NFL Thread

[JTMacc99]

13 hours ago, Black Knight said:

In other words, the grades we see now are about the decision-making (sometimes the graders do have particular axes to grind or other biases at play). In three years, the grades will be about the outcomes.

Indeed. There are certain things that hold true for most drafts, such as the importance of positional value. In the first round of this draft, 27 players were drafted in the high value positions of QB, WR, OT, CB, DT, and EDGE.  Conversely, there were 2 RB, 1 TE, 1 LB, 0 S, and 0 OG drafted. 

So if I see somebody hand out a grade that dings a team for using a premium draft pick on a guard, it is a grade on the team's decision making based on traditional wisdom of how to build successful teams.

On the other hand, when I see a writer give a bad grade because they don't think the player is going to be good, it feels like this is putting a lot of faith in his ability to be a better scout than the entire team of scouts employed by the team that made the pick.

[Chit Chat]

On 4/30/2023 at 9:53 PM, Stats Queen said:

So I’m a huge college football fan and Georgia Bulldog, so now I think I will have to watch the Eagles defense this year and the Rams GA quarterbacks (Stanford and Bennett)

It's fun to watch your college guys in their NFL career, except for when their team plays your team!  Seems like quite a few of our Bama guys always end up on the teams that the Bucs play regularly.  I want the Bama guys to do well, but not that well against us!  I don't know why the Bucs don't try to get more SEC guys either.  

Aaron Rodgers looks 100% better since he cut his hair!  He looks 10 years younger.  Maybe his appearance the last few years reflected his attitude about being with the Packers (in a funk; didn't care....)  He now looks like he's got a new lease on life.  We'll see how it plays out with the Jets.  I'm glad that he didn't take Namath up on his offer to keep the #12.  It was nice of Namath, but Aaron knew what the right answer to that was!!  Speaking of Namath, I saw an interview with him after the draft from his home in Miami.  He looked good too.  My son got to meet him while in college and Joe was really nice to him.  It's a good memory for him. 

 

[Stats Queen]

1 hour ago, Chit Chat said:

It's fun to watch your college guys in their NFL career, except for when their team plays your team!  Seems like quite a few of our Bama guys always end up on the teams that the Bucs play regularly.  I want the Bama guys to do well, but not that well against us!  I don't know why the Bucs don't try to get more SEC guys either.  

Aaron Rodgers looks 100% better since he cut his hair!  He looks 10 years younger.  Maybe his appearance the last few years reflected his attitude about being with the Packers (in a funk; didn't care....)  He now looks like he's got a new lease on life.  We'll see how it plays out with the Jets.  I'm glad that he didn't take Namath up on his offer to keep the #12.  It was nice of Namath, but Aaron knew what the right answer to that was!!  Speaking of Namath, I saw an interview with him after the draft from his home in Miami.  He looked good too.  My son got to meet him while in college and Joe was really nice to him.  It's a good memory for him. 

 

Namath is amazing

[Chit Chat]

16 minutes ago, Stats Queen said:

Namath is amazing

He was signing his newest book, and although my son didn't have his book (and none for sale at that point), he stood in a very long line with a friend just to see him.  After Joe signed his friend's book, he saw that my son didn't have one, and he got up and reached across the table to shake his hand.  It was a very cool moment for him (and a happy one for me!) 

Note to any future sports stars out there: always appreciate the people who stand in a line for hours to meet you, whether they have your merchandise or not.  

[Carey]

There's the saying of, "Like father; like son."  Apparently somewhere near the Midwest, there could be a saying of, "Like Head Coach; like Quarterback."

I sorta feel bad for people like Andy Reid & Patrick Mahomes.  They both work hard to persevere, have & will; good for them on being successful amid the legal & troubling nonsense from their family members.

On a better football note, looks like big time company, a familiar player is joining the new look Jets this autumn.  No WR draft pick needed I guess

[JTMacc99]

45 minutes ago, Carey said:

No WR draft pick needed I guess

I mean, it's nice that the Jets are giving Rodgers a couple receivers he knows, but it is more than a little likely that Garrett Wilson is the one who is going to get 150 targets this year.

