2021-2022 NFL Thread

[Pariah]

< rant >

 

Hope springs eternal and all that, but I'm just done.

 

After the Broncos lose this game, as it seems they are destined to do, it's time for a fire sale. It's time to burn this franchise to the ground and start over.

 

Vic Fangio has got to go. As a head coach and as a defensive coordinator, he's failed to get any production out of his team. Tackling has been non-existent. They can't generate takeaways, and they can't stop the other team from moving the ball. Even when they don't allow a score, they allow the other team to chew up precious time on the clock. You can't win games that way.

 

Pat Shurmur has got to go. His offense has been uninspired and ineffective. It's not that he doesn't have good players, it's that he appears to have no clue whatsoever how to use them. The Broncos can't move the ball, and on the rare occasions when they do, they can't generate points. Their third down conversion percentage is abysmal. Actually, I take that back. They'd need to convert something like six consecutive third downs to reach the level of abysmal.

 

And as for the players ... time to clean house. Sell any player that any other team is willing to take and let's rack up some draft picks. Sell Justin Simmons. We can probably get a second or third for him. Sell Drew Lock. With all the injuries out there, there's got to be some team desperate enough to take on his contract. Promote Brett Rypen to second string. Sell Melvin Gordon. Considering his production and his propensity for dropping the ball at the most inopportune times, he's not worth what we're paying him. I'd say sell Von Miller, but after that injury in the first half, I don't know but he's going to be worth much. Sell Devante Spencer. Kick returners need to run, not dance.

 

Basically, sell anyone with more than three or four years of experience for whatever we can get. Build a new lineup through free agency and the draft, and commit to a process of rebuilding. It worked for Cleveland. It could work for the Broncos.

 

Two exceptions to the above, though: kicker Brandon McManus and punter Sam Martin. They're basically the MVPs of this team right now, which is sad. Other than them? Let's flip this house.

 

Outside of the Detroit Lions, I don't see a lot of likely wins remaining on Denver's schedule. Why lose with expensive (but mediocre) talent when we can spend the season evaluating the young players and figure out who's worth keeping for the future?

 

We all know the old saying about the definition of insanity. Something has got to change with the Broncos, and the sooner and more drastic, the better.

 

Of course, none of this will matter until Denver gets to stable ownership group. Maybe next year.

 

< /rant >

[unclevlad]

If you're willing to bail on all the players, then you can't also assert that it's Shurmur's fault and say "it's not that he doesn't have good players."

First and foremost:  if you don't have a QB, you have no offense.  Period.  The end.  The Broncos have no QB.  That said, they really are pathetic so that isn't the ONLY problem they have.

 

Not stopping anyone...man, did we see that at the end.  Just over 5 minutes to go...8 yards, 20 yards, 7 yards, 3 yards and first down, 7 yards, 3 yards and first down, 3 yards, 5 yards, penalty sets Browns back to make it 3rd and 7....and 8 yards to cap it off.  First down, take a kneed, game over.  7 solid runs...the Browns' back gets credit for busting it to get those extra yards several times, and made those plays...2 play-action slants.  All very predictable plays for a team holding onto a thin lead late.  5 minute drill for 62 yards.  NOT ACCEPTABLE defensive performance.

 

But this is where Denver had looked to be.  Hey, Mr. P, you had your bright shiny start...it coulda been worse.....  As it is, yeah, I think the Broncos are headed for a top 10 draft pick and complete (practical, if not mathematical) elimination by Thanksgiving.

[Pariah]

"Random". Riiiiiiiight.

 

Jaguars kicker Matthew Wright selected for random drug test after game-winning FG against Dolphins

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

[Old Man]

20 hours ago, Pariah said:

< rant >

 

Hope springs eternal and all that, but I'm just done.

 

After the Broncos lose this game, as it seems they are destined to do, it's time for a fire sale. It's time to burn this franchise to the ground and start over.

 

The Broncos were definitely the second best orange team on the field yesterday.

 

There are bright spots.  Let's start with the QB.  Teddy is playing, not really well, but solidly above average, at least by DVOA.  He's about Tannehill level and that's not nothing.  Playoff caliber in fact.

 

In the running game, MGIII is 8th in the league in DVOA.  He's playing at a high level.  Javonte, like, isn't.  Not sure what's up with him.

