National Football League

[SHAD0W93]

It’ll be interesting if Ravens sit Jackson, they came out really cold with 2 weeks off last time.

Patrick Mahomes among Chiefs starters who will sit Week 18 vs. Chargers with playoff seed already locked in

Kansas City will host a postseason game next weekend

www.cbssports.com

I also don’t agree with Mahomes and the offense being sat at all. They’re barely in sync with the other already with 17 weeks of playing, now you add a week of rust.

 

[SHAD0W93]

BREAKING: Firefighters Battling Fire At Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill's House

Firefighters in Davie, FL. are putting out a fire that broke out at Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek HIll’s home in Southwest Ranches on Wednesday afternoon. The house, which is located in Southwest Ranches in South Florida, was shown on local station WSVN 7 News with a large amount of smoke...

dailysnark.com

What bad luck and timing. Hopefully everyone is okay, Hill said everyone made it out.

 

[Nomad]

I watched him carve up the Seahawks so I know he’s not irrelevant. I don’t know why saying he has an incredibly talented supporting cast on offense is interpreted as trashing him, if that’s what you’re assuming. It’s hard to tell what or who your 1st paragraph is in response to?

I'm just making a general comment about his draft status. "Mr. Irrelevant" is a nickname for the player who is selected with the very last pick in the draft. There's been several QBs over the decades who have been selected last in the draft. Prior to Purdy, the most recent one was Chad Kelly (nephew of Jim Kelly) who the Broncos selected in 2017. He was probably destined as a backup but legal trouble cut short any hope of a NFL career (none of the previous Mr. Irrelevants have gone on to have long lasting or stellar careers)..

Full list of Mr. Irrelevants in NFL draft history: Is Brock Purdy already the best final pick?

Brock Purdy had a stellar rookie season. Here is every Mr. Irrelevant since it began in 1976, including 2025 final pick Kobee Minor of Memphis.

www.espn.com

Getting back to Purdy; what I find more perplexing is his prospect grade - a sophisticated rating system used by NFL scouts for their final pre-draft recommendation on player prospects. Purdy was rated 5.57 - "Priority Undrafted Free Agent" - which is second lowest on the scale (the highest on the scale is 8.0 - "The Perfect Prospect").

Brock Purdy Draft and Combine Prospect Profile | NFL.com

C.J. Beathard also had the same ranking. But a couple of journeyman backups such as Trevor Siemian, Brett Rypien & Easton Stick were rated higher than Purdy. And none of the aforementioned are ever going to be permanent starters or franchise players. So, it's nothing short of miraculous that Purdy is performing at a such level at this early stage of his career, and appears to have bucked the trend of "Mr. Irrelevant" draft status. Either the "expert" scouts completely blew it on him or he's just an anomaly.

 

[Sciatic]

I'm just making a general comment about his draft status. "Mr. Irrelevant" is a nickname for the player who is selected with the very last pick in the draft. There's been several QBs over the decades who have been selected last in the draft. Prior to Purdy, the most recent one was Chad Kelly (nephew of Jim Kelly) who the Broncos selected in 2017. He was probably destined as a backup but legal trouble cut short any hope of a NFL career (none of the previous Mr. Irrelevants have gone on to have long lasting or stellar careers)..

Full list of Mr. Irrelevants in NFL draft history: Is Brock Purdy already the best final pick?

Brock Purdy had a stellar rookie season. Here is every Mr. Irrelevant since it began in 1976, including 2025 final pick Kobee Minor of Memphis.

www.espn.com

Getting back to Purdy; what I find more perplexing is his prospect grade - a sophisticated rating system used by NFL scouts for their final pre-draft recommendation on player prospects. Purdy was rated 5.57 - "Priority Undrafted Free Agent" - which is second lowest on the scale (the highest on the scale is 8.0 - "The Perfect Prospect").

Brock Purdy Draft and Combine Prospect Profile | NFL.com

C.J. Beathard also had the same ranking. But a couple of journeyman backups such as Trevor Siemian, Brett Rypien & Easton Stick were rated higher than Purdy. And none of the aforementioned are ever going to be permanent starters or franchise players. So, it's nothing short of miraculous that Purdy is performing at a such level at this early stage of his career, and appears to have bucked the trend of "Mr. Irrelevant" draft status. Either the "expert" scouts completely blew it on him or he's just an anomaly.

Thanks, great info. That is puzzling how he was graded out, although I like hearing when all the data available can’t always indicate true talents of some players.
Somehow I had never (or didn’t recall) about the Mr Irrelevant tag, that’s funny—the lantern rouge of the NFL draft

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

This is the frustration shown by an owner who pays big money to get thee #1 OA for a QB who performs miserably & sinks the team (37 mil fully guaranteed plus a 24 mil signing bonus!).

