The Everything NFL Thread - 2017-18 season

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Stallion

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Two things: First, it's not "Obnoxious fandom" that makes you so mad, it's the losing. The mad came long before the obnoxious stuff really started happening. Live in your truth.

Second, Steelers boy is right they're a doormat cuz they play zone all the time. You disrupt timing based offenses by throwing bodies at them in man, and pushing them off their spots while keeping tight to them. Blitzes are the opposite of good against Brady they very very very very very rarely work. So yeah it sounds dumb to say "play conventional" but it's the simple way of saying you can't fool the QB you have to play them straight up. And it's hard to do that if you don't have the talent to match them 1 on 1, which spoilers, is why the Patriots are a good team.
Yep. The reason the Ravens have had moderate historical success (and have almost always been very competitive even in losses) is because we play man and rush 4 against the Pats. Playing a soft zone means that Brady will dink and dunk on your ass all day.
 

WaterBomb

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Two things: First, it's not "Obnoxious fandom" that makes you so mad, it's the losing. The mad came long before the obnoxious stuff really started happening. Live in your truth.
Incorrect. I have zero problem losing to a better team. The obnoxious fandom is absolutely what irritates me because fans aren't even playing or having any effect on the game whatsoever. Yes, the Patriots have enjoyed more success over the last 15 years than any other team in football, maybe even in all professional sports. They were also irrelevant in their entire history before that, save I think one super bowl appearance? Pittsburgh, although not on the same scale, has also enjoyed pretty consistent success over that same time period, and also long before that. But you don't see me acting over the top arrogant about it, constantly reminding people that we have six rings or whatever. I know, as a fan, I'm merely a spectator there to enjoy the sport and my trash talking is pointless and annoying.

Just remember, all good things eventually come to an end. How you act now will probably play a big part in how people treat you when your team inevitably fades back into mortality, like all great teams do. Once you start seeing those painful mediocre seasons happening you'll realize it's nice to have other fans who respect you to commiserate with, as opposed to having a long list of eager trolls who will love nothing more than to rub it in your face.

Also, Pittsburgh always losing to the Patriots boils down to one thing: coaching. If the steelers had, say, Jon Harbaugh as their coach (shut up Stallion) I promise you the recent series record would be more even.
 
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Also, Pittsburgh always losing to the Patriots boils down to one thing: coaching. If the steelers had, say, Jon Harbaugh as their coach (shut up Stallion) I promise you the recent series record would be more even.
Under Harbaugh The ravens have been the definition of mediocre these last 4 years.

They've missed the playoffs in 3/4 seasons and have a 31-33 record. He's not the elite coach people make him out to be (same with Ozzie Newsome as the Ravens gm)

And While the Steelers have lost their last 3 meetings against the Pats giving up roughly 40 ppg, the Ravens haven't faired much better as they're also 0-3 and give up about 36 ppg despite having clearly superior defensive personnel.

Offensively since 2014 the Patriots have just beat the brakes off every AFC team save Denver (which now has no offense so it doesn't matter)

and this was pre cooks with no Gronk half the time.
 

WaterBomb

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Under Harbaugh The ravens have been the definition of mediocre these last 4 years.

They've missed the playoffs in 3/4 seasons and have a 31-33 record. He's not the elite coach people make him out to be (same with Ozzie Newsome as the Ravens gm)
Bear in mind this is partly due to being saddled with a massively overpaid franchise qb and thus unable to assemble a more talented roster. Jon Harbaugh has always gotten those teams to punch above their weight and show up in critical games. He brings the discipline that Tomlin lacks, and I honestly believe with a roster like Pittsburgh's he could challenge the Patriots on a regular basis.

Also the steelers haven't given up 40ppg over the last three, more like 32 or something close to that. Your team is already the best, is it really necessary to exaggerate to try to make them look even better?
 
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Bear in mind this is partly due to being saddled with a massively overpaid franchise qb and thus unable to assemble a more talented roster.
Harbaugh has consistently called Flacco the best qb in football in im sure his evaluations of Flacco contribute to Flacco having a contract the matches his opinion of him.

Also the steelers haven't given up 40ppg over the last three, more like 32 or something close to that. Your team is already the best, is it really necessary to exaggerate to try to make them look even better?
Sorry I forgot they played in 2015 and accidentally included this game instead

Also shit loads of injuries to major players
Tends to happen to every team every year
 

WaterBomb

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Harbaugh has consistently called Flacco the best qb in football in im sure his evaluations of Flacco contribute to Flacco having a contract the matches his opinion of him.
What's he going to say, that Flacco is average? He's saying that publicly to build his qb's confidence and show he fully supports him. Also they gave Falco that contract because there was nothing better available and the qb contract bubble had begun to swell, they were kind of forced to sign him long term because he was good enough to make you think you wouldn't find anything comparable in the next several drafts. And that's a team management thing, not Harbaugh.

