NFL (2024 Season)

[1995hoo]

From the Athletic (which I won't bother linking because it's paywalled) regarding a rules change for the Pro Bowl this weekend:

Instead of choosing to kick or receive, the team that wins the opening coin toss will instead choose anywhere on the field to place the ball, along with the direction. The team that loses the coin toss will then decide whether to start on offense or defense. The loser will also be able to choose between both privileges when the second half begins.

[webny99]

From the Athletic (which I won't bother linking because it's paywalled) regarding a rules change for the Pro Bowl this weekend:

Instead of choosing to kick or receive, the team that wins the opening coin toss will instead choose anywhere on the field to place the ball, along with the direction. The team that loses the coin toss will then decide whether to start on offense or defense. The loser will also be able to choose between both privileges when the second half begins.

This is the rule proposed by the Ravens last year. Here's an article from the NFL:

https://www.nfl.com/news/2022-pro-bowl-to-feature-spot-and-choose-method-no-kickoffs

[DenverBrian]

From the Athletic (which I won't bother linking because it's paywalled) regarding a rules change for the Pro Bowl this weekend:

Instead of choosing to kick or receive, the team that wins the opening coin toss will instead choose anywhere on the field to place the ball, along with the direction. The team that loses the coin toss will then decide whether to start on offense or defense. The loser will also be able to choose between both privileges when the second half begins.

This is the rule proposed by the Ravens last year. Here's an article from the NFL:

https://www.nfl.com/news/2022-pro-bowl-to-feature-spot-and-choose-method-no-kickoffs

Good stuff in there. I'd also be in favor of trying to eliminate "half the distance" penalties, instead marking them for the full amount unless they're past the goal line, in which case the ball would be spotted just outside the end zone.

[Big John]

Aaron Rodgers building a house in Nashville: https://clutchpoints.com/titans-rumors-aaron-rodgers-latest-move-could-hint-at-tennessee-trade/ 

I jumped the gun.  The Titans are saying they are not interested in Rodgers:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/titans-dont-consider-aaron-rodgers-an-option-and-have-full-intentions-of-keeping-ryan-tannehill-per-report/ar-AATvXVw?ocid=uxbndlbing

[NWI_Irish96]

Joe Burrow could become the 3rd QB to win both a college national championship and a Super Bowl. The other two are also named Joe--Namath and Montana.

[thspfc]

Joe Burrow could become the 3rd QB to win both a college national championship and a Super Bowl. The other two are also named Joe--Namath and Montana.

Only heard this one 327 times.

[DenverBrian]

Joe Burrow could become the 3rd QB to win both a college national championship and a Super Bowl. The other two are also named Joe--Namath and Montana.

Only heard this one 327 times.

Just learned this from your post, cabiness - thanks!

[1995hoo]

Roger Goodell announces that to avoid the unfairness of teams playing the Super Bowl in their home stadium that we've seen over the last two years, all future Super Bowls will be held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

[Alps]

Joe Burrow could become the 3rd QB to win both a college national championship and a Super Bowl. The other two are also named Joe--Namath and Montana.

Only heard this one 327 times.

Just learned this from your post, cabiness - thanks!

Me too!

[1995hoo]

I very briefly turned on the Pro Bowl and discovered it's now two-hand touch. I promptly turned it off in favor of Olympic curling.

[tchafe1978]

I very briefly turned on the Pro Bowl and discovered it's now two-hand touch. I promptly turned it off in favor of Olympic curling.

They can't go getting anybody injured from tackling now. It would be a step up if it was flag football. The Pro Bowl is easily the worst of the Big 4 All-Star games. They are trying out a couple of interesting rule changes regarding the coin flip and field position replacing kickoffs, though I don't think they're very likely to be implemented in regular season games anytime soon.

[ilpt4u]

I very briefly turned on the Pro Bowl and discovered it's now two-hand touch. I promptly turned it off in favor of Olympic curling.

Training Camp and Preseason Games are more competitive than the joke of this Pro Bowl. I watched about 2 plays, then switched to watch the US Mixed Curling team - the girl from Alaska - good eye candy, and obviously very talented.

[ethanhopkin14]

I very briefly turned on the Pro Bowl and discovered it's now two-hand touch. I promptly turned it off in favor of Olympic curling.

They can't go getting anybody injured from tackling now. It would be a step up if it was flag football. The Pro Bowl is easily the worst of the Big 4 All-Star games. They are trying out a couple of interesting rule changes regarding the coin flip and field position replacing kickoffs, though I don't think they're very likely to be implemented in regular season games anytime soon.

It's stupid.  Unlike the other 3 major sports, the NFL's All-Star game is played at the end of the season instead of the middle of the season, so if someone gets hurt, they have the entire offseason to rehab.  Get out there and hit someone.

People say "He can't get hurt in an exhibition game"  or "he got hurt in a game that didn't even count."  First thing that comes to mind is everyone flipping out when Jordy Nelson was lost for the season because of an injury in a pre-season game.  I have always thought, so if it happened in a real game, then no one cares?  They only care if its a preseason game or other type of exhibition game?  Like somehow its justified if he hurt himself in a regular season game?  The way I look at it, it was a fluke injury that was bound to happen, and would have happened in a regular season game just as easily as it did in the preseason.  Just that year he didn't quite make it that far in the season before getting hurt.

In conclusion, stop coddling these guys.  They are professional football players.  They shouldn't be scared of getting hurt that easily and as I pointed out, it's the same blow if they get hurt in a regular season game as it is in a preseason game.  Stop acting like because it doesn't get put down as a win or loss in your official record that its suddenly a breading ground for injuries.  Injuries are going to happen, its part of the game.

[US 89]

I very briefly turned on the Pro Bowl and discovered it's now two-hand touch. I promptly turned it off in favor of Olympic curling.

They can't go getting anybody injured from tackling now. It would be a step up if it was flag football. The Pro Bowl is easily the worst of the Big 4 All-Star games. They are trying out a couple of interesting rule changes regarding the coin flip and field position replacing kickoffs, though I don't think they're very likely to be implemented in regular season games anytime soon.

It's stupid.  Unlike the other 3 major sports, the NFL's All-Star game is played at the end of the season instead of the middle of the season, so if someone gets hurt, they have the entire offseason to rehab.  Get out there and hit someone.

People say "He can't get hurt in an exhibition game"  or "he got hurt in a game that didn't even count."  First thing that comes to mind is everyone flipping out when Jordy Nelson was lost for the season because of an injury in a pre-season game.  I have always thought, so if it happened in a real game, then no one cares?  They only care if its a preseason game or other type of exhibition game?  Like somehow its justified if he hurt himself in a regular season game?  The way I look at it, it was a fluke injury that was bound to happen, and would have happened in a regular season game just as easily as it did in the preseason.  Just that year he didn't quite make it that far in the season before getting hurt.

In conclusion, stop coddling these guys.  They are professional football players.  They shouldn't be scared of getting hurt that easily and as I pointed out, it's the same blow if they get hurt in a regular season game as it is in a preseason game.  Stop acting like because it doesn't get put down as a win or loss in your official record that its suddenly a breading ground for injuries.  Injuries are going to happen, its part of the game.

Same blow for them personally, maybe, but you have to think about this from a team perspective. If your star players gets hurt, you lose their talent while they're out recovering. You want to minimize the risk of that happening during the regular season or playoffs when you want your best talent available to win you games. So resting your best players during preseason games or other exhibition stuff, where the on-field product doesn't even matter, is generally the smart thing to do. Even regular-season games towards the end of the season that won't matter towards playoff standings will get this effect. The risk of injury per game is much greater in football than in any of the other major American sports, so it plays far more highly into the consideration of who plays and when.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Pro Bowl is stupid and watched the Olympics instead without even a second thought. But the solution is more complicated than just "man up and get out there".

[ethanhopkin14]

I very briefly turned on the Pro Bowl and discovered it's now two-hand touch. I promptly turned it off in favor of Olympic curling.

They can't go getting anybody injured from tackling now. It would be a step up if it was flag football. The Pro Bowl is easily the worst of the Big 4 All-Star games. They are trying out a couple of interesting rule changes regarding the coin flip and field position replacing kickoffs, though I don't think they're very likely to be implemented in regular season games anytime soon.

It's stupid.  Unlike the other 3 major sports, the NFL's All-Star game is played at the end of the season instead of the middle of the season, so if someone gets hurt, they have the entire offseason to rehab.  Get out there and hit someone.

People say "He can't get hurt in an exhibition game"  or "he got hurt in a game that didn't even count."  First thing that comes to mind is everyone flipping out when Jordy Nelson was lost for the season because of an injury in a pre-season game.  I have always thought, so if it happened in a real game, then no one cares?  They only care if its a preseason game or other type of exhibition game?  Like somehow its justified if he hurt himself in a regular season game?  The way I look at it, it was a fluke injury that was bound to happen, and would have happened in a regular season game just as easily as it did in the preseason.  Just that year he didn't quite make it that far in the season before getting hurt.

In conclusion, stop coddling these guys.  They are professional football players.  They shouldn't be scared of getting hurt that easily and as I pointed out, it's the same blow if they get hurt in a regular season game as it is in a preseason game.  Stop acting like because it doesn't get put down as a win or loss in your official record that its suddenly a breading ground for injuries.  Injuries are going to happen, its part of the game.

Same blow for them personally, maybe, but you have to think about this from a team perspective. If your star players gets hurt, you lose their talent while they're out recovering. You want to minimize the risk of that happening during the regular season or playoffs when you want your best talent available to win you games. So resting your best players during preseason games or other exhibition stuff, where the on-field product doesn't even matter, is generally the smart thing to do. Even regular-season games towards the end of the season that won't matter towards playoff standings will get this effect. The risk of injury per game is much greater in football than in any of the other major American sports, so it plays far more highly into the consideration of who plays and when.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Pro Bowl is stupid and watched the Olympics instead without even a second thought. But the solution is more complicated than just "man up and get out there".

I get that mentality.  I am more pointing out that the talking heads out there make a big deal about it if a player gets injured in a preseason game and they all start to talk about how "should we really have preseason games?"  I guess my point is, Jordy Nelson was playing like maybe  a series in the above example and happened to get hurt on one of the plays.  It's not like the Packers sent him out there for every play of a preseason game.  He just happened to get hurt on one of the few plays he was playing on.

Teddy Bridgewater suffered what many people say was the worst injury in the history of the NFL in a non-contact drill in practice.  Should we outlaw practices now?

[NWI_Irish96]

Saints RB Alvin Kamara arrested in Las Vegas for battery.

[thspfc]

Saints RB Alvin Kamara arrested in Las Vegas for battery.

Awful franchise.

[Alps]

Saints RB Alvin Kamara arrested in Las Vegas for battery.

Awful franchise.

Awful rush to judgment.

[thspfc]

Saints RB Alvin Kamara arrested in Las Vegas for battery.

Awful franchise.

Awful rush to judgment.

- Paid players to injure opposing teams' players
- Gave out no repercussions to anyone for doing so
- Helped to cover up a child sexual abuse scandal
- Tried to hide the emails from said scandal, and fought to keep them from the public
- Refuses to move away from a dying stadium in a dying city
- Propped up by a great quarterback for 15 years, did basically nothing to maximize the time they had him
- Very often has seen former players flourish on different teams after sputtering in and leaving New Orleans

[NWI_Irish96]

Saints RB Alvin Kamara arrested in Las Vegas for battery.

Awful franchise.

Awful rush to judgment.

- Paid players to injure opposing teams' players
- Gave out no repercussions to anyone for doing so
- Helped to cover up a child sexual abuse scandal
- Tried to hide the emails from said scandal, and fought to keep them from the public
- Refuses to move away from a dying stadium in a dying city
- Propped up by a great quarterback for 15 years, did basically nothing to maximize the time they had him
- Very often has seen former players flourish on different teams after sputtering in and leaving New Orleans

You're right about them being a shit franchise for having a HOF QB for 15+ years and not winning more than one Super Bowl.

[webny99]

Awful franchise.

Awful rush to judgment.

...

I'm not sure what any of that has to do with Alvin Kamara...

I don't disagree that certain aspects of the Saints franchise are questionable, but I do dispute that they did "basically nothing" with Drew Brees. They had at least 7 wins every season of his career there, won a Super Bowl, and would have had another appearance if not for the infamous no-call. Only the Pats and Steelers have had more sustained success in that time frame. And their great regular season run from 2017-2020 was mostly because of their defense, not Brees.

[webny99]

You're right about them being a shit franchise for having a HOF QB for 15+ years and not winning more than one Super Bowl.

But aside from the Patriots, what franchise with a HOF QB isn't that true of?

Packers have had Favre and Rodgers for 30 years and only 2 SB's
Seahawks have had 10 years of Russell Wilson and just 1 SB
Colts had 13 years of Peyton Manning and just 1 SB
... etc. etc.

[NWI_Irish96]

You're right about them being a shit franchise for having a HOF QB for 15+ years and not winning more than one Super Bowl.

But aside from the Patriots, what franchise with a HOF QB isn't that true of?

Packers have had Favre and Rodgers for 30 years and only 2 SB's
Seahawks have had 10 years of Russell Wilson and just 1 SB
Colts had 13 years of Peyton Manning and just 1 SB
... etc. etc.

Peyton did win a 2nd Super Bowl but with a different team, and at least get got to more than one with the Colts. If you only even make one Super Bowl with a first ballot HOF QB then that's pretty bad, especially if you only had to beat the other team's 2nd and 3rd string QBs to get to that one Super Bowl. Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger managed to win more than one during the Brady era.

[thspfc]

Awful franchise.

Awful rush to judgment.

...

I'm not sure what any of that has to do with Alvin Kamara...

I don't disagree that certain aspects of the Saints franchise are questionable, but I do dispute that they did "basically nothing" with Drew Brees. They had at least 7 wins every season of his career there, won a Super Bowl, and would have had another appearance if not for the infamous no-call. Only the Pats and Steelers have had more sustained success in that time frame. And their great regular season run from 2017-2020 was mostly because of their defense, not Brees.

At least 7 wins? They were at least below average every year they had a top 10 all-time quarterback? What a feat.

The Packers have been more successful in that timeframe. The Seahawks and Broncos have both won and lost a Super Bowl in that timeframe. The Giants have somehow won two, but whether they've actually been more successful is a different story.

[ethanhopkin14]

Awful franchise.

Awful rush to judgment.

...

I'm not sure what any of that has to do with Alvin Kamara...

I don't disagree that certain aspects of the Saints franchise are questionable, but I do dispute that they did "basically nothing" with Drew Brees. They had at least 7 wins every season of his career there, won a Super Bowl, and would have had another appearance if not for the infamous no-call. Only the Pats and Steelers have had more sustained success in that time frame. And their great regular season run from 2017-2020 was mostly because of their defense, not Brees.

I totally get what point you are trying to make, but what you said is one of the attitudes I have been singling out: "...would have had another appearance if not for the infamous no-call."  When the flag was thrown, the game was tied.  They kicked a field goal to go up by 3 and then kicked off to the Rams and their defense couldn't stop the Rams from marching down the field and kicking a game tying field goal to send the game to overtime.  Brees throws an interception and the Rams score on that possession.  I look at all that and say the Saints lost that game, not the officials.

I will be first to say, yes, that was a bad no-call.  The guy wasn't playing ball and hit the receiver, that's DPI all day.  Lets say they threw the flag.  Now it's first and goal on that 4ish?  They still have to score a touchdown on that drive and there is no givens that they actually do score a touchdown and end up kicking a field goal anyway just like it played out in reality.  Or maybe after stopping them on 3rd down after the automatic first down, the Rams go in and block the field goal attempt in the alternate reality and the Saints can't even tie the game and Rams win anyway.  I would say the chances are higher the Saints score a touchdown if the penalty was called, but to flat out say it would be a given in farce. 

Again, I am not saying you are thinking this.  I think you were pointing out that the Saints, with Brees won a Super Bowl and nearly went to or possibly won more if not for a few bad luck situations.  I get it, but there are a lot of people who take what you said as gospel.  They honestly think that if that flag was thrown, the Saints would have won.  Does anyone see the arrogance in that statement?  "We would have definitely got our job done had you just done yours!"...despite the fact that we messed around all game to the point where it was tied in the last minute.  It's sports.  There is no telling what would have happened.  They could have had first and goal on the 4 after the DPI was called and Brees could have thrown a pick six.  You don't know.  This notion of "if you just gave me the chance, I would have definitely done what I was supposed to do then" is just false.  You proved all game you can't always just score at will.  If any team is good enough to say we would have 100% scored on X play, then they should have been winning 60-20 by that point and taking knees and not tied 20-20 needing a DPI to be called to have a shot to win.