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National Football League

Page 438 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
I am not one who thinks the refs determined the outcome of this game. The Kittle call could have gone either way. The difficult pill to swallow is that the pass was perfect and he may have caught the ball if he hadn't pushed at all. The non-call helmet to helmet on Garappolo, that surprised me, but I am still not sure it changed the outcome of the final score either.

For me, the final thought is that when they needed to adapt, innovate, as the game grew on, the 49ers got more conservative. I was really surprised that after that long 3Q drive, they didn't pound the ball, and threw zero screens, and didn't seem to target Kittle late. On D, the 49ers were never a blitzing team, but I was surprised how they didn't even hint at faking a blitz in the 4Q. It's as if they were so confident their mix of zones would contain the Chiefs, and the Chiefs wouldn't adapt, they rode that horse to the end. On the other side of the ball, it was KC who adapted, mixed things up enough to win.

KC may be great again next year, unless they get the usual SB hangover. They still only Mahomes $2.7 mil, unless they work to sign him now, where he'll likely haul in over $30m per year, for several years.

SF on the other hand, they have several players headed to FA, and not much cap room. It was said at the time they overpaid for Jimmy G, and at $24m it sure looked like it this game.

Jmdirt mentioned Baltimore next season. While the sting of losing to Tennessee must have hurt bad, and I'm sure a lot of Ravens players and fans were thinking they were the one team who could have beaten the Chiefs, losing in the playoffs is better than losing a SB or even a championship game. They "only" have $26m in cap space, and 13 UFA's about to hit the market, which are neither great nor horrible figures, but the only key player they can't afford to lose is LB Matthew Judon. No one else really stands out as I look at their roster. One would think they don't need to do a great deal to keep things moving and be a serious contender next year, presuming Jackson doesn't get hurt.

As to Tom Brady, apparently Jon Gruden yesterday said he wants him and the Raiders would be willing to shell out a lot of money to get him. But Gruden is such a huckster at times. The used car salesman of the NFL. I just can't see Tom going anywhere else, especially since it looks like McDaniels will be staying. My gut tells me those two with Belicheck, and maybe one of the Krafts will sit down, Tom will say what he wants - and nothing short of a team and offense capable of winning another SB will be acceptable - and he'll get a 2 year deal that will take him to the end of his career in NE.

Finally, congrats to Stephon Gilmore for winning defensive player of the year for New England. He was a leader and anchor for that defense and as big of reason as any other player for their team doing as well as they did. First CB to win the award in a decade. Nice to see Bills CB Tre'Davios White get votes as well. He's a star in the making and maybe not as much of a leader as Gilmore, didn't give up a single TD all year in Buffalo. Interestingly enough, J.C. Jackson, the Pats other CB, had a stellar year as well if you look at the stats. Considering QBs didn't want to take on Gilmore, this meant more throws Jackson's direction, but he was just as stingy covering WRs.
I also stopped short of saying that the refs determined the game, but its not difficult to image how much different the game could have been with just two calls (the O PI and the hold on Bosa) because one took an almost certain 3 and a possible 7 off of the board for SF, while the other put 7 on the board for KC. But more importantly, the strategy of the game changes (drastically) if those go the other way.

Maybe its important to remind that I didn't care who won as long as it was a good game...it was, and I'm happy for KC, but that doesn't mean that I'm OK with crap officiating.

I agree that overall, KC 'played' the game better.
 
The refs have been bad for awhile now. There needs to be something done, but we also saw when the refs went on strike a few years ago that the replacements were even worse.
It's not the refs it's the system. Sky ref would be infinitely better but if you leave it to ppl they will always make mistakes.

The other alternative to improve things slightly is to fire refs on the spot who *** up. Or at least make them accountable somehow. It wouldn't erase mistakes but would take away the refs deliberately making bad calls because they are petty. Or sticking with calls on the field cos they want to feel they were right rather than actually be right.


