Week 2 thoughts around the NFL

[BobDigital]

Just random thoughts that don't deserve their own thread.

#1 Dallas - Can we PLEASE pump the breaks on Dallas? Seriously. They beat what may well be the 2 worst teams in the NFC by scores of 35-17 and 31-21 (NYG and Wash) respectively. Though to be fair the NYG game was far less competitive than that 35-17 score suggest. But a week 1 blow out means very little to me. I am FAR from jumping on this hype train. They will further be built up when they beat the dolphins next week.

#2 Rams - The media is ignoring the real story of this team. The defense. While it may not jump off the screen as far as stats right now it is doing very well. Particularly in stopping the pass. Goff still looks shaky as does Gurley and some shine has absolutely come off that offense. But if there D keeps this up they will be relevant down the stretch. I still don't think they will make it back. That's so hard to do historically.

#3 THE NFC - Certainly a down year for this conference IMO. Maybe the Saints could have been a good representative if Drew Brees could have stayed healthy and avoided a late season fall off like last year. Right now that looks unlikely. There is absolutely no team in this conference I would be worried for the Pats to play for the super bowl. They are all deeply flawed or have consistency issues. It could be argued the best 3 teams are in the AFC.

#4 San Fran - A team no one is talking about. Why not? Yes they padded their record and point totals against soft and bad teams. So did Dallas, and unlike Dallas at least they face both those crap teams on the road. A team flying a tad under the radar. They have a good D. That DL is not being talked about, but it may well be one of the best in the NFL. Deebo is working out well for them so far and has given them more options on offense. The running game has been VERY impressive. While I don't see them as a true contender this year I think they are being underrated a bit. Everything said about Dallas can be said about SF just about. Yet no one says it. The best point differential in the NFC btw.

#5 Big Ben and Mason Rudolph- People are calling their season over now that he is out for the year. First off I would argue they didn't look like a playoff quality team with him. Secondly, I would argue that by the way Mason played, I don't see much of a down grade. This isn't to say Mason was playing that well. Ben was looking that bad.

#6 KC defense - The 2nd best team in the NFL, and I have a bone to pick here. No one is talking about their defense, which is odd to me. Yes, everyone kind of knows it isn't that good. However last year that was a bit overstated. They weren't as bad as their stats indicated when healthy. When you score a lot of points you tend to give up more as the other teams are willing to take more risk. Last year when healthy I thought the unit was okay. Average. Right now this D is pretty much completely healthy with not a single important player out, and i'm surprised by how bad they are. Going by the current stats they are decent, but when you really watch them they look absolutely terrible. It just seems to always be there for the offense to take if they can execute. As they face better teams (instead of arguably back to back the worst offenses in the NFL) I think that will be exposed.

I was going to do 10 but that is enough to get started.

 

[p8ryts]

Just random thoughts that don't deserve their own thread.

#1 Dallas - Can we PLEASE pump the breaks on Dallas? Seriously. They beat what may well be the 2 worst teams in the NFC by scores of 35-17 and 31-21 (NYG and Wash) respectively. Though to be fair the NYG game was far less competitive than that 35-17 score suggest. But a week 1 blow out means very little to me. I am FAR from jumping on this hype train. They will further be built up when they beat the dolphins next week.

#2 Rams - The media is ignoring the real story of this team. The defense. While it may not jump off the screen as far as stats right now it is doing very well. Particularly in stopping the pass. Goff still looks shaky as does Gurley and some shine has absolutely come off that offense. But if there D keeps this up they will be relevant down the stretch. I still don't think they will make it back. That's so hard to do historically.

#3 THE NFC - Certainly a down year for this conference IMO. Maybe the Saints could have been a good representative if Drew Brees could have stayed healthy and avoided a late season fall off like last year. Right now that looks unlikely. There is absolutely no team in this conference I would be worried for the Pats to play for the super bowl. They are all deeply flawed or have consistency issues. It could be argued the best 3 teams are in the AFC.

