NFL Thread

[Danielg342]

The Seahawks were playing so well...then Geno Smith slipped on the turf. This could turn the game around.

[mojoween]

I figured out New England’s problem.  They need to ditch those hideous uniforms.

[Salacious Kitty]

I was sequestered with kindergartners all day. Any updates on Watt? 

[Danielg342]

Did someone lather the Broncos' red zone footballs with butter or something? What a third quarter.

[Fukui San]

Posted just after that fumble.

[twoods]

So the Broncos get Russell Wilson but couldn’t get a big name WR to help him out? 

[Bastet]

The Seahawks playing the Broncos opening weekend is messing with my mind every time the announcers refer to Russell Wilson -- I didn't watch any pre-season games, so have to adjust to him not being the Seattle QB while he's the QB for the opposing team.

[Xeliou66]

The Broncos totally botched the clock management at the end of the game there, and they blew a lot of opportunities in the second half, and that was beyond questionable going for a 64 yard FG at the end instead of going for it on 4th and 5. They played a lousy second half, and I just don’t trust them, this is a bad loss for Denver.

[Carey]

Well, it's official.  Kansas City no longer has to worry about anyone else in the AFC West.  Maybe respect the Bolts.  We'll see about the Raiders.  But Denver can now tank for Bryce Young.  Or not, but 2 auto wins coming for the competitive division featuring the Chiefs, LA, and Vegas.  Yay!

[twoods]

Yep, they had three timeouts and plenty of time and relied on a 64 yarder to win the game? Horrible management of the game. Their division is very strong this year so they have to play better than this. Maybe Wilson will now relax a little since playing against his former team is now in the past.

[Fukui San]

19 minutes ago, twoods said:

So the Broncos get Russell Wilson but couldn’t get a big name WR to help him out? 

Jerry Jeudy 1st round pick, KJ Hamler 2nd round pick, Courtland Sutton 2nd round pick. They were supposed to be a stacked offense that just needed a QB. At least that's what we kept hearing when Drew Lock was Drew Locking.

[Chit Chat]

5 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

The Broncos totally botched the clock management at the end of the game there, and they blew a lot of opportunities in the second half, and that was beyond questionable going for a 64 yard FG at the end instead of going for it on 4th and 5.

Yep.  That was a WTF moment for us.  

[Carey]

Meanwhile, Seattle is tanking for Bryce Young while headed to Week 2 in first place in the NFC West.  What a magic trick!

[twoods]

4 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

Jerry Jeudy 1st round pick, KJ Hamler 2nd round pick, Courtland Sutton 2nd round pick. They were supposed to be a stacked offense that just needed a QB. At least that's what we kept hearing when Drew Lock was Drew Locking.

But they are young receivers- they need a seasoned veteran who is his go-to in big situations, and to mentor them. 
I hope the Chargers give the Chiefs a run for the division. I’m tired of seeing them win every year.

[Carey]

There is some comparison between this game and most of those Colts/Broncos games from 2012-2015, IMO.  I don't think Seattle stands a chance at all if anyone other than Russ is on the other side.  Last decade, the Colts rose to the occasion to conquer Manning in all but one game; when Peyton retired, Denver turned to shit.  Yet, the Colts turned pedestrian & found a way to lose (or could not find a way to win).

Tonight the motivation was there for the Seahawks.  Despite picking KC to finish 4th, I don't think the Broncos are elite post-Russ addition.  However, the Seahawks are slated to be awful (unlike the Colts who were mostly competitive throughout the last decade post Manning).  The drive to pull the upset was there, but 3 points near the goal line PLUS 2 turnovers is not the way to go.

Credit to Denver for actually stopping Geno, but Denver lost more than Seattle won

[merylinkid]

Welp, Geno Smith isn't the answer in Seattle.   And apparently neither was Russell Wilson.   Maybe its a coach problem.   But then again, Russell Wilson is not the answer in Denver either.

Hubby apparently has been under a rock for a few years (I let him out ocassionaly, I swear).   He saw the Seattle uniforms and said "those are their colors, lime green."   I said, yes, unfortunately.   

