2021 NFL - Some Fans Allowed?

The man who beats children, might beat adults as well? No way...

Peterson arrested after alleged domestic violence

 

Why does it seem like it's almost always football......if he could still run like he used to, he could still find a spot on some NFL teams. SMH....

 

It happens a lot in baseball and basketball as well. But the NFL has huge rosters, especially once you start factoring in practice squads and free agents. So we are talking about pools of players well over 2000. Even if the incidents happened at the same rate everywhere, there would just naturally be more in the NFL.

 

That's true and I think I brought that up before. If I didn't, I was thinking about it, but it does seem like NFL/college football players get into more trouble. It could just be a numbers game, but it seems like there's something there.

 

The Texans, at least, had some pretty good teams recently, but, yeah, they aren't going to win the franchise of the year award in the NFL anytime soon.

 

So as a final note, what do you think the best story of the SB is?

Since the Rams won and cost me $100, I'll only include those that relate to them. I think 3 are really close.

Andrew Whitworth, the oldest active player in the NFL, finally gets a ring at the age of 40 against his old team. His retirement is a certainty and is well deserved,.
Matt Stafford, who completely turned his reputation around as a guy who couldn't win a big came engineering "3" end of game drives that won the games for his team; including the Rams last drive of the season (running out the clock doesn't count) in the Super Bowl. Say what you want about his inconsistency, he was Fing money when the game was on the line.
Eric Weddle who was 2 years into his retirement when he got a call because of injuries. He obviously stayed in shape, was very, very steady in the defensive backfield, got that ring he never thought he'd get in a million years, and played the entire second half of the game with a torn pectoral muscle he's going to need surgery to repair. What a wimp. Dude hit the lottery.

It's close.....really close, but I think I'd go Weddle, then Stafford (too close to easily call), and then Whitworth (EDIT: Who by the way, won the NFL man of the year and is legendary in his work outside the NFL....not one of those guys you read splash headlines about. Just ask Derrick Barnes of the Lions).

The other 2 would be
Sean McVay. Sometimes he baffles me, but, hey, the proof is in the pudding. He's taken the Rams to 2 Super Bowls in 5 years after being hired in 2017 at the age of 30 and won it in his second shot.
Aaron Donald. The dude put the defense on his back and almost single handedly shut down the Bengals in the second half. He showed up when the game was on the line and lived up to the adage "big time players make big time plays when it counts". I think the turning point in the game was when he knocked Burrow out on the sidelines early in the 2nd half (none too gently, but a completely legal play) for a loss that went for a sack. I think that got the Rams defense going and, after that, the Bengals just couldn't do much of anything.

Donald and then McVay.

One thing I'll say about McVay. I hear a lot of interviews because I live in SoCal and he's on the radio constantly during the season and I have never one, single time heard him single out a player for criticism. It's always about how he messed up and didn't put his players in the right position. A lot of it is BS, and some of it is true LOL, but I'm quite sure the players appreciate it and have his back because of it.

The only story for the Bengals, I think, is Burrow. That young man has quite a career in front of him and we haven't heard the last of him. While I have Herbert maybe a shade in front of him, you can't go wrong with a young, poised QB like him. Watch out for the Chargers next year.

 

In terms of the Rams, I put Stafford and McVay at the top in terms of stories. Stafford is a great feel good story and it's nice to see him get the ring and shed that "loser" reputation. 3 out of 4 playoff games he led a game winning drive and his fourth quarter numbers were stellar. SB wasn't his greatest game and he got some big breaks in some of these games, but you don't win without a few breaks and it'd be wrong to take away from him for those.

For McVay... I think I made my thoughts on his game yesterday very clear. It was horrendous and he wasn't particularly great in the NFC Championship game either. That all said, he did win those games and his team believes in him. If you were to ask me the best coach in the league right now, the one I'd choose if I was starting a franchise and needed someone there for the years to come? I'm choosing McVay. If it was a one game situation, I'm still choosing Bill, and I do factor their head to head matchup in which Bill completely pantsed McVay. Still, what McVay has done is nothing short of impressive. Inherited a Rams team that went 4-12 and the very next year they went 11-5 and haven't had a losing season since. He's made two Super Bowls and the loss came against the greatest coach/QB duo in history. And it's not like he made the Super Bowl with Brady, Rogers, Mahomes, Brees, Wilson or any of the elite of the elite. He did it with Jared Goff, a borderline starter, and Matt Stafford, who is streaky and did not have a good reputation. Not a lot of guys are doing that, especially with how the league has been changing. Not to mention his staff has had a crap ton of turnover over his time there because his guys are getting better coaching opportunites. To be constantly changing staff and still being successful while your branch is also successful is impressive and bodes well for his system.

On the Bengals side. I think the big story is they might have blown their one shot. Super Bowl hangover is real. They're going to slide back and who knows if they'll ever recover. I don't trust that organization. They fell into their success this season because they've sucked for so long. I like Burrow. He sucked yesterday, but he has the potential to be great. He probably has to leave the Bengals for that to happen though. The list of guys that lose their first Super Bowl and never make it back is quite extensive. I think the last two were Elway and Kelly. Kelly never won and it took Elway four tries before doing so. With a stacked AFC and a pretty solid division, I wouldn't like their chances.

