The NFL is working on an emergency rule change that will subtract the Chargers points due to their team shutdown..
The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to
In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.
Thanks!
Koronin said:The NFL for some unknown reason wants NE to win even though the vast majority of fans don't and more and more turn off games that involve NE.
Well, I don't bet and I don't do the lottery. But I'm taking the opposites of you next week.jmdirt said:I was 1 for 4 this weekend...good thing I didn't bet any money!
I'll take LA and KC next weekend.
LAC was really bad today. I'm still processing the afternoon game. NOLA O, especially DB to MT was fantastic, but PHI hung around even though there was just something off?
Be careful with your cut and manipulate because I did not type that.cineteq said:on3m@n@rmy said:LAR @ NO
NE @ KC
:arrow: Approved! Brady vs Brees
I was disappointed to see Bosa joking with TB early in the 3rd. Even TB had a surprised look on his face.Alpe d'Huez said:A mod should be able to fix that.
Historically when you get deep into the playoffs, veteran coaches, and veteran QBs are more likely to win. Granted, the Eagles bucked that last season, but look back at history and you'll find it's true. I'm also, at least right now, going with both the Saints and Patriots next weekend. I will give the Chiefs a chance, Reid is one of the top coaches, and Mahomes and their offense have real firepower, but in the NFC I'll be really surprised if the Rams beat the Saints, I just don't see it. Once the Saints got that little bit of rust off yesterday, they look for real. Big props to the Eagles though, they were the one losing team yesterday that truly came to fight. Champions to the end.
I too couldn't believe how little effort the Chargers seemed to have, right from the first play. Especially on defense. They never seemed to try to get after the ball, didn't really pressure Brady, didn't blitz well, didn't run any kind of press M2M coverage that can give Brady trouble (granted, you need the personnel to do it, and Tom has beaten that too), but they were amazingly flat. They also didn't seem in any sense of hurry or urgency on offense, even when way behind. Rivers seemed to be up for the game, but he was about it.
I couldn't believe how flat the Colts played either. Granted, they really were outmatched, but on offense they seemed lackadaisical, like it was a practice day, even Luck. And on defense, how many times can a team really jump offside? It was as if once they beat Houston, they knew their season was over, and they were set up to be good next year, which may be true in a sense.
Koronin said:Even though Mahomes is a young QB, KC does have the advantage of playing at home. That should count for something, plus Reid is a good coach. The big problem is that KC doesn't have a very good defense. That means their offense is going to have to put up points and likely touchdowns every time they put their hands on the ball.
Both KC and LAR are legit contenders and can win these games. LAR are going to have to play smarter though; no more mental blunders leading to stupid costly penalties like Talib & Peters have had. But the Saints have not played well or played a complete game in their last 4 games. If the LAR can play a complete game and catch the Saints in a bad day....movingtarget said:Koronin said:Even though Mahomes is a young QB, KC does have the advantage of playing at home. That should count for something, plus Reid is a good coach. The big problem is that KC doesn't have a very good defense. That means their offense is going to have to put up points and likely touchdowns every time they put their hands on the ball.
I give both the Rams and the Chiefs a good chance of progressing. Their defense has to be at least as good as this week but Mahomes is looking good and Goff will gain confidence from that win. I'd prefer not to see another Patriots SB win...........
on3m@n@rmy said:Both KC and LAR are legit contenders and can win these games. LAR are going to have to play smarter though; no more mental blunders leading to stupid costly penalties like Talib & Peters have had. But the Saints have not played well or played a complete game in their last 4 games. If the LAR can play a complete game and catch the Saints in a bad day....movingtarget said:Koronin said:Even though Mahomes is a young QB, KC does have the advantage of playing at home. That should count for something, plus Reid is a good coach. The big problem is that KC doesn't have a very good defense. That means their offense is going to have to put up points and likely touchdowns every time they put their hands on the ball.
I give both the Rams and the Chiefs a good chance of progressing. Their defense has to be at least as good as this week but Mahomes is looking good and Goff will gain confidence from that win. I'd prefer not to see another Patriots SB win...........
