the Giants eliminated the Jets right before Christmas, wouldn't it?

Thursday Dec. 22nd Houston @ Indianapolis 8:20 PM

Sunday, Dec. 25th Chicago @ Green Bay 8:20 PM

Monday Dec. 26th Atlanta @ New Orleans

Week 17

Sunday Jan. 1st

This week, the last regular season weekend, the two games most likely to be moved are the 1 p.m. Baltimore at Cincinnati and Detroit at Green Bay games.

But playing Devil's Advocate, guess who also plays at 1 p.m.?

Yes, Dallas at the NY Giants.

The TV networks would't bypass two possibly crucial games with playoff positions at risk for another collective FU to the rest of the country would they, just to get more NY eyeballs?

You bet they would!

http://www.nfl.com/schedules