The 2017-2018 NFL Thread

Pete, Kkennon1 and any other NFL fans here:

Tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting so long for. It's the start of training camp for the new NFL season. Dreams will be chased, revenge will be sought and hope springs eternal in every NFL city, but in the end only one team will know the joy of winning it all while the others will wallow in the misery of falling short.

Let the long, brutal path to glory begin with the hot, muggy camps of July and August.

Gentlemen, start your quarterbacks! Football is about to begin.

Man I'm ready to go and will actually be at the Cowboys versus Eagles at Jerry World in November.....

Damn, Pete. Great game, great rivalry and a huge one in the division between two teams that some "experts" have picked to win it, then throw in Wentz vs Prescott. it doesn't get any better.

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Wasn't impressed with Taco in the HOF game...not a bit. Showed no separation getting off of blocks at all. Hope to see better.

Yeah, he's really raw still. Hoping he'll make a lot of improvement , we'll need him with all the suspensions. Lol

I hate to see Zeke get a 6 game suspension. I guess with the Ray Rice fiasco the league wants to send a message and Zeke hasn't done himself any favors by his actions. However, I don't think this is the end of it. I since Jerry Jones will be appealing and going after the league hard. They have 3 business days to appeal. Stay tuned.

Pete,

Wouldn't hold my breath on a lessening of the punishment even with Jones working on it.

Goodell wouldn't budge an inch on Brady even with the powerful Kraft who was a good friend of the commish trying his best. That was about deflated football's.

They got burned bad by the Rice fiasco. The NFL was humiliated and looked like a caveman outfit. No way they are gonna lower a abuse of woman case punishment. Ever.

He's gonna serve the full six.

On the football side at least Dallas has very capable back up running backs who would start on some teams and one of the best offensive lines in the game. Losing Zeke hurts, but they are uniquely qualified to wether the 6 game storm as almost no teams are.

Also will give us a look at what Dak can do to carry a team without Zeke.

^^^

Yeah you're right. No excuses.

On the upside Pete, we might get our 1st look at Jaylen Smith this Saturday.

https://twitter.com/JoeTrahan/status/897915780913741824

He looked great....

Hey SPQR,

Did you watch Terrence Crawford on ESPN tonight, 8/19? If you didn't, you missed a great exhibition boxing match. Body punch in the 3rd round TKO by Crawford. He got all 5 belts in the junior welterweight. ...unified.

Pete,

I did watch. I've been making an effort to get back in the fight game the last year.

I can now see why you mentioned him in the Mayweather McGregor thread.

Man you rarely see body shot KOs especially of a better quality opponent. He just took Indongo apart and broke him down in short order. Very impressive.

I'd like to see him fight again.

SPQR,

You're going to love him. He's a throwback to the earlier days of Hagler, Ray Leonard, Hearns, etc. He's suppose to be moving up slightly in weight. Can't wait.....And remember, he can fight south paw or right hand. Most fighters counter south paw fighters by leading with their left and following with their right. He doesn't do that. He fights south paw with south paw.

The first big injury that could have playoff impact took place last night when the great and seemingly uncoverable Julian Edelman of the Patriots tore his ACL and will miss the season.

He is Brady's go to guy and it seems like every time they need a first down to keep the chains moving Brady finds him. They always seem to make that big play.

NE has other weapons and the great Brady but make no mistake when you take away their best wide receiver and the man Brady trust's, knows and goes to when they just have to have that crucial completion, that is a huge injury. Not trying to plan for him or attempt to cover him really makes things a whole lot easier for every team they face and all the stronger playoff teams that will face them in the playoffs.

I always hate injuries, even though this helps my Steelers I really hate to see this happen.

The other injury that had ramifications was of course Miami QB Ryan Tannyhill going down for the season. But I don't rank that on par with Edleman because I didn't consider the Dolphins true superbowl contender's and I consider replacement Jay Cutler on Tannyhills level.

The Pats also lost their first draft pick, pass rushing DE Derek Rivers for the year with injury,

Not a good start for the defending champs.

