2023-2024 NFL Discussion

[jaylach]

I agree that NFL has changed for the worst. It’s not as physical as it was. Maybe it’s just the urge to see people get popped and dropped but tackling by the defense has gotten less and less physical. The refs are absolutely blind to all calls, and the roughing the passer is called every time a defender lays hands on the quarterback. Not to mention you can now fair catch the kick off outside the end zone and get the ball at your own 25…kickoffs were so fun to watch.

I totally agree with what you say. I love defense and they keep making rule changes to promote more offense. Way back when I just about cried when they took away the 'head slap' from defense.

I THINK part of the issue with the officials is that they mostly are not young and the game has gotten too fast for them to keep up. I don't know the answer on this... mayhaps a couple of added officials but then we risk the point that we end up with so many that they just get in the way.

I also find kick returns a big part of the game but it is pretty obvious that the NFL is trying to get rid of them to help avoid injuries as is the supposed case with several other rule changes. Thing is that it seems to be doing the opposite as injuries keep increasing.

@jaylach
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1198703050/nfl-embraces-legalized-sports-betting

"Money makes the world go round." Money Money Songwriters: John Kander / Fred Ebb
Money Money - Cabaret - Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey

Thanks for the links.

I still question a bit as mayhaps I just don't understand. After looking at the first link I went to NFL.com and clicked around but could not find any link or reference to gambling sites or anything related to gambling except fantasy leagues which could easily be considered gambling but the NFL offers zero fantasy leagues that involve money for either entry or winnings.

For the most the quotes in the link talked about advertising and such in relation to gambling. I still don't understand how this puts the blame on the NFL and not the networks that are putting out the ads and taking in the money from the ads.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

I totally agree with what you say. I love defense and they keep making rule changes to promote more offense. Way back when I just about cried when they took away the 'head slap' from defense.

I THINK part of the issue with the officials is that they mostly are not young and the game has gotten too fast for them to keep up. I don't know the answer on this... mayhaps a couple of added officials but then we risk the point that we end up with so many that they just get in the way.

I also find kick returns a big part of the game but it is pretty obvious that the NFL is trying to get rid of them to help avoid injuries as is the supposed case with several other rule changes. Thing is that it seems to be doing the opposite as injuries keep increasing.

Yeah, there are lots of trade offs with the rules they are making. Like the hit on Nick Chubb, a potentially career ending injury, but it was completely legal, and the reason Minkah Fitzpatrick - the veteran defensive player who hit Chubb - hit him that was was because of the rule changes. However, there have been very few concussions compared to other years, which is good.

I think the roughing the passer rule is good, but the refs call it way too much, and for very little reason imo

 

[jaylach]

Yeah, there are lots of trade offs with the rules they are making. Like the hit on Nick Chubb, a potentially career ending injury, but it was completely legal, and the reason Minkah Fitzpatrick - the veteran defensive player who hit Chubb - hit him that was was because of the rule changes. However, there have been very few concussions compared to other years, which is good.

I think the roughing the passer rule is good, but the refs call it way too much, and for very little reason imo

Ya, I actually felt a bit bad about Fitzpatrick after the Chubb hit. He actually got death threats and he did nothing wrong.

And as to the increase in injuries, in general, now the Browns' QB, Watson, is out for the season.

I totally agree what has been changed in relation to concussions but I really think that some of the other changes are actually increasing injuries. I mean three Achilles tears in half a season? Also there is a dramatic increase in non contact injuries which, I believe, relate to rule changes.

 

[Fishmanic]

Monday night football Bengals vs Ravens
Bengals lost 34 to 20.
I was rooting for the Bengals. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow injured his hand in the 2nd quarter which contributed to the loss by 10 points. It would have been a much closer game if Burrows wasnt injured.

 

[jaylach]

Monday night football Bengals vs Raves
Bengals lost 34 to 20.
I was rooting for the Bengals. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow injured his hand in the 2nd quarter which contributed to the loss by 10 points. It would have been a much closer game if Burrows wasnt injured.

Ya, as seldom as it happens, I was Pro Bengals in that game. If Bengals won and the Browns beat the Steelers the Browns would have been alone in first place. Now they need to beat the Steelers to stay half a game back.

 

[gwand]

Ya, as seldom as it happens, I was Pro Bengals in that game. If Bengals won and the Browns beat the Steelers the Browns would have been alone in first place. Now they need to beat the Steelers to stay half a game back.

Even if Burrows didn’t get hurt,I think my Ravens would have won. Ravens are stronger this season compared to last season and the Bengals are weaker.

 

[jaylach]

Even if Burrows didn’t get hurt,I think my Ravens would have won. Ravens are stronger this season compared to last season and the Bengals are weaker.

