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NFL 2024

 
 
 
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hurtinbuckaroo

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Major League football is back. Well, so is Minor League, aka "College" football. Everyone is picking the Chiefs to three-peat, but they're being careful, because the term "three-peat" is trademarked. KC managed to win their first game because a Baltimore player's shoe was 1/2 inch too long.

DeSean Watson continues to give less effort per dollar earned than anyone this side of Donald Trump. Tom Brady has taken his magnetic personality to the broadcast booth, where he is now the #1 sleep aid prescribed by doctors. Bill Belichick is also no longer on the field, but since no one wants to hear from that mofo again, he is not in the broadcast booth. All the rookie QBs look like shit, because they play for shit teams, because shit teams get to pick first in the draft. The top teams appear to be the usual suspects from last year, with no one making much of a move. Pittsburgh has two starting quarterbacks, which means they have none. The Saints had the earliest bye week on record, beating the Panthers.

I signed up for a "survivor" pool (no money involved), where you pick one team each week to win outright, i.e. not against a point spread. If your team wins, you stay alive. The catch is that you can't pick the same team more than once. Strategy can get pretty interesting, and attrition can be dramatic. We lost nearly 2/3 of the participants yesterday when the Bengals who were by far the most popular pick, lost to the Belichick-less Patriots. If the Bills hadn't pulled their game out of the fire, it would have been more than 3/4.
 
I liked running back Saquon Barkley for being the only player on the NY Giants who really did well. I was so happy when the Philadelphia Eagles signed him, and I never had any doubts that he would absosmurfinlutely shine on the field.

I love being right, especially about sportsball.

Saquon Barkley left his teammates in awe​

The Eagles signed running back Saquon Barkley to a three-year, $37.7 million contract in free agency, and it didn't take long for the star to show his worth.

After the game, the Eagles expressed their excitement and awe about their new teammate's ability.

“Oh, yeah,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. “That’s 235 pounds and runs like a 4.3 [40-yard dash] so he’s a very gifted individual. He had just one of those freak show catches early and he’s a very dynamic player.”

Barkley opened up Philadelphia's scoring with an 18-yard touchdown catch on a wheel route, then added two more scores on the ground throughout the remainder of the game. He finished with 26 total touches for 132 yards from scrimmage to go along with his three touchdowns. He carried the ball 24 times for 109 rushing yards and added two catches for 23 yards.

“I know he's a great player,” Hurts said. “He had a hell of a game tonight. It's exciting to watch him play. I'm happy that he's on our side. Just going to keep pressing forward. But what a debut for him.”

“It’s unbelievable,” rookie running back Will Shipley said. “I sit here just smiling because of how special he is. I’ve seen him do it throughout camp and OTAs and all that good stuff but for him to go out there and see it in person. He shined tonight. I was really happy for him. He works his butt off so nobody deserves it more.”

It was only the second time Barkley has notched a three-touchdown game, but there may be more to come.

During his time with the New York Giants, Barkley was forced to rush behind one of the worst run-blocking offensive lines in the league. In Philadelphia, he'll have one of the best offensive lines in front of him. With better protection in front of him, Barkley was able to show patience behind the line of scrimmage and let his blocks develop before finding a hole to explode through.
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From: https://fansided.com/posts/eagles-r...nni-regret-saquon-barkley-praise-01j79mkr07p5

Now, as to Jalen Hurts being intercepted, I'll chalk it up to the travel and the jitters. A lot was resting on his shoulders, and with Jason Kelce retired, things were definitely different. I hope to see Hurts do better, so we can call this a fluke.

Go Birds.
 
Patriots won a game who looked a lot more like the Pats of old than the Pats of last year. Mentally focused, played ever down to the whistle, made their luck happen, almost no penalties. Bengals should have won, but the Patriots focus on the field was the difference.

Browns, OMG... what a train wreck that team is. People want to put it all on Watson, but if you let your QB get hit 17 times, you commit 15 or so penalties, you probably aren't coming out on the winning side of the game. The Browns defense was awesome early on, but then the Cowboys started clicking and Stefanski is anything, it is unable to adjust as the game moves on.
 
The inevitable has finally happened, as Tua Tagovailoa sustained another concussion in Thursday’s game against the Bills. Even though everyone with any sense knew he’d been rolling the dice every week , the Dolphins still signed him to a mega contract two months ago. I hope he retires; I’ve been hoping for that for more than a year.

