NFL - Discussion Thread

I think the thing about Cincy is that, when healthy, they can have one of the best o-lines in the NFL. But like a lot of teams, key injuries come around. they've started the season healthy and that's why Dalton's playing well I'm sure. If this continues, there's no reason this team can't return to the form that had them sitting 8-0 a few years ago.

I've always believed Flacco is an average QB, but I thought as Warrior pointed out a while ago, this season he would lift to let the Baltimore management that he is the man to lead them. He had an outstanding playoff series when he won Baltimore the SB (NB: They won that title against the great Colin Kaepernick), but apart from that he's just mediocre. He generally doesn't pass for big numbers, but when he has to, he makes mistakes (2INTs and 1 crucial fumble).

That Buffalo trouncing didn't help BAL's preparation, while Cincy pulled off a huge comeback away from home coming from 10-23 down to score 24 unanswered pts. Ever since Baltimore beat them 20-0, the last 2 meetings have been Cincy wins (in games where Baltimore have had more motivation) where they've scored above 30 on Baltimore's usually solid D.

Fun Fact 1: Cincy sure love the scoreline 34-23 (beat Indy 34-23, beat Baltimore 34-23)
Fun Fact 2: The last team to score above 30 in their first 2 games was Denver in 2013 (SB Champs)
Fun Fact 3: Last time I predicted a team may feature in/win the SB cause of a stat, they (Atlanta) made an unlikely run into the SB

Dennis: There was a point when I really thought Baltimore would come back and win. They were down 28-7 but had pulled it to 28-17 and were driving. After a miss play and a penalty, they had to punt and that's when you could tell it was nearing the end of their momentum.

Matt: After the Ravens had killed the Bills, I thought for sure Flacco was motivated enough to have a great year. But after what I saw yesterday, I just don't know. He got his money already, so it could honestly go either way. He'll either be on another team next year or will have another huge contract from Baltimore - it won't go down any other way.

If Baltimore give him a "huge contract", they are clinically insane. What good will it do? He's getting older and older, and they have Jackson & RG3 as test projects. I think Flacco should be signed for 2019/20, and then that's it.

Off topic I know, but what do you (and Dennis if you're reading this too) think Tannehill's fate will be at the end of the season assuming Miami don't make playoffs? He's not a star by any means, but his commitment to Miami when he has and hasn't been playing is far better than several greedy QBs out there. I'd like to think that even if Miami have a bad season and draft a QB, that Tannehill will be kept on the roster.

If we don't make the playoffs, Tannehill is out. There is no other option. I'm not sure if he has a year left via a team option or not, but if he does, we could trade him for made a second or third round pick (like Cleveland did with the Tyrod Taylor Trade). Either way, he'll be done for us if we can't make it to the playoffs. Shoot, our coach might be done as well if that happens.

« Last edited by Warrior13 on Sep 15th 2018 »

It's sad that you think that, and it's sad because I'm sure you'll be right. As Dennis said, Miami have a lot of winnable games, and I predicted a 7-9 finish. That'd mean we'd have to trade right up to pick a QB (therefore losing valuable draft picks) and our backup would be either Fales, Osweiler, or a journeyman QB. I was optimistic when Gase came in, but ever since he decided to kill my brain cells & bring in Cutler, I've been suspicious. The offense was putrid last season and I just hope it improves this year. No more running the ball on 3rd and 16 please.

I actually think we have one of the better running games in the league. Gore & Drake are one dynamic combo. Defensively there should be improvement, so I think it's all up to what Tannehill & the WRs can do.

What do you think our record will be? Will we get close to playoffs? The only saving grace if we fall into a heap for the next few years is that Buffalo will be right beside us.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Sep 15th 2018 »

If we can beat the Jets and Bills both times this year, we'll have a shot at making the playoffs. Unfortunately, like you, I really think we're going to split with the Jets. No if we can sweep the Jets and Bills AND split with the Pats, then we should make the playoffs. Be ifs, if you ask me.

« Last edited by Warrior13 on Sep 15th 2018 »

Good point. If we had swept NY Jets & Buffalo last season we would've finished 9-7 and snagged a wildcard spot (Buffalo would've finished 7-9 and we had the tiebreaker over LA Chargers).

I just had a look at out schedule, and if things go right, we could be 8-2 before the bye, with losses to NE & GB. Originally I had Detroit beating us at home but that may not be the case anymore. The 3 crunch clashes are away games against NY Jets, Cincy, & Houston. If we do infact have the dream 8-2 start, our next 2 games are @ Indy & Buffalo (home). That could mean 10-2! There's an extremely tough run after that (NE, @ MIN, JAX) before we finish by traveling to Buffalo. 11-5 is not out of the question. It'll also help that this season we get a bye.