[Danielg342]

I appreciate Nathaniel Hackett's belief in Brandon McManus, but someone needs to tell him that just because he can kick the ball that far doesn't mean that he should. Hackett wasted, what, nearly a minute that he could have used to get the team at least further up the field and not make this a difficult kick.

Loved Geno Smith at the end, though. "They can write me off, but I won't write back." That's the spirit.

[Carey]

I'm okay with the Seahawks uniforms.  While I respect people's "dislike" for them, green is my favorite color.  Otherwise, I'd have put on a retro Cablenet or Cablevision channel (complete with local community event listings and decent classic music).  Those uniforms are still overdone.  I admire them, but what they had was fine.

In general, taking points was the right call, but only because it was the only option after wrecking game time & timeout.  If they convert instead, there's not much they can do really.  FWIW, they could've protected the ball a couple of times where they turned the ball over so close to scoring & gotten points.  Then, we're talking about a nice road AFC win for Denver.  With proper game management, you go for it.  Yes, Seattle stopped you, but if you have to keep trying as teams will be in spots where they have to go for it (all the teams).

Still, it's one game, one week.  A road win would've been super-huge, especially when you have nine of them this year

[mojoween]

The green highlighters are miles above their dirty dishwater away unis.  However I, too, kept thinking Russell was in green and not white.

Edited September 13, 2022 by mojoween

[DrSpaceman73]

What's with Seahawks fans booing Wilson?  

I get it he's the opposition now but he won a superbowl for them. I was at the manning return game in indy.  Huge cheers fir him no one considered booing. 

[Carey]

I think what's different between Manning & Wilson is the former was actually released, and while the latter was traded, he sorta wanted to move on from a disaster.  Still, I think the booing was unnecessary.

On a related note, I think I'll "blame" the NFL for putting Seahawks/Broncos in the first week

[merylinkid]

Seattle boos anyone.   It's part of the 12 man thing.   Everyone knew it would happen.   Why anyone was surprised or acted appalled about it is just trying for a storyline.  If you are appalled they booed Wilson but not anyone else they have booed over the years, its the player you care about not fan etiquette.

[Carey]

So be it then.  Hope they prepared to boo their own during the offseason, because they will be doing that a lot this year.  Good thing for consistency; they have done so on several occasions in the past

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, merylinkid said:

Seattle boos anyone.   It's part of the 12 man thing.   Everyone knew it would happen.   Why anyone was surprised or acted appalled about it is just trying for a storyline.  If you are appalled they booed Wilson but not anyone else they have booed over the years, its the player you care about not fan etiquette.

I've never heard of them booing people like that in Seattle before. 

I'm surprised not appalled. Fans can boo who they want.  But he is the best player in franchise history. Plus from what I've read seattle management was trying to get rid of him even a few years back before he asked for a trade.  But who knows the real truth?  Could all be pr war between them. 

[Carey]

I'm not surprised or appalled.  Despite what they do, I think it would not have been a big deal if they cheered him to start, before kickoff.  Then they boo during the game, which would've been typical and fair game

[Danny Franks]

I've got to say, Lamar Jackson didn't really justify his $250m+ demands in the Ravens' victory against the Jets. A bit of a sloppy game and they'll need to tighten things up considerably to be Super Bowl contenders.

I still think the Ravens need to pay him, but it has to be a deal that doesn't cripple the team's ability to compete.

[Chit Chat]

8 hours ago, Carey said:

I'm okay with the Seahawks uniforms.

I liked their original color (wasn't it more of a teal?)  I love the color green, but not a lime green head-to-toe football uniform.  YMMV.  

[Moose135]

23 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

...not a lime green head-to-toe football uniform

I haven't seen them much lately, so those highlighter-green uniforms really threw me there. I was thinking they only did those ugly color combinations on Thursdays.

[Xeliou66]

Here are some of my thoughts after Week 1 -

The Bills looked fantastic and beating the Rams was a great win for them, they have a very strong team. I think the Rams will be fine, but their O-Line needs to improve and they need to find more offensive weapons besides Kupp. The only NFC West team to win in Week 1 were the Seahawks, I think the Rams are the definite favorites in that division, but they have a lot of room for improvement.

