2018 NFL Season

[Cosmic]

The Bills almost have to have a mini training camp for QBs if they're not certain that at least one of Josh Allen or Derek Anderson will be ready for next week... and even being in the spot of hoping Derek Anderson will be healthy is frightening enough. EJ Manuel, Chad Kelly, Drew Stanton, Sam Bradford, Matt Flynn, Carson Palmer, Red Skelton, etc. Maybe JP Losman will be available?!?! Let's do this.

[Mac the Knife]

1 hour ago, Cosmic said:

I don't think it was collusion in the traditional sense, with a meeting or a smoking gun e-mail making the rounds. My gut tells me that it didn't have to be said, and that everyone just sort of understood that he was persona non grata. It's not much of stretch when you think about how allergic to controversy teams can be (and yet, I know... Michael Vick!). I'm pulling for him, but I'm not optimistic about his chances.

 

Honestly, I can't see how there wasn't  a league meeting somehere during which the owners broke for dinner or something, and during which they informally agreed among themselves to blackball him.  32 different employers in different parts of the nation, all failing to give a guy so much as a tryout less than three years removed from guiding that team to a Super Bowl appearance?  And especially taking Michael Vick Art Schlichter and others into account?  There's simply no way it wasn't collusion.

[Brass]

Suprisingly, UrinatingTree on YouTube had a pretty good take on why exactly Kaep was never signed. I remember hearing it and it made the most sense of everything I had heard. I’ll try to dig it up.

[IceCap]

So the only explanation I've found as to why Buffalo keeps sticking by Peterman? Nathan Peterman is a very religious person. As is Sean McDermott. Apparently this has formed something of a bond, to the point where McDermott is willing to overlook flaws to a ridiculous degree.

 

I have no idea if the guy who said that has an inside edge or not, but it's as good an explanation as any.

[GDAWG]

The Patriots new team song should be "All I do is Win" by DJ Khaled, Ludacris, Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg, because that's all they do. 

[Wings]

Most likely the last head to head match-up of Brady & Rodgers.

[Wings]

 

Bye Week 31, Giants 10

[MDGP]

3 hours ago, GDAWG said:

The Patriots new team song should be "All I do is Win" by DJ Khaled, Ludacris, Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg, because that's all they do. 

 

They're way ahead of you on that one

 

 

[JWhiz96]

Nathan Peterman has been an utter disgrace. It is absolutely ridiculous how McDermott continues to play him despite being quite possibly the worst quarterback to step on a pro field. The Bills should be ashamed.

[Mac the Knife]

While no one was really paying attention, around a month ago the NFL reorganized its committee structure.  Some interesting changes and a series of either new or previously unknown committees emerged...

 

Competition Committee

Rich McKay (Chairman), John Elway, Stephen Jones, John Mara, Mark Murphy, Ozzie Newsome, Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin

Coaches Subcommittee
John Madden (Chairman), Todd Bowles, Jason Garrett, John Harbaugh, Mike McCarthy, Bill O’Brien, Andy Reid,  Ron Rivera, Mike Zimmer

General Managers Advisory Committee
Rick Spielman (Co-Chairman), Tom Telesco (Co-Chairman), David Caldwell, Kevin Colbert, Thomas Dimitroff, Mickey Loomis, Reggie McKenzie, Mike Maccagnan, Will McClay, John Schneider

Subcommittee on College Relations
John Schneider (Chairman), Chris Grier, Steve Keim, Mark Murphy, Jon Robinson, Mike Tomlin, Doug Williams

Player Safety Advisory Panel
John Madden (Co-Chairman), Ronnie Lott (Co-Chairman), Patrick Kerney, Willie Lanier, Steve Mariucci, Curtis Martin, Mark Murphy*, Orlando Pace

*Liaison to owners H&S Advisory Committee

 

The above five are actually one main committee and four subcommittees.  I was aware up until now of the Coaches' and College Relations subcommittees, but the rest appear to me to be knew.  There are several things about these assignments that I don't understand... first, I don't think there should be subcommittees for coaches and GM's - they should be members of the Competition Committee in their own right.  I'd also argue that as much as I love John Madden, he's no business being involved as he's now approaching 40 years removed from his last actual coaching job.

