NFL (2024 Season)

[webny99]

No Bills commentary from me until February if I can help it, but as for the Rams, here is a shocking stat: Sean McVay is now under .500 for the first time in his head coaching career.

You mean the team he coaches is now sub .500 for the season, and not his overall coaching career record?

Yes correct, the Rams under McVay have won every season opener until last night and have never been under .500 at any point during a season. They missed the playoffs in 2019, but still went 9-7.

[thspfc]

No Bills commentary from me until February if I can help it

You say February like it's a forgone conclusion.

[webny99]

No Bills commentary from me until February if I can help it

You say February like it's a forgone conclusion.

Nothing to do with what's on the NFL calendar in February or anything, just holding my commentary until then regardless of what happens. 

[Ted$8roadFan]

Of course, no one knows how the season will turn out, but the Rams have this to deal with:

https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2022/5/16/23075066/rams-super-bowl-repeat-history

[thspfc]

Absolutely unhinged early slate of games.

Honestly, I think the only team that goes home feeling like they played well is Miami. They outclassed the Pats on both sides of the ball for pretty much the entire game.

Other than that, it was just chaos. Steelers/Bengals was maybe the second weirdest game I've ever seen.

Colts/Texans was about as dumbfounding as you would expect a tie to be. But Indy, without a doubt in my mind, loses that game last year with Wentz. Ties suck, but they're better than losses, and who knows how valuable that half game will be in the crowded AFC playoff race.

Speaking of Wentz, he did play pretty well against the Jags.

Browns win in week 1 for the first time since 2004. Baker doesn't get his revenge. His play left some to be desired, but unlike many Browns games last year, he wasn't the main reason they lost.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Watching today's games makes you wonder what actually happened at training camp this year. 

[hotdogPi]

Ties suck

Ties don't suck when they're worth half a win rather than a third as in some other sports (soccer being the one I'm familiar with, but I believe there are others). And as we saw in Week 18 last year...

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_points_for_a_win

It's not limited to physical sports, either; you see a lot more games/matches where players agree to a draw in chess (1/2 win) than Magic: the Gathering (1/3 win). (Both games allow agreeing to a draw at any time.)

[Roadgeekteen]

Not a good performance from the Patriots today.

[kevinb1994]

Not a good performance from the Patriots today.

Neither did the Jags nor Jets.

[CoreySamson]

Lots of Texans fans are infuriated by Lovie Smith's decision to punt on 4th and 3 with 24 seconds left in OT to go for the tie instead of the win. However, I think it was the right call. The Colts had the offensive momentum for all of overtime and the 4th quarter. It was only the Colts shooting themselves in the foot that kept Houston in the game. And honestly, neither team really deserved to win.

My mind harkens back to Week 4 of the 2018 season where the Texans and Colts were in a similar situation. The Colts faced a short 4th down near midfield (in a strange reversal of what happened today) in the last minute of overtime. Rather than punt for the tie, they went for it and failed. The Texans ended up using the short field to win on a field goal. Perhaps that game was in the back of the Texans's mind when they made their decision to punt.

[webny99]

Absolutely unhinged early slate of games.

Honestly, I think the only team that goes home feeling like they played well is Miami. They outclassed the Pats on both sides of the ball for pretty much the entire game.

Other than that, it was just chaos. Steelers/Bengals was maybe the second weirdest game I've ever seen.

7 of 9 early games went down to the wire. Saints-Falcons was chaotic as always. Eagles-Lions was a points fest. Two overtimes. And one tie. Other than Ravens-Jets, it was everything you could have asked for from Week 1.

Colts/Texans was about as dumbfounding as you would expect a tie to be. But Indy, without a doubt in my mind, loses that game last year with Wentz. Ties suck, but they're better than losses, and who knows how valuable that half game will be in the crowded AFC playoff race.

I'm not sure about that.. the Carson Wentz Colts swept the Texans last year by a combined score of 62-3 and neither game was remotely competitive. Obviously, this is an improved Texans team and Mills has more experience, plus the Colts always start slow and improve throughout the season (today was their first non-loss in Week 1 under Frank Reich!), but still, it's not crazy to think they win that game with Wentz. The tie is absolutely still valuable though; remember, the Steelers' tie last year was the reason they made the playoffs ahead of the Colts.

[JayhawkCO]

Packers didn't look too competitive against my Vikes today.

[jmacswimmer]

My favorite moment from the early games was easily the Bears offense doing a slip-&-slide on the waterlogged Soldier Field grass immediately after taking the final kneeldown:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1569054566062387200?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[kevinb1994]

My favorite moment from the early games was easily the Bears offense doing a slip-&-slide on the waterlogged Soldier Field grass immediately after taking the final kneeldown:

[tweet]1569054566062387200[/tweet]?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Haha I recall the messy forecast for Soldier Field...and of course Da Bears somehow delivered!

[amroad17]

If the Bengals had an emergency snapper who could properly snap (on placekicks)!!!

Anyway, it was amazing that the Bengals even tied the game at 20 with the five turnovers (4 INT, 1 lost fumble by Joe Burrow) they had.  If only a good snap...

[jgb191]

The Ghost of Peyton Manning's past always rattles my Texans when they play the Colts.  Even though Peyton left the Colts over a decade ago, his spirit seems to imprinted onto the Colts team and energize them (kind of as if he was playing with them still) when they play my Texans and it happened in the 4th Q.

[kevinb1994]

If the Bengals had an emergency snapper who could properly snap (on placekicks)!!!

Anyway, it was amazing that the Bengals even tied the game at 20 with the five turnovers (4 INT, 1 lost fumble by Joe Burrow) they had.  If only a good snap...

Chance the Snapper?

Seriously though, I concur.

[JayhawkCO]

Dak out 6-8 weeks with hand surgery.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Last night on SNF, Cris Collinsworth (who was just tired but sounded like a decades long pack-a-day smoker) had an interesting theory that may explain why the play was so bad in so many games - the reduced number of pre-season games (and padded practices?) led to players not being as ready as they were in the past, less time for players to develop rapport with each other, not as much time to iron out the obvious wrinkles, etc. It seems plausible.

[NWI_Irish96]

Remains to be seen whether the Bears are any good at football, but they are very good at mud wrestling.

[thspfc]

My favorite moment from the early games was easily the Bears offense doing a slip-&-slide on the waterlogged Soldier Field grass immediately after taking the final kneeldown:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1569054566062387200?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

I don't believe how much it rained here yesterday. From the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep. Just steady unrelenting rain. Temperature didn't break 60 degrees. It's still raining as I type this.

Dak out 6-8 weeks with hand surgery.

Yeah, that's a problem. Dallas struggled more than enough when they had Dak last night. Worst game I've seen them play offensively since when Dak was out in 2020.

[Henry]

Always a great weekend when the Bears win and the Packers lose.

As for the Arlington Heights stadium, it will definitely be a dome. Hopefully some windows will be included to let the daylight in, a la Minneapolis or L.A., as that is the trend nowadays (and the newest retractable-roof MLB parks have them too).

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Packers didn't look too competitive against my Vikes today.

Vikings dodged a bullet on the first play when Christian Watson dropped what should have been an immediate game-tying TD on Green Bay's first play. It set the tone for their day on offense.

[Alps]

Always a great weekend when the Bears lose and the Packers win.

FTFY

[thspfc]

Disagree with the Broncos' decision to attempt a 64-yarder rather than go for it on 4th and 5, in a game where the offense moved the ball quite well until they got near the red zone.

Russ played fine. 29/42 for 340 yards and no turnovers. Let's not start with the "he lost to Geno Smith" talk; Smith played probably the best game of his career.

I enjoyed Buck and Aikman on MNF.