NFL 2018

[iTarzan]

Pop Luck had 63 passing attemps. 63!! He had 454 yards and 4 TDs but they can't throw 63 times a game. The Colts had 41 yards rushing. Their leader was Wilkins who had 6 attempts for 18 yards. Why can't the Colts find a decent RB? WHYYYYY!

Mr. Bungle Baba is right when he says Cleveland got hosed. TWICE!

Tonight the Broncos got hosed on a 35 yard drive saving play that the play clock went to zero before the ball was snapped. The refs decide too many games.

Looks like this is the season of the OT game.

For the record I agree with the Colts going for it. I thought when they were on the opening drive of OT when it was 4th and 2 they should have went for it instead of the FG. It was back and forth all game. I knew the Texans would at least get a FG when they got the ball.

Colts are 1-3 but with a little luck they could easily be 4-0. I still have high hopes for a playoff spot.

Heck the Browns could be 4-0. They seem pretty decent to me.

Colts at Patriots on Thursday night. The Patriots are going to get all they can handle in Foxboro. I think the Colts can pull off an upset if the get their LT back and then Clark goes back to RT. If not it might still be a tight game.

 

[Hermanthegerman]

nice screen grab, herman!
the eagles are not off to the start most people thought, but there is still time to get on track
that pic makes the player looks like some kind of robot warrior from the future!

Yes, in the moment I was fascinated by the clouds on his helmet.

 

[MrBungle]

There were definitely some questionable calls made by the refs.... most notably Carr's fumble (recovered by the Browns) that was whistled dead... regardless of that The Browns still could've won if Hue would've went for it on 4th and inches, with a qb sneak... A play is achieved 95% of the time across the NFL..... afterwards Hue Jackson said he didn't even consider going for it.... What a loser....


All these close games are a result of a highly skilled team being lead by a unqualified head coach, who can't manage a football game, even when its the only thing he has to do....


HSSSS VENOM HSSS.... ok I'm over it now

 

[pop_rocks]

i agree, itarzan and feel like too many games were decided by the referees this past weekend (and monday night)
now that im thinking about it, when was the last time you had a premiere back in indy?
do we have to go all the way back to edgrine james?
63 attempts is huge! if there was any doubt about lucks arm i guess he answered that question
but you are right that is way too many attempts and they need to balance the offense out some

while the chiefs came back (with some help from the 12th man in stripes) i think the broncos played a great game
their defense was brilliant and gave a lot of different looks, but mahomes showed he can play outside of the pocket and handle some pressure
i agree with you 100% baba that spanos dosent deserve a winning team
while i am not a fan of rivers he does deserve to play for a better owner and with all the tallent hes had on the field over the years,he should have at least played in a super bowl or two

so what match ups are you guys excited about this weekend?
rams play the seahawks, hopefully it will be a good game but im seeing a big win here for the rams
colts/patriots should be a good high scoring game
raiders/ chargers could be a fun game; plus i cant wait to hear the raiders fans take over stub hub
/during the 9rs game the crowd was very much a san fran crowd

its been a great start to the season so far!

 

[Bababooey]

I'm looking forward to vikings-eagles, Pop, which is a rematch of last year's conference championship game. Also chiefs-jaguars, matching up the league's best offense and defense. Rams-seahawks, we'll see if the hawks can offer any resistance to the best team in their division and probably the league. Packers-lions, maybe the packers can get their offense back on track, and the lions can continue to improve.

Colts-patriots tomorrow should be interesting also, i havent seen luck play outside of highlights.



The nfl is a passing league, Tarzan, and you can have success without running the ball much. Although i do agree that 60+ attempts is a bit much, but that included overtime, and 12 of those pass attempts came in the extra period from my count.

Plus isnt that what reich's offense is all about, the short quick passing attack, so luck doesnt get hit as much?
And didn't Luck's arm look a lot better this game? I think he completed a couple deep passes as well, im not sure...

But if the colts desperately need a run game, what do you think of the colts trading for leveon? He's an elite runner, receiver and pass blocker. Maybe give up a 2nd round pick for him, sign him to a 4 year deal averaging 15M/year with 48M guaranteed (gurley's new deal averages 14.5Myr with 45 guaranteed) and watch the wins pour in. Especially now that the defense is at least above average, even very good when theyre healthy.



I never notice the little details like that, Herman. But it is a very cool picture.



