2023 NFL Regular Season Through Super Bowl LVIII

[The_Admiral]

The schedule is based on a formula, yes, and cross-division games rotate between home and away, but when it comes down to whether those matching-place games are at home or away, the league decides that, and that's how you wind up with x-place Kansas City hosting x-place Buffalo every time. There should be more of an effort to make sure that doesn't happen. I think the same thing used to happen with Favre's Packers always having to play the Cowboys in Dallas.

[Kramerica Industries]

On 11/6/2023 at 10:20 PM, tBBP said:

The last HC I can recall being traded was Jon Gruden from Oakl--um, the Raiders to the Buccaneers.

 

More of a technicality, but Sean Payton was traded by the Saints to the Broncos. For that matter (and to a small degree of compensation) Bruce Arians was traded by the Cardinals to the Bucs. There might be others as well. Those were inactive head coaches who were still under contract vs. an active head coach moving from one team to another like Gruden did, but I figured this was worth noting.

 

22 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

The Bills will have played at Arrowhead in 21, 22 and 23.

 

This year, the Chiefs have the Eagles, Bills and Bengals all at home (Bills on the road for each).

 

In 2024, the Chiefs have Cincinnati and Baltimore at home and play the NFC South (they at least ideas be on the ideas against the AFC East 1).

 

They keep on getting away with it!

 

 

In 2020, the AFC East and West were lined up, and the Chiefs that year were scheduled for away games at Buffalo and Miami, and home games vs. New England and New York.

 

In 2021 and in 2022, they were lined up to face each other as placement opponents; both of them finished in 1st place in the East and West in 2020 and 2021 which lined them up to face each other in the following seasons. In 2018, the Chiefs placement games were away vs. AFCE (vs. New England) and home vs. AFCS (vs. Jacksonville), so this meant those designations flipped in 2021 and they were home vs. AFCE (vs. Buffalo) and away vs. AFCS (vs. Tennessee). Then, in 2019, their placement games were away vs. AFCE (vs. New England) and home vs. AFCN (vs. Baltimore), and again these designations flipped in 2022.

 

So you can see that the Chiefs hardly got any favors when they had to play away games against New England* in 2018 (11-5) and 2019 (12-4) and then Buffalo in 2020 (14-2). Why the system allows where some teams can end up playing the same opponent in the same stadium three years in a row because of designated alignment, I have no idea, I know this isn't completely consistent across the board, but there's absolutely nothing conspiritorial about it.

 

Chiefs play the Eagles at home...the Chiefs played the Eagles in 2021, they finished first in their division last year, the "17th game" is against a same-place team from the nonconference division opponent you faced two years earlier, and odd years are when the AFC team gets the home game. Combine those factors, you get Chiefs hosting the Eagles. Again, this could've worked out any number of different ways. 

 

The NFL scheduling matrix has been pretty consistent since 2002. There was one adjustment that was made somewhere in the late 2000s to limit east coast teams making western trips after the Jets complained about making four different west coast trips in 2008, which is why you had situations like the Seahawks playing the Steelers at home in 2003, then playing at Pittsburgh in both 2007 and 2011 before the Steelers returned to Seattle in 2015, but other than that you can predict 14/17 opponents any team will have in a given season years in advance, and then the remaining three are entirely placement-dictated.

 

Not trying to rain on parades at all, but, like, I could also talk about the Chiefs just this past Sunday, playing a team with the same record as they do in the AFC, fighting for the #1 seed with them, and that was a scheduled home game that ended up getting played thousands of miles away from Kansas City. They didn't get to have their home field advantage that the schedule would've given them otherwise. They won the game anyway, but that sure wasn't something that was rigged in their favor by any means.

 

*In fact, just to jump back to this point to conclude this post - the Chiefs played at New England in the 2017 season opener as well. They played at New England three straight seasons during a span when they won their division every year (they had also won their division in 2016 prior to this). I realize we didn't know what Mahomes was gonna be and what level that would take the Chiefs to until the 2018 schedule was already established, but, again, if they played a given AFC East team on the road three straight seasons (2017-'19), it can't be a surprise they might also soon face a given AFC East team at home three straight seasons as well (2021-'23) if the factors happened to line up to do so (both teams finishing in the same place in their division every year during that stretch).

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I appreciate the research, but as an American, I trust my gut more, thank you.

[Red Comet]

 

1:00 PM EST/12:00 PM CST CBS Games

 

Blue: Packers at Steelers

Green: Texans at Bengals

Yellow: Titans at Buccaneers 

 

4:00 PM EST/3:00 PM CST CBS Games

 

Red: Lions at Chargers

Orange: Falcons at Cardinals

 

 

1:00 PM EST/12:00 PM CST FOX Games

 

Red: 49ers at Jaguars

Blue: Saints at Vikings

Green: Browns at Ravens

 

 

4:00 PM EST/3:00 PM CST FOX Games

 

Red: Giants at Cowboys

Blue: Commanders at Seahawks (Go figure, the Commies are visiting the one US city with a Lenin Statue)

Edited November 8, 2023 by Red Comet

[oldschoolvikings]

Forget the conspiracy theories about  the Chiefs.  Somebody tell me why the Cowboys seem to get to play the Giants about 4 times a year.

