NFL 2018 Week #3

[Funky Ghost]

I didn't realize it was even going on until the second half, and Mayfield was already in. My wife and I were at an Irish bar for her kind of comfort food - bangers and mash, shepherds pie, and that kind of thing. I just happened to be facing the television, or I would have missed it all. The Browns didn't beat the '72 Dolphins, but at least they beat somebody and looked pretty convincing on both sides of the ball while I was watching. There are teams that get within an eyelash of winning during a long losing streak, and then when they finally win one, they go on a tear. It's almost like the shell cracks open, and the beast gets out. I hope that's the Browns. Or, they could make like they did two years ago, win one, and then disappear into the mire again. Mayfield makes me think they will be better than that, but I'm not a betting man, and even if I was, I still would only root for the Browns, not bet on them.

My gal and I's kinda people! I'm a bangers and mash-aholic and she loves shepherds pie. We go to Rosie McCann's in old Santa Cruz for our fix. They have a nice 20 year old single malt as well that is like buttah!

I think Baker is going to be more like Kosar and less like Wheedan. With the players they have assembled this could be the start of a very nice thing.

 

[Gaolee]

My gal and I's kinda people! I'm a bangers and mash-aholic and she loves shepherds pie. We go to Rosie McCann's in old Santa Cruz for our fix. They have a nice 20 year old single malt as well that is like buttah!

I think Baker is going to be more like Kosar and less like Wheedan. With the players they have assembled this could be the start of a very nice thing.

She really is English, and grew up on that kind of thing. I have learned to like it.

The Browns drafted pretty close to a whole new team this past year. If they don't have a few good players in that haul, they really are hopeless. Mayfield looks like the real deal, and unlike Kosar, his feet aren't concrete blocks. I got a huge kick out of the two point conversion. I'm not sure what the Browns defense was up to, but it looked like they smelled blood in the water when I started watching. They must not have been playing like that in the first half in order to go down by two touchdowns.

 

[MJ5150]

I can't help but laugh at this quote from John Gruden, "it's hard to find a great pass-rusher."

-Mike

 

[GregC]

He has "it". I'd trade Mariota straight across for him right now.

Both teams played pretty chippy. It was a good old slobber knocker. I like seeing that kind of game. The attitude of the Brownies changed when Baker went under center though. The crowd acted like it was a home game ( ok it was but when was the last time it felt like that was even an advantage? ). I'm not inducting Mayfield just yet, I mean, he's no Garoppolo amirite?

People were anointing Darnold after his first game...

 

[Funky Ghost]

People were anointing Darnold after his first game...

I've not been on the Darnold band wagon. I'm not convinced Rosen will pan out either.

 

[MJ5150]

Darnold and Rosen are the latest batch of California star QB's who will go on to superbly subpar NFL careers.
Mayfield? Meh, one game against the equally lousy Jets. He's going to implode.

-Mike

 

[Funky Ghost]

Darnold and Rosen are the latest batch of California star QB's who will go on to superbly subpar NFL careers.
Mayfield? Meh, one game against the equally lousy Jets. He's going to implode.

-Mike

I think Baker will be the outlier. His accuracy will make him a better rookie prospect than most. His mindset was pretty evident too, push the field. He didn't just take what was given. Those are important qualities that make me think he's going to be fine.

But, time will tell, he could go all Manziel on us and go out in a blaze of dilly dilly.

 

[Gaolee]

Darnold and Rosen are the latest batch of California star QB's who will go on to superbly subpar NFL careers.
Mayfield? Meh, one game against the equally lousy Jets. He's going to implode.

-Mike

Absolutely about Darnold and Rosen. I cannot remember the last California quarterback who had a lasting and memorable NFL career. Elway maybe? And he was from Stanford. What does that tell you?

Mayfield looked great in one game. It was against a relatively soft opponent, no argument. It was also his first live fire in the real season, and he did fine. If he can avoid doing really stupid things ala Manziel, he has a chance. I didn't think Russell Wilson would turn out to be as capable as he is, either. I'm not predicting one way or another. The real test will be when Mayfield gets mopped all over the field by a pass rush and inspired secondary. Then what? Does he implode or does he learn from it? I'm full of wishful thinking and pathological optimism - being a trained Mariners fan and all. I'm also not expecting a whole lot - being a trained Mariners fan and all.