The Vikings may have overtaken the Packers as the favorites in the NFC North, that was a great performance by the Vikings and they looked like a new team under O’Connell. The Packers are going to have to do something to fix the offense, no one can replace Adams but they’ll need their receivers to at least be competent, solid targets for Rodgers going forward, or else they are in trouble.

The Chiefs showed they are still a very strong team, I think people started overlooking them this offseason, but I still picked them to win the AFC West and they are still one of the best teams in the NFL. Mahomes threw for 360 and 5 TD’s and they still have plenty of weapons even though Tyreek is gone. The Chargers are a very strong team also and Herbert is an excellent QB, this Thursday’s Chargers/Chiefs showdown at Arrowhead should be great. I don’t trust the Raiders or the Broncos - I don’t think Derek Carr is that great of a QB, he frequently comes up short in big games, and the Raiders defense isn’t that great either, as for the Broncos, they should’ve won last night, they managed the game terribly at the end and blew opportunities, but I don’t think their receiving unit is strong and there’s something about them I don’t trust.

The Cowboys season is probably over as soon as it started with the injury to Dak, and even before that they looked dismal on offense, they don’t have many receivers and their O-Line is banged up. The Eagles are the clear cut favorites now to win the NFC East, and it will be interesting to see what the Giants and Commanders do.

Lastly, the Falcons continue to be the biggest chokers in all of sports - it’s truly astounding how bad they are in the 4th quarter, they choke away games all of the time and this week’s game was no exception. They just cannot hold on to leads. 

[JTMacc99]

Peyton's reaction to the Broncos time management at the end of the game last night was great. He's all "Let's call a timeout here E" and Eli is sitting there with the Eli face essentially saying "I don't understand what the hell they are doing".

And then when they did call the timeout to set up the 64 yard field goal, Peyton just put his hands on his head. SO frustrated. It's great to see that he's still so intense about things happening the way he thinks they should happen.

I really want to play a game of Pictionary with the Manning family. 

[Popples]

30 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

I really want to play a game of Pictionary with the Manning family. 

"Stop guessing helmet catch!" Different game, but it would still be really fun.

[JTMacc99]

Making fun of Peyton's hyper competitive nature like that commercial or the SNL United Way digital short where he "plays" with the kids are always funny. 

But I think they're funny because he really is that way.  This is the scene from last night, where he's not acting. He's genuinely upset.

[Carey]

1 hour ago, JTMacc99 said:

Peyton's reaction to the Broncos time management at the end of the game last night was great. He's all "Let's call a timeout here E" and Eli is sitting there with the Eli face essentially saying "I don't understand what the hell they are doing".

And then when they did call the timeout to set up the 64 yard field goal, Peyton just put his hands on his head. SO frustrated. It's great to see that he's still so intense about things happening the way he thinks they should happen.

I really want to play a game of Pictionary with the Manning family. 

JTMacc, I was just coming here to post Manning & reaction!  Well, I showed up an hour ago & ended up doing something else!  I was flipping between Joe/Troy, Kevin/Kurt, and Peyton/Eli, so I only saw the full reaction this morning.  Though while I was on Westwood One, I had the TV on mute & switched from ESPN to ESPN2 for a second.  Sorta had to laugh because I saw the stunned, speechless, look of Eli, Shannon, and Peyton.

To be honest, I so cannot wait until 2027 for the Superbowl that year.  While the reasons will change, including the current one this second, Peyton/Eli superbowl edition would be worth it.  Though they might have other plans, and most of those plans might get picked off for Valentine's Day stuff.

IMO, ESPN got it right.  Having a qualified announcing duo for MNF is great, plus Manningcast, and Westwood One.  Might have to tune in 3 times, up to 3 times to get a different perspective.  There are decent options.  However, I don't care about the guests that much.  Nothing against Saquan, McHale, or Sharpe, but sometimes Peyton & Eli gives us what fans think.  Just that it's from people that played the game (and won).

