poised for flight, wings spread bright
Week 11!
Almost exactly 83 years ago to the day (11/17/1940), travel in pro sports was forever changed. The Packers made history by becoming the first team to ever fly to a road game.
After bussing from Green Bay to Chicago, the Packers flew to New York to take on the Giants.
Here's a look at the Packers mid-flight:
Six years ago, the Patriots became the first (and still only) NFL team to fly their own private planes. They purchased two Boeing 767-323’s (ex American Airlines). The estimated cost for the two planes is $10 million.
They cited being able to customize the planes to their standards so they could control the seating capacity and comfort level.
It costs teams around $4 million a year to travel to all the away games. Considering the upfront cost of a used 767, renovation costs and just general maintenance costs, it looks pretty expensive to own your own planes.
For that investment, I’m sure they don’t let just anyone fly the planes. Busses, however, are a different story. Back in 1996, Raiders Kicker Cole Ford lied that he used to be a bus driver and drove the team bus to the hotel
From The Athletic:
Tim Brown: My best kicker story was off the field. We are in a park in the middle of Kansas City and some kind of way, our bus driver leaves. Not with the bus. The bus is there, but the driver is gone and the bus is running. So, Cole Ford says, “Hey, I used to drive a bus before I came in the league,” and we were like, “Well, hot dog it, let’s go!”
So we jump in the doggone bus and I am sitting shotgun. This particular bus had a seat down by the door like it was a tour bus. I’m sitting there and I said, “Cole, we only got one rule. We don’t hit people. Cars and trees can be replaced. People cannot.” And he was looking at me like, “OK, Coach, I got you, yes sir, on three, ready, break!” Man, we are coming back and we did take out a tree. I know we took out a tree. And we get this thing close enough to the hotel and when we are parking it, he looks at me and says, “Tim, this is the first time I ever drove a bus in my life.” But it wasn’t like he was laughing about it. It was the craziest thing ever.
Luckily nothing TOO bad happened, like in 1976, when a plane crashed into the stands following the conclusion of the Steelers' 40‐14 playoff victory over the Baltimore Colts.
The Seahawks will travel 31,600 miles this season, the most in the NFL.
The Lions have the least amount of time zone changes. Kind of interesting since all 3 division rivals are in a different time zone. All of Michigan (except the western Upper Penninsula) is EST.
Detroit is a lot further east than most people realize. It’s further east than Atlanta.
Numbers
482: The Chargers are 482-482-11 all time. Herbert is 29-29 as a starter. Since his first start, they have scored 1,502 points and allowed 1,502 points.
118.5: Russell Wilson has the best red zone passer rating in the NFL (118.5) AND the best PFF red zone grade in the NFL (91.6). Russ is elite where it matters the most.
2015: The last time the Vikings played a regular-season game in Denver, Anthony Barr intercepted Peyton Manning in 2015. He’ll be active for them on Sunday night, in his first game back with the team.
3: The 49ers lost 3 straight games to the Browns, Vikings and Bengals. All 3 teams have lost their quarterbacks for the season.
148 [TRIVIA]: Andrew Luck was sacked 115 times in 55 games. Which active QB has been sacked 148 times in 52 games?
Quotes
"This is a completely different thing. It's not uncommon for guys to wear compression sleeves on the plane. When you go up to that altitude, things can swell up. This is a completely new injury."
“This came out of nowhere.”
Bernard Williams reacts to the Eagles releasing him at 51 years old. He last played in 1994
“I was telling him, 'Get up, Mark. C’mon Mark, show me you can get up.' Him not getting up, it really started to hurt. Our leader was on the floor.”
Isaiah Likely said the trainers had to basically pull him away from Mark Andrews as he took a knee next to him
“Smoke and mirrors? Screw you. We work too hard for this. …. I think that’s a cloud of smoke.”
Cam Heyward has a message for everyone who says the Steelers are winning with smoke and mirrors
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Picks
Sunday, 11/05 @ 1pm
Raiders at Dolphins (-13.5)
The Dolphins have 85% of the bets and 90% of the money: +5% differential
Bears at Lions U48
The Under has 49% of the bets and 67% of the money: +18% differential
Cardinals at Texans O48
Sunday, 11/05 @ 4:05pm
Bucs at 49ers (-12) U41.5
The Under has 49% of the bets and 54% of the money: +5% differential
Sunday, 11/05 @ 4:25pm
Jets at Bills (-7)
Sunday, 11/05 @ 8:20pm
Vikings at Broncos U41
The Under has 49% of the bets and 60% of the money: +11% differential
Record
ATS: 26-29-3 (-2.73u)
O/U: 20-14 (+5.46)
Highlights
Someone was flying a drone inside the stadium on Thursday which stopped the game
After going Undrafted in 2019, Jake Browning throws his First NFL Touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase in 2023
Lamar uncorks a bomb to OBJ to set the Ravens up in the Red Zone
Titans' LB Azeez Al-Shaair was homeless in the Tampa Bay area when he was younger and got to tell Mike Evans just how much he meant to him growing up on Sunday
Trivia
Andrew Luck was sacked 115 times in 55 games. Joe Burrow has been sacked 148 times in 52 games.
This doesn't include post season stats either. Luck was sacked 11 times in his whole playoff career (8 games), Burrow has been sacked 29 times in the playoffs (7 games)