f13.net

Here we go again... only this time maybe you assholes will not be overlooking the Browns this year.  :why_so_serious:

But seriously... Free agency starts today and deals have already been penned. Notes from my book:

AB goes to the Raiders
Rosen is probably going to the Giants (with the way NYG is going)
Suggs returns to the state of AZ
L'Bell goes to the Jets
...and we still have the draft to go...

but the Browns actually have the must watch team given everything that has happened.  Mayfield now has a WR core with OBJ, Landry, Njoku, Calloway, Higgins and a bonkers RB situation with Chubb and later, Hunt?? that should make that offense rival KC and NO and LAR. And that defense with Garrett, Harrison, Vernon, Richardson, Ogbah, Ward? Another CB and LB and that side is stacked. Not to mention the AFC north is in shambles.

The beacons are lit!!

Until OBJ blows out an achilles, Njoku goes down with an ACL, Mayfield gets concussed, Garrett goes down with a hip, and Richardson just doesn't show up.  :uhrr:

It's the Browns, so everything has to be taken with a huge "but it's the Browns..." That said, the team they've put together looks really fucking good. And with the Steelers imploding because they want their grey-dicked rapist QB to feel loved until he fucks off into retirement, and the Bengals being the Bengals, and the Ravens losing their names on defense and a running project QB in his first full-year as a starter, I can't see how they won't win that division (except they're the Browns).

Meanwhile, the Packers have actually signed three good defensive free agents for not a lot of money.

Remember when everybody knew taking Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold with high draft picks was stupid except for the people drafting the NFL? Oh and toss in Josh Allen while we're at it. He sucks.

Meanwhile Baker Mayfield is poised to actually have a shitload of talent around him, and he was already 11th in the NFL in Y/A with a collection of scrubs from 2018.

One of those scrubs was Jarvis Landry, who is one of the best slot/possession receivers in the game. He wasn't throwing to trash wideouts, though none are the caliber of Beckham. Now Rosen, that motherfucker was throwing to absolute hot garbage and the somehow still functioning body of Larry Fitzgerald while being protected by turnstiles.

I forgot about Jarvis because I still think of him as a Dolphin.

I am kinda shocked the Ravens got gutted on the defensive side of the ball. Post-Ozzie drafting will be one to watch. I expect them to draft any and all Bama players that fall to them. Steelers will probably still be a 10 win team given Conner put up similar numbers to Bell and JuJu was as capable as the disgruntled AB. That said, their secondary is ass so I look forward to them getting shredded.

Really thought the Pack would be players for a big name receiver free agent this year. Quite curious about their draft.

Watching all the talking heads who are NYG fans struggle with the OBJ trade is priceless and strange since I'm not used to the Browns being on the national stage in the drama factory.

EDIT: annnnd Earl Thomas goes to the Ravens. Hope it'll be enough. Oddly enough, there were rumors Dorsey was looking to try and sign him as well.

I would be floored if the Packers spent money on a big-name receiver. That just doesn't seem to be in their DNA.

They seem to have changed tactics lately and realized the old way to doing business was going exactly nowhere since the 2014 season. Which is good, because man. Watching Aaron Rodgers dodge bullets ain't fun after a while.

Mayfield may be as good as advertised, but passing final judgement before he makes it through year two is a lesson I thought everybody had learned by now.  This happens a looooooooooot with young quarterbacks.  I am pulling for him, but we'll see.  And the same for the Browns in general.  No, they aren't going to suddenly be a top offense, that's insane.  I will happily eat a pile of crow if proven otherwise.

Fake Edit:  All that said, I think this is easily the most promising Browns team since the re-incarnation.

Mayfield isn't the second coming, but he had a better Y/A in his first full year than Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and he was on par with guys like Cam Netwon and Matt Ryan coming out of the shoot with impressive numbers.

I place very little value in Year 2 numbers because most guys face adjustments. Yet, in Year 3, that's where the rubber always meets the road.

Drew Brees is probably the biggest example of that Year 3 clicking rule.

Yeah, it works both ways.  A Sophomore slump is just as inconclusive.  Dak Prescott is perhaps a good example of someone who the book is still out on.  Really good rookiee year, falls back in his second season.  Or it started that way, I believe, haven't followed his stats, but I think he came on again at the end of the year.

Third year is where you can begin to conclude.

The jury isn't out on Dak at all in my book. He's the quarterback, and will stay the quarterback because Dallas would be foolish to chase a better option than a guy who completed 68%, 7.4 Y/A, 240+ a game in the air, and had a Td/INT of 22/8.

The "problem" with Dak last year was the 56 motherfucking sacks. Like seriously, who else took that many sacks? (I looked it up, only Deshaun Watson at 62, yeesh) He was holding the ball forever because nobody was getting open, they had no TE, and very few safety valve options until they signed Amari Cooper to go alongside Beasley.

Dak's Passer rating before Amari was 88.6, and post-trade it was 102.5. That's a pretty insane jump mid-season by simply giving him a target. Now that Witten is back as the safety net, I fully expect Dak to have a stellar year.

I wasn't in any way suggesting that he wasn't the guy in Dallas....but after his rookiee season, the superlatives were such that he may as well have been the second coming of Jesus.  He is good, no doubt.  I just don't know yet if he will be great.  Nor does he really need to be, perhaps.

Anyway, I think you get the point. 

Dak Prescott is a good example of why I think Mayfield will not go through too much of a sophomore slump. Dak's numbers fell off in his second season because he didn't have Elliot to rely on for much of the season, their O line was injured and Dez Bryant's best days as a #1 receiver were behind him. His numbers this season before they got Cooper were also abysmal because holy shit, he had NO ONE to throw to. No Jason Witten, who has always been a QB's best safety valve when pressured, and Cole Beasley (a decent possession receiver) was the best target he had on the field. Give him a guy like Cooper (who I think compares favorably to Bryant when Bryant was good) and suddenly they were a playoff team. Mayfield now has two of the top wideouts in the game - his #1 is Brown who can blow the tops of most defenses by himself even when double-covered and #2 is Landry, the best slot/possession receiver in the game besides Edelman (or Welker in his heyday). He also has a good young RB in Chubb who may not be Saquon Barkley but once he started getting regular carries, showed he was worth the high pick. His O line isn't half bad and his defense is going to keep them in games.

All of those predictions could be wrong, but I really think barring some serious injuries on the O line, Mayfield won't struggle nearly as bad as Prescott did in his second season. If he does, then yeah, he will have definitely been overrated because if you can't succeed with those weapons, you got few excuses to fall back on.

Since the Mayfield debut, I'm a fan. If the old lady wasn't staunch about watching the Pats games, we'd be watching the Browns.

Lots of talent on the field. I'm hoping Mayfield's attitude and raw talent mesh well with ODB, but as you say, he's already stacked with folks to catch it. I run my Madden Browns with a big blocking FB for Chubb and also added a power HB to get beat up on short runs against heavy packages. Running either with the blocking FB lead behind Bitonio is just a grinder (the rest of the O line could use a bit of work, maybe teh weakest part of the team, which needs to be addressed). I also added a good hands/agility HB (I had Sony Michel for a while, my new guy is CPU gen) that I can use for toss plays/screens and even a WR though I rarely need an extra (he's in for 5WR sets, mostly).

And the D is crazy, too. Schobert and Kirksey shut down the middle, and Garrett/Ogbah/Ogunjobi are dominant.

Most of my experience with the team is 6 seasons on Madden, but damn, they good.

For the first time in like 20 years, I didn't pay attention to the draft. What a world we live in when the Browns don't have a first rounder.  :grin:

Few surprises...
Lots of big first round graded player still on the board:
Cody Ford from OU - figured an OL needy team would have grabbed him up quick
Greedy Williams LSU - guess his spotty tackling cost him a round
Metcalf MISS - how does a huge straight line burner WR slip out of the 1st...
Lock Missou - NYG took Jones over this guy?
AJ Brown MISS - not that surprising but thought he'd go late round 1

Gruden and Mayock... wtf?
NYG gambling
Pittsburgh selling half the farm for a Shazier replacement
Cinnci actually picking a solid OL guy
Haskins falling to the Washington Generals

Looks like the big loser of the day was Rosen. Every team he was in play with took a QB. Maybe Miami is still out there? N.E.?

Yeah, I'm not sure what the Cards thinking on Rosen is but he's either going to be a very unhappy backup or traded to a team whose expensive veteran signing gets hurts or is Fitzmagic. I'm assuming a lot of that depends on what Arizona is asking for - if they expect to get a first-rounder, I don't think anyone is going to bite on that. I'm thinking the teams that might want him are Tennessee or Tampa (because no one is sold on their former #1 picks being as good as advertised), Miami (becauase Fitzmagic), the Raiders (depending on how much Gruden actually does like Carr), or the Broncos (because LOLFLACCO). The only other options that make sense are places where he'd be an understudy to a QB that's likely to retire in 2-3 years - New Orleans, New England, Los Angeles Chargers, Packers and Carolina (because of health concerns with Newton). None of those options look that great for either Rosen or the Cardinals' ability to get a decent pick.

I don't get the Packers first pick, Rashan Gary, DE. Yes, they need an edge rusher but they signed two in free agency, and this guy has injury questions. I'm happier with their pick of a ball-hawking safety though because they got fuckall out of that position last year.

You know, now that you mention the Chargers, I could see that happening. Would take some of the sting off being a backup for a few years since he'd be basically back home.

Day 2 and I'll perk back up and keep this on the tablet to see if the Brownies continue to build. Personally, hoping OL then DB unless Greedy is there. Tackling aside, he is a damn nice in coverage and would make a nice compliment to Ward. Lot of draftniks have that Rock kid from Temple. I'd be fine with either.  :grin:

Cincy has picked what looked to be solid OLine guys before. Here's hoping that this guy turns out to not be actual shit and/or the coaching of said oline guy is superior to what it used to be if that's what is to blame. It sucks. I think the Bengals have actually been very good at drafting smart position wise and they tend to pick players that the media sees as worthy of the spot picked but over and over the players haven't worked out.

