2021 NFL Season

[NJDevs4978]

Whoa Bill not wasting any time 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Love this.  I wasn't a big Cam guy to begin with, but I understood bringing him in last season...I 100% did NOT want him back this year though.  This absolutely feels like the right move...I expect that there will be the typical growing pains/rough moments, but I like finding out about the kid sooner than later.  

['7']

Just have to be honest...I think Mac Jones will be a good football player and I always sort of felt he would. And I dreaded him dropping to New England since I thought he would be a perfect fit for that franchise and offense. I think he fits the mold of what Belichick wants in a QB perfectly. New England has good depth at RB/WR/TE though not elite top end talent, but they have surrounded him well enough that I feel he will succeed right off the bat

Edited August 31, 2021 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

11 minutes ago, '7' said:

Just have to be honest...I think Mac Jones will be a good football player and I always sort of felt he would. And I dreaded him dropping to New England since I thought he would be a perfect fit for that franchise and offense. I think he fits the mold of what Belichick wants in a QB perfectly. New England has good depth at RB/WR/TE though not elite top end talent, but they have surrounded him well enough that I feel he will succeed right off the bat

Ya never know until you see a young QB playing against each team's best.  Agree in that I was very happy that they got him, and that they never had to deal any assets to move up to get him.  

[NJDevs4978]

I'm sure another factor (without making this too political) was Cam's vaccination status and how his five-day absence this week was kind of a warning shot.  You don't want to have to go without your QB (or one of two active QB's) because he tests positive or is deemed a close contact the morning of a game.  If it's Kirk Cousins, a clear starter on his team you gotta live with it - or Wentz, but once they made the decision to go with Mac it was easier to just cut Cam loose.

['7']

This really feels like the first true NFL season since 2019...last year with covid and all, the NFL was back but it wasn't truly BACK. No fans in the stands, unprepared/sloppy play on both sides of the ball (moreso defense as we had some cartoonish stats) and tons more injuries than we'd usually get (which is still a lot) players opting out. Just felt like the year the wasn't. So much of what happened felt anomalous and unfamiliar. This year I hope to see better, more balanced football

Really curious what we see out of the Browns, and Tampa is still pretty much stacked with elite talent. Brady going back to Foxboro will be some kind of event...

How long will the Bears roll with Dalton. We know he can look competent at times, and that's pretty much all he has to be if that defense plays up to its potential. 

How will this Watson situation resolve itself?

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Hard-fought game, Dolphins with a huge takeaway at the end.  Liked what I saw out of Mac.  

[NJDevs4978]

What the hell happened to Green Bay...is Rodgers still going through the motions?

I'm glad I went off Jacksonville-Houston as my knockout pick, man...I thought Houston was either gonna be the worst team in the NFL or right there with Detroit.  Then again Jacksonville themselves beat the Colts in Week 1 last year and never won another game.

Edited September 13, 2021 by NJDevs4978

[MadDog2020]

4 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Hard-fought game, Dolphins with a huge takeaway at the end.  Liked what I saw out of Mac.  

Clutch take-away by X. Just a big-time play when we needed it most. Tua was pretty good; not great, but he made plays when he needed to, and the defense bent but never broke. Now Buffalo at home next week. Would love to start 2-0 in the division. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

16 hours ago, MadDog2020 said:

Clutch take-away by X. Just a big-time play when we needed it most. Tua was pretty good; not great, but he made plays when he needed to, and the defense bent but never broke. Now Buffalo at home next week. Would love to start 2-0 in the division. 

It's funny MD, as a Pats' fan, you can definitely look at the glass half-empty or half-full.  Half-full:  the kid QB got more comfortable as the game went on (and was allowed to throw deeper), there was better play from the TEs and WRs than last season (WRs getting separation is still a bit of an issue though), and not really a badly played game by the Pats overall, even with the two turnovers.  Half-empty:  16 points won't win a lot of games, and losing a close one (and winnable one) at home to a division opponent is costly...we have no idea how Jones will fare initially in much tougher road buildings.  I'm 100% on board with Jones being given the reigns right off the bat, but even with the rules so QB-friendly now, it's still tough to jump right in without a year (or at least a couple of months) to watch and learn.  You gotta expect some tough "Welcome to the NFL" games as a true rookie QB.    

