National Football League

[sienna]

Re: Re:

Niners keep the Aussie rugby star.

I'm so excited!

This is huge news (infact the whole pre-season has been) down here.

Gotta admire the guy's cajones, giving up his rugby career to go and have a shot at at the NFL (probably know he would never be more than a bit player), he wasn't a fringe player in the NRL either, he was in the top 5 in the whole league.

In conclusion, I hereby declare today to be Jarryd Hayne day!

Yeah, it is big down here. Hayne was not only top 5 in Rugby League, he was arguably the absolute best - the only thing wrong was he had to carry a mediocre team. He's all over the news in Aus - even Queenslanders are begrudgingly acknowledging his achievements.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Re: Re:

Niners keep the Aussie rugby star.

I'm so excited!

This is huge news (infact the whole pre-season has been) down here.

Gotta admire the guy's cajones, giving up his rugby career to go and have a shot at at the NFL (probably know he would never be more than a bit player), he wasn't a fringe player in the NRL either, he was in the top 5 in the whole league.

In conclusion, I hereby declare today to be Jarryd Hayne day!

Yeah, it is big down here. Hayne was not only top 5 in Rugby League, he was arguably the absolute best - the only thing wrong was he had to carry a mediocre team. He's all over the news in Aus - even Queenslanders are begrudgingly acknowledging his achievements.

Well, then you would like hearing what the analysts are saying about him. The one thing that stuck out to me, though I've only seen a few highlights, is that Jarryd Hayne trucks people. Some call it freight-training people. But you get the idea, he runs them over. That means he's probably fearless. So if his fearlessness translates to playing wreckless, then he just might get a lot of special teams action.

You might also be interested in the status of DT Jesse Williams, the Aussie and Alabama grad who was drafted by Seattle in 2013 (I think) and who has been battling cancer. Seattle has made its cut to the 53-man roster...

and put defensive tackle Jesse Williams - who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this offseason - on the reserve/non-football illness list.
http://www.seahawks.com/news/2015/0...other-things-watch-seahawks’-preseason-finale

This means he will have medical coverage for 5 years to fight the cancer. The good news is that he had off-season surgery to remove the cancerous kidney, leaving him one good kidney. He's not yet declared cancer fee though. But he recovered well enough from the surgery to finish the preseason, though he was not at 100%. So he will get another shot.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

You gotta love this Jarryd Hayne truck:
http://www.snappytv.com/snaps/watch...49ers-preseason-week-4-on-nfl-preseason-66_om

 

[leftover pie]

You gotta love this Jarryd Hayne truck:
http://www.snappytv.com/snaps/watch...49ers-preseason-week-4-on-nfl-preseason-66_om

and you just know that Chargers DB was gonna get cut after that

 

[42x16ss]

You gotta love this Jarryd Hayne truck:
http://www.snappytv.com/snaps/watch...49ers-preseason-week-4-on-nfl-preseason-66_om

Hayne is used to running in what we call "broken play" in Rugby League. There are only 2-3 guys tops who come close to matching him in these circumstances. He's light on his feet for such a big guy and accelerates well. Something else that Hayne will enjoy is the option to run over the touchline rather than having to stay in field and take the tackle like in rugby league. IMO this will give him the chance to be even more adventurous. He has the potential to do very well.

 

[stefan357965]

I dont have anyone i could say im so satisfied...

 

[52520Andrew]

Hayne is a guy I am really curious to see for San Francisco, that trucking move on the DB was nice(although I would imagine he does that sort of thing a lot playing Rugby).

First game of the season here this Thursday night, sadly(for me) it has to be between the Patriots and Steelers. I think we will see a lot of points but considering the Steelers defense currently and the fact that Brady will be out for blood this year, I don't think the Steelers will be able to keep up.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That was an awesome hit! He does look like the perfect special teams player, who will probably see some action as well. He likely can't do this to everyone, but the guy seems to be a brute!

Season predictions to follow. I may not be as thorough as previous seasons, but will take a few wild guess.

I do not plan on playing either Survival or Elimination football this season. It was fun at the start, but became too much work to track. If someone else is up for monitoring it though, I'm happy to acquiesce.

 

[Merckx index]

Boy, the Patriots and cheating allegations are a match made for eternity. The latest word, according to an investigation by ESPN, is that the Patriots taped defensive signals of teams they played, matched them with the actual plays, and used that to predict in advance what play the defense was going to run. Supposedly the owners were upset that the Pats weren’t disciplined more for this, and that Deflategate was payback.

