Mike2.0

Based on how both teams played today we might as well flip a coin to see who wins. I think we can beat the Buccaneers next week and secure our spot on the play offs, but it will probably be one and done come play off time. Interestingly if the Falcons beat the Rams on Monday, then next week the Saints beat the Falcons and we beat the Bucs, there will be three way tie on 7-10!

Frank Gore played until he was 37. So if Henry played another six seasons, he would need to average 910.5 yards to surpass Emmitt Smith. I think it would depend on what motivates Henry, but if anyone could challenge Emmitt for the all time, it will be Henry. However, it’s probably unlikely that he will surpass him. For me, it would be more likely he’d challenge and surpass Gore and/or Payton.

I’m not disputing that their defense is elite. What I’m saying is it will be interesting to see how far their elite defense can carry them in the play offs or whether their offense eventually hold them back if/when a team does take its chances to score. For example, the number two and three defenses just put up nearly 40 points against each other. If they come up against a team that starts to score, can they keep up or will their chances be dependent on their defense continuing to stifle their opposition? Like I said, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

The Texan’s performance tonight showcased their defensive ability, but also showed that their offense is not on the same level. So it will be interesting to see if their defense can continue to shut teams down and carry them in the play offs like they have in the regular season, because without that, I don’t think their offense is playing well enough to go score for score with the more prolific offenses in the league.

Missed FG to end the half. What started off as clinical play by the Texans has turned into a wild and sloppy finish to the half.

This is going back and forth right now! Bad decision by Stroud with not much time left in the quarter. Can Herbert take advantage?

It’s going to be an interesting game week. If we turn up and play like we did against the Rams then we can beat the Seahawks, but we need to start capitalising on the chances and putting more points on the board. The Seahawks have put up some pretty good offensive performances when things click, so we’ve got to take the chances and hope the pressure we put on Darnold makes him crack. I’m not sure how much we can really rely on Miami doing us a favor. They have a 7th round rookie starting and although Tampa have found ways to lose, I’m not sure they’ll lose this one. If they do, Bowles should be gone.

Lost their OC and DC to head coaching gigs. They’ve struggled with injuries and there’s been regression too. One could argue their strength of schedule has had an impact (second most games against play off teams). It was always going to be a difficult season for them. Campbell has no history as a play caller before Detroit. He’s never been an OC in any of his previous stops. So it’s not surprising to see mixed results as he’s not known for offensive prowess. What Campbell brings to the table is leadership, respect and culture setting philosophy.

Incorrect, I have watched us consistently over quite a number of years. When I say Cam relied on athleticism, I simply mean his dual threat style and athleticism overshadowed the deficiencies in the passing game (his own or those created by the system). Now I wouldn’t disagree that our OCs over that time were not amazing and arguably held him back, but correct me if I’m wrong, Cam had a habit of locking onto his receivers and overthrowing them. Gettleman even drafted two big receivers - Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess - to give Cam receivers with a big catch radius. Again, correct me if I’m wrong, but Cam had some mechanical issues. For example, the reliance on arm strength over touch and his footwork often led to him throwing off the back foot. There were many debates on these boards about his mechanics, with far more knowledgeable posters than I braking down what he needed to improve on. End of the day, I was as big a Cam fan as the next person, but he did have his shortcomings as a passer. Had he played under someone like Sean McVay or a similar offensive guru, with a high quality QB coach, then I’m sure they would have ironed out the kinks and he would have been far more dangerous and successful than he was. And that’s a scary thought of what he could have been under the likes of a McVay!

Cam was very reliant on being one of the best athletes on the field. His athleticism was a huge part of his success. Favre took a beating, sure, but he relied on his arm. Did Cam evolve enough as a passer for that to be his go to rather than his athleticism? Cam’s rookie season was his only above 4k and his MVP was the only season above 30 passing TDs. Josh Allen plays in a similar way, but he has been far more prolific as a passer and should age pretty well if his athleticism starts to wane. I’m not sure how Cam would have faired had his athleticism started to regress.

I would tend to agree on the Europe front as it would require fans to support “their” team rather than their chosen team or simply attend an NFL game as a neutral. However, if there is sufficient demand and monetary gain, and they could make it work schedule wise, then it wouldn’t surprise me if the league did consider it in the future. It would be interesting to see which North American cities they would choose to add in a potential expansion. Personally I think creating an NBA D-League would arguably be a better option and create less requirements on facilities and stadiums.

A further problem would be more teams to share the money around. It’s one reason why some feel persuading NBA owners to accept two new teams will be difficult because they go from 1/30 to 1/32 in revenue. Will expansion happen? I’m not sure, but if the money keeps growing and they continue to expand into new markets, then I suppose expansion can’t be ruled out in the future. I suppose a number of teams would need to be added to maintain balance; however, there have been uneven numbers at times in the past, so they could schedule around it.

Shoulder, yes, but my point was that his superman style was going to catch up on him. Players don’t take that kind of hammering and play twenty years. A true pocket passer that can protect themselves has a far greater chance of having a lengthy playing career.

