f13.net

Super Bowl is over, so we can talk about what a shithead Manziel is and how much we would like to be Von Miller's agent here until actual stuff starts happening.

Super Bowl 51 odds  as of today (2nd number is the original line)-

KC at 20-1 seems a good value to me given their division and their defense.

Baltimore at 30-1 isn't a bad sleeper pick. They had a million injuries last year and will get a good draft pick. Their front office knows how to build a team.

Rams, if they get someone under center, a stud LB, and a good corner.

Andy Reid is not a Super Bowl capable coach and Alex Smith is not a Super Bowl capable QB. I would give 100-1 odds on KC to anyone.

Andy Reid has been to the Super Bowl as a head coach, though admittedly it's been a while. And Super Bowls have been won with QBs worse than Alex Smith, like, say, this last one. Dropping them to 100 - 1 means you think the 49ers somehow have a better chance of making the Super Bowl than the Chiefs next season which seems highly unlikely.

I don't think either of them have a 1000-1 chance of making the Super Bowl, much less winning one.  :why_so_serious:

As a first-order approximation you can assume those odds correlate to the games won in the regular season. I.e. those odds are saying the Seahawks, Patriots and Steelers at 8 - 1 are going to have better regular season records than, say, the Jets and Ravens at 30 - 1. By saying the Chiefs should have 100 - 1 odds means you think they will have a worst regular season record than the Niners (assuming you believe the 60 - 1 odds for Niners is correct). Again that seems highly unlikely.

Have you seen the QBs that have won Super Bowls lately in this brand new "WTF IS A CATCH?" League? Outside of Brady, the last five have been won by Peyton Manning's corpse, Dink and Dunk Wilson, Joe "Denver's defense fell down" Flacco, and Eli-Face.

At this point, winning the damn thing is primarily about your defense, and then your running game, and then if your QB can move the ball in a DISTANT third.

Your running game? What drugs are you on.

Usually it's about balance. You need at least a good QB (not great) a good defense, a good coach and get hot at the right time. Lets face it, winning the Superbowl with your QB throwing for 141 yards and a pick is an aberration.

Your running game is the balance. That's the point.

The teams that fling it around like jackasses lose eventually. You have to have a decent running game before you have a shot in hell. You can't have NO quarterback, but the days where you need to have the best QB to win the big dance are over in my mind. They are retiring with the likes of Peyton and Brady. Even Aaron Rodgers can't overcome his teams issues when they can't run the ball and can't defend.

Its more that QB's are a lot better than they used to be so there are fewer standout players. It was only recently that the best players physically are filtered to QB positions as opposed to running backs/receivers. In terms of yards/game only 3 of the top 15 players aren't currently playing (Farve, Marino, and Warner). Number 14 on this list is Eli Manning. Number 24 is Joe Flacco.

So no one of the recent era is particularly bad. Even Peyton Manning's HGH riddled corpse would have been a powerful QB from the era when you "had to have a good QB to win". They're only average(Eli) or bad(Flacco*/Manning) relative to the time they play in. Wilson and Brady of course are two of the best in the game.

*depending on which year, he was rubbish the year he won the bowl but has been pretty average otherwise

And a response, Paelos? :why_so_serious:

It's almost like QB play relies on more than just the QB.

Wilson actually had one of the best years of his career passing wise. He was higher percentage down the field 10+ yards, he was throwing the ball more, and he's a passer rating darling anyway because of the short passing and screen scheme on that team.

That being said, most of his success was late in the year, and 30% of his TDs came in 2 games. He had 5 TDs in one game against Pitt because Seattle intercepted them 4 times. He had 5 TDs against a Baltimore team that started Jimmy Clausen and had no hope of actually scoring.

I've said before I don't know what kind of QB he really is yet because I think he's been the beneficiary of a great defense and running game with a solvable cap number. That's gone as of next season. His cap is now $18M, and that will force Seattle to actually do what the rest of the league does and adjust. We'll find out what he's worth in 2016.

This is the closest I've seen to someone literally tripping over their own dick (http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/defensive-lineman-crashes-out-of-nfl-combine-40-yard-da-1761792055)  :awesome_for_real:

In unsurprising NFL news we're tagging Jefferey and the Skins look to be tagging Cousins.

Also the next Hard Knocks might be the Saints, which wouldn't usually be exciting, but after watching Bill O'Brien do his best impression of a human for six episodes last year it might actually be an improvement.

Megatron announced his retirement today. Yet another greatest to play their position while they were playing that spent their entire career in the motor city with no results to show for it.

Detroit - wearing down HOF players to a nub since 1960.

Detroit and Cleveland should be relegated to different owners in a different city. Yet they moved St. Louis.

It's remarkable how they can stay so bad for so long.

And yet, they are so different.  With Detroit, at least you can occasionally fool yourself into thinking they are making progress and have a real chance.  They even have a number of really big players at any given time, they just find a way to squander it year after year.  Always so tantalizingly on the cusp of...something.

With Cleveland, yeah...they are never remotely interesting in any sense.  Unless you're talking about just how inept they are in every single area of the organization and how spectacularly horrible they are at everything.  The most exciting thing about Cleveland is whether or not Manziel has been beating up on his woman (protip: of course he has).

With both of those teams though, I wonder just how they can unfuck themselves. Detroit obviously has economic issues with the support and the area around them but Cleveland doesn't really have that much of an excuse. Their new-ish ownership group is just a money-funneling machine run by fucking criminals so I suppose one can argue that without an ownership change, there's nothing to be done to right that ship. And with NFL teams basically being money-printing machines no matter how fucking bad the team is, I don't see that changing short of a prison sentence for the owner.

Detroit is going to be really fucking bad this year. They have a QB who can get them to the playoffs but can't be relied on to win games without a superstar to catch the ball - and they clearly aren't going to have that this year. All the progress they made in the last 5 or 6 years building a fearsome defense is gone as they've let some of their best players go through free agency and haven't really replaced them. So at least I can see Green Bay having 2 free wins next season.  :why_so_serious:

No idea why Cleveland is so bad all the time. You'd think with how hot the names are on the OL, they would not be shittastic passing or running the ball. I mean every time they talk about Alex Mack, Joe Thomas, and to a lesser degree Mitchell Schwartz, you get this all pro rah rah top 5 in that position har har har banter. If that were the case, then wtf happened with the running game? I don't think I'll ever understand it.

And then you get all the talk about hiring 'football' guys to run the team. So of course, the owner runs out and creates a front office of harvard grads to right the ship. I can't even discuss the Tribe or the Cavs...

Then again, Cleveland could take a team of allstars in any sport and make them achieve less. Something about the water in that town.

Well of course the water makes people crazy, it is flammable!  :why_so_serious:

So something called a Trevor Siemian is currently the only QB on the Broncos roster.

Just read that... amazing really. Watch them grab Kap or RGIII.

Holy shit. How did Denver let him get away? Especially when he signs for 4-yr/$72 million ($37 million guaranteed)? Even for a mediocre QB that can start, that's fucking peanuts. And funny enough, it's great deal both for the Texans AND Brock Lobster. They get an instant upgrade at QB (though we don't know how good he'll be in a team with no RB and only one legit passing threat) and he gets to sign a new contract when he's in his QB prime provided he actually turns out to be a decent QB.

AND the Texans signed Lamar Miller, though I don't know how much that upgrades the RB position - surely he's better than Blue.

Still, just not sure what the fuck the Broncos were thinking by not locking up Osweiller sooner, especially if he was willing to take that kind of deal.

Not sure Denver had the cap space

Ed: or maybe Brock really did not like being there

They kind of do (~$17 million currently) but would've had to blow it all on him.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2016/03/08/broncos-updated-salary-cap-situation-after-pre-free-agency-player-cuts/38771/

I hear Tim Tebow is available :awesome_for_real:

Isn't Fitzmagic also available? 

Regardless, I can't remember when a team lost its starting QB and its backup in one week. Crazy situation.

Manziel will be available soon enough.  :why_so_serious:

There's a host of really shitty options Denver could pick up for next to nothing. I'm still trying to figure out if any of them would be better than The Noodle-Armed Five Head that was Peyton Manning this season. Fitzmagic probably would but all the rest? Ick.

I think there's a chance Paxton Lynch falls to them given the other QB options out there. If they want to roll the dice on him, it would be worth the draft pick.

They'll definitely draft a QB - be silly not to considering most of the options out there are abject failures, or just good enough to get to the playoffs only to throw 6 picks in the wild card round.

Wonder if they'd take a flier at AJ McCarron?

McCarron might work if they can hold a decent defense, because he's little more than the placeholder that Manning was in terms of game-management.

Buddy just texted me: Browns are considering Kaepernicky.

That's when I looked around my work place for the dementors.

Can he really be any worse than what you've dealt with the last two seasons?

Of course, it's Cleveland, so I'm sure they can find a way to make it much much worse.

Might as well just play Yakety Sax over the PA during offensive possessions.  He would be such an unmitigated disaster in Cleveland. Krapernick needs a team that can disguise and offset his weaknesses, not put a spotlight on them.

I would pay big money to go to this game.

I Want to Play in Cleveland... (https://medjetassist.com/specialty-memberships/Action/Preview)

Are words that I'm quite sure have never been uttered in the history of ever. But apparently Kaep is saying he wants to be traded there.

If there was ever a time to question someone's decision-making skills, this would be the time.

 :awesome_for_real:

There is not a BWAAA HAAA HAAAAA large enough for that shit.  :why_so_serious:

Haha.

Old horse face is scrounging the bottom of the barrel there in Denver.

If they can make the playoffs with Tim Tebow they can do the same with Mark Sanchez.

Eight first round picks in five years and half of them are off the team already.   :why_so_serious:

Your post, it gives me the sads.

Sanchez is the backup option in Denver.  It remains to be seen if they can locate a primary option. 

Okay, how about:

If they can win the Super Bowl with the lowest rated QB in the league they can do the same with Mark Sanchez

:awesome_for_real:

tbh, that D could have carried a LOT of mediocre QBs to a Superbowl. Next years D, maybe not so much.

Seattle proved that a HOF caliber defense isn't going to stay together enough after a Super Bowl win to bring another Super Bowl win.

Ok yes they should have won that 2nd Super Bowl but my point still stands. Defenses that good are going to get weakened by free agency, age and injury. Also, MARK FUCKING SANCHEZ. I'm sure given enough time, Sanchez can figure out a way to turn in performances consistently worse than Manning's from last year.

If we get another butt fumble, I'm happy.

RG3 to Cleveland.  :why_so_serious:

I think I use that smiley in every post I make about Cleveland.

Well, at least we know it won't have been Cleveland that destroyed his career, since it's been pre-destroyed by the Skins.

 :oh_i_see:

YES! I'm going to love this season as it goes peak Cleveland!

I'm happy for this move purely because of the amount of RG3 <injures self> memes popping in my FB feed from all my Cleveland-based friends. Comedy is best when it speaks to truth.

Even sadder is going to be the future QB whose career Cleveland WILL destroy when they draft him at #2. Either Carson Wentz or Jared Goff is totally fucked.

It's ok, they can make a few 10s of millions of dollars and retire at 26 or 27 years old.

Not necessarily. The front office and HC along with the owner really do seem to be all in the 'plan.' This makes me hopeful they sit whoever they take at QB in the draft and throw the other 4 QBs on their roster into the grinder - all while ignoring the slobbering masses calling for people to play. The front office really seems to be of the mind that ignores knee jerk reactions. Granted, I am a jaded Browns fan and can't help but make excuses.

That said, I'm hoping they take Wentz and sit him. He's built like Rothlesburger-meister (big guy, cool-headed, small school so less wear-and-tear) and should be used to the shitty weather. Just hope they make him a sit a year or two prospect. Goff has an arrogant swagger to him and I think he'll sour on the idea of sitting for more than 1/2 a year. In my mind, you take the more humble guy.

As for RGpart3. I really can't see him being even slightly effective...not with this patchwork OL and zero receivers. He didn't do well in DC with their line, he sure as hell is not going to work here. Pocket passing can only be learned when you get a consistent pocket. That is not going to happen this year in Cleveland.

That is why they should trade Joe Thomas to Seattle for a WR.

I'd rather them trade him for a sack of magic beans at this point.

Someone get Jim Irsay on the phone

Greg Hardy - Not Just a Piece of Shit, But a Delusional Piece of Shit (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/15132649/greg-hardy-denies-ever-put-hand-women)


Just... what the fuck? So glad no one has signed his sorry ass.

 :psyduck:

Fuck you, your domestic abuse and you your incoherent justification for it.

God I hope he spent all his money on cars and lawyers and ends up sleeping under a bridge. And then gets knifed by a cagey homeless woman who he tries to beat up. TL/DR fuck Greg Hardy to death.

Saw a story earlier that Gary Kubiak was meeting with Johnny Manziel. Oh Bronco's, your QB situation this year is going to be just great for the rest of us who aren't fans of your team.

I'm under the impression it was an A&M thing to try and get Johnny under some control and not embarrass the alma mater.

Rams just sold the farm for the first pick of the draft. Amazing considering the top QBs in the draft would be 3rd rounders in years past. Hope LA is prepared for a few years of 8-8.

... the fuck? Do they really think either of those guys is going to justify a #1 pick? Or giving up that fuckload of picks they agreed to? Goddamn. Just in this draft alone the Rams lose 2 2nd rounders and a 3rd rounder, not to mention the 1st and 3rd rounder from next year? I realize their QB situation is shitty but these guys don't sound to me like Andrew Luck so much as Joe Flacco. That might be an improvement over what they have but shit that's a lot to give up.

As for LA fans getting used to 8-8, I'm pretty sure no one in LA gives a fuck right now, nor will they until the team actually wins.

8-8 is Jeff Fisher's specialty.

This is the QB desperation I've been referring to for years. Peyton is now gone. Brady ain't far behind. More than half the teams now are playing with sub-par if not shit QBs and the landscape is horrific for producing even halfway decent NFL QBs going forward.

You're going to see teams do more and more of this as they cling to the idea of the QB-driven league. The teams that change the dynamic and figures out how to do it with a system that any average QB can run, that's what will win. Hell, Denver did it last year because Peyton was pretty much a disaster.

