[Malankazooie]

What do you guys make of the Urban Meyer firing? He sure did have a solid run of many missteps this season. Personally, I'm surprised he lasted this long.

I really feel bad for Trevor Lawrence though; entering his rookie season with the expectations riding high and having to deal with that mess. That's the kind of experience that can knock the self-confidence way down and ruin a player. I hope he stays focused and makes progress. I want to see him succeed and approach the level many analysts were predicting he was capable of.

[paran falcon]

The Urban Meyer experience turned out exactly as I expected it would, though possibly sooner and more ridiculously. I would've expected one complete season at minimum and he couldn't even get through 16/17 games. I'm with you in hoping Trevor Lawrence can recover from this. I'd like to see him succeed.


The Bucs laid a massive egg last night. Paging BK; your Saints OWN the Tom Brady led Bucs. And they lose 3 of their best offensive weapons in the process. The loss could very well hand GB the #1 seed now. The Bucs will have to win out and have GB lose twice, I think, not just once. GB has NFC tiebreakers in hand, I believe. And the Bucs opened the door to N.O. making the playoffs, I don't want to run into them again.

[Malankazooie]

Tampa Tom doesn't have Belichick to rein in his self-promotion / star fucker tendencies. Tampa Tom is more distracted by his his ESPN + documentary, being cool on the socials, doing commercials for non-luxary brands (*cough Subway *cough, which the Manning bros used to get ripped for, how come Tom gets a pass?), and promoting his new clothing line/brand. If you want to see how a talent is wasted on being more focused on the noise outside of football, you only have to look at Cam Newton. Tampa Tom has decided to cruise into that lane. Belichick wouldn't have it and, ergo, a Tompa Bady team coached by the "idiot savant Hoodie" would not have been shut out by the 'aints.

In other news. I haven't really been following the NFL this season, I hear tell this is Big Ben's farewell season. Good.

[Malankazooie]

Ouch, Baker is catching it hard on this Monday following his performance yesterday. Remember when it was the overall consensus here at the forum that Baker and OBJ were going to tear the league up? Ha! I never bought into Mayfield, but dang, the sports talk shows need to let up a bit. Let a guy have a bad day and hope he comes back and redeems himself.

[Tiste Simeon]

My brother is married to a girl from New York state and has got into NFL, choosing to support the Bills as they are the local team (about as local as you get in rural NY I guess) they've been over to her family for Christmas and he just watched the latest game. Bit jealous tbh.

[Malankazooie]

Bills fans are notorious pre-game tailgate party freaks. Good times to be had there. I wouldn't mind if the Bills win it this year. The 30 for 30 doc 'Four Falls of Buffalo' covering the early '90s consecutive four SB losses is brutal. It would be nice to get that monkey off their backs.

http://www.espn.com/.../page/fourfalls

[Tiste Simeon]

Yeah he said he had a blast pre game! And it was the game that got them into the playoffs so it was a great atmosphere etc

[Malankazooie]

What a weird playoff scenario for the Steelers. That's a first, right?

[paran falcon]

 Malankazooie, on 10 January 2022 - 02:41 AM, said:

What a weird playoff scenario for the Steelers. That's a first, right?

As in, anything BUT a tie between the Chargers and Raiders gets Pittsburgh in? It may be a first, though its probably a possibility in any season where there have been ties? What I find even crazier is that Chargers/Raiders went OT and came seemingly VERY close to being a tie that would've knocked Pittsburgh out and let both of them in!


I was pulling just as hard for SF to beat the Rams so the Saints would be kept out of the playoffs as for the Bucs to jump to the #2 seed. Do NOT want to see New Orleans again this season!


Anyone else think Dallas getting SF could be a terrible matchup for them in the first round?

[Malankazooie]

It looked conspiracy theory to me and I thought for sure it was going to end in a tie. Then I heard some analysis on the matter bring forth the point - why the hell wouldn't you go for the win and avoid meeting the Chiefs in the first round? (get the win, avoid that tie scenario, and let the Steelers instead bet tossed into that match-up)

The Steelers are like those reality shows were people are voted off. You keep the layups around long enough so you have an easier path to the final.

