2023 NFL Regular Season Thread

[GrantDawg]

Btw, the Falcons are currently playing with only two startes on the OL. They came into the game down the starting right tackle and center, but now Jake Matthew's is out. He just last week broke the Falcons Iron Man record starting his 156th game. The only game he had ever missed was the 2nd game of his rookie season.

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[GrantDawg]

And now they are down to one starting OL. Lindstrom is out with an ankle.

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[Ghost Econ]

The Panthers have broken Bryce Young.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

The Panthers have broken Bryce Young.

This will be his fifth straight game under 60% completions, 2nd straight under 50%. In that span he's been sacked (so far) 24 times.

[Atocep]

Kind of crazy how much having some sort of pass rush changes a defense.

[SirFozzie]

A-T- (Take The) L losing games in the last minute? Who could have guessed?

[SirFozzie]

Hooboy, if the Ravens had got screwed by how the refs called it, there's going to be riots.



(Jackson throws a clear incomplete pass going down, that if it was a fumble, was recovered by defense, but he was ruled down by contact. By rulebook, they cannot overturn it into an incomplete pass, but they can overturn it into a fumble (with a clear recovery)



They got the spirit right, they decided to keep the sack (because it would punish the Ravens to rule it a fumble when it clearly wasn't), and the Ravens scored on the next play

[thesloppy]

Wow that return in Baltimore!

[Thomkal]

Jets QB's, past and present had a pretty nice day.

[molson]

It's so hard to decide who's the worst QB is these days. So many fine contenders.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Did someone secretly replace all of Justin Jefferson's internal tissue and whatnot with jello or something?

[JonInMiddleGA]

And at some point, don't the Seahawks have to suspend Metcalf?

[miami_fan]

How was that a catch for the Bills?

[miami_fan]

It might be time for the Chiefs front office to focus a bit on improving the talent on the offensive side of the ball.

[Ksyrup]

Denver is a game behind KC for the division with a series split. Not that they are going to win. More like it's crazy how poorly KC has performed this year compared to expectations.

[Thomkal]

Man we would all be talking about that play from Kelce at the end of the game that would have won it for KC if it didn't get called back. Man that was good.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

It might be time for the Chiefs front office to focus a bit on improving the talent on the offensive side of the ball.

It's crazy what Mahomes is doing with the lack of talent at receiver.

[CrimsonFox]

It's crazy what the refs are doing to let the chiefs win during all chiefs home games

[Brian Swartz]

Gonna vent a bit on the refs.

I am getting so sick and tired of every darn thing being blamed on the refs, including when they get it right. On the KC offsides call:

Originally Posted by Geno Steratore

When officiating the line of scrimmage, general philosophy is not to be overly technical and split hairs over very minor infractions (such as a receiver's hand slightly breaking the LOS). However, when an infraction is so egregious and obvious, a flag has to be thrown.

Kadarius Toney is blatantly lined up offside and in the neutral zone. You rarely see an offsides penalty on the offense, but that is not because this play in #BUFvsKC isn't a foul.

It is because a receiver rarely lines up offsides.

I know nobody here said it was a bad call, I'm not talking mostly about people on this forum even in the general case. It's like the Buffalo-Philadelphia game not that long ago when people were saying the refs obviously wanted Philly to win even though they called consecutive false starts on Jason Kelce on the drive to tie in regulation, and were upset that there wasn't a horse collar called when Josh Allen didn't even think it was a horse collar, and on and on it goes.

If you don't call a player being a half-yard ahead of the ball as offsides, I don't care how cool the play was or how important it was; you're basically asking the officials to not do their jobs. Reid and Mahomes should be ashamed of themselves - not for anything that happened during the game, but for what they said afterwards.

It's like some people get more enjoyment out of blaming the officiating than they do out of watching the darn game. For those in that category, I wish they would just shut up.

/rant.

[GrantDawg]

I agree with you. Refs get things wrong all the time, but crapping on the for getting something right is ridiculous.

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[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Gonna vent a bit on the refs.

I am getting so sick and tired of every darn thing being blamed on the refs, including when they get it right. On the KC offsides call:



I know nobody here said it was a bad call, I'm not talking mostly about people on this forum even in the general case. It's like the Buffalo-Philadelphia game not that long ago when people were saying the refs obviously wanted Philly to win even though they called consecutive false starts on Jason Kelce on the drive to tie in regulation, and were upset that there wasn't a horse collar called when Josh Allen didn't even think it was a horse collar, and on and on it goes.

If you don't call a player being a half-yard ahead of the ball as offsides, I don't care how cool the play was or how important it was; you're basically asking the officials to not do their jobs. Reid and Mahomes should be ashamed of themselves - not for anything that happened during the game, but for what they said afterwards.

It's like some people get more enjoyment out of blaming the officiating than they do out of watching the darn game. For those in that category, I wish they would just shut up.

/rant.