 

For receivers, Jeudy's been hurt.  Patrick and Sutton are 9th and 19th in DVOA.  They're not the problem.  Fant appears to be mostly a blocker.

 

The O-line is really average, a little better at pass pro than run blocking.

 

What about the defense?  The line is top-third... ah, but the secondary gives up a lot of deep plays.  That's a problem but hardly enough to explain the record.

 

Well, let's google the coaches... Oh, dear.  Why are there this many recent articles criticizing Fangio and Shurmur?  Skimming them, it appears Shurmur is far too predictable and refuses to go away from a pass-heavy approach even with his top WR on IR.  And Fangio seems to be struggling to manage both the game and the defense.

 

Anyway, this is a roundabout way to say "don't panic", at least not yet.  Admittedly I have little hope the coaching staff will get a clue this season, but a new regime next year with the current lineup could improve things drastically.

 

Alternatively, you could unearth a trove of deeply racist and offensive emails from the coaches and get them ejected midseason.  Worked for my team!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[unclevlad]

Good gosh.

 

Twas market day today.  Ran a tad late;  missed the first quarter and a half of the early games.  Fox's game was WFT-GB.  ZZZZZ.....  Titans-Chiefs, ok, this should be interesting.

 

WRONG!!!!!

 

17-0 and Titans driving when I switched over.

 

24-0 now and the Titans just got a TO and are moving for a potential score right before half.  Even a FG makes it 4 scores, and that's assuming the Chiefs can shut the Titans down.  FAT CHANCE of that.  Yep...they got the FG.  27-0 at half.  Might have to switch to the Fox game...ugh.  

 

This Chiefs team is falling apart faster than an ice sculpture in a blast furnace.  The defense is horrific, the offense is trying to make too many things happen, and is making a ton of mistakes.  Even last week, they struggled through the entire first half against the weak WFT.  Second half, OK, was good, but that's been the exception.  Week 1 win against the Browns...that's week 1.  Practically a random result, no one ever knows how week 1 games will go, and they aren't at all predictive.  Otherwise, beat the hapless NFC East Eagles and WFT.  (We can virtually write the Cowboys into the playoffs in India ink because the other 3 teams are soooo bad.)  Flip side...they've lost to Titans, Bills, Chargers, and Ravens....numbers 2, 6, 8, and 10 in ESPN's power rankings.  Of course, the Chiefs were 9th, so that calls that power ranking into question.  But to me, putting the Chiefs that high is less about the facts of THIS season, and more about the level of anointing that's been coated over Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.

 

The biggest concern is, assuming the Titans get one more offensive score in the 2nd half, the Chiefs will have given up 30+ 5 times, and 29 another.  This defense is VERY bad.  That makes for a very long road to return to the playoffs.

[Pariah]

Why are the Washington Football Team playing Edmonton? Was there a relegation I missed?

[death tribble]

So the coverage of the Broncos Vs Browns game today and I was expecting the Broncos to win. I mean, they are playing the Browns. But no a close win. They spoke to Browns fans before the game including one who travels to their away games called Big Dawg Willie. The guy is big enough to play American Football

[unclevlad]

6 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Why are the Washington Football Team playing Edmonton? Was there a relegation I missed?

 

I missed the joke....

 

That said, I think relegation would be awesome.  NFL, NBA, MLB...all of em.  Wanna tank?  Get yer ass relegated.  It'd never fly;  it's next to impossible to retrofit it.  But it's nice to dream.

[death tribble]

Relegation is a way of life in the Football (soccer) leagues and it throws up interesting casualties. Manchester United got relegated after the 73-74 season but got promoted straight back and have been a fixture since 75-76. And that team had some of the greatest United stars in it including Bobby Charlton and George Best. But you can be relegated for other reasons or losing your place. Glasgow Rangers one of the big two clubs had to start at the bottom and come back up after financial problems They got three promotions in four years to finally return.

Relegation is serious business for all the divisions. Accrington Stanley folded in the 60s due to it. The National League now feeds teams into League 2, League 2 winners and runners up go into League 1 and the same then follows for League 1 into the Championship and the Championship into the Premier League.

