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NFL 2019 Preseason: Hard Knockin on Gruden's Door


DanteGabriel

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9 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

Donte Stallworth most of the time, I think, This year's unit (assuming high availability of both Brown and Gordon, which I don't) rates ahead of that one, I'd say. And the running back in 07 was Maroney. Definitely better skill players overall, even if Ben Watson is twelve years older and suspended.

It's funny when you point how little skill position depth the '07 Patriots had. I mean it's completely true. The RBs were all mediocre (James White would chuckle at Kevin Faulk's season), Ben Watson was ok, and the other WRs weren't special.

But that was still the most terrifying offense I've ever seen. All it took was an in-his-prime Brady, the greatest deep threat season ever by Moss and the greatest slot receiver season ever by Welker. Just 3 guys - simplistic, complimentary perfection. 

Now you got Brown as the new Moss and Edelman as the new Welker and Gordon as an overqualified Stallworth. Factor in Michel/White vs. Maroney/Faulk and yeah maybe it is more talented top to bottom. But it doesn't feel nearly as scary mainly because Brady is positively ancient. That said, the deep ball actually looked pretty solid tonight so WTF do I know. I'm done guessing when this gravy train will end. 

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Bunch of friends and I watched the Pats game last night, and it was right around the time Phil Dorsett caught his second (relatively uncontested) TD, when one of my buddies asked the question,

“Hey… do the Pats even need Antonio Brown?”  

Antonio Brown is probably the best overall receiver over the last 6 seasons; an absolute stud who has done everything a WR needs to do to be great.  He’s fast, great hands, runs great routes, excellent separation, fights for the ball, great talent.  The Pats, meanwhile, have been touted as a run-first offense going into the pre-season.  The Pats also lost Brady’s best receiving target, Rob Gronkowski to common sense retirement.  Julian Edelman, the Pats best WR the last few seasons, is 32 and one bad cut away from IR.  The Pats have been a revolving door of talent the last few years- from Chandler Jones to Danny Amendola to Dion Lewis to Trey Flowers- Pats keep a tight book at the expense of established talent.  

And we all sat there thinking the same thing:

No.  

No.  The Pats DO NOT need Antonio Brown.  

But the Pats have him anyway. 

And in that same vein, I need you to understand a few other things, namely, that it seems readily obvious that the Raiders and Steelers absolutely needed Antonio Brown.  And they cannot have him.  Instead, the Pats have him and the Pats sort of have him for shits and giggles.  Yeah, lets see if Brady can do well with the best WR in the game … again. Why not?  $15mil, 9 guaranteed.  Lets see how this looks.  Run it up the ol’ flag-pole as it were.  See where we are; how this will work. 

Meanwhile, the Steelers looked so lost that there was a play where the center forgot to snap the ball.  The only thing that Moncrief didn’t drop was his second testicle.  Tomlin looked like he wanted to tap out during the coin toss.  Big Ben waddled out and was able to lick any excess gravy off the ball.  Pats didn't even dress Kyle van Noy because his wife went into labor; he still recorded more tackles than half the Steelers defenders.  

Watching the Pats annihilate a perpetually hapless Steelers team, and doing it in every facet of the game, we were all still practically giddy at the thought that they could get better.  And the Steelers who totally cool with it- a cowardly punt at the end of the half and then a “We Surrender” FG when down by like 30.  Great job, nit-wits.  

Meanwhile, I’m sort of wondering if the Dolphins will be sent down to the NCAA later today?  That’s the gap between “us” and “them.”  And by “Them” I mean “Everyone else who pays attention to football.”  Those other teams- they have legit issues and have to figure things out.  They would LOVE Antonio Brown or a coach that doesn’t stupidly call time outright as his team is about to win. 

The Pats don’t need Antonio Brown.  

They have him anyway.  

And oh… do the bitches know it.

Rex Ryan: “There’s no way I’d want Antonio Brown on my team,” and you knew he was serious because he pulled the rack of lamb out of his mouth before he gave this interview.  

