NFL 2022-23 Season Thread

[Coffee Warlord]

Taking on the role of the Lions against the Lions today ... is the Bears.

[Solecismic]

Life with the Bears...

DET - 4Q 11:37 D.Swift 9 yd. run (M.Badgley kick) (4-55, 1:58)
DET - 4Q 10:29 J.Okudah 20 yd. interception return (M.Badgley kick)
CHI - 4Q 9:11 J.Fields 67 yd. run (kick failed, wl) (3-75, 1:18)

[bhlloy]

Justin Jefferson just made the greatest catch I’ve ever seen in my life

[Jas_lov]

Why not just run Dalvin Cook straight ahead. They tried a pass and a qb sneak from a half yard.

[Jas_lov]

Never mind. Insane fumble!

[larrymcg421]

HOLY SHIT

[sovereignstar v2]

Lol

[Solecismic]

Will people finally forget about the Joe Pisarcik play?

[Jas_lov]

Just letting them pick up 15 yards every time and get out of bounds. Don't know why teams do that.

[bhlloy]

I mean you can overanalyze that as much as you want but just a complete freak play. Taking a safety and leaving the Vikings to get 15-20 yards for a game winning FG would have been a far worse call.

[Solecismic]

Of course. It would have been a bad decision.

They have us on Tennessee/Denver for bonus coverage. Russell Wilson is an adventure, but he no longer has the legs to make his game what it was. That was painful to watch. And the Broncos have him guaranteed through, what is it, 2035?

[sovereignstar v2]

Why are the refs not reviewing what was an incomplete pass with under 2 minutes?

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Taking on the role of the Lions against the Lions today ... is the Bears.

QFT

[GrantDawg]

This Viking-Bill's game is something.

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[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Why are the refs not reviewing what was an incomplete pass with under 2 minutes?

An incredibly bad missed call... but doesn't excuse whatever idiotic prevent defense the Vikings went into there. Absolutely turtled.

[Solecismic]

That's two games today that have been completely changed by missed extra points in the fourth quarter. Is that really what the NFL wanted? Going to have to start drafting kickers in the first round.

[larrymcg421]

I still feel like the best solution for overtime is to go back to sudden death, but instead of using a coin flip, just continue the game from where it left off. So a coin flip isn't deciding, but just the natural flow of the game.

[Solecismic]

But then if you're tied in the last two minutes, it's in your best interest to run down the clock as you move down the field. It would change the late-game paradigm considerably. No urgency as the clock runs out.

[GrantDawg]

Wow. What a game.

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[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

But then if you're tied in the last two minutes, it's in your best interest to run down the clock as you move down the field. It would change the late-game paradigm considerably. No urgency as the clock runs out.

How is that different from what you want to do now? Run the clock out so the other team doesn't get a chance to score.

[Solecismic]

There are quarterbacks like Cousins, Tannehill and Philip Rivers who I wonder if things were different and they had made it to even one Super Bowl, if people would think differently about them. Rivers and Cousins for certain. Tannehill is no-doubt a good quarterback, but I don't think a great one.

I hate seeing Russell Wilson struggle so much, clearly not the same guy or just running too different a plan from what he ran in Seattle. He's a little-doubt Hall of Famer, and I think too young to go through this. Denver committed here. They need to surround him with his team now.

Going back to the Willis/Tannehill debate, now that Tannehill is back, he has to keep starting. Maybe they move on from him next season, but if Willis is the answer, training camp next year is when they have to make that evaluation because he has so far to go yet.

[Solecismic]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

How is that different from what you want to do now? Run the clock out so the other team doesn't get a chance to score.

Let's say your opponent ties the game with three minutes remaining. They kick off. You're working to get the ball into field-goal range to win. It's exciting. You're sometimes forced to throw. Instead, you can run your normal ball-control offense and make sure you use the clock after every play.

By the time you have your first first down at your own 40, you're already past the two-minute warning or your opponent is using time outs. You get your second first down just past midfield and the clock expires. Overtime begins and you need one first down before you think about trotting out the kicker.

There are benefits, no doubt. Let's say you're down three in the last minute. Maybe you don't want to work the clock for a field goal at the end of regulation because you know you're kicking off in overtime. But I think the potential for sucking the life out of the most exciting portion of the game outweighs that potential benefit.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

This Viking-Bill's game is something.

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I thought it was over when Buffalo held them at the goal line. Silly me

[Solecismic]

Off to Dallas/Green Bay, where we can see that Aaron Rodgers still throws the best deep ball humanity has experienced. And, of course, endless closeups of his frustration on the other 95% of his plays.