Precisely. There is no surefire pick other than maybe Tunsil and maybe Ramsey. This is an even bigger reach than RG3 for Washington. RG3 actually won stuff at the D1 level. This just reeks of publicity move. But hey, at least now the Browns can trade down for more picks and suffer through the year with RG3 and Shaw.

Denver did it with an all-time great defense. The offense NEVER really got on track at all, it just managed to not step on its own dick enough times to win enough games. I don't see them repeating that success with whatever the fuck they are going to put under center this year. Nor do I see many teams that will be able to replicate the formula because defenses that good do not grow on trees.

With the first pick in the draft, the LA Eternal Dumbasses select Carson Wentz out of Bumfuck North Dakota! And the crowd goes mild! Good for the Titans, I guess.  :uhrr:

And in other news, Josh Gordon failed another drug test.  The world continues to spin.  I don't care how unjust or what "dumb shit that should be legal" he's getting busted over.  This guy is too stupid to play.

And/or has a serious addiction problem. But being addicted to pot is directly related to native intelligence I think :awesome_for_real:

Yeah, I'm all for the argument that busting dudes for pot is fucking ridiculous. But Gordon is a serial dumbass - if you've pretty much lost your livliehood before because of pot, you need some serious help or you are a serial dumbass and probably will just fuck up all that money you would have gotten some other way.

A largely unproven QB with a good skillset being picked after a gigantic blockbuster trade and who will have to start immediately because of the high profile nature of the trade/pick. What could possibly go wrong?

The one good thing I can say about the Rams trade is that at least the QB will have a STUD running back to take some of the pressure off of him. Gurley is the real fucking deal. Of course, by the time that QB is NFL competent, Gurley's body will probably have started breaking down because he's a RB but still. 8-8!

Gurley was the only sure-fire thing in that draft in my mind, but I watched him play at UGA. And of course the Falcons passed him over for Vic fucking Beasley because they are dumbasses.

I'm not entirely convinced by this. The last time he was busted it was only one of two samples that he provided that was over the limit, by an amount less than the margin of error on the test. He'd passed something like 100 tests before that. I'm pretty sure if all players were tested as hard as that kid there wouldn't be much NFL left.

Not saying he's some sort of saint, but the extent that the league has gone after him is frankly ludicrous.

On the Rams trade, my guess is that when trying to launch yourself into the void of indifference that is LA, having someone shiny and new under centre might fill a few more seats than Nick Foles or Case Keenum.

How is drafting the guy out of ND that nobody has ever seen play going to make a splash though?

I mean you could draft Goff, but assuming that a large part of LA people are USC fans it might be stupid to take a rival from Cal. It would be like the Falcons drafting Tebow in my mind.

I guess some people who are paid a lot more than me believe that there's some special premium that comes with the #1 pick that can polish any turd.

ehhh

Nothing is surefire but in addition to Tunsil and Ramsey everyone says Miles Jack is the real deal and Hargreaves might be an even better pure corner than Ramsey. Ronnie Stanley is the defacto undisputed #2 OT and is certainly good enough for the elite/tier-1/bluechip type status, its not his fault Tunsil is in the same class. I think there are 5 teams that are getting as-lock-as-it-gets nfl contributors for their pick with those guys.

All in all this is a good draft class but it has a lot of traps. Pass rusher and WR are weak as fuck at the top and those are positions that teams love to reach for.

If you are drafting RB or LB the general wisdom on X > Y > Z has felt pretty consensus between all the "experts" but I pity a GM who has to take a stab at which DT out of the 8 or so is the best one, WR is an even bigger mess. Someone has to take a WR early even though none of these guys seem like they've earned high draft status.

Because 4 weeks of eye rape is not enough, every NFL Thursday game this season will have "Color Rush" uniforms (http://deadspin.com/these-are-maybe-the-colors-for-this-seasons-nfl-color-1771600528).

Fuck you, Nike.

Goddamnit.

God that is fucking stupid. As if the Thursday games weren't painful enough to watch already.

In other offseason news, guess who just got fired by his second agent?

(http://i.imgur.com/6xYV5uu.jpg)

Read somewhere he is getting quite cocaine slim. Looks about right. That dude's a wreck.

Looking more like Johnny 8-ball these days.  I'd put him at about 170 pounds max in that picture.

Apparently he's got a tattoo of CDXX (420 in roman) and a weed leaf on his left hand now. Because nothing says taking things seriously like drug-related hand tattoos

Cleveland Browns go ahead and Browns up a trade (http://deadspin.com/browns-trade-second-overall-pick-to-eagles-for-a-buttlo-1772077911).

So I guess that means either the Browns didn't think they could adequately ruin Carson Wentz or Jared Goff's careers as NFL QB's, or they really are utterly incapable of doing anything right and want to see how much more they can break RGIII. They give the Eagles the #2 pick and a 4th rounder in 2017 for an absolute fuckload of picks, including the #8 pick this year, a 3rd and 4th rounder from this year, the Eagles 2017 first round pick and the Eagles 2018 second round pick.

Which means the Eagles really don't think Bradford is any sort of long-term solution and want one of those two QB's of their own to break.

We are  in a holding pattern as Browns fans. I think it is a great trade given the fact there is no decisive #1 qb. All the talk has been on Tunsil at Tackle and Ramsey as DB but when it comes to QB, it was a committee. Goff, Wentz? Cooke or Lynch? I don't think there is a Luck in this draft. They aren't winning anything this year so Bank some picks and see what shakes out... probably nothing but burn outs and lazy players, but who knows.

Oh I think it's a great trade for the Browns (and a really stupid one for the Eagles - this is the kind of trade you make when you think you are one piece away within the next two years - which the Eagles aren't). It's just that you know the Browns will Browns up those picks with extreme Trent Richardson like prejudice.

The good news for the Browns is that if they accumulate enough picks, they will eventually stumble onto some talent by accident. Gonna be a couple of teams with dicey QBs and no draft picks. Dark days ahead for Philly and LA (which is good news for my NFC team!).

I think the fact that the Browns only move down to #8 is pretty big. They should still be able to land a top-tier talent if they don't Browns it up.

Should be statistically probable, but it is the Browns. Worth attaching some odds to.

Which, due to being the Browns, they will ruin

Lets see:

Tunsil
Ramsey
Miles Jack
Hargreaves
Ronnie Stanley

So even if after the two QB's those guys are all gone... That leaves the Browns picking from the just under them tier of Zeke Elliot and your choice of a deep ass class of D-linemen? Bosa? Bruckner(the dude from Oregon?) there is for sure some pro bowl d-line talent in this draft though counting on the Browns to get it right..

If Elliot or Bosa drop to them, they won't be able to resist.  Most mocks show Elliot being available at this spot, but that was before the trade.

Yeah but there's also the chance some team talks themselves into one of these mediocre seeming "first round by default" WR's. Or some team has an extra high grade on one of these top DT's.

But after this trade it seems for sure that Bosa and/or Elliot will be there for them. But never underestimate the new front office's desire to seem like they are doing things some extra smart, cutting edge, stat-based way. They may have extra reluctance to pick one of the Buckeyes in the first round.

Word on the street is that the Browns want to continue to move back to grab more picks. I can't say that makes me comfortable in any way. There has to be a point where you get a quality player rather than a boatload of kids that will probably not make the roster anyway. Bill might be able to reap the fields in the mid-to-lower draft tiers, but I highly doubt Team Harvard will have the same results.

That sounds to me like they might be trying to ensure they get Paxton Lynch in the 2nd round (so as not to pay 1st rounder money) and still get at least one first rounder that might not suck.

These two trades are the best news for the Cowboys EVER in the draft. Because they don't want a QB at the first slot.

So, remember Deflategate? Its time for more Deflategatehate.


http://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2016/04/25/tom-bradys-four-game-deflategate-suspension-back

The Majority opinion

https://www.scribd.com/doc/310383399/Brady-appeal-decision#fullscreen

The Dissent (Judge Katzmann)

https://www.scribd.com/doc/310383627/Dissent#fullscreen

Great, so they have confirmed that Goodell has the authority to issue any punishments for any offense. I think the next CBA meetings are going to end in another strike after this.

As always, suck it Brady, suck it Belichick, and suck it Masshole Pats fans.

While I am utterly ecstatic that Brady is getting the shaft, yeah, the next CBA is going to be a fucking bloodbath. If Goodell is still commish then, it's guaranteed we'll have a strike. The player's union/NFLPA really fucked itself so hard with this last CBA.

If they don't strike they are stupid. The NFL careers are the shortest and compared to the NBA and the MLB their salary comparisons per year are a fucking joke. Whoever ran the players union before should be publicly flogged, and they should hire the MLB guys for all their further negotiations.

I think they do ok. I could be wrong though.

They play a lot more games per season in the NBA and MLB though.

Indeed they do. But the NFL still makes more money than them. And the player careers as I said are shorter. Along with the problems of lifetime injuries that are much worse in the NFL than in NBA or MLB.

I don't know that the best way to offset the health issues is by giving players a bigger salary though (not that I think you're advocating that as the only solution).

Not just salaries, no. The way to combat it is to have it set in the CBA that retirement benefits are better, and that there should be better care for players for longer after they get out of the league.

Also, they need to address the discipline issues, and the fact that the NFL wants to go to an 18 game schedule while also putting a team overseas. They need to address the arbitrary increases in the salary cap, and put in a standard cap increase that is a higher percentage of the overall revenue which includes the merchandising and advertising. They also need to push for bigger rosters to go along with that higher cap. Injuries and the concussion protocols are becoming such a big issue that carrying 53 guys simple isn't enough. I'd give up some on the league minimum to raise the roster limits and employ more players.

I think players would be willing to play the extra 2 real games if you shortened the preseason to 2 games, and fans would like it too, along with compensation levels for them. I'd want as a player to have better protocols on injuries that require third party doctors instead of team employed doctors, and I would also want checks and balances on the team doctor ability to provide drugs. There are too many players who get dangerous levels of painkillers because they are pressured by the job, and end up addicted.

I'd want a separate policy for marijuana drug tests, and lower penalties outside the normal substance policy for marijuana related offenses. It's moving that way in the courts and it should move that way in the league. Along with the fact that I think many players use it for pain killing purposes which I'd prefer over them using addictive pills.

Sam Bradford demands a trade - Eagles might be asking for more than a 2nd rounder for him (http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2016/04/eagles_sam_bradford_will_cost_more_than_a_second-r.html)

First off, BWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA at Bradford thinking he's good enough to demand a trade AND demand where he can be traded. He's apparently already vetoed any sort of move to the Jets or any team coached by Chip Kelly.

Second and even funnier is that Philly apparently wants and thinks they can get more than just a 2nd round pick for Sam Bradford. A guy who defined the word "mediocre" and "meh" in what should have in theory been a high-powered offense last year, and has never played 16 games in a season. Immediately shitcanning 2 of the teams that would likely overpay/overtrade for a mediocre QB is just ludicrous.

This should be a hilariously fun few weeks.

You can't blame the guy for trying to avoid Chip Kelly or the Jets. He shouldn't (and probably doesn't) have that kind of leverage, but his instincts are definitely on point  :awesome_for_real:

Did he actually think he was the "future" of the team when he signed that deal?  That was babysitting money. One year of pretending you still have the job and one year of clipboard/garbage duty.

He's part of the last generation of pro-rookie-scale QBs that were handed gobs of money for nothing, so yes, he did think that. He's believed ever since Oklahoma that his entitled ass is an elite player. But who is Sam Bradford really? Let's take a look.

For the sake of argument let's just throw out the ENTIRE season he missed in 2014, and the fact he only started 7 games in 2013, and only 10 games in 2011. I mean if we can get past the fact he's played exactly 2 full seasons in his life? Get past that part?

Well the numbers still suck. He's an 81 passer rating QB with 6.1 yards per attempt on his career and a TD/INT rate of 78-52. The dude's thrown FIFTY TWO picks in 63 games. He's a turnover machine on top of being blah average throwing it.

You know where those numbers would have landed him last year? Yeah he was between Brock Osweiler and Blaine Gabbert in passer rating. Woopdefuckingdoo my man.

You signed a 6 year $76M deal and have done jack shit.

Where do I sign?

The Browns are cleaning up on draft picks this year and next. That will be the only good news out of Cleveland till 2020 though.

Pretty happy with day 1 for Seattle. Moved down a few spots, still got an OL they so desperately need, picked up a couple of extra picks for day 2, and cockblocked Arizona on Paxton Lynch. Good times.

Bradford should just shut up and count his money. He has been paid $65 million so far in his career for doing very little.

This tweet shows why Sam Bradford didn't get the trade he wanted (https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/733013251223617536/photo/1).

Woogity.

I should work for ESPN since I made essentially the same post about a month ago here.

Even congress says  the NFL are a bunch of lying shits (http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/15667689/congressional-report-finds-nfl-improperly-intervened-brain-research-cost-taxpayers-16-million).

But hey Brady got 4 games so who cares.. :why_so_serious:

I've come down on the side of agreeing with the Deflategate haters, but I still want to see Brady serve the 4-games. Because fuck Brady.

You know they'll still go 2 for 2 at worst, right?

2 losses is better than none.

They're going 0fer.

Unless they cheat.

Ok 2 for 2, you were right.

Lol, I really don't care all that much, the Brady comment was a joke.

The NFL however is absolutely depending on your attitudes though 'oh who cares how dodgy it is. Fuck the Pats!' So keep being NFL stooges. :)

The concussion shit though is arrogance on another level that's risking people's lives.  I mean getting close to FIFA level shit.

Atlanta just got the 2019 Super Bowl. I'm horrified. Last time we did this there was an ice storm and Ray Lewis killed a guy. This time I'm expecting the traffic Apocalypse followed by some sort of Ebola outbreak from the CDC.

I'm sure the Alien Rape Ships will come down and find very willing receptacles in that new goatse.cx stadium you guys are building there.

That's funny. I call it Atlanta's Anus.

That's hardly fair. The Anus performs an important function in the body.

As does an NFL stadium. It efficiently funnels money from rubes into the pockets of millionaires.  :awesome_for_real:

I can see it now. "The Falcons played the Jaguars today and rectum." Jay and Dan will be thrilled!

