NFL (2024 Season)

[webny99]

Vegas is done. I'm not officially forking anyone until the end of the 15 points period, but it looks like they're going to be on the list.

Fork the Steelers and Raiders.

Just realized the Raiders are the ONLY 0-3 team. Texans are 0-2-1, and all other teams have a win. I'm also not doing another round of forks yet, but they will be forked barring a major turnaround.

[jlam]

After (almost) three weeks of action, I will update my forked list (new additions in bold). Red teams I am regretting adding.

Falcons
Texans
Jets
Giants
Bears
Lions
Raiders
Steelers
Seahawks

Additionally I completely forgot to post my predictions. From here on out I will try to post every Wednesday night. For this week give me Giants 17, Cowboys 14.

[NWI_Irish96]

I'm not going to be quite as aggressive, I'll fork these teams:

Jets 1-2
Browns2-1
Texans0-2-1
Lions 1-2
Falcons 1-2
Seahawks 1-2

Looks like the only bad one so far is Cleveland. Didn't think they'd be this good without Watson.

Likely adding Washington and Vegas but no reason to do so before the next cutoff date.

[NWI_Irish96]

Oh, I am obviously down for this as well. I think it was me that started it last year, remembering that it was an old Around the NFL podcast segment that I enjoyed.

My only suggestion would be to make it 4 tiers with 5-point increments for simplicity's sake. Keeping preseason at 20 pts, maybe something like 15 for weeks 1-8, 10 for weeks 9-12, and 5 for weeks 13-16? And I'm good with -30 points for an incorrect fork.

How about we meet in the middle:

Preseason: 20 points
Weeks 1-8: 15 points
Weeks 9-13: 10 points
Weeks 14-16: 5 points

I'm just bumping this up in case you've like me and forgot when the next cutoff is.

In hindsight, we probably should have added another cutoff after week 4, but I'm not advocating changing the rules once the game has started.

[thspfc]

Oh, I am obviously down for this as well. I think it was me that started it last year, remembering that it was an old Around the NFL podcast segment that I enjoyed.

My only suggestion would be to make it 4 tiers with 5-point increments for simplicity's sake. Keeping preseason at 20 pts, maybe something like 15 for weeks 1-8, 10 for weeks 9-12, and 5 for weeks 13-16? And I'm good with -30 points for an incorrect fork.

How about we meet in the middle:

Preseason: 20 points
Weeks 1-8: 15 points
Weeks 9-13: 10 points
Weeks 14-16: 5 points

I'm just bumping this up in case you've like me and forgot when the next cutoff is.

In hindsight, we probably should have added another cutoff after week 4, but I'm not advocating changing the rules once the game has started.

I think week 8 is a little late also. We could have it drop to 13 between week 5 and week 8. Only if everyone agrees though.

[webny99]

Ironically I think we should have been more patient to start the competition.    Then we could've done 20 points through Week 4 and 15 through Week 8.

Too late now... I am OK with dropping to 13 points after Week 5. Or 12 if that makes the math easier?

[JayhawkCO]

Russ looking great with the Broncos...

Mmmhmmmmmmmm.......

[triplemultiplex]

Say goodbye to the Pro Bowl.
They're gonna basically just do football's version of a home run derby/slam dunk contest instead.
I guess that's better than flag football? 

[JayhawkCO]

Say goodbye to the Pro Bowl.
They're gonna basically just do football's version of a home run derby/slam dunk contest instead.
I guess that's better than flag football? 

About time. MLB is the only one that should have an all-star "game".

[thspfc]

Russ looking great with the Broncos...

Mmmhmmmmmmmm.......

Through week 3 Russ has not played up to expectations at all, but they have plenty of other problems on offense, most of which I think stem from it being Russ's first time in a drastically new offense since he was drafted. There have been a lot of miscommunications before and after the snap. Hackett has been lost. It's going to get better as the season goes on.

As for that team as a whole . . . if their wins were, say, 34-27 and 31-30 rather than 16-9 and 11-10, they would be perceived much differently. Same with Tampa - imagine the discussion if Tampa's schedule looked like this:

@ Cowboys - W 37-21
@ Saints - W 34-24
Packers - L 30-28

Wouldn't be nearly as negative as it is IRL. In an increasingly offensive league, we're forgetting that defense exists.

It also says something that everyone is dumping on the 2-1 Broncos. If they're really underperforming that badly . . . where will they be once the offense figures it out?

[JayhawkCO]

It also says something that everyone is dumping on the 2-1 Broncos. If they're really underperforming that badly . . . where will they be once the offense figures it out?

I mean, they lost to Seattle who isn't very good. Beat Houston who isn't very good. Beat San Francisco who is playing their backup QB. I get Jimmy G isn't that bad, but still not exactly murderer's row. We shall see of course how it all ends up.

[webny99]

The Broncos are intriguing. They're simultaneously one play away from 3-0, and very lucky not to be 0-3. Combine a defense that's played well enough to be 3-0 and an offense that's played poorly enough to be 0-3, and you'd expect 1.5 wins. Considering that a safety provided the winning margin last night, that's pretty much spot on.

Despite this being a new offense for Russ, the last two games have been remarkably Seahawks-esque... close, low scoring games that they have no business winning when you look at how the offense played, but somehow escape with a win. The offense has moved the ball well outside the red zone, but only putting up 14 points a game is not a sustainable. Unfortunately for the Chargers, I do think the Broncos are going to be the biggest threat to the Chiefs in that division, and their ability to stack some wins while figuring things out is a big reason why.

[tchafe1978]

Say goodbye to the Pro Bowl.
They're gonna basically just do football's version of a home run derby/slam dunk contest instead.
I guess that's better than flag football? 

The Pro Bowl had basically turned into a flag football game anyways the last few years with the players understandably not wanting to risk injury, so why not make it official?

[thspfc]

Giants 23, Cowboys 16

I had the right score but wrong teams  . Thought this was going to be the game Rush's luck ran out, but it wasn't. Another solid outing for him. Pollard and Zeke's combined 178 yards were big. Lamb with an excellent one-handed TD catch. Giants have still only beaten the Cowboys once since 2016.

[1995hoo]

This week was one of those moments where you knew a particular moment would wind up on "C'Mon Man!" as soon as it happened–the "Butt Punt," of course.

[jmacswimmer]

This week was one of those moments where you knew a particular moment would wind up on "C'Mon Man!" as soon as it happened–the "Butt Punt," of course.

I would think Jimmy G pulling a Dan Orlovsky qualifies here as well.

[triplemultiplex]

Starting to look like they'll have to relocate or postpone this weekend's game in Tampa with that hurricane bearing down on them. No word yet, but with Ian expected to be a strong cat 3 or even a cat 4 at a landfall in the metro Wednesday night, I doubt they're going to be ready to play by Sunday.  With all the logistics of an NFL game, I don't think they can wait until the storm actually hits to see how bad it is before making that decision.

[NWI_Irish96]

Starting to look like they'll have to relocate or postpone this weekend's game in Tampa with that hurricane bearing down on them. No word yet, but with Ian expected to be a strong cat 3 or even a cat 4 at a landfall in the metro Wednesday night, I doubt they're going to be ready to play by Sunday.  With all the logistics of an NFL game, I don't think they can wait until the storm actually hits to see how bad it is before making that decision.

I was looking at possible locations. Outside of the other two Florida stadiums, the closest options (Atlanta, New Orleans, Carolina) are all in use Sunday. The Bucs are practicing in Miami right now, so they might just play the game there. Being an NBC primetime game, there will be a huge push to get the game played somewhere.

[1995hoo]

Starting to look like they'll have to relocate or postpone this weekend's game in Tampa with that hurricane bearing down on them. No word yet, but with Ian expected to be a strong cat 3 or even a cat 4 at a landfall in the metro Wednesday night, I doubt they're going to be ready to play by Sunday.  With all the logistics of an NFL game, I don't think they can wait until the storm actually hits to see how bad it is before making that decision.

The Buccaneers are already using the Dolphins' practice facility so as to get out ahead of the storm, but word is the NFL would be unlikely to move the game to Miami for the very legitimate reason that it would be inappropriate to be using law enforcement and other state resources for a football game if the hurricane is bad enough to require the game to be moved.

[NWI_Irish96]

Starting to look like they'll have to relocate or postpone this weekend's game in Tampa with that hurricane bearing down on them. No word yet, but with Ian expected to be a strong cat 3 or even a cat 4 at a landfall in the metro Wednesday night, I doubt they're going to be ready to play by Sunday.  With all the logistics of an NFL game, I don't think they can wait until the storm actually hits to see how bad it is before making that decision.

The Buccaneers are already using the Dolphins' practice facility so as to get out ahead of the storm, but word is the NFL would be unlikely to move the game to Miami for the very legitimate reason that it would be inappropriate to be using law enforcement and other state resources for a football game if the hurricane is bad enough to require the game to be moved.

So I didn't think about the resource drain that an NFL game is. If Florida is out entirely, and the next three closest options unavailable as I noted above (depending on the track and speed, Carolina's game Sunday could be a mess), where do they go then?

Nashville might be right in the middle of the storm Sunday. Dallas and Houston both unavailable. Do they end up in Chicago?

[webny99]

It is odd that the entire NFC South happened to be playing at "home" this week, although the Saints are actually in London, so New Orleans might still be an option.

The Titans are heading to Indy this week, and the storm is currently projected to track east of Nashville, so that might be an option.

[1995hoo]

An ESPN article suggests Minneapolis since the Vikings will be in London. Perhaps that's just to get as far away from the storm track as possible?

Regarding other games, South Carolina moved its game in Columbia from Saturday to Thursday night. Duke has oddly shifted its home game against UVA from noon to 7:30, but still on Saturday. Got to think that one will be a huge mess.

[NWI_Irish96]

It is odd that the entire NFC South happened to be playing at "home" this week, although the Saints are actually in London, so New Orleans might still be an option. The Texans and Cowboys are also playing at home.

The Titans are heading to Indy this week, and the storm is currently project to track east of Nashville, so that might be an option.

I forgot about the London game. New Orleans makes the most sense then. I think that's where they'll end up.

[jlam]

Dolphins 13, Bengals 26
Vikings 20, Saints 24
Browns 13, Falcons 14
Commanders 21, Cowboys 30
Seahawks 17, Lions 20
Titans 14, Colts 24
Bears 12, Giants 16
Jaguars 17, Eagles 35
Jets 24, Steelers 13
Bills 17, Ravens 24
Chargers 23, Texans 17
Cardinals 24, Panthers 17
Patriots 10, Packers 17
Broncos 21, Raiders 3
Chiefs 23, Buccaneers 15
Rams 9, 49ers 28

[thspfc]

Bengals 23, Dolphins 17
Vikings 27, Saints 24
Lions 30, Seahawks 17
Steelers 20, Jets 15
Bears 24, Giants 19
Colts 28, Titans 10
Chargers 31, Texans 20
Browns 24, Falcons 9
Cowboys 34, Commanders 20
Jaguars 30, Eagles 28
Ravens 29, Bills 26
Panthers 23, Cardinals 13
Raiders 16, Broncos 14
Packers 28, Patriots 7
Chiefs 20, Buccaneers 19
49ers 24, Rams 20

Hopefully I do better than 5-11 this week.

There hasn't been any negative feedback about lowering the fork points to 13 starting next week. So for 15 points, the deadline is now a week from tomorrow.