The ESPN story goes into detail about how the Patriots allegedly used the taped information, highlighting a 2000 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the preseason, the Patriots allegedly taped the Buccaneers' defensive signals. New England played Tampa Bay in the season opener. Backup quarterback John Friesz was told to memorize the signals in the preseason film, watch the Bucs' signals from the sideline during the regular-season game, relay the defensive play to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis who would relay them to then-starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe, ESPN reported. Although the Patriots lost that game, ESPN said the Patriots knew 75 percent of the Buccaneers' defenses that day and the Pats "realized that they were on to something." A former Patriots assistant, who wasn't named, told ESPN the system of videotaping signals and cataloging signals "got out of control."

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/report--patriots--spygate-scandal-was-bigger-in-scope-than-first-realized-140513497.html

But it gets even worse. The same story also claims that the Pats would send a low-level employee into the visitors’ locker room before the game to steal the sheet which contained the first 20-25 scripted offensive plays, which many teams have used to open a game. Get ahold of that, and you know exactly what the other team is doing, and can stop it.

"In fact, many former New England coaches and employees insist that the taping of signals wasn't even the most effective cheating method the Patriots deployed in that [spygate] era. Several of them acknowledge that during pregame warm-ups, a low-level Patriots employee would sneak into the visiting locker room and steal the play sheet, listing the first 20 or so scripted calls for the opposing team's offense. (The practice became so notorious that some coaches put out fake play sheets for the Patriots to swipe.)"

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/latest-cheating-allegation-against-patriots-is-most-damning-of-all-180544622.html

The Patriots, of course, are denying it all.

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

Niners keep the Aussie rugby star.

I'm so excited!

This is huge news (infact the whole pre-season has been) down here.

Gotta admire the guy's cajones, giving up his rugby career to go and have a shot at at the NFL (probably know he would never be more than a bit player), he wasn't a fringe player in the NRL either, he was in the top 5 in the whole league.

In conclusion, I hereby declare today to be Jarryd Hayne day!

Got to admire him for giving it a go but if it hadn't worked out he could have walked back into the NRL whenever he wanted, it's not even a risk for him. Hopefully he does well though, it's good to see some people crossing over, even if it meant we lost Burgess to yawnion...

 

[leftover pie]

Re:

I do not plan on playing either Survival or Elimination football this season. It was fun at the start, but became too much work to track. If someone else is up for monitoring it though, I'm happy to acquiesce.

I have set up an online competition for those wanting to try their luck and win the ULTIMATE PRIZE*, to play simply go to:

http://www.footytips.com.au/comps/CyclingNews&p=cnews

Simple format, pick who wins.

*note: There is no prize, only glory/bragging rights

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That's excellent, and simple. Simple is good.

After reading that ESPN article on the Pats I'm not entirely sure what to believe. It seems both probably true, but also some of the qccusations questionably valid. And it certainly seems like payback was involved. But to what degree is filled with speculation.

Maybe I think this way not because I'm a Pats fan (I'm not), but because I'm a Raiders fan. And here is a good article from USA Today on this very thought.

http://usat.ly/1ESTfrl

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

Boy, the Patriots and cheating allegations are a match made for eternity. The latest word, according to an investigation by ESPN, is that the Patriots taped defensive signals of teams they played, matched them with the actual plays, and used that to predict in advance what play the defense was going to run. Supposedly the owners were upset that the Pats weren’t disciplined more for this, and that Deflategate was payback.

The ESPN story goes into detail about how the Patriots allegedly used the taped information, highlighting a 2000 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the preseason, the Patriots allegedly taped the Buccaneers' defensive signals. New England played Tampa Bay in the season opener. Backup quarterback John Friesz was told to memorize the signals in the preseason film, watch the Bucs' signals from the sideline during the regular-season game, relay the defensive play to offensive coordinator Charlie Weis who would relay them to then-starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe, ESPN reported. Although the Patriots lost that game, ESPN said the Patriots knew 75 percent of the Buccaneers' defenses that day and the Pats "realized that they were on to something." A former Patriots assistant, who wasn't named, told ESPN the system of videotaping signals and cataloging signals "got out of control."

