NFL 2018 Regular Season Thread

[PwrdOn]

[BeastieRunner]

Yep...its gonna go down with Lin Elltiots missed FG's and all. Oh well...Chiefs fans have taken heartache for years. We knew how things would go the moment the Chiefs made the playoffs.

Mahomes is going to be annoying everyone like Brady does in a few years.

Have faith.

The curse is broken and the next curse is about to go.

Eagles/Chiefs are coming for everybody.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Mahomes is going to be annoying everyone like Brady does in a few years.

Have faith.

The curse is broken and the next curse is about to go.

Eagles/Chiefs are coming for everybody.

I wish I had your optimism but after 1 AFC Championship game in 25 years...well ...i don't have much. It was a great season for Mahomes who did way , way more than I ever imagined. He was essentially a rookie and well he'll win the MVP award for best player which is stunning. As one analyst claimed , Mahomes is that possible generational QB that comes along once in a lifetime. I hope he gets a chance at the Super Bowl one day because he played insane out there.


The Chiefs need to add on defense and get that done now. They have to get that side of the ball up for Mahomes who they can't demand he throw 50+ TD's a season to stay ahead of teams.

[MRP]

Mahomes is going to be annoying everyone like Brady does in a few years.

Have faith.

The curse is broken and the next curse is about to go.

Eagles/Chiefs are coming for everybody.

Wentz has to prove he can stay healthy into the post season before the Eagles can be considered a serious threat moving forward. They won't have a back up of the caliber of Foles to step in if/when he gets hurt around week 12-14 again. If he can stay healthy, yes they can be perennial for a while, but if he continues to only be able to play for 2/3 of a season as he has done the last 2 seasons, they will be lucky to keep making wild card berths.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

It would be nice...but the Chiefs have had years of hell and the curse only ends if they ever make it once. But well....I'll likely be dead when that happens lol

I was rooting for Andy Reid to make it back to the Super Bowl. Perhaps next season.

[C_Miller]

I’ll say though, the more the Patriots make the Super Bowl, the less interested I get in get in football. I built a franchise in Madden where I ended up going to the Super Bowl like 7 years in a row only losing 4 games or so. My roommate at the time said something like that would ruin the game if it happened in real life.

With only one team being able to crack the code for perennial success combined with the poor officiating all season, these last two games in particular, I’m not sure how interested in the product that the NFL puts out. Even taking the Patriots out of the equation, something has to be done with the officiating. Yeah it’s a necessary evil and bad calls happen in every sport but I can’t recall the last time they affected the outcomes of the second biggest games of the year. Maybe it’s because so many other sports play more games and are based more on averages so one bad call has less of an effect. I don’t know. All I know is I can’t wait for baseball to return.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I think it’s safe to say the Saints have been snakebitten in the playoffs the last two years:

2018: The Minneapolis Miracle
2019: The Great Referee Robbery

Makes me wonder what will bite New Orleans in the ass come 2020.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I’ll say though, the more the Patriots make the Super Bowl, the less interested I get in get in football. I built a franchise in Madden where I ended up going to the Super Bowl like 7 years in a row only losing 4 games or so. My roommate at the time said something like that would ruin the game if it happened in real life.

With only one team being able to crack the code for perennial success combined with the poor officiating all season, these last two games in particular, I’m not sure how interested in the product that the NFL puts out. Even taking the Patriots out of the equation, something has to be done with the officiating. Yeah it’s a necessary evil and bad calls happen in every sport but I can’t recall the last time they affected the outcomes of the second biggest games of the year. Maybe it’s because so many other sports play more games and are based more on averages so one bad call has less of an effect. I don’t know. All I know is I can’t wait for baseball to return.

Dynasty’s actually make the game more popular. The Patriots are routinely one of the highest rated teams in the league. The game reached its highest viewership and financial peaks during the Patriots run.

Go to basketball. When were it’s ratings the best? When Jordan’s Bulls went to 6 championships in 8 years. That was the peak. The other two highs in basketball are actually right now where we got the same final 4 seasons in a row and Lebron specifically has been in 8 straight. And also the era where Bird and Magic were constantly in the Finals is what built the league.

Even Baseball, the Yankees run in the late 90’s and early 2000’s was the last peak the league had.

Dynasty’s are one of those things people say they don’t like. But it draws more people in consistently. And there’s a reason for it. It’s rarer. In the near 100 year history of the NFL, maybe a handful of times will you see a team go for a 6th win (especially the same QB and coach). There’s a Super Bowl somebody has to win every year. It took 99 years of NFL history for a team to do go on a run like the Patriots are. And the way the league is set up, it’s less likely to see it going forward. Players who were part of dynasty’s get their minds blown over what’s going on.

And that’s why it draws casual fans in. It’s rare and it’s history. There’s a lot of football historians who’ve watched for 50 plus years that are looking on knowing that they will likely never see this again in their lifetime.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I think it’s safe to say the Saints have been snakebitten in the playoffs the last two years:

2018: The Minneapolis Miracle
2019: The Great Referee Robbery

Makes me wonder what will bite New Orleans in the ass come 2020.

