2025 NFL Season Thread

[calgarygeologist]

I hope NE doesn't let off the gas in the second half because I want to see if they can beat their 59 point victory.

[Senator Clay Davis]

No matter the result today the Bucs are insane if they don't fire Bowles immediately, team has clearly quit on him.

[trackercowe]

I wonder if more teams are going to approach 40+ year old QBs off the scrap heap? Rivers at 44 looks better than half of the starters in the league, and most of the backups. They're better off having someone like that sitting on the bench than Clayton Tune.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Honestly, if I were the Seahawks I'd reach out to the Colts and try and strike a back door deal to get them to release Rivers now and we'll give you a third round pick or something in the offseason. Cause the Seahawks with Darnold are clear first game of the playoffs elimination bait, but with Rivers they could be something.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

If the Seahawks manage to get the bye I think they might be the worst 1 seed ever. They deserve to be getting absolutely crushed right now and it looks like another near pick is about to be overturned to an incomplete pass.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well lets be clear, this is the worst slate of playoff teams we've ever seen. Most of these teams would be 6-10 or worse playing in the 2002-2022 era. But also means everyone has a chance so dare to dream I guess.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I think that's probably a little harsh; the Rams are legitimately good and I think most of these are basically old school 9-7, 10-6 defense-first teams, Broncos and Texans are that. The Pats remind me of the Cowboys of a few years ago.

There is just no juggernaut and usually there are like... 3 of those.

[browna]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

If the Seahawks manage to get the bye I think they might be the worst 1 seed ever. They deserve to be getting absolutely crushed right now and it looks like another near pick is about to be overturned to an incomplete pass.

A terrible call to confirm the INT. Fumble recovery though next play.

Probably not the worst #1 seed if they get there. It would mean beating SF next week and beating the Rams and 49ers twice this year is no fluke. 12-3 isn’t through smoke and mirrors. The defense is fantastic, Charbonnet and Walker are great complimentary runners and they have the top receiver in the league, yards wise.

The issue though is that Sam is a very fragile QB mentally. And it’s gotten worse now the last 4 weeks. McDonald has to spend a lot of the game plan to make sure he keeps Darnold from self destructing in game. Self destructing is one inexcusable play.
JSN has suffered stats wise in this past month because Sam has so much self doubt about going vertical over 20 yards at all.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I think that's probably a little harsh; the Rams are legitimately good and I think most of these are basically old school 9-7, 10-6 defense-first teams, Broncos and Texans are that. The Pats remind me of the Cowboys of a few years ago.

There is just no juggernaut and usually there are like... 3 of those.

I don't think it's harsh at all. We're watching multiple teams each week that could win with 125 yards or less of passing. We're watching teams whose entire passing games are nothing but drag routes, bubble screens and quick hitches. We have a 44 year old who was working on his 33rd child walk right in and if they let him use steroids for his arm strength would be a no doubt top five QB.

I'm a football fan, not an NFL fan. The NFL absolutely sucks right now, worst it's been that I can remember. The fact we're staring at the Broncos and Seahawks being the #1 seeds, have there ever been two less intimidating teams with the #1 seed? Depending who they draw they could both be home dogs.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by browna

Probably not the worst #1 seed if they get there. It would mean beating SF next week and beating the Rams and 49ers twice this year is no fluke. 12-3 isn’t through smoke and mirrors. The defense is fantastic, Charbonnet and Walker are great complimentary runners and they have the top receiver in the league, yards wise.

The offense is entirely fake.

Go back to preseason. Kubiak and Macdonald were telling everyone who would listen that this was going to be a running team. We're going to run it down your throat, we drafted a fullback, a first round guard, we're going to play 13 personnel, etc. Hawks fans said, "huh, well, we'll see if the offensive line can make that strategy work, because it sure wasn't good enough last year to protect Geno reliably". Then other teams took that seriously and stacked the box, and it turned out Darnold could, when you do that, throw it over your head to JSN. That was like the first 6 games of the season that they did that and got out to big leads, such that most of the game was garbage time. Look at the Texans game, it was 14-0 in the first quarter and the Texans couldn't score 14 points in a whole game at that point so it didn't matter what happened after that.

Once teams had some tape and figured out what the limitations of the offense were, they stopped it, and it's been bad for like 2 months now, against basically everyone. And the problem is that they just aren't what they wanted to be: they're not a run team. The offensive line CAN'T do it. We were right to be skeptical. It's not Charbs and K9, it's defensive players in the backfield and the offensive line being unable to push forward so that even runs that get stopped get you an occasional 2 or 3 yards. They wind up in 3rd and 8 after a TFL. Before their last TD in this game there was a graphic that said they'd been 3/8 on 3rd down with an average of 11 yards to go - even going 3/8 in that situation is a miracle.

If they had been what they set out to be, which is a team that can run the ball consistently, they would be a legitimate threat to go the distance because the defense IS that good. But they don't have anything reliable to go to on offense.

[Sainters7]

That reminds me of when Kubiak was with the Saints last season. The whole plan was to be a run-first team, and have it roll through Taysom Hill. Except he's 34 and can't handle that workload anymore, and would inevitably get injured. Then it just turned into a passing team.

KK has incredible game plans. Where I find he struggles is with 2nd half adjustments. At least last season, whenever his game plan got snuffed out, that was just the end of it.

[trackercowe]

I see the Bucs, Steelers, and Panthers all have vacations booked in two weeks? Embarrassing performances with their seasons on the line. I'd much rather see The Ravens make the playoffs. I wonder if they'd be favorites going on the road to Denver in the wild card weekend.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The Ravens have shown nothing consistently that says they should be taken seriously as a threat, and yet, I'm sure every AFC playoff team is rooting hard for the Steelers right now cause the Steelers are a layup compared to what the Ravens could be. Could, of course, being the key word.

[Senator Clay Davis]

A sub .500 NFC South champ, a tradition unlike any other. Saints might have won the division if they started Shough from week one.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

A sub .500 NFC South champ, a tradition unlike any other. Saints might have won the division if they started Shough from week one.

100%. He's out here throwing to all backups- being blocked by backups - with the exception of Olave and Juwan Johnson, on the road. The result = 21 of 24, 310 yds, 2 TDs and 0 picks. Granted its the Titans, but still very impressive from a rookie.

Barring injury (he played 7 years of college for a reason), the Arch Manning dream to NOLA is dead...Saints have their next franchise QB.

[browna]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

The offense is entirely

Not sure about fake. Classic game management QB in Darnold. Don’t make the big mistake, and they’ve game planned those out for Sam these last weeks.

McDonald has been making great adjustments at half all season. And being consistent and waiting for the other team to make mistakes, so a combination of that certainly on offense is what has gotten Seattle where it has been, and that includes today.

A fumble and INT and face mask call were mistakes that Carolina made that have turned the second half. Seattle has made one mistake in the second half, and now they’re going to win by 17 after being tied at half. Similar to Atlanta a few weeks ago.

It’s going to come down to beating SF next week. Seattle does that and home through the playoffs which is always has been the key to any Seattle playoff success, as well as a bye.

Lose and unless they get the NFC South winner, or even if they do, it’s one and done on the road in the WC.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The Steelers back dooring their way into the playoffs with a tie would be so perfect.

[Senator Clay Davis]

But LOLOLOLOL Steelers it is. But hey Tomlin over .500 again this year, successful season for the Steelers.

[troutman]

Not great results for Browns. Useless victory and no sacks for Myles.

[chummer]

13-3 and Hawks still have their doubters. Love it.