The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread V3

Barney92

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

He was not the same QB in Nov-Dec, he looked really uncomfortable at times particularly on deep throws and iirc virtually all his stats dropped off vs earlier in the season when he was excellent.

I think you also need to take into account of the quality of defences he faced. Using the Dallas game as his 'drop-off', because the week before he threw for 4 touchdowns against Atlanta. Over the next four games he faces the 7th, 27th, 15th and 6th best defences (in terms of yards allowed). That's three defences in the top sixteen in terms of yards allowed in only four games. He faced 2 of the top 16 defences in the first 11 games of the season and had yards per attempt of 7.1 and 5.2, two of the three lowest levels he had over that span.

So yes he didn't perform as well as he did at the start of the regular season but he was playing better defences (at least in terms of yards allowed) towards the end.

Ranking of Defence|Yards Per Attempt|Completion Percentage
Top 16|6.37|69.7%
Bottom 16|8.99|76.6%


Ranking of Defence|Yards Per Attempt|Completion Percentage
Top 20|7.71|72.3%
Bottom 12|8.53|76.2%

Christy42

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

He was not the same QB in Nov-Dec, he looked really uncomfortable at times particularly on deep throws and iirc virtually all his stats dropped off vs earlier in the season when he was excellent.

Also likely regression to the mean as well as better defenses. Simply put he may have just had his better games towards the start of the season. I see no reason to be worried about him yet.

The_Honeybadger

Perhaps that’s all it is. If he can get anywhere near his best in 2019 the saints will be a hard team to stop. Very strong all over the field.

Shedite27

American Football - the sport that has stats to back up whatever side of the argument you want to make

Guffy

Shedite27 wrote: »

American Football - the sport that has stats to back up whatever side of the argument you want to make

Depends on the sample size you are willing to entertain.

Christy42

Shedite27 wrote: »

American Football - the sport that has stats to back up whatever side of the argument you want to make

Indeed. I think in this case it is more a lack of information. Maybe he is regressing and it has been slow enough to not be completely obvious yet.

Blut2

I mean to be fair here stats or no stats hes also a 40 years and 7 months old man playing a highly athletic professional sport. He'll be turning 41 before the next Superbowl. If his performance hasn't already started dropping off (with the stats in favour or against above) its definitely going to happen very much sooner rather than later.

With the talent around him on the Saints offense I'd imagine unless he really goes off a cliff this year they should get this season out of him at least, though.

MrKingsley

I wouldn’t necessarily worrying about brees. They have a good OL and Thomas doesn’t exactly burn defenses down the field. Brees doesn’t need loads of time to find Thomas.

Also I don’t necessarily buy this “it’ll be so hard to get over such a bad call” idea

I’d be more worried that they have to get out of their division first and the face a serious NFC team in the playoffs.

I think they have seriously downgraded going from Ingram to Murray. I would be more worried about their run game and then brees having to shoulder the load more than anything else

Itssoeasy

I was looking at the first five weeks of the regular season last night and I noticed that the browns have two prime time games in the first five weeks. They play the jets and the 49ers on MNF. I mean I understand why this is happening as there is a lot of buzz around the team for the first time in literally decades, and OBJ coming in and all that. My worry is what record do they need to have by week 5 to stop the pre game build up on ESPN before the niners game being "the browns are not living up to the hype" ? I doubt they'll go 4-0 to start the season, so is it a case of regardless of how well they might do they can't live up to the hype ?

Salt Lake Stallion

Brees the highest QB in the Top 100 Players, number 2 overall. Mahomes at 4 and Brady at 6. Aaron Donald of the Rams is number 1.

Some people dismiss the Top 100 list but I put a lot of merit in it as it is voted by the players themselves.

eagle eye

Salt Lake Stallion wrote:

Brees the highest QB in the Top 100 Players, number 2 overall. Mahomes at 4 and Brady at 6. Aaron Donald of the Rams is number 1.
Some people dismiss the Top 100 list but I put a lot of merit in it as it is voted by the players themselves.

What is it based off? Last year's regular season only?
If it includes the playoffs then surely Brady should be the top QB. If it's including the last five seasons then Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Drew Brees should be the top three QB's.
Imo QB is the most critical position right now so the best ones should be filling the top spots.
Aaron Donald is a great player but he didn't win his team a Superbowl.

Salt Lake Stallion

It's just based on who the players think is the current best players in the NFL, I don't think they have any specific selection criteria. Each player probably bases it on their own criteria.

The_Honeybadger

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I was looking at the first five weeks of the regular season last night and I noticed that the browns have two prime time games in the first five weeks. They play the jets and the 49ers on MNF. I mean I understand why this is happening as there is a lot of buzz around the team for the first time in literally decades, and OBJ coming in and all that. My worry is what record do they need to have by week 5 to stop the pre game build up on ESPN before the niners game being "the browns are not living up to the hype" ? I doubt they'll go 4-0 to start the season, so is it a case of regardless of how well they might do they can't live up to the hype ?

I can see them being 2-2 going in to that 49ers game as I think the Rams and one of the Titans or Ravens will beat them.

Do people think all of this hype is justified? They are a 10-6 team at best imo. They seem to be pinning a lot of hope on OBJ who hasn’t had a 16 game season in a while.

Guffy

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

I can see them being 2-2 going in to that 49ers game as I think the Rams and one of the Titans or Ravens will beat them.

Do people think all of this hype is justified? They are a 10-6 team at best imo. They seem to be pinning a lot of hope on OBJ who hasn’t had a 16 game season in a while.

Its not just obj tbf. Its a full season of Baker and Chubb, it's an ever improving defensive squad, the ability that Kitchens showed in making subtle changes to the offensive playbook last year, the difference that made and the hope that a full off season to implement his changes will further improve the team. The turn around in the team from 0-16 and 1-15 to what it is now.

But then, ya know, there is also OBJ and the receiving talent we have behind him too.

el Fenomeno

I couldn't put any merit in a list that didn't have Chandler Jones ranked in the top 100 players of last year.

Hazys

2019 Rank Player Position Team Last Year's Rank
1 Aaron Donald DT Rams 7
2 Drew Brees QB Saints 8
3 Khalil Mack LB Bears 16
4 Pat Mahomes QB Chiefs
5 Todd Gurley RB Rams 6
6 Tom Brady QB Patriots 1
7 Antonio Brown WR Raiders 2
8 Aaron Rodgers QB Packers 10
9 Julio Jones WR Falcons 4
10 Von Miller LB Broncos 9
11 Deandre Hopkins WR Texans 13
12 JJ Watt DE Texans 84
13 Michael Thomas WR Saints 81
14 Alvin Kamara RB Saints 20
15 Bobby Wagner LB Seahawks 21
16 Saquon Barkley RB Giants
17 Philip Rivers QB Chargers 56
18 Ezekiel Elliott RB Cowboys 54
19 Tyreek Hill WR Chiefs 40
20 Andrew Luck QB Colts
21 Travis Kelce TE Chiefs 24
22 Stephon Gilmore CB Patriots
23 Odell Beckham Jr. WR Browns 77
24 Luke Kuechly LB Panthers 12
25 Russell Wilson QB Seahawks 11
26 Darius Leonard LB Colts
27 Jalen Ramsey CB Jaguars 17
28 Fletcher Cox DT Eagles 69
29 George Kittle TE 49ers
30 Eddie Jackson S Bears
31 Derwin James S Chargers
32 Jared Goff QB Rams 38
33 Adam Thielen WR Vikings 36
34 Melvin Gordon RB Chargers
35 Davante Adams WR Packers 45
36 Chris Jones DE Chiefs
37 Jamal Adams S Jets 100
38 Keenan Allen WR Chargers 41
39 Akiem Hicks DT Bears
40 Zach Ertz TE Eagles 68
41 Cameron Jordan DE Saints 26
42 Christian McCaffrey RB Panthers
43 David Bakhtiari T Packers 91
44 Ben Roethlisberger QB Steelers 18
45 Demarcus Lawrence DE Cowboys 34
46 Patrick Peterson CB Cardinals 23
47 JuJu Smith-Schuster WR Steelers
48 Melvin Ingram DE Chargers 76
49 Myles Garrett DE Browns
50 Baker Mayfield QB Browns
51 Deshaun Watson QB Texans 50
52 Tyron Smith T Cowboys 39
53 Mike Evans WR Buccaneers
54 Calais Campbell DE Jaguars 14
55 Xavien Howard CB Dolphins
56 Joey Bosa DE Chargers 37
57 Danielle Hunter DE Vikings
58 AJ Green WR Bengals 22
59 Zack Martin G Cowboys 71
60 Larry Fitzgerald WR Cardinals 27
61 Jaylon Smith LB Cowboys
62 James Conner RB Steelers
63 Jadeveon Clowney DE Texans 32
64 Amari Cooper WR Cowboys
65 Jason Pierre-Paul DE Buccaneers
66 Eric Ebron TE Colts
67 Dee Ford LB 49ers
68 Phillip Lindsay RB Broncos
69 Matt Ryan QB Falcons 29
70 T.Y. Hilton WR Colts
71 C.J. Mosley LB Jets 98
72 Jason Kelce C Eagles
73 Stefon Diggs WR Vikings 65
74 Leighton Vander-Esch LB Cowboys
75 Gerald McCoy DT Buccaneers
76 Robert Woods WR Rams
77 Taylor Lewan T Titans 78
78 Kirk Cousins QB Vikings 94
79 Geno Atkins DT Bengals 63
80 Mark Ingram RB Ravens 43
81 Trent Williams T Redskins 57
82 Bradley Chubb LB Broncos
83 Harrison Smith S Vikings 46
84 Jarvis Landry WR Browns 52
85 Frank Clark DE Seahawks
86 Darius Slay CB Lions 49
87 Cam Newton QB Panthers 25
88 Cameron Heyward DT Steelers 48
89 Devin McCourty S Patriots
90 Julian Edelman WR Patriots
91 Andrew Whitworth T Rams 87
92 Jurrell Casey DT Titans 66
93 TJ Watt LB Steelers
94 Mitchell Schwartz T Chiefs
95 Kyle Fuller CB Bears
96 Carson Wentz QB Eagles 3
97 Byron Jones CB Cowboys
98 Tyler Lockett WR Seahawks
99 Derrick Henry RB Titans
100 Eric Weddle S Rams

Hazys

When the Cowboys (8) have the double the number of players in the Top 100 as the Super Bowl champions, the Vikings (5) have one more and the Browns have an equal amount (4), its probably not the most accurate list.

Not to mention the Chargers having 6 after getting destroyed by the Patriots in the playoffs, you definitely need to take it with a pinch of salt.

jack presley

One Redskin on the list and he’s holding out. Gonna be a long year.........

The_Honeybadger

Guffy wrote: »

Its not just obj tbf. Its a full season of Baker and Chubb, it's an ever improving defensive squad, the ability that Kitchens showed in making subtle changes to the offensive playbook last year, the difference that made and the hope that a full off season to implement his changes will further improve the team. The turn around in the team from 0-16 and 1-15 to what it is now.

But then, ya know, there is also OBJ and the receiving talent we have behind him too.

Oh yeah I understand it’s not just OBJ, he’s not even the most important player imo. Garrett is a monster and Mayfield, Chubb, Landry and Ward all look like first rate talents.

The defensive line looks good but are they good enough behind that at lb and safety to stop the best teams? Is the O-Line good enough over a full season to keep Mayfield upright with Zeitler gone and a journeyman with a history of discipline issues at left tackle? An injury or two in that area would be very difficult to overcome imo.

There is no doubting the talent is there in certain positions but we’d need to see them beat a few contenders and make the playoffs before getting too carried away is all I’m saying.

Shedite27

Any idea why the new Sky Sports package saying that you can get "everything on one package" has NFL excluded? NBA, NHL, MLB all get name checked, even Canadian Football League gets a mention.

Something happening with the rights this year?

https://www.sky.com/ireland/tv/sports-extra?DCMP=emc-ROI:na_sports_extra

jack presley

Shedite27 wrote: »

Any idea why the new Sky Sports package saying that you can get "everything on one package" has NFL excluded? NBA, NHL, MLB all get name checked, even Canadian Football League gets a mention.

Something happening with the rights this year?

https://www.sky.com/ireland/tv/sports-extra?DCMP=emc-ROI:na_sports_extra

I'd say its just an oversight. From memory, I think there's one year left on their current deal.

paulie21

Sky definitely have coverage. Showing a number of pre season games and Hard Knocks next Thursday at 9pm

Itssoeasy

https://operations.nfl.com/media/3831/2019-playing-rules.pdf

2019 NFL rule book updated with the new PI rule changes and other changes.

Salt Lake Stallion

Anbody else watching the Hall of Fame game?

I'm really excited football season is back, I'm also really tired and will probably be asleep by the end of the 1st quarter.

MileHighGuy

Denver with the TD! I can smell the super bowl! (so can the fans of 31 other teams though, that's what makes American football great) bed awaits!

Knex*

Well, that's not good.

https://twitter.com/P_ConnerJr/status/1156911221528043521?s=09

jack presley

Knex. wrote: »

Well, that's not good.

https://twitter.com/P_ConnerJr/status/1156911221528043521?s=09

More details here

https://deadspin.com/report-trent-williamss-beef-with-the-skins-runs-pretty-1836882310

eagle eye

Yeah seen that in the Redskins thread.

He has every right to feel aggrieved and want out. I'm sure that somewhere in his contract that there is the opportunity to walk over something that serious.

VillaMad

Just to confirm that Sky are showing the following pre-season games live:

Friday 16th August: Oakland Raiders @ Arizona Cardinals - 1am

Monday 19th August: Seattle Seahawks @ Minnesota Vikings - 1am

Saturday 24th August: Buffalo Bills @ Detroit Lions - 1am

Monday 26th August: Pittsburgh Steelers @ Tennessee Titans - 1am

MileHighGuy

I know it's just the preseason, but that's a pretty uninspiring slate of games.

Besides getting to see Kyler Murray, I don't really see anything else of interest.