Some players excel on the big stage, while others freeze and succumb to the pressure. I’m not convinced Cam took a dive. I think he didn’t handle the stage very well. The pressure got to him and he folded. He wouldn’t be the first quarterback or player to struggle in a Super Bowl. Two HOF examples - John Elway and Jim Kelly. The 2002 MVP, Rich Gannon, threw 5 interceptions against the Bucs. Poor performances happen. Unless of course you believe all these players threw the games they played in, but if that occurred, surely someone by now would have admitted taking a dive?

It was always a matter of time with Cam’s playing style and a shorter shelf life than passers that protect themselves. I suppose Cam could have still been playing in 2028 ten years after the hit took place, but he would need to have evolved as a quarterback and become more of a passer than the dual threat maestro he was. It’s sad because it makes us think of what could have been, but I do feel it was always a matter of time until all the hits took their toll.

I can understand teams going for climate controlled domes. It gives them a possibility of hosting a Super Bowl and it takes the elements out of games. However, I do feel that we are losing some of the soul of the game with teams moving towards climate controlled domes. Seeing players brave the elements and play football to see who comes out on top is, for me, more fun to watch than seeing two teams sling the ball around in perfect conditions inside a dome. However, pristine conditions and fancy stadiums are the go to now for the executives in the NFL.

It would be interesting if we could sign Willis to backup Young, but I have a feeling he could end up on a team that might be willing to roll the dice on him or at least give him a chance in a QB competition (perhaps Miami when they cut Tua?).

I would stay TMac has a good chance of winning ROTY, but there are other contenders if they finish the season strong: - Tyler Warren and Harold Fannin Jr have been impressive TE rookies. Both have similar stats. Warren has been hurt by Jones’ injury, but a few strong performances with Rivers might get him back in contention. Fannin is becoming more involved in the Browns’ offense and looks like he could be a big time weapon for them. - Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough as QBs will always get consideration even if they haven’t played a full slate of games. I’m not sure they will win, but if Shough finishes strong with big performances against Tennessee and Atlanta, it could sway people to vote for him. - TreVeyon Henderson is a possibility but will need to clear concussion protocol to add to his stats. I think he’s an unlikely option. For me, I’d love to see TMac win ROTY, but it’s going to go down to the wire in my opinion.

I suspect it is Burrow’s way of expressing frustration at the current state and direction of the team and basically saying - sort it out, or I’m out. Now that could be retirement, or it could be him wanting out via a trade, either way, shots fired. That said, I know that coverage has changed over the years and become more 24/7. We also have a generation (mine included) that talk more about needing to enjoy their careers rather than simply fulfilling the obligation of working. With that in mind, it would be interesting to compare how the QBs of the 70s, 80s and 90s would talk and handle things in a world where the cameras and coverage doesn’t stop. It would be interesting to see how they’d handle things compared to modern day athletes.

This season’s leader, Daniel Jones, is averaging 265.9 yards per game, that would rank 12th in 2015. Even going back to 2020, he would rank 10th in passing yards. So it does appear that passing yards is down, but is that because they aren’t as good? Possibly, but we were spoilt in recent years when we had Brady, Peyton, Brees, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, Rivers, Ryan, Stafford (etc). As crops of QBs go, it was an amazing era to watch and most will end up in the Hall of Fame. I’m not convinced you we could list as many potential Hall of Fame QBs from the current crop. Will it go pass heavy again? I think there’s a good chance that it will, but it will require QBs that can consistently air the ball out in the frequency we saw in the 00s and 10s. I think currently coaches are favouring a more balanced approach, if not favouring a strong running game.

Makes you wonder what went wrong after his thousand yard receiving yard season as a rookie. His second year was injury hit if I remember correctly, but he doesn’t seem to have been targeted or utilised as well as his rookie season. It wouldn’t surprise me if he leaves the Falcons when/if the opportunity arises.

There’s always some fans that don’t like the pick. I mean some wanted a defensive player, but I think picking MacMillan was a shrewd draft choice. His upside was clear and our need for a true number one receiver was clear.

In someways we had a similar situation with Cam Newton. He had games where he’d throw for 300+ yards and complete over 60% of his passes, then he’d have those 200 or less passing yard games and would complete less than 60% of his passes. Even in his MVP season he had six games with less than 200 passing yards and ten games with less than 60% PCT (he had two under 50%!). So we have kinda been here before with Cam because we all wanted him to develop as a pocket passer and become a more prolific passer, but he never quite achieved the consistency as a passer. Now the advantage Cam had was he could make up for the passing inconsistencies with his work as a runner, whereas Bryce doesn’t have the size to bully the opposition defense like Cam did, so he will have to develop more consistency as a passer if he wants to be the guy (here or elsewhere).

I think we try to re-sign Dowdle at a rate that makes sense for the team. If the price gets too high then you move on. There’s no reason we can’t accommodate both running backs like we did with Williams and Stewart. After all, Young has yet to prove he can carry this team as a passer, and to be honest, he strikes me more as a 3,500 yard passer than a 4,500 yard passer. So to best support him we should have a strong running game and a 1 to 2 of Dowdle and Chuba could be the way to go.

There’s no reason the offense can’t accommodate them both. We had Williams and Stewart as a 1-2 punch, so it’s possible that Dowdle and Chuba can be used as a 1-2 punch. We are a run first team since we don’t have a prolific passer under center, so I would at having a strong run game with two quality backs is a positive. Before the Packers game, they had split the carries fairly evenly. I think unless one gets hot, we’ll probably see them split carries.