2015-2016 NFL LD

[Trill Co$by]

Finally NFL has returned with games that actually matter. Kicking off the season is the Pittsburgh Steelers traveling to Boston to take on Super Bowl 49 Champions New England Patriots. Come here to discuss the entire Week 1 of NFL... or not. Your choice.

 

[Galvatron]

The New England Patriots, aka the Eddie Guerrero of the NFL.

 

[hatehabsforever]

The New England Patriots, aka the Eddie Guerrero of the NFL.

I agree with you. Immensely talented but grossly underestimated by many in terms of the big picture.

 

[Ty Burna]

Gronk is in midseason form already.

My fantasy teams thank him tremendously.

 

[Galvatron]

but grossly underestimated by many in terms of the big picture.

Serious question. Who in the blue hell underestimates the Patriots?! The national sports media calls them Super Bowl favorites every year. I even predicted they would blow out the Steelers in this game and I'm a Steelers fan.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Serious question. Who in the blue hell underestimates the Patriots?! The national sports media calls them Super Bowl favorites every year. I even predicted they would blow out the Steelers in this game and I'm a Steelers fan.

Fair enough, underestimated is not the correct terminology. Disrespected and under appreciated might have been more accurate.

 

[Savior of Silence]

I'm so glad I'm not up against Gronk this week. I even started Heath Miller over Jason Witten. That obviously doesn't look like it was a smart move.

 

[Savior of Silence]

There's 11 seconds left and they're down 2 scores. I don't understand why teams use timeouts in these scenarios.

 

[klunderbunker]

There's 11 seconds left and they're down 2 scores. I don't understand why teams use timeouts in these scenarios.

On a similar point, it drives me crazy when a team gets the ball with just a few seconds to go before halftime and takes a knee. Throw a bomb. What do you have to lose? An interception with no time left? Take a shot. It might work and at worst, you might draw a penalty and get in field goal range. Are you really that worried about someone picking you off and having the other team run it back? If you're a professional football team, you should be able to stop that 99 times out of 100 at worst.

 

[Savior of Silence]

On a similar point, it drives me crazy when a team gets the ball with just a few seconds to go before halftime and takes a knee. Throw a bomb. What do you have to lose? An interception with no time left? Take a shot. It might work and at worst, you might draw a penalty and get in field goal range. Are you really that worried about someone picking you off and having the other team run it back? If you're a professional football team, you should be able to stop that 99 times out of 100 at worst.

Agree COMPLETELY. Just air it out and see what happens. If you let a defense get an 80 yard pick 6 then shame on you.

 

[Akhilleus]

On a similar point, it drives me crazy when a team gets the ball with just a few seconds to go before halftime and takes a knee. Throw a bomb. What do you have to lose? An interception with no time left? Take a shot. It might work and at worst, you might draw a penalty and get in field goal range. Are you really that worried about someone picking you off and having the other team run it back? If you're a professional football team, you should be able to stop that 99 times out of 100 at worst.

It's two things I think that come into play. The first one is running up the score, it's usually frowned upon. Not by me though, I mean if the defense doesn't like it then they should stop it.

The bigger thing is injuries. It's Week 1, you have sixteen more weeks of regular season left and then the playoffs maybe. If they went out, up by a touchdown with 3 seconds left and threw a bomb through the air and the wideout ended up going up for it, and getting nailed coming back down and getting a serious injury...or the QB gets sacked and nailed, or a key offensive lineman gets hurt...all it takes is one play...there would be a hell of a lot of criticism about that call. They've got the game won, they're beatup, they're tired. The sit on it, go to the locker room and enjoy the moment. Then they get ready for the next game.

As a coach, that would be the biggest reason why I would be kneeling it to end the game.

Oh, and yeah in that situation you never know. The score is 28-21, the ball could end up in the defenses hands and there have been big returns many times in the past. If they threw the ball there and it got overturned, and the returning team made some good blocks and a good run and got into the endzone to tie the game, again very much criticism. You have to sit on the ball there every time.

