2020 NFL Season

[SFGiants58]

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

 

The clear conclusion here is that the Bills and Browns fans have been holding them back for years, and should be permanently banned if the teams are to maintain long-term success.

Either that or it takes some expansion teams exactly twenty seasons to finally get a winner.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

28 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

Josh Allen finally answers the question Bills Mafia have had for a quarter century: "Who's the heir apparent to Jim Kelly?"

 

Remember when they had a good answer in 1999 and smooth brained themselves into Rob Johnson? I do.

 

Doug Flutie wasn't going to be the answer forever -- he was too old -- but he could have been the guy longer than he was. And he should have started that game against Tennessee. Real sliding doors moment there.

[GDAWG]

44 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Remember when they had a good answer in 1999 and smooth brained themselves into Rob Johnson? I do.

 

Doug Flutie wasn't going to be the answer forever -- he was too old -- but he could have been the guy longer than he was. And he should have started that game against Tennessee. Real sliding doors moment there.

 

They also drafted JP Losman, the only QB taken in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft that won't be a Hall of Famer.  

[AustinFromBoston]

6 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Remember when they had a good answer in 1999 and smooth brained themselves into Rob Johnson? I do.

 

Doug Flutie wasn't going to be the answer forever -- he was too old -- but he could have been the guy longer than he was. And he should have started that game against Tennessee. Real sliding doors moment there.

I've always been convinced that The Bills years mediocrity was a sort of punishment for how they treated Flutie. 

Yeah he wasn't the permanent answer, but he was undoubtedly the better QB and they just did him dirty. Especially in that playoff game. 

[AustinFromBoston]

Wow that was a hell of a game, Really wish Browns pulled it off, they deserved to win that game. 

But even with the loss they still proved they aren't the same old Browns anymore. 

[FiddySicks]

Not only was the game great, the uni combos were spectacular as well. There was a Rams Chiefs game a few seasons ago where the matchup was gorgeous, and it ended up being probably the best game of the season. Love to see it.

[sc49erfan15]

10 hours ago, GDAWG said:

They also drafted JP Losman, the only QB taken in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft that won't be a Hall of Famer.  

 

In fairness, Eli/Rivers/Big Ben were all drafted in the top 10 or so - Losman was drafted 22nd, and another QB (Matt Schaub) didn't come off the board until the end of the 3rd round. And it's not like the '04 draft is known for being stacked. Losman was undoubtedly a bust, but it's not like they missed out on a franchise-changing player by taking him.

[habsfan1]

 

[gothedistance]

The league has determined a formula for the reported 17 game season. It will be an out-of-conference game, and it will be similar to non-division same place finishers within the conference. If the two teams are scheduled to play that year, then it will be an opponent from another division outside of the conference. I'm not sure how that will go though. 

[BBTV]

These "same place in the standings" games don't really do a lot for competitive balance since teams can so quickly go from awful to great and great to awful every year.  The old adage :"they have a first place schedule" doesn't mean nearly as much nowadays as it did in the pre-cap era.

[gothedistance]

Okay, so they're going to do the 17th game with a divisional rotation. This is lazy IMO. 

[leopard88]

10 hours ago, gothedistance said:

Okay, so they're going to do the 17th game with a divisional rotation. This is lazy IMO. 

 

It's probably the fairest way to do it.  I would love it to be a "natural rivals" sort of thing (Jets-Giants, Eagles-Steelers, Ravens-WFT, Texans-Cowboys), but that could affect competitive balance if one of the teams is always bad.  Also, some teams don't have natural geographical rivals in the other conference (ex., Patriots, Vikings, Seahawks).

 

The solution to the uneven home-away problem is simple yet effective . . . rotating between all AFC and all NFC at home each year.  That way, nobody is competing for a playoff spot against a team that played more home games.

[Sport]

11 hours ago, BBTV said:

These "same place in the standings" games don't really do a lot for competitive balance since teams can so quickly go from awful to great and great to awful every year.  The old adage :"they have a first place schedule" doesn't mean nearly as much nowadays as it did in the pre-cap era.

 

Always bothered me when Bill Simmons brings up that the Patriots always had to play "first place schedules". It's two games, Bill! Outside of that they still had six against the AFC East. 

 

I can't think of a fairer way to do it, though. If anything adding a third game that differentiates a team's schedule from their divisional opponents would add more variance. Take the Bengals and the Steelers and look at how their schedules would look next season, for example. Bengals play the Jaguars and Jets, plus, let's say, the Panthers. Steelers would have the Titans, Bills and the Saints. If we have to play 17 then I'm in favor of that schedule. Also in favor of dropping a preseason game. 

[AnPheitseog]

Honestly, i'd rather see 18 than 17. But if you do 17, i agree with @leopard88. All AFC or all NFC home so it doesnt matter having an uneven home and away game.

[ZapRowsdower8]

Any chance that all of these 17th games will be neutral site? If there are two byes, one of them could come the week after playing in London, Germany, or Tokyo. Obviously wouldn’t have worked this year.

[MJWalker45]

10 minutes ago, ZapRowsdower8 said:

Any chance that all of these 17th games will be neutral site? If there are two byes, one of them could come the week after playing in London, Germany, or Tokyo. Obviously wouldn’t have worked this year.

I think the union would be against neutral site games. And  against games outside of North America as well.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Game 17 in a neutral site is an amazing idea. Give the Louisvilles and Birminghams of the world a taste of NFL football without burning through so many spring leagues.

[BBTV]

8 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Game 17 in a neutral site is an amazing idea. Give the Louisvilles and Birminghams of the world a taste of NFL football without burning through so many spring leagues.

 

I'm not sure that NFL teams would enjoy playing in spring-league-level facilities, and I'm not sure owners would love losing out on suite revenue.

 

Not sure there's a better option than rotating the conference that gets the 9th home game.  16 international games should be a non-starter, but I'm sure it'll get suggested.  

[Ridleylash]

I don't think the NFL is going to be super hungry to do a bunch of international games with what's going on right now, especially given current travel restrictions. And like BB said, many areas without pro football don't really have the proper facilities to host a major-league football tenant.

 

Honestly, hopefully this whole thing finally kills the stupid idea of moving the Jags to England.

[Luigi74]

6 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

I think the union would be against neutral site games. And  against games outside of North America as well.

Plus a lot of owners will want that 9th home game every other season.