Damn near killed 'em.

Let the games begin:

http://deadspin.com/why-your-team-sucks-2016-tennessee-titans-1784250380

YES!!!! FEEL THE HATRED!

Boring start.  But what can you expect with such a boring team?

I don't normally go in for these kind of personal profiles of sports stars because they are mostly PR bullshit.

But you have to read this one on Michael and Martellus Bennett (http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17201639/seahawks-michael-bennett-patriots-martellus-bennett-vs-everyone).

Holy shit, they are hilarious. Especially when they start dogging other NFL players, including hits on Jay Cutler.

And Romo's already out.  :awesome_for_real:

He landed very awkwardly andcompressed/twisted  his back. As a fellow lower back problem haver, I can feel sympathy for Romo, but LOL @ JJ and the Cowboys.

Lucky for the Cowboys, it looks like Prescott may actually not suck. I'm sure he's a human turnover machine waiting to happen but he should have decent blocking and a good running game in Elliot. Not that that helped the Cowboys last year.

Sadly, Conner Shaw is probably done with football at this point. That leg break...guh. Feel for the kid.

That was from 2 years ago almost. We've known Romo is a ticking time bomb for a while, and I think what I was referencing in Cardale actually came true with Dak in this draft. The Cowboys finally realized it's almost over with Romo and they had to take a flyer pick to train up in his absences.

Teddy Bridgewater goes down with non-contact knee injury (http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/17424174/teddy-bridgewater-seriously-injured-minnesota-vikings-practice).

The extent of the damage is unknown but considered significant.

Buh-bye, Vikings.

His leg exploded. Apparently there were people throwing up it was so gruesome.

Damn, poor kid.

Apparently it was so bad, he almost lost the leg.

What? Just stepping on his leg wrong? Fuuuuck.

The torque that can get generated when you i.e. try to cut/turn and your cleat gets stuck in the turf can do horrible things to the knee. Also slipping while planting your foot. No idea how this injury happened and I sure as hell won't investigate after hearing that he dislocated the knee. I hope he manages to get back.

What are you doing Vikings?

Throwing away the spring? But yeah... no idea why you give up a 1st rounder for another QB that will eventually be on IR.

Jesus there is going to be some shitty shit shit shit QB play in the league this season. I realize the Vikings were desperate after Bridgewater's injury, but why the fuck would you give up a 1st rounder with a conditional pick for fucking Bradford? Shit, the Broncos cut Sanchez - he's at least as shitty as Bradford.

It's a weird atmosphere for QBs this preseason. I lost faith in Cutler in my keeper league, ended up getting Matt Ryan in the fourth round of our supplemental draft. A few years ago he was going early rounds of the main draft.

As for Minny, as a bears fan, I wished they'do grabbed the butt fumbler. This cost them picks though, so it's still good.

Reports have butt-fumble heading to Dallas.  :why_so_serious:

Hey, Seattle still has Wilson. Bwahahaha.

Obviously the games in recent years haven't had enough scoring so they make a touchback put the ball on the 25.  :why_so_serious:

Also, how does Sports Authority still have their name on the stadium? They closed all of their stores a while ago.

Watched the last drive of the game. Saw the DL of Denver drive his helmet into Newton's head. Heard Collingsworth do everything in his power not to talk about it and only talk about how his pass didn't make it back to the line of scrimmage.
Offsetting penalities... :uhrr:

Pretty sure I'm already done with the NFL. What a joke.

Here's a  few of those hits in gif and slow mo  (http://deadspin.com/the-broncos-went-at-cam-newtons-head-all-night-1786417452), 2 of which were not even penalized. Leaving your feet and targeting the head is a flag right?  Should be a fucking ejection and an extra 15 yards or something. But hey as long as we all keep watching and playing fantasy it's all ok.

That game was pretty awful on every level. At least two helmets to the bean calls were completely missed. There is simply no excuse for Cam Newton to have to burn 3 timeouts because the clock is running out in the first half, and then to have to burn another one on the last drive. I put that one on both coaching and the QB. You have got to get the play in and get the snap off especially in a potentially game-winning 4th quarter drive. Denver isn't innocent in that either though, because 1 timeout and 2 penalties for 12 men on the field on defense is just unacceptable. Trevor Siemiean (or however spell it) looked decent enough for a rookie who probably shouldn't be in that spot and his arm is certainly stronger now than Peyton's was last year. The turnovers have got to go away though or this team won't get far. Also, fuck Gary Kubiak for making his offense SO BORING and predictable. He only knows 3 plays, run up the gut, trap run off tackle and bootleg pass, usually for a screen or less than 10 yards.

I think everyone is giving Cam too much sympathy. He was running right through the defense in the 1st half. All the hits to the head he took were while he was threatening to run and already well out of the pocket. If you leave the pocket, you are going to get hit and get less protection from the refs.

Unless your last name is Brady or Manning.

Holy fuck this comment is so fucking retarded I'm thinking it's sarcasm. Outside of the fact that it's plain fucking wrong, a defensive player leaving his feet to target another player's head is FUCKING illegal and dangerous no matter where they are.

But hey, keep thinking that way, the NFL is depending on it.

There was one play that Cam got blitzed on, STAYED IN THE POCKET, mind you, and the defender basically grabbed Cam's head before Cam could wriggle out of it. He didn't grab the facemask but I swear if that was Brady or Manning or Rodgers, that gets 15 yards on roughing the passer. I was just gobsmacked because most of the time if you even breathe at a QB's head, you get flagged. For a national TV game, they were sure letting a lot of shots to the head go without flagging.

To be fair, Manning is now retired, so those kinds of hits would literally be criminal.

It's the future HOF clause in every officiating handbook in every sport.

But that forehead is just so hard to miss!

That'll do, Hawks, that'll do.

Watched the Jets Bengals game and had a blast, both those teams look decent but imperfect. I think the main problem for the Jets is in the secondary, it's probably not entirely fair to say that Revis has lost a step based on one game against one of the best receivers in the league but still, he didn't look quite his usual self. Forte looked great on the ground too, as long as he stays healthy this offence is going to be a real pain for a lot of teams to deal with.

No starting LT, all world QB or TE, no problems.

And we thought people hated the Patriots before.. :why_so_serious:

Don't forget no Dion Lewis. That team is just loaded.

The Seahawks almost destroyed everyone's suicide pools in the first week.
The Cowboys are the clown show I expected when your franchise QB is damaged in the offseason.
The Falcons are HILARIBAD and I love every second of it. I hope Arthur Blank chokes on his own Butthole Stadium along with the PSLs he can't sell to build it.
The Pats can win with almost anybody at QB. I'm convinced of it.
The Titans still suck and always will.
The Colts need a new head coach immediately. And a defense.
The Browns might go 0-16.
The Bills have a great defense and absolute no offense.
The Bears...what in the world Bears?
The Saints, whodat? Everybody this year because you wrapped up 60% of your cap in two guys. Except the Falcons you will be them.
The Chargers need to leave town, that one isn't working for them
The Jags look much better and almost pulled off a massive upset.
The Eagles look much better now that Chip Kelly is fucking up somebody else's team.
The Texans might have enough of a QB now to win games. Might. Maybe. Sort of. We'll see.
The Giants continue to get lucky because they are playing dumb teams like the Cowboys. Ben McAdoo is an idiot as a HC.
The Ravens will be complete garbage once Flacco leaves. He's shockingly holding that team together offensively. Defense still fierce.

This. Though it made sense to me. I've been out in the first week 3 times in the last 7 years. I guess I suck at picking teams.

I only watched the Giants/Cowboys and Pats/Cards games yesterday but wow. Dak Prescott is apparently not a turnover machine. Too bad he still can't find the endzone with a map and a compass. The game was pretty mediocre at best, but who would have thunk that having two Pro Bowl level wideouts and a QB with two Super Bowl rings would allow you to throw TD passes? Also, both these teams running games should be ashamed of themselves. Also, both defenses should be ashamed of themselves.

Or they would if the Colts defense did not exist. Though based on yesterday's evidence, I can't actually confirm that a collective known as the Colts' defense DOES exist. Holy... shit. I thought Pagano was this great defensive guy. Not with this team. The Lions are clearly NOT GOOD yet somehow were able to drive down the field in less than 90 seconds and win the game with a fairly easy field goal because covering dudes in the fourth quarter is apparently REAL HARD.

Everybody line up for the Jimmy Garropolo sweepstakes! How many draft picks do you think Belicheck will get for him next offseason? Short of Brady announcing his retirement, I don't see this kid being allowed to stay with that team when you know SOMEBODY will overpay for him to start (and subsequently go 1-15 because he can't carry a team that isn't the Patriots). Also, LOL Cardinals. Seriously, that is not even remotely a kick Catanzaro should miss but snapping is hard.

Also, FUCK YAHOO FANTASY for not telling me my goddamn kicker got released last fucking week. Seriously, Shayne Graham was actually still listed as being on a team on goddamn game day. FUCK YOU.

I thought the defensive line of the giants did well against a really good oline.

Love paelos' commentary on the giants new HC. Lol

How do you continue to get lucky when you lose 5 games in the last two minutes? We finally get some luck.

You won two Super Bowls with Eli Manning, one of them against an undefeated Belichick. If that doesn't mean you had a horseshoe up your ass, I don't know what does. Also a great defense. Eli's the only guy in the universe with two Super Bowl rings, and everyone still goes, "Yeeeeeeeeah, but elite we're not sure."

Also, did anybody go, ALRIGHT WE GOT BEN MCADOO! Party down!

Bear in mind, the Giants will win this clusterfuck of a division because my Cowboys are dumb and are training a QB on the job, Philly will crater at some point when they aren't playing the Browns, and Washington's schedule is freaking brutal after they get to mid-October.

Speaking of my Browns...

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/rg3-placed-on-injured-reserved-after-hurting-shoulder-in-browns-opener/


Welp, that didn't take as long as I thought.   :uhrr:

He made it further than Romo.

You can tackle cam without launching yourself head first into his helmet. That would be an illegal blow to a running back let alone a qb.

I saw the play RG3 got hurt on. Holy fuck. It's been what 5 years now and not one goddamn coach has been able to drill into this dumb motherfucker's head how to NOT GET HIT? I mean, Jesus Christ, does he think he's a running back? A reincarnated Ironhead Heyward? Just a fucking total waste of talent.

Funny part is he was sliding and going out of bounds all preseason. Oh well.. The RGIII experiment is at least over in Cleveland. One game... lol.

/cry

Hilarious:
(http://i.imgur.com/7UITmLS.jpg)

So I sort of watched both games last night i.e. I had the TV on while I played Hex. Pittsburgh's offense looked as good as ever, and Washington's looked as shitty as I expected. The bloom may be off Kirk Cousins or he just may be one of those QB's who runs hot and cold often.

As for the San Fran/LA Rams game... wow. The Rams are fucking terrible. Their defense made Blaine Gabbert look competent and their offense wasn't even on the field. Steve Young sounded offended at the playcalling, which seemed to amount to "run Todd Gurley up the middle for little gain, run Todd Gurley outside for negative yards, throw a shitty bubble screen that loses 5 yards or throw a quick 5 and out to the sidelines and hope for a missed tackle." I realize Case Keenum is the literal equivalent of a bollard with an automated ball tosser, but goddamn. Tavon Austin has jets, send him deep and see if he can catch the ball (hint: he cannot). This team is going to be fucking bad this year. REALLY REALLY BAD. Expect Jared Goff's impending death due to being trampled by game 8.

The Rams are a joke and their coach is the biggest fraud in the NFL.

He was right- he is not going fucking 7 and 9 this season! More like 3-13. Unfortunately they will beat the Seahawks on Sunday because they always do.

Hey, now. If we can get the rest of the team to carry a limping, shitty tossing Wilson again, we'll be fine.

Yeah, I was just going to say to wait until next week when they inexplicably pound the Seahawks.  Or at least make a good showing of it.

Hawks have a better shot at the Rams this season. One of the big problems that they have faced is that going east is super hard and Carroll is super dumb about going early*. But LA is a lot closer than St. Louis and more importantly in the same time zone.

*Its almost certainly a large contribution to why they lost to the Panthers in the playoffs last year.

LA is a terrible matchup for the Seahawks. Their best unit (DL) vs our worst unit (OL). Add in a gimpy QB used to being mobile and it is a recipe for disaster. If Rawls/Michael somehow get going then Seattle has a chance...The Rams aren't going to score much on offense. LOL Case Keenum.

So I was joking how Edelman was going to be the backup QB for the NE backup QB who is a backup for the backup.

Turn out, Edelman might legitimately be the backup QB.

If only we had another QB who could take over in a cpl of weeks.  :why_so_serious: :why_so_serious: :why_so_serious: :why_so_serious: :why_so_serious:

*pray for the browns*

 :oh_i_see:

Is it Green Bay's O-line or the coaching that is terrible?

I think their offense is too predictable. Vikings defense is pretty good again this year too.

Looks like the Hawks are gonna have a shitty start. Another year where we stand in EC shouting, "WTB an Oline." Oh well. See sig.

Yeah, remember that one time that Seattle had a really shitty start only for them to turn it around somehow after week six?  Seems like that is the manuscript for every year.

McCarthy is easily the most overrated coach in the league. He is a godawful game manager, and probably would have been fired several times if GB had an actual human owner.

Also- I wish I wasn't so dead right about the Seahawks. Holy shit is their offensive line a fucking mess. You could get as much protection from a potted plant at LT, with the bonus that the plant wouldn't forget the fucking snap count or hold anyone.

So yeah, Green Bay's problem? It starts at the top and filters all the way down.

First off, Ted Thompson has fallen in love with the idea that you can win a championship with 2-3 HOF players and a bunch of spare parts who might be ACTUAL Meat Packers as opposed to football players. He stubbornly refuses to sign free agents unless they are world class (Julius Peppers) and probably 2-3 years from retirement. Then he fills in important positions with rookies who probably wouldn't make the practice squad otherwise. Our cornerbacks are shit - they are too young and inexperienced to really grasp defensive schemes and are still learning routes but don't worry. By the time the good ones are worth playing, he'll let them go to other teams as free agents so he can draft another set of barely competent athletes. There can only ever be one really good corner and he'll likely be hurt 25% of the time chasing after the guys his shitty teammates let past. Also, way to let your Pro Bowl offensive lineman go a week before the fucking season starts. He wouldn't possibly sign with a division rival or anything.