Not just Bryce, who has played so-so (I'm being nice). Their entire team is terrible. They barely won 2 games. But no, Young was not worth anywhere near what they gave up for him, and so far he's shown he was maybe the 5th best QB taken in the draft? Meaning he should have gone in the 4th round or so. It's hard to tell though because Haener and Bennett have barely played, and Hooker hasn't played at all (and won't until next year). But being stuck on a disaster of a team may crush Bryce confidence before he can even get a real chance. Carolina is terrible because of Tepper, and Tepper only, and I have little faith they will get better anytime soon (like, maybe my lifetime).

The league fined him $300k for the drink toss. Which is pocket change, laughable. And in his press release he didn't even apologize. What a horrible person. The new Daniel Snyder. If nothing else, this little incident made it nice to know a billionaire with all the money in the world is just as miserable as us poor people.

As usual the media pushes information that is incorrect or given too much importance. The stats say otherwise. 49ers strength is in having a top 5 defense and offense, a top 5 run game and a QB who in his second season has broken the franchise record with a game to go...

Excellent overall post. Agree with all you wrote. Except I'm not so sure SF can beat Baltimore in the Super Bowl. We'll see, because I do believe those two teams are on a collision course.

Actually I immediately recognized Young’s talents, it took me a lot longer to appreciate Montana’s superiority over other QBs because they were less obvious and yes, because he was as on such a talented team,

Montana put up great numbers and won many games, but where he really stood out is in big games, playoff games, and Super Bowls. His numbers, and his clutch play in those games was like no one else (until Tom Brady came along).

I also don’t agree with Mahomes and the offense being sat at all. They’re barely in sync with the other already with 17 weeks of playing, now you add a week of rust.

That is puzzling to me too. You would think they would at least play a quarter, a few series, try some plays they have been working on to get their timing and sync right. Something positive to build upon. Doing this in practice is nowhere near what it is in a game situation. Are they really that confident? Maybe some of these players are hurting more than we are told?

 

[Nomad]

Ravens resting Lamar - that'll be a two week layoff before he sees any action in the divisional round. I wonder if this is such a good idea, like Alpe pointed out play maybe a quarter or so?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10103506-ravens-to-rest-lamar-jackson-start-tyler-huntley-vs-steelers-ahead-of-nfl-playoffs.amp.html

 

[jmdirt]

Thanks, great info. That is puzzling how he was graded out, although I like hearing when all the data available can’t always indicate true talents of some players.
Somehow I had never (or didn’t recall) about the Mr Irrelevant tag, that’s funny—the lantern rouge of the NFL draft

The "Mr. Irrelevant" tag is stupid. Mr. irrelevant is the 1,000,000,000 of guys who haven't even played in the NFL. Even the undrafted guys who make rosters aren't irrelevant.

The LR at the TdF makes good money!

 

[jmdirt]

Fn stupid Rodgers saying dumb sh*t on the PM show. Why does he put himself in these idiotic situations...oh yeh, because he loves attention no matter what kind of attention it is. I hope that Jimmy sues the sh*t out of him!

 

[movingtarget]

The "Mr. Irrelevant" tag is stupid. Mr. irrelevant is the 1,000,000,000 of guys who haven't even played in the NFL. Even the undrafted guys who make rosters aren't irrelevant.

The LR at the TdF makes good money!

It was never intended to be what it's become but it's become a big hype deal now because of Purdy's success. Most of the final draft picks probably disappear over the horizon and no one notices. That said there has been some great undrafted players.

 

[SHAD0W93]

That is puzzling to me too. You would think they would at least play a quarter, a few series, try some plays they have been working on to get their timing and sync right. Something positive to build upon. Doing this in practice is nowhere near what it is in a game situation. Are they really that confident? Maybe some of these players are hurting more than we are told?

For now of their injuries. I think the break should help Kelce as long as he doesn’t have too much fun.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1742605752571769050

View: https://twitter.com/pgsween/status/1742605752571769050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1742605752571769050%7Ctwgr%5E7ef6550b2a4999af1725421a46e7495a5187b28c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fkckingdom.com%2Fposts%2Fandy-reid-makes-patrick-mahomes-announcement-week-18-01hk883vve6z

 

[Oldermanish]

Fn stupid Rodgers saying dumb sh*t on the PM show. Why does he put himself in these idiotic situations...oh yeh, because he loves attention no matter what kind of attention it is. I hope that Jimmy sues the sh*t out of him!

Kimmel told him to stay away from subject matter that brings Rodgers' nut case fans into play. Jimmy can handle heat from most anyone but to suggest he's hanging with the moneyed criminal class and into their child predilections goes to deep moral ground. While Jimmy has questioned which galaxy A-Aron's brain is visiting next it's usually a follow up to Rodgers own bloviations. Fair game.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

In the same way it must be peculiar being a billionaire like David Tepper and yet miserable as a human being, I wonder what it's like being Aaron Rodgers where you know everything in the world, can say whatever you like because you are always right, and everyone loves you.

