2023 NFL Regular Season Thread

[dubb93]

The fact that the Colts passed on George Pickens to trade down and pick Alec Pierce should get someone fired.

[bronconick]

Someone needs to tell the Dolphins they can't stay on Rookie on Madden.

[NobodyHere]

So are the Colts actually...good?...this year?

[SirFozzie]

You know that old ESPN This is Sportscenter commercial where Dan Patrick informs Evander Holyfield that Charlie Steiner thinks he's the third best heavyweight.. from Georgia?

Someone must have told the Dolphins that they were the third best team.... from Florida.

"DENVER BRONCOS. COME OUT AND GET YOUR WHOOPIN!"

[Atocep]

It's easy to forget how special Mahomes is and then you watch him not step into a throw because he got hit and still throw the ball 40 yards on the money over the receiver's shoulder on the sideline.

[GrantDawg]

I just heard someone on the radio saying that at this point Tua has to be the favorite for MVP. That is a big swing in someones career.

[SirFozzie]

Can we do running clock in the 2nd half of Bears-Chiefs?

[Ksyrup]

If you're a Bears fan, you should feel good about the fact that at least you aren't paying your coach $18M a year to lose by 50.

[bhlloy]

Just a brutal sequence for the Bears, feels like everything that can go wrong does. Your big offensive addition drops a huge gain that was really well thrown, then he totally misreads the underneath coverage and throws a pick and now this could get really out of hand.

Claypool just failed to box out on another reasonably well thrown deep shot too. He's probably done but I still feel like there's a talented QB in there somewhere... or at least I don't think he's less talented than Jordan Love.

[weegeebored]

This is the worst Bears team I have ever seen, and I've been through the Abe Gibron and "They sent the wrong Neill Armstrong to the moon" years. And recently I couldn't believe coaching could be worse than Trestman and Nagy, or shittier QB play than Trubisky and Grossman. Hell -- even Jauron won five games with McNown under center! For Bears fans there is nothing to hand our collective hats on. Warren needs to blow the whole thing up as I see nothing positive in player evaluation or coaching.

I can't watch anymore.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Just a brutal sequence for the Bears, feels like everything that can go wrong does. Your big offensive addition drops a huge gain that was really well thrown, then he totally misreads the underneath coverage and throws a pick and now this could get really out of hand.

Claypool just failed to box out on another reasonably well thrown deep shot too. He's probably done but I still feel like there's a talented QB in there somewhere... or at least I don't think he's less talented than Jordan Love.

I agree

This team is really poorly coached from top to bottom. Watching Yannick do everything he can to get to Mahomes and fail repeatedly while not caring about the run, containment, or anything else just about sums things up.

Claypool might be the lowest effort receiver I've ever seen. Doesn't block, doesn't care about routes, and if the ball is coming his way he's never in position to make a good play on the ball because everything is so low effort and sloppy.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by weegeebored

This is the worst Bears team I have ever seen, and I've been through the Abe Gibron and "They sent the wrong Neill Armstrong to the moon" years. And recently I couldn't believe coaching could be worse than Trestman and Nagy, or shittier QB play than Trubisky and Grossman. Hell -- even Jauron won five games with McNown under center! For Bears fans there is nothing to hand our collective hats on. Warren needs to blow the whole thing up as I see nothing positive in player evaluation or coaching.

I can't watch anymore.

This coaching staff was the parting gift from George. He brought in Polian to advise on the hire, Polian put together a list, that list was trimmed down to Eberflus, Dan Quinn, or Jim Caldwell and George let Poles pick between those 3.

I feel like all 3 would have been a bad choice.

[rjolley]

I appreciate the deep throws. Fields has been good on them, but they've been dropped. Fine.

We're running the ball a bit more. Good.

On other dropbacks, there's a defender in Fields' lap before the play gets a chance to develop. Expected.

I don't know if no short routes are being called or if they're being missed, but it seems like, with the Chiefs stuffing the box, the short passing game should be there.

And our defense can't get to the passer and can't tackle. Seems like every play, there's at least 2 broken tackles. So, not only does Mahomes have all day to throw, when guys catch it, they continuously get chunks of YAC.

This is how I expected this game to go. I hoped the offense would show a bit more, and in ways it has, but I had no hope for the defense other than...nope, no hope.

[Coffee Warlord]

So Bears v Broncos next week. God help us.

[Ksyrup]

Ha!

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I just heard someone on the radio saying that at this point Tua has to be the favorite for MVP. That is a big swing in someones career.

Yeah hearing that makes me think that my brain may be a bit woozy.

[Ksyrup]

Herbert went 40-47. I tried to google best completion percentage with 40 or more completions and all I could find was Mahomes has the record for 40 or more attempts. Can't find completions.