With the regular season now less than two weeks away, the team in the news the last two days has been my own Steelers. Tuesday they traded for 49ers tight end and former second round pick Vance McDonad and today they signed two time pro bowl corner Joe Haden who was cut by the Brown's after two injury plagued seasons.

The Steelers literally signed Harden 21 minutes after he was cut. This shows how badly they wanted him and they locked him up with a three year 27 million dollar deal. The fact he rejected even larger offers from lessor teams also shows how badly he wants to play for a contender after seven years of purgatory in Cleveland. A real meeting of the minds and goals right there.

The Steelers knew after camp two of their biggest weaknesses were tight end and a cover press corner and the fact they went a very atypical route for them in both cases shows how serious the front office feels this is the year to win it all.

The Steelers are abandoning their old Tampa zone defense after Brady again demolished it in the AFC title game and are now determined to play a physical man cover game with their secondary. They think they have one of those corners in last year's number one pick Artie Burns and damn well knew they didn't have one on the other side with Ross Cockrell, hence the move for Harden.

I applaud both moves by the team even if they fail. This team is right there on the cusp of a title and it's great to see the front office go all in to make that championship happen.

It's all a fan of any team can ask for.

Am I ready for some football? Hell yeah!

The precipice of a lovely new NFL season is upon us. The interminable preseason is over and now all the games count starting next week. Let's take a look at the division, who are the real contenders and who are already out. There are some divisions where the results, barring injury seem pretty cut and dry. Others where we can expect exciting races down to the wire. First the putative runaways: In the AFC East New England should run away with it again. This is a combination of their ability and deficiencies of the teams there. The loss of Edelman will hurt. The Pats will find work arounds with other talented players on offense and the incomparable Brady the helm but if Gronk goes out for the season again at some point, they will reach the vulnerable stage against playoff team. In the AFC North the Steelers should pull away. In Brown, Bryant and Bell they have the most talented and explosive starting offensive trio in the game. To secure it all is one of the best lines in the league. Baltimore looks like they will have a killer defense so they are one team that may keep close. If they have an offense it could get interesting. The questions for the Steelers are can they successfully switch to man coverage, abandoning their cherished zone that Brady ate up in the AFC title game last year and can the erratic Big Ben, especially on the road, be good enough to take full advantage of the supreme weapons at this disposal? If both answers are yes, the Steelers will roll to the division and be a monster team come playoff time. The Steelers brought in former pro bowl corner and Joe Haden and JJ Wilcox to sure up a secondary that Brady torched. The Steelers are....

Man I really like what I saw from Deshone Kizer. Even though they lost by 3pts to the Steelers, that kid showed poise. Hue Jackson clearly should be a coordinator not a head coach.

Jared Goff looks pretty good spreading the ball around and not looking nervous in the pocket.

My goodness the Jags handing it to the Texans and Fournette running for 100 yds. Clealry HOU might as well let the rookie start at QB. Savage is terribleeee!!!!!!!

And 3rd Cousins'......sigh.....lol.

Hey but still only week 1 and counting.

Pete,

Kizer did look nice. They received criticism for starting him this year but I totally agreed with that move. Next year's quarterback draft is loaded and they can't wait a year to find out if he is the man. They need to know this year.

Biggest surprise for me was Houston. What happened to that great D against offensivley challenged Jacksonville and Bortles? They would be nuts not to go with Watson now. They are dead with Savage.

Yes HOU looked dead from the start. Maybe it's from having to deal with Hurricane Harvey, etc.

Hey SPQR,

I thought that was so funny Big Ben trying to cut that guy down and then grabbing his leg like Jeff Van Gundy did to Alonzo Mourning....lmao!!!!.....Man I fell out of my seat laughing.....lol.

