2014-2015 NFL thread

[Pendulous]

Cowboys- Tony Romo successfully sues defense for abusive work conditions.

I like this line. But I can't believe you have the Jags at number two in their division when you support the "I'll believe it when I see it" deal so much.

[Gestopft]

They aren't starting Bridgewater, unless you mean they SHOULD be, in which case I assume you did not watch cassell at all this pre-season in a new offence. Having the vikings last? Tsk tsk, not going to happen :P

Last year, the Vikings had worst record, the least total offense, and the worst defense out of the NFC North teams. Even if Cassel looks more like 2010 Cassel, the Vikings have a ways to go to catch up in the most offensively explosive division. Like I said, I think the division will be very competitive, but the other NFC North teams are more likely to win in divisional shootouts.

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I like this line. But I can't believe you have the Jags at number two in their division when you support the "I'll believe it when I see it" deal so much.

I did say it was a surprise pick

I could see 2, 3, 4 in that division going down in any order. Tennessee and Houston have new head coaches. Jax is going into a second year with Gus Bradley, I think they do have a solid rebuilding plan going on, and they had a better divisional record than Tennessee or Houston last year which could mean something in the division with the easiest schedule.

Still a bit of a shot in the dark perhaps, but there's at least some rationale behind it.

[xskarma]

This whole Michael Sam The Football Player to the Cowboys practice squad thing has some...angles to it.

Apparently the Cowboys are the only team in the league that do not share revenue on jersey sales with the rest of the NFL, like every other team does. Also, apparently the Cowboys don't normally sell jerseys of Practice Squad players in the proshop, but they will for Michael Sam the Football Player.

The whole thing kinda stinks in this regard. Feels all too much like Jerry is just lining his pockets and getting a boat load of free publicity while he can.

Doesn't help that the coach had to tell reporters that the questions after his talk for the media should be too much about a practice squad player. Obviously the interest is there, even if Garrett doesn't seem to enthousiastic about it.

[icausewipes]

The whole thing kinda stinks in this regard. Feels all too much like Jerry is just lining his pockets and getting a boat load of free publicity while he can.

An owner would never exploit a player.

[Stommped]

They aren't starting Bridgewater, unless you mean they SHOULD be, in which case I assume you did not watch cassell at all this pre-season in a new offence. Having the vikings last? Tsk tsk, not going to happen :P

The Vikings fanbase is weird. Some of them seem to be extremely optimistic like you, but then there's others who think more like the experts, in the Reddit NFL Power rankings done by one fan from each team, the Vikings fan ranked them 28th. Personally, I can't see any way they don't finish last in the division, barring serious injury to one of the 3 other QBs in the division.

Also, what in the fuck are the Seahawks doing letting their $10M dollar All Pro safety be their punt returner? That seems like the most insane thing to me.

[ProphetFlume]

The Vikings fanbase is weird. Some of them seem to be extremely optimistic like you, but then there's others who think more like the experts, in the Reddit NFL Power rankings done by one fan from each team, the Vikings fan ranked them 28th. Personally, I can't see any way they don't finish last in the division, barring serious injury to one of the 3 other QBs in the division.

Lions are habitual underperformers, Bears have no D and an inconsistent QB who turns the ball over a lot. Not saying Vikings are great, but they have an okay D, the best RB in the league and Cassel has been running wild on defenses this preseason. There were also multiple games last year they lost in the final seconds and they're only one year removed from making the playoffs. I could easily see them getting second in the division.

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This is with Cassel. Not buying into Bridgewater. I also thought Carr looked very inexperienced in his first 2 preseason games. That Seahawks game looked more like potential flashing or a fluke, rather than where he's at right now.

[draynay]

Faith in Cassel seems odd to me, its been four years since he managed to appear in double-digit number of games, they didn't do an amazing job protecting the QB last year and Cassel is brittle. I like the steady improvement their D is making but I doubt they will be good enough given the team's other limitations. I don't think they will be bad, they could be 7-9 and be fourth in that division, NFC is tough.

[ProphetFlume]

Not so much faith in Cassel as lack of faith in everyone but the Packers.

[Gumboy]

The Vikings fanbase is weird. Some of them seem to be extremely optimistic like you,.

I'm not extremely optomistic at all, I am just not a massive pessimist about it. IT infects the fanbase, for good reason though to be honest considering the last few...decades.

Vikings, on paper, look better to me then the Lions and Bears. 28th in the league? I don't see it this year.

[Jibjabb]

I'm not extremely optomistic at all, I am just not a massive pessimist about it. IT infects the fanbase, for good reason though to be honest considering the last few...decades.

Vikings, on paper, look better to me then the Lions and Bears. 28th in the league? I don't see it this year.

You have to be joking. The Bears and Lions look worlds better then Minnesota.

[Denkou]

Pretty excited for the game tomorrow (or today, technically). About time to dust off the Rodgers jersey. T-minus 17 hours!

[Gumboy]

You have to be joking. The Bears and Lions look worlds better then Minnesota.

HOw much of the starter VS starter preseason of each team did you watch? Because I watched every single game

Lions look junk compared to minnesota, bears mediocre at best.

[xskarma]

HOw much of the starter VS starter preseason of each team did you watch? Because I watched every single game

Lions look junk compared to minnesota, bears mediocre at best.

I'll remind people again: The 0-16 Lions were 4-0 in pre season and didn't look "bad". Pre-season means very little.

[theostrichsays]

then I find the state of Kentucky unacceptable

=O Well never come enjoy our horse races then sir, good day!

But I just read about that Alex Smith contract extension. 4 years 60+ million dollars.
I like him as a QB if we didn't have our red headed bastard son, I would have welcomed Smith with open arms. But I'm not sure I would have welcomed him at that much $15 million per year. But I guess with Jamaal Charles being an injury away from them having no other (season long proven) offense, it was the smart move.

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Also this is 100 percent relevant I believe:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/doctors-optimistic-sam-bradford-2-months-away-from,36812/

Don't let the Onion part scare you, I think it is fairly close to accurate.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/doc...ay-from,36812/

[Gumboy]

I'll remind people again: The 0-16 Lions were 4-0 in pre season and didn't look "bad". Pre-season means very little.

And I will reiterate: I am only talking about starter V Starter, as I said. We didn't even have our best player playing and we were extremely good on offense, against starting defenses...


But I guess we will see in the end who was right, whether me or all the doubters

[Northern Goblin]

I'll remind people again: The 0-16 Lions were 4-0 in pre season and didn't look "bad". Pre-season means very little.

The NFL power rankings based off preseason has Oakland down at #32.

It's nice to know it can't get any worse for us this year!

[xskarma]

I think the Patriots will start this season with a loss. No, I'm not mad, hear me out!

I think our retooled offensive line will have immense trouble with their underrated front seven and we'll have trouble with a rusty Gronk against a sneaky good secondary. I also think the conditions will likely be a bit of a problem as well, even if we did travel there a day early to get ready for it. Also cause we always lose 1 of our division match ups and I think this is the one this year. I think this will be the spark that fires up the team to step it up and play up to their potential.

All of this is mostly based on gut feeling. Everybody seems healthy, everybody seems prepared, and that kind of thing will always make me expect the worst is going to happen. Like somehow everything going well means the team is actually not prepared for adversity and things not going their way.

We'll see though, but that's what I think will happen in the opener.

If we do come away with a win here then I could see us not losing till the Broncos come to visit in week 9. The 2 problematic teams on the schedule till then (Bengals and Bears) both come to our place, and the Patriots are a tough team to beat at home.

So, expecting the worst, and praying for battle of the unbeatens in week 9

EDIT: Scratch that. Broncos face the Seahawks at their own place in week 3. They'll never win that one. Battle of the unbeatens will not happen.

[Stommped]

Lions are habitual underperformers, Bears have no D and an inconsistent QB who turns the ball over a lot.

The Bears have a QB who turns the ball over a lot, but the Lions and Vikings don't? I'm guessing you don't realize that Jay had a better TD:INT ratio then either Stafford or Cassell? Jay's QBR was miles better than both as well. I can't even believe you are trying to insinuate that any sane person would rather have Matt Cassell QBing their team over Jay Cutler.

Yes the Bears D has some serious question marks, so does the Vikings though, and they don't have nearly enough firepower on offense to be able outscore a team when their D is getting shredded like the Bears do.

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I'm not extremely optomistic at all, I am just not a massive pessimist about it. IT infects the fanbase, for good reason though to be honest considering the last few...decades.

Vikings, on paper, look better to me then the Lions and Bears. 28th in the league? I don't see it this year.

Not sure what you mean by "on paper." If you mean just comparing roster spots like our WR1 vs. your WR1 not sure how you can make that case. Offensively I would take Loadholdt in a second, then I'm sure whoever the Vikings center is is better than Garza, then obviously you would take AP (but it's not even that big of an upgrade considering Forte is a top 5 back). That's it, the rest of the starting 11 offense would have to be all Bears. Defensively, it's a lot harder. Obviously Harrison Smith is a lock for the Vikings, but both CB spots would be the Bears' TJ and Peanut. Grifen and Robison are good ends, but I think Jared Allen would still deserve one of those spots. I don't really know much about the Viks interior Defensive Linemen, the linebackers are basically a trainwreck on both teams. I would take Briggs over Greenway, DJ as the MLB, and Barr (anybody with a pulse) over Shea at strongside.

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I'm not trying to dog on the Vikings, it was just weird seeing all the optimism. ESPN Power Rankings have them 27th, I already said Reddit had them 28th, CBS has them 27th, and I can't find the NFL.com one. So there definitely seems to be some disagreement about this team.

[fierydemise]

Season Predictions:

NFC East:
Eagles
Redskins (Wild Card 1)
Giants
Cowboys

NFC North:
Packers
Vikings
Bears
Lions

NFC South:
Saints
Falcons
Buccaneers
Panthers

NFC West:
Seahawks
49ers (Wild Card 2)
Cardinals
Rams

AFC East:
Patriots
Dolphins
Bills
Jets

AFC North:
Bengals
Steelers
Browns
Ravens

AFC South:
Texans
Colts (Wild Card 1)
Titans
Jaguars

AFC West:
Broncos
Chargers (Wild Card 2)
Chiefs
Raiders (First Draft Pick)

NFC Playoffs:
Packers, Saints and Seahawks seem well above the rest of the NFC and all three have very strong home field advantages, whoever gets the 1 seed of these 3 will win the NFC.

AFC Playoffs:
Patriots and Broncos are in a league of their own, AFC Championship Game is Brady/Manning 17(?), Broncos win.

Super Bowl:
The NFC team wins.

[Pendulous]

Is it just me or is the AFC North competing for worst division? Kind of a quick nose dive it took.