Is snakebitten the right word. I think of that when a team folds under pressure. The Saints legit got screwed out of a win.

[DungeonmasterJim]

Wentz has to prove he can stay healthy into the post season before the Eagles can be considered a serious threat moving forward. They won't have a back up of the caliber of Foles to step in if/when he gets hurt around week 12-14 again. If he can stay healthy, yes they can be perennial for a while, but if he continues to only be able to play for 2/3 of a season as he has done the last 2 seasons, they will be lucky to keep making wild card berths.

-M

I agree with MRP's statement.

Chiefs will have a hard time sticking around over other teams. There always seems to be a second AFC West team knocking on the play-off door this year being the Chargers thus handing the top AFC West team a loss in the regular season. Mahomes is pretty exciting to watch though so I wish him well and I could see him having the Chiefs either in the play-offs or knocking on the door most years.

More sports talk radio this morning. Of all the current AFC QBs only Brady and Big Ben have been to or are going to play in a Super Bowl.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I agree with MRP's statement.

Chiefs will have a hard time sticking around over other teams. There always seems to be a second AFC West team knocking on the play-off door this year being the Chargers thus handing the top AFC West team a loss in the regular season. Mahomes is pretty exciting to watch though so I wish him well and I could see him having the Chiefs either in the play-offs or knocking on the door most years.

More sports talk radio this morning. Of all the current AFC QBs only Brady and Big Ben have been to or are going to play in a Super Bowl.

Since 2001 these are the AFC Championship respresentatives starting QB's

2001: Tom Brady
2002: Rich Gannon
2003: Tom Brady
2004: Tom Brady
2005: Ben Roethlisberger
2006: Peyton Manning
2007: Tom Brady
2008: Ben Roethlisberger
2009: Peyton Mannig
2010: Ben Roethlisberger
2011: Tom Brady
2012: Joe Flacco
2013: Peyton Manning
2014: Tom Brady
2015: Peyton Manning
2016: Tom Brady
2017: Tom Brady
2018: Tom Brady

By comparison the NFC

2001: Kurt Warner
2002: Brad Johnson
2003: Jake Delhomme
2004: Donovan McNabb
2005: Matt Hasselbeck
2006: Rex Grossman
2007: Eli Manning
2008: Kurt Warner
2009: Drew Brees
2010: Aaron Rodgers
2011: Eli Manning
2012: Colin Kaeprnick
2013: Russell Wilson
2014: Russell Wilson
2015: Cam Newton
2016: Matt Ryan
2017: Nick Foles
2018: Jared Goff

[SUPERECWFAN1]

As I brought up pages ago , the big reason New England has won so much in that division (AFC East) is the turnover that division has had with coaches since 2000. The Patriots as a whole haven't had the turnover that the other teams have had. The closest competition who really was right there with them was the NY Jets in 2000's before things fell apart there. They haven't had the turnover that the Dolphins or Bills have.

What is stunning is the Dolphins since 2000 have went through 6 head coaches in that span (a 7th will begin in 2019). So its like the division is in a constant state of change except for New England.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

As I brought up pages ago , the big reason New England has won so much in that division (AFC East) is the turnover that division has had with coaches since 2000. The Patriots as a whole haven't had the turnover that the other teams have had. The closest competition who really was right there with them was the NY Jets in 2000's before things fell apart there. They haven't had the turnover that the Dolphins or Bills have.

What is stunning is the Dolphins since 2000 have went through 6 head coaches in that span (a 7th will begin in 2019). So its like the division is in a constant state of change except for New England.

Except for Rex Ryan deciding he wants to coach every team in the AFC East for some reason

[Sacred Knight]

If we're judging football as a form of entertainment, which a surprisingly few number of people do, college football is unequivocally more exciting and more fair. Give each team a chance with the ball to see who wins. This game was effectively won by a coin toss. Just save us the half hour and just pick the winner by the coin.

Its the placement of the ball that makes me disagree with this. I don't find that exciting. Fair sure, that they each get a shot. But what's fun about an offense being automatically put at the opponent's 25? No effort to attain that field position at all. Its just a silly part of an otherwise decent set-up, to me.

[Scott Taylor]

I wish I had your optimism but after 1 AFC Championship game in 25 years...well ...i don't have much. It was a great season for Mahomes who did way , way more than I ever imagined. He was essentially a rookie and well he'll win the MVP award for best player which is stunning. As one analyst claimed , Mahomes is that possible generational QB that comes along once in a lifetime. I hope he gets a chance at the Super Bowl one day because he played insane out there.

The Chiefs need to add on defense and get that done now. They have to get that side of the ball up for Mahomes who they can't demand he throw 50+ TD's a season to stay ahead of teams.

Losing Kareem Hunt really hurt them I think, too. But kudos to KC for doing the right thing and getting rid of a bad guy, regardless of his import to the franchise.