2022 NFL Discussion Thread

[CheezWizHed]

On 7/26/2022 at 8:59 AM, GAME05 said:

Well, right now Watson only has I think two civil suits pending and no criminal charges against him. Is that really worth a year's suspension? Especially considering the weak suspensions players get for punching women and other sins, Watson's situation should probably only constitute a Week 1 suspension and that's it.

I've not followed this situation too closely, but I'm pretty sure that the lack of criminal suits is based on lack of physical evidence (which there wouldn't be based on the accusations).  I'm not crazy about "guilty until proven innocent" direction, but I also wouldn't want to continue light wrist-slaps for abusive behavior just because we did it like that before. 

[CheezWizHed]

On 7/25/2022 at 5:14 PM, nate82 said:

You are correct.

I guess the NFL is going the MLB route on making it difficult to watch a game at least live.  But you can watch replays on any device with your NFL+ premium subscription.  

https://support.nfl.com/hc/en-us/articles/5400793091612-On-which-devices-can-I-watch-games-with-NFL-

This is so stupid... so people stream on their tablet/phone and cast it to their TV.  

Though I'm happy to see that the cost for premium is actually less than I was paying for NFL Replay last year. 

[LouisEly]

It is so on-brand for the Cleveland Browns to send six draft picks including three first round draft picks to a team for a player on the verge of being suspended.  Six games... say goodbye to your 2022 season.

[nate82]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

It is so on-brand for the Cleveland Browns to send six draft picks including three first round draft picks to a team for a player on the verge of being suspended.  Six games... say goodbye to your 2022 season.

If they can go 2-4 or even 1-5 they could still pull it out and make the playoffs in the AFC North.  They would have to go either 10-1 or 9-2 in their final 11 games.  Not impossible as their final 3-games are against Saints, @Washington and @Steelers.

So if they go 1-5 in their first 6 games and then go 9-2 the rest of the way that is a 10-7 record which should put them in the playoff picture.  They could go 3-3 also with three very winnable games against the Steelers, Panthers and Falcons.  You could even put the Jets as a possible toss up and the Browns could go 4-2 to start the season only losing to the Patriots and Chargers.  The first 6 games actually plays rather well for the Browns.  

But it is the Browns so they will probably go 1-5 or 0-6.  If they go 0-6 they basically can only lose 1 game of their final 11 games.  But still at worst they are going to finish around 7-10 which would put their pick in the 10-15 range.  

[homer]

apparently the browns have a super easy schedule in weeks 1 - 6. some have surmised that was on purpose. 

[nate82]

Watson suspension will be 11 games and a $5m fine.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34412381/source-cleveland-browns-qb-deshaun-watson-suspended-11-games-fined-5m-settlement-nfl-nflpa

The Brows will only have about 6-games with Watson and realistically it is probably only 3-games as it will take him some time to get into the flow of the game and build chemistry with the team.  Building chemistry with the O-line and the receivers are probably some of the more underrated parts of being a good QB.  No chemistry or flow with your receivers and you are missing wide open throws and getting picked off.  No chemistry with the O-line is where sacks, fumbles and rushed throws happen.  If a QB can't get in sync with the O-line it is going to be a long year for the QB and team.  

I think the Browns still get to 9 wins which should put them in the 12-15 pick range.  

[NBBrewFan]

19 hours ago, nate82 said:

Watson suspension will be 11 games and a $5m fine.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34412381/source-cleveland-browns-qb-deshaun-watson-suspended-11-games-fined-5m-settlement-nfl-nflpa

I haven't kept up on all the aspects of this case, but a "related" topic that might be of interest is the Bill Cosby ("is a rapist") scandal.  I just finished an excellent documentary series (available on Amazon Prime) titled "We Need to Talk About Cosby" that interviews a subset of the over 60 women who have claimed to be sexually assaulted by him.  It really was excellent look at how a celebrity can leverage that "popularity" and a wholesome image to serially assault women where in many instances he is enabled by his celebrity.  One women told the story how she believed him the first time (that she had just gotten drunk) and he was Bill Cosby so he must be a nice guy. right? and when she met him again he tried to again drug her and take advantage, but the second time she resisted. She was openly saying she was stupid for trusting that someone who was clearly a predator would have been identified before their encounter. It was also amazing at the number of women who said they didn't say anything at the time because they were more embarrassed than angry.  I guess we may know more about Watson when someone does a documentary on him.