He is a LOT better than the other two guys at this point in their careers. It won't take long for Rodgers to figure that out.

[Johannah]

On 4/29/2023 at 4:50 PM, JTMacc99 said:

It doesn’t work that way at the top of the draft.  The first round picks are extremely important, as first and second round picks are where the VAST majority of good football players come from. They don’t rank them in a column from 1-32. They have them in bunches or rows. ...

Yes, I know and my point is, they know who they want if he's available, but if he isn't, then the next guy...  Bunching them in groups is just a waste of time.  What, if some team before them drafts a running back, then, oh, no, we have to switch to our cornerback grouping?  That's giving a lot of credit to an unproven college kid.  What someone selected before you doesn't change your need, so just have a game plan and follow it.  Select the first available player in your carefully planned and ranked list.

[Magog]

The entire 2023 NFL Season Schedule will be out on Thursday Night. Yay. 😒

Its not even worth caring about till after Labor Day & I'm certainly not here for analysis of a week 14 game of a big NFL game in May. 

Please don't tell me that the Jets - Packers meet this upcoming season. Its already migraine-inducing enough dealing will Aaron Rodgers nonsense & the Jets possibly being Super Bowl contenders (as if).

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, Magog said:

Please don't tell me that the Jets - Packers meet this upcoming season.

No, the Jets play the NFC East this year and their 17th game is against the Falcons. They also play the AFC West and have uncommon games against Houston and Cleveland.

I would expect to see the Jets in primetime games this year against the Cowboys (possibly the Thanksgiving day game, as it is road game for the Jets this time), at least once against a division opponent, one against either the Giants or Eagles, and probably one against one of the AFC West teams.

I heard somebody speculate that the schedule might have the Giants/Jets be the last game of week 1, Monday 9/11.  Reasons that happen? First of all, having the NY teams meeting on 9/11 would be sounds like something the NFL would do. As neither team has to travel, it's a good opportunity to take away the disadvantage of the visiting team playing on a Monday. It'll get ratings because Aaron Rodgers.

And I'm okay with it, because I'm a Giants fan and it'll be fun to see the Giants staff coach circles around the Jets and send them off to an 0-1 start.

[mojoween]

I absolutely will not watch a special on the schedule reveal (no I mean it.  I WON’T) but ESPN wants me to know now that the Eagles will host the Giants on Christmas.  THANKS FOR NOTHING, SANTA.

[JTMacc99]

Just now, mojoween said:

I absolutely will not watch a special on the schedule reveal (no I mean it.  I WON’T) but ESPN wants me to know now that the Eagles will host the Giants on Christmas.  THANKS FOR NOTHING, SANTA.

I'm looking at it this way: "That sounds super inconvenient for Eagles fans. So I'm okay with it."

[bluegirl147]

They are doing three games on Christmas this year right?  Trying to turn it into Thanksgiving Day apparently.

[Carey]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

I absolutely will not watch a special on the schedule reveal (no I mean it.  I WON’T) but ESPN wants me to know now that the Eagles will host the Giants on Christmas.  THANKS FOR NOTHING, SANTA.

I think I'm definitely skipping it too.  Really it's due to NBA playoffs (which might actually lose in the ratings war), and the bigger reason: I'll find out (everything) before the show airs on ESPN.

100% re: Jets vs Giants on MNF.  Not sure it'll happen though.  It didn't in 2011.  Yes it was a Sunday, but both teams were great & coming off of very good years.  SNF would've been nice, the late window was impossible since the game would've been on CBS, and CBS was still in the US Open era

Edited May 10, 2023 by Carey
NYC MNF comments

[JTMacc99]

I would think you'd have to be a pretty broad based NFL fan or somebody who just likes the business of the NFL to be excited about a schedule reveal TV show.

I'm for sure interested in my teams schedule, so I'll just wait for the internet to tell me what it is. Other than that, I guess I might be interested to hear the Jets schedule as that'll be news here in the NY area.  

After that, I'm sure I'll hear about anything quirky with the schedule on the radio the following day. I'd be interested in the primetime schedules, just to see if there are any games that, at this point in time, seem like they would be interesting. "Interesting" would include primetime games I'm going to assume I won't watch.