 

[klunderbunker]

It's two things I think that come into play. The first one is running up the score, it's usually frowned upon. Not by me though, I mean if the defense doesn't like it then they should stop it.

The bigger thing is injuries. It's Week 1, you have sixteen more weeks of regular season left and then the playoffs maybe. If they went out, up by a touchdown with 3 seconds left and threw a bomb through the air and the wideout ended up going up for it, and getting nailed coming back down and getting a serious injury...or the QB gets sacked and nailed, or a key offensive lineman gets hurt...all it takes is one play...there would be a hell of a lot of criticism about that call. They've got the game won, they're beatup, they're tired. The sit on it, go to the locker room and enjoy the moment. Then they get ready for the next game.

As a coach, that would be the biggest reason why I would be kneeling it to end the game.

Oh, and yeah in that situation you never know. The score is 28-21, the ball could end up in the defenses hands and there have been big returns many times in the past. If they threw the ball there and it got overturned, and the returning team made some good blocks and a good run and got into the endzone to tie the game, again very much criticism. You have to sit on the ball there every time.

I was talking about before halftime.

 

[Akhilleus]

I was talking about before halftime.

Oh, lol yeah my bad I see that now. In that case I absolutely agree I don't agree with it either. I mean I guess I understand their perspective on it, but I don't see any reason why coaches do it. Especially if it's more than 20 seconds left and you have timeouts still.

As a coach, 9 times out of 10 I would be trying to score if there was still time left on the clock in the half. I would at least be handing it off and getting my running back reps and possibly having a slim chance of breaking out for a big run. If we're down, I'm throwing it with time left in the half every time. If we're up, I'll probably run the ball over and over again (without running down the clock).

That really goes all into conservative game management and aggressive game management though. Differs from coach to coach.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I'm guessing professional football experts have studied the expected value of pushing the ball at the end of the first half and have quantified the decision as a negative but as a fan I get the frustration.

 

[Ty Burna]

Oh, lol yeah my bad I see that now. In that case I absolutely agree I don't agree with it either. I mean I guess I understand their perspective on it, but I don't see any reason why coaches do it. Especially if it's more than 20 seconds left and you have timeouts still.

As a coach, 9 times out of 10 I would be trying to score if there was still time left on the clock in the half. I would at least be handing it off and getting my running back reps and possibly having a slim chance of breaking out for a big run. If we're down, I'm throwing it with time left in the half every time. If we're up, I'll probably run the ball over and over again (without running down the clock).

That really goes all into conservative game management and aggressive game management though. Differs from coach to coach.

Basically it boils down to anyone that's half decent at Madden has better clock management skills than NFL coaches do.

 

[BringThePain834]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. First quarter and the Patriots already being accused of cheating is absolutely ridiculous

 

[Akhilleus]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. First quarter and the Patriots already being accused of cheating is absolutely ridiculous

Whether they had something to do with it or not, I think it's a good thing. They've pushed the envelope a little too far and now finally they're under a microscope. Two scandals of potential cheating in the light, with many other stories coming out as well, that microscope is justified.

The league for one is upset Brady is not serving a suspension and pretty much "got away with it" and two are no longer staying as peaceful and quiet when these things occur...probably because they lost faith in the league to handle it.

Probably by next season everyone will sweep the Patriots cheating scandals back under the rug and forget about it. But at least this year they're under a microscope so they better play fair. I can't imagine even if they did cheat they would do it in the opening quarter of the season right away knowing all the eyes on them, but well then again this is the Patriots we're talking about.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The league for one is upset Brady is not serving a suspension and pretty much "got away with it".....

He absolutely got away with it. Let's not lose sight of that; although the judge made the right decision in view of how the whole mess was handled, is there anyone who truly believes two low-level ballboys decided to deflate footballs without the knowledge of Brady & Belichick?

And Brady just happened to destroy the evidence (the cellphone) that contained his correspondence with the deflation twins? C'mon, now.

However NFL botched the case, it remains that Brady knew about (and probably directed) the whole thing and came away completely clean.

