Do you mean they get injured? I don’t see them quitting.
Saints expected to sign Jameis Winston.
And I thought the Packers might sign him.
Cam Newton is ‘tired of being humble.’
There’s plenty of reasons to hate the Patriots. There’s plenty of reasons to hate Cam Newton.
I’m really gonna enjoy watching him get knocked on his ass this year. I wonder what Belichick is gonna think of Cam doing his showboat dance after a first down when the Pats are down by 2 TDs with 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter.
So… any thoughts on Drew Brees not seeing the point of kneeling or DeSean Jackson musing that Hitler had some good points…?
I’m a Packers season ticket holder. I got an email from the team last Friday, saying, among other things:
They then note that, even if they are able to have fans in attendance, there will be a “significantly reduced capacity.”
They will, in the next few weeks, be sending ticket holders a questionnaire, asking if we want to “opt out” of tickets for 2020 (the deadline for paying for season tickets was originally the end of March, and I think that they extended it into June). If a ticket holder opts out, they will still have their season ticket subscription for 2021 and beyond. If the ticket holder opts in, there’ll be more information to come as they figure out their plans.
I feel like there’s less than a 50% chance that there’ll be an NFL season this fall; even if there is a season, I think that there’s a less than 50% chance that they’ll play games in front of fans.
I’m wondering Tom Brady ever play for Tampa Bay at this point. Though I can definitely see him trying, even if he has to take this year off and otherwise shouldn’t return, to prove he’s not just a product of one good HC.
I guess I’m far more optimistic. I’d put the chances of a full NFL season at 80% - though the likelihood of being played in front of fans will be about 20%. They won’t be able to pack everyone in, so it’ll be very interesting to see how they sort season tickets out. Maybe they’ll do 40% capacity to spread people out, and you get tickets to 3 games?
Twitter is absolutely on fire tonight with rumors about a huge Washington formerly known as the Redskins scandal to drop this morning. Sex, drugs Jay Gruden and Dan Synder are all being mentioned. It’s almost 430 Eastern so let’s see if WaPo drops it soon.
It’s an “ordinary” but unfortunately predictable sexual harassment case. Apparently that’s not bad enough for some people.
Yeah, it’s not a good thing but except for Washington having a big target on their back because of the Redskins name, it’s just the usual men being jerks stuff.
Welp, it looks like their going to give it a go this season. I’m actually a bit surprised, but with the amount of money at stake, maybe they just had to play the season out. It will be fascinating to see how the coronavirus effects this seasons’ play. Will they be able to weather the storm and put enough guys out there to play, or will it get out of hand and will games, or even the whole season, need to be cancelled?
My favorite offensive guard ( and actual doctor), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, has opted out, as have almost 50 other players (more than likely, more will join the list). No huge names, but guys like Patrick Chung, Eddie Goldman, Donta Hightower, and Star Lotulelei are all solid contributors who won’t be playing this year. The Patriots have been hit pretty hard by these opt outs.
I expect with the lack of an offseason program and the health issues, that there will be a ton of sloppy play and ugly games this season. But any team that gets a handle on the coronavirus will definitely have an advantage.
Some other tidbits:
Cam Newton is now the Patriots QB (Big meh from me. Now that his running abilities have dropped off, I don’t see him being anything more than average).
Jamal Adams threw a fit and moved from the Jets to Seattle. He’s a great young player, but the Jets got a boatload for him, so let’s call that a win/win.
QB battle in Chicago is starting. Unless Trubisky pulls a rabbit out of the hat, picking him over Watson and Mahomes will look like one of the biggest busts and wastes of prime defensive play in Chicago history.
Tom Brady in Tampa with a ton of receiving weapons at his disposal. I doubt they make the playoffs, but at least they’ll be interesting to watch for a bit.
And, as always, it will be fun to watch QB play in the NFL. Which young QB will finally develop into an elite QB (hint: it’s not Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, or Dwayne Haskins). Can Lamar Jackson be stopped (nope, but he’ll certainly be contained better this year with more tape of the Ravens offense out there)? Can Joe Burrow take the Bengals to the playoffs in his first year (he’s good enough, but that O line is still horrible and the defensive backs aren’t great)?
If nothing else, it should be interesting…
The winningest coach in college football won championships with no contact practices (he didn’t want any of his players getting hurt in practice, not just his skill players/QB).
Granted it was D-III, but a lot of his “no’s” (see link) make sense. I remember watching the ESPN broadcast of his last championship, and the commentators just couldn’t believe that you could play winning football on Saturday if you didn’t spend the week getting the crap kicked out of you in practice.
