NFL Thread

[Carey]

I have no idea who's winning the Super Bowl this season, but I think I'd pray for someone to dump a gatorade-container full of (green) slime on someone

[Carey]

Back to football tonight.  I'll probably watch everything up until the opening kickoff, and then nothing else for 5 weeks.  Not sure if Watson plays but no A-Rod.

BTW, the CBS announcing lineup has been finalized.  In brief, all of the top teams are the same, as is the studio.  New this year is Andrew Catalon replacing a retiring Greg Gumbel, though Andrew's long time partner goes the opposite direction in terms of hierarchy in terms of announcing.

As mentioned, JJ Watt and Matt Ryan join the network.  I imagine there will be a shake up prior to next year, but it's pretty much status quo (JB, Phil, Nate, Boomer, Coach Cowher AND Jim, Tony, & Tracy)

[Magog]

On 8/2/2023 at 12:22 PM, Carey said:

I have no idea who's winning the Super Bowl this season

Hopefully, it won't be the Cowboys, Jets, or the Chiefs repeating. Any of them winning will definitely by stomach-turning. The Cowboys are absolute scum, especially Jerry Jones. The Jets (especially their new QB) are very unrootable, & Patrick Mahomes is giving me Steph Curry-type vibes & I find that to be very irritating. He even got Steph's mannerisms.

7 hours ago, Carey said:

Back to football tonight.  I'll probably watch everything up until the opening kickoff, and then nothing else for 5 weeks.  Not sure if Watson plays but no A-Rod.

I don't consider football back till Labor Day is over. I find Preseason games to be great for 3 hour naps. Hopefully, no one gets hurt, but it always seems that a team or two get a big injury during every preseason. Plus, its nice to see some players give it their all to make it to the 53 man team roster.

[roamyn]

Okay, I know it's only a pre-season game, but I'm esp happy the Brownies pulled it out tonight.

Their home state, an hour away from where they play, one of the greatest Browns to ever play being inducted (esp unique for a modern Era player to have stayed with a losing team for 10 years), and against the Rogers led Jets.

[Carey]

Aaron Rodgers didn't play, but given the airtime the guy received, it pretty much topped anything that occurred on the field (combined I suppose).

Cleveland's HOF player going in tomorrow might be the only time someone sans postseason success or even an appearance getting in is the right call AND one I'm in total agreement

[JTMacc99]

One of the themes that I'm hearing during the Sirius NFL Radio camp tour is how many good teams there are in the AFC.  Constantly I'm hearing about the AFC East and the AFC North are going to have teams that are going to go 10-7 and not make the playoffs. 

The standard line is New England and Cleveland will probably be the picks to come in 4th place, but "I wouldn't be surprised if either of them (because of the coach and the quarterback respectively) did better than that."

Here's the thing: They can't all win all the games. Somebody is going to not do so great, and probably more than one somebody. Take an AFC East team for example. The Dolphins have to play 2 games each against NE, BUF, and NYJ. They have the NFC East, and none of those games should be easy. They have the AFC West with trips to the Chargers and KC. And their uncommon games are home against the Panthers and Titans, both of whom have a legitimately good defenses, and at the Ravens on New Year's Eve.

The Jets, Bills, and Patriots have similar challenges. These teams need to be up and ready to play every single week. SOMEBODY is going to 8-9. It won't take much. A couple key injures could be the difference. 

More than that, I would think that coaching and culture will be the difference for these teams that have divisions and schedules like this. 

It should be a REALLY interesting year. I'm thinking that for week one this year, bet the underdogs. Conventional wisdom is going to get tossed out the window pretty quickly in 2023. (Except for the Chiefs. They'll probably be just as good as they usually are.)

[bluegirl147]

Strength of schedule matters but sometimes you just never know. During the 2008 season the Steelers had the second hardest schedule and they won the SB.

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

The Jets, Bills, and Patriots have similar challenges.

I'm curious how well or not well Rodgers does in NY.

 

[JTMacc99]

11 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

Strength of schedule matters but sometimes you just never know. During the 2008 season the Steelers had the second hardest schedule and they won the SB.

I'm curious how well or not well Rodgers does in NY.

