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Tschmack posted:

Boris captures what I think will be a trend that bears watching as we move forward this season.  

As a fan, you don’t know what a catch is or isn’t (think Adams play in the EZ), you either hold or you don’t (phantom Taylor call), a DB can make contact or hold until he can’t (see Rhodes play against Adams at the goalline) and is it a legal hit or tackle or not (CMIII)?  It takes all enjoyment and fun out of the game.   And it gives officials the pure ability to influence games which they did yesterday. 

It reminds me a bit of the NBA playoffs 20 years ago.   Joey Crawford, Nick Bavetta, Tim Donahey - with the latter getting busted for having action on games.  

 

Even touchdowns have been neutered. The most exciting part of the game is now subject to review and commercial break and anticlimax. In all their study of the game and how to squeeze every last penny from their diehard fanbase, does this league understand they have watered down nearly everything that's made their "product" so enticing in the first place? I know it's standard to say this, but Goodell has overseen the systematic dissection of a legendary sport with nothing other than profit margin the imperative.

It's not a sport, it is a business....for all involved.  Owners, players, agents, networks, advertisers, cities, states.  We the fans are the only ones who think it is a sport.

The NFL is going down, when?  Hard to say but IMO the league and the owners know it and are getting what they can now.  This cash cow will not be giving milk forever, all cows go dry.  Greed, greed, greed.  Throw in injuries, politics and race and you have a mess.

Its been fun and I will not miss a game but I think I see the future is not good for my favorite game and team.

Last edited by Pikes Peak

Young people are all about Basketball.   I'm the old "get off my lawn" guy who quit watching when it became impossible for the defense.     You can carry, travel and then run full speed into someone and get two free throws out of it.  In fact, that's what they do all game long.  

NFL is headed in the same direction.   I guess I'll just have to sit on my porch swing with some sweet tea and a score book listing to the baseball game on the radio soon. 

 

The NBA embraces and markets their stars (not just a few QBs) and the in game action keeps you involved the entire game.  You don’t see games grind to a halt because of reviews and constant penalties. 

Their social media approach and streaming technology is also light years better than the NFL.   That matters to younger fans. 

The NBA has also adopted rule changes over the years to make their product more exciting.   Case in point- look back 20 years ago with all the hand checking.  Some of those games were unwatchable.   

The final point is if you are a young and talented athlete why would you choose football over basketball?  If you make it to the pros your contracts are guaranteed.  The revenue sharing between players and owners is much more equal.   Then there’s the terrible labor climate to deal with in the NFL and that’s a problem. 

Its also not the Pat Riley NY Knick days.   Watch a Golden State game.  Or Houston Rockets game.  Or Milwaukee Bucks or Philadelphia Sixers game.   They play offense and defense and there’s plenty of excitement and action.  

By the way, the NFL doesn’t care what you think as fans.  They want to make money over all else.  Mark Cuban figured this out a while ago.  I give the league maybe 5 more years to survive and that’s assuming they don’t have a work stoppage.  The NBA has taken plenty of proactive steps to grow interest and engage the fans including building an international presence and identity. Part of that strategy includes involving the players!  Not the force fed crap you see in the NFL where the owners rule with an iron fist and they think they have all the answers and solutions. 

The Protect the Shield model hasn’t worked and all they continue to do is piss off and alienate their loyal fans.  Good luck!  

Last edited by Tschmack
YooperPackfan posted:
Grave Digger posted:

Big positive! 

 

Wow!!! That’s impressive...too bad the rest of the secondary looked atrocious 

I'm gonna hold off judging this secondary as a whole at this point. They're in a new system, mistakes are going to be made, sometimes glaring ones. It's also become evident that Diggs plays his best ball against this Packers defense, and for whatever reason Cousins has a way of playing hof level against them as well. The dbs definitely have flaws, but they also have tremendous upside. If we get to week 8-10 and the same mistakes are happening, yeah, it needs to be seriously assessed. But I also think the best secondaries will show flaws if the front 6-7 allows such a clean pocket like Cousins had on Sunday. These young dbs really aren't a cause for major concern at this point. In addition to their multiple errors this week, they also made 2 plays that should have sealed the win.

I posted that several times but on the other hand, division opponents usually play each other pretty close regardless of who is better.  Both teams either had points taken away from them or failed to cash in gimme's. 

