🏈🏈 The Essential NFL Thread 🏈🏈 - new poll every week

[nutildah]

What a narrow 1st 4th quarter TD by KC... wow... just goes to show that in the NFL, you never know what's gonna happen. I wouldn't say that being up by 10 with 8 minutes to go in the 4th is a sure victory under any circumstance, but cmon... it looked like SF had this in the bag by that point. Not so.

As far as our thread contest goes, I won, thanks to the weird rules that I made:

I'm reserving 5 merits for the person who most closely guesses the final scores of the game. Others are welcome to pitch in additional merits for the victor as well -- let's go out with a bang.

So for instance, if you guess the final score is SF 14 - KC 21, and it was SF 21 - KC 24, that means you were off by a total of 10 points. If someone else guesses SF 17 - KC 27, they would only be off by 7, and thus closer to being the winner.

nutildah: SF 24 - KC 22 (13)
Hueristic: SF 37 - KC 34 (21)
tyKiwanuka: SF 25 - KC 51 (25)
wheelz1200: SF 31 - KC 35 (15)
DireWolfM14: SF 49 - KC 3 (57)
willy2streams: SF 34 - KC 28 (17)
kingcolex: SF 28 - KC 24 (15)
South Park: SF 34 - KC 27 (18)
bbc.reporter: SF 37 - KC 24 (24)
morvillz7z: SF 28 - KC 24 (15)

Please don't send me merits for this, as its a hollow and wholly insignificant victory. In any case, I want you to donate any merits you would have sent me to your favorite charity, or else to one of the other posters in this thread for a solid post they made either here or somewhere else.

Thanks to all you guys for participating in this thread. It was a fun ride, and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to let things wind down for a bit before finally locking it. Feel free to contribute some final thoughts!

Here's mine: we sure did suck as a collective at picking winners in the poll! I haven't analyzed the tally, but I would venture to guess we were about 50/50 in our Weekly Poll. They say the NFL is one of the hardest leagues to place wagers, and this season we proved them right.

[wheelz1200]

I cried myself to sleep last night. 

What a disappointing loss.  So many opportunities missed by the Niners, and so many blown coverage in the 4th quarter.  Oh well, there's always next year. 

Congratulations to Andy Reid, I'm glad he finally got a SB win.  It's been a long time coming for him, and he certainly deserves it.  Congratulations to the Chiefs and all their fans.  If any team was going to beat the Niners in the Super Bowl, I'm glad it was them.  Classy players and well deserved victory for them. 

Yeah they got away from the run in the last quarter but with long yards to go on 2nd and 3rd down they were forced in the air.  Some of those chris jones tips were key.  Nothing anyone could do on that post and corner by hill.  Seeing him flying down the field from a dbs perspective must be scary.  Tough loss for the 49ers but they should be right in the mix next year.  That NFC west is going to be brutal.

[tyKiwanuka]

Please don't send me merits for this, (...)

I promised 5 merit for the winner and sent you 2 then - win is win - so you have 1 additional to give out. The remaining 3 I sent to other regular posters in this thread, who are in still need.

Thanks to all you guys for participating in this thread. It was a fun ride, and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to let things wind down for a bit before finally locking it. Feel free to contribute some final thoughts!

As a Giants fan it was a pretty rough season and the Eli Manning era coming to an end. Complete coaching staff was fired after the regular season and a new coach with Patriots roots was hired and brought a lot of new guys with him (Jason Garrett as OC among them). Hoping for the Giants to get more competitive again under this new regime and with a good draft. Not asking for a SB, but a fight for a PO spot until week 17 would already be a win in my book.

Despite the Giants being so poor, I still enjoyed the season. NFL is a lot of entertainment with a lot of drama happening every week and I am already looking forward to September.

[DireWolfM14]

SF has a great team with young new talent and veteran players as well, they have a good coach and GM, the only doubts that I have are in the QB position, Garoppolo had the opportunity to win the game for SF, it was the time to show that whatever they were paying him was justified and just when they needed him the most he was unable to deliver,

I'm cutting Garoppolo some slack, he needed help, and it often wasn't there.  The O-line had a rough night, one of the backs missed a crucial block that turned into a sack, the receivers were doing good, but often too late, he barely had the time he needed.  They played well for three quarters, but man did they buckle in the fourth.

