NFL Thread

[mojoween]

Apropos of nothing, if there were a ranking of NFL nicknames throughout history, I am giving the overall number one seed to The New York Sack Exchange.

[Lamb18]

Cheering for the Chiefs tonight! Can't let those Packers win!

Purple People Eaters wasn't a bad nickname. Seems like there was also something related to Mt. Rushmore but that's 40-50 years ago. Oh, I think it was Mt. Crushmore.

[Calvada]

The Orange Crush - the Broncos defense in early 80s or so.  I always liked the Steel Curtain.  

The most laughable is America's Team for the Cowboys.  Many, many NFL fans beg to differ.

 

 

[grommit2]

Today we learned that the Patriots have a really good defense.
Geez...all they need is a passing game. 🤪

[twoods]

Maybe they will finally shut up about how the Chiefs were undefeated with Taylor watching.

Has a WR ever won MVP? The Niners look like a completely different team when Deebo is healthy. He is unreal.

[Calvada]

Terrible officiating in the final 2 minutes of the Packers/Chiefs game - whatever team lost would feel they were screwed. 

9 minutes ago, twoods said:

Maybe they will finally shut up about how the Chiefs were undefeated with Taylor watching.

Has a WR ever won MVP? The Niners look like a completely different team when Deebo is healthy. He is unreal.

A friend of mine who was at the game texted me a picture of a young girl there carrying a sign saying "Shake It Off Green Bay - We Have Simone Biles!"

The 49ers with Deebo & McCaffrey are a force.  What a headache for defensive coordinators.  

[Fukui San]

3 hours ago, grommit2 said:

Today we learned that the Patriots have a really good defense.
Geez...all they need is a passing game. 🤪

If they had the, say, 18th ranked offense in the league and either one of Judon or Gonzalez healthy this year I would have penciled them into the AFC championship game. So many of the games on the schedule were so winnable and the AFC is so wide open. 

[kathyk2]

1 hour ago, Calvada said:

Terrible officiating in the final 2 minutes of the Packers/Chiefs game - whatever team lost would feel they were screwed. 

A friend of mine who was at the game texted me a picture of a young girl there carrying a sign saying "Shake It Off Green Bay - We Have Simone Biles!"

The 49ers with Deebo & McCaffrey are a force.  What a headache for defensive coordinators.  

It's nice that the media doesn't bother Simone when she's watching the Packers. She's just as famous as Taylor Swift.

[NUguy514]

1 hour ago, kathyk2 said:

It's nice that the media doesn't bother Simone when she's watching the Packers. She's just as famous as Taylor Swift.

She is absolutely not as famous as Taylor Swift, and I say that as someone who loves Biles pretty irrationally and cannot stand Swift.  Like, it's not even close.

[baldryanr]

3 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

She is absolutely not as famous as Taylor Swift, and I say that as someone who loves Biles pretty irrationally and cannot stand Swift.  Like, it's not even close.

100%.  There are very few athletes who are even close to her level of fame, especially in the US - Lebron might be the closest.  Olympic athletes get their moment every 4 year and are then forgotten immediately by the vast majority of the public.

[mojoween]

Simone Biles is on another level than a regular four year Olympian IMO.

Jordan Love was anointed last night as Aaron Rodgers and while I’m personally not ready to go that far yet, man does Love throw a pretty ball.  He looks like a different player than last year.

[Carey]

If you ask 89 people, they'll tell you with a straight face that Planet Earth did not exist before 1989.  And if it did, nothing that took place counted in World History, period.

I can't say I'm thrilled that Kansas City did not win.  I suppose it makes sense given the fact that, like Philadelphia, they were facing a team that had extra time to prepare.  No, I'm not sad because Green Bay won; I still figured that the Chiefs would escape.  I've picked those teams in the past that have had extra time to prepare, and in the past, I've been burned for doing so, sometimes by halftime of a game.

This is just a weird year.  At least it'll give me a reason to forgo predicting games in 2024, but I don't think I've been this off in a while.  It's either a stupid pick or the opposite but then there's an upset.

