NFL/NCAAF Thread

[Mye]

Yeah grizzly, no. While one could argue that Nick Foles got lucky (which I did a few times back when people were discussing Philly's potential playoff run), at least he's been able to show glimpses of that. Bradford meanwhile, has been too injured to be productive, and was probably going to be released by the rams anyways. The Rams technically won that, as they turned a dead asset into a QB who has proven he has the ability to be decent. They also got 2 picks, the 2nd rounder probably being high due to philly making all those weird moves.

Also, in what realm aren't Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, and Percy Harvin not in top-10 WR discussion? Sure, they aren't top-5 (with guys like megatron and jordy nelson taking over the top), but to name 10 better WR's than them is pretty impossible.

And Sid, trust me, I'm as confused as you are. Chip Kelly is "supposed" to be an offensive-minded coach, yet he randomly gave up on his best RB and has Sam Bradford (ugh) and Mark Sanchez (ugh) as his QB options for the time being. Unless he's thinking rebuild, which'd be stupid with how weak the division is right now, he's probably trying to push all his cap space into defense hoping his system works with a pretty light offense. That being said, this isn't the college level. If you don't have tons of success within your first few years you usually end up being fired (or you do have a bit of success, then give up on being coach of the Bills to randomly head to jacksonville).

The Frank Gore thing is also kinda self-explanatory as well. He apparently chatted with Lesean Mccoy and Desean Jackson prior to choosing a destination, both guys of course being ousted from Philly and probably still fuming after the whole ordeal.

 

[bobjr]

Erik decker was only good because he had Peyton manning throwing to him, and he makes average receivers look great. Percy Harvin is good when he isn't throwing a fit and fighting teammates. Marshall is good but as with Harvin has a lot of personality problems, which is why he's been traded 3 times now.

 

[Nightlingbolt]

And now we lost Akeem Ayers?! Jesus, the Patriots might as well post a giant ****ing billboard at Gillette Stadium saying "Free touchdowns, no effort required!"

 

[bobjr]

Please, the Patriots haven't even been close to as bad as the 49ers or the Saints so far this Offseason.

 

[Mye]

Agreed. While the patriots did lose revis (who is now gonna finish his career on what is essentially jacksonville from 7 years ago), he was by no means their best player (or even in their top 3, as I'm willing to put their kicker ahead of him purely because of revis' past injury problems). Unless either team somehow improves massively, I have the Saints 1 and Eagles 2 as the biggest losers so far this offseason. New Orleans traded away who is arguably their most valuable player (as unlike breeze, Jimmy Graham has more than 4-5 years left of decent productivity) for things that'll only mildly help them, whereas the Eagles gave up a safe option PLUS PICKS for an injury-prone QB and gave up on a RB whose been pretty good for them to instead sign a different RB to a 5-year deal in what (from what it looks like to me) seems to be them trying to make a statement against Dallas after last year's regular season division shift that saw the eagles blow it horribly in the final five weeks.

Also, bobjr, you're kinda wrong on the 49ers making bad moves this offseason. Aside from Harbaugh leaving (which was kinda out of their control), Frank Gore leaving didn't really change much as he's probably going to decline soon, and the 49ers were already gonna be horrible next season even with him (unless something big happens, I have'm pegged at 6-10 next season).

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I don't think things are looking good for the Ravens right now, we lost a lot of players to free agency. We lost Torrey Smith to the 49ers, Owen Daniels to the Broncos, Phernell McFee to the Bears, and Haloti Ngata to the Lions. At least we still have Justin Forsett though.

 

[bobjr]

Well the 49ers went bad because of their coaching decisions, along with not getting anyone good. Saints are probably the worst at this point, since almost anyone but Brees is probably up for grabs from other teams now.

 

[Mye]

Yeah, the problem with the saints as well is that their division is sooo weak right now, so them being in this weird cap scenario kinda screws them out of what could've been at least 3 (including last year) playoff spots. Unless they get very lucky at the draft, losing graham makes them a 4-12 team in a division which somehow does not have a top-10 QB in it barring Brees. Unless Tampa completely implodes and doesn't improve (which they hopefully should, with Mike Glennon being a pretty underrated gem), this could be a year in which the division has the saints finish last, with Carolina Tampa and Atlanta rounding it out from worst to division winner.

 

[bobjr]

Saints just traded Kenny Stills for a third rounder and a player that was probably going to get cut anyway. Stills is a one trick pony, but one that's nice to have.

 

[Nightlingbolt]

Wish the Patriots could've gotten a wide receiver to make up for our was-paper-but-then-not-but-now-paper-again defense. And we're probably not gonna get a good one in the draft because we pick last.

Actually, how was the Patriots' pass defense compared to their run defense? Because I remember the run being a problem even with Revis and Browner.

 

[Mye]

Pass was 17th, run was 9th. That being said, the Pats didn't face too many run-dependant teams last season, so their stats are a bit skewed.