 

[Unchained]

The "Mr. Irrelevant" tag is stupid. Mr. irrelevant is the 1,000,000,000 of guys who haven't even played in the NFL. Even the undrafted guys who make rosters aren't irrelevant.

The LR at the TdF makes good money!

There was a graph I saw in the time frame of the movie Hoop Dreams.. generally it showed rough numbers of high school athletes that participated in high school basketball and next was how many fewer participated in college basketball and then ultimately how out of all those many thousands, there were only a couple of thousand jobs in the NBA..using similar methodology, everyone in the NFL is special and hardly irrelevant. Probably tough to calculate the number of people who race bikes and then ultimately the number of riders at world tour level, but the numbers are brutal and staggering for sure. Most pro sports are the definition of the best of the best, cream of the crop. Purdy being last is certainly relative.. Lots of stuff available about Tom Brady and the metrics used for selecting him, and for most passing on him because he didn't make the cut for the criteria of the day.
There is no way to know in a society and social context what football overall, but the NFL would be had black athletes been able to play, and play quarterback.. Eternal mystery

 

[movingtarget]

In the same way it must be peculiar being a billionaire like David Tepper and yet miserable as a human being, I wonder what it's like being Aaron Rodgers where you know everything in the world, can say whatever you like because you are always right, and everyone loves you.

Might be time to embrace the darkness again..............he usually puts me to sleep compared to people like Brady who generally have something interesting to say.............

 

[BullsFan22]

Hey guys, let Arod vent a little. He’s got some free time on his hands.

 

[Nomad]

Look who's back - gets the starting nod for a resting Stafford:

Rams giving Carson Wentz first start in over a year with playoffs ahead

With the Rams already in the NFL Playoffs, Carson Wentz, a Super Bowl champion with the Eagles, will make his first start in over a year for Matthew Stafford.

www.google.com

 

[Nomad]

Ravens signing ex-Vikings, Jets running back Dalvin Cook for playoff push

Veteran running back Dalvin Cook is expected to sign with the Baltimore Ravens after passing through waivers unclaimed this week, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday.

www.nfl.com

Good acquisition for their playoff run. Good size & speed. Explosive runner. Can effectively catch the ball.

 

[Oldermanish]

In the same way it must be peculiar being a billionaire like David Tepper and yet miserable as a human being, I wonder what it's like being Aaron Rodgers where you know everything in the world, can say whatever you like because you are always right, and everyone loves you.

Getting slightly off track but someone like Tepper was an insecure and immature sociopath before the money. That's half of what drives people like Elon Musk to own the world and then tell us how to live in it.
A-Aron has been in a light deprivation chamber and other retreats. Now he gives interviews to NFL D-grade talky-show nobs about his thought from his wine cellar. My guess is the rest of his house has alot of mirrors, too.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Recall back to the 2019 season. The Ravens finish with their best record ever, 14-2, locking up the  #1 seed & a 1st rd bye. They rest Lamar & most of the starters for the last game.

Two weeks later & what happens next is one of the biggest upsets in NFL playoff history when the 9-7 &  #6 seed WC Titans come into Baltimore & beat the Titans!

I looked back, and thought back, to that year. One key factor was early in the season Baltimore had lost in KC 33-28. They were behind the entire game, but tried to mount a furious comeback late. There was a lot of talk from Baltimore that Lamar improved greatly as the season went on (winning MVP), and they were looking for a rematch with KC in the AFC Championship, at home. But they never got there because they played terrible against the Titans, losing 28-12. Were they looking too far ahead?

So, let's see how much they've learned, or how they are adapting this time.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Week 18 games. Two games on Saturday:

PIT@BAL - Steelers must win to have a shot at the playoffs. Ravens likely resting most starters.
HOU@IND - The winner of this game likely gets into the playoffs, the loser likely does not.

Sunday:

