The NFL Thread: 2018 Preseason

[Luminesa]

Okay, if they put Romo back in now, Jones is a troglodyte of the highest order.

I agree with this.

[Luminesa]

All I can say is, when we're good, we're really good. But when we're bad, we're really, really bad. Gonna have to shape up again if we're even gonna have a chance against New England.

Rumor: New England uses voodoo dolls.

*Brady grins as he stands behind him with a voodoo doll.*
*Doll is Terrell Suggs.*

[Outer Sparta]

Rumor: New England uses voodoo dolls.

*Brady grins as he stands behind him with a voodoo doll.*
*Doll is Terrell Suggs.*

Brady and Terrell Suggs voodoo doll lay waste to the AFC.

[Kohr]

Well, the Cowboys have earned my respect for one week. Then I can go back to wishing them ill luck.

[Luminesa]

I will say about the Falcons-Seahawks game: that was a PI Richard Sherman pulled on Julio Jones, but I mean, if your team is 4th&1 with a minute to go, YOU DON'T GO LONG. You hand it to Coleman or Freeman and you get the 1st down. Stupid Dirty Birds shot themselves in the feet, regardless.

[Idzequitch]

Well, the Cowboys have earned my respect for one week. Then I can go back to wishing them ill luck.

Living in NM as I do, it sucks whenever the Broncos or Cowboys are doing well, because you never hear the end of it. Freaking everyone is a Denver/Dallas fan here. It's a double whammy when they're both winning.

[Luminesa]

Well, the Cowboys have earned my respect for one week. Then I can go back to wishing them ill luck.

Living in NM as I do, it sucks whenever the Broncos or Cowboys are doing well, because you never hear the end of it. Freaking everyone is a Denver/Dallas fan here. It's a double whammy when they're both winning.

I think that happens anywhere, when the Boys are winning.

[Outer Sparta]

I will say about the Falcons-Seahawks game: that was a PI Richard Sherman pulled on Julio Jones, but I mean, if your team is 4th&1 with a minute to go, YOU DON'T GO LONG. You hand it to Coleman or Freeman and you get the 1st down. Stupid Dirty Birds shot themselves in the feet, regardless.

Both of their running backs are good. Why take a deep shot? This is a time where the Failcans failed, and I'll use their name finally.

[Luminesa]

Why couldn't the Packers v. Cowboys game be the SNF game? This game is gonna be the stalest thing. Or even the Hawks v. Failcans game. They are just bad at picking these games for these slots, this year.

[Outer Sparta]

Why couldn't the Packers v. Cowboys game be the SNF game? This game is gonna be the stalest thing. Or even the Hawks v. Failcans game. They are just bad at picking these games for these slots, this year.

Because the NFL thought, "Hey, let's have Andrew Luck and JJ Watt play against each other, but under the lights!"

[Kohr]

Why couldn't the Packers v. Cowboys game be the SNF game? This game is gonna be the stalest thing. Or even the Hawks v. Failcans game. They are just bad at picking these games for these slots, this year.

They had the Bears playing on two SNF primetime slots in a row. Those were a bore. You can't hate the Vikings' night games, though.

[Kohr]

Why couldn't the Packers v. Cowboys game be the SNF game? This game is gonna be the stalest thing. Or even the Hawks v. Failcans game. They are just bad at picking these games for these slots, this year.

Because the NFL thought, "Hey, let's have Andrew Luck and JJ Watt play against each other, but under the lights!"

And minus JJ Watt for that matter!

[Outer Sparta]

Because the NFL thought, "Hey, let's have Andrew Luck and JJ Watt play against each other, but under the lights!"

And minus JJ Watt for that matter!

"Hey, let's lower ratings with primetines games!" In fact, they are going down.

[Pope Joan]

Ratings are down, for the first time in many years.

Is it because people are simply watching less tv? Football is as much tied to tv as baseball is to radio, I've moved on to the ' net and only watch what I can catch there, mostly highlights

Or has the product been harmed by handcuffing the players with officials throwing flags right and left? Or the league assessing fines even when flags were not thrown? I confess, I liked the hard hitting Steeler defense, and they now act as though they have been overly chastened.

[Luminesa]

Ratings are down, for the first time in many years.

Is it because people are simply watching less tv? Football is as much tied to tv as baseball is to radio, I've moved on to the ' net and only watch what I can catch there, mostly highlights

Or has the product been harmed by handcuffing the players with officials throwing flags right and left? Or the league assessing fines even when flags were not thrown? I confess, I liked the hard hitting Steeler defense, and they now act as though they have been overly chastened.

