NFL - Discussion Thread

Was very surprised that Seattle won. I was pretty confident with my upset pick, given how bad Seattle have been lately and the fact they lost to Arizona not that long ago. The only saving grace is that Mike tipped them too.

Does anyone think that Brian Flores should be Coach of the Year? I don't think he will get close to winning it, but he should be a serious contender. We have beaten teams like Arizona and LA Rams, as well as thrashing a healthier SF team away from home. Should Miami do the business, they will be 9-3 and on an 8-game winning streak, which would give Flores a 14-7 record in the past 21 games.

Brian Flores would be my coach of the year, he is doing a great job with the Dolphins who are quickly becoming my second favourite team, I love watching Tua throw that ball. A good draft in 2021 and as far as I am concerned they Dolphins are Super Bowl contenders.

Had to laugh at Kyler Murray claiming he is the best quarterback in the NFL. He may be the best quarterback in Arizona but that's about it. I rate Tua higher than Murray. Mahomes, Wilson, Rogers, and Watson are definately better.

So I'm now one behind Matt with three upset pics this week. With any luck I'll overtake Matt and make some ground on Mike. Or, it could all go wrong and I end up three behind Matt and level with Warrior.

I've got no chance seeing college football in Spain, the major TV networks here only cover NFL highlights as it is. I must admit I would like to see actual games and not highlights of the quarterbacks that Washington are interested in. I find watching highlights can be a bit misleading. Barry Sanders for example has more NFL highlight footage than anyone alive except none of the highlights show the 614 negative yards he gained which could have been in crucial situations.


« Last edited by Sanzano on Nov 20th 2020 »

I picked the Cards because of their win last week and Seattle's awful defense, but I knew it was gonna be a toss-up. The rest of my picks seem pretty safe, though I might be brave and change one on a wild hunch.

Also, Coach of the Year is either Flores or Tomlin. If the Steelers go undefeated I think you have to give it to Tomlin but if the Dolphins even sniff the playoffs I think it's Flores's. A lot of outlets had them only getting 4-6 wins so getting 10-12 is huge.

Steelers aren't going undefeated. lol

So I guess Flores. XD

Flores should've won it last year. Worst roster by far, yet Miami was the fifth worst team. Most thought the Phins would go winless last year.

Coach of the year has only gone to a coach with a losing record once, back in 1990. Wasn't gonna happen last year.

But it should have. No one did more with such little talent.

So often Coach of the Year is just given to the team who rapidly improves and has a 10-6+ season, regardless of how talented the roster is. Imagine if instead of trading away Hopkins, Houston instead went all out and acquired 5 big names in free agency, and Houston ended up finishing with a 14-2 record somehow. Bill O'Brien would've won COTY despite him being a terrible coach. It will be the same if Tampa Bay win the division and win the SB. Bruce Arians would probably win COTY, even though their improvement is solely down to being in win-now mode and bringing in 5+ players.

I'm not sure how many times he has won it, but I bet you Bill Belichick hasn't won too many COTYs, despite being arguably the best coach in history. Because there will have been some up and coming team who won it for their coach instead.

Taysom Hill is starting at QB for New Orleans. Jamieis Winston is 100% healthy too. Now what I considered to be a 70/30 matchup in favour of NO, is probably a 50/50. I'm really considering tipping Atlanta.

Drew Lock is also questionable to play against Miami. Having him out would essentially guarantee Miami victory. The Lock-less Broncos should've lost to the 0-9 Jets. Even though his stats are poor, I do rate Lock and feel that if he plays, Denver are a chance of pulling off the upset.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Nov 22nd 2020 »

Definitely going to be interesting this week. I'm slightly worried about my upsets, but I'm going to roll with them. I'm in last, so it can't hurt. lol

Matt - Sure, but how else are you supposed to quantify coaching ability? If a team is bad or just decent one year, acquires 3 starters via the draft and free agency, and then improves by 5+ wins, who's to say the coach doesn't deserve it? The coaches still deserve credit for calling plays and getting everyone on the same page. And these teams don't exist in a vacuum - the majority of the teams they're playing will likely have made improvements too. Belichick has won it 3 times, second most in history. There is voter fatigue too, sports leagues generally don't like giving MVP-level awards to the same player/coach in many consecutive years.

Also I'm with you on the NO/ATL game, that one will be interesting.

