NFL Fans: What are your thoughts on this season?
Sad to see my favorite team lose to Denver like the way they did on Sunday but the good news is that gronk, amendola, and edelman should all be back before the playoffs start. I think this Patriots squad somewhat reminds me of the 2011 team where they had no running game and lived and died every game on Brady's arm (Still finished 13-3 and lost a close super bowl that year). Hopefully they can get healthy and make a push because it would be great to see Goodell have to congratulate the qb he tried to frame. I also think Carolina could either win the Super Bowl or lose in the divisional round.
Cam Newton's stats aren't all that spectacular but the defense has been unstoppable. The Cardinals also have been playing well and Carson Palmer quietly is 2nd place in tds and 1st in passer rating. Also will be interesting to see who will win the NFC east where all the teams are close in record.
So, I have to ask, are you actually from Boston? Or did you choose the Patriots as your favorite team because Tommy boy rustled your jimmies in elementary school? I am an Eagles fan so yes I am mad.
Anyways, I agree that Cam's stats are not spectacular, but if you watched the Panthers games, they are deflated due to a woefully mediocre receiving corps. Ted Ginn Jr. has dropped multiple touchdown passes after he torched defenders. Jerricho Cotchery is a grandpa, and Funchess and Corey Brown are far from impressive. Assuming they don't play the Cardinals (who they much up well with anyways) I can't see this team not at least getting to the Conference Championship.
In the AFC, the Patriots are still the best team by some margin. If they get everyone back as you say, I can't see them not making a repeat Super Bowl trip. Belichick, who hilariously did not know the rules of an excess time out in that Denver game, still got bailed out by Brady who of course forces over-time with his last chance throw into field goal range. The man just had NOBODY to throw to in overtime, and that was that.
In a nutshell, too many injuries, refs performing poorly (but they are in a union, and that won't change, so we will need to deal with it), and a failed project with HC Chip Kelly has left something to be desired.
I've liked the Patriots since I started playing madden in elementary school. Tom Brady is the best ever if you ask me. Has more wins, stats, etc. than Montana. I agree cam doesn't have much of a offense but people are acting like he's 2011 Aaron Rodgers right now.
Also I don't why the hell Chip Kelly traded and released so many players. The eagles would be a 8-10 win team if it wasn't for him doing that.
Yep that is the issue, he took over as GM, even though he explicitly said in his first interview as HC that he would work with whomever he was provided. It looked like he was playing madden, saw a players overall stats, and just traded/signed free agents based on that stat alone. He had no regard for positional needs or how those players would fit in his schemes. Also, you are seeing what happens when your receivers don't even get open in Green Bay.... even Aaron Rodgers is struggling. That has been the issue since D-Jax and Maclin left, and we obviously do not have an Aaron Rodgers-caliber quarterback
First off, I'm a Giants Fan. I will be shocked if we even make the Post-Season this year with how awful we have been. I just wanted to get that out there first and foremost.
In regards to Human Capital's question, I'm not that impressed by this season because it's turning into something absurd. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the Pats and the Panthers both go undefeated for 10 games, and am wondering when the Panthers will be the next to fall. The Panthers are doing well despite not having the greatest team around not playing in a great division. I believe that the Pats run is more telling because it plays into Belichick's ability to do more with less. Plus, it does not help at all that the NFC South sucks, the NFC East sucks, and the AFC South is mediocre at best.
This season reminds me of 2010 when the 7-9 Seahawks won the division a few years ago. Both the AFC South and the NFC East are horrible. I mean, the Eagles still have a shot at making it despite being 4-7 at this point. The Redskins and Giants are both 5-6. I mean, theoretically, all three teams can end up with 7-9 records. This is definitely the division to watch if you like horrible, horrible, football and want to endure pain and suffering. The Redskins have two games they can win against the Cowboys, and three game they can easily lose against the Bears, Bills and Eagles. The Giants have winnable games versus the Jets and Dolphins, and can easily drop three to the Panthers, Vikings and Eagles. The Eagles, well... of the four games that they might have a shot at win, because even as banged up as they are - The Pats can still beat them, I can see them beating the Bills, Skins and Giants. I don't see them beating the Cardinals. This will make for some seriously screwed up football, but it will be fun to watch.