Home field can count for something, but in playoffs vs legit playoff teams, meh, not sure how much. Reid is a great coach. Belichick is better. As for the alleged bad KC defense (near league worst in regular season at over 26 PPG allowed and over 405 YPG allowed; but in playoffs, near best at 13 PPG and only 263 YPG): they will be key to winning if they can get pressure on Brady. KC's defense has a bad rep, but they have been better in the playoffs, and their DE Chris Jones is a stud right now (15.5 sacks this season). Then OLB Dee Ford has about 13 sacks. So, anything can happen if they can get after Brady and make him uncomfortable, but that's hard to do.
on3m@n@rmy said:Wanted to shift gears and talk Kliff Kingsbury, the new AZ Cards HC. Who is Kingsbury? That was my first question when the hire was announced. Then found out why he was fired at Texas Tech; for poor defenses leading to losing records. So, the USC Trojans hired him as their new OC, for about one month until the Cards came calling with the HC offer. That is about where the negatives stop and the positives begin. USC wanted Kliff as their OC because during his college coaching career he had one of the nation's most explosive offenses since 2009 (at Houston, then Texas A&M, and then Texas Tech). He has coached the following notable QBs: Case Keenum, Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield. OK, he also had Johnny Football, but won't hold that against Kingsbury. Here is the interesting part, and what I will be most interested in seeing what offense he brings to the NFL. In college, Kingsbury played for former TT HC Mike Leach, who ran the Air Raid spread offense. He ran his version of the Air Raid at TT, considered a pure version of Leach's Air Raid offense. So will Kingsbury bring the Air Raid offense to the NFL, and if so, will he be successful? We'll see. Some think the Air Raid is all about passing, which is not necessarily true. Kingsbury's offenses pass/run ratio has been about 50/50.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...as-tech-football-2018-preview-schedule-roster
https://www.sbnation.com/2019/1/2/18165433/kliff-kingsbury-cardinals-coach-hired
https://cardswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/14/az-arizona-cardinals-kliff-kingsbury-offense-texas-tech/
I think this is strange. I wan't the Cards to be better, but what do they see here? Like many have said, everyone is looking for the next McVay so I guess we'll see. As has been discussed, just being a good coach is only part of the job, can he be a leader of other coaches, 53 20-40 year old men (many with attitudes$$), and put all of that together day in and day out to bring a solid team to the field each week? He really needs Fitz to buy in and stay around another year. On the other hand, I guess I do like that they didn't just grab a coordinator from another team.on3m@n@rmy said:Wanted to shift gears and talk Kliff Kingsbury, the new AZ Cards HC. Who is Kingsbury? That was my first question when the hire was announced. Then found out why he was fired at Texas Tech; for poor defenses leading to losing records. So, the USC Trojans hired him as their new OC, for about one month until the Cards came calling with the HC offer. That is about where the negatives stop and the positives begin. USC wanted Kliff as their OC because during his college coaching career he had one of the nation's most explosive offenses since 2009 (at Houston, then Texas A&M, and then Texas Tech). He has coached the following notable QBs: Case Keenum, Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield. OK, he also had Johnny Football, but won't hold that against Kingsbury. Here is the interesting part, and what I will be most interested in seeing what offense he brings to the NFL. In college, Kingsbury played for former TT HC Mike Leach, who ran the Air Raid spread offense. He ran his version of the Air Raid at TT, considered a pure version of Leach's Air Raid offense. So will Kingsbury bring the Air Raid offense to the NFL, and if so, will he be successful? We'll see. Some think the Air Raid is all about passing, which is not necessarily true. Kingsbury's offenses pass/run ratio has been about 50/50.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...as-tech-football-2018-preview-schedule-roster
https://www.sbnation.com/2019/1/2/18165433/kliff-kingsbury-cardinals-coach-hired
https://cardswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/14/az-arizona-cardinals-kliff-kingsbury-offense-texas-tech/
Alpe d'Huez said:The one thing about Kingsbury to Arizona is that Rosen didn't really play in an offense like that in college. I also am concerned that the Air Raid offense is too much of a jump for the NFL, no matter who the QB is. Maybe I'm just looking back to the Houston Oiler run and shoot spread ("chuck and duck" Buddy Ryan called it), and how even with Warren Moon that offense couldn't hold entire games. So, it remains to be seen how it works. I fear Klingsbury is the next Chip Kelly also.