McCarthy is a whole other story though. I do not know what the fuck has changed, but he apparently has 3 receiving routes he will use on 90% of the plays. Defenses know EXACTLY what routes are going to be run and where the ball is going to be thrown. Half of our goddamn offense last night was pass interference calls. The interception that sealed the game came on the exact same goddamn route that that same cornerback had committed like 3 PI calls on, only this time he actually knew the exact route and he jumped it. Our receivers aren't getting any separation either because they aren't fast enough or the defense knows where they are going. Completions are happening in spite of the route running not because of it. You can tell Rodgers is frustrated as fuck. Also, Devonte Adams's hands are made of literal bricks. Fuck him. McCarthy apparently refuses to run slant routes more than twice per game, you know, the routes we ran the fuck out of when they won the Super Bowl.

FUCK DOM CAPERS. SUPERFUCK him. Dear God, I live in fear of offenses figuring out the one route/runner/player that Capers did not game plan, because they will fuck that hole until it's dry. Last night it was Diggs on a 10-yard curl/slant. Randall, our "BEST" corner (only because Sam Shields is hurt) could not cover Diggs on that route. Capers, who plays with blinders on I swear, did not adjust to give that fucktard Randall any help and so SAM GODDAMN BRADFORD absolutely skullfucked us with that route, despite a pretty good pass rush. Hey Capers. A pass rush does not make up for cornerbacks who cannot cover nor a scheme that won't double team a guy who is eating our lunch.

The Pack will make the playoffs and shit the bed in the 2nd game. I think we may have seen the last Rodgers Super Bowl because this team is not getting back there like this. Rodgers has 3-5 good years left in him but the decline has begun.

Aww how cute... a good team is having troubles on the O-line. Meanwhile my Browns have no legitimate center at all now that Erving almost died and they gave away Mack without a fight. At least Nassib only has his hand injured which I'm hoping is just a club cast... about the only person left is Bitonio, him and Thomas is still serviceable. At this rate, we'll have Barnage in as right tackle.

Also, next week we'll be starting QB #3 for game #3 as McCown will be out for weeks. We can't even tank a season properly... that said, the first quarter yesterday was about the best the Browns have been in years... until God noticed and took corrective action.

You knows it's the Cavs fault right?  :why_so_serious:

I'm always happy when a Fitzpatrick-led team beats the Bills. My buddy is a die-hard Bills fan and I feel he was a great QB, he thinks Fitz sucks. He refuses to believe it's the consistently shitty Bills Offensive line or receiving core. Meanwhile, a mediocre line and a couple decent receivers and Fitz looks to bust 400 with bombs landing all over the field (albeit against Buffalo).

Also quite happy that the Kid is setting up Brady season quite nicely.

Fitz is a human turnover machine.

Which is still better than the Jets HAD with Butt Fumble but... yeah.

Ok. This is what I was noticing. Other teams are doing much better passing the ball even with 3rd string QBs and shoestring O-Lines.

That's what he says, too. I just feel he does it in a coachable way and is worth the investment for a franchise back.

Wish he'd landed in New England to study with Brady, honestly.

So apparently Carson Wentz is actually a good QB, at least on early returns. Now, granted he was playing against the Browns and the Bears but the Bears' defense is actually improved over last year. To be sure, they had an actual pass rush last night and Wentz handled it like a champ. He took a ton of shots (because the Eagles O line is kind of shitty) some of them really hard, and he didn't flinch. He needs to learn how to goddamn slide when he scrambles with the ball (what the fuck are college coaches teaching these days?) or he'll be another RGIII. All that said, the kid has a cannon for an arm, is really poised under pressure and he's accurate. He made one throw across the middle into triple coverage that from the sideline view looked like a terrible decision. However, when you saw it from the spider cam behind his helmet, you saw that he threw the ball in the one perfect exact spot for the receiver to make the catch, far enough away from the defenders to make them unable to make a play on the ball.

Cleveland looks really fucking stupid now. Well, not that that's anything new, so now is pretty much always. Still...

Meanwhile, Jay Cutler gave us all Prime Cutlets last night, turning the ball over as usual and also getting himself hurt.

I think the Eagles win this division in a walk as they appear to be the least flawed team in it.

Told my buddy I agreed with the talking heads, Wentz is going to develop into a Big Ben type QB. When the Browns passed on him, I didn't think it that bad an idea given that any QB is going to die with our offensive line (stress on OFFENSIVE). But holy shit what happened to Erving between now and college? I don't even have the words to describe how stupid it was letting Mack go. But here we are, in for a long 1-15 season.

You think Cleveland's going to win a game?  :why_so_serious:

They always do... usually the game they are supposed to lose, so maybe the Patriots.  :ye_gods:

I was secretly hoping that Jimmy G would tear it up for 4 games, Brady would come back against CLE and stink just so local sports radio would absolutely lose it's mind. Would've been fantastic.

I won't declare them dead early on this year but I will say I don't like their chances as much this year as previous years because:


My question then and even now is can Wilson be an effective QB when he's treated like every other bigtime highly paid QB in the country, and the surround cap challenges that entails.

Well, Wilson has never had great wide outs around him, and he's always had a running game. Baldwin is out this weekend I think, and his O line stinks, and without Lynch, their running game doesn't seem to be doing shit either. So I'm guessing this is the year we see the Hawks miss the playoffs. The only problem with that scenario is they might still get a wild card because of how much everyone else in the NFC stinks on ice. Carolina may be the best team in the conference and I'm not entirely sure they are all that good. The same kind of feeling goes for Arizona.

Jesus will intervene at some point.

Yeah, but what will he do?

Probably give him a case of the magic water.

Holy water... gotta be. :why_so_serious:

My friend and I did an exercise recently where we named teams we thought were great in the NFL. I named 3 teams, all of them AFC. My friend came up with 2 teams, both of them AFC.

Nobody in the NFC is impressive as constructed. I don't see anybody right now in the entire conference winning a Super Bowl playing like they are. Who is the best QB in that side? Matt Ryan? Sam Bradford? Both are tops in the QB rating right now. I doubt they will be later but Aaron Rodgers has been in decline since he started dating that actress, Cam has been garbage throwing the ball early on and taking massive hits, Drew Brees is doing great on a team that has no real talent, while Eli and Stafford are sort of doing their dopey act early where they put up decent stats but the teams look bad doing it.

I wouldn't blame Rodgers' declining performances on banging Olivia Munn so much as his coaches throwing shit, predictable plays and routes into the mix over and over and expecting him to just figure it out. Also, surrounding him with whatever undrafted hobo they can find when they don't want to pay for a free agent.

But yeah, nobody in the NFC is covering themselves in glory right now. Who were the great teams in the AFC besides New England? Pittsburgh? Denver? Because I'm struggling to think of one.

Didn't they let go one of their best O line guys because $$$? How's that going Green Bay? I see Rodgers running around a lot.

You named my 3, Pittsburgh, Denver, and NE. All look legitimately strong with good depth. Denver doesn't even need a decent QB to win, they proved it last year. NE is plug and play QB without Brady apparently and then they get him back in 2 weeks. Pittsburgh looks the best in my mind. Deangelo Williams has come out of the gate hot.

Browns News. (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000707143/article/browns-wideout-corey-coleman-suffers-broken-hand) (1st rd pick WR breaks hand.)

(http://i.imgur.com/gz84si2.png)

LSU loses the opener because Les Miles thinks not having a QB is an ok thing. Then the Browns get their shit pushed in by a QB they could have had and lose the QB they decided to go with instead. Then lose the veteran backup the second week along with their center not to mention the game. Now we lose the only promising rookie and are starting the rookie QB from USC. At least we signed clipboard jesus though...

and let's not mention the slew of injuries to the Indians in recent weeks that pretty much have doomed their post-season. What a time to be alive!

edit: add in the crying in baseball.

I just traded Coleman in another league. HA! I only got Derrick Henry, though.

Thanks for coming Houston.

I'm liking the NFL on twitter. Watching on my pc while playing is handy.

What a game. :awesome_for_real:

Glad I chose not to watch that shit show.

So another New England Super Bowl then? I mean, if they can't even fucking lose when Brady's out, I'm not seeing another team that will beat them when he is in.

The god damn 3rd string 7th round rookie QB on 3 days of preparation. I mean honestly, can anybody still seriously argue that Brady actually has anything to do with how good this team is? BB's a fucking genius and it really shows how much up their asses the entire rest of the league is.

Houston made tripping over their own dicks an art form in this game. Brock Rottweiler is fucking terrible as well.

I don't know. Brady might have hung 50+ on these guys.

Yes.

+1, just to show how fucking nuts some fans are this is a topic on sports radio this morning. Would Brady have been as good without Belichek? No. Would Belichek been as good without Brady? No.

Houston THREW up on their own cleats, horrible fucking play calling, special teams, defense etc etc etc. The Texans are still not a real football team and may never be.

The Pittsburgh vs NE game is where it's at. If Solder, Brady, Gronk, Butler and Collins stay healthy then they probably win the whole thing. Solder basically ate JJ Watt last night. I could obnoxiously argue that if he'd been on the field last year they beat Denver.

Yes, I agree. And Garoppolo would've hung 40 on them. That's not my point. My point is that Brady is good, not great. He's also been in this system for 15 years now and was/is smart enough to keep himself in shape and completely buy into anything and everything BB tells him. He wouldn't be considered great anywhere else. Belichick just gives +10 skill to any player he coaches.

You are seriously high. Belicheck has contributed to Brady's greatness, certainly. There is, however, no evidence to suggest Brady would have been shit on another team. For most of his careers, he's been throwing to no-names and castoffs.

Why does it have to be one or the other? You have a confluence of a great QB with a great coach, with a dash of owner who let's people who know what they are doing run the team. That's the recipe for the kind of run the Patriots have had. The fact that multiple parts of the organization are great doesn't diminish the greatness of the other parts. You're coming across as a crank who just wants to justify hating on Brady.

That was pretty embarrassing for Houston. I mean, at one point it didn't look like they'd ever break the 50yd line  :uhrr:

Glad to see the adjustments got Blount back into it in the second half. Love the coaching on that team, and the ability for guys with some talent to jump in and succeed. The fiancee is now a NE fan; she 'reminded' me the game was on, wouldn't leave until they were up by 20, and was checking the writeup of the game this morning at work.

Or that Belichick has a knack for winning plugging in any old player or cast off or problem player and winning. Hell, 2008 they went 11-5 with Cassel at QB. Brady might be a great QB, but I'd put more stock in Belichick being the bigger influence.

All you can argue in that case is hypotheticals. Brady's actual achievements and records would be more than enough to make 3-4 "great" QBs by pretty much any other standard.

I've watched him pull off enough amazing game-winning drives in the last 2-3 minutes of crunch games to be entirely content with the idea that he's one of the most clutch players ever to play the game.

What is this shit? By all metrics, Brady is the best quarterback to ever play the game.

Hard to coach away the gem he produced today.

He crapped everybody's pants today. Jesus.

Just looked at the box score. HOLY. SHIT.

At least you weren't watching the fucking game.

I would appreciate it if he could duplicate it again this week and then he is free to go on a tear and run New England down.

Well, ok then.

Eli Manning responds to a question about whether the Vikings have his number:

(http://i.imgur.com/xEUnFVw.jpg)

Eli will always look and sound like a kid who is standing their holding an empty ice cream cone.

Man, Buffalo shutting out the Pats at NE is a big shocker.  In other not so shocking news, the Browns remain the very definition of SNAFU and are now 0-4. :awesome_for_real:

As usual, some real shitty playcalling. But even so, the Pats defense just decided to not show up. The questions from my fiancee were hilarious 'Why does the QB keep getting beat up so badly?' 'Why do they keep missing all those tackles?' She's been spoiled. And I'm a bit pissed they didn't kick the FG to lose the goose egg at the end. Stupid, there was no way that offense was going to get 6 at that point.

But for reals, I hope the ref crew gets fined for that 'we weren't in position' whistle, which cost the Pats a critical 1st down in scoring range. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

Happy for my Bills fan buddy, he's got something to bust my chops with, finally. High point for me was Belichick chucking the Surface (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyhjUFcXgo0)  :drill:

I'm just stopping by this thread to comment on how much I hate the phrase "in the concussion protocol." Could they try any harder to make it seem like some kind of bureaucratic procedure instead of, you know, "being closely monitored because of a fucking head injury"? Fuck.

Carolina is shit this year. Their secondary has no idea who the fuck they are supposed to cover.

Another shitty NFL weekend.

First off, the Thursday game. Stop with the color rush, just FUCKING STOP. Second, Miami is utter fucking shit. They have two legit talents at wideout and a QB who cannot sense pressure for shit. The first fumble he lost was because he could not recognize that his tackles were the bread in the QB sandwich. Their O line is crap but that doesn't matter because their head coach and OC are boring morons. This is something I'm noticing with a lot of offenses in the NFL lately (especially Green Bay's). They are so goddamn risk averse it's ridiculous and predictable and really easy to stop. Fuck the bubble screen. Just fuck that play. For every time it springs a fast guy free to gain 10+ yards, it loses 3 yards or more at least 3 times. It's almost fucking useless. That 5 and out sideline pattern you run on 3rd and 7? Not only is it easy as fuck to read, easy as fuck to jump for a pick six, it also won't get you the first down unless your guy makes an insanely good move or the defender is a moron who doesn't know how to tackle. Miami had a good first 2 plays, where they actually threw the ball down the field, spread the defense with 5 wide and generally tried to make something happen. They scored a touchdown and immediately went into Playcalling by CPA Accountants 101. Cincy may be dirty players and playoff choke specialists, but at least their OC isn't afraid to have their franchise QB throw the ball 10 yards or more. Ryan Tannehill does not have the stuff to be a legit franchise QB.

LOL at the Patriots. I take this game as the Rex Ryan aberration that it is. Ryan has the Pats number. Had Brady been under center, that game might have been different but it was clear by the 4th quarter that Belichek gave no fucks about this particular game and was just trying not to get anybody hurt. Tyrod Taylor is a competent NFL QB but I still don't think the Bills make the playoffs. Their defense is really susceptible to the big play.