As it is the empowered extremely pretty refs were deliberately ignoring DPI challenges for the first half of the season just to show their spite at the change. Teams not only didn't get obvious calls but lost valuable timeouts to boot and the refs were laughing to the bank

Feels over the integrity of the game, ruining games seasons and nullifying plays were guys no doubt got concussions fighting for the score. And no concequences.

They also clearly made calls against the saints because they have a beef with Peyton, who may be a *** but is also right to feel aggrieved.
Those refs need to lose their jobs, or the game will forever be played at their whim.

That said I think the calls was right on the kittle opi and the Williams TD was 50,50, flip a coin
 
It's not the refs it's the system. Sky ref would be infinitely better but if you leave it to ppl they will always make mistakes.

The other alternative to improve things slightly is to fire refs on the spot who *** up. Or at least make them accountable somehow. It wouldn't erase mistakes but would take away the refs deliberately making bad calls because they are petty. Or sticking with calls on the field cos they want to feel they were right rather than actually be right.


As it is the empowered extremely pretty refs were deliberately ignoring DPI challenges for the first half of the season just to show their spite at the change. Teams not only didn't get obvious calls but lost valuable timeouts to boot and the refs were laughing to the bank

Feels over the integrity of the game, ruining games seasons and nullifying plays were guys no doubt got concussions fighting for the score. And no concequences.

They also clearly made calls against the saints because they have a beef with Peyton, who may be a *** but is also right to feel aggrieved.
Those refs need to lose their jobs, or the game will forever be played at their whim.

That said I think the calls was right on the kittle opi and the Williams TD was 50,50, flip a coin

After thinking about this I think one thing is younger refs would help. Maybe fines for blatantly bad calls. You can't fire on the spot because there won't be enough refs to finish games. Then when making decisions after the season egregious errors in calls should have weight in keeping someone or not as well.
 
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D
Wow!...Mahomes magic! The KC offense explodes in the 4th quarter. 3 for 3 in scoring drives. Nice bomb to Hill on that 3rd & 15 play where he twisted out of a likely sack. Funny to see Sherman get burned by Watkins. Garoppolo choked at the end there and needs a lot of work on hurry-up offense.

Mahomes game MVP and 2nd youngest QB to ever win a SB! As Joe Buck said "great quarterbacks win big games." Reid is a genius for drafting Mahomes - in two short seasons as the starter he brings home a Lombardi trophy to the deserving fans of KC. If Mahomes stays healthy, this could be the new dynasty of this decade.
Do you agree that mahomes was also the best qb last year, or do you think the qb who wins the SB is always the best qb?
 
NFC West will be even more stacked next year. I really think that this will take its toll in the Playoffs, bc they basically have the hardest schedule of all divisons. Was already crazy this year how much the Niners/Seahawks had to do compared to the top AFC Teams. Arizona will no doubt be better next year and the Rams may be the "worst" team in the west, but still very strong.
NFC West has been strong often, but I don't know if I see it being that tough.

I think this was the niners chance. Everything came together just right.

If they were in the AFC East, sure they could get back but NFC bye teams don't get byes the next year cos it's too stacked.

Don't know if I expect much from the rams which burned all their cap in their push two years ago. Seahawks would need to improve defence but if Russ maintains his level they'll be there.
 
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I'm OK with most of the calls. Some were borderline (the OPI on Kittle; that KC TD where he stepped out of bounds), could have gone either way. The most flagrant foul not called IMO was a clear DPI on KC that prevented a huge 49er gain. The DB was literally hugging the WR as he ran downfield. But SF made the first down on the next play, and went on to score, so it didn't matter.

Bosa, i think it was, did hit Mahomes's face mask, but it was incidental, and rightly was not called. He was trying to bat the pass down, missed, and his hand continued on to the mask. He didn't grasp it, just slapped it.