Health & Safety Advisory Committee
John York (Chairman), Charlotte Anderson, Michael Bidwill, Shahid Khan, Rich McKay, John Mara, Mark Murphy, Terry Pegula, Art Rooney II, David Tepper

Health & Safety Medical Committee
Dr. Elliott Hershman (Chair), Drs. Robert Anderson & Ed Wojtys (Musculoskeletal Committee), James Collins (PFATS President), Dr. Rob Heyer (NFLPS President), Dr. Thom Mayer (NFLPA), Dr. Andrew Tucker (General Medical Committee), Dr. John York (Owners’ Health & Safety Advisory Committee)

 

League Consultants
Drs. Lawrence Brown & John Lombardo (Drug Policy Advisors), Drs. Jeff Crandall & Rich Kent (Engineering Consultants), Drs. Nancy Dryer & Christina Mack (Quintiles)

 

General Medical Committee
Dr. Andrew Tucker (Chairman), Dr. Deverick Anderson, Rick Burkholder, Dr. Doug Casa, Dr. Rob Heyer, Dwight Hollier, Dr. Thom Mayer (NFLPA), Dr. Patrick Strollo, Dr. Robert Vogel

 

Head, Neck and Spine Committee
Dr. Nicholas Theodore (Chairman), Dr. Julian Bailes, Mr. Ronnie Barnes, Dr. Mitch Berger, Dr. Robert Cantu (Consultant), Dr. Javier Cardenas, Mr. James Collins (PFATS President), Dr. Rob Heyer (NFLPS President), Dr. Wellington Hsu, Dr. Russell Lonser, Dr. Joseph Maroon (Consultant), Dr. Thom Mayer (NFLPA), Dr. Elizabeth Pieroth, Dr. Margot Putukian

Musculoskeletal Committee
Dr. Robert Anderson (Co-Chairman), Dr. Ed Wojtys (Co-Chairman), Dr. Asheesh Bedi, Dr. James Bradley, Dr. Robert Brophy, Rick Burkholder, Joe Cimino, Dr. Mike Coughlin, Dr. Rob Heyer, Dr. Thomas Hunt, Dr. William Levine, Dr. Thom Mayer (NFLPA), Dr. Kurt Spindler

 

These represent a HUGE expansion of health and safety-related committees (the last published list I saw included solely the Health & Safety Advisory Committee), which is a good thing any way you slice it.  However, (i) I've always felt that team owners shouldn't be involved in this, even in an advisory capacity, as it's not their field of expertise, (ii) players should be, at least to some extent, but aren't, and (iii) the members of these committees should somehow be independently selected.  They aren't.  I'm not at all saying that these committees and their work are window dressing, but this is a big, new apparatus within the league with the owners at the top of the pyramid so... don't expect great things.

 

Engineering Committee
Dr. Jeff Crandall (Chairman), Kristy Arbogast, Cindy Bir, Randal Ching, James Funk, Richard Kent, David Meaney, Barry Myers, Frank Pintar, Raul Radovitzky, Darren Stefanyshyn

 

This is a brand new one to me.  I've no idea what it does or where its responsibilities lie.  I'll be interesting to learn that though.

 

NFL-NFLPA Joint Field Surface Committee
Richard Kent (Chairman), Kristy Arbogast (NFLPA), Larry Ferazani, Tony Leonard (Field Manager Subcommittee), Andrew McNitt, Sean Sansiveri (NFLPA), Tom Serensits, John Sorochan (NFLPA)

 

As with the Engineering Committee, this is a new one to me.  It seems as if its task is fairly obvious based on its name, but while there are NFLPA reps on the committee, there are no current players, which should give one pause.

Finance Committee
Bob McNair (Chairman), Arthur Blank, Joel Glazer, Clark Hunt, Jim Irsay, Shahid Khan, Robert Kraft, Jeffrey Lurie, Steve Ross

 

Audit Committee
Arthur Blank (Chairman), Gayle Benson, Jeanne Bonk, Dick Cass, Cal McNair, John York,

 

Compensation Committee
Arthur Blank (Chairman), Clark Hunt, Robert Kraft, Bob McNair, John Mara, Art Rooney II

Investment Committee
Jimmy Haslam (Chairman), Cal McNair, David Tepper, Zygi Wilf, Rod Wood

 

Employee Benefits Committee
Ted Phillips (Chairman), Troy Blackburn, Kalen Irsay-Jackson, Jenneen Kaufman

These are the "money" committees of the NFL, where a decent chunk of the league's power lies.  Some names on these committees (Glazer, Irsay, Benson, York) surprise me, while others (Mara, Rooney, Blank) don't.  The surname that's not on at least one of these committees that surprises me?  Jones.

