• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

National Football League

Page 779 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
49ers have had a steeper drop off but they have also had a lot more injuries with star players but people expecting the Chiefs to find another level in the playoffs is reasonable. They always improve during the playoffs but this year the room for improvements seems bigger, even their defense has slipped a little recently, even the Panthers scored 27 against them. An early exit in the playoffs wouldn't completely surprise me depending on the match up. The Bills, Eagles,Lions are looking better and the Lions might get some injured players back as well. Won't say it's impossible but I think they will be hard pressed to do the threepeat. The Bills and Ravens just have to put it together in the playoffs to have a shot. The Texans have taken a step back , Chargers have improved as have Denver and Green Bay.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SHAD0W93
Chiefs were incredibly lucky to win that game. Raiders had it won, maybe twice, with a slew of backup players and a QB coming off a broken thumb. Raiders gained over 100 more yards, O'Connell outplayed Mahomes, Raiders ran for 116 yards on the ground, and had 6.9 yards per play. They were penalized significantly more (what else is new), the last call being called even though the whistle is blown and a ref can be seen running in signaling offsides. Though JPJ botching the snap is the Raiders fault to begin with. The fact the Raiders usually very reliable kicker was 1/4 also hurt.

Is this Chiefs team, who barely beat the Panthers, got lucky against the Broncos, and were outplayed by the Raiders, really going to three-peat?
The Chiefs should have taken out O'Connell. Take the unnecessary roughness penalty or whatever it is & knock him out of the game. He's coming back from an injury & should have been rusty. In fact, this is becoming a pussyfoot league with defenders not trying to take out QBs anymore.

Back in the day you had headhunters like Bill Romanowski, Burfict, Chancellor, etc. QBs were actually scared when they took the field against a guy like Romo. These guys played mean & were out to hurt you. Kind of the like of days of Butkiss, Lambert, Tatum, Lawrence Taylor, etc.

They've watered down the game so much now with overprotecting QBs that it's ridiculous. I remember back in my college football days, our LB coaches had a motto of "kill the QB" on our Thunder & Lightning packages (blitzes). It's always been a part of the college & pro game.
 
Last edited:
  • Wow
Reactions: SHAD0W93
Chiefs were incredibly lucky to win that game. Raiders had it won, maybe twice, with a slew of backup players and a QB coming off a broken thumb. Raiders gained over 100 more yards, O'Connell outplayed Mahomes, Raiders ran for 116 yards on the ground, and had 6.9 yards per play. They were penalized significantly more (what else is new), the last call being called even though the whistle is blown and a ref can be seen running in signaling offsides. Though JPJ botching the snap is the Raiders fault to begin with. The fact the Raiders usually very reliable kicker was 1/4 also hurt.

Is this Chiefs team, who barely beat the Panthers, got lucky against the Broncos, and were outplayed by the Raiders, really going to three-peat?
After watching it, it doesn’t help anyones thoughts on the Chiefs and refs relationship. Sure they get penalized, but they also commit those penalties very frequently. They’re lucky the RT isn’t called for false start or an illegal formation every other snap or holding whenever Mahomes scrambles up the field, not to mention other things. But teams find ways to lose to them like the Patriots before. I agree with Movingtarget that theoretically they should get better. Last year the offense as a whole was better playing poorly and they lucked into Dolphins and Bills having third and fourth stringers with the Bills case having players who never played a snap of defense before that game together. This season I think the offense as a whole is better and they will improve with Rice and IP coming back potentially. It’s Mahomes that’s been playing worse with his passing but his running ability has sealed games for them and the oline has been bad about half the time. Last three games defense has been the weakest the last two seasons in my opinion but I also think they were not too worried about the Panthers and Raiders. Overall they look good for the one seed since I think Bills are losing to the Lions so they would have to drop 2 games for Bills to get the one seed and I think that’ll be a tough ask. They’re most likely losing to Chargers or Broncos, it just comes down to Steelers and Texans pulling it off. If they have home field throughout, I can only see Bills coming into Arrowhead and winning, with a long shot being an AFCW team. Still think Super Bowl will be Chiefs vs Lions with the next pick being Bills vs Lions.
 
Last edited:
But you wouldn't say the same thing about Mahomes, would you? The most protected QB in the NFL.
On the contrary, I'm surprised players haven't tried taking him out more often. Take the penalty, fine or whatever but knock him out of the game. I thought Crosby might to do that in the game yesterday. He looked pretty jacked & psyched to do some damage (he had that Bill Romanowski look in his eyes). We all know no Gunslinger...no Chiefs.

I'm a bit surprised that you being an old school fan like me, you seem to enjoy this pussyfoot version of protecting the QBs against bone-jarring hits. It's always been part of the game for defenses to blast QBs at every given opportunity & to try take them out. Now it's so ridiculous, they might as well put flags on the QBs & blow the whistle as soon as he's grabbed. Lol.

Ahh yes, the good old days Alpe. Watch this highlight video & tell me this isn't exciting (put on your headphones & hear the sounds of the collisions). Pure energy:

View: https://youtu.be/n34hSeYaAxE?si=kdh1yb3wXjRaUvM7
 
Last edited:
Raiders will be gutted to lose that one. Defensively they always give the Chiefs problems but the Chiefs also blew some TD's with overthrows and drops and of course the refs had their usual consistent day !. The kicker that missed four for the Raiders, kicked everything in his one game for the 49ers a few months ago, go figure..............the final play was embarrassing but the QB played quite well. Impressed once again with Bowers at TE. Some good young TE's around now. Just a sloppy game offensively for the Chiefs, another one. Bad teams find ways to lose, just ask the Bears............yet Eberflus will find a coordinator's job somewhere probably.
 
Thoughts on "the good ol' days". I agree it's gotten to the point of being almost ridiculous. But some QBs are more protected than others, which simply isn't fair. I'm good with refs calling some of the blows to the head, but when a guy gets hammered with an old fashioned shoulder pad to the chest, or just blasted to the ground. and it's called a flag, that I find absurd. Now, when the guy continous on like when Tony Siragusa put his entire body weight on Rich Gannon in that playoff game years ago (which wasn't called), with the sole intention of taking Gannon out of the game, to me that's BS. No flag was even thrown on the play. Though I agree it does make me wonder why a team doesn't sacrifice a player to do this to Mahomes (or any other top QB) in a meaningful or playoff game. Accept the 15 yard penalty, accept the ejection, eat the $100,000 fine, eat the suspension. But hey, you got rid of Mahomes (Burrow, Lamar, Goff, Hurts, etc.), and your chances of winning the game just went way up. Again, go back to that Raiders-Ravens game. No Gannon = No Raiders = Ravens win.

The half-slides by Flacco, Bridgewater and Trubisky in those highlights to me were also pretty much legit hits (even with being hit in the head). Those guys were trying to eek out every last yard and sliding so late. Plus, this was during a time when other QBs were faking slides, then running farther, and the NFL put a stop to both.

Even if you look at some horrible sacks, like when Tom Savage was sacked by the 49ers and had a bad concussion that basically ended his career, to me that was pretty much legal. It just sucks for Savage. This is one of the plays that the NFL was looking at when the rules were basically altered to what we have today.
 
Still think Super Bowl will be Chiefs vs Lions with the next pick being Bills vs Lions.
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think the NFL would love this. Especially if the Chiefs beat the Lions. They get large exposure, high TV ratings, and a three-peat for Mahomes, Reid, Kelce, Swift. Plus more commercials for all of them (except her). There's enormous money in this, and with the NFL fully embracing gambling, having the Chiefs with all their home playoff games and wins, play the exciting Lions, and somehow shutting them down enough to beat them, I can easily see this. The entire three-peat hype would be a cash cow that keeps on milking, the gift that keeps on giving, etc. If the Chiefs can't get past the Bills, and there's nothing the "company men" refs can do about it, the Bills are also an exciting team, and it's most likely that game would be in KC, meaning big crowds in KC for two playoff games anyway.

I don't think the NFL wants the Eagles, Seahawks, Vikings, Cardinals, or Steelers to get far in the playoffs. They would probably be okay with the Ravens, and maybe the Packers getting to the Super Bowl. Having Washington play well also helps the league overall.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: jmdirt and SHAD0W93
I would love to see the Bills finally get it done. Some people think the Lions may have peaked too soon. Not sure about that and they are going to get some players back probably, so are the Chiefs. Starting to think that GB has a shot at the NFC title. They and the Eagles look like the biggest roadblock for the Lions while the Ravens and Bills look like having the best shot at the Chiefs. might be a year too soon for the Chargers. Not too keen on the Vikings even with their current record. If the Cardinals win the NFC West, they are the sort of streaky team that could cause an upset or two in the playoffs. Their offense is underrated. Barkley has been great for the Eagles which only adds to the Giants horrible decision making. Rodgers early season musing about possibly meeting the 49ers at the end of the season looks a bit silly now. The 49ers are having a down season and the Jets never took off...........
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmdirt and SHAD0W93
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think the NFL would love this. Especially if the Chiefs beat the Lions. They get large exposure, high TV ratings, and a three-peat for Mahomes, Reid, Kelce, Swift. Plus more commercials for all of them (except her). There's enormous money in this, and with the NFL fully embracing gambling, having the Chiefs with all their home playoff games and wins, play the exciting Lions, and somehow shutting them down enough to beat them, I can easily see this. The entire three-peat hype would be a cash cow that keeps on milking, the gift that keeps on giving, etc. If the Chiefs can't get past the Bills, and there's nothing the "company men" refs can do about it, the Bills are also an exciting team, and it's most likely that game would be in KC, meaning big crowds in KC for two playoff games anyway.

I don't think the NFL wants the Eagles, Seahawks, Vikings, Cardinals, or Steelers to get far in the playoffs. They would probably be okay with the Ravens, and maybe the Packers getting to the Super Bowl. Having Washington play well also helps the league overall.
You are definitely a conspiracy theorist with that kind of thinking.
 
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think the NFL would love this. Especially if the Chiefs beat the Lions. They get large exposure, high TV ratings, and a three-peat for Mahomes, Reid, Kelce, Swift. Plus more commercials for all of them (except her). There's enormous money in this, and with the NFL fully embracing gambling, having the Chiefs with all their home playoff games and wins, play the exciting Lions, and somehow shutting them down enough to beat them, I can easily see this. The entire three-peat hype would be a cash cow that keeps on milking, the gift that keeps on giving, etc. If the Chiefs can't get past the Bills, and there's nothing the "company men" refs can do about it, the Bills are also an exciting team, and it's most likely that game would be in KC, meaning big crowds in KC for two playoff games anyway.

I don't think the NFL wants the Eagles, Seahawks, Vikings, Cardinals, or Steelers to get far in the playoffs. They would probably be okay with the Ravens, and maybe the Packers getting to the Super Bowl. Having Washington play well also helps the league overall.
Alpe, you are a conspiracy theorist (you did say to call you that). Without doubt, a lot of slimy stuff happens when this this kind of money is involved, but IMO, you are giving tooo much credit to the top, and not enough to the rest (the bulk of the NFL...players). It happened in boxing though so maybe it can happen in the NFL too. F, I might be a conspiracy theorist! :eek:
 
I knew the NFL loved Harbaugh, but I didn't expect Kirk Cousins to be in on the deal ;) .

Ravens have to be kicking themselves. Outgained the Eagles by 120 yards. Held Hurts passing to a measly 121 yards. Dominated almost every stat, but didn't focus enough on Barkley, should have run more themselves - a frequent way the Ravens lose (even Lamar later said they should have run more), couldn't get in the end zone. Tucker missed 2 FGs and an extra point.

Cardinals challenged Darnold to beat them with his arm, and he did. Cardinals challenged Murray to win for them, and he couldn't.

Look for a lot of running in tonight's snow game. Might help SF actually.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmdirt and SHAD0W93
Thoughts on "the good ol' days". I agree it's gotten to the point of being almost ridiculous. But some QBs are more protected than others, which simply isn't fair. I'm good with refs calling some of the blows to the head, but when a guy gets hammered with an old fashioned shoulder pad to the chest, or just blasted to the ground. and it's called a flag, that I find absurd. Now, when the guy continous on like when Tony Siragusa put his entire body weight on Rich Gannon in that playoff game years ago (which wasn't called), with the sole intention of taking Gannon out of the game, to me that's BS. No flag was even thrown on the play. Though I agree it does make me wonder why a team doesn't sacrifice a player to do this to Mahomes (or any other top QB) in a meaningful or playoff game. Accept the 15 yard penalty, accept the ejection, eat the $100,000 fine, eat the suspension. But hey, you got rid of Mahomes (Burrow, Lamar, Goff, Hurts, etc.), and your chances of winning the game just went way up. Again, go back to that Raiders-Ravens game. No Gannon = No Raiders = Ravens win.

The half-slides by Flacco, Bridgewater and Trubisky in those highlights to me were also pretty much legit hits (even with being hit in the head). Those guys were trying to eek out every last yard and sliding so late. Plus, this was during a time when other QBs were faking slides, then running farther, and the NFL put a stop to both.

Even if you look at some horrible sacks, like when Tom Savage was sacked by the 49ers and had a bad concussion that basically ended his career, to me that was pretty much legal. It just sucks for Savage. This is one of the plays that the NFL was looking at when the rules were basically altered to what we have today.
The sack on Savage was benevolent & just plain bad luck. And I don't see anything wrong with Siragusa's flattening of Gannon. Granted, Siragusa is 340 lbs to Gannon's 210 lbs, but there are 200 lb RBs getting squished by multiple 300 lb + bulky lineman several times in a game. Lol. Also, the pile driving, crushing sacks of QBs where the defensive lineman would use their size advantage to flatten out the QB was common place in the 60s & 70s - what I call the toughest era of professional football (the era I grew up in as a youngster). Watch & enjoy this short clip of that brutal era:

View: https://youtu.be/yB8YvfzB-9o?si=qOK-LVKhiDv22OJs


And look back at those days at how tough the players were. There was no "concussion protocol." If a guy was knocked out he was given smelling salts & put back into the game. Lol. Broken fingers were snapped backed and taped. The nostrils of broken noses were stuffed with cotton & the nose taped. Lol. Pain killers were use like candy. Only if a guy was stretchered off with a serious fracture(s) to a lower extremity or a ligament/tendon tear did he not return back.

Look at poor equipment they had back then. Flimsy helmets with single chinstraps where the facemasks broke alot (do you remember Billy Kilmer's helmet with a one bar facemask & no chinstrap where he wore it high on his head? Lol). Shoulder pads were of poor quality & broke apart a lot on impact.

It was a man's game back then. It's been feminized now with all these ridiculous rules to overprotect players.

And look what happened today with Al-Shaair's hit on Lawrence knocking him out of the game. Which would have been a legal hit in the old days is now penalized with Al-Shaair ejected & I'm sure a hefty fine forthcoming. Al-Shaair did what exactly what a LB is supposed to do. You drop back into zone coverage, once the QB takes off running, you react & pursue like a headhunter "putting the wood" on him. Since Lawrence is as big as Al-Shaair, maybe he should have gone head on with him instead of sliding. I've seen Allen go head on with some backers & put the wood on them. Lol

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/5aZq0qkCaoQ?si=gDG8K-uooTWVkBNE


 
Last edited:
You might want to watch this video:

I think if we went back to those rules, we'd have a season of wild swings as stars of teams doing well had season ending injuries. One where a team starting 7-1 finishes 9-8. Not just QBs, but them most of all. Guys are just bigger, stronger faster than ever and would clobber the modern sitting duck QB. We'd be here in December with starting QBs named Tyler Boyd, Jordan Travis, Tanner McKee, Tim Boyle, Clayton Tune, etc. Very, very few QBs would be immune from headhunters. I don't think even Josh Allen could survive a full season. The only other way around this is for a QB to never hold the ball long at all, and never run. We'd end up with a lot of grinding games with a lot of run plays, and scores like 13-9, 10-6, etc. And going back to 12 game seasons may be needed. Yeah, there would be bone crushing plays that make highlight reels, but the players would hate it, and many fans would grow bored with it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SHAD0W93
I'll have to take a look at that video. You're absolutely correct that guys are bigger, stronger & faster than ever (and I think we know why if you know what I mean). However, QBs, for the most part, are bigger & stronger than ever also. Allen & Herbert are essentially TEs that can throw the snot out of the ball. Mahomes & Fields are as big as Franco Harris (6-2, 225), Hurts at 227 is built like big RB, Goff is bigger than Elway was, Richardson is built like Derick Henry, etc. And a lot of QBs spend significant time in weight room & are stronger than you think.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Unchained
49ers can't seem to get out of their own way. CMC started the game well but it look's like he's done for the season and the 49ers can start packing for Cancun. If they play the way they have played the past two weeks they won't win another game. Dunno about the NFL and their scheduling, they have hammered the 49ers this year, They are the only team to play four teams coming off a bye week, they also have two Thursday games and meet the Bears coming off a short week next week and have another short week game later. Every other team only meets two teams coming off a bye at the most, plus they had to travel to GB then return then back to Buffalo and return for another short week. The only positive for them is that they might end up with a top10 pick in the draft if this continues.

If the Hawks beat the Cards next week, they are in the box seat to win the NFC West, if the Rams lose next week even moreso. They would have a two win break with four games to go. Hawks seemed to get back on track with their win over the 49ers. Cards loss today could be a costly one for them. Bills lock up their division and have a chance at the one seed. Good wins for the Eagles and Vikings.
 
Last edited:
49ers can't seem to get out of their own way. CMC started the game well but it look's like he's done for the season and the 49ers can start packing for Cancun. If they play the way they have played the past two weeks they won't win another game. Dunno about the NFL and their scheduling, they have hammered the 49ers this year, They are the only team to play four teams coming off a bye week, they also have two Thursday games and meet the Bear coming off a short week next week and have another short week game later. Every other team only meets two teams coming off a bye at the most, plus they had to travel to GB then return then back to Buffalo and return for another short week. The only positive for them is that they might end up with a top10 pick in the draft if this continues.
Or Chiefs are playing 3 games in 11 days I believe crazy on their bodies and they had an early bye. Chris Jones was complaining about it, and I don’t blame him.
 
This is why I have said we need to have two bye weeks, with the only way a team plays on a Thursday, is if it comes after a bye. This makes total sense, but the NFL (and TV networks) don't like the idea of a watered down Sunday with less games.

49ers were done when they got off the airplane in Buffalo. This looked a bit like that playoff game last year where Miami played in freezing KC, and the Chiefs later said they knew they had the game won on the first series. Some players did okay (like CMC), but the entire Bills team just looked comfortable in the snow and cold.

My guess is Azeez Al-Shaair will be suspended the rest of the season for his hit on Lawrence. Basically a forearm to the head while he was sliding, right when the league is really trying to avoid not only concussions, but head hits. At first I thought Lawrence may have slid late trying to get a first down, but replays show he did not and slid well before that. He was about 5 yards away from being hit. Al-Shaair did nothing to let up, and actually brought his arm up to hammer Lawrence. This of course resulted in a brawl, more ejections and I'm sure we'll be seeing many fines. Lawrence was out for a bit and I imagine he will be placed on IR and his season is likely over.