Hi all. Finally, 1 of the high holy days has arrived! While there is plenty about the NFL I don't really like, I still love the game. Looking forward to a good game tonight with GB vs CHI. Definitely old school, haha. I think my Seahawks are going to shock some people this year. They seem to be flying under the radar again & all that does is put a chip on their shoulder. For everything he has already done, I think our GM (John Schneider) should get some consideration for exec of the year. Signing the 2 captains long term, turning 4 draft picks into 11 & finally the Clowney heist that he pulled off last weekend. We gave up a guy we were going to cut, a third stringer (granted, with potential) & a third round draft pick for him. Oh, & Houston is paying almost half his salary this year! How does that work?!?! Even if it turns out to be a 1 year rental we would basically get the pick back next year. Our defense is going to be fierce & I have a good feeling about the offense. The team is young, talented & hungry. The Seahawks seem to be 1 of the better run teams this side of New England. There are some similarities in how they operate. I think there is a good chance we can take the division back from the Rams. My dream scenario is for the Hawks to throttle Dallas at home during the NFC title game & then move on for a little revenge against the Patriots (sorry beantown bubba!) in a game for the ages. Hope springs eternal this week. GO HAWKS!

My interest in the NFL continues to wane and my disinterest in off-season developments has turned into plain ignorance. I can't even tell you the name of a single Patriots draft choice. I know they made several trades, mostly for offensive linemen i think, but I can't tell you the name of a single traded player (in either direction). The anonymity, specialization and interchangeability of the players continues to grow and continues to make it harder to maintain a high level of engagement though I do hope Josh Gordon manages to stay clean for an entire season.

I will no doubt continue to watch the Patriots with some investment and the occasional other game as background noise. A Pats - Seahawks finale would be fine w/ me, chuck

beantownbubba wrote:My interest in the NFL continues to wane and my disinterest in off-season developments has turned into plain ignorance. I can't even tell you the name of a single Patriots draft choice. I know they made several trades, mostly for offensive linemen i think, but I can't tell you the name of a single traded player (in either direction). The anonymity, specialization and interchangeability of the players continues to grow and continues to make it harder to maintain a high level of engagement though I do hope Josh Gordon manages to stay clean for an entire season.

I will no doubt continue to watch the Patriots with some investment and the occasional other game as background noise. A Pats - Seahawks finale would be fine w/ me, chuck

I hope Josh Gordon gets it together, too. Been too much of a sad story so far. Think he's in last chance territory.

Feels like another season of running in place for the Titans. Seems like the front office is content with never totally bottoming out, but also never being better than a fringe playoff contender. I like Marcus Mariota as a person, and he’s an exciting dual threat QB at times, but I don’t think he’ll ever be the kind of player to get them over the hump. Granted, the AFC South is wide open as could be after Andrew Luck’s abrupt retirement.

Speaking of Luck, who’d have thought 2 weeks ago that his retirement would be the 2nd biggest story of the offseason after all of Antonio Brown’s antics?

After watching Hard Knocks it’s confirmed Antonio Brown is a fucking spoiled brat. And now his confrontation with the GM, I hope the Raiders tell him to go fuck himself.

bovine knievel wrote:After watching Hard Knocks it’s confirmed Antonio Brown is a fucking spoiled brat. And now his confrontation with the GM, I hope the Raiders tell him to go fuck himself.

They probably should, thought that means they sent away a 3rd and 5th round pick for nothing.

Who would have though that an off season where Oakland acquired Brown, Richie Incognito and Vontaze Burfict would lead to turmoil and chaos?

Zip City wrote:

bovine knievel wrote:After watching Hard Knocks it’s confirmed Antonio Brown is a fucking spoiled brat. And now his confrontation with the GM, I hope the Raiders tell him to go fuck himself.

They probably should, thought that means they sent away a 3rd and 5th round pick for nothing.

Who would have though that an off season where Oakland acquired Brown, Richie Incognito and Vontaze Burfict would lead to turmoil and chaos?

The Raiders have always been a sanctuary for the surly and “outlaw” players but this new breed makes some of those old guys look like angels.

Just win baby!

bovine knievel wrote:

Zip City wrote:

bovine knievel wrote:After watching Hard Knocks it’s confirmed Antonio Brown is a fucking spoiled brat. And now his confrontation with the GM, I hope the Raiders tell him to go fuck himself.

They probably should, thought that means they sent away a 3rd and 5th round pick for nothing.

Who would have though that an off season where Oakland acquired Brown, Richie Incognito and Vontaze Burfict would lead to turmoil and chaos?

The Raiders have always been a sanctuary for the surly and “outlaw” players but this new breed makes some of those old guys look like angels.

Just win baby!

i loved the bad boy raiders back in the day & al davis used to give the league hell. mark davis was certainly paying attention to a certain extent. he got exactly what he wanted with the vegas move. its a fascinating story. i read an in depth piece about it i think on espn site but it could've been mmqb. at the end the sharks in vegas thought they had a live one with mark & his bowl haircut. he went in there & got everything he wanted much to their shock. guys like steve wynn & sheldon adelson. i hope gruden can get the team turned around. it certainly looks like antonio brown was a misstep though. i bet there will plenty of the black hole residents who make the trip to the games. should lively up the place!

