2017-18 NFL Thread (1 Viewer)

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, two things going into the second week of preseason...

1. Zeke Elliott has appealed his suspension...experts seem to feel the scumbag will get nowhere with that. The entire Brady nonsense was all about setting in stone that the commissioner can suspend players at his own discretion despite any evidence of guilt or wrongdoing. In the Brady case there was no evidence...zero. He was still suspended in the end. Not to mention the NFL was to exhibit a no tolerance policy toward domestic violence.

2. Steelers fans have reason for major concern about their QB. Big Ben is struggling through the preseason. He is having a hard time getting through practice and workouts and has severe issues with his knees, shoulders and in general his joints. It is looking like if he makes it through the season he is certain to miss games and people close to him feel this is his final season due to the level of pain he has to fight to get onto the field. This is where his retirement talk is coming from.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I am going to put my team loyalty up for sale. If worked for the team who shall not be named, didn't it? I can be bought cheap. Any team is eligible except the Raiders and the Cowboys. What am I bid?

Time to bring the bidding to a close. Come to think of it, I don't think there was any bidding. Since I've enjoyed watching them, I'm choosing the Patriots. Go Pats. Of course you know, this means they won't repeat. My rooting for them good cause the Pats to even miss the playoffs or go one and out. Sorry Pats fans.

 

[Dheiner]

Time to bring the bidding to a close. Come to think of it, I don't think there was any bidding. Since I've enjoyed watching them, I'm choosing the Patriots. Go Pats. Of course you know, this means they won't repeat. My rooting for them good cause the Pats to even miss the playoffs or go one and out. Sorry Pats fans.

Great Choice.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Zeke Elliott has appealed his suspension...experts seem to feel the scumbag will get nowhere with that. The entire Brady nonsense was all about setting in stone that the commissioner can suspend players at his own discretion despite any evidence of guilt or wrongdoing. In the Brady case there was no evidence...zero. He was still suspended in the end. Not to mention the NFL was to exhibit a no tolerance policy toward domestic violence.

I wouldn't be surprised if Elliott's suspension gets reduced to 3-4 games. There is precedent for that apart from the Brady fiasco -- Laveon Bell had his reduced last season -- albeit for violation of the league's substance abuse policy.

Time to bring the bidding to a close. Come to think of it, I don't think there was any bidding. Since I've enjoyed watching them, I'm choosing the Patriots. Go Pats. Of course you know, this means they won't repeat. My rooting for them good cause the Pats to even miss the playoffs or go one and out. Sorry Pats fans.

I do not think even you rooting for the Pats could cause them to miss the playoffs, Johnny. New England's competition in that division is awful.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Time to bring the bidding to a close. Come to think of it, I don't think there was any bidding. Since I've enjoyed watching them, I'm choosing the Patriots. Go Pats. Of course you know, this means they won't repeat. My rooting for them good cause the Pats to even miss the playoffs or go one and out. Sorry Pats fans.

Well, they are in a good position to contend this season. Basically, I think the Raiders should be their main competition in the AFC and with Roethlisberger looking like this daily...

I am not sure who else in the AFC can challenge as the Ravens also have a QB with health issues and the Chiefs seem never to make it through the playoffs.

I mean the Steelers were the team that I thought could really be the third team to watch in the AFC but I have serious doubts about Big Ben and his ability to stay on the field. I always have felt when the end comes for him it will be all of a sudden due to the type of big physical player he is. It takes a toll. Guys like him or Gronkowski on the Pats take a lot of hard hits and abuse and that just tends to mean you will end up having a sudden drop-off in performance.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I wouldn't be surprised if Elliott's suspension gets reduced to 3-4 games. There is precedent for that apart from the Brady fiasco -- Laveon Bell had his reduced last season -- albeit for violation of the league's substance abuse policy.

