NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 16: Everybody is drunk

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

I usually do not put a tag, but I really think I have no idea what's going to happen in the playoffs. Like we are heading for a 'Red Wedding' style playoffs where no one is safe. I cannot believe I said multiple times on Sunday, 'Philadelphia might be the best NFC team.'  Let's talk about it I guess and try to make sense of all that happened this week. 

TOP SHELF 
Talk me out of a New England-Philadelphia Super Bowl -  Here's where the NFL season has left me folks. These are the two best teams right now in both divisions. San Francisco is pretty good, but giving up 350 yards to Matt Ryan at home worries me a bit. Philadelphia seems to be cooking on all cylinders, and I feel like the Minnesota game is a blip on the radar. New England keeps winning games no matter who is lining up on both sides of the football. Tom Brady's statistics might not be great, but he's playing great this season for what's he's been given this year.

Cam Newton's big balls performance - While Robert Griffin III suffered all the criticism after he had a successful rookie season, Cam Newton received it during the draft process, his first season, second season and to think there are still losers whom still call him Scam. He led Carolina down the field late in the game trailing and notched a victory for the Panthers. I do not care if he only threw for 181 yards. That took massive testicular fortitude, and I am impressed with his season. Cam Newton is winning an MVP award before 2018.

Indianapolis leaves me uneasy like an STD - That might be a little too extreme, but I do not know what to make of the Colts. I am starting to think Indianapolis plays down to their opponents hence the reason why they have some brutal losses in juncture with impressive wins against Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and others. They will get a home game against this Kansas City team, but I also wonder if Andy Reid played a vanilla offense/defense showing nothing to Indianapolis which is very possible. We have seen this before with teams.

Cowboys come back and Romo gets hurt? - Dallas made a valiant comeback against Washington with Tony Romo leading a comeback to beat Washington and set up an NFC East showdown next Sunday. But they could be without Romo as he has a back injury. First, it was a herniated disk, then it was day-to-day injury and now it is back spasms. I have no idea what to think about this Dallas team although I will admit it would be the most Romo thing ever for Kyle Orton to lead Dallas to a playoff appearance.  

MIDDLE SHELF 
I feel legitimate bad for Arizona - As someone who cheers for an NFC North team, I feel bad Arizona might miss the playoffs with an 11-5 record. That would be insane. I mean the NFC West is an excellent division, but still it feels wrong in all sorts of ways for Arizona or New Orleans missing the playoffs although more so the Cardinals who have been playing great of late.

Peyton breaks the record, but how much meaning does it have? - I am really happy for Peyton Manning's season because it in large part won me 260 dollars so for that I thank him, but at the same time, passing records post the new NFL rules will be looked at like the steroid era numbers in baseball. All of these records being broken and re-broken by others in the last couples years is honestly pathetic, but it is not Peyton's fault for taking advantage.  

Somehow Andy Dalton is sixth in passing - See what I mean about what I just ranted about above?

Jeff Fisher is the king of .500 - I probably should not call him the king, but he is the prince of it. In eight of his 18 seasons of a full-time head coach, Fisher's teams have been either 7-9, 7-8-1 or 8-8. That's incredible. I do not know what that says about his teams or his coaching. Just find it interesting how it always seems to Ihappen with Fisher.

BOTTOM SHELF 
DETROIT..... Football :( - We were at Lambeau, and they showed the highlights of New York-Detroit... Right before they did it, my buddy Seth goes 'I bet Stafford threw a pick-six here.' and sure enough, he did throw that interception and sure enough, Detroit lost the football game.

Miami pulls a Dan Marino - For as long as I could remember, Dan Marino was famously known for choking in December football games on the road. He could not win in the cold to save his soul.  Apparently, this version of the Dolphins do the same thing as they were shutout by the Bills, the same team who gave up 33 points to Jacksonville. Thankfully, Miami has New York Jets at home.

I have no control in Week 17 - I absolutely hate how I have no idea how things will pan out next week. I am exhausted from this season.

Charlie.

