2018 NFL Thread - The Dynasty

[El Barto]

XFL will be far more successful this time around. They might even last two seasons. I will say that taking over the Ranger's old stadium is a pretty good idea, though. Even if it does only delay its inevitable implosion by a couple of years. 

[King Postwhore]

Pre-Week 14 Power Rankings
1. Rams - those kind of ugly road wins are character builders
2. Saints - they'll be fine, but that loss could cost them the 1 seed
3. Chiefs - Kareem Hunt drama could be their undoing
4. Patriots - that "awful" defense continues to lead them to wins
5. Chargers - big road comeback win
6. Texans - have a real shot at a bye
7. Bears - tough loss, but going 1-1 in road games without their QB ain't bad
8. Cowboys - impressive win thanks to that defense, which is legit
9. Seahawks - no one should be surprised by this
10. Steelers - this team is a mess

Trending up:
Ravens - how will Lamar Jackson do when he plays a real defense?
Broncos - will likely finish strong, but probably won't be enough to get them in the playoffs
Bucs - will they consider giving Winston one more year?
Giants - Barkley is the offensive rookie of the year
Cardinals - when you're 2-9 and win at GB, that means the arrow is pointing up

Trending down:
Packers - felt like the team wanted McCarthy to get fired
Panthers - stunning plummet after a 6-2 start
Redskins - hard to recover after losing your starting QB, and now they've lost their backup
Falcons - defense isn't good, but even the offense isn't playing well
Benglas - what a joke this franchise is

Top 5 MVP Contenders
1. Patrick Mahomes - back in the lead
2. Drew Brees - just had the setback that could cost him the award
3. Philip Rivers - finally getting his props, but needs some playoff success
4. Jared Goff - still hard to believe how bad he was his rookie season
5. Russell Wilson - his greatness and value has never been more obvious

I feel it's the Rams year.  Sure the the NFC will be tough but there's a confidence in their play right now.

[King Postwhore]

Anybody remember way back in 2018 when Josh McDaniels burned any chance of ever getting another head coaching job outside of NE by ghosting the Colts? Eh, neither does anybody else, apparently.

You'd think no one would touch him but these owners are can't help themselves.

[El Barto]

3. Chiefs - Kareem Hunt drama could be their undoing
6. Texans - have a real shot at a bye

One thing leads to another. I have the Chiefs dropping one or two now that they might have otherwise won, and the Texans should win out. The Bolts are the wildcard in all of this, but my model has the Texans taking the #2.

[El Barto]

Anybody remember way back in 2018 when Josh McDaniels burned any chance of ever getting another head coaching job outside of NE by ghosting the Colts? Eh, neither does anybody else, apparently.

You'd think no one would touch him but these owners are can't help themselves.

Nah, any team would consider him. They'll just be more cautious bout handshake deals. My dig was at the media and the radio-folk who were looking for stuff to babble on about.

[bosk1]

Here's what I have:

AFC:
1.  Texans (13-3)
2.  Pats (13-3)
3.  Chargers (13-3)
4.  Ravens (10-6)
5.  Chiefs (12-4)
6.  Steelers (9-6-1)

NFC:
1.  Saints (14-2)
2.  Rams (14-2)
3.  Bears (12-4)
4.  Cowboys (11-5)
5.  Vikings (9-6-1)
6.  Seahawks (9-7)

But some games are such a tossup, and these races are so close.  A couple of games going differently could completely alter that picture.  But the interesting thing is, if these go down basically how I mapped them out going into week 17, pretty much NOBODY can rest their starters except maybe the Bears and Cowboys. 

[KevShmev]

Re: McDaniels, once teams/owners get their mind made up about someone, good luck changing it.

Case in point: Kyle Shanahan totally shit the bed with his play calling in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl two years ago, yet the 49ers were still all-too-happy to throw lots of money at him days later because their minds were already made up.