 

Stadium Committee
Art Rooney II (Chairman), Michael Bidwill, Joe Ellis, Stephen Jones, George H. McCaskey, David Tepper, Mark Wilf, Jed York

 

Stadium Security and Fan Behavior
Michael Bidwill (Chairman), Steve Cannon, Joe Ellis, Mark Lamping, George H. McCaskey, Jamey Rootes, A.G. Spanos

 

Kroenke got his stadium so he's now off the Stadium Committee, and unless there's a serious security-related incident at an NFL stadium in the near future, these guys are going to have little to do in all likelihood for a few years.

 

Media Committee
Robert Kraft (Chairman), Joel Glazer, Jimmy Haslam, Jerry Jones, Stan Kroenke, Jeffrey Lurie, Dan Snyder

NFL Network Committee
Jerry Jones (Chairman), Christopher Johnson, Shahid Khan, Robert Kraft, Stan Kroenke, Steve Ross, Steve Tisch, Jed York

 

Digital Media Committee
Jonathan Kraft (Chairman), Bryan Glazer, Clark Hunt, Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Christopher Johnson, Jerry Jones, Jr., Dan Snyder, Jed York

 

These are a second group of "power" committees within the NFL, so it's no surprise to see names like Jones, Kroenke, Kraft and Tisch on them (in some cases, on all three).  Haslam's name is a surprise but not a great one.
 

Business Ventures Committee
Shahid Khan (Chairman), Gayle Benson, Michael Bidwill, Jimmy Haslam, Jonathan Kraft, Kim Pegula, Dan Snyder, Dean Spanos, Mark Wilf

 

This is another "power" committee within the NFL, in that it essentially controls the NFL Business Ventures, LP, along with other subordinate business entities the NFL opertaors.  Seeing Haslam, Benson and Spanos on this committee is something of a surprise.  I'd expect to see a Jones, a Mara or Tisch, a Rooney or a McCaskey in here somewhere.

 

Super Bowl & Major Events Advisory Committee
Katie Blackburn (Chairwoman), Sheila Hamp, Jim Irsay, Mark Lamping, Jeffrey Lurie, George H. McCaskey, Kim Pegula, Amy Strunk, Mark Wilf

 

This is a new committee, tasked with the responsibility of making recommendations for future Super Bowl sites.  Interesting that Katie Blackburn's its chair, but otherwise it's a nice cross-section of people.  Anyone anticipating no future "cold weather" city Super Bowls, however, should see the names on this like (Irsay, Lurie, McCaskey, Pegula and Wilf in particular) and realize that there will still be the occasional Super Bowl held in an Indianapolis, Minneapolis or perhaps in the future a Philadelphia or Seattle.

International Committee
Clark Hunt (Chairman), Joel Glazer, Jeffrey Lurie, George H. McCaskey, Art Rooney II, Steve Ross, Dan Snyder, John York

 

I'm surprised Shahid Khan isn't on this committee anymore.  Really surprised.

 

Legislative Committee
Jim Irsay (Chairman), Michael Bidwill, Arthur Blank, Mark Davis, Dee Haslam, Art Rooney II, Lenny Wilf

 

This is the NFL's congressional lobbying group for all intent and purpose.  Positions on it generally are more honorary than meaningful, as any time there's a beef involving the league at the legislative level, Roger Goodell and a phalanx of attorneys get directly involved.

 

Conduct Committee
Michael Bidwill (Chairman), Charlotte Anderson, Arthur Blank, Warrick Dunn, Dee Haslam, Clark Hunt, George H. McCaskey

 

This is a new one to me... I'm not sure it's purpose or function, but it's interesting to see Jerry Jones' daughter as a member of it, as well as Warrick Dunn.

 

NFL Foundation
Charlotte Anderson (Chairwoman), Michael Bidwill, Kim Pegula, Art Rooney II, Susie Spanos, Steve Tisch, Lenny Wilf

 

The NFL Foundation is what used to be more commonly known as "NFL Charities," which at one time was a huge part of the league's public profile (there was a time when all revenue generated from licensing and merchandising NFL marks was donated to charity).  Seeing Jerry Jones' daughter as its chair though gives you an idea just how charitable this group actually is nowadays though.

