NFL 2018 Season Thread

[PilotMan]

Well, that was.......something?

[Lathum]

We are in bizzaro world. The chargers always find a way to lose that game.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

How does an NFL referee miss that false start

Should be suspended. They gave DL and OL multiple head starts all night. And then the game ends on 3 consecutive offsides. Just a bizarre game.

[miked]

Seems weird to blame McCarthy for the Packers failures. Their drafts on the offensive side of the ball look pretty bad over the past several years (besides Davante Adams and maybe Eddie Lacy).

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by miked

Seems weird to blame McCarthy for the Packers failures. Their drafts on the offensive side of the ball look pretty bad over the past several years (besides Davante Adams and maybe Eddie Lacy).

Yeah, similarly, I feel like Green Bay's FA strategy has been "let 2 go, sign 1" for something like the last 10 years.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by SegRat

I can’t believe Green Bay fired McCarthy. I think he deserved the respect to finish this year. I was looking forward to the Packers moving on in the off season, but not now. Hue Jackson’s get fired during the season, not the coach you have had for 13 years and won a super bowl.

He should have been fired two years ago. He got last season and the first 12 games of this season as "deserved respect". This team was just lifeless again today and had clearly quit on mcCarthy - no point in keeping him after today. Combine that with the same "everyone run 30-yard routs and get open" passing offense Mike has run all year, the unmitigated disaster this special teams unit has been and Mike's complete unwillingness to replace under-performing players/coaches (ie, keeping Zook at ST, waiting to start Aaron Jones, not using Alexander at PR until today, not playing TE Tonyan, sticking with CB House early and the WR cluser) and it was clear he needed to go. In all honesty, they should have fired him with the GM last offseason.

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Yeah, similarly, I feel like Green Bay's FA strategy has been "let 2 go, sign 1" for something like the last 10 years.

It's been more "let 3 go, sign none". But that's why Ted got let go - he put all his apples into the draft and missed on about 60-70% of his picks.

Originally Posted by miked

Seems weird to blame McCarthy for the Packers failures. Their drafts on the offensive side of the ball look pretty bad over the past several years (besides Davante Adams and maybe Eddie Lacy).

Before they got decimated by injuries, they had a pretty solid offensive unit. Bakhtiari and Linsley are two of the best linemen in the league, with Talyor, Bulaga and McCray/Bell all being solid. They had a pretty good receiving core with Adams, Allison, Cobb and the rookies (MVS, St. Brown) with a capable red zone target in Graham. Their RB (Aaron Jones) is a pretty good player too. Yet, with all those guys healthy, they were struggling to put up 20-23 points.

Mike still coached this unit like it was the one from 2010. No creative route concepts, very little play action and he would routinely abandon the run late in close games. His in-game management was pretty suspect as well, not going for it and punting on 4th and 2 against Seattle (with no healthy DBs) and not challenging a clear dropped pass late in another game. He supposedly revamped the offense last offseason and it got even worse. Ted did him no favors with his last three drafts, but there was enough talent on this team to average more than 23 points a game. Mike would never let anyone call plays and made it clear he was in charge of this offense. So, when it looks like your all-pro QB is playing in quicksand every game, it takes you 7 weeks to realize Aaron Jones is your best RB (when most around the team knew it in the preseason) and you are one of the worst 3rd down teams in the league, Mike needed to be held accountable for the offensive struggles. Throw in special teams and getting rid of him was a no-brainer.

Green Bay needs more talent to be a top team, but a new coach with a more innovative offensive mind could get this team back to 9-10 wins fairly quickly. Remember, out of their 8 losses and ties, 6 were within one TD (4 within 3 points). Just getting a coach who isn't an abomination on special teams would probably have this team at 7-5 right now.

[panerd]

So yesterday's "unselfish" Todd Gurley play part two...