Pete, That was classic. Ben said on local radio that he was trying to protect his teammates, lol. Huh? Some interesting results this week with some big surprises. My Steelers looked lethargic on the road. Bell looked like a guy who missed all of training camp, which he did, Bryant looked like a guy who hadn't played football in a year, which he hadn't, Ben looked like a QB who had gotten two series in the preseason, which he did. But what about the offensive line? One of the best units in football and they got outplayed by a defensive line that not really highly regarded. They still had enough to pull out a 21-18 win in large part thanks to super man, Antonio Brown who just killed it with eleven catches for 182 yards and out jumped three defenders, all taller than him, for the game clinching bomb. The defense looked pretty good considering all the new pieces they have in place, getting seven sacks. Rookie TJ Watt, JJ's brother had five solo tackles, two sacks and a pick. Nice debut. He actually played better than JJ, by a lot. The offense will have to play a whole lot better against the Vikings this week or things could get ugly. KC went into New England and kicked the Patriots around 42-27 as they made Alex Smith look like Dan Marino. The whole PatriotsB defense, run defense, pass rushing and secondary looked horrific. Brady obviously missed Edelman. Is this the end of the Patriots? Way to early to say that and I suspect they will find answers, but some red flags arose in that game. They just don't have a single defender an offense has to game plan for. That is a big problem. Next weeks game in New Orleans should tell us more about that defense. It was a....

For some reason I'm less excited about season this year. Maybe to much NFL news year round. Or more likely Ball affect !!! Lol

Man what a whooping my Cowboys took. But hey glad the Giants lost....lol.

Pete,

That was a beating, on both sides of the ball. The first one they have had in the Zeke-Prescott era. Denver looks to be very real this year and they will bang up lots of good teams in Mile High. Be interesting to see how the Boy's bounce back from that one. I think they will just fine. The Giants on the other hand look as dead on offense as a team can be. No line. No running. No passing. I'm beginning to think your main rival this year may be the Eagle's and Wentz who is really impressing me.

Kkennon,

I hear you on Ball and i can't wait either but I wouldn't lose much enthusiasm for football or the Cowboys if I were you and I sure haven't for the Steelers or the NFL season. We both root for legit superbowl contender's. The Lakers, if they are real lucky and make a huge jump may, just may squeak into the playoffs at best and then eventually get beat. I will love watching Ball and the kids play this year but I know exactly how the script will end. I also know who will win the NBA title this year, as do you. Not so with the Steelers, Cowboy's or the NFL.

Week three is over and we are starting to get just a shadow idea of who the top teams are. Let's look at some of the more interesting match-ups last week. My Steelers beat the Vikings 26-9 in a much anticipated game....that became a dud the moment it was revealed that Bradford was a no go. No one was more disappointed than me in that development. The Vikings never threatened to win it and without Bradford it couldn't happen. KC won a close one at home 27-20 over a rapidly improving Eagles team and charging QB phenom Carson Wentz who looks like he could end up being very, very special. New England showed they are not left for dead by going to New Orleans and putting on the biggest fireworks display since the fourth of July. Denver showed a much improved offense to go with that monster D by just throttling the visiting Cowboys 42-17. It was pure statement by Denver who handled the Dallas offensive line, Dak Prescott and Zeke and made it look easy. It's not. Just ask all the teams who Dallas has destroyed last year. It was the most impressive win of week, by far and ranks right there with what KC did to New England. Atlanta was almost as impressive in also dominating Green Bay on both sides of the ball winning 34-23. We have some nice games coming up this week: Atlanta goes to 2-0 Detroit who have shown a diversified offense and very nice defense. This is a big test for Detroit and hard game for Atlanta on the road after that emotional win against the Packers. Tampa, which won it's first game travels to the Vikings. Bradford is supposed to play and if he does it will be interesting to see if the Vikings look as good as they did with....

Yeah I know SPQR, think it's just getting to the point where NFL is becoming year round with all the social media, and NFL news all the time. Think that's maybe why rating have fallen off a little.

Plus the fact that these teams don't get the time they should have in off-season to prepare. Just seen some really sloppy football these 1st two weeks, even from the 2-0 teams. Imo

Kkennon1,

Yep. The lack of preparation is killing teams. Especially offenses and offensive line play. Very ugly to watch. The ratings are dropping and I think that is a good part of it.

