2014-15 NFL Season Thread

[laughedatbytime]

Matt Prater has been suspended for 4 weeks, apparently for alcohol related reasons.

[treeduck]

Sam Bradford out for Rams' season with torn ACL

 

After losing Sam Bradford for the final nine games of last season, the St. Louis Rams are bracing for another lost campaign by the team's starting quarterback.

 

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that a battery of tests confirmed that Bradford suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Saturday night's preseason win over the Cleveland Browns, per Rams sources. The tear is to the same ACL that the quarterback tore last season.

 

Bradford injured his left knee on a first-quarter incompletion before limping off toward the locker room with a pair of team trainers. Rams coach Jeff Fisher was "optimistic" after the game, telling reporters that "it appeared just to be a hyperextension," but Sunday's round of testing revealed another trying setback for the former No. 1 overall pick.

 

It's devastating news for the Rams and Bradford. While the fifth-year starter has been wholly inconsistent over his 49 starts, the team has outwardly backed Bradford as their long-term answer under center. His future with the team is now entirely in doubt.

 

He played well over two preseason games this month, spreading the ball around and taking shots downfield with no visible lasting effects of last year's knee injury.

 

The job now falls to Shaun Hill, who will lean on a St. Louis ground attack led by second-year back Zac Stacy and supported by Benny Cunningham and rookie Tre Mason.

 

Hill hasn't made a start since 2010, when he stepped in for an injured Matthew Stafford to lead the Detroit Lions to a 3-7 record over his 10 appearances. He posted a 61.8 completion percentage with 16 touchdowns and 12 picks during that stint, but Hill has thrown just 16 passes since.

 

The Rams will need their backup to play nearly flawless football to keep pace inside the NFL's nastiest division.

 

Bradford is another QB bust.

[laughedatbytime]

Sam Bradford out for Rams' season with torn ACL

 

After losing Sam Bradford for the final nine games of last season, the St. Louis Rams are bracing for another lost campaign by the team's starting quarterback.

 

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that a battery of tests confirmed that Bradford suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Saturday night's preseason win over the Cleveland Browns, per Rams sources. The tear is to the same ACL that the quarterback tore last season.

 

Bradford injured his left knee on a first-quarter incompletion before limping off toward the locker room with a pair of team trainers. Rams coach Jeff Fisher was "optimistic" after the game, telling reporters that "it appeared just to be a hyperextension," but Sunday's round of testing revealed another trying setback for the former No. 1 overall pick.

 

It's devastating news for the Rams and Bradford. While the fifth-year starter has been wholly inconsistent over his 49 starts, the team has outwardly backed Bradford as their long-term answer under center. His future with the team is now entirely in doubt.

 

He played well over two preseason games this month, spreading the ball around and taking shots downfield with no visible lasting effects of last year's knee injury.

 

The job now falls to Shaun Hill, who will lean on a St. Louis ground attack led by second-year back Zac Stacy and supported by Benny Cunningham and rookie Tre Mason.

 

Hill hasn't made a start since 2010, when he stepped in for an injured Matthew Stafford to lead the Detroit Lions to a 3-7 record over his 10 appearances. He posted a 61.8 completion percentage with 16 touchdowns and 12 picks during that stint, but Hill has thrown just 16 passes since.

 

The Rams will need their backup to play nearly flawless football to keep pace inside the NFL's nastiest division.

 

Bradford is another QB bust.

They're going to have to win games 13-10. But their D is probably good enough to do it. Not sure that they wouldn't have had to do that with Bradford anyway, I've never seen him as an above average QB.

[laughedatbytime]

OK, I just saw on the preseason game (I'm watching on tape delay) that a team that challenged a fumble got charged with a timeout and unsuccessful challenge even though they were right that it was a fumble—according to the official—but since there was no clear recovery they couldn't award the ball to the defense. I can see not awarding the ball to the defensive team (though I think that's silly too), but shouldn't the timeout not have been charged because the challenge wasn't incorrect, the call was just not overruled due to a a shortcoming in the replay system?

[laughedatbytime]

Apparently Cam Newton suffered a hairline fracture in his ribs in this week's games and is questionable for the season opener.

[treeduck]

OK, I just saw on the preseason game (I'm watching on tape delay) that a team that challenged a fumble got charged with a timeout and unsuccessful challenge even though they were right that it was a fumble—according to the official—but since there was no clear recovery they couldn't award the ball to the defense. I can see not awarding the ball to the defensive team (though I think that's silly too), but shouldn't the timeout not have been charged because the challenge wasn't incorrect, the call was just not overruled due to a a shortcoming in the replay system?

