NFL (2024 Season)

[Dough4872]

The Eagles have to be the worst 10-1 team in the NFL, they haven't played well in most of their games despite winning. They have gotten lucky either due to officiating (the refs have been generous to the Eagles this year) or other teams making mistakes.

[JayhawkCO]

No one does less with more than Brandon Staley.

[webny99]

Being that the Eagles won I'll go a little softer on the officiating, but along with the questionable calls notably on us against Bill's QB, #2 Slay gets away with a lot before the receiver catches the ball.  Not only in this game, but in several other games this year.

Well of course, but the most egregious was a no-call of an obvious horse collar tackle by Haason Reddick on Josh Allen...
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/bills-eagles-horse-collar-tackle-josh-allen-jersey-penalty/177f3c931eec5250a84e75eb

It will be forgotten because of the insanity that ensued in the 2nd half and OT, but the Eagles were lucky to only be down 10 at the half. Lack of halftime adjustments = yet another reason to pin the Bills loss on coaching.

[jeffandnicole]

Being that the Eagles won I'll go a little softer on the officiating, but along with the questionable calls notably on us against Bill's QB, #2 Slay gets away with a lot before the receiver catches the ball.  Not only in this game, but in several other games this year.

Well of course, but the most egregious was a no-call of an obvious horse collar tackle by Haason Reddick on Josh Allen...
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/bills-eagles-horse-collar-tackle-josh-allen-jersey-penalty/177f3c931eec5250a84e75eb

It will be forgotten because of the insanity that ensued in the 2nd half and OT, but the Eagles were lucky to only be down 10 at the half. Lack of halftime adjustments = yet another reason to pin the Bills loss on coaching.

There's been a lot of debate regarding the horse collar. By definition, this may not have been a horse collar.  Simply grabbing the jersey behind the neck doesn't constitute a horse collar, and the subsequent throwdown isn't typical of a horse collar.

Now, if this is roughing the passer...it may be closer to that.  At least closer than the roughing the passer that was called later on against the Eagles.

And the intentional grounding - gotta get the ball a little closer to the receiver.  Throwing it straight into the ground is why that was called.

[jgb191]

The Colts beat the Texans in Indianapolis in week 6 of 2021.

Yeah you're right about that.  Jogging my memory, I tend to overlook the Colts games at times because they don't feel too much like division opponents due to their northerly location.  But you kind of get the idea, home/road locations hasn't really been a factor in our division games because the road team has won nearly every division game the Texans have played the last few years.

[thspfc]

No one does less with more than Brandon Staley.

Frank Reich is not the coach I thought would be fired today.

My last fork is the Chargers. My AFC field is MIA, BUF, BAL, CLE, CIN, JAX, KC. Obviously I'd rather not have the Bengals on that list, but they're a game ahead of the Chargers right now with a lot of backup QBs, and Kenny Pickett, left on their schedule. I think it's more likely that the Bengals win a bunch of 16-13 type games than it is that the Chargers stop being the Chargers.

I still have more faith than most in the Bills, and even if I didn't, they're in a better spot than the Chargers and Bengals.

3 of the 4 (notable) teams I'm rooting against in our compeition won yesterday - ATL, PIT, DEN, with the Vikings probably making it 4/4 against the Bears tonight. Great.

[webny99]

No one does less with more than Brandon Staley.

Frank Reich is not the coach I thought would be fired today.

Yikes. Yet another sign of bad ownership in Carolina. I feel for Reich. He was nowhere near their biggest problem and was given no chance to succeed. No reason not to let a bad season play out other than just change for the sake of change.

My last fork is the Chargers. My AFC field is MIA, BUF, BAL, CLE, CIN, JAX, KC. Obviously I'd rather not have the Bengals on that list, but they're a game ahead of the Chargers right now with a lot of backup QBs, and Kenny Pickett, left on their schedule. I think it's more likely that the Bengals win a bunch of 16-13 type games than it is that the Chargers stop being the Chargers.

I still have more faith than most in the Bills, and even if I didn't, they're in a better spot than the Chargers and Bengals.

Weird dynamics all around the AFC. A bunch of presumed contenders (Bills, Chargers and Bengals) are in rough shape, though I agree the Bills have the best shot at the playoffs of those three.

Meanwhile, a bunch of presumed middling teams (Browns, Steelers, Texans, Colts, and Broncos) are in decent shape and could end up comprising the entire wild card field.

[bwana39]

Being that the Eagles won I'll go a little softer on the officiating, but along with the questionable calls notably on us against Bill's QB, #2 Slay gets away with a lot before the receiver catches the ball.  Not only in this game, but in several other games this year.

Well of course, but the most egregious was a no-call of an obvious horse collar tackle by Haason Reddick on Josh Allen...
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/bills-eagles-horse-collar-tackle-josh-allen-jersey-penalty/177f3c931eec5250a84e75eb

It will be forgotten because of the insanity that ensued in the 2nd half and OT, but the Eagles were lucky to only be down 10 at the half. Lack of halftime adjustments = yet another reason to pin the Bills loss on coaching.

There's been a lot of debate regarding the horse collar. By definition, this may not have been a horse collar.  Simply grabbing the jersey behind the neck doesn't constitute a horse collar, and the subsequent throwdown isn't typical of a horse collar.

Now, if this is roughing the passer...it may be closer to that.  At least closer than the roughing the passer that was called later on against the Eagles.

And the intentional grounding - gotta get the ball a little closer to the receiver.  Throwing it straight into the ground is why that was called.

There are two reasons why this might not have been a horse collar. The first one is horse collar does not apply to the quarterback while he is in the pocket. He was in the pocket when he initially was grabbed from the front.

The second is for it to be a penalty, the knees of the person being tackled have to buckle due to horse collar. Josh Allen's knees were flexed when Reddick grabbed the back. Reddick's grasp STRAIGHTENED the Quarterback's knees. He literally flung him.

Jim Nantz went on and on about the torn jersey. The jersey was torn from the front, not the back. There is no rule about grabbing the front of the jersey or pads. 

[JayhawkCO]

No one does less with more than Brandon Staley.

Frank Reich is not the coach I thought would be fired today.

Yikes. Yet another sign of bad ownership in Carolina. I feel for Reich. He was nowhere near their biggest problem and was given no chance to succeed. No reason not to let a bad season play out other than just change for the sake of change.

He got fired because Bryce Young has, thus far, been a bust. The only real reason. If the front office bungled the pick, he paid for it.

[webny99]

No one does less with more than Brandon Staley.

Frank Reich is not the coach I thought would be fired today.

Yikes. Yet another sign of bad ownership in Carolina. I feel for Reich. He was nowhere near their biggest problem and was given no chance to succeed. No reason not to let a bad season play out other than just change for the sake of change.

He got fired because Bryce Young has, thus far, been a bust. The only real reason. If the front office bungled the pick, he paid for it.

But it was the owner David Tepper himself that bungled the pick. Reports are that Reich didn't even want to pick Bryce Young, and though he was talked into it by draft day, it was the owner's decision.

[Ted$8roadFan]

No one does less with more than Brandon Staley.

Frank Reich is not the coach I thought would be fired today.

Yikes. Yet another sign of bad ownership in Carolina. I feel for Reich. He was nowhere near their biggest problem and was given no chance to succeed. No reason not to let a bad season play out other than just change for the sake of change.

He got fired because Bryce Young has, thus far, been a bust. The only real reason. If the front office bungled the pick, he paid for it.

But it was the owner David Tepper himself that bungled the pick. Reports are that Reich didn't even want to pick Bryce Young, and though he was talked into it by draft day, it was the owner's decision.

Unfortunately, owners aren't about to fire themselves.

[thspfc]

Fields has 1 0 career game-winning drives

Well that has promptly been made outdated. And for the first time in his career, Fields threw 30+ passes in a win.

Granted, the Bears forced 4 turnovers and scored 12 points. Not exactly a career-defining moment for Fields, but at least he came through at the end.

[NWI_Irish96]

Fields has 1 0 career game-winning drives

Well that has promptly been made outdated. And for the first time in his career, Fields threw 30+ passes in a win.

Granted, the Bears forced 4 turnovers and scored 12 points. Not exactly a career-defining moment for Fields, but at least he came through at the end.

It's so hard to pinpoint the issues watching on TV since you don't see the receivers downfield until the ball is thrown, but Fields holds the ball for an awful long time. He either isn't finding his open man or guys just aren't open. I imagine it's some of both. In any case, they need to bring in someone to work with him on that. I don't have a lot of faith in any of the guys who will be available in this year's draft.

On a good note, the offensive and defensive lines are improved. They aren't actually good yet, but good is now achievable for next season.

[NWI_Irish96]

Forks: Patriots, Colts, Texans, Raiders, Commanders, Packers, Bucs, Cardinals

Add Bears, Broncos, Panthers, Giants

Add Titans, Jets, Giants, Rams

So I'm currently at 7 AFC teams and 8 NFC teams. Going to give the Saints/Falcons a couple more weeks before I make my last call in the NFC. Safe to add the Chargers in the AFC. Will hold off on my last one, though I'm leaning Bengals.

So my updated list:

AFC: Patriots, Jets, Titans, Chargers, Raiders, Texans, Colts
NFC: Panthers, Cardinals, Commanders, Bears, Giants, Bucs, Packers

[epzik8]

Bryce Young has to be the worst first-overall draft pick since JaMarcus Russell.

[jmacswimmer]

Fields has 1 0 career game-winning drives

Well that has promptly been made outdated. And for the first time in his career, Fields threw 30+ passes in a win.

Granted, the Bears forced 4 turnovers and scored 12 points. Not exactly a career-defining moment for Fields, but at least he came through at the end.

FWIW Joe Buck & an ESPN graphic claimed that Fields had 2 previous game-winning drives (none this year) going into what turned out to be the game-winning drive last night, but I have no idea what 2 games they would have been referring to.

Editted to add: PFF lists the 2 games in question as the 2022 games against San Francisco (week 1) & Houston (week 3), and presumably it was PFF that Buck/ESPN were citing. Had to brush up a bit on what happened in each of those games, but:

-The Bears were down 10-0 against SF midway thru the 3rd, and then scored 3 TD's the rest of the way to reach the final 19-10 mark (2 missed XP's). The go-ahead TD happened at 12:50 left in the 4th, and the final score happened at 7:24 left.
-The Bears were tied 20-20 with Houston throughout the 4th, and then Roquan Smith intercepted Davis Mills with 1:13 left in the 4th. Already well within FG range, Fields simply kneeled a few times to drain the clock and then Santos hit the game-winner as time expired for the 23-20 final score.

So...both games were apparently considered to have game-winning drives by PFF, but definitely debatable in both cases. Neither one involved what we finally saw last night with Fields stepping up and hitting that deep strike to Moore with under 2 minutes left to get well into FG range (and then, speaking of kneeldowns to bleed clock ahead of a go-ahead FG try...)

It's so hard to pinpoint the issues watching on TV since you don't see the receivers downfield until the ball is thrown, but Fields holds the ball for an awful long time. He either isn't finding his open man or guys just aren't open. I imagine it's some of both. In any case, they need to bring in someone to work with him on that. I don't have a lot of faith in any of the guys who will be available in this year's draft.

On a good note, the offensive and defensive lines are improved. They aren't actually good yet, but good is now achievable for next season.

The overreliance on screens last night was maddening as well. Clearly Luke Getsy did his homework and concluded that Brian Flores loves to blitz (which we saw plenty of until he mysteriously backed off on the final drive, which Troy Aikman noted on the broadcast), but calling screens all night might have been overcorrecting a little, not to mention makes it more difficult to evaluate Fields 

As for the lines - it's amazing the impact 2 players (1 per side) can have on the entire units. For the o-line, I go back to Teven Jenkins's return against Washington - he's become the nasty presence the Bears were missing post-Kyle Long, and it seems like the whole line steps it up with him in there. If the Bears can find a new center in the offseason, they might suddenly be set on the o-line. As for the d-line, the Montez Sweat trade is providing immediate returns despite the steep price - he notched 1.5 sacks last night, and it seemed like Aikman was calling Gervon Dexter Sr's name multiple times on replays as well.

As a final note - I don't generally like to harp on officiating, but what on earth was that sequence with Kyler Gordon getting a taunting penalty because his facemask got ripped off by Brandon Powell (which wasn't flagged) and the only reason he then took off his helmet while still on the field was to show the refs his facemask dangling from the rest of his helmet?

[JayhawkCO]

Bryce Young has to be the worst first-overall draft pick since JaMarcus Russell.

Baker Mayfield?

[webny99]

Bryce Young has to be the worst first-overall draft pick since JaMarcus Russell.

Baker Mayfield?

Probably somewhere in between. Bryce Young has no known work ethic or off-field issues, and barring injury will notch 17 starts as a rookie, so he's already well on the way to being less of a bust than JaMarcus Russell. He's played poorly, but the situation and lack of surrounding talent makes an evaluation almost impossible. He is far from Carolina's biggest problem as a player, although the trade to get him looks like a disaster.

[jeffandnicole]

-The Bears were tied 20-20 with Houston throughout the 4th, and then Roquan Smith intercepted Davis Mills with 1:13 left in the 4th. Already well within FG range, Fields simply kneeled a few times to drain the clock and then Santos hit the game-winner as time expired for the 23-20 final score.

So, it sounds great...

"Fields completes a Game-Winning Drive Late in the 4th Quarter!!"

But in reality:

"Fields Game-Winning Drive nets a 3 yard loss"

[jgb191]

I refuse to count out Bryce Young just yet.  Let's see what happens next year.  It was unfortunate for him that CJ entered the same draft year.  CJ was selected by the team (Texans) whose skyrocketing culture set by our new HC DeMeco Ryans happened to be the right fit for him.  If Bryce had been selected by the Texans, I would believed that he could have fared a lot better than in his current situation right now.  Let's see if the next Panthers HC could raise the culture and performance.

And nobody would have expected CJ and the Texans to be doing as well as they have been this season.  People forgotten about the 11 sacks he took in the first two games alone, which had been on pace for around 94 sacks for the season.  Even with the current team, everybody on here had forked them even before preseason began.  A couple on here even believed the Texans would remain at the bottom of the NFL.  Most of the NFL experts on TV during preseason predicted only five to six wins total for the year.  Nobody would have expected him to break passing yardage records like he did.

Just goes to show you, the Draft is simply rolling the dice and nothing more.  How many times was Tom Brady passed over the year he was drafted?

[jeffandnicole]

Clinching the Playoff Scenarios, Week 13:

The Eagles have the first opportunity to clinch a playoff spot this year, which they can do this weekend by...

1. Eagles win over 49ers + Rams loss/tie vs. Browns
2. Eagles win over 49ers + Packers loss/tie to Chiefs + Lions loss to Saints
3. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Falcons loss/tie to Jets
4. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Saints loss/tie to Lions

Watching the Playoffs scenarios:

Panthers:  Simple - If they lose to the Bucs, Carolina is out.

Patriots:

1. Patriots loss to Chargers + Steelers win/tie vs. Cardinals + Colts win/tie vs. Titans + Browns win/tie vs. Rams
2. Patriots loss + Steelers win/tie + Colts win/tie + Texans win over Broncos + Bengals win over Jaguars
3. Patriots loss + Steelers win/tie + Colts win/tie + Bengals-Jaguars tie
4. Patriots loss + Steelers win/tie + Colts win + Texans-Broncos tie
5. Patriots loss + Steelers win/tie + Colts tie + Texans-Broncos tie + Bengals win/tie with Jaguars

Cardinals:

1. Cardinals loss to Steelers + Seahawks win/tie vs. Cowboys + Rams win vs. Browns
2. Cardinals loss + Seahawks win/tie + Packers win/tie vs. Chiefs
3. Cardinals loss + Seahawks win/tie + Falcons win vs. Jets + Buccaneers win/tie vs. Panthers
4. Cardinals loss + Seahawks win/tie + Falcons-Jets tie + Buccaneers win
5. Cardinals loss + Rams win vs. Browns + Packers win/tie
6. Cardinals loss + Rams win vs. Browns + Falcons win + Buccaneers win + Saints win/tie vs. Lions
7. Cardinals loss + Rams win vs. Browns + Falcons win + Buccaneers-Panthers tie + Saints win
8. Cardinals loss + Rams win vs. Browns + Falcons-Jets tie + Buccaneers win + Saints win
9. Cardinals tie + Seahawks win + Packers win

[cwf1701]

Bryce Young has to be the worst first-overall draft pick since JaMarcus Russell.

more like since Andre Ware

[tmoore952]

Clinching the Playoff Scenarios, Week 13:

The Eagles have the first opportunity to clinch a playoff spot this year, which they can do this weekend by...

1. Eagles win over 49ers + Rams loss/tie vs. Browns
2. Eagles win over 49ers + Packers loss/tie to Chiefs + Lions loss to Saints
3. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Falcons loss/tie to Jets
4. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Saints loss/tie to Lions

I could have sworn that I heard (or saw) somewhere that they would clinch by beating the Bills last Sunday. But that must have been wrong. It's sort of a moot point anyway. To me, it seemed a little early for playoff clinching since every team has at least 5 games to play (6 for those who have already had byes).

[jeffandnicole]

Clinching the Playoff Scenarios, Week 13:

The Eagles have the first opportunity to clinch a playoff spot this year, which they can do this weekend by...

1. Eagles win over 49ers + Rams loss/tie vs. Browns
2. Eagles win over 49ers + Packers loss/tie to Chiefs + Lions loss to Saints
3. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Falcons loss/tie to Jets
4. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Saints loss/tie to Lions

I could have sworn that I heard (or saw) somewhere that they would clinch by beating the Bills last Sunday. But that must have been wrong. It's sort of a moot point anyway. To me, it seemed a little early for playoff clinching since every team has at least 5 games to play (6 for those who have already had byes).

If you follow any of the Eagles Facebook fan/group pages, there's always a lot of bad info that gets passed around, and probably repeated elsewhere.

[tmoore952]

Clinching the Playoff Scenarios, Week 13:

The Eagles have the first opportunity to clinch a playoff spot this year, which they can do this weekend by...

1. Eagles win over 49ers + Rams loss/tie vs. Browns
2. Eagles win over 49ers + Packers loss/tie to Chiefs + Lions loss to Saints
3. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Falcons loss/tie to Jets
4. Eagles tie 49ers + Rams loss + Packers loss/tie + Saints loss/tie to Lions

I could have sworn that I heard (or saw) somewhere that they would clinch by beating the Bills last Sunday. But that must have been wrong. It's sort of a moot point anyway. To me, it seemed a little early for playoff clinching since every team has at least 5 games to play (6 for those who have already had byes).

If you follow any of the Eagles Facebook fan/group pages, there's always a lot of bad info that gets passed around, and probably repeated elsewhere.

Something like that must have popped up in my FB feed.