After the amount of penalties they gave the Saints, and how INCONSISTENT they are (to the point where even Mike Pereira was confused), I'd say the latter reason.

[Idzequitch]

Ratings are down, for the first time in many years.

Is it because people are simply watching less tv? Football is as much tied to tv as baseball is to radio, I've moved on to the ' net and only watch what I can catch there, mostly highlights

Or has the product been harmed by handcuffing the players with officials throwing flags right and left? Or the league assessing fines even when flags were not thrown? I confess, I liked the hard hitting Steeler defense, and they now act as though they have been overly chastened.

Seems like a combination of factors to me. On one hand there are people shirking cable and just using streaming services like Netflix. Sports are a casualty of this trend.

There's also the fact that people despise Goodell and his "No Fun League." There have been some good safety rule changes, that still hinder the game a bit, some questionable rule changes, and a perceived decrease in the quality of rule enforcement. I won't deny that I find the NFL less entertaining now than I did 5 years ago.

And let's not forget that many people are just flat out busy and don't have time to sit and watch a three hour game every week. I've fallen into that category more than ever before this season.

[Maurepas]

Ratings are down, for the first time in many years.

Is it because people are simply watching less tv? Football is as much tied to tv as baseball is to radio, I've moved on to the ' net and only watch what I can catch there, mostly highlights

Or has the product been harmed by handcuffing the players with officials throwing flags right and left? Or the league assessing fines even when flags were not thrown? I confess, I liked the hard hitting Steeler defense, and they now act as though they have been overly chastened.

After the amount of penalties they gave the Saints, and how INCONSISTENT they are (to the point where even Mike Pereira was confused), I'd say the latter reason.

I think it's both. More and more people are seeing traditional television for the racket it is and are using the internet to stop using it and move to the new medium. Other than Saints games on Monday and Thursday nights, I near exclusively watch online streams. (I can only afford my one saints game a year to see in person) But even if you're watching on TV the product suffers for the frustrating amount of RefBall. It takes away from the excitement of the game when a lame pass interference call that only the deepest of technicalities can explain results in gift-wrapping the other team a TD. Especially if it's in the final minutes, you feel like that whole game was a waste of time, the refs were giving it away regardless. And it's even worse because we can't agree on those technicalities and they are not applied consistently, even if it was shit, if it was consistent it would be better.

I think that's a one-two-punch that's hurting the product. Online ratings need to start counting, and the rulebook needs an overhaul for consistency.

[Maurepas]

On the brightside though, if you take away the Refball TDs, that game was nowhere near as close as the score looked. I was really impressed by the Defense for the most part, Moore and Webb are having career revivals, and Crawley played nicely. When Breaux comes back, with Fairley and Jordan having some great pass rush today, this defense should be much improved, and this division is still very winnable.

[Luminesa]

On the brightside though, if you take away the Refball TDs, that game was nowhere near as close as the score looked. I was really impressed by the Defense for the most part, Moore and Webb are having career revivals, and Crawley played nicely. When Breaux comes back, with Fairley and Jordan having some great pass rush today, this defense should be much improved, and this division is still very winnable.

Indeed.

[Idzequitch]

Roethlisberger has a torn meniscus and is, at the very least, probably out for the New England game. 4-3, here we come.

[Luminesa]

Roethlisberger has a torn meniscus and is, at the very least, probably out for the New England game. 4-3, here we come.

Eh, droppable. It's not like anyone else in your division is gonna catch-up any time soon anyway.

[Idzequitch]

Roethlisberger has a torn meniscus and is, at the very least, probably out for the New England game. 4-3, here we come.

Eh, droppable. It's not like anyone else in your division is gonna catch-up any time soon anyway.

I'd prefer that we stay in the driver seat as far as playoff seeding though. We're good enough that we could, and probably should, get a top two seed. If we'd stop dropping stupid games like we did today, that is. I'm thankful we have the bye coming after next week's loss game though.

[Trumpostan]

Living in NM as I do, it sucks whenever the Broncos or Cowboys are doing well, because you never hear the end of it. Freaking everyone is a Denver/Dallas fan here. It's a double whammy when they're both winning.

I think that happens anywhere, when the Boys are winning.

Not over here it doesn't. We're homers.

[Luminesa]

Well, Ameri, this is good news: KC did you a favor and made up for the loss to the Broncos. Now they're tied with the Raiders!

[Idzequitch]

Well, Ameri, this is good news: KC did you a favor and made up for the loss to the Broncos. Now they're tied with the Raiders!

I'm still banking on the Raiders to win the division.