 

The 2008 Steelers defense was awesome. They led the league in Points Against, and Yards, and they carried the 20th ranked offense and Big Ben's 17 TDs, 15 Ints, and 59.9% completion rate to his second Super Bowl ring.

 

The Jets have a very, very good defense, which as I just noted goes a long way towards winning games and championships. Rodgers has good weapons in NY and just needs to have that OL hold up to do plenty enough to win games.

There is a LOT of pressure that will come down on that team if they don't look so good in the first few weeks, so there is that.

[Johannah]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

Strength of schedule matters but sometimes you just never know...

 

The problem with strength of schedule is that it's based on the previous year's record.  Not that they really have anything else to base it on, but teams can change drastically between seasons, personnel and players abilities are constantly changing.  Sure, some teams maintain consistency, good or bad, but there is enough fluctuation to make strength of schedule just as reliable as those team power listings that change constantly.

[grommit2]

Ahh...this is easy.  Clearly the Pats will go 14-3.  For sure. 
Why?  Because they have Brady.  The GOAT!
Wait...what's that? 
Brady joined Tampa Bay?  AND then he retired?
So, the Pats do NOT have Brady?
Oh no.  I definitely need to move out of this cave.
Argh!

[JTMacc99]

27 minutes ago, grommit2 said:

Oh no.  I definitely need to move out of this cave.
Argh!

LOL

The Patriots and the Steelers hit the start of 2023 as very similar teams, meaning how the general narrative goes about how they'll do this year.

Both teams had good defenses in 2022, like they were 10th and 11th in points against. There's really no reason to think that'll be any different or worse in 2023.

A lot of that has to do with their head coaches, who have looooong histories of running really good, winning football teams with really good defenses.

And both teams have reasons to think their not so great offenses in 2022 (Patriots 17th, Steelers 26th in scoring) will be better this year. The Patriots hired a competent offensive coordinator, so that should be worth a few points and hopefully help out their third year QB. The Steelers also made some upgrades that should help their second year QB.

As I was saying above, just because there are plenty of people who don't think either of these teams will fare as well as some of the others in their divisions, I don't think that makes betting against them a good idea. 

Would anybody be shocked if either of these teams won 10 games? (Note, I didn't ask if anybody would be annoyed, just surprised.)

[merylinkid]

20 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

They can't all win all the games

They are going to spend time beating up on each other too.   So they can't ALL win ALL the games.    They might do well on out of division games but they still have to play their division rivals twice.   Which means someone in the division is going to lose each of those games.

Sometimes the preseason hype gets a little too hyped.

[JTMacc99]

2 hours ago, merylinkid said:

They might do well on out of division games but they still have to play their division rivals twice. 

And I think that's what is on my mind right now going into the season. Not only do these good teams have difficult divisions to navigate, their out of division games are no cakewalk either!

When people (meaning writers, TV guys, Radio hosts) do their season long predictions, a lot of them will go through each team's schedule and go, Win Win, Loss, Win...

I am 100% certain that the vast majority of people going through the exercise for the AFC East will see the Washington game on the schedule and chalk up a win for all four AFC teams.

And I really don't think that Washington is going to get swept by the AFC East. They were a tough team with a good defense last year. It's possible that Coach Bieniemy won't do a good job running that offense, but I doubt it. 

I just see a lot of reasons to be cautious about what will be the common beliefs going into the season this year.

[Johannah]

4 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

...

When people (meaning writers, TV guys, Radio hosts) do their season long predictions, a lot of them will go through each team's schedule and go, Win Win, Loss, Win...

...

They almost always give the team they are highlighting a winning record.  I wonder if someone goes behind them and says, "when you were going through Team A's schedule, you gave them a win for this game for which you just gave Team B the win."

[JTMacc99]

20 minutes ago, Johannah said:

They almost always give the team they are highlighting a winning record.  I wonder if someone goes behind them and says, "when you were going through Team A's schedule, you gave them a win for this game for which you just gave Team B the win."

Heh. I'll give some of the guys on the NFL Radio shows credit for noting that when they go through the exercise, they do actually make sure they don't hand out wins to both teams. 

