Thought I’d start an NFL thread for the sparsely interested.
Any Favourite Teams here?
Mine,in case folk didn’t already know,… 
San Francisco 49ers.
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32 Teams
2 Conferences of 16 Teams each.
4 Divisions of 4 Teams each,in both Conferences,NFC and AFC.
17 Games per Team,with,you guessed it,a Bye!
Newsflash - As of last week,3 Time Winners since 2019,the Kansas City Chiefs,will not be in the Play-Offs for the 1st time in 11 years.
Franchise Quarterback Patrick Mahomes will start a long recovery process,after sustaining a Season ending knee injuries,with Successful Surgery providing a good start to that process.
Do we really need a thread for this stupid game?
Do you really need to read it?
Our Club has produced 1 NFL player
2 Ray Guy Award Winners in College Football and another 2 aspiring players.
And if one Patrick Mahomes didn’t get in the way,we’d have 1 guy who would have got his hands on The Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Ex-WP and Hawthorn key forward, Jasper Scaife, has just signed a college football contract with Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish.
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Wow!
That’s pretty Cool,going there!
The Best of Luck to Jasper in his endeavours there!
49ers Win a close one against NFC Central Winners and on the rise Chicago Bears 42 - 38,to go 12 - 4.
Must Win next week,to possibly Win the Division and Claim Top Seed in the NFC and grab the 1st Round Play-Off Bye!
Lose and we possibly finish 5th or 6th,behind 4 Division Winners,one of whom could have a possible Win/Loss record of 8 - 9.
That won’t deter the AFL with their Ridiculous Wild Card BS!
What might work for the NFL,isn’t applicable to Aussie Rules!
But I can some AFL echo chambers(especially the VFL Competition)say “Too Late!The ship
Has Sailed on that score!It’s here to stay!”
Lord help our once great game!
“Holy Toledo!”
America’s Game today featured the 1976 Oakland Raiders,who went 13 - 1(16 - 1 overall),with John Madden,Kenny”The Snake”Stabler and Phil Villapiano telling the story of The Bay Area Team,who gotten close so often,but falling short in the AFC Championship Game,they wondered when the time came for them to Win The Big One!
Finally Getting Pittsburgh out of the way,before the Super Bowl,helped their cause massively.
A Team that played Hard,sometimes “a little outside the rules”,things fell their way at last,when the Divisional Play - Off against the Patriots,came down to a contentious Roughing The Passer call against “Sugar Bear”Hamilton.
The kind of call that often went against the Raiders,but not this time.
The Super Bowl against the Minnesota Vikings in Pasadena,California was a No Contest,the scoreline of 32 - 14,flattering Bud Grant’s 4 Time NFC Championship Team.
Raiders Radio Commentator Bill King brought the action to Oakland Fans,often punctuating Touchdowns or All Ins with his call of “Holy Toledo!”
Lawrence Fishburn narrated the Raiders’ Year and a prominent fan was old Jim Rockford himself,James Garner.
Two contrasting games today to start the Final Round.
1st one involves 2 Teams who are 8 - 8 and 7 - 9.
You wouldn’t think either would make the Play - Offs with such appalling records.
But these 2(Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Bucaneers)play in a weak Division and the same one!
At the very least,the Loser goes Home!NO Wildcard,with a 8 - 9 or 7 - 10 Record(take Note AFL!).
However,the Winner goes to the Play - Offs with a 9 - 8 or 8 - 9,as the NFC South Division Winner!
And 4th Seed in the NFC Conference,of 7 Play - Off Teams in each Conference!
Pretty Lofty.And they get to play 5th Seed at Home!
The trick is,they’ll end up playing the 5th Seeded Seattle Seahawks(13 - 4)or San Francisco 49ers(12 - 5),after these 2 Play - Off in The Bay Area for Top Seed later today!
Pretty harsh if you finish with either good record.
Unfortunately though,if you don’t Win your Division,you fall outside the Top 4 Sides who did,regardless of the fact,you had a far better record of a Poor 4th Seed,if a Weak Division occurs in a Season.
The Victor of the Seahawks v 49ers Crunch Game gets Top Seed and a Bye into the Divisional Play - Offs!
Go 49ers!
Hark.
Bucs go ahead of the Panthers head to head,which may lead to Play - Off action.
But should Atlanta Win to advance to 8 - 9,that puts the Panthers back into the Play - Offs,apparently on a 3 Team Tie Basis,….
Confused?
Sorry,Atlanta weren’t even in that picture when I had a look in the NFC South Standings,…..
With the Play - Offs commencing,the following Teams/Franchises qualified.
NFC -
East
3 - Philadelphia Eagles(Won NFC East)
South
4 - Carolina Panthers(Won NFC South)
8 - 9 Record
North
2 - Chicago Bears(Won NFC North)
7 - Green Bay Packers(Wild Card)
9 - 7 - 1 Record
West
1 - Seattle Seahawks(Won NFC West)
1st Round Bye
5 - LA Rams(Wildcard)
6 - San Francisco 49ers
AFC
East
2 - New England Patriots(Won AFC East)
6 - Buffalo Bills(Wildcard)
South
3 - Jaxonville Jaguars(Won AFC South)
5 - Houston Texans(Wildcard)
North
4 - Pittsburgh Steelers(Won AFC North)
West
1 - Denver Broncos(Won AFC West)
1st Round Bye
7 - LA Chargers(Wildcard)
I’ll post the Play - Off Games,bit by bit over today,updating them as quickly as possible(USA/Perth Time).
Visiting Teams mentioned 1st
Saturday/Sunday Morning
LA Rams 34 v 31 Carolina Panthers
Green Bay Packers 27 v 31 Chicago Bears
Last Quarter of this Play - Off Game lasted 1 Hour,6 minutes and 38 seconds.
Game Clocked adjusted 10 seconds forward,then soon after 5 seconds back,leaving 7 seconds remaining instead of 2.
For all the Rule changes the AFL pull off,this is one they Wouldn’t Dare try and Pull!
Much as they’d probably would think they could pull!
I remember Darren Bennett did ok back in the day…San Diego?
Yes Freeze,10 years at San Diego Chargers and is a Member of the Chargers Hall of Fame,elected by the fans,soon after that form of nomination was Inaugurated.
Spent a couple of Years at the Vikings as a Free Agent,before Retiring.
Was also a 2 Time Pro Bowler,AFC Champion Winner,a Member of the 50th Anniversary and 40th Anniversary Team.
Regarded as one of the best Punters of his time and close to All Time.
Had 2 Sons,one of whom followed him as a Punter,the younger Son William passed away at the too young age of 24/25 due to Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy.
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3 more Play - Off Games tomorrow morning,which of course is Sunday to the USA.
AFC
Buffalo Bills(6)27 v 24(3)Jaxonville Jaguars.
2.00AM Perth Time(1.00AM)USA Atlantic Coast Time.
Former Demon Mitch Wishnowsky given extra Duties as the Kick Off Player,on top of Punting and Field Goal/Extra Point Holder jobs.
One Punt pinned the Jaguars back in their own Half,leading to a missed 54 Yard Field Goal by the Home Team.Difference?3 Points!
NFC
San Francisco 49ers(6)23 v 19(3)Philadelphia Eagles
5.30AM(4.30PM)USA Atlantic Coast Time.
AFC
LA Chargers(7)3 v 16(2)New England Patriots
9.15AM(8.15PM)USA Atlantic Coast Time
Tuesday Morning
AFC
Houston Texans(5)30 v 6(4)Pittsburgh Steelers
12.15PM(1.15PM Monday)USA Atlantic Coast Time
One for Houston Fans.Whilst their former Team the Oilers headed East for Tennesee,courtesy of reviled owner Bud Adams,the Hatred for the Steelers know no bounds and through their still relatively new Team,the Texans,any opportunity to knock off their tormenters from Western Pennsylvania,is greeted with relish.
Texans put a lick on their Steeler Rivals,running away with a convincing Win,after struggling to get things going in the 1st Half,in what must Surely be Aaron Rodgers’ last game.
Tips
Bills,49ers,Chargers,Texans
Go Niners
Bang Bang
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Up to Seattle next week.
Don’t think George(Kittle)will play with a crook ankle,I believe.
It will be tough but we’ve overcome adversity all season.
Sadly Kittle has torn his Achilles.
Ouch.
Not good! 
Hopefully Kyle can find a way to reverse the last game against the Seahawks.
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Good thread grassy. I’m a 49ers fan as well. I got hooked watching Joe Montana back in the day and then Steve Young go about their business.
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