I agree with Cance that half way through the fourth quarter, when the 49ers WP was nearly 95%, Mahomes was on track to have one of the worst performances by an elite QB in SB history. He turned it around after that. IMO, what made all the difference was his legs. He converted several third and long situations, with running that very few other QBs--Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, maybe Kyler Murray, a healthy Cam Newton--could have exhibited. If he'd failed on any single one of those, KC's drive would have stalled, they wouldn't have scored, and that one failure alone probably would have given SF the game.

Also, Mahomes bought a lot of time with his scrambling. The 49ers DL was chasing him all over the field, most other QBs would have been sacked 6-8 times, and again and again, he got free to make a huge pass--like that one to Hill that set up a crucial TD. Most QBs could have made that and many other passes, what they couldn't do is stay upright long enough for the receiver to get open. He reminds me a lot of Elway, who some people think was almost as good as the incomparable Eli Manning :)
 
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I'm OK with most of the calls. Some were borderline (the OPI on Kittle; that KC TD where he stepped out of bounds), could have gone either way. The most flagrant foul not called IMO was a clear DPI on KC that prevented a huge 49er gain. The DB was literally hugging the WR as he ran downfield. But SF made the first down on the next play, and went on to score, so it didn't matter.

Bosa, i think it was, did hit Mahomes's face mask, but it was incidental, and rightly was not called. He was trying to bat the pass down, missed, and his hand continued on to the mask. He didn't grasp it, just slapped it.

I agree with Cance that half way through the fourth quarter, when the 49ers WP was nearly 95%, Mahomes was on track to have one of the worst performances by an elite QB in SB history. He turned it around after that. IMO, what made all the difference was his legs. He converted several third and long situations, with running that very few other QBs--Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, maybe Kyler Murray, a healthy Cam Newton--could have exhibited. If he'd failed on any single one of those, KC's drive would have stalled, they wouldn't have scored, and that one failure alone probably would have given SF the game.

Also, Mahomes bought a lot of time with his scrambling. The 49ers DL was chasing him all over the field, most other QBs would have been sacked 6-8 times, and again and again, he got free to make a huge pass--like that one to Hill that set up a crucial TD. He reminds me a lot of Elway, who some people think was almost as good as the incomparable Eli Manning :)
Agree about Mahomes scrambling. Reminds me a little of Russell Wilson . A few times they almost had hands on him and he still escaped. It could have quite easily gone pear shaped then but he managed to make crucial plays with his legs and the 49ers defense was looking a bit gassed in the final quarter. Probably two of those escapes turned the game by giving Kansas a fresh set of downs. 49ers secondary was struggling with the speedsters towards the end. Another case of what might have been for Shanahan, and Andy Reid definitely won the coaching battle on the day. 49ers defense wasn't helped by Shanahan's refusal to run the ball after getting the 10 point lead as they were giving the ball back to Kansas fairly quickly. Basically Mahomes got too many opportunities after they had done a good job on him for the majority of the game. With a good QB, a narrow window is all they need while Jimmy and the Niners offense started getting bogged down again when they should have been consolidating. Don't think the Niners punted the ball until the final quarter. Strange play calls, tiring defense and Mahomes given too many opportunities to get back in the game. I was okay with the sideline call and the Kittle call which gets called inconsistently anyway but other calls were overlooked including two helmets to helmets which are supposed to be an automatic flag like diving at the QB's lower legs. I'm okay with the result maybe Payton wouldn't have been if he was the coach..............
 
NFC West has been strong often, but I don't know if I see it being that tough.

I think this was the niners chance. Everything came together just right.

If they were in the AFC East, sure they could get back but NFC bye teams don't get byes the next year cos it's too stacked.

Don't know if I expect much from the rams which burned all their cap in their push two years ago. Seahawks would need to improve defence but if Russ maintains his level they'll be there.
Cardinals have to rebuild and like you said the Rams don't have much wriggle room which will only be worsened by inevitable injuries. I expect Seattle and the Niners to make the playoffs again from that division, on paper anyway. Seattle were unlucky to get a lot of injuries just before the playoffs. Without that the Niners would have played them instead of GB in the NFC title match.

