2023 NFL Regular Season Thread

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So got a good look at the Panthers Bryce Young today. He had a near perfect second half passing, but I think none were for greater than 20 yards. And he also holds on to the ball too long. Not sure if he lacks the confidence to throw for longer or coaches aren't letting him do it.

He seems like a great point guard type of quarterback. Great getting the ball out quickly to his playmaker, but he has to be able to stretch the field or teams will just smother the line of scrimmage.

[CrimsonFox]

[albionmoonlight]

At home
Down by 10 in the first quarter
Playing against a top offense
4th and 1 at midfield

And you punt

Salah has already given up

[albionmoonlight]

Update: By punting, the Jets made the Chiefs take a few more plays to score than they might have otherwise.

[CrimsonFox]

Wow great job Zack!

Aaron Rodgers giving off Matthew McCaughnehey/Glenn Frey vibes.

ThAT's the first time I've ever seen a facemask safety.

[bronconick]

Tie game.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by bronconick

Tie game.

LOVE IT!


By the way...that KC back Pachinko is a MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love the pushups after plays!

[Ksyrup]

That holding call that bailed Mahomes out of an INT was the equivalent of a ref waiting to watch a layup rim out and blowing the whistle for a foul. He only reached for the flag when he saw the ball was going to be intercepted.

[Ksyrup]

Unlike a couple college games we watched yesterday, Mahomes just finished the game the smart way.

And Saleh has no one to be pissed at except himself. 2 stupid FG attempts and a whimp out punt.

[stevew]

Jets were watchable this week, at least.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Unlike a couple college games we watched yesterday, Mahomes just finished the game the smart way.

There's also going to be so many conspiracy theories (baseless ones) about the Mahomes slide. By sliding and running out the clock instead of scoring, the sportsbooks made something like tens of millions of dollars as the Point Spread bets were heavy on the Chiefs. It was a smart play by Mahomes, but you know there's some peope throwing their phone at the wall in the anger about Mahomes's slide losing them big bucks, and them thinking that the Sportsbooks somehow paid Mahomes off to make sure their bet didn't cash..

Patrick Mahomes' goal-line slide shifts millions at sportsbooks - ESPN

Yeah, 91% of the bets and 84% of the money was on the chiefs. That's tens of millions of dollars in the sportsbooks pockets as a result.

[miami_fan]

I get why it is important that he does it but I am starting to be less impressed by some of these statements of responsibility by individual players like this one from Wilson.

"To be driving right there and to drop a snap -- I cannot do that," Wilson told reporters. "I lost us that game, and I can't do that."

I get it. The leader of the team has to take responsibility when they make mistakes and take all the blame for the loss. I think part of it is no one thinks of Zach Wilson is a leader on the team so this taking responsibility for the fumble just comes off as a bit of cosplay.

[miked]

The no holding call on Mahomes's 25 yard run and the bogus holding call on the pick completely turned the game around. Refs blew that one big.

[albionmoonlight]

4 games into their careers overreaction:

The Panthers gave up a ton (including what might be the #1 overall pick next season) to draft a QB, and they look like they picked the wrong one.

[albionmoonlight]

That's the kind of hole that takes years to dig out of.

[albionmoonlight]

You know how sometimes your team can be losing, but it is still kind of entertaining to watch because you've got up and coming young players? Or the team is at least exciting? Or the team is good but just getting some bad breaks?

The Saints are the opposite of that. Old team with a laborious offense. The offensive coaching feels 10 years out of date. You look around the league and see what teams are doing with motion and play action and orbit screens and creative run games and the like, and then you watch the Saints just run up the middle and then run static curl and slant and go routes.

But their defense is good enough that they keep the games within one score long enough that you keep watching, even as you know that there's no real hope.

Ugh.

[cuervo72]

But you have gritty scrappy utility man! He's supposed to be exciting!

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

But you have gritty scrappy utility man! He's supposed to be exciting!

He's like a dash of pepper. When the dish already tastes great, he adds to the fun.

When the dish sucks and you try to cover it up with too much pepper, it is a lot less fun.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That holding call that bailed Mahomes out of an INT was the equivalent of a ref waiting to watch a layup rim out and blowing the whistle for a foul. He only reached for the flag when he saw the ball was going to be intercepted.

that was heartbreaking all around but loved the new Wilson. Good for the kid!
He deserved that great experience

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Pickett just upped his YPA to 2.0… it was 1.6 for most of the half. It wouldn’t surprise me if neither he nor Ridder started another game in their career to be honest. They will probably get more rope… but man, there’s some awful QB play out there right now.

I think Pickett will get more time, but their OC will probably take the fall at some point in the next 6-8 games if things don't get straighten out. Maybe an injury prolongs that and gives them an excuse. Although, I'm not sure firing a coordinator in midseason fits with the "Steelers Way."