[Unocal]

9 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Forget the conspiracy theories about  the Chiefs.  Somebody tell me why the Cowboys seem to get to play the Giants about 4 times a year.

same division 

[PERRIN]

On 11/7/2023 at 3:03 AM, Cujo said:

 

And that's the position they've put themselves in. Brady's Patriots never won a huge road game either.

2018 AFC Championship didn't happen I guess

[SFGiants58]

2 minutes ago, PERRIN said:

2018 AFC Championship didn't happen I guess

The dismal halftime show and the Super Bowl itself sucked that whole season into a black hole.

[dont care]

1 hour ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Forget the conspiracy theories about  the Chiefs.  Somebody tell me why the Cowboys seem to get to play the Giants about 4 times a year.

It probably seems that way when they also have to play the commanders

[Unocal]

I can't believe DAL/NYG is getting that much distribution. With TOMMY DEVITO!

 

They had a chance to swap with SF/JAX

 

I guess FOX thinks Cowboys/anybody will draw a number

[throwuascenario]

On 11/6/2023 at 11:51 AM, Sport said:

 

And the Texans are a better landing spot for a rookie QB?

 

I argued that Stroud and Young were neck and neck as draft prospects go and normally I'm not one to focus on size, especially as a guy who was undervalued in my own athletic career because of my size, but if two guys are tied then go with the bigger dude. Young looks tiny and limited.

 

If we have any Panthers fans here who've watched him more than me they can rightfully tell me to f*** off and eat s*** if I'm wrong, but do you feel like you scored landing Bryce Young right now? 

 

Panthers fan. I did not want him going into the draft and that feeling has only gotten worse with each passing week. I would be willing to bet anything he is not the Panthers' starting QB going into 2025. He has practically no physical talent to play QB. His whole hype was that he was an "elite processor". Well, he is not that either. He makes some of the most boneheaded decisions you will ever see.

 

Size was never one of my concerns, and it doesn't appear to me to have affected him at all. No injuries, not many batted balls. It's the arm. It's not strong enough to play QB in the NFL.

 

I think he will limit the mistakes and turnovers. I can attribute that to being a rookie. The worst part is that he has shown NOTHING. It's not like he's a Favre-type gunslinger who will sandwich highlight reel plays between picks. He literally NEVER even attempts to throw the ball down the field. On the rare occasion he does, he usually throws the ball 10 yards over the receiver's head. The 3 or 4 times all year he's thrown it down field on the field of play, his throws just die. He has no arm strength whatsoever. And then add in the fact that he turns it over as much as anyone in the league. He literally does it on screens and checkdowns. It's almost impossible to play as safe as he does and still turn it over that much. Twice this year, he's thrown a pick to someone less than 10 yards away from him at the moment he threw the ball.

 

And no, the Texans were not a better landing spot. Robert Woods and Nico Collins might be the only 1-2 punch in the league that make Thielen and Chark look good. On paper we had the "dream team" coaching staff. Our defense has actually played very well minus a couple games against elite offenses with lots of injuries in the secondary. This is a team that is only a DJ Moore and D'onta Foreman away from the team that went 7-10 (not great but not 1-7) last year with Darnold and Walker at QB.

 

In summary: He is a game manager ceiling player who was supposed to have a high floor but has been the worst QB we've had in the last decade plus.

 

My order of preference of what I wanted them to do in the off-season:

 

1. Stay at #9, draft Carter (possibly the best player in the draft). Either trade up in round 2 for Levis or start Corral or Dalton or sign Cam back.

2. Draft Anthony Richardson #1

3. Draft CJ Stroud #1.

4. Draft Anderson #1.

5. Fold the team.

6. Draft Bryce Young #1.

 

The Steelers and Patriots have proven that picking athletically limited QBs in the first round is a complete waste of a pick and we fell for it anyways.

 

It's tough to swallow the fact that we released the most important player in franchise history for this: Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, PJ Walker, Baker Mayfield (who I actually like but we completely misused and benched after like 5 games), and now Bryce Young.

 

We would've been in a much better spot just keeping Cam all along and keeping all the picks and cap space we've wasted.

[DustDevil61]

Also a Panthers fan. While I can’t say that I’ve had the opportunity to see all of Bryce Young’s play, I lay the blame at the feet of one person—team owner David Tepper. Releasing the string of QBs as Carolina did to get to this point reeks of knee-jerk reaction after knee-jerk reaction.

 

Are we sure Tepper’s not trying to pull some kind of Major League situation here? I wouldn’t entirely be surprised if we found out he’s been on the phone with San Antonio, San Diego, or St. Louis groups for a while now.

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by DustDevil61
Clarification

[SFGiants58]

8 hours ago, throwuascenario said:

 

We would've been in a much better spot just keeping Cam all along and keeping all the picks and cap space we've wasted.

