2017-18 NFL Thread (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

The rookie Hunt was a monster last night in both the rushing and passing game. I don't play fantasy football but people must be scrambling to get him on their rosters. Did anybody see that coming?

I don't like to talk about fantasy football in this thread, but Hunt was an early round draft pick in any respectable FF league. He went in the 2nd round of our draft, which is only a little higher than his average draft position. BTW, Brady is my starting QB and Alex Smith is my backup. Guess which I started last night?

 

[Dheiner]

Hold on there, Pard.... Let's not go writin' 'em off just yet.

As much as I hate Bellicheat, and the CryBrady, September is NOT the time to be making ANY kind of judgement about the Cheatriots.

Typically, Brain uses the first 4 games of the season to figure out who fits where on his team, the second 4 to finish the "Annual Tune Up", games 9-12ish to pummel his Division/Conference into submission, and 13ish to 16 to rest his guys and heal up any bumps and bruises.

I won't be counting out this version until they are mathematically eliminated.

And then, I'll want to double check the math so they can't pull any "math error" trickery out of their asses.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Alex Smith had a career night -- can he keep this up? I need to see more.

Yes, we'll see but I mean people must have wondered at times "Who is that wearing Alex Smith's jersey?" because that was not an Alex Smith type performance. I would like to credit Reid as well for coming in with a good surprising game plan. I mean, it looked obvious that the Patriots defense did not expect that. They seemed not to expect Hunt to play the role he did and I don't think they were expecting Smith to chuck it around like that. I think the Patriots did not make any huge adjustments on defense because they thought the Chiefs at some point would revert back to conservative short passes, dump offs and runs. The Pats were sort of coasting along because the game was tight until the fourth quarter. So, when they got hit by a train in the fourth quarter they just were not ready. Plus the speed of Hill seemed shocking to the Pats defensive backs.

More than the offense I think the concern for the Patriots was the defense. I think Belichick will find that unforgivable this week. Gilmore totally whiffed on covering Hill and once you let Hill get by you there is no way to catch him. He may be the fastest player in the NFL.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I don't like to talk about fantasy football in this thread, but Hunt was an early round draft pick in any respectable FF league. He went in the 2nd round of our draft, which is only a little higher than his average draft position. BTW, Brady is my starting QB and Alex Smith is my backup. Guess which I started last night?

I did not expect Hunt to be that explosive. When he fumbled on his first carry I sort of thought "Rookie with nerves in his first game." and did not expect a lot. The way he put that behind him and took over the game was really impressive. I look forward now to seeing him play in the next game. I want to see if he also can keep that up along with Alex Smith. Honestly, they should encourage Smith to open it up that way. He has the weapons. No more dink, dunk, dump off always take the safe throw.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Here is one of the scouting reports on Hunt, the last line highlighted in red made me laugh out loud. Reading this I find it hard to believe anybody expected what he did last night:

ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
Compact body with broad frame and muscular legs. Above-average agility for his size. Has hips and feet to elude darting defenders in backfield. Uses effective jump-cut to avoid the sludge and shift to the open gap. Runs with good vision and overall instincts. Presses the line before making back-side cuts. Conforms his run to changing space within running lane. Spin moves are effective against first-look tacklers on second level. Suddenly shifts to bounce an inside run to the perimeter. Strings moves together on outside zone plays. Runs with knee bend and forward lean. Adequate pass catcher for screens and check-downs.
WEAKNESSES
Can elude initial tackle but struggles to accelerate after redirecting his feet. Average explosion traits. Marginal downhill burst through line of scrimmage. Inconsistent inside runner. Gets too cute in the hole when run comes to a close. Looks to spin rather than finish with authority. Needs to run to his size more consistently. Premature in breaking off play-side runs in outside zone. He might not trust his play speed. Slight gear-down into downhill cuts. Could struggle to find chunk runs on next level. Chip "leans" rather than chip blocks allowing open rib shots to go unclaimed.
DRAFT PROJECTION
Round 3
NFL COMPARISON
Olandis Gary
BOTTOM LINE
Big back with plus vision and enough elusiveness to make the first defender miss. Feel for the rushing lane helps him choose the correct path between the tackles but lacks the burst to turn the 4-yard run into 14. Zone-scheme runner with serviceable hands out of the backfield. Adequate in most areas and has talent to become a backup that can step in and handle a bigger load if needed.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yes, we'll see but I mean people must have wondered at times "Who is that wearing Alex Smith's jersey?" because that was not an Alex Smith type performance. I would like to credit Reid as well for coming in with a good surprising game plan. I mean, it looked obvious that the Patriots defense did not expect that. They seemed not to expect Hunt to play the role he did and I don't think they were expecting Smith to chuck it around like that.

I've always thought Alex Smith was underrated. If they can keep it up, I'd be perfectly happy to see him and the Chiefs win the SB this year.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Stat of the day for Patriots haters, the last three times the Patriots lost their season opener:

2001 - Patriots lose the opener to Bengals 23-17 and win the Super Bowl that season.

2003 - Patriots lose the season opener to the Bills 31-0. Patriots win the Super Bowl that year.

2014- Patriots lose the opener to the Dolphins 33-20. They end up winning the Super Bowl that year.

It is looking like losing the season opener is a pretty good sign they are going to have a good season.

 

[Johnny Angell]

So I pick the Pats as "my" team and they lose there home and season opener big time. I think I read it's the most points given up by a Bellechick team. My apologies to Pats fans as I fear I've doomed them.

 

[Dheiner]

So I pick the Pats as "my" team and they lose there home and season opener big time. I think I read it's the most points given up by a Bellechick team. My apologies to Pats fans as I fear I've doomed them.