Davis' haircut should be subject to league fines

I kind of thought the Bears winning the North was a done deal going into the season.

I thought wrong.

chuckrh wrote:i hope gruden can get the team turned around. it certainly looks like antonio brown was a misstep though. i bet there will plenty of the black hole residents who make the trip to the games. should lively up the place!

While he is certainly a charismatic personality, Gruden is quite possibly the most overrated coach in NFL history. Style over substance.

Now AB wants to be released

EDIT: Diva AB got his wish.

AB to the Patriots. Let’s see how much Belichick tolerates.

bovine knievel wrote:AB to the Patriots. Let’s see how much Belichick tolerates.

Belichick is the “Crazy WR Whisperer”

Zip City wrote:

bovine knievel wrote:AB to the Patriots. Let’s see how much Belichick tolerates.

Belichick is the “Crazy WR Whisperer”

I think Belichick is a master of bringing out the best in any athlete.

bovine knievel wrote:

Zip City wrote:

bovine knievel wrote:AB to the Patriots. Let’s see how much Belichick tolerates.

Belichick is the “Crazy WR Whisperer”

I think Belichick is a master of bringing out the best in any athlete.

he is the master of the dark side of the force....the AB challenge should be interesting.

GO HAWKS!

It ain't easy being a Lions fan in his 50s, we've basically had a lifetime of underachievement and mediocrity. Losing an 18 point lead in the 4th quarter to one of the league's worst teams while making terrible coaching decision after terrible coaching decision is basically the last 50 years in a nutshell. We were damn lucky not to lose in OT, and I guess I should be glad that our 0-0-1 start has us in 3rd place and gives me bragging rights over the Bears for the next 6 days.

The Vikings were a nice surprise yesterday. I don't expect us to fare well against teams that consistently pressure Cousins (is there anyone worse at sensing pressure from the pocket?), but the defense looks stellar, the running game was very effective, and the passing was at least efficient when given time.

Conspiracy Corner: Was Antonio Brown’s Patriots Signing Part of an NFL Long Con for the Ages?

You’d think that Brown would have remained a free agent long enough to weigh offers from various teams, perhaps even visiting some that were interested in signing him. Apparently not! Five hours and two minutes passed between Adam Schefter’s tweet announcing Brown’s release and the tweet announcing the details of his new Patriots contract. He literally could not have flown from Oakland to Boston in that amount of time. It all wrapped up too neatly, too easily, too expeditiously.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/9/9/ ... s-steelers



Also, welcome back to Philly DeSean Jackson!

Clams wrote:Conspiracy Corner: Was Antonio Brown’s Patriots Signing Part of an NFL Long Con for the Ages?

You’d think that Brown would have remained a free agent long enough to weigh offers from various teams, perhaps even visiting some that were interested in signing him. Apparently not! Five hours and two minutes passed between Adam Schefter’s tweet announcing Brown’s release and the tweet announcing the details of his new Patriots contract. He literally could not have flown from Oakland to Boston in that amount of time. It all wrapped up too neatly, too easily, too expeditiously.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/9/9/ ... s-steelers



Also, welcome back to Philly DeSean Jackson!

This was kind of my initial thought.

I think AB creatively found a way to stack himself onto the best team.

Gotta say the Pats looked pretty darn good last nite. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may turn into a down year for the Steelers, but still, an impressive victory in all phases w/ the partial exception of the running game, which was meh at best. It was amusing to watch a defense w/ 7 defensive backs; other than hail mary type situations I don't think i've ever seen that before. Brady's arm looked stronger than last year.

As for the Brown signing, I didn't follow all the machinations, but at the end of the day, is anybody really surprised? This is what the Patriots do and this is why players like Corey Dillon, Randy Moss and AB come to the Patriots.

I did try to watch a couple of neutral games over the wkend (including thursday) but only confirmed my suspicion that I'm no longer really interested in those, at least until the playoffs are a lot closer.

What the hell happened in Miami???

The Nadal - Medvedev match was a sight to behold.

Zip City wrote:Davis' haircut should be subject to league fines

Russell Wilson is definitely justifying the big paycheck. GO HAWKS!

I'd hate to be a Miami Dolphins fan.

beantownbubba wrote:I'd hate to be a Miami Dolphins fan.

At least they wised up and put Josh Rosen in. If you're going to tank hard, why start a 10+ year vet? See what you have in Rosen, and if he sucks, know what your top priority in the draft is.

Speaking of sucks, Kirk Cousins. Woof. This Vikings team could be really, really good. But he's a complete liability at this point.

Zip City wrote:

beantownbubba wrote:I'd hate to be a Miami Dolphins fan.

At least they wised up and put Josh Rosen in. If you're going to tank hard, why start a 10+ year vet? See what you have in Rosen, and if he sucks, know what your top priority in the draft is.

I've always been opposed to throwing young QB's to the wolves. Rosen's essentially a rookie since he's working w/ a whole new system and new cast of characters who are not very good. I don't see any problem in giving him a few games to learn/observe and (hopefully) giving the offensive line a chance to improve/gel at least a little. Receivers who can catch might help, too. Rosen definitely needs to play this season, I'm just not sure it has to be now.