-2005 they tried to get good LB's taking them in RD1 and RD2. Both looked like they might be starter+ talents but then RD1 breaks his neck and RD2 gets Goddell'd out of the fucking league. The defense except for a blip where Burfict was playing well never actually produced a good LB core for 14 yrs because of this. But LB importance was waning so until about 4 years ago that was generally ok. Now its a dumpster fire problem and you've got the Steelers giving away picks to get ahead of the Bengals to take the only decent LB left. Which was peak Steelers and because its the Steelers and Bengals will probably work out great for them.

-2009 they tried again for LB talent and Heinze Ward broke his jaw on such a dirty play that they made a rule that you couldn't do that shit. This is far from the only time rules are made because of things shitlord Steelers do to Bengals players. Fuck the Steelers so much. Rivers never really plays well after that (not that he was amazing before it tbf) and washes out of the league in 6 years.

-2006, 2007, 2012, 2014 & 2016 they took RD1 corners. Because corners are huge. There is a lot of high level analytics that are saying its actually secondary not line that matters more to overall defensive performance. You'll notice the Pats will lay out huge FA $$$ for CB but never on the line and that every year feels like the most RD1 talent on the d-line since the year before lately. So the Bengals were ahead of the curve. But as usual they've just missed too often. Oh and Mike Brown is a cheap fuckwad. The only pro bowler (JJoe) so far of the bunch the Bengals refused to pay and he went to the Texans and was a cornerstone for their team during which time they beat the Bengals in the playoffs twice. Because Bengals.

-Like CB they adapted to how important TE's were becoming ahead of a lot of teams. Taking first rounders in 2010 and 2013. Both were hits too! Sadly the one who flashed a lot of greatness is also made of glass and I'm not sure if he's ever played 10 games in a season.

-No credit for AJ Green. That's just picking an amazing talent with a really high pick. Shame John Ross is such a worthless player so far.

-Back to OT's though and O-Linemen in general. They picked RD1'ers in: 2009, 2012, 2015 & 2018. In fact in 2015 they went RD1 & RD2 on them in what looked like a smart move to be set in a few years with fresh talent. Sadly so far none of their RD1 linemen have been that good. Most have been downright RD3-5 spot starter at best level talents.

So in general I think they pick position groups according to their real value to winning football games. But their coaching/facility/org is cheapshit so they never get much out of them or they just suck at picking the right ones because they pay basically zero scouts, don't have a true gm, etc.

tl;dr

fuck being a bengals fan but at least we aren't the NYG. I don't care that retard face Eli won some rings. Cling to that. The Giants are being mismanaged worse than the Jets these days. All the past glory in the world can't save you from how much that must burn. I want Gruden to do well bc I like the guy but yikes. Rocky start so far. Really rocky. Looks like the worst fears of an old coach who doesn't understand the game's evolution being in charge might look.

 :drill: :ye_gods: :drillf: :ye_gods:

I really don't get why Greedy fell THAT far...but fuck yea.

As a Giants fan, OBJ is a blessing and a curse. He has equal chance to be great, to be hurt or be on a boat before a playoff game.

That boat thing was a load of horseshit. It should never have been a story and the only reason it was is because 1) he's a flashy black player who can create headlines because of how uptight Giants management is and 2) the Giants went out and laid a goddamn egg in that playoff game against Green Bay. #2 happened not because OBJ was on a boat, but because that team was the biggest fraud in the NFL that year, and fell ass backwards into a playoff spot, winning something like half its games by less than a touchdown. Their O line was trash, they had no running game and Eli was always 50/50 on whether he threw a TD or a pick 6. Also, they were coached by your high school history teacher who spent more time looking at high school girls' legs and checking his breath in his hand than teaching a class.

Until the Bills and Giants fix their O line problems (that have existed since before most NFL players were born), nothing else matters. I get shit from my friends about not supporting NY teams, but I have a problem with incompetence, not sorry. I mean, I do support Rugby United NY  :why_so_serious: (seriously, they're kicking butt)

Eli is to the Giants as Jim Kelly is to the Bills.

Same story line happened to Witten and Romo for their vacation together before a playoff game. So thanks for the racial bi-line.  Also Giants management at the time were two black guys.

But yeah, OBJ dropped a whole bunch of passes that game... and Rodger scored on a hail mary before half time just like the Giants did on their super bowl run in '11.

I can argue recent incompetence with the Giants, but there are only 4 teams with more Superbowl wins in NFL history (Steelers, 49ers, Pats and Cowboys). Last good Oline was 8 years ago. :sad:

Eli won two Super Bowls, Kelly lost 4.

Giants management is not the one who hammered that story for months (and now years) afterwards, the media and Giants fans are, however. Also, the Witten/Romo vacation? The only part of that story I remember being a big deal was that Romo went off on vacation with Jessica Simpson, who was a big time tabloid story at the time. So it became more of a "Romo wants to be with celebs more than practice" and it was also a bullshit story, just without the racial undertones. All his undertones at the time were media celebrity/tabloid culture. OBJ has been consistently criticized with distinctly racial undertones (stick to football, Eli doesn't act like that) in much the same way Terrell Owens and Randy Moss were vilified (though in both their cases, some of the criticisms were justified). OBJ has had none of the off-field incidents of either of those guys, has never been suspended by the team like both were and the worst you can say about his was that idiotic fight with a kicker's net.

The Giants' fans, the NY and broader media want to heap piles of shit on OBJ for the Giants being an ass burrito for the last few years but holy shit, none of the Giants' problems had anything to do with OBJ. The Giants as a team culture actively discourage any sort of personality in their players that isn't "white bread tape-eating football robots" and yes, a lot of that has racial undertones. I'm not saying these guys may not have caused some caustic locker room shit to go down, but the media and the fans have essentially blamed the moribund state of the franchise on ridiculous bullshit that ignores the cancerous problems in the coaching staff, the moronic choices in roster construction and the fact New York subway turnstiles have provided more resistance to freedom of movement than their offensive line.

The story was that Witten and Romo went on a joint vacation if I remember correctly.

I won't disagree with the rest except that OBJ was a giant fucking pain in the ass and a locker room distraction. He also laid a giant goose egg in the one playoff game he was in and took himself out the last 4 games of the season. After he got paid he started protecting himself rather than playing the sport. You can google a play where he alligator armed an onside kick.

The rest is right though, up until Gettleman took over, the coaching and front office were complete shit.

Hate to tell you, but Gettleman is also going to be a colossal waste unless Daniel Jones turns out to be the second coming of Peyton (not Eli).

Gettleman has already improved the offensive line and had at least one good draft (last year) and I'm willing to bet this year will be good as well. Our drafts over the last 6-7 years (prior to Gettleman) are probably the worst in the NFL as far as retaining players.

Gettleman is good at what he does. I see no reason why I should expect worse. The media is hyperventilating on the Jones pick, but Gettleman had two other really good first round picks. I think Jones will be decent in a Shurmer offense. Jones plays a really good bootleg. But we'll see. Our last Duke QB was... well, I'm not going to talk about it.

The Giants defense was fucking terrible last year, and our offense was the highest scoring in the NFC East and OBJ was hurt and out at least a quarter of the season.

If you aren't aware, Deadspin has started their "Why Your Team Sucks" for 2019 (https://deadspin.com/tag/why-your-team-sucks-2019).

This quote from a Raiders fan has to be my favorite so far, since I fucking hate Jon Gruden and Philip Rivers is a quiverfull asshole who won't stop breeding.

Looks like Josh Gordon will be back again.... for the, ummm, 8th time?

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/08/16/report-patriots-wideout-josh-gordon-reinstated/

Now I am all for getting rid of the bullshit weed rule and I liked Josh, but come on... 4 game, 10 game, 16 game, out. Now all the sudden for this guy we'll take another chance... I'm sure it will work out this time.

Fuck Goodell, man.

What the fucking hell??

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27456682/emotional-luck-announces-retirement-nfl

"In a shocking development, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck announced his retirement from the NFL on Saturday night, saying constant injuries have taken away his love for the game."

Bets on when he comes back after getting healthy?

Man that really sucks. He had the tools to be a Hall of Famer.

Fuck me. That's terrible. I have to put the blame for that shit squarely on Ryan Grigson. That incompetent fuck spent years drafting and signing players for the Colts, continually letting Luck get killed behind an O Line that wasn't even close to capable of protecting that dude, as well as never having enough talent around him to put them over the top into a real Super Bowl contender.

So it appears the AFC South is now Houston's to lose again. YAY?

I can hardly blame the guy. He has had a litany of horrific injuries. Trying to play through all of them, then having to have multiple surgeries and rehab from each of those has to take a serious mental toll.

I will never stop beating the O-line drum. So critically important, can turn a good quarterback into a great one...or a mediocre one.

While true, the truly great ones will find a way to transcend those short-comings.  For me, Luck was a guy who had all the talent to do that, but never quite did.  But good on him for making a tough call and going out on his terms.  And hey, the guy will always be at the top of the list for the next decade of guys who could swoop in from retirement and improve your team.

Colts fans boo him walking off the field the other day. That's why you fuckheads only got one Superbowl out of 19 years of Manning/Luck. Yeah and Ryan Grigson. Also your owner being a coke addled disaster probably doesn't help.

Or maybe it's karma for whining about deflated footballs? (Smug Pats fan mode ...engage!)


Good on Andrew Luck. This game is stupidly violent. It's a miracle they make it out of college or high school for that matter.

Every great QB has at least an average online. You'll never find a successful QB if their OLine is dog shit like the Giants Oline has been for 7 years or an Oline like the Cardinals have right now (and maybe the Browns).

I don’t think that is true.  I think it is more accurate to say that good and even very good QBs need good O Lines.  The great QBs find a way.  Tom Brady has not had a great O Line ever goddamn year of his career.  The dude has a fucking crazy fast ability to read defenses and get rid of the ball.  Etc.  Has Aaron Rodgers ever had what would be called a Great O Line?  I am thinking not so much, and yet we all agree he is one of the best ever.

Actually, yes, Rodgers did have a great O line for a stretch of about 2-4 years, starting with the year they won the Super Bowl. It wasn't 5 HOF level players, but the group that had T.J. Lang, Josh Sitton and Bryan Bulaga was a great O line. Problem is you only get about 2-4 years of that line together before guys start to age out, get hurt and decline.

