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Weekly NFL Thread: Week 14

Let's chat about the National Football League. This week's schedule (all times Eastern):

Thu 2024-12-05 8:15PM Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Atlanta Falcons @ Minnesota Vikings
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Carolina Panthers @ Philadelphia Eagles
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM New Orleans Saints @ New York Giants
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins
Sun 2024-12-08 1:00PM Las Vegas Raiders @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sun 2024-12-08 4:05PM Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals
Sun 2024-12-08 4:25PM Buffalo Bills @ Los Angeles Rams
Sun 2024-12-08 4:25PM Chicago Bears @ San Francisco 49ers
Sun 2024-12-08 8:20PM Los Angeles Chargers @ Kansas City Chiefs
Mon 2024-12-09 8:15PM Cincinnati Bengals @ Dallas Cowboys
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My mother has been an Eagles fan for decades, but the combination of Jason Kelce maturing into an appropriate old-lady-lust-object and Saquon Barkley, who she's loved since Penn State, have brought her to fever pitch in the last few years. Which has made me much more of a football fan. Funny how these things happen.

Good for her and I totally get the Kelce angle, those boys lucked out in the genetics department. I've been a big fan of Saquon myself, my big concern was whether or not he would stay healthy followed by, "are we actually gonna commit to running the damn ball this year?!?" And, wow, I guess when I think about it, I've been a fan for decades myself, hence the recalcitrant pessimism that can only come from decades of being so close only to taste disappointment, which to be fair is something that is a staple of long-term fans of the Birds. "They lost a game, the season is over!!"

I'm old enough to remember fans chanting both "TO, TO TO TOOOOOO" for Terrell Owens, and when he came back with the Cowboys after ODing on sleeping pills chanting "OD, OD, OD, ODDDDDD."

Not that I'm old or anything, but the first Eagles memories I have are my brother and my father singing a song about a Dick Vermeil Super Bowl team set to the twelve days of Christmas. Separately, I can remember being annoyed at another time because the game was on and I wanted to play something on the Atari. But since I was talking about the deep-seated pessimism that can only exist from being so close so frequently only to taste disappointment, TO's first year was the next time I saw the Birds make it to the Super Bowl over 20 years later. Making it twice in the last decade is really a welcome improvement given that the next best thing was eternally losing the NFC championship and Big Red going off to Hawaii to coach the Pro Bowl.

Again.