NFL thread! What are you thinking?

[russtopherb]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

... Well the Pats fans should remember their storied record breaking history with losing:

 

Super Bowl XX  The Bears defeated the Patriots by the score of 46–10.

In their victory over the Patriots, the Bears set or tied Super Bowl records for sacks (seven), fewest rushing yards allowed (seven), and margin of victory (36 points). The Patriots were eventually held to negative yardage (−19) throughout the entire first half, and finished with just 123 total yards from scrimmage. Bears defensive end Richard Dent, who had 1.5 quarterback sacks, forced two fumbles, and blocked a pass, was named the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP).^[6]

 

 

Sorry, the only thing I remember is how many championship banners there are up here.

ETA: I realize this is coming off far more Richard-headish than I intended. We are very spoiled up here with all 4 pro teams having won championships (if not multiple ones) within the last 10 years or so. I remember growing up as a Pats fan and having to listen on the radio, since they refused to show them on TV. I also remember freezing my butt off on the old nasty aluminum benches in an empty end zone because the Pats were just dreadful. We're very lucky up here, to the point of being spoiled, and I understand that. 


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[chisag]

7 minutes ago, Wedgie said:

I was a teenager growing up in Kansas and didn’t have a dog in the fight but New England did have, at the time, the quickest lead in Super Bowl history in that game. All I remember is the Fridge scoring a TD that game and Payton did not. As a Bears fan did that tick you off at all?

 

 

... All but the staunchest "Da Coach Dikkah" were furious with him for puling that stunt. Payton had literally carried the offense on his back all season long and deserved a SB TD. The Fridge TD would have been a ton of fun IF Payton already had at least one. Many never forgive Da Coach for doing that to Payton. 

[Wedgie]

 
... All but the staunchest "Da Coach Dikkah" were furious with him for puling that stunt. Payton had literally carried the offense on his back all season long and deserved a SB TD. The Fridge TD would have been a ton of fun IF Payton already had at least one. Many never forgive Da Coach for doing that to Payton. 

I was with a company that hired the Fridge and Tony Dorset for a trade show to sign autographs. The Fridge was awesome! Dorset not so much.


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[chisag]

... Nice, everyone loved Fridge. He was such a happy positive person but a hard worker and personified the 85 defense. Nobody held his TD against him, they blamed Ditka. 

[NiftyNiblick]

7 hours ago, jlukes said:

7 hours ago, NiftyNiblick said:

I'm just gradually easing into not caring anymore.
Once the Pats are knocked out this year, it's somebody else's problem.
As I said, I'm not a football fan. Conventional football--non-Patriots football-- is  mediocrity that doesn't entertain me.
I was a fan of Patriots football in the Brady/Belichick prime.
It was a completely different game than anybody else played--then, before, or after.
Now that it's over, I'll simply leave what's left for other people to watch.
I've got the DVDs.  I can watch them forever--any time I want to see what the game was at it's ultimate peak.
 
(Have I represented myself as the stereotypical Patriots fan?)
 
 
 
 
 
 

At least you admit to being a Patriots bandwagon fan.

Wow!  Did you miss the point, jlukes (although I know that you're just breaking balls)!

I'm not a football fan at all.

People like me can't be bandwagon fans.

I'm an admirer of the very unique style of football that was played by the Patriots of the prime Brady/Belichick Era.

It was a different game that anybody else ever played.

It was 50s / 60s Sinatra compared to the Holiday Inn lounge singer that was the rest of football.

It was highly nuanced as well as exquisite.

One had to be a true  aficionado to appreciate it.

 

[chisag]

... Nifty there is nothing unique about the Patriots in the Brady/Belichick Era. In fact I could make the argument they were less unique than many teams during that time frame. They just did what they did better, and more consistently than most everyone else. But letting Garoppolo go to SF was a huge mistake because franchise QB's are extremely difficult to find. Some teams have been very lucky with GB and the Pats at the top of that list going from Favre to Rodgers and Bledsoe to Brady. While the Browns and Bears went through a small city of bad QB's. It is gonna be very interesting to see who replaces Brady and Rodgers. 

[silver & black]

Quote

Enjoying success is fine - I suppose the old adage “act like you’ve been there before” doesn’t apply here since Browns fans have zero idea what it’s like to win

Ummm............. you might want to check your NFL history. The Browns are not hardly devoid of winning championships or seasons.... far from it.

[russtopherb]

19 minutes ago, silver & black said:

Ummm............. you might want to check your NFL history. The Browns are not hardly devoid of winning championships or seasons.... far from it.

