NFL 2009 Season Week 5 Picks

Patriots and broncos is the game to watch.

There are a lot of unanimous picks this week.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmonsnflpicks/091009
Bill Simmon's mailbag. Every single one from a Packers fan describes my feelings. I'm glad I'm not alone.

I would like to make a formal apology to all of America. As a Packer fan, I had never experienced the sad fortune of listening to commentators gush over Brett Favre from the other side. To any fans of any team that ever played Brett when he was a Packer, I'm sorry. I never realized the severity of this slobbering.
--DJ, Madison, Wis.

Even if the Vikings were 0-4, it would be worth it, just for these types of revelations.

I thought the 'gushing' and 'slobbering' was a bit much even when he was with the Packers.

Lots of crappy games on this week, the good news is that I won't be watching them at home because I am going to the Vikings game vs St. Louis.

I didn't notice it.

If 80% of packer fans really feel that way, I think I want a different team to root for. I don't want to be associated with people like that.

And Bill Simmons is an idiot.

Why would you want a different team based on the fans? Monday night was ridiculous with how they went on and on about Favre, but even when he was a Packer it was getting annoying. Especially when other players would make great plays or were having awesome years and they'd hardly even mention their names on a broadcast.

The thing about it is that while he may never have said the exact magic words Simmons is waiting for, it's just bizarre selective hearing to say he's never addressed it. A waitress can't ask him what he wants for supper without him throwing in a comment about how great the 16 years in Green Bay were.

If I'm understanding this right I think I agree with you. Favre has said in almost every press conference he's had how much the packers mean to him. But he doesn't play for the packers anymore. What is he supposed to say, "I'm sorry I beat you guys."?

If only Derek Jeter could be traded to another AL East team and the Yankee fans could get a hint of this feeling.

I'm not sure if Favre has really said anything about appreciating fan support given to him during his time with the Packers and/or during the summer of 08 debacle? Not that he has to and not that every Packer fan would even care (I wouldn't), but I think maybe that's Simmons' point.

I kind of agree with those reader emails though. The whole Jets thing was whatever, now he's just another purple freak, which was finally cemented in many peoples' minds during that game. Montana didn't retire after one year with the Chiefs, ask to be released, then unretire again to sign with the Cowboys.

After the rams fumble twice inside the vikings 5yard line and a third fume returned for a touchdown, I get the impression that this could easily be a very different game.

How bout them cowboys and cheifs eh? Lol

Cheifs, chefs, or chiefs?

Someone do some research for me. I'm looking for statistics on NFL instant replay success rates. I heard that mike McCarthy was tops among current coaches and I wanted some evidence. But I can't find anything on this.

He won't have that crown long if he challenges calls like that Rodgers fumble, and that was after they had a TV timeout to watch it 340 times.

Lions might have had a chance to win/tie if Stafford and C. Johnson wasn't injured, but then again they didn't have Parker or Polamalu. And if they didn't get a BS roughing the passer call on them which led to 7 points.

Are you talking about the safety? Because he won that challenge. I don't remember if there was another one you might be referring to.

No, it was early on. Possibly even their opening drive.

I beleive Sarah had this to say.

It was indeed early on in the first drive. Rodgers fumbled, and it didn't look very close even. It was ironic, though, that in "winning" the challenge at the end of the game, the play went from a fumble recovered by teh vikings on the 1 yard line to a saftey.

Well, it was (in all likelihood) a 5 point swing in your favor, though we were wondering at the game if it turned out that it was a safety if we would have to challenge ourselves to get it. I don't know what the interim call would have been, but it seems that generally you don't have negative consequences, that weren't called originally, go against you.

If a team was challenging the spot of a 9.99 yard catch because they thought it was a first down, and it turns out the ball was never caught in the first place, would the ref back them up to the original line of scrimmage, or just make the call based on where the ball would have been, had it been a catch?

I'm fairly certain that the refs army specifically limited to challenging the specific thing the coach is challenging for. I feel like it has happened in the Packers fable before, where someone challenged one thing but the refs called something else. I think a realistic example might be a team challenging an incomplete pass, and the ref rules that not only was it a catch, bit then the receiver fumbled.

Oh, and I do know that if you challenge the spot of a ball, it has to result in a first down in order to "win" the challenge, even if the replay did result in the ball moving forward slightly.