American Football

[kieran_vale]

I’m sure I had the Dolphins as a playoff team in my preseason prediction so that’s looking awful right about now. Hard to gauge from RedZone but Tua seems too fixed on the first read rather than going through his progressions.

Sign me up for the Dan Campbell fanboy club. Love that he wears his heart on his sleeve, goes ballsy with the playcalling but most of all because I think he’s Bill Cowher’s illegitimate son.

Yeah I think that’s accurate on Tua. He’s got some decent weapons such as Gesicki and Waddle. It’s their D that would concern me more and I went into this season thinking they were elite at that, just not panned out. On one of the Falcons TD’s Xavien Howard just flat out quit on the play and it’s not the first time have seen him do that.

This Bears @ Buccs game is finished as a contest already. Unless they want to completely break Fields am begging them to get him an O-Line. Combine that with the way he seems to struggle to identify the blitz and an inept coach it’s a deadly combo for a young QB.

 

[kieran_vale]

Gutted for Dan Campbell

Will say this though, that team of his are running through brick walls, just not quite got the talent level right now. Right in that game all through against my Super Bowl pick.

 

[kieran_vale]

Not going to lie, our fifty burger on the J-E-T-S is looking better by the minute. Nice game from Mike White.

 

[pride_of_notts]

A Jeckyl and Hyde performance on the Offense complete ass in the first half good in the Second still don't trust our run game one bit as it tends to just go for negative plays.

 

[kieran_vale]

What a huge win in LA for the Pats. The D did a number on Herbert in confusing him. Offensively we ran the ball fantastically well albeit against a team who are not good at defending it.

Up to .500 anyway with another road game in Carolina to come. Really pleased with that.

 

[pride_of_notts]

It's about what you expect from Belichick the Defense has been really good in keeping the scoring low that they don't have to ask to much of Jones

But that Brady pick 6 was bad he was fortunate not to be picked off in the play prior.

 

[kieran_vale]

To a degree that’s right. Will say when we have asked Mac to air it out his arm is a lot better than people think it is. There was an absolute dime he landed in Agholors hands on our first drive. One for the old guard today against the new contenders in the AFC with us and the Steelers seeing off the Chargers and Browns respectively.

I’ve only seen bits and bobs of the other games but looks like a horror show from Brady in general with some of the other turnovers. Saints are a strange team as never know quite which one will show up but any Payton coached team needs respect.

 

[Aberstone]

What a huge win in LA for the Pats. The D did a number on Herbert in confusing him. Offensively we ran the ball fantastically well albeit against a team who are not good at defending it.

Up to .500 anyway with another road game in Carolina to come. Really pleased with that.

Excellent gameplan from Josh McDaniels from what I could see on RedZone last night. Formation setups and running on 3rd and mid/long, totally confusing the Chargers and their defensive scheme. Plenty to be positive about as a Pats fan having given the Bucs and Cowboys runs for their money too.

As a wider point on the NFL, the officiating has definitely got worse this year compared to previous seasons. The bogus Mike Hilton unnecessary roughness call handed the Jets that win yesterday, I mean yeah it's funny because it's the Bengals but they likely get the ball back with time to tie it up.

I'm hoping yesterday isn't false hope for the Steelers - now above .500 for the first time since Week 1 with home games against Chicago and Detroit coming up.

 

[Craig]

W

 

[kieran_vale]

Anyone fancy trading for Henry Ruggs in fantasy…..

How idiotic though, pretty much just thrown his career away for this.

 

[pride_of_notts]

He was starting to look good he was one of Wide receivers I was really high on in 2020 before we traded for Diggs but his career looks done now it will take a blinder from his attorney to make him avoid significant jail time.

 

[kieran_vale]

He was starting to look good he was one of Wide receivers I was really high on in 2020 before we traded for Diggs but his career looks done now it will take a blinder from his attorney to make him avoid significant jail time.

Think he was the first receiver off the board from memory. Always thought he was a bit over-drafted compared to Jeudy and Lamb who were the other big ones pre-draft. As it happens Jefferson has been by far the biggest success of those in the first round so just shows how inexact a science it is.

Just an incredibly foolish thing to do, hard to have any sympathy for him at all. Has thrown away a promising career as even if he gets say a moderate sentence the NFL will go full blown protect the shield mode and just blackball him.

 

[pride_of_notts]

Jefferson had a crazy rookie year not at the same pace in year 2 think Lamb has been better this year though.

On Ruggs from whats been said he is denying he was dui and they are waiting on blood tests but even if he gets the charges downgraded I think there is jail time and I can see the NFL banning him but then I don't imagine many teams will want to touch him.

 

[pride_of_notts]

Ruggs got released today and the case is looking worse and worse 150+mph twice over the drink drive limit and there is a weapon charge as well looking really bad for him and his lawyer will need a hof performance to keep him out of a big sentence.

 

[kieran_vale]

It’s a really terrible look. Could tell it was going to be bad with how quick the Raiders cut him after. Just on the face of it he’ll be lucky if he gets less than 5 years I would say.

Looks like the Browns as well might end up having to waive OBJ. Hasn’t clicked between him and Baker at all but even so at this point with his injury history I suspect though he’s only 28 his best days might be behind him already.

The only bigger mess than the Browns and OBJ is the Texans and Fins. Two completely dysfunctional franchises trying to cut a deal on Watson who would have thought it would go so badly wrong. Texans are a dumpster fire anyway but from the Fins it takes a special level of incompetence to now have the guy you drafted fifth overall last season playing knowing full well his team don’t want him. I’m not a massive Tua guy but he deserves a lot better than this.