Which game was that?

[treeduck]

Apparently Cam Newton suffered a hairline fracture in his ribs in this week's games and is questionable for the season opener.

Cam needs to get a jet pack this season so he can catch his own passes.

[liquidcrystalcompass]

Ain't that the truth!!

[laughedatbytime]

OK, I just saw on the preseason game (I'm watching on tape delay) that a team that challenged a fumble got charged with a timeout and unsuccessful challenge even though they were right that it was a fumble—according to the official—but since there was no clear recovery they couldn't award the ball to the defense. I can see not awarding the ball to the defensive team (though I think that's silly too), but shouldn't the timeout not have been charged because the challenge wasn't incorrect, the call was just not overruled due to a a shortcoming in the replay system?

Which game was that?

SD-SF. Kaepernick fumbled and it was clearly (but not caught on film) recovered by SD.

[treeduck]

OK, I just saw on the preseason game (I'm watching on tape delay) that a team that challenged a fumble got charged with a timeout and unsuccessful challenge even though they were right that it was a fumble—according to the official—but since there was no clear recovery they couldn't award the ball to the defense. I can see not awarding the ball to the defensive team (though I think that's silly too), but shouldn't the timeout not have been charged because the challenge wasn't incorrect, the call was just not overruled due to a a shortcoming in the replay system?

Which game was that?

SD-SF. Kaepernick fumbled and it was clearly (but not caught on film) recovered by SD.

How did Kap look is he really playing worse than Gabbert?

[laughedatbytime]

OK, I just saw on the preseason game (I'm watching on tape delay) that a team that challenged a fumble got charged with a timeout and unsuccessful challenge even though they were right that it was a fumble—according to the official—but since there was no clear recovery they couldn't award the ball to the defense. I can see not awarding the ball to the defensive team (though I think that's silly too), but shouldn't the timeout not have been charged because the challenge wasn't incorrect, the call was just not overruled due to a a shortcoming in the replay system?

Which game was that?

SD-SF. Kaepernick fumbled and it was clearly (but not caught on film) recovered by SD.

How did Kap look is he really playing worse than Gabbert?

He looked pretty awful. Gabbert looked OK but nothing special.

[treeduck]

OK, I just saw on the preseason game (I'm watching on tape delay) that a team that challenged a fumble got charged with a timeout and unsuccessful challenge even though they were right that it was a fumble—according to the official—but since there was no clear recovery they couldn't award the ball to the defense. I can see not awarding the ball to the defensive team (though I think that's silly too), but shouldn't the timeout not have been charged because the challenge wasn't incorrect, the call was just not overruled due to a a shortcoming in the replay system?

Which game was that?

SD-SF. Kaepernick fumbled and it was clearly (but not caught on film) recovered by SD.

How did Kap look is he really playing worse than Gabbert?

He looked pretty awful. Gabbert looked OK but nothing special.

Harbore is gonna have to get back out there and take some snaps at this rate.

[laughedatbytime]

It pays to be a member of the Oakland Raiders -- but only if the pay is extraordinary.

 

The Raiders are the least desirable team to play for in the NFL, according to an NFL Nation Confidential survey posed to 100-plus players on the following question:

 

"The only way I'd play for [team name] is if they doubled my salary."

 

Of the 82 players who answered, 23 percent named the Raiders, followed by the Buffalo Bills (19 percent), Cleveland Browns (16 percent), Jacksonville Jaguars (9 percent) and Green Bay Packers (6 percent). These are tough times for the Raiders, who have endured 11 consecutive nonwinning seasons and last reached the postseason in 2002 -- the season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routed them in the Super Bowl.

 

Since then, the organization has become known for its instability. Dennis Allen is the team's sixth different head coach since 2004. Questions about the franchise's future in Oakland also have fueled a cloud of uncertainty.

 

Nevertheless, Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson was stunned when informed of the results of the leaguewide survey.

 

"I've never heard anybody that said they didn't want to play for the Raiders, so that's pretty shocking," he said. "I think you've got to take the attitude that if you didn't want to come here, it doesn't matter anyway. Over the years, I've known and talked to countless players that said, 'Man, I would love to come play in the silver and black.' So I think that poll might be kind of skewed."

 

Teammate Marcel Reece said he wasn't shocked with the results because it was an anonymous poll. He lashed out at those who picked the Raiders, saying, "Whoever said it, they're telling a lie. They didn't think about it. They thought about the one team that has the biggest stigma of negativity around them. From the media. From the masses.

