National Football League

[Oldermanish]

SEA with a win. They still need to get better when they get close the the goal line. Walker is great, but the line can't block in goal line situations with the D line and LBs all coming forward. Geno has to get better at 'knowing' that 3 is better than 0. Mostly entertaining game.

PHI is stout! Entertaining game.

BAL wow!

KC is good!

Unchained: the people in the skybox asked me to tell you to leave them alone!

Not sure when SEA gets their two interior OL guys back that were solid on the run game. They just resigned Joey Hunt who is tough but "new" again to them. If they can get that done and turn their D loose on Purdy the Division will get very tight in a couple of weeks.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Agree with all you guys said. The 2022 Vikings finally showed up. Great pass protection. I think Troy nailed it with Purdy's first int midway through 4Q - So much of their passing is predicated on timing and complex routes, and as the game went on the Vikings were able to really disrupt that. But the fumbles early, the inability to get a pass rush going, the 49ers just looked unprepared. But credit Minnesota, and Cousins. Great win for them.

Many things I saw today question if the Cleveland Browns have buyers remorse w Deshaun Watson contract guaranteed money

It's a disaster of a contract. Maybe worse than Wilson, since Wilson seems to be at least playing okay, and slightly improving each weak with Payton as Sean figures out how to make use of what he has left. I don't see that happening with Watson. The absurd thing, as I posted before, was everyone knew he wasn't worth that ridiculous contract, or what they gave up. Everyone but the Browns.

According to Chris Simms, Kevin Stefanski didn't want Watson. The decision was all owner Jimmy Haslem and GM Andrew Barry had to go along with it and make a contract that worked, that Stefanski signed off on under duress. Remember how much the media was hounding Stefanski early last year about Watson before he could play? Everyone knew this was such high risk, an insane price to pay for something most likely to never to rise beyond average, and ran the risk of being bad. Everyone but Haslem.

Here's the thing though with Cleveland. 2021 was supposedly when they finally got it right. Remember how they tried Freddy Kitchens as HC and that failed. But before that Barry, and player personnel guy DePodestra (the moneyball guy) wanted Stefanski. All three of them supposedly have a very similar analytical, contingency planning style. But the owner came in and threw a wrench in the whole thing with Watson. Not that Mayfield was the solution. But I don't feel sorry for any of these people at all. They knew they were taking a job with a sad sack of a franchise and a meddling owner, and look what happened.

 

[movingtarget]

Steve Young was the last 49ers QB to beat the Vikings at home, back in the 90's ! CMC broke the NFL record for TD's in consecutive games at 16.

With 378 passing yards, Kirk Cousins became just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to have 50 career games with 300-plus passing yards in their first 12 seasons.

 

[Unchained]

Just saying the obvious but Vikings playing much better than the score reflected and they were unable to convert when close to the goal but as weeks go on, and possibly improving, could actually get those 2 or 3 touchdowns that they settled for field goals instead.. Purdy throwing the same but to slightly less talented players and catches were not made..

 

[jmdirt]

We haven't hit this here yet so I'll start:

I don't like flag football being in the Olympics. IMO, the Olympics is about top level athletes competing. Sure if guys like the Human Chaeta play there will be some top level athletes, but will all of the teams be loaded? Probably not.

Another IMO, FF only got in because the NFL paid big money...to make big money.

I guess we'll see how it turns out...

 

[SHAD0W93]

We haven't hit this here yet so I'll start:

I don't like flag football being in the Olympics. IMO, the Olympics is about top level athletes competing. Sure if guys like the Human Chaeta play there will be some top level athletes, but will all of the teams be loaded? Probably not.

Another IMO, FF only got in because the NFL paid big money...to make big money.

I guess we'll see how it turns out...

Oh gosh this is true!!!!!! If the NFL players can compete it’d be straight domination.

 

[Oldermanish]

Not sure when SEA gets their two interior OL guys back that were solid on the run game. They just resigned Joey Hunt who is tough but "new" again to them. If they can get that done and turn their D loose on Purdy the Division will get very tight in a couple of weeks.

Oh...this just coming in: SEA gets Frank Clark back on a 1 year deal. Based on how Purdy got chased in the 2nd half by the Vikings this was fortuitous move by Seattle; one that could help seal the division. He probably will be much happier than where he was....Denver. If the Seahawks win into the playoffs and beyond I can't imagine the wailing that will come out of Colorado.

