NFL 2016: The Regular Season Thread

[infrared41]

4 hours ago, HedleyLamarr said:

Having read Twitter for the last hour, tweets from both fans and media, the huge consensus about Del Rio and Oakland going for two to win the game in the last minute instead of playing for OT was that it was "ballsy", "gutsy", "bold" and the like.  No one said it was a "dumb" move.

 

Interesting how it wasn't called a dumb move...probably because it was successful.  Saying a decision is "dumb" is all hindsight.  End of story.

 

It was a dumb move by Oakland to go for two. It worked, but it was still dumb. End of story.

[Rockstar Matt]

It definitely was dumb. It could have backfired, but it didn't. Good on the Raiders for converting it. Doesn't change the fact that it was still dumb. 

[infrared41]

2 minutes ago, Rockstar Matt said:

It definitely was dumb. It could have backfired, but it didn't. Good on the Raiders for converting it. Doesn't change the fact that it was still dumb. 

 

Exactly.

[FiddySicks]

It was probably "dumb", but for a team like the Raiders? They probably have to be a bit dumb at times if the payoff is high. They've traditionally been "dumb" in the worst of situations, so why change when things are looking up for them?I was against it, but it worked, so who cares? Depends on the outcome. The outcome was good and they won, so it's all good. 

[infrared41]

50 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

Understood - the Browns are basically an expansion team that may win two games.  On the other hand, the Eagles aren't exactly a great team - I think the general consensus prediction for them is 5-6 wins - so it's good to see how they stand against their peers so that you can extrapolate that in to (hopefully) success against the better teams once they're improved to be in that class.

 

Lost in all of this was that their coach was coaching his first game too - and to my surprise, didn't have time management issues, didn't take too long getting plays in, was smart with 4th downs, and generally seemed to have a decent plan for easing Wentz into things.  

 

It's one game.  One game against a horrible team.   But that one game went as well as anyone could have hoped.  Wentz' TD passes were perfect balls that honestly were Manning-esque in that only the Eagles guy could catch them - no INT.  He was consistently hitting guys in stride.  I haven't seen an Eagles QB that could throw like that in my lifetime.  He had a couple of bad ones, but nothing horrid.  He didn't kill any earthworms like McNabb used to all the time.

 

We will see, but when they get throttled by the good teams, it won't be because Wentz is making dumb decisions, or making terrible throws.  He'll make his rookie mistakes for sure, but he just seems "different" than other rookie QBs I've seen come and go.  

 

EDIT: Nick Foles had some similar games in 2013 in the midst of throwing 27 TDs vs 2 INTs.  He looked super accurate, in command, fearless, etc.  Obviously we know what happened to him.  It's easy to use that experience to temper feelings re: Wentz, but like I said, there's something intangible that's just "different".

 

 

I wonder if the Rams are wishing they'd gone with Wentz instead of Goff? Especially after today. Wentz looks really good in a win while, as far as I know, Goff is third on the depth chart behind Case Keenum and Sean Mannion.

 

[HedleyLamarr]

37 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

First off, your obsession with me is getting really old. Yeah, you referred to Twitter, etc., but we both know your little rant was aimed directly at what I said about the BYU - Utah game.

 

Second, it was a dumb move by Oakland to go for two. It worked, but it was still dumb. End of story.

First off, quit being such a narcissist.  There's nothing personal from my end.  You wanted to make it personal from the moment you said "As soon as I saw I had a notification, I bet it was Hedley disagreeing with me".  Probably uttered in an attempt to be funny and get some cheap jollies/likes.  But ultimately, you wanted to make it a personal issue and insist on wanting it to be personal.  For someone that's well within the top ten in quantity of posts on here and already at 11 posts today, you're bound to get replies.  I'm not following you around....you're posting EVERYWHERE.  There's no obsession.  I'm merely putting in my part of the discussion.  If you feel I'm singling you out, I'm not....it just so happens that you're involved in every thread that's got length/tenure.  Maybe you're posting way too much....or taking things way too seriously.

 

Secondly, it wasn't a dumb move by Oakland, and for two reasons:

1. The Saints had enough time to drive far enough to try a lengthy FG attempt. (Which they missed)

2. If it did go to overtime, there's no guarantee the Raiders ever get the ball.  Brees threw for over 400 yards today.

 

Del Rio said it best after the game: "We came here to win.".  Setting to tie the game, with the same amount of time left on the clock for the Saints to try a FG, and with the possibility of never even going on offense in OT by losing the coin flip...the Raiders' lone guarantee of getting the chance to win the game, at that very moment, is to have that one crack from the 2-yard line on the 2-point conversion try.  When there's no guarantee you're going to get the ball again, how is it a dumb move to go for the win when you have one chance instead of settling to tie the game with no guaranteed chance of getting the ball back?