The NFC South has been imploding on itself all season and you don't know whether or not, particularly as Caronlina's final run has 4 games against their division, you will get the same Falcons or Saints team that can play at the highest level. They can easily put a dent in the Panthers undefeated run, but they wont' stop them from having claimed the division.
The AFC South... I'm not sure what to think here. This is just a little too unpredictable, because both the Colts and the Texans can win the division. This one has too much going on to really look at it more than a wait and see approach.
Personally, I think the Patriots are still going to be favored to win the Superbowl. They are 10-1 and have the Jets (6-5) to worry about. Despite this, at 10-1, they have games versus Philadelphia, Houston and Tennessee that are more than winnable even with a banged up roster and games versus the Jets and Miami in which one between the two win seals the division entirely. The question is whether or not New England will walk away with a first round bye, which means more time to rest and recover. Based on ELO Ratings and predictions, Cincinnati's remaining 5 should see them result in a 4-1 record, while Denver is favored in all 5 of their remaining games (including one against Cincinnati).
In the NFC North, I think Vikings may take it. I can see both the Packers and the Vikings being 3-1 in the next four games, which would make a Green Bay win in their end of season match up extremely important for the final standings and post-season seeding, but I see both teams making it. For Da Bears to even have a shot at a seed, they need to win out and Green Bay has to drop 3 of their next 5. As soon as Green Bay hits 10 wins, Chicago's chances are slim to none.
The NFC West is the other question mark I have. I think the Seahawks and Cardinals come out of this division with seeds. I think the issue here is how does Seattle fare without Jimmy Graham and how does Arizona handle the loss of Chris Johnson. I don't think both teams will drop off the face of the planet in the run up to the post season, but I do think that the losses will definitely hurt their chances to make the Super Bowl.
and we won our first playoff game...
Yeah... and I don't think you guys win any this year if you make it. Not having Graham in that valuable 3rd down and Red Zone target plays and waiting on Lynch to recover from surgery is going to be killer for you guys down the stretch. Don't get me wrong, Wilson is playing fantastic football, but it's not enough.
Andy why would you change the pic from the Butler interception to the NFL shield? WallStreetOasis.com :)
My team:
Overall, I'd say this season has pretty ugly to watch. Maybe it's all the injuries the poor officiating or maybe the replacements for the injured players commit too many penalties, but this year has been hard to watch. It seems that every other play a flag is thrown. Minor Pass Interference, maybe a slight grab here and there. I think they just need to let the players play. Now I am not a Pats fan whatsoever, but that holding call against the Pats after Brock took the sack late in the 4th qtr was lousy. You cannot make that call in a game like that.
Bah, I am a Giants fan so the only bright spot I have is watching ODB make spectacular catch after spectacular catch.
Yeah I think the officiating has been pretty bad the last couple of years. As a NE fan I'm not going to count out NYG just yet. Similar scenarios happened in 2007 and 2011 for them although this year they don't have as good of a defense.
Until Jeff Lurie grows a sack and fires Chip I don't give a shit about the NFL. What a fucking train wreck my Eagles are because of him.
Except it keeps drawing me back in. I'd say the Pats are the best chance for the SB still. They have two gimme's against the Eagles and Titans (unless Belichick himself straps on a helmet and starts taking snaps and is throwing to Kraft, they can beat the Eagles-Eagles fan are only half jokingly asking if it will be the first game in history when a team hits triple digits), a most likely win against the Fins and they'll get Amendola and Gronk back over the next couple of weeks. Even with as many injuries as they had a defense as good as Denver's let them put 24 points on the board and I'm not someone to normally say the refs decided the game, but there were some very bad calls in that game. If the Pats can get those two back heading into the offseason I think they're the best bet.
I naturally hate BankingBananas, no offense, because he's a Giants fan but he's spot on about the refs. PI calls used to only be something you'd see a few times a season because the back basically had to molest the receiver to get the call. Now it's if they graze their jersey with an elbow and it's a 30 yd penalty. Same with offensive holding and defensive holding. I don't normally have the free time to just watch a full game if it's not my team but a few weeks back I watched most of a game between two teams I don't care about and it was just a horrible sports watching experience. One team wasn't getting more calls over the other but there were too many good plays or stops that kept getting called. It just wasn't fun watching. I feel like I used to watch football and it was more of a surprise when a big play was called back because of a penalty but now as soon as a big play happens or the D stops them on third down I'm waiting to see if a flag was thrown before I get excited. It's a bad product by the NFL.