And as I'm in New York and prior to very recent history, we got to hear people go through the Giants and Jets schedules that mostly went, Loss, Loss, Loss, that's a Loss...

 

[Carey]

9 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

And I really don't think that Washington is going to get swept by the AFC East. They were a tough team with a good defense last year. It's possible that Coach Bieniemy won't do a good job running that offense, but I doubt it. 

I think Eric will be fine, but maybe not.  It doesn't matter if Washington gets swept or not by the AFC East.  I don't think they're going to be very good this season.  That'll leave Harris making changes, and from there, people working for him are probably going to be bringing in their own staff.

Which is fair and not a surprise, but man, that'll suck if Eric ends up nowhere in 2024

[mojoween]

Eric Bienemy has two rings.  Any “young player” complaining about his “intensity” can get bent.  Also, keep that shit in house, Rivera.

[merylinkid]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Eric Bienemy has two rings.  Any “young player” complaining about his “intensity” can get bent.  Also, keep that shit in house, Rivera.

Tells me more about how Rivera was running things than a problem with Bienemy.   So yeah might want to shut up there Rivera.  

[JTMacc99]

Rivera very intentionally made it public. He's been around a long time, so he had a good reason to do so.

Reasons I can think of:

• He wants Coach Bieniemy to become a head coach someday. One of the things a head coach has to demonstrate is that he can deal with stuff like this on all levels. Not just in house, but with the media.
• From the exact quote of what Rivera said, it would appear that the players who were concerned were younger players who came out of college programs where they were not used to intense coaching. (Heh. Or in other words, they got the Gen Z treatment of everybody gets a trophy.) 
• A slew of players, current and former, took to social media to say they loved playing for Coach Bieniemy in their careers, which would absolutely send the right message to the young players who had concerns better than he could. It's a better message to hear from their peers than from the HC.
• And it also seems like the "concerned" players were instructed to talk to Coach Beiniemy directly to see get his views, and that this is an issue that has already been handled internally.

I'm a Giants fan. I'm not exactly thrilled to hear that Washington is being coached up to be more intense and effective on offense. I liked it better when they were sloppy and ineffective.

[Carey]

We'll see.  Daboll looks to be the real deal.  Rivera is great, but he's still a defensive guy

[mojoween]

Do you think that Joe Burrow is very picky about advertising?  Because I can’t believe that ad agencies aren’t falling over themselves to sign him.

I mean, I don’t even know who the headbanded guy is in the Subway ad with Patrick Mahomes.  Is it Justin Herbert?

But Burrow, while not necessarily in the Peyton Manning echelon, would make me take notice if he were shilling for something.

[janeyjay]

Pretty sure that is Justin Herbert in the Subway ad with Mahomes. And apropos of nothing, I always want to irrationally pronounce Justin's last name Eee-bear or Cajun-style. Blame Bobby Hebert for drilling that one into my head. 

[twoods]

Joe Burrow just signed with Coca Cola (their sports drink) so you will be seeing his face a lot in the next few years.

Edited August 10, 2023 by twoods

[Carey]

23 minutes ago, twoods said:

Joe Burrow just signed with Coca Cola (their sports drink) so you will be seeing his face a lot in the next few years.

I thought Coke and the NFL weren't connected!  Otherwise Ms. Swift would've performed the Super Bowl (at least) 3 times since 2010!

I could have it mixed with Pepsi, but whatever.  This is very good business.  Joe has it in him to have a sense of humor.  Still a little crazy (or not) that he wasn't even alive during the Home Alone Era (early 1990s).  To elaborate Burrow = Culkin.

I used to not be a fan of self promotion, but I've come to the point where it's actually okay.  Anyway one can make money is okay for me

[JTMacc99]

23 hours ago, Carey said:

We'll see.  Daboll looks to be the real deal.  Rivera is great, but he's still a defensive guy

So after I speculated that Rivera had a good reason to talk about the players coming to him about Coach Beiniemy's style, he talked to the press and said he put his foot in his mouth.

So maybe Coach Rivera just says shit without thinking? I think I heard somebody say he has a history of doing that. (It's not a good thing for a head coach.)

 

[Crashcourse]

And after all of our glee over getting rid of Dan Snyder, now we fans have to put up with Rivera and his big mouth.  

