Evan Mathis released

BradyFTW! said:

I do agree with that. Their OL isn't talented, but that doesn't mean signing Mathis was a panic move. He was the best FA on the market, and they signed him to a reasonable contract. No need to read too much into it.

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Oh, I think it is definitely a panic move. Just because Mathis is a good player doesn't mean it wasn't a panic move. They were going to go into the season with 3/5 of their starting o-line with no NFL experience. They were lucky Mathis was available.

Just because a team adds a solid player doesn't mean it isn't a panic move. With their future cap concerns and need to get younger at many positions, they didn't really need to use that $4 million on Mathis if they didn't feel like they had no choice.

Rob0729 said:

Oh, I think it is definitely a panic move. Just because Mathis is a good player doesn't mean it wasn't a panic move. They were going to go into the season with 3/5 of their starting o-line with no NFL experience. They were lucky Mathis was available.

Just because a team adds a solid player doesn't mean it isn't a panic move. With their future cap concerns and need to get younger at many positions, they didn't really need to use that $4 million on Mathis if they didn't feel like they had no choice.

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Apparently we have dramatically different definitions of panic. Because the way I see it, signing the best FA on the market to a market-rate, one-year deal at a position of need, can't be a panic move.

Do you think the Pats signing Reggie Wayne was a panic move? If not, what makes you reach a different conclusion?

denverpatsfan said:

Just giving you all the scoop here. Donks fans are expecting a SB parade this year. Favorable schedule and no competition in the division again this season.

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If Manning really is falling off, the Chiefs could take that division.

Deus Irae said:

If Manning really is falling off, the Chiefs could take that division.

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Chargers could take it too, though it's a much harder case to argue. They'd have to have fluky-high turnovers on D, have some of their young guys on defense make a mini-leap, Gates stays healthy again, Ingram steps in and is good right away, and Allen rebounds from last year.

Raiders are probably the only team that can't win the division, and I don't think they'll be the easy out that they've been in years past, necessarily. Maybe I've been spending too much time around Raider fans, but if Cooper is as good as I think he'll be right away and Carr and Mack both make a second year leap, plus Latavius Murray is consistently as good as he flashed last year, I could see them maybe being just below-average instead of the pure awful they've been for a solid decade.

Realistically, I think it comes down to Broncos vs. Chiefs for the division, but the other two are good enough that it'll be a tough path to the #1 seed, and whoever doesn't win the division will have an uphill battle for a wildcard.

I hope the Bronco's win their division, they're generally one of the easiest outs in the playoffs

BradyFTW! said:

Chargers could take it too, though it's a much harder case to argue. They'd have to have fluky-high turnovers on D, have some of their young guys on defense make a mini-leap, Gates stays healthy again, Ingram steps in and is good right away, and Allen rebounds from last year.

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Well, Gates will stay healthy for the first four games, at least. He just won't be on the field.

supafly said:

I can appreciate the argument for DEN being soft, but my concern is that it may be a bit premature. I still view them as a major contender. People point to Manning's enormous downfall down the stretch last year, but we don't know how much of that was due to injury.

As far as BAL being a threat, I certainly agree with you. I was a very small voice consisting of a minority of....ONE (possibly two--if some other dumb ass agreed with me at any point in time) as it pertained to their forum-wide "downfall," which was incorrectly predicted 2-3 years back when they got rid of players in free agency. They play physical ball and are able to win on the road, so even if they get in as a #6 they are dangerous.

IND is obviously another team that can pose problems. Those would be my personal top 3.

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Indy poses no problems. They have a long way to go before they can get within 3 TDs when they play us.

Denver was already looking very mediocre towards the end of last season and they took a step back this offseason (despite adding Mathis.)

Baltimore is probably going to be our biggest challenger, but they aren't a matchup nightmare for us as they were when they still had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

BradyFTW! said:

Apparently we have dramatically different definitions of panic. Because the way I see it, signing the best FA on the market to a market-rate, one-year deal at a position of need, can't be a panic move.

Do you think the Pats signing Reggie Wayne was a panic move? If not, what makes you reach a different conclusion?

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Well, Reggie Wayne is arguably the best free agent WR on the market. I don't see signing a veteran player to a small contract for depth as a panic move. Odds are that Wayne will not start for this team unless he wows the Pats in the next two weeks.

I think whenever you spend a significant amount of money to fill a starting role halfway through the preseason as a panic move. I have no problem admitting that in 2003 that Ted Washington was a panic move for the Pats.

Rob0729 said:

Well, Reggie Wayne is arguably the best free agent WR on the market. I don't see signing a veteran player to a small contract for depth as a panic move. Odds are that Wayne will not start for this team unless he wows the Pats in the next two weeks.

I think whenever you spend a significant amount of money to fill a starting role halfway through the preseason as a panic move. I have no problem admitting that in 2003 that Ted Washington was a panic move for the Pats.

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Ok, thanks for the clarification. That's a reasonable place to do the line. By that logic, do you think it was a panic move when the Pats signed Brian Waters?