You're an Eagles fan? I'm so sorry man. Kelly is not a good GM. If he had someone to reign him in, then it would be different. Very few people able to handle multiple roles on top of being GM. There are only 4 People in the NFL that serve as GM and act in additional capacities. Two of those people are Jerry Jones and Mike Brown, both of whom own their respective teams. It goes without saying that Bill Belichick and Chip Kelly are the other two, and Chip Kelly is no Bill Belichick. Not even in 20 years could Kelly even be on the level as Belicheck. Don't get me wrong, you have Head Coaches who have gotten their way, but it's hard to argue giving it to a relatively new and inexperienced head coach like Kelly. He went like a kid in the candy store and see what's happened. I think as a coach, he's good, but he needs a GM to keep him in line.
That said, the only real challenges that are left for the Pats are the Texans and the Jets. It's You're right that the Titans and Eagles will be cakewalk and the Fins, unfortunately, will be the win the Pats need to tie up their division. If they go 4-0 until the 'Fins, that means it's two weeks of rest for guys like Gronk, Amendola and Edleman. If the Pats have them back and healthy, they will be the team to beat.
It ain't a great time to be a Philly sports fan overall... Completely agree on the GM/HC combo. It's too much for every coach except Belichick and even if you hate the guy and think he's a cheater you can't really compare anyone to him. But I think the league has also caught on to Chips schemes and strategy outside of his disastrous personnel moves. I feel like Lurie gambled on bringing in a coach with a scheme that he thought could revolutionize the game but it failed. No new scheme, outside of little tweaks, has really been brought to the league that's worked since Bill Walsh brought the West Coast offense 30+ years ago. Lurie should admit that he gambled, it didn't work and he should cut and run. Unlike most Eagles fans I don't think Chip's a bad person and should meet an untimely and gruesome death (Eagles fans are Eagles fans...) or that he's not trying but he's just not working out in the NFL. There are also tons of rumors that players don't like playing for him because he treats them like college kids and that he got rid of some of their players because they didn't bow to him and treat him like college players treat college coaches. You can get away with that in college ball but a pro coach needs to realize they're dealing with multi-millionaire men with gigantic egos. It might not be right and they might be spoiled brats but it's just how it is. The only coach who gets away with it is Belichick and, once again, you can't compare any other coach to Belichick. I think Chip also gambled in the offseason and thought he'd be able to get Mariota and when that failed he panicked and got schooled in the Bradford trade.
Is Edleman coming back this year? I thought he was out for the year.
Texans are going to go all the way this year.
I'm seriously starting to wonder if the colts should just stick with Hasselbeck
Yeah Luck not so lucky this season.
I mean I know Hasselbeck is 40 but maybe they will just stick with him for this season. I don't think he could play much more than 1-2 seasons.
this season is miserable, everyone in the southeast is now a bandwagon panthers fan, my packers are in the shitter, peyton manning throws like the dad in the volkswagen commercial (except when they torched GB), people's knees are exploding everywhere (watch the slow mo of jimmy graham, you see his kneecap pop off and stretch out his sock, it's gruesome), and there may be 2 playoff teams with losing records (NFC East and AFC South), I'm clearly biased because I don't think we have a shot, but this has been a subpar season imo.
my predictions:
if carson palmer doesn't get hurt, pats v. cardinals in super bowl, pats win 31-20. forgettable super bowl with sloppy play from arizona's offense and sloppy play from new england's defense. most memorable moments are a few well defended balls and gronkowski stiff arming honeybadger, posterizing him and leading to lots of new memes.
if palmer does get hurt? pats panthers in the super bowl, pats win 24-21, josh norman gets beat by a no name receiver in the end zone to seal the deal for new england after a close game, bill belicheck dabs on cam newton after the win, julian edelman has sex with whoever performs at halftime (adam levine, jennifer lopez, one direction, and beyonce are all options), and everyone in the southeast burns their panthers gear and goes back to caring about college basketball.
