NFL - Random Opinions

Sam Darnold showed the same form that he had after returning from IR for Carolina in 2022, when he put up 100+ passer ratings four times in six games and took that team from fire sale mode to within a game of the division title.

Since the Vikings already drafted their future franchise QB, he's playing for his potential payday in free agency after the season. He's certainly off to a good start.

 

Derek Carr showed the same form that he had at the end of the 2023 season when he put up 100+ passer ratings in 5 of the final 6 games and took the team from clearing house to within a game of the division title.

Carr is potentially playing for a lucrative extension after the season. He's certainly off to a good start.



Please tell me you don't need this post explained to you.

 

The 0-2 Ravens better get it figured out and it wont be easy. They are in Dallas next week and then home for the Bills, then back on the road to Cincinnati...

And who would have guessed the Ravens would give up the most points (53) through 2 games in the AFC to start this thing.

 

To say the 49ers Defense shat the bed in the 2nd half would be an insult to soiled mattresses. Ho my God, the way they imploded those last 4 drives was borderline criminal.

On a day when the Offense is severely shorthanded and without CMC, Deebo & Kittle, Purdy absolutely balls out, Greg Jennings has the game of his life and its all for nothing cos the Defense collapsed. Shocking to see from a D like that.

Note: Also a mention to Ronnie Bell, who is surely not long for this league. Two killer 4th Q drops off easy catches that hit him right in the hands, in particular the 2nd one that would've put the ball at the Rams 24 and allowed the 9ers to run out the clock before kicking a pretty easy FG to win.

 

You realize you're helping make my point, right? Carr was one of last year's top free agents, signing a contract with 100 million guaranteed. Darnold has been a bargain rack one-year prove it deal free agent the last two years. So by using Carr as your QB to mimic my post, you're going ahead and putting Darnold on that big money free agent level. And from the way he has played so far, he deserves it.

I know how Darnold was a disaster for the Jets and wasn't good for the Panthers in 2021. The difference is that Carolina brought in Ben McAdoo for 2022 specifically to work with him on his mechanics. McAdoo really did turn him around. The way he's playing now is how he played for Carolina when he came back from IR in 2022.

The hilarious irony... Carolina had both Darnold and Baker Mayfield on the roster in 2022 but chose to kick them to the curb, opting to give away the farm to draft Bryce Young instead. Three games into the second season after that move, the unwanted Darnold and Mayfield are #1 and (tied) #2 in touchdowns, #2 and #4 in passer rating, and generally in the upper half of the league in any positive statistic.

 

The browns got rid of Baker to give Watson a guaranteed contract

 

The point you were making couldn't have been more obvious because you're a long time Darnold fanboy. The unfortunate part for you is if you'd just kept your powder dry for a little longer and said that stuff even this week, you would've had a far stronger point, because the truth is Darnold has played well to start the season*. Instead you took your shot after 1 game, and a game against the worst team in the league coming into that game to boot. Even if Darnold wins the MVP this year, the fact you fanboyed too early will unfortunately hurt your credibility on the matter in future.

As for my point re Carr, maybe you don't know the rep he has around here. Despite having had what has been a very successful career overall, Carr gets talked down frequently. Darnold meanwhile has been a massive draft bust who is now on his 4th team and outside of that mythical several games in 2022 had never done much of anything good coming into this season. Despite this he has some devout believers who talk him up to being something he simply doesn't deserve, yet.

So thats why i made the comparison. Due to hefty amounts of personal bias, Carr and Darnold are on the opposite sides of the same coin, at least here. For clarity tho, just as i thought it was crazy to be hyping up Darnold after 1 game against the worst team in the league, i also considered it premature to get carried away with Carr too soon(not that anyone has here). Let's see where both are at midseason and end of year.

* He hasn't actually thrown for a lot of passing yards, but has been very efficient, particularly in the redzone, and has largely avoided the kinda of bad mistakes he made a lot more earlier in his career.

That is some beautiful irony, and yes, terrible terrible decisions made by the Panthers(not the only ones see 2021 draft). There was a case to keep Darnold in particular after 2022. It wasn't rock solid, i think he had a terrible final game which prob swung it, but at the very least its not hard to think they would've been far better the last season and a bit if they'd kept Darnold and all the draft picks and just built the roster. Meddlesome ownership at play.

Of course, i dislike seeing Darnold do so well cos its with a div rival. But overall i really like it when these guys have a late career resurgence and prove people wrong. Who knows what'll happen with Darnold if he finishes with a great season, but i really like seeing Geno carve out a successful career in Seattle. Respect what Mayfield is doing in TB. Its good stuff.

 

Browns & Steelers both chose to get into bed(pun intended) with known sexual predators, didn't they gidion.

 

At least Roethlisberger could play. ​

 

I'm impressed with Jayden Daniels........Rookie is 2-1 with Washington and has a 80.3 % .........those are numbers we have not seen by a rookie.