The thing I found most disturbing is I Shanahan suffered from a little too much conservatism in his play calling.  I wish he was a bit more aggressive before the end of the half, and carried some momentum into the locker room.

[vella85]

I had a great season betting on the NFL, actually it was one of my best seasons thanks to hitting a couple of parlays. I also had the Chiefs before the playoffs started so that helped me also. I hope some of you took advantage of the Chiefs on FreeBitcoin site where they were the dogs, it was easy btc for me. Anyway now we look forward to next season but first comes the NFL draft and transfers, I wonder where Brady will end up?

[wheelz1200]

Please don't send me merits for this, (...)

I promised 5 merit for the winner and sent you 2 then - win is win - so you have 1 additional to give out. The remaining 3 I sent to other regular posters in this thread, who are in still need.

Thanks to all you guys for participating in this thread. It was a fun ride, and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to let things wind down for a bit before finally locking it. Feel free to contribute some final thoughts!

As a Giants fan it was a pretty rough season and the Eli Manning era coming to an end. Complete coaching staff was fired after the regular season and a new coach with Patriots roots was hired and brought a lot of new guys with him (Jason Garrett as OC among them). Hoping for the Giants to get more competitive again under this new regime and with a good draft. Not asking for a SB, but a fight for a PO spot until week 17 would already be a win in my book.

Despite the Giants being so poor, I still enjoyed the season. NFL is a lot of entertainment with a lot of drama happening every week and I am already looking forward to September.

As a fellow giant fan I agree, just a playoff spot would be a win.  As a matter of fact I would even accept a game in december that has a chance to push the giants into the playoffs.  For some years now there hasn't been a significant game after Halloween and hope danny dimes cam turn that around.  Go gmen 2020!

[bbc.reporter]

..

What would Dana white know that everyone else doesnt know?  He has as good as chance of playing in Las Vegas as he does anywhere else that doesnt have a star qb or young qb.  My guess is that the patriots pay him to stay, who else is patriots gonna get in place of him.  Draft a high pick young qb and have him learn a year under the goat

Yup, that decision was made when they traded Garoppolo to SF.

You are right. From this news article, it is more clear that Tom Brady will stay. However, other articles have speculated that the 49ers will cut Jimmy Garopollo. Would 49'ers want the 42 year old quarterback hehehe?



Tom Brady plans to lead his team to Super Bowl LV, but he’s not saying which team he thinks he’ll lead there.

Brady posted in his Instagram stories that he plans to be at the next Super Bowl, but after wearing a blazer at this year’s Super Bowl where he was honored as one of the Top 100 players in NFL history, he said he’ll be in uniform next year.

Source https://sports.yahoo.com/tom-brady-plans-play-next-230511883.html

[tyKiwanuka]

However, other articles have speculated that the 49ers will cut Jimmy Garopollo. Would 49'ers want the 42 year old quarterback hehehe?

Can't imagine that happening and it would be pretty dumb by SF imo.

The thing with Brady is, that you don't really know how good he is anymore. He is just as much a product of the Belichick-/Patriots-system as the Patriots are a product of him. So I am not sure a) if he can be plug&play in every other team and b) if he is an upgrade to those teams that already have an above average QB (which Garoppolo certainly is).
With all his experience he has seen it all and is a fantastic game manager, but I don't think he is among the best anymore when it comes to be an executing QB. Drew Brees for example is a better QB than Brady just looking at the ability to distribute the ball through the air.

If he is leaving the Patriots, he would want a good paycheck, since he was playing on a pretty low wage all the time considering he is probably the GOAT. It's not like he needs the money, but he wants to be paid accordingly for the legend he is. So cap space is something to watch too. There is no point in getting Brady and then in consequence be forced to get rid of other good players - and thats not what Brady would want too.

He wants to play for a contender. For that contender, Brady must be a huge-ish upgrade at QB and they must have some cap space. Jacksonville comes to my mind, but according to spotrac they are in cap hell. I am no expert when it comes to cap space issues, so not sure how much money they could save by cutting Foles. Tampa Bay has lots of cap space, a pretty good team overall and no QB.