49ers had to take Jimmy as the alternative was going to be Cousins who would have cost even more and they got him for a bargain price. The standard QB price has already jumped since then. See how much Dak will be paid. 49ers can probably afford to lose some defense and offense because they have quite a few good players not getting game time as of late. I expect them to draft secondary and then O line. At least they will have some draft picks while the Rams have traded most of theirs away. Cardinals also should do well in the draft if they pick wisely. For a four win team the previous season to win the SB the next is quite a jump. Think it's only been done once so I think the 49ers window is bigger than one season. They hadn't made the SB since 2012 and the rebuild has taken time. At the beginning of the season most fans were not thinking SB, they were hoping for a playoff berth or 8-8. I think many 49ers fans were shocked at the midpoint of the season when they hadn't lost a game, only then did SB talk start to activate.
 
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RE: Adding a game, an extra week off, but less preseason (including OTA time):

I don't like it. Those of you who are here frequently will recall that each fall I complain about how crappy the football is. I guess I should expect September to be the "warm up" to the season, but I would rather have good football out of the gate than have one more regular season game. I'd be OK with having another off week (but the NFL would probably schedule them poorly) to help keep teams healthier. No team should play Sunday and then Thursday IMO.

TB12 trade for Jimmy G?! That would take the silly season to new levels of insanity! o_O
 
Do you agree that mahomes was also the best qb last year, or do you think the qb who wins the SB is always the best qb?
Without a doubt Mahomes was the best QB last year (he was also league MVP). And no; I don't think the QB who wins the SB is always best QB. But more often than not, the SB winning QB is usually one of the better franchise QBs of the league. I know some people point out P. Manning won the SB with Denver playing poorly with basically the Denver D crushing the Panthers and winning the day. But I would point out that Manning was in physical decline that year missing several games and playing less than 100% throughout the playoffs. However, he didn't do anything to hurt the team in that game (picks, fumbles, etc.), and perhaps his leadership also helped the team in preparation. But if you look at Manning in his prime before the major neck injury you have an unheard 5-time league MVP and a SB win with Indy where he played magnificently being named MVP.

There are more cases of great franchise QBs going on to win SBs and being named SB MVPs (e.g., Brady, Elway, Farve, Mannings, Montana, Big Ben, Aikman, etc.) then great defenses winning SBs with poorly performing QBs in the modern era.

It's the reason why KC won the game - Mahomes. I keep hearing the rhetoric that he suck the first 3 quarters and all that. But it doesn't matter because he kept his poise and engineered 3 consecutive scoring drives for 21 unanswered points with key throws and his scrambling ability as mentioned by others here (he played years above age). Recall after the game that Reid was asked if at halftime he talked to Mahomes about changing his style and maybe doing things differently and he said no and told Mahomes just keep throwing it. I believe he said you can do things like that with a QB like Mahomes (that's some serious confidence in the young man).

I realize the team and other positions are important also (and KC did improve it's defense this season with some key additions and a new DC). But the path to success starts with the QB. If not, why then has QBs in eight (8) out of the last eleven (11) drafts been taken with the #1 OA picks including in 3 of those 8, QBs were taken in the top 2 picks: 2016 (Goff/Wentz), 2015 (Winston/Mariota), 2012 (Luck/RG3) . And all indications are that Joe Burrows with be taken #1 by Cinn making 9 out of the last 12 and QBs taken #1 OA in the last 3 drafts alone! (it's probably easier to remember the few non-QBs that were taken #1. Lol).

And without Mahomes KC wouldn't have never gotten this far. Reid has been running the show for 7 yrs - 5 yrs without Mahomes. In those 5 seasons, with Smith at the helm, he went to the playoffs in 4 of them, but only won one playoff game and no AFC championship appearances. In comes Mahomes, and in his first year of starting he takes the team to the AFC championship and is named league MVP and his second season a Lombardi trophy and SB MVP. Wow!...Mahomes magic. But hey if you guys think I'm overrating the impact of the QB in the game then read these articles that go into more depth with the Mahomes factor:


 
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RE: Adding a game, an extra week off, but less preseason (including OTA time):

I don't like it. Those of you who are here frequently will recall that each fall I complain about how crappy the football is. I guess I should expect September to be the "warm up" to the season, but I would rather have good football out of the gate than have one more regular season game. I'd be OK with having another off week (but the NFL would probably schedule them poorly) to help keep teams healthier. No team should play Sunday and then Thursday IMO.

