2022 NFL Thread (Chiefs win Super Bowl 57)

[KevShmev]

Because it's fun to overreact (!!), here is my confidence level after two weeks of the 14 teams I picked to make the playoffs.

Buffalo - Very Confident (they appear to be the juggernaut we all expected them to be)
Baltimore - Confident (despite that collapse on Sunday, I still think they win their division)
Pittsburgh - Not Confident (the injury to TJ Watt + the lackluster QB play does not = a playoff berth)
Indianapolis - Shaky Confidence (they have looked awful, but their division is so bad that they could easily turn it around)
Denver - Not Confident (new head coach is a clueless dope, and that division is too tough)
LA Chargers - Somewhat Confident (not confident about the coach, and Herbert's ribs are a concern, but I think their overall talent will get them there)
Kansas City - Very Confident (I already feel silly for having doubted them at all)

Philadelphia - Confident (it's early, but Hurts looks great so far, and their D looks improved as well)
Green Bay - Confident (another ugly week 1, but their D is good, and Rodgers will figure it out enough with those receivers enough to get them to the playoffs)
Minnesota - Confident (ugly loss last night, but Cousins inexplicably never plays well in prime time, and a favorable schedule will get them there)
Tampa Bay - Very Confident (top 3 defense, and despite their issues and Brady's age, I don't see defenses continuing to hold the offense to 16 points a game)
New Orleans - Not Confident (could still eke in given how weak the NFC looks, but Winston is still the turnover machine he always was)
Arizona - Not Confident (despite the awesome comeback, they look like a team that has regressed)
LA Rams - Confident (despite some issues, they have enough talent to still win 10+)

[Stadler]

Vikings with their typical post Super Bowl (beating the Packers) hangover.

I didn't watch every snap - we had the Bills on; man are they good - but what I did see, they made the Eagles look like a good team.

[hefdaddy42]

The Bills are fantastic, and are making my FF teams very good.

[Stadler]

I think Josh Allen might be the GOAT.  He's so good.  He had two throws to Diggs that were worthy of their own highlight reel.  And while Tannehill isn't great, he's not nearly as bad as the Bills' D made him look last night.

[King Postwhore]

His 3rd year everything clicked upstairs for him.  He had ungodly talent all ready but now he sees the field in slow motion.

[romdrums]

I think Josh Allen might be the GOAT.  He's so good.  He had two throws to Diggs that were worthy of their own highlight reel.  And while Tannehill isn't great, he's not nearly as bad as the Bills' D made him look last night.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.  If we're not supposed to rush to judgement on Mahomes, we shouldn't rush to judgement on Allen, either.   . Allen hasn't won anything yet.

[Stadler]

I think Josh Allen might be the GOAT.  He's so good.  He had two throws to Diggs that were worthy of their own highlight reel.  And while Tannehill isn't great, he's not nearly as bad as the Bills' D made him look last night.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.  If we're not supposed to rush to judgement on Mahomes, we shouldn't rush to judgement on Allen, either.   . Allen hasn't won anything yet.

 

I thought "green" would make it too obvious.  Rest easy, I think Josh is good, but he's a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG way from the GOAT.  And he, maybe moreso than Mahomes - for reasons that El Barto has put forth previously about his almost maniacal need to sacrifice his body - should have to prove he can do it for the long haul. 

[Samsara]

THE JETS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!

FLACOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Okay, I'm done. I got my one win this year. I'm good. 

[bosk1]

 

I was kinda scratching my head at predictions before the season began about the '9ers being a 13 win (or so) team this year and taking the division.  With a QB playing his first full season since college, that seemed laughable to me, no matter how much talent they have around him.  But with Garroppolo in, I can see them clearing that bar easily this year.

[TheCountOfNYC]

 

I was kinda scratching my head at predictions before the season began about the '9ers being a 13 win (or so) team this year and taking the division.  With a QB playing his first full season since college, that seemed laughable to me, no matter how much talent they have around him.  But with Garroppolo in, I can see them clearing that bar easily this year.

It think with Jimmy G, the NFC West is the 49ers division to lose.

[King Postwhore]

That's if he stays healthy.  That a major part to why the 49ers moves up to get a QB.

[Dublagent66]

Not if the Hawks and Cards continue to suck.  The 9'rs are obviously better with JG than without.

[bosk1]

The 9'rs are obviously better with JG than without.

Agreed.  But still have mixed feelings.  The hope and overall feeling is that right now, Jimmy is the better QB, but that Lance has a higher ceiling once he develops, and this season was going to be his time to develop.  So Jimmy as QB right now is awesome on the short-term gain side of the coin, but will most likely be detrimental to the long-term plan.  How much remains to be seen.

