NFL 2024
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Okay, this might be a better time to ask "What the fuck even is this sport ... what are the rules?" - than mid-SuperBowl.
At one point during Seahawks game, the opposition had a guy running up to Seahawks "in-goal", jump up, catch, and pass backwards to a teammate outside the in-goal.
ie: to my eye ... actively attempting to AVOID a touchdown. What was that all about?
Next play was Seahawks starting on 1m, fucking it up, and ceding a "safety" ... if that helps anybody find the play. -
I couldn't find it, but it's probably a punt - if the ball goes into the end zone (in goal) then it's a touchback and they start at the 20. The guy chasing the ball is called a 'gunner'. He's trying to either tackle the punt returner, or 'down' the ball as close to the end zone as possible. If he downs it at the 1, the drive starts at the 1. But if he steps into the end zone then it's a touchback and they go out to the 20, so you see the big dives etc.
You can't recover possession on a punt, unless the receiving team has touched the ball first, so a touchdown is generally impossible. If a punt is close to the end zone then you'll often see the punt returner get out of the way, allowing the ball to bounce and hoping it goes into the end zone for a touchback.
The other weird situation you'll sometimes see is a player deliberately knocking down an easy interception if it's 4th down. Since 4th is a turnover where the ball was spotted at the start of the play, a deep interception can be worse field position than an incomplete pass, so the defender will make a call on whether they think there's space for them to get more ground by returning or not.
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@Cyclops Cheers - yeah, reading up on the "Punt" on wikipedia just now... that would definitely explain it.
I didn't actually see whether the ball had been kicked or passed - just glanced up to see this odd behaviour... but it sounds like it must have been kicked/"punted".
Stay tuned for more dumb questions... -
Another concussion for Tua Tagovailoa.
Dude needs to seriously consider retiring.
Good news for him is the contract he signed in the offseason means he is guaranteed at least $93M USD so he is financially set for life.
Not great for the Dolphins salary cap going forward.
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Was a terrible deal even just based on performance, the dolphins have been the ultimate flat track bullies the last couple of years and Tua's a big part of that.
Hope he's okay though - I believe it's 4 in 2 years. Not sure how a medical retirement influences the salary cap.
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I couldn't find a good breakdown of the rules for the retired list, but while I was looking I checked out Dak's new deal. Wow it is bad. His cap hit next year is 90m! Over a third of the total cap. They can push out about 36m to future years, so it's not as bad as it looks but that money then reduces flexibility in future years and makes it even tougher when this deal runs out if you've pushed cap hits into void years. Next year Micah Parsons will want a new deal too. The cap is forecast to rise pretty rapidly, so that might be enough to bail them out, but they're going to struggle to keep all their mid level talent and Dak just isn't good enough to carry the whole offence on his back.
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Some teams will already be getting wood for the 2026 NFL draft with another Manning due to be eligible. Looks like a chip off the old block
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Big week one winners become big week 2 losers. Cowboys get hammered by the Saints. Niners go down to the Vikings (99 yard TD to Jefferson was sweet). Lions lose to the Bucs.
The Chiefs left it very late to get over the Bengals today. The Ravens lost again? To the Raiders? The Panthers may be the worst team of all time.
The Broncos still fucking suck.Offences are in general really struggling this year. Defenses have got much better, and they are sitting really deep. So everything is check downs, screen passes, and short catch and run plays. Fucking analytics. Take what they give you. boo, throw the fucking ball over the top and give us something to watch.
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Wow, the falcons bounce back to beat the eagles. NFC South might be less of a dumpster fire this year.
Bengals and Ravens both have a massive game next weekend. In the last 20 years 103 teams have started 0-3 and only once have they recovered to make the playoffs. (There's also 1 instance where a team would have made the current 14 team playoffs).
Bengals have what shapes up to be a classic get right game against the Commanders. But the Ravens have a tougher match up against the cowboys. If the Bengals lose to the Commanders the season is over - they're obviously not good enough this year. The cowboys are better than the commanders, but the Ravens should be good enough, but if they drop that game I wouldn't completely rule out a run at the playoffs, but they would probably need to finish something like 11-3 to get across the line.
Rams are also in the 0-2 hole and ravaged by injury, looks like a long way back for them, with the 49ers coming to town.
The Panthers have benched Young for Dalton. Given how many picks they gave up, that will hurt. But what hurts even more is that CJ Stroud was taken at 2 and landed in a Texas team that was about as bad as the Panthers were and has thrived. Oops. At least one team in the NFC South will be a dumpster fire.
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The Ravens have a brutal next few weeks. I got a sportsbet special where if you put a bet on a team to win the Superbowl, you got a bonus bet back every time they won. I picked the Ravens. That's going really fucking good.
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The league is fucking loooooaaaaded with QBs who are battling at the moment. Rookies, sophomores, 3rd year guys. Battling.
I am wondering if we are finally heading for a correction in the QB market. Right now, if your guy looks half decent, he gets paid. Dak fucking Prescott has the league's biggest deal and he is leading his team nowhere. Young guys are thrown in the deep end by organisations hoping they hit on the next Mahomes, and then they get cut real quick when wins don't magically arrive.
Meanwhile there are vets out there playing decent footy, often in a new team. Redemption stories are everywhere.
Teams would do better to draft a guy they like, and develop him, preferably without starting. The idea of making your QB better with time, coaching, play-calling, and getting the other parts of the offence right is out the window. It's draft, then either cut or hugely over pay. And unless you get lucky and draft Mahomes, it doesn't even lead to success. The list of Superbowl winning QBs over the past 2 decades is pretty short.
Arch Manning dazzles with 5-TD performance vs. UTSA - ESPN Video