NFL 2018 Regular Season Thread

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The Broncos are in quite a spot now and John Elway is on the hot seat as the analysts tonight brought up.


- Elway has struggled to replace Peyton Manning since he retired in 2016. A fact that Elway's chosen one to take job (Paxton Lynch) was such a failure he's currently out of the NFL. But in trying to replace Manning ; Elway has cycled through Trevor Siemen , Lynch , Chad Kelly and now Case Keenum. With no real answer among them and 2 out of the NFL (Kelly was released due to off field arrest).

Lynch's failure was a big time blow as Elway had no one develop the young QB who many said had some raw skills. Lynch did himself no favors by reports he spent more time wanting to play video games than learn a playbook. This has so scared teams off no one has even signed Lynch as a 3rd string to develop after his release !


- The offensive line is a mess as pointed out. The Broncos pretty much are struggling in pass protection for Keenum as he can't get time to take long looks down the field as needed.

- The trade of Thomas is a move that looked good on paper as he was in his 9th season and past 30. They had young WR's and Sanders who would be Keenum's #1 target. Instead for Sanders he got hurt and it left the Broncos to start 2 young WR's. A fact tonight the analyst claimed the Raiders were gonna challenge the young WR's.

- Vance Joseph is not on good ground right now. He's struggled as a coach the last 2+ seasons and Elway will have to decide if he's worth keeping in 2019.


But the biggest issue is at QB. Elway has miss-fired on 3 QB's thus far - Lynch , Siemen and Kelly. With Keenum forced to be signed due to how the QB's have played.

[Scott Taylor]

Great win for the Raiders

They looked like the Raiders of 2016, almost.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

- Elway has struggled to replace Peyton Manning since he retired in 2016. A fact that Elway's chosen one to take job (Paxton Lynch) was such a failure he's currently out of the NFL. But in trying to replace Manning ; Elway has cycled through Trevor Siemen , Lynch , Chad Kelly and now Case Keenum. With no real answer among them and 2 out of the NFL (Kelly was released due to off field arrest).

You forgot Brock Osweiller who began his checkered career with Denver, was allowed to walk, going to Houston, then Cleveland, then back to Denver. Now he's a backup in Miami as has been pretty much a bust.

- Vance Joseph is not on good ground right now. He's struggled as a coach the last 2+ seasons and Elway will have to decide if he's worth keeping in 2019.

I suspect last night's loss might well have been the final straw and Joseph will be shown the door after next week.

[Witchfan]

The Cardinals now have sole possession of first place in the draft order. They are followed by the 49ers, Raiders, and Jets.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

You forgot Brock Osweiller who began his checkered career with Denver, was allowed to walk, going to Houston, then Cleveland, then back to Denver. Now he's a backup in Miami as has been pretty much a bust.

Osweiler got pissed at Elway and the coaches where he had some success and was starting when Manning was pretty in-effective there. I mean Manning was in such bad shape and he barely was able to do much at all as he came off the steroids. (I still contend that the report he took steroids is true...because his sudden drastic drop made no sense...i mean he went from lighting teams up from 2012 to 2014 with throwing for 14,863 yards 131 TD's and only 36 Ints to throwing 9 TD's and 17 Ints his final season)


But yeah Osweiler was benched for the playoffs and without Denver's top defense they never win a Super Bowl again. But with Osweiler he didn't seem to be in plans once he turned down that extension (something like $20-30+ million as a prove it deal to start). Had they not benched him I'm thinking he likely stays and who knows where his career goes next. Had he not landed in Houston , pissed off O'Brien that sole season and was allowed to be traded out to Cleveland , then back to Denver to start for an injured Siemen due to Lynch not being ready.