[Dublagent66]

The 9'rs are obviously better with JG than without.

Agreed.  But still have mixed feelings.  The hope and overall feeling is that right now, Jimmy is the better QB, but that Lance has a higher ceiling once he develops, and this season was going to be his time to develop.  So Jimmy as QB right now is awesome on the short-term gain side of the coin, but will most likely be detrimental to the long-term plan.  How much remains to be seen.

Funny how that ended up working out.  Dak goes out last week and there was speculation about possibly acquiring JG in Dallas.  I'm like, "not gonna happen" and then Lance goes down for the season in week 2.  The NFC is a lot more concerned about the 9r's now then they were a week ago for sure.

[KevShmev]

Speak for Yourself on FS1 has been rebranded to being Speak, and now has Emmanuel Acho, Joy Taylor, LeSean McCoy and some Dallas writer I've never heard of until now. 

McCoy is surprisingly good as an analyst.  They talked today about Steve Young saying Dak Prescott could learn a few things about fundamentals by watching Cooper Rush, and naturally the two non-athletes were all bent out of shape.  The former players, McCoy and Acho, totally understood what Young meant and explained well why it was fine, while Joy was all in her feelings because she's a Dak fanboy and the Dallas writer totally misconstrued what Young said.  Right, because two talking heads who never played a lick of football in their lives know more about football than one of the greatest QBs ever (Young). 

[hefdaddy42]

Speak for Yourself on FS1 has been rebranded to being Speak, and now has Emmanuel Acho, Joy Taylor, LeSean McCoy and some Dallas writer I've never heard of until now. 

McCoy is surprisingly good as an analyst.  They talked today about Steve Young saying Dak Prescott could learn a few things about fundamentals by watching Cooper Rush, and naturally the two non-athletes were all bent out of shape.  The former players, McCoy and Acho, totally understood what Young meant and explained well why it was fine, while Joy was all in her feelings because she's a Dak fanboy and the Dallas writer totally misconstrued what Young said.  Right, because two talking heads who never played a lick of football in their lives know more about football than one of the greatest QBs ever (Young). 

Nothing about this surprises me at all.

[Stadler]

Speak for Yourself on FS1 has been rebranded to being Speak, and now has Emmanuel Acho, Joy Taylor, LeSean McCoy and some Dallas writer I've never heard of until now. 

McCoy is surprisingly good as an analyst.  They talked today about Steve Young saying Dak Prescott could learn a few things about fundamentals by watching Cooper Rush, and naturally the two non-athletes were all bent out of shape.  The former players, McCoy and Acho, totally understood what Young meant and explained well why it was fine, while Joy was all in her feelings because she's a Dak fanboy and the Dallas writer totally misconstrued what Young said.  Right, because two talking heads who never played a lick of football in their lives know more about football than one of the greatest QBs ever (Young). 

I'm a HUGE fan of Steve Young; he is very smart, his observational skills are second to none, and is not afraid to speak his mind.  He was, if memory serves, the guy to call out Cam Newton early on about not being aware enough of what he has to do to become, and maintain being, a champion.  And Cam never figured it out on his own (even with the help of the greatest coach in football history, though by then it was probably too little too late).

[ReaperKK]

Christian McCaffrey is hurt again with an ankle injury. He must have the best pay to games played ratio in the league right now. What a joke.

[TAC]

I FIGURED IT OUT!!!!!!!!!

[TAC]

I have an NFL pet peeve.

Why do we get the shot of the owner during the game? Like I give a fuck who the owner is or what he's doing.

[ReaperKK]

Yea I don't really care either. You're the owner, you should be at least a few games.

[hefdaddy42]

Christian McCaffrey is hurt again with an ankle injury. He must have the best pay to games played ratio in the league right now. What a joke.

To be fair, he is going to play Sunday.

He gets put on the injury report if he has to blow his nose.

[KevShmev]

Serious question: How did Sean Payton get this rep as being this supposed super awesome head coach?  It seems clear that he will return to coaching next season and will be cherry picking a great landing spot, and I get the impression that teams will be tripping over themselves to hire him.  I don't get it.  I mean, he had Drew Brees for 15 years and got to 1 whopping Super Bowl. What an amazing accomplishment, right? 

