2020 NFL Thread v. Tom Brady aging better than Mila Kunis

[Dream Team]

Well my team didn’t advance but at least they scored more than 3 frickin points. LOL

[TheCountOfNYC]

The Bills are one step closer to healing their snakebites.

[King Postwhore]

The way N.O. have played against the Bucs that score would be close Josh.

I'm just loving the "It's hard to beat a team 3 times" rhetoric that's being parroted ad nauseum this week. It's literally harder to beat a team 2-0 in the same season than 3-0 since teams going for a 3-0 sweep in the playoffs are like 14-7 since the merger. Sports media is both lazy and blatantly dishonest.

I agree. I dot see the Tampa D stopping N.O. at all.

[black_biff_stadler]

And on top of that, this same Saints team with many of the same players from our current roster went 3-0 against Carolina just 3 years ago and those dipshits in the media were dryhumping that narrative back then too.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

The last time Buffalo played in the AFC Championship Game, Awake wasn't even released yet.

Happy for Bills Mafia tonight.

[splent]

Packers will likely beat either NO or TB, but I just don’t want Brady to get yet another SB birth.

[King Postwhore]

I do. So Bill Belichick can know he fucked up.

[axeman90210]

Any thoughts on the coaching hires? 

If I'm a Jags fan (and I'm not) I'm not thrilled with the Urban Meyer hire.   I'm not a huge fan of pilfering the college ranks anyway, and I think he's an especially bad bet in the pro game.  He's akin to John Calipari, or, to keep it in the sport, Steve Spurrier.  He knows the college game and the college player, and I don't think that his particular skillset is going to translate.

If I'm a Jets fan, (and I'm not) I'm a little more happy, but as much as Saleh has had success, I don't know that he's head coach material, and I don't know that he's going to be able to change the organization at a molecular level like it needs to.  I know him as a rah-rah guy (which isn't my thing) but word is he's very much an intellect and a quiet leader behind the scenes.   So we'll see; we're watching Kevin Stefanski do just that, and Joe Judge, across town, is doing the same thing (apparently).  Even so, I'm not wagering any real money on either of these hires.

A couple pages late, but I'm very happy with the Saleh hire. A couple people I follow who cover the league were touting him as a top tier head coaching candidate before the season ended, and since then it's only been more people who know and/or have worked with him coming out of the woodworks to say he's going to be great.

[Dream Team]

I do. So Bill Belichick can know he fucked up.

This I can kind of agree with, BB has a massive ego.

[KevShmev]

Joe and I have been over this already, but while it's easy to say that Belichick blew it, since the Patriots missed the playoffs and the Bucs are still alive, the Patriots weren't going anywhere this season with anyone at QB. Too many other issues, but I get why Patriots fans hate seeing Brady in another uniform.  I hated seeing Albert Pujols in another uniform after he left the Cardinals (different sport, and it was back when I cared about baseball, but same logic applies).

[TAC]

Joe and I have been over this already, but while it's easy to say that Belichick blew it, since the Patriots missed the playoffs and the Bucs are still alive, the Patriots weren't going anywhere this season with anyone at QB. Too many other issues, but I get why Patriots fans hate seeing Brady in another uniform. 

It doesn't bother me. Ill be rooting for the Bradyneers today.

[Stadler]

I have my preferences (Saints > Packers >>> Buccaneers) but I'm already leaning NFC come Super Bowl time.  The only team that could POSSIBLY get me to root for them in the AFC is the Browns, and that's not really "football" as much as it is "culture" (meaning, I might want them to win because they're a blue collar, meat-and-potatoes town).  I don't dislike the Bills or the Ravens, but I can't root for them against what might come out of the NFC. 

I think this Bills/Ravens game is going to be a great football game.

There's an extreme lack of Pat Mahomes in this post.

...those dipshits in the media ... dryhumping that narrative ...

That's kind of my take on this, but that's nothing new.

[Dream Team]

If they didn’t have their narratives, they’d have to do actual data analysis and we all know that’s for “nerds”.

[Stadler]

Joe and I have been over this already, but while it's easy to say that Belichick blew it, since the Patriots missed the playoffs and the Bucs are still alive, the Patriots weren't going anywhere this season with anyone at QB. Too many other issues, but I get why Patriots fans hate seeing Brady in another uniform. 

It doesn't bother me. Ill be rooting for the Bradyneers today.

Me neither; I kind of disagree with the "Belichick blew it" line of thinking, but either way, I'll take one season of hate in exchange for 20 years of dominant greatness all day long.   

