# NFL Week Three - Beyond Thunderdome **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 18, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456 "2019-09-18T20:36:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/61 "2019-09-24T15:53:11Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > They’re the only division with all teams above .500. And all of the losses are from divisional games. KC at Detroit next week, yeah that will change. Whereas, CHI vs MIN means one more division only loss, GB vs PHIL will probably keep the win streak going. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/62 "2019-09-24T15:55:14Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’m glad the Bears don’t have any more MNF games this year. Booger is the absolute worst announcer. And they spent way too much time cutting to the booth when players were on the field. Say Booger, do you think Mitch is a bad quarterback and Jay Gruden should be fired? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/63 "2019-09-24T18:20:43Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’m glad the Bears don’t have any more MNF games this year. Booger is the absolute worst announcer. And they spent way too much time cutting to the booth when players were on the field. Booger needs to learn that less is more. You don’t need to fill every second with Gruden-esque praise. He also said that other Gruden may be fired like 15 times in the second half…we get it. The Bears won easily, but I am somehow coming out of this game feeling pretty apprehensive about the performance. Trubisky was better, but the Redskins defense was AWFUL. Trubisky was 20 of 23 in the first half and it still felt like he was really inaccurate. Many of those WRs were wide, wide open and while he hit most of them, too many throws forced the WRs to reach/adjust. And those incompletions were not defended or dropped, they were misses. This is scary because Trubisky’s issue in the first couple seasons wasn’t accuracy, it was reading defenses, getting through progressions and manipulating coverages. Now, he has throws that are nowhere close like that INT in the endzone. The offensive gameplan was better but still they trotted out a few gimmicks in a easily winnable game. Why don’t you save those for high leverage situations? The running game still was largely ineffective until that final 4 minute drive. The offensive line continues to be a big weakness which is frankly surprising. Kyle Long has been flat out bad and both Daniels and Whitehair seem to be struggling after switching back to what was assumed to be their natural positions. And so many penalties. Both offense and defense are getting flagged left and right while the officials this season seem to have universally agreed that it’s OK to mug pass rushers. The penalties in the secondary I can live with, but the neutral zone violations, false starts and too many men calls are just sloppy. The defense let down in the second half, but they were running with the backups for almost the entire second half. It almost got us into trouble. Hicks got dinged up, which sorta argues in favor of the choice to protect guys a bit, but we almost let them back into this game. I’m not going to overreact to the weak second half, but it’s something to monitor and I mostly place that on the coaching staff. Still, we’re 2-1 with another big divisional game coming up on a short week. It’s at least progress. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/64 "2019-09-24T18:42:03Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Trubisky was better, but the Redskins defense was AWFUL. Trubisky was 20 of 23 in the first half and it still felt like he was really inaccurate. One, just one, of his 24 completions were thrown more than 15 yards. To me, this speaks volumes about Nagy and his feelings about the Bears and Trubisky. Nagy isn’t Mike Martz, who would run his offense no matter what. Nagy is so much smarter, he tailors his gameplan to fit the abilities of his QB. So you get 24 completions, a vast majority of which are within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, and rely on your defense to win games. Its smart, and so far successful, football. Nagy tried to unveil his offense week 1, realized it wasn’t working, and adjusted accordingly. Trubisky doesnt have to be great, he doesnt have to be worth the 2nd pick of the draft, and he doesnt have to be Mahomes or Watson. He just needs to not fuck up. > [@Omni](#): > > Still, we’re 2-1 with another big divisional game coming up on a short week. It’s at least progress. Viking game should be fun. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/65 "2019-09-24T19:35:18Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > They’re the only division with all teams above .500. And all of the losses are from divisional games. That’s actually quite impressive, even if it is early in the season. By contrast, the AFC North, AFC West, NFC East, and NFC South each have one team with a winning record. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/66 "2019-09-24T20:06:04Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > One, just one, of his 24 completions were thrown more than 15 yards. > > To me, this speaks volumes about Nagy and his feelings about the Bears and Trubisky. Nagy isn’t Mike Martz, who would run his offense no matter what. Nagy is so much smarter, he tailors his gameplan to fit the abilities of his QB. So you get 24 completions, a vast majority of which are within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, and rely on your defense to win games. Its smart, and so far successful, football. Nagy tried to unveil his offense week 1, realized it wasn’t working, and adjusted accordingly. > > Trubisky doesnt have to be great, he doesnt have to be worth the 2nd pick of the draft, and he doesnt have to be Mahomes or Watson. He just needs to not fuck up. They need to work on time of possession. Last year they were top 3, currently they’re #21. Put together long drives, even if it is with short passes and runs. Then the defense comes on, forces quick 3 and out or a turnover, and they’re defense has to get right back on the field. It wears them down and eventually those opportunities will open up. Even if Trubisky isn’t the QB of the future, he’s certainly the QB of the present. I think lots of teams will be scrambling for QBs next year, so it won’t be a good time to get someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/67 "2019-09-24T20:36:38Z")
Sports Illustrated dot com decided to mock the Washington Redskins for misspelling a player’s name during a halftime tribute. _“How hard is it to have somebody proofread your jumbotron graphics? It’s a little thing, but it’s emblematic of how this franchise has been run for quite some time. They haven’t won a playoff game in since 2005.”