NFL 2016: Week 4

I completely forgot there was football on last night. Day-glo football and a bad game? I'm OK with missing it.

Thursday Night Football always sucks.

*Legion* wrote:

If you ever wondered why I don't give ESPN's QBR "stat" the time of day, go ahead and take a gander at #8 there.

My team is protesting the QBR stat by not having a qualifying QB.

*Legion*, question for you...

Is Dante Fowler back with the Jags and if so, how is he doing? I know I can probably find this on my own, but I figured I would ask a fan.

garion333 wrote:

Number 27 looks about right though.

IMAGE(https://media0.giphy.com/media/anzLZHW9ImqI0/giphy.gif)

Abu5217 wrote:

*Legion*, question for you...

Is Dante Fowler back with the Jags and if so, how is he doing? I know I can probably find this on my own, but I figured I would ask a fan.

He is back, he's starting, and he's doing pretty decently. He's been OK on the pass rush (2 sacks, 3 hurries) but he's been extremely solid as a run defender, which is a bit more surprising.

He hasn't been the devastating pass rusher they hope he can be, but he's been a solid edge setter with some pass rush ability.

*Legion* wrote:
Abu5217 wrote:

*Legion*, question for you...

Is Dante Fowler back with the Jags and if so, how is he doing? I know I can probably find this on my own, but I figured I would ask a fan.

He is back, he's starting, and he's doing pretty decently. He's been OK on the pass rush (2 sacks, 3 hurries) but he's been extremely solid as a run defender, which is a bit more surprising.

He hasn't been the devastating pass rusher they hope he can be, but he's been a solid edge setter with some pass rush ability.

That seemed to be the knock on him coming out of the draft, right? That this is all he would be??

*Legion* wrote:
Abu5217 wrote:

*Legion*, question for you...

Is Dante Fowler back with the Jags and if so, how is he doing? I know I can probably find this on my own, but I figured I would ask a fan.

He is back, he's starting, and he's doing pretty decently. He's been OK on the pass rush (2 sacks, 3 hurries) but he's been extremely solid as a run defender, which is a bit more surprising.

He hasn't been the devastating pass rusher they hope he can be, but he's been a solid edge setter with some pass rush ability.

That's good to hear. You hate to see guys get injured, especially freak injuries like he had. Hope he can continue to develop and become the guy. (Even if he is a Gator)

Carolina at Atlanta: Atlanta's offensive numbers look great, but they honestly weren't all that good in the Bucs game and wind up getting a lot of yards on a few fluky plays. Did they look great against the Saints? Sure, but all 30 NFL offenses (i.e., everybody except the Browns) would look good against the Saints. Feels like a game where Carolina's defensive front seven is just good enough to beat the hell out of Matt Ryan, which is always an entertaining time.

Seattle at New York Jets: The Jets signed former Tampa TE Austin Sefarian-Jenkins this week; I find this notable, because, in three games, the Jets have completed a grand total of zero passes to TEs. Also, people are aware that "Fitzmagic" was a one season thing, right? Like, last year was literally the only good year he's ever had?

Denver at Tampa Bay: First, Roberto Aguayo can, obviously, eat a giant pile of kick-missing dicks. He is exactly the player I expected him to be, and the satisfaction of watching Bucs fans frantically backpedal away from him being a “weapon” whose “perfect accuracy” and GODDAMN MORTAR KICKS THEY DON’T EVEN TRY TO DO EVEN WHEN KICKING OFF FROM THE 50 has actually been pretty darn entertaining, but, of course, that’s neither here nor there. The weird thing about Tampa is, outside of about half a dozen utterly blown plays, they’ve played well. I don’t mean this in the traditional “oh gosh the other team made a good play” sense, but more in the “play consistently well and then everybody suddenly develops a head injury” sort of way. Deep passes where the safety (HEY CHRIS CONTE ISN’T VERY GOOD SHAME THIS WAS NEVER OBVIOUS) just forgets to cover. Ball knocked out of QBs hand by RBs head. Two passes intercepted off a RBs hands. Things like that. If this team had one decent safety, they’d be 2-1, with a perfectly respectable loss to a good Arizona team instead of a blowout. But, of course, ROBERTO.

Kansas City at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh seems to regularly schedule incompetence; they play terrible a few times a year. Two years back, Tampa beat them in the midst of their 2-14 season. They usually bounce back. I believe in the power of Antonio Brown.

New York Giants at Minnesota: Minnesota’s defense has been legitimately excellent, and, while they’re likely to stop getting turnovers at such a ridiculous ratio, they managed to utterly erase Kelvin Benjamin last week and pound the heck out of Cam Newton (which I totally did not enjoy). They should be able to slow down OBJ enough that the unfortunate kicking nets get another beating. Of course, it all comes down to when Minnesota’s terrible offensive line gets Sam Bradford killed, which is in all reality probably going to happen late enough in a promising season that it will utterly crush Vikings’ fans souls, because the only break the Football Gods take from crapping on the Cleveland Browns is when they head northwest to go on a fishing trip or something, and stop in Minneapolis to crap on the Vikings.