Ironically, he sustained the injury by ramming his head into the chest of the Bills’ Damar Hamlin, whose heart stopped last year when he took a similar blow. Hamlin was not injured.
 
Ohh I didn't see the game, but I saw Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco talk about Tua and his concussion last night on Nightcap. I knew Tua was iffy, but that hit was brutal, omg, he went stiff!

They seemed to feel that Tua needs to retire now while he still knows his name. But, that contract, ohhh jeez.
 
The hit wasn't even that extreme. He ran into a guy who weighs about 20 pounds less than he does, bent his neck sideways, and he was down for the count.

He's already made $90 million, enough to live really well for ten lifetimes, assuming he hasn't been stupid with it. I don't think the money will bring him back, but the "this is what I was born to do" mindset might.
 
Got the hit... the article title implies he was hit, not that he did the hitting. What a reckless maneuver by him! Down three scores with four minutes left and you do that, after you manage the yards to get a first down?!

QBs can get pretty stupid and forget their place on the gridiron.
 
Patriots playing well against the Seahawks! But very late in the first half, down 14-13, ball on their side of the field, a minute plus remaining, they throw three straight downs. ??? I was confused. Run the ball. If nothing happens, the clock is dead, you are down one point at halftime. Instead, they give the ball back and the Seahawks get a field goal 17-13. That field goal was crucial as it helped lead to the OT. Now it is possible the Seahawks manage a TD instead if down by 6, but it seemed like poor game management at the end of the first half.

Patriots have weaknesses, they are getting exploited. When defenses figure out how to stop the run,, it could get ugly, as Brissett is not looking great as a primary thrower. In fact, the Patriots stopped running the ball and they stopped moving up the field. They switched back and all was decent again.

What confuses me is Charbonnet had only 38 yds of rushing, but it felt like a lot more than that. They had trouble stopping him, but apparently my memory is malfunctioning there.

The Patriots managed to continue to maintain discipline, which generally kept them in the game again. Seahawks didn't lose the ball like the Bengals did, and not because the Patriots weren't trying to rip it away. That'd be the main difference I think with the outcome. Glad to see the Patriots be competitive in two games.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Patriots playing well against the Seahawks! But very late in the first half, down 14-13, ball on their side of the field, a minute plus remaining, they throw three straight downs. ??? I was confused. Run the ball. If nothing happens, the clock is dead, you are down one point at halftime. Instead, they give the ball back and the Seahawks get a field goal 17-13. That field goal was crucial as it helped lead to the OT. Now it is possible the Seahawks manage a TD instead if down by 6, but it seemed like poor game management at the end of the first half.

Patriots have weaknesses, they are getting exploited. When defenses figure out how to stop the run,, it could get ugly, as Brissett is not looking great as a primary thrower. In fact, the Patriots stopped running the ball and they stopped moving up the field. They switched back and all was decent again.

What confuses me is Charbonnet had only 38 yds of rushing, but it felt like a lot more than that. They had trouble stopping him, but apparently my memory is malfunctioning there.

The Patriots managed to continue to maintain discipline, which generally kept them in the game again. Seahawks didn't lose the ball like the Bengals did, and not because the Patriots weren't trying to rip it away. That'd be the main difference I think with the outcome. Glad to see the Patriots be competitive in two games.
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This is really making Bill look like he rode Brady's shirttails, as many people have said. I gave him more credit as coach, though as a GM he was exquisitely bad at drafting.
 
Agree and disagree. As a drafter of offensive talent, he sucked. One of the worst ever. But he could draft defense (which makes sense). As a head coach, it wasn't just Brady.

One of the deep dark secrets about the Patriots is they weren't that good, at least on paper. Where Belichick shined was piecing together talent and getting the right things out of them. The Patriots suffered a great number of injuries and were able to work around them. Even were above 0.500 the year the Patriots lost Brady to an injury.

The Patriots also went through two phases. Young Brady (normal) and Older Brady (throw a bazillion passes quickly to help ensure Brady isn't hit). They needed to adapt to ensure Brady didn't get hurt. They won Super Bowls doing both. Finally, the defense! The Patriots defense was awesome in large part the greatest contributor to Patriots success and near success, with the exception Super Bowl LII or whatever against the Eagles.

