2018 NFL Regular Season!!!!

[Timsup2nothin]

If Calvin Ridley is who they think/hope he is then the Falcons have the best set of wide receivers in the NFC, and perhaps in the NFL other than possibly the Steelers. That's an offense that, on paper, will put up a LOT of points... but the Eagles defense isn't any worse than last year and their own offense is no joke.

No joke about the Falcons. If it weren't for the harsh circumstances I'd call this a pick'em. I understand that the NFL wants to kick off the season with a marquee matchup and the super bowl champions, but it seems pretty tilted to give them such a huge advantage in a contest that may well turn out to be the deciding factor in playoff seeding.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Eagles cover. Fly Eagles Fly...

 

[Serutan]

"SUMMON @Owen Glyndwr !!!"

I'm hoping LightCleric will return as well.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Summon @Light Cleric !!!!

 

[schlaufuchs]

Sorry! Kinda been lazy, but the thread is up!

 

[caketastydelish]

If I'm an Eagles fan (I know Tim is) I'd be super worried about my team underestimating the Falcons. The Patriots were the champs the year before and they underestimated the Chiefs in the season opener. Fat load of good that did them.

This Falcons team is no joke and while I think the Eagles are capable of taking them down, they will only do it if they take them 100% seriously.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'm not terribly worried, not because I don't believe the Falcons can win, because I believe that they can. I'm not terribly worried because if they do it will be a good wake up call, and with the rest of their division all trying to crawl out of burning dumpsters a loss won't hurt the Eagles that badly.

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Meanwhile, in looking at this weeks games I got a very bad "stars coming into alignment" feeling. Consider:

Khalil Mack skipped the entire pre-season, giving him a far higher than usual opportunity to pull or tear something.
He's a young player, has spent his short career on a team that is notoriously undisciplined, and he has a gigantic chip on his shoulder.
The Bears are opening on Sunday Night Football, the biggest possible stage for a guy with something to prove.
The Bears will also be looking for 'proof' they made a good move, so they aren't likely to be smart about limiting his reps.

Mack could very easily end this game on the sidelines nursing a hamstring, or preparing to pay the fine after being ejected for damaging the league's highest paid player on an obviously out of control hit. Bad news either way, for somebody.

 

[caketastydelish]

I hope you're wrong. Khalil Mack playing well and healthy makes the Bears more fun to watch.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I hope you're wrong. Khalil Mack playing well and healthy makes the Bears more fun to watch.

And Rodgers playing well and healthy is the only thing that makes the Packers even interesting, so I'd really hate to be right on this one...but it is one of those outcomes where if it happens a bunch of people are going to say "why didn't someone see that coming and step in there?"

 

[Timsup2nothin]

edit: Tim you're wrong about something. Andrew Luck WILL be playing in week 1 against Bengals.

They've got Andrew, but he's no luck.

"Have you watched the guy play?" an offensive assistant coach for an AFC team said. "Go back and watch him pre-injury...like 2015. Now watch him today. His throwing motion is completely changed, and he has no deep velocity. His entire game has changed. I bet he'll be Checkdown Charlie. Like Alex Smith but afraid to get hit."

Put that behind an offensive line that is shockingly bad, and what do you have?

 

[caketastydelish]

I'll believe that when I see it. And their O-line isn't that bad anymore.

edit: And about Packers: (supposedly) they have some freaking ball hawks and they're loaded with their cornerback position. Kevin King, Jaire Alexander Joshua Jackson.

King wasn't much of a factor last year because of injuries, but his ceiling is supposedly super high. Green Bay's pass defense last year was garbage, so it's pretty obvious why they made this a priority. If Green Bay's pass defense is among the top 10 in the league then overall that's a dangerous team (as long as Rodgers doesn't go down).

 

[Timsup2nothin]

And their O-line isn't that bad anymore.

I'll believe that part when I see it. And I'm not likely to...I can't even guess when I would be likely to see a Colts game. Any "regional coverage" game they are in won't be playing here. They aren't likely to ever play in the feature game of the week on any network. The only way I can think of that I would see anything about the Colts for myself would be if I watched them on an NFL Network replay. So I'll have to mostly rely on people who get PAID to watch the Colts, because no one is going to pay me enough to do that.

 

[caketastydelish]

On game day. Google reddit nfl live stream

 

[Timsup2nothin]

On game day. Google reddit nfl live stream

On game day I have games to watch. I won't have the Colts in regional coverage, but I will have the Rams.

 

[caketastydelish]

So in that case it’s a matter of priorities.

I personally hate the Rams and you know why but you don’t have that reason. And I can’t really blame you for supporting your local team. Rams are going to be really fun to watch, I’ll give them that.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

So in that case it’s a matter of priorities.

I personally hate the Rams and you know why but you don’t have that reason. And I can’t really blame you for supporting your local team. Rams are going to be really fun to watch, I’ll give them that.

True, I don't hate the Colts, but yeah, they are a very low priority. Seriously, do you expect Colts games to be fun to watch? Not even just compared to Rams games, or Eagles games which I assume will be pretty regularly the feature game shown nationwide. Just in general, what do Colts games have to offer?

I might learn that I disagree with the guys who are paid to watch them, and that Andrew Luck is actually back to his former levels despite his lost season...but if he really is they will report it eventually anyway. I might learn that they have done a surprisingly good job putting a team together and they are competitive after all, but there are plenty of competitive teams so it takes more than that to stand out.

 

[caketastydelish]

All things considered, this Falcons offense hasn’t really impressed me as much as I thought it would. For a team that, on paper, has an amazing set of wide receivers, they’ve been incredibly Julio centric. They’re not going to score as many points as I anticipated if they can’t spread the ball around.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

You gotta throw to the open guy, and the Eagles are letting that be Jones as long as he doesn't try to go deep on them. Every pass they've thrown to anyone else has been into the teeth of tight coverage. The rook isn't doing a very good job of getting open.

So the Falcons, for all of their correcting, seem to have the same problem they had with the Eagles in their last game. They move the ball because Jones is always open underneath, but when they get to the red zone and the threat of him going deep is removed they stall. In their first two drives they ran seven plays inside the ten yard line and got nothing.

Play design seems like their biggest problem. They need their new rookie running go routes to pull the over the top coverage at least back to the center of the field instead of letting them just sit on Jones and keep him honest.

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Meanwhile, the Eagles get booed leaving the field for halftime of their season opener after winning the Super Bowl. Ahhhh, Philadelphia, you are one of a kind.

 

[caketastydelish]

There was so much hype about how Calvin Ridley was the best route runner in the draft. Either that wasn’t true or they aren’t utilizing him properly.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

There was so much hype about how Calvin Ridley was the best route runner in the draft. Either that wasn’t true or they aren’t utilizing him properly.

"Best route runner in the draft" and "getting open against the world champion's secondary" are not synonymous. He's still a rookie in his first pro game.