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NFL 2017-18 Playoffs: circling the wagons


DanteGabriel

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Waking up to my (inexplicably unsilenced) phone telling me that the Bears have hired Matt Naggy was just what Jace needed today. Now if David Toub could get struck by lightning I can begin to feel confident that the fucking losers in KC won't be brought in to taint my boys with their loserishness.

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Going to be one of the most interesting quarterback carousels ever this offseason. There are a bunch of teams that need QBs, a bunch of teams that have more than one option, a bunch of teams that need to make some tough decisions, several aging superstars who will likely retire soon, and one of the best QB drafts (on paper) in recent memory.

AFC West:

Denver Broncos: Aside from the Browns, the team in most need of a QB.

Kansas City Chiefs: Have a nice little dilemma on their hands with Alex Smith having a good year, but they traded up to draft Mahomes. I feel like Smith will be available if someone wants to pay.

Las Vegas Raiders: No controversy (yet). Carr will be the starting QB.

San Diego Chargers: Rivers had another good year, but he's no spring chicken and his arm is at Chad Pennington levels of rag at this point. He looks okay for now, but is a top candidate for production falling off a cliff due to diminished physical capabilities.

 

AFC South:

Houston Texans: For the first time in franchise history, appear to have a franchise QB. Definitely have to be worried about a guy who has had two ACL tears, but he should be good at least for the short term.

Indianapolis Colts: One of the most interesting ones. Is Luck done? If so they're completely fucked, as Brisket seems like a nice backup, but certainly isnt' a quality NFL stater.

Jacksonville Jagz: The most likely landing spot for an established veteran QB (Alex Smith, Kirk Cousins, the corpse of Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater). Everyone knows they are a real QB away from being super bowl contenders.

Tennessee Titans: Despite Mariota's awful year, he's not going anywhere next year.

 

AFC North:

Baltimore Ravens: Another team with a tough decision to make. Are you okay with a guy who has pretty consistently been the 20th best QB in the league? I don't know if they are still saddled with an albatross of a contract on Flacco, so that would obviously change things if there is no way to get rid of him.I would be looking to draft one if the right guy is available.

Cincinnati Bengals: See exactly above.

Cleveland Browns: Lol. The only drama is who the Browns draft. This is a weak draft everywhere except QB. The best player in the draft is probably Derwin James, a safety from Florida State, and suffice it to say that would not go over well in the factory of sadness.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben is pretty clearly declining physically (I don't think the BR7 Wellness and lifestyle program (TM) will be taking off any time soon). Obviously Ben is your starter next year, unless he makes good on his threats to retire... Steelers are good enough that they aren't going to spend high draft picks on QBs when they still have a chance to win now, though. They'll ride as far as ole rapey will take them.

 

AFC East:

Buffalo Bills: It's clear nobody believes Tyrod Taylor is the answer, and Nathan Peterman doesn't even deserve to be acknowledged. They are in somewhat of a bind, as a playoff team they'll liikely be drafting too late to get a QB. That being said, they'd be wise to try to trade up.

Miami Dolphins: After the pure delight was the bonus year of Jay Cutler football, the dolphins get to go back to the no man's land of wondering if Ryan Tannehill is a franchise QB.

New England Patriots: Oh, where to begin. Tom Brady's black magic makes him immortal, but this seems like the ideal spot to ride off into the sunset if they win again this year. That being said, we know Brady will play another decade, especially now that there is no succession plan in place.

New York Jets: I'm not sure how Christian Hackenberg was not a Browns draft pick. A guy who was legitimately not a good college quarterback, was drafted in the second round, and is so utterly terrible that he cannot be put on the field even in a lost season. He may go down as the worst player to ever be drafted.

 

NFC West:

Arizona Cardinals: Carson Palmer is retiring, so Cardinals need a QB. I can't imagine they think they'll be good enough to sign Cousins or get another retread, so the assumption is the new coach will draft somebody.

LA Rams: After being cured of the Jeff Fisher plague, Jared Goff actually appears to be the guy who went #1 overall and be a reasonable NFL starting QB.

San Francisco 49ers:  Handsome Jim!  He will be getting an absolutely outrageous contract, and cross our fingers that he is who he's looked like so far.

Seattle Seahawks: Despite the roster imploding on itself, Russell Wilson is still one of the 10 best QBs in the league.

NFC South:

Atlanta Falcons: Welcome to the best QB division by a mile. Ryan regressed from his MVP year, but was still damn good and appears to be finding form at the right time.

Carolina Panthers: Cam is maddening, but he's still obviously your guy going forward. Unless Diddy buys the team and installs Kaepernick.

New Orleans Saints: Another ageless wonder, showing no signs of slowing down. They will need a replacement soon, but are likely to spend draft picks on improving their already championship caliber roster.

Tampa Bay Bucs: See everything in the Titans entry.

 

NFC North:

Chicago Bears: Well, let's hope that the John Fox magic touch is the same as Jeff Fisher's, and whoever comes in can do something with Trubisky. Glennon seems likely to be traded to someone tanking along with a draft pick just to get him off the books.

Detroit Lions: Franchise QB in his prime,  no worries here.

Green Bay Packers: See above.

Minnesota Vikings: Very interesting situation. Keenum has played well enough that you feel like you have to run it back with him, but does anyone really believe he's a guy that will payoff with a big money deal? He seems like a candidate for the franchise tag. Bridgewater and Bradford will both hit the market, and i think they should do opposite things. Maybe the chips will fall where these guys can sign into an Arizona or Denver or Jacksonville as a starter, but I don't think that's likely. If I'm Teddy, I'm signing to backup Brady or Brees, and look to rehab for a year or two and potentially get handed the reins to a great situation. If I'm Bradford, I'm not signing with anyone, and waiting until the first QB on a playoff team tears his ACL and is desperate.

 

NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys: Zero confidence that Dak is a good QB, but they will be running it back with him next year at least.

New York Giants: A big fat mess. Eli is still competent, but clearly not good enough to turn the franchise around. He could be another trade candidate to Arizona etc. to go for a career resurrection. Giants should probably be drafting a QB.

Philadelphia Eagles: See the Texans entry.

Washington Redskins: I can't imagine after all this, the Redskins agree to a Kirk Cousins long term deal, and they can't franchise him again. That means they are drafting or dipping into the miserable free agent waters, and I think the latter is more likely.

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Bengals hired former Lions DC Teryl Austin as their new DC. Don’t know much about him, but he’s going to have a lot more talent to work with in Cincy, Geno Atkins, Vontaze Burfict, Carlos Dunlap, William Jackson III, Carl Lawson, etc. 

Any Lions fans on here with an insider opinion on him? 

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3 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Bengals hired former Lions DC Teryl Austin as their new DC. Don’t know much about him, but he’s going to have a lot more talent to work with in Cincy, Geno Atkins, Vontaze Burfict, Carlos Dunlap, William Jackson III, Carl Lawson, etc. 

Any Lions fans on here with an insider opinion on him? 

He was able to do more with lesser talent then others I have seen.  While the defense was never outstanding it kept the team in all those close games that Stafford had 4th quarter comebacks in.

Give him good players on D and he could shine, IMO.

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Just now, KingintheNorth4 said:

I'm cautiously optimistic about the Matt Nagy hire. I know they're hoping that they'll be next season's McVay and Goff success story, but we'll see.

Have fun with two rushing attempts per quarter from that backfield horse.

 

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On 1/5/2018 at 6:23 PM, Rockroi said:

Absolutely.  And if that were the only factor I would wholeheartedly agree with you.

But Bill is 65 years old ( he will be 66 by the start of the next season).  He has stated that he does not want to keep coaching as long as Marv Levy (Levy was 72 when he retired from coaching).  Would Belichick (who is still under contract) leave the team to start a career at another team?  Start all over with players he did not know?  A coaching staff he would need to get from scratch and an owner who would, almost certainly, be more bossy than Kraft?  To say nothing of going into exactly what Belichcik does not want- an uncertain QB situation (there is no place he would land where the QB situation is clear).  

I meant to get back to this. The age problem is easy to solve. I believe the stat (correct me if I'm wrong) is that 27 of the 31 Superb Owl winning coaches did so in their first five years with the team. Assuming BB leaves this summer (or next), that would still be he could make a run and get out before he turns 72. 

As far as new players goes, why would that matter? It seems from afar that the Pats cycle players more than just about any team, and it also seems like it doesn't matter who the players are so long as they can learn and execute BB's scheme. As a joke they were reading the names of the Pats defensive players on a radio show I like, and I had only heard of two of the guys. 

As far as the owner goes, I'm pretty sure that one of BB's conditions would be that the owner would not interfere, and I'm sure every owner in the league sans Jerrah and Snyder would acquiesce to that demand. 

And as far as the QB situation goes, BB can literally pick his team. How many teams wouldn't dump their coach for him? Maybe a half dozen or so? Imagine him taking over in Tampa or Detroit, for example.

 

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23 minutes ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

@Tywin et al.

Am I about to have to start getting mad FOR you?

Every time I turn on any fooballz they're talking Patriots, Steelers, or Falcons.

I've heard the Vikings mentioned once in the last two weeks, I'm starting to get irate.

It's been happening all season. For example, for a while they were ranked behind the Rams after they BEAT the Rams. Another was on Thanksgiving, when the guys on First Take (don't ask why I was watching) talked all day about the Cowboys and the Giants. They only mentioned the Vikings in the last segment when they were doing their picks and there was maybe 30 seconds worth of discussion on the team even though they were the number two team in the NFC.

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18 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

It's been happening all season. For example, for a while they were ranked behind the Rams after they BEAT the Rams. Another was on Thanksgiving, when the guys on First Take (don't ask why I was watching) talked all day about the Cowboys and the Giants. They only mentioned the Vikings in the last segment when they were doing their picks and there was maybe 30 seconds worth of discussion on the team even though they were the number two team in the NFC.

Yeah, I've noticed it in general but on Divisional weekend it's getting fucking ridiculous and I can't understand why it's happening.

Likeable coach. Good defense that isn't full of scumbags. Homegrown WR who's a freak. Other WR who's been hurt but is also a big star. KASE CEENUM! We've got Kurt Warner 2.0 steering the ship in Minnesota while Teddy Bridge rehabs that knee and SAmmy Bradford is doing whatever he's doing.

I understand people who are skeptical of Keenim, I get it man. He's put some bad tape out there, I saw it too. But they're HERE! I don't give a fuck about Tom Brady's trainer two weeks after the 'big' story broke. I don't wanna hear about how the Steelers are totes not overlooking the Jags for 55 minutes of a 22 minute program. Did you know that the Falcons are playing the Eagles? I sure as shit do, because apparently it's the only NFC game happening.

People were hot on the Saints Sunday night, and in general everyone was jumping on the bandwagon and penciling them in for the Championship, but since then it's been radio silence. I don't think Florio has mentioned this game yet and I had to go back and listen again to the around the league podcast because I thought I surely must have just been zoned out when they discussed the Vikings, but nary a word!

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10 minutes ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Yeah, I've noticed it in general but on Divisional weekend it's getting fucking ridiculous and I can't understand why it's happening.

Likeable coach. Good defense that isn't full of scumbags. Homegrown WR who's a freak. Other WR who's been hurt but is also a big star. KASE CEENUM! We've got Kurt Warner 2.0 steering the ship in Minnesota while Teddy Bridge rehabs that knee and SAmmy Bradford is doing whatever he's doing.

Translation: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least, that's how some will look at it.

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