[TAC]

Serious question: How did Sean Payton get this rep as being this supposed super awesome head coach?  It seems clear that he will return to coaching next season and will be cherry picking a great landing spot, and I get the impression that teams will be tripping over themselves to hire him.  I don't get it.  I mean, he had Drew Brees for 15 years and got to 1 whopping Super Bowl. What an amazing accomplishment, right?

Kev, I've been preaching this for YEARS. Up until the last couple of years with Brees, which were excellent, the two together only averaged a 9-7 season record with ONE SB appearance. I think off the top of my head, they were 1-3 in NFC CGs.

[KevShmev]

Serious question: How did Sean Payton get this rep as being this supposed super awesome head coach?  It seems clear that he will return to coaching next season and will be cherry picking a great landing spot, and I get the impression that teams will be tripping over themselves to hire him.  I don't get it.  I mean, he had Drew Brees for 15 years and got to 1 whopping Super Bowl. What an amazing accomplishment, right?

Kev, I've been preaching this for YEARS. Up until the last couple of years with Brees, which were excellent, the two together only averaged a 9-7 season record with ONE SB appearance. I think off the top of my head, they were 1-3 in NFC CGs.

I still put the full blame on him for the NFCCG loss to the Rams a few years ago.  Yes, it was a bad missed call on the PI, but Payton completed melted down after that and his team followed his lead.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Serious question: How did Sean Payton get this rep as being this supposed super awesome head coach?  It seems clear that he will return to coaching next season and will be cherry picking a great landing spot, and I get the impression that teams will be tripping over themselves to hire him.  I don't get it.  I mean, he had Drew Brees for 15 years and got to 1 whopping Super Bowl. What an amazing accomplishment, right?

It’s because of the team he coached and their history prior to his arrival. The Saints were one of the doormats of the league for their entire existence, and after Hurricane Katrina, there was talk about them potentially having to permanently relocate from New Orleans. Sean Payton arrives, and in his first season as head coach, the Saints make it to the NFC Championship for the first time. Three years later, they’re hoisting a Lombardi. While they never got back there, they’ve been a perennial contender, making the playoffs more during Payton’s tenure than they did in their entire history before him. If he had coached, say, the 49ers, a team that had already won five Super Bowls and been a major contender from the 80’s through the 90’s, the discussion around him would be much different.

[King Postwhore]

Pats/Ravens game is very entertaining today.

[El Barto]

Pats/Ravens game is very entertaining today.

That interception was just butt ugly.    Mac was clearly looking for a Davante Parker jump ball, but he needed to throw that ball into the 12th row of the stands. NE's front 7 has looked very good. Against a normal quarterback they'd have 8 sacks today.

[King Postwhore]

Definitely El Barto. No Mac is hurt. Doesn't look good.

[El Barto]

It'd be a damn shame if McCorkle is out longterm. Partly because I'm a Patritos fan, and partly for the same reason as Trey Lance. A major blow during a period of huge growth potential is a terrible thing. I really hate seeing great potential stifled needlessly.

[KevShmev]

Someone has to finish last in the AFC West.  Notice that I had the AFC West teams as the 4, 5 and 6 seeds, as I think it will be similar to last year's NFC West where every team is good enough to where it will be hard for any to win enough games to secure one of the top seeds.  Plus, the Raiders won a ton of super close games last year (6-1 in games decided by 3 points or less or in OT), and that often does not play out the same way two years in a row, so all it takes is losing a few of those close games they won last year and they are back down to 8 wins. 

All indications are that Mac Jones has had a brutal summer, and he wasn't exactly a world beater last year.  Feels like the Patriots have 9-8 or 8-9 written all over them (5-12 if a normal team, but BB will get them 3-4 extra wins).

The Bucs have a pretty easy schedule, so predicting them as a top seed was pretty easy for me.

Quoting myself to say I feel smart so far this year. 

[bosk1]

So very nice to see both the Chiefs and Bills exposed as nothing special.  Pretty wild series of events the last couple of minutes of that Miami/Buffalo game.

[KevShmev]

Do we now think Mahomes misses Tyreek Hill a little?  The offense scored 20 vs the Chargers last week and 17 against the Colts today. 

Also, the Bills have the same problem they did last year.  They can blow out teams just like that, but in a close game, they find ways to lose.

[King Postwhore]

Makes the NFL fun doesn't it?

[El Barto]

Xrays on Mac Jones's ankle were negative, which might actually be a bad thing. Recovering from a broken ankle is a lot faster than a high ankle sprain, which is a distinct possibility here. Hopefully it's a minor sprain, but that kid was in a ton of pain leaving the field. Definitely not something he's gonna walk off in a couple of days.