NFL

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

So the Rams have released who they play next year.

With the 2014 regular season complete, the Rams 2015 home and away opponents are all locked in. While the full schedule with weeks and times will not be available until a later date, below are the teams the Rams will play next season.

All teams in the NFC West will face the AFC and NFC North next season. The Rams will also face the Redskins and Buccaneers based on divisional finish within the NFC.

HOME

Detroit Lions (11-5, 2nd place NFC North)

Chicago Bears (5-11, 4th place NFC North)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-14, 4th place NFC South)

Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5, 1st place AFC North)

Cleveland Browns (7-9, 4th place AFC North)

Seattle Seahawks (12-4, 1st place NFC West)

Arizona Cardinals (11-5, 2nd place NFC West)

San Francisco 49ers (8-8, 3rd place, NFC West)

AWAY

Green Bay Packers (12-4, 1st place NFC North)

Minnesota Vikings (7-9, 3rd place NFC North)

Washington Redskins (4-12, 4th place NFC East)

Cincinnati Bengals (10-5-1, 2nd place AFC North)

Baltimore Ravens (10-6, 3rd place AFC North)

Seattle Seahawks (12-4, 1st place NFC West)

Arizona Cardinals (11-5, 2nd place NFC West)

San Francisco 49ers (8-8, 3rd place, NFC West)

[Macca 16,174]

Playoff Schedule ... it looks like all the playoff games will be shown live on 7mate & ESPN

Sunday Jan 4

8.25am Arizona (5) @ Carolina (4)

12.15pm Baltimore (6) @ Pittsburgh (3)

Monday Jan 5

5.00am Cincinnati (5) @ Indianapolis (4)

8.30am Detroit (6) @ Dallas (3)

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Sunday Jan 11

8.30am Indi/Cin/Balt @ New England

12.15pm Car/Ari/Det @ Seattle

Monday Jan 12

5.00am Dal/Car/Ari @ Green Bay

8.30am Pit/Indi/Cin @ Denver

[DeeSpencer 23,509]

I'm obviously too late to tip in this game. But would've had Carolina. Something like 24-16.

Ravens 20 Steelers 27

Bengals 10 Colts 20

Lions 17 Cowboys 30

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

Yeah I forgot to post...

Cowboys 17, Detroit 24

Bengals 31, colts 30

[Macca 16,174]

Ravens D getting it done ... Big Ben needs to find something

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

Yeah I forgot the games were on today, missed the early game and first five mins of this game.

Steelers started so well but red zone has been owned by Ravens D.

Can't see the steelers getting up unless they lift 50% across the board.

[titan_uranus 22,852]

Bell out for the Steelers was always going to be huge. Having said that, I never felt Pittsburgh was anywhere near as good as the number 3 seeding suggested and they showed why - crap secondary, inconsistency from Big Ben, and a marked inability to score in the red zone. Baltimore is a well-rounded side. I don't see them winning in New England but good on them.

Arizona's season ended when Carson Palmer got injured. Big fall from them, to go from 9-1 and not make the Divisional Round of the playoffs is disappointing though.

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

Yeah Palmer going down screwed the cards, that's why a QB loss can be devastating unless they are a strong running team which minimalises the loss due to not a major reliance on the pass game.

[titan_uranus 22,852]

Great comeback from Dallas. To come back from down 14-0 and 17-7 at the half against one of the better defences in the league in a playoff game is a big effort. Means we get the Packers, 8-0 at home, hosting the Cowboys, 8-0 on the road, which should be a great match up (Carolina at Seattle though, I'm not so excited about).

[DeeSpencer 23,509]

Yeah Palmer going down screwed the cards, that's why a QB loss can be devastating unless they are a strong running team which minimalises the loss due to not a major reliance on the pass game.

Not just Palmer. Stanton and Ellington as well. Back up QB and starting RB. Plus they had some gun defensive players out. Pretty much they did well to get as far as they did and at the end of the season their gun defense had too much load to carry with a 3rd string QB and without starting RB. I think if you were a Cards fan you'd have to be somewhat happy with the year considering.

[DeeSpencer 23,509]

Great comeback from Dallas. To come back from down 14-0 and 17-7 at the half against one of the better defences in the league in a playoff game is a big effort. Means we get the Packers, 8-0 at home, hosting the Cowboys, 8-0 on the road, which should be a great match up (Carolina at Seattle though, I'm not so excited about).

Dallas impressed me. They just keep surprising. So I think next week will be a step too far but who knows.

I can't actually get excited about any of the games next week. Maybe Luck and the Colts. But Manning with an extra weeks prep and the way the Colts have been playing like flat track bullies for most of the year doesn't inspire either.

If results are predictable it might be a boring week but will set up one heck of a AFC/NFC championship weekend and likely a great superbowl as well.

[Macca 16,174]

Big reversal of a pass interference call with 8.18 left in the 4th quarter in the Dallas game ... no explanation given

Perhaps a call came in from Vegas

Home town decisions are always likely to occur and must be factored in but the defensive player (Hitchens) doesn't look like he ever had eyes for the ball. If the original call had have stood, Detroit would have been within field goal range with a 1st down (the Lions were leading 20-17 at the time)

To be fair, there were probably a number of other "iffy" pass interference calls throughout the game (there always seems to be) so I guess things evened themselves out in the end. Still, Detroit would probably feel a little aggrieved.

