2021 NFL Season - Adults Arguing About Matt Stafford

[IceCap]

3 hours ago, tBBP said:

Granted, the Snatit were turning the corner before they dressed up as Gladiators of the Gridiron, but yeah, I get your point. I've been trying like crazy to find some type of way to like their current uniforms, but...it ain't happening.

I was watching the Monday Night game against the Bills and thought, more than once, "hey it's the Toronto Argonauts."

[tBBP]

Football in the rain can be ugly sometimes.  This game here tonight though? This game been oogly.

 

Like...straight up OOGLY. 

 

Good showing for the Colts' defense, though...I think.

[ninersdd]

Brutal game. The Colts are better then their record, but there has to be some pressure creeping up on Shanahan. Questionable at best when it comes to the draft on offense. Not using/trusting Aiyuk and Lance looks like a project. Trey Sermon was drafted early at RB, but he isn't being used, instead a 6th round rookie(Mitchell) did run well.  Doesn't look good that are only 2 wins are against Detroit and Philadelphia, though the next opponent(Chicago) is on the level of them.

[Wings2]

Even though they did get to a Super Bowl, I've never liked the Shanahan hire. 

[Sport]

That was a watershed moment. That's my favorite Bengals win since they came back from 17 to beat Seattle in 2015. I was expecting a hard lesson because that's what always happened in these kind of games in the Marvin Lewis era and I'm conditioned to expect the worst. Instead they just went into Baltimore in a prove-it, measuring stick type game and bullied the Ravens. Ja'Marr Chase is amazing (and amazing the Bengals, the BENGALS!, actually made the right pick), the defense is actually good, and Joe Burrow is exceeding expectations. 

 

That's the second time this season they've politely escorted the home fans out of a divisional opponent's stadium well before the final gun. Love a boring game with the backups in with 5 minutes left. I think the rest of the NFL should get used to the idea that the Bengals are for real. 

 

 

[tBBP]

1 hour ago, Sport said:

That was a watershed moment. That's my favorite Bengals win since they came back from 17 to beat Seattle in 2015. I was expecting a hard lesson because that's what always happened in these kind of games in the Marvin Lewis era and I'm conditioned to expect the worst. Instead they just went into Baltimore in a prove-it, measuring stick type game and bullied the Ravens. Ja'Marr Chase is amazing (and amazing the Bengals, the BENGALS!, actually made the right pick), the defense is actually good, and Joe Burrow is exceeding expectations. 

 

That's the second time this season they've politely escorted the home fans out of a divisional opponent's stadium well before the final gun. Love a boring game with the backups in with 5 minutes left. I think the rest of the NFL should get used to the idea that the Bengals are for real. 

 

 

 

I must concur.  Although...I got used to that idea last week, and if not for the kickers playing keep-away from the inside of the goalposts last week, they would've beaten Green Bay.  That's simple enough to say...but here's where I knew these weren't your baby brother's Bengals: they were down by double-digits in that game, and yet fought their way back and at one point were ahead.  Against Green Bay...and Aaron Rodgers. And again, if not for them missed field goals...oh and yeah, their defense is pretty stout.  They've got something special cooking in The Jungle (I don't know if y'all call it that, but if not you should; I am.) 

 

That is...if they can keep Joe Burrow upright long enough to see it through.  That's always the big worry.

 

But yeah, through 6 or 7 games, Cincinnati is looking like a real sleeper just-woke-up pick for the postseason.  Good on them. 

[Crabcake]

1 hour ago, Sport said:

That was a watershed moment. That's my favorite Bengals win since they came back from 17 to beat Seattle in 2015. I was expecting a hard lesson because that's what always happened in these kind of games in the Marvin Lewis era and I'm conditioned to expect the worst. Instead they just went into Baltimore in a prove-it, measuring stick type game and bullied the Ravens. Ja'Marr Chase is amazing (and amazing the Bengals, the BENGALS!, actually made the right pick), the defense is actually good, and Joe Burrow is exceeding expectations. 

 

That's the second time this season they've politely escorted the home fans out of a divisional opponent's stadium well before the final gun. Love a boring game with the backups in with 5 minutes left. I think the rest of the NFL should get used to the idea that the Bengals are for real. 