TB@CAR - Buccaneers win and they win the division. Carolina stadium likely to be filled with TB fans.
CLE@CIN - Browns locked in the #5 seed. Bengals out. Browns resting several players. Bengals playing for pride after a hugely disappointing season.
MIN@DET - Lions playing for a possible #2 seed. They played 2 weeks ago in Minnesota with the lines winning.
NYJ@NE - Not much to play for, for either team. If Pats lose and Cardinals win, I think NE moves into #2 overall draft pick.
ATL@NO - Falcons are out of contention. NO needs a win, and help to make the playoffs.
JAX@TEN - If the Jags win, they are in and win the division. If they lose, they are out, unless Baltimore beats the Steelers.
SEA@ARI - Seahawks must win, and need help to get in. Seattle uneven. Arizona streaky, could upend them at home.
CHI@GB - Packers win they are in, lose and out (and Seattle in if they win). Could be somewhat high scoring game.
KC@LAC - Chiefs resting everyone, locked into #3 seed, Chargers a mess of a team. Playing maybe for pride.
DEN@LV - Both teams out. Raiders are playing for their coach, without question. Winner finishes in 2nd place in division.
PHI@NYG - Eagles are sliding, and must win, and have Dallas lose to gain #2 seed. If Cowboys are winning big at half, Eagles may pull their starters for their 2nd half, as it will lock them into #5 seed.
LAR@SF - Rams playing for seeding, and 49ers resting many players. If Rams win, they likely go to Detroit. If they lose, the likely go to Dallas. This is telling because I think they match up better against the Cowboys.
DAL@WAS - If Cowboys win they have the #2 seed locked up. They must have zero desire to go play in SF, and this pushes such a game back to the NFL championship (if both win out).
BUF@MIA - Winner takes the division, and #2 seed. If Buffalo loses the likely have a rematch of this exact same game in a week, at Miami. If Buffalo wins, they likely host Pittsburgh, or maybe Jacksonville., and Miami goes to KC, which is a rematch of a November game were KC jumped out to a 21-0 lead before holding on 21-14.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Falcons could still win the division with Bucs loss. They and the Bucs also have chance for 7th seed, Saints have to win the division to make it. Belichick is also 1 loss away from tying regular and career loss record. Bills have 4/32 scenarios to not make the playoffs but I think Dolphins have too many injuries. Either way I’d take them over Chiefs if Waddle, Howard, and Monsert return.

 

[movingtarget]

GB's injury toll could cost them.

Can't see the Cowboys losing. Washington have lost more players to injury since last week and they were already thin. Their biggest danger is the Washington run game just like the Cardinals tested them. Robinson, Gibson and co could test the Cowboys up the middle.

After watching the Giants absolutely butcher a win against the Rams last week. I think the Eagles are looking very vulnerable at the moment. Cowboys should grab the 2 seed either way and make Jerry and their fans sigh with relief to get a playoff home series if they can keep winning. They will never get a better chance to make the conference title again finally. But Dak has to show up as does their run defense.

Rams and 49ers will basically be a preseason game. 49ers not playing CMC or Purdy and will pull other players early while lots of Rams players are not starting. Darnold v Wentz, expect the unexpected ! Nacua will probably play the first quarter to break the rookie receiving record.

Saints have a chance to sneak into the playoffs. Seattle need a miracle it seems, lots of results have to go their way.

Buccs should do enough to win and top their division.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Buccs should do enough to win and top their division.

As in beat Carolina? If the Panthers win this game it will be the biggest upset of the year. Tampa has been warm/cool for much of the season, but Carolina is just a raging dumpster fire of a franchise. They lack the players to begin with, Bryce Young was grossy overdrafted, their best defensive player wants out, they are on a lame duck interim HC, but most of all their owner is a tyrant, a megalomaniac and I can't imagine anyone wants anything to do with that org. As someone put it a few weeks ago, the office and backroom of the franchise is filled with backstabbing, people selfishly taking whatever they can, "it's like the Hunger Games" one employee said. I know it's a game and we're talking about players on the field, but nothing can survive in such an environment. Their own fans are turning against the team, at least from what I can read online, and I'm all but certain the stands in Carolina will be a sea of red from visiting Tampa fans looking to win out the division, and if they don't show up in droves, the stands may be pandemic-level empty. Tampa players may also be looking to humiliate the Panthers and antagonize their owner even more, at least until the game is out of reach. This game has all the makings of a 40-3 type blowout by the Buccaneers. If Carolina somehow wins, go buy a lottery ticket. Just one, because that's the same odds.

 

[Nomad]

JAX@TEN - If the Jags win, they are in and win the division. If they lose, they are out, unless Baltimore beats the Steelers.

If the next Payton Manning can't go, they're done. And it's not looking optimistic as this is the AC joint on his throwing shoulder. He's officially listed as "questionable" but I don't see how he could effectively throw the ball...pain killers and all.

Steelers Playoff Boost? NFL Insider Thinks Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence Will Miss Game vs. Titans

It’s looking like quarterback Trevor Lawrence might miss the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Week 18 game against the Tennessee Titans, which could be huge news for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lawrence has been dealing with shoulder and finger injuries and also missed his team’s Week 17 win over the Carolina...

steelersnow.com

 

[Nomad]

Darnold v Wentz, expect the unexpected !

Man...that's a matchup I can hardly wait to see! Lol. Who would have thought that a  #2 & #3 OA would be facing each other as backups in a meaningless game to close out the season. Unbelievable. Lol