[Malankazooie]

So, who do you guys have winning today? I want Raiders (should hate them cause in division with Broncos, but their story this year is too crazy not to root for them) and Bills, but my football acumen says it will be Bengals and Pats. Bengals playing strong and Joe Burrow took his play up a few ladder rungs, especially impressive after that injury last year. Dude doesn't seem to get rattled. And as far as the Pats, well the idiot savant hoodie has in division competition figured out. Belichick coaching (*cough cheating *cough) advantage to Pats.

[EDIT] oh yeah, Bucs vs. Eagles. Bucs obvi, hope I'm wrong.

This post has been edited by Malankazooie: 15 January 2022 - 09:10 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

Bengals beat Raiders. Hoping Bills beat Patriots, 49ers win (obviously) and that Eagles beat Bucs. Likely to be wrong on all 3.

[Malankazooie]

Well, Belichick didn't have the Bills figured out this go. When Josh Allen is firing on all cylinders, he's arguably the best QB (head and shoulders above) any other QB in the league. Hopefully he keeps it going. I would hate to have played in those temps though. (7degrees at kickoff). brrrrrrrr!

What was the deal with Burrow's rose colored glasses during the post game media interview. Is he making a statement?

Strange configuration this year, I thought it would be three on Saturday and three on Sunday, so I goofed it and thought Bucs vs Eagles was Saturday. Looks like three Sunday and then one game (Cardinals vs. Rams Monday night).

Hope 49ers win but I think Dallas will take it. I would like to see Jimmy G have a good showing before he is traded in the off season.

Chiefs > Steelers. Easiest one to pick of the day.

Monday night, that Cardinals vs. Rams could be a barn burner. I'm leaning Rams in OT.

[paran falcon]

Bucs are without Fournette and Ronald Jones, the #1 and #2 RBs. Now starting RT, Tristan Wirfs has gone down. Brady has not looked accurate yet, early on. I'm concerned...

[paran falcon]

And as I'm saying "run the ball, it's working", TD on the ground. Phew!

[paran falcon]

As to the other games...

Impressive win by Cincinnati. There seems to be a bit of controversy over the TD Burrow threw while in the air going out of bounds because a whistle blew before the catch? To me, the whistle probably blew because Burrow landed out of bounds? But the pass was legal and had left his hand first. It looked like the ball was 3/4 of the way to the receiver when the whistle blew. Not sure there was time for the DBs to give up on the play? Besides, the Raiders had plenty of time to get past that and shot themselves with penalties and some critical drops. Cincinnati took another small step, not breaking at the end of the game.


Buffalo was incredibly impressive. Damn.


Something about SF the last few weeks would terrify me if I was a Dallas fan. Despite all their offensive firepower, SF just feels like a bad matchup for them.


Most think KC should handle Pittsburgh handily, I guess. It would seem so, but this is exactly when freaking Pttsburgh somehow shows up. They've done so over and over. Another potential final game for Ben and it would be like him to put up a big game. Even though a lot of the tape might show its just as likely he plays poorly. TJ Watt is pretty healthy right now? That's a big deal.


3rd game between LA and Arizona. They've split the other 2 and I'm not sure what to expect. There is a TON of pressure on Stafford. Is JJ Watt back for Arizona? I thought I heard he was coming off IR.

[Malankazooie]

If Pittsburgh somehow wins, it will be an ugly win.

[paran falcon]

 Malankazooie, on 16 January 2022 - 06:57 PM, said:

If Pittsburgh somehow wins, it will be an ugly win.

Totally agree, that would likely be the way...

[Malankazooie]

Well double farts, Eagles got their wings clipped pretty handily. Hopefully the QAnon QB (QAaron Rogangers) can put a stop to this Tompa Baydy fairy tale (if/when they meet), because this is getting exhausting. Thing is Bucs defense is solid AF.

This post has been edited by Malankazooie: 16 January 2022 - 10:02 PM

[paran falcon]

Today's game might be the best the Bucs defense has looked all season. Jalen Hurts being off the mark on some passes helped. The playoff run last year is also when the defense improved hugely...