 

And while I disagree with your assessment of the college game, I could at least see your side in it.  I gave my disagreement with a lengthy thought-process and the logic of why I felt it wasn't a dumb decision.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The Seahawks are really good at playing only 17 minutes of an NFL game. Last year that caught up with them; you'd have thought they would have learned from that.

[FiddySicks]

Dolphins are pretty much worthless. I can't remember the last time they won a game like that. 

[BBTV]

52 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

I wonder if the Rams are wishing they'd gone with Wentz instead of Goff? Especially after today. Wentz looks really good in a win while, as far as I know, Goff is third on the depth chart behind Case Keenum and Sean Mannion.

 

 

Well to be fair, if Teddy Bridgewater's knee didn't explode, Wentz is #3 on the depth chart here and not even dressing all year.

 

You know who should be wishing they could have a do-over?  The very Browns that Wentz beat today.  One of their execs said on the radio this week that they traded out because they didn't hink Wentz had the potential to even be a top-20 QB.  Now I know the Browns need all the picks they ccould get so at the time it wasn't a bad deal, but if they end up missing on a franchise guy that was right in their lap, that'd be the Browsest thing ever.

[HedleyLamarr]

1 hour ago, Rockstar Matt said:

It definitely was dumb. It could have backfired, but it didn't. Good on the Raiders for converting it. Doesn't change the fact that it was still dumb. 

Ok, what if I told you:

 

-Saints have enough time to try a FG.

-Raiders, had they just kicked the PAT, wouldn't be guaranteed the ball again, regulation or OT.

 

If you're the Raiders coach, would you rather have that guaranteed one chance to win the game....or tie the game and know you're not guaranteed of having another offensive possession for the rest of the game?

 

It's not a dumb decision at all.  In fact, it's the smarter play, at that point of the game, to give yourself that one chance to try to win instead of relying on the other team to not score AND winning the 50/50 coin flip.  Sure....you could win the flip and march down the field on the league's worst defense.  But, you could also not win the flip and the Saints, with their QB that threw for 423 yards and their offense that went over 500 yards, could just as easily score a TD and end the game.

 

And while you're guaranteed the ball in OT in college, your playbook in trying to gain 3-12 yards on a 2-point conversion is thick.  Asking the offense to move 25 yards on roughly 4-8 plays without doing something wrong (penalties, QB sack, turnover, missing the FG or running out of downs) is a tougher task than picking your one favorite play that works the best.

[infrared41]

21 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

Well to be fair, if Teddy Bridgewater's knee didn't explode, Wentz is #3 on the depth chart here and not even dressing all year.

 

You know who should be wishing they could have a do-over?  The very Browns that Wentz beat today.  One of their execs said on the radio this week that they traded out because they didn't hink Wentz had the potential to even be a top-20 QB.  Now I know the Browns need all the picks they ccould get so at the time it wasn't a bad deal, but if they end up missing on a franchise guy that was right in their lap, that'd be the Browsest thing ever.

 

I wasn't aware of that. In any case, I have to think that Wentz looked better in the preseason than Goff did.

[infrared41]

Removed. I had my head up my ass and misread the post.

 

To make up for my mistake, how about a preview of this week's best and worst llsts?

 

 

[ninersdd]

What a nice drive by Stafford to snatch the win the Lions. Man was he pissed at guys not getting out of bounds. 

[Gary]

13 minutes ago, ninersdd said:

What a nice drive by Stafford to snatch the win the Lions. Man was he pissed at guys not getting out of bounds. 

 

I'm more amazed with the ending of the game. I don't think I've ever seen the game end with a Safety .

[FiddySicks]

Am I the only one who doesn't think the Colts are going to be good this season?

 

[ninersdd]

8 minutes ago, Gary. said:

 

I'm more amazed with the ending of the game. I don't think I've ever seen the game end with a Safety .

There have been game winning safeties before in OT if you were thinking about that (Like Bengals-Dolphins in 2013).

[HedleyLamarr]

30 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

Here's my answer. I don't care. At all. I am wondering why you're so obsessed with this. Please go stalk bother someone else. You aren't going to change my mind.

Unless you've changed your user name to @Rockstar Matt, I wasn't asking for your opinion.

 

It's really hard to believe someone's claim of "being stalked" when they keep insisting to reply to posts where they weren't involved in.  Food for thought.

[slapshot]

@HedleyLamarr and @infrared41

 

Please stop the infighting and bickering. Or take it offline.

 

Just ignore each other, and try to be more direct with the quotes so there's less confusion about to whom you each my be responding.

[Kramerica Industries]

59 minutes ago, Bucfan56 said:

Am I the only one who doesn't think the Colts are going to be good this season?

 

 

Pagano/Grigson needs to be sufficiently burned to the ground. The AFC South being a bad division has made the Colts look better than they actually are for years now. That's a bad football team.

[CS85]

It's only been one Bears game and their suicidal, dopey fan base has already exhausted me.