Wanna talk Belichick, talk Super Bowl XXXVI. The Rams were by far the better team on paper, and effectively on the field. Belichick designed a game plan that worked to the Patriots' strengths. The Patriots had a mediocre but reliable running game that helped chew time off the clock, gain third and shorts and convert to a first down. Meanwhile the defense was close to committing felonies on the field with how hard they were hitting the Rams players, forcing the Rams to slog uncomfortably through the game. That win was a combination of gameplay and execution of gameplay. Brady's genius would be not getting vertigo from the pressure. Bledsoe might have helped there.

The next couple of Super Bowls would be the overachieving Patriots. It wouldn't be until Randy Moss where the Patriots went from babyface to heel in the eyes of the fans, and they were becoming the favorite to win. Brady might have been a bigger contributor the next decade, but I really think half of their success was the defense, game plan, and field execution / discipline. Brady was a huge part of it, but I think Belichick was the foundation.
 
"Where Belichick shined was piecing together talent and getting the right things out of them."

Agree 100%, which is why the people who downgrade his coaching puzzle me. Not only did he put the pieces together, his teams were always the smartest team on the field.
 
That is right, Pat Riley trademarked the term three peat.

Too much football at the same time. Too much hype.

Comet the scifi channel goes to college ball on Saturdays.
 
Up is down, down is up. Nothing makes sense. My survivor pool is dead; we've all been eliminated. Not a single person could make it through three weeks of this bloodbath picking just one team to win outright. The Panthers, who looked barely good enough to make the college football playoffs, put up 36 points and won easily. Denver; the Giants; the Rams; freaking Washington. It's truly bizarre.
 
hurtinbuckaroo said:
Up is down, down is up. Nothing makes sense. My survivor pool is dead; we've all been eliminated. Not a single person could make it through three weeks of this bloodbath picking just one team to win outright. The Panthers, who looked barely good enough to make the college football playoffs, put up 36 points and won easily. Denver; the Giants; the Rams; freaking Washington. It's truly bizarre.
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Parity. It is system verses system, not talent verses talent.

What I can't figure out is how the Patriots forgot how to tackle against the Jets. It was one of the only things that you could depend on the team to do and they couldn't have gotten tackle in a bait shop last Thursday.
 
Jets suck, even with A-A-Ron Rodgers.

Joe Flacco is still elite.

Washington has a really good QB.

Derrick Henry is an alien.

Patrick Mahomes tried to make a tackle and destroyed his best WR’s knee.

And Eagles fans in my neighborhood are turning from obnoxious to pathetic. Awesome!
 
Man, the Patriots were something else on Sunday. The passing game looked passable for a change, however, if the pass play wasn't there right away, it wasn't going to happen. Where as, when on 3rd and whatever, the Patriots secondary had the coverage, the 49'er receivers made something happen. I will say they Patriots regained the ability to tackle again, which they completely forgot about last week.

The discipline of holding onto the ball in the first couple of games wasn't to be seen this week. An early INT (pick 6) and fumble really killed them. Giving up 7 pts (6 pts to the pedants) when on offense is never a good idea. The defense did such a good job of holding the 49'ers to field goals on the first drive and then on the second much shorter drive. Offensive line for the Patriots wasn't good.

On the bright side, the Patriots' new field goal kicker is awesome, setting a franchise record of 63 yards on a kick that'd been good from several more yards back. The Patriots also didn't give up. They kept trying and at times made great progress before *insert something that sucks*. The game wasn't as lop-sided as the 30-13 score indicates, but the Patriots were never going to win a game with that many turnovers.

Jets lose after allowing their opponent 168 yds on offense, which always makes Monday shinier.

And I continue feeling happy for Baker Mayfield. Would Mayfield being playing this well in Cleveland? I doubt it.
 
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Browns fans are wondering why Flacco is coming off the bench for the Colts to beat Pittsburgh, instead of coming off the bench to replace Mr. Happy Ending.
 
Because the Browns paid a fortune's fortune on Watson. It was a bad gamble to start with, as he was coming off a significant injury, and mobile QBs usually have unpredictable expiration dates on them. It was never a good idea, but let's be clear, the Browns offensive line is about as good as the Patriots... and the Patriots weren't looking to go the Super Bowl this year.
 
After last year's playoff debacle, Jerry Jones repeatedly declared that he was "All in" with the Cowboys and determined to take them to the Super Bowl this year. At 2 and 2, they look average at best. At long last the fans are beginning to seriously grumble. However the smart money says that Jerry will die before hiring a real General Manager.
 
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