 

"The most hated team in the world? The first thing that comes to mind is the Oakland Raiders. The bad boys. The black sheep of the NFL. And it's not really a negative thing because we don't do bad things. We're not the team that's having the most arrests in the NFL, or the DUIs or the drug cases or throwing the big parties. But we just have that stigma around us.

 

"If guys really would be honest with themselves, and think about when they were little kids, or when they wanted to be tough guys, or they wanted to play football, what team did they think about? Or what helmet did they want to put on? What colors did they want to put on? What shield did they want to represent? I can guarantee you that 80 to 90 percent of true lovers of this game -- lovers of competition and have passion for this game -- would say the Oakland Raiders.

 

"I would play for this team if they paid me half of what they pay me, and I have taken pay cuts to stay. I guarantee you, if half those guys would have the opportunity to come play for this franchise, they'd be on board. They'd get it."

 

Wide receiver Jacoby Ford, who played with the Raiders from 2010 to 2013, agreed with Reese's strong opinion, saying outsiders are buying into the perception, not the reality.

 

"I think people have a certain persona of the Raiders," Ford said. "When you've actually been in that organization, you know how it is. That statement isn't true. I've been in that organization. Anyone who came to the Raiders, it was always, 'I always wanted to be a Raider.' They love the silver and black."

 

Evidently there's not as much love as they believe. One opposing player, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the survey was dead-on. Alluding to the Raiders' reputation for overpaying aging veterans, the player said of the survey result: "It's true. They've got a bunch of players who got double their salary."

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11405668/nfl-nation-confidential-oakland-raiders-least-desirable-team-play-for

[laughedatbytime]

Patriots give up on season, look to future by trading Logan Mankins...

 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers filled their gaping hole at guard Tuesday – and not by signing Richie Incognito.

 

They acquired six-time Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins from the New England Patriots in exchange for tight end Tim Wright and an undisclosed draft pick.

 

ESPN reported the draft pick is a fourth-rounder.

 

The trade comes one day after Incognito, the veteran at the center of last year's Miami Dolphins bullying scandal, visited the Bucs and left without a deal.

 

Instead, Mankins – entering his 10th NFL season at age 32 – joins the likes of Randy Moss and Richard Seymour in a line of Patriots standouts coach Bill Belichick has dealt late in their careers.

 

New Bucs general manager Jason Licht knows that history well. He had two stints as a scout and personnel director with the Patriots, the last ending in the 2011 season before spending the past two years with the Arizona Cardinals.

 

Wright, 24, joined the Bucs as an undrafted free agent last season and had 54 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns in 2013.

[treeduck]

Brady is indeed upset about Mankins trade

 

Posted by Mike Florio on August 28, 2014, 2:36 PM EDT

http://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/brady2.jpg?w=250

 

When the Patriots didn’t re-sign receiver Wes Welker in the aftermath of quarterback Tom Brady’s team-friendly deal (with a paltry $30 million to sign), someone close to Brady reportedly was enraged. This time around, with left guard Logan Mankins abruptly traded to the Buccaneers fewer than two weeks before the start of the regular season, Brady reportedly is “very upset.”

 

Indeed Brady is, per a source familiar with Brady’s thinking on the topic.

 

While Mankins arrived after the Patriots won their third Super Bowl title, he had become one of the most important veterans on the team. His departure makes the offensive line a little bit worse, which in turn puts a little more pressure on Brady to make it all work.

 

The trade arose in part from a reported unwillingness of Mankins to take a pay cut. Mankins’ refusal, as one source has speculated, possibly traces at least in part to contentious contract negotiations between the Patriots and Mankins in 2010 and 2011, which at one point included Mankins making comments about owner Robert Kraft’s integrity and the team reportedly conditioning a new contract on a public apology, which never was made.

 

While “The Patriot Way” routinely includes moving on from key players a year too early in lieu of doing so a year too late, a few players get the benefit of doubt. Mankins didn’t.

 

Brady eventually may — unless he makes too big of a stink about key players like Mankins being dumped.

[laughedatbytime]

Aldon Smith—9 game suspension

[treeduck]

Aldon Smith—9 game suspension

That means he misses the SAINTS game with the bye week.

[laughedatbytime]

Aldon Smith—9 game suspension

That means he misses the SAINTS game with the bye week.

You guys are Goodell's pets...

[treeduck]

Aldon Smith—9 game suspension

That means he misses the SAINTS game with the bye week.