[SoundscapeMN]

Bills/ Vikings Super Bowl someday should happen.

Both franchises 0-4, 1 will finally be vindicated.

[hunnus2000]

Bills/ Vikings Super Bowl someday should happen.

Both franchises 0-4, 1 will finally be vindicated.

Isn't ever gonna happen to Minnesota with Kirk Cousins at QB.

[El Barto]

Joe and I have been over this already, but while it's easy to say that Belichick blew it, since the Patriots missed the playoffs and the Bucs are still alive, the Patriots weren't going anywhere this season with anyone at QB. Too many other issues, but I get why Patriots fans hate seeing Brady in another uniform.  I hated seeing Albert Pujols in another uniform after he left the Cardinals (different sport, and it was back when I cared about baseball, but same logic applies).

This is kind of where I'm at. And let's also keep in mind that Tampa built an allstar team for Brady and he's had to rely on it. As well as a very soft schedule. Looks to me like they're 2-4 against playoff teams this year. It's no secret that I'm a Belichick guy, but I really think he's done better with what he's got than Brady did with his.

Really, Tampa kind of fascinates me in a way. Not sure I've ever seen a team go all in for one year the way they have. I haven't looked into it, but it sure seems to me that they have to have rally mortgaged their future on this one shot.

As for this game, is there anybody that doesn't want to see Breeze go out on top? Is there anybody that would rather see Brady pick up, yet, another one?

[TAC]

As for this game, is there anybody that doesn't want to see Breeze go out on top? Is there anybody that would rather see Brady pick up, yet, another one?

Raises hand

[KevShmev]

I think there are a lot of Patriots fans that want to see Brady win one in Tamap just to stick it to Belichick, which I find bizarre. I get the loyalty to Brady, but Belichick was just as big a part of those six championships and yet he gets no loyalty from those fans.  I know, I know, loyalty in sports is fleeting, but jeez you'd think the coach of the team that brought your city six titles would have some equity.

Edit: not referring to any Patriots fan here specifically (honest).

[TAC]

Well, me rooting for Brady has nothing to do with sticking it to Bill.

Why does everything have to do with choosing sides?

[KevShmev]

Well, me rooting for Brady has nothing to do with sticking it to Bill.

Why does everything have to do with choosing sides?

Isn't that what America is like now in 2021?

But I hear ya. 

[TAC]

I'll say that with two sports talk stations in Boston, I am fucking done with the Was it Brady/Was it Belichick debate. It's so fucking stupid.

[KevShmev]

I'll say that with two sports talk stations in Boston, I am fucking done with the Was it Brady/Was it Belichick debate. It's so fucking stupid.

Radio sports talk 99% of the time is useless drivel, but they have to talk about something, right? The obvious answer is, it was both of them, but that is a boring answer that doesn't inspire endless debate.

[King Postwhore]

Belichick said he sold out the last 4 years. I say he didnt do a good enough job as a GM which put him in the position of not keeping his greatest player ever who obviously still has "it."

How did the Pats do with the QB situation this year. Sorry, but it's all on Bill the GM.

[black_biff_stadler]

Bills/ Vikings Super Bowl someday should happen.

Both franchises 0-4, 1 will finally be vindicated.

Isn't ever gonna happen to Minnesota with Kirk Cousins at QB.

That, and they stink in NFC CGs. They've now topped off four straight SB losses with four straight NFC CG losses (1987, 1998, 2000, and 2009).

[Stadler]

Dammit.  I tune in for what I think is going to be a good football game, and I get:

"Jim Nantz welcoming you to the Cleveland Browns and the KANSAS! CITY! CHIEFS!" (with obvious increase in enthusiasm, thus cueing four minutes on Patrick Mahomes, even though the real story here is the Browns).

Good drive by the Chiefs - if you're going to stymie a Cinderella's momentum, the best way to do that is to come right out and punch them in the nose - but Nantz even has to comment, with obvious awe, at how Mahomes threw the ball into the stands.   

Sound?  Buh-bye!   

[El Barto]

Belichick said he sold out the last 4 years. I say he didnt do a good enough job as a GM which put him in the position of not keeping his greatest player ever who obviously still has "it."

How did the Pats do with the QB situation this year. Sorry, but it's all on Bill the GM.

Nothing short of naming him the new OC was going to make Brady stick around. Maybe trading Gilmore, Hightower, and Van Noy for three elite receivers would have done it, but then he bitch that he can't do it all himself. Brady wanted out and he left. That's that.