While the Pats don't have a 'great' o-line, it's a position that they draft high on (Light, Solder, Mankins etc) and constantly look for different ways to improve (college wrestler's , random Euros etc).

They also have probably the best o-line coach in the game, Dante Scarnecchia. A guy so important that when he retired they made him unretire after one year. Brady and the Pats success has almost always been in direct correlation with the health of their o-line.

God knows I'd prbbaly get murdered for this by other Pats fans but is Brady this great on another team? However same goes for Belichek. That combo has been a perfect storm.
 

There are a lot of moving parts that make the Pats work, from ownership to culture to how they fill out the roster. Pull any part of it and it all falls apart, which is why the Brady/Belichick disciples don't get a lot of traction elsewhere. Look at the pushback Patricia had trying to make the Lions adopt the Pats culture. You need all that stuff to make 'next man up' work, and that's the key to the longevity they've had.

I'm a Pats fan and agree. Those two Hall of Famers would likely still be HoF'ers, but not legends and arguably goats.

It's weird that he would quit now since 2018 was arguably his best year. He took the fewest sacks, had the best ratings, and got very near his high in TDs for a season. They won a playoff game, and they probably could have won a second playoff game, but the KC offensive buzzsaw absolutely demolished their defense, and their offense had the worst game of the season. I think if they don't implode in the first quarter, that game gets much more interesting.

I honestly think he should take a year off, get healthy, and go play for Bruce Arians down in Tampa won't Jameis gets thrown off the team.

My dopey gambling friend lost $1000 USD on a Luck MVP Vegas bet  :why_so_serious:

I was surprised to see the Browns cut Strong, I felt he had potential. But watching the video of Kitchens talking about it, he immediately talked about the offensive and defensive line positions. Which is at least a good thing, given all the press for the WR stuff.

Hearing Clowney is coming to Seattle for a 3rd rounder, a backup LB, and Barkevious Mingo, who was 100% going to get cut today. John Schneider is a fucking wizard.

With a name like Barkevious Mingo, you’re probably better suited to other professions.  Like Minister of Muggle Affairs or something.

Pretty big coup.  Schneider is one of the best in the league, that’s for sure.

Too bad he can't hire an offensive coordinator worth a shit, though.  :why_so_serious:

Truth.  :heartbreak:

Aaand Brown didn't make it to the opener.

 :awesome_for_real:

Goddamn, both these teams offenses looked like shit. Rodgers was clearly rusty, and the Packers O line looks like shit, especially at the guard positions. Luckily, our defense finally seems to be worth a fuck.

And can I just fuck the NFL for allowing challenges on pass interference, especially on non-call PI? That's just the dumbest fucking solution to the issue that happened in the NFC Championship game, and it grinds play to a half much worse than even normal challenges. JUST STOP IT, NFL. Not every problem can be solved with yet another fucking replay.

Breaking News:  New evidence surfaces that every WR in the NFL is a complete douche.

Okay, maybe not all of them.  But man, there is just about nothing I find more nauseating in today's NFL than the emergence of all the divas at that position.  Just using the word 'diva' to describe a football player makes me barf in my mouth a little.  The rule changes have made them all feel like they are gifted, special snowflakes.  Only a couple of them actually are.  I personally don't consider Brown one of them.

Bet the NFL was reeeeeeeeal proud of that game being the opener. I didn't watch it but was eyeing the score going... :oh_i_see:

It was a shitshow. Hell, the Bears fans were booing the shit out of Trubisky every time they failed another drive and I mean they started that shit EARLY. By the end of the first quarter, the whole place sounded like a tomb on most plays, and it only got really loud when the Bears offense came off the field to a chorus of boos that only grew louder by the possession. We saw some great punts though.

Bears defense is legit though. They just need to run the ball more. Somehow.

Brown's stats for the previous 6 seasons were crazy good. Like maybe the best stretch ever for a WR. Averages for 2013 - 2018:

Catches: 114
Yards: 1524
TDs: 11

I know.  Does that make him the best receiver ever?  Hell fucking no.  Like all receivers in this age, he is a huge beneficiary of the rules and the NFL’s desire to have every game score at least 60 points.  Plus he is a complete prick.

Bears D was fearsome, but holy crap that offense...so many penalties. The old lady likes the Pack, and she's always a wreck watching Rodgers get beat down. Every game.

Not fussed about the PI challenge thing, it doesn't take any longer than a regular challenge, and with the utter shit officiating costing big time games, there has to be some mechanism to get things right. More cameras is a good start, eventually just have NY back up the refs or reverse calls in real time.

I mean, goddamned curling put a chip in the stone to know when it crosses lines, ffs.

Brown is released (https://twitter.com/Raiders/status/1170365119215415299).

Jones is signed (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001051676/article/falcons-wr-julio-jones-set-to-sign-3yr-66m-deal) ($66 million for 3 years, $64 million guarenteed).

AB went to New England... as expected. Talk about bullshit.

GOD... DAMN... IT.

This season is just going to be one long shit show before yet another fucking inevitable Tom Brady Super Bowl, isn't it?

Seems like it now, but I'm betting Gordon fails a test before November and AB lasts till week 4 before he does something stupid. Might actually turn out to be a NE shitshow before all is said and done.

While I certainly will root for the universe to give us a very public, very ugly and very loss-filled trainwreck sideshow dumpster fire in New England, I'd say chances are much better that we get Brady a 7th Super Bowl championship than that entire bunch of assholes gets the karmic facefucking they deserve.

Just fuck everything.

Thanks, Chucky!

Let me see if I understand the general sequence of events.

- AB has a beef with his former former team, no doubt realizing he will never win shit.  Probably called their rapist QB a cracker at some point.
- Got himself traded to a team that isn’t even within farting distance of second place in their division
- Suddenly realizes that his new helmet is super un-comfy.  Every other player in the league is essentially fine with it, but oh no, not a superstar diva like AB.  Controversy!
- Back and forth, back and forth.  Raiders starting to tired of the bullshit, tell AB to put his new un-comfy helmet on over that pussy he calls a face, and come to practice fucking pronto.
- AB puts on helmet.  Maybe he showed up to practice?  Who cares.  At some point he correctly calls the Raiders new GM a ‘stupid honky cracker’ or similar.
- AB makes tearful locker room apology.  Is hoping someone will post it to YouTube.  Uncertain if he called anyone a cracker, but probably.  I mean, have you seen Derek Carr.
- AB posts YouTube video of call with someone who could in theory be Jon Gruden.  Forensics experts agree that there are probably upwards of 60 million Americans who could successfully imitate Gruden’s honky cracker accent, and offer no opinion on the validity of the video. 
- Raiders understandably fucking tired.  They release AB.
- New England Patriots, a team OF crackers, BY crackers and FOR crackers, swoop in and magically pick AB up.  “Oh golly, we never imagined our luck, and of course we aren’t like in cahoots with anyone or anything no siree heh heh heh.  Heh.”
- New England, aided by the suddenly cooperative AB, complete with shitty new helmet, wins the Super Bowl against whogivesafuck by a score of 87-52.  Tom Brady MVP.  What, did AB actually think they wouldn’t give it to the cracker?

Sound about right?

Welp, the draft is only 228 days away so there is that.

Ahem.  I don't want them to fail, but the expectations have been insane.  On the same token, it's just one game.  Maybe they needed a slap of reality.

Your AB timeline is a little off.

AB wanted out of Pittsburgh because they are cheap cocksuckers who let their Pro Bowl RB sit all goddamn season rather than pay him what he's worth on the market. Also, his QB is a RAPIST cracker who is probably a closet racist. Also also, AB wants to go to New England where he will win a Super Bowl, but the Steelers will be goddamned before they trade him to New England.
AB goes to France for some cryotherapy, doesn't wear shoes and promptly gets the heels of his feet horribly mangled from freezing, so sits out a bunch or early practice.
AB arrives at Raiders camp in a goddamn air balloon because why not.
AB starts bitching about his helmet - it is apparently 12 years old, and helmets older than 10-years will not be certified as safe due to wear and tear and changing specs. Whole bunch of bullshit ensues, all of which is ridiculous and AB has no legs to stand on (and no feet because GODDAMN).
Some kind of helmet is found and AB comes to practice. In the interim, he skips out on a mandatory walkthrough and some other thing, and the team fines him (or threatens to with a letter). He posts the fine letter on Instagram and gets all butthurt. He goes to practice and bitches out the idiot puppet GM who used to be a mediocre TV pundit and likely calls him a cracker. THEN he records the actual Jon Gruden and posts THAT video on Instagram as well. Then he apologizes to the team. Then the Raiders tell him that because of the fines and skipped activities, his $1 million signing bonus is void and oh yes, the $30 million that was guaranteed by the contract is ALSO void, meaning he is playing on the contract he signed on a week-to-week basis. Miss a game? NO CHECK. He posts on Instagram asking to be released and the Raiders tell him to get the fuck out.
Then he signs with New England, which is what he really wanted all along.

Meanwhile, in actual games, holy shit was there a ton of trash football on Sunday. I watched 3 games, and I finished watching none of them, because none of them were competitive. The Browns looked like world beaters on the first possession, then they promptly forget to have a running game (thanks for killing my fantasy team). They also forgot how to play without giving away penalties. Seriously, by the third quarter, they had given away something like 2 football field lengths worth of penalties. Their starting left tackle got ejected for kicking a dude in the face and their backup left tackle got injured. Mayfield ends up looking like a 2nd-year QB who is trying to will his team to not suck, and failing spectacularly.

The Giants, meanwhile, still have Eli at QB, and his heir apparent is a fumble magnet. Also, the Giants defense really really blows. I don't believe Dak Prescott or Kellon Moore's offensive scheme is that good. Going to be a long year for Giants fans, complete with calls for Daniel Jones to start, where he will also suck.

The Steelers blow so hard. Who would have thought that treating your star players like field hands and favoring your bloated rapist of a QB over them would blow up in the team's faces? You know how Smith-Schuster was going to be the next big thing? Well, he still might, but he ain't going to have the kind of year he had last year without AB taking pressure off of him. And the guys around him are no Smith-Schuster. Also, fuck the Patriots so hard. This year is going to be a walk for them, isn't it? They didn't even have AB last night, and they didn't need him.

