NFL Week 1

PA-PLAYA · 2016-09-12T15:37:52+00:00

Although there are two games remaining this evening, with Pittsburgh vs Washington in the early game and the Rams vs the 49ers in the nightcap, week 1 is alm...

mikeintopeka

I miss the FGI 'auto draft' league we had last year and didn't think much about it until I'd get a couple of reminders from Yahoo Sports to update my records / roster. I missed tracking my players yesterday but my lawn work wouldn't have been completed either.

Maybe next year?

Sneakylong

PA-PLAYA

Stayed up till the end of the Pats game. Jimmy G. looked good. Didn't get to bed till after midnight and was up at 4:30 this morning to go play golf. Won first place Quota with a Plus 5 along with a skin and greenie (shot a 78). Walked 18 in the Florida heat.

On paper this was a loss for the Patriots. But in hardly ever goes according to Hoyle. I predicted a 3 and 1 start. We shall see.

johnnydoom

Sneakylong

I didn't see much of the Pats/Cards game, but what little I saw Jimmy G. was quite good. During the parts I watched, the Pats were mixing the rush and pass up enough it looked like it took the Cards out of their usual blitzing schemes. I didn't realize it going into the game, but just the threat of having Blount back there ready to bust past or through a blitzer and into the secondary seemed to have a calming effect on that defensive strategy as well.

Typhoon

Sneakylong

Sneaky, u and look good on this win huh!?

rsvman

I wouldn't be so quick to write off the Redskins in tonight's game. They have a lot of very good players on the offensive side of the ball, and the defensive secondary should be significantly better.

Hoss7504

rsvman

I'll always root for Cousins. Good ol' MSU boy.

PA-PLAYA

A lot can happen over the course of a season, so it's kinda pointless to entertain the what-ifs after the very first week, especially considering that the scenario below is being very optimistic based on just one game that he's started. Nevertheless...

If Garopollo goes 4-0 (or 3-1 like Sneak predicts), showing leadership and delivering 3 or 4 big wins without Brady and the rest of the guys who're either injured or sidelined for whatever reason, and Brady comes back and the team gets healthy, starts clicking again, going to another SB... what happens with Garopollo? His contract is up at the end of the season, but Brady could very well play 2-3 more seasons. You gotta figure that although he would love to be the guy in NE, he's obviously playing second-fiddle as long as Brady maintains his health and his level of play. There would definitely be a market for him as a starter somewhere, and depending on how well he performs given this opportunity to show what he has to offer - he could very well stand to gain from a handsome contract offer from another team.

It'll be interesting to see how things develop this year in NE, especially if they get back to the SB and Brady has another Brady-esuqe type season. I'm sure Belichick would love to find himself in that situation, and I wouldn't bet against it. But it could produce quite the quandary for NE if everything goes as planned, because I don't see a promising QB settling for a backup role for less money in this current QB-light market.

Sneakylong

PA-PLAYA

History shows they've traded their back up QB's (Cassel, Hoyer, Mallet etc.) in the Brady era. However, they did take Jimmy G. in the second round. If Jimmy G. plays like he did against Arizona in the next 3 games there would be some teams interested in him I would think. We'll see.

PA-PLAYA

It appears that RG3's career as a starting QB is nearing an end. He fractured a bone in his left shoulder yesterday in the game vs Philly and he's out for at least the next 8 weeks or so, possibly the entire season. Since the start of the 2014 season, Griffin will have missed at least 30 of the 40 scheduled games, obviously providing that he's healthy to return in week 10.

rsvman

The Browns could have had Carson Wentz, but said they didn't see NFL potential in him. Really?

RG 3 is so freaking brittle, it's just amazing. Like he had osteogenesis imperfecta or something. Sheesh.

PA-PLAYA

rsvman

Dysfunction is one thing... a lot of organizations go through periods of turmoil from time to time. But then you have teams with incompetent management, something that takes years and years to get rid of, and if it has everything to do with the owner (which is sometimes does) then we're talking decades.

Going back to '99 when they were reactivated, they've had only 2 winning seasons. That stat pretty much indicts everyone except the vending staff selling beer and hotdogs at the stadium.

Sneakylong

Typhoon

Loved it. Completely unexpected. Nobody knew what Jimmy G. could do, except the players and coaches who see him perform everyday. Hope to see more of the same.

professor

Halftime of a good Stillers/Redskins game. Redskins dominate with yardage and missed opportunities. Stillers capitalize on Big Ben making some great impromptu calls and executing in the clutch.

