2019 NFL Regular Season Thread

[caketastydelish]

As a Seahawks fan, I already know very well that we are second half team, but this is unusual even by our standards.

 

[caketastydelish]

Maybe I spoke too soon.

 

[Serutan]

It's absolutely bonkers to me that the Steelers still have a wild card spot after all the crap they've gone through. No AB, no Le'veon, no Ben, no Ryan Shazier or Stephon Tuitt, they're on like their 12-string QB, no Juju the last two weeks, no James Conner this week, yet they're 7-5. If they make the playoffs I think he should probably get COTY. I used to think he was a little overrated but between this year and the revelation that he managed to keep AB under control for so long really speaks a lot to his ability.

I thought Tomlin had gone stale in Pit, but both what's gone on with AB this season after leaving plus having the team in playoff contention with all their injuries not only forces me to reconsider, but agree he is a legit COY candidate.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was in fact going stale, but the shakeup caused by the departures and the injuries got his juices flowing again.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'd say more likely he was going frustrated than stale. Pittsburgh is a little too small and a little too hero worship-y and I think it makes players who aren't totally level headed go crazy...and they just had too many players who weren't able to handle it.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Is the talent surrounding Brady really THAT bad? They have a sturdy offensive line, solid depth for running backs, and a set of wide receivers that I think are about league average. No it’s not one of the most talented teams he’s had to work with by any means, but there’s no way he isn’t at least part of the problem himself. The game wasn’t even close when you consider their last touchdown came in garbage time and only because the Texans D played too soft as a result.

Like Tim said, Texans just doubled Edelman every play. Their other adjustment was to put a safety/non coverage liability on the RB, to take away any Pats attempts at mismatches.

That was enough to screw them. Other WRs could not get open fast enough, Brady is not a consistent scramble threat vs man coverage (to put it mildly), and the whole thing sputtered.

Brady's play has regressed even per advanced metrics like what PFF tracks, but he's still performing at a very good level of play individually. We're just seeing what happens when teams can straight up play man coverage and win most of the matchups outright. Pats had a similar year like this with Gronk out + other WRs were bad, stats were basically the same as now.

They might annoy me and surprise by adjusting somehow, picking Gronk out of retirement for playoffs, etc but absent something unexpected I don't see how they get anything meaningful done in the playoffs. They might be able to beat the Steelers or something but don't seem to have the horses to beat the top AFC teams.

 

[caketastydelish]

I’d never count the Patriots out entirely as long as they have Brady and Belichick but it obviously doesn’t look good.

That said, Gronk isn’t coming out of retirement, at least not for this season. He’s completely out of shape and has announced he’ll be at the Super Bowl hosting a party (meaning not as a player). Even if they get the best tight end in the draft (very much a possibility because this draft is not loaded at all at the tight end position anyway), tight ends usually don’t begin to show their potential until their second year in the league. Meaning unless Gronk comes back next season or they sign a good one during free agency, they very well be weak at tight end next year too.

O.J. Howard will probably be available I think but I’m not sure if the Pats can win him in a bidding war with their current salary cap space. My understanding is it will be difficult just for them to maintain what they already have.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

It doesn't have to be a TE, they just need 1-2 more pieces that can consistently win 1v1s vs average defenders. TE would work, but so would WRs.

 

[caketastydelish]

Well next years draft class is pretty deep at WR so that shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Predicting who will be a great WR isn't trivial, however. Quite a few solid #1 WRs in the league right now had 5+ WRs taken earlier who are marginal or don't play.

NE's track record for drafting good WRs over the past 10-20 years is...not the best.

 

[caketastydelish]

Maybe they should have just selected Metcalf instead of trading down to let us have him. Thanks Pats.

 

[caketastydelish]

Ron Rivera fired. I'd be highly surprised if another team doesn't pick him up by the 2020 season.

 

[rah]

Within a week of the season ending.

 

[caketastydelish]

My hot take:

The Browns (while maintaining the talent they currently have on their roster) could easily have a winning season with Ron Rivera as the head coach. AFAIK the team was completely devoid of talent offensively outside of McCaffery. I'm sure some things were his fault, but not everything.

 

[Serutan]

I don't get why this was done now. The only justification I could see for an in season change is if the coach had well and truly lost the locker room and I have seen nothing to indicate that that was the case with Rivera.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I read a really good take on why and why not to fire a coach in season, and it has to do with what you have available for an interim coach vs what you are willing to do in the market. They used the Cowboys as an example for why not to fire. They have an assistant on staff who would almost certainly be the interim coach, and he is very popular with the players. If they switched to him and got a solid bump it would be hard not to give him the job without disrupting the locker room. But Jerry-man, master GM will be wanting to make a splash hire...so keep Garrett to the end of the season.

Theoretically, Carolina has someone on staff that they are hoping will take the interim spot and really grab the job by the throat. This allows for them to get the 'change' demanded by the fans without really causing a major disruption when they feel like the HC wasn't so much a problem as just someone that could provide the necessary scapegoat.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Carolina is ridiculous regardless. Starting QB gets hurt, team struggles. Last time starting QB wasn't injured for most of a season, the team did consistently well, in fact they're not that far removed from a superbowl run.

Rivera should indeed be near the top of any team's list if they need a coach. It's been a while since the NFL had a more egregious firing.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Carolina is ridiculous regardless. Starting QB gets hurt, team struggles. Last time starting QB wasn't injured for most of a season, the team did consistently well, in fact they're not that far removed from a superbowl run.

Rivera should indeed be near the top of any team's list if they need a coach. It's been a while since the NFL had a more egregious firing.

Lovie Smith (2 years after a Superbowl appearance and following a 10-6 season where they missed the playoffs due to the harsh wildcard rules) springs to mind...

But as you say... it's been a while.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Lovie Smith (2 years after a Superbowl appearance and following a 10-6 season where they missed the playoffs due to the harsh wildcard rules) springs to mind...

But as you say... it's been a while.

Yeah that's a close competitor. I'm not sure if it's more egregious outright, but it was a similarly strange move. He then struggled in Tampa...but who hasn't in the last decade+?

 

[rah]

Don't forget the 3-4 years at the University of Illinois to finally get a 500. season.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Yeah that's a close competitor. I'm not sure if it's more egregious outright, but it was a similarly strange move. He then struggled in Tampa...but who hasn't in the last decade+?

Speaking of the Bucs... they're still in the "technically not eliminated" zone with all the other 5 win teams. One wildcard slot is still left.