TB12 trade for Jimmy G?! That would take the silly season to new levels of insanity! o_O

I would like 19 game with the 3 added games being against the opposite confrence that finished with the same record as you the previous year. That way no one can complain about schedule with 2 or 3 bye weeks and if feeling frisky, all the teams have byes on the same week so like after 6 and 12 for two or 5, 10, and 15 for three. Than they can reply highlights during the bye.
 
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19 (or 18) games is way too many for the players to deal with, injury wise. The league would love to have more games, because of one reason only, money. But we really don't need it. The only reason I'm in favor of an extra bye week is that it would mean schedules could be made that only teams that come off a bye play on Thursday night.

It's not the refs it's the system. Sky ref would be infinitely better but if you leave it to ppl they will always make mistakes.
I have mentioned this before and agree with you 100%. It's only a matter of time before there are simply enough cameras on and across the field that a team of referees watching the footage will officiate every game, and every play will be reviewable. There would only be need for one official on the field, and that to relay information to players, coaches, and maybe announce to the fans.

I completely disagree with you on firing refs on the spot who screw up. Remind me to never work for you.
Imo the nail was when 49 ers forced a three and out with 1.30 to go in the first and elected to not use timeouts and run out the clock instead of going for points.
Yes. This showed their lack of confidence in Garappolo, $24m per year on a $130m contract for...Trent Dilfer?
...Mahomes...what made all the difference was his legs. He converted several third and long situations, bought a lot of time with his scrambling. The 49ers DL was chasing him all over the field...
This is why I posted what I did before. When it got to the 4th Q, Reid and by extension Mahomes and the KC offense, adapted. This was when SF got conservative on defense and held onto their tight zones and seemed steadfast what had worked earlier, even as it was failing. I noted before that despite being a non-blitzing team, it surprised me when they were struggling with likely fatigue dealing with Mahomes mobility late they didn't at least fake blitzing, let alone rush an extra LB with any consistency. I don't remember when I started watching this closely, but I don't recall seeing one fake blitz, and only one time did the 49ers blitz late in the game. I realize this is Monday morning quarterbacking, but it showed me that Reid is unquestionably a better coach than Shanahan.

In this regard I completley agree with Nomad. Despite playing fairly poorly for 3Q, Mahomes still kept the 49ers on edge, and when he had to adapt, had to pull the game out, he had the confidence, and ability to get it done against a superb defense. Put it another way, if the teams had switched QBs, don't you agree that SF would have won the game?
 
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I know some people point out P. Manning won the SB with Denver playing poorly with basically the Denver D crushing the Panthers and winning the day. But I would point out that Manning was in physical decline that year missing several games and playing less than 100% throughout the playoffs. However, he didn't do anything to hurt the team in that game (picks, fumbles, etc.), and perhaps his leadership also helped the team in preparation.

Going back that SB, Manning actually had a horrible game, 13/23, 104 yards, no TD's and one INT, sacked 5 times. His passer rating was 56.6, and is QBR was an abysmal 8.6.

In fact, if you look at the team stats, it was really the Panthers who had one of the greatest defensive performances in SB history. They only gave up 194 yards (Denver gave them 315), only allowed 11 first downs (Denver gave them 21), they held Denver to 3.5 yards per play, which is a terrible number. Carolina also had a whopping 12 penalties for over 100 yards, one questionable on Norman late that kept a Denver drive alive (another D-PI declined), and 4 turnovers - one a Newton fumble returned for a TD, plus another fumble deep in their own end of the field late. They also missed a FG. Couple this with Cam's nerves and skittish throws, and it just killed them, more than a stellar Denver defense, while the Carolina defense was astoundingly great.