The Dolphins are fucking terribad. However, Lamar Jackson may actually be a good passer. I was reading a story about him and according to some of the advanced stats, his big game yesterday wasn't just because the Fins suck - he was actually making good throws. Even though I hate the Ravens, I hope this is true because I really want to see the racist shitgoblins who think a black running QB can't succeed as a passer in the NFL get proven wrong. Poor Big Dick Nick Foles went to Jacksonville to win a Super Bowl, and promptly got Tony Romo'ed.

Well to be fair, the Steelers have been pretty consistent with their players and the system they operate. I would argue NE treats their players like field hands way more than the Steelers ever did, esp where AB is concerned. As a Browns fan, fuck the black and gold, but I don't fault them for a second on the AB thing. Bell is a different matter and their decision can't be based on this year. How many times have we seen the big contract fall to the guy playing out of his mind only to find he only had 10-12 games left with that ability? and a running back? *cough* Todd Gurley... *cough*

And all teams favor the QB over every other player - without one, even the hamburglar, you are doomed.

Sure, the Steelers have been consistent on this. And both AB and Bell said, "Nah, fuck that, pay me or I'm outie." Bell didn't want to get Kirk Cousins'ed into endless franchise tags, knowing that as a running back, he'd never get to sign a big, multi-year contract if they franchised the 2 years after his rookie contract was up. It's kind of funny that he ended up signing for less guaranteed money with the Jets than he'd have gotten if he signed the franchise tender, but I don't blame him for not wanting to get dicked over on making the choice himself. It was clear that their success in the playoffs owed a lot to him, because when he was hurt before the playoffs two years in a row, they stank it up.

As for AB, I don't think this diva shit is as much about getting paid as it is just not fucking wanting to play with Big Ben and his giant fucking head anymore. AB doesn't have a problem with superstars being treated differently, he just didn't want that superstar to be the rapist. Apparently, during the trade talks, he and his agent tried like hell to get the Steelers to trade him to New England but they refused to strengthen a rival. Of course, they ended up doing that anyway, in a roundabout way.

I agree New England will probably treat players MORE like field hands than the Steelers - the difference is that the Pats will probably will a Super Bowl with or without him.

If you didn't watch the Houston/New Orleans game, you missed the best game of the weekend. The NFL is better when Deshaun Watson isn't getting fucking killed because he is electric. And yet he still can't get a win because Romeo Crennel sucks.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1171166027385843713  :why_so_serious:

Some of it is Moore's offense and the work Dak put in with new qb coach Kitna (Kitna focusing on things like footwork and getting Dak to believe his eyes and let it rip instead of being so conservative) the other part is how bad Linehan was. He was very predictable. Opposing defensive players have been saying it for years.

For example pre snap motion helps the qb read the defense. Linehan hardly did that at all.  When the game mattered I'm pretty sure every offensive play the Cowboys called had motion.



Dak through 3 seasons has been deadly using play action, but Linehan only called like 3 a game. On Sunday Prescott went 14 of 15 for 207 yards and 3 TDs off PA

I don't know if it's true but one poster at Cowboyzone wrote that on one of those tds where the receiver was wide open (either Cobb or Jarwin, I forget which) for the past 4 years in that formation, location on the field and down and distance the Cowboys passed once out of like 200 plays.

edit: here's a thread with video breakdowns of the offense.  The two guys sometimes go over the same play but with a little different viewpoint so they are both worth watching IMO.

https://cowboyszone.com/threads/the-genius-of-kellen-moore-collecting-info-pre-snap.439931/

Oh, but not too fast!  Turns out AB might also be a rapist, because of course.

There are some problems with the story from the accuser, because of course.  You can read them yourselves, don't want this to be a politics thread.

There are lots of weird things in those allegations. Most of which should be easy to prove if they are true via text records.

The victim should get the benefit of the doubt.  And I can wrap my head around the scenario where he hits on her, even kisses her and then later apologizes and maybe she gives him the benefit of the doubt.

But.....the part where they are watching some kind of fucking church video on her ipad, and he somehow does a bit of ninja masturbation and blows his wad all over her back without her consent and knowledge?  And then she forgives THAT and agrees once again to train him?

It could all be true, and I am already on the record for saying he is a fucking prick....but man, that is a strange ass story.

Strange story indeed. But if she was trying to get her business self started and he was the only big paying client, I could see letting him get away with shit and apologize for it... especially if that was the only source of income coming in from that line of business. You can stand back on a moral high horse and claim you would never put up with that, but if that is the only source of your rent and food money... especially if she was trying to get more clientele, having AB would be a big feather in her cap for recommendations and industry credit. Really....it's the same story in any industry that has been in the news for the past decade+.

Well, sure, except for the part where he jizzed on her.  I would think that would be a line you can’t uncross.  But maybe?

I agree on benefit of the doubt, which I do give the victim. I think all of what she says has the ring of truth (knowing how depraved many NFL players are, not to mention somebody with the obvious mental issues AB exhibits), most of which can be affirmed on text records. I think he'll settle rather than that shit getting out in public eventually.

The lawyers on her side are very smart. They waited until the most damaging time to file the suit, and they'll likely throw out an absurd settlement offer to start with. If the NFL actually puts him on exemption, there won't be any settlement until the season is over. They'll drag it out until he caves. My guess is win or lose, she's out for revenge and wants to ruin him. Which if he raped her I am completely in favor of.

If anything, I've learned for enough money people don't have lines. And the amount of money can be appalling low.

Yeah, probably.  I am just going to assume it is true for now and hope that he is just utterly fucked.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27630164/big-ben-season-ending-elbow-surgery

Big Ben is done... for this year at least. Wouldn't be surprised if this is it for the guy.

We can only hope. I guess we get to see now if the Steelers policy of penny-pinching their stars (or just the non-white non-QB ones) pays off in a Super Bowl or if they really can just plug any asshole into the system and continue to win games. In any case, fuck them and their rapist QB.

In other news, the Miami Dolphins really are barely FBS-college level quality. I have no idea why they are paying Fitzmagic to throw interceptions when they could just as easily evaluate their #1 draft pick QB they traded for to see if he's good enough to use the #1 draft pick they are tanking for in next year's draft on something besides a QB of the future. Since this is Miami, they can't even fucking tank right and I'm sure Fitzmagic will win them a game or two on his own, since no one else on this team is likely to do it. They are abjectly terrible and the Patriots never even had to break a sweat to win this game. It wasn't even remotely competitive after the coin toss.

Meanwhile, Drew Brees is now out for 6 weeks after his injury gifted the Rams another win. Their defense looks decent but it's going to become painfully clear over the next few weeks that Bridgewater is not going to cut it as a backup. I expect teams will start stacking 8 and 9 in the box to keep Kamara from doing the damage because even with Michael Thomas, Bridgewater's arm will not be a threat deep.

I watched half of the Falcons/Eagles game before I realized I hate both these teams. Carson Wentz appears to have accelerated his career straight to "Ghost of Peyton Manning's Neck Bones" stage. He looks like his bones crumble to dust the minute a defensive lineman breathes on him. The Bears win a game by making a field goal and somehow, that's fucking news because DOUBLE DOINK.

lolnfl and the call at the end of the DEN-CHI game.

In other news AB is an ever bigger piece of shit than previously discussed  SI story on his shittiness here (https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/09/16/antonio-brown-new-england-patriots-lawsuits-accusations-sexual-midconduct-assault)

Sounds to me like he's a real fucking fruit loop. I do not understand those who do not sell or purchase illegal substances having $80,000 in cash in their home. I'm no fan of big banks, but I think I'd much rather have that shit in an FDIC insured account than some safe that one of my many entourage (parasites, leeches and leg humpers) can just make disappear and you are shit out of luck. Of course, I also don't understand the idea of hiring people and then not fucking paying them when I clearly have (or should have) the money to do so in my goddamn safe.

He's a complete loony bin who thinks he doesn't have to pay people. Then again, I think we've known he's a complete loony bin for a long time now.

Rich asshole doesn't want to pay people, gets a rep for not paying people, service people KNOW he's not been paying people, and they still provide services without getting fees up front.

At some point stop actually providing the man services and see how he likes it.

I've been enjoying my bosses' mental gymnastics as a Steelers fan lately. Pulled her into some long diatribe against AB's civil suit and then angled it into Ben's civil suit...which was completely different. And Ben's injury began a diatribe about Terry Bradshaw costing the Steelers a Dan Marino draft pick  :uhrr:

Myles Garrett, my man. I mean, I feel bad the 2nd stringer had his leg under him, fluke thing. But man that dude can rush the passer.

So despite having Le'Veon Bell and a decent defense, the Jets are about as bad as an FBS team as well. I realize that Adam Gase earned his reputation as on offensive genius by coaching the last good years of Peyton Manning's career (before getting absolute curbstomped by the Seahawks) but he seems to be really fucking terrible. Over and over again, pass rushers just didn't even get blocked or looked at before destroying the QB. And I'm not talking about scrub rotation defensive linemen, I'm talking about letting top-level sack leader dudes like Myles Garrett just getting multiple free runs at the QB without even so much as a chip. Gase is a bug-eyed, obsessive weirdo who isn't even that good at what everyone claims he's good at, and now because of that (and Myles Garrett committing multiple personal fouls), the Jets are on their 3rd string, 6th-round draft pick QB indefinitely - at least until Darnold's mono clears up (word is at least a month).

On the other side of the field, Baker Mayfield has an absolute cannon of an arm. Unfortunately, he clearly thinks he's Brett Favre and he may end up being that good, if he can temper his big swinging dick throws he has no business making. If he doesn't, he'll be Jay Cutler. The team around him is really good, though their O line needs to be better. OBJ is a freak and Chubb is a bellcow running back. Their offensive playcalling is predictable as hell and may be part of why they have struggled in both games. First down run, if it gets stuffed, 2nd down is always a pass, and vice versa if they bother to pass on first down. I think this team makes the playoffs but only because the Steelers aren't.

Get ready for the "Could Clemson beat the Dolphins?" Article that will inevitably hit at some point in the next 6 weeks.

