NFL - Discussion Thread

That's interesting, so basically all three of us have the same two teams either winning or coming runner up in ALL the divisions. So it will be a surprise if any other team emerges by season end as none of use expect anyone else to be in the running for a division title.

I had Houston being runner up in the AFC South, but all other divisions were basically the same.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Jun 29th 2019 »

I think Houston is in trouble. Their O-Line was worst than both Miami's and Arizona's at the end of last year. Watson got soooooo banged up. And what was worse was that they reached on so many lineman in the draft.

Their o-line was terrible, but they made sure to address it in the draft unlike Arizona. Put it this way - Houston finished 11-5 with one of the worst o-lines in the NFL. If it improves, they should also improve as a team.

They drafted horribly though. They reach on all their offensive lineman prospects, and that might turn out to be counterproductive if they don?t work out.

That's true, but you'd think at least one player will turn out to be decent.

I don't know about that, especially since most of those O-Lineman are coming from smaller schools. They in trouble.

Seems like a boom or bust draft for Houston. And if it is a bust, good luck trying to win the competitive AFC South.

Big Bust. Bet.

Matt, when will this years competition be up and running, getting close to the new season now. I'm looking forward to it. This year I've been studying ALL the teams and not just the ones I particularly like.

Uh-oh. I might be in trouble this year.

Last year I screwed up by not having enough basic knowledge on all of the teams and Matt put himself in a whole early with some gambles that didn't come off which forced him to play catch-up for the rest of the season. I think this year the competition will be a lot closer, I don't think Warrior13 will have won it by about week 12 like last season.

Yeah, I have that same feeling. lol

It will be interesting to see whereabouts each of us ends up in the universal rankings. I know Warrior13 did particularly well last year. I seem to remember him being in the top 30% or so on several weeks which literally means getting more than about 12 of the 16 games correct which is not easy to do.

Last season we all did very well globally. Obviously Warrior did even better, but we're all decent tippers.

I had a look at our competition on Footytips and it must automatically begin without me having to set it up again. Thursday September 5th (Green Bay @ Chicago) is the season premiere, so make sure to have your tips in by then.

I should do better this season. Like you said Dennis, I was silly with my tips and got impatient. This year in my AFL tipping I have been more conservative than usual, and it has paid off big time (I lead my competition by 4 points, have lead it for 10 consecutive weeks, and am almost inside the top 1% of all tippers globally). I'll definitely be tipping more sensibly this NFL season.

The trick to do well in tipping is to have your head screwed on. That means don't be silly. Be patient, even if it's frustrating. The way I think about it when I want to tip an upset is "if this team wins, will I be surprised?". If you know your stuff about most teams and before you tip have a look at things like injuries, home records, & recent form, it's pretty easy to do well.

I see the Patriots are not renewing Brady's contract after the 2019 season. Not sure what Brady's options are if New England don't retain him because even though old he is still a top flight quarterback after nearly twenty years in the NFL.

I'm not happy about Preston Smith being leaving the Redskins to go to the Packers, even more so with Rueben Foster being sidelined for a year. This leaves Washington all of a sudden weak at the linebacker position.

I don't think that's the case. From what I've read, at this current time NE won't extend his deal beyond the end of this season. That means right now he is on a 1-year contract, but by the time we get to the end of this season, they will probably sign him up again.

It is an interesting development though. It means Brady's end is coming soon. How soon we don't know, but NE have essentially let Brady know that he isn't getting any younger.

I see that McCoy, Keenum, & Haskins are all sharing reps in practice, and that the starting QB spot is up for grabs. Alex Smith has been ruled out for the entire 2019/20 season.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Jul 25th 2019 »

It will be interesting to see who starts at quarterback for the Redskins. Will they throw Haskins straight into the deep end like has been suggested or will they ease him in gently. If were the coach I think I'd start with Keenum and if by the fourth quarter the game had gotten out of hand and there was no way of winning it I'd put in Haskins to get some experience. There's been quite a few highly touted quarterbacks coming out of college who have been thrown straight into the deep end and had their confidence shattered. Even the great Tom Brady was Drew Bledsoes understudy at New England. Apart from Miami's Dan Marino I can't think of another quarterback who went from college quarterback to elite NFL quarterback after their first couple of games.

How is Frank Gore's injury, the guy was rushing for 4.6 yards a carry before he got injured.

I didn't even know Frank Gore was injured. It's hard to follow every story when it's the off-season, because so little is written. Heck, I can't even remember which team he signed for...

It sounds like Keenum is at high risk of getting cut when rosters are finalised. That's what I'm reading. I'd say Haskins will start on day 1 (remember Gruden said before the draft that the rookie would start), but I agree that's a bad move. Washington aren't looking to win the Superbowl this season, so if they have to start Colt McCoy for a month in order to ease Haskins into NFL life, then so be it.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is also ahead of Rosen right now at Miami. Apparently Rosen threw an INT and lost a fumble in practice, and that was while practicing with the 2nd team. I'm hoping it's just rust for Rosen and that practice won't reflect his true ability. After all, remember last off-season Kirk Cousins throw 5 consecutive TDs in practice for Minnesota, and look what that lead to in the regular season...

Also on a side note, Adrian Peterson has ran out of money. His career salary is $100,000,000.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Jul 26th 2019 »

Not only has Peterson run out of money, he's millions in dept. Incredible really how someone can blow 100 million. It gives new meaning to the term 'poor money management'.

Fitzpatrick may start the season for the Dolphins but he won't finish it, I expect Rosen to take over as soon as Fitz hits a slump which he always does and Rosen keeping the job to the end of the season improving each week.