2016 NFL Whipping Post

[SoulBiter]

Here we are, another season. The first game is Panthers Broncos. That should be a good game!!!! Last year for me as a season ticket holder for the Falcons. The new stadium is nice but 8k dollars for pal's and a hike from 85$ to 125$ per game per seatisjut more than I can swallow. So this year I will enjoy every minute of the season and get my man cave finished with the savings from next season. My wife can always walk by and spill beer on my back, or stand between me and the game with a cooler of beer, yelling "get her cold beer!"

[aTOMiC]

It seems that every year my interest in the NFL (and my own team the Buccaneers) diminishes a little bit. Its not one big thing but a bunch of little things. This will be the first year in quite some time where there won't be a Brady - Manning rivalry. Its gone forever but that's the way of things. Players retire all the time and a few short years from now most of the starting quarterbacks of the league will be kids I barely know anything about (I don't follow college football). That's also the way of things. Get your top draft pick in the lineup and starting ASAP. And as always the least little thing can derail your season. Tony Romo's back injury is a prime example. I watched his backup play in a pre season game. I'm expecting the Cowboys to struggle this year. One less team to be interested in. Seems to be a pattern. There are other things. Again nothing big but noticeable none the less. Something about the attitude of the majority of players and how they react on the field. I saw it more last season than ever before. A player will make a routine play and celebrate like they've won the Superbowl. All the while their team is losing by 27 points with 3 minutes left to play in the game. The Bucs play in the same division as the Panthers who showed that they are some of the worst winners the league has ever seen. I'm expecting that this year they will stop bothering to shake hands at the end of games. Sportsmanship is uncool. I find myself feeling annoyed that what little decorum the NFL used to have is slowly eroding to the point that I may eventually find it difficult to recognize the sport. The problem lies with me, not the players. They are just doing what they do and the NFL has never been more popular.
Enough about all that. Time to complain about the Bucs.

The Bucs have been pretty unwatchable for about 8 seasons now. It reminds me of when I was a kid and they were the undisputed laughing stock of the league. Funny how history can repeat itself. I realize with arguably the best offense we've had in over a decade and a somewhat revitalized defense the Bucs could actually compete this season in the NFC South but I'm not going bet the farm on the idea. I predict a 7-9 season, maybe 8-8.

[SoulBiter]

The Bucs look pretty good.this year. Could be worse. I just saw that the Viking QB Terry Bridgewater just sustained a season ending injury

[SoulBiter]

Denver is loosing going into the second half. Rookie QB has toake those throws.Cam looks good but he has to stop.running or he won't be healthy all year.

[SoulBiter]

OK so its just me this year... thats OK I talk to myself all the time!

I watched the Bengals Steelers game last week. Man that was a good game. The outcome was never in doubt. The Steelers seem to be the Kryptonite for the Bengals. The Bengals played pretty well but not aggressive enough against their rival.

Falcons went to Raiders and won handily. Seems that if you give the QB time to throw, he throws pretty dang good. Was a great game and the Raiders didnt let us go in there and just take it. They fought hard. Matt Ryan looked like he was shaking off the last couple of years and was really playing well.

This coming week the Falcons go to the dreaded Superdome to play the Saints on Monday night football, on the anniversary of the date they re-opened the Superdome after Katrina. The news says:

MONDAY NIGHT FALCONS AT SAINTS
The 78 Steelers wouldnt beat the Saints on the 10 year anniversary of the reopening of the Superdome.

Damnit, Im not buying. They voodoo'd their way to a win against the Falcons last year but I dont think its the same team and Im betting we shrug that off. Last year it was all mistakes.. one after the other. A botched handoff in Saints territory gives them the ball. We fumbled on the Saints Goal line the next time we took a trip down there. We followed that up by allowing a blocked punt that was ran in for a TD, Tevon fumbled on a run at the 10 yard line in Saints territory. A bad snap causes a turnover.on the Saints 10 yard line. We had every opportunity to win that game but every time we got the ball in the redzone the Saints Voodoo kicked in and we turned into bozos. It was only the mediocre play of the Saints that kept the score from being more lopsided. That game should have been won handily since we were down in the redzone 5 times and fumbled it away in one way or the other.

