NFL Off Topic

[fatleg3]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Little league baseball games have some kind of mercy rule don't they?

Surprising there isn't something similar for pee wee football.

Then again, if you've seen Friday Night Tykes, the parents are out for blood, they love it when they're on the right side of a blowout.

Little league and high school football uses a running clock.

[Feared]

Re: NFL Off Topic

I've been in the same boat as well. I don't know what it is but the days of devoting entire Sundays to football are gone.

The games just feel really long and don't have proper pacing since there are so many breaks away from the action: commercial breaks, change of possession breaks, kickoff breaks, breaks for penalty reviews, etc.

The media/talking heads don't help much either as they go on about the same trivial, click-bait topics as you see from the ESPNs & Bleacher Reports of the world. The worst phrase ever is "He's just as good a ____ as any player in the NFL." Wow; that's really saying a lot, way to go out on a limb with that analysis! They don't discuss X's & O's, gameplans, etc. but instead focus on TMZ drama.

Throw in the new rule changes to solely benefit the offenses and the game is getting to be unwatchable. A QB can no longer be tackled but a DE can have his knee blown out right from under him with chop blocks. The CBA agreements - like limiting practices in pads - have deteriorated fundamentals. I mean, it pains me to see so many missed tackles, improper angles or badly coached defenses out there. Guys like Jim Brown and Barry Sanders would be feasting on these piss-poor defenses of today.

And I never would have thought you'd see "flopping" on the football field... FLOPPING in 'MERICAN FOOTBALL!?!?! Nowadays, WRs give up on the pass just because they know if they act the part, they can get an automatic 1st down.

Agree with this especially the bold.

Just to expand on your points. I think the game has shifted dramatically towards the Offensive sides of the scales within the past 5 or so years, and it's not because the Quality of play has escalated and Offenses are more dynamic. It's more because of rule changes that favor the Offense; but also poor fundamental play from Defenses. CBA restrictions, on contact drills in Off-season and limiting padded practices through out the season has really hurt basic fundamentals, horrid tackling technique and poor pursuit angles are in an abundance.

And although I don't have any numbers it feels like Injuries are up, especially to Linemen. (Hello conditioning?) Remember when Two a days were common back in training camps? Not surprised teams come out to slow starts and don't start coming on until October, November.

[SPTO]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Agree with this especially the bold.

Just to expand on your points. I think the game has shifted dramatically towards the Offensive sides of the scales within the past 5 or so years, and it's not because the Quality of play has escalated and Offenses are more dynamic. It's more because of rule changes that favor the Offense; but also poor fundamental play from Defenses. CBA restrictions, on contact drills in Off-season and limiting padded practices through out the season has really hurt basic fundamentals, horrid tackling technique and poor pursuit angles are in an abundance.

And although I don't have any numbers it feels like Injuries are up, especially to Linemen. (Hello conditioning?) Remember when Two a days were common back in training camps? Not surprised teams come out to slow starts and don't start coming on until October, November.

I agree with this 1000%. It's not that the athletes have gotten better though i'm sure that's part of it but the rules have been so far tipped towards offense that it's thrown the game off balance. Hell, Brett Favre's TD and yardage records are about to fall and I daresay that Brees or someone else are going to get to those numbers or above.

When you have coaches like Bill Belichick saying that players aren't getting enough practice time and such than you know that the "over protection" of players has gone too far as well. I'm not advocating putting players to the grindstone and allowing defenses to clutch and grab their way to success but some of the calls this year have been so frustrating to watch as a long time football fan when just a few years ago it'd be all par for the course. The "halo" for QBs has almost been extended to WRs now. It's getting a tad ridiculous.

[Sportsforever]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Pretty amazing that there was no game thread for the MNF game…Redskins/Seahawks have a pretty good showing on this board.

[canes21]

Re: NFL Off Topic

It was a good game. I like Gruden so far. I hate the fact that the QB can take the ball across the LOS, but as long as his shoelace never crossed he can turn back around and throw the ball downfield. I think if any part of the QB crosses, no pass can be made. Just my opinion.