Maybe that's the middle ground we can find here. I think the Mathis signing is a panic move to exactly the same extent that Waters was.

mihap said:

yp i read a while ago bout Mathis that he doesnt fit our scheme, but i am still worried bout o-line, two rookies against Suh&co, Jets Dline and Bills Defense under Rex. 6 games

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The Jets defense is frightening on paper... I can't stand that team, my blood boils with hatred of them, but I'll admit that I'm pretty intimidated by their defense.

Leonard Williams looked like he was playing against children in his last preseason game, so they add his freakish talent to a defensive line that was already arguably the best in football.

Throw Revis and Cromartie into the mix at CB and you have a recipe for sacks and/or turnovers.

Brady will need to employ the Seahawks SB game plan and have that ball out in 2 seconds or less... and I wouldn't even bother trying to run anything other than draws against that D line

F the Jets

BradyFTW! said:

Maybe that's the middle ground we can find here. I think the Mathis signing is a panic move to exactly the same extent that Waters was.

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Or Ted Washington in 2003.

BradyFTW! said:

Ok, thanks for the clarification. That's a reasonable place to do the line. By that logic, do you think it was a panic move when the Pats signed Brian Waters?

Maybe that's the middle ground we can find here. I think the Mathis signing is a panic move to exactly the same extent that Waters was.

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I don't think the Pats needed Waters. He was more of a luxury. I think they could have gotten by without him, but he made the Pats' o-line so much better. But considering he was signed September 4th, he was a bit of a panic move.

The Broncos' o-line is a big issue for them because they never thought that they were going to have their entire starting left side of the line and center to have 0 NFL games under their belts before Clady went on IR during minicamp. That is a big difference in the situations. I don't know if they sign Mathis if Clady didn't go on IR.

FourierSeries said:

Indy poses no problems. They have a long way to go before they can get within 3 TDs when they play us.

Denver was already looking very mediocre towards the end of last season and they took a step back this offseason (despite adding Mathis.)

Baltimore is probably going to be our biggest challenger, but they aren't a matchup nightmare for us as they were when they still had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

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Indy has the talent on offense to score in a hurry.. they can be inconsistent but the threat is still there for them to snowball out of control

If we played the Colts 10 times, we win 8 or 9 of those probably

Fun fact: the Donkeys released Connor Barth, and made Brandon McManus (yes, that McManus) their kicker.

JarOfMayo51 said:

The Jets defense is frightening on paper... I can't stand that team, my blood boils with hatred of them, but I'll admit that I'm pretty intimidated by their defense.

Leonard Williams looked like he was playing against children in his last preseason game, so they add his freakish talent to a defensive line that was already arguably the best in football.

Throw Revis and Cromartie into the mix at CB and you have a recipe for sacks and/or turnovers.

Brady will need to employ the Seahawks SB game plan and have that ball out in 2 seconds or less... and I wouldn't even bother trying to run anything other than draws against that D line

F the Jets

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Revis isn't an issue. I've been watching the Turning Point Videos of the Pats wins at times last year. You know who's name gets mentioned in relation to giving up TDs? Revis. Brady and company will have a field day with him. That D line is talented but dysfunctional. That whole team is. I wouldn't worry about the Jets or just about anyone outside of Green Bay, and that would be the Super Bowl.

FourierSeries said:

Indy poses no problems. They have a long way to go before they can get within 3 TDs when they play us.

Denver was already looking very mediocre towards the end of last season and they took a step back this offseason (despite adding Mathis.)

Baltimore is probably going to be our biggest challenger, but they aren't a matchup nightmare for us as they were when they still had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

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I'm just pointing to the top 3 competitors that I'd have in the AFC, that's all.

JarOfMayo51 said:

The Jets defense is frightening on paper... I can't stand that team, my blood boils with hatred of them, but I'll admit that I'm pretty intimidated by their defense.

Leonard Williams looked like he was playing against children in his last preseason game, so they add his freakish talent to a defensive line that was already arguably the best in football.

Throw Revis and Cromartie into the mix at CB and you have a recipe for sacks and/or turnovers.

Brady will need to employ the Seahawks SB game plan and have that ball out in 2 seconds or less... and I wouldn't even bother trying to run anything other than draws against that D line

F the Jets

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i don't sweat the jets. their line is good but sheldon is gone for awhile. last time they had high picks they've selected gholston and milner. that's hope that trend continues with leonard. their linebacker core isn't scary. as for the secondary it's just revis imo...cro is done.
anyway, gronkowski will have a field day against any of these teams

ViperGTS said:

Revis isn't an issue. I've been watching the Turning Point Videos of the Pats wins at times last year. You know who's name gets mentioned in relation to giving up TDs? Revis. Brady and company will have a field day with him.

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Is this supposed to be a joke?

Marqui said:

Is this supposed to be a joke?

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It's kinda funny how Revis went from best corner in the league to a scrub around here. I"ve seen some now using the Dough Baldwin picked by the ref touchdown against him lol.

Froob said:

It's kinda funny how Revis went from best corner in the league to a scrub around here. I"ve seen some now using the Dough Baldwin picked by the ref touchdown against him lol.

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Kinda like how Mathis transformed from an elite talent who we should sign to some too-old meh talent the instant he signed with the Broncos.