Yes, I think on substance abuse you can get a reduction. The word is Elliott's lawyers will take any deduction they can get...even one game...but the hard thing there is the NFL is working to show zero tolerance for domestic abuse and Elliott does not just have beating this woman on his record...he has that video of him grabbing at and trying to expose a woman's breasts out there and a track record of being a piece of garbage. I do not think Goodell and the league want to reduce anything in this case. Plus they have photos of what he did to her and if those get out the NFL will be back in Ray Rice crisis time again looking like crap. His lawyers in this case if they want to help their client should just tell him to take the suspension and to knock off the abusive behavior.

 

[Dheiner]

Yes, I think on substance abuse you can get a reduction. The word is Elliott's lawyers will take any deduction they can get...even one game...but the hard thing there is the NFL is working to show zero tolerance for domestic abuse and Elliott does not just have beating this woman on his record...he has that video of him grabbing at and trying to expose a woman's breasts out there and a track record of being a piece of garbage. I do not think Goodell and the league want to reduce anything in this case. Plus they have photos of what he did to her and if those get out the NFL will be back in Ray Rice crisis time again looking like crap. His lawyers in this case if they want to help their client should just tell him to take the suspension and to knock off the abusive behavior.

I'm not sure we have heard the last of the bar fight from this spring.....
The NFL has not yet addressed that either......

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Basically, it seems totally nuts with the QB situation being what it is around the NFL that Colin Kaepernick does not have a job. The QBs that have been signed ahead of him are awful. Really, total crap. Kaepernick's play did slip after Harbaugh left for Michigan but Colin was unhappy on the team...as were many other players. It is not and has not been a good situation in San Francisco for some time.

The Ravens who flirted with signing Kaepernick chose not to and instead signed Thad Lewis...obviously so they could have a QB that would not cause their starter to lose confidence as the media speculated about his back-up.

Now, looking at the situation with the Steelers and Roethlisberger being in a very fragile state with absolutely nobody as a back-up for him the Steelers are screwed if Big Ben goes down. If they signed Kaepernick to back him up I think they would have a chance to keep winning games and I actually think Kaepernick would be a good fit for the Steelers and they would have a guy there if Ben retires at the end of the season to transition as they look for another QB. I think Kaepernick would like Tomlin and probably enjoy playing for him as much as he did playing for Harbaugh...maybe more.

 

[Dheiner]

^^^ Makes Sense.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

^^^ Makes Sense.

I think the reason Colin is a good fit for the Steelers is because he would obviously be a back-up there and nobody in the media is going to be calling for benching Roethlisberger as long as he is healthy. So Kaepernick is no threat to Big Ben. On many other teams if they brought Colin in he would be a threat to the starting QB. If you are thinking of starting him that's fine but on most teams if you bring him in the starter is looking over his shoulder. So, if the Steelers or Packers or Patriots or some team with a really good QB picked him up everybody knows it is as a back-up and he is no threat to the starter.

I am pretty certain the Ravens passed on him because while Flacco is the starter there he often goes through periods of lackluster play. The fans and media could start screaming for Kaepernick and with Flacco's bad back if Kaepernick has to start and plays well you are going to have a QB controversy that the media will eat up like ice cream. Pretty sure Flacco would not like that at all. A lot of people seem to think the Ravens passed because Colin kneels during the national anthem...but the Ravens I don't think care about that. I think they care about pissing off Joe Flacco.

I think the Steelers should grab him it will make their rival Ravens look stupid and nobody is going to scream to have Kaepernick start if Ben is healthy.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I don't think the Steelers have much, if any, salary cap room to sign Kaepernick -- unless he wants to take a veteran's minimum deal for a season.

EDIT: It appears that Pittsburgh has about $8M in space. I am not sure how much teams usually keep in reserve for in season signings.

BTW, Baltimore has the least amount of cap space available of all 32 teams, which is probably the main reason they passed on Kaepernick.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

BTW, Baltimore has the least amount of cap space available of all 32 teams, which is probably the main reason they passed on Kaepernick.

It could have been partly cap space but each team in the NFL now employs a "Capologist" that moves things around to make cap space whenever a team needs to make a move...so really there is no such thing as "Cap Jail" for teams anymore. Sure sometimes teams need to clear space and dump players but they can always find the space if they want a guy or need a player to fill a glaring need.

