NFL 2016-17 Regular Season Discussion (2 Viewers)

[Mark Booth]

About the only thing worse than having the Chargers move out of San Diego is for the Patriots to make it to another Super Bowl. But, at least that would give me a team to root for on the big game day (whoever plays the Patriots).

Mark

 

[DavidMiller]

Yes, in the Seahawks at Falcons game the Seahawks defense just had no answers for the Falcons offense.

Well we did. It was to keep them on the sideline and we did so the first Quarter. However, when the field flipped with the penalty on the run back which we would have been on the 10 instead we were on our 7. Then the safety / field goal and we lost the lead. At that point Bevel went away from the run and everything fell apart from there. Way too many penalties but given we are always playing the refs at the same time as the other team we can't always win that battle. The last sentence has a little Seahawk bias but the one touchdown Atlanta had clear Offensive Pass Interference for the 3rd time in the two games we played against Atlanta this year.

I will root for Atlanta the rest of the way though as Dan is a fantastic coach. We miss him.

 

[Malcolm R]

It always makes me nervous when a team earns the first round bye. The bye team frequently looks rusty and slow when they finally take the field in the Division round. Patriots looked like this last night.

I'd like to see Alex Smith win a SB with KC. I think he's been underrated as a quarterback for a long time. 49ers sent him packing to make room for Kaepernick. That worked out well for them.

 

[Mark Booth]

I'll be rooting for KC tonight.

Mark

 

[DavidMiller]

I'll also be rooting for KC tonight...

I would like to see a KC vs Atlanta SB

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Holy crap! That was an amazing finish to the Packers - Cowboys game. That has to be the first time a playoff game had three 50+ yard field goals in the final two minutes.

Go Steelers.

 

[Malcolm R]

Well, the Georgia Dome gets to host one more game since Falcons are now the highest seed remaining in the NFC.

Hard to believe the only team to score touchdowns in Steelers-Chiefs lost the game.

NFC will be in a dome, and I believe the forecast for next weekend's AFC in New England is unseasonably warm, so it doesn't seem like weather will be any kind of factor.

 

[Carabimero]

I was hoping for bigger things from the Cowboys, but was heartened by that second half. They came back from 21-3 to tie the ball game. I learned in this game that their season was no fluke. Dak is for real. They are a very good team. IMO it was their unforced errors in the first half that did them in.

I remember back in the early 90s, Dallas played SF in the NFC Championship multiple years, and the winner always won the SB. The year Switzer took over coaching, the Cowboys fell behind 21-0 in the NFC title game (turnovers from bad practice habits, IMO). But they rallied to score 28 points against a strong SF defense, and even in defeat, Aikman will tell you that is the game he is most proud of (more so than the SBs) because the Cowboys fought to the last play. They never gave up.

Tonight, in defeat, I saw that same fire and championship potential in my Cowboys. That fire will more than keep me warm over the off season.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

As a Cowboys fan, Alan, you have every right to be optimistic about the future. Dak Prescott was impressive all season, and his performance against the Packers was terrific -- he looks like a seasoned veteran, not a rookie. Even this lifelong Cowboys hater enjoyed watching him in that game. I am not sure why he fell to the fourth round of a draft where Christian Hackenburg gets selected in the 3rd, but Dallas found a gem.

That Pittsburgh - KC contest sure was ugly. It's fitting that the game was decided by a holding penalty. It was frustrating to watch the Steelers continually have to settle for field goals, and I am sure that Chiefs fans were frustrated by all their mistakes at critical times.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I bet if you told Andy Reid his team would not allow a TD to that Steelers offense and his team would score two...he would have thought the Chiefs would win that game. Crazy that an offense with as much talent as that Steelers team has could not stick the ball in the end zone a single time. The way Tomlin coaches I was pretty surprised when the Steelers were down inside the 5 on that series early in the game that he did not go for the TD on 4th down. I mean this guy constantly takes these kind of risks and then in the playoffs he goes the conservative route on that play. Well, they won and their kicker set a record.

The Green Bay at Dallas game was fantastic. A classic. I mean that was like watching a Super Bowl. Even though they lost I do agree the Cowboys fans have a lot to look forward to. They have two young key core players and those guys played well in a big game yesterday. Aaron Rodgers is just having a phenomenal run to close this season. I have to think that the game at Atlanta will be an offensive shoot-out. It should be an exciting and fun game to watch.

Here's what I really like about the teams that made it to the final four...we really have the 4 best QBs in the NFL from this season playing for the Super Bowl. I mean 3 of the 4 of these QBs dominated the MVP talk. I don't like that players like Gronkowski and Nelson will miss these games. I prefer to see these teams have all of their star players on the field for big games like this but I guess that adds to the chess match. This also means that no matter who we get in the Super Bowl will come into the game with quality QBs under center...which helps make it a better game.

