In a last few years with little to be cheery about, Cardinals have maintained my interest much deeper into the season than anticipated. Have a lot of tough divisional games, though if we can end up 6-9-1 that would be a massive improvement. 4-11-1 more likely if we don't get a win on Sunday.

Free agency could be interesting along with likely a Top 10 pick.

I make the Cards and the Chargers pretty unlucky. Arizona has a tough schedule and the Chargers lose by the tightest margins.

Yeh i think a new coach and injuries hasnt helped (take time to settle into the NFL). Interesting to see what we do next year. David Johnson clearly wasnt the player he was. Very small sample size but Chase has looked great and Drake is easily a decent RB2.

Would love to see us use free agency well and go for a big money move for Austin Hooper at around $8m per year. Secure a top 5 TE for the next 4 years for Murray to build around.

Unfortunately for Cardinals, Pat P and Fitzgerald and David Johnson take up almost $40m with Chandler Jones $20m on top, with the Fitz only getting older.

The schedule has been tough but certainly looking to easier as the games go on. Would love to smash the chiefs!

Been in such a rubbish place for years but it looks like they finally found the right two for the draft in Chucky and Mayock. all the draft choices have been great this year especially Jacobs, Dont forget Abraham got injured in Pre season so we are missing his talent.

Very hopeful of a playoff game or two.

My NFL predictor, which I have been tracking for the last few weeks has the following schedule playing out

AFC
Cheifs vs Texans
Ravens vs Pats

NFC
9ers vs Saints
Cowboys vs Packers

From there im not sure where I would go right now. Still think the Saints have everything to win this year

There we are, then.... face a good team = lose... More to come I suspect.
My Eagles are dogshit this year so I'm reveling in other teams' calamities

We lost by a FG in the last second of OT despite the following;

- Not having George Kittle, arguably the best TE in football.
- No Emmanuel Sanders for the majority of the game, hands down our No 1 Receiver (and you saw why with the likes of Bourne, Pettis and Goodwin stinking up the joint)
- Not having our Kicker and replacing him with a rookie who hadn't up till this played a game in the NFL...and it showed with that attempt in OT.

However, not making any excuses. Jimmy G had a poor game and the turnovers killed us. But we were still a botched FG attempt in OT from winning it.

Need to bounce back on Sunday against Arizona, and then get everyone healthy for a monster home game against the Packers.

No real shame in losing that IMO. 49ers have established there wins by getting the lead and then pounding the run with hardly any picks or fumbles ensuring clock is managed. Seahawks kept Coleman quiet and got good pressure on Jimmy G.

Agree that Kittle is a miss, but this 49ers team is fairly limited in its WR group, particularly when Sanders went down.

Thought the Seahakws played well though, a tough road game and if they can produce some numbers out of Josh Gordon, then him, Metcalf and Lockett plus Carson and Wilson gives them great strength going into the playoffs.

Expect you to bounce back against my Cardinals comfortably, we simply do not have a defence that can tackle nor have David Johnson anywhere near good enough to be playing +50% of snaps

100%.

That said, Deebo Samuel continues to impress and has the potential to be a legit No 1 in the slot. He's having a very good first year for a Rookie. Last night was his first 100+ yard game (it was also the most times he has been targeted so far this season). He is averaging 11.3 yards per catch which is a pretty impressive stat line.

Its just a real shame that we haven't been able to see Jalen Hurd at all yet; think that might have to wait till next season now unfortunately.

Just hope this rib injury isn't too serious for Sanders...

Perhaps, in a weird way, experience counted a little bit last night? From Wilson to the Kicker, in the clutch moments, they went the way of the more experienced side, not necessarily the better.

Having seemingly been down and out, the Steelers are on the charge. With the Browns twice, Bengals and Cardinals in there next 4, could easily see them maintaining their charge. Would annoy the Dolphines who traded Minkah who has been unreal last few weeks, for the 1st pick. Could end up being a number 20+ rather than the top 5 it once looked like

Bengals, Redskins, Broncos, Jets, Dolphins, Giants, Lions, Falcons, Cardinals, Bears, Buccs, all fighting for those top 10 picks.

Except the Falcons decided to blow their chances of a high draft pick just like they did a few years ago when they missed out on Khalil Mack. (They've managed to beat the Eagles and Saints on the road but lose to the Titans and Cardinals. They'll end up with the 6th-11th pick and take a safety and miss a chance to trade down to a team that wants a QB or take the latest Ohio State pass-rushing beast.

Went for Jake Matthews that draft year? Odell Beckham, Mike Evans, Aaron Donald all came after- hindsight. The Falcons dont have an easy schedule so wouldnt expect them to be too low in the draft.

Interesting times for the Raiders. On a good streak. Last year in Oakland before becoming Las Vegas.

They also have an additional 1st and 3rd Round pick in 2020 looking likely to be a 10-20 and 20-25th picks in the 1st. Easily pair the 20-25th 1st and the 3rd in return for someone elses higher 1st normally

Yeah, they beat a Washington team at the end of the season that changed their pick from #2 to #6. It was difficult rooting for the Redskins to convert a 2pt conversion at the end of the game to win but what's the difference between 3-13 and 4-12. Oh yeah, five spots in the draft. They loved Khalil Mack but would have probably picked Greg Robinson anyway.

5 spots in the draft. Jesus!

Any fantasy advice this week. Do a go with Brady vs Eagles or Josh Allen vs Dolphins.

Re the missed kick for the 9ers - I don't think you can criticise the rookie. Yes, he hooked it and the commentators immediately said he choked under pressure... but if that was the case, then he'd have missed the clutch field goal from the exact same distance in the same circumstance that sent it into OT. I'd also be worried about using a missing player as an excuse - if you want a Superbowl, you have to be able to win with injuries. The soft schedule question hasn't been fully answered but it has been foreshadowed.

On the Seahawks side, Clowney was a beast - wow. (Remember when Denver won it all behind Von Miller?) But they have their own questions: How long will Lockett be out? Can Wilson keep it up?

Frankly, no division has two such strong teams, let alone three with the Rams. I'm fairly confidant both SF9 and SEA will make the playoffs and either could be in the Superbowl.

The NFL is holding an open Trial for Colin Kaepernick this Saturday in Atlanta followed by an interview session. All NFL teams have been invited and there is interest.

This is just the NFL trying to save face.

They can now pass the buck onto the teams and say going forward that they "did their bit by giving him this platform".

He won't get anything from this sadly. Owners are petrified of bringing him into their building.

I know Kraft is a big Trump supporter so you can rule the Pats out straight away, but you can imagine BB wanting him just to be ready for a scout team role when they have to prepare for an eventual AFC Championship showdown with the Ravens and Lamar Jackson.

Anyone see the fight in the Steelers-Browns game tonight (Thursday)... now that was a real fight! None of the handbags we usually see.

After hitting Rudolph with his own helmet, Garrett's going to spend some time sitting in the crowd. Probably Pouncey too, for kicking him in the head. I don't know if Rudolph will be suspended though he certainly reacted strongly to Garrett's original hit. I suspect De Castro and the rest will be ok.

It'll also be interesting to see if further action will be taken against Randall for the hit on Johnson at 5:20.


FWIW, I got home from work just in time to see Randall's ejection but not the play; then I'd turned off to go to dinner, knowing the result was in the bag, and missed the fight. Big mistake - missed the best action of a fairly mundane game.