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First kickoff is tonight, and I am sooooo stoked! For a few reasons:

1. My Ravens drafted Lamar Jackson, so I have hope we'll cut Flacco after this season and try to start building a contender! We won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer, I think we can make this work

2. Being near D.C., the Cousins-to-Vikings and Smith-to-Washington moves will be extremely interesting to see how they play out.

3. Last but not least, I'm running a fantasy league this year after we'd put it on hiatus for a few years. We agreed to all auto-draft, and I got Cam Newton as my QB . Should I be worried!?

What are you looking forward to for this season? And Go Ravens!!

I'm looking forward to the start of the season. Tonight's game is too late for me in the UK to be able to watch, so I'll just have to wait till Sunday.

Fortunately, Sky Sports show NFL Redzone on their free channel - so I can follow all the games on that.

In a Pats fan, so I'm incredibly nervous about Brady falling off a cliff at any time now, I really wish they could have kept hold of Jimmy G.

I'm interested to see if the Browns can crawl back to respectability. i like a lot of their moves, but I have deep reservations about the coach.

I'm toying with the idea of trying to pick games this year against the spread, just as an academic exercise, and also to assure me that I do not want to get into sports betting!

Totally agree with both roster related points above - Pats made a mistake sticking with Brady, imo (blasphemy!) and I don't understand how Hue Jackson is still a head coach!

 RiTides wrote:
We won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer, I think we can make this work

But the defense that carried Trent Dilfer would get penalized to oblivion in todays NFL, imo.

We also had a Super Bowl win with Flacco, when he had some elite offensive weapons to help him. Tentatively excited for this season though. I know Flacco is nearing his end, but I think he’s still got something in the tank. My main beef with Flacco, and constant source of personal frustration, is just a lack of visible passion on the field. Say what you want about Brady, but he seems 100% invested in every play . If Flacco had 1/4th of Brady’s intensity, he’d be a better player I think. He’s definitely a middle of the road QB with flashes of greatness.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m excited for Lamar at the wheel, but Flacco would have to get injured or send in ahistorically bad performance toget Lamar starting. Even RG3 would be fun I think, after a solid preseason showing. I prefer a redemption story over a rookie sensation story, personally.

And I think Hue Jackson still has a job because even management knows the players he has are sub-par, so expectations are low. Its Marvin Lewis still having a job thats truly baffling. During his tenure as HC, he had at lead 4 legit elite contender teams and completely choked when it mattered, ie 0 playoff winsduring his 15 year stretch at HC. He got a two year extension after 2017’s 7-9 season. Wut?

Most teams will put you on the chopping black after 1-2 seasons of squandered chances. Harbaugh is definitely on the hotseat, for instance.

And I probably shouldn’t but :

Herbington wrote:

In a Pats fan, so I'm incredibly nervous about Brady falling off a cliff at any time now, I really wish they could have kept hold of Jimmy G.

Isn't you, and Englishman, liking the Patriots a bit like an American being a fan of, I dunno, Earl Grey tea?


On Topic: of the preseason games I watched, it did not really seem to me that any one team has really jumped out as a "clear" front runner, which means there ought to be even more parity than in years past. And the main reason for my lack of watching NFL in recent years seems to have been somewhat fixed. For the record, I stopped watching NFL because of horrible officiating, missing numerous blatant penalties because of a "preferred" team, nothing to do with politics. I guess we'll see this week how much the officials have been reformed.

On the topic of "my" team, I think the punter will be fun to watch, though you always hope he doesn't get much actual work. And Sea-Bass is kind of a fun addition to the roster and hopefully that means the Seahawks kicking game isnt such a liability.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Herbington wrote:

In a Pats fan, so I'm incredibly nervous about Brady falling off a cliff at any time now, I really wish they could have kept hold of Jimmy G.

Isn't you, and Englishman, liking the Patriots a bit like an American being a fan of, I dunno, Earl Grey tea?

I don't like Earl Grey tea either - Yorkshire Tea all the way!

Nah, It was purely down to watching a lot of NFL whilst I was on a road trip around New England a few years ago - including a game in a bar surrounded by pats fans, it just kinda stuck.