As to NE at KC, the forecast calls for temperatures in the single digits come game time. This will be the coldest game Mahomes has ever played in, by far. For Tom Brady, quite the opposite. Will that matter?
Agree on New England next year. Presuming Brady plays again, presuming they move on from Gronk, they have a fat draft, and decent cap space, making them a serious favorite for the 2020 Superbowl...already.
That's why JG was a good thing, and why they need to draft a QB this year. One of the talking heads said that Craft has contacted Foles' agent. While that would be good short (ish) term for the Pats, it doesn't do anything for Nick really because he's still a back up so why move? I guess he might see Brady being out sooner than Wentz? I've also heard that the Giants, Broncos and Cards have contacted his agent...he's hot now. The Eagles have made it clear that they want to keep him obviously. Back to the Pats though, if they don't have a solid plan in place for TB's replacement, they might not fall like the Browns and Niners, but they will certainly fall.movingtarget said:Alpe d'Huez said:The one thing about Kingsbury to Arizona is that Rosen didn't really play in an offense like that in college. I also am concerned that the Air Raid offense is too much of a jump for the NFL, no matter who the QB is. Maybe I'm just looking back to the Houston Oiler run and shoot spread ("chuck and duck" Buddy Ryan called it), and how even with Warren Moon that offense couldn't hold entire games. So, it remains to be seen how it works. I fear Klingsbury is the next Chip Kelly also.
As to NE at KC, the forecast calls for temperatures in the single digits come game time. This will be the coldest game Mahomes has ever played in, by far. For Tom Brady, quite the opposite. Will that matter?
Agree on New England next year. Presuming Brady plays again, presuming they move on from Gronk, they have a fat draft, and decent cap space, making them a serious favorite for the 2020 Superbowl...already.
Yes the chances of the Patriots falling into 49ers or Browns type situations with their franchise seem remote even when Brady and co are gone. Been a long time since they were not relevant to playoff forecasts. What happens football wise after Bill B eventually moves on is another matter. But he should leave it in good shape at least.
jmdirt said:That's why JG was a good thing, and why they need to draft a QB this year. One of the talking heads said that Craft has contacted Foles' agent. While that would be good short (ish) term for the Pats, it doesn't do anything for Nick really because he's still a back up so why move? I guess he might see Brady being out sooner than Wentz? I've also heard that the Giants, Broncos and Cards have contacted his agent...he's hot now. The Eagles have made it clear that they want to keep him obviously. Back to the Pats though, if they don't have a solid plan in place for TB's replacement, they might not fall like the Browns and Niners, but they will certainly fall.movingtarget said:Alpe d'Huez said:The one thing about Kingsbury to Arizona is that Rosen didn't really play in an offense like that in college. I also am concerned that the Air Raid offense is too much of a jump for the NFL, no matter who the QB is. Maybe I'm just looking back to the Houston Oiler run and shoot spread ("chuck and duck" Buddy Ryan called it), and how even with Warren Moon that offense couldn't hold entire games. So, it remains to be seen how it works. I fear Klingsbury is the next Chip Kelly also.
As to NE at KC, the forecast calls for temperatures in the single digits come game time. This will be the coldest game Mahomes has ever played in, by far. For Tom Brady, quite the opposite. Will that matter?
Agree on New England next year. Presuming Brady plays again, presuming they move on from Gronk, they have a fat draft, and decent cap space, making them a serious favorite for the 2020 Superbowl...already.
Yes the chances of the Patriots falling into 49ers or Browns type situations with their franchise seem remote even when Brady and co are gone. Been a long time since they were not relevant to playoff forecasts. What happens football wise after Bill B eventually moves on is another matter. But he should leave it in good shape at least.