[homer]

Lions may be improved on offense but their defense is a sieve.

[HarryDoyle]

Wow, some potential major upsets happening in Atlanta and Houston. There goes my eliminator challenge if Indy goes down.

[HarryDoyle]

The 49ers are imploding. Playing very undisciplined with a handful of personal fouls. Lance not giving a very good first impression either.

[homer]

31 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

The 49ers are imploding. Playing very undisciplined with a handful of personal fouls. Lance not giving a very good first impression either.

Good game - bears fans get their hopes needlessly up, Niners lose.

[HarryDoyle]

Great finish in Cincy. Bengals go ahead with two seconds left on the clock and win.

EDIT: PAT is blocked and we're going to OT. What a sequence of plays.

[homer]

The first half of today's set was pretty bad but the second half has been amazing.

[HarryDoyle]

This PIT-CIN game is just bananas.

[HarryDoyle]

1 hour ago, HarryDoyle said:

Wow, some potential major upsets happening in Atlanta and Houston. There goes my eliminator challenge if Indy goes down.

The Saints make the big comeback to win but the Colts can only manage a tie. Apparently that still keeps me alive in the eliminator challenge. Steelers finally pull off the win in Cincy.

[HarryDoyle]

T.J. Watt with an apparent torn pec. Major blow for the Steelers. What a shame.

[adambr2]

Zadarius, of course. Great work boys. Looking sharp. 

[HarryDoyle]

This O line is gonna get steamrolled today and will probably continue as long as Bakh and Jenkins are out.

[yourout]

Any bets on whether McCarthy is the first NFL coach pink slip this year?

[PeaveyFury]

14 hours ago, yourout said:

Any bets on whether McCarthy is the first NFL coach pink slip this year?

McCarthy's offense last night made the Iowa Hawkeyes' offense look dynamic. Absolutely brutal. I've long thought that Dak was an average QB that was made to look better than that by a talented offense and a scheme that allowed him to magnify his strengths under Garrett. McCarthy's scheme, as we all know, relies heavily on good QB play, and I don't think Dak can carry them.

Expectations were very high in Dallas this offseason, and Jerry has little patience when a team underperforms expectations. They've got a tough one vs. Burrow next weekend, so I'd think the seat might start getting a little hot for McCarthy if they look flat again.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

38 minutes ago, PeaveyFury said:

McCarthy's offense last night made the Iowa Hawkeyes' offense look dynamic. Absolutely brutal. I've long thought that Dak was an average QB that was made to look better than that by a talented offense and a scheme that allowed him to magnify his strengths under Garrett. McCarthy's scheme, as we all know, relies heavily on good QB play, and I don't think Dak can carry them.

Expectations were very high in Dallas this offseason, and Jerry has little patience when a team underperforms expectations. They've got a tough one vs. Burrow next weekend, so I'd think the seat might start getting a little hot for McCarthy if they look flat again.

Dak is going to likely be out at least a month with his thumb injury. The Cowboys playoff hopes take a pretty drastic hit with that. 

[adambr2]

I just realized Kevin King doesn't even have an NFL job anymore. 

Still inexplicable to me that he was brought back last year. 

[homer]

56 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

I just realized Kevin King doesn't even have an NFL job anymore. 

Still inexplicable to me that he was brought back last year. 

Even JK Scott has a job

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

15 hours ago, adambr2 said:

I just realized Kevin King doesn't even have an NFL job anymore. 

Still inexplicable to me that he was brought back last year. 

Guy got a bad rap due to a few missed coverages at very inopportune times, but when healthy, he was often a solid NFL CB. I wasn't a huge fan of bringing him back last year due to the PTSD from those blown assignments, plus an inability throughout his career to stay healthy, but I understood why they did it. 

[adambr2]

2 hours ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Guy got a bad rap due to a few missed coverages at very inopportune times, but when healthy, he was often a solid NFL CB. I wasn't a huge fan of bringing him back last year due to the PTSD from those blown assignments, plus an inability throughout his career to stay healthy, but I understood why they did it. 

He would occasionally have a splash play or game that would resemble competency, but his downs were spectacularly bad. 

I think the fact that he's a street free agent at age 27 at a position of high demand is pretty telling on how high the league is on his skills.