 

 

You guys wholly deserved that win.  The Bengals used to be a huge bogey team for us but there was a stretch there in the Lamar era where they gave us no trouble at all.  The commentators said it a couple times during the game but this is 100% a different team.  Burrow is the truth and everyone who doubted the Chase pick (including myself) looks like a fool,

 

The thing is, though, anyone who actually watched the Ravens for every game this season knows how wildly overrated they were starting to become.  The defense has been emasculated for 5 of 7 games now.  Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and the other great defensive players that have come through this organization are probably embarrassed beyond belief by a unit who consistently loses the LOS and refuses to tackle people most of the time.  The offensive line has been in shambles and would be recognized as one of the worst units in the league if they didn't have the best mobile quarterback of our generation making them look better.  Le'Veon Bell is completely and utterly washed.  Devonta Freeman is less washed but still old and slow.  The only reason we even got to 5-1 was because Lamar put the team on his back and singlehandedly won us the Chiefs, Lions, and Colts games.  Without him this team is easily 2-5 and maybe worse.  He didn't look great yesterday and when Lamar can't be Superman the team falls apart around him.

 

We've had a lot of injuries and I'm incredibly grateful to even be at 5 wins with a good chance of making the postseason if the Ravens can move on from this stinker and take care of business after the bye.  But right now the Bengals are the more complete, better team.  Kudos to them.

[Sport]

2 minutes ago, tBBP said:

 

I must concur.  Although...I got used to that idea last week, and if not for the kickers playing keep-away from the inside of the goalposts last week, they would've beaten Green Bay.  That's simple enough to say...but here's where I knew these weren't your baby brother's Bengals: they were down by double-digits in that game, and yet fought their way back and at one point were ahead.  Against Green Bay...and Aaron Rodgers. And again, if not for them missed field goals...oh and yeah, their defense is pretty stout.  They've got something special cooking in The Jungle (I don't know if y'all call it that, but if not you should; I am.) 

 

We do! Since at least whenever it was that Guns and Roses released "Welcome to the Jungle", but probably before that too. 

 

Their new thing this year is the ultra corny "Ruler of the Jungle" for each game. Here's first ever draft pick Bob Johnson getting the honor. I love it.

 

 

2 minutes ago, tBBP said:

That is...if they can keep Joe Burrow upright long enough to see it through.  That's always the big worry.

 

 

The good news is the o-line has improved to league average and he's taking way fewer hits. And with the defense being what it is they don't have to throw the ball 60 times a game to keep up. It's always in the back of my mind, but I'm a lot less worried about it than I was this offseason. 

[Sport]

8 minutes ago, Crabcake said:

You guys wholly deserved that win.  The Bengals used to be a huge bogey team for us but there was a stretch there in the Lamar era where they gave us no trouble at all.  The commentators said it a couple times during the game but this is 100% a different team.  Burrow is the truth and everyone who doubted the Chase pick (including myself) looks like a fool,

 

The thing is, though, anyone who actually watched the Ravens for every game this season knows how wildly overrated they were starting to become.  The defense has been emasculated for 5 of 7 games now.  Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and the other great defensive players that have come through this organization are probably embarrassed beyond belief by a unit who consistently loses the LOS and refuses to tackle people most of the time.  The offensive line has been in shambles and would be recognized as one of the worst units in the league if they didn't have the best mobile quarterback of our generation making them look better.  Le'Veon Bell is completely and utterly washed.  Devonta Freeman is less washed but still old and slow.  The only reason we even got to 5-1 was because Lamar put the team on his back and singlehandedly won us the Chiefs, Lions, and Colts games.  Without him this team is easily 2-5 and maybe worse.  He didn't look great yesterday and when Lamar can't be Superman the team falls apart around him.

 

We've had a lot of injuries and I'm incredibly grateful to even be at 5 wins with a good chance of making the postseason if the Ravens can move on from this stinker and take care of business after the bye.  But right now the Bengals are the more complete, better team.  Kudos to them.

 

This is why I never hated the Ravens the way I do the Steelers. Even in years when the Bengals had good teams and were making the playoffs the Ravens were never the same mental hurdle for them the way the Steelers were. They'd steal at least a win every season it felt like, even though the Ravens were/are consistently in the top half of the league. The Ravens also didn't have a habit of injuring our players either. The other thing is I only know one Ravens fan and he's a nice guy whereas I have met hundreds of Steelers fans and, best friend included, they're all the Worst People Alive^TM. 

 

But it's been a bloodbath since Lamar came along. First win against the Ravens since 2018. First win in Baltimore since 2017. They didn't score a TD against the Ravens last year and it was probably Burrow's worst game of his rookie season. Regardless of how the rest of the team looks they needed to prove they could beat ole Lammy Jaxx and prove they could play with Baltimore. That TD pass to Brown to put them up in the second half is why he's so scary - He's a legitimately great passer. I was very impressed with the secondary's coverage and the line's disciplined contain.

 

 

[CS85]

Some Bears thoughts since I rarely speak on them here. 

 

1. Paying Justin Peters because you guessed wrong on Teven Jenkins' back is on Pace. Having Bars be worlds better than Simmons yet not serve as emergency starter at RT is on Nagy. Fields paid the price.