I suppose that's better than the eagerly anticipated, Super Bowl no doubt on the line, matchup between $40 million/year Matthew Stafford and $46 million/year Kyler Murray. Or something like that.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Taking on the role of the Lions against the Lions today ... is the Bears.

Accurate.

[miami_fan]

Damn, McCarthy is calling a horrible game for Rodgers

[Thomkal]

So who knew what the Cards needed to beat the Rams was Colt McCoy and no Matt Stafford

[NobodyHere]

Jeff Saturday is 1-0 now.

Suck it coaches with actual experience.

ETA:

Also Josh McDaniels losing is always a bonus.

[Jas_lov]

Waching Mike McCarthy slam his headset was the highlight of the season for Packers fans.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

I thought it was over when Buffalo held them at the goal line. Silly me

So did the Bills' twitter

https://i.redd.it/o6fff4jghsz91.jpg

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by molson

So did the Bills' twitter

https://i.redd.it/o6fff4jghsz91.jpg

Heh

[BishopMVP]

Bills are 3rd place in the AFC East (and a game out of last), just as we all predicted they would be after week 10.

[albionmoonlight]

Any multiplayer FOF player could have told the Saints that you don't trade away future first round picks unless it is to get a QB.

My only consolation is that I very consciously enjoyed the heck out of the Payton/Brees era b/c I realized at the time that this stuff is ephemeral so you lean into the good times when they are good.

[Ksyrup]

Josh Allen is at that point in his success where he expects every drive to be a TD and he forces stuff when he just needs to eat it. It's like watching Jameis Winston's sophomore year at FSU (and the guy really never learned his lesson after that, even in the pros). Mahomes went through a brief bit of that too - not every no-look pass or throw from your back foot as you're being sacked is a completion. Sometimes these guys make so much magic they think it will happen, or has to happen, every time they touch the ball.

[BishopMVP]

We all knew Poyer was good but his absence has been bigger than I thought it would be.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by molson

So did the Bills' twitter

https://i.redd.it/o6fff4jghsz91.jpg

And now we know that the Bills also had 12 men on the field when they stopped them on 1st and goal.

Not only did Bills not get proper booth review on a would be drop from Gabe Davis in the final seconds, the refs completely missed a 12 man on the field call on the play they stuffed the Vikings on 1st down in overtime.

Vikings truly beat both the Bills AND refs - legitimately. pic.twitter.com/j8l5IURuBU

— Ghost Of Adam Gase ➐ (@GhostOfAdamGase) November 14, 2022

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Bills are 3rd place in the AFC East (and a game out of last), just as we all predicted they would be after week 10.

I mean, it's what everyone expected 2 weeks ago when they were 6-1 and atop almost every power ranking out there.

SI

[RainMaker]

I can't believe how good Justin Fields has been and he's doing it with practice squad level players.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I can't believe how good Justin Fields has been and he's doing it with practice squad level players.

I really like Eberflus so far and the job Getsy has done reshaping the offense on the fly this year is impressive. Fields is still making mistakes, but the ceiling is evident and, as you said, he's doing with very little help. Just getting a center that isn't a traffic cone would be a massive upgrade and settle down the line for the most part.

Playing as many 1 score games as they have is a good sign and losing most of them helps in the draft.

[albionmoonlight]

Hindsight in 20/20, but that WAS/PHI game was such an obvious trap game in hindsight. Every single one of us glanced at the schedule, saw it was PHI at home against WAS, and didn't give it another thought. Eleven point spread? Yup. Seems about right. On to thinking about the interesting games.

Intra-division games are never gimmies in the NFL.

[cuervo72]

Not EVERY single one of us. I understood it as a trap; Heinicke is not a good quarterback, but he's one of those quarterbacks, you know? Had it been Wentz in there I probably wouldn't have worried as much.

[Ksyrup]

I like Heinicke. He seems to do something every week that screws his team, but I wonder if he's just one of those guys who can't afford a mistake and he plays on a team who usually can't win with one of those guys at QB, but you put him on a good team and he could easily coast for a month or two while the starter heals.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I like Heinicke. He seems to do something every week that screws his team, but I wonder if he's just one of those guys who can't afford a mistake and he plays on a team who usually can't win with one of those guys at QB, but you put him on a good team and he could easily coast for a month or two while the starter heals.

spot on

[albionmoonlight]

That ties in a bit to Q's early speculating about the middle class of QBs.

You have your 5 or 6 QBs who are MVP-quality and basically transcend their system.

And you have a few starting who are just not NFL quality QBs.

Then you just have a lot of dudes in that middle class.

And I wonder if, as a team building strategy, a GM would be much better off not trying to guess which of the Geno Smith/Gardner Minchew/Jameis Winston/etc. bucket is good. But instead focusing heavily on coaching and finding a coach who has demonstrated an ability to maximize his QBs strengths.