#4 San Fran - A team no one is talking about. Why not? Yes they padded their record and point totals against soft and bad teams. So did Dallas, and unlike Dallas at least they face both those crap teams on the road. A team flying a tad under the radar. They have a good D. That DL is not being talked about, but it may well be one of the best in the NFL. Deebo is working out well for them so far and has given them more options on offense. The running game has been VERY impressive. While I don't see them as a true contender this year I think they are being underrated a bit. Everything said about Dallas can be said about SF just about. Yet no one says it. The best point differential in the NFC btw.

#5 Big Ben and Mason Rudolph- People are calling their season over now that he is out for the year. First off I would argue they didn't look like a playoff quality team with him. Secondly, I would argue that by the way Mason played, I don't see much of a down grade. This isn't to say Mason was playing that well. Ben was looking that bad.

#6 KC defense - The 2nd best team in the NFL, and I have a bone to pick here. No one is talking about their defense, which is odd to me. Yes, everyone kind of knows it isn't that good. However last year that was a bit overstated. They weren't as bad as their stats indicated when healthy. When you score a lot of points you tend to give up more as the other teams are willing to take more risk. Last year when healthy I thought the unit was okay. Average. Right now this D is pretty much completely healthy with not a single important player out, and i'm surprised by how bad they are. Going by the current stats they are decent, but when you really watch them they look absolutely terrible. It just seems to always be there for the offense to take if they can execute. As they face better teams (instead of arguably back to back the worst offenses in the NFL) I think that will be exposed.

I was going to do 10 but that is enough to get started.

Colin Cowherd (I know no one likes him) gave a good summary of Pittsburgh's prospect based on their remaining schedule. If Rudolph can be serviceable and not terrible, we will see if Tomlin can coach or not. He might be on to something, don't count them out yet.

 

[Clonamery]

Colin Cowherd (I know no one likes him) gave a good summary of Pittsburgh's prospect based on their remaining schedule. If Rudolph can be serviceable and not terrible, we will see if Tomlin can coach or not. He might be on to something, don't count them out yet.

We know Tomlin can’t coach we just don’t want Pittsburgh ownership to know it.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Some info on the Chiefs defense thus far:

• Their two starting DEs are last in the NFL in pass rushing productivity - Clark & Okafor have a combined 0 sacks, 0 QB hits & two pressures. Give Frank Clark a search on twitter & you can read the frustration. Considering they traded a 1st & a 3rd along with paying this guy $21 million a year that bears watching.
  
  
• Despite facing Foles, Minshew & Carr the Chiefs D is 15th in opposing passer rating (94.1) & 24th in completion percentage (70.4%) as opposed to 15th & 12th last year. They also led the league in sacks in 2018.

They have little chance to hold this offense under 40 if they can't rush the passer outside of Jones.

 

[Dr Pain]

We know Tomlin can’t coach we just don’t want Pittsburgh ownership to know it.

This can buy him another year we hope. Of course they are going to have a bad year, Ben got hurt. Look what happened to the Patriots the year Brady went down

Mike Tomlin future inductee to the Patriots Hall of Fame for all he has done for us

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Just random thoughts that don't deserve their own thread.

#1 Dallas - Can we PLEASE pump the breaks on Dallas? Seriously. They beat what may well be the 2 worst teams in the NFC by scores of 35-17 and 31-21 (NYG and Wash) respectively. Though to be fair the NYG game was far less competitive than that 35-17 score suggest. But a week 1 blow out means very little to me. I am FAR from jumping on this hype train. They will further be built up when they beat the dolphins next week.

#2 Rams - The media is ignoring the real story of this team. The defense. While it may not jump off the screen as far as stats right now it is doing very well. Particularly in stopping the pass. Goff still looks shaky as does Gurley and some shine has absolutely come off that offense. But if there D keeps this up they will be relevant down the stretch. I still don't think they will make it back. That's so hard to do historically.