I just received an email from the Packers, as I’m a season ticket holder.
In the email, they announced that will not be having fans in attendance for at least the first two home games. The first home game that could possibly have fans is on November 1 (their Week 8 game).
Bad news for the Washington Football Team as Guice is arrested for domestic violence. No one can control the injuries he’s had but this is definitely not good. Especially when basically all they’ve got is an aging AP who isn’t exactly a role model himself.
Guice was cut by Washington shortly after his arrest, as well.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/08/07/derrius-guice-arrest-washington-football
Not really NFL-related, but newsworthy nonetheless:
The CFL has cancelled their 2020 season. Unlike the NFL, CFL teams are much more reliant on the revenue from ticket sales. They were looking at having to play in empty stadiums, and likely without the U.S. players who make up a significant portion of their rosters.
The league had planned on a shortened season (under normal circumstances, the CFL’s regular season would have started weeks ago), with all teams in a bubble together in Winnipeg, but the teams would have been taking a significant loss. It appears that, when the Canadian goverment declined to give the league a $30 million loan, that sealed the season’s fate.
The off the field stuff is still the major portion of the current NFL News. How teams deal with Covid-19 once the real games start; the possibility of athletes not playing in protest, and Brian Urlacher being an unmitigated idiot are all interesting, but I’m getting a hankering for some actual football. And while preseason games are usually pretty useless, at least they’re better than highlights of guys in shorts posted on social media.
It will be a very interesting season, but some of the things I’m most interested in watching are:
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Kliff Kingsbury and the Cards running a super-up tempo college level offense. I’m on the record as being Anti-Kingsbury (Dude had a losing coaching record in college, despite offenses that put up huge stats), and anticipate him being a better looking Chip Kelly, but it should be interesting to watch.
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Which players/teams does regression hit the most this season? The Ravens and Lamar Jackson? The Titans and Ryan “Hey, I’m Joe Flacco and Eli Manning” Tannehill? My beloved Packers, who are still giving up rushing yardage to the Niners months after the game is over? All 3?
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Which players/teams will emerge the most this season. The Bucs are a trendy pick (I’m not buying it). Young QB’s are supposed to step up and really help their teams this year (Drew Lock and the Broncos; Daniel Jones and the Giants to name a couple. I say nope to both). Personally, I like the Bills (they’re all set for a run, except they have an inaccurate, risky QB. They remind me of the Bears a couple years ago). Some people even say the Lions have a shot. That would be something to see.
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How will the QB shuffles of the off-season effect teams. Personally, I was shocked to the Buccaneers have a win total of 9.5. Sure they have a very good defense, but I’m not sure Brady isn’t close to done and there isn’t much of a running game. Can the Colts rely on an improved defense and a studly offensive line to make the playoffs with Phillip Rivers? Does it really matter if Nick Foles beats out Trubisky in Chicago?
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The Packers. I’m hoping for a solid season, but it seems to me that the franchise QB and the head coach and GM may not be on the same page. While Rodgers would love nothing more than to fling the ball all over the field and win another MVP, it seems from this springs’ draft and the off season signings, the higher ups want a run first, play good defense type of team. Rodgers can be pretty prickly, but winning solves everything.
2 Weeks until NFL football. Let’s hear from you and your thoughts.
In a move meant only to piss me off, the Vikings got a lot better by getting a young pass rusher in Yannick Ngakoue from the eternally mismanaged Jaguars. They gave up only a second rounder and a conditional 5th rounder to get him. As ESPN says: " Since the start of 2016, Ngakoue, 25, is one of just five players with at least 35 sacks and 10 forced fumbles in that span, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The others are Chandler Jones, Aaron Donald, Khalil Mack, and Frank Clark." That’s some pretty good company.
The Vikings get better and younger, the Jags (predictably) get worse, and the Packers have another thing to worry about. Although this trade will make for some very difficult choices coming up for the Vikings, who will have to decide who gets long term contracts coming up Ngakoue, Dalvin Cook, and safety Anthony Harris. They’ll have to do some pretty interesting salary cap dancing this season.
Color me surprised. The Jaguars, likely sick of his attitude and antics, waived Leonard Fournette this morning, after weeks of trying to trade him for pretty much ANYTHING . The previous #4 pick of the draft had an OK year last year, but never lived up to the hype, or the draft position. It will be fascinating to see if the problem was with Fournette (he’s not known for having a good attitude or showing up in shape) or with the Jags (what a woeful franchise). Likely a combination of the two. It will also be interesting to see where he lands. I’m looking at you Chicago.