Plus the Ravens made a big deal of openly flirting with bringing in Kaepernick...wonder why? Maybe to test the waters to see how Flacco would react?

I know the Jets claimed they were not pursuing Kaepernick because they were supposedly clearing cap space on their roster for future rebuilding so they did not need a guy to "win now" because they are not a team capable of winning now. Hence they went bargain basement journeyman to fill the QB spot and they will see what they have in Hack.

The Steelers are built to win now but their QB seems to be a walking ice bag and if his knees are swelling, his throwing elbow needs to be shot up and his shoulders ache before we have even got into the season...he is going to have a long painful struggle to make it through 16 games and into the playoffs. Ben will only make a brief appearance in Week 3 of preseason and I think his participation will be kept to a minimum in practice. I think they have him on a pitch count same as the Patriots have at times kept Brady's work to a minimum. He will very likely need some time off during the season and if they had Colin at least they may have a chance of winning games while Ben sits. Otherwise it is Landry Jones time...not good. (EDIT: It appears Jones is also struggling with an injury as well.)

For what it is worth...I don't think the Steelers will sign Kaepernick and they may be avoiding him over the national anthem deal...but wow, what a great place for him to go to maybe rehab his career. Tomlin and Haley would be a nice fit for him.

 

[Tino]

Actually on my way to the Eagles/Bills preseason game in Philly. Diamond Suite. Nice.

Jets fan.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Actually on my way to the Eagles/Bills preseason game in Philly. Diamond Suite. Nice.

Jets fan.

My condolences!

 

[Tino]

My condolences!

We'll see.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Steelers are built to win now but their QB seems to be a walking ice bag and if his knees are swelling, his throwing elbow needs to be shot up and his shoulders ache before we have even got into the season...he is going to have a long painful struggle to make it through 16 games and into the playoffs. Ben will only make a brief appearance in Week 3 of preseason and I think his participation will be kept to a minimum in practice. I think they have him on a pitch count same as the Patriots have at times kept Brady's work to a minimum. He will very likely need some time off during the season and if they had Colin at least they may have a chance of winning games while Ben sits. Otherwise it is Landry Jones time...not good. (EDIT: It appears Jones is also struggling with an injury as well.)

The Steelers did draft a QB this year -- Joshua Dobbs -- but he's pretty raw. Not having a good backup QB has burned Pittsburgh before -- anyone remember the Michael Vick debacle a couple of years ago? Landry Jones isn't a good QB -- he couldn't even start for the Jets (sorry, Tino ).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I was flipping channels last night after we finished watching a movie, and came across the Jets and Lions preseason game. I don't know which was worse, watching the 3rd quarter of a preseason game between these two lousy teams or listening to Detroit's horrible local broadcast team. I only made it through about 10 minutes of actual time before I had to turn it off.

 

[DavidMiller]

Seahawks have looked pretty good in the pre-season. Losing Fant sucks but as they say next man up!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Seahawks have looked pretty good in the pre-season. Losing Fant sucks but as they say next man up!

Just remember, the year the Lions went 0-16 they were 4-0 in the preseason. How a team looks in these games means nothing.

That being said, the Seahawks have to be the favorites in the NFC West. The Cardinals are their only competition.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Seahawks have looked pretty good in the pre-season. Losing Fant sucks but as they say next man up!

Yes, losing Fant when your QB was sacked 41 times last year is not good. More stuff after two weeks of preseason...

The Buccaneers look pretty good on offense and defense and remain my pick for "surprise team" this season but they seem to be having major issues in the kicking game with a kicker that is missing extra points and looks pretty bad. Not good to give up points like that in real games if you are scrapping for wins.

Mostly I think the Ravens are insane relying on Ryan Mallett as their back-up to Flacco. They better hope Flacco's back holds up.

The Chargers look like a total mess. Their defense looks like they have never played football. They can't tackle, they can't cover, they just can't period. Also their offensive line is once again looking as strong as wet toilet paper. Rivers can't be happy.