Running NFL Divisional Weekend thread

What he said. Saturday prime time, I think, is the lowest rated slot of the entire week.

 

Fair point. That might actually be a better reason to put the Giants on Saturday night, to draw a prime-time audience that the league might not normally get, but I guess the network would prefer to maximize the Sunday slot.

 

Interestingly, the Giants have already played the Eagles(twice), Cardinals, Panthers, Steelers and Ravens, going 5-1.
They haven't palyed a team with a losing record since San Fran in mid October

 

I was surprised to see that the Ravens had 22 first downs, converted on 7/14 third downs, and had the ball for 34:28 in the first meeting between the two teams, yet only scored 10 points.

Flacco did throw two picks in that game, but he has played much better during the second half of the season.

It should be a fun matchup.

 

Sunday night/Monday morning from about 2 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. disagreess with you. Otherwise, I would have been able to find something other to watch last night than Peter Jackson's King Kong.

 

James Harrison goes from undrafted rookie to NFL Defensive Player of the Year ... wow.

Regardless of how much folks in SJ Steeler Nation liked the guy, no one could've predicted this.

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09005/939707-66.stm

 

At what point couldn't they have predicted this?

Four years ago? OK. Maybe then.

 

Yeah.

The guy has obviously made himself into one heck of a player.

 

Let's hope the postseason curse that followed the MVP, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Comeback POY doesn't hit the Steelers next.

 

I agree with your overall point, but even two years ago, he was backing up Joey Porter. He showed signs of being a very good player then, which was a big reason that they let Porter go, but nobody was sure. The Steelers liked him enough to hand Porter's old job to Harrison, but they also drafted outside linebackers with their first two selections that offseason, so they were hedging their bets.

But given what he did in '07 and the way he has stepped up his play this season, this should not be a shock. I thought Ware might get it because he had 20 sacks, but Harrison is the better overall player. He isn't just a pass rusher. He is a beast against the run. I have been saying he is clearly among the top five defenders in the league most of this season.

 

After that Monday Night game, everyone was sure.

 

People I know are more likely to watch Saturday night's game at the pub than the Sunday afternoon games.

If that ratings thing really held water, New England would not have been tabbed for a primetime playoff game last year. Or when they had it in Jan. 2004. Or when they had two in Jan. 2006. Vick played in three of those night playoffs. So on, so forth.

These are intended to be the sexy games.