Jaguars time baby!

Game 1 vs the Giants on sunday. Ugh...wish we just started vs the Pats but that is next weekend. Would hate to slip one to the giants because we have a tough schedule this year.

Gotta face pats/cheifs/steelers/cowboys/and the eagles - Titans are never and easy match ether and we got them twice.

Not trying to get greedy here but a 4-0 start could be possible (I don't think weve ever done that) Giants/Jets/Titans (I expect to win all these games) but the pats will be tough However - they are a slow starting team usually. We might be able to put them down with this pass rush.

I have been losing interest in the NFL, and reluctantly did Fantasy Football this season even though I won my league last year.

Here is my team this year:

Cam Newton
Kenyan Drake
Kareem Hunt
Brandin Cooks
Nelson Agholor
Ron Gronkowski
Golden Tate
Robbie Gould
Jaguars Def
Bobby Wagner as DP

*plus*

Jareg Goff
Rex Burkhead
Frank Gore
Adrian Peterson
Devin Funchess
Mohamed Sanu
Jared Cook

So as you can see, pretty stinky. So if my team dives, so will my interest in the NFL. This is the first year in I can't remember I am not ordering Redzone too. Honestly, I just want my sundays back.

Shame we hadn't done this thread earlier. Could have done a Dakka Fantasy League.

My team is:

Brady
McCaffrey
Peterson
Connor (as Bell is AWOL)
Brown
Schuster
Engram
Gould
Ravens

Also: Watson, Agholor and Amendola and some more i can't remember off the top of my head.

I'm tempted by Gamepass this year. They're offering an instalments plan which makes it easier to swallow.


As for this weekend. I think the Texans will be a tough game. I'll feel better once Edelman is back from suspension.

Shoot, I totally would've been up for a Dakka fantasy league, too! Let's make sure to start this up earlier next season.

Also, some very overly optimistic views of people's home teams here so far, imo

 KTG17 wrote:
I have been losing interest in the NFL, and reluctantly did Fantasy Football this season even though I won my league last year.

Here is my team this year:

Cam Newton
Kenyan Drake
Kareem Hunt
Brandin Cooks
Nelson Agholor
Ron Gronkowski
Golden Tate
Robbie Gould
Jaguars Def
Bobby Wagner as DP

*plus*

Jareg Goff
Rex Burkhead
Frank Gore
Adrian Peterson
Devin Funchess
Mohamed Sanu
Jared Cook

So as you can see, pretty stinky. So if my team dives, so will my interest in the NFL. This is the first year in I can't remember I am not ordering Redzone too. Honestly, I just want my sundays back.

Nice team. Jareg Goff sounds like a star player for the Orks BloodBowl team

I think your team will do well, Cam is looking good in NorvTurners offense but given the way the Panthers want to run the ball (to protect Cam and help their subpar o line) I think Cam is going to lose some TDS to the RBs. Goff will probably throw more TD passes.
Speaking of RBs your RB group is like a time capsule, you certainly have nostalgia on your side there.

Lol well I got Peterson and Gore very late. Maybe with my last couple of pics. We do a serpentine draft and I got 8th pic, and took Hunt first. By the time it was my pick again the best receivers were gone, so I took Gronk. Gronk never lasts the season so I am mentally prepared for that, but he scores more points than most receivers while most other tight ends don’t score more than most receivers, so I took him second, killing two birds with one stone. I haven’t kept up with the rookies so I skipped over them. I wanted Garoppolo though if I couldn’t get Rogers but as Rogers and Brady and others started getting picked up I panicked and went with Newton, who I am not even a fan of. Big cry baby. Then Garoppolo got picked and I went for Goff. It will prob be tough choosing between the two during the season. I guess I can’t complain tho, both are good QBs.

My WRs are disappointing tho. Somehow I have gotten Tate like 3 years in a row. Marvin was also available but I had him a few years ago and he stunk up my team. I would have strangled him if I could.

I am totally down for a Dakka Fantasy Football season so pencil me in for next year if I am not banned by then.