Of course, if Buffalo wins and the Pats win (against the Jets), suddenly everyone in the East is 1-1.  A bit like a reset.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Pats looking like a team with a rookie QB so far today.  Very fortunate not to be out of it.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Game over.  Feel for the kid…he’s gotten absolutely no help today.

fvcking bench Smith NOW.  Guy is having a beyond rotten game.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Crickets in here at the moment, but suffice it to say that teams for the foreseeable future are going to dare Mac to go deep, until he proves that he can do hurt opponents consistently doing so.

It's early, but that spending spree that BB went on (for mostly merely decent-to-pretty good players) isn't looking so great at the moment.  Mac's first INT was def on him...a forgivable and to-be-expected rookie kind of mistake.  Second one was ALL on Smith (catchable ball that pops off his hands right into the other team...wound up being a pick-6, and pretty much ended the game, even though the Pats pulled to within eight later).  Third one was a what-the-hell, really...garbage time, very end of the game, it was lost anyway, let the kid take some chances.  It was a typical rookie QB kind of game...some good moments and some shaky ones, after getting some protected reps in his first two games.

But the problems of last season remain...Pats receivers just don't seem able to get much separation...and since teams figure to start taking the underneath stuff away, that's going to be a serious issue.  

Not that I expected the Pats to make major noise this year...I don't know how you ever expect that with a true first-year player at QB.  And I'd rather take some lumps with the guy who could potentially (no guarantees) be the starter in NE for a while, as opposed to a dead-end stopgap like Cam (who notably hasn't been picked up by anyone).  But I can see this team winning only 5-7 games.  

[NJDevs4978]

Yeah the general football threads have been quiet the last couple of years but that’s the sports forum in general.

This week may be the only time in two decades I don’t envy Pat fans with the circus coming to town and staring at 1-3 with the king of the mountain making his return.

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Yeah the general football threads have been quiet the last couple of years but that’s the sports forum in general.

This week may be the only time in two decades I don’t envy Pat fans with the circus coming to town and staring at 1-3 with the king of the mountain making his return.

It is what it is.  Like I've always said, when a guy helps your team win six championships and decides he wants to go elsewhere at the of 43, you deal with whatever happens afterwards.  If I was going to be there, I'd give him the loudest and longest standing O.  No hard feelings even if he torches my team.  And I'm not delusional about where the Pats are...right now, until further notice, they're irrelevant and trying to build something new with a brand-new QB.  I expect Brady to waltz right in and curbstomp this version of the Pats...small price to pay for the previous two decades.  

[NJDevs4978]

Only Bill can turn the postgame handshake into must-see TV lol, first the Mangini nonsense (speaking of which, kind of a nasty story where they almost came to blows at a winter meeting over Bill being short with Mangini's wife) now last night.  I joked he was warmer with Peyton's last rodeo postgame embrace after the 2015 AFCG than with Brady on the field but apparently they did talk extensively in the locker room after the game. 

Game turned out to be pretty much as expected, the Pats beat expectations but not the Bucs.  At least I feel better about using the Pats as my knockout pick next week lol

Edited October 4, 2021 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yeah did not think the game would be that close.  The funny thing is even if Folk HAD nailed that field goal, I still think the Bucs probably win...they would've had about 45 seconds and two TOs, needing only a FG of their own to win.  BB probably should've gone for it on 4th and 3 anyway, given the weather (a 56-yard attempt was going to be EXTREMELY hard to hit in those conditions...I was surprised he came as close as he did).

But the Pats as currently built are a 9-8 or 8-9 team at best...I'm guessing more like 7-10 or 6-11.  It's not a surprise...BB's drafts have been iffy lately, the QB who made everyone look better than they were (that would be YOU, Josh McDaniels...thank Brady everyday for making you what you were) is working his magic for another franchise, a promising rookie QB is doing what promising rookie QBs often do (giving you glimpses of what could be, but also reminders of what they ARE...works-in-progress), and BB went on one of those spending sprees that look so much better on the backpages than they do on the field.