 

[pride_of_notts]

Not really that convinced Beckham is finished I think landing spot will be key here the best thing would be for him to clear waivers and hand pick his team the Browns is just a bad fit for his skills so it would be interesting to see him go to a team with an Elite QB I could see him doing really well on the Chiefs Offense as they are desperately in need of a No2 receiver

On the Fish yeah they are majorly dysfunctional really with the talent they have they should be challenging much more strongly instead of being bottom Also the Rodgers situation looks interesting claiming to be vaxxed only it turns out with Quack medicine.

 

[kieran_vale]

I could see KC being in for him potentially. I think though regardless they need to commit to a run game as they are far too one dimensional with being pass heavy. Doubt Andy Reid would adapt though on that. The team I think will be most interested will be the Saints. Michael Thomas is now done for the season and Payton is the best offensive mind in the game, add in the LSU link that seems a fit for him.

It’s been incredible to see how the Fins have slumped this year. The one win they do have was very lucky as if Harris didn’t fumble we’d have kicked a winning FG against them. Not been any stability there at all. Since Flores has been there for example they have gone through multiple OC’s in that time. Becomes impossible to establish an identity. That’s why I thought we were better placed than them at the start.

 

[Stagat]

Michael Thomas is now done for the season

Wouldn't be surprised if he's done for good in New Orleans tbh. Doesn't seem that enthusiastic about playing for them anymore.

 

[kieran_vale]

Solid performance by the D in Carolina. Mac found it tough sledding against their D but not half as much as Darnold did against ours. The whole seeing ghosts thing again very much to the fore. Big game v Cleveland next Sunday now.

Only one game behind in the division now thanks to the Jags getting one over the Bills. Haven’t seen any of their game but just by the box score can see the Bills offense had a nightmare.

The whole AFC is just crazy this season.

 

[pride_of_notts]

O line is a major issue mainly the interior amount of times Allen had a defender in his grill saying that he made some really poor decisions which we have not seen for a long time.

 

[kieran_vale]

It’s just one of those seasons in the AFC overall. The moment one team looks like they are going to be the frontrunner something like today happens or indeed the Bengals at the Jets previously. Certainly adds a lot of interest to it.

Noticed the Browns went and run up some points today without OBJ. Seems it’s definitely best for parties that move.

 

[kieran_vale]

Don’t want to rush to judgment on a young player at all but Jordan Loves performance is pretty much guaranteeing the Packers will be hanging on to David Icke Aaron Rodgers for a couple more years yet. Not been as horrific as their Special Teams though. Something should be very grateful for as a Pats fan that BB treats that as a vital part of the game so ours is usually sound.

 

[Aberstone]

It's the NFL in general, talk about a week of the underdog.

The only consistent thing was that the Vikings once again choked a 4th quarter lead. Frustrating to watch as Baltimore were there for the taking.

 

[kieran_vale]

It's the NFL in general, talk about a week of the underdog.

The only consistent thing was that the Vikings once again choked a 4th quarter lead. Frustrating to watch as Baltimore were there for the taking.

I don’t find the Ravens convincing defensively especially against the pass which is weird to say as goes against their whole identity really. Vikings really should be doing better than they do generally speaking given the talent on that team. Zimmer is a good coach but it does leave you questioning him a bit.

Raiders now moved on from both their 2020 first rounders after cutting Arnette. Just goes to show you can never really know how these things pan out.

 

[Aberstone]

Finally, finally I’ve seen the Steelers beat Da Bears (only team before tonight not to have lost to the Steelers since 2006). There’s a massive asterisk on that W though as Chicago got hosed on a few egregious calls tonight which would have likely won them the game.

Devin Bush is a total bust, genuinely has no impact in the pass and misses his run gaps all the time. Rough night for Dan Moore too.

 

[kieran_vale]

Only caught up on some of the highlights this morning. What the fuck was going on with that flag on Marsh? The officiating this season has seemed worse than in a long time just in general. The NFL really don’t help themselves.

Fair play to Pittsburgh though, I thought like us when they had that slump it was looking pretty dicey for them but such is how things are playing out now have to think as with us in the AFCE it’s on for them to win the north.

 

[kieran_vale]

The AFC clusterfuck continued last night with the Fins beating the Ravens. Fins did a nice job in D

I don’t care that he never reported as an eligible receiver give the big man the TD.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1459007454340132864

 

[kieran_vale]

Think that goes down as our greatest performance since 2019 against a really good Cleveland team. Going 45 points unanswered after we gave up a TD on the opening drive is pleasing. Offensively Mac was dealing again, his TD throw to Bourne was as good as anything will see today. Also Stevenson had a breakout game. Successful day for the Pats 2021 draft class.

 

[pride_of_notts]

Much better from us as well Our Offensive line looked so much better with Brown back in at right tackle and Williams kicked inside also it was nice to see us being more creative with our run game and incorporating jet sweeps

 

[Stagat]

Didn't see much of any games coz was watching Redzone but feels nice to score 45 points after a few bad weeks recently. Easy to say the Jets were a good team to be playing right now but could have said that about the Jags last week too and look happened there.

Not a fan of how well the Patriots and Mac are doing right now though kieran_vale ! You were meant to be crap for a good four or five years at least, not just last year! TBF to Mac though he's looking the best of the rookie QBs so far ain't he, which is something nobody would have predicted surely.