Jags look horrible
Browns look horrible (I had hopes they would do better this year)
Broncos look like they are in mid season form already
The Panthers dont look as impressive this year but still look good.
Tampa looked good the first week against the Falcons but collapsed in week 2
The Jets and Pats look good this year as well.

Injury bug is settling in across the league.... the second half of the year will really tell the tale.

[SoulBiter]

Texans vs Pats on Thursday night football.

Texans were outmatched the entire night. Fumbles really cost them and they were not able to move the ball very effectively. The Texans O-line wasn't holding up at all and and the Pats were blowing through it at will.

At least one thing is clear. The Pats can win without their star QB. I'm sure it helps to have that kind of QB behind the line, but its obviously not necessary.

Week 3 picks, my choices in bold

Cardinals at Bills
Raiders at Titans
Redskins at Giants
Browns at Dolphins
Ravens at Jaguars
Lions at Packers
Broncos at Bengals
Vikings at Panthers
Rams at Bucs
49'rs at Seahawks
Jets at Chiefs
Chargers at Colts
Steelers at Eagles
Bears at Cowboys
Falcons at Saints (MNF)

[SoulBiter]

So its the end of week 3 and the Falcons were picked against by everyone but went down to the Superdome and dominated the Saints. The end score was 45 to 32 but could have been 52 to 32 because the Falcons took a knee at the goal line rather than punching another in with 20 secs on the clock.

So how did I do in the rest? Looks like I picked 9 of the games correctly. Not bad.

Cardinals at Bills
Raiders at Titans
Redskins at Giants
Browns at Dolphins
Ravens at Jaguars
Lions at Packers
Broncos at Bengals
Vikings at Panthers
Rams at Bucs
49'rs at Seahawks
Jets at Chiefs
Chargers at Colts
Steelers at Eagles
Bears at Cowboys
Falcons at Saints (MNF)

[Rawedge Rim]

first week I picked 11 right
second week I picked 10 right

so now I'm thinking, "not bad"

then week three came
a whopping 5 right

[SoulBiter]

Week 4 make your picks. Mine are bolded below.

Panthers vs Falcons. Panthers are heavily favored, coming off of two close losses and needing a win. They have a top Defense but their offense is not top tier regardless of Cams heroics.
Falcons are coming off of two road wins after stinking up the dome in game 1. They are putting up 30+ per game on offense and have a very diverse offense (running, short game to RBs or TE's and a long game threat.

The keys will be similar to last year. Contain Cam and make him try to beat you in the air and take the run game away from them. The defense needs to not make penalties that cost them on 4th down stops and give up a new set of downs. The pocket needs to collapse enough to make Cam throw the ball away. Cam is still a threat on beating the Falcons in the air with the long bombs but if the corners can be on point, and knock a few away, Cam will get frustrated. A frustrated Cam is a Cam that makes costly mistakes.

For the Falcons, they absolutely need to protect Ryan and give him time to get the ball to the play makers. Ryan has to be smart with his eyes and not let these guys jump the routes by watching his eyes. They are faster than the Saints are and will be more dangerous in that regard. The Panthers will try to take the run game away and will likely hang on the line and blitz often. That could open up some short to intermediate throws to the TO's and RB's. The Falcons absolutely cant be settling for 3 in the end zone.

I think this will be a tighter game and a tougher game than any we have had so far this season but this is winnable. If we cant hang with the big boys we wont be going to the post season so we have to be able at least win half of the next 4 games.