[Stadler]

Side bar: they ought to rule out yellow gloves (for my watching convenience, of course).   There's a defensive down lineman on the Chiefs with yellow gloves and every play he's in I think there's a flag.

[KevShmev]

That, and they stink in NFC CGs. They've now topped off four straight SB losses with four straight NFC CG losses (1987, 1998, 2000, and 2009).

Their loss to the Giants in the NFCCG finally the 2000 season was the most gutless performance I have ever seen in a football championship game.  Randy Moss and Cris Carter at WR and in their primes and they got shut out and barely broke 100 yards of total offense. 

Dammit.  I tune in for what I think is going to be a good football game, and I get:

"Jim Nantz welcoming you to the Cleveland Browns and the KANSAS! CITY! CHIEFS!" (with obvious increase in enthusiasm, thus cueing four minutes on Patrick Mahomes, even though the real story here is the Browns).

Good drive by the Chiefs - if you're going to stymie a Cinderella's momentum, the best way to do that is to come right out and punch them in the nose - but Nantz even has to comment, with obvious awe, at how Mahomes threw the ball into the stands.   

Sound?  Buh-bye!

Pfft, that is nothing. Did you see the Ravens/Browns MNF game last month?  I am pretty Steve Levy would have laid down at the 50-yard line that night and let Lamar Jackson impregnate him, if that were humanly possible.

[King Postwhore]

Brady wanted out after 2017.  Before the 6th ring.  I believe the cracks came when he was not backed by the team in Deflategate.   Add what he was dealing with with his mom's cancer and the suspension he had to fight really by himself and that was the riff.

Didnt matter after that. He started to do less in the offseason and that did not sit well with Brady.

How many times did Belichick throw accolades at Newton this year with his subpar play?  So if I'm Beady, yeah I want out.

So tell me again who is the root cause for Brady leaving?  Who is the GM who let it get to what you said El Barto? 

There was a reason they were 12-4 in their last year of Brady even though it was a mirage?  One guy was the reason.

The chef screwed up the dinner.

[KevShmev]

Brady wanted out after 2017.  Before the 6th ring.  I believe the cracks came when he was not backed by the team in Deflategate.   Add what he was dealing with with his mom's cancer and the suspension he had to fight really by himself and that was the riff.

Didnt matter after that. He started to do less in the offseason and that did not sit well with Brady.

How many times did Belichick throw accolades at Newton this year with his subpar play?  So if I'm Beady, yeah I want out.

So tell me again who is the root cause for Brady leaving?  Who is the GM who let it get to what you said El Barto? 

There was a reason they were 12-4 in their last year of Brady even though it was a mirage?  One guy was the reason.

The chef screwed up the dinner.

Their number 1 ranked defense in 2019 probably had something to do with that 12-4 record, no? Sure, the defense wasn't as great down the stretch, but they were lights out early on and still finished number 1 in the league. 

[TheCountOfNYC]

The Browns story is amazing and I’m still rooting for them, but they’re in way over their heads in this game. Cleveland’s offense is good enough to win, but their defense is completely outmatched against the Chiefs offense.

[Cool Chris]

(meaning, I might want them to win because they're a blue collar, meat-and-potatoes town)

Not to pick on you but I've always found this narrative a little irksome. Are people out there rooting against SEA and SFO because they are white collar, computer programming nerd towns?

[Stadler]

(meaning, I might want them to win because they're a blue collar, meat-and-potatoes town)

Not to pick on you but I've always found this narrative a little irksome. Are people out there rooting against SEA and SFO because they are white collar, computer programming nerd towns?

No, I get it; I hear you.  But I will cop to a LITTLE of that feeling with LA.  For a Northeasterner, who grew up an hour or so from NYC there's an air of "country club" about some of the teams from Los Angeles that is hard for me to root for sometimes. 

And most of it has to do with the fans.   There's something I admire about sitting in 25 degree weather rooting for your team who is a 14-point underdog, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants and a thin coat of orange paint on your chest.   Jack Nicholson isn't doing that, nor is Justin Bieber or Channing Tatum.    I know, this is a stereotype, I get it, but you asked where that narrative came from.  That's where it is for me.

[King Postwhore]

Sure Kev but how was the offense?

How was that #1 pick Harry?  Talk about a disappointment. Who picked him?  Oh wait, there was notes from their scouting on not to pick Harry but Belichick went with what his coach told him.

I'm not saying the Pats would be world beaters this year. I am saying the GM is at fault for this demise.