Bungle, is it true that hue didn't give mayfield any reps with the 1st team in training camp? I know he's trying to protect their #1 pick by having tyrod start the season but it held back baker's development and the whole team's success as well.

Maybe Hue will become more aggressive with his calls and turn things around; i think ron rivera was about to be fired by the panthers in 2012, but he started going for 1st downs and TDs instead of settling for field goals and theyve made the playoff's 4 out of 5 years since.

If not, it's probably best, like you said, that the browns get a new head coach. Is there anyone you would like? Maybe jim schwartz, the DC of the eagles and former HC of the lions? Or vic fangio, current DC of the bears? Or Bill lazor, the OC of the bengals?

 

[pop_rocks]

chiefs/jags should be a great game, baba
/could this be a playoff preview in the making?
i cant wait to see how the chiefs match up against the jax defense
min/ phi should be a interesting game too, both teams really need to turn things around and a win here would be a good start
dude! you got my hat spinning now with such hot takes; bell going to ind would turn afc south on its side
he isnt going to come cheap and depending on how he plays out this season, he could get a neg'rep for being of "questionable" character
of course its going to cost a ton of money (most of it guarenteed), but when the man is on he is one of the best all around backs in the league

 

[iTarzan]

I would love Bell on the Colts. The word in Indy though is they are staying young and they think Bell has too many rushing attempts and wear to last much longer, making him a bad trade risk. I would give a 2nd rounder in a heartbeat. Supposedly when the Colts ask they wanted a 1st and more.

The Colts have so many injuries right now I don't see how they have enough for Thursday. These are some of the starters out for the game. Wilson and Moore in the secondary, Doyle TE, WR TY Hilton, RB Mack, DL Ridgeway, LT Castonzo, RT Good and maybe VInatieri. Questionable secondary Gaethers and Hairston, LBs Leonard and Walker. That is 13 out of 22 starters. This is an annual story for the Colts and they got all new trainers and strength and conditioning coach. The Packers are famous for this too.

 

[Bababooey]

Colts mgmt thinks Bell is already too worn and used to justify a big contract? Guess he was right to hold out then.
He's only 27, but he has had 3 straight seasons of heavy usage, both carries and receptions. Any 4 year deal he signs is going to take him to his age 31 season, and as Pop mentioned earlier, RB's decline once they hit 30. Sad to think someone who is 30 is over the hill, but that's the nature of elite athletes...

You were right Pop, colts came in so shorthanded they didnt offer much of a challenge to the patriots at foxboro. Fell behind big and only got it to within 2 scores with a last minute TD. Without their best offensive weapon in Ty and a lot of their starting defense, they just couldnt keep up.
Now that the colts are 1-4, 0-1 in the division (lost to the texans) with 2 games each against the jags and titans (both 3-1 and playing some good defense) remaining, you think there's no chance at a playoff berth for the colts, Tarzan? I always figured it'd take a year or two to restock the talent level and make them contenders again, plus Luck might need a whole year to get his game all the way back to where he used to be. As Nick saban would say, it's a process, and there are no shortcuts.
But with another good draft and free agency, maybe they can get their depth to where they can survive key injuries and still thrive, like the eagles last year losing their pro bowl left tackle (Jason peters) and QB (Wentz) and still winning a title.

I hope Bell gets traded soon, Pop, to someone that will really use him. I have him on one of my teams and didnt pick up conner to back him up, ive been getting by starting the broncos duo of Royce freeman and patrick lindsay but there's no substitute for a true #1, bellcow RB. I heard the steelers want a 2nd round pick plus a 'good player', whatever that means, for him. Of course, maybe it's all just a negotiating ploy, you start your demands off high and work from there. They have to realize that they cant franchise Bell a 3rd straight year and if they lose him to free agency next year they will at most get a 3rd round compensatory pick for him. So maybe they should settle for a 2nd and a bench player, or a 3rd and a rotational guy, instead of trying to hold out for the moon.

 

[Space Toker]

What he said!

What he said!

GO PATS

Things are looking bright now, GO 2018 PATRIOTS!!!!

