NFL 2017 Discussion

rsvman

I've mostly been unimpressed with Gruden since taking over. Their defense, typically, has made them competitive, much more so than their offense in recent years.

As a Philly fan (and a sentiment that is probably appreciated by Redskins fans as well) I am growing very weary of the easy 2-3 yard completed check-down pass.

Both Wentz and Cousins have good arms. Why these QB's continue to do the check-down plays on 3rd and long is simply beyond my understanding. It was a common theme last season and I hope that it doesn't carry over to this season. Of course - when your team's best deep-threat receiver is Nelson Agholor, it's kinda hard to expect much of him.

Talent development is needed in the receiving corps, for sure.

ode

I agree. That was simply mind boggling. The officiating has been directed to cut down on aggressive hits and taunting, but there was nothing there to warrant a penalty, much less an ejection.

Not to mention the pass interference no-call against GB that was clearly pass interference. That said, Richard Sherman has a history of playing a similar brand of defense, of which an official could throw a flag every other play on him. Not sure how much of that played a role, but it was nevertheless clearly pass interference on that one particular play by GB that went uncalled. Pete Carroll would've been well within his right to make a call to Goodell Monday morning asking him WTF is going on with the officiating.

My two big takeaways from week 1:

The Colts suck. And not that we didn't expect them to suck early-on this season, with Luck being injured and his status being week-to-week, but nobody in their right mind would've expected them to no-show the way they did against the Rams, giving up 46 points no less.

Dallas has picked up where they left off from last season. Although the Giants suck on offense, their defense is still very good. And the Cowboys defense isn't too shabby either. Prescott played a solid game, throwing no interceptions, and Elliot carried for 104 yards on 24 touches. They were the best team in the NFC East heading into the season, and their status hasn't changed after week 1.

As for New England... as we've learned in the past - premature panic isn't warranted, as the Pats have 3 Super Bowl winning seasons after losing their opening game. In other words - they've been here before. But it wasn't that they lost Thursday night, but rather how they lost. They resembled nothing remotely close to the team that won the title just 8 months earlier. They need to find Brady some competent receivers, first and foremost, and that defense needs to show up and put out. This was the first time in 82 games that the Pats lost while holding a halftime lead @ Gillette Stadium, and the first time in what seems like forever that Brady failed to throw a single touchdown pass, 16 for 36 and a total of 267 passing yards. While it might be too early to panic, this was at the very least a huge wake-up call in their season opener.

Two coaches are (imo) already feeling the pressure and in the hot seat: Marvin Lewis and Chuck Pagano. I will be surprised if either of these coaches are still with their current teams shortly after their seasons end. Cincy failed to score a single point in their opener against Baltimore, and the Colts did their best 2016 Cleveland Browns impersonation on Sunday. I can appreciate the fact that Pagana is a well-liked coach and (not to mention) it is extremely difficult to let go of a guy who went through a life-changing struggle with cancer. But I think he's running out of leeway in Indianapolis, and would be shocked if he lasts through the remaining 15 games this season, unless something dramatically changes before then.

Most impressive QB performances in Week 1:

Alex Smith, who completed 28/35 passes and threw for 368 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Pats.

Sam Bradford, the league's official "stat-padding check-down specialist" who completed 27/32 passes and threw for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Saints.