NFL 2024
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@Kruse just watch. The commentators are top tier, the analysis is excellent (generally) - and you can google what things mean.
That's exactly what I've been doing... just watching, with my phone in my hand, constantly Asking-Jeeves "what the fuck is a Pass Interference, I thought the whole game was constant interfering with passes being thrown/caught?" ... followed by "... aahhh... shit, that changes everything, I know nothing, like Jon Snow - do I qualify for a hot redhead?"
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it's week 4 and we are supposed to be working out what each team is.
good luck with that.
The Chiefs are 4-0, but are they any good? They look terrible for large stretches of each game. But they keep winning.
Remember a couple of weeks ago when we were worried about the Ravens? Well they are okay, and gave the Bills a beat down. Derrick Henry is a fucking freak.
The Bengals got on the board.
The Saints went down again.
Sam Darnold and the Vikings are 4-0
The Washington Commanders are racking up scores.
The Titans got on the board.TLDR i have no idea who is actually good
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@mariner4life the first month is basically the new preseason now
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Kirk Cousins just threw for 509 yards
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Yes
Cousins was great
but so was mayfield and Tampa are probably a bit pissed they lost!
that's NFLMoving on Baker and breaking their franchise was the most Browns thing ever. Imagine what they could have done with the draft picks they dished and that money they are paying Watson.
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NFL is top tier entertainment. Watched most of redzone with a couple of mates yesterday, on the couch with beers, chips and tortilla. Games that looked a bit 'meh' suddenly came to life. Favourites got upset. Shit it was fun. I am enjoying the hell out of it once more.
Rugby could learn from knowledgeable commentators who aren't afraid to critique players.
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NFL is top tier entertainment. Watched most of redzone with a couple of mates yesterday, on the couch with beers, chips and tortilla. Games that looked a bit 'meh' suddenly came to life. Favourites got upset. Shit it was fun. I am enjoying the hell out of it once more.
Rugby could learn from knowledgeable commentators who aren't afraid to critique players.
Watched the Jets v Vikings game yesterday. Great entertainment. Might watch a few games until the EOYT starts
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NFL is top tier entertainment. Watched most of redzone with a couple of mates yesterday, on the couch with beers, chips and tortilla. Games that looked a bit 'meh' suddenly came to life. Favourites got upset. Shit it was fun. I am enjoying the hell out of it once more.
Rugby could learn from knowledgeable commentators who aren't afraid to critique players.
It's probably a discussion for another thread but I've been thinking a bit about stoppages in NFL vs rugby. How is it that NFL has no continuity or flow, games take 3+ hours and it's the most watched sport in the US, and yet we complain if a scrum stoppage runs longer than 90 seconds?
I don't know what the answer is and I think it's a cultural thing about how we watch sport, but it's interesting.
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@barbarian to me, the stoppages are what make NFL interesting.
Rugby is a dynamic game, it flows, people read situations on the field in real time.
NFL is far more structured. Playcallers off the field, clock management, various matchups and groupings with substitutions - it's the closest thing to chess-level strategy with humans. Fascinating. And apex athletes with effectivley unlimited money in coaching and conditioning. It's brilliant.
That, and the drives are usually not too stop-start. They flow reasonably well. The games without ads are 2 hours or so and they are bloody good to watch (DAZN do an ad-free version of games online. Top tier).
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I've experienced college football as a regular game and as a nationally televised game. The latter does take a long time and it is strange to have to wait for TV timeouts while being there. All US pro sports pump as many ads as possible into their coverage so they are used to it.
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NFL fans are perennially complaining about how the game isn't as good as it used to be. Recent example is the current cover 2 nonsense. Mel Kiper was suggesting it be banned to get back to the NFL of Terry Bradshaw's day, neglecting to mention that that same Steelers team was famous for playing cover 2 defence.
So part of it is just that fans have different things to complain about. I think the stop/start, TV timeout stuff has just been there for so long that people are used to it.
Having the same Sunday afternoon timeslot forever helps too - I think a lot of people have traditions around getting together with friends/family to watch the game, and so the constant ads just allow for more banter/food etc.
I've only been to one NFL game live, and I didn't really notice the pace at the stadium - there's so much going on that the break is over before you realise.
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Week 5 and the season is all over the shop.
Chiefs just got themselves to 5-0, didn't get to watch, but their yards to TD ratio seems pretty off. Saints have completely fallen off a cliff, "preseason" champions.
The Vikings remain unbeaten. For the Jets questions now being asked of Rodgers, while of course the Coach is getting it in the neck.
Commanders score 30+ again
Jags got a win! Colts secondary is hot garbage so TLaw helps himself to 370
Bills lose again. Bengals lose again (at least a close one v the Ravens). Ravens are back feeling good about life.
The Broncos have more wins than losses and i am not sure how i am supposed to feel
Niners lose again
The fucking Giants win? Against the previously impressive Seattle of all teams.Lots of 3-2 / 2-3 teams across the league
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Yeah ultimately it's basically impossible to design a perfect defensive scheme - I think there's a stat somewhere about completions vs perfect coverage or similar. So a good enough QB can always beat the coverage. Defences schemes are really just tradeoffs. Cover 2 sacrifices some strength against the run and yards underneath to take away deeper threats.
On paper the Chiefs and Vikings are the best teams in the AFC/NFC. Neither of them look it though. I can buy the Chiefs are a great team moving through the gears, but the vikings still have to prove it. Their results seem a bit too dependent on early turnovers and Justin Jefferson being a freak. But the NFL is a very momentum based league, so a good (not great) team getting hot and gelling as o unit can go really deep. It's not like they other US sports where the seasons are 90 games and hot streaks blow out.
Crazy to think that next week we'll be 1/3 of the way through the (regular) season.
Jets are a total shambles, as always. Rodgers is the most talented qb I've ever seen on the field. If you needed someone to play for your life, he's the guy. But off the field he has no idea, and is too happy with yes men. Now that he's regressed to around QB 10-15 that really hurts. He needs an OC than can do creative, surprising things to take some of the load off, instead he's got Hackett who has two plays: run up the middle and give it to Aaron. It's not even like they needed a great OC. Manning's two great years with the Broncos had Gase as the OC and be all accounts, he'd basically draw up a big pile of plays and let Manning work out which one would work best.
Totally off topic now, but I've always thought if you could get a QB with Rodgers ability on the field and Brady's mentality off it, you'd probably have to stop playing football, because that guy would never lose a game.
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While i get Rodgers is a great player, and a great QB physically, i am not sure he's the guy i'm having play for my life. When the game is there to be won, he's not the guy i want with the ball. It's not perfect i know, but his "game winning drives" stat is pretty average compared to many others. He's effectively got the same number as Kirk Cousins (in way more seasons) a player universally derided for not having it when it mattered.
I'm still taking Brady in the 4th quarter.
But if my life was dependent on a QB to throw the ball, i've never seen anyone throw it better than Aaron, and his individual records back that up
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Sam Darnold schools the team that drafted him, Vikings made more errors than previous weeks and last two games have gone to sleep after making some big leads.
Cracks are there that perhaps they will hit a loss sooner than later, but that defence is still pretty good -
Yeah I can see that. Brady's metronomic consistency was freakish. I'm sure I saw a Bruce Arians quote when Brady was at the bucs saying something like he's the only QB he's ever worked with that never got tired throwing 7 yard slants. I've never found it again though so might not be true, but it made me respect that consistency.
Not a big fan of the game winning drives stat. There are so many other influences on that kind of scenario.
