2021 NFL Season Thread

[A_B]

Beasley in quarantine!

[DSafetyGuy]

Mike Tanier after the Pfizer vaccine was approved yesterday:

[DSafetyGuy]

Matt Nagy:

When I first got here . . . I explained to everybody that this offense, it takes a few years to get going. We saw that in Kansas City because it took a few years, not just with the players that were coming in and were drafted, but the scheme — them learning it and understanding it. After three or four years, it really started picking up and going. I feel like we’re at that spot right now. We’ve got some guys that have been on this team for two, three, four years, and they know the offense as well as I do — where that wasn’t the case two or three years ago. When you have that and you have a guy like Andy and these quarterbacks that come in and understand it, that’s where it gives me confidence.

20th, 25th, and 25th in offensive DVOA the previous three seasons. Guess the offense is really going to take off under the two brand new quarterbacks.

Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy suck.

[A_B]

Magary's annual WYTS columns have been especially good this year, IMO, but when he turns his attention to his Vikings, he always seems to find some extra heat. I am laughing over this one in particular:

I’m so sick of Kirk Cousins I want a new brain injury. And yet, here he remains. When the pandemic hit, Kirk said, “If I die, I die” and then DIDN’T die. Fucking rude.

If you hate Nashville, todays on the Titans is required reading. If you don't hate Nashville, you will after reading. The user comments from today are golden as well.

[DSafetyGuy]

If you hate Nashville, todays on the Titans is required reading. If you don't hate Nashville, you will after reading. The user comments from today are golden as well.

This one did not disappoint:

Nashville is the Instagram of Towns. This city is useless except for bachelorette parties and contracting the Delta variant.

[tennbengal]

Potentially big injury to Ravens tonight - Dobbins may have a serious knee injury. Move Gus Edwards up your RB lists if so.

[L-Jam3]

Potentially big injury to Ravens tonight - Dobbins may have a serious knee injury. Move Gus Edwards up your RB lists if so.

Shit. I held onto him in my dynasty league.

ETA: and I’m remiss not to first give my disappointment for a young guy just in his second year. That crappy Washington turf claims yet another victim.

[tennbengal]

Potentially big injury to Ravens tonight - Dobbins may have a serious knee injury. Move Gus Edwards up your RB lists if so.

Shit. I held onto him in my dynasty league.

ETA: and I’m remiss not to first give my disappointment for a young guy just in his second year. That crappy Washington turf claims yet another victim.

Not even sure it was the turf. Just bad luck. His knee was planted and he took a hit on it while planted at the end of a screen pass.

[tennbengal]

[EnochRoot]

Potentially big injury to Ravens tonight - Dobbins may have a serious knee injury. Move Gus Edwards up your RB lists if so.

Out for the season. Seems to me they'll be even more RBBC than previously thought, so they need to bring on another pair of legs. Gurley makes too much sense, if only to take on 25% of the workload...

[HaulCitgo]

Pats got dion Lewis. And the guy from OU can run it too. Sony got traded because of JJ Taylor. Flashes everywhere.

[Gunpowder]

Potentially big injury to Ravens tonight - Dobbins may have a serious knee injury. Move Gus Edwards up your RB lists if so.

Out for the season. Seems to me they'll be even more RBBC than previously thought, so they need to bring on another pair of legs. Gurley makes too much sense, if only to take on 25% of the workload...

Unless they'd rather not waste carries

[EnochRoot]

Potentially big injury to Ravens tonight - Dobbins may have a serious knee injury. Move Gus Edwards up your RB lists if so.

Out for the season. Seems to me they'll be even more RBBC than previously thought, so they need to bring on another pair of legs. Gurley makes too much sense, if only to take on 25% of the workload...

Unless they'd rather not waste carries

I think it's safe to say the Ravens OL is vastly superior to the Falcons. However, it's not so much about making Gurley the feature back as it is mitigating the risk of losing another RB to injury.

ETA - Maybe they wait to see who gets cut, or if they can pluck somebody from another team's practice squad before pulling the trigger on a deal or signing Gurley.

[Gunpowder]

I would be thrilled if they sign Todd Gurley and give him any carries.

[tennbengal]

Feels like this article was written for DSafe...

[Johnny Carwash]

The biggest star from my college years made #38.

[brian]

The biggest star from my college years made #38.

The Bears drafted Dan LeFevour (the greatest MAC QB of all-time -- eat shit, Big Ben!) and I guess I didn't realize he never threw a regular season pass for them until just now.

[Johnnie]

No one should ever do the crate challenge.

[Ryan]

I think I just heard Cam Newton got cut

[brian]

It's a bold move, Cotton. Etc.

(Not sure why BB would agree to this, but the team and Cam must have had some kind of agreement where they'd cut him if he wasn't the starter. Because I'm struggling to figure out why you'd want Brian Hoyer as a backup instead of Cam. I'm sure the Belichick worshippers will be here shortly to explain the genius of this move though.)

[Johnnie]

Just got the push note. It's true.

ETA

It's a bold move, Cotton. Etc.

(Not sure why BB would agree to this, but the team and Cam must have had some kind of agreement where they'd cut him if he wasn't the starter. Because I'm struggling to figure out why you'd want Brian Hoyer as a backup instead of Cam. I'm sure the Belichick worshippers will be here shortly to explain the genius of this move though.)