 

[Oldermanish]

We haven't hit this here yet so I'll start:

I don't like flag football being in the Olympics. IMO, the Olympics is about top level athletes competing. Sure if guys like the Human Chaeta play there will be some top level athletes, but will all of the teams be loaded? Probably not.

Another IMO, FF only got in because the NFL paid big money...to make big money.

I guess we'll see how it turns out...

You're right about the money as the NFL admires the whole world as possible franchise locations. Build the fan base on a no cost basis and then expand further.
Aside from that IMO the Olympics has gotten so fluffy with niche sports to fulfill their expanding greed that the events will become part of overdiluted asterix occurances. It's so scattered now that broadcasts show short highlights of almost any event that has a human angle but no substance.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I have a different view of the Olympics. I generally don't like it for the reasons you just noted. I also am old enough to remember the spirit and national competition (and camaraderie building!) it created years ago. Now, it's a cash cow more than anything.

I do however applaud Paris for saying they didn't intend on spending a zillion dollars building new stadiums, arenas, giant resorts to house fans, and now LA is hinting at the same. Hooray! The notion to do this I think really got started in Montreal in 1976, but it lost money that took a long time to recoup. The "make money from the Olympics" came roaring back in Atlanta in 1996, however, this was done during a time when Atlanta was undergoing a phase of renewal, and the US economy was doing extremely well. So it made sense for Atlanta. But it bankrupted Athens, never led to much in Salt Lake City, which claimed a modest profit. It didn't give Rio or London the boosts they expected.

What I do like is that there are unique sports in the Olympics, as well as old, traditional sports. I like seeing sports like Handball, Speed Skating, Nordic Biathlon, Steeplechase. Yes, of course I know these sports already exist, have their own leagues, (or are part of something larger) etc. But most people rarely watch them other than the Olympics. I find all of them exciting, tense, dramatic competition. And each Olympics there seems to be high praise for all of them from general fans. Maybe Curling is one of the best examples. On the surface people think it dull, and scoff at the "athletes" but once you start watching it and realize just how precise of skill it takes, people like it more, and the ratings on TV show that. To me this is what makes the Olympics special. Swimming seems to do well every Olympics. I'm not including Gymnastics or Figure Skating, as they have now hit real success on their own, with their own tours.

I'm just not sure Flag Football fits into this mindset. We already have great football. It's called the NFL. But having NFL players be involved though would make it worse. How? Because we don't need that. The sport doesn't need it. And the NFL and their players don't either. Adding sports like Baseball, Golf, Tennis to the Olympics, and having professional athletes show up like they would almost any other league to me are dull, an abomination, and a greedy attempt to get more fans to pay attention (and pay money).

To be clear, I thought the Pro Bowl's flag football games were very exciting, far more than I ever thought they would be, and that's the one place I think the NFL players should play it.

 

[movingtarget]

Haven't watched the Olympics for years except for the Men's Road Race sometimes. But I loved watching it in the East v West days in the 60's to 80's before corporate sponsorship took over. Then you had ridiculous situations with half finished Olympic Villages and incomplete hotels. Corruption became rife as did doping which was probably always there in some way but culminated in the famous 100 metre sprint race in the 80's where 7 of the 8 runners in the race won by Ben Johnson later failed dope tests.East German athletes sometimes handed their medals back for feeling guilty about their wins and entire sports programs were basically dope factories while other countries were not even testing their athletes.

The Athens stadium at the last Olympics in Greece became a weed strewn white elephant after the Olympics while the Olympic villages often had substandard accommodation for the athletes as it was often one of the last things built and the money had gone..........somewhere. At least London and Sydney were smart enough to multi purpose some of their arenas but even that wasn't always a success..Unfinished buildings in the Barcelona Olympics were turned into student dormitories and cheap hotels. The amount of wastage generally involved was appalling on redundant facilities and shoddy building. Nowadays most countries don't want the Olympics due to to the ever escalating costs for a two week event. The Commonwealth Games is similar and Victoria in Australia was supposed to host the next event and has pulled out angering many in the sports world and they are scrambling to find a replacement city or cities to host it while the money involved was ridiculous with a supposed blowout of billions.