Also lol Jerricho Cotchery doe
 
Completely random question that I thought of. Do UK fans hate NE naturally? Do some call them NE Yanks? Dead serious question, lol.

Maybe it's coaching styles, not the actual coaches. Maybe Belichick and company are just able to plan accordingly to their non-division opponents. That said, we still all know their division is handing them the easy ride. I'd love to see them swap places with Cleveland. Or even move to the NFC. The current Seattle team would very much enjoy more meetings.
 
Do UK fans hate NE naturally?
The Pats are the most popular team there. China too

That said, we still all know their division is handing them the easy ride.
Still have no idea why people say this considering that there isn't one iota of evidence to back it up and can be disproven by taking 10 seconds to google the Patriots out of division record (Which is the best in the NFL by an insanely large margin during the Brady Belichick era)

Or even move to the NFC. The current Seattle team would very much enjoy more meetings.
The NFC west, stocked with perennial powerhouses like St.Louis and San Fran.
 
I meant NFC in general. More chances to play us. As for NFCW, it turned to garbage overall, but we all seem to have each others number one way or the other. Unlike NE having the other teams as their farms for players. Didn't they just get another linebacker from NY?

And how is the AFCE not handing them wins right now? NY's even more broken down as a team than SF at this point. SF can only go up, no one knows what the hell NY will be for the next year or so. And Rams are just Rams. We they won't even let us lead the series.
 
With Brady as the starter the Patriots have won:

76% Of their games against the NFC
76% of their games vs the AFC (not including the AFC east)
77% of their games against the AFC
78% of their games vs the AFC east

TLDR the Patriots beat the shit out of every division/conference at virtually the same rate.

It just so happens that the Bills, Dolphins and Jets have the misfortune of playing them twice a year

Its just one of the many many many dumb narratives that people incorrectly use to discredit the Patriots

More chances to play us
If "Us" is referring to the Seabirds then i'd say that they do have a chance to play the Patriots with semi-regularity, just make it to the Superbowl every other year like they do.
 
You honestly believe they would hold the same division records in 2012-2014 NFCW or the AFCN in the past seven to ten years?
1.Ignoring your cherrypicking, they'd probably have a better record considering that the NFC West was the worst division in football for about a decade before the Niners and Seahawks became contenders.

2. The Patriots and Brady have an .806 win % against the AFC north which is superior to their win% against the east, and keep in mind that they play the best team in that division every year and don't usually play the bottom feeder Browns and Bengals.

You don't have an argument

In fact you don't even have a hypothetical argument.
 
Unfortunately that doesn't matter, because they're still beating non division opponents in the playoffs and super bowl with more regularity than the next three teams combined. They've been to seven super bowls and won five since 2000, I believe the next highest is 3/2 for Pittsburgh and 3/2 for Peyton Manning, followed by a couple 2/2s and 1s. There isn't really any feasible argument against them being far and away the best team of this generation. Even if you moved them into the afcn, the most that would happen is they'd be 11-5 every year instead of 13-3 or 14-2. And they'd still be winning the division more often than not.

The way he goes on about them though, you'd think he'd believe they'd be better than 11-5 every year. That's the issue. I'm not debating their positioning as among the best and is definitely the number one pick for the Super Bowl this upcoming season. But it's impossible to deny their division has something to do with their record for the past 15-17 years.

*Edit*

Oh, by the ways. I'm fully expecting no less than 12+ from Pittsburgh this year. Roethlisberger ain't deteriorated yet, so they better smack some shit even more with Brown and Bell. They just need to actually try to finish NE off in the playoffs.

1.Ignoring your cherrypicking, they'd probably have a better record considering that the NFC West was the worst division in football for about a decade before the Niners and Seahawks became contenders.

What cherry-picking? Those are just two examples. The history before NFCW rose up has nothing to do with it. I'm talking about how NE would perform in that division at that time period. Who the fuck cares about Seattle or SF not doing shit before? What the hell was Buffalo or NY doing at that time? And I wouldn't call a two or three season period a small matter either. Seattle and SF were at the peak and technical AZ was too except for the major injuries screwing their runs (now their window is closed until they restructure soon).