Hard to justify writing an article that is basically one-word - "Yes."  :why_so_serious:

While I enjoy the speculation and wish there was a way to actually prove it, I think in reality any NFL team would obliterate any non-NFL team.  Even the shittiest teams are filled with unbelievably athletic players in the NFL.  I would bet on a blowout.

Trevor Siemian out of the year with ankle ligament damage so Faulk will be the starter while they bring in a veteran to back him up. Cam Newton out indefinitely with a foot injury. Daniel Jones named the Giants starting QB for this weekend.

Whole lot of places Kaep could be playing instead of waiting for that inevitable settlement check.

 :popcorn:

Meanwhile, the Steelers signed Paxton Lynch... lulz

I mean at this point, taking Kaepernick actually makes sense when you're on your 3rd string QB and everywhere else the league is falling apart.

Plus, he can run. So whatever swiss cheese o-line that got your first two guys killed might just be a boon for him. I'd rather have my offense run by a plate of carnitas than Paxton Lynch. Guy just plain sucks.

Let's not forget that both Johnny Manziel and Christian Hackenberg are still available.

Thanks goodness I have Kirk Cousins just sitting there on my bench, waiting to score possibly up to 13 points.

Supposedly the Jets signed David Fales, a guy who has played an entire 3 games in his career.  :oh_i_see:

I mean hell at this point when they are signing guys that have almost no experience at all over Kaep, there's no arguments left. David fucking Fales is not an answer.

Time to trade Rivers if you have him in fantasy. All the 2004 QBs are going down.

At some point maybe a name change would be good if your constantly getting the negative psychological reinforcement of David Fales. Hell, I'd go straight-up David Wins.

Same thought I had.  David Holdsaclipboard is probably more suitable, though.

Backup QB is no longer the best job in the NFL if you actually end up getting put into games.

Even moreso because there are so many bad starting QBs in the league.....the backups are just fucking awful.

To be fair, this has always been true.  The rule changes have only put a giant spotlight on it.

It's Josh Rosen Time in Miami (https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27653244/fins-switch-qb-rosen-add-taco-d).

Not sure why they bothered with Ryan Fitzpatrick in the first place as anything other than a backup. We all know he's a turnover machine who will pull out the occasional "Magic" performance that wins a game or two. Miami doesn't need to win games right now, they are in full tank mode. Starting Rosen from the beginning should have been their plan but I guess they didn't let their coach in on the plan.

I'm ready for Danny Dimes.

Full tank mode is fine, but when you get rid of a good young left tackle? Just means you are going to have to draft a... umm, good young left tackle earlier than you expect because a QB without a good LT is going to suffer and you'll be drafting again and again... unless of course you are the Browns.


Speaking of that, holy fuck Joe Thomas looks completely different on NFL network. I loved/love the guy and he is great as a talking head, but Jesus he looks tiny now - at first glance I thought it was Hasselbeck. Saw him sitting next to Michael Irvin and though Michael looked more massive.

To quote the 76'ers - "Trust the process."  :why_so_serious:

Antonio Brown Cut By the Patriots (https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27662788/brown-pats-cut-wr-amid-field-allegations)
BWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

I assume Bill got tired of having his pressers answering about AB.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Fuck that guy  :drill: :drill:

Even if the allegations are false, fuck that guy.

If they’re true, he can rot for all I care.

Sadly, it will likely just amount to him hovering around a bit before that one team who doesn’t mind having criminals, rapists and other domestic abusers on their team offers him a big contract anyway.  I am, of course, talking about Dallas.

 :oh_i_see:

Hehe.  I notice you don’t deny that it wouldn’t happen.

Well, it won't be the Raiders, so yes, it will probably be either Dallas, KC or Cincy. My guess is that the league goes ahead and gives him a 2-4 game suspension, and once that's done, he gets signed by one of those teams. Hell, I wouldn't put it past New England to just re-sign him for less money saying "Well, the league handed down his punishment so nothing to see here. SUPER BOWL!"

AB isn't a pass rusher so I wouldn't expect him in Dallas any time soon. Now if Cooper Gallup and Devin Smith are all out then who knows.

Don't forget the Redskins are currently rostering Adrian Peterson and totally suck.  He could easily end up in DC if he doesn't follow through with his "never playing in the NFL again" tweet.

Man, AB is trying real goddamn hard to make sure he doesn't play again. Nobody has signed him yet because the league office told them that he could be suspended at anytime. I guarantee once there's more clarity on that and on how many games are involved, one of those shitty teams will at least try to sign him, if he still wants to play.

I actually watched some of the Dolphins' game, just to see if Josh Rosen is as bad as his record and stats indicate. He actually is a decent QB. He still has accuracy issues but it's pretty clear he was one of the better players on a really bad fucking team. Kenyon Drake (his RB) is butt. Davante Parker (his #1 wideout) has bricks for hands but does have some potential if he can ever get his drops fixed. Preston Williams may actually be a decent wideout as well, probably better than Parker - he just needs seasoning. The O line is total shit. They managed to block a weak Cowboys pass rush early but by the 3rd quarter, they were barely an inconvenience. Also, their OC and/or HC are both crappy. Twice the Dolphins got 1st and goal to go and decide to just keep running Drake up the middle. On the first opportunity, the Fins just ran Drake up the middle 3 fucking times - with 3rd and goal from the 2 or 3 yard line, rather than put the ball in your QB's hands (who has done well, mind you), they ran it and got stuffed. Then near the end of the first half, less than 1 minute left and inside the 10, two straight runs. Drake coughs up the ball and Miami didn't really ever threaten much after that. If you won't trust your QB in those situations, I don't know what to tell you - it was clear that Drake isn't a good enough player to hang your hat on there. It's the Dolphins so I'm sure they'll bungle any positives they might have going forward.

The Seahawks lost because their special teams are shit, and Carson apparently cannot find a pair of cleats that don't make him slip in the rain every time a hole opens.

The Rams have problems despite being 3-0. They can't run outside the tackles. Gurley looks busted and isn't involved in the passing game at all. The interior of the O line is injured and shit. And Goff just doesn't seem able to handle the adjustments needed to make that work. Luckily for them, their defense is really good. For the Browns, their biggest problem is their O line as well. It doesn't even have the good tackles that the Rams do. Mayfield apparently cannot throw the ball when he has more than 2 seconds to think about it, and his instincts for where to scramble are terrible. If he didn't have such a cannon for an arm, he'd be bad, but luckily his physical attributes are good enough that he can learn to fix his problems. Whether he will before this line gets him killed is another story.

Until you get the offensive line right, don't bother building any team anywhere.

I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to enjoy watching the Bills play this weekend.

Danny fucking Dimes.

Falcons almost set a franchise record for penalties with 16 in one game. They lost of course to a backup QB in Indy. Oh and Dan Quinn is going to have refs are practice to help with penalties  :why_so_serious:

It's been 70 games of Dan Quinn and I'm now convinced his coaching staff is a joke. The defense he's running is so vanilla it even got called out by the broadcasting team at halftime. And he's a DC background guy! From Seattle!

The only time the Falcons were remotely good is when they had so much offensive talent they could overcome their obvious fuckups every game. Until they couldn't. In the fucking Super Bowl.

The Packers much-hyped defense is a fraud. Oh their defensive backfield is decent but they cannot fucking stop the run to save their lives, even when they know it's coming. Also, Matt LeFleur's playcalling inside the 10 yard line sucks monkey balls. 4 straight incompletions from the fucking 1-yard line, without ever even trying a run with Aaron Jones. Jones is a really good back who can make some plays happen, even sometimes when his line is shit (narrator: his line was shit last night). Shall we let him try to Beast Mode in for 1-yard just fucking once considering Jimmy Graham is mostly shit now and our #1 receiver is on the bench with a fucked up foot? NOPE. Then, with less than 30 seconds left, they are down inside the 10 again and credit to them, they did try to run it once from the 8 and got a good gain. Then it was "Seattle throwing at the 1-yard line to New England in the Super Bowl better throw a slant interception!" Rodgers tries to force it to a man who was double-covered and the game is fucking over.

So far, LeFleur has not impressed me. Yes, it's 4 games in but the only thing he seems to have learned from Sean McVey is nothing.

yeah that didn't look anything like what I've seen of the Rams, especially when Adams wasn't in. The GB receivers corp doesn't look all that threatening outside of Adams.

Just let Rodgers coach the offense, he hates everyone else the Packers have tried to give him to coach.

There are some ok receivers outside of Adams but they are mostly young and inexperienced. Hell, Adams was utter shit with brick hands his first 2 1/2 seasons in the league, so it'll take time for those guys to gel. Aaron Jones, though, is a stud RB, or at least he could be if any fucking coach actually gave him the touches he deserves.

Well, that was an ugly Sunday.

In Minnesota we had hopes of a playoff season for the Vikings.  But it looks like both Cousins and the defense have both regressed.

Yeah, sorry for that.  Cousins is my fantasy QB, so that explains your dashed playoff hopes.

Dallas got destroyed up front by the Saints, but the defense looked great. Losing that one on the road in NOLA doesn't make me feel as bad as if we'd lost it at home. I love what the defense is doing, the offense just needs to stop having weird off days of fumbling and dropping easy passes.

I want to say it was a great day for defenses, but even there it was a mess more often than not.

Just happy the Browns fed Jackson's "I'm not a RB" phobia  :why_so_serious:

I watched the Lions/Chiefs game and it was a good game. The Lions seem to have finally found a RB in Kerryon Johnson, but of course, they will be undone by the fact that their OC is Darrell Bevell. Still, if their defensive backfield had not been a staggering MASH unit, they might have won this game. Patrick Mahomes is both human and amazing but I fear he's going to get punched in the balls again by having a defense that is just short of putrid. Chris Jones is a monster but I'm not sure there's one other good defensive player on this team. The Chiefs don't even need Tyreek Hill.

It's hard watching the Saints with Teddy Bridgewater at QB. His baby arm clearly can't make throws past 15 yards and their offense is adapted to that weakness. They are going to have to win ugly until Brees gets back.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/raiders-vontaze-burfict-suspended-for-remainder-of-2019-season-following-illegal-hit-in-week-4-versus-colts/

Burfict suspended for the rest of the season... as of now. I wouldn't be shocked if his appeal fails and the NFLPA collectively tells him to go fuck himself.