 

[pop_rocks]

i hear bell is supposed to return around week8; it sounds like a calculated move so that he dosent loose a year of eligibility towards free agency
like you said, baba' i doubt the steelers will tag him a third straight year and he is definitely looking beyond his current situation at this point with hopes of playing for another team
i hope he gets paid, but his age kind of puts a ceiling on his upside
time might not be on his side as you mentioned and while he could easily play another 5-7y, what kind of productivity can you expect from him in those later years
that sucks that he is taking up a roster spot on your team and contributing nothing
a 2nd round pick would be fair compensation for pitt and im confused by what they mean by a "good" player as well
so who do you think would be interested? miami could use some punch on offense or maybe the titans would be a good fit?

 

[Bababooey]

Every year, the patriots start out a bit slow (2-2), people panic and wonder if this is the end of the belichick-brady era, and every year the pats go on a 11-1 or 10-2 win streak, finish with 12 or more wins, and make the conf championship or superbowl. They cant fool me anymore. And unfortunately, with the new rules protecting QB's, Brady may actually play well until he's 45. The only think i see stopping him before that is if he gets sick of belichick's schtick.



Youre right pop (and i was wrong), the steelers can try to franchise tag bell for a 3rd straight year. However, that becomes cost prohibitive, as they would have to pay him 144% of his previous salary. So he was due to make 14M this year, if they tagged him again next year they'd have to pay him more than 20M for 1 year.
The sneaky thing is they could argue he's only going to make 8M this year (if he returns week 8), so they might be able to argue he's only due 144% of that or 12M next year. Im sure the player's union would take legal action to prevent the steelers from doing that, however.


Youre right in that his next long term deal will likely be his only chance for big money, no ones going to over an RB in his 30's a market setting contract. I figure it will be a 4 year deal with all the guaranteed money paid in the first 3 years, so by the time he's 30 the team can release him without much penalty.

There arent a whole lot of teams willing to offer big money to a running back, especially considering how productive rookie RB's are, even ones drafted in the late rounds. But there's a saying that salespeople have, it only takes one buyer to make a deal, right?

Jets and colts have been linked to a possible bell trade, and jaguars texans titans and browns have the cap space to afford him this year. There arent many RB-needy teams in the league, are there? But i guess very few have one as good as Bell, even a team like the bears, with two more than adequate backs in howard and cohen, could use someone like Bell, who can do everything very well...

 

[pop_rocks]

im sure bell will make some big money on his next contract and i bet you are right it will be a front loaded deal
its hard to feel sorry for these guys when they are makings 10's of millions of dollars but i think bell is being underpaid in pitt
/im sure management are high fiving over keeping player costs low
its funny you mentioned chi needing a running back, man
while i guess any team could use a player like bell, i think your combo works well and dosent cost an arm and a leg; if anything, draft high at the RB spot
when it comes to weird diet/work out/health regimens brady is up there man
/he will probably outlive all of us and still be throwing for touchdowns long after we are gone!
me and mrsChicky are making enchilada casserole and tacos and might fry some chicken for game day, plus i have some fresh hash i just made
im looking forward to this weekends games and im ready to spending some quality time on the couch watching football

 

[Bababooey]

Yeah, when youre talking about disputes between star players and owners, it's basically millionaires and billionaires fighting over money, it's hard for us regular joes to feel sympathy for any side.

Even earl thomas, he was getting 8M this last year with the hawks, he held out of camp because he wanted to be traded to a team that would give him a new deal, but he showed up to play cause he didnt want to miss out on his 500K game checks. People are lucky to make that much in 7-10 years, much less one week.
Leveon bell is missing out on 800k game checks, it's hard to



Jordan howard and tarik cohen are a good 1-2 punch at RB, the only issue is that when jordan is in the game the defense knows it's probably a run, and when tarik is in they know it's probably a pass.

Although this year jordan has been catching more passes, and tarik has been running more, so it's not as clear cut an indication as before.



Sounds like a lovely menu you have for today, with the mexican food and the hash. What's on tap to drink? Beer, wine? Those pineapple mojitos?
Raiders-chargers should be interesting, that's an afternoon game for me. At noon i get to watch KC-Jags and lions-packers. I guess youre a bit lucky on the west coast you get football at like 10am, so youre done with football watching by 3pm or so, until the sunday night game.