And I definitely disagree that things wouldn't be different if they weren't in the North. Maybe a couple sub-11s, one less ring (and thank Bevell for 2014s ring), who knows. You tell me.


Here's another one. Any opinions on AFCW? It hasn't bottomed out yet despite Denver's issues. They are just a (good) healthy RB and penalty-purged o-line away from coming back and KC has always been above the bottom teams under Reid. If Oakland proves they are legit, then you got another solid division.
 
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WaterBomb

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But i just proved that

with 15 years worth of actual data to support my case.
To be fair, it looks like you only took the Patriots' record against opponents into account, but failed to cross reference that with the other afce opponents' records. Winning an equal percentage of games against non division opponents is good obviously, but it's no secret that intra division games are always tougher. So, the lack of quality of the other afce teams is slightly offset by that rule, meaning that your percentages should in theory be further apart. If the Patriots were placed into a division with tougher opponents their win percentage would certainly go down, but only marginally. I think the point AL is trying to make is that the Patriots would have had a less impressive record over these years if they were in a stronger division, and it would have somewhat affected playoff scenarios like seeding, home field advantage, etc. That being said, I don't think the change would have been as drastic as some would expect, but I believe that's the point he's trying to make
 

TheValkyries

proudly reppin' 2 superbowl wins since DEFLATEGATE
If you take the top winning percentage of every division in the league the AFC East has been 5th for the past 10 and past 5 years in out of division record. And in the past 5 years the difference of winning percentages between 3rd and 5th was .6%.

The AFC east is not the NFC East or AFC North in terms of quality but t is akin the the NFC North and the NFC South in aggregate winning percentage. It's not excellent but is just average. They're certainly not free wins those teams aren't pushovers if you think they are it's because the only context you know them in is that they lose to the Patriots about 5-6 times a year.
 
To be fair, it looks like you only took the Patriots' record against opponents into account, but failed to cross reference that with the other afce opponents' records. Winning an equal percentage of games against non division opponents is good obviously, but it's no secret that intra division games are always tougher. So, the lack of quality of the other afce teams is slightly offset by that rule, meaning that your percentages should in theory be further apart. If the Patriots were placed into a division with tougher opponents their win percentage would certainly go down, but only marginally. I think the point AL is trying to make is that the Patriots would have had a less impressive record over these years if they were in a stronger division, and it would have somewhat affected playoff scenarios like seeding, home field advantage, etc. That being said, I don't think the change would have been as drastic as some would expect, but I believe that's the point he's trying to make
That's exactly the point. And the key phrase was division games are tougher. Besides the overall needs of the team, the front offices primary agenda is to build to beat division teams. You face them twice, so your focus is on them. And it's just a joke when your opponents are your farm teams.

Shit, there's still the debate about the NBA East. Don't need to get into that....

The AFC east is not the NFC East or AFC North in terms of quality but t is akin the the NFC North and the NFC South in aggregate winning percentage. It's not excellent but is just average. They're certainly not free wins those teams aren't pushovers if you think they are it's because the only context you know them in is that they lose to the Patriots about 5-6 times a year.
Buffalo leads the league in playoff drought with NY also up on the list (not even half that of Buffalo though). And I think Miami was pretty high up there with win droughts too. Need to check.
 

TheValkyries

proudly reppin' 2 superbowl wins since DEFLATEGATE
Yeah you're underestimating how hard it is to get into the playoffs without winning your division, friend. The Patriots are p much the only team that are perennially division winners.
 
There must be some reason that the Pats keep winning aside from the fact that they're superior to everyone starter pack:

"THEY MUST BE CHEATERS"

"Its the schedule they'd definitely be worse in some other division"

"B-BUT THE AIR PRESSURE"

"Well if x team didn't just vomit all over themselves at the end of Superbowl"

"Well If player x didn't get hurt"

"If x teams QB wasn't total shit they would have won"

"DA SYSTOM"

Every year people continue to delude themselves as a coping mechanism instead of accepting the reality that the pats are just that good.

And it gets worst as the Pats get better.
 
Yeah you're underestimating how hard it is to get into the playoffs without winning your division, friend. The Patriots are p much the only team that are perennially division winners.
Hard, yes, but four teams do it every year, by wildcard. Still doesn't detract from Buffalo being allergic to the playoffs.
 

Mr.E

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Whether or not a decent QB is more important in the grand scheme of things than an elite non-QB doesn't mean the decent QB is objectively better than the elite non-QB.
 
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