That's one brain that will be lots of fun to study. He's the living avatar of CTE.

Or he's just incredibly stupid. Or both.

Burfict is a dirty hitting piece of shit who should never have been allowed to wear an NFL uniform again after that hit on Antonio Brown a few years ago.

Maybe he knew something we didnt...amirite?  :why_so_serious:

I don't know if it's within the rules of the league to suspend a guy for a whole season over that hit. We'll see, I suppose.

However, as a fan even if I agree that Burfict is a shithead and deserves it, I don't like that as a precedent where the league can decide you're too dirty to the play the game off of one play. Especially since other players aren't getting suspended for the same hits.

Derek Barnett just came up and smashed the GB running back in the head as he was being held up and moved backwards by his team, and the RB was carted off. Yet...game is tough I guess?

However, if a guy takes a knee, isn't touched, and gets back up and you smash him? Gone for the year.

I don't think it would set a precedent since Burfict is a repeat shitbag. He's done this consistently.

He is o the short list of dirtiest players in NFL history, so yeah, it is not like it is a one off.

He was dirty in college as well. I think a full quarter of Arizona's offensive yardage in the rivalry game was Burfict getting 15 yarders left and right.

Paelos, come on. That hit was dirty as fuck and one of the more egregious headshots I've seen in a long time.

Established pattern of behavior.

It's why you can blow .01 over the legal limit of BAC and have your licensed revoked...if it's happened enough times.

Also, you know he'll do it again next year. Shitty people can't help it, it's why they're shitty people. I mean, Shazier had a rule specifically made because of how he was playing and almost killed himself doing it in a game. That's Darwin level shitty.

Burfict has been suspended many times for hits just like this one - I think he's missed at least 2-3 games every season for the last 3 at least. They aren't punishing him for one hit, they are punishing him for repeated bad behavior that he has shown no willingness to clean up.

Enjoyable game Thursday night, marred mainly by the terrible call on Matthews. Still, one of the best pass/catch combos ever as well as an interception I'd qualify as same.

You are forgetting the golden rule.  Any call against Matthews is the correct call.

Is it me, or does Matt LeFleur constantly look like he is that kid in school that continuously tries to suck up to the cool kids to be their friend? Every time Rodgers came off the field, seemed like Matt followed him around asking if they were still friends.  :why_so_serious:

Yes.

The only game I got to watch was that Packers/Cowboys game and I am glad I did. The Packers finally gave the ball to Aaron Jones and HEY LOOK AT THAT, FOUR TOUCHDOWNS. I keep saying that kid is a superstar and I realize they want to manage his carries so as not to break him too soon, but at some point, you just have to feed the kid carries and let him win games. Dak threw 3 picks and though Cooper probably should have caught the first one, and there was DEFINITELY defensive holding on another one, most of those picks were Dak's fault. They were badly thrown balls or in the case of the second one, just a misread on his part. The Packers defense still can't stop the run but luckily they got so far ahead, they didn't have to. This game had WAY too many penalties, especially holding penalties - the refs really need to stop calling so many goddamn fouls, and it's especially egregious when they call some fouls (like the DPI call that Garrett challenged but didn't win) were borderline while other completely obvious fouls (like the defensive holding that led to the third INT) were just ignored.

Jay Gruden is out, which everyone knew was going to happen at some point this season. The Washington Racial Slurs are just awful in every way, but he's never shown the slightest ability to coach the team beyond its terrible composition.

Other than the fluke TD play, the Skins were so bad. They did manage to keep Winovich under control, so the old lady wasn't happy. The main repeating quote was 'welp, lil Grude, if you hadn't blown both your red flags in the first couple minutes...'.

What's the line on lil Grude being hired by the Raiders?  :why_so_serious:

I wonder what it would take for the NFL to force Snyder so sell.

Fewer racist old white male owners.

The old lady (Pats fan) is learning what it's like to like the Browns  :grin:

Gotta give cred to Bosa, holy carp.

Good to see we are back to our roots.

I wouldn't be shocked if Freddy gets sacked at the end of the year. He looks visibly in over his head every game, save the Ravens game. No team with this kinda talent should be playing this badly, O-line aside. This is just straight up being out-coached every game.

It doesn't help that every time Mayfield feels the slightest bit of pressure, he loses his goddamn mind. His throws under duress are terrible, both mechanically and from a decision-making standpoint. Garropolo also looked like shit - way too many of his throws were low and barely catchable but he didn't really need to be good with that run game and that defense.

Cowboys are doing that thing where Dak looks amazing for 2 games then shit for 2 games. Mostly because Zeke is doing absolutely nothing this season, right after being paid. The loser.

Well, also because Dak has never been as good as his hype, IMO.  But I think we have had the same conversation before.  Same with Mayfield.  And they both may end up being top tier, the talent is probably there.

Dak's a great QB when you give him all the tools. When the O-line starts to slip or his RB isn't doing the job, he's not going to win a game on his own. Especially against a much better QB in Rodgers.

But that's a side note, because the Cowboys schedule isn't that tough. The division is pretty bad. Eagles lost to the Falcons for heaven's sake, and the Giants already got blasted by us early on. Oh and the Redskins have a bagel right now.

If they can go 3-4 in the games with their non-division opponents (Bears, Rams, Vikes, Pats, Lions, Jets, Bills), then win 3 of the 4 remaining division games? They'll clinch the NFC East easily with 9 wins.

And then lose in the playoffs, which will finally get Jason Garrett fired.

Hahahaha, no. Nothing short of Jerry Jones death will get that ginger handpuppet fired.

Deal.

I'm sure Jones would fire Garrett if he could find somebody better that is willing to work for him.

Oh, hey, I hear Jay Gruden is available right now :awesome_for_real:

I actually think everyone has been talking about this Kellen Moore kid that is Dallas' new OC that Jerry might actually fire Garrett and replace him with the new hotness. The dude doesn't look like he's old enough to shave yet but then neither did Garrett when he got hired.

Everyone's hunting for the next Sean McVay, so why not? Can't be worse than Garrett who I'm pretty sure does absolutely nothing but look confused on the sidelines.

I think people sorta forget that 95% of a head coach's job is done outside of game time.  I am not arguing any particular point other than to say what a guy does on the sidelines is only a small part of what it takes to be a good coach.

Maybe the Browns can get Josh McDaniels to coach next year  :why_so_serious:

The Rams have been well and truly figured out, I think. Their defense is still top 10 but their offense has been fucking awful. Not to diminish the 49ers defense, which looks like it is also top notch, but the Rams offense has just been abysmal. They can't pass protect and Goff looks absolutely shell-shocked when he drops back. Their running game seems to be effective in spurts but I think their playcalling may have become completely predictable, and neither McVay nor Goff seems able to adjust quickly enough. The 49ers though are going to go a long on the strength of their running game and defense, but Garropolo does not look convincing yet. He's still got less starts than Baker Mayfield but he may be on the way to being a competent game manager QB at best.

Dallas has fallen off a cliff. KC's defense, specifically their run defense, is making it very hard to win with a hobbled Mahomes. Speaking of QB injuries, Bridgewater wins against despite being only competent at best with the arm strength of an infant. I'm hesitant to say New Orleans defense is really good because it was the Jags run by Gardner Minshew II, but they keep getting it done. The Chargers seem to suck really bad now because they can't even beat a Steelers team running out a 3rd string QB.

Miami and Washington are both terrible and should just be contracted. But I guess Miami won the battle for the draft picks so... hurrah?

Same ol' Charlie Browns. All the talent in the world, half-ass coaching. Get great coaching, have half-ass talent. Rinse and repeat till they move/get sold/stop existing.

No reason with the talent they have on the field that they should be this bad even with a shotty Oline. And even when Baker is not running from ghosts, when your receivers drop a pass that hits them in the hands? Cursed. There really is no other explanation for it. Even if Ktichens gets the boot, no coach worth a damn is coming here with the history going on in this town.

Good to be a back-to-normal Browns fan. :why_so_serious:

JFC the officiating in the Lions/Pack game is terrible. In a few minutes I watched a bad call give the Pack 7 pts and then a no-call take 3 away from the Lions. Game ruined for us, who cares how well or poorly the teams are playing if the refs decide the game?

Fuck this shit! Fire em all, festoon the field with cameras and RFID sensors, call it all from NY.

edit: holy shit they called ANOTHER bad hands to the face on Flowers, just to put the game away. Ye gods.

You know I'm a Packers fan but yeah... goddamn were those both some serious bullshit calls. The Packers deserved to lose that game because they kept stumbling over their own dicks. The refs were trying to make up the for the Fail Mary play is the only thing I can figure. Trey Flowers has every right to be pissed as fuck.

On the upside, the old lady now understands why people get so salty about the officiating at times!

I love how everyone is crowing about how awful the ref's were while just getting done shitting all over Mayfield for saying the same thing Sunday night.

I didn't watch the Browns lose again but if he was bitching about shit officiating, Mayfield was probably right.

Yeah we turned that game off early.

It might just be the difference between a Sunday game and a Monday game.  Not a lot of people watched the Browns game since there was so much else on.  The Packers/Lions game was the only thing on Monday so a lot more of us watched it and noticed the shitty penalty calls.

Jalen Ramsey goes to the Rams for 2 first-round picks and another 4th rounder. The Rams first traded Marcus Peters to the Ravens, who needed the cornerback help.

It won't help the Rams offense, which is butt right now.

I honestly don't know what the Rams are thinking with the move. Even at 3-3 their division is stacked and they have to leapfrog at least 1 team if not two to get into the playoffs.

"I'm seeing ghosts..." - Darnold

Dont'a Hightower grins when told in the post-game.

At least the Packers won big this weekend. Otherwise, it was a terrible weekend to watch football. The Eagles royally shit the bed against the Cowboys, and it's becoming pretty clear that whatever MVP magic Carson Wentz has, it's been beaten out of him. I watched the Saints beat the Bears, whose good defense couldn't stand up to the fact that their offense is shit. Somehow they can't get a running game going, despite having Tarik Cohen and a pretty decent rookie in there (though why they let Jordan Howard go, I'll never figure out).