The only thing I would say is I don't like the idea of receivers being able to look at the official and be told if they are on or offsides. The refs have made it clear that they don't have to help the player if they are offside. Among the multitude of things Toney did wrong yesterday, he did not look over to the ref to ask if he was onside. If Toney had turned to the official despite being so far in the neutral zone, the ref could have told him he needed to back up or he could said nothing and thrown the flag once the play started. Either way, I don't think that is a good look for an official. Leave it to the players to line themselves up correctly.

[miami_fan]

Meanwhile, it felt good to have two other people chuckle at the same time I did me as we heard this exchange through headphones while walking on the treadmill this morning.

Rex Ryan on the big offsides call: "You know I like toes. I don't like this toe."

Ryan Clark: "Kadarius Toney, if you turn Rex against feet, you're a bad man." pic.twitter.com/XaSBI0V0ro

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 11, 2023

[Carman Bulldog]

I think it looks a little worse than it was, only in the sense that I believe the line of scrimmage was right on the 49. The Chiefs centre didn't have the ball right on the line but rather a foot or so behind it. Toney was right on the line, where the neutral zone should have been. In any event, Toney's whole foot is right on the line of scrimmage (the neutral zone) and it's a penalty. And being so close to the centre - and the hash marks - Toney should have easily been able to notice that, with or without checking in with a ref.

Edit: My point being, I just don't like killing the guy for being so far offside. If the center has the ball up right on the 49 and Toney moves his foot back 6-9 inches or so, the ref probably gives him the benefit of the doubt.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Gonna vent a bit on the refs.

I am getting so sick and tired of every darn thing being blamed on the refs, including when they get it right. On the KC offsides call:

I know nobody here said it was a bad call, I'm not talking mostly about people on this forum even in the general case. It's like the Buffalo-Philadelphia game not that long ago when people were saying the refs obviously wanted Philly to win even though they called consecutive false starts on Jason Kelce on the drive to tie in regulation, and were upset that there wasn't a horse collar called when Josh Allen didn't even think it was a horse collar, and on and on it goes.

If you don't call a player being a half-yard ahead of the ball as offsides, I don't care how cool the play was or how important it was; you're basically asking the officials to not do their jobs. Reid and Mahomes should be ashamed of themselves - not for anything that happened during the game, but for what they said afterwards.

It's like some people get more enjoyment out of blaming the officiating than they do out of watching the darn game. For those in that category, I wish they would just shut up.

/rant.

Agreed. I'd also add that Taylor was more or less lined up in the backfield too. I know they've let him get away with that most of the season but if you don't want to get called for penalties, don't commit them.

[thesloppy]

Levis throws a nasty pick 6 from his endzone and gets comically crumpled when he attempts to tackle the DE who made the pick

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1734386758778032222

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Levis throws a nasty pick 6 from his endzone and gets comically crumpled when he attempts to tackle the DE who made the pick

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1734386758778032222

Yeah, definitely 2 bad decisions by Levis on that play.

[Atocep]

Is it me or is there an abnormal amount of bad punt return and punt coverage plays this year?

[thesloppy]

Epic fuck up by the Titans returner there

[thesloppy]

Man, they were doing so good in this game

[CrimsonFox]

fumbleina

[CrimsonFox]

giants didn't have to worry since Freen bay has the worst defense i've seen this year

[thesloppy]

Nice job Titans

[larrymcg421]

Can't believe that happened. Sick to my stomach.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Crimson Fox

giants didn't have to worry since Freen bay has the worst defense i've seen this year

You haven't seen many defenses then. The Packers have been average on defense this year.

[Ksyrup]

Two entertaining games that shouldn't have been. Amazon is probably like WTF?

[albionmoonlight]

I was super busy last night, so I didn't watch any games. But I got on social media this morning, and everyone was talking about four different teams, and I was so confused--not realizing that there were two MNF games.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Can't believe that happened. Sick to my stomach.

wow... look ahead for the Dolphins and that committed prevent defense is looking like it might be the beginning of the end for this season, honestly

4 games left against NYJ, BAL, DAL, BUF ... they could easily go 1-3 there, and that could easily mean they cede the division right back to Buffalo

Miami has had their moments, mostly against overmatched defenses, but winning road games against good teams doesn't look great... they feel like they'd need to play at home and have their D really step up

ouch

[albionmoonlight]

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

wow... look ahead for the Dolphins and that committed prevent defense is looking like it might be the beginning of the end for this season, honestly

4 games left against NYJ, BAL, DAL, BUF ... they could easily go 1-3 there, and that could easily mean they cede the division right back to Buffalo

Miami has had their moments, mostly against overmatched defenses, but winning road games against good teams doesn't look great... they feel like they'd need to play at home and have their D really step up

ouch

There might be a larger discussion to be had about scheme innovation in the NFL.