God, the Steelers. They must have been really pissed off at getting their asses handed to them by an in-state rival with a rookie QB. Kansas City was never in that game from the opening whistle. I really think the Steelers may have the best wide receiving corps in football. All they need to challenge New England and Denver this year is a competent defense and a healthy Rapist at QB.

And FUCK RUSSELL WILSON for having a 30+ point fantasy day while I have him on the bench.

Watching Thursday night football is on you. It's been years of you knowing it's crap, now you're just being obtuse. Stop watching it, and it will go away.

And for the second week in a row, the Browns got Brownsed... by the refs.

Well at least the NFL is looking out for us in getting the #1 draft pick... which we'll waste on Watson who will be hurt by the 5th game of the season.

No, it won't. The NFL is committed to the shitpile that is Thursday night football.

Nothing can ever beat the condiment bowl!

(https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/gty_501807732_78354826.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1)

Weird game in the sense that no one in either fan base was excited about it. Bills fans know that having the Pats 3rd string QB with a banged up thumb under center means it wasn't a real result and the Pats fans are 'lolwhocaresTOMBRADYBITCHES'. Pray for Cleveland. 

The Browns are going to get ROFLSTOMPED so hard.

Browns will win this weekend. We always beat a great team for one of our 3 wins a season. And the NFL is still out to get Brady so the game will be tilted in favor of the orange and brown.  :why_so_serious:

I saw the start of that game and was like "oh yea, Steelers seem to be struggling again". Then I came back around 1/2 time, looked at the score and went "someone's mad..."

Also, go Rams, woo!

Cams replacement will be selling stadium hot dogs soon. Holy shit, I felt bad for that kid.

Hey, guess what? The Giants suck! And they suck like we all expected - they are injured, have no O line and their offensive scheme is the same dink and dunk shit I was complaining about with Miami earlier. Meanwhile, Sam Bradford somehow looks legit in this Vikings team that doesn't seem to be relying on the running game much but also has a hellacious defense. Is Norv Turner really a quarterback whisperer?

As for the Ben Mcadoo dink/dunk offense, can someone tell me what coaching tree this shit is springing from so we can kill it with fire? Holy shit is it boring and predictable. It's like they took the West Coast offense, distilled it to its least risky elements, took out all the flare and pizzazz, and put barely college level athletes in at all but 2 positions. Is it Mike McCarthy or does the tree have deeper roots than that? Can we blame Belichek? Has any of these fuckers ever heard of a goddamn long bomb that isn't a Hail Mary? I caught a few bits of last night's game here and there, but I was really paying attention with about 3 minutes left and the Giants down by 2 TD's. And what is their offense doing? Fuckloads of checkdowns and short, 5-yard passes that don't even make it to the first down marker or to the sidelines to stop the clock. The fuck is this? I realize that the Vikings were sitting deep in coverage but surely you can run something underneath that for a first down or a quick hitter to the sidelines to control the clock. NOPE.

Given his time with the Browns? I'd say no. But then again... not even Belichick could make this team work.

Haemmy, I'm with you on the weird playbook nonsense. Even if you get defenses with good deep coverage, isn't that what good QB/receiver coaching is about? Let the players play.

I don't know if it's the proliferation of the spread offense in college making receivers mentally unable to run any more interesting routes, or the CBA's parameters that have made it so most rosters are full of >4 years service greenhorns, but the route trees on most of these teams look like the family tree of a clan in Arkansas.

I was absolutely sure that the jizz parade the annoucners were shooting all over the Vikings before the MNF game was going to be proven so, so wrong, but, boy, were the Giants bad.

Update - Seahawks and Falcons are fine after week 1 losses. Cowboys less of a clown show. Pats can still win with mostly anybody at QB but they get Brady back now, Titans still suck and will continue to suck, the Colts are done and should have fired their HC already, the Browns are continuing their 0-16 march, the Bills found an offense for a couple of games, the Saints couldn't even beat the Falcons so they are toast, the Chargers still should leave town, the Jags look much worse now, the Eagles continue to defy the odds, the Texans are good enough to win that division with almost no effort, the Giants still have an idiot HC but are lucky enough to have 2 wins, the Ravens are going to ride Flacco until he drops with that defense, and shockingly Minnesota has revived a shitty QB's career.

Teams that look like they have no shot at the playoffs - Jets, Dolphins, Browns, Jags, Titans, Colts, Chargers, Bears, Lions, Bucs, Saints, and Niners. Carolina and Arizona get passes for the slow starts because they have been good in the past.

I'm not totally ready to write off the Jets yet. One team you didn't mention is the Raiders - this team is likely to get into the playoffs this year on a wild card unless Derek Carr goes down. He's been good and the team has been good around him. Plus he has some good wideouts to throw to. Their defense may be a bit suspect but it's definitely a team on the rise (just before they move to Vegas). The Eagles also look seriously improved.

Arizona is still going to win or lose based on Carson Palmer - Drew Stanton is not going to get it done. Their defense needs to improve. The Panthers are the same way about Cam Newton - their defense is utter shit but they have talent on that side of the ball that's just not playing well. How long Cam is out will determine if they challenge for a wild card.

The Rams are fucking terrible and yet somehow 3-1. I cannot envision a world where they make the playoffs except the NFC is really bad this year.

Anyone need a star #1 receiver? Willing to trade a bag of peanuts and some condoms.

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2016/10/josh_gordon_remains_on_browns.html

So much talent buried under so many problems.

You can have one of the most overrated WR's in the league if you're willing to put up with his antics and constant personal foul penalties. Because I think the Giants are getting tired of his shit.

McAdoo gets fired before OBJ.

Fucking wide receivers.

OBJ has been flagged for two penalties in the last two games. The Giants team overall has close to 20. OBJ is not the problem.

The numbers don't matter, it's what the fans feel.

Is he the reason they've been losing for the last few years or now? No, of course not. No WR is ever that important to the team. What they can be is a giant clubhouse PITA and distraction that keeps the rest of the team from focusing on the true job.

OBJ sounds paranoid like the league is out to get him. He's admitted he's not having fun anymore (which is fucking laughable because he's been around for 3 years). He's supposedly been fined by the organization several times. His own QB has said that OBJ has brought this upon himself, and you don't usually hear QBs do anything but back their teammates. That lets me know what the team thinks of him.

The guy doesn't get it, which doesn't shock me. He's talented but people believed he's one of the best receivers in the league. Unless he's playing in the division and then suddenly he's dead average outside a couple of games. The Giants haven't been to the playoffs once and the guy's on a rookie contract which means they won't have cap flexibility is they pay him, and Eli probably won't be his QB. I don't see a reason to make him a highly paid part of the Giants with all their defensive issues, which is the biggest reason why they've sucked for the last 4 years.

At this pace, the Browns will be starting Uncle Rico by week 8.

Cowboys got themselves a QB tho!

Is Atlanta actually legit?

An RB too. NFC East looks like it's back in force this year between them and the Eagles.

The hooded one comments on the  return of Tom Brady  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-tskP0OzI)  :why_so_serious:

If they can beat Seattle on the road, yes. Otherwise, I don't think beating a backup QB and tackle in Denver proves they are legit yet. If they lose that, then it'll be the Packers at home. If they lose both of those they'll still win the division but I might bet my house they lose in the first round of the playoffs because they would have yet to beat a playoff QB. (I don't think Oakland will make it.)

Welp, the NFL is just all sorts of crazy.

Atlanta looks good for once, as they managed to handle the Broncos defense well. Both their running backs can be studs and it appears they've even discovered the ability to block for their QB. Denver, OTOH, has Paxton Lynch and a roll of tinfoil for his O line. BTW, Paxton Lynch is clearly not ready to be an NFL QB. Maybe he will be but I didn't see a lot in that performance to recommend him. He missed a pass rusher coming at him 5 times that almost resulted in strip sacks (2 did go for fumbles) and it wasn't blind side rushers either. It was directly to his front side and he was even looking that way. If he doesn't learn to sense that rush or read it pre-snap, he is never going to be a starter. Neither his accuracy or his arm strength stood out to me. Scary that Siemian actually looks to deserve the starting job despite being unheralded.

As for Green Bay, they got a little more creative with their routes last night but not much. They still don't have any receivers I trust anymore to get open in less than 4-5 seconds. The broadcasters were marveling at how much time Rodgers had to throw but let's face it - that means a team with a shitty, banged-up secondary was covering his receivers for far too long. If this team had a worse O line (like say the Broncos' O line), Rodgers would be in IR already. What I wouldn't give for an Odell Beckham (or hell, even a Victor Cruz) on this team. Jordy Nelson is clearly not fully recovered and yet McCarthy seems to refused to use more than 3 wideouts except in rare circumstances. Still a win, but should have been a mauling. Also, our defensive backfield cannot cover deep. Oh and the Giants running game? It does not exist. Green Bay ran 2 deep safeties most of the night and they still couldn't run.

Atlanta had that. Missed call at the end there. Seattle tried their damndest to give that away.

They came back and did have the game in hand. Still, they weren't the better team and it showed. Atlanta had a good 3rd quarter and fucked up everything else.

Holy shit, the Packers are bad right now. Unfortunately, I can't say that the problem ISN'T Aaron Rodgers because I think a large part of it is. He has tons of time to throw the ball. Yesterday, he was just plain missing his receivers some of them wide open, and other times he just did not read the defense and threw some easy picks. He's holding the ball too long, either because no one is open or he's not seeing them open or he isn't confident that they are open enough. I don't think the playcalling is helping him nor are his receivers because some of them are just dropping catchable balls (Devante Adams). For whatever reason, they looked terrible.

Carolina is also terrible. The only reason that game was close is because New Orleans has the worst defense in the world.

I blame Olivia Munn.

Me too, she's awful.

I thought she was a decent wide receiver?

(https://media.giphy.com/media/2hIdspH6mct0c/giphy.gif)

The entire fucking league is terribad. There's one good team : The Pats (yaya I know, even so their defense has looked shitty at times, kinda circa 2011ish, GET A FUCKING STOP ON 3RD FUCKING DOWN PLEASE) and then there's the Viking (could be good, but if you trust Sam Bradford and that kicker I want to sell you shit) and after that?

There was a good article a month or so ago about how the players in the NFL are getting younger, and therefore, well dumber and it's making the product worse. Throw on Thursday games, London games, the fact the human body can only accept so much punishment and we have the NFL of today. 30 teams of pretty much crap.

And for that, ratings are down significantly. Suck it Roger.

It is absolutely that. This has gone beyond "parity" into "all the teams suck really hard and are horribly inconsistent." The product is almost fucking unwatchable.

I'll be interested to see how many games Vonteze Burfect gets suspended for , not for the low hit on Bennett but for the leg stomp on Blount. If it's less than 5 games you all know how big a joke the NFL has become.

If that was a stomp, that was the weakest stomp I've ever seen. Who stomps the ground standing straight up with no weight on the stomping leg? Reaching with that. Maybe a foot tap but a stomp?

Ppl defending Burfect. I have now seen it all.

Oh stop... even shitty people should have a fair look and just not assume. But then again this is the NFL and once you have any sort of dirty play, you are labeled which means all your plays are dirty.

Burfict has had ample time to not be a complete shithead. He was a dirty player from minute one in college and has carried it over into the pros. How stompy the stomp was seems like splitting hairs. He stepped on the dude and looked like he meant to step on the dude. What goes through his head when this sort of shit keeps happening, even when it's a play that can cause them a fucking playoff game.

"NO STOP, HEAD DEVIL, I DON'T WANT TO DO IT THIS TIME!"
"Let chaos reign."
"Good point. Let's fuck shit up."

Burfict has some deep emotional problems. He has little to no impulse control. If/when he washes out of the league, expect him to be dead or in prison within 5 years.


Re: SEAvATL- much closer than I would have liked. Tired of everyone whining about the last play. Atlanta had 3 downs before that to do something, then ran that play specifically to draw a PI. Hope to get bailed out by the refs and you get what you deserve. Yes, it was probably interference. It was nowhere near as egregious as the pearl-clutching brigade would have everyone believe. Hand-fighting goes on literally every play. If they wanted to call every single thing to the letter of the law, it would have been off-setting fouls, since JJ utterly mauled Sherman's face and head as he came off the line. There were also numerous uncalled PI fouls on both sides all game long. I would prefer not to have the officials become involved other than for the most obvious and play-changing fouls (like facemasks, or a lineman just tackling a rusher before he gets to a QB).

If Seattle had lost this way, I would be annoyed. However, most of my ire would be on the offensive coordinator, not the refs. If you want to run a low percentage jump ball, do it on 1st down, not 4th. If you can keep the drive going you could easily win the game. Caveat- I fucking loathe Seattle's OC and so have a predisposition toward finding fault in his actions  :why_so_serious:

It was clearly PI. But every team gets fucked so bad with terrible calls, I just call it a wash, and am glad my boys were on the receiving end of a good bad call this time.

PI gets missed. It was PI, but I can see it not getting called. It wasn't nearly as bad as the PI call on Rogers-Cromartie, which is probably the worst call I've ever seen. There is pretty much no contact at all between Rogers-Cromartie and the WR ,and he nearly picks off the pass as the only person near the ball at all. It is a really baffling call, and I don't see how anyone could miss it. It's Ed Hocculi, admiring his own biceps and forgetting there's a game on, bad.

As for the Seattle/Atlanta game, let's face it. Dan Quinn, Atlanta's HC, is the one who taught Richard Sherman about how to avoid PI. He should probably shut his hole about it.

I've been working Sundays lately so I've only seen about a half a game of football and some highlights. After a few weeks I realized how little I missed watching it. Sure it doesn't help that my team is the 49ers, but damn, there is just nobody in the league right now that's exciting to watch.

It gives me an excuse to do nothing on the coach for at least an hour every Sunday and maybe even get in a nap. "Can you take him to swimming? I want to watch this."

College is a lot more fun, even if my team this year is complete garbage (on our 5th QB and we're fresh out of actual RBs).