[thaima1shu]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Pretty amazing that there was no game thread for the MNF game…Redskins/Seahawks have a pretty good showing on this board.

Didn't see one made all week, just figured that meant nobody wanted to talk about it.

[wco81]

Re: NFL Off Topic

I agree with this 1000%. It's not that the athletes have gotten better though i'm sure that's part of it but the rules have been so far tipped towards offense that it's thrown the game off balance. Hell, Brett Favre's TD and yardage records are about to fall and I daresay that Brees or someone else are going to get to those numbers or above.

When you have coaches like Bill Belichick saying that players aren't getting enough practice time and such than you know that the "over protection" of players has gone too far as well. I'm not advocating putting players to the grindstone and allowing defenses to clutch and grab their way to success but some of the calls this year have been so frustrating to watch as a long time football fan when just a few years ago it'd be all par for the course. The "halo" for QBs has almost been extended to WRs now. It's getting a tad ridiculous.

We've seen the stats about the officials calling 2-3 times as many PI and defensive holding penalties this year.

But has it led to much more scoring? Asking because I don't know. There have been blowouts, mostly on Thursday Night Football. But in many of these cases, it wasn't the officiating or the rules.

I think similar to how college football has become very high-scoring, the NFL may have gotten better at using spread sets and things like bubble screens which have become very effective at producing big plays.

It may be that offensive coaches have been more innovative (in addition to spread formations, wildcat, read-option, etc.) than defensive coaches.

[l3ulvl]

Re: NFL Off Topic

It was a good game. I like Gruden so far. I hate the fact that the QB can take the ball across the LOS, but as long as his shoelace never crossed he can turn back around and throw the ball downfield. I think if any part of the QB crosses, no pass can be made. Just my opinion.

Seems like that's always been the rule though. Every time a QB throws at the line with his momentum carrying him over, they say his entire body has the cross it. I wondered aloud (to my dog) if there was some random rule stipulation that differentiated between crossing the line while passing, or crossing while scrambling. There's always some fine print BS that no human can decipher, only a zebra can. A zebra that gets killed by Lions in the wild. But Lions get killed by Zebras in the league? Holy **** I've lost my damn mind

[Jr.]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Greatest analysis ever

https://vine.co/v/OK5TtYVmZ7b

This is the best thing I've ever heard. Trent Dilfer continues to climb my personal "National Football League Analysts of Football."

[canes21]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Seems like that's always been the rule though. Every time a QB throws at the line with his momentum carrying him over, they say his entire body has the cross it. I wondered aloud (to my dog) if there was some random rule stipulation that differentiated between crossing the line while passing, or crossing while scrambling. There's always some fine print BS that no human can decipher, only a zebra can. A zebra that gets killed by Lions in the wild. But Lions get killed by Zebras in the league? Holy **** I've lost my damn mind

Really though, I personally feel that the ball carrier must be completely behind the line if a pass attempt is being made. if the front part of your lead foot crosses as you pass it, it should be flagged. Players are technically crossing the LOS and still throwing passes because of this dumb rule. I might be in the minority, but I just hate it. Not just because it happened tonight, but I have always hated it just like I always hated the offense only being penalized 2 yards when called for a penalty on their own 4. If a team gets called for holding on their own 4, move the ball back to the 1, then move the 1st down marker 7 yards upfield so that it is still a 10 yard penalty.

[N51_rob]

Re: NFL Off Topic

This pretty much sums up how well Wilson played tonight.

"Russell Wilson's line of scrimmage awareness is so good he can step over it with both feet and still not cross it."

[Hooe]

Re: NFL Off Topic

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BQgtBGi2Tws" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[bigbob]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Greatest analysis ever

https://vine.co/v/OK5TtYVmZ7b

That was very John Madden-esque.

[SPTO]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Just an update on the laser pointer incident during the Bills/Lions game. Apparently the guy was stupid enough to brag about it on Twitter. Some people are such idiots.

Story

[TracerBullet]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Mike Goldberg is calling the Lions/Vikings game this week. Weird. Will be in the booth with Brendon Ayanbadejo.