[Carey]

So tonight is Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bucs against TJ Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Looks like Coach Mike is planning on playing his starters for a series or two.  If people get hurt, fans in Western PA will blame Tomlin big time.  IDK.  If Watt, Cam, and maybe Minkah get injured he does deserve criticism. 

To what extent depends on how much those seasons vets wanted to play or not.  Everyone else?  I probably wouldn't have a problem with it.  I'm not a fan of preseason (probably will not watch going forward) but many of the players are still pretty new.  Not necessarily rookies or first-time players.  Just 2nd year and 1st as a Steeler.  You have to have that continuity.  It's better if you get some advanced reps & work before the season starts.  Though I think the trend is to do it within meaningful games (still think they are getting to 2/18 as in 18 games after two pre-season stuff). 

No one's going 20-0.  Nobody's winning all of their regular season games.  If it happens, it'll probably be a one time thing within a 35-year period.  In some cases, it might be necessary, to get close to undefeated, but if you lose a game or two here & there while trying to figure out stuff, that's better than trying to figure out stuff in a meaningless game while receiving a one-way ticket to IR before the opening NFL kickoff.

Sure no starters playing worked for McVay and LA, but it doesn't work for everyone.

BTW, I'm sorry but I do not see a win for Tampa.  At least not a clear cut one.  I can see maybe 0-14-3 before a W, but that's just me

[JTMacc99]

I'm an outlier. I like Tampa to be not terrible this year. They still have a tough defense with a really good defensive coach. What I really like about them is the new offensive coordinator they took from Seattle. He's got a very interesting resume. There is a chance he's a difference making kind of coach. The kind of guy who can make a unit perform better than the sum of its parts. (Also, with any luck they won't lose most of the offensive line to injury like they did last year.)

 

Unrelated topic: Has anybody watched Quarterback on Netflix

[Carey]

I haven't gotten around to it.  Unlike Hard Knocks, I've heard that it's very good

[mojoween]

TIL that Dan Campbell played tight end (NEVER would have guessed tight end) for the Giants and wore number 89.  How in all that is holy was 89 not retired for Mark Bavaro?

Also there is someone on the Giants right now wearing 20 and that number should be retired too.

[SuprSuprElevated]

4 hours ago, Carey said:

I haven't gotten around to it.  Unlike Hard Knocks, I've heard that it's very good

I must be the only person left who enjoys Hard Knocks. 

[Guest]

On 8/11/2023 at 10:00 PM, SuprSuprElevated said:

I must be the only person left who enjoys Hard Knocks. 

I like it. But it’s also that time of year where I start craving football. 

[JTMacc99]

On 8/11/2023 at 5:11 PM, Carey said:

I haven't gotten around to it.  Unlike Hard Knocks, I've heard that it's very good

I give up on shows very easily.  I watched Quarterback all the way through.  
 

For a while it felt like the Kirk Cousins story, and who would have guessed that would be really interesting?! But it was. (His wife is awesome.) As for Mahomes, my takeaway was that it was a look at someone right at the height of a special career. He’s just all about the work. It’s like watching a concert video of Led Zeppelin from 1972, or Tiger Woods in 2000. It’s all about doing and not a lot of thinking about it. 
 

Cousins and Mariota are at points in their careers where they can take a moment to think about what they’ve done and would still like to do. Mahomes on the other hand builds his dream home (which is half home, half sports complex because all he thinks about is competing) and he’s like “This is cool… Okay! Back to getting ready for the next game.”

[mojoween]

The real estate section of my newspaper today reported that Aaron Rodgers dropped 9.5 mil on a home 15 minutes from Giants Stadium.  Sounds like he’s planning on being in New York New Jersey for awhile.

[JTMacc99]

On 8/13/2023 at 11:53 AM, mojoween said:

The real estate section of my newspaper today reported that Aaron Rodgers dropped 9.5 mil on a home 15 minutes from Giants Stadium.  Sounds like he’s planning on being in New York New Jersey for awhile.

Yeah, he pretty much said that he's in this for more than one season. He didn't guarantee that would be the case, but it is his plan at the moment. 