Thank you for clarifying about the Panthers’ QB situation and how much of a mistake it was to pick Young over far better talent.

 

Keeping Cam Newton, even after his skills had plummeted, would’ve been better than the QB cavalcade since Richardson sold.

[8BW14]

A couple days late but what would be the point of firing Belichek  midseason? The season’s already lost. Let the guy finish the year with some shred of dignity. Maybe they’ve already made the decision to move on and that’s fine, but he deserves to at least kinda appear to mutually part ways or go out on his own terms, however they choose to phrase things.

[throwuascenario]

5 hours ago, DustDevil61 said:

Also a Panthers fan. While I can’t say that I’ve had the opportunity to see all of Bryce Young’s play, I lay the blame at the feet of one person—team owner David Tepper. Releasing the string of QBs as Carolina did to get to this point reeks of knee-jerk reaction after knee-jerk reaction.

 

Are we sure Tepper’s not trying to pull some kind of Major League situation here? I wouldn’t entirely be surprised if we found out he’s been on the phone with San Antonio, San Diego, or St. Louis groups for a while now.

 

 

Oh yeah, the whole thing is on Tepper. Remember that when he got there in 2017, they were fresh off their 4th playoff appearance in 5 years, including 3 division titles and an NFC title. He basically decided that wasn't good enough and dismantled the entire team before he realized he had no clue how to put it back together.

 

And at this point, I wouldn't even care if they move. I'd welcome it, honestly. I grew up in NC as a Panthers fan so I feel I have to stay loyal, but I currently live 15 minutes from Lucas Oil Stadium and would love the excuse to jump ship for the Colts.

 

I've seen that theory before though and never understood the logic. Why couldn't he still move the team if they were good? There's nothing in the lease about low attendance allowing them to move as in the movie (I think, I've never seen it). Wouldn't it be easier to some extent to get tax dollars in any city for a stadium for a good team than for a terrible team?

 

Lastly, why would he want to move the team at all? There's no market that doesn't have a team that would be even close to as attractive a market as Charlotte. And his hometown (Pittsburgh) will never ever get a second team.

 

I definitely could see him moving the team, don't get me wrong. But that would be because he doesn't get the stadium deal he wants, not because he wants the team in a different market. So how could he have known in advance he wouldn't get a stadium deal? It just doesn't make sense.

 

4 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

Thank you for clarifying about the Panthers’ QB situation and how much of a mistake it was to pick Young over far better talent.

 

Keeping Cam Newton, even after his skills had plummeted, would’ve been better than the QB cavalcade since Richardson sold.

 

Probably biased, but I never thought it was all that clear that his skills had "plummeted". Declined, sure. But the first half of 2018 before his shoulder injury was his best half season of his career. 2019, he didn't play. 2020 he took probably the worst roster in the NFL to a .500 record. Look what Mac Jones has done with that team with more talent the last two years. 2021 he played only 2 games start to finish, and had the worst coach of all time in doing so. Never in his career has he played horrendous like a Carson Wentz. He gave top-half of the league QB play in an extremely tough situation in New England in the last real action we've seen from him. His last healthy (half) season before that, he was playing MVP level.

 

I don't think we've seen enough to say he's done but sadly, we may never know. I do think if the Panthers had never been sold, he would've been a first-ballot HOF. There's no real reason to think he and the team wouldn't have continued to succeed.

[dont care]

7 hours ago, 8BW14 said:

A couple days late but what would be the point of firing Belichek  midseason? The season’s already lost. Let the guy finish the year with some shred of dignity. Maybe they’ve already made the decision to move on and that’s fine, but he deserves to at least kinda appear to mutually part ways or go out on his own terms, however they choose to phrase things.

Belichick signed a multi year extension this past offseason, I don’t think he’s the type to admit he’s done and Kraft probably wants to get him out now and get a new regime asap rather than trying to play catch-up again next season.

[Cujo]

8 hours ago, 8BW14 said:

what would be the point of firing Belichek midseason?

 

To give an their next potential head coach a trial run as interim. 

[Red Comet]

Belichick’s a prick but he doesn’t deserve the Old Yeller treatment. That’s for his staff when they leave the nest.

[BBTV]

In more than 30 years of watching NFL football, without hyperbole, this may be the worst game I've ever seen.

 

What the hell was Carolina thinking drafting this kid?  You can be undersized and have success, but this kid doesn't even look like an adult.  I can't believe he was successful even in college.  Shame on their scouts - he's got no chance, and that franchise is screwed for years.

 

As for the Bears, whether they have Fields or not is irrelevant.  He's nothing, will be nothing, and never was anything.  The perfect example of why you don't draft a QB simply because you need one.  That pick set them back years.  Bears fans deserve so much more.

[Unocal]

2 hours ago, BBTV said:

In more than 30 years of watching NFL football, without hyperbole, this may be the worst game I've ever seen.

 

worse than Colts/Broncos last year?