[Thomkal]

So my beloved Cards led wire to wire and beat Dallas just like I and everyone thought they would right?



Oh since I'm still on the Lions bandwagon-go Lions!

[Coffee Warlord]

Entire coaching staff + Fields needs to go.

I'm trending towards Poles staying, and actually picking his coach & QB.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Entire coaching staff + Fields needs to go.

I'm trending towards Poles staying, and actually picking his coach & QB.

I love this hot take

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Entire coaching staff + Fields needs to go.

I'm trending towards Poles staying, and actually picking his coach & QB.

This is where I'm at

[Edward64]

Stay classy Dolphins, stay classy. Great job

[flere-imsaho]

Teams that have deliberately tried to tank have not done as badly as this Bears team. It's sort of impressive, in a way.

[JPhillips]

Who is the first to the playoffs, the Bears or the Broncos?

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Who is the first to the playoffs, the Bears or the Broncos?

THE CLIMB STARTS SUNDAY. TUNE IN TO CBS!

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Teams that have deliberately tried to tank have not done as badly as this Bears team. It's sort of impressive, in a way.

lol you guys now are making me want to watch the bears

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Who is the first to the playoffs, the Bears or the Broncos?

I'd say the Bears, if they weren't the Bears.

They do have a much better cap situation, and what will absolutely be two top ten (top 5?) 1st rounders. Broncos are in cap hell with Wilson. On paper, the Bears are in a tremendous position to build a long term team. They did as close to an empty cupboard run as it gets in real life, and set themselves up great. If it were Quiksand in charge, they'd win the Super Bowl next year, in year 3 of empty cupboard.

However...never underestimate the power of Bears leadership to monumentally fuck things up.

[JPhillips]

I'd go Bears because of the NFC. A lot easier to see how a mid-level QB gets a team to the playoffs in the NFC over the next decade.

[molson]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

lol you guys now are making me want to watch the bears

This is the kind of weekend the NFL Plus condensed game feature is made for.

[SirFozzie]

Someone should insert the Menu that comes up in Madden when the game is lopsided (offering an early concede) into the Dolphins-Broncos highlights

[Ksyrup]

I didn't hate the decision to go for the FG with 3:20 left although I would have gone for it. However, after the Steelers penalty gave them a 1st down, you have to go for the TD. Instead, they wasted a minute off the clock to get a little closer and kicked the same FG on a manageable 4th down. Not only did the Steelers PF not hurt, it actually helped. I don't understand kicking the FG 4th and 4 from the 15 (I think that was the situation).

[molson]

It was at the Steelers 8 which I think makes it worse.

Even if you don't make the first down, they're pinned back and you have a great shot to get the ball at midfield or better with a minute and change left.

How can you be so unsure you can get 4 yards for a first down, 8 yards for a TD, and instead take a situation where, best case, you need to go 60 or 70 yards in less time.

Edit: I had to Google whether you could decline a personal foul penalty - not sure I've ever seen that happen, there's not a lot of situations it would make sense. But it would have made sense there. They took 3 points off the board just to drive for 1:15 more and put the 3 points back.

[weegeebored]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Entire coaching staff + Fields needs to go.

I'm trending towards Poles staying, and actually picking his coach & QB.

Why should Poles stay? What evidence is there he can evaluate talent? His FA signings have been awful...godawful. It's too early to make a call on the draft. Maybe Wright will be an above average tackle. Stevenson is not what you would call a disciplined player. He can hit but can he cover? Not too much evidence of that. Two DTs that don't impress (and not taking an O-lineman)? Do you really trust him to draft the right QB? I guess he should get his shot. Let's see what he does at the trade deadline. The Bears have to be sellers.

[stevew]

Couldn’t they just add the PF on the kickoff? I think I’d onside kick from the 50 or squib it or something. What I wouldn’t do is run all that time off and then still kick.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Herbert went 40-47. I tried to google best completion percentage with 40 or more completions and all I could find was Mahomes has the record for 40 or more attempts. Can't find completions.

Big Ben was 40/49 and everyone else with 40 completions attempted at least 52 passes.

[CrimsonFox]

the more i read out of Fields' mouth, the more I now this punk kid will never make it in the NFL. He just wants everyone to leave him alone and let him play street football where he can make things happen. uh huh....riiiiiiiiight.

Dude is done in the NFL already. He'll never make it

[CrimsonFox]

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I just heard someone on the radio saying that at this point Tua has to be the favorite for MVP. That is a big swing in someones career.