Sportandfashion-news Packers Preview: Green Bay v. Dallas

Once upon time, I hated Dallas. I could not stand the team. Growing up in the 90's, Dallas was the rival. Not Minnesota, Chicago or Detroit, but Dallas. They were Brett Favre's kryptonite as Packers fell in playoff losses to Dallas in Cowboys Stadium for three straight years. Additionally, Green Bay had some gut punch regular season losses in Texas where Favre went down with injury in 2007, Chris Boniol making seven field goals on Monday Night Football and the pinnacle of regular season losses against Dallas - Jason Garrett playing for Troy Aikman leading them in a Thanksgiving Day victory to put Green Bay at 6-6.

There are so many bad memories in Dallas, but in new Cowboys Stadium also known as JerryWorld, the memories are great. The last time Green Bay played at newly named AT&T Stadium, they were hoisting by the Lombardi Trophy by the end of it. This story of Green Bay's trip to Dallas will be much different and without Aaron Rodgers for the sixth straight game.

According to Mike McCarthy, Rodgers feels good and wants to play yet he is not medically cleared. In a weird way, Green Bay is treating this like Chicago did with Derrick Rose as well as other teams when their star player goes down with an injury. At this point, who know if he will be ready for Pittsburgh next week. But one thing has to end right now, it is the narrative that Rodgers is not tough. This is not a knee ligament injury. This is not a shoulder muscle injury. This is a goddamn broken bone. Not to mention, a bone that breaks easier after it has been broken once. Trust me, this is not a toughness issue, this is an issue of making 100 percent sure Rodgers will not get hurt again with the same injury.

As for the game itself, Matt Flynn is back in the saddle. He looked much better against Atlanta although people like Geno Smith and Mike Glennon have been good against Atlanta. Although Dallas' secondary and defense are not world-beaters as they have come under all sorts of criticism throughout the year. They were mashed by Chicago last week in a cold weather game where Josh McCown had the game of his life. McCarthy said Flynn had the best week of practice, and it could be coming at the right time as this Dallas team will be without Sean Lee, their best defensive player. This opens door for a big day from Flynn and Eddie Lacy.

The Packers running back battled an ankle injury this week, but he seems likely to go being probable. Lacy could have a huge day on Dallas' defense without Lee. In the four games Lee missed with injury, opponents rushed for 160.5 yards a game. If you take out Oakland's dismal 50 yard performance, New Orleans, New York and Chicago rushed for an average of 197.7.  If we were doing something like Wins Above Replacement in football, Lee like Rodgers is right at the top of the list. Cowboys defense is completely lost without him. If Lacy rushes for 113 yards, he will be the first 1,000 yard rusher Green Bay has had since Ryan Grant in 2009. Lacy will have those yards and then some. I feel like this will be a massive day with Lacy.

Couple things I will be interested to watch are Sean Richardson and Andrew Quarless' performances. Richardson had a solid game filling in for MD Jennings, but he did in a snowy, muddy field against a weak Atlanta wide receiving core. I will be interested to see how Richardson handles Dez Bryant, Terrence Williams and Jason Witten. Tony Romo could definitely have a big day against the Packers defense with all of the weapons he has out there.  He will definitely be tested and he definitely will make a couple mistakes. I just hope he is starting and not Jennings. Let's not be stubborn here just go Jim Calhoun admit you made a mistake and start Richardson.

As we talked about in the Classroom, Quarless had his best game as a Packer last week. I am always interested to see if these players can carry it over for another week. We already discussed the holes in Dallas' defense meaning there will be opportunity there for him to have another big day on the football field. Remember how much was made of Quarless as a player when he was drafted out of Penn State. He had some off-the-field stuff knocking down his draft grade, but he had all the talent in the world. As we have seen with countless athletes, maybe all it took was a little time with him.

For a game prediction, I hope everyone is ready for a four-hour football game. I have a feeling this will be a complete shootout meaning punters are probably optional. This also means whoever has the ball last will probably win the game. I am going with Green Bay. Dammit I would probably take Dallas, but I want to believe especially since I am heading to Lambeau next Sunday. Green Bay 42 Dallas 38  

Charlie.