#3 THE NFC - Certainly a down year for this conference IMO. Maybe the Saints could have been a good representative if Drew Brees could have stayed healthy and avoided a late season fall off like last year. Right now that looks unlikely. There is absolutely no team in this conference I would be worried for the Pats to play for the super bowl. They are all deeply flawed or have consistency issues. It could be argued the best 3 teams are in the AFC.

#4 San Fran - A team no one is talking about. Why not? Yes they padded their record and point totals against soft and bad teams. So did Dallas, and unlike Dallas at least they face both those crap teams on the road. A team flying a tad under the radar. They have a good D. That DL is not being talked about, but it may well be one of the best in the NFL. Deebo is working out well for them so far and has given them more options on offense. The running game has been VERY impressive. While I don't see them as a true contender this year I think they are being underrated a bit. Everything said about Dallas can be said about SF just about. Yet no one says it. The best point differential in the NFC btw.

#5 Big Ben and Mason Rudolph- People are calling their season over now that he is out for the year. First off I would argue they didn't look like a playoff quality team with him. Secondly, I would argue that by the way Mason played, I don't see much of a down grade. This isn't to say Mason was playing that well. Ben was looking that bad.

#6 KC defense - The 2nd best team in the NFL, and I have a bone to pick here. No one is talking about their defense, which is odd to me. Yes, everyone kind of knows it isn't that good. However last year that was a bit overstated. They weren't as bad as their stats indicated when healthy. When you score a lot of points you tend to give up more as the other teams are willing to take more risk. Last year when healthy I thought the unit was okay. Average. Right now this D is pretty much completely healthy with not a single important player out, and i'm surprised by how bad they are. Going by the current stats they are decent, but when you really watch them they look absolutely terrible. It just seems to always be there for the offense to take if they can execute. As they face better teams (instead of arguably back to back the worst offenses in the NFL) I think that will be exposed.

I was going to do 10 but that is enough to get started.

Chris Jones might be the best IDL not named Donald. He absolutely killed Oaklands IOL last week. Dominated last year at times too. He's become quite the player.

 

[NashuaPats]

My thoughts after week two... Start playing your guys in the preseason! These first two weeks have been pathetic because nearly everyone is rusty and teams are out of sync. Awful, awful, awful football.

 

[Hyped]

We are playing the Giants and the Skins in a few weeks....we'll be able to compare to the Cowboys then...

 

[PatsFan2]

Just random thoughts that don't deserve their own thread.

#1 Dallas - Can we PLEASE pump the breaks on Dallas? Seriously. They beat what may well be the 2 worst teams in the NFC by scores of 35-17 and 31-21 (NYG and Wash) respectively. Though to be fair the NYG game was far less competitive than that 35-17 score suggest. But a week 1 blow out means very little to me. I am FAR from jumping on this hype train. They will further be built up when they beat the dolphins next week.

Pot calling kettle black?? We are playing some of the worse Teams and the worse Team in the NFL Period twice.

 

[BobDigital]

Chris Jones might be the best IDL not named Donald. He absolutely killed Oaklands IOL last week. Dominated last year at times too. He's become quite the player.

Oh Chris Jones is a very good player. The problem is a number of the other guys on the field.

DL - They have Jones who is an all pro type player. Clark is okay but doesn't play up to his stats and they have no one else in that unit that is any good really.
LB - Their best player in this unit is Ragland who is only pretty good. The other players in the unit are pretty much JAGS.
DB - Nope. Breeland? LOL. Ward (literally who?) Fuller? He's okay but nothing more. Thornhill I like as far as his potentially but he's still a rookie. Mathieu was elite but his injuries changed him imo. Not he only good but not great.

I would give their DL a B- overall mostly due to having Jones... But the other starters and depth aren't good. LB I would give a D. The DBs I would say is a C- with some mild upside if Thornhill works out.