Last time completely understand why Gurley took a knee to win the game instead of scoring a meaningless TD to everyone but fantasy owners and gamblers. Yesterday though for those not familiar LA was up 7 and Gurley was on his way to a long TD run with about 2:30 remaining. Instead of scoring he lays down at the 1 yard line. The announcers just start heaping the praise about how selfless he is. Was he though? They would have been up 14 and Detroit would need to score a TD and get an onsides (or defensive 3 and out that eats up most of the time) and score another TD vs stopping them from scoring and having like 2 minutes down likely 10 but possibly only 7. He ended up scoring two plays later (and only like 20 seconds later) anyways but I don't know it just seemed kind of boneheaded and I'm not even a fan or a angry Gurley fantasy owner or anything.

[Ksyrup]

If you almost completely discount the risk of a fumble (which shouldn't be discounted), what he did was smart, but probably not unselfish. He allowed them to run more time off the clock and still score. But in the end, he probably figured he as going to be handed the ball the next 2 or 3 plays.

[Warhammer]

Didn’t watch the game, but in theory, you force Detroit to use their time outs. You have a very good chance of getting at least three points out of it. That makes it a two possession game with around two minutes left and limit options for clock management. All in all, it was a smart play. I would say unselfish as well, but Malcolm Brown was out for the game, Gurley knew his number would be called.

[Arles]

Pretty good article by Barnwell on the decision to fire McCarthy:

Answering the biggest questions on the Packers firing of Mike McCarthy - 2018 NFL

When it comes to the 2014 NFC Championship Game, though, McCarthy bungled his way into a crushing loss. I wrote about this at the time, when McCarthy kicked two sub-20-yard field goals to start the game, ran the ball on third-and-3 to set up a fourth-and-1 field goal try, and said after the game that he was calling second-half running plays to try to hit a total of 20 rushing attempts in the second half.

The latter is a brutal conflation of cause and effect, and as Mike Tanier noted, the Packers were probably better off setting a target of three second-half kneel-downs if McCarthy was going to misapply math. I won't get into McCarthy's erratic late-game decision-making in the regular season or the time Jordy Nelson had to try to hide the challenge flag McCarthy incorrectly threw, but at the very least, the Packers should have represented the NFC in Super Bowl XLIX.

Here's more specifics about the offensive issues this year:

Those issues reappeared with the 2018 offense, which continued to look antiquated in comparison to teams like the Chiefs and Rams. The Packers simply don't do enough to create natural rubs and easy releases for their receivers, who have to win one-on-one in coverage. Of Rodgers' 21 touchdown passes this season, just two used a pick to create space, and they were both within two yards of the end zone. Two of the touchdowns included stacked receivers, but one didn't create an open receiver and required Rodgers to improvise and create a throwing lane for a score.

The Packers hadn't run a jet sweep through mid-October, and while they used ghost motion in Week 12 to set up an Aaron Jones touchdown run, it felt like when the diner that has been in your town for 75 years suddenly added poké to the menu. Putting Davante Adams in the backfield for one fourth-down play isn't modernizing your offense. It's one play.

[Ksyrup]

Another false start TD.

[cuervo72]

That's what I thought too.

[Thomkal]

Looks like the Redskins have the QB injury curse this season

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Another false start TD.

Let me know if there's an obvious block in the back on a punt return TD tonight too.



Labriola just killed it in his column today. There were lots of ways that the team could have avoided losing that game last night, but 2 scoring plays that should have been nullified does leave a lingering stink in the air.

[bhlloy]

I felt bad for Redskins fans. Then I saw Dan Snyder and remembered Reuben Foster and I lol’ed. Karma is a bitch.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I felt bad for Redskins fans. Then I saw Dan Snyder and remembered Reuben Foster and I lol’ed. Karma is a bitch.

Yeah, Dan Snyder cancels out whatever sympathy I might have for the players or fans of that franchise.

[Lathum]

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder's amusing failure at Six Flags.

[Lathum]

I generally can't stand Booger McFarland, but he is just about the only talking head who has said it was the right time to fire McCarthy.

