NFL preseason 2014: Football is back

NFL officials have been under fire during the 2014 preseason schedule due to a higher volume of penalties called. The league’s vice-president of officiating, Dean Blandino, says he expects the numbers to decrease when the regular season starts.

The NFL’s popularity knows no bounds these days, but it’s hard to tell how that might be affected if the on-field product is affected. According to the Washington Post, games are running five minutes longer than last season because the penalty rate is so much higher, up 44 percent:

Thursday marked the first night this preseason with multiple games, highlighted by a shootout in Kansas City. Here is a recap of the six-game schedule:

Injuries

I am a Jets fan, and suffice it to say, I am not particularly excited for the 2014 New York Jets offense.

(Sure, this was the fourth quarter of a preseason game and mainly caused by a bad snap to Matt Simms, but THEIR SCRIMMAGE HAD 12 OFFENSIVE POSSESSIONS AND NO TOUCHDOWNS, THE STRUGGLE IS REAL AS IT HAS EVER BEEN.)

At the time of his release, the Colts issued a vague statement about a violation of team rules that occurred, although they chose not to go into further details. Rainey went ahead and offered those details for them on Thursday night.

We saw somebody in a “GOD” jersey at Chiefs training camp, which is either a mark of faith or sacrilegious, depending on your viewpoint. However, this fan picked a customized jersey that transcends religion, a jersey that salutes the one power higher than the deity of whatever religion you believe in.

I’m talking, of course, of the mediocre rap-rock-white person reggae ‘90s band 311:

Holmes, 24, was a fourth-round selection of the Colts in the 2013 NFL Draft and appeared in only four games for the team as a rookie, not making any starts.

That you clicked on something titled “NFL preseason odd 2014, Week 1” suggests that there might be something wrong with you. At best you’re morbidly curious. At worst, you’re someone who mught actually be considering putting hard-earned money in the hands of fifth-string wide receivers. This is inadvisable, but advice is all I can give you. Free will is one of the rights of being a grownup human being, for better or worse.

But to throw money at what these players may or may not do — especially in Week 1 of the preseason, when not one half-assed snap has been snapped — would be considered lunacy by some.