 

[pop_rocks]

thats a good point that personnell packages can tip off the defense to what the play might be
i cant blame these guys for wanting to maximize their earnings, but like you said, its hard for the average fan to relate
the food was grinding and we ended up adding tostadas at the last minute
man, i almost forgot how much i love those things
next time you decide to make some tacos at home, pick up a small package of tostada shells (or fry your own!)
we already had the lettuce, onion and tomatoe cut up for the tacos, so all we did was open up a few cans of beans and mash them up (i prefer the refried beans in the can, but the mrs would rather do it this way)
man i must have smashed six of those things on my own, light and crunchy but not too heavy
i made a bunch of random vodka drinks and the hash smoked super strong!
so what about those games!
it looked like the seahawks came to play and they were punching holes in the middle of the rams defense
the rams lost their starting receivers early (im suprised that there was no flag on the hit on cooks) but showed they have some depth off the bench and were able to keep the ball moving through the air
goff played well spreading the ball around and gurley got his points but on defense they looked kind of exposed
chargers/raiders; the bolts put up a ton of points against a anemic raider team but it was more like the raiders playing that bad than the chargers playing that good
dont get me wrong, they had good play on both sides of the ball; but oakland isnt the same team it was a couple years ago
the bolts meet up with the browns this weekend and i am going to make time to watch this game for sure; still no word on bosas return but i could see the browns making a good game of it and maybe upsetting the chargers in this one
rams will be playing the broncos
the game in really excited for will be the chiefs/ patriots
chiefs are on the war path, my man!
KC offense is for real and put it to the jag this weekend, but i tihnk the game was more about blake bortles (33/61 with 4int) shakey play and no leonard fournette to get the yards on the ground
mahomes looks like hes for real and continues to play like an all pro
so what did you think of the games, baba?
we are getting close to the half way point and so far this has been a crazy season

 

[Bababooey]

Hmm, tostadas are excellent if done right. Did you use that mexican crumbled cheese, or some sour cream? Any guac or avocados? And they were beans only, or did you throw some meat on em?
Fresh hash and vodka mixed drinks and some excellent food, sounds like you were in flavor town heaven, Pop!


Yeah, im a bit surprised the hawks almost beat the rams, their run game was real strong, i know the rams have injuries in their secondary but i thought the run D was still stout. Didnt help that the rams lost 2 of their 3 starting WRs during the game (Cooks and Kupp). But they had enough depth and overall talent to still come out with a win. That's the thing with this rams team, why theyre so special this year: even losing some of their best players to injury, they're still able to pull out wins against pretty good teams. At this point, i dont see anyone in the nfc that realistically can match up to them, especially with the vikings and eagles still trying to find a groove.

The rams play the chiefs on Nov 20th, might be a battle of unbeatens if both win out till then. And they play at Chicago on Dec 9, so if the bears D is still red hot and trubisky continues to play well, that might be a real good matchup.



Supposedly at one point during the raiders-chargers game, rivers trash talked to the oakland D: "Nice defense, huh?" Then he told them what route he wanted his TE to run. Or maybe he said "Base defense" not sure.

Is that why you dont really care for rivers, Pop? He does seem like a bit of a tool on the field, but maybe he's just really intense when it's game time, mentally he just gets into that killer/douchebag mindset.



The jags got mahomes to throw his first two int's of the year, but the 2nd was a meaningless one in garbage time. One of the td's the chiefs scored was a defensive td off a bortles interception, but yeah, putting up 30 on the jags is impressive no matter how you do it. And bortles has been up and down this year, he looked great against the patriots but the chiefs took him down for a bunch of turnovers, like you said, and coming in the chiefs defense was pretty terrible.
It's good for KC fans that they finally get a homegrown star QB; if he really ends up as an elite QB for the next 12-15 years, you have to figure they'll win at least one superbowl during that time...

 

[pop_rocks]

we picked up a disk of that queso fresco or what ever its called man
that stuff is great crumbled over anything and i would even cut pieces to just eat straight up
/so salty with a mild fresh flavor
we had meat fillings, but i went with just beans and taco toppings for the tostadas
but you know i crumbled a ton of that white cheese over these, brother! plus had a bunch of the chicken and beef tacos
we dident have fresh cut avocado, but we had this aguacatte sauce / like green chillis or something spicy mixed with avocado
but for sure man, we were same dab in the middle of flavor town last weekend and reeking of hash

kc is the best ticket in town right now
they are winning big against everyone they come across and this kid mahomes has totally bought into andy reids system and playing like an all pro
/plus they have so many explosive playmakers around him, this is an offense made to score big points
the rams are winning games against some good teams, but have some soft spots
but even off the bench they are playing that next man up style of football that shows a winning system
there are a bunch of fun rams games coming up and its the rams and the chiefs i want to watch most right now
/vs.no is another great upcoming match for the rams but they will all be fun games

so who would you guys like to see?
it has been a crazy season and it could be anybodys year
we are getting close to the mid way point so lets hear all about about your teams play
/the good, the bad and the ugly!