Gase worked in Denver with Osweiler and well...he seemed to be a decent starter there this season when Tannehill went down. I mean in a shocker he beat helped Miami beat Chicago as the starter this season ! Of all the players that Elway has drafted ...well Osweiler is still in the league and went 2-3 as a starter while Tannehill was out.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Vance Joseph was a bit of project hire for Elway that didn't pan out. The reality is that Elway got a huge break when the greatest free agent ever became available in Peyton Manning. Not only did they get one of the greatest QB's ever, they got a bunch of people willing to hitch their cart to that horse (not an Elway joke) because they believed they could win there. Then Peyton declined and the remanants were able to carry him to a Super Bowl. But then Elway tried and failed to pay Brock, and hasn't been able to identify a QB. He passed up on a QB in the richest QB draft in over a decade when he was in a prime position. He tried to sell the situation as "well this defense is so good that they just need someone average like Keenum". That has been a complete and total failure.

Denver might not be the biggest juggernaut franchise but they've always maintained a semblance of quality. And in that state, the Broncos reign over all other sports franchises.

[Scott Taylor]

That has been a complete and total failure.

No one in Denver will ever blame it on Elway, though. He's the demigod around there who brought them their first Super Bowl.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

No one in Denver will ever blame it on Elway, though. He's the demigod around there who brought them their first Super Bowl.

I live in Denver. I know this. He’s untouchable. Everytime I talk about this people will twist themselves in knots to defend himself

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Even if Elway had selected a QB in that 1st round of the draft this past 2018 , could the Broncos have developed them ? Like say he drafted Darnold ...does that Bronco coaching staff get him ready to start ?

We have to remember people ripped the Browns for selecting Baker Mayfield then. That he wasn't supposed to be the top QB but Dorsey saw something and selected him at the top of the draft. Meanwhile the Broncos got props for selecting Chubb and Cleveland was mocked for their selections.

[worstblogever]

The Cardinals now have sole possession of first place in the draft order. They are followed by the 49ers, Raiders, and Jets.

The only way they should be able to lose the pick is to beat the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday AND have the 49ers lose.

So... yeah, I think they're picking first. We'll see if someone like Jacksonville, the Giants, or the Raiders want to trade up to #1 and they trade back.

[C_Miller]

If I'm the Cardinals, I probably look at trading back. Not that this is a year for Quarterbacks, but the Cards for better or worse, have their Quarterback. Rosen has not done much to prove that he is the future at QB, but I have contended since last year's offseason that Rosen is the QB who was the best example of a plug and play QB in that draft. He is not a Baker Mayfield who can elevate the players around him and he's not a physical specimen like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, nor does he have the ceiling, yet require time like Sam Darnold. But he is the guy who needed to go to a good team that needed a Quarterback to be successful. The Vikings, IMO would have been the perfect team for him. A team where the QB is going to retire soon also would have been a good choice. Patriots, Chargers, Saints or Steelers.

But, the Cardinals are probably the least talented team in the NFL right now with a coach who doesn't seem like he knows what he's doing. They need to get a team together who can work around Rosen if they don't want to give him the opportunity to not be a bust.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The Cardinals need offensive line help badly. Unless they can get some good ones for that OL come free agency , the team will have to draft to protect Rosen. As a rookie , he was given a team that really wasn't good offensively , pushed in before he was ready and given a OL that cut a OT after 8 games because he was pretty terrible. So the team has to look at fixing the front for him.

It also will help if Fitzgerald comes back as the veteran to help Rosen along. Kirk has been a decent rookie WR as well. They need a WR to groom once Fitzgerald does retire so getting a 3rd one to help along would be good here.

But as of right now offensive line is the biggest issue they have. They have had QB's take 46 sacks this year and average only 3.6 yards on the ground .(Josh Rosen is their leading rusher in average yards per rush with 6.0....and that isn't good when the QB leads that)

[SUPERECWFAN1]

In Washington , things have gotten worse if its to be believed. If Jon Gruden is running the Raiders like **** ; his brother is determined to beat him in decision making blunders. This past week after a loss to the Titans ...the Redskins waived their best defensive player D.J Swearinger (Safety) .


http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...cant-have-that

The coach had been reticent to punish the safety on previous occasions and noted Wednesday that he clearly didn't get his message through to Swearinger.

