Whipped Cream Difficulties

We keep saying we’re going to get the TMQ Watch out closer to Tuesday, if not actually on Tuesday.
And then things keep popping up.
We apologize for the lateness. Perhaps next week.

After the jump, this week’s TMQ…

The catch/no-catch rules have changed this year: something TMQ has been calling for. But there’s a catch in the new catch rules.

What’s the catch? The new rule is that you have to control the ball and get your feet down for it to be a catch. If the ball gets knocked loose after you get your feet down…

Pass plays that in recent seasons have been signaled incompletions will be signaled completions followed by fumbles in 2018.

Seems kind of early to predict that. We’re looking forward to seeing stats on fumbles in 2018 versus 2017. And TMQ’s proposed “ground cannot cause fumble” rule strikes us as misguided, though we really can’t explain why (other than it’s TMQ proposing it).

Other new NFL rules for 2018 include stricter prohibitions against deliberate helmet-to-helmet hits; eliminating meaningless extra-point tries after time expires; and allowing the NFL command center to order a player ejected from a game in progress even if officials on the scene did not.

We don’t really have any strong feelings on these, though we do kind of like remote ejection. What do you suppose the odds are on that coming into play this season?

Male cheerleaders.

…Tuesday Morning Quarterback proposes this sideline strutting standard: Whenever the women go two-piece, the men should go shirtless.

That hardly seems like equality, Gregg.

This week is the NFC preview. High points:

Arizona: “With a rookie quarterback, a rookie head coach, and an overall dearth of talent, it could be a long season for this franchise that just two years ago reached the NFC title game.”

Atlanta: the Falcons have invested in wide receivers, because they have a dropped-pass problem. It would have been interesting to see TMQ discuss the reasons why the Falcons and Packers have played three times in four years, instead of the every fourth year that the standard schedule would call for.

Carolina: tax breaks.

Faster than light travel in SF (at least in movies and television) is unrealistic.

da Bears: bad free agent management, bad money management.

Tampa Bay: who?

Dallas: hey, at least Dez Bryant is gone.

Detroit: can’t run.

Green Bay: on the downhill side of a talent cycle?

Giants: might actually be decent this year, thanks to Nate Solder, Will Hernandez, Saquon Barkley, and dumping Jason Pierre-Paul. But that defense…

Rams: does anybody care? We don’t.

Vikings: need to learn to play outdoors.

Saints: ditto.

Philly: defense.

49ers: thank Ghu there’s no mention of He Who Shall Not Be Named. (Has everyone finally figured out he just wasn’t that good a quarterback?) And what has Jimmy Garoppolo done for the NFL lately?

Seattle: see Detroit.

Washington: inept management.

…the Tide is such a stacked team, players may make each other seem better than they really are. Several highly drafted Alabama athletes of recent years have been disappointments as pros, including Dee Milliner, Chance Warmack, Rueben Foster, Reggie Ragland, Cyrus Kouandjio, and of course Trent Richardson.

Next week: something something Superb Owl. At least no haiku. (Records show TMQ hasn’t done haiku predictions since 2014. In 2015 he was at the NYT, he took 2016 off, and last year was his first at the Weekly Standard.)

We’ll try to be more timely next week. Really. We promise.

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