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/report--patriots--spygate-scandal-was-bigger-in-scope-than-first-realized-140513497.html

But it gets even worse. The same story also claims that the Pats would send a low-level employee into the visitors’ locker room before the game to steal the sheet which contained the first 20-25 scripted offensive plays, which many teams have used to open a game. Get ahold of that, and you know exactly what the other team is doing, and can stop it.

"In fact, many former New England coaches and employees insist that the taping of signals wasn't even the most effective cheating method the Patriots deployed in that [spygate] era. Several of them acknowledge that during pregame warm-ups, a low-level Patriots employee would sneak into the visiting locker room and steal the play sheet, listing the first 20 or so scripted calls for the opposing team's offense. (The practice became so notorious that some coaches put out fake play sheets for the Patriots to swipe.)"

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/latest-cheating-allegation-against-patriots-is-most-damning-of-all-180544622.html

The Patriots, of course, are denying it all.

Its similar to announcing that LA cheated. We already know that, and we also know that lots of people did.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Well, with Al Davis' Raiders, it sort of became it's own myth after a while. Here's a good link as to how much the Raiders cheated over the years, and if you look at the details, you'll see that many of them are based in lore more than reality. Though as a Raiders fan I will certainly attest that the team paid the consequences for their cheating many times in the years that followed these allegations, mostly through Hall of Fame snubs.

http://yourteamcheats.com/OAK

That guy rates the Raiders cheating as "average". A team he rates "below average"? The New England Patriots.

According to him, the Denver Broncos are the league's biggest cheaters. Historically speaking anyway:

http://yourteamcheats.com/cheaters/

 

[52520Andrew]

I wouldn't go off what that site says too much. Apparently Joe Flacco joking about running onto the field and tackling the guy at the end of the Super Bowl is a cheating scandal to them.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Re: Re:

http://www.footytips.com.au/comps/CyclingNews&p=cnews

*note: There is no prize, only glory/bragging rights

I entered my picks. Doesn't seem like much activity there.

PITT@NE

More to follow.

 

[leftover pie]

Re: Re:

I entered my picks. Doesn't seem like much activity there.

PITT@NE

More to follow.

the ladder will show up after round 1, hopefully a few more jump on board between now and then.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Here are some fun predictions for the year. I'm not covering everything, just a few thoughts.

• Aaron Rodgers will be MVP once again.
• JJ Watt will again be defensive player of the year.
• Jamis Winston will throw an awful lot, some great throws, some awful, and still be rookie of the year.
• Marcus Mariota will throw less, and get benched for Zach Mettenberger at some point.
• Todd Gurly (and Nick Foles) will struggle for 8+ games for the Rams, and show signs of life late.
• Adrien Peterson will gain over 1,500 yards, but not get comeback player.
• DeMarco Murray will not gain that much.
• Seattle will be great on defense still, hot/cold on offense, fade and lose in the playoffs.
• Denver will be very good on defense, have real OL problems, PM fade, and lose in the wildcard round.
• The NFC West will again be very tough. However...
• The toughest division will be the AFC North. Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincy and Cleveland.
• Andy Dalton will be average late, and AJ McCaron will get playing time, and struggle, but show promise.
• The Steelers will be up and down early, but strong late in the season.
• The Patriots will win 12+ games again, but lose in the playoffs.
• Andrew Luck will throw a ton, but the Colts will lose some games they should win.
• Arizona will have some very impressive wins, but lose in the playoffs again.
• The Eagles will be all over the map. Win some big games, lose some they should win.
• Sam Bradford will get hurt. But not with a season ending injury.
• Both Houston and Buffalo's defenses will have some monster performances.
• Defenses will dominate the line in many games, which will get a lot of talk around the league.
• With that in mind, KC and the short-mid passing game of Alex Smith and his new receivers will surprise.
• Dallas will struggle to win 10 games, have another identity crisis.
• The Giants will luck their way into the playoffs, and win a few games they shouldn't.
• Washington and Cousins will be hot/cold. Late season will get ugly or the whole team/franchise.
• Jacksonville and Oakland will improve behind young talent and new staff...to 5-11, maybe even 6-10.

And finally:

Super Bowl L:

Green Bay will defeat Baltimore.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

With those predictions who needs to watch the NFL now. Haha.

Richard Sherman went to bat for Brady and the Pats saying there was no cheating in deflategate. He's prolly more realistic on this subject than all the hullabaloo. I say let's get rid of the pressure specs and just let teams inflate as they want. Then we don't have to worry about policing it.