Thank you.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

So I pick the Pats as "my" team and they lose there home and season opener big time. I think I read it's the most points given up by a Bellechick team. My apologies to Pats fans as I fear I've doomed them.

I will take some responsibility for this, too. I drafted both Brady and Gronk on my fantasy football team. Being on my team can be as bad as the Madden Curse - - being on the cover of the Madden video game (which has Brady on this year's cover).

With all this going against the team, the Patriots are doomed.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I guess there are two schools of thought on what happened in the Chiefs at Patriots game...

1. The Chiefs are vastly improved with a set of weapons on offense that will make them a contender.

2. The Patriots defense is horrible and they now will need to win games this season by putting up monster points in every game.

If you believe number 1 then what we saw on Thursday night was just a coming out party for a good Chiefs team that can explode in the 4th quarter and put away games.

If you believe number 2 the Chiefs are not that great they just played a horrible Patriots defense that will be trouble for the Patriots all season.

There is some panic here in New England as Patriots fans seem to be the doom and gloom type...they are mostly worried that number 2 is true...the Patriots defense is crap and the whole season is on the shoulders of Brady and the offense.

As for Belichick it seems his main concern is how his team responds to this loss. Apparently he did not like how the defense reacted in the 4th quarter and that it is possible they gave up. He won't tolerate that. Gilmore did look lost or like he was barely trying on some plays against Hill and looked horrid on the play where he gave up the long TD to him.

It will be interesting to see the Patriots play the Saints next Sunday now as the Saints have a group of backs on offense that could give the Patriots defense fits. The Patriots defense could not handle a rookie back, Hunt, and the guy destroyed them. How will they react against a Saints team that has three quality backs that all have different and dangerous skill sets? My guess is Payton will go at them hard with his RBs.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I've always thought Alex Smith was underrated. If they can keep it up, I'd be perfectly happy to see him and the Chiefs win the SB this year.

It was funny to hear the announcers and analysts talk about Smith because they kept saying that he is a guy that gets the ball out quick as if it were a "negative" thing...so it was in a derogatory way when they speak about Smith...when they talk about any of the really good QBs though it is always a POSITIVE thing that a QB gets the ball out quick.

I do think the thing about Smith is when he was with the 49ers he had it beaten into him not to make risky throws and he just has continued to do that. He mainly refuses to throw into tight windows and will throw the ball away rather than make a risky throw. All of the great QBs fire the ball into tight windows and trust their receivers to make a play. You have to in the NFL and with the rules being what they are QBs should take that risk even more because they call pass interference so easily on the defenders. So, fire it in there. Hopefully Reid is telling Smith to not play so conservatively this season. He has some great weapons, he's gotta trust them.

 

[Robert Crawford]

With the starters getting less practice time and fewer reps during the preseason, I think it takes the first four games to really see the makeup of a team. If healthy, whether they're going to be good or bad. I wouldn't overreact to first game results. However, after four games, you start to see a real pattern.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I completely agree with that. September really is the preseason and when they start playing October games is when you see what these teams really might be.

With a performance like the one in the first game Belichick is pretty likely to play around with different set-ups on defense looking for what combinations and personnel work best. So, it could be a long September for the Patriots D where they struggle for a while as the coaching staff works it all out.

The other thing is where the Patriots in the preseason had a vast array of weapons at WR they now have lost two key players Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell (at least 8 weeks) and Amendola likely suffered a concussion. So, now Chris Hogan is the primary guy that has the most time with Brady and Cooks and Dorsett are brand new players in an offense that relies on QB and WRs knowing exactly what the other is doing. Apparently the Pats are looking at who they can bring in but basically this is exactly the sort of situation where Brady will start looking mostly to the guys he knows and trusts...which means the offense could struggle too.

 

[Malcolm R]

The game also showed that the pre-game interview with the Chiefs' Travis Kelce was just a bunch of BS. Where he went on and on about how he was more mature and less of a hothead since becoming a captain.

The only unsportsmanlike penalty issued in the game was to Kelce for jamming the ball into Kyle Van Noy's crotch. So he's not only the same tempermental child he's always been, now he's also revealed as a liar on national TV. Mom must be so proud.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

The game also showed that the pre-game interview with the Chiefs' Travis Kelce was just a bunch of BS. Where he went on and on about how he was more mature and less of a hothead since becoming a captain.

The only unsportsmanlike penalty issued in the game was to Kelce for jamming the ball into Kyle Van Noy's crotch. So he's not only the same tempermental child he's always been, now he's also revealed as a liar on national TV. Mom must be so proud.

Yeah, my feeling is if you punch a guy in the balls during a game that should be an immediate ejection. He should pay a nice fine for that.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Jets at Bills - Bills

Falcons at Bears - Falcons

Ravens at Bengals - Bengals

Steelers at Browns - Steelers

Cardinals at Lions - Lions

Jaguars at Texans - Texans

Raiders at Titans - Raiders

Eagles at Redskins - Redskins

Colts at Rams - Rams

Seahawks at Packers - Packers

Panthers at 49ers - Panthers

Giants at Cowboys - Giants

Saints at Vikings - Saints

Chargers at Broncos - Chargers

 

[Johnny Angell]

chargers at the Broncos and you pick the bolts? I've had some experience here. The bolts seldom win in Denver and don't do well on MFB.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

chargers at the Broncos and you pick the bolts? I've had some experience here. The bolts seldom win in Denver and don't do well on MFB.

Well, I thought they might give everybody some hope before reality sets in.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

And now for something completely different...