Like you say though, it's all ifs.

Well, that was horrific tipping by me. Congrats on an awesome week so far Dennis. You've taken the lead!

Atlanta scored more than 17 points so they won. Washington, god how awful is that. Facing Indy, at home, and they score 0TDs. Looks like Arizona are the worst team in the NFL now. Houston lost to Blaine Gabbert & co. Looks like Houston may be overrated. Fitzpatrick passed for 4TDs and 400+ yards AGAIN, and they beat Philly!!! Look out, we have a new MVP! Mahomes passed for 6TDs, and they beat Pittsburgh at Heinz Field!!! Miami got an ugly 20-12 win @ NY Jets after leading 20-0 and missing the XP, but nevertheless it's a win. LA Chargers won a game they surely couldn't choke. Green Bay and Minnesota TIED 29-29 after MIN had a big comeback. The Minnesota kicker missed all 3 FGs. New Orleans got gift-wrapped a victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to their kicker missing everywhere. It's going to be a long season for Detroit. Sam Bradford passed 17 times for 90 yards as they lost 0-34 to LA Rams. Blake Bortles outplayed Tom Brady thanks to the team actually letting him pass. Oakland choked a 19-7 lead to lose 19-20 to Denver. NY Giants stunk bad @ Dallas.



Hehehe, Miami are 1st in the AFC East. While Tannehill didn't star, he gave me what I asked for; no INTs. Next week hosting Oakland is a must-win game if we want to be a chance for playoffs.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Sep 16th 2018 »

Oh dear, looks like the real Redskins turned up Sunday. I followed the game and they were useless, Adrian Peterson will be out of Washington with too many performances like that, he was terrible (1.8 yards per carry in 11 attempts for 20 yards). Washington needs to get some decent wide recievers quick otherwise things will get ugly. They can't rely on Jordan Ried and Chris Thompson all season, the cat is now out the bag.

Miami did well, a decent game by Tannenhill, Miami could reach the playoffs, I have a feeling that the Patriots era of dominance is coming to an end. I see now why Kansas got rid of Alex Smith to go with Mahomes, he's thrown 10 Touchdowns in two games. Tampa Bay quarterback Fitzpatrick has proved me wrong and had an even better second week.

Still think LA Rams are the team to beat with Kansas close behind.

Kansas City look good, but their defense is awful so watch out. Remember they started 5-0 last season and crawled into playoffs, where they choked a 21-3 lead.

The one thing about NE is that you can never write them off, or they'll come back stronger. Only write them off when they are mathematically eliminated from playoffs. Miami have about a 2% chance of winning their division.

About Washington, that's the reason they probably won't make playoffs. Too many performances like that. I think we underestimated just how awful Arizona were and much like Baltimore against Cincy, when Washington faced real opposition they fell apart. The only saving grace is that the NFC East looks terrible.

It would be a miracle if Miami make playoffs, and if they aren't at least 7-3 before the bye, it's curtains. They need a strong start because like Washington, there will be a bad performance or 2 against weak opposition. Tannehill went ok but his elite passer rating is very inaccurate. While he didn't throw an INT, he got sacked 4 times including a strip sack. I was impressed with his running game though, especially since he's coming off a torn ACL.

I'm not so sure Miami reaching the playoffs is the miracle you suggest Matt. There's a few tricky games in their schedule I wouldn't fancy them winning but I don't think a wild card is an impossibility. If the Dolphins win next week to go 3-0 the team's confidence will be high and a confident team is hard to beat. Tannenhill will start getting recognition from around the league and when that happens his own team will start to have confidence in him and look upon him as their quarterback and not the guy who will be gone next season. The Dolphins play the Raiders at home next week, I see a close game but it's winnable. The downside with the Dolphins doing well is like you said they will get a lower draft pick and the top rookie quarterbacks will be long gone so they'll have to go with Tannenhill for another year unless they are willing to trade up.

Yeah that's true. The hope is that Tannehill continues this form. It seems he has come back playing exactly like he was pre-injury which is great. If he can continue the form for the next season or more, then problem solved, and Miami have a solid QB for 3-5 years. The worry is that there'll be some ugly games like 50% completion rate 1TD 3INTs.

About my 'miracle' statement, I say miracle because in the pre-season Miami were slated as the worst team in the NFL by most experts and were the raging favourite to get the #1 draft pick. Even though Landry was a smug idiot, he was still a good player and it has Miami's WR stocks thin. Outside of Kenny Stills, there isn't a lot of quality.

