NFL Thread

[Tyler 885]

bout that time

Edited February 13, 2018 by Tyler

[boubabi 4,725]

Go Alouettes

[diamond_ace 3,112]

Go Panthers (and please don't end up the 5 vs the Saints)

[Tyler 885]

35 minutes ago, diamond_ace said:

Go Panthers (and please don't end up the 5 vs the Saints)

 

would think the saints would be easier then the rams/vikings

[Tyler 885]

fwiw I'm thinking the wildcard weekend is

 

Ravens @ KC

LAC @ Jags

 

Lions @ Rams

Panthers @ Saints

 

lol

[diamond_ace 3,112]

4 minutes ago, Tyler said:

 

would think the saints would be easier then the rams/vikings

Easy has nothing to do with it, we played them twice this season and lost both. For a team that's only lost 4 games, half of them are against one team. We beat the Vikings already so can do it again (and honestly, I don't trust the Rams in the playoffs, Brees has done it before). Plus the bye isn't out of the realm of possibility either - we'd need 3 teams to lose a game each.

[Tyler 885]

14 minutes ago, diamond_ace said:

Easy has nothing to do with it, we played them twice this season and lost both. For a team that's only lost 4 games, half of them are against one team. We beat the Vikings already so can do it again (and honestly, I don't trust the Rams in the playoffs, Brees has done it before). Plus the bye isn't out of the realm of possibility either - we'd need 3 teams to lose a game each.

 

beating a team once in the NFL means, to me, almost nothing. even beating them twice in a league that's so much about coaching and so much about health means nothing to me. I don't think there's as much carry over from one game to the next. No doubt the Panthers coaches could make it work against the Saints if they needed to.

 

The Vikings would also likely have home field which gives them a huge advantage with that defense. Their defense is too good. Dominant in some regards, especially in Minnesota and if they win out (they should) they'll have home field to the superbowl since I expect the Eagles to lose at least one maybe two). I think the two favorites in the NFC are the Rams and Vikings. Vikes have an elite defense and solid offense while the Rams have a solid defense (with the most dominant player I've ever seen Aaron Donald) and an elite offense as well as being remarkably healthy.

 

I also trust Zimmer + McVay/Wade Phillips more then Carolinas coaches. The NFL is at least 40 percent coaching and limiting mistakes.

Edited December 22, 2017 by Tyler

[diamond_ace 3,112]

1 minute ago, Tyler said:

 

beating a team once in the NFL means, to me, almost nothing. even beating them twice in a league that's so much about coaching and so much about health means nothing to me. I don't think there's as much carry over from one game to the next. No doubt the Panthers coaches could make it work against the Saints if they needed to.

 

The Vikings would also likely have home field which gives them a huge advantage with that defense. Their defense is too good. Dominant in some regards, especially in Minnesota and if they win out (they should) they'll have home field to the superbowl since I expect the Eagles to lose at least one maybe two). I think the two favorites in the NFC are the Rams and Vikings. Vikes have an elite defense and solid offense while the Rams have a solid defense (with the most dominant player I've ever seen Aaron Donald) and an elite offense as well as being remarkably healthy.

 

I also trust Zimmer + McVay/Wade Phillips more then Carolinas coaches. The NFL is at least 40 percent coaching and limiting mistakes.

To me, it means something from a player perspective. The individual guys on the team feel confident that they can beat a team they've already beaten, and might be a bit more disheartened against a team they've lost to twice.

 

Definitely a good bit of it is coaching, I'll agree with that (evidenced by the drastic turnaround a few years back when Rivera actually started taking a few risks, as well as our trouble closing out games when Shula goes super conservative on offense late). I trust Rivera and oddly enough, I trust Wilks (or more, I trust that he picked up enough from McDermott before he jumped to the Bills). I don't trust Shula for pretty much anything.

 

I'll give you that the Vikings are probably one of the favorites - I'd put more stock in home field for them if it was a weather-based home field (Lambeau etc) rather than a dome. Crowd noise is a factor, but for me, weather is a bigger one and a dome cuts that out. The Rams have been impressive in the regular season but I just can't shake the feeling they won't go farther than the 2nd round at best. I have no play-based evidence to support that, just what my gut tells me.

 

South teams will cannibalize each other over the upcoming weeks, and in fact with Atl facing both the other two good ones, it could potentially take them out of the playoffs entirely - interesting scenario would be if Panthers beat Atl and Saints lose to Atl, then assuming both take care of the spare game against the Bucs, Panthers actually win the division. To the extent that playoff experience does anything, Panthers (and Atl if they make it) have more in recent memory than Saints, and all the South teams have it over the Vikings and Rams.

 

One way or the other, NFC playoffs will be more interesting and with bigger teams across the board than AFC playoffs though

[Tyler 885]

7 minutes ago, diamond_ace said:

To me, it means something from a player perspective. The individual guys on the team feel confident that they can beat a team they've already beaten, and might be a bit more disheartened against a team they've lost to twice.

 

Definitely a good bit of it is coaching, I'll agree with that (evidenced by the drastic turnaround a few years back when Rivera actually started taking a few risks, as well as our trouble closing out games when Shula goes super conservative on offense late). I trust Rivera and oddly enough, I trust Wilks (or more, I trust that he picked up enough from McDermott before he jumped to the Bills). I don't trust Shula for pretty much anything.

 

I'll give you that the Vikings are probably one of the favorites - I'd put more stock in home field for them if it was a weather-based home field (Lambeau etc) rather than a dome. Crowd noise is a factor, but for me, weather is a bigger one and a dome cuts that out. The Rams have been impressive in the regular season but I just can't shake the feeling they won't go farther than the 2nd round at best. I have no play-based evidence to support that, just what my gut tells me.

 

South teams will cannibalize each other over the upcoming weeks, and in fact with Atl facing both the other two good ones, it could potentially take them out of the playoffs entirely - interesting scenario would be if Panthers beat Atl and Saints lose to Atl, then assuming both take care of the spare game against the Bucs, Panthers actually win the division. To the extent that playoff experience does anything, Panthers (and Atl if they make it) have more in recent memory than Saints, and all the South teams have it over the Vikings and Rams.

 

One way or the other, NFC playoffs will be more interesting and with bigger teams across the board than AFC playoffs though

 

Yeah that's not a bad point. I think good coaching counteracts that though. A good coach can make his players feel like they can win at any time in any given situation. If not through motivation then through film and dissecting the other team. I think McVay and Zimmers are light years ahead of Rivera.

 

The Vikings crowd is a big factor because they are a team that wins on defense. Having a loud crowd can make teams make  mistakes. Newton is mistake prone. I think the crowd can get to him and as good as his rb's have been as passing options, I don't know if they scare me running the ball the way the Saints rb's or gurley does.

 

The thing for the Rams is that they have the best player caller in football and Wade Phillips. Add that to Gurley (who should be an MVP candidate) and Donald (who should be a DPOTY winner) and they make so few mistakes throwing the ball and it's a scary combination. That's the thing for the Rams is how few mistakes they make. Also they have the best special teams in the league even with Zurlein out. That can be a deal breaker in a close game.

 

Yeah I don't think playoff experience really matters much in the NFL like it does in other sports. Never thought of it as that big of a deal.

 

I'd rank the NFC contenders like this

 

1. Vikings

2. Rams

3. Saints

4. Panthers

5. Eagles

6. whoever else gets in

[Tyler 885]

Panthers can beat the Saints but gun to my head I'd take the Saints for their running game alone

[Da Trifecta 1,902]

57 minutes ago, Tyler said:

fwiw I'm thinking the wildcard weekend is

 

Ravens @ KC

LAC @ Jags

 

Lions @ Rams

Panthers @ Saints

 

lol

 

Chargers would be another fun battle.

[diamond_ace 3,112]

2 minutes ago, Tyler said:

Panthers can beat the Saints but gun to my head I'd take the Saints for their running game alone

Hence why I'd like Atl to do us a favor and beat them. If we can take the division, we'd need either the Vikings or Rams to lose once (unlikely, but not unreasonable) to get 3rd seed. Beating Vikings gives us tiebreaker, if we can get into a tie. Rams I'm not sure where the tiebreaker lies but they're already the same record as us.

 

More likely that we end up 4 or 5 and get Saints again. Technically not clinched yet, but a win against TB does it (or any of several other games going a certain way, even with a loss to TB - it's all but done that we're in, the seed is the debate)

[diamond_ace 3,112]

21 minutes ago, Tyler said:

Panthers can beat the Saints but gun to my head I'd take the Saints for their running game alone

The funny part is that before the season, I expected Saints to be easily last in the division, and under 500. Helps that Tampa never made the jump they were expected to

[Tyler 885]

1 minute ago, diamond_ace said:

The funny part is that before the season, I expected Saints to be easily last in the division, and under 500. Helps that Tampa never made the jump they were expected to

 

yea I think a lot of people expected a decent year out of Tampa this year. Seemed prime to make the jump but it shows again the value of coaching in the nfl imo

[Kendrick 4,741]

5 hours ago, Tyler said:

I also trust Zimmer + McVay/Wade Phillips more then Carolinas coaches. The NFL is at least 40 percent coaching and limiting mistakes.

Knowing Rivera, I sure don't. Ron Rivera is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league and truly one of those guys who sees the game above the rest. Zimmer is still somewhat unproven and much more in the postseason.

 

McVay is good, but you said yourself coaching is what the league is and he hasn't coached a playoff game.

 

 

 

Chargers would beat Jags and only because Ingram and Bosa would give Bortles nightmares.

[Tyler 885]

2 minutes ago, Kendrick said:

Knowing Rivera, I sure don't. Ron Rivera is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league and truly one of those guys who sees the game above the rest. Zimmer is still somewhat unproven and much more in the postseason.

 

McVay is good, but you said yourself coaching is what the league is and he hasn't coached a playoff game.

 

 

 

Chargers would beat Jags and only because Ingram and Bosa would give Bortles nightmares.

 

hmmmm I think Rivera is one of the overrated coaches in the league frankly. Not terrible but very middle of the pack. 

 

McVay is the best player caller in football. His only real issue is his clock management but that was only really the start of the season. Having Wade Phillips as your defensive coordinator as a 31 year old is obviously a huge plus since it lets you focus so much on one side of the ball, the side of the ball he excels at. 

 

and everyone has to start somewhere... not sure his lack of playoff experience matters until he shows it does.

 

Hmmmm I think the Jags might be the team that gives the Pats the toughest fight. Tough to say. Their defense is up there with the Vikings.

[Tyler 885]

have to wait and see who gets in but I put 50 on the Rams winning in October and the 50 on the Vikings as well could be in for some decent money

[Kendrick 4,741]

4 minutes ago, Tyler said:

 

hmmmm I think Rivera is one of the overrated coaches in the league frankly. Not terrible but very middle of the pack. 

 

McVay is the best player caller in football. His only real issue is his clock management but that was only really the start of the season. Having Wade Phillips as your defensive coordinator as a 31 year old is obviously a huge plus since it lets you focus so much on one side of the ball, the side of the ball he excels at. 

 

and everyone has to start somewhere... not sure his lack of playoff experience matters until he shows it does.

 

Hmmmm I think the Jags might be the team that gives the Pats the toughest fight. Tough to say. Their defense is up there with the Vikings.

Why's that? Rivera is one of the best and is regarded by his peers with that respect. When the Panthers crumble it's usually because Cam is still as immature as a 4 year old or Luke is out of the came with a concussion.

 

McVay is a one season coach, judge it in 2 more years. It matters just as much as him having any though by your standards said above. If the league is about coaching, a guy who hasn't coached in a playoff game surely is rated below a guy who has won several or at least been in them.

 

Jags D right now is better than the Vikings. The problem with the vikings is that if Harrison Smith doesn't play lights out, you can go over the top on them easily.

[Kendrick 4,741]

7 minutes ago, Tyler said:

have to wait and see who gets in but I put 50 on the Rams winning in October and the 50 on the Vikings as well could be in for some decent money

You didn't want to go for two teams in opposite conferences?

[FacePuncher 1,343]

i hope the Rams get embarrased in the playoffs

[Tyler 885]

4 minutes ago, FacePuncher said:

i hope the Rams get embarrased in the playoffs

 

por que

[FacePuncher 1,343]

Just now, Tyler said:

 

por que

born and raised in St. Louis

 

must hate

[Tyler 885]

Just now, FacePuncher said:

born and raised in St. Louis

 

must hate

 

[Tyler 885]

 

Titans @ KC

 

Falcons @ Rams

 

Bills @ Jags

 

Panthers @ Saints

 

let's do an nfl playoff predictor for tpe IMO @Will @Devise@Beketov

[boubabi 4,725]

go alouettes