Last Super Bowl win was what, in the 60's? And last playoff appearance was 2002? 

[silver & black]

49 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

Last Super Bowl win was what, in the 60's? And last playoff appearance was 2002? 

No Super Bowl wins.... never been to one. That doesn't mean they don't know what winning is. Before the merger, the Browns won quite a few championships. Back in the day, the Browns were the equivalent of the Steelers of the 70's.

Everything comes back around. The Browns are on their way to being a winning franchise. The Patr*ots are on on their way out. Just because a franchise has a run of bad luck, it doesn't mean it was never a winner at some point...... or won't be again.

Edited December 22, 2018 by silver & black

[GB13]

3 hours ago, NiftyNiblick said:

Wow!  Did you miss the point, jlukes (although I know that you're just breaking balls)!

I'm not a football fan at all.

People like me can't be bandwagon fans.

I'm an admirer of the very unique style of football that was played by the Patriots of the prime Brady/Belichick Era.

It was a different game that anybody else ever played.

It was 50s / 60s Sinatra compared to the Holiday Inn lounge singer that was the rest of football.

It was highly nuanced as well as exquisite.

One had to be a true  aficionado to appreciate it.

 

That is the literal definition of a bandwagon fan. 

[NiftyNiblick]

On 12/21/2018 at 9:24 PM, GB13 said:

That is the literal definition of a bandwagon fan. 

I guess that I need to explain myself better.

I was a huge Boston Patriots fan in the 1960s.

Season Tickets at Fenway Park were $49.00 for the year if you can believe that. $7 each for seven home games at Fenway.

When the Patriots moved to Foxboro, I stopped going to the games but was still a fan.

Then, in the late 1970s, Oakland safety Jack Tatum targeted Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley and broke his neck, leaving Stingley a paraplegic.

I stopped watching football altogether then.

Then Doug Flutie came to Boston College and I started watching a few games because he was so exciting, but that didn't last after he graduated. i just wasn't a football fan. Boxing and baseball were my loves.

The Patriot played and lost two Super Bowl Games to Chicago and Green Bay, and i still wasn't watching.

A bandwagon jumper would have at least watched those games.

It was the Brady/Belichick Patriots who reeled me in.  They played a unique style of football that nobody else played--the Erhardt-Perkins offense.   Death by a thousand cuts.  I never became a football fan in general again, but I sure loved to watch that. It was mesmerizing.

(I do disagree with chisag that there was nothing different about them. They were completely different.)

So that's what brought us here.  The Brady-Belichick Era has seeming run it's course, they don't really play classic Erhardt-Perkins anymore, so now it's just the Red Sox.  Boxing has largely moved from Cable/PPV to streaming, and I don't do streaming

-

 

 

Edited December 23, 2018 by NiftyNiblick

[Mr. 82]

Where’s the gif of the guy beating a dead horse?


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Where’s the gif of the guy beating a dead horse?


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[NiftyNiblick]

1 minute ago, GSwag said:

Where’s the gif of the guy beating a dead horse?

 

It's a dead horse to you, perhaps.

It's easy enough to just skip a post that doesn't interest you.

I do it all the time.

[silver & black]

3 hours ago, NiftyNiblick said:

en, in the late 1970s, Oakland safety Jack Tatum targeted Patriot receiver Darryl Stingley and broke his neck, leaving Stingley a paraplegic.

Targeted??? Tatum did nothing wrong... it was a clean hit... with the shoulder, not leading with the head. It was a tragic accident. These things happen from time to time  in violent sports. If you want to blame someone ... Blame Grogan for hanging his receiver out to dry.

 

How many in your sport, Boxing, have been killed or injured for life? I'll tell you. It's approximately 500 since the Marquess of Queensberry rules. 

[chisag]

9 minutes ago, silver & black said:

Targeted??? Tatum did nothing wrong... it was a clean hit... with the shoulder, not leading with the head. It was a tragic accident. These things happen from time to time  in violent sports. If you want to blame someone ... Blame Grogan for hanging his receiver out to dry.

 

.... That was a part of football I always hated, especially as a QB that most assuredly did not want to hang a receivers out to dry and had quite a few sleepless nights when I did. In Chicago we had Doug Plank and Gary Fencik called "The Hitmen" and they wanted a reputation for causing pain or injury to receivers that came over the middle. I cringed at many of their hits. I know many fans loved that Gladiator style of play, but losing your ability to walk or function as a human being should never be the result of playing a game and I for one love the new "defenseless receiver rules". You can still get some pretty viscous hits in and jar the ball loose, but no longer can you intentionally spear a receiver that is in a completely defenseless position. In my opinion it is a GAME not life and death and having friends injured as well as suffering mental incapacities later in life certainly colors my view on the NFL and I applaud all the new rules. 

[silver & black]

3 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

.... That was a part of football I always hated, especially as a QB that most assuredly did not want to hang a receivers out to dry and had quite a few sleepless nights when I did. In Chicago we had Doug Plank and Gary Fencik called "The Hitmen" and they wanted a reputation for causing pain or injury to receivers that came over the middle. I cringed at many of their hits. I know many fans loved that Gladiator style of play, but losing your ability to walk or function as a human being should never be the result of playing a game and I for one love the new "defenseless receiver rules". You can still get some pretty viscous hits in and jar the ball loose, but no longer can you intentionally spear a receiver that is in a completely defenseless position. In my opinion it is a GAME not life and death and having friends injured as well as suffering mental incapacities later in life certainly colors my view on the NFL and I applaud all the new rules. 

I couldn't agree with you more. The problem I have with judging players "actions" from the 60's/70's era is that it was a different game back then. Defensive players were supposed to hit to cause pain and doubt in a receiver's mind..... come over the middle, and you will pay!

Deacon Jones with the head slap. Jerry Kramer used to come up under a D lineman's chin with his helmet. Turkey Jones pile driving Bradshaw. Conrad Dobler, Bill Romanowski, Ray Nitschke , Ted (the Stork) Hendricks, Mean Joe Green, Jack Lambert, Dick Butkus, Lyle Alzado..... all played to intimidate and cause pain. The game was different then.

I also applaud the effort the make the game safer. My gripe with this isn't the new rules... it's the inconsistency with the way they are interpreted by the refs.... and lack of common sense in expecting a defensive player running at full speed to make a split second decision on how to hit a guy with the ball. You can't even tackle a QB anymore unless you wrap him up exactly in his middle section and gently take him gently to the ground... without putting any of your weight on the little darling!...LOL! Like Jack Lambert said.......... put a dress on em'.

My other "opinion" on the rules changes in the name of "player safety" is..... neither the league nor the owners care about player safety. This is a guise for protecting the QB.... the guy they pay bazillions of $$$, and the guy the fans pay to see. It's about holding defenses down and almost helpless, so that the scores are higher.... because that fills the seats in the stadiums. They also get the extra revenue from player fines when a defensive player grazes an offensive player with his helmet, or actually makes solid contact with the helmet, even though it was usually unavoidable. 

Yes..... some of the fines and penalties are definitely warranted. There are still dirty hits and players. That will always be there. It's ticky tac s*** that decides the outcome of games that I have a problem with.

 

 

[chisag]

... I hear ya, but I would rather err on the side of safety. And the NFL game today is so dependent on QB play that losing a starter just puts out an inferior game. While the Bears can afford to have Daniels in for a game or two, their season would be derailed with Daniels as the starter and if he got injured it would be a completely lost season, even with there defense. No other position effects the outcome of games like the QB in today's NFL. Nobody knows that better than you when the Raiders were playing great football heading into the play offs and lost Carr. That team was night and day without him. So I know many think the QB is too protected and not to sound like a broken record but todays defensive players are just way too big, too strong and way too fast to not be regulated. If todays defensive players were in the NFL in the 60/70s none of the star QB's would have made it thru a season. So todays rules were unnecessary in the 60/70s as the players were nothing like they are today and they just didn't have 285lb DE/LB's that can be at full speed in three steps with the athleticism of a DB that can take out a QB with one hit. The game was just not designed to be played with today players in mind. 

Edited December 23, 2018 by chisag

[silver & black]

I'll agree with all of that, but refs deciding the outcome of games has to stop. Defenses MUST be allowed to play. Helmet to helmet contact is going to happen.... that's why they wear them! There has to be some common sense with the new rules. No one wants to see anyone get hurt, but the game is a collision sport... injuries are going to happen, there is no amount of rules that will change that. There needs to be clear and concise wording to the rules and the way the refs call them. Right now, it is so tipped in the offensive direction, that defenses might as well stay on the bench and let them run up and down the field. It's ridiculous the constraints that are put on the defense.... and the BS calls the refs hand out on them. QB's are football players...... they aren't going to break if they get tackled any more than a RB or WR. I agree with some of the protection for them, but it has gotten to be way over the top right now............... thank you Brady and Manning, you cute little complaining, whining, girls! 

[chisag]

... We just disagree fundamentally, nothing wrong with that. Although I do agree the new rules have certainly caused inconsistencies among different officiating crews and that isn't good for anyone. Clay Matthews got hosed with 2 perfectly legal hits that cost the Packers games early this season.

... NO other position in football leaves you like a sitting duck in a stationary position. Yes, the game is a collision sport but both sides should do the colliding, not just one side. QB's are going to break compared to RB's and many WR's that just fall to the ground instead of taking catastrophic hits. No QB, other than Eli Manning  can get away with falling to the ground when about to get hit in the pocket and keep his job. Considering most QB concussions come from being hit by a large man at full speed and having their heads snap against the ground when they fall. Standing still, there is no momentum to counter the hit like virtually every other position does. Once they leave the pocket and start running all bets are off and it is a pet peeve of mine that too many QB's wait til the last second to slide. Do one or the other, take cover under the rules and slide or get as many yards as you can, but you cannot do both. The Bears lost Trubisky for 2 games doing just that. Yes, it was an illegal late hit but just barely and I do't blame Smith for the hit that was almost borderline. Mitch sliding a hair earlier would have prevented that. 

... I recognize I am probably in the minority, but 2 back surgeries and 3 concussions against only college defensive players that were so much s-l-o-w-e-r, fatter and much smaller compared to todays NFL defensive players probably gives me a different perspective. I cannot imagine what it is like to play QB in todays NFL. 

[Jmikecpa]

Can the officiating in this league get any worse? Another terrible display around the league again today.


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[Jmikecpa]

Here comes St. Nick




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[Kor.A.Door]

I feel like the Lions just don’t have any idea how to win, they can win, they just really don’t know how to do it consistently. There have been at least 5 games this season that they could have or probably should have won, but always seemed to just find a way to lose. They don’t look terrible, so it’s hard to get angry, but man I am tired of all the losing. Oh, and JBC can take his bland offense and go, he’s a horrible play caller. 

[Mr. 82]

I feel like the Lions just don’t have any idea how to win, they can win, they just really don’t know how to do it consistently. There have been at least 5 games this season that they could have or probably should have won, but always seemed to just find a way to lose. They don’t look terrible, so it’s hard to get angry, but man I am tired of all the losing. Oh, and JBC can take his bland offense and go, he’s a horrible play caller. 

Replace Lions with half of the teams in the league for this post. I’ll give you all teams in the AFC East not named the Patriots to start with.


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[chisag]

57 minutes ago, Kor.A.Door said:

I feel like the Lions just don’t have any idea how to win, they can win, they just really don’t know how to do it consistently. There have been at least 5 games this season that they could have or probably should have won, but always seemed to just find a way to lose. They don’t look terrible, so it’s hard to get angry, but man I am tired of all the losing. Oh, and JBC can take his bland offense and go, he’s a horrible play caller. 

 

... You have probably heard that bad teams find a way to lose and good teams find a way to win. Individuals can keep games close but it takes a team to win consistently. That was the Bears the last 3 seasons. They lost so many games at the end with a chance to win and more than a few times on the last play or last series. It is very frustrating for a fan. 

[Sluggo42]

Oh baby, seeing the Seahawks handle KC last night stirred up thoughts of a Super Bowl run.

seems like KC, the Rams, the Chargers, and the Pats, have all been exposed in the last few weeks and now teams like the Hawks, the Ravens, the sand Stealers, and maybe a few others are suddenly the teams that nobody wants to run into come playoff times...

[NiftyNiblick]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 11:49 AM, chisag said:

 

.... That was a part of football I always hated, especially as a QB that most assuredly did not want to hang a receivers out to dry and had quite a few sleepless nights when I did. In Chicago we had Doug Plank and Gary Fencik called "The Hitmen" and they wanted a reputation for causing pain or injury to receivers that came over the middle. I cringed at many of their hits. I know many fans loved that Gladiator style of play, but losing your ability to walk or function as a human being should never be the result of playing a game and I for one love the new "defenseless receiver rules". You can still get some pretty viscous hits in and jar the ball loose, but no longer can you intentionally spear a receiver that is in a completely defenseless position. In my opinion it is a GAME not life and death and having friends injured as well as suffering mental incapacities later in life certainly colors my view on the NFL and I applaud all the new rules. 

I totally agree. 

As for S&B's comment on boxing, that has merit, too.

I quit the sport after hurting somebody badly and you never forget it.

Sport should be sport. The one time I competed with anger was all it took.

 

Gary Fencik AND Dave Duerson, chisag....

the glamor school boys from Yale and Notre Dame were both headhunters.

I don't remember Plank for some reason.

[NiftyNiblick]

11-5.  We did that with Matt Cassel in 2008 and didn't even make the post season tournament!  Anything worse than 14-2 is malpractice.

This has been a catastrophic year. We went 3-5 on the road and even lost a divisional game (final play of the game in Miami) which is totally unacceptable. Next thing you know, we'll be losing in Buffalo or New Jersey on a regular basis.

If things were even a little bit worse, we'd have had to play next week which is barely less humiliating than the franchise folding altogether.

I have to think we'll win one game at home, but winning at Arrowhead is brutal for even a legit Patriots team.  Just being in flyover country must be a terrible burden on cool guys like Brady and Gronk.  Who wants to play football in front of cows?  Can't we play the game on a neutral site like Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas?

If it weren't for the World Series afterglow, this might have been a genuinely horrific winter.  No new Lombardi Trophy is a hell of a way to live.  This mediocre edition of the world's greatest American football team better pull itself together and get the job done or people around here are going to be very pissed off.

It's a new year--the 74th calendar year in which I've struggled--and thus time for forgiveness.  You really screwed up this year, fellas.  But there's still time to pull it together.  How long can we live with a town like Pittsburgh having more silver footballs than we do? Get serious, will you?

[Mr. 82]

2 hours ago, NiftyNiblick said:

11-5.  We did that with Matt Cassel in 2008 and didn't even make the post season tournament!  Anything worse than 14-2 is malpractice.

This has been a catastrophic year. We went 3-5 on the road and even lost a divisional game (final play of the game in Miami) which is totally unacceptable. Next thing you know, we'll be losing in Buffalo or New Jersey on a regular basis.

If things were even a little bit worse, we'd have had to play next week which is barely less humiliating than the franchise folding altogether.

I have to think we'll win one game at home, but winning at Arrowhead is brutal for even a legit Patriots team.  Just being in flyover country must be a terrible burden on cool guys like Brady and Gronk.  Who wants to play football in front of cows?  Can't we play the game on a neutral site like Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas?

If it weren't for the World Series afterglow, this might have been a genuinely horrific winter.  No new Lombardi Trophy is a hell of a way to live.  This mediocre edition of the world's greatest American football team better pull itself together and get the job done or people around here are going to be very pissed off.

It's a new year--the 74th calendar year in which I've struggled--and thus time for forgiveness.  You really screwed up this year, fellas.  But there's still time to pull it together.  How long can we live with a town like Pittsburgh having more silver footballs than we do? Get serious, will you?

For someone who claims that "we" aren't a fan, you sure talk a lot of nonsense that comes across as extremely spoiled and entitled to those of us who have spent most of our lives rooting for the other teams in the AFC Least.

I probably shouldn't have posted this, but honestly I wouldn't have if you had claimed you weren't a fan previously.  Sounds to me like "we" not only is a fan, but a spoiled and entitled one at that.

You can complain about the Patriots when the other three teams in the AFC Least have more Super Bowl wins combined then the Patriots do.  Otherwise, just keep quiet and enjoy your unparalleled dominance of a division, conference and league that you've owned for the entire 21st century.

Yeah, I probably shouldn't post this, but nothing pisses me off more than Patriots fans pissing and moaning about an 11-5 season and another first round bye.  Just shut up!

[chisag]

... Ahhhhh Gswag, it seems a flashy shiny lure had a hook hidden in the fake rubber ...  and you bit. 

[PING Apologist #9]

NFL playoffs are one of my favorite times of the season. Wildcard weekend has always been the most exciting and anticipated ones for me every year, and this one next weekend is no exception. I have no dog in the hunt (9'rs just stink), and even with other favorites that I follow like the Pack, Steelers, Broncos and even Oakland at times, I am really looking forward to it.

I really dislike Seattle (for obvious reasons-they always kill the 9'rs), but will have to root for them to bounce out the "Boys" (wife's team).

I'd like to see the Chargers go on and will be pulling for the Bears too. The game between Houston & the Colts..? Meh...

As for the divisional round the following week, GO Chiefs and GO anyone who can take out the Pats!

My pick to win the Super Bowl will be KC over the Rams. Though I'd like to see the Chargers have a shot for Philip Rivers' sake before he retires, I'm really pulling for Andy Reed and his group to get 'er done.