That Pats/Jets game should not have been on public access TV, much less the big stage of Monday night.

Apparently the Redskins - 49ers game was the shortest game in a decade.

At least we got some spicy Buffalo All-Americans trivia from it!

I guess the Browns forgot Chubb was on the roster in the 2nd half.  :oh_i_see:

I e njoy win/win games, when I like both teams. I did take a few punches from the old lady, notably on a Garrett sack.

God that Browns game was horrible. I think it's become painfully clear that whatever positives the relationship Kitchens had with Mayfield do not outweigh his inability to get this team to be disciplined. Three straight plays with turnovers, costly and stupid penalties - the team is just much worse than it should be based on the talent level. Chubb, OBJ and Landry are all Pro Bowl caliber players but their line sucks. Mayfield just goes into full on vapor lock the minute he's pressured and so far, it shows no signs of improving. New England's defense has been lights out and I'm hoping that's been more of a function of their shitty easy schedule as opposed to them just being world class.

The Packers/Chiefs game was much better than I expected seeing as how Mahomes wasn't playing. Matt Moore did really good in his absence but he's no Pat Mahomes. The Chiefs defense was much better than it's been earlier in the year and that's despite losing 3 starters. Their front 7 seems to be decent at pass rush even without Chris Jones. Their defensive backfield and linebacking corp though are not good at pass defense. That they never figured out how to cover running backs coming out for pass routes was the reason for the loss. Also, I'll keep saying it because it's true, Aaron Jones is an absolute superstar if they just keep feeding him the ball.

While Mayfield has been shit this year, this game was not as bad as he has been. Not where he should be of course, but other than an ill-advised shovel pass, he was matching Brady's stat line. That and he didn't look spooked as much as he has been or as Darnold looked last week.

But seriously... can we get someone other than Freddie. We were all hoping he'd be the new edgy insane-enough-to-work guy, but he's turning out to be the spaz kid playing Madden.

I think there's a lot of work the Browns organization needs, from top down. And by top I mean ownership, I credit Bob Kraft with a lot of the Patriots culture. You need everyone on board, and it feels like the players are ready to be in that kind of environment but it's not there. The botched 4th down "i meant it, really" penalty was just dumb. I agree Mayfield was looking decent overall, if they had remembered Chubb was on the team, they had a chance to lose more respectably. And the first Chubb fumble was pure fluke. Just Browns luck in the 1st quarter.

Any bets on Josh McDaniels coaching the Browns next year?  :why_so_serious:

Yeah, fuck that.

I've got a goddamn luxury box at Met Life and I couldn't even give seats away for that shit. Hell, I didn't even go and I'm a lifelong Jets fan. This shit is worse than Kotite.

I'm not sure what any Jets fans (or the Jets hierarchy) expected when they hired Gase. He showed no aptitude for improving QB's when he had Tannehill in Miami - and Tannehill has actually improved on THE TITANS for fuck's sake. Gase is a bug-eyed obsessive compulsive who thinks that more hours in the film room means he's a more dedicated coach. I'm not saying the Jets should have been good (after all, having your starting QB go down with mono, followed by your terrible backup going down in the first half of his first game starting then having to start your 3rd string rookie QB against teams like New England isn't a winning formula for anyone), but with Leveon Bell and a middling defense, they should have been better than this.

Hell, give us enough lead time to get a couple days off and find a place to stay and we'll go watch the Pats blow people out there :D

The old lady LOVES watching the Pats blow people out. She's a mean girl. I found this out too late.

Who exactly would interview Freddie Kitchens and think "this chucklefuck should run my team!"? Complete wasted year for a team with actual talent.

The Browns.  :why_so_serious:

Who the hell else would want to coach this team other than a high school strength coach that also teaches Algebra? It is my personal belief this was some kind of hail mary to find a diamond in the rough coach. They took the chance, it  failed, and now they are doubling down on it every game... because every game he does some outrageous dumb shit that only Lloyd and Harry would come up with.

Bottom line, Freddie Kitchens is a "watch this, hold my beer" coach.

We're all about the Meadowlands Cats now, tbh.

Yeah, as much as I like you guys, I wouldn’t piss on a pats fan if they were on fire.

Yeah, that.  I am looking forward to the day when Brady retires and they just become a regular team who has to wait until the month of December to win their division like is fair and proper

Belichick is who you have to worry about.  When Brady leaves he will find another QB and make him work in his system.  He always does.

 A football genius if there ever was one.

While I agree with that, he will not have as easy a time of it without Tom Brady. 

Is it against the forum rules to write a sentence with the phrases "2nd amendment" and "Garrett" in the same sentence? Because I'd hate to break the rules.

As long as it doesn't get the Secret Service involved it's fine.

It's fine. I really want to rant but I know when I'm this angry the only thing that comes out is incoherent jibberish. I'm just gonna watch De Niro's rant in The Untouchables on loop and mentally replace "Eliot Ness" for "Jason Garrett".

 :why_so_serious: :pedobear: :drillf:

It's pretty clear that the Cowboys have the talent to contend for a Super Bowl, but they will never win one with Jason Garrett as coach.

We already knew that.  :oh_i_see:

It’s just the football gods paying them back for having Jerry Jones as an owner.  Okay probably not, but fuck that guy.

We considering a gift here in Minnesota that they decided to stop shredding our pass defense and run instead.

As somebody who doesn't follow or give the slightest shit about football, I love it when the Pats win because it seems to piss everybody off.

Meanwhile, in Cleveland....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PMHlURlxus

I mean, why, dude?

Been the Browns M.O. all season. Undisciplined. Wouldn't shock me if he's out the rest of the season, but will be if it is more than that.

Not trying to be hyperbolic, but that dude will be lucky if the police are not getting involved.  That's about like swing a bat at someone.

And yet the Browns beat the Steelers.

Pretty sure that won't happen. Rare occurrence when police get involved with player on player conflict.

First off, hitting a dude with a helmet is completely unacceptable.

That said, Rudolph tried to pull Garrett's helmet off first. Garrett responded by pulling off Rudolph's. I don't have a problem with that. Garrett backed off after that.

Then Rudolph went lunging and swinging at Garrett as Garrett was backing away while a Steeler held him, so he only had the arm holding the helmet free. The other option was to let the Steeler hold him while Mason got in some cheap shots to the head. I can't say I would have reacted any differently in that situation, tbh.

As I said, it's not acceptable, but it's understandable. It was a bad reaction, but it was completely provoked by Rudolph and I hope that doesn't get glossed over. I hope Rudolph gets penalized for starting (and continuing) the fight

All that said, they definitely need to clean up the helmet-to-helmet stuff. The hits that took Smith-Schuster out were the real problem in that game.

Talking about it with the old lady, she noticed something I missed. In between Rudolph trying to rip off Garrett's helmet and Garrett taking off Rudolph's...Rudolph kicked him hard in the nuts.

(https://i.imgur.com/MGlQ04g.png)

Fuck Rudolph. He was asking for it. Doesn't make it right, but unfortunately the guy instigating the entire incident will walk away scot-free.  He had a tantrum because he threw 4 picks and was smothered all night, and he'll get away with it while everyone is going nuts on Myles.

And that's without even getting into Pouncey's absolute bullshit.

Well I am hopeful the league will cover all of this instead of relying on the internet lynch mobs and hit squads. Myles fucked up and should be out for the rest of the season and I doubt it will get a successful appeal given how egregious this was. But I also don't believe this was a Suh-type assault. Myles has no history of this... he plays mean, but mostly inbounds with the rules (late hits on the QB notwithstanding).

I think it was less of an intentional kick to the nuts and more trying to get Garrett off him. Rudolph and 65Browns need a game off to think about this and Garrett needs the season. There was a Steeler kicking someone on the ground, that person needs a couple games off too.

A shit end to a shit game.

Good detective work Sky, I only saw just the one clip, not the whole sequence.  Still an giant dick move and I hope he at least gets to sit out the rest of the year, but yeah, it looks like Rudolph kinda had SOMETHING coming.

Garrett should absolutely not be allowed to play again this season. That was worse than some of the worst shit that Vonteze Burfict pulled in his time. Never mind concussions, that shit could have KILLED somebody. Rudolph probably should have been ejected too, IMO, for grabbing at Garrett's helmet first but overall, what he did was nothing compared to Garrett.

And yes, it's the biggest reason I think Freddie Kitchens has been an abject failure as head coach - they simply cannot stop committing penalties. 4 defensive penalties on one fucking drive? Without those penalties, the Steelers are shut out in that game. And one of those penalties was ALSO an ejection for a stupid helmet hit on a defenseless receiver that ended up with dude bleeding from the fucking head. The Browns have no excuses for being this bad other than their own sloppy ill-discipline.

EDIT: And to clarify further - Garrett should have been flagged for a late hit on the QB for throwing him to the ground. That started the bullshit. Rudolph then grabbed at Garrett's helmet and tried to rip it off - he should get a game suspension. THEN Garrett pulled Rudolph's hat off and slapped him with it - rest of the season. When Garrett got pulled down, Pouncey was kicking him about the head and neck like he was doing a curbstomping. That dude needs a few games suspension at least. And I think both teams ought to be fined for not controlling their fucking players.

I was shocked, because it's totally out of character for Myles.

I hope they only suspend him for the rest of the regular season, so he can come back for the playoffs.


 :why_so_serious:

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https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28087446/browns-myles-garrett-suspended-indefinitely-steelers-maurkice-pouncey-gets-3-game-ban

Myles out indefinitely... which I think is ok for now. Gives the league an out and Myles to come back next season. If they hold him out longer... well that'll be it for me given all the other shit the league lets go.
Each team fined $250k...lulz.
Pouncey got 3 games. *shrug* That'll probably go down to 2 at the least.
Ogunjobi got a game for a push of Rudolph... wut?

Heard Rudolph got fined but can't find anything to back that...

Ogunjobi did get ejected from the game, and Rudolph didn't have his helmet on at the time he got shoved by Ogunjobi, so I'm fine with a suspension for a game just because of Rudolph being vulnerable when he got shoved.

