NFL Talk

I'm happy your Niners are rolling, but I find every win less convincing than the last. If betting were legal here, I'd be preparing a big wager against them come playoff time.
 
I am tired today, but for good reason. Pretty big win for the Patriots over Buffalo last night. I didn't think they had much chance of knocking off Buffalo in their stadium, but that was pretty nice to see. Both teams were pretty sloppy at times and both turned the ball over, but the Patriots were able to make a few more plays than Buffalo. The Jones interception was huge and some of the plays Maye made on the run fueled their second half. The star of the game was obviously Diggs, and as great as he was, I do wonder if he can bring that kind of play week in and week out or if this was him getting up for his old team. He looked like the old Steph Diggs with the ball in his hands.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
I'm happy your Niners are rolling, but I find every win less convincing than the last. If betting were legal here, I'd be preparing a big wager against them come playoff time.
Click to expand...
Well they're definitely not winning with any style points. As a Niner fan myself, this is the least impressive team for several years. But a win is a win. If they ever get out of the injury dull drums, it will be interesting to see if they look more like a real contender. I can't believe they are winning with the players they have healthy now. Mind boggling :oops:
 
TheSameIdiot said:
I'm happy your Niners are rolling, but I find every win less convincing than the last. If betting were legal here, I'd be preparing a big wager against them come playoff time.
Click to expand...

I mean, most of their starting offense wasn't playing and they still beat the 'best' team in their division. There isn't a single team right now that looks like a juggernaut - the Lions probably come closest but their defense is shaky...

If the Niners get healthy on offense their extremely young defense will only get better as the season wears on. Their only loss is to another 4-1 team. We'll see. If they win 2 of the next three - Buccaneers, Falcons, Texans - they would be 6 and 2 at the (sort of) halfway point. They follow that with a stretch against the Giants, Rams, Cardinals, Panthers, Browns and Titans... Thats alot of winnable games and a lot of chances to tighten things down... I would be surprised if they don't make a trade for some pass rush help... Jaelan Phillips from the Dolphins would make sense. Trade a second and a fifth for him, and theb let him sign elsewhere after the season and recoup a comp pick..

I getbl that SF hasn't "looked the part" so far... but they currently have the most 'games lost to injury' for starters of any ream in the league (I'm sure the Ravens will pass them soon) and are 4-1 and in sole possession of first in what many consider a tough division. They are 3-0 against division opponents. If they get better injury luck in the second half of the season they could roll into the post season.

Obviously its also possible the wheels fall off, but I choose optimism for now. I know thats probably a foreign concept for a Panthers fan 😁

The AFC is a wild ride this year. The Ravens at 1-4 with their only win over the Browns. The Chiefs at 2-3.... Meanwhile the Colts and Jaguars are both 4-1.

If the playoffs started today the 1 seeds would be the Niners and Colts... wild.
 
Intersting week coming up. Rams vs Ravens. I'll have to root for Baltimore even if I don't like them. And Chiefs vs Lions. There is a very real chance that the weekend will end with the 1-5 Ravens and the 2-4 Chiefs...

Seahawks at Jacksonville will be interesting. Will be rooting hard for the Jags... not only is a Seahawks loss always good, but Jacksonville being 5-1 makes the Niners loss better in hindsight.

If the Niners can beat the Bucs and the Panthers pull off the home field win over Dallas - Carolina would only be one game back... my son would be happy about that.
 
PantherCult said:
Intersting week coming up. Rams vs Ravens. I'll have to root for Baltimore even if I don't like them. And Chiefs vs Lions. There is a very real chance that the weekend will end with the 1-5 Ravens and the 2-4 Chiefs...
Click to expand...
Hard to see a way back for the Ravens at 1-5, even in a shitty division.
PantherCult said:
Panthers pull off the home field win over Dallas - Carolina would only be one game back... my son would be happy about that.
Click to expand...
Don't let him get his hopes up. The Dolphins/Panthers game wasn't exactly a meeting of the minds. Those are two of the four worst teams in football.
 
