2018 NFL Season

[dfwabel]

4 hours ago, McCarthy said:

So after declaring my interest in the NFL to be almost non-existent my wife and I decided it would be fun to go to a road game in Indianapolis this season so this Sunday us and a few friends are going to see the Bengals play the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. I am the problem.

 

Anyways, we're staying Saturday night right down the road from the stadium and despite growing up only a couple hours away from Indianapolis I've never spent any actual time there. Where's somewhere we can go eat food and drink alcohol that will be fun for a bunch of 30 year old dorks?

Keep in mind that it's a NASCAR race weekend, there may be more crowds than normal on a Saturday night downtown.  I'd likely head to the Tomlinson Tap Room, but they close at 9PM on Saturdays. Basey's is closer to the stadium and is more of a dive bar.

[Tracy Jordan]

This is the first time I can remember not being the least bit excited about watching my team, or the NFL, in a very long time. Kind of hard to support a team when the head coach says things like "We have a lot of respect for that [legal] situation" in regards to LeSean McCoy being sued by his ex-girlfriend for allegedly having something to do with an intruder robbing her at gunpoint and having her beat up, among other things (i.e. abusing his son and dog). It's also hard to support that team when the players vote McCoy as a co-team captain and the head coach says he is "very proud of him for that".

 

I'm glad that Nike is putting Kaepernick in that new ad even if it's just to piss off the NFL and Trump. Good for them. I look forward to the owners having to testify in open court now that the collusion case is moving to trial. As usual, the league's incompetence knows no bounds. Just one single owner could have prevented this whole thing by just giving Kaepernick a roster spot. Not even a starting or backup spot, just a third string spot. Instead, there's a decent chance that the NFL will have to admit that they blacklisted a player out of fear of public backlash brought on by criticism from the President. These guys are total fools.

[neo_prankster]

This year, I am interested to see who will get LA bragging rights when the Rams and Chargers face off in Week 3.

[dont care]

14 hours ago, Tracy Jordan said:

This is the first time I can remember not being the least bit excited about watching my team, or the NFL, in a very long time. Kind of hard to support a team when the head coach says things like "We have a lot of respect for that [legal] situation" in regards to LeSean McCoy being sued by his ex-girlfriend for allegedly having something to do with an intruder robbing her at gunpoint and having her beat up, among other things (i.e. abusing his son and dog). It's also hard to support that team when the players vote McCoy as a co-team captain and the head coach says he is "very proud of him for that".

 

I'm glad that Nike is putting Kaepernick in that new ad even if it's just to piss off the NFL and Trump. Good for them. I look forward to the owners having to testify in open court now that the collusion case is moving to trial. As usual, the league's incompetence knows no bounds. Just one single owner could have prevented this whole thing by just giving Kaepernick a roster spot. Not even a starting or backup spot, just a third string spot. Instead, there's a decent chance that the NFL will have to admit that they blacklisted a player out of fear of public backlash brought on by criticism from the President. These guys are total fools.

They offered him spots, 2 times he didn’t accept it due to it not being a starter spot, and the other the team recinded it after his girl friend started complaining about the team.

[See Red]

8 minutes ago, dont care said:

They offered him spots, 2 times he didn’t accept it due to it not being a starter spot, and the other the team recinded it after his girl friend started complaining about the team.

 

Which teams offered him?

[dont care]

13 minutes ago, See Red said:

 

Which teams offered him?

Seattle, Broncos, Ravens 

[See Red]

25 minutes ago, dont care said:

Seattle, Broncos, Ravens 

 

As far as I'm aware, the Seahawks didn't. I know the Broncos didn't. John Elway referenced wanting Kaepernick (via trade) before the protests but he wouldn't restructure his contract and take a significant pay cut. But again, that was before the protests.  After the protests, Elway, desperate for a QB and with an opportunity to sign one he once thought highly enough of to trade for, made no effort to sign him, which would seem to support Kaepernick's case. 

 

The Ravens thing, as far as I know, is speculation from Ray Lewis, but an NFL team opting to sign an Arena Leaguer over someone who's had success in the NFL because of things his girlfriend said seems laughable to me. 

[crashcarson15]

On 9/4/2018 at 1:47 PM, McCarthy said:

So after declaring my interest in the NFL to be almost non-existent my wife and I decided it would be fun to go to a road game in Indianapolis this season so this Sunday us and a few friends are going to see the Bengals play the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. I am the problem.

 

Anyways, we're staying Saturday night right down the road from the stadium and despite growing up only a couple hours away from Indianapolis I've never spent any actual time there. Where's somewhere we can go eat food and drink alcohol that will be fun for a bunch of 30 year old dorks?

All of Mass Ave is very fine and fun for 30-year-old dorks, really. It's the other corner of downtown from the stadium, but still walk-able. To give you an idea of the vibe, The Eagle (from OTR in Cincinnati) set up shop at the front of Mass Ave a few years back.

 

Working down the street from southwest to northeast: The Tap has a wide beer selection; The Eagle is a thing you should know; Bazbeaux is pizza that a lot of people here like, but I think is only particularly good for non-traditional pies; Bru is a really solid burger joint; Fat Dan's is just off Mass Ave, which is a Chicago-style deli (so Italian beef and the like); Chatham Tap is a soccer bar with solid pub food. There's a lot of other spots along Mass Ave that I've never been to, and there are some neat shops, too, but that's what I've done in the neighborhood.