What Manning did, is play mistake free when it mattered.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/matchup?gameId=400820438
 
I would think with 3 weeks they could handle 18 or 19 games, especially if it's a favorable bye time, not if they get unlucky with an early or late bye. Plus with what you said on better scheduling on Thursday, Sunday, and Monday games, times the game starts, and these international games. Maybe increase salary cap and player count by 10. But with increased cap there can be more super teams and with increased player count there would be more C level players. Maybe a little longer half time so they have more of a breather and the NFL can flip to other games that are still going during half time for your zoned game like they do when the game is over or a blow out.

I can definitely see the refs turning into that in the future or heck getting better tech attaching stuff to the players uniform that records everything like a video game so know exactly if stepped out, caught the ball, held, etc.
 
Without a doubt Mahomes was the best QB last year (he was also league MVP). And no; I don't think the QB who wins the SB is always best QB. But more often than not, the SB winning QB is usually one of the better franchise QBs of the league. I know some people point out P. Manning won the SB with Denver playing poorly with basically the Denver D crushing the Panthers and winning the day. But I would point out that Manning was in physical decline that year missing several games and playing less than 100% throughout the playoffs. However, he didn't do anything to hurt the team in that game (picks, fumbles, etc.), and perhaps his leadership also helped the team in preparation. But if you look at Manning in his prime before the major neck injury you have an unheard 5-time league MVP and a SB win with Indy where he played magnificently being named MVP.

There are more cases of great franchise QBs going on to win SBs and being named SB MVPs (e.g., Brady, Elway, Farve, Mannings, Montana, Big Ben, Aikman, etc.) then great defenses winning SBs with poorly performing QBs in the modern era.

It's the reason why KC won the game - Mahomes. I keep hearing the rhetoric that he suck the first 3 quarters and all that. But it doesn't matter because he kept his poise and engineered 3 consecutive scoring drives for 21 unanswered points with key throws and his scrambling ability as mentioned by others here (he played years above age). Recall after the game that Reid was asked if at halftime he talked to Mahomes about changing his style and maybe doing things differently and he said no and told Mahomes just keep throwing it. I believe he said you can do things like that with a QB like Mahomes (that's some serious confidence in the young man).

I realize the team and other positions are important also (and KC did improve it's defense this season with some key additions and a new DC). But the path to success starts with the QB. If not, why then has QBs in eight (8) out of the last eleven (11) drafts been taken with the #1 OA picks including in 3 of those 8, QBs were taken in the top 2 picks: 2016 (Goff/Wentz), 2015 (Winston/Mariota), 2012 (Luck/RG3) . And all indications are that Joe Burrows with be taken #1 by Cinn making 9 out of the last 12 and QBs taken #1 OA in the last 3 drafts alone! (it's probably easier to remember the few non-QBs that weren't taken #1. Lol).

And without Mahomes KC wouldn't have never gotten this far. Reid has been running the show for 7 yrs - 5 yrs without Mahomes. In those 5 seasons, with Smith at the helm, he went to the playoffs in 4 of them, but only won one playoff game and no AFC championship appearances. In comes Mahomes, and in his first year of starting he takes the team to the AFC championship and is named league MVP and his second season a Lombardi trophy and SB MVP. Wow!...Mahomes magic. But hey if you guys think I'm overrating the impact of the QB in the game then read these articles that go into more depth with the Mahomes factor:


Obviously KC won an SB because of mahomes.

But that's not always the case.
he is an outlier in how great he is- 1 of the best seasons all time in his first season.

And he's still on a rookie salary which has allowed the team to build around. In fact aren't almost all SB wins this decade from qbs who were getting paid below their worth (Brady taking paycuts and 1st contract qbs)
 
And he's still on a rookie salary which has allowed the team to build around. In fact aren't almost all SB wins this decade from qbs who were getting paid below their worth (Brady taking paycuts and 1st contract qbs)


I think the only ones against that are Rodgers, Mannings', and Flacco(?).