Anyway, before the video, I was thinking about how a Manning or a Brady, a Mahomes and even Rodgers would never do that Russell did.  Sure it's a rookie HC, but all the other ones won this week.  You have Russ, and FWIW, he emulated A-Rod for allowing his HC to make the call.  ITA; Manning was livid.  Then kicking (which was the right choice only after the blunder) is a waste of talent.  You paid to get Wilson; do better, Denver

[mojoween]

WAIT.  Denver had three timeouts, they let all that time run off the clock … THEN they called timeout so they didn’t get a delay of game?  What the hell.

[roamyn]

15 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Here are some of my thoughts after Week 1 -

Meanwhile, the AFC South just might be the new NFC East, and the AFC North looked more competitive than the AFC West.

[DrSpaceman73]

Colts cut their kicker rodrigo blankenship after week one miss

He also kicked two kickoffs out of bounds in the 4th quarter and overtime. He wasn't doing kickoffs before. Punter was but then the colts punter was hurt in preseason. And rodrigo injured his hip last season. A bunch of factors not just missing one kick. I feel bad for him.  The injury last year likely ended his career. He was great inside 45 yards but never had great range.  

[merylinkid]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:40 AM, Perfect Xero said:

The Falcons looked poised for a big win in week 1, switched to a prevent defense in the 3rd quarter (the 3rd!) and even pulled the entire starting defensive line and just watched the Saints stroll down the field.

To maintain this level of incompetence across coaching changes, front office changes, and roster overhauls is almost impressive in a way.

Today in my Facebook memories this popped up:   Excuse me, Falcons, the game is 60 minutes not 30. You still have to play the second half.

I posted that in 2015.   

[Carey]

2015.  Ha!

You know, I sorta forgot to do this, but I remember thinking about checking the moneyline everytime Atlanta would have a 10-14 point lead headed into the second half / fourth quarter.  I guess Vegas would be smart to take that off the board whenever those situations would show up

[Carey]

As we're now into Week 2, there are 3 pretty significant things in the aftermath of the first week of NFL football.

"I'll be back [tm Arnold]" - TJ Watt {Translation: the 2021 League DPOY's injury is not to serious}

No, Jimmy G or Mason Rudolph are not going anywhere, esp not the Big D {Translation: Prescott will be okay; likely no IR for Dak} 

As for the third thing?  It would be disrespectful and messed up to post it here.  Nobody deserves to forever be scarred from it.  Furthermore, I'd hate to clog up bandwidth & space with it.  However, if you have to know, you should find out no later than one week from tomorrow.  Sometime between 8:20 and 11 Eastern.  You have to have Prime Video, and you have to pay attention to the midfield.  Actually, you don't, since it isn't taking much, if any effort.

To be honest, if you do not have Prime Video but love Jets football, you don't have to wait that long

[JTMacc99]

4 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Today in my Facebook memories this popped up:   Excuse me, Falcons, the game is 60 minutes not 30. You still have to play the second half.

I posted that in 2015.   

They really have an unfortunate knack for surrendering substantial leads late in games. Like, the kind of knack where if I were a fan, I'd be turning off games in the fourth quarter while I was still happy. I can check the box score later just to be sure.

[bluegirl147]

11 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

They really have an unfortunate knack for surrendering substantial leads late in games. Like, the kind of knack where if I were a fan, I'd be turning off games in the fourth quarter while I was still happy. I can check the box score later just to be sure.

Superbowl LI.  I watched thinking yes the Patriots were going to lose and nope they came back and won.  I was upset just as a football fan so I can't imagine how awful it was for Falcon fans. 

[xaxat]

Dak, DON'T LET Jerry's ego pressure you into returning before you are ready.

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

I can't imagine how awful it was for Falcon fans. 

Agreed. 
 

[Danielg342]

I have to wonder, are the Falcons really that snakebit or do we just notice their collapses more because they had a famous (and inexplicable) one in the Super Bowl? Obviously, they're not the only team to have suffered a huge collapse- I remember a Bills game in 2016 where they were up 24-9 against Oakland and blew that lead in a matter of minutes, after which I turned the TV off in disgust. The Chiefs also blew two 18-point leads in the playoffs.

