2016 Running Football Thread

[Gusington]

Geno Smith has better songs too.

Not really.

[Bison]

I should be excited by the Vikings this year, but frankly I don't care about the NFL.  I haven't watched a single game this year.  I occasionally check box scores and listen to a game on the radio while driving, but I don't find the games overly compelling like I do college football. 

I don't think anyone should underplay the political fallout of the NFL's decisions.  I honestly don't care if a player kneels during the National Anthem.  However it becomes a political nightmare for the NFL, when they actively support this decision but squash the ability of teams to honor slain police officers or players honoring 9/11 victims.  The NFL would be better served by attempting to remove itself from contentious political decisions.  People tune in as an entertainment escape.

[bayonetbrant]

I watch FNIA for the highlights, and an occasional game in the background if I'm working / cleaning around the house, but outside of a Super Bowl, I honestly can't remember the last time I watched a complete NFL game end-to-end the way I do college games, even for teams I'm only marginally interested in (like Clemson - Louisville 2 weeks ago)

[bayonetbrant]

So this is a BRUTAL box score.

Check out Rutgers offensive stats

One QB was 1/10 passing (for negative yards!); the other was 1/8.
Their leading receiver had 5 yards.
Ouch

http://www.si.com/college-football/game/1621713/box-score

[Martok]

The Vikings are the sole undefeated team in the NFL. 

Words cannot express how bizarre it feels to utter that sentence.  Or how glorious. 


Obviously they can't keep this up forever; at some point the fairy tale will end.  But I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts.  8) 

Hey Viking fans, how you liking that Sam Bradford trade so far???  As an unabashed Bradford fan from his Sooner days, I'd love for Sam to finally live up to his billing. Looks like a case of right guy/right situation for all involved. Just....just keep him upright, fellas. Trust me on that one   O0

I'll not deny he's been a pleasant surprise.  To be sure, Bradford was almost certainly the best of what few options were available to us when Teddy went down, and I agreed with most of the fanbase that it was probably the best move management could've made if there was to be any chance at salvaging the season.  But I suspect very few of the Vikings faithful anticipated he would turn out as well as he has thus far.  He's definitely been fun to watch. 

The NFL would be better served by attempting to remove itself from contentious political decisions.  People tune in as an entertainment escape.

Am in 100% agreement with this statement.  (Also, Kap has always come off as a douche, regardless of whatever "views" he may profess to hold.) 

[airboy]

So this is a BRUTAL box score.

Check out Rutgers offensive stats

One QB was 1/10 passing (for negative yards!); the other was 1/8.
Their leading receiver had 5 yards.
Ouch

http://www.si.com/college-football/game/1621713/box-score

Michigan should have shortened the game through a mercy rule.  This was pathetic.

[Bison]

Isn't the mercy rule requested by the team getting beat?

[bayonetbrant]

Isn't the mercy rule requested by the team getting beat?

K-State should know, shouldn't they? ;)

[Bison]

i don't think Kstate has been beaten that badly recently.

[bayonetbrant]

https://thekicker.com/browns-fined-by-osha-for-providing-unsafe-work-environment-for-qbs/

[Bison]

^ ok that was funny.

[BanzaiCat]

To be fair, the Vikings played the Texans.

[JasonPratt]

Obviously they can't keep this up forever; at some point the fairy tale will end.  But I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts.  8) 

Since I somehow, in my teeth-gnashing brain-bleach, forgot to whine about this over the past weekend.... actual headline from The Jackson Sun Sunday morning: "VOLUNTEERS RUN OUT OF MAGIC DUST".

Losing to Texas A&M wouldn't be so bad, especially since the Aggies signed some of the lesser mutant hulks from Oklahoma -- not even kidding, one of their central linemen is named Lanfear, based on L'enfere, French for "The Inferno", i.e. hell. (As also fans of RJ's Wheel of Time novels will know. ;) )

But we shouldn't have lost. It shouldn't have even been close. As typically typical for UT Knoxville, we threw away 6 turnovers. Four of them while heading for the end zone. Three of them led directly to A&M scoring instead. (Obviously there was some overlap. Which didn't hurt less.) Aggy should have been down as much as 21 points (wiping out their score completely) and we should have been ahead by up to another 28 points, going into the fourth quarter. If you vomit away a 49 point deficit, then it doesn't matter how desperately you fight (that last-gasp thrust jabbing the ball out of the Aggy-runner's hands two steps from the end-zone for a touchback to keep us able to win) or how much genius some of your plays have (like our quarterback sauntering into the end-zone for a turnaround from a short dump pass thrown by our wide receiver whom the fullback had handed off to on a double-reverse after receiving the snap while the quarterback walked off apparently giving instructions to the line. Bro: "...what... what even was that? What do you even call it!?!" Me: "Epic.  O0 ") It doesn't matter that you go into double over-time to break crazy ties. It doesn't even matter that the final nail in the coffin is yet another intercepted pass to end the game (although again, typical). BECAUSE YOU SHAT AWAY UP TO FORTY NINE POINTS ALREADY, TENNESSEE!   

It also didn't help that we came into the game with three injuries and racked up a few more, as did the Aggies, unfortunately either way. Or that the refs were high on allergy medicine, sometimes even in our favor: after one of our guys just straight-up pushed his Aggy matchup from behind after the play had ended, the ref who flagged it actually gave the penalty to A&M at first! 

But still.

FORTY

NINE

SWING


I've watched us hemorrhage some stupid numbers of turnovers over the years. (And even come back to win from some of the stupidest numbers.) I can't recall ever seeing so much of a potential point shift from those turnovers.

Now my whining is complete, and I can live the rest of my life again.

[bayonetbrant]

The last time Tennessee beat 'Bama

TECH

• There were no iPhones. The first generation iPhone didn't debut until June 29, 2007. In fact, in 2006, the Motorola RAZR was the top-selling cell phone. Let that sink in.

• MySpace was still the preferred social media platform.

• Instagram (and all other apps) didn't exist. Photo sharing was limited to texting images on your favorite flip phone and your grandmother's photo albums.

MUSIC, MOVIES & TV

• Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" was at the top of the charts.

• "The Prestige" was the No. 1 movie in America. Lead actor Christian Bale has made over 15 movies since then.

• The Disney Channel debuted a show called "Hannah Montana." Miley Cyrus was only 14 years old and likely had no idea what twerking even meant.

• "Friday Night Lights" premiered that year. Needless to say, Coach Taylor's "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose" slogan hasn't seemed to work yet for the Vols.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Standalone VCRs were still being built in the USA. We're not even sure kids know what DVDs are these days.

• Two countries didn't exist yet: South Sudan and Kosovo.

• Pete Carroll was still the head coach at USC, Joe Paterno was still alive and coaching at Penn State, and Bobby Bowden was still in charge at FSU.

• Brett Favre was still with the Packers, Tom Glavine was still with the Mets, and Barry Bonds was still with the Giants.

• Alabama only had 12 National Championships. We (yes, I'm an Alabama fan) now have 16.

[Bison]

That last bullet is going to make Metaldog feel better....