I want to be fair and think that Pickett may have some further development, but he is 25 and was never perceived as physically gifted. His 'thing' was that he was polished, smart, experienced, and a good leader, so seeing some of his repeated mistakes after 17 games is frustrating. He throws behind people a lot and, despite that play call where he injured, he had a nice pocket but tried to roll out to his left for some reason and got hammered. He's done that a few times, where he'll try to spin out of reasonable protection once he realizes his first option isn't open.

If he continues on this current track, trying to admit that they need another QB to develop next draft is the type of decision that could make or break a front office, but the Steelers FO is all so entrenched it probably won't.

[stevew]

16 games played, 3000ish yards, 11 TDS, 12 picks. Low rating. I’m not sure how much more I need to see of Pickett. If he was 22 I might feel differently.

They gotta sack Canada during the bye week.

[Swaggs]

Pickett took 15 starts to have a game where his passer rating was over 100 (and previous high was 90.9). I wonder how many QBs in the passing era have gotten that many starts without having at least one.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

16 games played, 3000ish yards, 11 TDS, 12 picks. Low rating. I’m not sure how much more I need to see of Pickett. If he was 22 I might feel differently.

They gotta sack Canada during the bye week.

Looking at his game log out of stray curiosity while I ate my microwaved leftovers for dinner.

When his TD/INT is either positive or neutral, they're 8-1
When it's negative, they're 0-6

I know, turnovers & all, but that correlation seems like it's stronger than what's normal.

[RainMaker]

Pickett is poor man's Andy Dalton.

[Jas_lov]

Giants failed at the butt push and now this crazy TD. He looks down.

[thesloppy]

This game stiiinks

[Atocep]

The Giants are both bad and stupid.

[stevew]

I didn’t realize Archie Manning was so bad as a starting QB. Worst winning percentage of any QB with 100+ starts.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

I didn’t realize Archie Manning was so bad as a starting QB. Worst winning percentage of any QB with 100+ starts.

Nothing was gonna save those teams he was on, teams so bad that he won NFC Player of the Year honors for leading them to 7-9

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Atocep

The Giants are both bad and stupid.

this made me giggle so much

[CrimsonFox]

jesus i rewatched those 2 calls by the refs in the jets/chiefs and that really was blatant favoratism or just downright stupidity. Can they ever be fired for such crap? Or at least email trolled?

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nothing was gonna save those teams he was on, teams so bad that he won NFC Player of the Year honors for leading them to 7-9

Yup.

Archie is the great what if. His teams were so bad that we really have no idea how good he was.

There are old fans in New Orleans who still insist he is one of the greatest QBs in NFL history--we just had no way to see it. If he had gone to a competent team, he'd be in the conversation with Montana, Marino, etc.

I personally have no idea.

I do not, however, think that it was strange that the Manning family pulled a power play with Eli to dictate where he got drafted so he could avoid going into a black hole. There was a lot of family history behind that.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

jesus i rewatched those 2 calls by the refs in the jets/chiefs and that really was blatant favoratism or just downright stupidity. Can they ever be fired for such crap? Or at least email trolled?

It is impossible to tell the difference between incompetence and corruption from the outside. They look the same.

[stevew]

Anyways to provide context to the random Archie Manning pull, I was watching the Manning Cast and they referenced some ‘84 Vikings/Bears game where their dad got sacked 11 times in one of his last career starts. Jones got sacked 10 times yesterday.

[stevew]

Worst Winning Percentage As NFL Starting Qb With 145 Games Played | StatMuse

[larrymcg421]

Testaverde had a 4 year stretch from 98-01 that really pushed him much higher on that list. He was 31-15 during that period and 59-108 (.353.) in all other years.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nothing was gonna save those teams he was on, teams so bad that he won NFC Player of the Year honors for leading them to 7-9

UPI NFC Player of the Year. Earl Campbell won the UPI AFC Player of the Year.

I looked up the passing stats from that year. There is a pretty good argument for Manning having a better season than Terry Bradshaw who won AP MVP and AP 1st team All Pro.

Don't mind me, I just like remembering that AP vs UPI was not just a college football poll battle.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Testaverde had a 4 year stretch from 98-01 that really pushed him much higher on that list. He was 31-15 during that period and 59-108 (.353.) in all other years.

Testaverde is one of those rare guys that just looked cooked early in his career, and then became a solid quarterback later. It wasn't just how bad the Buccaneers were then, the guy just couldn't stop throwing interceptions. I really thought he was color-blind.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

It is impossible to tell the difference between incompetence and corruption from the outside. They look the same.

wow just like republicans!

[Ksyrup]

Broncos released Randy Gregory in the 2nd year of a 5 year $70M deal. Wow. Let the Sean Payton housecleaning begin. Or tank job. Either way. Gregory has been a massive disappointment. Looked like a great signing last year.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Honolulu Blue

Actually good Lions teams are so few and far between, you've gotta embrace and enjoy the ride when they actually come around!

As I've said before, I'll get on board when they win a playoff game. And not a second before that. The Green Bay game was remarkable. It was exactly the kind of thing that is very un-Lions like. But we have seen this movie before. They've been good and blown it. I wouldn't put it past them to go 15-2, have a home game against the best possible matchup for them, have several key players on the opposition injured, and still lose by three touchdowns.