I'm watching less NFL for a lot of reasons:

1 - Mainly the product is terrible right now. I'll get to why in my other reasons but the main thing is there are only 6 teams I give a shit about watching: Patriots, Cowboys, Seattle, Vikings, Steelers, and Falcons. The rest are so flawed I don't care what their record is, I don't trust them at all to make the playoffs.

2 - The QB play is shit. I have been talking about how this was going to happen for years, but it's shit now, and it's going to get worse as Brady and Big Ben and Rivers and Ryan and Romo get older and retire. Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, and Andy fucking Dalton are leading the league in passing yards right now. In rating it's Ryan, Bradford, Rivers, and Stafford. The shock is Dak Prescott who might be a revelation maybe, or Carson Wentz. Goff doesn't even play and he's a first rounder. Famous Jameis is now 28th in rating. Aaron Rodgers is having a shit year. You have a league where Ryan Fitzpatrick is a starter because the other options are so fucking bad. 18 teams right now would probably trade out their QB immediately if you gave them the overall #1 pick.

3 - The rookie payscale has wrecked the league. Teams are willing to dump tons of money on QBs still who suck, but aren't willing to pay veterans with experience real money because they can save on the cap with rookie draftees. It's the worst thing the ownership could have done to save money, and it's all their fault because the rookie scale isn't bad necessarily, but the usage of it has created terrible teams of unskilled trainees starting on football teams.

4 - The CBA hitting rules have fucked up things further. You can say you're about player safety but if you're not hitting in practice you look like shit on the field. You can't be meatheads about it, but doing shorts walkthroughs is doing us no good in the player development department either. There's a happy medium and they totally missed it.

To be fair about QB play, as the league leans more and more towards promoting an offense-heavy product - and we know they are actively doing this with all the rule changes - then it has put the QB play more into the spotlight than it ever has been.  The emphasis on scoring more points gives them both more advantage and more responsibility.  The top tier QBs who can handle all that look great.  The lower tier QBs don't pass muster and look terrible.  So I don't think it is historically bad QB play we are seeing, more so that some of them just look awful compared to current standards.

It has this weird carry-over to defensive play as well.  The few teams over the past decade or so who have been able to crack the code (Baltimore, Denver and Seattle are the ones that spring to mind) and figure out how to adapt to the pro-offense NFL have turned into all time great defenses in a time where such a thing shouldn't even be possible.  They may even be underrated.

Classy Giants organization will not let admitted wife abuser Josh Brown travel with team. Oh my, so strong! The NFL suspended him for all of 1 game.

Burfect got a 75k fine too.

lol, fucking clownshoes. Least Brady got what he deserved amiright?

Sitting in a bar in Arizona watching bears / Packers with a guy from Wisconsin.

I think its a bit early to be complaining about passing and QB efficiency. Too much variance in the defenses that teams might be facing.

In general though the "QB" deficit is probably down to a couple of things

1) There are actually a lot of legitimately good QB's right now. This is due both to the skill of the players as well as QB focused rules. But even then probably half of the "Best QB's ever" are playing right now. A lot of the people we shit on for being bad are legitimately historically good QB's. They're just playing in an era that contain an amazing amount of good QBs*. If we compare them solely to the greats of the past yea they're shit. But the QB's of the past were really shit, we have just forgotten about all of them.

2) There is a strong co-variance between QB play and offensive play. Since the Hawks of a few years ago there has been a big shift towards defensive lines and away from offensive lines. The offensive lines of the worst QB offenders(and the Hawks) are sieves right now.

*As an easy to find example, as of 2014, 7 of the top 10 QB's in all time passer rating were active and playing. Matt "Schaub'd it" Schaub was 13th highest of all time. Joe Namath is at #157 with an all time passer rating of 65.46

Part of the raised passer ratings is because there are so many more passes in a game than there were in Namath's time. Also, Namath's historical numbers probably aren't great because he only had a few non-injury seasons where he was playing at his highest level. He was hurt a lot later in his career.

So Green Bay discovered their offense last night. It wasn't just that Chicago is a really shitty team - at some points, their cornerbacks were blanketing the Packers receivers. However, they did switch up the offensive scheme - there were a lot more quick hit passes, which Rodgers seems to relish. He didn't have to run around behind his O line for 5-7 seconds nearly as much because the routes weren't nearly so long. They need to keep doing this, especially since they are essentially running a wide receiver as their main running back.

Also, Brian Hoyer is made of tissue paper.

Yes, teams throw more. But they also throw a ton more in screens, behind the line of scrimmage passes, shovels, and inside 5 yard slants and buttons. It's a ton of high percentage stuff because you can and because defenses are so big and fast now.

Passer rating is a horrible HORRIBLE metric to use if you have a high efficiency passing team. Say for example I have a QB throw 20 times in a game, he completes 15 of them in mostly low yardage situations. He has 150 yards, 0 TDs, 0 picks. That's a 95.8 rating in the NFL.

Now I have another passer. He goes 21/35 for 300 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT. That's a 94.9 rating in the NFL. Did the first guy have a better day? No, he did next to nothing. QB2 got me twice as many yards and 2 TDs, I would value that guy much higher.

Or here's a better example.

QB1 is 88/125 for 990 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs. His rating is 109.8
QB2 is 148/237 for 1496, 13 TDs, 4 INTs. His rating is 91.7

QB1 is Sam Bradford. QB2 is Aaron Rodgers. I'd still rating have Rodgers any day of the week.

You'd pick Aaron Rodgers because he is Aaron Rodgers.  If you had factored in that QB1 had only played 4 games compared to 6 for QB2 and didn't know who they were, you would probably take QB1.  But that is somewhat besides the point, because you are at least correct that rating alone is not a good indicator.  I think a metric combining rating, Y/A and interception ratio would be a good measure of a QB.  Any one of them alone is bubkis.

That is fair. Its also fair that QB rating isn't a great metric. It was just something easy to pull up. I am confident that other stats would confirm that many of the best QB's are playing today.

Also, Bradford has the better line there. His "QB rating"[as an abstract statement of the quality of his play] should be higher. He throws for 7.92 yards per attempt for and zero turnovers. Rodgers throws for 6.31 yards per attempt and turned the ball over 4 times. Fewer TD's in the air doesn't matter.  Bradford has better yards per completion (11.25) than Rodgers too (10.1), so its not that Rodgers is taking lower probability throws (with higher expected returns)



So its not much of a surprise that the Vikings have a better record than the Packers and beat them straight up too.

*TD's is a junk stat since you don't get credit for a running TD by the offense, even if you put them close enough to do it. Its like an RBI in baseball.

That Cardinals' game. What a shit show. At least Russel Wilson's liquid Jesus magic wasn't able to pull it off. Cardinals should have won, but didn't. Microcosm of the franchise as a whole.

Worst football game that I can remember. Anybody else have a contender?

Jacksonville Jaguars 2011 - 2015.  :awesome_for_real:

Eagles v Vikings  was pretty terrible this weekend as well. Minnesota is going to get mauled by the first real defense they encounter in the playoffs.

Dolphins vs Steelers 2007. Steelers won 3-0. On a punt, the ball just stuck in the mud and never bounced.

It's definitely up there as one of the worst things I've seen on a football field since Anthony Munoz's injury in the Super Bowl. God, what an utter waste of fucking time this game was. I'm saying this about an alarming number of games these days.

That's bad but it was decided. This one wasn't.

I'm pretty sure you could have played another 4 quarters without anybody scoring.

And the Falcons lost to that shit ass offense. Good lord.

You mean the second best scoring offense in the league with Rivers at QB? (Ironically Atlanta is number 1) Um...

No, he's talking about last week's game when Atlanta let Seattle get 3TD's up on them by half time.

Yeah Seattle. I saw the SD upset coming because Atlanta's defense is a floating joke.

27th in point against? And people here think this is a playoff team. I chuckle. You can't make the playoffs giving up 28.4 points a game, this isn't the greatest show on turf.

Sure you can, when the division they are in is a rolling dumpster fire and the NFC is equally shitty from top to bottom. The goddamn COWBOYS and VIKINGS are playing the best football in the division and every team in the NFC East is playing above .500. Last year's Super Bowl participant from the NFC has 1 win. I could easily see Atlanta making the playoffs.

I mean, it'll be 1 and done most likely but that doesn't mean they can't get there.

What'll happen is Atlanta will make it and have to host Minnesota.  Their inept defense will be cancelled out perfectly by Minnesota's inept offense, creating a singularity of suck.  Atlanta will somehow advance (Bradford will sprain his vagina or something), go to the Divisional against Seattle the following week, and then lose by missing 8 field goals.  Seattle will host GB in an epic NFC championship game, and the winner will be decided by whichever QB loves Jesus the most on that particular day.

I actually found that Seattle/Arizona game very entertaining. Just not for the reasons it was supposed to be. Of course, I have a pretty bizarre sense of humor.

Boss is a massive Pittsburgh fan, so was happy to see them playing decently with half a team. They should've won against the Pats, really, the defense was not good.

 :drill:

Minnesota defeats Atlanta in that scenario to make up for Atlanta ruining their run to the Super Bowl in 1998.

It's not like I've watched a lot of Jags football, but what the hell is wrong with Blake Bortles? I thought he was decent last year?

He was. He's not now.

I'd watch a 6-6 tie over this game any day.

Only got to watch the Packers game because of the World Series taking up so much time. Holy shit, the Packers defensive backfield is fucking awful. JUST PUTRID. All you have to do to win is get off the fucking field - just stop Atlanta from scoring a TD with 4 minutes left. And guess what? Julio Jones, their stud, isn't even really a factor because he's clearly hurt. And you still can't fucking do it. I realize there are injuries and Sam Shields, your best corner, is still out. But the guys you have back there are all dudes you've drafted or signed off the waiver wire and you just continue to whiff on those guys. Their injury issues are insane - defensive backfield bare bones, down two top line wide receivers, their two running backs are a practice squad guy and a dude you had to trade for (which you just released after 2 games and 5 carries because... reasons?), and Clay Matthews out as well.

I also caught some highlights of the Carolina game. The sports punditry is talking about Cam Newton not getting the protection of the refs, and I think they might actually have a case. We saw it in the Denver game this year with the shots to the head he took, and I just saw a highlight of a pass rusher CLEARLY hitting him right at the news, and no calls. Apparently, there hasn't been one single roughing the passer called in Can Newton's favor going back to 2015. That's some crazy shit there.

I don't think Bortles is good, he just gets a ton of garbage time against passive defenses. He is a decent fantasy QB because he compiles stats after the game is decided.

I have all but given up on this year. Every weekend it is a story about how the refs fucked something up in a game. Why are the lead stories this year on the reffing...let me wonder a bit with that. I don't even mind my Browns tumbling into Lions infamy, in fact I actually find it fascinating. But every god damn week, it's about the refs. I flipped on the local station to get my weekly in-your-face Steelers game and literally 6 plays in a row were penalties. Every snap...for 15 minutes of viewing was a penalty. WTF? And what in the hell happened in that game last night? I assume Sherman has paid off the refs to look the other way for damn near everything. What a clusterfuck of a game...

This post is all rhetorical... I understand what is going on to a point, but holy shit it really is making watching this year damn near impossible. 

So I'm just checking, they didn't call roughing the kicker because the play was already dead cause of the offside call?  Oh and he looks like he looks like he deliberately lowered his shoulder into the legs of the kicker, that didn't matter either. Holy fuck.

Play was dead, then any contact like that should be a 1st strike unsportsman like conduct. But that's none of my business

If you're blocking a kick, there's no reason to "sweep the leg".  Yes, you play to the whistle, but that still doesn't excuse that sort of hit on a kicker. That was dirty as fuck, and I want to slap the ESPN player-commentators for giving him a pass on it. Then they fuck up spotting the ball, so on top of everything, Buffalo gets a delay of game.

Seattle played better, but goddamn, that sequence was clown shoes and Sherman probably should have been tossed and should be fined. That was some Vontez Burfict type of crap.

Just to play devil's advocate, Sherman usually goes balls out on those field goal blocks, it's amazing how often he comes close coming from that spot.  So it looks dirty from our perspective, but I don't automatically assume he was intending it that way.  Either way, should probably get a flag for it regardless of intent.  It almost felt like a makeup call for the utter shit non-calls last week against the Saints on two huge pick plays. From a karma POV anyway.  Unless your a Bills fan, but who cares about those fucks.

Sherman got the ball. That invalidates any roughing calls.


The only reason he hit the kicker in the first place was because he overran the play and had to reach back for the ball.

Buuuuuuuut, the play was dead ball. Thus he illegally hit a player after the whistle.  :awesome_for_real:

Definitely NOT after the whistle.  The reason you play through as the defender is because if the whistle is not blown, the kicker can still take the kick and it will count.  When they say "play to the whistle", it is for exactly that reason...it is a free play for the offense, so you sure as hell better keep playing.

Yeah, good point.

WRT: Should it be a Penalty? No + reasons below

WRT did the refs fuck up? Yes absolutely. The Refs needed to blow the whistle at the snap. Sherman was offsides unabated and this should end the play. However the Refs did not blow the whistle until after the play had ended. If the had blown earlier then Sherman might have avoided the kicker and if not certainly drew the penalty.

The kicker faking an injury probably didn't help things for the Bills either. They are lucky they didn't get an unsportsmanlike for that.

*Imagine for a second that the kicker continued his motion and kicked the ball after the whistle had blown the call dead. This is a delay of game penalty and might have even negated the late hit (as the kicker contacts sherman as much as sherman contacts him, by continuing the play when he should not have)

Suck it, Brady. I hope that stings.

How bout dem Cowboys?  :drill:

You know, if it wasn't for motherfuckers always saying 'how bout dem Cowboys', more of us might like the Cowboys.  Also, JJ dying would help.

That's okay we have plenty of people on the bandwagon the second we get good again!  :grin:

For real?  Serious question.  I wouldn't have guessed the Cowboys to be a traditional bandwagon team.  I figured they were generally more polarizing, largely due to being owned by a prick.