He's clearly having fun with the change of scenery. He's also smart enough to know that it's a good thing to be a quarterback on a team with a really good defense.

Also, he's a grown man who has made a lot of money in his life. It makes sense he would just go ahead and buy a nice house near work. Even if he's gone in two years, it's not like he won't be able to turn around and sell the property for give or take the same number. Back when I lived 15 minutes from the stadium, we used to have a lot of the Giants and Yankees live in the area around me. Some, like Phil Simms, set up home and still live there to this day. Others, like the various Yankee free agent pitchers that came and went, would buy a townhouse or something a short distance from the GWB. 

And he would have to be insane to buy a place across the border in NY. NJ taxes are bad enough. No reason to give NY even more of your money other than the one game check he'll get for playing in Buffalo.

[Bastet]

Michael Oher is suing the Tuohys (of The Blind Side fame), saying they tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators; they told him it was the equivalent of adopting him, it was just called something different because he was a legal adult.  But what they really wanted was the legal authority it gave them to make business deals in his name.  Calling him their adopted son has been used to promote their foundations, and Leigh Anne's career as an author and speaker.
 

Quote

"The lie of Michael's adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher," the legal filing says. "Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys."

The Tuohy family did not immediately return phone calls Monday to numbers listed for them.

Oher's petition asks the court to end the Tuohys' conservatorship and to issue an injunction barring them from using his name and likeness. It also seeks a full accounting of the money the Tuohys earned using Oher's name, and to have the couple pay him his fair share of profits, as well as unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

"Since at least August of 2004, Conservators have allowed Michael, specifically, and the public, generally, to believe that Conservators adopted Michael and have used that untruth to gain financial advantages for themselves and the foundations which they own or which they exercise control," the petition says. "All monies made in said manner should in all conscience and equity be disgorged and paid over to the said ward, Michael Oher."

Oher was a rising high school senior when he signed the conservatorship papers, and he has written that the Tuohys told him that there was essentially no difference between adoption and conservatorship. "They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as 'adoptive parents,' but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account," Oher wrote in his 2011 best-selling memoir "I Beat the Odds."

But there are some important legal distinctions. If Oher had been adopted by the Tuohys, he would have been a legal member of their family, and he would have retained power to handle his own financial affairs. Under the conservatorship, Oher surrendered that authority to the Tuohys, even though he was a legal adult with no known physical or psychological disabilities.

According to the legal filing, the movie paid the Tuohys and their two birth children each $225,000, plus 2.5% of the film's "defined net proceeds." The movie became a critically acclaimed blockbuster, reportedly grossing more than $300 million at the box office, and tens of millions of dollars more in home video sales. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, and Sandra Bullock won a Best Actress trophy for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy. While the deal allowed the Tuohys to profit from the film, the petition alleges, a separate 2007 contract purportedly signed by Oher appears to "give away" to 20th Century Fox Studios the life rights to his story "without any payment whatsoever." The filing says Oher has no recollection of signing that contract, and even if he did, no one explained its implications to him.

The deal lists all four Tuohy family members as having the same representative at Creative Artists Agency, the petition says. But Oher's agent, who would receive movie contract and payment notices, is listed as Debra Branan, a close family friend of the Tuohys and the same lawyer who filed the 2004 conservatorship petition, the petition alleges. Branan did not return a call to her law office on Monday.

If you're not familiar with the other lies that white savior movie told, the article gets into it.  I've always hated the way he was portrayed as dumb as a box of rocks, and especially presenting it like that little shit S.J. had to teach him how to play football; Oher not only had the skill, he'd studied the game.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Bastet

[Crs97]

Re the movie, I was more annoyed by the scene in which Leah had to explain to him at practice that football is like family.  The lawsuit breaks my heart, but somehow I’m not surprised.

[mojoween]

Does Buffalo not need a running back?  I cannot imagine that Zeke would choose New England if the Bills were an option.

I just have a feeling that Mac Jones is going to be throwing for his life more often than not this season.

[emma675]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

Michael Oher is suing the Tuohys (of The Blind Side fame), saying they tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators; they told him it was the equivalent of adopting him, it was just called something different because he was a legal adult.  But what they really wanted was the legal authority it gave them to make business deals in his name.  Calling him their adopted son has been used to promote their foundations, and Leigh Anne's career as an author and speaker.
 