"We had discussions before in the past, obviously. It's my fault," Gruden said. "Ultimately, it's my fault. Obviously, I didn't make it clear to certain people that we don't talk about our business to the media, and for me to allow that to creep in is ultimately my fault.

Gruden's statement is insane as hell as he claimed they had never really told Swearinger to stop it , just speaking to him believing he'd get "the hint". The move comes off signing a man who domestically assaulted a woman and this is your final fucking straw ? A man who calls out what was ran in a game ?


Yeah if Gruden isn't fired I'll be stunned at this stage as well as the GM. Given how out of control this move was. You don't punish the guy before this , instead you cut him for speaking to media . And no Jay Gruden if this was an office job you would have punished Swearinger 1st like a suspension then you do a cut if it continues.


Swearinger meanwhile claims he had no idea that this would cause his release and expected a punishment sure. But not a release as he claims he had a good relationship with the coaches there. Also he'll control his emotions in Arizona now (they claimed him off waivers FAST) . The coach there has comically jabbed Gruden claiming he doesn't care what Swearinger says and wants him to play like he has. (Which is Pro Bowl quality).

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...outh-shut-next

[Witchfan]

My predictions for Week 17

Giants over Cowboys- The Cowboys will rest their starters
Chiefs over Raiders- Chiefs win the top seed in the AFC
Panthers over Saints- The Saints will rest their starters
Jets over Patriots- The Jets will find a way to upset the Patriots
Eagles over Redskins- The Eagles will get the sixth seed in the NFC
Packers over Lions- crap game
Texans over Jaguars- Texans will win the AFC North and the second seed in the AFC
Browns over Ravens- Browns end the season with a winning record while knocking the Ravens out of the playoffs
Bucs over Falcons- both teams will finish 6-10
Bills over Dolphins- Dolphins won't show up in frozen Buffalo
Colts over Titans- Andrew Luck plays like an MVP and deserves the playoffs more
Steelers over Bengals- Steelers win the AFC North
Bears over Vikings- Bears win the second seed in the playoffs while knocking the Vikings out
Chargers over Broncos- Broncos have given up on their coach
Seahawks over Cards- Seahawks will be the fifth seed in the NFC
49ers over Rams- Rams are upset by a divisional opponent and fall to the third seed in the NFC.

[DungeonmasterJim]

My predictions for Week 17

Giants over Cowboys- The Cowboys will rest their starters
Chiefs over Raiders- Chiefs win the top seed in the AFC
Panthers over Saints- The Saints will rest their starters
Jets over Patriots- The Jets will find a way to upset the Patriots
Eagles over Redskins- The Eagles will get the sixth seed in the NFC
Packers over Lions- crap game
Texans over Jaguars- Texans will win the AFC North and the second seed in the AFC
Browns over Ravens- Browns end the season with a winning record while knocking the Ravens out of the playoffs
Bucs over Falcons- both teams will finish 6-10
Bills over Dolphins- Dolphins won't show up in frozen Buffalo
Colts over Titans- Andrew Luck plays like an MVP and deserves the playoffs more
Steelers over Bengals- Steelers win the AFC North
Bears over Vikings- Bears win the second seed in the playoffs while knocking the Vikings out
Chargers over Broncos- Broncos have given up on their coach
Seahawks over Cards- Seahawks will be the fifth seed in the NFC
49ers over Rams- Rams are upset by a divisional opponent and fall to the third seed in the NFC.

There are two weeks in the NFL that I never trust, first and last. opening week too many things can go wrong. Final week many teams have nothing to play for while loser teams play spoiler with nothing to lose.

That said, I'm going with these changes from the above picks:
Pats over Jets
Ravens over Browns
Falcons over Bucs
Vikings over Bears
Rams over 49 ners