[Starlord]

Cincinnati Bengals 41

Baltimore Ravens   17

 

- 1st place in AFC North

- Joe Burrow throws for 416 yards

- Jamar Chase (the pick everyone criticized and said should have drafted Penei Sewell) caught 201 receiving yards and has the most yards of any WR ever thru 7 games

- This win took place AT Baltimore (who crushed the Chargers last week) and the Bengals had ZERO penalties

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

I came here just for your reaction 😁

[Cancer]

Meanwhile, I can say with full confidence that Seattle will not lose today.

[Pariah]

Weird thought if the day: After seven weeks, the Kansas City Chiefs have the same record as the Denver Broncos.

 

Let that sink in.

[Cancer]

If you'd been told that'd be true before the seasons started, what would have been your reaction?

[Pariah]

I would have been elated, because it would never have occurred to me that the Chefs would have four losses all season, never mind in the first two months. 

[unclevlad]

Whereas I would've been shocked that the Broncos actually managed 3 wins...

 

Raiders (surprise!), Cards, Bucs, Titans, Pats, and Giants (!!) all win in pretty much no-contest games.  Bengals, just looking at the score, might look that way, but it was 17-13 Baltimore...then the Ravens forgot how to defend, looks like.  4 plays, 75 yards;  then 3 plays, 90 yards.  Boom, boom, out go the lights.  2 more TDs in the 4th to add insult to injury.  Still, 6 serious cakewalks on the same day.  Not a great day for us couch potatoes.

[Pariah]

I agree, it was a little shocking that the Donkeys managed not to lose any of the first three games, all of which they were clearly supposed to win. This team has found ways to lose games they were supposed to win in recent years.

 

It's worth noting that Denver still hasn't beaten a team that had at least one win when they played.

 

They get WFT, Dallas, and Philly the next three weeks. It is conceivable they could beat two of those teams. And they still play the Lions. 6-11 is not outside the realm of possibility!

[unclevlad]

To top off a fairly lousy day of TV football, we get Colts-Niners.  In the Bay Area.  In the middle of a massive rainstorm...this morning, I saw stories on weather.com.  IIRC they were talking 5 inches of rain from this.  It's also being described as an atmospheric river, dumping on the area.  

 

Yuck.  There was MNF way back in 2007 that I mostly missed...and glad I did...Steelers beat Fins 3-0 because the field was totally unplayable.  Rain, and a TERRIBLE field.  I remember a couple wet-weather games on this field, and the turf didn't hold up.  But that was some years ago.  Still, heavy rain the whole game...it's gonna be ugly.

 

There are no teams in the AFC with 1 loss.  There are 5 in the NFC with 1 or 0.  If Seattle beats the Saints tomorrow, that creates a 2-loss margin between the Cowboys at 5-1, and the rest of the conference.  It also means there will probably be a desperate scramble for that last playoff spot.

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

To top off a fairly lousy day of TV football, we get Colts-Niners.  In the Bay Area.  In the middle of a massive rainstorm...this morning, I saw stories on weather.com.  IIRC they were talking 5 inches of rain from this.  It's also being described as an atmospheric river, dumping on the area.  

 

Yuck.  There was MNF way back in 2007 that I mostly missed...and glad I did...Steelers beat Fins 3-0 because the field was totally unplayable.  Rain, and a TERRIBLE field.  I remember a couple wet-weather games on this field, and the turf didn't hold up.  But that was some years ago.  Still, heavy rain the whole game...it's gonna be ugly.

 

It hasn't been a pretty game to watch so far, but having played in a handful of games like this way, way back in the day, I've got to say they're a blast to play in.

[Cancer]

The weather here in Seattle for tomorrow night's game could well resemble the weather in Santa Clara tonight.  Though it is likely to be windier.

[Pariah]

I've noticed the phrase "Faithful to the Bay" several places in the stadium tonight. A shot at the Raiders, I presume?

[Cancer]

One of long standing.  Remember, the Raiders did move to L.A. for a while back in the '80s and '90s.

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

I've noticed the phrase "Faithful to the Bay" several places in the stadium tonight. A shot at the Raiders, I presume?

 

And one they deserve.

 

I kind of like watching soggy football, there's less scoring but it's funnier.  Blizzard football is the best though.

[Cancer]

If Seattle lays an egg tonight as expected, that sets up the Dumpster Fire Special for next week, Seahawks at Jacksonville on Halloween.  Maybe Jason will show up and put both sides out of their misery.