Looks like the Packers are going to be alright.  So what would be vexatious is to show optimism for Jordan Love and Green Bay, only for them to look like Carolina while making their next opponent look like the San Francisco 49ers next week on Monday Night Football.

Finally, if you're Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or Denver, especially a fan of those teams, you're probably not feeling well.  A chance to gain ground with KC's fall plus an open date for Baltimore, and your team barfs up their soul.  TBH, I don't know if I'll subscribe to dealing with another Week 18 where you have to play hard & risk one's health, while still needed help from someone else

 

[Calvada]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Simone Biles is on another level than a regular four year Olympian IMO.

Jordan Love was anointed last night as Aaron Rodgers and while I’m personally not ready to go that far yet, man does Love throw a pretty ball.  He looks like a different player than last year.

One of the biggest differences is Love's ability to recognize and handle the blitz.  He has a greater awareness of when to audible and what will work in a particular situation.  Also, the injuries this year to Aaron Jones caused Matt LaFleur to open up the playbook a bit and Love has taken full advantage of that.  For example, last night and against the Lions, they scored with a TE appearing to block and then peeling off into the end zone on short yardage in a goal to go situation.  When Jones was playing, that was almost always a run play.  The return of Tom Clements as the Packers QB coach has really helped Love.  Also, after a lot of movement on the o-line earlier in the season due to injuries, for the most part the Packers have had the same guys in for the last few games.  And the young WRs & TEs are figuring things out.   Love needs to work on his long ball; he's not close to Aaron Rodgers on those plays!  There have been several times this year when he has underthrown a WR, causing them to have to slow up and thus giving a DB the chance to make the play.  

[NUguy514]

4 hours ago, mojoween said:

Simone Biles is on another level than a regular four year Olympian IMO.

Completely, Biles is like Michael Phelps in that she does transcend the Olympics by virtue of being the GOAT in her sport (and she's also an incredible human), but Swift is the biggest pop star on the planet.  I mean, that stupid concert movie of hers has made $250 million and counting; she's on her own level, and it's above almost everyone else's.

To bring it back to football, there's a reason that famewhore Kelce signed the relationship contract with her, after all: no one could bring him more fame more quickly than Taylor Swift.

[Johannah]

I'm tired of hearing about the two missed calls at the end of the game.  What about the call against Green Bay for hitting Mahomes when he was inbounds and fighting for those extra inches?  It offsets at least one penalty.  And I wonder if any ref was in position to see the two-handed push during a Hail Mary melee.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Johannah
tried to clarify, but probably made it worse

[meep.meep]

17 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Niners had injuries to key players. They're healthy now. 

Niners also picked up Chase Young which is like double Bosa.  Hufunga is still out.

And it must be said:  Fuck Philly!  Especially that Phat Philly Phucker who inserted himself into the game.  He should be fired.  The League should insist on it.

[Carey]

35 minutes ago, NUguy514 said:

Completely, Biles is like Michael Phelps in that she does transcend the Olympics by virtue of being the GOAT in her sport (and she's also an incredible human), but Swift is the biggest pop star on the planet.  I mean, that stupid concert movie of hers has made $250 million and counting; she's on her own level, and it's above almost everyone else's.

To bring it back to football, there's a reason that famewhore Kelce signed the relationship contract with her, after all: no one could bring him more fame more quickly than Taylor Swift.

To be honest, and, in a way, accurate.  Biles has a skill that one doesn't even need to attempt in order to conclude how difficult it is.  TS is amazing, like her or not, but anyone can sing.  At least most people on the planet cannot do gymnastics.

Bringing back to football, it is fair enough to conclude that Kelce might be going the route he is due to the fact that the end is near.  I don't know if I can totally see him playing after the next season.  At a high level.  Hopefully Kansas City will get better offensively as a bridge to a nice final phase for Patrick.

23 minutes ago, Johannah said:

I'm tired of hearing about the two missed calls at the end of the game.  What about the call against Green Bay for hitting Mahomes when he was inbounds and fighting for those extra inches?  It offsets at least one penalty.  And I wonder if any ref was in position to see the two-handed push during a Hail Mary melee.