Well the packers still have Rodgers. A lot can happen in the next 2 months or so. I think they have been good a couple weeks but bad versus Denver, Detroit, etc. Obviously biased but I think Tom Brady is better than Aaron Rodgers but at least Aaron still has 6-8 more years left in the league. Brady says he wants to play like 8-10 more seasons but 3-5 is probably realistic to remain at his top level and not fall off the planet like Peyton.
true, and I have to keep telling myself that the last time we won it all we were a 6 seed. unfortunately, Brady has torn his knee multiple times, and I'd be shocked to see him go more than 3 more seasons. I think he'll get one more ring and then fizzle out until his health catches up with him.
I am going to go contrarian here and say you take the Eagles +10 this Sunday and also take some smaller action on the Eagles moneyline.
The Patriots are not looking great right now and the loss of Gronk is very significant to me. Brady has zero weapons at his disposal right now and a defense that is susceptible to the run (coincidentally the run game is the only thing that sometimes works for the Eagles).
Sam Bradford is expected to start Sun which should give the team a lift.
DISCLOSURE: I'll be traveling up to Boston for the game and need to stay positive, haha
Your right - the Pats don't have the weapons at their disposal. I don't discount them on that basis though. This is where I give the Pats the edge. One of the Pats biggest strengths lies in Belichick as a head coach. The guy has a football IQ like no other and can find ways to win. I'm sure as soon as Gronk got injured, even as OT was going on, Belichick began to figure out a new way to eek a win or two out with who he had left on his roster.
I'm an Eagles fan so this season has been quite rough. That said, I feel a lot of my disappointment is unwarranted. This is a rebuilding year going into it, but we just had a GREAT preseason that got everyone hyped. I truly believe next year we'll be a solid team.
Also, it's sad, and no one is saying it, but we would literally have at least 7 wins if our kicker (Cody Parkey) was healthy this whole season. We've lost 2-3+ games simply because of missed
The problem is that it shouldn't be a rebuilding season. They were a 10-6 team for two years. Chips philosophy of culture and scheme over talent is too much of a college mindset. You need talent and he got rid of too much of it without replacing what he got rid of and didn't fill obvious holes (the o-line). You dont rebuild a 10-6 team in the NFL, you build on it. I don't think his scheme will work almost regardless of talent (teams have figured out how to beat it) but he's in way over his head with the GM role. Bradford is the perfect example of that. I think he had it in his mind that he could get Mariota in a similar way he could get a HS recruit to sign in college. So he made a bunch of moves for him and panicked and signed Bradford. A guy who was injured more than half of his pro career and wasn't super impressive when he was healthy. Good, but not a $13MM improvement over Foles. Foles wasn't ever going to be a superstar but he cost $750k per year and could at least run the offense. If he was rebuilding he could have held on to Foles for a year and saved the money to spend on an o-line and fill other holes. Instead he picks Bradford up and trades a second rounder, Murray who's been a bust BC he doesn't have Dallas' line to run behind, and grossly overpaid for Maxwell. I don't think he was rebuilding, I think he just busted and Eagles fans who haven't turned on Chip are justifying it by sayings we're rebuilding. In the stages of grief you're still in denial.
I'd love to have Mathis and Herremans back, instead of Dennis Kelly and Turnstile Tobin. Denver signed Mathis a number way below what the Eagles were scheduled to pay him. Even after he was cut, Chip could've called him personally and said "hey, let's come to a number we can agree on because it's more than your going to get on the open market" but his obsession with culture made him unwilling to do it.
Chip is so far over his head with the GM position it's scary and this Tecmo SuperBowl offsense ( run right, run left) is a little too simplistic for the NFL. Never thought I'd see the day I was dying to have the Andy Reid playbook back, at least Reid had a wide variety of play calls.
Well, I've never seen a Bills playoff game before and it doesn't look like that is changing this year......
Hail To The Redskins.
The amount of injuries is unbelievable and my team has fallen pretty far, so I'm not happy. The reffing has been overall worse this year than past years as well.
I'm from Boston and like all our teams. Pats have been great this yr like usual.
The thing that has always pissed me off about them is they never want to spend money. Brady is arguably the GOAT but they never spend to put weapons around him which pisses me off. Also letting Revis go is another example. CB's are so important in this league. Pats secondary has taken a step back and every year they have lost in the Super Bowl the secondary sucking was the main culprit.