The NFL is in a bind now. These pratices are limited in the name of player safety. So if they try go back to the old way in the next CBA they will be called money grubbing hypocrites.

If the ratings keep dropping it will be interesting to see what their response is. My guess is they will institute even more restrictive rules on the defense to try elevate scoring yet again.

Well, Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Hurricane Irma mauled Florida and last Sunday Hurricane Upset wrecked havoc on the NFL and everyone's top ten list. I honesty can't remember a week so filled with upsets, but not just upsets, it was how many top rated teams lost to so called bad or inferior ones: Pittsburgh-Chicago, Oakland-Washington, Baltimore-Jacksonville, Denver-Buffalo, Carolina-New Orleans. Wow. My Steelers and big Hen laid another road egg against at a team they should have beaten, the Bears. The local media and team excuse this time was the national anthem controversy. I'm not buying. I've seen this road act many times over the last six years and it's a pattern not an aberration. I put a big part of it on Hen, who is slipping as a player and has been for years now. He does not look the quarterback who in his prime could carry a team on his back. Washington looked the 85 Bears as their defense just pounded away on the Raiders offense. There is concern over Carr and his performance in big TV games. Like Hen on the road, Carr seems to be a different QB in these showcase, national events. The Broncos followed up the most impressive win any team had in their beat down of Dallas by losing to the Bills on the road. Trevor Simien who looked so good against Dallas looked like a mediocre backup against Buffalo who are now 2-1. Is there something there with these Bills? Cam Newton continued his abysmal play from last year throwing three more picks and handing the Saints their first win of the season and earning their first loss. Baltimore looked like they left their team behind in American and let the cheerleaders play the Jaguars in London as they got humiliated 44-7. Some games of note: Tennessee really showed against....

That Steelers/Ravens game is going to be a back alley fight...Can't wait to see that.

Also want to see how my Cowboys fair against the high octane offense of the Rams.

Horrible game by my Cowboys. Scott Linehan was awful as an OC, Dak seems to have regressed some and trying to force the ball to Dez is just tired. Not sure why Bryce Butler doesn't get way more PT. He's extremely better than Williams and can stretch the field like Alvin Harper use to do back in the Michael Irvin days. Just highly disappointed.

That being said the Steelers dropped the hammer on the Ravens, Bills beat the Falcons, Lions beat the Vikings, Carolina beat the Patriots...what the hell is going on...lmao.

I blame the defense, they score 30 and give up 35. Definitely hurt that Sean Lee was out. Hopefully getting Irving back next week will help against Packers.

That rookie Ram coach McVey is only 31. Dude is killing it. Coach of the year so far along with Buffalo's rookie head coach Sergeant Rock......er.... I mean McDermott.

I would blame the Dallas D mostly. That was covered up a lot last year by that amazing running game that kept the ball forever.

Dak will need to make some adjustments this year because teams have a year of film on him what he does well and what he doesn't.

Patriots have the worst defense in the league and I'm not sure there's much they can do about it. Just no play makers there. They will lose more games.

Pete the upsets keep coming and the Quoll Top Ten will once again have changes.

Right now KC looks like the best, well rounded team in the league.

How about Deshaun Watson? If he gives them an offense they are gonna be a big problem for everyone.

^^^

Deshaun looked out of this world!!!!!!.....I really like that kid and hope he has much success.