Like right now Tua is an MVP candidate. But I also get the sense that putting him with an OC that would have him "just drop back and run my system" would have made him borderline benchable this year.

So lets say Geno Smith hits the market this offseason (I don't think Seattle will let him go, but let's say it does) and wants $25 million/year and Gardner Minchew hits the market and wants $5 million/year.

I'd say that Geno is better that Minchew in a vacuum. But if as a team, you can get $20 million to spend on other players and you have a coach who you trust to stay "Minchew does some things well and some things horribly, and I'll make sure to build our entire offense with that in mind," shouldn't you save the cap space?

[albionmoonlight]

dola:

Of course then the interesting question is if you do this and pull it off, then your QB will demand a lot more money. And then do you pull the plug and bring in the next guy, or do you suddenly find yourself compelled to overpay a guy because you yourself made him over-valued?

[Solecismic]

The cap is designed for upward mobility. You can afford to keep a couple of key players, including the quarterback. You have to creatively mortgage the future and avoid too much guaranteed money to players you can't live with.

Time and time again, though, what kills teams is trading away high draft picks. Don't do that. You need a steady supply of undervalued starters elsewhere. Get enough of them, they reach critical mass and only that couple of key players rises above and gets that big money.

What makes an elite quarterback? There are groups of skill sets and good evaluators are necessary. Some skills develop over time, some don't. With some skills, there's quite a range among NFL quarterbacks, and with some, there isn't.

1) Understanding of the game. Can you read a defense. Can you, at the speed of the game, make a good decision and execute it. This can improve over time and there's a good bit of range between poor and great.

2) Study of the game. Do you spend time in the film room, learn your opponent inside and out? Or do you rely on your coaching staff? This is more an inherent trait and is kind of like adding bonus points to 1).

3) Arm. Either you can make NFL throws or you can't. If you can't, your coaches have to remove pages from the playbook.

4) Mobility. Do you have that internal clock and the ability to move around the pocket or escape and buy yourself time to set and throw (Mahomes and Roethlisberger are/were masters at this, the Bailey Zappe experiment in New England is probably already done because he has no clock at all).

5) Athleticism. Can you screw all the rest of this and every play is run/pass option? Will the Bears rejuvenate Devin Hester and install him at quarterback? This works for the young, not so much for the middle-aged.

[Lathum]

So I’m in a money league, only $10, and a trade just went to review. Saquon Barkley for Brandon Ayiuk and Chuba Hubbard. We have a group chat for the league and I popped in and was like, yeah, not sure I can approve that, and now all hell has broken lose with people
Taking sides.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So I’m in a money league, only $10, and a trade just went to review. Saquon Barkley for Brandon Ayiuk and Chuba Hubbard. We have a group chat for the league and I popped in and was like, yeah, not sure I can approve that, and now all hell has broken lose with people
Taking sides.

That's a terrible trade. #TeamLathum

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

The cap is designed for upward mobility. You can afford to keep a couple of key players, including the quarterback. You have to creatively mortgage the future and avoid too much guaranteed money to players you can't live with.

Time and time again, though, what kills teams is trading away high draft picks. Don't do that. You need a steady supply of undervalued starters elsewhere. Get enough of them, they reach critical mass and only that couple of key players rises above and gets that big money.

What makes an elite quarterback? There are groups of skill sets and good evaluators are necessary. Some skills develop over time, some don't. With some skills, there's quite a range among NFL quarterbacks, and with some, there isn't.

1) Understanding of the game. Can you read a defense. Can you, at the speed of the game, make a good decision and execute it. This can improve over time and there's a good bit of range between poor and great.

2) Study of the game. Do you spend time in the film room, learn your opponent inside and out? Or do you rely on your coaching staff? This is more an inherent trait and is kind of like adding bonus points to 1).

3) Arm. Either you can make NFL throws or you can't. If you can't, your coaches have to remove pages from the playbook.

4) Mobility. Do you have that internal clock and the ability to move around the pocket or escape and buy yourself time to set and throw (Mahomes and Roethlisberger are/were masters at this, the Bailey Zappe experiment in New England is probably already done because he has no clock at all).

5) Athleticism. Can you screw all the rest of this and every play is run/pass option? Will the Bears rejuvenate Devin Hester and install him at quarterback? This works for the young, not so much for the middle-aged.

Makes me long for the next version of FOF.

[Ksyrup]

I'm looking forward to the Buffalo game on Sunday. They are looking at a potentially historic snowstorm and could get up to 6 feet of snow - although I think much of it will have fallen by Saturday.