Looking for Chip 'The Franchise' Kelly to go down tonight.

I too was proud of the Eagles start. However, I didn't get to see the game - just highlights, stats, fan mania (which is always all or nothing), and lastly sports "media" (which in Philly is as brutal, if not worse than some fans).

PA-PLAYA

professor

I'm sure someone, somewhere found something to complain about. But not me.

The play calling was very good, especially given the situation with a rookie QB who didn't play much at all in the preseason games. That shouldn't be overlooked, and obviously the fact that it was a very soft team they were playing.

I suspect there will be numerous highs and lows this season with him, but based on the throws he made and the overall confidence he showed right out of the gate - I can't help but be optimistic.

Monday night however will be a different situation. Monday Night Football, huge stage on the road against a better team and rowdier fans, and no Zach Ertz to help Wentz out on those 3rd down attempts. We need a couple guys to step up and make some plays next week. It'll be a tough game and I'm interested to see how he manages a different level of pressure.

rsvman

Well, turns out the skins were no match for big Ben, Antonio Brown, and De'angelo Williams. Not close.

PA-PLAYA

Cousins seems to have a decent arm, the Steelers were rushing three... I can understand dink-and-dunk football if it's a close game and there's plenty of time left in the game, but over and over and over, even when Pittsburgh was clearly pulling away and Washington needed to make something happen...

Not a good night for Breeland, he made several embarrassing highlights tonight to be seen later on ESPN Sportscenter, courtesy of Antonio Brown.

Umfaan

Broncos defense continues unabated from last season.

Sneakylong

Umfaan

They did look good, but that head to head stuff cannot be tolerated. I have to say the refs do treat Newton differently than other QB's.

Typhoon

Sneakylong

Yeah, I was more nervous not having Gronk and 2 new tackles. The TD pass was definitely what he needed. I loved how relaxed he looked when he floated it in there.

I would have loved to hear all the naysayers on weei if they had lost.

PA-PLAYA

Sneakylong

Where the league has to be painstakingly careful is doling out punishment in the rare instances where a defender isn't headhunting, but when the receiver (or Quarter Back) hunkers down bracing for the looming impact, which completely changes the attack trajectory dynamics of the defender considerably. Once a defender is locked-on and committed to the play, he can't change the direction of his force, he's already committed.

That makes things incredibly difficult to determine intent... and if the league is determined to remove head shots - then they're gonna get it wrong sometimes. And it goes without saying that the physical dynamics involved (as in the build and overall height of the player being tackled) is sometimes gonna make "intent" very hard to prove. Most of the time it is fairly obvious that a defender is targeting above the shoulders, but not always.

In some cases it is indeed situational. Cam is a 6-foot, 5-inch quarterback, which means his pre-impact disposition might influence precisely where the defender makes initial contact. I don't think that applies to the hit he took near the end of the game when the offsetting penalty occurred, but it just underscores another dynamic that makes the referee's decision a little more complicated. There are indeed other variables that come into play.

Sneakylong

PA-PLAYA

For me it's not that complicated. A QB in the pocket is considered a defenseless player and a penalty should be called if he is hit in the head with the defensive player leading with his head. The issue with Cam is the refs seem to treat him differently because of his running abilities.

Spearing or launching yourself leading with your helmet is illegal in any situation on the field. I hear your argument on the defender once committed can't change direction in mid air. However, if the league is serious about reducing concussions then helmet to helmet hits need to be called and called consistently.

PA-PLAYA

A word to the wise in SanFran: we Philly fans have seen the best of Chip Kelly, and we've seen the worst. Enjoy it while it lasts, get back to us next season when the teams within the division have figured out his offense and your team is merely hoping to go 8-8.

As for LA... I figured things would be challenging early on, but you have to go all the way back to 1962 (when Jed Clampett invaded Beverly Hills) to better understand the lack of sophistication that immediately resonates with this current LA Rams team.

The only thing missing is Jeff Fisher saying, "Well, Doggies!" watching an incompetent 3rd-string QB struggle with hitting a wide-open receiver a mere 18 feet away.

Sorry, LA fans. And congrats to St. Louis - you have been spared the emotional trauma with being forced to invest in a really horrible hometown football team.