You guys are Goodell's pets...

The ones he electrocutes in a cage!

[troutman]

OK, I just saw on the preseason game (I'm watching on tape delay) that a team that challenged a fumble got charged with a timeout and unsuccessful challenge even though they were right that it was a fumble—according to the official—but since there was no clear recovery they couldn't award the ball to the defense. I can see not awarding the ball to the defensive team (though I think that's silly too), but shouldn't the timeout not have been charged because the challenge wasn't incorrect, the call was just not overruled due to a a shortcoming in the replay system?

Which game was that?

SD-SF. Kaepernick fumbled and it was clearly (but not caught on film) recovered by SD.

 

That's why replay sucks!! :madra:

[laughedatbytime]

Interesting article on the NFC South, from reverse engineering the point spreads.

 

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/2014-nfl-preview-can-cam-newton-overtake-rob-ryan/

[laughedatbytime]

An even more interesting article was available by clicking one of the links.

 

http://www.footballperspective.com/vegas-has-the-seahawks-as-the-best-team-in-2014/

[treeduck]

Report: Patriots trade Ryan Mallett to Houston

 

Posted by Mike Wilkening on August 31, 2014, 1:38 PM EDT

 

One week before their regular season opener, the Texans have acquired a quarterback to whom they’ve long been linked.

 

The Patriots have traded backup Ryan Mallett to Houston, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Sunday.

 

According to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com, the Texans will give up a sixth-round pick for Mallett.

 

In Houston, Mallett will work again with Bill O’Brien, the former Patriots offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who’s now the Texans’ head coach.

 

For New England, the move makes rookie Jimmy Garoppolo the only backup to starter Tom Brady.

 

The focus now turns to whether Mallett can overtake Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Texans’ starting job. The trade could also potentially lead to another roster move for Houston, which now has four quarterbacks. Were a quarterback to be moved, third-year pro Case Keenum would seem to be the prime candidate.

 

A 2011 third-round pick from Arkansas, the 26-year-old Mallett has appeared in four regular season games, all as a reserve. He is in the final year of his contract. Whether the Texans will extend his deal or let him play out 2014 under his current contract is another storyline to watch.

[laughedatbytime]

Report: Patriots trade Ryan Mallett to Houston

 

Posted by Mike Wilkening on August 31, 2014, 1:38 PM EDT

 

One week before their regular season opener, the Texans have acquired a quarterback to whom they’ve long been linked.

 

The Patriots have traded backup Ryan Mallett to Houston, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Sunday.

 

According to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com, the Texans will give up a sixth-round pick for Mallett.

 

In Houston, Mallett will work again with Bill O’Brien, the former Patriots offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who’s now the Texans’ head coach.

 

For New England, the move makes rookie Jimmy Garoppolo the only backup to starter Tom Brady.

 

The focus now turns to whether Mallett can overtake Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Texans’ starting job. The trade could also potentially lead to another roster move for Houston, which now has four quarterbacks. Were a quarterback to be moved, third-year pro Case Keenum would seem to be the prime candidate.

 

A 2011 third-round pick from Arkansas, the 26-year-old Mallett has appeared in four regular season games, all as a reserve. He is in the final year of his contract. Whether the Texans will extend his deal or let him play out 2014 under his current contract is another storyline to watch.

Damn...beat me to it.

[treeduck]

Report: Patriots trade Ryan Mallett to Houston

 

Posted by Mike Wilkening on August 31, 2014, 1:38 PM EDT

 

One week before their regular season opener, the Texans have acquired a quarterback to whom they’ve long been linked.

 

The Patriots have traded backup Ryan Mallett to Houston, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Sunday.

 

According to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com, the Texans will give up a sixth-round pick for Mallett.

 

In Houston, Mallett will work again with Bill O’Brien, the former Patriots offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who’s now the Texans’ head coach.

 

For New England, the move makes rookie Jimmy Garoppolo the only backup to starter Tom Brady.

 

The focus now turns to whether Mallett can overtake Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Texans’ starting job. The trade could also potentially lead to another roster move for Houston, which now has four quarterbacks. Were a quarterback to be moved, third-year pro Case Keenum would seem to be the prime candidate.

 

A 2011 third-round pick from Arkansas, the 26-year-old Mallett has appeared in four regular season games, all as a reserve. He is in the final year of his contract. Whether the Texans will extend his deal or let him play out 2014 under his current contract is another storyline to watch.

Damn...beat me to it.

Mallet turned out to be a bit of a bust for Belicheat.