Tony Dungee: "I coached 13 years, and every year my first message to the team was, ‘We want to win the Super Bowl, yes, we want to be talented, but we have to be role models'," Dungy said.  "These kids in our country look up to NFL players and coaches, and I really think this sent the wrong message…. I know coaches want to win but I'm disappointed in Robert Kraft," Dungy said. "I think at some point you say, ‘Just as an organization, we're not going to do this.'"

Dungee then added that if your child is gay, you should disown them, God’s plan and its cool because it's Tony Dungee who believes these backward things.  Everyone- ignore the fact that Dungee is a homophobic shit.  It's all good. His sanctimony insulates him.  

The Pats are going to be in the AFC Championship game. Before that happens, tho, we need to watch other football games.  For fun.  Games like:

-Oh, I forgot, Cleveland is still Cleveland.  I can’t believe I forgot that was a thing.  Wow, they looked like shit.  Baker Mayfield looked like a Browns QB.  Do they all always look like that?  Do we owe Johnny Manziel an apology?  Maybe it's not them?  Mayfield had a rating of 64 and threw 3 picks.  One was to Malcolm Butler.  That’s how bad he was- even the ghost of Malcolm Butler could pick him off.  This has train wreck written all over it, doesn’t it?  Wow, that’s… totally unsurprising… 

-So, in Miami right now, the Dolphins’ “Tank Tour” got off to a tremendous start.  They made the Ravens look like a powerhouse.  Lamar Jackson when 17 for 20 300+ yards and 5 TDs.  Immediately after the game, the report came out that multiple Dolphins players demanded to be traded.  They should demand a cigarette and a blindfold- even that’s preferable than what will be this Dolphins disaster.  Can Hard Knocks do them DURING the season?  Chernobyl’s Reactor #4 looked more stable than this team.

-Atlanta will get over that Superbowl collapse any season now.    

-Its irritable bowel syndrome was a team, it would be the Lions.  What a great testament to how that team will figure out a way to fuck up anything- dominating for 3 quarters, a dumb time out, terrible special teams and then an incredible inability to do anything and they get a draw against the Cards.  Not a problem, though, b/c the Lions’ next 5 opponents are Chargers, Eagles, Chiefs, Packers, Vikings.  The Lions could be 0-5-1 by week 6 Matt Patricia is going to be fired in October.  Bank on it. IT will be a mercy killing so he can go a be a head coach of an XFL team somewhere.  

-See you in 2020, Jags.  

-Feel bad for the Bengals; played great for 3 quarters, still lose.  

-Speaking of epic futility that brings the craving for a swift, merciful death, the Giants are still in the league.  I KNOW! You forgot they existed.  But they do.  And if there was any question at how wasted this team is, look no further than what this team will do to Barkley – he is a complete monster out there and he will be a fucking headcase by November.  Fuck, maybe that explains OBJ!?  It's not him; its that shit organization!  Somebody should just Good-Will-Hunting Barkley and just keep telling him, “Its not your fault… it's not your fault … it's not your fault!!!”  

-Oh, but it totally is Jameis Winston’s fault.  Couldn’t crest 200 yards; 3 picks, 45.4 passer rating, and even made Richards Sherman look serviceable again.  

Regardless, here we are again, at the damn of another season where the Pats- even before the season has started – has broken your hearts, laid bare the waste-of-time your resistance is and exposed the league for the over-hyped clown-car that it is. 

Antonio Brown plays Miami next week. 

The spread might be 22.  
 

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19 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

 Vikings looking as strong as I expected.  Dalvin Cook looks healthy and is getting great support from the O-line.  

They underperformed last year but should be better this.

Single game samples are always dangerous, but if we can play defense and run the ball like that, good luck to the rest of the league.

Also, (i) what was all that noise about Watkins not being a good late fantasy play? And (ii),@DanteGabriel, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Told ya.  

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Seahawks closed out a narrow win but it was all a bit chaotic.  The pass rush was great but they couldn’t protect the passer at all.  The secondary gave up a ton of yards, including a missed interception that became a TD and another TD that stemmed from PI.  On the other hand, Wilson did connect some long passes and Carson ran in the short TDs.

The O-line has been a problem forever.  The secondary should not have been that bad.  I hope they can improve, otherwise most games will be a crapshoot at best.

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1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

Is it too early say that the Browns should have made Greg Williams the coach?  

If Greg Williams is the answer, I'm really confused about the question.

But I would agree that the Browns got thoroughly outcoached by a team with less talent at home.  Good coaching is about putting your players in a position to succeed, and it seemed like the Browns just weren't able to do that.  That's a really bad sign. 

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57 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

If Greg Williams is the answer, I'm really confused about the question.

But I would agree that the Browns got thoroughly outcoached by a team with less talent at home.  Good coaching is about putting your players in a position to succeed, and it seemed like the Browns just weren't able to do that.  That's a really bad sign. 

I think a lot of their struggles yesterday were due to all the penalties.  They were close to 200 yards in penalties and a lot of them were on offense, which led to a lot of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and longs, which meant longer developing pass plays, which exposed the o-line (also, their starting left tackle was ejected in the first half) and led to Baker forcing throws.  

They need to clean up that shit in week two.  

Regardless, though, Gregg Williams is not a good coach.  He's a defensive coach whose defenses constantly get gashed, and the Browns' improvement in the second half of the season was all about their offense, which Williams had no hand in.  The defense got even worse once he took over head coaching because his idiot son got put in charge.  He also didn't show he was terribly good at game management.

Maybe Freddie Kitchens ends up being a shitty coach, but I'll take the chance that he's not over a known shitty coach like Gregg Williams.  One week doesn't mean much in the NFL, especially for a team like the Browns with a ton of new faces who barely played together in the preseason.

If they get blown out again in week two, I'll start getting worried. 

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46 minutes ago, briantw said:

I think a lot of their struggles yesterday were due to all the penalties.  They were close to 200 yards in penalties and a lot of them were on offense, which led to a lot of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and longs, which meant longer developing pass plays, which exposed the o-line (also, their starting left tackle was ejected in the first half) and led to Baker forcing throws.  

They need to clean up that shit in week two. 

Seems like a strange response to my post.  Who is responsible for limiting penalties?  Coaches.  The head coach is just as responsible for self-sabotaging penalties as he is for predictable, milquetoast playcalling.

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4 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Seahawks closed out a narrow win but it was all a bit chaotic.  The pass rush was great but they couldn’t protect the passer at all.  The secondary gave up a ton of yards, including a missed interception that became a TD and another TD that stemmed from PI.  On the other hand, Wilson did connect some long passes and Carson ran in the short TDs.

The O-line has been a problem forever.  The secondary should not have been that bad.  I hope they can improve, otherwise most games will be a crapshoot at best.

I was actually surprised the Bengals makeshift OL played as well as they did in pass protection. Dalton dropped back to throw 56 times, and they only gave up 5 sacks. Still a lot, but our DL got home at a much higher rate. We were down to our 3rd string LT, and the OL was supposed to be, by all accounts, completely terrible. They ended up keeping Dalton relatively clean most of the day. Now the run blocking otoh...

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1 hour ago, Maithanet said:

Seems like a strange response to my post.  Who is responsible for limiting penalties?  Coaches.  The head coach is just as responsible for self-sabotaging penalties as he is for predictable, milquetoast playcalling.

Right, but it's also something correctable.  If it's a problem all season, Kitchens won't be there next season.

But again, Gregg Williams was not and never will be the answer.  He's not a good coach.

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2 minutes ago, briantw said:

Right, but it's also something correctable.  If it's a problem all season, Kitchens won't be there next season.

But again, Gregg Williams was not and never will be the answer.  He's not a good coach.

Gregg Williams is a bad coach. I felt like that was clear in my first post.  Maybe you're still responding to Cas Stark's point?

And yes, penalties are correctable, but really everything a coach does is correctable.  I wouldn't consider penalties to be particularly more correctable than questionable schemes or stale play calling.  It's one game, and always best not to jump to conclusions too much.  Plenty of teams start 2-2 and win the Super Bowl. 

One thing that is clearly true (and was true before kickoff) is that the Browns have embraced hype in a truly unusual way this year.  Rarely do teams want to consider themselves favorites to make the playoffs or win their division.  The Eagles Dream Team and numerous Redskins Offseason Championships are great examples of how the NFL often humbles those who proclaim greatness before the season even starts.  And yet, in spite of the fact that the Browns were just 7-9 last year (and 8-40 the past three years), they really trumpeted themselves.  Presumably the Browns organization was desperate for any positive news story, and after years of being an NFL doormat is happy to have the pendulum swing the other way.  But nonetheless, it's unusual, and if history is any guide, risky.  Fans might forgive another 7-9 season, but not one that starts with such ridiculous hubris. 

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4 hours ago, Maithanet said:

If Greg Williams is the answer, I'm really confused about the question.

This.  Seriously, Greg Williams is still around?  I guess the one good thing about the NFL is they are very green in recycling coaches until the end result is just repulsive decomposition.

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1 hour ago, Maithanet said:

One thing that is clearly true (and was true before kickoff) is that the Browns have embraced hype in a truly unusual way this year.  Rarely do teams want to consider themselves favorites to make the playoffs or win their division.  The Eagles Dream Team and numerous Redskins Offseason Championships are great examples of how the NFL often humbles those who proclaim greatness before the season even starts.  And yet, in spite of the fact that the Browns were just 7-9 last year (and 8-40 the past three years), they really trumpeted themselves.  Presumably the Browns organization was desperate for any positive news story, and after years of being an NFL doormat is happy to have the pendulum swing the other way.  But nonetheless, it's unusual, and if history is any guide, risky.  Fans might forgive another 7-9 season, but not one that starts with such ridiculous hubris. 

To be fair, most of the actual Browns players and coaches haven't been embracing the hype.  They've gone out of their way in basically every interview I've seen (and as a Browns fan, I've seen a bunch) to downplay the hype and say they're not focused on anyone else's expectations for them.  It's the media building the hype.

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18 hours ago, ESPOMAN said:

The 49ers game was interesting their defense looked really good. I don't know how much of that was just because the Bucs offense is really bad so we will have to wait and see on that one. But the offense was not too hot. Jimmy missed a few throws but we'll see how that goes. The Packers game (I know that was Thursday) was pretty much the same as the 49ers. Good defense. Pretty bad offense. Granted, the Packers were going against a better defense.

Jameis (for whom I am rooting) was epically bad.  The Niners should have had four pick sixes.

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As a Niners fan, that was a really discouraging win.  Their run game was shit, and Shanahan didn't seem to trust Garoppolo unless he was throwing to Kittle.  Plus the penalties were insanely frustrating.  The pass rush did look very encouraging though.  I assume the Bucs have a shitty line, but still, the pressure was impressive.  Really on defense the concern in that game was they couldn't stop the run in the 4th quarter, which is weird, or at least suggests conditioning problems.

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3 hours ago, aceluby said:

Damn @Tywin et al.... you're having a week

Let me show my maturity by publicly dragging you here as hard as my team is dragging your's in C League. You're down 100 points, and I have yet to register a point from three of the five best WRs in the NFL. Think wisely next time you question the technological terror I have created. Only injuries can defeat the King's Landing Cullers!!! 

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Just checked in to slurp up some Patriots hater tears. 

And HOW STUPID does everyone who was questioning AB's mental competency look NOW? It's amazing. Thanks for not editing your old posts, folks. It's art.

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