The first one was awful.  It doesn't matter whether Mahomes was gifted one in bounds.  Maybe if they got that right, they call the first one.  That being said, as I've said in the past: DO MORE.  Green Bay played a very good game.  Enough to win it.  KC did not do enough.  If they had, then maybe late-game heroics would not be necessary.  I'm pretty sure Cincinnati and Philadelphia didn't lose any sleep.  Though the latter probably did for another reason, while the former might not rest well after tonight

[Irlandesa]

55 minutes ago, Carey said:

Biles has a skill that one doesn't even need to attempt in order to conclude how difficult it is.  TS is amazing, like her or not, but anyone can sing.  At least most people on the planet cannot do gymnastics.

The original statement was about fame and in those terms, Taylor is globally more famous.

That said, I appreciated NBC's coverage of both of them last night. They treated their attendance as a bit of interesting information to share, but they didn't spend too much time on them. They showed a bit of Taylor in the beginning as she filmed the flurries.  And they showed a bit of Biles on the sidelines with her husband.  And then they basically ignored both for the rest of the game. The only celeb I didn't see on the broadcast was Shaloub and that made me sad because I just love Monk.

1 hour ago, Johannah said:

I'm tired of hearing about the two missed calls at the end of the game.  What about the call against Green Bay for hitting Mahomes when he was inbounds and fighting for those extra inches? 

Same because it's focusing on the last one or two plays as if they were the reason the Chiefs lost when the team didn't lead once in the game. It also fails to recognize that some of the calls/non-calls or decisions in that last two minutes went the Chiefs way as well.  There was the sideline play of roughing, but there was another one where a Chief had his forward progress stopped, which should have kept the clock running, but instead, the refs let him step out of bounds and stopped the clock.

The strange thing is I thought the officiating for most of the game was pretty decent for 58 minutes.  There weren't a ton of flags being thrown. It felt like they were mostly just letting them play. And then in the last two minutes, it all fell apart. 

Moving on to a different team, reports are coming out that the Jets want to go back to Zach Wilson and he's like "nah."  How much of a mess do you have to be as a team to have your backup QB saying no to playing?  Not that I blame him.  There are so many issues with that offense that are unfairly being laid at the feet of the QB. 

 

[Calvada]

1 hour ago, Johannah said:

I'm tired of hearing about the two missed calls at the end of the game.  What about the call against Green Bay for hitting Mahomes when he was inbounds and fighting for those extra inches?  It offsets at least one penalty.  And I wonder if any ref was in position to see the two-handed push during a Hail Mary melee.

I agree, there were many mistakes by the officials on that final drive which adversely affected BOTH teams.  There was the 15-yard penalty against Owens for hitting Mahomes, who was in-bounds and a runner at that point, so perfectly legal to hit him.  If it had not been a QB, perhaps no penalty, but the league will never admit that.  They will probably fine Owens for the play!  Then after the penalty against Pacheco (for which he was ejected) there was no 10-second runoff against the Chiefs, who were out of timeouts.  Next, there was the missed PI call.  Then came the play where they stopped the clock when on the completed pass they ruled MVS got out of bounds.  Finally, there probably was PI (both offensive and defensive) on the Hail Mary since there is on every Hail Mary, but unless someone deliberately takes a player out at the knees, there's never going to be a flag thrown on a Hail Mary.  

[JTMacc99]

19 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Niners had injuries to key players. They're healthy now. 

I can boil it down to ONE player above all else.

Trent Williams, 2022 1st team All Pro Left Tackle, got hurt in the Cleveland game and missed the next two games. 

• 49ers record in games when Trent Williams played hurt or missed: 0-3
• 49ers record in games where Trent Williams was healthy: 9-0.

Side note, 2022 2nd team All Pro Left Tackle Andrew Thomas got hurt on the first drive of the first game of 2023 (and if can make it so, this will be known from now on as the "Aaron Rodgers Special").  