 

[BobDigital]

Pot calling kettle black?? We are playing some of the worse Teams and the worse Team in the NFL twice.

The Steelers weren't too bad. Yes we blew out the Dolphins but at least we absolutely blew them out.

 

[Deus Irae]

#1 Dallas - Can we PLEASE pump the breaks on Dallas? Seriously. They beat what may well be the 2 worst teams in the NFC by scores of 35-17 and 31-21 (NYG and Wash) respectively. Though to be fair the NYG game was far less competitive than that 35-17 score suggest. But a week 1 blow out means very little to me. I am FAR from jumping on this hype train. They will further be built up when they beat the dolphins next week.

#3 THE NFC - Certainly a down year for this conference IMO. Maybe the Saints could have been a good representative if Drew Brees could have stayed healthy and avoided a late season fall off like last year. Right now that looks unlikely. There is absolutely no team in this conference I would be worried for the Pats to play for the super bowl. They are all deeply flawed or have consistency issues. It could be argued the best 3 teams are in the AFC.

Either we can't just go by what we've seen, in which case #3 is crazy, or we can, which means that #1 is crazy.


The NFC, as far as we know, will have Brees back in about 6 weeks. So....

Rams
Saints
Eagles
Cowboys
Packers
Falcons
49ers
Seahawks

are all NFC teams to look at as potential threats, at this point. And that doesn't include the Bears, because of the QB's current level of play, which could, at least in theory, improve from where it is right now.

 

[Uptown]

 

[1960Pats]

Just random thoughts that don't deserve their own thread.

#1 Dallas - Can we PLEASE pump the breaks on Dallas? Seriously. They beat what may well be the 2 worst teams in the NFC by scores of 35-17 and 31-21 (NYG and Wash) respectively. Though to be fair the NYG game was far less competitive than that 35-17 score suggest. But a week 1 blow out means very little to me. I am FAR from jumping on this hype train. They will further be built up when they beat the dolphins next week.

#2 Rams - The media is ignoring the real story of this team. The defense. While it may not jump off the screen as far as stats right now it is doing very well. Particularly in stopping the pass. Goff still looks shaky as does Gurley and some shine has absolutely come off that offense. But if there D keeps this up they will be relevant down the stretch. I still don't think they will make it back. That's so hard to do historically.

#3 THE NFC - Certainly a down year for this conference IMO. Maybe the Saints could have been a good representative if Drew Brees could have stayed healthy and avoided a late season fall off like last year. Right now that looks unlikely. There is absolutely no team in this conference I would be worried for the Pats to play for the super bowl. They are all deeply flawed or have consistency issues. It could be argued the best 3 teams are in the AFC.

#4 San Fran - A team no one is talking about. Why not? Yes they padded their record and point totals against soft and bad teams. So did Dallas, and unlike Dallas at least they face both those crap teams on the road. A team flying a tad under the radar. They have a good D. That DL is not being talked about, but it may well be one of the best in the NFL. Deebo is working out well for them so far and has given them more options on offense. The running game has been VERY impressive. While I don't see them as a true contender this year I think they are being underrated a bit. Everything said about Dallas can be said about SF just about. Yet no one says it. The best point differential in the NFC btw.

#5 Big Ben and Mason Rudolph- People are calling their season over now that he is out for the year. First off I would argue they didn't look like a playoff quality team with him. Secondly, I would argue that by the way Mason played, I don't see much of a down grade. This isn't to say Mason was playing that well. Ben was looking that bad.

#6 KC defense - The 2nd best team in the NFL, and I have a bone to pick here. No one is talking about their defense, which is odd to me. Yes, everyone kind of knows it isn't that good. However last year that was a bit overstated. They weren't as bad as their stats indicated when healthy. When you score a lot of points you tend to give up more as the other teams are willing to take more risk. Last year when healthy I thought the unit was okay. Average. Right now this D is pretty much completely healthy with not a single important player out, and i'm surprised by how bad they are. Going by the current stats they are decent, but when you really watch them they look absolutely terrible. It just seems to always be there for the offense to take if they can execute. As they face better teams (instead of arguably back to back the worst offenses in the NFL) I think that will be exposed.