Ok had to take some time to console myself after that terrible game against the Pats. Way to beat yourself Buffalo. Although I guess you could say that was the tale of the tape this weekend for most of the "elite" contenders. Kansas City, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Baltimore and San Diego all looked either terrible or shot themselves in the foot.

I love that there are a lot of teams at 4-1 right now filling each week with exciting games with a lot of successful teams facing each other. The Colts and 49ers are pleasant surprises. But pretty much each division is looking at, at least, two contending teams right now which is probably the exception, not the rule (even this early in the season). It will be interesting to see how this plays out though by week 10.
 
Man... I don't even like football... its not bad enough that we started the game without our starting QB, WR-1, Wr-2, all-pro tight end, starting right guard and best defensive lineman... even our WR-3 played a little despite 5 broken ribs. But then we lost all-world, future hall of fame linebacker Fred Warner for the season early on O wanted to break something.

I always thought this is one we could lose... but to have to go the rest of the year without our two best defensive players sucks. Even if we get all those offensive starters back and healthy we're in trouble.
 
Return to normalcy this week. The only surprising results to me were NYG/PHI and KC/DET.

Hard to see the Niners doing much after all these injuries, but the schedule is still so easy.

I take back what I said about Baltimore. They could easily win every remaining game. The toughest games left on their schedule are the Patriots and at Green Bay.
 
The Ravens are 1 and 5. The Steelers are 4-1. The Ravens have looked worse as the season has gone on. Their defense is not good. Not only do I think they may well lose to the Patriots and Packers but think they will lose at least one to Pittsburgh. That would be 8 losses... 9 and 8 is a tough bet for the post season and would likely mean a wild card at best... Honestly they could definitely lose to the Bears or the Vikings as well.

I know the division isn't strong but the Ravens right now maybe also aren't that good.
 
I don’t think they’ve ever Steelers are very good which is why I still give Baltimore a shot. That’s predicated on them getting Jackson back after their bye and straightening their defense so that it’s at least passable. Time is definitely running out though.

Patriots are on a nice roll in the midst of a 3 road games in a row. The last time they won 3 in a row under such conditions Steve Grogan was the quarterback. With Vrabel’s old team on-deck, I think the chances are pretty good they pull off that feat.

Sure feels like this year is being defined by injuries right now. A lot of big names have gone down and each week seems to add another.
 
@PantherCult
Man I read that while I was waiting to fly home from Portland yesterday. :(
Seems like another wasted year for the Niners with all the significant injuries across the board. I do feel that the losses on defense are just too much to absorb. Bummer to be feeling this way about the season even though the team is 4-2 and we're not even half way done.
 
Misfit said:
I don’t think the Steelers are very good which is why I still give Baltimore a shot. That’s predicated on them getting Jackson back after their bye and straightening their defense so that it’s at least passable. Time is definitely running out though.
Click to expand...

I also don't think the Steelers are very good. But I think their defense will likely get a bit better as the season wears on and so I don't think a split with Baltimore is outrageous. Especially if Baltimore doesn't get substantially better on D. The team is not playing well enough to win 11 in a row, thats fore sure. They are lucky to get to play Joe Flacco two more times this year and the Bengals and Browns are both total dumpster fires, so it isn't worst case scenario for sure.

The first game after the bye against a Bears team that is trying to figure things out should be informative. If they handle the Bears convincingly I will have a little more faith.

And in looking at Minnesota's schedule they face the Ravens at the end of a 4 week stretch that includes the Eagles, the Chergers and the Lions. There's a chance the Vikings will be in a three game skid of their own for that meeting, so who knows.
 
With Buffalo's loss at Atlanta last night the Patriots are technically in first place in the AFC East. I would not have predicted that, and I don't think they'll finish in first, but it's nice to have competitive football back in New England after back-to-back 4 win seasons where the team was even less competitive than their win total would suggest. And ABC/ESPN really seem to love these Monday night double-headers. I'm not complaining and it makes sense given that the NFL is basically the only ratings guarantee in television these days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top