NFL Network’s second-half schedule of Thursday night games kicks off at 8 p.m. ET with an important divisional showdown, as Carson Palmer’s Oakland Raiders battle Philip Rivers’ San Diego Chargers for first place in the AFC West.

Time flies when you’re having fun, and the 2011 NFL regular season is already half over. With that in mind, we asked eight NFL.com and NFL Network analysts for their award winners at the halfway point and revised predictions for the postseason, and the results are in.

Two old school football coaches have one solution to possibly eliminate helmet-to-helmet hits in the NFL … make it old school again. As in, eliminate the facemasks. Or even helmets.