I'll respectfully disagree. Myles was on an island out there and big boy Larry was just distracting bitches.  :why_so_serious:

Oh I don't disagree with that about Myles Garrett - he only had about 300+ lbs of offensive lineman on top of him while Pouncey tried to play kickball with his (helmeted) head. I just think Larry was going after an easy target who also happened to not have a helmet and was apparently still stupid enough to be willing to stir some shit up even after he'd gotten clapped in the bean by some hard as hell plastic.

It took me a couple of times before I spotted the joke.  But then again, in the AFC....there might just be a chance!

So Philly lost and Cowboys won, so I'm calmed down a bit. So I want to explain a bit more as to why Garrett is really pissing me off this season:

Now you may say "well that's the Lions", but the facts are in just about every game this year the Cowboys get 8+ yds when passing on first down and less than 3.5 yds per carry running on first down. Guess which games the Cowboys passed on first down more than they ran? Guess which ones they ran more on first down than they passed? Garrett is such a fucking clown.

There's also a stat that shows that this year when they give the ball to Pollard like 7+ times a game Cowboys are undefeated. He's such a dynamic player it is criminal he isn't on the field more, especially since he can pretty much do anything Austin can.

Now sure it's possible the Cowboys still could have lost either of the games but it is indefensible to do the opposite of what's been winning games this year.

The Cowboys have an analytics team so they know this. Garrett is just so bull headed that he doesn't pay attention to them. I don't care if the Cowboys win the Super Bowl this year. He should be fired for his stubbornness and stupidity.

You assume there isn't a mandate from JERRUH that says "we just paid Zeke a fuckton of money, he must get X carries per game." Because that's totally something both JERRUH would do and Garrett would go along with.

I mean I hear you, but the Cowboys are like 4th in points and first in offensive yards. The offensive choices ain't the issue.

Let's talk about the defense for a second. They gave up 28 to the Vikings and lost, and they gave up 27 to the Lions and won because the offense went off. In the last 6 games the Cowboys defense has given up 34, 24, 10, 18, 28, and 27.

The two games in the middle? Easy wins. The games over 24 points? 1-3.

I feel fairly comfortable about Dallas scoring points, and with the exception of that ridiculous Saints game they will win every time they hold teams to 23 or less defensively.

In further appeals in the Garrett/Rudolph incident, the Steelers have been penalized by way of Rudolph being forced to start all the remaining games this year.   :why_so_serious:

Ummmmm (https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28154767/steelers-qb-mason-rudolph-benched-poor-play-denies-using-slur) - not so much. Apparently, Devlin Hodges might be starting after Rudolph got benched for sucking ass against the ass-sucking Bengals.

Bravo.  :rock:

If there is one small shiny piece to savor on the whole whack-a-rudolph situation, the Browns-Steelers rivalry is back. This weekend is going to be straight chaos dahntahn for any Clevelanders coming to the game.

I'm tempted to take the bus down and see, but really don't give two shits about the NFL any longer.

When the old lady turned the game on last night, I told her it would likely be a heck of a game for the Ravens, since Jackson is clearly the MVP this year. She scoffs any time I say anything about a non-Patriot...then she spent the entire game with her jaw on the floor.

I feel quote of the year is 'Not bad for a running back'.  (https://www.baltimoreravens.com/video/lamar-jackson-not-bad-for-a-running-back)Indeed.

Every time I watch Lamar Jackson play, I yell "Not bad for a running back" when he makes a great pass. That dude is fun as hell to watch and I wish him all the success even though I hate the Ravens. He and Deshaun Watson have both been unfairly (and often with an implicit racial undertone about it) as "running QB's" and I love that they really aren't. They are both pass first guys who can beat the shit out of a team both with their arm and their ability to run. Both are doing better than the dual Great White Hopes of Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.

They actually did a nice post-game piece on Lamar, after the game on ESPN. Talked about how upset he was with himself after the playoffs last year, and his inability to pass well. Went along with a team culture shift that, throughout the entire piece I was thinking 'uhh...that's the Belichik way!' Anyway, Lamar got very serious about improving his passing during the off-season and I think we see how that worked out. I imagine that storyline will be amplified now that more people are getting to see the show in action.

Who the fuck are the Lions going to play at QB? Two of the 3 Thanksgiving NFL games look like complete disasters.

Apparently something named a Blough? (https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28179471/lions-start-undrafted-david-blough-ailing-qb-jeff-driskel-thanksgiving)

I mean, it won't matter because they'll likely lose no matter who is back there to get sacked by the Bears D line. The Lions are just terrible and Matt Patricia is proving again the universal maxim that all fruit from the Belichek coaching tree is rotten straight off the vine. The Falcons/Saints game should be terrible but then the Falcons beat the shit out of them last time so who knows? I'm looking forward to the Cowboys/Bills game though - it's certainly the best matchup of the day.

I'm not sure, the Bears aren't good either. Looking at Blough he was actually amazing at Purdue and they have zero film on him, maybe they get an upset?

While it was tough watching the Pats lose to the Ravens, at least they actually lost to the Ravens. By my calculations, the Ref Team came in second behind the Chiefs, edging out the Pats by a couple points.

I feel the refs in general had fixed the early season issues with blowing fumbles dead...but nope, forget about that scoop-n-score. And Belichick had to use his red flag to clean up a couple bad calls (one of which they didn't overturn despite clearly spotting the ball on the 40 for a 1st when it didn't even make the 39 on replay), so when the refs forgot to give the Pats Harry's TD, they couldn't challenege it and it kept 6 off the board...again. And of course bad PI calls.

What a shit show. The officiating clearly needs to be put in check. I thought that might happen after the Saints debacle in the playoffs, but their clear refusal to overturn PI challenges shows how brazenly they're flouting any attempt at oversight. Hell, the NE special teams coach's comment about the officiating is that he didn't want to be fined for commenting on it.

Anyway, it ruins the game. It was a tough one for the Pats, and they're certainly having issues. But I feel they actually won it, not because I'm a blind fanboy, but because there were at least two (and likely 3, given a late game PI no-call) scores that were blocked by the refs. Frustrating and even moreso that apparently nothing can be done to keep these refs in check.

I say at this point, put a chip in the ball and have all calls made from the NY office. At the very least the refs need to be accountable for this mistakes, and punished if they flout that accountability (as they are now).

My favorite part of the game was Belichick taking a time out JUST TO CHEW OUT A REF.

NFL officiating has been poor across most games I've watched this year. It makes me think they have too much to watch for now and too many rules.

The rulebook for the NFL is utter shit right now, and the refs are either terrible at their jobs or have their hands tied by some shitty rules and rules interpretations. They CLEARLY missed that Harry TD/non-TD, which is really what cost the Pats the game. I don't actually fault them on the fumble they didn't call - I thought in live time that Kelce was down by contact and THEN the ball popped out. That replay on the spot was just fucked - the spot was generous as hell. Maybe the refs were just being pissy because Belicheck tried to get them to review the non-PI pick as well but yeah, they got that whole thing wrong.

But fuck Brady and the Pats.  :why_so_serious:

Speaking of the Harry non-TD, it also cost the Pats a delay of game penalty because the offense had left the field (because everyone thought he had scored) and the refs left the playclock running.

One of the un-written cardinal rules in the NFL is that no penalty that goes against the Pats is a bad penalty.  This is written write next to the previous unwritten rule I mentioned weeks back, the one where Clay Matthews deserves all penalties that go against him.

In doubt, are you?  Here comes Spygate 2.0, with the Pats now accused of filming the goddamn Bengals illegally.  Because of course.  The counter argument of Why Would They Film The 1 and 12 Bengals does not work.  I mean, why is Rudy Guiliani doing crime in Ukraine while his boss stands accused of criming in Ukraine?  Because that's what he does.  The Pats are the Trump Admin of the NFL in that regard (although massively better at it, no doubt).  Filming the Bengals is fucking exactly what they would do.

I am mostly just stirring shit, obviously.  I don't know the details, and frankly don't care much.  Not even a big deal.  But fuck those guys.

JFC dude

Thansk for nothing Giants. Signed, all Cowboys fans.

Bad penalties are hurting the game, regardless of who they negatively effect. I don't give a shit if it goes against the Pats or the Steelers or any of the other fuckstupid teams I hate. I wanted the Rams to get in last year, but that missed penalty ruined the game.

As for the Pats... I'm very curious what is going to come of this latest -gate. Anything to distract from the constant dumpster fire happening on the shores of Lake Erie.

Honestly, it sounds like it was just some third party who didn’t know better and was filming from a press box or something.  Still, would be fun if it turned out to be the thing to bring those fuckers down  :awesome_for_real:

In no way am I buying Bill 'the overlord' Belichick didn't know this was going on. If the NFL wants to bury this, fine... but let's not be stupid about placing responsibility.

Hence my earlier rant.  Because it is exactly the kind of thing he would do.

The story they gave is literally one of the cover stories that their illegal film crews were given to use previously.

Goodell literally destroyed the spygate evidence.

Nothing bad or unfair can happen to the Pats from now until the end of time that isn't 10,000% deserved. Fuck that franchise and its ownership and its fans.

According to Jay Glazer Mike McCarthy will be the new Cowboys HC:

https://twitter.com/JayGlazer/status/1214198407369117697?s=19

The more I think about it, the more it fits The Beav. He's a stodgy, uninventive coach who made his career off the back of hall of fame talent at QB. He'll be perfect for an offense that runs 30 times a game and will never make the Super Bowl.

I don't know enough about McCarthy, but I assume it also means he is willing to be Jerry's little bitch.  Because that is the only kind of coach Dallas can have anymore while that fuckstick still lives.

Yeah, as long as McCarthy's ego gets stroked, he'll do whatever Jerruh tells him. He was given a fuckload of leeway in Green Bay for winning a Super Bowl, and he got real lazy.

I think McDaniels would've been a better fit down there, he's used to having someone with a strong hand on the rudder that he had to keep happy. Really surprised McCarthy didn't go to the Browns, it seemed perfect for him. McDaniels will be run over roughshod if he goes to Cleveland, they need a seasoned coach to get the troops in line.