In the end I think he will just stay at the Patriots for this reasoning:

My guess is that the patriots pay him to stay, who else is patriots gonna get in place of him.  Draft a high pick young qb and have him learn a year under the goat

[South Park]

Can't imagine that happening and it would be pretty dumb by SF imo.

The thing with Brady is, that you don't really know how good he is anymore. He is just as much a product of the Belichick-/Patriots-system as the Patriots are a product of him. So I am not sure a) if he can be plug&play in every other team and b) if he is an upgrade to those teams that already have an above average QB (which Garoppolo certainly is).
With all his experience he has seen it all and is a fantastic game manager, but I don't think he is among the best anymore when it comes to be an executing QB. Drew Brees for example is a better QB than Brady just looking at the ability to distribute the ball through the air.

If he is leaving the Patriots, he would want a good paycheck, since he was playing on a pretty low wage all the time considering he is probably the GOAT. It's not like he needs the money, but he wants to be paid accordingly for the legend he is. So cap space is something to watch too. There is no point in getting Brady and then in consequence be forced to get rid of other good players - and thats not what Brady would want too.

He wants to play for a contender. For that contender, Brady must be a huge-ish upgrade at QB and they must have some cap space. Jacksonville comes to my mind, but according to spotrac they are in cap hell. I am no expert when it comes to cap space issues, so not sure how much money they could save by cutting Foles. Tampa Bay has lots of cap space, a pretty good team overall and no QB.

Those rumors about SF getting rid of Garopollo seem to have appeared after the defeat in SB 54, and it does not really make a lot of sense to replace Garopollo with Brady when years ago NE wanted to replace Brady with Garopollo, even if Brady still has it you are only going to get 2 or 3 years out of him and then you will be back in the QB market looking for your next star, and as we know it can take you decades before you find your guy.

It is better that SF sticks with Garopollo and they stick as well to their run heavy scheme, after all it is working, they got to the SB, they only lost because in front of them was the monster that will dominate the NFL during the next decade, there are only a handful of QBs which could have won that game under those circumstances.

In the end I think he will just stay at the Patriots for this reasoning:

My guess is that the patriots pay him to stay, who else is patriots gonna get in place of him.  Draft a high pick young qb and have him learn a year under the goat

That being said I have my doubts Brady will comeback to NE, we do not know how comfortable NE feels about Stidham but he is still too inexperienced and did not looked sharp during the few moments he participated during the regular season so I can see NE wanting Brady back, but does Brady really want to comeback to NE? While he wants to win I am sure his family is going to play a big factor this time around, which is why most of the teams he is speculated to go to are geographically close, SF, LA chargers and Las Vegas.

[wheelz1200]

..

What would Dana white know that everyone else doesnt know?  He has as good as chance of playing in Las Vegas as he does anywhere else that doesnt have a star qb or young qb.  My guess is that the patriots pay him to stay, who else is patriots gonna get in place of him.  Draft a high pick young qb and have him learn a year under the goat

Yup, that decision was made when they traded Garoppolo to SF.

You are right. From this news article, it is more clear that Tom Brady will stay. However, other articles have speculated that the 49ers will cut Jimmy Garopollo. Would 49'ers want the 42 year old quarterback hehehe?



Tom Brady plans to lead his team to Super Bowl LV, but he’s not saying which team he thinks he’ll lead there.

Brady posted in his Instagram stories that he plans to be at the next Super Bowl, but after wearing a blazer at this year’s Super Bowl where he was honored as one of the Top 100 players in NFL history, he said he’ll be in uniform next year.

Source https://sports.yahoo.com/tom-brady-plans-play-next-230511883.html

No way does san fransisco drop garapollo for 1 year of brady at 42 years old.  The 49ers are one garapollo pass to Sanders away from a superbowl probably.  One or 2 yards different and he could possibly be the superbowl mvp.  Who are they going to replace Jimmy with, brady for one year?  That wouldn't make sense.

