I am afraid someone will fly drones on the field in the middle of the Superbowl 2016 game.
After last year, Belichick now has expertise in physics.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned the fact that the headset malfunctions were caused by the giant magnetic fields that the Patriots put up that caused the Steelers field goals to go wide in the first quarter.
We’re on to Buffalo!
NFL newbie starting Heisman Trophy QBs Winston and Mariota will tangle Sunday when Tampa and Tennessee play each other. We’ll be able to get a good idea during game of how well prepared they are for NFL.
It feels so weird to be looking forward to a game between Tampa and Tennessee. Normally I wouldn’t watch either team. I’m glad it’s supposed to rain Sunday so I won’t feel lo guilty. GO DUCKS!
I don’t know how much a game between Tampa and TN could reveal if Joe Blow were playing QB. I’m not a fan of either player’s game and I’m going to stick to my skepticism.
I’m looking forward to Buffalo and Indy: we know the Bills’ game plan is to run and pound and that Indy did squat to improve their D. (In fact, we learned in the NFL special on NE that they used the same game plan for the AFC Championship game as they did in the regular season, which speaks volumes about what they think of that team.)
KC/Houston is interesting too, if only because of Hard Knocks. I’m interested in seeing how Houston’s D performs.
And I’m curious if AZ is back to the form they had before they lost every potential QB in the Western Hemisphere last year.
@lergnom:
I have been reading the same thing, that the college game, with its obvious intent on winning, relies on spread offsense and the life that doesn’t prepare players for the NFL. The article went on to say that it not only hurt the QB position, it hurt the offensive lineman, because with the spread offense and the Oregon style offense, you don’t learn the footwork and the moves and even how to use the 3 point stance properly. It is made worse that the amount of practicing has been cut down by the CBA, that they don’t have the time to teach O lineman how to play, and it may be way offensive players are getting more hurt. A lot of teams are making the move of drafting defensive lineman and converting them, that they have a lot more of the footwork and moves needed to be a good O lineman. I have to admit I have never been a big fan of the college game, the idiotic read option/triple option quarterbacks, it irritates me, and what gets me even more angry is hearing the experts claiming that the college game is gonna 'revolutionize" the NFL…remember when Tim Tebow was gonna change the game, until NE broke his ribs? Remember all those saying Manziel was gonna tear up the league? I hear it now with Chip Kelley’s offense in Philadelphia, but I give it a year or two, and defenses will shut it down, the way they did the wildcat, Air Corriel, the west coast revolution, etc, it balances out (it doesn’t mean the vertical passing game, the west coast offense, aren’t used, it means they no longer dominate the way they did when invented).
Here’s my trick: when I hear some guy on TV or radio or read that the college game and the spread offense, etc. will revolutionize the pro game, I think “idiot”. Top college teams show up and win most of their games because their teams are bigger, faster and more athletically talented, while every single player in the NFL is as fast and big and athletically talented as the best players in college. Your guys can’t outblock the defense just because you’re Alabama and your RB’s can’t get outside consistently or blow through holes like in college and you’ll get lit up if you try to duck inside the edge contain and your TE can’t contain the rampaging LB and that safety is running free at you.
There are short term successes with zone read and other option QB’s and I understand - and have probably mentioned - the effect of the QB slide rules that directly help running QB’s. (BTW, if anyone doesn’t know, zone read is just a simplified option offense in which the QB and the RB cross paths and the QB decides to handoff or not. Think the fullback in the wishbone: comes forward, QB fakes to him or hands it to him.) Seattle does it but sparingly and Wilson slides really well but, to be blunt, so far Seattle’s success has been rooted in its defense, with its offense often being minimally productive. And they’ve been able to rely more on a running game because their defense is so strong. If the Seattle offense is to mature, it will need more passing, less running by the QB. Wilson’s contract value is now something like $60M guaranteed and he’s one hit away as a RB from being permanently damaged. In fact, one comment I heard about Tom Brady’s QB sneaking is that he risks being concussed because he’s acting as an RB then. It isn’t just the importance of the QB to the game but on the salary cap. Look at Robert Griffin’s huge number for Washington.
But I don’t think many people thought Johnny Football was going to be much in the NFL.