If you're not familiar with the other lies that white savior movie told, the article gets into it.  I've always hated the way he was portrayed as dumb as a box of rocks, and especially presenting it like that little shit S.J. had to teach him how to play football; Oher not only had the skill, he'd studied the game.

This breaks my heart for him. The movie was already anger inducing enough, but now knowing that the Tuohy parents essentially said Michael wasn't good enough to officially be part of their family, but his money was, is just incredibly sad. I hope he takes them for every cent they made off of him.

[NUguy514]

I unabashedly love The Blind Side, even with its obvious issues, and will delightedly watch any Sandra Bullock movie other than Speed 2, but the Tuohys themselves can go get fucked with chainsaws.

[mojoween]

Yeah somehow Sandra got caught up in all this like “she should give her Oscar back, she should have known the whole thing was made up” and I guess those people have never ever watched a scripted film before.

[merylinkid]

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

Michael Oher is suing the Tuohys (of The Blind Side fame), saying they tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators; they told him it was the equivalent of adopting him, it was just called something different because he was a legal adult.  But what they really wanted was the legal authority it gave them to make business deals in his name.  Calling him their adopted son has been used to promote their foundations, and Leigh Anne's career as an author and speaker.
 

If you're not familiar with the other lies that white savior movie told, the article gets into it.  I've always hated the way he was portrayed as dumb as a box of rocks, and especially presenting it like that little shit S.J. had to teach him how to play football; Oher not only had the skill, he'd studied the game.

The dad has realized a statement that he is "saddened" by this development.   here's the thing, its pretty easy to prove or disprove Michael's claims.   Produce the documents.    Either it was an adoption (which adult adoptions are a thing) or it was a conservatorship.   If you are not immediately releasing the paperwork, that tells me a lot.   If it is an adoption or not true that you took the money, releasing the paperwork will NOT hurt the court case.   

He says he just found out this year, which could making things interesting from a statute of limitations point of view.   Because its when you did you discovery or SHOULD HAVE discovered.   Guess they let him keep his football millions to help hide the fact.   But they are still getting money from the movie.   Although as we learned from the WGA and SAF/AFTRA Strikes, how much are they really getting?

[Lamb18]

On 8/11/2023 at 4:08 PM, JTMacc99 said:

I'm an outlier. I like Tampa to be not terrible this year. They still have a tough defense with a really good defensive coach. What I really like about them is the new offensive coordinator they took from Seattle. He's got a very interesting resume. There is a chance he's a difference making kind of coach. The kind of guy who can make a unit perform better than the sum of its parts. (Also, with any luck they won't lose most of the offensive line to injury like they did last year.)

 

Unrelated topic: Has anybody watched Quarterback on Netflix

I haven't, but I want to. I'll have to check Amazon as I don't have Netflix.

[JTMacc99]

16 hours ago, mojoween said:

Does Buffalo not need a running back?  I cannot imagine that Zeke would choose New England if the Bills were an option.

I just have a feeling that Mac Jones is going to be throwing for his life more often than not this season.

The Patriots had a lot more ready to use cap space than the Bills. (Like $17M versus $5M.) Reports are that he got $1M signing bonus, $3M salary, and another $2.5M incentives. These reports could be wrong, but they're probably in the ballpark. So I doubt the Bills were ever really a choice for him.

He actually fits really nicely into the Patriots roster. What he's good at versus what they have looks like he'll get plenty of opportunities. Plus, maybe Zeke wants to see what it's like to play for a great head coach before he hangs it up. 

And yeah, it doesn't look like the Patriots are going to be trotting out a particularly great offensive line in 2023. So that's another reason why they probably targeted Zeke. He is excellent in pass protection duties. 

 

[janeyjay]

On 8/11/2023 at 5:08 PM, JTMacc99 said:

I'm an outlier. I like Tampa to be not terrible this year. They still have a tough defense with a really good defensive coach. What I really like about them is the new offensive coordinator they took from Seattle. He's got a very interesting resume. There is a chance he's a difference making kind of coach. The kind of guy who can make a unit perform better than the sum of its parts. (Also, with any luck they won't lose most of the offensive line to injury like they did last year.)