As an organization they should be pulling all the strings to put weapons around Brady who is a once in a lifetime (if not less often) QB and have an elite secondary but they choose not to. Leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Could have tried to get Andre Johnson in the offseason, re-signed Revis etc
Pats need an elite deep threat to stretch the secondary which they haven't had since Moss, which would soften up everything underneath even more for Gronk and Edelman. When your splitting Gronk out wide that says something.
I love Edelman though, he's a hybrid version of Welker. Quicker and more explosive. I just wish the Pats would be more concerned with bringing in top talent and spending more to help maximize the production of the years we have left with Brady, even though the production has been great but it could be better, IMO
And everytime I think about it I get Salty....
Troy Brown is more comparable to Edelman imo. I think they need to get another solid rb in the draft because Blount only plays well with a perfect o-line.
Remember when you had Randy Moss and the Patriots were breaking Football as we knew it? That must have been fun as a Boston Fan. So I don't know why they don't go out and get another Stud WR. I couldn't comprehend what would they look like if they had Gronk and another deep threat on the other side. Probably a Superbowl Championship team until Eli Manning spoiled it.
I know the "defense wins championships" is way overblown but really NE had a shutdown secondary and good defense last year which propelled them to finally win it all. What has happened with the 2005-2013 patriots is that they were always prone to having the defense give up big plays towards the end to other top teams (which happened Sunday). Bill Belichick doesn't need another Moss as odd as it sounds. He wants a WR with a complete game: catching, not afraid to go up the middle, etc. He has a philosophy of not overpaying guys who are on the wrong side of 30 and I can't disagree with that. They've been competitive even after losing big players to free agency. Would be cool from a madden perspective to see Odell or Antonio Brown on NE though.
Ya dude it was and the thing about Moss was it was a huge coincidence that we got him.
Growing up, I first started following football in Moss's rookie year in 98. He was my favorite player since his rookie year, always had him in Madden used the Vikings a lot and loved playing WR in football when playing with friends and wanted to in real football but played FB and LB instead.
Basically he was my first athlete that I grew up watching and being a huge fan of, he was amazing on the Vikings.
Then when the Pats got him I was thrilled, got him for like a 6th or 7th round pick then he came and broke records with Brady.
I disagree with a lot of your points. The pats develop players and turn them into who they are now. Edelman, Gronk, Collins, Chandler, Mayo are all draft picks. Some of the reasons the pats are always so good is because of the team chemistry. Revis is also 30 years old and is on his way down. He has been getting burned this year, DeAndre Hopkins made him look like a fool and Malcolm Butler will be a top corner in a few years. He shut down DeMayrius Thomas in the Denver game. After Odell Beckhams 80 td (that was McCourtys fault and not Butler's) he held him to 3 catches for 20 yards the rest of the game.
We also don't need to spend money on a deep threat. That is not who the pats are. We play the short game and with the exception of the Randy Moss year we always have, that is how the pats win super bowls. If we get Gronk and Edelman 100% healthy for the playoffs, we should win the super bowl. The only team that really scares me is the Cardinals. I would much rather face the Panthers, who have the 3rd easiest schedule this year, than the Cardinals who have arguably the best receiving core in the league, a top 5 QB, and a top 5 defense. Pats are fine.
Having a deep threat puts a ton of pressure on the D, they have to respect it and therefore, the middle of the field opens up even more. Look at the years Welker had with us. His best years were mainly because Moss had to be respected by the D and safeties over the top, which softened everything up.
I think it's completely crazy to not spend money to put weapons around a QB that is once in a lifetime if not less (legit we will die before the Patriots ever have a QB like this again).
At the very least you need to give Brady a legit deep threat which will only help the offense, and soften things up even more for Edelman and Gronk. You don't agree with these thoughts??
Was that a face mask call on A.Rodgers on TNF?
I'm a Packers fan, and it was debatable, but clearly I'm happy about the result, so you won't hear me complaining.
if you start getting into all of the calls/no calls, you will drive yourself crazy. I think in the end, it all evens out, and rarely will it affect the super bowl champion (tuck rule notwithstanding)
Taking nothing away from the hail mary, I think that facemask call was really weak.
Also, an ignominious point was that Detroit threw away a 20 points lead, at home.
I think yesterday might've given them their swagger back.
I'm pretty sore from the Denver loss. 18-1 is the Boston sports wound that won't heal (although that win against the Giants this season did help a little).
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