The Olympics probably peaked when it was a fiercely international competitive amateur event. As soon as the doors opened to professionals and sport in general became more corporate, the future became uncertain and interest for many sports purists waned. When Coca Cola became the sponsor for the LA Olympics in 1984 that was the end of the old style Olympics almost at the same time that world politics changed with the fall of Communism which came soon after. The Olympics then became about individual performance only instead of nations competing against each other. For a while there, winning a Gold medal became lucrative and life changing but with the drop in interest in the Olympics now, that has reversed somewhat. TV ratings have also declined over the years. Times have changed. Australia's Matilda's Women's soccer team's World Cup semi final game smashed the TV ratings in Australia last year, and broke records for sports viewing in general which would have been unheard of a few years ago.

I agree that the Winter Olympics does a better job with keeping the traditions alive and the Winter Olympics seems to retain the spirit of competitiveness better with many fringe sports still with a loyal audience. Compared to the IOC basket case, the NFL is doing just fine especially at the management level and the same could be said of FIFA compared to the NFL.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Great post. Agree with all you wrote.

Sobering link to all the abandoned Olympic sites globally. Sarajevo is the hardest for me to look at.

Before I was born my parents went to see a few events in the 1960 Winter games in Squaw Valley, as they were living within a few hours drive at the time, and it wasn't expensive to do for a young couple. I don't recall them having any great stories, only that it was a very fun, positive place to be, witness, and be part of in a sense. You watch clips from those days, or read about those games, and it seems like another planet compared to today.

I am as critical of Roger Goodell as anyone, but when you compare him to many of the other commissioners in other sports leagues...

 

[jmdirt]

Man, you guys took it WAY out!

 

[Nomad]

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/one-nfl-team-reportedly-turning-on-head-coach-raiders-josh-mcdaniels#:~:text=The%20Las%20Vegas%20Raiders'%20locker,to%20team%20insider%20Mitchell%20Renz.

Who would have thought. Lol

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

One of the first valid, detailed criticisms of what's going wrong there. I think the "same plays 20 years ago" is probably most valid. What was genius back in 2003 with Tom Brady, is predictable now. Warren Sapp basically said the same thing in a quick interview. Another perspective may be this: The Raiders are running a variant of the West Coast offense. Lots of timing patterns, lots of crossing routes and plays designed to flood zones. But even coaches who grew up on that have moved away from it in sometimes dramatic ways, and/or changed enough to fit their players.

The negative thing sounds a lot like Belicheck. Tom Landry and Chuck Noll supposedly coached like that. This probably works when your team is winning, and you're trying to perfect things. But it does nothing when everyone is already feeling beaten down from losing.

Take a look at Pete Carroll, Doug Pederson or Dan Campbell if you want an example of the opposite. Heck, look at Raider great Tom Flores if you want to see the opposite.

 

[movingtarget]

Purdy showed signs of concussion on the plane ride home and is in the protocol. He took one certain hit to the head on an attempted QB sneak. So the 49ers fans are getting jittery about Darnold playing against the Bengals. Something tells me that Shanahan might go heavy on the run this week.............but mainly because the Bengals run defense hasn't been good so far but neither had the Vikings ! If the 49ers lose and fall to 5-3 it still puts them in a better position at the same point than the last two seasons going into their bye week but their schedule then hits it's toughest stretch. Why the NFL decided to give some teams two Thursday night games is anyone's guess ! They will hope to have Trent Williams back this week but Deebo won't be back until after the bye. Obviously they will hope to generate some pass rush against Burrow and they haven't had it for the past two games and have struggled to get sacks all season except for the Steelers game in week one. Their expensive D line and their D/C Wilks have to do better.

 

[SHAD0W93]

One of the first valid, detailed criticisms of what's going wrong there. I think the "same plays 20 years ago" is probably most valid. What was genius back in 2003 with Tom Brady, is predictable now. Warren Sapp basically said the same thing in a quick interview. Another perspective may be this: The Raiders are running a variant of the West Coast offense. Lots of timing patterns, lots of crossing routes and plays designed to flood zones. But even coaches who grew up on that have moved away from it in sometimes dramatic ways, and/or changed enough to fit their players.