You got to be a football hero.

 

[Akhilleus]

Belichick is the one who truly got out clean. He threew Brady under the bus from the start and didn't look back. But I really wouldn't be surprised if he was the mastermind behind it at all. He at the very least knew about it. He is always coming up with new ways to bend the playbook, like the eligibility crap they did last year that's now illegal.

Which is why I'm confused...Sean Payton from BountyGate was suspended the entire season because "he's the head coach and should know what's going on with his team". Why is it that Belichick does not get the same treatment...not even taking into account his past history with SpyGate.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Belichick is the one who truly got out clean. He threew Brady under the bus from the start and didn't look back. But I really wouldn't be surprised if he was the mastermind behind it at all. He at the very least knew about it. He is always coming up with new ways to bend the playbook, like the eligibility crap they did last year that's now illegal.

Which is why I'm confused...Sean Payton from BountyGate was suspended the entire season because "he's the head coach and should know what's going on with his team". Why is it that Belichick does not get the same treatment...not even taking into account his past history with SpyGate.

Letting a little bit of air out of a football and intentionally hurting other players are two completely different things.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

He absolutely got away with it. Let's not lose sight of that; although the judge made the right decision in view of how the whole mess was handled, is there anyone who truly believes two low-level ballboys decided to deflate footballs without the knowledge of Brady & Belichick?

And Brady just happened to destroy the evidence (the cellphone) that contained his correspondence with the deflation twins? C'mon, now.

However NFL botched the case, it remains that Brady knew about (and probably directed) the whole thing and came away completely clean.

You got to be a football hero.

Still waiting on definitive evidence anything was actually deflated. The Wells Report has been ripped apart. They don't even know which gauge they used.

 

[Akhilleus]

Letting a little bit of air out of a football and intentionally hurting other players are two completely different things.

Yeah, I agree. Intentionally hurting players isn't right and should be punished. But cheating to win games and get Super Bowls goes way beyond that. That destroys the integrity of the game and the league. It taints every season the Patriots have won.

Especially when a coach himself has been the ring leader in cheating scandals of the past, he should not have gotten away scot free.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Yeah, I agree. Intentionally hurting players isn't right and should be punished. But cheating to win games and get Super Bowls goes way beyond that. That destroys the integrity of the game and the league. It taints every season the Patriots have won.

Especially when a coach himself has been the ring leader in cheating scandals of the past, he should not have gotten away scot free.

In the first half, NE used deflated footballs. They outscored IND 17-7. In the second half, NE used inflated footballs and outscored IND 28-0. Ironically, NE would've probably scored more in the first half using inflated footballs. Therefore, it's foolish to say NE had a competitive advantage.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks needed a yard, threw the ball to Ricardo Lockette (Who?), got intercepted, and lost the game.

In the offseason, the Seahawks traded for Jimmy Graham, significantly upgrading their receiving corp.

Against the Rams today, the Seahawks needed a yard, ran the ball with Marshawn Lynch, and got stuffed in the backfield for a loss, losing the game.

Why trade for Graham if you're not going to use him?

 

[jmt225]

I'm not too upset with the Saints loss today. I saw a lot of promise out there.

The Cardinals are a really good team and with a little more experience on the defensive side of the ball, I'm certain we can be better than them. We had four dropped INTs on defense today. We snatch just two of those and we probably win. We also had a couple of big drops from young wide receivers today as well (and Colston). We grab those and it's a different game. But we made opportunities for ourselves... we just didn't take advantage of them. I think as the season goes on we'll start to see those young guys take full advantage of those opportunities and become a very good football team.

My only real concern is Sean Payton's decision making. I don't know what happened during his suspension two years ago but he needs to find his balls and put them back in their proper place, because the Sean Payton who backs out on going for it on 4th and 6 when we're down 4 points and under two minutes to go, is not the same Sean Payton who called an onside kick at the Super Bowl in 2009/2010.

I still love the guy and still believe he's a top 5 coach in the league, but damn... he has to show more confidence in Brees and the offense.