It's not a curse IMO, it's just the Lions mindset. It is so very weird to me to have them be popular. They are acting like a good team that knows what they are trying to do and is being pretty effective at doing it. It's also four games into the year, so yeah I'm still pumping the brakes like a madman and there's a lot more to prove out yet.

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

The Lions are a good team getting better. Lions fans should be cautiously optimistic about winning their division.

Originally Posted by Ryche

I'll be surprised at this point if they don't win a playoff game. Pretty clearly one of the 4 best NFC teams.

Being clearly one of the best teams is not nearly good enough for this particular franchise.

- The winningest coach in Lions history is Wayne 'We're the best damn 0-4 team in the NFL' Fontes, whose career record is 66-67.

- Fontes still presided over the one playoff win in the Super Bowl Era. 1991 was literally the one unabashedly good year they had. Nobody was beating Washington that year.

- The Lions routinely ruin excellent coaches and players, and the ones they don't ruin they waste or trade away. We're talking about a franchise that probably prematurely ended the careers of Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, both all-time greats at their position, with their ineptitude.

- We're talking about a franchise that couldn't win a single playoff game with prime Stafford and Megatron playing together.

- We're talking about the first non-expansion franchise to go winless (0-16 in 2008 with one of the worst NFL defenses ever assembled). They repeatedly lost close games to achieve this.

- We're talking about a franchise that hasn't had a head coach who got another NFL head coaching job after their time with the Lions since Buddy Parker in 1958. To be fair, Jim Caldwell actually deserves to be one IMO.

- Coaches who were successful elsewhere before coming to the Lions and ending if not largely ruining their careers include Steve Mariucci, Bobby Ross, and Daryl Rogers.

- We're talking about a franchise that had the second-highest scoring offense in their first modern era playoff year of 1970, then was shut out 5-0 by Dallas Cowboys. A franchise that is 1-12 in Super Bowl Era playoff games, and has been blown out in over half of those losses. In the five close defeats, they held fourth-quarter leads in three of them. And still lost.

- This is a franchise that in 1995 took the #2 offense in points, #1 offense in total yardage, and #7 offense in fewest turnovers committed into Philadelphia, and proceeded to commit 7 turnovers including six interceptions in losing 58-37.

- The opposing quarterback that day was Heisman Trophy winner Rodney Peete ... drafted by the Lions.

- The quarterback for that lone playoff win in 1991? Erik Kramer. The Lions decided they didn't want to re-sign him, because you just wouldn't want to keep a guy like that around - he still holds a share of the franchise record for things like playoff TDs ... a whole five of them. Two years after he left? He had his best career year with 3800 yds, 29 TDs, and 10 INTs. For the division rival Chicago Bears. Yep, definitely better off without him.

These are just the low-lights. When it comes to the Detroit Lions, Lose ... Finds a Way. So yeah, I'm waiting a little more before I jump on the bandwagon. I'm interested, but not committing. Call me crazy, but there's a track record here, and the Ford family still owns the franchise. Not even the Browns are remotely within spitting distance in Super Bowl Era. If they ever actually made a Super Bowl, the city would explode. They've been waiting so long.

My money's still on them continuing to wait.

[flere-imsaho]

That's a great post and all, Brian, but now you need to go do a wellness check on Honolulu Blue.

[NobodyHere]

You didn't even mention Matt Millen

And also do you remember when the Lions traded for Ty Detmer from the Cleveland Browns, who then proceeded to throw SEVEN interceptions against said Browns?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kf2_3-gAoA

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

That's a great post and all, Brian, but now you need to go do a wellness check on Honolulu Blue.

Heh!!!!

Thanks! I’m good. I lived through and experienced all of this. All of it. It’s been over 40 years of futility and misery as fan, which is why whenever I hear another fan base whine about futility or suffering, I channel my inner Buffalo Bill from “Silence of The Lambs” and think: “You don’t even know what pain is!”

Still, I am choosing to get excited about this season and team. It’s likely that it will all end spectacularly badly, but I’ve spent almost my entire fandom of this team stuck in pain and misery, gotta take those slivers of hope and joy when you can even if they may be mirages.

[Ksyrup]

This is probably the perfect time to mention I went to a conference on Monday and met a guy who has been close friends with Marty Morninwheg for several decades.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

This is probably the perfect time to mention I went to a conference on Monday and met a guy who has been close friends with Marty Morninwheg for several decades.

Another classic Lions coach! Riding off in a huff on a motorcycle during practice to make a point and to look “cool”. Taking the wind in overtime!

There was, also, that con artist Steve Mariucci.

[stevew]

The Commoders are dressed up like the Steelers tonight.

[stevew]

“What if you just threw to one guy all the time” FOF gameplan seems to be working for the bears so far.

[Atocep]

Getting Chase Claypool off the field and out of the building seems to have helped. I feel sorry for fans of any team that signs him.

[albionmoonlight]

Took a chance and picked the Commanders in my survival league. Was trying to sneak one through. Sigh.