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

They are doing three games on Christmas this year right?  Trying to turn it into Thanksgiving Day apparently.

I think it's only because it's a Monday, which gives them an opportunity to rake in big ratings all day without making it too much of a burden on the teams which are used to playing occasional Monday games.

For what it's worth, in 2022 they did the full typical Sunday schedule on Saturday 12/24 and had three games on Sunday 12/25 (and a Monday 12/26 game.)  It would appear that they're just doing the same thing this year, with the full Sunday schedule on Sunday 12/24 and again three games, but this time on Monday 12/25.  I'm guessing that they'll go back to no games on Christmas next year, since it'll be on a Wednesday.

[mojoween]

You give them too much credit, JT.  When there was a Wednesday game during COVID it drew amazing ratings.

You know how you look at an athlete’s birthday notice and many times are like “holy cow I can’t believe [insert sports name here] is already that old!”

Well today is Chris Berman’s birthday, and I feel badly for thinking this, because he’s 68.  And if you had asked me this morning, I would have said 78.

[Carey]

Part of one's surprise may have been due to the fact that Chris Berman "retired" six years ago, prior to his 62nd birthday.  That's about 3 years before the typical retirement age of the 9-5 person.  Someone in his spot or a decent spot will continue being employed for another 5-10 years or so, usually as long as they can & want to.

That being said, I'm not great when it comes to this age thing.  I sometimes think someone is older or younger than the actuals, but I'm pretty much wrong all of the time.

There were a lot of factors into that Wednesday game from 2020, mojoween.  While the NFL is dominate overall, a lot of people were at home or wherever.  That was a time where nothing was open; many places was in-and-out, take out or whatever.

I don't think we're seeing a mid week (Tuesday-Wednesday) game just because it falls on Christmas.  However, I might bet on it down the road, but that situation will not come up until the end of the decade

[Johannah]

I'll probably watch some 'reaction to the schedule' show.  Some of the overreactions are fun to watch.  And, of course, I'll get to gripe, like every fan, how my team was 'hosed' once again.  😁

I'd actually like my team (the Ravens) to play all Sunday 1pm games, because it's nerve-racking waiting until a later time, but I read somewhere where they expect more primetime games once Lamar signed his contract and they got OBJ.  I also heard they got a London game, so...alarm setting time.  🙄

[bluegirl147]

2 hours ago, Carey said:

There were a lot of factors into that Wednesday game from 2020, mojoween.  While the NFL is dominate overall, a lot of people were at home or wherever.  That was a time where nothing was open; many places was in-and-out, take out or whatever.

That game was also Pittsburg vs Baltimore.  Those primetime matchups always get good ratings.

[JTMacc99]

17 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

That game was also Pittsburg vs Baltimore.  Those primetime matchups always get good ratings.

It was an atrocious game. Baltimore was barely able to field a team and that was the start of the Steelers starting to tank that year. 

I did watch though.

 

[Carey]

Just now, JTMacc99 said:

19 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

That game was also Pittsburg vs Baltimore.  Those primetime matchups always get good ratings.

It was an atrocious game. Baltimore was barely able to field a team and that was the start of the Steelers starting to tank that year. 

I did watch though.

It didn't exist.  Even when the Colts and Steelers helped with the AFL by going from the NFL to the AFC 1970, the city name for the Black & Gold had an H

[bluegirl147]

Just now, Carey said:

It didn't exist.  Even when the Colts and Steelers helped with the AFL by going from the NFL to the AFC 1970, the city name for the Black & Gold had an H

I do know how to spell Pittsburgh.  LOL.  Just didn't type the h.

[Carey]

2 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

3 minutes ago, Carey said:

It didn't exist.  Even when the Colts and Steelers helped with the AFL by going from the NFL to the AFC 1970, the city name for the Black & Gold had an H

I do know how to spell Pittsburgh.  LOL.  Just didn't type the h.

I know you know I was just messing with you haha!