First, Roberto Aguayo can, obviously, eat a giant pile of kick-missing dicks. He is exactly the player I expected him to be, and the satisfaction of watching Bucs fans frantically backpedal away from him being a “weapon” whose “perfect accuracy” and GODDAMN MORTAR KICKS THEY DON’T EVEN TRY TO DO EVEN WHEN KICKING OFF FROM THE 50 has actually been pretty darn entertaining, but, of course, that’s neither here nor there.

No, please. Go on.

Uh oh, I have the exact same picks as Milkman.

I should probably change something up, since I actually have a positive record so far, unlike both MMD and Aguayo.

(Am I doing this right?)

garion333 wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
Abu5217 wrote:

*Legion*, question for you...

Is Dante Fowler back with the Jags and if so, how is he doing? I know I can probably find this on my own, but I figured I would ask a fan.

He is back, he's starting, and he's doing pretty decently. He's been OK on the pass rush (2 sacks, 3 hurries) but he's been extremely solid as a run defender, which is a bit more surprising.

He hasn't been the devastating pass rusher they hope he can be, but he's been a solid edge setter with some pass rush ability.

That seemed to be the knock on him coming out of the draft, right? That this is all he would be??

Actually, the concerns with Fowler were a little different than that. He was viewed more as a boom-or-bust type. At 260 pounds, he didn't have the bulk to project comfortably as an edge-setting 4-3 defender. There was concern that he might have to stand up and play linebacker in a 4-3. He projected more cleanly to OLB in a 3-4. For him to put his hand on the ground in a 4-man front and hold up against the run is a good development for him. (It helps that he's up to 267 lbs now, he obviously spent a good amount of that lost rookie season in the weight room)

Whether he can develop into a top shelf pass rusher, well, that's where I had concerns. I didn't like his tape as much as scouts did, although part of that was annoyance at the way Florida would constantly try to line him up in the "A" gap rather than letting him operate as a rusher around the edge.

I can't say that he's wowed me with his pass rush ability this far, but he's essentially a rookie, and it's typical that rookie pass rushers don't know what the hell they're doing. So we'll see.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Also, people are aware that "Fitzmagic" was a one season thing, right? Like, last year was literally the only good year he's ever had?

It's only last year that it lasted most of a season. Historically, FitzMagic status is a game-to-game state of being.

Carolina at Atlanta: Dante Fowler is off to an okay start in Jacksonville while Vic Beasley is as bad a pass rusher as FO thought he would be. No, wait, that was Dante Fowler they expected to be ho hum in pass rushing. Either way, Atlanta has the most pathetic pass rush in a long time, which is saying something as they were terrible last year, and Carolina should beat the pants off of them.

Seattle at New York Jets: Hrmph. I'll go with Jets as Seattle is coming East and I don't believe the hype that Wilson will play. He'll suit up and be there in case of emergency. It's all a smokescreen. Next we'll be seeing Pete Carroll wearing a hoodie. You watch!

Denver at Tampa Bay: HOW IS THIS GAME A CHOICE?!?! Denver is gonna stomp on Tampa. Unless Semen pulls a Fitzmagick.

Kansas City at Pittsburgh: Pitt at home with Leveon Bell helping their offense not be terrible anymore. Did you see all those dropped balls from Markus Wheaton last week? Gotta hope that was rust coming off.

New York Giants at Minnesota: This is actually an interesting matchup as Minnesota has been creating turnovers and that's something Eli can be good at while the Giants' d line should eat up the Minny o-line. Could be great, could be terrible, but I'll go with the home team.

Haven't seen anyone mention it here, but Texans season is pretty much over at this point. JJ Watt had season ending back surgery earlier this week. They brought back Antonio Smith to fill his spot.

Not that their performance last week wasn't already an indication they were just pretenders, but at least teams still had to scheme against JJ and that left openings for other players to make plays. I guess I'll just watch the Cowboys now?

Edit: Wrong Antonio.

garion333 wrote:

HOW IS THIS GAME A CHOICE?!?!

Would it surprise you that the Vegas betting line has Denver as mere 3 point favorites?

*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

HOW IS THIS GAME A CHOICE?!?!

Would it surprise you that the Vegas betting line has Denver as mere 3 point favorites?

Tampa has the second-most TDs in the league, and Mike Evans has terrorized secondaries this year. Yes, Denver's defense is pretty great, but Tampa legitimately has a very good offense right now, at least until Agwideright-O steps onto the field.

I expect Tampa to lose, but the Bucs' weakness is deep balls, and I'm not overly worried about Semenboy throwing it 50 yards downfield. I mean, we'll lose by 40 because Chris Conte still exists, but it's not impossible for Tampa to win.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

HOW IS THIS GAME A CHOICE?!?!

Would it surprise you that the Vegas betting line has Denver as mere 3 point favorites?

Tampa has the second-most TDs in the league, and Mike Evans has terrorized secondaries this year. Yes, Denver's defense is pretty great, but Tampa legitimately has a very good offense right now, at least until Agwideright-O steps onto the field.