@lergnom:
Well said. There is a wonderful book called “Blood, Sweat and Chalk” that talks about the evolution of the NFL, and the horsepower war between offense and defense, from its beginnings with the ‘wedge’formation (lineman literally linked arms and plowed through the defense", the game was so brutal back in those days that Teddy Roosevelt seriously thought of banning the sport…then the creation of the forward pass, later on the T offense, and then the development of the defense, blitzing, various packages, you name it. It also talked about things like the wildcat and the option/spread offenses, and the running quarterbacks, and it made one big mistake, that NFL defenses adjusted, and the wildcat died. Colin Kapernick, who primarily made his bones running the ball, has turned into a flop so far, because defenses figured him out (the funniest line I can think of was talking about Dick Lebeau (ex Pittsburgh and now Titans DC), when all this read option crap was being drooled about, someone said "forget it, Lebeau remembers when they used it in the NFL when he was playing’ lol.
And with the even bigger emphasis on winning with the huge tv contracts with the big schools, the temptation is not going to be developing the players for the pros, but on immediate winning. It kind of makes you wonder if the gap gets big enough, that the pros will get fed up, and create some sort of true minor league system, either for kids coming out of college or perhaps right out of high school, where they can learn to play the pro game and develop. It has gotten worse in the NFL IMO, with the limitations on training in the CBA, there is even less time to develop players. The thought of such a minor league is not a bad one, it would I think take college football back to what it was supposed to be, students who wanted to play the game, and get rid of the joke that college players in the big schools are students and the corruption of the big money that has been proven in every way, shape and form, doesn’t help the college in its academic mission, the money pulled in from tv contracts and such goes right back into the football program, and doesn’t influence at all donations for academic scholarships or buildings or whatnot, those happen totally separately.
As lergnom said, the college game is fundamentally inferior, even the best team in college, like an Alabama or Ohio State, is nowhere near the worst NFL team in ability. FBS teams have 83 scholarships each year, and there are over 100 top teams in the FBS who generally send most of their players into the NFL, there are 32 NFL teams with 53 man rosters, right there you have a difference, then, too, each year only a small percent of the total NFL rosters are taken by incoming college kids, so they are getting the tippy top…then, in the NFL, they become bigger, stronger and faster and also smarter about the game. The read option offense in college is designed to work with mediocre talent (it is why it is the hallmark of high school teams, or teams like Army and Navy that work with what talent they can get, given they don’t recruit the way an FBS school does).
I didn’t realize how corrupted college football is with money until I checked out tickets for Rutgers, our not so great state university (in football). They are now in the division with big time schools like Michigan State, Ohio State (can’t keep the name right, Big 10? Big 12? who the heck remembers…). I was interested in the Ohio State game at home, and the cheapest tickets were 175 bucks in the corner of the end zone, which is like more that double the cost of the cheapest Jets or Giants tickets at face value (non season). I find that kind of offensive, given this is a public university and my tax dollars help pay for the program, but more importantly, it shows what big time college football is about, business and $$$$.
In terms of Johnny Football, the talking head in football still are trying to cheerlead for him, Gruden is stlll a booster, as is Ron Jaworski (ever wanna know the truth? Take what jaws says and reverse it 180 degrees). He is the classic example of the college QB who is going to get killed, his style of sandlot QB might work in college, against second class defenses compared to the NFL, but he does that in the NFL, defenses are going to clobber him, and he is not exactly built like Cam Newton.
Yes . . . I am definitely ready for some football! It’s time to turn the page. The dog has her jersey on and I have my new shirt for new juju.
I’m hoping that Wilson’s timing is better than it was in pre-season. He is no Brady on the slant routes.
I am so thrilled that we picked up Fred Jackson!
Percy who?
Dang - it’s time to start moving the football - offense not looking too fab so far
Jets look like crap, they just gave a TD to Manziel, so much for Bowles being a defensive genius…and Jets blew a 4th and 1, couldn’t make it…looks like it is gonna be a long season.
Maybe Manziel really is an offensive genius . . . never know . . . could be 
The problem with trading your center for a receiver/TE is that the QB needs some time to actually get the ball to the receiver. Jimmy Graham doesn’t do us much good if Wilson has no time to throw. grrrrrrrrr
For you, saintfan. 
Thanks - they could use the help - it isn’t going well. Wilson is just staring down his receivers when he does try to throw and StL is jumping the routes
They are not tackling well which is uncharacteristic and the secondary is out of synch
And just can’t move the football to save their lives. This game is always ugly vs StL but I’d rather win ugly than lose ugly