All joking aside, that was a mess of 2 weeks.  I still had Kansas City winning the AFC even had Pittsburgh been a 15-1 or 14-2 team and the Top seed.  However, the Steelers spiraled out of control.  Second time their schedule was disrupted, both at the worst times, and both leading to huge injuries, thanks to another team.  At the end of the day, even though the 11-0 wasn't as dominant as teams like the 2007 Patriots, 2009 Colts, 2009 Saints, and even Carolina in 2015, that was a garbage of a season, TBH.

I still would've had Pittsburgh losing at home to Buffalo and Kansas City.  Or if they were fortunate (to avoid them both), I had them losing to Tampa (or Green Bay had they made it)

[JTMacc99]

8 minutes ago, Carey said:

At the end of the day, even though the 11-0 wasn't as dominant as teams like the 2007 Patriots, 2009 Colts, 2009 Saints, and even Carolina in 2015, that was a garbage of a season, TBH.

Reminds me, not in a good way, of the 2008 Giants. Coming off the 4-0 playoff run at the end of the 2007 season, the Giants started 2008 11-1 outscoring opponents 352-206 and were the best version of all the Coughlin era teams. 

Sadly, there was an incident the Friday night before that 11th win. While the team did win that game, they finished up the season 1-3 after that and made no noise in the playoffs. 

[Popples]

They certainly have some, uh,  interesting thoughts on the NFL Schedule release.

 

[mojoween]

3 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

Reminds me, not in a good way, of the 2008 Giants. Coming off the 4-0 playoff run at the end of the 2007 season, the Giants started 2008 11-1 outscoring opponents 352-206 and were the best version of all the Coughlin era teams. 

Sadly, there was an incident the Friday night before that 11th win. While the team did win that game, they finished up the season 1-3 after that and made no noise in the playoffs. 

Next to cursing out Ben McAdoo I will also be saving some of my last breath for Plaxico Burress.

[Carey]

14 hours ago, Johann said:

I'll probably watch some 'reaction to the schedule' show.  Some of the overreactions are fun to watch.  And, of course, I'll get to gripe, like every fan, how my team was 'hosed' once again.  😁

At least your team opened up at home at least once since 2015.

That being said, I'd tune in for the reactions and predictions based on the scheduling, and I agree the overreactions are fun to see.  That's how I've taken in the schedule in the past.  FWIW, it's not like the teams didn't know who they were playing after the "season finale" wrapped up LOL.

One more thing I'll say about Week One and who you're playing & where: just win the whole thing and you'll be happy for that opening week.  Except what occurred a decade ago.

Key matchups that were announced on Wednesday (prior to a day where everything will be disclosed) include:

Dolphins at Jets (11/24/2023): First Black Friday Amazon Prime Game
Niners at Eagles (12/03/2023): NFC Title Game rematch during Week 13
Giants at Eagles (12/25/2023): That's the final Monday of the calendar year
Bengals at Chiefs (12/31/2023): Same time of year about, but first regular one at Arrowhead
 

In this year's NFL International Series, Jacksonville will play back to back games.  First time in the 16-Year history someone's playing twice outside America, I believe.

[merylinkid]

I watched the Combine, I wathed the Draft.   I will not be watching the schedule release.   There is nothing to get excited about.   It's all talking heads speculating.  There's no substance there.   At least with the Combine and Draft you see the players.   With the draft its all chalk talk.   

[Carey]

Football is king & I'm not going to shocked if a schedule show beats something in ratings.  Though I'll be a bit surprised since ESPN has the NBA postseason, which I will be watching in lieu of a schedule release that will be disclosed prior to the first tip-off.  I'll still flip over when I can since I don't do commercials, but that's about it.

I guess, speaking of ESPN, the show is on the deuce in addition to the NFLN.

I still preferred the schedule release as something that preceded the NFL Draft, BTW

[Carey]

A couple more games, and pretty significant ones:

NFL Season Kickoff Game (Thursday 09.07.23) has Kansas City hosting Detroit

Jets vs Buffalo on 09/11

BTW, I forgot to mention how that Niners/Eagles game probably would've been the first game had Philadelphia toppled the Chiefs in February.