 

[Gard]

That's completely reasonable. First things first. Everything's OK, I hope.

And, for what its worth, the beer will be flowing in Cleveland this evening.

Yeah, I'm fine, no real mess here where I am, but you go an hour-ish east and all hell broke loose. Here...meh, 2 day thunderstorm, no a/c or internet for a while made things a bit uncomfortable and boring, but no flooding, no major tree issues, etc, etc here. I have sat through some pretty ugly storms (look up Camille, I was just west of ground zero on that one, and the National Weather Center station that measured the record 210 mph sustained winds, 3 miles from the house I was sitting in), and had family go through some of the ugliest of recoveries (both sister and dad lost their homes to Katrina; sister rebuilt, dad moved to Orlando), so this was a non-event for me. I didn't even miss work.

As for the Brownies, glad they got that monkey off their backs the week AFTER they played my guys!

I'm a bit out of it today, been a day off, but not really a day off, if you dig, so I'm not going to go whole hog with all of the games, just one pick this week:

Saints @ Failclowns: Saints are still trying to sort out which shoe goes on which foot, seems pretty typical of them the past few years (this is the first season since 2013 they didn't start out 0-2 ), but my feeling is that they have the right shoe on the right foot at this point. If so, bad timing for the Fails, because they look like a triage tent at a MASH unit....Andy Levitre, Keanu Neal and Deion Jones IR'd; Takk McKinley, Devonta Freeman, Derrick Shelby, and Corey Nelson are out. That means they're missing a starting guard, their best CB, their best LB for pass coverage, their best DE, their best running back...as much as I'd prefer to see my guys rough them up at full strength, I'll take 'em doing it period, since the next matchup is in the real Mercedes Benz Dome, not the Olestra Dome (leaky sphincter ). IF (note, that's capitalized for emphasis) the Saints offense can come out firing on all cylinders, and IF Marshawn Lattimore remembers that he was the DROY just a few months ago, this will be a much less exciting game than usual for this matchup - Saints 27 Fails 17 (garbage time TD to make it seem closer than it actually is)

 

[Gard]

And, just because it's "Falcons Hate Week" for all of the Who Dat Nation (trust me, it's a real thing), I'ma just leave this here:



Yeah, gimme NOLA over ATL, any day.

...dats rite, I'm bringin' th' petty!

 

[Gard]

I just stumbled across an article by a guy that does some interesting NFL QB rating, Ryan Michael. His website (which is very interesting) is Link Removed, and if you're interested in really seeing how the numbers stack up for NFL QB's, both present and historically, it's worthy of a peek.

Here's what he wrote today for another site, which even a huge homer like me was surprised to learn:


One of the biggest records in American sports is just a day away from falling, only you probably haven’t heard much about it.

The fact that Drew Brees is just 14 completions away from surpassing Brett Farve to become No. 1 in NFL history and we’re hearing more about FitzMagic is a testament to how far removed we are from recognizing historical significance.

Brett Farve’s 6,300 career pass completions are the most in NFL history. It’s a mark set over a 20-year, 302-game Hall of Fame career. A mark so far out of reach, even the great Peyton Manning retired 176 completions short of breaking it.

Since the 1941, only 7 quarterbacks have held the title of being the NFL’s all-time pass completion leader: Sammy Baugh, Bobby Layne, Y.A. Tittle, Johnny Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Dan Marino and Favre.

That company is far more dominant than mainstream media would have you believe.

Enter Drew Brees, 2-3 quarters away from becoming the 8th man on that list. Not Peyton Manning. Not Tom Brady. Not Aaron Rodgers, Joe Montana or John Elway.

Drew Brees: The NFL’s 6x leader in pass completions (2007, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2017) and at age 39, 2018’s current leader in pass completions (65 through Week 2).