If Mahomes takes discounts and just gets lots of money from his endorsements and commercials the Chiefs could get a dynasty going.
 
Flacco got his big contract after winning the SB. At the time it sure looked like he deserved it, but he had maybe 2 good seasons after that.

I believe Mahomes has (smartly?) said the negotiation for his future contract will be by people who do that, not him (not trying the Russell Okung route. Russ did bad on a deal with Denver, got a more standard one with the Chargers). One can interpret that to mean he's not going to push for a pay cut so the team can sign other players to better deals.

As to the league playing 18 games, not only would you have to increase the rosters, plus the practice squads, plus the salary cap, you'd still have real issues as even if you increased the squad to 70 players. Many teams would be desperate for wins and be thin at several positions, compelling players to play all 18 games. It's been suggested that teams would be forced to sit each player two games. But that brings up a myriad of it's own problems. What if you sit a star player early, say games 3 & 6, and lose both games. Then he gets hurt late in the season and has to miss another two games when it matters. Is "tough luck" the only response? Fans would be furious. You could say that players need to be evaluated for injury better, and forced to sit out games when this happens, but by whom? There are 1,696 players on teams, and another 320 total on practice squads. Who's going to objectively evaluate them all? Who's going to oversee that? Who's going to pay for that oversight? The league? Or would the league just trust teams injury reports, which are notorious for being misleading.

The solution to more football is a second NFL league/season, or success of the XFL. Or, the XFL being a feeder system that partners with the NFL.

The XFL is really another discussion, maybe it's own thread. But while I think they will make it to a second season, simply because Vince McMahon admitted he was ready to lose $500m on it, the real key for any league's success is a fine line between carving it's own path of viewership, while also operating as some sort of developmental league that partners with the NFL. McMahon may not want that now, but let's pretend after year two the XFL is hanging by a thread, at (then) 76 years of age, he may be up for brokering a deal with the NFL to keep the XFL going as a developmental league, with a certain level of autonomous control.
 
if you look at Manning in his prime before the major neck injury you have an unheard 5-time league MVP and a SB win with Indy where he played magnificently being named MVP.

But he didn't play "magnificently" in that SB. He threw only one TD pass, had one interception, and a QBR of about 82, which was about league average for the regular season at that time. The reason he was MVP was because it was one of those SB in which no one stood out (this has happened before), so they gave it to the QB of the winning team. Indy's winning that game was more about the Bears's pathetic offense (Rex Grossman was one of the worst QBs ever to start a SB) than the Manning-led Indy offense. Except for one TD set up by a 50 yard run, all of Chicago's points came courtesy of special teams, where Hester ran back one kick for a TD, and had Indy so afraid he would run back another one that they squibbed a kick, putting the Bears in position where they hardly had to move the ball at all to kick a FG.

By your previous statements, Eli should be considered better than his brother, because he was a two-time SB MVP, and played better in both than Peyton played in any of his four SB, except possibly the one vs. NO, where he still didn't play that well, and of course threw the pick-6 that basically ended the game.
 
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Lamar Jackson had a superb season but he quickly needs to show something in the playoffs. First year nerves maybe but no excuses in the second year with arguably the best team in the competition. Was a strange playoffs this year. The heavily favoured Saints and Ravens couldn't win a game, Rodgers just scraped by a heavily injured Hawks team and got blown out by the 49ers team that many said was overrated. A lot of people had the Saints and 49ers playing for the NFC title. Brees has probably lost his chance now as has Rodegrs. Can't see either team winning a SB next years and I thought that GB were the worst of 13-3 and 12-4 teams going into the playoffs. Be interesting to see if the Patriots can do better next year, and whether the Chiefs can win consecutive titles which is never easy. Somehow I don't see the Patriots doing better, I think their era is pretty much done especially with the Ravens, Chiefs, 49ers and one or two other teams on the up.
 