The Packers suck and it's time for Mike McCarthy to go. Dom Capers should have been gone long ago but it's obvious that there's nothing left to squeeze out of McCarthy. His offense is painfully predictable and even a shit team like the Titans can just run the score up on them. I'm glad I didn't have to watch that game even though it was listed on my TV guide because FUCK. I don't think they should fire him mid-season, because it's a sure bet that won't change anything but the only way this team makes the playoffs is due to the rampant suckage in the NFC North. The goddamn Lions are on top thanks to Minnesota forgetting how to run and pass block. Also Sam Bradford may actually die before the season is up.

I did watch Atlanta and Philadelphia and holy shit, Atlanta has a terribad defense. It just cannot cover anyone. Carson Wentz has come down to earth a bit but he's still turning out to be a serviceable QB at this stage of his career, especially at home. And that defense is pretty fierce. Of course, if Julio Jones makes 2 catches, it may not have ended up that way as he dropped an absolutely routine (for him) catch late. Still, I'm not buying Atlanta as a Super Bowl contender. They just don't seem consistent enough.

The Dallas/Pittsburgh game may actually have been the best game I've watched all year. Both teams were going at it, both teams performed pretty well on defense and it ultimately came down to one REALLY FUCKSTUPID facemask penalty on Pittsburgh that gave the Cowboys a chance to win the game. Just an awful penalty that the refs had no choice but to call (especially considering they'd missed an easy one like two plays earlier). As for the Dallas QB situation, any coach would be INSANE to switch off of Prescott right now. He's demonstrated poise, he isn't turning the ball over that much (which is something I thought he'd be doing in buckets) and the team is winning. Tony Romo is 2 years removed from being the Tony Romo that can lead this team to victories and his injury history and play when he wasn't injured last year doesn't warrant a switch. If Prescott starts to fuck it up, you have Romo on the bench raring to go.

I'm very sad to say that Dallas may be the only good team in the NFC. They are certainly the only one that has been consistent - Seattle and Atlanta are the next best teams and depending on who is hurt that week, they could be world-beaters or utter chumps.

Yeah it's one of the biggest jersey sales teams in the USA, fans everywhere. They wait until they get good and suddenly it's Cowboys time again. Those of us from Dallas originally just get frustrated and bitch about the team when we suck. And are cautiously optimistic when good because Jerruh.

Go ahead, say it loud, say it proud!  :awesome_for_real:

Patriots have serious problems at the second corner and pass rush positions. Offense looks fine (though ironically at the goal line at the end of the 4th quarter vs Seattle they don't run Blount 3 times...hrrrm sounds familiar) but the defense will have serious problems getting off the field against a good QB.

They ran Blount once, try to sneak with Brady once, and then did their patented "Gronk does OPI and it probably gets called DPI and also catches the ball because he is 6 inches taller and 100 pounds heavier than the defender" play that usually works every time twice*.

If they ran Blount more i would not have liked their playcalling(maybe try it again compared to the sneak) because they have been so successful on their forced DPI play that they really should just run that again and again. Failing it stops the clock and gives you a new set of downs. If it takes ~3 seconds to run the play you get to try that 4 times in 12 seconds without burning a timeout. If you try to defend it specifically by putting your safety in the area then you have no defense on the other side of the field and they throw the opposite way.  And to top this all off its fairly easy to line up Gronk against our weaker DB's... and they had done this successfully in the game a whole bunch. And successfully against a bunch of other teams. And hell its not like we didn't know it was coming. They had literally just done this to us to get to the goal line.** There just isn't really any way for anyone to stop it except for Gronk to not catch the ball or to swap for a 6-6 275 pound cornerback when you're on the goal line.

We were just lucky that the refs have caught on to their tactic and stopped calling Gronk running into the defender, holding him and bowling him over, as DPI... and that he also didn't catch the ball.

*one time was the sack

**Though in this case Gronk does not OPI and does potentially get DPI'd. http://www.patriots.com/video/2016/11/14/cant-miss-play-gronkowski-adjusts-ball-and-snags-catch

I like that Edelfumble is a thing now.  :grin:

Yea, Edelmen really messed up there. As soon as you're stopped you've got to get to the ground. Otherwise you're just asking for the ball to come free.

Their turnover ratio has been a problem this year.

Plus the scuttlebutt this morning is that they called the QB sneak on 1st down not to score but to chew up time. BB didn't trust the defense to stop a FG drive to end the game.

Bad idea imho.

Eh. You gotta call the sneak sometimes. There really wasn't anything wrong with the Pats play calling. They ran the play that Seattle should have run in the Super Bowl. You can run through the middle or you can throw to the outside and Gronk appears to be the best TE in the game.

Sometimes you take your best chance and things don't work out. Doesn't mean that it wasn't your best shot.

It also kinda looked like Gronk fucked himself by initiating the contact and trying to draw the flag.  He may have been better off, you know, just trying to catch the ball.

Maybe. But probably not. Gonk has over 6 inches and 100 pounds on the guy trying to defend him. The play calls for attempting the draw because its a high liklihood play on both sides. You're liable to catch and get DPI.

It is more likely that Gronk was a step too slow due to the undiagnosed hole in his lung

I guess my point is that I think Gronk can generally take Kam one on one, so that might have been a higher % play.  But whatever, I'll take the result. 

Seattle's doing their late season NFL Cockroach act again. Never dead. Ever.

Heh.

Giants are the same team they were last year, but this time they are winning the close games at the end.

Unfortunately, in both cases they are a profoundly mediocre team whether they go 6-10 or 10-6.  :oh_i_see:

Or you know, 3 inches and 33 pounds. But who's counting?

So the Packers are really, really fucking bad. Like fucking awful bad. PUTRID. Their defense is so thin, they can't cover anybody. Dom Capers is a fucking idiot savant who can't defend if his team can't blitz the QB. FFS, they gave up THREE deep touchdown passes on the same goddamn route. On the last one, they had a fucking linebacker trying (and failing obviously) to cover the fastest wide receiver on Washington's team. Ted Thompson's idea of only building through the draft and only signing free agents one every 3-4 years is a goddamn failure. He lucked into the Super Bowl and now he and his fucking PotatoHead coach are probably going to miss the playoffs without a miracle. Way to waste the last best years of a future HOF QB, assholes.

Clearly not me!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1739972/web-images/want-you.jpg)

This whole season has been the worst I've seen since I started watching football. I think the Browns are under the impression that the players are on strike and they went ahead and filled the roster with replacement/scab players. The AFC north is dog shit. The officiating has been the worst I can remember, are these replacement refs still? No one can tackle, opting for some fucking dumb hit and run stuff. 11 games in and I don't have a care to give for the rest of the season. Even this shithole town I live in seems less RAH RAH STEELERSOMGWTFBBQ! than it has in the last 7 years I have been here.

The NFL is nearly unwatchable this year.  No doubt about it.

Not only is the officiating bad, it's actually interfering with gameplay. Stuff like taking too long to set the ball and get away while winding the clock at the end of a half and I forget the other one a couple weeks back where an officiating procedural problem impacted the game with lost time or a replay of a down because he was out of position or something. Totally aside from terrible calls.

I've also seen a couple games where there didn't seem to be a camera parallel to the goal line? How is that even a thing. Even setting aside those nice little marker cams, there should be officiating cams fucking everywhere. Then just officiate from a central location with people watching the live footage.

The NFL does not mandate replay cameras in the stadiums AT ALL. They totally rely on the TV coverage cameras for all their replay feeds. Which yes, is a goddamn fucking crime considering how little money that would cost in relation to how much fucking money the NFL makes. Also, the refs are not professionals (i.e. full-time dedicated pros) which I think is crackers as well.

I think I've seen maybe 5 games this year that were worth watching. The rest is pretty shit.

Ironically or not Belichick keeps advocating for cameras on the goal line and everywhere each year at the offseason meetings.

That DeAndre Hopkins out of bounds call was terribad.

It really is stupid. But i mean, it might cost 12 million dollars/year* to pay for full time professionals! The NFL would go bankrupt! And Cameras, those things are expensive!

*Assumes that each NFL ref would receive 100k above their current compensation.

Even though it's a big step down in the quality of players and coaches overall, I've found the Canadian Football League MUCH more enjoyable to watch this year than the NFL.  The NFL has been a dumpster fire since Day 1 this season.

The Thanksgiving Football was 1/3 turkey and stuffing, 2/3rds that nasty greasy fat scum that sits under the turkey after everyone has gorged and has no energy left to clean up.

The good (yet painful): it's time to admit that the Dallas Cowboys are actually a good team. They have been involved in the most watchable, entertaining games I've seen this season (which admittedly is a small portion of the shit sandwich of games the season has been). Their defensive backfield is where they are a bit weak but their offense is fun to watch. They aren't so shit scared on 3rd down and more than 4 that they might as well just punt on 3rd down (see my description of the Vikings below). When they have a long 3rd down to go, they actually throw the ball to the marker or beyond which is so rare these days it's like an entirely different game is being played. Meanwhile, the Washington Racial Slurs aren't a great team, but they are certainly good enough to make the playoffs. And if Philly wins on Monday night against the Packers (which is a good bet), every team in the NFC East is above .500. That shouldn't happen but suddenly this division got better while all of the others in the NFC got much much worse. Dak Prescott is not being asked to carry the team but he's also not being given training wheels on his receiver's routes which is again, something I really appreciate.

The ugly: I didn't even watch the Steelers/Colts game because seriously... Scott Tolzien? I'm supposed to be excited about watching him try to make the bits of tinsel and broken dreams that the Colts are without Andrew Luck? If Luck isn't playing, this Colts team isn't even competitive in the shittastic AFC South. The Steelers are Jekyll and Hyde depending on what day it is, though they do still have one of the best receiving corps in the game.

And the bad: Both Minnesota and Detroit are one-and-done playoff teams at best. Detroit has a good QB, no running game worth mentioning and their coaching staff is the most bland, vanilla coaching staff I can think of. They might well win the division, though, because the rest of the North is hot garbage on a dumpster fire. Minnesota has no offensive line, their QB is so fragile that the OC won't let him hold the ball longer than the 3 seconds it takes the defensive line to get to him so every route run is 3-7 yards and back. Deep game? What's that? I'm sure we can score more than 13 points if we just throw nothing but screens, short curl routes and 5-and-outs all game? I know we have no running game and wouldn't even if the Child-Beater was carrying the ball. What's that? We can't make a first down on anything longer than a 3rd and 3? Fuck it, let's just punt on 3rd down. Might as well. I'm sure our stud defensive line and pro bowl level corners won't magically wilt in the 4th quarter after being on the field for 45 minutes of 60. Why yes, I did hire Chip Kelly's last offensive coordinator because he did so well with this QB last year. In short, the Lions aren't very good, but the Vikings are 6-4 only because they've played some shitty teams. Amazingly enough, I still don't think the Bradford trade was all that bad because Shaun Hill would have been worse.

I give equal credit to Ezekiel Elliot. That opens up a lot of options for Dak. But yeah, they're fun to watch and at the same time it's goddamned rookies showing how to play the game.

Elliot is a damn beast. Part of it is that yes, they have a helluva offensive line. The other part is that the kid is just really good and is only going to get better if he stays healthy.

Dallas games go like this: We look okay in the first half, run a good bit, but it's usually close. Second half the offensive line is wearing other team out and we're going on 4+ minute drives that punish their defense into submission. It's akin to watching Alabama play other college teams. When you're THAT dominant up front against opponent you will eventually impose your will in the 4th quarter and win games.

If you look at 2nd half time of possession, Dallas is 2nd in the league at 55% behind Philly. They just will hold the ball and not give you a chance to come back unless you score on every possession.

Hrrm how bad does the NFL want the Cowboys in the Superbowl this year?

Hey now, Sam Bradford just isn't one of the anointed QB's that gets their head protected. If he wants protection, he should just throw more touchdowns.  :oh_i_see:

Seriously, I don't know how the fuck they missed that call, but amazingly, I ain't sad. Minnesota losing gives Green Bay a better shot at the playoffs, so fuck the Vikings. I also want to see Dallas be the #1 NFC seed, which appears very likely, and then drop a giant turd against the shittiest wild card team in their first round. One-and-Done Jerry Jones face gives me so much joy.

I think that's something the whole country can agree on. (fuck Cowboy fans)

The replay showed it in pretty fine detail. The Ref to Bradford's right saw the arm hitting the shoulder (which you could see him telling Bradford after) and it likely blocked his view of the arm that smacked him in the face. The Ref that was to the left of Bradford that could have seen it followed the ball with his eyes, so was already looking away during the follow through.

Either way I don't think the face smack directly affected Bradford's shitty throw, so I don't feel too bad about it.

No it didn't affect his throw, but it would have given them a retry at half the distance to the goal, so it definitely affected the outcome of the game (or the potential outcome).

Fuck both these teams and the refs. That said, the cowboys might fizzle out, but good teams win these types of games... I'm actually pulling for them for the past few weeks. Not the cowboys as much as Dak and Zeke.

Thing is, the Cowboys are a good team. They have decent wideouts, a stud running back, their QB is just not turning the ball over, and their defense is unspectacular but consistently solid. They also have a kicker who isn't missing field goals and their punting doesn't seem to be bad either. You can win a Super Bowl with a team like that.

EDIT: Or to add to that thought, you can at least GET to the Super Bowl with a team like that in the NFC especially. The NFC is a goddamn dumpster fire (not that the AFC is much better).

I am getting the same effect I had for Favre. I don't particularly like GB in any way, but I would root for them because I liked Favre. My team, for worse, is the Browns, but I have a special liking to some players that make me root for the team they are on. Loved Jerry Rice but disliked almost all the rest except for maybe Clark and Montana. Loved Largent, but hated the Seahawks. Pretty sure I had an Atwater jersey at some point because he was my all time fav defender but there was the whole Denver Broncos hatred that came with being a Browns fan.

Vintage late season Atlanta.

So glorious. There's a blowhard here in Atlanta radio that was so confident they'd win the division 5 weeks ago he guaranteed he'd ride a bike to whatever city won.

Looking at the schedules I'd say they still will, but in the hope that some radio blowhard has to have a heart attack on a bicycle, go Bucs!

Go Bucs in general, I'd love to stick this new stadium PSL sale up their tailpipe after they've been struggling to fill the building. The Georgia Dome had ZERO problems that couldn't have been handled with a $100M renovation project, and it would have been awesome for 20 years. Instead, they spent almost $2B on a monstrosity people will still show up late too unless it's the SEC Championship when miraculously fans are in their seats on time.