_ [http://si.com/extra-mustard/2019/09/24/tuesday-hot-clicks-redskins-london-fletcher-name-scoreboard-photo](http://si.com/extra-mustard/2019/09/24/tuesday-hot-clicks-redskins-london-fletcher-name-scoreboard-photo) Lest we forget, Gaudere’s Law states that any post made to point out a spelling or grammatical error will inevitably contain a spelling or grammatical error. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/68 "2019-09-24T21:27:18Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Trubisky doesnt have to be great, he doesnt have to be worth the 2nd pick of the draft, and he doesnt have to be Mahomes or Watson. He just needs to not fuck up. You know that’s basically the definition of a “game manager” QB. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/69 "2019-09-24T21:52:36Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You know that’s basically the definition of a “game manager” QB. The Pats won last year’s Super Bowl with a defense that strangled a young genius’ offense and a QB who had a 71.4 passer rating. The Broncos won Super Bowl 50 thanks to an outstanding defense facing an overrated QB and a QB who threw for less than 150 yards and had a 56.6 passer rating. With the kind of defense the Bears have had since Mack showed up, they only need an efficient, mistake minimizing QB to win. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/70 "2019-09-24T22:43:45Z")
So, the Bears just need a game manager. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/71 "2019-09-24T23:07:07Z")
You can win with a game manager and a great defense, but the margin for error is small. It’s worth noting that the Patriots were facing Mitc…I mean, Jared Goff running that “genius” offense. It’s also a bit of selection bias. I seem to remember a Super Bowl in 2006-2007 with a other worldly defense and a wannabe game manager at QB that weren’t so fortunate in their opposing QB selection. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/72 "2019-09-25T03:16:20Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > It’s also a bit of selection bias. I seem to remember a Super Bowl in 2006-2007 with a other worldly defense and a wannabe game manager at QB that weren’t so fortunate in their opposing QB selection. You could be the first person ever to refer to Rex Grossman as a game manager. He’s an example of “let’s overpay for a shot at an “elite” QB” thinking. He threw two picks and fumbled twice, losing one, in that Super Bowl. That’s about as far from “efficient and mistake avoiding” as you can get. Hell, if he doesnt shoot the Bears in the foot over and over that game, they could have won. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/73 "2019-09-25T04:25:23Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > You could be the first person ever to refer to Rex Grossman as a game manager. He’s an example of “let’s overpay for a shot at an “elite” QB” thinking. > > He threw two picks and fumbled twice, losing one, in that Super Bowl. That’s about as far from “efficient and mistake avoiding” as you can get. Hell, if he doesnt shoot the Bears in the foot over and over that game, they could have won. They even had [Devin Hester helping them out by scoring a touchdown about fifteen seconds into the game.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTo85UfBeE) The CBS announcers said, “Rex, you’ve been spotted a seven point lead!” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/74 "2019-09-27T04:01:35Z")
Oh crap the ending to the Eagles-Packers game was insane. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/75 "2019-09-27T04:26:26Z")
Packers had terrible playcalling there. Two timeouts, why not run the ball up the gut twice? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/76 "2019-09-27T05:00:10Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Packers had terrible playcalling there. Two timeouts, why not run the ball up the gut twice? 1. No confidence in their run game. 2. Maddox was out and a guy (Craig James) just brought off the practice squad took his place. The secondary was vulnerable. Irony is, that “weak link” was the one who tipped the pass for the takeaway. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/77 "2019-09-27T15:28:55Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > You could be the first person ever to refer to Rex Grossman as a game manager. He’s an example of “let’s overpay for a shot at an “elite” QB” thinking. > > He threw two picks and fumbled twice, losing one, in that Super Bowl. That’s about as far from “efficient and mistake avoiding” as you can get. Hell, if he doesnt shoot the Bears in the foot over and over that game, they could have won. Yeah, that’s why I said “wannabe”. Lovie was never a swing for the fences guy, but Sexy Rexy would have none of it. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/78 "2019-09-27T15:31:45Z")
How do we not have a thread for NFL Week IV: A New Hope? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/79 "2019-09-27T15:38:09Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > How do we not have a thread for NFL Week IV: A New Hope? Because I’m too lazy to look up the spreads the way Beef always does. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456/80 "2019-09-27T15:41:58Z")
Curious if Eagles fans are pissed at Sendejo for him injuring Maddox. Guy is a notorious cheap shot artist, so having a friendly fire incident I’m sure is going over well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-three-beyond-thunderdome/840456.md?page=5)