This seems far more likely.

[L-Jam3]

I've always liked Cam and it sucks if this is the (likely) end of the road for him.

[EnochRoot]

Anti-vaxxer is told to hit the bricks. So long as Mac Jones showed enough promise this was always going to be the result.

[mister d]

I think I like Newton, but I like "if you aren't going to get vaxxed, its too much of a risk for us to deal with" even more.

[Gunpowder]

His arm has been shot for years. I don't understand why this would be all that surprising.

[L-Jam3]

Trust me, I get that. I also have the tiniest degree of empathy for blacks who don't want to be vaccinated. I agree that their stance is as wrong as those Jethros and Amys who aren't vaccinating due to either Trumpism and/or their wellness influencers tell them not to. I also can agree that after centuries of oppression, including Tuskegee, unequal access and treatment to medicine, and general shittiness they've endured, their vaccine hesitancy is at least somewhat understandable.

[Gunpowder]

I get that but it's not like we're only giving this vaccine to black people. Anyway if his shoulder were at all functional he'd probably still be unvaxxed and on the roster.

[Pruitt]

His arm has been shot for years. I don't understand why this would be all that surprising.

Seriously - last season he was one of the worst QBs I have seen in a long time. We're talking JP Losman level bad.

[DSafetyGuy]

It's probably a combination of all the previously mentioned, plus making a clean break to Jones allows them to slim down the playbook for everyone on the offense. Contract was a sunk cost for the season, but they save about $1.5 million in no performance bonuses/escalators.

[HaulCitgo]

Forget the vax. Cam was acceptable. But it's all about the kid being in total control. Not sure he was necessarily all that great but he was in control. Team just looked better and the ball came out quicker with Jones under center. And I'm about 3 miles from Westlake HS and those coaches come around here sometimes so no Cam hater here. I also wonder why not backup. Maybe he was unwilling.

[Gunpowder]

BECAUSE HIS MF-ING ARM DOESN'T MF-ING WORK

You can move into the stadium itself and it's not going to fix his arm

[TT2.0]

BECAUSE HIS MF-ING ARM DOESN'T MF-ING WORK

You can move into the stadium itself and it's not going to fix his arm

so what do you think of his arm strength?

[EnochRoot]

BECAUSE HIS MF-ING ARM DOESN'T MF-ING WORK

You can move into the stadium itself and it's not going to fix his arm

Eh…The Pats were resetting the cap last year and Newton helped them to a 7-9 record. This is about his unvaccinated ass shadowing Mac Jones in a veteran leadership role.

Not worth it.

[HaulCitgo]

Arm strength fine to me. All that double clutching didn't. Mostly Mac looked like a NFL QB. Tons of bumps coming I'm sure but they'll try to ride the line and backs to get him a year to get polished. Mostly he looked like a guy capable of investing the team in for the next few years.

[Gunpowder]

He looks ok when he can step into a throw with his entire body. When he can't, it can get ugly. Particularly to the sidelines.

If Mac Jones came in and looked like he could play now there's really no reason to keep an unvaxxed backup. I would bet Belichick would cut any unvaxxed player that isn't of the utmost importance.

[EdRomero]

I would bet Belichick would cut any unvaxxed player that isn't of the utmost importance.

I wonder if that's the reason for some of his or other coaches' surprise cuts. Granted he makes surprising cuts every year.

[brian]

As long as we’re not pretending BB would cut any unvaxxed player of any kind of serious value or even moderate value.

I’m not convinced Mac Jones is the second coming but it’s hard to argue there’s probably negligible difference as far as starting. I probably would have kept Cam over Brian Hoyer but ironically Cam’s deal meant if Jones gets injured it’s a lot more expensive to suck with Cam than Hoyer.

[EnochRoot]

As long as we’re not pretending BB would cut any unvaxxed player of any kind of serious value or even moderate value.

I’m not convinced Mac Jones is the second coming but it’s hard to argue there’s probably negligible difference as far as starting. I probably would have kept Cam over Brian Hoyer but ironically Cam’s deal meant if Jones gets injured it’s a lot more expensive to suck with Cam than Hoyer.

So, if Cam were vaccinated...would BB have seen the value in him being around to help Mac grow into a professional QB?

[brian]

As long as we’re not pretending BB would cut any unvaxxed player of any kind of serious value or even moderate value.

I’m not convinced Mac Jones is the second coming but it’s hard to argue there’s probably negligible difference as far as starting. I probably would have kept Cam over Brian Hoyer but ironically Cam’s deal meant if Jones gets injured it’s a lot more expensive to suck with Cam than Hoyer.

So, if Cam were vaccinated...would BB have seen the value in him being around to help Mac grow into a professional QB?

Hard to say. Cam had bonuses related to being on the roster each game if I’m not mistaken. More likely it was just cheaper to cut him regardless of whatever other reasoning. I think he probably would have been a serviceable backup but it’s a reasonable take they’re as well off with any replacement level QB backing up Jones.

[mister d]

As long as we’re not pretending BB would cut any unvaxxed player of any kind of serious value or even moderate value.

I think that depends, right? If a forfeit or even close contact concerns are enough to lose a game, you have to wonder how many players Belichick or other coaches would put a full win of value on, right?