Seems in the old days if you came into a season with an innovation (Greatest Show on Turf; Tampa 2), you got a full season to really take advantage of the league with it. It wasn't until the offseason that teams pulled out the film to try and figure you out.

And, heck, even before that, the 49ers ran that West Coast offense for years before defenses started to counter it.

Now, we saw teams starting to run variations on that Miami motion offense two weeks after they showed it. And defenses have certainly caught up to it by this point in the season.

I wonder if the value of being able to invent the better mousetrap might be overrated these days. And the really great coaches are able to lead and communicate with players, etc. And as long as you are flexible and willing to learn, you can just pull the hot new scheme off the all-22 and go from there.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I was super busy last night, so I didn't watch any games. But I got on social media this morning, and everyone was talking about four different teams, and I was so confused--not realizing that there were two MNF games.

A "doubleheader" as the NFL called it, which is not exactly right, I don't think.

(I don't understand why if you have an extra game -- content -- you put it UP AGAINST THE GAME YOU ARE ALREADY AIRING. That...what? Congrats, at best you've given viewers an alternative to your own commercials.

I also don't understand -- and I think Aikman was a little salty about this too -- why you put your #1 announcing team on the game with the crappier teams. And as Troy no doubt appreciated, in the cold.)

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

And as long as you are flexible and willing to learn, you can just pull the hot new scheme off the all-22 and go from there.

now drafting solely on Solecismic test results

[CrimsonFox]

I was laughing when I heard the Bengals backup broke his toe or something...but then he went back in and I was ...awwwww. I was looking forward to a Willie Beeman scenario.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

A "doubleheader" as the NFL called it, which is not exactly right, I don't think.

(I don't understand why if you have an extra game -- content -- you put it UP AGAINST THE GAME YOU ARE ALREADY AIRING. That...what? Congrats, at best you've given viewers an alternative to your own commercials.

I also don't understand -- and I think Aikman was a little salty about this too -- why you put your #1 announcing team on the game with the crappier teams. And as Troy no doubt appreciated, in the cold.)

I don't know why one of those games wasn't played on Saturday night.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

There might be a larger discussion to be had about scheme innovation in the NFL.

Seems in the old days if you came into a season with an innovation (Greatest Show on Turf; Tampa 2), you got a full season to really take advantage of the league with it. It wasn't until the offseason that teams pulled out the film to try and figure you out.

And, heck, even before that, the 49ers ran that West Coast offense for years before defenses started to counter it.

Now, we saw teams starting to run variations on that Miami motion offense two weeks after they showed it. And defenses have certainly caught up to it by this point in the season.

I wonder if the value of being able to invent the better mousetrap might be overrated these days. And the really great coaches are able to lead and communicate with players, etc. And as long as you are flexible and willing to learn, you can just pull the hot new scheme off the all-22 and go from there.

I think this is almost certainly partly the case. The technology, the sheer size of NFL staffs, the sheer elite physical condition and probably a massive increase in mental sharpness in the players in the league. See also Dobbs, Josh - the fun narrative was he plays best when he rolls off the flight straight onto the field but in reality he’s a well below average QB with an awkward style that worked for a couple weeks when he combined playing surprisingly well against some teams who weren’t prepared for him or an NFL team playing sandlot football whatsoever. Once there was some film on him in that offense, he’s totally exposed.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I think this is almost certainly partly the case. The technology, the sheer size of NFL staffs, the sheer elite physical condition and probably a massive increase in mental sharpness in the players in the league. See also Dobbs, Josh - the fun narrative was he plays best when he rolls off the flight straight onto the field but in reality he’s a well below average QB with an awkward style that worked for a couple weeks when he combined playing surprisingly well against some teams who weren’t prepared for him or an NFL team playing sandlot football whatsoever. Once there was some film on him in that offense, he’s totally exposed.

And just announced that Nick Mullens is taking over for Dobbs.

(I wonder if getting a peek of the reality of post-Kirk-Cousins life is going to make Vikings fans more willing to accept a Cousins' extension).

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

You haven't seen many defenses then. The Packers have been average on defense this year.

I mean every play in that last quarter there was NO ONE around. So maybe it would be more accurate to say they don't have any defense at all.

[JPhillips]

It's crazy how many backups have come in and played really well for 2 or 3 games.

I do wonder if Jake Browning is about to turn into a pumpkin.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

It's crazy how many backups have come in and played really well for 2 or 3 games.

I do wonder if Jake Browning is about to turn into a pumpkin.

he'll get a starting job elsewhere next year I'm sure

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

he'll get a starting job elsewhere next year I'm sure

I think he will come back to earth big time given the defenses that he will face the last 4 weeks. That and I never saw anything when he was with Minnesota that suggested a future starter.

[JPhillips]

It's hard for me to see a path where he's more valuable to trade than to keep as Burrow's backup next year. Sure, if he's worth a 1st rounder, but otherwise I'd keep him since he's an exclusive rights FA.