Official Texans vs. Jaguars Game Thread, 1/2/2011

[HPF Bob]

AKA "trINT Edwards"? Lovely. But don't worry. We've been punked by backup quarterbacks before. Happens all the time. In fact, it happened just last week.

[Arky]

TV = CBS (Channel 11 local), 3:15pm, Sunday

Announcers = Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf

Opening line = Jag by 2.5
Current line = pickem to Jags by 2.5

Walter of walterfootball.com like the Texans in this matchup and makes a good point about the Jags:

RECAP: The Jaguars need to win. That's why they're favored. And that's one of the reasons why I like the Texans.

As legendary handicapper Dave Cokin once said, "Teams that need to win aren't very good in the first place." To take it one step further, teams tend to choke when everything is on the line. Hence, the Aurora Snow Alert (Aurora Snow is a famous porn star for those of you who don't know.)

[NBT]

Jacsonville will still bring their defense - unfortunately, so will we. Same result as last week, different method.

[Arky]

Texans now a 2.5 to 3 pt favorite - I suppose because of no Garrard or (probably) MJD.

[NBT]

Kubiak and Schaub will do just enough to see that we ..............LOSE!? After all we have to protect our position in the Draft SB. Arrrggghhh! And there is no real assurance there will even be a draft.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by NBT

And there is no real assurance there will even be a draft.

There are many who know far more about the CBA than I do so please feel free to correct me here if I'm wrong. But re the Draft, it's my understanding
that since players when drafted in the annual NFL April Draft aren't initially members of the players union, and therefor aren't subject to the CBA until sometime subsequent to being drafted, probably when they sign their contract. Therefor this years Draft will be held as scheduled ?

[HPF Bob]

The contract year, IIRC, ends the last day of February every year and the player draft is a part of the CBA. Even if the players aren't technically NFLPA members until after the draft, there would likely be lawsuits as to whether a post-CBA draft would be legally binding without the sanction of the CBA which serves to work around the anti-trust laws.

For example, Player A loves the Cowboys but hates the Giants. Subsequently, Player A gets drafted by the Giants this April. The Cowboys decide to poach Player A with a contract which the player signs because he's "always wanted to be a Cowboy".

With a CBA, the player is bound to play in the NFL only with the team that selected him in the draft with the blessing of the NFLPA. Without a CBA, Player A (or the Cowboys) might argue that he's actually a free agent since there is no contract that binds him to the results of the draft.

If this went before a judge or the NLRB, they would likely rule that the player is a free agent and can play for whomever he wants since there is no CBA establishing the legality of the player draft whose primary purpose is to eliminate the leverage that the player has in shopping his services to the highest bidder.

My feeling is that the NFL will try to move up the draft to February, while there is still a CBA, so that the draft is legal unless the CBA specifically states that the draft must be held after March 1st each year.