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Lamar Jackson had a superb season but he quickly needs to show something in the playoffs. First year nerves maybe but no excuses in the second year with arguably the best team in the competition. Was a strange playoffs this year. The heavily favoured Saints and Ravens couldn't win a game, Rodgers just scraped by a heavily injured Hawks team and got blown out by the 49ers team that many said was overrated. A lot of people had the Saints and 49ers playing for the NFC title. Brees has probably lost his chance now as has Rodegrs. Can't see either team winning a SB next years and I thought that GB were the worst of 13-3 and 12-4 teams going into the playoffs. Be interesting to see if the Patriots can do better next year, and whether the Chiefs can win consecutive titles which is never easy. Somehow I don't see the Patriots doing better, I think their era is pretty much done especially with the Ravens, Chiefs, 49ers and one or two other teams on the up.
I put a lot of the 'rust' blame on the BAL coaching staff. JH won the coach of the year award, but there are two problems with that IMO: one, he blew it in the playoffs and two, he didn't coach his team to a Superbowl victory (obviously its a regular season award, but that in itself is stupid IMO). How is AR not the coach of the year?

How can a QB be the player of the year (MVP), yet not offensive player of the year?!

I know, I know...
 
First of all, I'm biased...die-hard Chiefs fan since the early 90's. Elated.

Th offensive pass interference is a non-issue. I saw it, was not surprised when the flag was thrown, Troy Aikman said it was a good call, live, SF didn't challenge. End of story.

Andy Reid took the monkey off his back and Kyle is now wearing it. As an OC in the Super Bowl debacle with Atlanta and now. Getting 5 yards on first down and throwing the ball...not smart. The call at the end of the first half, yeah. Jimmy G missed Sanders. What ifs will haunt the 49ers for quite some time. As a Chiefs fan, I know all too well about these in the playoffs...

In the end, when you lose the Super Bowl, everybody wants to find a culprit, or culprits, the HC sucks and the QB is bad. Same story an lazy narrative if you ask me. What happens if Mahomes doesn't convert on 3rd and 15? Kyle is a hero, Jimmy G. wins the MVP, Mahomes is like the Black Album: really good but way overrated as Netserk would write.

Reid was ready to be aggressive, the 49ers were not and left the door open even so slightly, and the Chiefs kicked it wide open.
 
First of all, I'm biased...die-hard Chiefs fan since the early 90's. Elated.

Th offensive pass interference is a non-issue. I saw it, was not surprised when the flag was thrown, Troy Aikman said it was a good call, live, SF didn't challenge. End of story.

Andy Reid took the monkey off his back and Kyle is now wearing it. As an OC in the Super Bowl debacle with Atlanta and now. Getting 5 yards on first down and throwing the ball...not smart. The call at the end of the first half, yeah. Jimmy G missed Sanders. What ifs will haunt the 49ers for quite some time. As a Chiefs fan, I know all too well about these in the playoffs...

In the end, when you lose the Super Bowl, everybody wants to find a culprit, or culprits, the HC sucks and the QB is bad. Same story an lazy narrative if you ask me. What happens if Mahomes doesn't convert on 3rd and 15? Kyle is a hero, Jimmy G. wins the MVP, Mahomes is like the Black Album: really good but way overrated as Netserk would write.

Reid was ready to be aggressive, the 49ers were not and left the door open even so slightly, and the Chiefs kicked it wide open.
It is an issue IMO. You aren't around much so you might have missed my rants about the BS "arm extended" rhetoric. That isn't the rule. If kittle has a slight bend in his arm does that make it a completely different play? SF didn't challenge because they know they have no chance that the officials will check themselves. TA was just going with the rhetoric (reminder I'm a huge TA fan). I hope that its not the end of the story. The NFL has a problem that they probably won't do anything about as long as they are still making money.

Reid is CotY IMO. The culprit for the 49ers was KC!

Are you in KC? Did you go to the parade? I hope that everyone had a great time (well maybe not the guy in the car:)).
 

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