I'm not sure what's up with the GMEN on that Monday, and while it's a missed opportunity for the NFL (I guess the number 22 isn't such a big number), Bills/Jets is better than Jets/Giants.  Two successful QBs, & division football.

It's the second consecutive year where it's NFC vs AFC for the first game.  Even though Buffalo crushed LA last year, it's not cool to have someone from the same conference & a different division travel to the defending champion site.  That could play out in the end (2014 is the best example).  Last year wouldn't have mattered, 2021 was a problem in the short run; I like the NFC/AFC thing for that first game

[JTMacc99]

12 minutes ago, Carey said:

I'm not sure what's up with the GMEN on that Monday

I'm watching the schedule leak tracker on a Giants site, and it looks like the Giants will host the Cowboys for their opening day game. The Giants will be on Sunday night at Buffalo week 6, Monday night hosting the packers on December 11, and the already discussed 4:30 Christmas day game at Philadelphia.

Just heard that the opening game of the season will be Lions/Chiefs on Thursday. That should be fun!

One of my fellow Giants fans also posted this "schedule leak":

Another schedule leak, the Dallas Cowboys will not be playing in the NFC Championship for the 28th straight year.

Heh.

[Carey]

13 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Another schedule leak, the Dallas Cowboys will not be playing in the NFC Championship for the 28th straight year.

Heh.

Ha!  And the fact that someone said that was a "schedule leak" is someone being generous.  That's not a leak, that known information LOL!

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, Carey said:

Dolphins at Jets (11/24/2023): First Black Friday Amazon Prime Game

♫Friday Night's a great night for football...

[mojoween]

Detroit?  To open the season?  Wha?

[Carey]

10 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Detroit?  To open the season?  Wha?

Looks like the league may not have been pleased with the reigning champions looking like anything but champions (even though it was against the incorrectly predicted Superbowl team in Buffalo).

So, while Detroit might not be the Lions of old (which they still might be), Lions at Arrowhead is a nightmare for that NFC North team.  I'm guessing they want their champions to end that big night with a win.  So, they might get it with a simple game to the start the season

[Salacious Kitty]

3 hours ago, Carey said:

Looks like the league may not have been pleased with the reigning champions looking like anything but champions (even though it was against the incorrectly predicted Superbowl team in Buffalo).

So, while Detroit might not be the Lions of old (which they still might be), Lions at Arrowhead is a nightmare for that NFC North team.  I'm guessing they want their champions to end that big night with a win.  So, they might get it with a simple game to the start the season

They could have at least given the Chiefs a sucky division opponent like the Raiders. 

[Carey]

1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

They could have at least given the Chiefs a sucky division opponent like the Raiders. 

True, but it appears that the division matchups are all but non-existent.  I believe it's happened twice, both games featuring New York.  BTW, the data starts with Season 85 where the TNF kickoff made its debut, and it excludes the Packers/Bears game that replaced New England/Pittsburgh.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, the second Cincinnati wins their first Super Bowl the schedulers are so having the Black & Gold travel to Paycor.  At least in division football, there's a second game, but Pittsburgh probably would have a Monday Night Game prior, or Cincy would have a Thursday Night Game before that AFC North matchup.

IMO, Detroit is less of a threat than Las Vegas.  Sure the Raiders defense isn't too great, but it's division football.  That might be the reason for the lack of division games for the champs.  The Lions, save for Aidan, don't have a great defense

[JTMacc99]

5 hours ago, Carey said:

So, while Detroit might not be the Lions of old (which they still might be), Lions at Arrowhead is a nightmare for that NFC North team.  I'm guessing they want their champions to end that big night with a win.  So, they might get it with a simple game to the start the season

I think that the feeling about the Lions, especially after the way they ended last year, is that they're a very entertaining and competitive team. The coach is a hoot, and they are a good story right now. Many people will be picking them to win the division this year.

In addition to the division games, the Chiefs also have home games against Buffalo, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, (and you would want to save all of those games for later in the season) as well as Detroit, Chicago and Miami.  

So it would either be Detroit or Miami. They were both 9-8 last year, but at least the Lions outscored their opponents and are likely to put a bunch of points on the board, even if they're not so good at stopping other teams. 