Really going to need a separate thread for Fantasty Football, as this is the thread for real, actual Football, right?

Sloppy game to start the season, but I’m sure it was a nailbiter for ATL and PHI fans, it going down to the last play and all.

Tons of penalties and some questionable “catch” rulings from the refs and neither team really exploded on offense made for a fairly boring game. Weather delay didn’t help either.

It's definitely fine to talk fantasy here, I started the thread and talk about it in the OP

I'm glad the Eagles won, but that performance probably seals the deal as far as Wentz taking back the starting job as soon as he's healthy, right?

I don't think it was ever really in doubt that Wentz would take back the starting job once he is cleared.

Only seen the highlights this morning, but Ajayi looked good. They obviously didn't show any of the questionable plays, so can't comment on that!

I was thinking Foles might have a shot if he played totally lights out like in the Super Bowl, but you're right. Really shows how impressive the Eagles coaches / game plan was to win the SB, though!

I've wondered why teams aren't faster to swap QBs in critical situations (like the playoffs) when things aren't working. Incidents like RG3 continuing to play (terribly) after tweaking his knee while Cousins was on the bench come to mind... or the opposite, Alabama swapping QBs at halftime to win the college championship last year.

I think it can work especially well when it's a surprise. The other team will have schemed and practiced for the starter, and the whole defense might not be able to adjust to a different QB in the moment.

Glad to see that the refs still have no idea what a catch is. The 64-yard bomb to Julio that got overturned...definitely thought that was a catch.

Okay guys, I've updated the title of the thread to reflect that it's OK to talk about NFL and Fantasy stuff here. If we get so much action we want to split them, we can always do so later

Any questions, just PM me. Cheers!

That was...pathetic.

As much as I'm not really a fan of schadenfreude, I guess I'm left hoping the Ravens go 3-13, give or take.

That's probably a stretch, as most 'experts' see them as a rather mediocre 8-8, but that still means a losing season and crappy draft pick is still in play, so that's good!

What I really hope is that the NFL officiating is...better than it has been in the pre-season and in game 1.

Well I guess I'm hoping for the same for the Pats but honestly, I think they could make the SB again. Them or the Steelers...

The Ravens only hope is to dump Flacco's contract after this season and build up the roster, but that's what has much of Baltimore excited with the Lamar Jackson pick. Here's hoping!

But yeah, I'm under no delusions about this season...

 RiTides wrote:
I've wondered why teams aren't faster to swap QBs in critical situations (like the playoffs) when things aren't working.

Probably because good QBs are so rare and a professional team is unlikely to have more than one of them. Even a shaky game by the starter is almost certainly going to be better than whatever the backup is capable of doing, and the much lower talent level is going to offset any differences in schemes (which mostly consist of "don't try any of the plays that the low-talent backup can't do"). Short of miraculously drafting a stater-tier QB as a backup the only teams that are going to have enough parity between the two QBs will be bad teams with bad starters who really should be backups anyway, at which point the season is a lost cause and you might as well tank for draft position.

 RiTides wrote:
Well I guess I'm hoping for the same for the Pats but honestly, I think they could make the SB again. Them or the Steelers...

Sack up and just do it then - don't just kinda sort half-heartedly do it with some take-backsies.

(And why are you calling out Herbington like that?)

People have been predicting The Cliff for quite some time now - eventually they'll be right, of course, but it's pretty funny how wrong they've been all the previous times.

Anyway, some people are making a big deal about the ratings for the opener being 'down' (8%) from last year, but really, a weather delay, and a boring first half is probably all that's about.

People are going to make a big deal about ratings because it suits their political agenda to do so. The truth is that ratings are still higher than for other sports events (especially for the good games) and the drop is primarily explained by a shift away from TV in general. The people making a lot of noise about ragequitting over protests are a minority compared to the many people telling the cable companies to off even if it means having to resort to illegally streaming their football games.

I root against the Pats and Steelers every year, like pretty much every Ravens fan . But, I don't think their run is over just yet... "The Cliff" does look a lot steeper without Jimmy G, though. I wonder if they'll draft a QB next year? People were predicting they would this year, but I guess they didn't see any value at their draft position...

