AFC Predictions

What has the league office concerned (and television in particular) that it ends up being Minnesota vs Jacksonville. Think about that for a second....

......how does NBC's crack marketing team promote a potential matchup between qb's Case Keenum and Blake Bortles? Doesn't exactly ring of those highly anticipated Tom Brady-Peyton Manning matchups we enjoyed for so many years, does it?

Worse than that perhaps would be that said contest bogs down and becomes a mirror of Wild Card weekend's Jags-Bills defensive 10-3 battle? Should that occur, the results could be a ratings nightmare once the dust settles.... Originally Posted by Chateau Becot

I don't think a viking v jaguar match up would be a ratings nightmere necessarily. It could be bad, but chances are it'll be a fun game. Same with an Eagles v Jaguar match up

I actually could see more or a chance of a boring game with a pats v viking pairing. The vikings defense will give the pats enough problems to keep the pats score down. Keenum, will fudge enough to keep their own score down against a relatively poor pats defense.

Would love to see the Jags with that fast defense shock New England.

[QUOTE=grean;1060386666]I don't think a viking v jaguar match up would be a ratings nightmere necessarily. It could be bad, but chances are it'll be a fun game. Same with an Eagles v Jaguar match up .QUOTE]

This past weekend, 3 out of 4 games went down to the wire, grean....several you might even go as far as calling them fun games. Well, guess what....? Once the final tally came in, the top brass at the networks didn't think those numbers looked so fun. Let's take a look.....

Wild Card weekend...the Sat/Sun games dropped collectively from last year's numbers 11.5% (and that drop is on top of the regular season's decline of 9.7%). Speaking of the regular season, that near 10% decline compounds things even further for the league since they were already coming off a decline of 14.5% during the 2016 season.

Divisional Weekend wasn't much better (comparing games played in the same timeslots during Jan of 2017):

Saturday's games....Titans/Patriots down 9%; lowest since 2000......Falcons/Eagles down 5%
Sunday's games.....Jaguars/Steelers down 7%.....and the premier game of the weekend (in spite of a historic finish) Saints/Vikings was down a whopping 23%. All told, its the lowest rated Divisional Weekend since 2009 and the 3rd lowest since 2002.

TV execs are bracing for even more declines this coming weekend. Three teams have little to no star power (nor are they "national brands" as one mentioned, ie: Green Bay and Dallas).

Again...your suggested "fun game" (scenario Vikes-Jags) has the potential of becoming an all-time TV clunker if these declines continue. That said, commercial spots for the upcoming Super Bowl are almost sold out (fetching more than $5M per 30-second slot....ye gads.)

Well, that's all true but even a clunker SuperBowl blows away everything else on TV that night.
Should every SB consist of New England/Pittsburgh vs. Dallas/Green Bay?
Someone should tell that to all the small-market teams. "You don't belong."

In the words of Mark Cuban - Pigs get fat and Hogs get slaughtered. Maybe the NFL has reached their price-point.
Or is the National Anthem thing? Another "Win" for Trump...lol
Maybe he'll even learn the words to it after this.
Doubt much of the team visits your new crib Donald.

I intend to watch it no matter who is playing. I've watched every one since 1969 (and I was very, very young then). There have been some bad games in which I was not paying attention the whole time, but I intend to watch it - glued to it simply for the historical significance.

I sure do hope Jacksonville beats the cheating Patriots.

I hate Brady and Belichick and that entire team of cheating arrogant New England motherfuckers.

I feel like the Patriots will get it done.

Pats 24
Jax 17

I sure do hope Jacksonville beats the cheating Patriots.

I hate Brady and Belichick and that entire team of cheating arrogant New England motherfuckers. Originally Posted by CG2014

One of the cowsheep bleating because the Patriots are a dynasty.

[QUOTE=Chateau Becot;1060390702]

I don't think a viking v jaguar match up would be a ratings nightmere necessarily. It could be bad, but chances are it'll be a fun game. Same with an Eagles v Jaguar match up .QUOTE]

This past weekend, 3 out of 4 games went down to the wire, grean....several you might even go as far as calling them fun games. Well, guess what....? Once the final tally came in, the top brass at the networks didn't think those numbers looked so fun. Let's take a look.....

Wild Card weekend...the Sat/Sun games dropped collectively from last year's numbers 11.5% (and that drop is on top of the regular season's decline of 9.7%). Speaking of the regular season, that near 10% decline compounds things even further for the league since they were already coming off a decline of 14.5% during the 2016 season.

Divisional Weekend wasn't much better (comparing games played in the same timeslots during Jan of 2017):

Saturday's games....Titans/Patriots down 9%; lowest since 2000......Falcons/Eagles down 5%
Sunday's games.....Jaguars/Steelers down 7%.....and the premier game of the weekend (in spite of a historic finish) Saints/Vikings was down a whopping 23%. All told, its the lowest rated Divisional Weekend since 2009 and the 3rd lowest since 2002.

TV execs are bracing for even more declines this coming weekend. Three teams have little to no star power (nor are they "national brands" as one mentioned, ie: Green Bay and Dallas).

Again...your suggested "fun game" (scenario Vikes-Jags) has the potential of becoming an all-time TV clunker if these declines continue. That said, commercial spots for the upcoming Super Bowl are almost sold out (fetching more than $5M per 30-second slot....ye gads.) Originally Posted by grean

Hey, if i was betting, I would not disagree with you...

It may be a fun game watched by fewer people than a the eagles v. Pats.

The network could be giving extra commercial runs for those 5 mil ads if the ratings don't pan out.

I predict a Vikings-Pats Superbowl.. if that pans out, there is a natural excitement factor.. I would think.. Vikings on their own turf, playing the longtime Champs, and last year amazing comeback Champs, to boot. if the NFL can't spin that as exciting, well.. it is probably hopeless.

I predict a Vikings-Pats Superbowl.. if that pans out, there is a natural excitement factor.. I would think.. Vikings on their own turf, playing the longtime Champs, and last year amazing comeback Champs, to boot. if the NFL can't spin that as exciting, well.. it is probably hopeless. Originally Posted by Chung Tran

Funny enough, the league is predicting that too. NFL.com ad has viking pat matchup....

Now I have to root for Eagles vs. Jag matchup. Got to buck against the man.

Fucking Patriots!

Arrogant cheating motherfuckers!

I feel like the Patriots will get it done.

Pats 24
Jax 17 Originally Posted by Chung Tran

Tran, you are good at this

The patriots are gifted and coached correctly unlike (Garrett,mostly Jones). With an easy possible road win to a Superbowl title. Did I want the jags to win yes, but the pats played great. Bortles played good but was not clutch like Brady.

I hope the eagles loose our location is enough said.

I don't mind a good team that is competitive and plays well and wins games but the Patriots act like they are supposed to be in the Super Bowl every year not because they play well and have good coaching, but because they are owed and deserve it above any other team and that no one else should be there but them!

That's the kind of arrogance that I can't stand.

Plus they have been caught cheating twice already. For each time they were caught cheating, how many dozen times they weren't caught which helped them win games they would otherwise not had won if they didn't cheat?

Once a cheater always a cheater!

Tom Brady is also one of the biggest assholes off the field ever in the history of the NFL.

Many NFL players are down to earth off field and help in the community and give back, not Tom.

He has a big head like his shit doesn't stink and his wife Gisele has an even bigger stuck up head than he does.

The cowsheep are waiting until NEXT year, again.