The negative thing sounds a lot like Belicheck. Tom Landry and Chuck Noll supposedly coached like that. This probably works when your team is winning, and you're trying to perfect things. But it does nothing when everyone is already feeling beaten down from losing.

Take a look at Pete Carroll, Doug Pederson or Dan Campbell if you want an example of the opposite. Heck, look at Raider great Tom Flores if you want to see the opposite.

It’s an old system and they don’t have any skill players that can threaten a defense is a big reason as well. It’s harder to win and have consistent long sustained drives as a team with average players. There’s no one that a defense would feel threatened by. There’s no Brady to systematically pick your defense apart no matter the receivers, Moss to fly by you, Gronk or for a short time Hernandez bullying you on pass and run downs, the slot receivers (Welker, Edelman, and Amendola) escaping with their route running, or a good to great oline and run game.

Patriots just have an average team with an old system that everyone is used to playing against now.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Well, the Raiders have Davonte Adams, who is one of the top receivers in the NFL. But I doubt many defenses fear the rest of their offense. Jacobs, who last year led the league in rushing, has dropped off a step.

Curious to see which Buffalo team shows up. And if Tampa is as good as their first three games.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Well, the Raiders have Davonte Adams, who is one of the top receivers in the NFL. But I doubt many defenses fear the rest of their offense. Jacobs, who last year led the league in rushing, has dropped off a step.

Curious to see which Buffalo team shows up. And if Tampa is as good as their first three games.

What stinks for Adams is he’s far and away the best player so if you take him out of the game there’s not much else that can beat the opposing defense. Then add in poor qb play. Imagine Adams with Mahomes, they’d be back to the old Chiefs (which last week offense looked in sync for the whole game the first time this year).

Bills started good 10-0 and now are looking like they are having a crisis at 10-10. Bills can beat anyone in any night but can also be beat, and they look like they’re a game away from completely imploding. But the game is still young with Bills 17-10. On another topic I miss being able to watch the Bucs games with Brady gone in order to see Evans and Godwin. Wasn’t a fan before Brady went to the team but definitely rooting for them post Brady.

 

[jmdirt]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8CFt5FBAVY

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

A lot of fight in the Bucs. Even though they lost this game showed why it matters to fight to the last second. But Buffalo looked quite efficient once they got going.

Is Von Miller done? Is he just not really healed from his torn ACL? He's just nowhere near the player he was even early last year before his injury.

What stinks for Adams is he’s far and away the best player so if you take him out of the game there’s not much else that can beat the opposing defense. Then add in poor qb play.

But even Adams played bad last week. Dropped a TD pass in his hands. On another throw that was short he didn't hustle back and it turned into pick-6. He may just be done with the team, thought he was going to a team on the rise, he could go play with his college buddy Carr. Not that they did that much. Also remember last year there was some flirting between the Raiders and Rodgers. Maybe he was expecting them to sign him. Raiders are saying they are not accepting trade offers for him, but I call BS on that. I'm not saying they are actively seeking to move him (they are with Hunter Renfro), but if someone called with the right deal, I'm sure they would not blink to let him go. Raiders are in a transition of new/old players. It may not be a rebuild, but it's a re-tooling for sure. I posted about Garappolo before, how he's a bridge QB, that's it. He may win some games, but considering his injuries, he's in the twilight of his career, even if few people are saying it.

 

[movingtarget]

Bills got it done. Pretty good win. Solid game by Allen.

 

[Nomad]

Purdy showed signs of concussion on the plane ride home and is in the protocol. He took one certain hit to the head on an attempted QB sneak. So the 49ers fans are getting jittery about Darnold playing against the Bengals.

Another concussion to a starting QB? WTH is going on out there? When in the game did he QB sneak & supposedly sustain the hit to the head? I thought these new "state of the art" helmets were supposed to drop the both the rate & severity of concussions?

And I would be jittery too with Darnold. Remember he has a tendency of seeing "ghosts" out there & making bad decisions. Lol

 

[movingtarget]

Another concussion to a starting QB? WTH is going on out there? When in the game did he QB sneak & supposedly sustain the hit to the head? I thought these new "state of the art" helmets were supposed to drop the both the rate & severity of concussions?

