This community is not just for fans of the San Diego Chargers. It is for football fans. Some bye weeks are relaxing and fun. You can find a few games to get into, with your rooting interest based on Chargers competition or random teams/players you hate the most. Some bye weeks test your football fandom. This will be one of those bye weeks.
After the jump, we'll go over which games you should pray you get at each timeslot and I'll tell you the secret to enjoying non-Chargers football.
1pm EST Games
I was going to try to rank these games from best to worst, but there is no best (except MAYBE the Bengals/Ravens game) and there is no worse. They're all terrible. Here's the rundown.
- Bengals @ Ravens
- Browns @ Bills
- Redskins @ Panthers
- Steelers @ Lions
- Cowboys @ Chiefs
- Raiders @ Giants
- Buccaneers @ Eagles
- Vikings @ Rams
Guh. Can you realistically predict any of those games to be watchable? They're all either going to be blowouts or out-and-out ugly. Terrible.
4pm EST Games
The Jags/Seahawks game aside, those are some awesome games. The Falcons/49ers game will result in at least one person being carted off the field. Patriots/Broncos will just be an awesome matchup, and a Broncos loss would make it even sweeter. Texans/Cardinals has the potential for a 70-68 final score.
So here's your quick guide for surviving the bye week. It's called the Red Zone Channel. DirecTV has one and cable companies have another, but they're roughly the same thing. If there's something interesting going on in the NFL, that's what they put on. Throw that channel on and plan a BBQ. Glance over at the TV every now and then, just to make sure nothing of interest in happening before 1pm PST. Eat early, give yourself time for a mid-day drunken, "I couldn't eat another bite" nap. Wake up in time to see Belichick psyching out Kyle Orton from across the field.
Oh, but keep the Red Zone Channel on. You know why? Because only suckers watch commercials. The only time I ever deal with commercials is when I'm watching the Chargers, or the SNF/MNF games.
For those thinking this is a sell-out post, it's not. BFTB is not sponsored by either Red Zone Channel (although it may be in the future). I'm just letting you guys know that, as somebody who has swore by it for the past two seasons, it's the best way to enjoy the upcoming bye week. Or I guess you could skip football this weekend and do something more productive.