NFL 2016

[Shannow]

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

[HaemishM]

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

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

[Paelos]

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

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

[HaemishM]

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

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

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

[Cyrrex]

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

[Sky]

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

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

[Shannow]

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

 

[Paelos]

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

[Mithas]

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

[HaemishM]

He was. He's not now.

[Mithas]

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

[HaemishM]

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

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

[WayAbvPar]

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

[01101010]

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

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

[Shannow]

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

[01101010]

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

[Rasix]

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

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

[Cyrrex]

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

[WayAbvPar]

Sherman got the ball. That invalidates any roughing calls.


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

[01101010]

Sherman got the ball. That invalidates any roughing calls.


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

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

[Cyrrex]

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

[01101010]

Yeah, good point.

[Goumindong]

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

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

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

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

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

[TheWalrus]

Suck it, Brady. I hope that stings.

[Paelos]

How bout dem Cowboys? 

[Cyrrex]

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

[Paelos]

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

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

[Cyrrex]

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

[HaemishM]

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

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

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

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

[Paelos]

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

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

[Paelos]

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

Go ahead, say it loud, say it proud! 

[Shannow]

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

[Goumindong]

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

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

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

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

*one time was the sack

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

[TheWalrus]

I like that Edelfumble is a thing now. 

[Goumindong]

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