And I would be jittery too with Darnold. Remember he has a tendency of seeing "ghosts" out there & making bad decisions. Lol

With the new concussion protocols it seems that most players if not all usually miss the next game now. Dunno what to make of Darnold as haven't seen much of him since last season. He was okay in the preseason but so were many others that are now struggling. The sneak was with 6 minutes to go in the game and before both of the picks interestingly.. Latest news is that Purdy has made progress and could play. But it sounds like Trent Williams might be out again although he often misses practice and still plays.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Injuries? We're not even halfway through the season, and here's that ESPN triage list. It's grown, a lot, with an alarming amount of players on IR. Ugly. This may sound outlandish, but we could get to the playoffs and have a team get in (or just miss out) with only half their original 22 starting players. To be clear here, I don't mean a team that is so banged up they finish 5-12, I mean a team who played well enough all year, but through attrition of constant injuries finishes the season looking like a MASH clinic. This would completely warp playoff expectations.

Thoughts on most of Sunday's games.

HOU@CAR - CJ Stroud vs. Bryce Young. We already know who's better. Team, and player (so far for sure, maybe forever).
LAR@DAL - This is the type of game Dallas could win by 20, or find an ugly way to lose. The Rams aren't a real good team, but they can surprise you, and will be a thorn in teams side until the season ends.
MIN@GB - If Vikings win they go to 4-4. After looking dead a few weeks ago. Favorable schedule coming up for them too.
NO@IND - Curious how the Saints and Carr rebound after that ugly loss. Colts played spirited last week, fought to the last second, and I like their chances at home here.
NE@MIA - Does anyone think the Pats can stop the Fins the way they stopped the Bills (or the Eagles stopped the Fins)? That's what has to happen. But if they get behind by double digits, they're likely toast.
JAX@PIT - I think the Steelers recent run of wins hits a road block here. I'm curious if their D, and home advantage can slow the Jagwires offense the way KC did. But I don't see the Steeler offense producing much.
CLE@SEA - Watson still out, not that it matters (maybe he just doesn't want to play in Cleveland anymore?). I see a tough, fairly low scoring affair. Seattle has to find a way to run the ball just enough.
KC@DEN - I fully expect the Chiefs to win. But this is the kind of game a top team runs a risk of sleeping on. No one thinks Denver is a great team, but they are improving every week. At home, against a key rival. Any given Sunday...
CIN@SF - The real Bengals have come to life. Deebo still out for SF. I'd be concerned if I were 49er fans, they could lose their 3rd game in a row. Little faith in Darnold. He's played okay as a game manager in garbage time. SF gets a bye after this, then several tough games through Christmas.
CHI@LAC - Mack and the Charger defense caused hell for the last rookie QB they faced. Let's see how Bagent does in this game for the Bears.

LVR@DET - I imagine the Lions focus will return after laying an egg in Baltimore. The only way the Raiders win this is if their D continues to overperform, Jimmy G plays better than he has all year, and the Raiders offense somehow finally puts points up on the board.

 

[movingtarget]

Don't see the Patriots winning but I gave them no hope last week either. Still it's hard to see this Patriots team getting back to back wins at the moment. Miami should be too hot, no pun intended.

I'm smelling upset with the Rams over the Cowboys. I also think McVay is a much better offense coach than McCarthy and now teams have to deal with Kupp and Nacua while Stafford hasn't been playing too bad so far. The Rams screen game worked well against the 49ers and that was without Kupp.

Jags have a QB who is wounded but I still think they win.

As much as I would like Jimmy G to get the Vegas offense back on track, they are probably meeting the Lions at the wrong time but Vegas need a better run game and need to put up more points than they have been doing to have a chance.

Colts and Saints should be a good contest. Colts in a close one.

Bengals and 49ers could be the most entertaining game of the week. Both teams badly need the win. The 49ers won't want to go three losses in a row going into their bye week and their defense has looked out of sorts since the Cowboy game. It seems that Purdy is playing but Trent Williams probably won't. The Bengals need the win and have no excuses coming off their bye. Will the Bengals offense get back on track or will the 49ers home win record continue, with their defense getting back on form ? 49ers in a close one.

Seattle and the Browns is another interesting match up. Probably Seattle in a tight game.