Now, according to my own knee-jerk, unofficial research aided solely by the wonder Pro Football Reference, Atlanta actually has the most blown leads of 15 points or more since 2015, with seven. The Chargers are next with four. A few other teams are next with three, but most have only two or one (the Bills have two- that 2016 game against Oakland and the 2019 playoff game that I'd rather not think about against the Texans). Some have none at all. That said, the Falcons don't populate PFR's blown lead list, with the two teams that appear most on that list being a tie between the Eagles and 49ers with three. The Falcons also don't have the most blown leads of 20 or more all-time (they have four)- the Giants and 49ers tie for the lead with seven, the Bengals and Bucs are next with six, and the Steelers, Raiders and Jaguars (surprisingly) have none.

Of course, a lot of this is relative. PFR's list doesn't include games where a team blew a lead but still wound up eventually winning the game. There is also no predictable pattern that would determine who is most likely to blow a big lead- the Giants and Steelers are two of the NFL's best franchises (generally) but they're at opposite ends of the list.

So make of this what you will.

[Carey]

17 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

Obviously, they're not the only team to have suffered a huge collapse- I remember a Bills game in 2016 where they were up 24-9 against Oakland and blew that lead in a matter of minutes, after which I turned the TV off in disgust. The Chiefs also blew two 18-point leads in the playoffs.

While the Kansas City one from last year was not that cool, the one 8 seasons prior put a nice grin on my face that I'll never forget.  Sure one would turn the TV off when things looked hopeless.  However, it was a rare case where I wanted to see what was next.  What a pleasant surprise that was!

[xaxat]

He ain't wrong.

[Haleth]

On 9/14/2022 at 7:48 AM, DrSpaceman73 said:

Colts cut their kicker rodrigo blankenship after week one miss

He also kicked two kickoffs out of bounds in the 4th quarter and overtime. He wasn't doing kickoffs before. Punter was but then the colts punter was hurt in preseason. And rodrigo injured his hip last season. A bunch of factors not just missing one kick. I feel bad for him.  The injury last year likely ended his career. He was great inside 45 yards but never had great range.  

I heard the day after he was fired he was up at Grand Park all by himself practicing kicking field goals.  What a sad picture.  I hope he fixes whatever is wrong and lands somewhere.

[Xeliou66]

Here’s my predictions and preview for Week 2

Chiefs over Chargers. 
Browns over Jets. 
Lions over Commander. 
Bucs over Saints. 
Giants over Panthers. 
Steelers over Patriots. 
Colts over Jaguars. 
Ravens over Dolphins. 
Rams over Falcons. 
49ers over Seahawks. 
Bengals over Cowboys.  
Broncos over Texans. 
Cardinals over Raiders. 
Packers over Bears. 
Bills over Titans. 
Eagles over Vikings 

I think Week 2’s best game is tonight’s showdown between the Chargers and Chiefs, that’s a huge game. The 2 Monday Night games are strong as well. Dolphins/Ravens may be the most interesting Sunday game, as those are two interesting teams, and the Bucs/Saints is good as well, Saints usually give the Bucs big problems. Cards/Raiders is kind of interesting, both teams need a win. The Sunday night game is kind of weak, although the Bears winning in Week 1 and the Packers looking awful makes it slightly more interesting. 

[Carey]

2 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

Here’s my predictions and preview for Week 2

Wow that was quick!  I guess there's the saying that it's better to be early than to be late.

I'm still undecided between Kansas City & LA.  I'll have that pick in here later, but I'll wait until the weekend for everything else.  Though I might try to get them in on Friday since computer issues on my end have been a pain more often than I'd prefer.  It's been the case in the recent past.  I plan/hope to rectify that on a more permanent basis ASAP.

However, I'd still wait due to last minute changes & one's injury status.  I ought to pick Saints/Bucs right now; you're dead on that it's a bad matchup for Tampa.  It's a bad match-up for me; since I've been 0-5 since Brady moved down South

[mojoween]

15 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

The Falcons also don't have the most blown leads of 20 or more all-time (they have four)- the Giants and 49ers tie for the lead with seven

I was just sitting here, minding my own business, having a good day, when wham! Caught a stray.  Damn.