There's also those fans who think runs of success are never supposed to end, that there's always measures that could or should have been taken to keep things going, but this stretch lasted two friggin' decades.  I've read how BB somehow screwed up in not keeping Brady.  Those two were READY to move on from each other...what's so difficult to understand?  I especially don't mind a 43-year-old QB wanting to play on a team that had a number of weapons (and that had the ability to add more).  Brady more than earned the right to leave, if that's what he really wanted.

But as MD2020 can attest, with Dan Marino...one thing you learn from watching sports for a long long time, is to try to appreciate that very special player while you have him, because you may never see any of his replacements come anywhere near what you had, no matter how highly touted they are (see Andrew Luck, after Peyton Manning).  If Mac Jones is merely solid and a guy you can win with, and one day wins "just" one championship...that's a major success story in my book...I'll sign up for that right now.  But we know how it often goes...Marino retires, along comes...Jay Fiedler?  And then some other guys who never make much of a long-term impact.  Hell, look at the Devils post-Brodeur.  Cory appeared ready to carry the torch for a while, then saw his game desert him...now it's Blackwood, who's had his moments, but is closer to a "maybe" than "Devils are set in net for at least 5-7 years now!"

The Pats will NEVER have a run like they just did...the best any fan can hope for most sports is that once a rebuild pays off (no guarantees there of course), that your team has a 4-6 year window of contending legitimacy, that results in a championship.  Anything more than that, congrats...you're getting more out of your team than most other fanbases could dream of.  If the Pats put together a team like that in the next few years, I'll happily take it...I'm definitely never using the BB-Brady era as the measuring stick.  That's just nuts.  

Edited October 4, 2021 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[MadDog2020]

 

[titans04]

 

[NJDevs4978]

This Gruden sh!t is wild, just goes to show you don't really know people in the public eye.

[Jerrydevil]

3 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

This Gruden sh!t is wild, just goes to show you don't really know people in the public eye.

That's not my takeaway. He's a football coach. Many of them use salty, off-color language and don't have a filter -- even on email.

My takeaway is, "Wow, Gruden really pissed off a VIP." 

Kinda gets Mark Davis off the hook, doesn't it? Mediocre, overpaid coach is gone. Mistake erased.

[NJDevs4978]

5 hours ago, Jerrydevil said:

That's not my takeaway. He's a football coach. Many of them use salty, off-color language and don't have a filter -- even on email.

My takeaway is, "Wow, Gruden really pissed off a VIP." 

Kinda gets Mark Davis off the hook, doesn't it? Mediocre, overpaid coach is gone. Mistake erased.

There’s a huge difference between that, and hitting a checklist of groups to use the worst offensive tropes possible, including the anti-gay comments - which were gonna be a no go coming back from with Carl Nassib on his team. Plus he had enough of a filter where we didn’t get a whiff of this crap publicly until now and he was in the public eye for nearly 25 years. 

I don’t know if it gets Davis off the hook, financially. At least not entirely, there’s no way Gruden walks away from $70 million or whatever is left on his deal out of a sense of shame. The NFL is certainly doing it’s damndest to take Washington (the supposed target of this investigation) off the hook aren’t they? Not even trying to hide the cronyism there.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Pats’ D did manage to stop the Cowboys on a 4th and short to set up a short drive for the Pats’ first TD, but looks like that’s all they’ve got.  Not like I haven’t seen games like this from them before of course…Brady always was good at overcoming and making lots of people look good.  Mac will have to learn to do the same.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Game was closer than I thought, but of course the Pats’ D couldn’t make the big stops at the end.

Bills probably take the division with a 10-7 record at this point.  Hell, even 9-8.  

[NJDevs4978]

Buffalo could win the division at 9-8 but I think they’ll be a bit better than that. But yeah it looks like they’ll lap the field regardless