As far as I'm concerned, it should be a fun game and Detroit at worst should put up a good fight.

[Carey]

If I had to guess now, I think Detroit will keep things interesting, but then Kansas City pulls away late for a nice 38-28 win.  The Lions still have to prove that they can win in consecutive seasons.  Or be decent.  The good news is that the NFC North isn't that epic anymore.  So we'll see...

Meanwhile, looks like Tom Brady is truly done.

And while one source is enough for mojo to kick my ass for going off script from today's NFL schedule day (or just bringing up TB12 in general), here's info from a more valid source since it's more possible that people can create fake accounts, playing the role of a legit media person.

IMO, I figured that the honor and ceremony would occur in 2-3 years or so, but definitely before 2028 got going

[DrSpaceman73]

So they changed it so not every tram gets the pleasure of a Thursday night 'prime time' game.  

Colts didn't get one and I'd say teams are probably happy about that change and avoiding those crappy games. I think last year it was a Denver indy game that was a fg slugfest in overtime.  Was boring and awful. 

[twoods]

I read an article that the Colts, Texans, Cardinals and a fourth team didn’t get any primetime games. They should have thrown them one bone, but unlucky for us we get to see 6 Aaron Rodger ass kissing games at night! Barf.

The Chargers schedule looks brutal- they will be lucky to get to 9-8.

Edited May 12, 2023 by twoods

[merylinkid]

That Lions Chiefs game is weird.   In past years, its been a rematch of the SB or the conference championship game.   To have it be the Lions who have already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs makes no sense.   Although its the kickoff so everyone is going to watch.   But it still makes no sense.   There's a reason the Cowboys usually get either the Sunday or Monday night kickoff.   You may hate them but they bring in the ratings consistently.   

[mojoween]

Ok if all schedule releases are like this I am fully on board.  Especially because the Falcons had fun with it too.  

 

[shoregirl]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Ok if all schedule releases are like this I am fully on board.  Especially because the Falcons had fun with it too.  

 

That's funny.. the Eagles used the players and staffs dogs 

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by shoregirl

[Moose135]

12 hours ago, merylinkid said:

the Lions who have already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs

😆😆😆

[roamyn]

Why on Earth do the Broncos have five PrimeTime games?!

Do they think Russell Wilson will really get better?  He's been on a downward slide for several years.  Sean Peyton isn't going to change that. 

And ditto with Aaron Rodgers/Jets and the Packers having so many Primetime games, tho I do give Aaron more credit than Wilson to be able to move an offense down field. 

I would rather see what Demarcus can do with all the Texans got in the draft, than more Broncos games.

[JTMacc99]

So silly! The Titans ask people on the street to “help” them with the schedule reveal  

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsIDBgDgar5/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

To be fair, if you’re wandering around Broadway in Nashville, you’re probably not a local Titans fan. 

[voiceover]

On 5/12/2023 at 4:57 AM, merylinkid said:

the Lions who have already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs 

I’m thinking, this wins “schedule thread”.

The last game these two played at Ford Field was pretty intense and utterly wacky.  As a Chiefs fan, I don’t consider this a gimme.

[JTMacc99]

6 hours ago, voiceover said:

I’m thinking, this wins “schedule thread”.

The last game these two played at Ford Field was pretty intense and utterly wacky.  As a Chiefs fan, I don’t consider this a gimme.

Listen, Tampa Bay has won the NFC North more recently than Detroit, but things are finally looking up for the lions. They should be competitive every game this year. I know it feels weird, but it’s actually possible.

[merylinkid]

53 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Listen, Tampa Bay has won the NFC North more recently than Detroit, but things are finally looking up for the lions. They should be competitive every game this year. I know it feels weird, but it’s actually possible.

I grew up near Detroit as did Hubby.   That's the thing about the Lions, just when you begin to hope -- they crush your dreams and leave you crying on the couch in your replica 1957 jersey.

[mojoween]

Nope.  Don’t like it.

 https://www.nfl.com/_amp/peacock-becomes-home-of-first-ever-exclusive-live-streamed-nfl-playoff-game

Edited May 15, 2023 by mojoween