• Giants record in games when Andrew Thomas played hurt, compromised, or missed: 2-7
• Giants record in games when Andrew Thomas was healthy: 2-1

Shout out to the big men who can play Left Tackle at a high level in the NFL. They get PAID correctly, but we kind of forget to include them in the conversation about how damn important they are.

[Carey]

27 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

That said, I appreciated NBC's coverage of both of them last night. They treated their attendance as a bit of interesting information to share, but they didn't spend too much time on them. They showed a bit of Taylor in the beginning as she filmed the flurries.  And they showed a bit of Biles on the sidelines with her husband.  And then they basically ignored both for the rest of the game. The only celeb I didn't see on the broadcast was Shaloub and that made me sad because I just love Monk.

I could talk Taylor for 24 hours.  It makes for pretty good conversation, but on the largest scale it would be off topic relative to the National Football League.  Though I had to re-read the past posts before replying here to say that the distance between Swift and athletes in terms of one's fame is not just miles away, but a global trip.  She wins there, and that's that.

NBC totally did it right, I agree there.  Still focus on them (TS and Blies) since they're famous, but stick to football.  It did help that the game featured the two franchises that battled in the very first Super Bowl (iconic teams not even factoring that).  It would be hypocritical of me to hate it (and I don't even hate it period), while enjoying the NBA games featuring New York and Los Angeles, where they highlight the dozen celebrities that are in attendance.

JTMacc99 said it best in terms of the importance of a tackle.  You know who are the best teams in terms of culture and football smarts when it comes to having one.  You have to respect the offensive line; IDC how important the QB position is.  To quote yours truly in a way, I can talk position importance for 24 hours.

On a related note, if Purdy wins the league MVP, then it doesn't count.  What I mean is that it sure as heck does count, but it's not a big deal.  People will say it's a QB award now, and this year they'd be correct.  Nothing against Purdy, but when Williams was out, Purdy wasn't.  He did not look good.  People think Prescott will win or can.  While in a different year, Dallas nearly went undefeated without him.  It's probably going to come down to the wire; I think if Jackson stays healthy, it's his to lose.  Of course, Baltimore spends a night holiday Monday in Santa Clara.  He'll get his second if that magic against the NFC takes place

[Lamb18]

The  Bengals' helmets look like bad combovers. 

Nice touchdown, Jaguars.

Battle of the kitty cats!

Edited December 5, 2023 by Lamb18
Browns aren't the Bengals.

[Salacious Kitty]

I bet @mojoween down votes both teams' unis tonight. 😀

[Lamb18]

36 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

I bet @mojoween down votes both teams' unis tonight. 😀

Yeah, I thought Bengals were playing the Panthers at first.

Browning is making an audition tape tonight. Once Burrows is healthy, some team will want to snatch Browning up. 

[twoods]

Absolutely gutted for Trevor. Looks like a season ending injury, and he was having such a nice season- hope he’s okay. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by twoods

[Calvada]

Don't they have a cart at this stadium?  He clearly needed assistance to walk to the x-ray room.  Isn't it possible an injury could be further aggravated by putting weight on it?  

[Fukui San]

How many good and healthy QBs are even left in the league right now?

[JTMacc99]

6 hours ago, Fukui San said:

How many good and healthy QBs are even left in the league right now?

[mojoween]

10 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

I bet @mojoween down votes both teams' unis tonight. 😀

Ha!  I was ok with the Jags, crazily.  The Bengals…no.

[Lamb18]

Does it seem like there are more injuries per game than usual this year? I feel like I'm seeing around three serious injuries a game, where someone will miss at least one game.

And Trevor Lawrence's own guy did it to him. I bet that guy feels sick when he sees the tape and how he stepped right on Lawrence's ankle.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Lamb18

[Johannah]

2 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

Haha Watson.

 

[Black Knight]

Yeah, I was bummed to see Lawrence go down. I hope he can make it back this season. If we keep going at this rate, the playoffs are going to end up being full of backup QBs playing each other.

