Wednesday Morning QB (Week 2)
This week marked a big week for the NFL as the return of football to Los Angeles became official.
It was the first game in Los Angeles since the Rams left in 1994 for a brand new stadium in St. Louis.
They finally found their way back after a long process where the city became the biggest bargaining chip in NFL history.
Since the NFL has gotten so big there has been a battle from every team to create the biggest and best fan experience with the biggest and best stadiums.
It seems like every year a new stadium opens, Minnesota opened the latest one this week with their first game at US Bank Stadium.
These new stadiums become the focal point of the league and they guarantee that a city will get a Super Bowl in the first few years.
That drives every team to look for new stadiums and ultimately they go to their current cities to get those stadiums.
In the past, it wasn’t that difficult as cities wanted to keep their teams as a way to bring people into their cities and spend money.
Recently that pattern has changed though as cities no longer want to shell out the massive amounts of money to build brand new facilities.
A lot of that has come with recent studies showing that teams are not necessarily a boost for cities, in fact, they have little advantage.
Cities are no longer paying for stadiums instead saying that the billionaire owners should pay for the stadiums themselves.
Such was the case for three teams over the last few years as the Rams, San Diego Chargers, and Oakland Raiders were all looking for a new home.
Each team truly did need a new stadium with issues in each stadium, the most coming from Oakland where the oldest stadium in the NFL has had issues for at least a decade.
This is where Los Angeles came in as the city had been asking to have the NFL back since they lost both of their teams in the 1990s.
These three teams and every team that has been asking for a new stadium began using the threat of moving to L.A. to get their way with city councils.
It was a good move for the teams but a move that continued to tease the L.A. fan base and taking away that possibility of getting another team.
The thing was that the Chargers, Rams, and Raiders could not get their cities to budge even despite the threats to leave the city.
So eventually two plans emerged with the Chargers and Raiders preparing to share a stadium in Carson and the Rams wanting to go on their own to Inglewood.
The NFL debated and decided that the Inglewood plan was the best but gave the option of the Charges to move in with the Rams and if they said no the Raiders would get the chance to do the same.
The move was a big one as the NFL finally got a team in the second-biggest TV market in the USA.
The Rams will move into their new stadium in 2019 and while they wait they will return to the original home of the Rams at L.A. Coliseum.
They opened that home this week with a win, although they still could not score a touchdown making it two straight weeks without a TD.
The win was a big one and a very important one for the franchise as their new market is notoriously fickle when it comes to sports.
They have the luxury of being fickle as there is plenty more to do throughout the city rather than just see a game.
Winning is the only way that teams can survive in a city that has more options and less of a history in sports, especially football, than other major markets.
That is what the Rams are dealing with in their new home as they need to get through the struggles that plagued them in St. Louis and start winning right away.
If they don’t by the time they move to their new digs they won’t have much of a following left and the move to L.A. won’t mean much.
The win in their first game back to the city is a big one for the team but the nine points they put up without a touchdown will not do them any favours in getting back the fans that they left being more than two decades ago.
The Rams are back in L.A. and they will look to make it a great market where they can thrive and where people pay attention.
Fifth Quarter:
(Thoughts on this week in the NFL)
Can’t Win for Trying
The Cleveland Browns have been one of the worst managed teams in the league for the last few years but not all of their issues are management as they can’t find consistency after Josh McCown was hurt this week leading the Browns to start their fifth QB in the last five weeks
Back-up to the Back-up
The New England Patriots were doing well waiting for Tom Brady to return but now they will need to go to a third option after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with an injury that will keep him out at least until Brady returns forcing the Pats to go with rookie Jacoby Brissett
Visiting Titletown
The Green Bay Packers are struggling on offence and they hope that they can change that as they took a serious look at C.J. spiller who might be able to provide a big change of pace in the backfield if he is ready to play
Key Scores:
New York Jets 37-31 Buffalo Bills
– The Jets and the Bills opened the Thursday Night schedule with Color Rush, although the Jets didn’t wear theirs, and the and it was a tight battle between Rex Ryan and his former team with the Jets coming out on top
Baltimore Ravens 25-20 Cleveland Browns
– The Browns didn’t have their newest signee under centre but Josh McCown did a good job leading them as they got up early against the Ravens but began to fall apart with McCown getting hurt in the game
Los Angeles Rams 9-3 Seattle Seahawks
– The Rams could not find the end zone for the season week in a row but they still picked up the win as they won their first game in Los Angeles for the better part of two decades in a tight defensive game at the L.A. Coliseum
Minnesota Vikings 17-14 Green Bay Packers
– The Minnesota Vikings were supposed to get close to repeating as champions in the division until Teddy Bridgewater went down but a late trade Sam Bradford made his debut opening a new stadium and beat the Packers in an important divisional game
Next Week:
Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots (Thursday, September 22nd; 8:25 pm ET)
– Jimmy Garoppolo couldn’t finish the game in Week 2 but the Patriots hope they have him available and don’t have to depend on a rookie to play against a fierce defence in the Texans who have started the season 2-0
Minnesota Vikings vs. Carolina Panthers (Sunday, September 25th; 1:00 pm ET)
– The Vikings were impressive in their first game against the Packers and in that game they may have discovered a new QB as Sam Bradford looked good but he gets a test against the Panthers defence
San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, September 25th; 4:05 pm ET)
– The Niners and the Seahawks were one of the best rivalries in the league over the last two years but that rivalry has fallen off recently although the Niners will still be looking to press their rivals and prove they can compete
Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints (Monday, September 26th; 8:15 pm ET)
– They were always the games that determined the south division and now they are fighting to stay in the playoff hunt as the Saints and Falcons both look to get an important divisional win that will be big for the end of the season
The Sport Addiction 