 

1a. Nagy wanted Bars to stay in his role as a floating blocker, but it was clear that Simmons doesn't belong on an NFL roster, much less starting at RT. Bars comes in & was at least useful, but it took the game collapsing & Fields getting crushed for that to happen. Bad look.

 

1b. The Bears are down Jenkins, Borom, Ifedi, & Wilkenson. Nagy's a middling-to-poor coach, but that's a hard road to walk. Mustipher's only passable (but growing) and Peters is doing well, but the line is a big part in the struggle to help Fields survive. Moving on.

 

2. Jaylon Johnson's net worth has gone down quite a bit as the season's gone along. He's good, but he isn't THAT good. Like the team he plays for, legitimate competition puts him in his place.

 

3. The Bears wideouts should be looking real hard in the mirror. Allen Robinson is dogging it after being tagged & Mooney's not standing out. Kmet is dropping passes, nobody is stepping up. The so-called weapons on this offense do not exist, & are all ultimately expendable.

 

4. Nagy is in over his head. I don't think he's a BAD coach, but the situation's spinning out of his control. The simple stuff - use of timeouts, clock management, dumbass penalties - he has never learned from his own mistakes, so why would Fields be any different?

 

5. Pace is going to be managing this team for another decade at least. I think the Bears ownership married the guy. He'll get another head coach, maybe two, and another rookie quarterback at least. Ryan Pace is the Ted Phillips of football ops. Get used to it.

6. Eddie Goldman's game hasn't returned, and may not ever come back. Akiem Hicks' body is nearly done with football. Nichols has regressed. The front 7 has some names, but they're not consistent, and that's being polite.

 

7. I'll say again, Roquan Smith needs an extension immediately. Don't pull some ARob with him. He's the future. You build around 58.

 

8. There's a fair bit riding on this 49ers game. The Bears will probably win, knowing Nagy's proclivity for surviving these games against lesser competition, but if he loses? That Pittsburgh MNF game was always going to be huge, but if they lose to SF? Beware.

 

9. The real "win" of yesterday was leaving a 38-3 loss with no additions to the injury report. Maybe the organization will learn from their COVID outbreak and get the entire football ops vaccinated already. If you want to win, prove it.

 

10. Lastly, culling Trestman comparisons up from the archive doesn't work. Completely different situation in both roster & personnel contexts. Trestman was Emery's hire & Emery was selected by a committee. Pace/Nagy are almost honorary McCaskeys by comparison.

[Kramerica Industries]

17 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

The New England dynasty's greatest strength was Tom Brady getting paid below market.

 

I would argue that you didn't quite finish the point. The Patriots' (and now Bucs') biggest strength is Tom Brady being married to someone with an even greater net worth than him. That's a luxury basically nobody else has that I can think of, in any sport.

[Sec19Row53]

11 hours ago, IceCap said:

I was watching the Monday Night game against the Bills and thought, more than once, "hey it's the Toronto Argonauts."

I thought I was watching the Edmonton team at Lambeau yesterday.

[Sec19Row53]

1 hour ago, Sport said:

 

We do! Since at least whenever it was that Guns and Roses released "Welcome to the Jungle", but probably before that too. 

 

Their new thing this year is the ultra corny "Ruler of the Jungle" for each game. Here's first ever draft pick Bob Johnson getting the honor. I love it.

 

 

The good news is the o-line has improved to league average and he's taking way fewer hits. And with the defense being what it is they don't have to throw the ball 60 times a game to keep up. It's always in the back of my mind, but I'm a lot less worried about it than I was this offseason. 

Ultra corny, but given that y'all tie it in with that old song from when the team began (at least I assumed that was when it was from) that leads into Who Dey - yeah. It works.

 

Not saying we didn't start chanting We Dey a few weeks ago, but that's what happens when you win on the road.

[Sport]

27 minutes ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Ultra corny, but given that y'all tie it in with that old song from when the team began (at least I assumed that was when it was from) that leads into Who Dey - yeah. It works.

 

 

Yeah you mean the super cheesy fight song from the late 60's.

 

They stopped playing it for a while, but leaned into it over the last 15 years and now hearing it after scores is the most fun part of any game. I love that game ops is embracing more and more of the late 60's camp they were born out of instead of trying to pretend we're cool in any way.

 

27 minutes ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Not saying we didn't start chanting We Dey a few weeks ago, but that's what happens when you win on the road.

 

I'm glad you had fun, but that's a most basic Steelers fan move and they are the Worst People Alive^TM. I'm not mad, just disappointed. 

[The_Admiral]

Matt Nagy tested positive for COVID and they were all just on a private jet home from Tampa. You're right, we can't compare this to Trestman, because it might be worse.