I agree about the importance of a left tackle. But I don't know if I would consider Williams the MVP even on his own team, much less the league. That's because if all you have is a great LT, you're not going to win games, and the perfect example of this is Joe Thomas, one of the best offensive linemen ever, who played for the Browns his entire 11-year career, and had exactly one winning season with them, his first, followed by 10 years of abysmal losing seasons except for the 7-9 season which looks positively amazing compared to some of the others (1-15! 0-16!). Football is a team sport, of course, but there are positions where a great player on a bad team can still pull out a win sometimes for the team. OL is not one of those. An offense has a really tough time being consistently successful without a good OL, but some wins can still be managed if the offensive skill players are good enough. But if a team has a good or even great OL and no good offensive skill players, a team will not win games.

For the Niners, I think their MVP is McCaffrey, whose own absences correlate pretty closely to the Niners' losses since he joined the team midseason last year. Williams's absences have hurt, but the Niners run a system offense that relies heavily (too much, Shanahan is going to wear him out) on CMC.

[mojoween]

My newspaper does a “This Day in History” blurb that includes celebrity birthdays, and in today’s it says “College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett is 76” and that feels like a swipe at Canton.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Johannah said:

Haha Watson.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting that and took a drink at exactly the wrong time, so wound up choking on a bit of water at "Not you, perv" but it was totally worth it.

[Carey]

I too would put CMC as the team MVP and maybe league MVP before Trent Williams.  I just would not put Purdy over Trent, Kittle, Deebo, and CMC this year.  I'm glad, BTW, that Brock finished a game at Lincoln Financial Field.  Which isn't saying too much if you saw that game.  For me, it changes nothing from last year, and I still don't think the outcome changes had he made it.

CMC going West was great, and it adds to how much of a failure Tepper is.

I hope all is well with the Niners & Baltimore, after all the injuries throughout the league.  That is a big test for both teams.  If SF is trailing & Brock does stuff to get a game winner, that would be enough for me to make him the MVP.  At least think about it.  Helps that Baltimore is capable of blowing it at the end of games

[baldryanr]

16 hours ago, mojoween said:

My newspaper does a “This Day in History” blurb that includes celebrity birthdays, and in today’s it says “College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett is 76” and that feels like a swipe at Canton.

Only eligible QB with multiple SB wins who isn't in the HOF.  Likely to maintain that title since Eli, Ben, Mahomes, and Brady are going to be in there one day.  On the plus side, he can always be proud of having more rings than almost every other QB who played.

Edited December 6, 2023 by baldryanr

[Carey]

As mentioned, I'll probably be pissed, but not surprised if he gets the Ken Stabler treatment.  If there's anything scripted when it comes to the National Football League, that would be it.  For example, say he died in early 2032 or even mid to late that calendar year.  Then late 2032 to super early 2033, Jim Plunkett is a HOF finalist.

I think I'd definitely be more livid if he got in but the media spun it as deserving with stats & accomplishments, but not because it's a sorrow, emotional thing that happens every-so-often.

On one hand, there's always Jason Garrett, and on the other hand, I hardly would count the 3X champion as eligible.  BTW, I think I actually enjoy him on television.  He sounds coherent, talks as if he knows what he's talking about, and things sound more Xs and Os as opposed to someone else on another network.

I'm not one to pimp someone from that team from the Lone Star State, but I guess I can separate that from what someone is elsewhere

[bluegirl147]

On 12/5/2023 at 7:52 AM, Lamb18 said:

Does it seem like there are more injuries per game than usual this year? I feel like I'm seeing around three serious injuries a game, where someone will miss at least one game.

It does seem like there are more serious injuries this year. I don't know why but it is happening.

On 12/5/2023 at 7:19 AM, JTMacc99 said:

I feel like we are going to need a bigger board before the end of the season unfortunately.

21 hours ago, Black Knight said:

But if a team has a good or even great OL and no good offensive skill players, a team will not win games.

You don't know how important a good offensive line is until you don't have one.  