 

[Robert Crawford]

McDaniels drops out of the 49ers HC search!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

McDaniels drops out of the 49ers HC search!

Smart man. That's a job to avoid.

It reminds me of quite a few years ago when the Detroit Lions were looking for a new head coach. They offered the job to 3 or 4 people, but kept getting turned down. They finally had to settle for Daryl Rogers, who was the Arizona State coach at the time, and had previously been at Michigan State. Of course, Rogers left Lions fans with one of their all-time great quotes. After yet another loss (he went 18-40 in Detroit), Rogers opened his press conference with the question "What does a coach have to do around here to get fired?"

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Here's an amazing fact: Since 2004, either Brady, Peyton Manning or Roethlisberger has been the QB for the AFC team in every Super Bowl except one. The list:

2004 Brady
2005 Brady
2006 Roethlisberger
2007 Manning
2008 Brady
2009 Roethlisberger
2010 Manning
2011 Roethlisberger
2012 Brady
2013 Flacco
2014 Manning
2015 Brady
2016 Manning
2017 Brady / Roethlisberger

 

[Mark Booth]

I'll be rooting for KC tonight.

Mark

Well, that didn't work out so well.

Now I have to root for the Steelers to beat the Cheaters on Sunday.

Mark

 

[Carabimero]

If the Cowboys can get a decent pass rusher and a shutdown corner, they would be a dominant threat.

 

[Carabimero]

Well, that didn't work out so well.

Now I have to root for the Steelers to beat the Cheaters on Sunday.

Mark

IMHO, I think the Patriots are vulnerable. Of course, they looked awful in the early part of the season a year ago and ended up winning it all. But I think there are cracks. I thought KC matched up better against them, but Alex Smith didn't seem to have very good downfield vision last night. True, it's easy to sit at home and point out multiple wide open receivers he missed seeing. But if you look at Rodgers or Roethlisburger or Brady, those guys aren't missing seeing as many wide open receivers as Smith. So maybe the Steelers are the better match up against the Pats. I think Atlanta could light them up too. But it's Brady and Belichick. I have learned to never underestimate them.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Well, that didn't work out so well.

Now I have to root for the Steelers to beat the Cheaters on Sunday.

Mark

This Steelers fan respectfully requests you put some voodoo on New England by rooting for the Pats.

 

[Malcolm R]

I'll have to be neutral this weekend, maintaining the peace between my Mom, a Steelers fan, and my step-dad, a Patriots fan.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, I married a beautiful woman from Pennsylvania...so that entire side of the family are Steelers fans and all our friends from Pennsylvania are Steelers fans...and so being a "Boston" guy...well...I generally get a lot of harassment about being from Patriots country. I mostly just want to see great entertaining games. I grew up loving the Packers and Chargers (Fouts was just incredibly fun to watch and the playoff game against the Dolphins remains my favorite football watching experience ever) but I have to admit I love Bill Belichick. The guy has been just tremendous to watch over the years and he seems to never stop getting more creative and more interesting.

I'm sure during every era where a team is very dominant there are loads of people that hate that team because they can't beat them. I mean growing up the team that most people hated was Dallas or Pittsburgh because they were teams that were hard to beat and made it to the big game frequently. Now the Patriots fill that role for many people.

The truth is I think the NFL or any sport really is better when there is a team that is really dominant because it:

1. Gives all other teams something to measure themselves by.

2. Excites people because they have somebody that they root very hard against.

So, I would love to see the Patriots back in the Super Bowl because I think when the Patriots play in the game you know you are watching the best team, the best coach, the best QB play in the game.

The only "cheaters" around are the people that cheat themselves out of understanding and appreciating the Patriots true greatness.

http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_yj2jvgae

 

[Scott Merryfield]

So, I married a beautiful woman from Pennsylvania...so that entire side of the family are Steelers fans and all our friends from Pennsylvania are Steelers fans

You obviously married a woman of impeccable bloodline and taste, Reggie.

I will generally pull for the Patriots only because former Michigan Wolverine Brady is on the team. I have immense respect for Belichick, but if Brady wasn't on the team I would probably always root against them. That being said, I will still be rooting against the Pats this weekend, as I'm a lifelong Steelers fan due to my western PA roots. My one cousin and son are huge Patriots fans due to Brady (they've traveled to watch the Pats a few times), so there will probably be some back and forth with them this week (may even watch the game with him).

BTW, my wife's family is from Alabama and are all huge Crimson Tide fans. Makes it tough, as I pull for 'Bama to lose. Well, at least she's not from Ohio.

Go Steelers!