On the newest *gate, the signal-stealing-gate, let's step back a second. What everyone really wants in the NFL, besides good games/matchups, is for games to be won and lost based on performance mano-o-mano. Best vs best. Execution vs not executing. Let's just let every team steal all the signals they want and forget about trying to police it as well. Heck, teams would put together about a dozen dudes whose sole job would be to decipher different kinds of calls and attempt to figure out what the next play is going to be. Heck yeah, let's create jobs. Every team would be on the same playing field as far as signal stealing goes, then every game simply would come down to: A) talent, and B) execution. Simple. I like that. Really.

Actually that has been going on for decades in a different way... film study. There was an excellent documentary on NFL.com about how ex-Lions MLB Chris Spielman prepared for games. Basically by a ton of film study so that by game time he'd already "played the game 3 times".

 

[leftover pie]

Re:

Here are some fun predictions for the year. I'm not covering everything, just a few thoughts.

• Aaron Rodgers will be MVP once again.
• JJ Watt will again be defensive player of the year.
• Jamis Winston will throw an awful lot, some great throws, some awful, and still be rookie of the year.
• Marcus Mariota will throw less, and get benched for Zach Mettenberger at some point.
• Todd Gurly (and Nick Foles) will struggle for 8+ games for the Rams, and show signs of life late.
• Adrien Peterson will gain over 1,500 yards, but not get comeback player.
• DeMarco Murray will not gain that much.
• Seattle will be great on defense still, hot/cold on offense, fade and lose in the playoffs.
• Denver will be very good on defense, have real OL problems, PM fade, and lose in the wildcard round.
• The NFC West will again be very tough. However...
• The toughest division will be the AFC North. Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cincy and Cleveland.
• Andy Dalton will be average late, and AJ McCaron will get playing time, and struggle, but show promise.
• The Steelers will be up and down early, but strong late in the season.
• The Patriots will win 12+ games again, but lose in the playoffs.
• Andrew Luck will throw a ton, but the Colts will lose some games they should win.
• Arizona will have some very impressive wins, but lose in the playoffs again.
• The Eagles will be all over the map. Win some big games, lose some they should win.
• Sam Bradford will get hurt. But not with a season ending injury.
• Both Houston and Buffalo's defenses will have some monster performances.
• Defenses will dominate the line in many games, which will get a lot of talk around the league.
• With that in mind, KC and the short-mid passing game of Alex Smith and his new receivers will surprise.
• Dallas will struggle to win 10 games, have another identity crisis.
• The Giants will luck their way into the playoffs, and win a few games they shouldn't.
• Washington and Cousins will be hot/cold. Late season will get ugly or the whole team/franchise.
• Jacksonville and Oakland will improve behind young talent and new staff...to 5-11, maybe even 6-10.

And finally:

Super Bowl L:

Green Bay will defeat Baltimore.

that's a hefty stack of predictions - i look forward to following them throughout the year.

I am predicting a big year with lots of Mondays working-from-home while watching the 3 free-to-air games that we get each week.

The most intriguing division for me will be the NFC East, all teams are on the verge of dysfunctional and it could be similar to the NFC South (was it just last year?) where a team with a losing record earns a playoff spot, or maybe Eli's new contract breathes new life into his arm and he goes a year without a pick. Or the Chip Kelly masterplan all comes together and they dominate, or whoever is the Washington QB survives and they win a bunch of games, or the Cowboys take that next step.

I hope to see Green Bay do well again, I am interested to see how the offense operates without McCarthy calling the plays and I think they could face a bit more of a challenge from Detroit and Minnesota which will make their seeding in the playoffs interesting - they didn't have the top seed in last year's playoff race and I think it really cost them having to travel to Seattle for that game they never should have lost.

I see the Broncos going ok, but I can't see Peyton lasting the year and their campaign will suffer, his body must be one decent shot from retirement.

I'm pretty disappointed in the NFL this year, last year I paid a pretty small sum to be able to listen to all games via NFL's Audio Pass, it's not available this year. Here I am wanting to give the NFL money and they don't want it.

Anyway. . . 30 minutes til kickoff - I'm excited !

 

[The Hitch]

I found out that last year I won the year long pick teams competition on a sizeable NFL forum.

So now that I'm a little confident in my ability to do so, I will offer a few

Pit @ NE
No Bell for Pittsburgh. At the defending champions house. Got to go with the home team.

Indy @ Buffalo
Luck has struggled in these kind of games. Indy have been good by beating easy teams. Buffalo looks good enough all round to win this at home.