[JTMacc99]

22 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I agree about the importance of a left tackle. But I don't know if I would consider Williams the MVP even on his own team, much less the league. That's because if all you have is a great LT, you're not going to win games, and the perfect example of this is Joe Thomas, one of the best offensive linemen ever, who played for the Browns his entire 11-year career, and had exactly one winning season with them, his first, followed by 10 years of abysmal losing seasons

I didn't mean to imply that I think Williams should be considered for MVP. I just wanted to point out that the 49ers are 0-3 when they go from having the best Left Tackle in football to just some guy, versus 9-0 when he is in the lineup. It is not a coincidence. He's like a front left tire on the car. It's not a car with just a great front left tire, but the car's performance is severely compromised when it's bald or flat.

And Joe Thomas, poor Joe Thomas. The Browns traded their 2008 R1 pick to trade up in that same 2007 to pick Brady Quinn. If he had turned into a good QB, the Browns would have had a very different experience during Thomas's career. (QB > LT and pretty much every position.) 

Looking at the drafts from the several years after 2007, the Browns never really even had a shot at getting a good QB with their first round picks. Closest would have been when they traded their pick to the Jets who took Mark Sanchez. They also traded away a high R1 pick which was used to pick Julio Jones, which: Oof.  But on the other hand, great WR and great OT still doesn't overcome trash QB.

[mojoween]

The “God Bless Football” podcast talks to Austin Ekeler every week, and I’m catching up from this past Friday before the Chargers headed to Foxboro.

And for a hot second, I wondered if San Diego to Boston was the longest continental trip in the NFL.  And then, when I remembered there is no longer a team in San Diego and also because my western geography skills are poor, I was not sure if Los Angeles or Seattle is further from Boston.

[NUguy514]

27 minutes ago, mojoween said:

And for a hot second, I wondered if San Diego to Boston was the longest continental trip in the NFL.  And then, when I remembered there is no longer a team in San Diego and also because my western geography skills are poor, I was not sure if Los Angeles or Seattle is further from Boston.

Actually, the flight from San Francisco to Boston is a smidge longer than the flight from either Seattle or Los Angeles, and San Francisco is a smidge farther from Boston than Los Angeles is.

[baldryanr]

4 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

Actually, the flight from San Francisco to Boston is a smidge longer than the flight from either Seattle or Los Angeles, and San Francisco is a smidge farther from Boston than Los Angeles is.

Seattle to Miami has to be up there too, on those rare occasions the Dolphins and Seahawks play each other.

[NUguy514]

28 minutes ago, baldryanr said:

Seattle to Miami has to be up there too, on those rare occasions the Dolphins and Seahawks play each other.

It is.  According to the interwebs, the distance between Seattle and Miami is actually a little more than the distance between San Francisco and Boston, but the flight time is the same.

[mojoween]

Pittsburgh and New England tonight!  Who’s excited?  Anyone?  Hello?  Where’s everyone going?

[mojoween]

The chuckle I let out while alone in my house…

 

[Carey]

You know, I knew David Carr got his ass kicked in 2002.  That was expected to happen.  However, I didn't realize that it was more severe than severe until 10 minutes ago.

No, David.  The Eagles are not benching Jalen Hurts for Marcus Mariota just because Hurts lost to San Francisco

[NUguy514]

7 hours ago, mojoween said:

Pittsburgh and New England tonight!  Who’s excited?  Anyone?  Hello?  Where’s everyone going?

[Carey]

Watch this game turn out to be like 35-31 or whatever

[mojoween]

3 hours ago, Carey said:

Watch this game turn out to be like 35-31 or whatever

The over/under is 30 and people are probably hammering the under.  If 60 points are scored?  That would be hilarious.

[Carey]

21 minutes ago, mojoween said:

3 hours ago, Carey said:

Watch this game turn out to be like 35-31 or whatever

The over/under is 30 and people are probably hammering the under.  If 60 points are scored?  That would be hilarious.

It definitely will be funny as hell.  What'll probably happen is if enough people (90 to 95 percent) go under, there'll be some random safety or late, meaningless defensive TD at triple zeros in the 4th to get to 9-22.  That's realistic if the team scoring that TD did so earlier in the game defensively or on special teams.

The over/under could've been 15, and I'd still go under