[King Postwhore]

Anybody remember way back in 2018 when Josh McDaniels burned any chance of ever getting another head coaching job outside of NE by ghosting the Colts? Eh, neither does anybody else, apparently.

You'd think no one would touch him but these owners are can't help themselves.

Nah, any team would consider him. They'll just be more cautious bout handshake deals. My dig was at the media and the radio-folk who were looking for stuff to babble on about.

I'm so used to it. Media looks for any crazy angle and the league looks to ignore anything until visual proof forces them to respond. 


Remember the days when the beat reporters like Will McDonough had all the dirt on the NFL but his it to get other juicy stories? Those days are long gone.

[pg1067]

Today, the XFL officially announced Seattle will have a team.

Yesterday, the NHL officially announced Seattle would receive an expansion team.

In the span of 24 hours, Seattle was granted two professional sports teams.

"Professional" being used in the loosest sense of the term.   

Here's what I have:

AFC:
1.  Texans (13-3)
2.  Pats (13-3)
3.  Chargers (13-3)
4.  Ravens (10-6)
5.  Chiefs (12-4)
6.  Steelers (9-6-1)

NFC:
1.  Saints (14-2)
2.  Rams (14-2)
3.  Bears (12-4)
4.  Cowboys (11-5)
5.  Vikings (9-6-1)
6.  Seahawks (9-7)

Probably a bit of wishful thinking on my part, but I came up with the following:

AFC
1. Chiefs (13-3)
2. Patriots (12-4)
3. Texans (12-4)
4. Steelers (10-5-1)
5. Chargers (11-5)
6. Broncos (10-6)

NFC
1. Saints (14-2)
2. Rams (14-2)
3. Bears (11-5)
4. Cowboys (9-7)
5. Seahawks (11-5)
6. Vikings (9-6-1)

[Stadler]

Anybody remember way back in 2018 when Josh McDaniels burned any chance of ever getting another head coaching job outside of NE by ghosting the Colts? Eh, neither does anybody else, apparently.

You'd think no one would touch him but these owners are can't help themselves.

Nah, any team would consider him. They'll just be more cautious bout handshake deals. My dig was at the media and the radio-folk who were looking for stuff to babble on about.

I'm so used to it. Media looks for any crazy angle and the league looks to ignore anything until visual proof forces them to respond. 


Remember the days when the beat reporters like Will McDonough had all the dirt on the NFL but his it to get other juicy stories? Those days are long gone.

Will McDonough was a weird guy, and I know there's controversy around him (some of it fascinating) but he knew his shit.

[King Postwhore]

He stood up to any coach. A tough SOB.  They don't make em like him anymore.

[bosk1]

I would be very upset if the Seahawks managed to get to 11-5.

[hefdaddy42]

I would be very upset if the Seahawks managed to get to 11-5.

Same

[Cool Chris]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

[Dream Team]

Anybody remember way back in 2018 when Josh McDaniels burned any chance of ever getting another head coaching job outside of NE by ghosting the Colts? Eh, neither does anybody else, apparently.

You'd think no one would touch him but these owners are can't help themselves.

I would LOVE having Josh McDaniels in Pittsburgh, but the Rooneys don't work that way. It'll be another 10 years before they're on the Sean McVay train.

[King Postwhore]

Anybody remember way back in 2018 when Josh McDaniels burned any chance of ever getting another head coaching job outside of NE by ghosting the Colts? Eh, neither does anybody else, apparently.

You'd think no one would touch him but these owners are can't help themselves.

I would LOVE having Josh McDaniels in Pittsburgh, but the Rooneys don't work that way. It'll be another 10 years before they're on the Sean McVay train.

So very true.  There seems to be a swell of Pitt fans wanting to get rid of Tomlin.

[KevShmev]

That happens every year.

Tomlin is obviously a good coach, but his team seemingly underachieves every year.

[Architeuthis]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

I'm with you Chris, GO HAWKS!!!

[Dublagent66]

Pitt is as unpredictable as I had previously predicted.   