Congrats, Dennis. Week 2 is usually a crazy week, and this one was no different. Glad you rose above the craziness. Also glad Matt and I did a pretty good job surviving the storm.

Anyone pick the Jaguars and Bucs upsets? I had the Jags, but the Bucs continue to surprise me. I knew I should've went with Dallas, but I didn't think they could win without any real WRs. Looks like they didn't need any to defeat the Giants. XD

Remember you can check who tipped what in our competition by going into our comp, and selecting Who Tipped What in the choices below Ladder.

I was tempted to pick JAX but didn't, since if I did NE would've definitely won. However I saw little chance of Tampa Bay winning! The crazy thing is that Foles passed for 350 yards and no INTs and they couldn't win. I hope TB let Fitzpatrick keep the starting job for a bit when Winston comes back.

I was fairly confident tipping NY Giants, but in heinsight I shouldn't have cause I forgot Eli is regressing. NY Giants screwed up their next few years by selecting Barkley. They need a QB ASAP. That said, Dallas are average as usual and shouldn't make much noise.

And Warrior no, I didn't survive the storm at all. I'm 4 points behind you and 5 behind Dennis! I need a strong second half of the season to get back in the comp. Hopefully Seattle can beat Chicago and I can get one back.

Also in big news, Wentz is active and will start next week, and Josh Gordon is off to NE for a 5th round pick!

« Last edited by Matt77 on Sep 17th 2018 »

Sorry Matt, the Bears defense dominated Seattle...
After reading how Mack dominated the Green Bay offense last week there was no way I was taking Seattle.

The Chicago D dominated the GB offense for one half (with DeShone Kizer as QB). I thought Chicago would have a lapse big enough for Wilson to solely win the game for Seattle. That 2nd half last week was disgraceful from Chicago (6-24 after leading 17-0). There was a small opening in the 4th quarter when it was 17-10 Chicago, but Wilson threw a pick-6 from SEA 46. Seattle have a worse running game than Washington and one of the worst o-lines in the league. I thought Wilson could be the sole hero this season, but it's going to be too big a task. If Blake Bortles has an average season, Jacksonville should try and lure Wilson over.

I'm still not sold on Trubisky or Chicago. 2INTs in the first half when Chicago were completely dominating left them with only a 10-3 HT lead. They do have a soft schedule up until the final month so that might not matter though.

No, I don't rate Trubisky either, lets be honest honest he was only selected number 2 in the first round of the 2017 draft because there was no other decent quarterbacks that year and the Bears were desperate. If Trubisky had of entered the 2018 draft he would have been the fifth or sixth quarterback chosen. I think the Bears are heading in the right direction but that's mainly because of their defense which is one of the better ones in the NFL.

I bet the Giants are regretting taking Barkley with the number 2 pick, they could have had Darnold and ended their quarterback worries. You can always get decent running backs in the 2nd - 4th rounds, they're not that hard to come by.

Yep. I mean, Eli Manning was close to retiring last season! That says where his head and body is at. Barkley will be a good player for a long time, but like you say RBs are easier to find. If NY Giants have a bad QB in the future, the opposition defense will know Barkley will do most of the work, and therefore will be ready to stop him.

Strange. I've gone to tip and it says Dallas & Seattle have a bye, yet they're playing this week... There goes one of my upset pick chances... I've never seen an error like that before. Just look out for it when you tip incase it fixes itself.

So pretending I could tip on that game, I think Seattle will win in a close one 20-17. Remember, Seattle have always been very good when at home and mediocre away, and this is their 1st home match. Seattle have a far better passing game & Dallas the far better running game, and their defenses are fairly evenly matched (Dallas may have the slightest of edges here, but Seattle have homefield advantage).

« Last edited by Matt77 on Sep 19th 2018 »

The experts agree with you and are saying Seattle plus 3. I don't thinks so, although the Seahawks are at home and won their meeting last season I think the Cowboys take it. Seattle is 0-2 and demoralised, their defense isn't as good as what it once was and Eliot was picking up 4.7 yards a carry against them last season. I think the Cowboys running back has a big 130 yard game and Prescott throws for a couple of touchdowns in a 21-14 game.

Thanks for the heads up on that game not being listed, I'll keep an eye on it. According to ESPN I'm in the top 6% of tippers. Mind you it's only week 2 lol, so that could quickly change.


« Last edited by Sanzano on Sep 19th 2018 »

I know whoever I pick in the Thursday Game will lose, so I just went with the home team. lol

The system shows Dallas and Seattle as having Bye Weeks; however, they actually play against each other. Don't know what to do about that. lol