I was going to do 10 but that is enough to get started.

#1 - For some reason the NYFL and the mediots want Dallas to be a top contender for the SB. Anyone have any ideas why?

#2 - I think that the weakness of the NFC that you mentioned in #3 gives the Rams a better than normal chance to repeat as NFC champ.

#3 - The AFC is off to a pretty bad start vs the NFC and will be facing 4 out of 6 games on the road vs NFC teams this week. They could be the underdog in all 6 games.

#4 - I haven't seen much of the 49ers so I can't really comment on them. If they have a good season and give the NFCW three strong teams, here's hoping one of them misses out on the playoffs in spite of having a much better record than a division "winner" with a sub .500 record.

#5 - Ben has been a good to great QB but has been done for a while. This injury probably seals the deal for him.

#6 - It seems like there are times in sports where a team has to suffer through some losses in order to finally get over the hump and win it all. The Chiefs may be in that position now.

#7 - One of the biggest stories of the season has to be the way that QB's are dropping like flies. I'll be in a constant position of crossed-fingers throughout every game.

#8 - Just a small shout out to the Buffalo Bills. I know they haven't played a real tough schedule but they won. It would be great to see them do well as long as they don't take the AFCE. They're the only New York team.

#9 - The Pats look to be very strong on both sides of the ball and as great as they've ever been. Someone pinch me.

 

[PatsFan2]

The Steelers weren't too bad. Yes we blew out the Dolphins but at least we absolutely blew them out.

Dallas is for real I like em.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Oh Chris Jones is a very good player. The problem is a number of the other guys on the field.

DL - They have Jones who is an all pro type player. Clark is okay but doesn't play up to his stats and they have no one else in that unit that is any good really.
LB - Their best player in this unit is Ragland who is only pretty good. The other players in the unit are pretty much JAGS.
DB - Nope. Breeland? LOL. Ward (literally who?) Fuller? He's okay but nothing more. Thornhill I like as far as his potentially but he's still a rookie. Mathieu was elite but his injuries changed him imo. Not he only good but not great.

I would give their DL a B- overall mostly due to having Jones... But the other starters and depth aren't good. LB I would give a D. The DBs I would say is a C- with some mild upside if Thornhill works out.

Their D is definitely a work in progress. Jones just deserves some mention considering his play the last 20 or so games has been outstanding. Right w Fletcher Cox after AD.

Mahomes is from another planet tho. KC should be tough no matter what considering how this year is going.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Found this on Reddit. Pretty interesting DVOA so far. About what we all knew, though:

 

[Pats2000]

Found this on Reddit. Pretty interesting DVOA so far. About what we all knew, though:

Link? Would like to see how that progress through the year

 

[rochrist]

Either we can't just go by what we've seen, in which case #3 is crazy, or we can, which means that #1 is crazy.


The NFC, as far as we know, will have Brees back in about 6 weeks. So....

Rams
Saints
Eagles
Cowboys
Packers
Falcons
49ers
Seahawks

are all NFC teams to look at as potential threats, at this point. And that doesn't include the Bears, because of the QB's current level of play, which could, at least in theory, improve from where it is right now.

At best, I expect the Saints to be 2 and 6 if Brees is back after their bye. They'd almost HAVE to run the table to have a shot at the playoffs and I don't see it happening.

 

[Deus Irae]

At best, I expect the Saints to be 2 and 6 if Brees is back after their bye. They'd almost HAVE to run the table to have a shot at the playoffs and I don't see it happening.

Given the situation of their division, and their schedule, I don't see it that way. But you may end up on the right side of that. Time will tell.