 

I can see that and think you make a pretty good case. Cincy could definitely fall back and likely will. I don't think Burrow really sucked though. I think he was basically 2 our of 3 and put some passes that were right on the money, but dropped. Stafford got worse breaks. He put one on the money that got picked and I think both of their stats looked worse than what they were. Burrow basically had no chance in the 4th quarter as Donald and Co. were just bringing it. To McVay's credit, he got Stafford out of the pocket to the right and he got the protection he needed, but he showed he can do it late on the big stage. Still, he seems to be kind of erratic. That controversial D hold on Cincy would have been 7 if he hadn't thrown the ball back into the defender. There's no way a linebacker catches Kupp if that pass is thrown out in front of him. While I don't think Stafford "caused" the injury to OBJ, again, if the pass is thrown to anywhere close to the right spot, he doesn't get hurt.

Can't argue with Stafford being THE story of the playoffs and SB.

 

Sucked is probably too strong of a word. He was pretty average and disappointing to me. It was easily the worst game he's had the postseason. Something just felt off. I don't ascribe all the balem to him though. I think after that TD to open the third, the coaches fell in love with the spread offense too much and the Rams D basically said "no more" and clamped down hard. I mean their only other points came from short field position off that interception. Donald and Miller deserve a ton of credit for that.

Agreed on Stafford, he was erratic. He made some of the same mistakes he's prone to make and missed some open looks. He said it best, the game was the story for his season. Started red hot, dipped in the middle, still wasn't perfect at the end but made all the right plays when it mattered the most. I think next year should be interesting. I doubt they repeat due how hard it is, but barring anything weird like Brady unretiring to play with the Niners, they're going to be the best team in the NFC. And with all the shuffling of QBs in their division, they should cake walk into some home playoff games. Either way, I'll have my jersey ready

 

I cold see the Rams backsliding significantly. They have some key free agents they may lose. I think SF has a chance to make some big jumps if they can get some consistency on offense (think QB). I hate to say it, but think they could easily win that division. Dallas might be good, the Eagles could take a leap up and who the hell knows what's going to happen in GB.

 

The NFC is irrelevant. The true NFL powers reside the AFC -- the Chiefs, the Bills, the Chargers, and in due time, the Bengals.

 

Oh please. The power division/conferences in the NFL change on an almost annual basis. I haven’t checked it out, but I’m guessing that Super Bowl wins over the last 10 years are fairly evenly divided. Injuries, great drafts, etc. will determine what happens in the future.

 

Hey, here’s something that I’ve been thinking about. Say that the Rams had given up a ton for Aaron Rodgers, as he was unhappy with the Packers pre season, instead of Matt Stafford. Do the Rams win the Super Bowl?

 

Yes. Because he would have been competent, which is what they needed.

 

I’m also thinking he could’ve dropped a big turd in one of those games instead of engineering fourth quarter winning scores in three playoff games. Maybe the Rams are even the number one seed with him and lose to a wildcard team in their first playoff game. Lol. Hey, it’s possible.

Edit: oh wait, did you just make fun of Goff? He was a #1 pick!

 

I get what you mean. And I do think one of Rodgers big issues is how much he focuses on his #1 receiver. But the Rams were loaded and the D basically won the Super Bowl and the NFC title game. And thinking about it, Stafford and the offense almost lost the Bucs game with their Rodgers style implosion.

 

Akers had fumbles and Kupp uncharacteristically lost one. I wouldn’t put the Bucs comeback on Stafford although he didn’t look gold……..until……..that……..last……..drive.

 

That's true, but I do feel like if they could survive that, they could survive a bad Rodgers game. The Rams/Niners game wasn't dissimilar to the Packers/Niners game.

 

Playing at Lambeau sucks for everybody.

 

Everybody is talking about Donald’s almost sack of Burrow on the Bengals last play of the game, but the monster play was on 3rd and 1 when he stopped a 240 pound running back going full speed on a dime with an arm tackle. If the Bengals get that first down, they have plenty of time to get into field goal range and tie the game. The runner didn’t get a particularly favorable spot, but he was clearly short of getting a first down.
OK, 4th and1 was a monster play too.

 

On the Rodgers to the Rams instead of Stafford. They probably still win the Super Bowl. I think the rest of the team being stacked helps them survive his playoff choking history same way they overcame a lot of Stafford's mistakes. They're road also would've been super different as well since they probably would've been a better regular season team as well. Most likely would've been the number one seed, so the playoff picture would've looked incredibly different save for maybe Tampa being number 2 still.

Granted McVay's shoddy coaching down the stretch mixed with Rodgers could've cost them, in one of these big games, but Donald and Miller were determined so who knows.

 

Okay this is pretty cool and heart warming

 

I say no since he's. Been a dude in playoffs the knock on him is hes too worried about his TD:interceptions rational to take chances while Stafford will go after that homerum play. Example i would use he would never attempted that pass Eli threw to Manningham in SB 46 he be too worried about the interception and imo its cost him in title games.

Can't be scared to take chances how many interceptions did Brady have against his Packers but still won

Can't play scared in big games and he does at this point in there careers ill take Stafford without losing any sleep

Better Question if both traded places in the beginning and Rodgers plays for Lions but Stafford inherited a stacked GB team how many Titles would they have.? I think Stafford would have won more than one. I've been a fan of the guy for a minute so I'm a little biased

 

Yeah.....it's not something we'll ever know, but I think your argument is a solid one. Guys like Herbert, Burrow, Stafford, etc. have a lot of trust in themselves and, as a result, make big time throws.

Remember this one? He had the "safe" pass underneath to the TE, but.......