[King Postwhore]

That happens every year.

Tomlin is obviously a good coach, but his team seemingly underachieves every year.

 . Seems much louder this year.

[KevShmev]

Perhaps, but there is virtually no chance of the Steelers firing him anytime soon.

[pg1067]

I told my 16yo son a couple days ago that the Steelers have only had three head coaches since I was a kid (in fact, since I was 15 months old).  He was astounded (given "how old" I am....).

[Destiny Of Chaos]

You never know when you're going to see history. Just the 2nd 99 yard TD run in NFL history.
 

[KevShmev]

Thanks to some terrible attempts at tackling by the Jags D, who clearly don't give a crap tonight after getting "up" to play the Colts last week.

[mikeyd23]

Perhaps, but there is virtually no chance of the Steelers firing him anytime soon.

There isn't. They won't for obvious reasons (their philosophy). And even though I get VERY frustrated with him at times, I'm not sure there is a better coach actually available. That's the bigger issue in my mind. Philosophy aside, why would they fire him unless there is a clearly better option? His regular season record speaks for himself. The Steelers mindset has been for a while - put a team together that is good enough to make the playoffs, that's the goal. Then maybe you'll get lucky one year, but they view the playoffs as a crap-shoot. So their team is designed to simply make the playoffs. Tomlin does that.

[Stadler]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

Pete Carroll is still there.   He's not a "hateable jerkoff" but I don't really like him much.  (Fucker does look good for 67, though, I'll give him that.)

[El Barto]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

Pete Carroll is still there.   He's not a "hateable jerkoff" but I don't really like him much.  (Fucker does look good for 67, though, I'll give him that.)

I like Pete Carroll. He might actually be a better game manager than Belichick. I gained a ton of respect for him after the super bowl loss. He's certainly deficient (to Bill, that is) in other areas, but I consider him the closes the closest he has to a peer.

[Stadler]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

Pete Carroll is still there.   He's not a "hateable jerkoff" but I don't really like him much.  (Fucker does look good for 67, though, I'll give him that.)

I like Pete Carroll. He might actually be a better game manager than Belichick. I gained a ton of respect for him after the super bowl loss. He's certainly deficient (to Bill, that is) in other areas, but I consider him the closes the closest he has to a peer.

Probably can't argue with that.  He does seem to get the most out of players that were fair to middling elsewhere too (and who leave and are... fair to middling).   Got to admire that.

[hefdaddy42]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

I'm just tired of them more than anything else.  Seems like we play them every year.  Just tired of them.

[bosk1]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

Pete Carroll is still there.   

This.  And Wilson.  And some of their defense.

[KevShmev]

Pete Carroll is just shady.  Great coach, yeah, but look at how he bailed on USC after getting them in hot water.

[Cool Chris]

Pete gets a pass up here because of his youthful enthusiasm and general likeability (unlike say a Belichick). Bringing a city its first major sports championship in almost 40 years also helps.

Wilson... he is definitely a bit of an enigma. Again, winning a team's first Super Bowl and doing it without controversy goes a long way. I can see why people wouldn't run out to buy his jersey, but in a league with so many hateable players, I don't get why he is high on the list.

[Podaar]

I like Wilson, quite a bit, and Carroll is okay.

What makes me hate Seattle is that fucking electric green in their uniforms. That isn't football, it just... wrong, man.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Why the Seahawks hate? Most of the hateable jerkoffs are gone.

Pete Carroll is still there.   

This.  And Wilson.  And some of their defense.

And they're NFC West and our teams are NFC West... that's enough right there!

[cramx3]

Wilson... he is definitely a bit of an enigma. Again, winning a team's first Super Bowl and doing it without controversy goes a long way. I can see why people wouldn't run out to buy his jersey, but in a league with so many hateable players, I don't get why he is high on the list.

I've always liked him, thought he was a beast in college and while small, made it work in the NFL while being a stand up dude.  I understand why he isn't a top liked player, but never understood the hate.