Matt and I went with the Falcons, while Dennis and Mike went with the Saints. Matt also went with the Texans; I wanted to do the same but had decided otherwise. Gonna be interesting.

I was on the fence with that one too, and also with BAL/TEN and CAR/DET and even WAS/CIN. Decided to go with the favorites but I think all 5 could swing either way.

Wow, pretty terrible luck for me so far. Burrow going down with the ACL injury is terrible. Also I couldn't watch the game but saw that Miami took Tua out and let Fitz finish the game, really weird decision IMO even if Tua was struggling a bit.

Oh dear, I got burned this week, a week full of upsets. Annoying thing is the upsets I picked didn't come in. Dallas beating Minnesoa, Denver beating Miami, Washington beating Cincinnati, Titans beating the Ravens are all games whose results I didn't see happening.

Why did Miami pull Tua, his stats were not that bad, he threw for a Touchdown. The Dolphins were still in the game, Tua could have suddenly got hot and threw a couple of Touchdowns, Dan Marino used to do it week in and week out for the Dolphins when he played for them.

Burrow was playing a bit reckless against the Redskins, he went head to head with Chase Young, the impact made him fumble and give the ball to Washington. Cincinnati are not winning another game this year, their backup was hopeless. Shame about Burrow, I enjoyed watching him play, he reminded me of young Joe Montana.

Warrior lost out on the Atlanta upset, but was successful with Indy
Dennis went with the favourites
I lost out with my Arizona and Atlanta upsets, but was successful with Houston
Mike lost out with the Arizona upset

Cincy's 2021/2022 season is possibly over. ACL's are usually 9 months as a best-case scenario. But if it stretches out to 12 months which is a strong possibility, that's half the season gone. This is why investing in an o-line before starting your rookie QB is a good move.

New Orleans came back from 3-9 down to win 24-9 against Atlanta. Taysom Hill went way better than I expected, going at 18/23 (78%) for 233 yards (12.9 yards PP), 0TDs, 0INTs, 1 lost fumble, 51 rushing yards (5.1 yards PP), and 2 rushing TDs.

Poor Jacksonville. Pittsburgh may go 16-0.

Houston showed everyone that they aren't finishing with a top 5 pick. Deshaun Watson is too good for that.

It's amazing how quickly Wentz has gone from an elite MVP candidate, to solid QB with lots of offensive injuries, to one of the worst starting QBs in the league statistically. Far too many INTs from him. Everyone criticised Philly drafting Jalen Hurts, but now it looks like a handy decision.

Carolina got the second shutout of the season.

Baltimore lost a 21-10 home lead over Tennessee, and also had a 1st & 10 at TEN 14 with 51 seconds left while trailing 21-24. All of a sudden they aren't certainties to make playoffs at 6-4.

LA Chargers lead 31-13 over the 0-9 Jets and only won 34-28 in the end. I feel like NY Jets are going to get a win eventually.

Poor but expected loss for Miami, despite having a 7-0 lead. A big winning streak by a young team is quite rare, and even 5 wins on the bounce was impressive. Miami's only TD came thanks to intercepting Lock at DEN 22. I understand why Flores benched Tua (and Fitz almost tied the game), but it would've been interesting to give Tua a chance at leading a comeback win. I mean, if Mitch Trubisky can lead a 17-pt 4th quarter comeback, anyone can.

Horrific loss for Minnesota, at home. There goes there slim playoff hopes. That was on the defense. Cousins did everything he could to win. As for Dallas, they're probably the division favourites now if Dalton plays like that again.

Indy came back from 14-28 down to beat Green Bay 34-31 in overtime. It should've never gone to overtime anyway, but Indy choked when in FG range and 3 up. Then Green Bay lost a fumble in OT which is unheard of.

Mahomes lead KC back and to a 35-31 win after trailing 28-31 with 1:43 left. Essentially whichever team had the ball with a few minutes left was going to win. Las Vegas should take a lot away from that. They were very close to sweeping the reigning SB champs.