From your mouth to the football gods' ears. As a franchise-long Bucs fan (yes, I am old) I'm used to terrible and awful and horrible years; I could write a book about Buc heartbreak. Baker Mayfield does not inspire confidence, at least in me. And while I love Kyle Trask (Go Gators) I just don't know... Booger McFarland projects an "entertainingly bad" year. Sigh. 

[Carey]

Here's a link from ESPN mentioning Zeke going from Dallas to New England

Also from ESPN are news items featuring Breece Hall's New York activation in the aftermath of Dalvin Cook finally making it to the Jets and Anthony Richardson as the official starter for Indianapolis.

 

Meh re: Richardson.  I'm not sure what else could've happened there.  As for Zeke, as mentioned by JTMacc99, I don't think the Pats O-Line is going to be that great, but Elliott has the ability to make up for that.  That I agree, for the most part.  This is 2023 Zeke, not 2016 Elliott.

However, that should help Mac somewhat.  Unlike Cook to NY.  It isn't a bad move, but not a very good move (on paper) since the O-Line for the Jets might not be that outstanding

[JTMacc99]

I think the Jets had the cap space to go ahead and bring in a good veteran back as a way to not be very invested in Hall being as good as he was before the ACL tear in 2023.  The Jets are in win now mode. They don't have time to hope a very important player is going to be 100%.

5 hours ago, janeyjay said:

Booger McFarland projects an "entertainingly bad" year. Sigh. 

It's frequently the former players who spend a lot of time looking at the rosters and not giving enough credit to the impact coaches can have on the success of a team.  Like I said, I think the Bucs have a strong defense run by a really good defensive coach, and it is my current opinion that they picked a winner to run the offense. Dude did a really good job in Seattle with the quarterbacks. Plus, I'm not overwhelmed with any of the other teams in the NFC South, so why couldn't they be competitive in the division?

One big downside for them is that they got the first place schedule, which means they get random games against the Bills, Niners, and Eagles.  Yikes.

[Bastet]

14 hours ago, merylinkid said:

The dad has realized a statement that he is "saddened" by this development.   here's the thing, its pretty easy to prove or disprove Michael's claims.   Produce the documents.

They claim they have records showing they always gave him a share of all payments received for the film, and when he stopped accepting them, they put them in a trust for him:

Quote

"They insisted that any money received be divided equally. And they have made good on that pledge," the statement said. "The evidence -- documented in profit participation checks and studio accounting statements -- is clear: over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from 'The Blind Side.' Even recently, when Mr. Oher started to threaten them about what he would do unless they paid him an eight-figure windfall, and, as part of that shakedown effort refused to cash the small profit checks from the Tuohys, they still deposited Mr. Oher's equal share into a trust account they set up for his son."

They claim this is part of a shakedown by Michael - give me $15 million or I'll file this lawsuit the press will be all over - that he's tried before, but prior attorneys wouldn't file the claim:

Quote

Singer's statement said Oher "has actually attempted to run this play several times before -- but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth. Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour."

They seem to be acknowledging they're his conservators, not his adoptive parents, as they say they won't oppose the petition to terminate it.  I don't think they've addressed the part of the petition about how calling themselves his adoptive parents has been used to make money for their foundations and her writing/speaking career.

[merylinkid]

Like I said, if the records exist, produce them.    Yes there is a court process but if this is a shakedown, the best way to get ahead of it is to release the info.   If there is a trust for him, its simple to prove that.

If it is a true conservatorship, there should be court records, showing how much money the conservatorship made and what happened to it.    ALL the money made from the conservatorship goes to the conservatee, minuses expenses and a SMALL fee for the conservator(s).    None of this "we split the money equally" bullshit.   

[JTMacc99]

The Ravens 24 game preseason winning streak, now in it's seventh year, is wild. I'm not sure if anybody made a big deal about it last year, but I'm seeing and hearing about it this year.  I think SI summed it up best:

The Baltimore Ravens have possibly the least meaningful but most interesting win streak in NFL history.