[DireWolfM14]

Unless the Niner can score some super special draft pick, I don't see Garoppolo going anywhere.  I really doubt they would drop him for Tom Brady at this point.  Garoppolo is the same type of quarterback as Brady, and it would be silly to trade for someone who essentially plays the same way.  I'm not saying Garoppolo is as good as Brady, but I don't know that Brady would have done any better against the Chiefs.

I'm also willing to give Garoppolo some time, he was obviously nervous coming onto the field in the 4th quarter, and that sort of thing takes time and experience to eliminate.

My biggest critique of the Niner's loss is directed towards Shanahan.  I really think he should have been more aggressive, and demonstrate more trust in his team.  I think the nerves of the players could have been mitigated by the coaching staff, and that didn't seem to happen.

[tyKiwanuka]

My biggest critique of the Niner's loss is directed towards Shanahan.  I really think he should have been more aggressive, and demonstrate more trust in his team.  I think the nerves of the players could have been mitigated by the coaching staff, and that didn't seem to happen.

Found two interesting tweets regarding that:


https://twitter.com/JoshDubowAP/status/1224166349037088768

(Shanahan was OC with the Falcons in SB LI against the Patriots)

It's a small sample size of course, but maybe you have a point here and he should re-think his 4th quarter approach with big-ish leads in big games against very good teams.



https://twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/1224163441335832577

I just watched the replay and KC wasn't able to convert 3rd&14 with 1:47 on the clock before halftime. SF decided not to take a TO, though they still had all three. They then got the ball with 0:59 and 3 TO left instead and chose to run it two times (0:19 left). They converted 3rd&5 and had a 22yd gain with a pass to Wilson; ball at own 45yd line (0:14 left). Then that bomb to Kittle, but he was caught with offensive PI (0:06 left). Garoppolo just took a knee then.

They should have just taken a TO when KC failed to convert that 3rd down and would have started the drive with around 1:40 and 2 TO left. Even John Lynch was signalling TO from the stands, but Shanahan didn't call one.

They got the ball for second half, so I can understand the thinking of Shanahan a bit, but against such a high-powered offense like KC has, you better try to get every point you can and don't waste any opportunity to do so.

[vella85]

I always thought that Brady would win one more SB before he retires and I think that the 49ers win SB 55 however I can't see the 49ers dropping Garoppolo for Brady however if it does happen it wouldn't surprise me. I have placed a bet on the 49ers already to win the next SB at +750, I'm a numbers guy and the numbers do look good for the 49ers to win SB 55. I hit with the Chiefs winning by the numbers, time will tell if I'm right as things can change but the numbers do look good for the 49ers right now.

[wheelz1200]

My biggest critique of the Niner's loss is directed towards Shanahan.  I really think he should have been more aggressive, and demonstrate more trust in his team.  I think the nerves of the players could have been mitigated by the coaching staff, and that didn't seem to happen.

Found two interesting tweets regarding that:


https://twitter.com/JoshDubowAP/status/1224166349037088768

(Shanahan was OC with the Falcons in SB LI against the Patriots)

It's a small sample size of course, but maybe you have a point here and he should re-think his 4th quarter approach with big-ish leads in big games against very good teams.



https://twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/1224163441335832577

I just watched the replay and KC wasn't able to convert 3rd&14 with 1:47 on the clock before halftime. SF decided not to take a TO, though they still had all three. They then got the ball with 0:59 and 3 TO left instead and chose to run it two times (0:19 left). They converted 3rd&5 and had a 22yd gain with a pass to Wilson; ball at own 45yd line (0:14 left). Then that bomb to Kittle, but he was caught with offensive PI (0:06 left). Garoppolo just took a knee then.

They should have just taken a TO when KC failed to convert that 3rd down and would have started the drive with around 1:40 and 2 TO left. Even John Lynch was signalling TO from the stands, but Shanahan didn't call one.

They got the ball for second half, so I can understand the thinking of Shanahan a bit, but against such a high-powered offense like KC has, you better try to get every point you can and don't waste any opportunity to do so.

Yeah Shanahan has some history to now shed.  I think it's more unfortunate and the entire 46 points in the 4th quarter isnt his fault, especially the atlanta one most of that is on the atlanta coach and def coordinator.  Either way 4th quarters are going to haunt him for awhile lol

[morvillz7z]

NFL Films uploaded a pretty nice narrated video dedicated to that unfamous 3 and 15 play. Good watch even if you are not Chiefs fan.