Favre’s record was set over 302 games but Brees will break it in his 252nd. A lot of that has to do with being the NFL’s all-time completion-percentage leader (67.1%). If Brees completed passes at the rate Brady has (64.0%), his career total would drop from 6,287 to 5,999—and he’d be 302 completions away from making history, not 14.

This Sunday, September 23rd in Atlanta, the fall of Favre’s record will be greeted with a clap, a FOX Television graphic, a tweet from the NFL and the Saints and then—it will fade away.

Football is the top sport in America and quarterback is the top position in football. Of the three major volume records: pass completions, passing yards and touchdown passes (Edit by Gard: for the record, Brees will set a new passing yardage record sometime around week 5-6 this year; if he continues to play next year at the same level, he will also eclipse the number for TD passes), this is the least significant, but an important one nevertheless.

Had Brady been the quarterback in arm’s reach of the record, it would have been the top storyline in American sports this week. It’s almost as if acknowledging the significance of Brees’ feat takes away from the narratives pushed to justify others as “greater” on the all-time list, even as they sit further down the record books.

The story of Brees’ career, is it not?

This record, like others Brees will break, is the culmination of over 17 years of hard work, nearly a decade and a half of elite on-field performance and a dedication to precision at a level few Hall of Famers could ever match.

Of course, every current and future Hall of Fame quarterback has the opportunity to prove me wrong by breaking what will now be Brees’ record.

 

[MMiller28]

Soooooo the Chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl

 

[Funky Ghost]

Soooooo the Chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl

I'm trying to think of what penalty the 9ers haven't got yet....

 

[MJ5150]

Apparently Clay Matthews has the James Harrison reputation now? Such a shame as he is a clean player who, by my view at least, plays sound fundamental football.

-Mike

 

[mrpackerguy]

Another phantom call. Don't know what the guy is supposed to do. The NFL is ruining it's own game NFL promptly defends roughing call on Matthews

 

[GregC]

Dolphins win again. And the Raiders are now 0-3.

 

[MMiller28]

Another phantom call. Don't know what the guy is supposed to do. The NFL is ruining it's own game NFL promptly defends roughing call on Matthews

I think my mouth hung open for a full three minutes after that call.

 

[Gard]

The Clay Matthews call: WTAF?!?! I mean, how can he NOT land on the QB on a play like that?

The Vikes losing, badly, to the Bills?

Weird stuff.

...as for my guys, I didn't get to watch the game, damn day gig. A win is a win, and beating the 28-3ers is like winning twice in one day. Brees broke yet another record, he will likely break the yardage record on MNF in week 5 (he's just over 400 yards from it now), and if he plays next year, he will break the TD record as well. Add those to the all-time best completion percentage and the fact that of the 9 times an NFL QB passed for over 5,000 yards in a season, he is in possession of five - if he's not a candidate for GOAT, something's wrong. Yeah, yeah, yeah....Brady, blah blah blah...well, SB's are TEAM accomplishments, and yeah, the Pats have one of the greatest TEAMS to ever play the game. But best QB, well, the numbers don't lie. Oh yeah, and even at 39, he's able to make two DB's look stupid and score a TD on a scramble (of the 5 TD's he was responsible for, two were rushing TDs), something neither Brady or Peyton Manning ever could accomplish on their best day. Dude is an incredible athlete.

 

[beaglesandbass]

What a bad week for football (for me). Lost a bunch of bets and did horrible in fantasy.

 

[Gard]

Oh, another fun fact:


Only 2 quarterbacks have lost despite throwing for 350+ yards, 5 TD and 0 Int in the last 25 years: Eli Manning and Matt Ryan (yesterday).

Both lost to Drew Brees.

Suck it Melting Ice....er....Marty Rice....um....whateveryournicknamewishesitwasdude....

(Oh, and at least Eli has won the SB twice, instead of being at the helm of the single biggest failure in the history of all sports championship games, ever, Mr. 28-3. Yeah, I don't like the Falcons.... )

How Brees has never won an MVP escapes me....well, no, not really...it just proves that the "award" is really a popularity contest, and not based on actual on-the-field performance all the time (sometimes, the two facts coincide).