Workplace Diversity Committee
Katie Blackburn (Chairwoman), Michael Bidwill, Arthur Blank, Javier Loya, John Mara, George H. McCaskey, Art Rooney II, Kevin Warren

 

This committee was set up a few years ago when they had one PR issue after another hit them.  It's not a window dressing committee by any means, but it's also not a terribly powerful one.

 

Hall of Fame Committee
Jerry Jones (Chairman), Gayle Benson, Mark Davis, Denise DeBartolo-York, Jimmy Haslam, George H. McCaskey, Amy Strunk

 

"We need to put Mark Davis on a committee or two... where can we stick him and make him appear involved, but in truth have no voice whatsoever?  The Legislative and Hall of Fame Committees?  Great idea!"  This committee literally should not exist, as the HOF (ostensibly) is supposed to be its own separate entity.

 

Social Justice Working Group
Michael Bidwill, Arthur Blank, Jimmy Haslam, Shahid Khan, Steve Ross, Kelvin Beachum, Anquan Boldin, Josh McCown, Josh Norman, Aeneas Williams

 

Established along with the "Workplace Diversity Committee," this one was a product of the PR fallout from a few years ago.  I've honestly little idea what it actually does, and suspect whatever functions it does have could've been merged into the Workplace Diversity Committee, with combined power and function.
 

These next three are essentially the committees that are involved in relations with the NFLPA...

 

Management Council Executive Committee
John Mara (Chairman), Mike Brown, Clark Hunt, Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, Mark Murphy, Art Rooney II, Dean Spanos

 

CEC Executive Working Group
Bruce Allen, David Gettleman, Mickey Loomis, John Lynch, Rich McKay, Pat Moriarty, Ted Phillips,  John Schneider, Mike Sullivan

 

CBA Player Benefit Plans Committee
Katie Blackburn, Ted Phillips, John Spanos

 

The Management Council Executive Committee is the group that will be negotiating the next CBA with the NFLPA.  Look at the names on that list.  Those names are the most telling of any on any one of these lists.  What it says is that the NFL is preparing to go to war with its players when the current CBA expires.  With the exception of Mark Murphy and possibly Clark Hunt, these are guys who are going to fight the players tooth-and-nail when it comes to collective bargaining.  What it says (to me, anyway) is that unless DeMaurice Smith suddenly has some change of heart or his players override him?  There's going to be a work stoppage in the NFL when the current CBA concludes.

[Cosmic]

15 hours ago, the admiral said:

What kind of money are you set to make on this one? I want to start feeling bad about my no-gambling vow.

NFL Week 9 a Disaster for Sportsbooks

[Sport]

I want to talk about the Ravens because A. I hate them B. they're useless when you actually want them to win and C. why do so many people still treat this team year after year like it's good? They're old AF. Flacco is and always has been (excluding like 5 miracle playoff games) horrible. And it's been 18 years since 2000 yet they're known as a defensive team despite being hot dog :censored: on defense. Coming into this season the Ravens were a perfect .500 (40-40) with one playoff appearance in the five years since winning the Super Bowl, which is why it's always curious to me how every year around August they're thrown into so many people's playoff picks. They've been living off that miracle run for over five years now and nobody in the national football media will update their perceptions of that mediocre to bad football team. 

 

They missed the playoffs the last four years. Even the stupid frigging Bengals have two more recent division titles than the Ravens and they're the stupid frigging Bengals. 
 

 

And when will people learn that when Roethlisberger gets hurt he's not actually hurt and he'll be back in the game within one series, if not one play? His fat protects his joints. This is why it's impossible to Kimo Von Oelhoffen his knees. They're covered in a layer of skeevy blubber that makes him uninjurable. Every QB who is already kind of a doughy pocket passer should just go all in and get fat to cushion them when they get hit. 

[LMU]

21 minutes ago, McCarthy said:

I want to talk about the Ravens because A. I hate them B. they're useless when you actually want them to win and C. why do so many people still treat this team year after year like it's good? They're old AF. Flacco is and always has been (excluding like 5 miracle playoff games) horrible. And it's been 18 years since 2000 yet they're known as a defensive team despite being hot dog on defense. Coming into this season the Ravens were a perfect .500 (40-40) with one playoff appearance in the five years since winning the Super Bowl, which is why it's always curious to me how every year around August they're thrown into so many people's playoff picks. They've been living off that miracle run for over five years now and nobody in the national football media will update their perceptions of that mediocre to bad football team. 

