2017-2018 NFL thread

[xskarma]

TJ Ward to Tampa Bay, close enough to Jacksonville.

Sloter cleared waivers, I thought for sure the Vikings, Jets, or 49ers would have grabbed him. Jets did grab Kalif Raymond, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets quite a bit of playing time there.

Also, Charges claimed Michael Schofield. He is ok at guard, so when their entire o-line goes on IR again he can be kind of serviceable there.

"Kyle Sloter got whopping $20,000/week for Vikings practice squad. Minimum is $7,200/week. Wow. WASH, DEN also tried to sign him. #9sports"

So, Vikings DID get him.

[draynay]

Saints nabbed a couple guys off waivers, I'm surprised they kept Stephone Anthony and let a bunch of tackles go. RB Victor is probably going to our practice squad, he is the typical Saints type UDFA RB.

[Vetali]

Kasen Williams got claimed by the browns.

Seahawks signed Mike Tyson to their practice squad. Really fought for that spot this preseason.

[xskarma]

Alright. I just thought of a fun project.

I'm going to poll everyone in this thread on several occasions:

Before free agency opens (today and tomorrow till 3:59 pm ET)

Week before the Draft

Week before the first regular season game

Week after the trade deadline (which is about mid season)

Week before the first play off game is played


And I'm going to ask you "Who do you think will win the Superbowl this year?"


At the end of the season I'll do a nice looking post with the results of our voting throughout the season. I promise I won;t use these posts for the Famous Last Words posts. These are just for fun.


I *might* figure out some kind of scoring system for this and make a tally at the end to see who was most "right" throughout the season. Probably by weighing heavier here at the start and lower once we get further to the finishline.


ANYWAY, for fun and maybe bragging rights: Who do you think will win the Superbowl in the 2017-2018 season?


(You can post till the legal tampering period starts tomorrow, so feel free to think this over some more. I'll post my own guess later, cause I haven't thought about it too much yet)

It's that time again. Poll date BEFORE the first game of the season starts, so your vote needs to be in BEFORE kick-off on Thursday.

This is the list of those who voted before and what they voted (but remember that it is definitely possible to win just by getting these last few polls correctly, so don't be shy to start now): https://i.imgur.com/3muX7oP.png

Post with your vote who you think will win Superbowl LII and I will add it to the list.

[Grube]

Lobster officially a Bronco again (at least until Lynch is healthy, not sure which is actually better) and Shane Ray is going on IR. Ray will be one of the 2 IR recalls, but it sounds like that was the plan with him all along. I guess the plus side is that the media won't call for the back-up if Siemian has a bad game....

Until they show otherwise, going with the Patriots to win the Superbowl again.

[xskarma]

Until they show otherwise, going with the Patriots to win the Superbowl again.

I debated it heavily. The whole narrative that the Patriots upgraded everywhere and are just going to breeze to the Superbowl and repeat is folly. The new additions have yet to prove they fit in, in actual game situations, where raport with Brady and communication between defenders in short moments is vital. Hell, 2 of the additions from the offseason (Kony Ealy and TE O'Shaunessey ) are already gone from the team and of the 4 draft picks the Patriots had 1 is released, 1 is on IR, 1 is on Non-Football Illness list and only 1 is actually on the roster. Speaking of injuries, the big obvious one is that we lost Julian Edelman. I already spoke about how he's Brady's security blanket and that it's going to be really difficult to replace his 98 catches in the regular season and 21 catches in the post season.

The Patriots replaced or are going to replace key snaps on offense, defense and special teams compared to last year, and honestly, last year's team won on determination and grind more than good play. This is not a simple equation of Superbowl winner + upgrades = more Superbowl wins. It's a totally different team and they'll have to prove all over again that they put in the work and can overcome setbacks to be Superbowl winners.

That said, there's only 7 other teams I seriously consider to be able to compete with the Patriots in terms of quality in players and coaching staff. Packers have too many questions on defense, and didn't really upgrade there. Raiders basically the same thing, too many defensive questions. Cowboys, guess what, lost a lot of players on defense and look iffy there. Falcons did what they needed to do, are young and can improve, but how are they going to react to the Superbowl loss? I don't trust them until they show me they can overcome. Steelers are getting old, their defense has yet to show it can play anything but zone and I seriously think Le'veon Bell will be a problem in their locker room. The Texans will probably have the best defense in the league, but their Quarterback situation has not improved. Savage is not the answer and Watson is too young and inexperienced to make a difference. And lastly Seahawks, their addition of Sheldon Richards puts them at the top of the list of Patriots problem opponents. Their core is still really really good, but as per usual, I question their O-line and I kind of question their skill players outside of Baldwin and Graham. I think the Seahawks problems at O-line are the main difference between them and the Patriots and why I give the Patriots the edge.