I expect Tampa to lose, but the Bucs' weakness is deep balls, and I'm not overly worried about Semenboy throwing it 50 yards downfield. I mean, we'll lose by 40 because Chris Conte still exists, but it's not impossible for Tampa to win.

They got in a shootout with the Rams. I expect Denver to eat them alive. Like 80% chance of a win for Denver.

Oh and their offense can be good, but not if Winston is having an off day (see: week 2), so who knows? The spread not being higher is because the Bucs are at home and no one trusts Semen at this point.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

HOW IS THIS GAME A CHOICE?!?!

Would it surprise you that the Vegas betting line has Denver as mere 3 point favorites?

Tampa has the second-most TDs in the league, and Mike Evans has terrorized secondaries this year. Yes, Denver's defense is pretty great, but Tampa legitimately has a very good offense right now, at least until Agwideright-O steps onto the field.

I expect Tampa to lose, but the Bucs' weakness is deep balls, and I'm not overly worried about Semenboy throwing it 50 yards downfield. I mean, we'll lose by 40 because Chris Conte still exists, but it's not impossible for Tampa to win.

Optimism in September, alcoholism in November.

garion333 wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

HOW IS THIS GAME A CHOICE?!?!

Would it surprise you that the Vegas betting line has Denver as mere 3 point favorites?

Tampa has the second-most TDs in the league, and Mike Evans has terrorized secondaries this year. Yes, Denver's defense is pretty great, but Tampa legitimately has a very good offense right now, at least until Agwideright-O steps onto the field.

I expect Tampa to lose, but the Bucs' weakness is deep balls, and I'm not overly worried about Semenboy throwing it 50 yards downfield. I mean, we'll lose by 40 because Chris Conte still exists, but it's not impossible for Tampa to win.

They got in a shootout with the Rams. I expect Denver to eat them alive. Like 80% chance of a win for Denver.

Oh and their offense can be good, but not if Winston is having an off day (see: week 2), so who knows? The spread not being higher is because the Bucs are at home and no one trusts Semen at this point.

Well, the shootout with the Rams was basically three plays; 44 and 43 yard TD passes on safety screwups, and a strip sack long TD. Take away those two passes, and the Rams offense consists of about 100 yards passing, and Todd Gurley running for about three years a carry. Tampa basically shut the Rams offense down with two exceptions.

Arizona? It's weird to say this about somebody with five turnovers, but Winston didn't have that bad of a game. One actual bad throw, one deep 50/50 ball where Peterson took it away from Evans on a great play, a deflection of the RB's face mask, and an end of game Hail Mary. His fumble was the RB literally knocking the ball or if his hands with his helmet while taking a bad angle running up to block a blitzer. He actually had a decent day; it was just everything that could go wrong went wrong.

I don't think this is a great team, but they're improving and have basically lost because of bad bounces and occasional stupid mistakes. A few years ago they were getting blown out because they were just awful. They're not awful anymore. Except for the kicker.

Certis and Semen in the bottom 3 of the league in "air yards".

Translation: they're throwing a sh*tload of short passes, even shorter than Alex Smith.

*Legion* wrote:

Certis and Semen in the bottom 3 of the league in "air yards".

Translation: they're throwing a sh*tload of short passes, even shorter than Alex Smith.

Everyone knew Semen wasn't going to get good distance.

Denver vs Tampa, this is exactly the type of game Denver loves to overlook and screw up.

An extra bye week was tried in the 90's but the players didn't like it. I personally don't see the down side of starting a week early. The NFL would get an extra week of ad revenue for nationally broadcast games, the players get a week off to heal, and fans get an extra week to watch.

If the players don't like starting the season a week earlier, maybe cut short a couple of pre-season practice days.

If the NFL insists on Thursday night games the it's only fair to add back the second bye week. Either move up the schedule and/or lose a preseason game.

The extra time will result in better Thursday night games and more importantly less chance of injury on short rest.

I'm sure now with Thursday night games the players would appreciate the second bye. Back then there really wasn't that many Thursday games

NFL excessive celebration rules are literally the Key and Peele McCringleberry sketch now:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...

This Colts Jags game is as bad as a Thursday game.

It got competitive, but then the Colts got stupid.

Congrats to the Jaguars for keeping Gus Bradley around for a while longer.

IMAGE(https://instagram.fsnc1-4.fna.fbcdn.net/t51.2885-15/e35/14488140_173541296424905_2720610951630946304_n.jpg)

50 years after hosting Beatlesmania, Wembley stadium is ground zero for BORTLESMANIA!

Rat Boy wrote:

It got competitive, but then the Colts got stupid.

I went grocery shopping instead of watching the 4th quarter. I figured that's what was going to happen.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Congrats to the Jaguars for keeping Gus Bradley around for a while longer.

Weren't you watching? Bradley has graduated from choking away winnable games to now almost choking away winnable games! The arrow is pointed up! All aboard the Gus Bus!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/F0NUrh9.png)