2013 NFL Off-Season Thread

[Gothamite]

Agreed. Logistics aside, there's also the possibility of one team having a competitive advantage if it's a Southern or dome team vs. one that plays outside in the elements. Let me acknowledge the "they should be able to play in any weather" proponents now; that's true, but regardless, the fact remains that an outdoor cold-weather team would have an advantage in wintery conditions. Same could even be true with two teams not accustomed to winter weather if one's a grind-it-out running team and the other relies primarily on the passing game.

And now teams that are built for an indoor game have an advantage. I don't see the problem with reversing it once in a while.

And I'd love to see a Super Bowl in Seattle. That's definitely a market worth showcasing, and I'd bet that the city's infrastructure could handle it.

[NJTank]

You might be surprised to learn which was the coldest SB ever. I sure was surprised...and I was at the game! I still have my ticket stub with its now-ludicrous face value price of $15.

Still have these, too.

I remember it being cold but turns out the game time temp of 39 is the lowest ever for a Super Bowl.

Nice

[rams80]

Agreed. Logistics aside, there's also the possibility of one team having a competitive advantage if it's a Southern or dome team vs. one that plays outside in the elements. Let me acknowledge the "they should be able to play in any weather" proponents now; that's true, but regardless, the fact remains that an outdoor cold-weather team would have an advantage in wintery conditions. Same could even be true with two teams not accustomed to winter weather if one's a grind-it-out running team and the other relies primarily on the passing game.

And now teams that are built for an indoor game have an advantage. I don't see the problem with reversing it once in a while.

And that's why dome teams have a sub .500 record in the Super Bowl.

[BlueSky]

Saints have hired Rob Ryan as DC.

[dfwabel]

When is his angioplasty scheduled?

Be ready for another year of giving up tons of yardage and little to no turnovers along with poor 3rd Down effectiveness.

[zpqmaowl]

[BlueSky]

Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.

@ dfwabel, I didn't say I was happy about Ryan. We'll see what he can do but starting off with the defensive performance bar set at "worst in NFL history," I can't help but be somewhat optimistic. The Saints' offense is such that even an average D gives them a good chance to win a lot of games. I think the playoffs is where it gets exposed.

Thinking back to 2009, that was a freakishly opportunistic D the likes of which Saints fans may never see again. That team created 39 turnovers and scored 141 points on returns of various types. That's 2.4 turnovers and almost 9 points a game - ridiculously good. And btw, they had at least a couple of TD returns nullified by penalties. I still think the catalyst was Darren Sharper. That was the only season he had substantial playing time and he was a one-man wrecking crew.

Think about this...the guy played 14 games, made 9 picks and averaged over 42 yards per return while scoring 3 TDs. He had a TD return called back against the Giants.

[Drew22]

Double win with Grantham not going to New Orleans and staying in Athens!

[CS85]

Competition committee looked at wider, CFL-style field.

With safety in mind, the NFL's competition committee looked at switching to a wider, CFL-style field as recently as a year ago and could examine the idea again, according to a published report.

The committee is scheduled to meet before the Scouting Combine this month. Former committee member Bill Polian told the National Football Post's Dan Pompei the NFL should consider widening the field.

“It's a radical idea, but I think it's worth thinking about,” said Polian, the six-time NFL executive of the year who's now an ESPN analyst. “You would have more space and perhaps a safer game. I say that based on my CFL experience. There are less collisions of that type in the Canadian game.”

[Kramerica Industries]

That's like the people who want the NHL to start using European sized rinks. It's not something that can just be switched to on a whim. Every stadium in the NFL is built to house an NFL-sized field. A CFL-sized field just wouldn't fit.

[The_Admiral]

How much wider is a CFL field again? There's a fair deal of space between the first row and the sidelines in just about every stadium but Soldier Field; they might be able to get away with it. Not that they should.

I hope this isn't meant to vindicate the Bears for hiring a coach who had been out of actual pro football for eight years.

[BlueSky]

I don't understand. Seems to me a wider field would mean faster pursuit and players colliding at a higher speed than they do now.

[Kramerica Industries]

Including endzones, NFL fields are 120 x 53.5 yards.

CFL fields are 150 x 65.

I don't know of a single stadium that has 15 yards of "give" beyond the endzone boundaries. That's not even thinking about the impact on sightlines.

[The_Admiral]

Soldier Field:

Also with the renovation, the front row 50-yard line seats are now only 55 feet away from the sidelines. This was the shortest distance of all NFL stadiums, until MetLife Stadium opened in 2010, with a distance of 46 feet.

They could juuuust barely fit it into anywhere but the Meadowlands, I guess. I know Dolphin Stadium has a ton of space between sideline and seating because it was built to host soccer as well. Still, doesn't seem worth it.

EDIT: derp, that doesn't take into account that the rows usually curve inward. Never mind. Let's not talk about this anymore.

[BBTV]

I don't understand. Seems to me a wider field would mean faster pursuit and players colliding at a higher speed than they do now.

That was my first thought, followed immediately by the stadium size limitations. I think a wider (not longer though) field would be good just from the perspective of making the game better since players are so fast these days that they have kinda outgrown the standard field, but yeah, giving someone an extra 10 feet running start could be very counterproductive to the safety effort.

Would widening the hash marks sort of accomplish the same thing? Or at least half of the same thing? Obviously if the ball is in the middle then no, but if you give one side of the field an extra 10 feet, that would be good right?

[BigEd76]

Vick restructured his contract to stay with the Eagles.....1 year, potential to make $10M. Gotta say I'm surprised with this one...

[NJTank]

Strange move to say the least for the Eagles

[BBTV]

I would have bet money that he'd be out of here. Not sure what to say about this.

They are bringing in Dennis Dixon as sort of a "mentor" since he's used to Kelly's system. Can't imagine he'd be a candidate for starter though.

I'd say that this move almost certainly means that Nick Foles will be traded, as I can't imagine that there's any way Vick loses a "competition" considering he stayed in Philly despite probably receiving a starting offer from somewhere else. I would assume he was told he'd start.

[dbadefense1990]

Competition committee looked at wider, CFL-style field.

With safety in mind, the NFL's competition committee looked at switching to a wider, CFL-style field as recently as a year ago and could examine the idea again, according to a published report.

The committee is scheduled to meet before the Scouting Combine this month. Former committee member Bill Polian told the National Football Post's Dan Pompei the NFL should consider widening the field.

“It's a radical idea, but I think it's worth thinking about,” said Polian, the six-time NFL executive of the year who's now an ESPN analyst. “You would have more space and perhaps a safer game. I say that based on my CFL experience. There are less collisions of that type in the Canadian game.”

So if the field is widened, how does it work out for all the media people? Because you can't shave out front row seats for field widening, the next approach would be to take away room for media credentials, so that the players can run around freely. Not really gel with this proposal.

[Gothamite]

Strange move to say the least for the Eagles

Kelly wants a year to develop his own quarterback. Makes a great deal of sense since they're not stimulate with him beyond that one season, depending on the long-term cap hit.