The National Football League

Poncier

My longshot Superb Owl matchup:
Cleveland vs LA Rams.

CROJAM95

If McCarthy gets canned, you have to think Quinn gets the promotion

I think Belichick/ Washington makes way more sense, More Control for Bill 

Merkin Baller

CROJAM95 said:

If McCarthy gets canned, you have to think Quinn gets the promotion

I think Belichick/ Washington makes way more sense, More Control for Bill 

If this were 10 years ago, I might agree, but he'll be 72 in April... I would think he wants to win more sooner than later. 

MayDay10

Merkin Baller said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

If he does, Kraft will have to fire him... I don't think he's going to sign off on a trade where his new team has to give up assets to bring him in. 

As far as NE goes, that defense kept showing up & giving their all week in & week out even after they were well out of playoff contention. Hearing the way guys like Peppers & Andrews talk about him tells me he hasn't lost the locker room / team & they still love playing for him. 

I think it will be a mistake for Kraft to let him go. 

From the outside, I have great respect for Belichick, and what he has accomplished and innovated over his career.

 However, I believe it would be in the Patriots' (and maybe Belichick's) best interests to have a clean break.  They need to build a championship football program from the top-down.  They nice draft slot in what looks like a great draft to be there as well as some cap flexibility I think.  They need some new innovative ideas for 2024-on, especially offensively, and I don't think Belichick can reinvent himself again there to get it done.  Also, who knows how a Belichick/GM relationship would go in NE, would Belichick need to approve of it?  Would his presence keep candidates away?  

On the flip-side, I can see a fresh start and a new outlook for Belichick possibly bringing success in LA or Chicago (or even Dallas if the crap out).


Its interesting to see what happens.  You have to think Kraft is really conflicted right now, as-is Belichick.  I wonder how sentimental Kraft is, and how much that will cloud his judgement.

Johnny Abruzzo

I'll say Dallas vs. Buffalo in the Super Bowl.

Wobbie

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

please, no!

Merkin Baller

MayDay10 said:

Merkin Baller said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

If he does, Kraft will have to fire him... I don't think he's going to sign off on a trade where his new team has to give up assets to bring him in. 

As far as NE goes, that defense kept showing up & giving their all week in & week out even after they were well out of playoff contention. Hearing the way guys like Peppers & Andrews talk about him tells me he hasn't lost the locker room / team & they still love playing for him. 

I think it will be a mistake for Kraft to let him go. 

From the outside, I have great respect for Belichick, and what he has accomplished and innovated over his career.

 However, I believe it would be in the Patriots' (and maybe Belichick's) best interests to have a clean break.  They need to build a championship football program from the top-down.  They nice draft slot in what looks like a great draft to be there as well as some cap flexibility I think.  They need some new innovative ideas for 2024-on, especially offensively, and I don't think Belichick can reinvent himself again there to get it done.  Also, who knows how a Belichick/GM relationship would go in NE, would Belichick need to approve of it?  Would his presence keep candidates away?  

On the flip-side, I can see a fresh start and a new outlook for Belichick possibly bringing success in LA or Chicago (or even Dallas if the crap out).


Its interesting to see what happens.  You have to think Kraft is really conflicted right now, as-is Belichick.  I wonder how sentimental Kraft is, and how much that will cloud his judgement.

RE: personnel decisions, he's had help before; he had Scott Pioli there for the 1st 8 or so years, and Nick Caserio had a pretty big role in personnel decisions after that... would BB cede final say? Hard to say, but I don't think he wants to start over somewhere else at this stage; and I don't think Kraft wants to start from scratch either, not at 82 years old. His best chances of seeing another trophy are probably w/ BB. 

Patriots had a top 10 defense this year, depending on the source (ranked as low as 12th & as high as 7th) and it's not as if they have ZERO talent on the offensive side. IDK if BOB is the answer as OC, but they have a good draft position and plenty of cap space... maybe the future isn't as rosy as I want to think but anyone they bring in is going to be a setback from a coaching standpoint, and probably a significant one. 

It will indeed be interesting, but this Pats fan hopes he's back another year. I think their best chances for winning in the short term are w/ BB, but won't be shocked if they send him packing either. 

Poncier

Merkin Baller said:

Poncier said:

Glorified KC said:

KC on Peacock exclusively and I don’t have Peacock here in Wisconsin.  Looks like I’ll be a temporary subscriber.

I hope the ratings for this game are at Blutarski levels (even though I have access to Peacock), and the streaming exclusive playoff games thing dies a quick and decisive death.
Playoff games should be easily accessible to all.

I don't think the league cares about the ratings. They've been streaming TNF on Amazon for a couple years now... I can't help but think that lost them some viewers, but why should that be a concern if the streaming service is putting up the money in advance? 

Not to mention KC's a perfect team to try this with as well what with the Swfties tuning in and all. 

mrussel1 said:

Poncier said:

Glorified KC said:

KC on Peacock exclusively and I don’t have Peacock here in Wisconsin.  Looks like I’ll be a temporary subscriber.