[NobodyHere]

I generally giver Booger a pass because a) I like the nickname and b) he was on the Colt's Superbowl winning team.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder's amusing failure at Six Flags.

Dave McKenna is a hero.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder's amusing failure at Six Flags.

Good gawd, he's such a terrible human being.

[albionmoonlight]

The Jeff Fisher t-shirt you didn't know you needed:

Forbidden

[Ksyrup]

That is great.

[stevew]

I feel like this is the seventh time the Titans have been featured in prime time in the past 4 weeks. They have virtually no fans(seriously is ANYONE on FOFC a diehard Titans fan?) and an uninspiring roster. Yet more eyes will watch this shit game vs the Jags than will watch a Warriors/Rockets playoff game(I think?). Are we sure the NFL viewership numbers are real and not just some elaborate Russian bot scheme? Like nobody should want to watch this game. There aren’t even any good fantasy guys. As far as betting goes, what’s the amount of check downs Mariotta will throw 3 yards short of the first down marker? Cody Kramer starting for the freaking jags. Is Telvin Smith the only guy in this entire game that might crack a top 25 HOF ballot some day? I mean what gives NFL? This is an embarrassment. Move this game to Sunday at 1 with all of the other games we don’t care about.

Also how did Ryan Fitzmagic never play for the Jags. I mean he’s the best awful QB in recent history and the Jags haven’t had a QB in about 12 seasons or something. How have they not had a Fitzpatrick era? Makes zero sense.

[BishopMVP]

Thursday's have always been hit or miss, the Titans are .500, and everyone thought the Jaguars were a top 3 AFC team until mid-October when the Cowboys blew them out. Shurg, I think I'd rather reserve my vitriol for mediocre NFC East teams getting over promoted in prime time.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I'd rather reserve my vitriol for mediocre NFC East teams getting over promoted in prime time.

I hear you there. I feel like I watch PHI/NYG eight times a year.

[Ksyrup]

It's football and there's nothing else on but early season NBA and CBB. That's why people tune in. I've got HS bball to go to tonight, so I won't be watching, but this is the kind of game I would skip to watch something on the DVR with the wife. Perfect game to "sacrifice" to get in the good graces of the wife...

[Kodos]

My nephew is a Titans fan. I guess his fanship started back with some version of Madden where he liked having Eddie George and Steve McNair.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Kodos

My nephew is a Titans fan. I guess his fanship started back with some version of Madden where he liked having Eddie George and Steve McNair.

I don't know your nephew, but I think he's awesome!

[Kodos]

He's a good kid, but relies too heavily on gadget plays in Madden.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by stevew

I feel like this is the seventh time the Titans have been featured in prime time in the past 4 weeks. They have virtually no fans(seriously is ANYONE on FOFC a diehard Titans fan?) and an uninspiring roster. Yet more eyes will watch this shit game vs the Jags than will watch a Warriors/Rockets playoff game(I think?). Are we sure the NFL viewership numbers are real and not just some elaborate Russian bot scheme? Like nobody should want to watch this game. There aren’t even any good fantasy guys. As far as betting goes, what’s the amount of check downs Mariotta will throw 3 yards short of the first down marker? Cody Kramer starting for the freaking jags. Is Telvin Smith the only guy in this entire game that might crack a top 25 HOF ballot some day? I mean what gives NFL? This is an embarrassment. Move this game to Sunday at 1 with all of the other games we don’t care about.

Also how did Ryan Fitzmagic never play for the Jags. I mean he’s the best awful QB in recent history and the Jags haven’t had a QB in about 12 seasons or something. How have they not had a Fitzpatrick era? Makes zero sense.

Keep in mind that for TNF, the idea is that every team gets to play once no matter how good or bad they are.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Keep in mind that for TNF, the idea is that every team gets to play once no matter how good or bad they are.

I had no idea that was the MO behind TNF.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I had no idea that was the MO behind TNF.

And I think that "gets to" is probably how the league wants us to see it.

"Is forced to even though no player or coach wants a Thursday game" is probably closer to the truth.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

And I think that "gets to" is probably how the league wants us to see it.

"Is forced to even though no player or coach wants a Thursday game" is probably closer to the truth.

I'd imagine you're right. Much like some teams "get to" go to London every year. Thanks, but no thanks, NFL.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Keep in mind that for TNF, the idea is that every team gets to play once no matter how good or bad they are.

It also helps explain why the Thursday Night match-ups are usually crappy.

[albionmoonlight]

Obviously a brutal injury for both player and team. Final year of Sanders’s deal is in 2020 and unguaranteed at $10.3 million, the Broncos are down to Courtland Sutton and little else at WR. Kelvin Benjamin doesn’t fit as a replacement but Broncos just need bodies at the position https://t.co/VXiguFJBis

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) December 5, 2018

I will never begrudge a player getting as much guaranteed money as possible when he can.

[Ksyrup]

The Winston Moss tweet/firing story is the problem with the media in a nutshell. He may very well have been fired because of the tweet, but no one has said (or admitted) that's the reason and, in fact, off the record, it's been denied as being the reason. But I've seen at least 3 separate headlines stating that he was fired because of the tweet. Not "after" or "following" the tweet," but "for" the tweet. And then you read each article and there is nothing that backs up the headline.

[NobodyHere]

Looks like Kareem Hunt has been punted from Madden 19 at well.

[miami_fan]

NFL Punt Analytics Competition | Kaggle

This seems like something that would be perfect for this crowd.

[BishopMVP]

Oh no, we don't want Le'Veon Bell for the rest of the season, because there's no reason a team could use two good running backs... James Conner's Injury Could Lead to a Multi-Week Absence - Inside Injuries : Inside Injuries

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

NFL Punt Analytics Competition | Kaggle

This seems like something that would be perfect for this crowd.

That looks way over my head. But very very cool for folks who can do it.

[stevew]

That Derrick Henry run though....


That was like the most Marshawn Lynch thing ever

[Galaril]

Yeah say what you will Henry ran for 240 yards and had 4 almost 5 TDs. Vrabel is slowing turning them in the Patriots south it seems. I was an Oilers fan growing up and did follow them all the way to the Titans until Eddie and Steve McNair retired but agree there probably aren't many diehard Titans fans.

[albionmoonlight]

Two young coaches that have impressed me (other than the ones winning a bunch of games) are Vrabel and Sean McDermott. Those are guys who's teams play hard and seem to maximize their potential.

If I were a fan of either team, I'd be optimistic about the future.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

The Winston Moss tweet/firing story is the problem with the media in a nutshell. He may very well have been fired because of the tweet, but no one has said (or admitted) that's the reason and, in fact, off the record, it's been denied as being the reason. But I've seen at least 3 separate headlines stating that he was fired because of the tweet. Not "after" or "following" the tweet," but "for" the tweet. And then you read each article and there is nothing that backs up the headline.

That is careless for those articles to state that without backing it up. Shame on them for making an assumption a d trying to write it "into fact."

That said, if the team doesn't want that to be the stated reason, they should probably say why the firing happened. Not doing so just allows the media to speculate like this.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Two young coaches that have impressed me (other than the ones winning a bunch of games) are Vrabel and Sean McDermott. Those are guys who's teams play hard and seem to maximize their potential.

If I were a fan of either team, I'd be optimistic about the future.

Josh Allen and Marcus Mariota though

[stevew]

OTL story about the Hunt thing is crazy. Only person even detained was some guy who stumbled onto the scene and was just trying to provide assistance to the girl.

[albionmoonlight]

Dolphins wearing their 80’s throwbacks today.

I hope they win by 50

[cuervo72]

What in the [big] blue blazes transpired in Washington? I go to the store partway into the second and it's 7-0. It is 34-0 at the half??!

[cuervo72]

Ok, going by the DVR it looks like Sanchez and Barkley are what happened.