Week four is over and the upsets keep coming. We have heard about parity in the NFL for years but it really wasn't so but this more than any in history so far, that fable has come closest to reality. We will start with my Steelers who moved to 3-1 by beating a horrible Ravens team in Baltimore. The Steelers should clinch that very bad division early and the only real race for them is for home field through out the playoffs. In another of the big upsets of 2017 the Bills went into Atlanta and took them from the ranks of the undefeated winning 23-17. The Rams went into Dallas and pulled another stunner winning 35-30 in a terrific game. They showed a lot coming from behind when it looked like Dallas had control. How about those two rookie coaches in Buffalo and LA? Right now they are at the top of the list for coach of the year taking what were horrible teams last year and surging to 3-1. Man, Houston made a huge statement in the AFC South and to the whole AFC by just obliterating Tennessee 57-14. This was Watson's second start and the second time he has jump started that offense. If he can keep this up Houston becomes lethally dangerous for anyone. Detroit won a huge division game in Minnesota as Bradford was out again. But this week, unfortunately for the Vikings, the real Case Keenum showed up behind center. Teddy Bridgewater, anyone? Another shocker was Carolina winning in New England 33-30. The Patriots defense is so bad they made Carolina actually look like they can play offense, which they can't. A stat about 40 year old Tom Brady I heard the other day: He has been hit more and sacked more than any QB this year. Despite that abuse he....

Cowboys defense let's them down again...smh

Kkennon,

I know how you feel, only with me it's about the Steelers offense and rapidly sliding Ben again. Too bad we can't combine your offense and our defense. Then you would have a superbowl team LOL.

I have to say that no teams produce better games than Dallas and Green Bay. I mean every single game is a freaking classic. I think it would happen if they played every week. Just incredible.

Week five is over and for three of 2017's putative powerhouses things are starting to go horribly wrong. My Steelers once again lost to a bad or mediocre team, once again because they just can't score touchdowns or generate any offense. Big Hen had the worst day of his career with five picks inculding two for touchdown returns as they lost at home to Jacksonville. Hen has looked like a mere shadow of Ben for all five games this season and it is obvious the Steeler need to put quarterback at the very top of their needs list next season. The Cowboys failed again, too, losing their second straight at home as they once again played the role of Aaron Rodgers personal play toy losing in the last seconds 35-31. This was the best game played this year and it will be hard to top. It has become obvious that Dalla's porous defense will stymie any super bowl hopes. Like the Steelers, the Cowboys know exactly what needs to be at the top of the agenda next season. Defense. Defense, then some more defense. The Raiders lost their third straight, this time without starting QB Carr. Losing without Carr is understandable, losing at home to Baltimore and giving up 30 points to one of the worst offenses in the league is not. What are the Raiders chances? What do they need to do? See Dallas, above. New England got a nice defensive win on the road, beating Tampa 19-14. They should send some their weeks paycheck to the Tampa kicker who missed four make able field goals. Carolina backed up their impressive win on the road against the Patriots with another road win over tough Detroit. Starting to look like this team is back in it for real. Seattle took what was really a must win....

Agree lol, but now that Zek is gone for six gms, don't know if I can count on offense either. Might have to go into Tank mode. Lol

Might as well give Jaylen Smith's brother Rod Smith a crack at running the ball. It can't hurt..lol.

Another week, six, has come and gone and only affirms the impression I have had for a few weeks now, there is no super team this year, no prohibitive favorite to win it all. Chaos and mediocrity reign supreme. This is the year of the weak NFL. My Steelers went into KC and whipped up on the last undefeated team in the league, the Chiefs. This was no surprise to me. That Steelers owned this team last year and still do. Three meetings in the last two years, all Steeler wins, two in KC. The Steelers are the one team KC does not want to meet in the playoffs. The win was led by Brown and Bell on offense and a really good defense that reduced the formally hot Alex Smith into the timid, weaker armed QB he really is. Philadelphia and Wentz showed in a huge power play, winning in Carolina to take the number one seed in the NFC. This team is the real deal, losing only in KC. Atlanta lost to pathetic Miami at home. Suddenly the super bowl runner up is looking bad. This was after a bye, too. Deshaun Watson continued his terrific play in putting up 33 points against Cleveland. New Orleans is getting hot, winning three in a row while drubbing the Lions. The Rams bounced back nicely from the Seattle lose by taking out Jacksonville on the road. The two biggest upsets? The Raiders losing at home to the Chargers. The Raiders are fading faster than a drunk fifty year old fat man trying to pick up a super model. The shocker of the week? The Giants getting their first win against Denver, in Denver. Denver has a big problem at QB and it tells you how bad Paxton Lynch must be that he can’t get in. The single biggest event of....