Turns out Mahomes was the one to call the play "2-3 Jet Chip Wasp". Chiefs ran the same play last year in the AFC Championship game.

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-t6tbS5waE

sbnation have a decent article as well:  https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2020/2/6/21127009/patrick-mahomes-jet-chip-wasp-play-call-tyreek-hill-super-bowl-54

[nutildah]

NFL Films uploaded a pretty nice narrated video dedicated to that unfamous 3 and 15 play. Good watch even if you are not Chiefs fan.

Turns out Mahomes was the one to call the play "2-3 Jet Chip Wasp". Chiefs ran the same play last year in the AFC Championship game.

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-t6tbS5waE

sbnation have a decent article as well:  https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2020/2/6/21127009/patrick-mahomes-jet-chip-wasp-play-call-tyreek-hill-super-bowl-54

Yeah I liked it, a very well-produced video. I actually just subscribed to that channel, would like to see more of the Super Bowl narrated as a story with those mic'd up segments. The microphone is inside the player's helmet? I guess they can make them small enough to not get in the way of anything. Weird.

[tyKiwanuka]

Yeah I liked it, a very well-produced video.

It is indeed. In general there is lots of great videos surrounding the NFL. Every year I can't wait for the America's Game episode, where the season of the SB Champion is recapped and 3 players get to tell their stories and views. Hard Knocks is a great and very insightful series to watch about what is happening in offseason. I was hoping for the Giants to be covered in the 2019 edition, but it was the Raiders. This year the Giants aren't eligible, because of a first-year HC (Steelers, Lions, Jaguars, Cardinals, Broncos are eligible - hoping for Cardinals).

The NFL, and all major sports in the US, is doing a great job in presenting their league and catch a lot of people with it. Compared to that, the way our beloved Bundesliga is presented, is just pathetic.


As for the microphones, they have been in the shoulderpads near the collarbone for the last seasons, but they have gotten so tiny by now, that you might be able to fit everything into the helmet without any issues to be caused. Some nice read about it in general: https://www.sportsnet.ca/football/nfl/how-we-hear-sounds-of-the-game/

[DireWolfM14]

NFL Films uploaded a pretty nice narrated video dedicated to that unfamous 3 and 15 play. Good watch even if you are not Chiefs fan.

I tried to watch, but it's still too painful.  I'll try again after the 9ers' first win next season. 

The microphone is inside the player's helmet? I guess they can make them small enough to not get in the way of anything. Weird.

Like tyKiwanuka said they are in the shoulder pads.  QBs and a designated Defensive player have speakers in there helmet, but I believe they don't have microphones.  The intent is that coaches can send playcalls or coverage instructions onto the field.  It's not meant to be a two way communication system, so it's not about the size of the microphone.  If I can stick a tiny blue tooth system into my motorcycle helmet, I'm sure the NFL could figure it out.

Well, it looks like there's a methadone program to offset NFL withdraws:  The XFL is back with 8 teams, a 10-week regular season schedule, and two weekend worth of championships.  I spent a little time going through some of the rosters, but I don't recognize any of the players.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  I'd rather see a bunch of new young players than washed up NFL players.  I do recognize some of the coaching names, so that's good.

I've added the games to my DVR, I'll report back once I've had a chance to watch them.

https://www.xfl.com/

[vella85]

The XFL started today and I was wondering if anyone here is interested in it and has started a thread for the XFL?

I don't know much about this competition being Australian lol but I am looking at placing some bets. Any tips would be welcomed either in here or in a new thread.

[Hueristic]

The XFL started today and I was wondering if anyone here is interested in it and has started a thread for the XFL?

I don't know much about this competition being Australian lol but I am looking at placing some bets. Any tips would be welcomed either in here or in a new thread.

Shit, I didn't know the league started. I'm going to check out the games tomorrow.

https://www.reddit.com/r/XFLstreams/comments/f0xllu/game_thread_la_wildcats_vs_houston_roughnecks/