The incident is certainly a talking point ... Pete Morelli: Penalty not warranted

Leaderboard in the Playoff Comp

3 - Go the Biff, JV7, Macca

2 - pantaloons, Georgiou R.R. Martin

0 - everyone else

Sunday Jan 11

8.30am Baltimore @ New England

12.15pm Carolina @ Seattle

Monday Jan 12

5.00am Dallas @ Green Bay

8.30am Iindianapolis @ Denver

Edited January 5, 2015 by Macca

[pantaloons 2,019]

I'll get in super early, as I'm likely to forget:

New England 31, Baltimore 20

Denver 45, Indianapolis 24

Green Bay 34, Dallas 24

Seattle 41, Carolina 3

[JV7 2,339]

Big reversal of a pass interference call with 8.18 left in the 4th quarter in the Dallas game ... no explanation given

Perhaps a call came in from Vegas

Home town decisions are always likely to occur and must be factored in but the defensive player (Hitchens) doesn't look like he ever had eyes for the ball. If the original call had have stood, Detroit would have been within field goal range with a 1st down (the Lions were leading 20-17 at the time)

To be fair, there were probably a number of other "iffy" pass interference calls throughout the game (there always seems to be) so I guess things evened themselves out in the end. Still, Detroit would probably feel a little aggrieved.

The incident is certainly a talking point ... Pete Morelli: Penalty not warranted

Leaderboard in the Playoff Comp

3 - Go the Biff, JV7, Macca

2 - pantaloons, Georgiou R.R. Martin

0 - everyone else

Sunday Jan 11

8.30am Baltimore @ New England

12.15pm Carolina @ Seattle

Monday Jan 12

5.00am Dallas @ Green Bay

8.30am Iindianapolis @ Denver

Yeah the pick up flag on the pass interference turned the game, I reckon they got it wrong... Demarcus Lawrence would have been breathing a sigh of relief when he recovered that fumble on the last play.. Don't know why he didn't fall on that fumble he got n lost at around the 2:30 minute mark, the ball game would have been over than, luckily he got redemption!! Edited January 5, 2015 by JV7

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

Worst decision. Those refs won't get a gig this week. Detroit got raped by the refs in the last quarter. That is a penalty every day of the week. I hope GB smash them this week.

[JV7 2,339]

Baltimore 17 - Patriots 37

Seahawks 23 - Panthers 13

Cowboys 20 - Packers 34

Broncos 30 - Colts 16

Edited January 6, 2015 by JV7

[Macca 16,174]

Baltimore 26 New England 29

Carolina 10 Seattle 33

Dallas 27 Green Bay 35

Indianapolis 19 Denver 25

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

Baltimore 24 New England 27

Panthers 21 Seattle 38

Cowboys 18 Green Bay 35

Indi 31. Denver 28

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

NFL admitting they screwed the lions over a few times.

[Macca 16,174]

NFL admitting they screwed the lions over a few times.

I like Belichick's idea where the challenge flags that the coaches can use extends to penalties such as pass interference or holding penalties. They often use up their challenge flags anyway so it wouldn't necessarily add any extra time to the games. Think they get 2 challenge flags and an extra one if the first 2 are used successful.

Anyway, most NFL fans are used to time outs and replay anyway - as long as the games don't descend to "flag football", I reckon it adds a bit more drama to the sport and I see it as just another part of the sport.

The hold on Suh which wasn't called was fairly blatant but if we were to analyse every play of every game, they could find a reason to throw a penalty flag with even more frequency than they do now.

[Go the Biff 3,211]

Baltimore 17 New England 28

Carolina 10 Seattle 31

Dallas 17 Green Bay 31

Indianapolis 21 Denver 28

Can't see a road team winning this week

and yes, Detroit got shafted

Edited January 7, 2015 by Go the Biff

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

I like Belichick's idea where the challenge flags that the coaches can use extends to penalties such as pass interference or holding penalties. They often use up their challenge flags anyway so it wouldn't necessarily add any extra time to the games. Think they get 2 challenge flags and an extra one if the first 2 are used successful.

Anyway, most NFL fans are used to time outs and replay anyway - as long as the games don't descend to "flag football", I reckon it adds a bit more drama to the sport and I see it as just another part of the sport.

The hold on Suh which wasn't called was fairly blatant but if we were to analyse every play of every game, they could find a reason to throw a penalty flag with even more frequency than they do now.

Agree, you cop those holding penalties and move on, the picking up of the flag after the ball had been moved is the one tho.

Would the refs want their calls challenged?

Could lead to [censored] off officials.

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

Rams owner is not taking calls from the St Louis mayor or government...

Looks like it's back to LA for us...

Not happy about that TBH. I'd rather stay in St Louis.

[Macca 16,174]

Now it's a tear in the calf muscle ... Rodgers may be far from 100 percent ... if that's the case then it's unlikely that his calf muscle has had enough time to heal. Couple that with the near freezing conditions and I can't see how he can be at his best ... or anywhere near his best if we're being brutally honest.

It could be that he's just going to hand if off to Lacy and Starks and throw from the pocket only. That may or may not get it done and Dallas is sure to apply the pressure.

If we have to go to Flynn or even Tolzein then we may have to end up relying on Romo not being able to take advantage - that's always a possibility

[Gorgoroth 12,365]

Rogers is key. With him in, you win easily, Dallas O line is not great.

Without Rogers I think it's 55/45 Dallas way but Romo ain't 100% either