« Last edited by Matt77 on Nov 23rd 2020 »

Double posting with my estimated W-L records for each team: https://playoffpredictors.c...sTLD++IA

Buffalo 12-4
Miami 9-7
New England 5-11
NY Jets 0-16

Pittsburgh 16-0
Baltimore 11-5
Cleveland 10-6
Cincy 2-13-1

Indy 11-5
Tennessee 11-5
Houston 6-10
Jacksonville 1-15

Kansas City 15-1
Las Vegas 12-4
LA Chargers 6-10
Denver 4-12

Dallas 8-8
Philly 4-11-1
NY Giants 4-12
Washington 3-13

Green Bay 13-3
Minnesota 8-8
Chicago 7-9
Detroit 4-12

New Orleans 13-3
Tampa Bay 11-5
Carolina 6-10
Atlanta 3-13

Seattle 13-3
Arizona 11-5
LA Rams 10-6
San Francisco 5-11

-----------------------------------------

Draft Order:

1. NY Jets
2. Jacksonville
3. Cincinnati
4. Washington
5. Atlanta
6. NY Giants
7. Detroit
8. Denver
9. Philadelphia
10. New England

« Last edited by Matt77 on Nov 24th 2020 »

And after such a crazy week, Dennis and I stand to inch one game closer. I guess we should take that and run after so many upsets.

The Bengals are screwed. The Falcons could've won if they didn't give up EIGHT SACKS. Steelers aren't going undefeated. Had a feeling the Texans would win. Eagles are horrible. Surprised the Panthers won after a late Bridgewater scratch. Ravens are in serious trouble if they don't somehow win on Thanksgiving on the road. Cowboys shocked, but they aren't going 8-8. Chargers won as everyone expected, doubt Jets will win a game until the Jags win another. Flores was wise in benching Tua as it shows he means business no matter how high a pick he was. Packers lost after a second half dogfight, but they usually do, which is why they will have trouble in the playoffs. No one expected the Chiefs to be swept by the Raiders.

I'll take a game closer Warrior13, every game at this stage of the season is going to be vital. Just need to pick those upsets. I thought Washington was the favourite this week? If Burrow hadn't of got injured and the Bungal kicker hadn't of missed an early field goal the Cincinnati would have won that game.

Wentz is simply terrible. He had one great 13-game run and it's been downhill from there. People say Wentz is too expensive to bench, but Hurts is only making 1mil so I say start him. It's not about how much one player makes, but rather about how much you spend on the position. And those two combined make less than the highest paid QBs. The Eagles could easily have 5 or 6 win and be virtually a lock for the division if it weren't for Wentz's play.

Washington was the "favorite" but with Joe Burrow playing it was really a toss up IMO. I think they were favored by only 2 points.

I must admit, what I have seen of Wentz has been nothing special. One season wonder in my book.

I see Miami have problems in the locker room, half the squad were not happy about Fitzgerald being benched in favour of Tua when he was doing so well. Now after Tua being benched on Sunday it's caused uncertainty with half the team favouring Fitzgerald to remain as the starter with the other half wanting Tua to start.

Apparently Miami management are not sold on Tua and there are still talks of getting another quarterback in the draft with their draft assets. Apparently the Broncos on Sunday easily solved the Tua puzzle and nullified him. If a team like the Broncos who are ranked 27th in the league in defense can stop him it doesn't bode well. As far as I am concertned Tua is a rookie and should be given games to develop whether he wins or loses them at this point.

At the moment it's N.Y. Jets: Trevor Lawerence and Jacksonville: Justin Fields. Neither of those two teams are giving up their position, they are both desperate for a quarterback.

L.A. Rams beat the Buccaneers, Brady taking the blame again with 2 interceptions.


« Last edited by Sanzano on Nov 24th 2020 »

Warrior - Look at Dallas's schedule. They are only heavy underdogs in 1 of their remaining 6 games. Cincy, Philly, & NY Giants look like easy wins. San Francisco may not have Garoppolo back, and Washington is a 60/40 matchup given it's a Dallas home game. Maybe they don't get 8-8, but they should get 6-10 minimum and win the division.

Mike - They should start Hurts as soon as they feel their season is over. As far as I can tell, it is already done. Their next 4 games are vs Seattle, @ Green Bay, vs New Orleans, and @ Arizona. That puts them at 3-10-1. Then they have @ Dallas and vs Washington, which MUST be wins. Best-case scenario is 5-10-1, which isn't going to be enough.

Dennis - That's interesting. I can see why players would've been upset at Fitz's benching. It's a big game for Tua @ the 0-10 Jets (who are improving), because if he fails to perform, there's trouble.
As for Miami drafting a QB, that's now too difficult. Houston proved me right in the fact they aren't as bad as their record suggests, and probably won't give Miami a top 10 pick. Miami's pick will also be in the 14-18 range.