NFL 2016/2017

[Danimal]

I'm just coming here to pat myself on the back again for calling Jordan Howard back in training camp. Too bad it took multiple injuries for John Fox and the brain trust to use him.

There is some nice young talent on the Bears that can be built on if the fan base can stomach another 2-3 years of being crap. Players like Cutler and Jefferies need to go however.

[fletcher21]

Why would you say Jeffery has to go? He's just as good as any top wr, the bears just utilize him terribly. The Lions did the same with Megatron. Both of those guys should get a minimum of 15 targets a game .

As for cutler, I guess I just keep thinking one day it will click for him. He hasn't taken full advantage of his God given abilities for sure. Last night when he was on, he looked like a world beater. He missed Jeffery high on a td pass, and another long one hit him in the head. When he threw the td to Jeffery, he really looked pumped. A lot of times he appears totally apathetic. Assuming the bears let him go next year, I'd love to see him go to a top tier team and get a ring. When he's not throwing int off his back foot, he's as good as anyone in the league.

[Danimal]

Why would you say Jeffery has to go? He's just as good as any top wr, the bears just utilize him terribly. The Lions did the same with Megatron. Both of those guys should get a minimum of 15 targets a game .

Here are some reasons.

A. He is soft, gets hurt way too much but that seems to be the type of receiver the Bears want to keep.

B. He is an outside receiver on a roster littered with outside speed guys with great catch radius. Can Meredith be as good as Jefferies, probably not. Is he a big drop off, IMO not at all.

C. He has serious concentration issues. Everyone is always on Cutler for not "being in the game" if people watched Jefferies they would see examples of lapse of "being in the game" every week. Hell this year he forgot to come on the field at one point.

D. The team needs to rebuild with youth, no reason to pay that kind of money for a mid-tier guy when you have no chance of winning in the next 3-4 years.

E. This has nothing to do with Alshon but the Bears need a slot guy. They had a cheap one with Mariani but we don't keep cheap white guys who just catch and get 1st downs. Those guys go to the Patriots. Not saying Mariani was anything special but he got the job done and was cheap. I'll take a football player any day to play a hard nosed position.

[dbdynsty25]

Ahhh yes, what I've been saying to my Raider-loving buddies:

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/02/nfl- ... nd-raiders

Good, not great. Yet. LOL. Terry, fire away.

[TCrouch]

Andy Benoit is a notorious Raider Hater and has been down on Carr last year, and this year. An earlier piece said he'd play worse this year, because he was so bad the second half of last year. I think he got upset because he wrote a few "Raiders are an improving team" before they dropped some big games, and then he just dumps on them lately.

There are definitely throws he misses each game. But he's in the middle of his 3rd season, and leads the league in 4th quarter game winning drives since the start of last year. He's a great QB, but Benoit has always had hater goggles on.

The reason he's in the MVP conversation is because the Raiders would be 1-7 without him. Not because he's got 17:3 TD:INT ratio. Watching every Raider game for 35 years, the guy passes the eyeball test every week. Are there a few plays from ANY game where he could have planted his feet and hit a guy? Sure. But you don't see it from Brady or Big Ben because they've been doing it for 15 years.

As with everything Benoit writes about Oakland, it's slanted to prove that he's been "right" for the past few years after they let him down. I could go grab a bunch of counter point articles telling how much Carr does (they routinely call 2 plays at the line, he routinely checks them into the right play every down, and if the defense catches on he'll start quick-snapping it before they can get into the proper alignment). He doesn't take sacks (fewest in the league among QBs with 8 starts), and he's almost always got the protection correct.

He's right on one point, though---Derek Carr will still get better. He hasn't hit his ceiling, because he does have a couple of throws he'll float one off his back foot or expect pressure that's not coming and fire it early.

That being said, he also has to start putting some of the winning performances together against the Denver and Kansas City defenses. He could have a dud this weekend, and all the good he has done would be eradicated with a single bad performance (in the eyes of the media). If he can avoid turning the ball over and taking sacks against the Denver D, pull out a win, and have a decent statistical day---then he's right on track for being a great QB. If not, we can look forward to more pieces like this from Benoit.

[dbdynsty25]

The reason he's in the MVP conversation is because the Raiders would be 1-7 without him. Not because he's got 17:3 TD:INT ratio. Watching every Raider game for 35 years, the guy passes the eyeball test every week. Are there a few plays from ANY game where he could have planted his feet and hit a guy? Sure. But you don't see it from Brady or Big Ben because they've been doing it for 15 years.