So in the end, despite the fact I think it will be anything but easy, I still don't see a team that I would give a bigger chance than the Patriots to win the Superbowl.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and to add to Patriots issues, Shea McClellin just went on IR. That's one more Edge defender/Linebacker with experience in the system less.

Injuries can and will be the difference between succesful seasons and disaster seasons. Patriots injuries racking up.

[WskyDK]

It's that time again. Poll date BEFORE the first game of the season starts, so your vote needs to be in BEFORE kick-off on Thursday.

This is the list of those who voted before and what they voted (but remember that it is definitely possible to win just by getting these last few polls correctly, so don't be shy to start now): https://i.imgur.com/3muX7oP.png

Post with your vote who you think will win Superbowl LII and I will add it to the list.

Still have to go with my Pats. Road is much harder now without Edelman, by the team is looking solid.

[MAGAmobile]

Gonna go with patriots. Cowboys lost too much during preseason and Seattle's O-Line is still too questionable as of now. First game in Green Bay will show if it improved enough.

[draynay]

I predict at least one team in the SB will be a team I hate, and I probably won't want to watch it.

[apepi]

@xskarma I am guessing a Steelers/Vikings superbowl.

[Pendulous]

Seahawks now, just for some parity.

[xskarma]

@xskarma I am guessing a Steelers/Vikings superbowl.

But who do you think actually WINS, that's the point here.

Added everyone till this point.

[apepi]

But who do you think actually WINS, that's the point here.

Added everyone till this point.

Steelers I guess.

If you could throw us the doc so everyone can view it, that would be nice.

[Vetali]

It's that time again. Poll date BEFORE the first game of the season starts, so your vote needs to be in BEFORE kick-off on Thursday.

This is the list of those who voted before and what they voted (but remember that it is definitely possible to win just by getting these last few polls correctly, so don't be shy to start now): https://i.imgur.com/3muX7oP.png

Post with your vote who you think will win Superbowl LII and I will add it to the list.

I feel like the Seahawks may of taken the Patriots spot by adding Sheldon and the Patriots losing Edelman.

Don't know about the o-line myself. It looked really solid in preseason, however there isn't that many stunts in preseason so thats really hard to actually gauge. It will still be the weakest point of the team. I'm more concerned about their struggles with run blocking over pass protection.

[xskarma]

It's that time again. Poll date BEFORE the first game of the season starts, so your vote needs to be in BEFORE kick-off on Thursday.

This is the list of those who voted before and what they voted (but remember that it is definitely possible to win just by getting these last few polls correctly, so don't be shy to start now): https://i.imgur.com/3muX7oP.png

Post with your vote who you think will win Superbowl LII and I will add it to the list.

@apepi Link to previous votes is in the first post I made about this. It's an excell sheet on my PC, not an online doc. I'll add you as Steelers.

[apepi]

@apepi Link to previous votes is in the first post I made about this. It's an excell sheet on my PC, not an online doc. I'll add you as Steelers.

Then make an easy google doc about it? Seems easy to me. Fuck it I will do it.

[xskarma]

Then make an easy google doc about it? Seems easy to me. Fuck it I will do it.

Trouble is that everyone has access then and everyone that reads this thread can enter and change votes, unless you do a restricted version where only people who give email can have access to it. But that kind of defeats the purpose you have with it.

Either way, I'd still keep the master list on my PC. I can post updates of it at the start and end of voting so people can check back. The list won;t change again from this Thursday till mid season with the trade deadline.

[apepi]

Trouble is that everyone has access then and everyone that reads this thread can enter and change votes, unless you do a restricted version where only people who give email can have access to it. But that kind of defeats the purpose you have with it.

Either way, I'd still keep the master list on my PC. I can post updates of it at the start and end of voting so people can check back. The list won;t change again from this Thursday till mid season with the trade deadline.

You can make it work multiple ways, Here is a link that anyone can comment on, but not change it. I will send you one where you can edit it.

[Vetali]

Meh, just a screen cap after the timeframes posted in the OP is enough. Not like it needs to be edited often.

[apepi]

In other news JJ Watt's Hurricane Relief Fund has almost hit 20 Million Dollars. He already is now giving out supplies to some people today. Some people are already predicting JJ Watt to get Man of the Year. Some people even have made a petition to rename the highway after him.