 

As for closer to where you are, Loughmiller's is another place to get a burger downtown that's not around Mass Ave, but may be closed on Sunday? Sugarfire is a barbecue place from St. Louis that moved in a couple months ago that a lot of people like and has good brisket. St. Elmo's is the notorious expensive steak house in Indianapolis, but Harry & Izzy's is a little more laid back and accessible and gets you access to try their shrimp cocktail. There's also a handful of more "collegiate" bars along and off of Georgia Street (Brother's is a national college town thing, Kilroy's is an IU thing), which could be another place to drink closer to where you're at. I don't think any IUPUI or UIndy kids really drink downtown though; I think they mostly exist for college grads?

 

Also, nobody goes to the Brickyard, so I wouldn't worry too much about crowds downtown.

[Tracy Jordan]

6 hours ago, dont care said:

They offered him spots, 2 times he didn’t accept it due to it not being a starter spot, and the other the team recinded it after his girl friend started complaining about the team.

 

Denver tried to trade for him in 2016 but the deal fell through when they couldn't agree on the terms for his guaranteed money. Seattle never offered him a contract, they just worked him out. The Ravens only had conversations with Kaepernick but never formally made a contract offer. So he's had zero offers and a total of one workout since the end of 2016. As far as I know, Kaepernick has not demanded a starting spot with any team since becoming a free agent. Do you have a source for that claim?

[TrueYankee26]

Rain delay to start the 2018 NFL season.

[WJMorris3]

It feels weird to go into the 2018 season cheering for the Super Bowl champs.

 

Not that I'm complaining.

[BBTV]

Are all these nonsense flags ruining the game for anyone else? Both teams being called for total nonsense, and IMO the game has been altered by unneeded flags. It’s really not worth watching because the players kinda don’t matter anymore. 

[dfwabel]

25 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

Are all these nonsense flags ruining the game for anyone else? Both teams being called for total nonsense, and IMO the game has been altered by unneeded flags. It’s really not worth watching because the players kinda don’t matter anymore. 

The penalty on Grady Jackson for "driving the QB to the ground" when Foles was in the end zone was a bit extreme to me, but if a dude lines up offside, then that's on him.

 

25 penalties as I type. Last year, team average per game was 6.6.

The Rams/Raiders game might end up with 40 called and take longer than a Big XII game.

[TrueYankee26]

Falcons just Falcon'd again.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

47 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

Are all these nonsense flags ruining the game for anyone else? Both teams being called for total nonsense, and IMO the game has been altered by unneeded flags. It’s really not worth watching because the players kinda don’t matter anymore. 

 

Yes. Offense, defense, referees. It's stupid.

[BBTV]

23 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

The penalty on Grady Jackson for "driving the QB to the ground" when Foles was in the end zone was a bit extreme to me, but if a dude lines up offside, then that's on him.

 

25 penalties as I type. Last year, team average per game was 6.6.

The Rams/Raiders game might end up with 40 called and take longer than a Big XII game.

 

There were roughing the passers on both sides that were absurd, a hold-ish one that negated a big play that didn't need to be called, roughing the kicker that was unnecessary, adn it got to the point where everyone's looking at the area of the screen where the "flag" indication is rather than the actual play.

 

 

The Eagles won the game, but I don't think it means anything at all, because the outcome could have been different (either way) had the refs not called what didn't need to be (or should never have been) called.

 

[dfwabel]

5 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

There were roughing the passers on both sides that were absurd, a hold-ish one that negated a big play that didn't need to be called, roughing the kicker that was unnecessary, adn it got to the point where everyone's looking at the area of the screen where the "flag" indication is rather than the actual play.

 

 

The Eagles won the game, but I don't think it means anything at all, because the outcome could have been different (either way) had the refs not called what didn't need to be (or should never have been) called.

 

I didn't watch the game from start to finish, just parts but have it on DVR.

 

In this NFL where QBs are forever protected, both guys were garbage.  Foles, who I still don't think is in the top half of the league, didn't have much to work with. However, Meh Ryan reverted back to his typical self.

[BBTV]

2 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

I didn't watch the game from start to finish, just parts but have it on DVR.

 

In this NFL where QBs are forever protected, both guys were garbage.  Foles, who I still don't think is in the top half of the league, didn't have much to work with. However, Meh Ryan reverted back to his typical self.

 

Foles sucks.  He had a couple of amazing runs sandwiched around a lot of mediocrity.  He was without his top and 3rd receiver today, and they're still trying to figure out what (if anything) Darren Sproles is now that hes back from his injury, but at the end of the day, he's Nick Foles and despite the size of his member he sucks.

 

None of that takes away from how the referees played a pivotal role in this game, and how they need to be told "just because you can call it doesn't mean you should call it."

[dfwabel]

Eight new NFL officials added to the pool and there are now 24 full time ones.

 

http://www.footballzebras.com/2018/07/staff-changes-highlight-chaotic-officiating-offseason/

 

http://www.footballzebras.com/2018/08/nfl-hires-24-full-time-officials-in-second-year-of-the-program/

[Discrim]

On 9/2/2018 at 4:56 PM, Wings said:

If I were a Raiders fan I would be crying into a Mack jersey not burning it. 

And I would like to thank Chucky from the bottom of my heart for completely alienating Mack for no good reason.  I'll enjoy him in orange and blue.