The Panthers lose to the Bears. Can't wait ti see if CAM skips this press conference...lol. The Saints when another one and man, Adrian Peterson and Cardinals get shut out by the Rams. Wow I guess the Rams are legit.

P.S.

Can't wait ti see Eagles/Giants Monday night.

You mean Redskins. Let'sgo Redskins!!!

Cowboys looking good on 2nd bye week in row (49ers) Lol

Lee makes a difference on defense.

I don't know where the hell I got Giants from...That's what happens when you're an old dinosaur.

Pete, I can't even remember my name anymore. I guess that makes a Triassic era dino. Last week was one of the best games of the year when the Raiders came from behind to beat the Chiefs in a must win game, 31-30 the last play being with no time left on the clock. The game ended on three penalties in a row, the first on Oakland when they were down by the goal line and the second two on KC which kept giving Carr another chance. He got three of them and the last one was what needed to throw the game winning TD. I've never seen a game end like this one, on those penalties, in all my years of watching football. My Steelers just about sowed up the division with a very easy 29-14 win over the Bengals. The offense was great in the first half but died into the same old field goal brigade in the second half. But man, that defense. They had Dalton looking like a scared rookie and just spraying picks by the third quarter. That unit is really coming on like crazy. Dallas bounced back with a huge win over the Frisco. That was just what the doctor ordered for the Boys. It was also a nice gift for me because I had that as my easy bet of the year after the loses Dallas had. You could just smell a blowout here and they delivered. I think you, Dallas and my bank account thanks you. The Carson Wentz machine continues to ramp up, as the Eagles put a death grip on the NFC East beating Washington 34-24. You know, Wentz doesn't look like a good QB, or even a franchise QB, he looks like one of those rare super stars. A year after the NFL had time....

Man that was one hell of a game between Seahawks and Texans....wow!!!!!

What's up with the Raiders?....Not looking to good.

The Chargers should've beaten the Patriots but couldn't stay out of their way.

I would comment on my Cowboys but just happy we got the "W".

Pete, I wanted to see that Houston Seattle game in the worst way. I had a feeling it would be a barn burner and really wanted to see Watson go against that defense. But I couldn’t get it…blah.. Hard to believe but we have reached the halfway mark of the year. I think finally we are starting to get a feel for which teams are real playoff threats and which are also rans. Some surprise teams making big pushes this year and some putative powerhouses totally bombed out. Yes, Oakland, that’s you. My Steelers continue to win with great defense and some big plays by select offensive players like Bell, Brown and super rookie receiver Ju Ju Smith who had a 97 yard touchdown grab to seal the game against the Lions on the road. Big Ben as usual was just a disinterested spectator missing on several big, easy passes that could have made the game easy. The Vikings continued their injury given (thank you Aaron Rodgers) run to the NFC North title killing Cleveland. Buffalo continued there surprising season and playoff run by beating the hapless Raiders at home and in reality ending any hope Oakland had to make the playoffs. Now the question becomes, when will the Raiders do the right thing, get rid of Del Rio and hire a real NFL caliber head coach. Until that happens the Raiders will never be a threat to win a title. Dallas is finally showing signs of life that continued as the won a huge must win in Washington. For the second time this year, against Frisco was the other, the Cowboys looked like the juggernaut of last year. In the game of the week, and you knew it would be, Seattle outlasted Houston 41-38 in a game of pure fireworks between Russell Wilson and Deshaun....

SPQR,

Yeah it was one for the ages but now I'm sad as hell for Deshaun because he tore his ACL at practice. Really hate that for the kid and just don't have words for that.

Zeke lives you run more week, don't know if I want him to go ahead and do his 6 games or not. Want him back for playoffs, if they get in.

He needs to keep fighting if he didn't do what he's accused on. He and Dak and so young they'll have plenty of years to get to the big dance.