NFL Off Topic

[slickdtc]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yeah...THAT Guy

In the article, it says that Chicago's staff said that he looked like he went unconscious for a second, so no matter what the concussion tests told them, they refused to believe he didn't have a concussion, and therefore, he couldn't return to the game for Detroit. At least that's how it sounded to me when I read the article.

Wow, isn't that what concussions tests are for? This is shady on Chicago's part. NFL needs to come down hard on this. First response is crucial, so it's great Chicago's docs were there almost immediately so I'm not gonna say the player's team docs need to be there first. The NFL has this rule on the books though, and it makes sense, but it's a conflict of interests for the opposing team's docs to have final say in cases like this.

This needs to be taken care of now before it's a bigger player (QB/RB/etc) being benched because the opposing team wants that edge.

Even if Chicago had legitimate doubts (which I honestly believe they did), it just shows the grey area that concussions lie in as an injury if you can't trust the tests that are supposed to provide some sort of clarity as to whether a player was concussed and to what degree.

I pretty much believe that any big time hit, especially to the head, is going to result in a concussion. I don't think helmets protect players that well at all. I just think back to my days playing high school football. Even simple tackles resulted in serious, head rattling collisions. Prior to and following playing organized football, I played a lot of tackle sandlot football. Never got rocked like I did when playing organized with pads and helmets.

There have been calls of softening up equipment in the NHL to stop players from launching themselves at others because they'll feel the pain just as much as they are delivering it. It's borderline insane to say to reduce this safety equipment football players dress up in, but I have to wonder if you reduce the cushion these pads (specifically shoulder pads and helmets, moreso shoulder pads) give you that players would be more inclined to tackle instead of hit knowing that the impact is going to be equal on both sides.

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

Quote: Originally Posted by rangerrick012

I'm not saying that I'm surprised, of course not. Just that it's hypocritical to talk about making the game safe when you still have guys out there being wounded warriors when it comes to other injuries, yet concussions have become this huge thing.

That is because you are looking past the rhetoric. It's not about making the game safer, but making it appear like you are making the game safer.

Honestly, this obsession over making everything "safer" is really getting annoying. Firstly, as long as you have players at peak physical condition running full speed and colliding with each other, there will always be risk. If the NFL tries to minimize risk of injury to the head, they will expose the lower body, and if they try to get rid of that, then it will be likely we see more broken ribs. In all of this, we will most likely see more offense.

Getting rid of obviously blatant and malicious hits is one thing, but at this point it isn't just guys launching with the helmet anymore, its incidental contact. The NFL doesn't seem to understand that if a 6-0 guy tackles a 6-2 guy, there heads are going to collide, even with a perfect form tackle.

This concern over "safety" is a big a sham as being "clean." I call it societal decadence.

[TheMatrix31]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kaiser Wilhelm

It's not about making the game safer, but making it appear like you are making the game safer.

Which is, of course, all that ends up mattering. You have to look like you're DOING something, even if what you're doing doesn't do anything or makes things worse. It's common.

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheMatrix31

Which is, of course, all that ends up mattering. You have to look like you're DOING something, even if what you're doing doesn't do anything or makes things worse. It's common.

The saying, "Perception is reality," is appropriate here.

[Chip Douglass]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chrisksaint

You can't use those weird advanced stats in football it just doesn't work out. I know there are all kinds of stats out there, but football is one of those sports where what you see tells you way more then what some computer is going to tell you.

Replace football with baseball and Joe Morgan says the same kinds of things.

Again, this isn't baseball-style sabermetrics for measuring individual players. Football sabermetrics, as of now, are basically on the level of team analysis and game-day decision-making. There's nothing "weird" about seeking objective knowledge about football. People only say things are "weird" when they don't really understand them.

There's nothing super-advanced about what PFR is doing either: ratings are calculated by adjusting point differential for strength of schedule. They call their system "Simple Rating System" for a reason.

Explanation can be found here: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=37

Quote: Originally Posted by ubernoob

Baseball is a much more individualized game where your performance (save for some counting stats) doesn't rely on your teammates performances. It's much easier (and more worthwhile) to quantify Baseball through advanced metrics. That's not to say they are worthless in football, but definitely not something to base arguments around.

This would be a fine point if I made a post comparing Peyton Manning's WAR to Tom Brady's, but I didn't.

Again, I fail to see how analytics, statistics, and knowledge can be a welcome complement to baseball and basketball, but not football. Why is football unique in that regard? What's wrong with trying to seek out knowledge in an attempt to quantify and improve the way football is played?

I've heard these points over and over again and I fail to comprehend them.

[ubernoob]

You were just using Josh Freeman's ANY/A to compare him to other QBs a few posts ago, so yes you are using them to measure individual players.

How do the Bears grade out? They lost by 8 points. Anyone who watched can tell you that game was NEVER a one possession game. The Bears got blown out, and blown out big time. Garbage time TDs can throw every single bit of that analysis off.

[TracerBullet]

Chargers @ Raiders is going to start at 11:35pm ET this week because of the MLB Playoffs. Hope there aren't too many of those fans on the East coast on here .

[Bellsprout]

I want this to be an every week thing.

Same goes for the Monday night doubleheader.

Make one of those permanent, do away with Thursday Night Football (which I supported initially, but its an unwatchable dumpster fire most weeks), profit.