Sigh... I'm not going to say this is real but I question the defensive play by the Ravens. There is nothing illegal being done but this week they knocked Burrows out of the game and the week before they ended Watson's season. While I can't say much about the Burrows hit I watched the play that ended Watson's season several times and the defender really looks like he buried his knee into Watson's shoulder as hard as possible. In two weeks the Ravens knocked out quarterbacks within their division. Did they do anything outside the rules? I'd have to say no on that but there are still legal cheap shots. Sorry but the knee to Watson's shoulder, while specifically not a foul, really looked like a cheap shot with the intent to injure.

 

[gwand]

Sigh... I'm not going to say this is real but I question the defensive play by the Ravens. There is nothing illegal being done but this week they knocked Burrows out of the game and the week before they ended Watson's season. While I can't say much about the Burrows hit I watched the play that ended Watson's season several times and the defender really looks like he buried his knee into Watson's shoulder as hard as possible. In two weeks the Ravens knocked out quarterbacks within their division. Did they do anything outside the rules? I'd have to say no on that but there are still legal cheap shots. Sorry but the knee to Watson's shoulder, while specifically not a foul, really looked like a cheap shot with the intent to injure.

I can’t argue with your comment. The Ravens play a mean scrappy game.

 

[jaylach]

What a game in Cleveland against the Steelers!!!! If you like defense (which I love) this may have been the game of the year. Browns keep pace with the Ravens at 7-3, with the Ravens being 8-3, beating the Steelers 13-10. Sigh, while the Browns are a half game back who really knows as the Ravens have played one more game than the Browns. I so much wish that the NFL would change the bye weeks to where all teams in a division have the same bye week so we can actually know where things stand.

In my opinion the Browns played about as close to a perfect as you are likely to get. Actually both defenses were awesome. Ya, at the beginning of the second half the Browns defense gave up a 74 yard touchdown run but other than that the Steelers could do next to nothing on offense. Shoot, the Browns as a whole played next to a perfect game with, I think, only one penalty. Really the Browns only made two mistakes which were an interception and the aforementioned 74 yard run.

And what can one say about DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) in only his second NFL start and against the Steelers' strong defense? LOL! DTR is SO much easier to say... He was under a LOT of pressure but handles it well looking like an experienced NFL QB. When the pressure was highest he played his best with a drive at the end of the first half for a field goal with 5 seconds left in the half and did it again with a 15 play drive at the end of the game for another field goal with 2 seconds left for the win. Rookies just don't normally show this kind of poise and he is also quite mobile.

In my opinion it is way too early as we would need to see the results of the entire season but some people in Cleveland are already trying to compare this team's defense with the 1985 Bears. Especially with the QB issues in Cleveland, I'm more inclined to compare the whole Browns team with the Super Bowl winning Ravens with Trent Dilfer at QB. Both teams seem like just let the QB manage the game without major mistakes and let the defense win the games.

Ya, I'm just a tiny bit extremely hyped by this win.

 

[jaylach]

Sigh I must just be too old school as to football. The Browns Steelers game was locally broad cast on CBS and other people in my apartments watched... 10-12 people are NFL fans. Through the evening I saw most and almost all thought the game was boring and terrible. Their gripe was that neither team could do anything and there was only a total of 23 points scored. Am I wrong in appreciating an outstanding defensive game by both teams or do these people just not appreciate a really good game?

 

[GaryE]

Well, it isn't the NFL but my Montreal team won the CFL's Grey Cup yesterday. I meant to watch, but for the probably, oh, 45th straight year I missed it. I was a big fan in my teens and knew every player's name. I was led astray by rock music and never looked back.

Up here, the NFL is the gambler's game. There's something in the set up and structure of the game that makes it popular with gamblers. Maybe it's the amount of data out there to make people feel they have expertise enough to pick the winners. In my grandfather's era, it was the horses. The horses are all unemployed now.

From a fan's perspective, what do you guys think makes it such a gambler's game? Or, do people bet as much on basketball and baseball in the US?

 

[jaylach]

I don't know if baseball is as extreme as to gambling but basketball surely is.

 

[Fishmanic]

Saw Bronco Viking game…21 to 20 Broncos.. exciting game
Tonight is Chiefs Eagles superbowl repeat. Looking forward to it.
And on Thanksgiving night, I'll be watching the 49ers - Seahawks game...go 49ers. Rock Purdy is fantastic QB. He is only 23..he started Quarterbacking toward the end of last season to replace injured Garapolo.

 

[jaylach]

And yet another Achilles in the Jets/Dolphins game...

 

[Fishmanic]

And yet another Achilles in the Jets/Dolphins game...

The Dolphins got a pick six 2 seconds before the half for a 99 yard touchdown.. amazing!
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