I wasn't aware of Benoits anti-raider agenda, but he does make quite a few good points. I feel it's important to note tho, that there is no way you can legitimately say they'd be 1-7 without him. I mean the QB that they did go with (assuming it's a starting level QB not named Tannehill) would likely still be able to win a game or 3...hell, they might even be better making a few reads that the young Carr misses, resulting in an easier win instead of a great comeback. Just saying.

[TCrouch]

Carr puts the team on his shoulders in crunch time. They'd absolutely lose almost all of those games without him, because history has shown us that they would.

He definitely makes some good points in there, such as the passes he misses a couple of times per game. He still will, and he'll trust his presnap read quite a bit and go safe. But the offense retreats almost into a shell with the playcalling when they get a lead...it's so predictable. Run, run, 3rd and long (that Carr will bail them out of).

But having seen every miserable Raiders QB trotted out between Gannon and Carr---I can say with certainty that almost every QB other than Jason Campbell would lose almost every game the Raiders have won this year. They've had better defenses, better running games, equal WRs in some cases (I would put Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree up against any other duo in the NFL this year....it's surprising, but they're the ONLY pair that's in the top 5 in targets, catches, yards, and TDs as a unit), and the QBs still made mistakes and lost games.

When the rest of the team is doing absolutely nothing to win the game, and Carr single-handedly makes some of the craziest, laser-accurate throws in the 4th quarter to pull out a win with a couple of minutes left?

They went 11-5 the year they lost the Super Bowl. Since? 4-12, 5-11, 4-12, 2-14, 4-12, 5-11, 5-11...and then Jason Campbell and Hue Jackson showed up (Jason Campbell was the only other QB who didn't make a ton of mistakes and lose them games, but also didn't throw the ball down the field to win any). 8-8, 8-8. Then they're both gone....4-12, 4-12.

Then Carr shows up, and starts as a rookie and they begin the season 0-10. They finish the season 3-3 after he made some progress as a rookie.

Then, 7-9 last year, to 6-2 this year.

The one common denominator in all of that is a QB who is making critical throws in crunch time, putting the team on his back and dissecting defenses like I haven't seen since Rich Gannon suited up for the Raiders. He's still making a few mistakes here and there, but I can absolutely, positively say that this team, with THIS defense, would be 1-7 (they would probably have beaten Jacksonville without much help) without him. How can I say that? Because they've gone 53-123 in the span between Gannon and Carr starting. And quite a few of those miserable teams had a better defense than #32 in the league, which has RISEN all the way to #31 the past 2 games (against 2 of the worst offenses in the league). They started out with Carr on that 0-10 slide, and since then he's gone 16-14 as their starter...and he'll only get better.

No way I think he's better than Brady or on the same level as Rodgers. But as far as what MVP really means? Most Valuable Player to his team? Carr is absolutely in the discussion, and it has absolutely nothing to do with his stats or any type of argument spun to show his 2 or 3 screw ups per game.

And I'm not wound up here or anything, just pointing out what the general media misses. The only ones who will really recognize this in Carr are ones who've endured season after season of horrible QB play, watching this team flounder around on Sundays, and finally turned into a team that's fun to watch and CAPABLE of beating some of the best teams---and it all starts with #4.

However--until he starts chaining together some wins against the great defenses and really laying it on some teams, we'll continue to see articles talking about how he's "not that good", and whatnot. Frankly, the fact that people are even writing about the Raiders is a step up. Those used to only get written as a punchline or as a gag when the Power Rankings sites finally got down to the 25th-through-32nd ranked teams.

I still think they're a good season away from being a true Super Bowl threat (they need a playmaking Middle Linebacker, and they need a lights-out cornerback. But how many teams are looking for those? lol), so I could see them sliding from anywhere between 9-7 to 11-5. But I've gotta go back and look at what I said preseason to make sure, but that's pretty much what I predicted then, too, I think. I knew the first half of the season was the easy part, and they could jump out of the gates, but they could really struggle this second half, as the schedule got tougher.

[XXXIV]

waiting for fletch to eat Matthew Stafford's dumb ass this week.

Aka the cutler of Michigan.