Atlanta's giant transformer butthole stadium deserves to be half-empty for decades. Based on Braves' playoff attendance, it will be.  :why_so_serious: Of course Atlanta will win that shitty division but probably just barely.

So the Cowboys have clinched the playoffs, mainly because the Giants shit the bed against an inconsistent Steelers team. Bad Eli was the one who showed up all day, which combined with McAdoo's shitty offense, made for a really boring game. I also watched the Saints shit the bed against the Lions by playing the "How many holding penalties can we have in one game" game.

And I bench Russell Wilson because he was terrible last week and sure enough - the Haws put 40 on the shitty Panthers.

Bad Eli threw one of the best YOLO interceptions early in that game that I've ever seen. Across the body moving right falling over to the middle of the field off one foot. It was glorious.

Anyone looked at the injured rosters? Holy Jesus. This has been a really fucking tough year for everybody.

One of the fun things about the old lady getting into football is explaining things like Bad Eli. She said they didn't look like an 8-3 team, soo...

She was also royally pissed they cut away from the Pats curbstomping the Rams.

Why? Does she have a particular hatred for the Rams? Or a crush on Brady (winningest QB of all time! woot woot, let your hate flow!) That game was bloody boring , the win percentage predictor was hilarious, basically 97% to 99% win for the Pats the WHOLE game.

She's a Pats fan.

Only the Browns could lose while on a bye.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/robert-griffin-iii-expects-to-help-browns-in-last-four-games-and-into-the-future/

That was a fun game last night.

Bit confused though, did that Carr - Cooper bomb hit a bird or something? The ball seemed to deflect as it was coming down off it's arc.

Cowboys are pretenders.

Fuck the Cowboys.

It's been said already but man the NFC is garbage this year.

Nah. Bad game but hardly pretenders. There's always division losses every year, even in great winning seasons. 1992 we lost to Washington and Philly. 1993 we lost to a 4 win Washington team. 1995 we lost to Washington TWICE and Philly.

So's the AFC. Even the Pats are pretenders with that defence.

It's a perfect Super Bowl for a 6 seed to wander in there lost and confused.

It'll be Pittsburgh vs the Giants and I'll kill myself.

Seattle will pull this one out of their magical butts. Probably against Pittsburgh.

Shoot me now.

Given it was against the Giants? Nah.. The Giants are the enigma of the league... like their quarterback.

That game confused the heck out of my fiancee, it was fun to watch her watch it.

The giants have to be the biggest example of "plays to the level of their competition" in the history of sports.  It isn't out of the realm of possibility that they could have lost to the Browns and beaten the Cowboys.

 Very true. Being a giants fan is very hard.

The Giants are SO fucking awful on offense. Their HC/OC should be fired but won't be because... I don't really know why actually but I can't see why they were hired in the first place. Their defense has definitely become legit though. I really hope they don't stumblefuck their way through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl because fuck me. If Eli wins a 3rd Super Bowl, you know the reanimated corpse of Peyton's arm will come back to try to win a third.

Apparently Earl Thomas has some sort of magic powers to make the Seahawks good, since they looked like complete shit in every phase of the game yesterday. I made the mistake of attending a viewing party and not drinking. Left just after Seattle scored but before INT and TD #5. What a clusterfuck.

I didn't get to watch. After I saw the highlights reel, I was glad. Fucking awful.

My local affiliate decided the Saints game was more important because Saints. To which I just say, FUCK THE SAINTS. They are goddamn awful.

Their current HC was the OC when they were putting up 30 points a game a couple years ago, that's why he was hired in the first place.  Their offense has been garbage this year, however. There is no doubt about that. This is just the kind of team that could make a run though, which is fucking hilarious given how bad they can be.

Takeaway from that game was that the rookie defensive end that started for in JPP's spot seems legit.

And the hilarious part is the Cowboys wanted no part of that game, and the Giants just kept handing them chances. Over and over again. Like I could count 3 times in the fourth quarter where I said, nah it's over, but it wasn't and the Cowboys got the ball back late.

Yeah, I know McAdoo was the OC under Coughlin - he was also Green Bay's QB coach/OC before getting hired by the Giants. I realize his pedigree. His offense is fucking terribad though. I truly believe the route concepts he's using as well as the blocking schemes are still infecting Green Bay's offense to this day and is part of the reason it sucks too.

Or HC was the OC of a top 10 offense for 2 years.

Our oline is shit which is an issue.

He was a TE and then QB coach. Never the OC.

Also we have no legit TE or FB.

Fisher gets an extension.... fired few games later.

I take that back. It the Pats barn fire of special teams that will do them it.

Holllleeeeeee fuck those Seahawks uniforms tonight.

They could have worn leather helmets and still beaten the sorry ass Rams

That's possibly the worst team with 4 wins I've seen in my life.

I only caught a few minutes but yeah, those Seahawks unis are just fuckawful. And I say this as someone who likes the bright yellow and green kit of Norwich City. That neon shit can get to stepping, though.

The Rams are a worse team than the Seattle unis are bad unis (and those white and blue helmets also terrible). How they could turn Todd Gurley into a nothing running back is astounding.

We wanted them to put green screen footage over the uniforms last night  :drillf:

And my feeling that this is officially the worst year for officiating continues with 3 blown ball spots costing Seattle their 3 challenges due to shitty refs. And if they hadn't blown those challenges, it could've been the Rams up 7-3 by the end of the half.

Rams Browns loser bowl, like we did for blood bowl loser teams. Or maybe a 3-way with San Fran?

I hope there is a 24/7 guard on Belichick to keep him from killing someone.

RAMS v BROWNS is a tough call. I think the Browns would win.

Rams have the better D.

LOL Giants... I mean really.

Hard to win a game where you spot the other team 14 points. 

I didn't watch more than the first quarter. After seeing 2 Eli Faces, I figured it was a foregone conclusion.

We lasted for a while just because of Eli Face.

Christmas Eve was a bad day for the right fibula of starting QBs apparently.  :why_so_serious:

Jesus, man. The playoffs are going to be a lot less interesting without David Carr or Marcus Mariotta in them. Instead we apparently get fucking Matt McGloin and Tom Savage/Brock Lobster. It's like the universe just wants the NFL Playoffs to suck.

Pretty sure Lockett did his too. Sigh.

Not fibula(that is th one in the upper leg iirc) but yea.

Fibula is lower leg.

I was bummed by Carr's injury in particular. Was really hoping to see the Raiders make a run for it.

I think Lockett broke both. Carroll also mentioned something about the risk of infection because the skin was broken  :ye_gods: No wonder Doug Baldwin was in tears.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/815675467319496704

Oh Bills... can't blame that one on Rex Ryan.

Reggie Bush

 :ye_gods:

Goddamned Bills. My buddy wonders why I'm not a Bills fan. I can't back a team so utterly incompetent.

So what happened there, because it rolled into the end-zone it was a live ball?

Ball is live on a kick-off and can be fielded by either team.

What would have happened if a Bills player had jumped on the ball in their own endzone then? Safety?

Handled properly, simple touchback. Handled like an inebriated platypus jonesing for meth, well, that clusterfuck.

Edit to add, that's if the ball makes it in while in flight. Rolling like that, dude should have grabbed it up, or ideally, some dipfuck catches it. That whole play was incompetence incarnate.

Touchback.

On a kickoff/punt the point of first touch is the point where the ball "enters play". So if the ball bounces in bounds and then goes out of bounds its still a kick "out of bounds"*. The ball rolling into the end zone is the exact same as if the ball was kicked into the end zone. From there, standard punt/kickoff rules apply.

Safeties only occur when either you're attempting to run the ball out of the end zone or you had possession at the start of the play. So if he picked it up and got tackled its a touchback. If he attempted to pick it up and fumbled it out the back of the end zone its a touchback. It would only be if he picked it up and attempted to run out of the end zone then got tackled that it would be a safety. Which while also stupid and would definitely have made deadspin would have been miles less stupid than what was actually done.

*As exemplified by a few recent occurances where a kickoff was kicked very close to the sidelines close to the goal line after which a smart player puts their feet out of bounds and reaches out to touch the ball. Ball is now possessed and the point at which its possessed is out of bounds(because the player is). The ball was never possessed in bounds and so its a kick out of bounds(which places the ball on the 40 instead of 25 iirc)

 

Since 2000, the Bills have had more dildos thrown onto their field than they have had playoff appearances. (http://i.imgur.com/FkddLZH.jpg)

Denver hires Miami defensive coordinator as head coach (http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/18452615/denver-broncos-close-hiring-vance-joseph-head-coach).

I'm just... what about the Dolphins this year made you think their defense was good? Hint: it wasn't good. 29th in total defense and 18th in scoring defense. Oh and Wade Phillips' (Denver's current DC and defensive genius coach) contract has expired, so the DC may not return and Joseph may call his own defensive plays.

OK THEN.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18455802/chargers-expected-announce-move-san-diego-los-angeles

Chargers ALSO moving to LA.

lol

Rams got shitty ratings and spectators in LA (because they sucked ass - also because the LA market isn't great for football). Every NFL team that has moved to Los Angeles has moved away after ratings and attendance declines. I know! Let's put not one but TWO shitty teams in the same market! That's bound to work this time!

HINT: It didn't work last time and that was when at least one of the teams was good.

With the stadium stuff pushing out working class fans, the teams moving to chase bigger TV markets, the rookie pay scale meaning vets get replaced with untested draft picks, and the international bullshit, the NFL is trying really hard to slay the golden goose.

This year's ratings decline was not an accident. I've said before that once the 30-something crop of QBs retires, the 20-something group is woefully unprepared to carry the mantle of the NFL. And the ratings didn't take a hit over the election, it was because you have a ridiculous gap in the league now between haves and have-nots.

18 starting QBs were drafted after 2010. Of those 18 teams, 3 of them in the AFC had QBs after 2010, 2 in the NFC. Of those 5, 3 remain. There could be zero by the time the NFC/AFC championship rolls around, but max I think 2 will be left. Russel Wilson and Dak Prescott.

Rams were bad, but the stadium is also a hellhole. Sitting in 90+ degree weather without shade or water (they ran out of bottled water in the first week or two during a game) would fucking suck, and I would never pay to watch a shitty team AND cook in the sun when I could watch at home in air conditioning. If the team gets watchable, more people will come. They will have to build a fan base. When the young kids now are adults and have grown up with a home town football team, they may be better off. Building a modern stadium will definitely expedite things.

For example, see Seahawks.

Honestly, I'm not sure why anyone would bother going to see an NFL game in person. I could spend a Sunday afternoon surrounded by loud, obnoxious people, spending a mint on garbage food, all while stting with a shitty view of the action OR I could sit at home, make whatever lunch/snacks I want before the game for a fraction of the price and at higher quality, great view, great replays, no line for the bathroom, can switch to another game if the one I'm watching sucks.

I mean it just isn't close.

The only team that could possibly do well in LA is the Raiders, because gangs like the pirate merch. But they still won't do as well as they do in Oakland.

Maybe with the Rams blue, a red team could move there for a nice color war.

But the Raiders are going to Vegas.

New England Patriots....

You shut your dirty whore mouth right now!

Suck it Dallas.

Win or lose, the hate never changes  :grin:

That being said, I just shake my head at our coaches. I wish we had a real staff that actually knew how to sub because we got burned twice on illegal sub penalties, and got Aaron extended drives, plus a dumbass offsides free play TD. The whole first half was a fucking nightmare that was too much. We're not built to play comeback football.

We need a better defense, bar none. Until we have that, I don't trust any offense that doesn't have an elite QB against another elite QB.

Off season news... The Browns are the leading story today!!

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18865828/making-sense-unprecedented-brock-osweiler-trade-nfl

Essentially they bought a 2nd round pick next year for $16mil. At first I really thought they traded for Brock Lobster, but looking at it now... they basically gamed the system to actually buy a draft pick and use some of that cap room that they have to spend and no one really to spend it on.

I am ok with this... if nothing else than the idea the Browns are making headlines.  :grin:

They are trying different things and it's a new wrinkle in the NFL: the cap space for draft picks trade.

Also the Redskins have taken over as the dumpster fire of the NFL. Wtf is going on down there?!

The Redskins are just suffering from Dan Snyder having recently read "The Art of the Deal." In Cliff Notes form.

Meanwhile, the Browns get Brock Lobster? And Houston has no one if they don't get Romo?

THE FUCK?

And now apparently Dallas didn't release Romo like everyone thought they would, mainly because Houston just shot themselves in the face by trading away Osweiller. I realize they didn't lose much by trading him, but by doing it before Romo was a free agent, it gave the Cowboys trade leverage they wouldn't have had before. It's not even clear Romo would go there as opposed to Denver anyway, since Denver is, IMO, a better destination. Sure, Romo would get to play in the shittiest division in football but there's still no guarantee Houston is just a QB away from actually being considered a contender.

Also, the Eagles get both Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffrey, which immediately makes the NFC East more competitive. Wentz really struggled in the second half when the Eagles basically had cardboard cutouts at wide receiver. Either of those guys are an upgrade, both is a good tandem.

The Redskins fired their GM who they basically sidelined before the combine anyway. And now Kirk Cousins has told them he wants a trade. The Racial Slurs are really trying to outBrowns the Browns.

It's been an interesting few days here in DC.  Jordan Reed is going to lead the NFL in receiving yards next year if he doesn't break in half.

We are fine with vacating the title of shittiest NFL entity.

In other news of the Browns kind, we just secured Zeitler from Cincinnati and Tretter from GB. Given our previous OL, this is miles above where we were.

Tretter has yet to play a full season for the Packers and still got 3 years and almost $17 million. He's decent when healthy and I'm sure he's better than the turnstiles they had last year but damn. Guards are the new corners.

No one should have to suffer through another year of Erving at center...or anywhere else on the line.

Shouldn't all of that already be in a new thread as the new NFL season technically started yesterday?

Meh... I don't consider it started till the draft, but technically you are right

Found this quote on another forum:

:grin: :why_so_serious:

Fuck you. Our new QB is 6'8"!!   :why_so_serious: