NFL 2017-2018

[NCGolfer]

I thought I'd kick this thread off since training camps are nearly starting.  A few opening thoughts/questions for the year.

• Will the Browns (yes, I'm an admitted fan) win 4 games this year?
• Will the Patriots lose more than two games?
• Who wins the NFC?
• Who is the first coach fired?
• Do Dak and Ezekiel both suffer a sophomore slump?
• Does Richard Sherman punch Russell Wilson at some point?

I know there are a lot of others but this should do to start the juices flowing.

[dennyjones]

Will the Lions go another 50 years with only 1 playoff win?

[Piz]

13 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Will the Lions go another 50 years with only 1 playoff win?

They beat Dallas in 1991...before getting clobbered by the Skins.  You must be thinking of the '57 championship.  I was 4 months old, at the time, so my memories are a bit vague.  QB Tobin Rote, in for an injured Bobby Layne, led the Lions to an impressive victory over the visiting, and favored, Cleveland Browns.  

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, NCGolfer said:

I thought I'd kick this thread off since training camps are nearly starting.  A few opening thoughts/questions for the year.

• Will the Browns (yes, I'm an admitted fan) win 4 games this year?
• Will the Patriots lose more than two games?
• Who wins the NFC?
• Who is the first coach fired?
• Do Dak and Ezekiel both suffer a sophomore slump?
• Does Richard Sherman punch Russell Wilson at some point?

I know there are a lot of others but this should do to start the juices flowing.

• Will the Browns (yes, I'm an admitted fan) win 4 games this year? I hope so. They've got to stop constantly changing coaches, QBs, etc. It is a never ending cycle.
• Will the Patriots lose more than two games? No, especially since the Bills and Jets are in turmoil.
• Who wins the NFC? Tough call, but I would say Seattle.
• Who is the first coach fired? I'd say it is between Bowles of the Jets and Pagano of the Colts. I don't blame Bowles for his record though, no QB, they drafted two safeties in the first two rounds (yikes!), poor GM. Pagano and the Colts GM are not good either.
• Do Dak and Ezekiel both suffer a sophomore slump? Dak No. Elliot yes. Dak has the tools and started to look like he had the brain too. I'm not a big fan of the impact of RBs in the NFL. It is too easy to key on them. If Garrett was smart (which is a reach), he would rotate Elliot more to save him down the stretch or use him as a decoy. Elliot also has way to many off the field issues.
• Does Richard Sherman punch Russell Wilson at some point? I hope not. Both are very talented but need to play smarter like they did in the SB winning season. Wilson regressed last year. Play SMART! You can't rely on  toss it up and hope for the best passing. CB are too fast and will key on that. It works sometimes but it is like a 50 foot putt. Sometimes you make it, sometimes you three-putt.

[dennyjones]

53 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

You can't rely on  toss it up and hope for the best passing.

You talking about Matthew Stafford? It will be interesting to see how he does again this year without Calvin Johnson.   Johnson made him look good.

[mcanadiens]

8 hours ago, NCGolfer said:

Will the Browns (yes, I'm an admitted fan) win 4 games this year?

It ought to help them win a few games that Cincinnati is starting the year without offensive linemen.

Edited July 27, 2017 by mcanadiens

[NCGolfer]

23 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

It ought to help them win a few games that Cincinnati is starting the year without offensive linemen.

Of course they don't play them until week 8...I'm sure they will figure it out by then.  :)

 

On 7/27/2017 at 7:56 AM, dennyjones said:

You talking about Matthew Stafford? It will be interesting to see how he does again this year without Calvin Johnson.   Johnson made him look good.

Um, well, he had a damn good 2016 without him.  He had his third highest QB rating in his career.  Touchdowns were down, as you would expect...but he did just fine.  In fact, his INT rate was his lowest ever (for a full season).  Maybe he wasn't forcing the ball to Johnson?

If he stays healthy I'd bet on 4,200+ yards and around 25 TD's.  I'd take that in a heartbeat.

[dennyjones]

8 minutes ago, NCGolfer said:

Of course they don't play them until week 8...I'm sure they will figure it out by then.  :)

 

Um, well, he had a damn good 2016 without him.  He had his third highest QB rating in his career.  Touchdowns were down, as you would expect...but he did just fine.  In fact, his INT rate was his lowest ever (for a full season).  Maybe he wasn't forcing the ball to Johnson?

If he stays healthy I'd bet on 4,200+ yards and around 25 TD's.  I'd take that in a heartbeat.

I hope you're right.   He is better than most but the Lions, are...the Lions....they will score some points but they are going to give up a lot of point too.

[b101]

On 27/07/2017 at 0:02 PM, boogielicious said:

• Will the Browns (yes, I'm an admitted fan) win 4 games this year? I hope so. They've got to stop constantly changing coaches, QBs, etc. It is a never ending cycle. Think everyone is hoping for this! Great draft for them, too, and it'd be nice to see some of the new prospects in that team. Just hoping it's not Brock who starts...
• Will the Patriots lose more than two games? No, especially since the Bills and Jets are in turmoil. Can't see it either.
• Who wins the NFC? Tough call, but I would say Seattle. Much as I'd love it to be my Rams, my bet's on the Packers. Will be really interesting to see what happens with the Falcons minus Shanahan.
• Who is the first coach fired? I'd say it is between Bowles of the Jets and Pagano of the Colts. I don't blame Bowles for his record though, no QB, they drafted two safeties in the first two rounds (yikes!), poor GM. Pagano and the Colts GM are not good either. My money would be on John Fox - looks like the Jets are deliberately tanking, which may get Bowles a free pass, but the Bears have had a shocker of an off-season.
• Do Dak and Ezekiel both suffer a sophomore slump? Dak No. Elliot yes. Dak has the tools and started to look like he had the brain too. I'm not a big fan of the impact of RBs in the NFL. It is too easy to key on them. If Garrett was smart (which is a reach), he would rotate Elliot more to save him down the stretch or use him as a decoy. Elliot also has way to many off the field issues. Agree with this entirely.
• Does Richard Sherman punch Russell Wilson at some point? I hope not. Both are very talented but need to play smarter like they did in the SB winning season. Wilson regressed last year. Play SMART! You can't rely on  toss it up and hope for the best passing. CB are too fast and will key on that. It works sometimes but it is like a 50 foot putt. Sometimes you make it, sometimes you three-putt. Not sure at all. I hope so - the more issues in Seattle, the better for us!

Really looking forward to this season - it's the first off-season since I properly started following the NFL (always just followed the Rams, which hasn't been easy) and whilst I doubt we'll do well, it's great to have McVay rather than Fisher and actually feel some optimism. Our draft picks were interesting and I'm hoping that the signing of Whitworth allows us to see 2016 Gurley and a freed-up Goff. Either way, it can't be worse than last season, which was just desperate. 

Other than us, I'm rooting for the Browns (obviously), Bucs and Raiders after last season's gutting injury. 

[Shindig]

6 hours ago, b101 said:

Really looking forward to this season - it's the first off-season since I properly started following the NFL (always just followed the Rams, which hasn't been easy) and whilst I doubt we'll do well, it's great to have McVay rather than Fisher and actually feel some optimism. Our draft picks were interesting and I'm hoping that the signing of Whitworth allows us to see 2016 Gurley and a freed-up Goff. Either way, it can't be worse than last season, which was just desperate. 

Other than us, I'm rooting for the Browns (obviously), Bucs and Raiders after last season's gutting injury. 

Good news, friend you have a Rams home game closer to you than it is to me this year. 

[Wanzo]

My Chiefs finally drafted a quarterback.  If he plays this year, that's probably a bad sign though.  Although with Alex Smith as our QB, we will be good enough for me to get excited and then heartbroken when they lose in the playoffs.  That said, I'm excited for football season, and playing some fantasy football.

[mcanadiens]

And in other news, Vontaze Burfict is still Vontaze Burfict.

https://sports.yahoo.com/vontaze-burfict-dives-gio-bernards-knees-sparking-practice-fight-205301768.html

[NCGolfer]

On 8/2/2017 at 8:08 AM, mcanadiens said:

And in other news, Vontaze Burfict is still Vontaze Burfict.

https://sports.yahoo.com/vontaze-burfict-dives-gio-bernards-knees-sparking-practice-fight-205301768.html

I wouldn't expect any less from him...although I watched the video and it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be.  I thought he hit him above the waist and slid down to his legs.

Mr. Burfict doesn't get the benefit of the doubt though.  I'm sure they don't want any hits like that in practice.

[mcanadiens]

18 minutes ago, NCGolfer said:

I wouldn't expect any less from him...although I watched the video and it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be.  I thought he hit him above the waist and slid down to his legs.

Mr. Burfict doesn't get the benefit of the doubt though.  I'm sure they don't want any hits like that in practice.

Yep. That was really it. It was a non-hitting drill and Vontaze just couldn't control himself. Like usual.

I like that the Bengals aren't a complete punching bag like they used to be back in the day. Lewis deserves some credit for that. However, the lack of discipline this team consistently shows is an annual stumbling block. Burfict and Jones are the poster children.

[b101]

Stupid preseason games giving me hope for our offense! Goff and Gurley looked good last night, although admittedly the Raiders defence didn't offer that much other than Khalil Mack... Fingers crossed this continues.

[dennyjones]

Preseason is just that.   Remember the Detroit Lions winning all of their preseason games and going 0-16?   Don't read too much into preseason, the teams are trying new things, new players in different situations and usually new personnel.   

[NCGolfer]

And the Browns are starting another rookie at QB.  Nowhere to go but up!

[iacas]

On 8/23/2017 at 2:13 PM, NCGolfer said:

And the Browns are starting another rookie at QB.  Nowhere to go but up!

Is it this gal?