Odds and Endzones: Yawn. Football Without the Packers Is Boring.

Bargaining would be much easier if I could convince myself that Aaron Rodgers had a chance of returning this season. The 13 screws he had put into his collarbone, however, really make that possibility rather slim. Still, there’s a chance, right? Some chance? Any? There has to be!

How does this bargaining work? I have a very large family, all of them with perfectly useless collarbones sitting in them. Maybe ….?

Does Martavis Bryant have an agent, manager, friend -- anyone -- who can help him out as far as how to behave as a professional and how not to burn bridges? The promising wide receiver was suspended all of last season due to multiple failed and missed drug tests. Earlier this month, it was reported that Bryant had requested a trade from the Steelers, but Bryant denied the report. A week later, however, he was publicizing his frustration with his reduced role online, which included an exchange with a fan where Bryant said that rookie teammate JuJu Schuster-Smith is “no where near better than me,” and alluded to the fact that he had requested a trade. Then he called in “sick” to a meeting. The Steelers, obviously none too pleased with Bryant, demoted him to the practice squad, and the relationship appears to be over. When asked if he was confident Bryant could contribute to the team later in the season, head coach Mike Tomlin said, “I’m not.”

No more hugs for Martavis.

By the way, JuJu Schuster-Smith is a) very good so far, and b) ONLY 20 YEARS OLD! And he’s a team player, as seen here taking the lowly role of the bench in Le'Veon Bell’s bench-pressing celebration.

It was a very frustrating Sunday for me. Not only were the Green Bay Packers not playing, but there were a lot of games that got my hopes up, only to disappoint. The Seahawks-Texans, the Cowboys-Redskins, and the Patriots-Chargers games all started off well or stayed close, but the villains all won in the end. Just my luck.

So Russell Wilson had a pretty good Sunday, I guess. Seattle squeaked out a 41-38 win over Houston, and Wilson accounted for all but three of Seattle’s 479 yards: 446 yards passing and 30 yards running. For rushing, the rest of his team managed three yards on 17 carries for a 0.18 yards-per-carry average, which translates to about six inches per carry.

The California Chargers might want to fix that patch of the field that’s apparently covered in ice. It’s make the Chargers look like Curly, Larry, and Moe. (Those are their names, right? I've never watched the Three Stooges.)

I can’t decide who is my favorite Houston Texans wide receiver. On the one hand, there’s DeAndre Hopkins, who’s a total stud, but on the other hand, there’s second-year man Will Fuller, who’s not only a Notre Dame boy (Go Irish!), but he missed the first three games of the season and is still leading the NFL in receiving touchdowns.

Adding insult to injury: Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller dislocated his knee on a touchdown which was then overturned on replay, even though it was clearly a completion in the endzone. I won’t show the video here because seeing Miller’s knee bending the opposite way than it’s supposed to is too gruesome, but trust me that it was a touchdown. Not only did Miller dislocate his knee, but he actually suffered arterial damage, as well, that required emergency surgery to try to “save” his leg! The surgery apparently went well, but that’s just awful. Here’s hoping for a swift and successful recovery.

Things got just a little heated on Thursday night. Miami Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso leveled a helmet-to-helmet hit on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco as he slid after a short run. Flacco suffered a concussion and there was, predictably, a skirmish after the hit, with some people calling for Alonso’s suspension. You can see the clip for yourself below. It’s a tough hit that deserved to be flagged -- and I would have been okay with an ejection -- but it’s very hard to correctly predict when and at what angle a quarterback is going to slide. I think the league rightly did not suspend Alonso. Baltimore, however, levied its own punishment, scoring the next 27 points and shutting out Miami 40-0.

Also, guess what? Ndamukong Suh is still an animal.

Jay Cutler was out for the Dolphins with broken ribs. Since he’s down, now seems like a perfect time to kick him. ESPN polled current players about QBs around the league. One of the questions was, “Who is the one QB you would NOT want as a teammate?” Jay beat out the runner-up by 36%.

Hope your ribs feel better for real, though, Jay.

Man, Julius Peppers is coming up on 38 years of life, and he’s still out there causing havoc. On Sunday, he forced his 49th career fumble and moved into fourth place on the all-time sacks list.

What is it with former Packers players having great years?? Peppers is still playing well, and safety Micah Hyde, who signed with the Buffalo Bills in the offseason, is now leading the league in interceptions.

One thing that was promised on this blog and has been sorely lacking is the presence of cats. Thursday Night Football stepped up where O&E has failed.

Backup New England Patriots’ quarterback and handsome devil Jimmy Garoppolo was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a second-round pick. People are already building him up as San Fran’s savoir. Now, I like Garoppolo and hopes he does well, but let’s remember how the Patriots made Matt Cassel, Ryan Mallett, and Brian Hoyer look like stars. All these trades seem to end with Bill Belichick & Co. evilly laughing in some darkened boardroom as they count their draft picks.

Ezekiel Elliott is back to being suspended (for now), as we all knew he would be. As I've said before, if players didn't want Roger Goodell to be judge, jury, and executioner, they shouldn't have signed the CBA.

Kansas City beat Denver on Monday night, leaving them as the only team in their division with a winning record. I suppose that's impressive or something, but you all know how I feel about the Chiefs.

Travis Benjamin’s decision-making skills are the headline here, but let’s give props to the refs for the perfectly synchronized signalling of the safety. Like a mirror image.

Phillip Rivers bats the ball out of his own hand for a fumble pic.twitter.com/In5pMxvlAT
— 🎃Josh🇦🇶 (@Janderson___22) October 29, 2017

Hey, you guys remember Samkon Gado? He was a running back for the Packers quite briefly. Since leaving the NFL, he’s applied to medical school and is currently in residency as an Ear, Nose, Throat doctor. He is planning on using his skills to return to his native Nigeria to open a medical clinic. Pretty neat career!

I still totally, 100% have faith in Brett Hundley, but I have been watching this gif on a loop for the last hour.

Odds and Endzones