Also, jets signed cromartie to return their defense back to what it was in 2010 (minus the fact that revis has a ring now, albeit he had to go to boston to do so). For a team that just came off of what was one of their worst seasons in recent memory, they sure are doing a lot of "oakland-ey" anti-rebuild moves. Maybe they think it's their year with the conference getting weaker, and the Patriots' QB possibly joining Florence Henderson for a brady bunch reunion. On the other hand, they could just have a bad GM. Yes, nevermind, I'll go with that.

Oh, and more moves happened:

Cowboys signed darren mcfadden (ugh, not him) to a 2 year deal
Saints signed CJ Spiller to a 1 year deal
Bills signed Percy Harvin (LOL) to a 1 year deal
Rams signed Nick Fairley to a 1 year deal

You can tell it's a bad day in new york football when the jets are trying to be what they were 5 years ago and the bills are going after guys even the jets don't want to keep. Also, just gonna throw this out there now, if the Cowboys do decide to have Darren McFadden be their go-to RB, I do not see them winning the division and do not see them finishing any higher than 20th in rushing (as they got reallly lucky last year with Philly having that epic collapse and a bunch of their not-romo guys having career/team-record years).

 

[bobjr]

Darren McFadden will do what he always does, look impressive in the preseason then tear something in his foot 2 games into the season.

 

[Nightlingbolt]

I think I've come to the realization that Belichick has totally checked out now that he has that fourth ring and is just riding out the rest of his contract (however long that may be).

 

[Mye]

That number is two, and can you really blame him? The guy was on a few crappy teams to start his coaching career, then basically hit the jackpot with Brady and is widely regarded as the greatest coach currently in the NFL right now. Unless he somehow has multiple 0-16 seasons, he'll never be fired (and even if he did, he'd be highly sought after by virtually every team), so just let'm have his fun even if it means we'll never see Brady get number 5.

 

[bobjr]

I don't think the Patriots have made any real bad moves, they do have a lot of draft picks, and I doubt they would have kept Revis at his cost.

 

[Mye]

The problem with the patriots right now is that although they didn't improve, every other team in their division has at least attempted to. The dolphins shipped out a bunch of their useless offensive weapons and brought in suh, who will be causing Brady nightmares (and keeping A-Rod happy in green bay), the Jets retooled their defense which should make them at least somewhat decent, and the Bills have made tons of moves in the offseason in an attempt to give their team some actual offense. Whether these moves will actually pay off, only time will tell (unless you're the jets or the bills, in which case have fun with 4-12 records next year). Still though, seeing all these moves must make you either really fearful, or really happy (as they're essentially doing all of them because of the patriots, and not because they're good for longterm success of their franchises).

 

[Nightlingbolt]

So the Patriots have gotten to the rest of the division? I can accept that.

 

[SlowPokeBroKing]

The problem with the patriots right now is that although they didn't improve, every other team in their division has at least attempted to. The dolphins shipped out a bunch of their useless offensive weapons and brought in suh, who will be causing Brady nightmares (and keeping A-Rod happy in green bay), the Jets retooled their defense which should make them at least somewhat decent, and the Bills have made tons of moves in the offseason in an attempt to give their team some actual offense. Whether these moves will actually pay off, only time will tell (unless you're the jets or the bills, in which case have fun with 4-12 records next year). Still though, seeing all these moves must make you either really fearful, or really happy (as they're essentially doing all of them because of the patriots, and not because they're good for longterm success of their franchises).

Where are you getting that they weren't decent before these acquisitions? The Jets ended up as the 6th ranked defense in the country. Granted, they allowed a lot of points, they still held their ground on being 14th in passing yards allowed (Revis, Cromartie, and Skrine will undoubtedly boost them into a top 10, if not top 5, slot) and 5th in rushing yards allowed. I would say they are pushing to make it better because it was already decent.

 

[Nightlingbolt]

I'm sorry, but until the Jets win games, and until the Bills make at least a wildcard, I refuse to believe anyone in the AFC East has closed the gap between them and the Patriots except for the Dolphins. I'm not saying Ryan Tannehill is Tom Brady, but he hardly deserves to be stuffed in the same class as Geno ****ing Smith. I like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matt Cassel way more, but Fitzpatrick's been benched, and the Vikings got rid of Cassel because they believe Teddy Bridgewater's their guy (whether he is remains to be seen). And I know they (the Dolphins) have Suh now, but if he was really the kind of difference-maker they say he is, then maybe the Patriots wouldn't have curbstomped the Lions last year (though if that was because of an inconsistent Detroit offense, it would explain a fair bit). Bottom line: the Dolphins have a quarterback, the Jets and Bills don't, and that makes all the difference in this division (case in point: Tom Brady).

 

[bobjr]

Tannehill gets better every year, and he has room to improve. He's probably around 9th-10th best as a quarterback, and it's not like Miami can get someone better than him.