[XXXIV]

Rams tackling sickening again today.

Is it okay fisher fan queens? ... if I blame your godess for sucking ass in that area too?

EDIT: the retarded piece of s*** just burned a tiomeout on a Carolina 4th and 18.

ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE CLOWN!

[XXXIV]

Really sad watching the Rams this year for a few reasons that are new.

The one that matters least but is most football centric is that there is REAL talent on the defensive side of the ball. Im talking potential for greatness.

So f***in sad that it is wasted by an antiquated and worthless c***.

If I never look at fishers face again I will finally have something to smile about this year....Him being led away would bring at least a bit of joy.

Its been a bad year.

[XXXIV]

The s*** I rant when Im wasted...

[XXXIV]

The sad thing is as a Ram fan is that they actually have players capable of winning...Especially on defense.

The c*** known as jeff fisher is the biggest obstacle to enjoying Rams football.

Edit: Clearly Im not a jeffy fan.

I think Im going to stop posting after 3pm on sundays.

[TCrouch]

The last time the Raiders had a 7-2 record this late in the season? Carr was 11 years old.

The only thing I like more than watching them smoke a team like Denver in prime time is listening to them go "it's just another game. 7 more to go." after the win.

[DivotMaker]

The s*** I rant when Im wasted...

LOL....

[AcemanPR]

Love XXXIV's rants!

Being a Steelers and Packers fan, yesterday was tough to watch. I think the Steelers will right the ship when Ben is fully healthy. But they need to look at drafting a QB replacement for Ben in next years draft.

The Packers, they are frustrating as hell! They have so much talent but can't figure out how to win football games. Very questionable offensive play calling this year and their defense just cannot shut anyone down. Luckily the Vikings and Lions aren't formidable either, so its a race to 9 wins to win that division.

Right now, the only scary teams in the NFL are Dallas/Atlanta in the NFC and New England/Oakland in the AFC. Otherwise, the league is full of mediocrity.

[sportdan30]

All is right in the world. The Rams lost and the Chiefs won...lead by Nick Foles.

[Danimal]

How does Chip Kelly still have a job?

Do fans actually like him in San Fran?

[Rodster]

How does Chip Kelly still have a job?

Do fans actually like him in San Fran?

Fans probably realize it was Jed York who's responsible for where the 49ers are at and will be for years to come. Meanwhile Jim Harbaugh is busy turning around another team.

[fletcher21]

Lions are a sneaky club. I'd love to see them win the division

[pk500]

Tyrod played great, but losing Eric Wood killed the Bills' protection and run blocking.

Plus that blown roughing the kicker call just before halftime changed the game. Sherman RUINED Carpenter. I've never seen a kicker get mauled like that without a flag in 45 years of watching football. If the flag was thrown, the Bills advance 15 yards, Carpenter makes a 35-yard kick, and the Bills trail by only three on the final drive, with another field goal taking the game to OT.

Deplorable officiating is the norm in the NFL.

[10spro]

That was too close for comfort for the Seahawks at home. With no ground game and Wilson not able to run as he's capable of, their score will depend exclusively from what #3 can create and what the D can do. I thought BUF played them tough tonight and what a game by T. Taylor. I haven't followed this young QB much but I was very impressed with his mobility and arm.

Lesean had a strong game too but SEA's D came up with the timely tackles when they needed to.

I thought the zebras missed big on Sherman before halftime.

If it wasn't for the ridiculous catches by Jimmy Graham, the outcome could have been different for SEA.

[dbdynsty25]

Having watched Carpenter for years in Miami I think it's a stretch to say he makes a 35 yarder guaranteed. Lol.

How it wasn't a 15 yarder irregardless of a whistle or not was ridiculous. But it went against the Bills so oh well. Lol.

[pk500]

If it wasn't for the ridiculous catches by Jimmy Graham, the outcome could have been different for SEA.

Lost in the deserved hubub about Graham's catches: Wilson's pinpoint accuracy and velvet-soft touch on those throws. VERY few QBs in this league could have made the same passes with such perfect precision and weight.

[XXXIV]

WOW

Gurley finally breaks a run killing clock in NY but it is NY.

Cheat on NBA style assholes.

I dont understand why the NFL would want to follow the nba model of cheating on ever play. I really dont.

[XXXIV]

Justice.

f*** you NFL!

We dont want the f***in NBA!