The two teams looked pretty even for WK02.  The difference in who wins the division or goes furthest in the post season will depend on who develops further and faster.  Will their OL improve and will their O get more in sync with the new QB?  Will we find better play at OLB and continue to improve in the secondary?  And of course above all, who will stay the healthiest?  MIN has had incredible luck on the injury front the last couple years, especially on D.  

Many in the media have already said they think the NFCN may be the best or at least second best division in the league.  CHI will cause some problems but I think they are at least a year from competing for the division unless both GB and MIN stumble.  CHI's D should be a force by late Nov. so it depends on if and how far Trubisky and the O progresses.  They have a lot of parts that can gash you but the timing on that engine ain't there yet.

Pack-Man posted:
Henry posted:

The defense deserves barely any negatives.  For the most part, they did their job with the exception of Dix and House.  How much can you do when you're marooned on the field by ****ing refs?

425 yards passing, 4 TDs from Cousins. Diggs, Thielen and Rudolph all ran wild. 480 yards and 29 points total for MN. That looks like a negative to me. All of the fans may just want to blame it all on the phantom late hit on Matthews, but Pettine better be telling his guys how ****ty they were after this one. A lot needs to be fixed.

With 1:45 left in the game, Alexander picked off Cousins. That was the end of the game but the refs decided otherwise. After that play the Vikings offense ran 24 more plays. Cousins threw for 143 yards and a TD.

If the flag isn't thrown on Clay, Cousins ends up with 282 yards, 3 TD's and 2 INT's. Still a really nice game but not quite as eye popping as the padded numbers.

This doesn't excuse the defense at all but it shows how much the numbers can change after one bad call. They did play lights out for about 3 1/2 quarters. I'll take that over the usual 4 bad quarters they gave us in recent years. 

If you watched the game it was clear to me that Alexander really bottled up Diggs.  Diggs and the other WRs did most of their damage late after King left and the Packers leaned on House and Tramon more.  

House was just awful and Tramon was OK but hard to blame a 35 year old guy that played all of those snaps. 

Need to see more 23.   And 37.  

Fandame posted:

I agree that Smith is an okay QB, but he's not as good a passer as Cousins. That's what gives me some hope; however, Smith probably uses his shorter and intermediate routes more and I don't have that much faith in our LBs.

Smith has that AR quality of usually avoiding killer mistakes. He can manage a game with the best of them. Cousins like to chuck it, and over the years has gotten more reliable. He's like a Ryan Fitzpatrick in his willingness to take shots, but that also means costly ints just like we saw on Sunday. I still see Cousins more in the mold of Cutler, waiting until that perfect moment to rip the hearts out of his own fans. Smith is a better match for the secondary, but only if they show up to play. But I'm with you Fandame, these young dbs can be something special, and hopefully it will be a difference maker down the stretch this season.

Fandame posted:

I agree that Smith is an okay QB, but he's not as good a passer as Cousins. That's what gives me some hope; however, Smith probably uses his shorter and intermediate routes more and I don't have that much faith in our LBs.

I think you're over-estimating Cousins, or under-estimating Smith. The Redskins were happy with that swap for a reason.

Smith is more efficient and less prone to mistakes, but he doesn't have the arm talent that Cousins has. It's not surprise Andy Reid's offense is taking off with a QB that can make all the throws. Smith is not a guy to throw the game on his back and win it like Rodgers, but he's also generally not going to be the reason you lose. 

Any given Sunday....
This year, the Redskins are just bad enough to beat us.

I don't think it's a stretch to say we are a better team overall, especially on offense. But it's always the basics that will be the keys to the game; don't turn the ball over, take it away on defense, control the clock, and don't get any stupid penalties.
We do that and it should be cake.

Interestingly, Washington is ranked very similar to us offensively, with the exception of scoring. They are ranked MUCH better than us defensively. I think it's likely because they have played 2 of the weakest teams in the league in contrast to us playing 2 good division rivals that are decent-to-good teams and very strong defensively.
The points per game averages are remarkable. In spite of the 'Skins moving the ball rushing and passing, they're not putting it in the end zone (16.5 ppg). In spite of playing the above-mentioned Cardinals and Colts.
For comparison, our average is 26.5 ppg, so it's obvious who is more potent.

Last edited by Timmy!

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