[Crabcake]

2 hours ago, Sport said:

 

This is why I never hated the Ravens the way I do the Steelers. Even in years when the Bengals had good teams and were making the playoffs the Ravens were never the same mental hurdle for them the way the Steelers were. They'd steal at least a win every season it felt like, even though the Ravens were/are consistently in the top half of the league. The Ravens also didn't have a habit of injuring our players either. The other thing is I only know one Ravens fan and he's a nice guy whereas I have met hundreds of Steelers fans and, best friend included, they're all the Worst People Alive^TM. 

 

But it's been a bloodbath since Lamar came along. First win against the Ravens since 2018. First win in Baltimore since 2017. They didn't score a TD against the Ravens last year and it was probably Burrow's worst game of his rookie season. Regardless of how the rest of the team looks they needed to prove they could beat ole Lammy Jaxx and prove they could play with Baltimore. That TD pass to Brown to put them up in the second half is why he's so scary - He's a legitimately great passer. I was very impressed with the secondary's coverage and the line's disciplined contain.

 

 

Absolutely. The thing is, Lamar’s been capable of making throws like that his whole career. Look at his deep bomb to Hollywood in Week 1 2019 or his throw to Boykin in Week 17 last year. He’s always been capable of throwing passes like that. The problem has either been 1) his consistency, or 2) his receivers have never gotten enough separation to make those throws effective. This year, Hollywood, Andrews, and Watkins (when healthy) are getting separation, and Bateman looked good yesterday too being that possession, big-catch-radius receiver the Ravens have needed since Anquan Boldin left. The passing game is fine; everything else around it fell apart yesterday, which is pretty ironic considering for most of the last two years the story was the exact opposite. 

[CS85]

31 minutes ago, the admiral said:

Matt Nagy tested positive for COVID and they were all just on a private jet home from Tampa. You're right, we can't compare this to Trestman, because it might be worse.

 

I'm not sure I want to say "worse," but it's definitely its own flavor of stupid.  Nagy testing positive for COVID is a non-surprise from an organization run by and populated with dopes.

[Sec19Row53]

2 hours ago, Sport said:

 

 

Yeah you mean the super cheesy fight song from the late 60's.

 

They stopped playing it for a while, but leaned into it over the last 15 years and now hearing it after scores is the most fun part of any game. I love that game ops is embracing more and more of the late 60's camp they were born out of instead of trying to pretend we're cool in any way.

 

 

I'm glad you had fun, but that's a most basic Steelers fan move and they are the Worst People Alive^TM. I'm not mad, just disappointed. 

Yeah, sorry about that. This is where self-aware Packer fan (me) says that you really can't get any cheesier (pun intended) than Go Pack Go over the PA at Lambeau. We think we're cute on the road. We don't mean to be bad people, let alone the Worst People Alive, but we aren't all self-aware.

The fans I dealt with in Cincy were awesome. Lots of fun talking back and forth about the game and all.

[tBBP]

1 hour ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Yeah, sorry about that. This is where self-aware Packer fan (me) says that you really can't get any cheesier (pun intended) than Go Pack Go over the PA at Lambeau. We think we're cute on the road. We don't mean to be bad people, let alone the Worst People Alive, but we aren't all self-aware.

The fans I dealt with in Cincy were awesome. Lots of fun talking back and forth about the game and all.

 

Oh yes you can...ever been to a Steeler game at Heinz? Or anywhere in town while the game's going on?  If so, you've heard this about eleventeen pazillion times more than you need to...

 

 

Listen at your own risk.  (This doesn't even count the dolt who made a whole song out of mispronouncing Troy Polamalu's last name.)

 

That said...I've been to Lambeau twice (though not to a game...YET). For what I have to say about it, Cheeseheads are some of my favorite fans to converse with. They (y'all?) know they're spoiled with success, but don't act all entitled or pretentious with it, unlike a certain fanbase anchored in western Pennsylvania (or North Texas--but that's a different discussion).  Y'all good with me, man!

[Sec19Row53]

7 minutes ago, tBBP said:

 

Oh yes you can...ever been to a Steeler game at Heinz? Or anywhere in town while the game's going on?  If so, you've heard this about eleventeen pazillion times more than you need to...

 

 

Listen at your own risk.  (This doesn't even count the dolt who made a whole song out of mispronouncing Troy Polamalu's last name.)

 

That said...I've been to Lambeau twice (though not to a game...YET). For what I have to say about it, Cheeseheads are some of my favorite fans to converse with. They (y'all?) know they're spoiled with success, but don't act all entitled or pretentious with it, unlike a certain fanbase anchored in western Pennsylvania (or North Texas--but that's a different discussion).  Y'all good with me, man!

1 - I haven't been to a Stillers game at Heinz yet.

 

2 - You wanna come to Lambeau? I know a guy