GB @ Chicago
Just don't feel like I can pick Chicago against Green Bay in the Rodgers and Cutler era.

KC @ Houston
I rode KC all year last year picking them to tough out wins they weren't favourites for. I think they are a very strong all round team. Don't trust Hoyer.

Carolina @ Jacksonville
I can see Jags win, but got to pick the better team.

Cleveland @ Jets
The slightly less of a shambles better team at home.

Seattle @ St Louis
Rams without running backs + Foles needs time to make it work.

Miami @ Washington

I think Miami is legit. I don't think Washington is that bad, could see them win some tough games. But Miami is better team imo. + they did very well away last year.

New Orleans @ Arizona
I think Arizona will have a better season than NO. But this is the kind of game that could surprise

Detroit @ San Diego
Chargers do tend to come out of the blocks well. And they have a good defense. But could be a good game.

Baltimore @ Denver

Game of the week. Flacco could outplay Peyton, but Denver have such a strong all round team.

Bengals @ Raiders
I think the Raiders are on the way up and Bengals maybe on the way down but Bengals are still better imo. Dalton will do enough and rest of the team is better.

Titans @ Bucs
Bucs aren't that bad. They have some good pieces in places. Wouldn't be surprised if they can do well this seasons.
Titans though are that bad.

Giants @ Cowboys
No Jpp. At Jerry world. i think Cowboys are good all around. But this game could go anyway.

Eagles @ Falcons
Go Chip. Shame Foxxy won't be here to see Bradford shine

Vikings @ 49ers

Worst off season ever versus a very strong
_________________

 

[red_flanders]

I shall try my hand at this for the first time evah.

Pit @ NE

Indy @ Buffalo
Great defense before Ryan got there. Very skeptical of the Buffalo offense. Luck has just enough to win.

GB @ Chicago
Not as much a lock as some pundits suggest. Rogers squeaks it out on the road.

KC @ Houston

Carolina @ Jacksonville

Cleveland @ Jets

Seattle @ St Louis
Upset special, taking Foles and that D at home.

Miami @ Washington
Miami's front eats any Washington QB alive. Dreadful game.

New Orleans @ Arizona
Hard time picking Arizona after watching the Raiders first team destroy them.

Detroit @ San Diego

Baltimore @ Denver
I'll take the Ravens when it matters but will give it to Denver as home-dogs.

Bengals @ Raiders
Winnable game for the Raiders. Defensive front will give Dalton fits. Bad game, Raiders make enough plays to win.

Titans @ Bucs
No idea.Taking the home dogs.

Giants @ Cowboys

Eagles @ Falcons

Vikings @ 49ers
Vikings on the rise big time. Niners falling precipitously. I don't believe in Tomsula. Not close.

 

[red_flanders]

Raiders pick up Aldon Smith. Plan to play him on Sunday. I assume they'll simply tell him to go after the passer, since he can't have a clue about the defensive schemes.

Drama ahead with all that's looming, but long-term, if the guy can keep his nose clean, that's a crazy good d-line with Aldon Smith, Dan Williams, Justin Ellis and Khalil Mack. Potential for elite pass-rush coming from either end. Scary.

 

[jmdirt]

I'm participating in the Old Chicago Grid Iron Beer Tour and it provides a nice buzz no matter what happens in the game!

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

IND@BUF - Motivated Bills defense prevails at home
CLE@NYJ - Low scoring. Jets have chance at home. Browns lost last 10 openers.
CAR@JAX - Panthers still better.
GB@CHI - Poor Bears.
KC@HOU - Almost went with KC. Little faith in Hoyer.
MIA@WAS - Dolphins not bad. Tough schedule late keeps them out of playoffs.
SEA@STL - Ripe for upset. But Rams OL needs to mature.
DET@SD - Both teams may be good this year.
NO@AZ - Not sure how great either team is, took home.
BAL@DEN - I really think PM is about done, especially in this offense, these coaches.
CIN@OAK - Upset of the week. Raiders win at home behind monster D.
TEN@TB - Rookie vs. Rookie.
NYG@DAL - Let's see Eli earn that new $21m per year contract. Right.
PHI@ATL - Look for lots of scoring. Falcons have big line problems, but at home.
MIN@SF - The Vikings are probably a better team, but went with Niners at home.

Don't forget to add your picks on ESPN's Footytips, if you're playing!