I hope the ratings for this game are at Blutarski levels (even though I have access to Peacock), and the streaming exclusive playoff games thing dies a quick and decisive death.
Playoff games should be easily accessible to all.

It's so annoying for so many reasons.  I think it will be a winner for NBC because they will get the ad revenue plus the $5 for all of us that sign up for one day then cancel.  

And the worst thing about streaming is not being able to flip at commercials.  Drives me nuts.  I can't stand watching hockey on ESPN+. It sucks.

The league has been paid already, so ratings matter little to them (but still they don't want really low viewership), so its NBC/Peacock who wants the eyeballs. Hope is ratings are crazy low and they realize it isn't worth paying for an exclusive stream (advertisers won't pay the same rate going forward etc.), and they (and Bezos on Thursday) give up the rights next time things come up for bid and they go back to regular broadcast. Not likely, but one can only hope.

igotid88

Wobbie said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

please, no!

I don't want that either. Don't want the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl

F Me In The Brain

igotid88 said:

Wobbie said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

please, no!

I don't want that either. Don't want the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl

They won't,  not this year.

eeriepadave

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

Wobbie said:

Merkin Baller said:

Poncier said:

Glorified KC said:

KC on Peacock exclusively and I don’t have Peacock here in Wisconsin.  Looks like I’ll be a temporary subscriber.

I hope the ratings for this game are at Blutarski levels (even though I have access to Peacock), and the streaming exclusive playoff games thing dies a quick and decisive death.
Playoff games should be easily accessible to all.

I don't think the league cares about the ratings. They've been streaming TNF on Amazon for a couple years now... I can't help but think that lost them some viewers, but why should that be a concern if the streaming service is putting up the money in advance? 

yup.

Who are your Super Bowl teams? 
Im going with

49'ers VS Buffalo 

Ravens and Lions

Wobbie

F Me In The Brain said:

igotid88 said:

Wobbie said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

please, no!

I don't want that either. Don't want the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl

They won't,  not this year.

I think igot was intimating that BB could win a SB with the ‘boys. Perhaps, but let’s not find out. as much as it pains me, I think TB12 was the straw that stirred that drink.

igotid88

F Me In The Brain said:

igotid88 said:

Wobbie said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

please, no!

I don't want that either. Don't want the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl

They won't,  not this year.

I meant if they hire Belichick 

Wobbie

igotid88 said:

F Me In The Brain said:

igotid88 said:

Wobbie said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

please, no!

I don't want that either. Don't want the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl

They won't,  not this year.

I meant if they hire Belichick 

maybe they could lure Eli out of retirement, too…

Halifax2TheMax

eeriepadave said:

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

Wobbie said:

Merkin Baller said:

Poncier said:

Glorified KC said:

KC on Peacock exclusively and I don’t have Peacock here in Wisconsin.  Looks like I’ll be a temporary subscriber.

I hope the ratings for this game are at Blutarski levels (even though I have access to Peacock), and the streaming exclusive playoff games thing dies a quick and decisive death.
Playoff games should be easily accessible to all.

I don't think the league cares about the ratings. They've been streaming TNF on Amazon for a couple years now... I can't help but think that lost them some viewers, but why should that be a concern if the streaming service is putting up the money in advance? 

yup.

Who are your Super Bowl teams? 
Im going with

49'ers VS Buffalo 

Ravens and Lions

This is my pick as well but buffalo could represent if they play consistently and eliminate the mistakes. The ravens strike me as consistent throughout the season but we’ll see how the bye treats them.

Regarding BB, he’s reportedly said he’d give up the GM role so provided Kraft can find a GM that BB can work with, he should stay. I don’t see him going to Washington, GB or Atlanta or Dallas. Maybe LA Dolts but I don’t see that either just because BB doesn’t strike me as an LA kind of guy. Old, frumpy, grumpy new englander to relocate for what? 14 more wins over 3 years? Kraft should give him 2 or 3 more years to get the 14 and another ring and let him ride off into the sunset.

MayDay10

Im taking:

Buffalo or Cleveland in the AFC.


Dallas in the NFC.  I think they sting San Fran.

Gern Blansten

There are going to be some great games this year.

Wobbie

MayDay10 said:

Im taking:

Buffalo or Cleveland in the AFC.

I’d love for it to be buffalo but, to me, their rushing attack looked pathetic last night. aberration or the norm?

since I’m a deshaun hater (don’t start, mrussell), it would be funny to see the browns make the SB without him.

definitely, two long suffering fanbases.

F Me In The Brain

igotid88 said:

F Me In The Brain said:

igotid88 said:

Wobbie said:

igotid88 said:

Merkin Baller said:

CROJAM95 said:

Is Belichick sticking around? 

Falcons/Commanders fire their coaches.

I hope so. 

He needs personnel help for sure, but i do hope he's still the HC in '24. 

He will go to a ready made team like Brady. Maybe the Cowboys if they don't make it past the first round and they fire their coach. 

please, no!

I don't want that either. Don't want the Cowboys winning another Super Bowl

They won't,  not this year.

I meant if they hire Belichick 

Got it, thanks.

Glorified KC

Bills vs. 49ers