It's almost like putting your NFL QB prospect with proper QB coaching, in a proper offensive system that maximizes what he does well and minimizes what he does not do well while also surrounding him with talent that can take advantage of those things puts the QB in the best position to show what he is capable of doing. The fact that Tua is early in his 4th NFL season and not his rookie or 2nd season has probably played a factor as well. Seems like a trend other teams might want to follow if we are going to insist on making the QB position the most important one in the game.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by weegeebored

Why should Poles stay? What evidence is there he can evaluate talent? His FA signings have been awful...godawful. It's too early to make a call on the draft. Maybe Wright will be an above average tackle. Stevenson is not what you would call a disciplined player. He can hit but can he cover? Not too much evidence of that. Two DTs that don't impress (and not taking an O-lineman)? Do you really trust him to draft the right QB? I guess he should get his shot. Let's see what he does at the trade deadline. The Bears have to be sellers.

Claypool aside ... that was a mistake, but I get the idea behind the shot ... I wonder how a lot of these guys would look on a team that's coached competently. I'm not convinced all these FA signings and draft picks are awful. I've become more convinced they're on a team with a coaching staff who has utterly zero clue how to use them or instruct them.

Frankly, I still like the vision behind Pole's moves. He inherited an old, bad, and expensive roster, tore it down, got a buttload of cap space and draft picks, and we're still in the middle of that process. For better or for worse, I think you need to let the guy see that process through.

[weegeebored]

Only Claypool was a mistake? Seriously? Let me run down the list: Nate Davis, Tremaine Edmunds, D'Onta Foreman, Robert Tonyan, Andrew Billings, DeMarcus Walker, PJ Walker, and others. Name a Pro Bowler. Better yet -- name one guy making an impact. T.J. Edwards has been ok, but that's about it.

I had a vision that I would be a very good college basketball player and also a very good keyboard player. I don't have the skills for either. A vision <> positive results. It's already time to cut bait on the whole lot, including Poles.

[albionmoonlight]

Knowing everything we know now, which guy would you have picked in their draft: Tua or Burrow?

[albionmoonlight]

I'd still go Burrow--he's done it longer. But Tua's making it a debate for sure, which is awesome.

We live in such a hot-take sports culture that we have to have opinions on these things half a season into their careers.

Nice to see things continue to evolve over the years

[Ryche]

I'd still be worried about those concussions for Tua.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Knowing everything we know now, which guy would you have picked in their draft: Tua or Burrow?

Burrow and it's not even close. He has an ankle injury that may torpedo this Bengals season (but leave them with 2 AFCCG and a Super Bowl appearance in his first four seasons after 30 years without a playoff win), Tua has never made it through a season healthy, never played in a playoff game, and I still worry he's one traumatic hit away from never playing again.

I also think the Patriots defense is pretty darn good (even without two of our top 3 CB's that night) but we literally saw Tua and that offense limited pretty well a week ago. There is no amount of video game numbers vs bad defenses that will even get me to consider this a valid question, I will need to see Tua healthy and doing it vs real defenses in January to entertain it.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by molson

It was at the Steelers 8 which I think makes it worse.

Even if you don't make the first down, they're pinned back and you have a great shot to get the ball at midfield or better with a minute and change left.

How can you be so unsure you can get 4 yards for a first down, 8 yards for a TD, and instead take a situation where, best case, you need to go 60 or 70 yards in less time.

Edit: I had to Google whether you could decline a personal foul penalty - not sure I've ever seen that happen, there's not a lot of situations it would make sense. But it would have made sense there. They took 3 points off the board just to drive for 1:15 more and put the 3 points back.

According to McDaniels they needed two possessions to win . Step 1 being needing to tie the game in the remaining 2:21 is apparently too much to think about. This might be the single worst play call all season.

"We needed multiple possessions." #Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, on why he kicked the FG down 8 points. pic.twitter.com/rIvIWlYQyu

— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) September 25, 2023

[larrymcg421]

Reminds me of this decision by Dan Quinn of the Falcons.

In short, Falcons down by 4 with 3 minutes left. It's 4th and goal from the 1 and they kick the FG.

As the video points out, their odds of winning actually were higher if they missed the FG than if they made it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WRbKTyXkCA

[Jas_lov]

Matt Lafleur did the same thing in the NFC Championship kicking the fg down 8. It was made even worse that the opposing qb was Tom Brady. It's just a dumb decision. Throw a jump ball to your best receiver. Lafleur did go for two down 14 yesterday and it worked, so maybe he's learning.

[stevew]

Anyone know where Taylor swift was yesterday?

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by stevew

Anyone know where Taylor swift was yesterday?

[albionmoonlight]

Taylor Swift having an affair with Mahomes and single-handedly ending the Chiefs dynasty would be the most 2023 thing ever.