 

[Bababooey]

That queso fresco is some good stuff, like mexican mozzarella that you can crumble over food as well as melt.

Looks like youll have some good games this weekend, rams at denver and chargers at browns. Denver isnt a good team but they have a potent run game with 2 rookie RB's, and the rams got gashed by the hawks 1-2 punch at RB (carson and davis). The bronco's problem is they throw it 40x with an average at best QB and only run it 20x. They might be better off with a new coach next year, i hear denver fans are not happy with vance joseph.
Chargers-browns will let you have a good look at mayfield, be interesting to see how he performs against that defense.
Im looking forward to bears at miami, of course, as well as chiefs at patriots (possible afc championship preview?) on sunday night. Raiders and hawks play in london on sunday, but unlike previous london games i think this one will be a normal kickoff time (12pm CST, 10am PST) instead of 3 hours earlier in the morning.


Giants laid an egg against the eagles last night. Eli looks done as an effective QB. At 1-5, i think giants fans are looking forward to drafting a QB with a top 3 pick in the 2019 draft (Lock from missouri or herbert from oregon) to pair up with their elite RB and WR (saquon and ODB).
Do you think eli, if he doesnt want to retire, would join couglin next year in Jacksonville, maybe provide more effective QB'ing than bortles? I think he'd have a better O-line there, would probably have more time to throw. But that wont matter if he hit a wall as hard as peyton did in 2015, went from being a top 5 QB to a bottom 5 QB...

 

[pop_rocks]

i think eli is pretty much done as an effective qb
i was never a fan of his , but he played with some good players over the course of his career
he is having trouble with pretty much every aspect of his game and should have been benched last season (but we saw how that went last season when the public outcry was just too much)
in the long run would the giants have been better off taking one of the superstar potential qbs in this years draft, probably not; barkley is a feature back witha whole world of potential
thats a good question about if eli dosent want to retire,baba
i dont know if he is willing to take the pay cut he deserves or on the flip side, would a team be willing to pay him the big money he will most likely ask for to play as a starter?
even with a good line, i dont think he has much left in the tank and hes kind of limited in what he has to offer
i think jax would be better off finding a younger player to replace bortles
im excited for the chargers/ browns game
it will be a test for maybfield with the chargers pash rush and secondary, but i think they have a chance
rams will need to bring their A game against the broncos, their defense is still pretty good plus like you said, they were exposed against the run last week
chiefs/patriots is going to be the game of the week in my book and i hope mahomes has can continue his all pro play
i kind of wish that the london game was super early like it used to be, its kind of fun ot wake and bake to football,plus there is already a 10a game here on the west coast (lac/cle)

this sunday we are planning to make a big pot of chili! for the game time food
in addition to just a big old bowl with crackers im going to make some chili dogs and the mrs wants to make her twice baked potatoes
its getting to that time of year when we will start making stews and soups to enjoy and im looking forward to the cool weather
it rained super hard last night and im ready for a cozy weekend on the couch
do you have any plans besides football? whatever you are up to, i hope you have a great weekend baba
/same goes for the rest of you guys! enjoy the games and i hope your team wins!

 

[MrBungle]

Ugh 10am games have to be rough Pop! I did like waking up to London football, but it has screwed up my fantasy games more than once!!



I actually think The Chargers are The Browns biggest challenge so far this year... Not only are they talented on Defense.. Rivers is a man on fire... AND The Chargers have the dubious distinction of being The Browns only victory during their losing streak... So that would piss me off a little bit.... Lets see what Baker and crew has in store for them this week!


Good Luck!

 

[pop_rocks]

happening mrB
i wake up early anyway so the 10a games arent too bad for me
yeah man rivers is having a great season, but something just isnt clicking with that team
the defense is only going to get betterwhen bosa comes back, but im not expecting big things from them this season
i hope the browns play their best game of the season against them this weekend and mayfield brings his A game
i can see them giving the bolts a run for their money
lets hope for a fun game!
#f dean spanos
## rip alex spanos