 

They missed the playoffs the last four years. Even the stupid frigging Bengals have two more recent division titles than the Ravens and they're the stupid frigging Bengals.

The Ravens are a team that's so irrelevant that even their two Super Bowls feel like afterthoughts.

 

The team's worn the same exact look since they got sued for ripping off their first logo and decades later hasn't bother to fix the obvious flaws.  The only thing they've put any real effort into is their haunted house of a headquarters.

[~Bear]

Steelers @ Jaguars has been flexed out of 8:20 to 1:00 PM. Bears vs Vikings has been flexed to the night. 

 

Dissapointed personally because I'm going to the Steelers/Jags game and was looking forward to it being a night game. The Steelers are probably done with night games (unless a Week 17 vs the Bengals) after this Thursday because their Sunday-Night thriller against the Raiders will most likely get flexed down. 

[oldschoolvikings]

15 hours ago, Brass said:

Suprisingly, UrinatingTree on YouTube had a pretty good take on why exactly Kaep was never signed. I remember hearing it and it made the most sense of everything I had heard. I’ll try to dig it up.

Well, I know I certainly trust a urinating tree.

[Sport]

50 minutes ago, ~Bear said:

Steelers @ Jaguars has been flexed out of 8:20 to 1:00 PM. Bears vs Vikings has been flexed to the night. 

 

Dissapointed personally because I'm going to the Steelers/Jags game and was looking forward to it being a night game. The Steelers are probably done with night games (unless a Week 17 vs the Bengals) after this Thursday because their Sunday-Night thriller against the Raiders will most likely get flexed down. 

 

Almost certain this will not get flexed because the Bengals are going to lose 5 of the next 7 and the last game will not matter. 

 

 

[FloridHardaway]

Nice game yesterday for my Panthers. 

[JWhiz96]

5 hours ago, McCarthy said:

I want to talk about the Ravens because A. I hate them B. they're useless when you actually want them to win and C. why do so many people still treat this team year after year like it's good? They're old AF. Flacco is and always has been (excluding like 5 miracle playoff games) horrible. And it's been 18 years since 2000 yet they're known as a defensive team despite being hot dog on defense. Coming into this season the Ravens were a perfect .500 (40-40) with one playoff appearance in the five years since winning the Super Bowl, which is why it's always curious to me how every year around August they're thrown into so many people's playoff picks. They've been living off that miracle run for over five years now and nobody in the national football media will update their perceptions of that mediocre to bad football team. 

 

They missed the playoffs the last four years. Even the stupid frigging Bengals have two more recent division titles than the Ravens and they're the stupid frigging Bengals. 
 

 

And when will people learn that when Roethlisberger gets hurt he's not actually hurt and he'll be back in the game within one series, if not one play? His fat protects his joints. This is why it's impossible to Kimo Von Oelhoffen his knees. They're covered in a layer of skeevy blubber that makes him uninjurable. Every QB who is already kind of a doughy pocket passer should just go all in and get fat to cushion them when they get hit. 

While the 2000 defense was far and away the best of the bunch, the Ravens did employ a solid D throughout the 2000s ('06 and '11 in particular). Their reputation was earned off more than one measly season.

 

But I do agree with you and LMU, the Ravens are mediocre and irrelevant, have been since 2012 (yet Tomlin always finds ways to lose or cheat against them). Flacco should be indicted for grand theft at this point, he's brought nothing to the team for the past six seasons. The defense is the definition of fools gold: always impressive at the beginning of the year, floundering by year's end. Their drafting has been stale at best, and awful at worst. I truly believe Harbaugh's message has stopped resonating at this point. It might indeed be time to blow it up.

 

And I have to admit, that comment about Big Ben was hilarious. Kudos.

 

I also don't understand how the Ravens continuously lose to the Bengals. It's one of those things that baffles me.

[LMU]

Paging @Ice_Cap - another name to the jersey!

 

DAVIS

CARNEY

RICHEY

CHRISTIE

KAEDING

BROWN

NOVAK

LAMBO

KOO

COONS

ROSE

STURGIS

BADGLEY

 

 

[IceCap]

6 minutes ago, LMU said:

Paging @Ice_Cap - another name to the jersey!

 

DAVIS

CARNEY

RICHEY

CHRISTIE

KAEDING

BROWN

NOVAK

LAMBO

KOO

COONS

ROSE

STURGIS

BADGLEY

 

 

:endlesscrying: