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NFL 2018 III - Gronk is Better at Life Than You


unJon

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That was frustrating for the Bears.  The game-tying Hail Mary pass was caught one yard short of the EZ.  Bears lose by a single score after giving up two really cheap TDs on special teams: a kick-off return for a TD and a punt blocked and carried in for a TD.  And Edelman was really lucky to recover a fumble on his own goal line.  All losses so far have been close.

Positives:  Trey Burton was very good, by far the best receiver.  Cohen was good at catch & run.  Mitch turned some scrambles into very good downfield runs, one for a TD (he ran ~70 yards to get an 8 yard gain), and another 54 yards to the 5yd line that led to a TD.  Howard had a couple of good series where he was getting ~5yds per carry instead of the 0-2yds per carry we’ve seen most of this season.  Defense forced three turnovers with solid tackling.  Kevin White is back after so many injuries, and made two good catches in just a few snaps.

Negatives: Trubiskey’s long throws are so inaccurate, they give WRs no chance most of the time and they risk interceptions all the time.  No pass rush, and Mack anonymous, for the second consecutive game.  Not much pass protection either.  Run defense was nowhere in Q1, and could not stop Pats from bleeding the clock for the last four minutes of Q4 — they should have known it would be all runs and make a stop sooner.  Receivers other than Burton were generally poor, even if strong sunlight hindered them — the timing and movement of the Pats receivers was light years ahead.  Howard running inside and Cohen running outside is generally too predictable and therefore easy to stop.  There was also some poor tackling at times and the LBs (other than Smith) look slow and sluggish to the ball.

Patriots are a machine.  They are superbly coached to play within their system.  They have player turnover each year, which may explain the slow start as new players absorb the system, but they’re already looking more solid in recent games.  No Gronk today didn’t matter.  They got lucky with two special teams TDs today, but they also moved the ball with ease all day and they won’t give up three fumbles (one is officially an interception) every week.  Both o-line and d-line were really solid and controlled the game, Brady’s accuracy was very good and his receivers made great runs all day, plus the run game offered good balance.  Lots of short passes, and just a couple turned into big gains after missed tackles.  Their secondary recovered after a bad game last week and played very aggressively, with plenty of flags for holding and face-masks (a few were declined anyway).  And they had the right tactics today — extra pass rush destroys the Bears; Trubiskey can’t take advantage with deep throws against one-on-one cover, the o-line crumbles quickly, and they don’t hit a slot receiver (Gabriel would be good) with a quick throw over the blitz. 

A pity to lose but still entertaining to watch. 

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Nothing?

Amari Cooper traded to the Cowboys for a 1st round pick.

In a vacuum, this is actually a fantastic trade for Gruden. Everyone knew that if someone was going to overpay for Cooper it was Jerry Jones, and nobody thought Cooper was worth a 1st round pick.

But in the broader context this is another example of Gruden's hacksaw approach to teambuilding. This is like the first year of a Madden Franchise Mode where you promise yourself you're gonna stick with it for a few seasons.

It's almost like a nexus of badness that's so dense you can almost see the potentially promising future that must dance through Jon Gruden's tortured dreams like the touch of a flame. There is no firing him, there's no going back. This is a man with a sunburned face, and too much personality.

Ladies and Gentleman.

The Jon Gruden Raiders II: Electric Boogaloo

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On the surface, that's an amazing trade for the Raiders.  That might be a top ten/fifteen pick.  The Cowboys are bad, and I wouldn't want to be the team paying Amari the star money he's about to demand to disappear every other game.

Unfortunately, the guy making the pick is still Jon Gruden. 

Still, getting a first-rounder in a draft absolutely stacked at WR for Amari Cooper is highway robbery.

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14 hours ago, The Lasr Storm said:

i know the Rams are unbeaten and KC looks like it has a record breaking offense, but honestly I think its the Pats and everyone else now that they have Gordon as a legit #1 deep ball guy. Rams d line plays like it did yesterday and it will be NE vs the Rams for sure.

You can never count New England out and given the rest of their division, it's highly likely that they'll make the playoffs... but it's hard to see them winning with that defense. No matter how you measure them (here's one place that allows quickly resorting) their defense is Swiss cheese. They're winning because, more often than not, Brady can come up with more than they let in if he has to, but even at his best, he has not done well in the playoffs when the defense was bad.

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2 hours ago, Triskjavikson said:

For what it's worth when that rumor was floating around I remember a few folks on air debating whether one should give up a 2nd round pick or a third round pick for Cooper, and that felt right to me.  Surely not a first round pick, right?  

Why not just bring Dez back?

Eh, and they're pointing out on the garbage MNF broadcast that this division is so open that Dallas is still very much alive.  

ETA:  lol at the clock management malpractice for NYG.  Not sure if it's more Eli or more Shurmer, but that QB/coach battery is hurting.

Personally, I'd rather just save that second rounder for the draft and grab a WR there.  Draft is stacked at that position.  

Cooper's about to be massively overpaid, and Dallas is basically obligated to be the team to do it, because if you trade a first for him and then let him walk, you look even dumber than you do overpaying him.

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8 hours ago, Altherion said:

You can never count New England out and given the rest of their division, it's highly likely that they'll make the playoffs... but it's hard to see them winning with that defense. No matter how you measure them (here's one place that allows quickly resorting) their defense is Swiss cheese. They're winning because, more often than not, Brady can come up with more than they let in if he has to, but even at his best, he has not done well in the playoffs when the defense was bad.

nobody game plans better than Bill, and his defense will get stops when they need to. 

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15 hours ago, briantw said:

Unfortunately, the guy making the pick is still Jon Gruden.

Gruden now has three-times the chances he had on August 1st of getting a good player in the 2019 draft.  Or the option of packaging a bunch of picks and moving up to the #1 slot (if they're not already there).

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On 10/23/2018 at 12:01 PM, Bronn Stone said:

Gruden now has three-times the chances he had on August 1st of getting a good player in the 2019 draft.  Or the option of packaging a bunch of picks and moving up to the #1 slot (if they're not already there).

Problem is that he's an entire team away from being competitive.  Not saying it isn't possible, but the likelihood that a team half filled with mediocre players and half filled with rookies to do well.... probably isn't going to be that great.

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