 

I’m going to go out on a limb and declare that the Commanders are winning the NFCE this season.

 

I’m going to go out on a limb and declare that the Commanders are winning the NFCE this season.


WOW.....your by passing the Eagles and the Cowboys. good luck with that predication Gidi we will review this at Christmas time.....lol

 

They remind me of Houston last season

 

The cowboys have the highest paid player in league history and it shows in their record.

 

Biggest mouth in the NFL goes to - Bengals CB Cam Taylor-Britt

 

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At least the Browns fans i saw here were upset at the situation and didn't want someone like that on their team. High integrity. You only care about how he played football. Sewer rat integrity.

 

Me too. He's made a fine start. Needs to take less hits tho.

 

Me too. He's made a fine start. Needs to take less hits tho.


Everton........I agree and you can say the same thing about Caleb Williams for your Bears..........Caleb need Offensive Lineman and he needed them yesterday.

Williams is 1-2 and played well against the AFC South in his first 3 games........You got your QB and I'm impressed with him.......NOW you need OL x 3.....good luck

 

Gotta chance to watch some extra football over the last couple days.

Here's some observations...

Patriots - Jets
The Pats might as well bite the bullet and start getting Drake some more reps in live action. They don't necessarily need to start him but getting him some more than a couple series in the second half of games should be a priority. The chance at making the playoffs this season is extremely thin so everything should be focused on 2025. I'd start getting him in to open the 4th quarter over the next couple of weeks and if he looks like he is ready to survive behind that offensive line, then make the change. Also, Antonio Gibson needs to be utilized more. He adds an element of explosion to an offense that desperately needs it.

For the Jets, it just looks like a team that has a chance to go down in a fireball of disaster in the second half of the season. All kinds of talent all over the field but some kind of odd dynamic that makes them look functionally dysfunctional? Not quite sure how to word it but I know what my eyes are trying to explain to me...

Bengals - Commanders
Cincinnati is going to be the team that gets hot in the second half of the season but will struggle to get in the show because of how far they have put themselves behind the 8-ball. You can see it in the offense now. They are right on the cusp of starting games with a flash of scoring and continuing to roll for 60 minutes. It's just a question of whether or not they can get that defense to start slowing down the opposition enough to keep the offense on the field for a few more series.

Jayden Daniels is going to be fun to watch, but I do worry about his physical stature holding up for an entire season. Credit to Kliff for helping him with the type of offense that caters to Jayden's strengths, and this is a roster that does have enough playmakers for Washington to be a sneak thief for a division title. Bobby Wagner continues to be a fucking stud at linebacker.

Bears - Colts
Lots of discussions I have right now circle around the two quarterbacks from this one so I'll spend a little time on both...

Caleb Williams is going to be a very good NFL quarterback. I have zero doubt. However, the Bears could be doing a lot more to help him get where they want him to be. For starters, if you look at when he is playing his best football it has a lot to do with being decisive. Look at his scoring drive to Odunze - Everything positive passing happened with Caleb dropping back, setting and delivering. He knew what was happening in front of him, made the correct assumptions and was able to quickly decide where to go with the ball. It led to a series of highly accurate passes in windows that the receivers were easily able to work within. This is where the Bears need to understand that simplifying things for their rookie caller is not a bad thing but can be the catalyst to start positive gameplans with. There is no reason why Chicago can't start out the day with some simple *read1, read2, run* play designs that forces the defense to stay tight in because of Caleb's feet while affording Williams the ability to find early rhythm. Also, scrap the option pitch until he is confident in his decision making. When you have a passer that is developing a habit of slightly overthinking, don't fucking give him plays created around making him decide what to do in horrible situations. You're at the goal line. Run the ball conventionally, run play action or just set up the pass and let him decide to run it if nothing is open. To option there is stupid. There are a lot of other complaints I can make, but I'm running short on time...

Anthony Richardson needs to be forced into playing a little less casual. Part of his accuracy issues are coming from him simply turning and chucking instead of placing and firing. It's total backyard football. When he actually sets and delivers, the accuracy is there. He needs to be more consistent with his footwork. This could be helped in the play calling by giving him some quick delivery options to start a game. Get him to drop back, set and deliver on time with some WR screens, quick hitches and slants, but there needs to be a focused effort in practice to make it so that he has to do so from a solid platform. If he can get that right, then Richardson is going to be a difficult quarterback for defenses to get off the field.

Some quick notes -

It looks like Minnesota probably upgraded at passer by letting Cousins go and signing Darnold. It's early in the season, but Sam has looked pretty damn good. For Cousins - I'm not sure what Atlanta is going to have with Kirk by the end of the season, but they're probably good with all of the shit talk sent their way over the drafting of Penix.

Fields is a roided up version of Pickett in the Steelers offense. I'll let the Pittsburgh faithful sling some darts before I expand...

Deshaun Watson will go down as the worst acquisition by a franchise. It makes the Herschel Walker deal look thrifty by comparison.

I'll add some more later.