Peregrine, yeah I think viewership rates is all about the product on the field - good games (including common sense catch rules!) and fewer commercials so you can actually enjoy the game. That's the main thing that keeps me from watching full games - so many ads! Doing away with the double commercial timeout after a score and then after the next kickoff helps, though.

Regarding the QB swap - I meant it more as an "In emergency break glass " situation, like the college football title game last year. There are lots of times an unknown backup comes in and lights it up for a few games until defenses adjust. When you've got to have the one win (like in the playoffs) and your main guy is having a bad day, more teams should consider it, imo!

 RiTides wrote:
Peregrine, yeah I think viewership rates is all about the product on the field - good games (including common sense catch rules!) and fewer commercials so you can actually enjoy the game. That's the main thing that keeps me from watching full games - so many ads! Doing away with the double commercial timeout after a score and then after the next kickoff helps, though.

This is partly true, but the on-field product had the same flaws before ratings started to drop. IMO the bigger issue is just people ditching cable and having to get their football through alternative methods: online streaming, catching the summary/highlights the next day, etc. It's the position I'm in. I'm not going to pay for cable just to get an occasional NFL game, especially when most of my team's games aren't even available in my area. I'm still watching as much football as my work hours permit, but because I'm streaming the game online I don't count towards those ratings numbers.

Regarding the QB swap - I meant it more as an "In emergency break glass " situation, like the college football title game last year. There are lots of times an unknown backup comes in and lights it up for a few games until defenses adjust. When you've got to have the one win (like in the playoffs) and your main guy is having a bad day, more teams should consider it, imo!

I get what you're saying, it's just not a viable option at the NFL level. Going to a surprise backup works when you're Alabama and your backups would be starters on most other teams. It doesn't work so well in the NFL where any QB even remotely qualified to be a starter has a starting job, and your backup is someone so bad they couldn't even get one of the low-tier starting jobs. And most of the time that backup is just your primary guy with less talent and a crippled playbook, you aren't going to gain an advantage over the defense just because you can't throw more than 20 yards down the field. So which would you rather have: an off game from a QB who has demonstrated the ability to play well and could get it together at any moment, or a guy whose likely ceiling is a bad game from the starter and who couldn't even get a job with the Browns.

(And, again, this is less true if you're the Browns and you have backup/starter parity between your two awful QBs. But in that case the last thing you want to do is win and risk your draft position.)

Can you really make that argument when the Eagles just won the SB with their backup, though? And not even in spite of him, but at least in part because of him.

It's an extraordinary case, but shows that backups aren't all like you describe above - or at least, aren't for a 1 - 3 game stretch, if you have a game plan tailored for them and ready to deploy.

 RiTides wrote:
Can you really make that argument when the Eagles just won the SB with their backup, though? And not even in spite of him, but at least in part because of him.

It's an extraordinary case, but shows that backups aren't all like you describe above - or at least, aren't for a 1 - 3 game stretch, if you have a game plan tailored for them and ready to deploy.

Jeff Hostetler was Phil SImms' backup and the Giants won the Superbowl with him after Simms got hurt in the regular season. Teams can have good backups, Mark Brunell was Farve's backup in Green Bay for a few years before he became the starter for Jacksonville, but it's rare for teams to amass that kind of talent at the QB position. Thompson drafted a few good QBs during Farve's tenure but that was an anomaly, both with Farve's longevity and Thompson's luck in the draft.

An important factor with the Eagles last year was cost. Wentz is on his rookie deal so he's an underpaid starting QB which allowed the Eagles to spend more money on Foles than a typical backup would be paid. If Wentz was making $16 million a year Foles would have been a luxury the Eagles couldn't afford unless he was willing to take below market value to be in Philly.

"RiTides" is either being disingenuous to 'make his point' or he's just unaware of Nick Foles' career to date?

Because while technically Nick Foles was the 'backup' on the Eagles, he also had far more career starts than most true backup QB's on most teams have ever had, or will have.