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

Lily Thoughtless Swimmer wrote: »

Reminds me of Andy ried and jimmy Johnson back in the day. Joy to watch

It blows my mind that we wouldn't pay Wade Phillips to keep him on. Whatever about our QB and HC woes, that has to be seen as dumb a move as any. I mean, SB50 was on his D ffs!

****in' Elway!

Earl Thomas is going to regret giving in on his holdout. Seahawks will probably also regret not getting a pick for him

Is it just me, or does there seem to be more shootouts and tied games happening this season then before?
I wonder what the stats are for this season vs previous years for rate of scoring and OT games...

BizzyC wrote: »

Is it just me, or does there seem to be more shootouts and tied games happening this season then before?
I wonder what the stats are for this season vs previous years for rate of scoring and OT games...

Is this the first year of overtime being 10 mins? That would account for some of it.

The woeful kicking also helps

BizzyC wrote: »

Is it just me, or does there seem to be more shootouts and tied games happening this season then before?
I wonder what the stats are for this season vs previous years for rate of scoring and OT games...

The number of games going to overtime seems to be the same - 5 after 4 weeks, would track with a fairly typical season. That said it certainly feels like we've had more than normal - maybe because of the tied games, which is unusual, but too early in the year to say it's a trend.

The move to a ten minute OT period is defintiely going to lead to more ties, it effectively takes a couple of drives away from the end of the period (should they be needed of course) I'm not really sure what the thinking behind it was.

It is leading to some unusual tactical decisions though - the Colts deciding to go for it on 4th and 5 as the game wound down last night, knowing that if they didn't make it Houston had a simple task of taking over at the Colts 40 yard line with 20 seconds left, essentially handing the win to the Texans rather than accept a tie (Mad really - if they were not a divisional opponant I could see the reasoning)

The explosion in passing is the real story of the first 4 weeks for me. It feels like watching the CFL at times now. 5 QBs are on pace to break the season passing record, and 8 have a shot at it! 11 QBs have a chance at breaking 5K yards. I love a good shootout as much as the next person, but it really does take some fun out of the game if every game is a (so called) barnburner. You become immune to big plays and touchdowns. Instead of it being a precious occurence worthy of celebration it's just waiting to see if the opposition march back down the field in 90 seconds to score for themselves. Hard to explain really, but similar to the way a basket scored in basketball is hardly cause for celebration during the course of a game.

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

MileHighGuy wrote: »

The number of games going to overtime seems to be the same - 5 after 4 weeks, would track with a fairly typical season. That said it certainly feels like we've had more than normal - maybe because of the tied games, which is unusual, but too early in the year to say it's a trend.

The move to a ten minute OT period is defintiely going to lead to more ties, it effectively takes a couple of drives away from the end of the period (should they be needed of course) I'm not really sure what the thinking behind it was.

It is leading to some unusual tactical decisions though - the Colts deciding to go for it on 4th and 5 as the game wound down last night, knowing that if they didn't make it Houston had a simple task of taking over at the Colts 40 yard line with 20 seconds left, essentially handing the win to the Texans rather than accept a tie (Mad really - if they were not a divisional opponant I could see the reasoning)

The explosion in passing is the real story of the first 4 weeks for me. It feels like watching the CFL at times now. 5 QBs are on pace to break the season passing record, and 8 have a shot at it! 11 QBs have a chance at breaking 5K yards. I love a good shootout as much as the next person, but it really does take some fun out of the game if every game is a (so called) barnburner. You become immune to big plays and touchdowns. Instead of it being a precious occurence worthy of celebration it's just waiting to see if the opposition march back down the field in 90 seconds to score for themselves. Hard to explain really, but similar to the way a basket scored in basketball is hardly cause for celebration during the course of a game.

Yeah it's cutting open the goose that lays the golden eggs. Someone in the NFL sees that people like seeing big passing plays, and decides "we'll give them all the passing plays they can handle", changes the rules to stymie the defense and undercut the value of running, and suddenly there's lots of passing plays but their value as a spectacle is effectively ruined. It's ice hockey all over again, they're underestimating their own fans' intelligence and cheapening what makes the game great in the process. To me great defense is its own reward (who could not enjoy watching Khalil Mack play?), but more importantly it adds value to the enjoyment of great QB play.

I really, really don't think the qb protection rule has led to Fitzpatrick looking like Brees. I mean QBs are still getting sacked plenty and some defenses still look damn near unbreakable (including Mack). I think something else is happening in the league though I am not sure what.

Was there another rule change I missed?

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Christy42 wrote: »

I really, really don't think the qb protection rule has led to Fitzpatrick looking like Brees.

He didn't look like Brees yesterday. Actually for all his heroics at the end of the game last week, I thought Fitzpatrick looked like he was back to his old self early on that week, and they should have gone with Winston. But Mack kicked the crap out of him too, so probably wouldn't have made a difference.

Yeah I got that he was not great yesterday. As for who should get the starting nod, well Fitzpatrick at least entertains the fans. Winston is better but will likely lose anyway with that team. Plus a bit of randomness is a good thing when you are expecting bottom tier results. Only so much lower they can go.

It was more a reference to the increased yardage from QBs. I mean I don't think the protection rule has affected the yardage as much as we are seeing.

MileHighGuy wrote: »

Christy42 wrote: »

It was more a reference to the increased yardage from QBs. I mean I don't think the protection rule has affected the yardage as much as we are seeing.

Well I don't think it was any one single particular thing, but an acculmulation of rule changes that have thrown the doors open for bombs away passing offenses.

• Illegal contact and use of hands was enforced more stictly, giving WR pretty much free release off the line.
  
• New/more bunch formations which allow offensive players to "pick/rub" defensive players for more seperation.
  
• QBs given protection from hits low, hits high and late hits mean they can step up/stay in the pocket and hold the ball until the last moment.
  
• Helmet to helmet hits on defenseless receivers meant they could go up for more balls and go across the middle with impunity....further changed to leading with the helmet, defenseless or not.
  
• and this year the enforcement of roughing the passer to include use of bodyweight and slamming into the ground.

.....all this adds up to WR and QBs who don't have any fear, can't really be touched, grabbed, checked, and without sounding too callous, can't be hurt the same way as before.

Good comprehensive list.

Maybe there are other issues with the structure of the game if defenders had to resort to late/low hits to try and even up the field. Noticeable that top defenders are largely unaffected. It is really when passing against weaker teams without stand out players given Mack has still been a wrecking ball and the Jags have shut down any offense that has gone against them.

On the issue of the rule changes towards to the offense side of the ball. I agree it's gone too far in some respects but when you compare it to the 1970s when a WR or QB could be legally mugged basically. I hope that the NFL can make it more balanced but keep player safety part of it.

With clay it's understandable he has never been a dirty player, has doubled his career roughing the passing calls in the first 3 games.

Obviously player safety has to come into it, I think it was the Packers in fact who basically ended Jim mcmahon career by ****ing up his shoulder, even had a hit list of players to injure on their towels, that sort of **** has to be 0 tolerance, but considering a guy got flagged for hugging a qb last week..... Something has to change, the rule now has no definition but is up to if the ref thinks it is roughing ffs

What we expecting from Chiefs @ Donkeys tonight?

On GMFB this morning they showed an instagram comment from Bell to Earl Thomas saying "I'll continue being the "bad guy" for all of us."

And less than 24 hours later it's reported he'll be suiting up and playing on the tag in a few weeks

https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1046893018530418688

Pog Mahomes