MIA vs CIN
Ind vs Jax
Car vs Atl
Oak vs Balt
Det vs Chi
Ten vs Hou
Buf vs NE
Sea vs NYJ
Cle vs Was
Den vs TB
LA vs Ari
NO vs SD
Dal vs SF
KC vs PIT
NYG vs MIN

[SoulBiter]

OK I didn't do so well this week... about 6 right. But the Falcons routed the Panthers!!! What an exciting game to be at! The score makes it look less of a dominant victory than it was. The last quarter the Falcons played prevent defense (Cover 2) and put in some guys they wouldn't normally play to get some field time at full speed. Well that was almost a mistake and the team went back to Cover 3 and Cover 4 and put pressure on the rookie QB and he coughed up two picks, one was ran in for a TD, the other could have been but again for a second week, the Falcons take a knee rather than padding stats.

Julio and Ryan both set records and together they set an NFL record. First time a receiver has gone for 300 yards while a passer goes for 500. Ryan is currently

The next two weeks will be even harder though. Denver at Denver and then Seahawks at Seahawks. But if we just split those games or (win both GASP), I will be thinking in terms of post season success. if the Falcons lose both, then they still have work to do.

[SoulBiter]

And another one goes down!! Atlanta went into Denver and beat Denver!!!! Next up the Seahawks. Also some history, this is only the third time a team has beat both prior year Superbowl teams back to back.

[Rawedge Rim]

And the Jags, despite their best efforts, managed to eke out a win again. I'll take the "W" but a prettier game would be nice.

[aTOMiC]

And the Jags, despite their best efforts, managed to eke out a win again. I'll take the "W" but a prettier game would be nice.

Hey. The Bucs, Jags and Dolphins all have 2 wins and won their last game. Trends like these can only be good for Florida.

[SoulBiter]

Always nice when your team gets a win!!!

Falcons came so close to running the gambit out west. A missed pass and pick that turned into 3 for the Seahawks and one bad call at the end sealed the deal for the SeaHawks.

Still one of the best and most fun games I've watched all year.

This week is San Diego Chargers in Atlanta. They are a team that can be dangerous. They have lost by a single play in the 4th over and over this year. But I still think the Falcons will win at home especially after the way we lost in Seattle.

After that its Green Bay Packers in Atlanta. GB seems to be in a state of collapse...we will see how they do this week.

Cowboys are killing it. Vikings are killing it. Patriots are their typical selves this year winning games.

[aTOMiC]

Bucs travel to the West coast (which they aren't known for doing very well) and handily beat the Niners. A nice bonus is that they are .500 for the year which is certainly better than I expected. I wonder if this is a trend?

[SoulBiter]

Bucs have quite the gambit to get through in the second half of the year. Raiders, Seahawks, Chargers, Chiefs, Cowboys plus their divisional games.

Falcons lost again by a single play in OT. Dan Quinn made a gutsy move by going for it on 4th down and if Jake hadnt tripped and fell over allowing the Defense to stuff the hole, Freeman would have gotten that yard. Instead the game was pretty much over.

This week Green Bay. I have a feeling the game is going to be similar to last weeks game against the Chargers. A shoot out. Hopefully the Falcons aren't the team that gets GB back on track. I dont think GB is playing up to their potential right now, and this game is certainly winnable.

[Rawedge Rim]

gonna take a bunch of wins to get the taste of these last two loss's out of my mouth.

Think the last time I saw something as bad as the last two jaguars games was when I was cleaning out the cat box. Certainly they stunk just as bad if not worse.

[sgt.null]

well Goodell could not beat the Pats! going 3-1 in the games Brady was out was amazing. and to do it with the 2nd and 3rd quarterback, even better. I hope they can get revenge for the one loss with a thumping of the Bills this weekend.

[SoulBiter]

Falcons knocked off GB in the game of the week. 5 - 3 and on to Tampa. Need to beat Tampa to take control of the division.

[aTOMiC]

Falcons knocked off GB in the game of the week. 5 - 3 and on to Tampa. Need to beat Tampa to take control of the division.

After that disappointing display by the Bucs yesterday I doubt the Falcons will have much trouble. Winston was the most inaccurate I'd ever seen him missing long throws by a mile and even having trouble with the short game. If the Raiders hadn't set a record with penalty yardage the game wouldn't have been in any way close. I get the feeling this could go on for the rest of the season. At least we spent a second round draft pick on the most accurate kicker in college football so no worries there.