The Official 2018 NFL Season Thread
TexasSnacks
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i have to admit, jerry jones complete idiocy is really making it hard for me to get excited for this season. i've never been so lukewarm heading into a season. while a lot of people are getting tired of the anthem protests, i'm getting turned off by the opposite. i love politics and social awareness in my football. at its' best, sports has always allowed wider struggles to take place on their fields, rings, and courts--jackie robinson, west texas (utep), billie jean king, muhammed ali--and i've felt that that has dipped some as athletes have made more money, even though the real money is still in the hands of the owners. the backlash from ownership is really turning me off. jerry, you've made your money off the backs of mostly african american players. stand with them. you wanna rah rah over the anthem? fine. but acknowledge what this protest is about and that maybe, just maybe, you are against police brutality.
for the 39th consecutive year, i think the cowboys will bring home the trophy.
division winners, in order:
nfc
rams
eagles
saints
packers
wildcards
vikings
cowboys
cowboys over the eagles
afc
patriots
steelers
chargers
titans
wildcards
chiefs
jaguars
steelers over patriots
superbowl
cowboys over steelers
was watching the cowboys-washington game from thanksgiving 1990 the other day (on youtube, in its' entirety). man, that team was emerging. it was also great, because i think that's where rookie emmitt started to assert himself. it's so awesome throughout that game, john madden is literally falling in love with emmitt smith, as well as predicting his future. "some guys just have a nose for the goal line, and smith seems like one of those guys", "the more i see of emmitt smith, the more i think the cowboys got themselves a special player", etc.
why. the. fuck. won't the cowboys fucking trade for earl thomas? i like just about everything about the cowboys d--pass rush, dl line depth, starting linebackers, corners, defense coaches--except the fucking safeties. jeff heath is great...in the nickel or as a back-up. i want to believe in kevon frazier or xavier woods, but honestly, i don't. we NEED a real safety. i have never understood why we have so blatantly failed to address this position, but jesus, we need a safety. in 1992, dallas made three key defensive moves: they traded for charles haley, and they traded for safety thomas everett, and they drafted linebacker darren woodson and made him into a (hof in my opinion) safety. two important safety moves that set us up for a superbowl that season with everett starting, and more down the road with woodson. let's not waste the other pieces we have in place, cowboys.
https://nytimes.com/2018/08/22/obituaries/george-andrie-dead.html
so, i sure hope the cowboys "brain trust" knows something i don't, because cutting dan bailey sure is a shocker. i know he fell apart at the end of last year, but i assumed that was a result of a groin injury. my fear is that this is simply a financial decision. bailey would have made 3.4 million this year, mahar counts 500 grand against the books. for a team predicated on ball-control and hopefully improved but saftey-less defense, getting rid of a an accurate, strong legged kicker like dan bailey seems an enormous risk.
if quincy could have layed off the coke, he might have been decent. parcells got an amazing year out of him, and i always liked him, raw though he was. and yes, where jerry is concerned, if he says he wants a qb, run in the opposite direction. manziel, lynch, how many first rounders that are woefully awful enough that their teams give up on them after two years? jeez.
Let us also acknowledge the Raiders cut Connor Cook after acquiring McCarron and that I believe Hackenburg wasn't even on the Eagles long enough to finish his Philly Cheesesteak. Those are two other guys I heard attached to the Cowboys. I think one or both of them were some kind of gingers so Garrett probably lent a little expertise in assessing their potential. Speaking of plucky gingers, I'm glad the Cowboys didn't do something stupid and allow their belief in Cooper Rush fool them into releasing Mike White.
In all seriousness, there's always the question of how much bad advice Jerry is getting from his handpicked asslickers. McClay is supposed to be a quality personnel guy. In the case of Manziel, I think that was more or less Jerry's dumbshit rube whims. I'm pretty sure Lynch was better regarded amongst many more front offices. Wasn't Lynch an RPO guy in college? No fucking way is he a dual threat in the pros. He's just one of many guys that got put in the right junk offense at the right time and were fortunate enough to play in a chump conference against total geeks. As much as I detest Old Piss, I'm surprised Elway was one of the few guys willing to take a flier on Chad Kelly. I try not to be sentimental and would hate for a Rebel to steal a Bulldog's job, but the Cowboys should've taken a flier them damned selves on a former Super Bowl whipping boy's nephew.
The Kony Ealy cut was also a surprise because I had no idea he was even on the team. It wasn't until reading the blurb that I realized why his name jumped out. He had that monster all-around game for the Panthers in the Super Bowl a few years ago.
we still need to do something about safety, though. we can't stand pat. i will be SO pissed if our best pass rush since the days of haley-tolbert-jones-maryland-et alis wasted under a hail of deep throws to wide open receivers running free in our defensive backfield. fucking makes me pine for barry church.
NFC East
Redskins: Alex Smith safes his new politically incorrect monikered team to a division title.
Cowboys: Line runs over people and Elliot stomps on their corpses
Eagles: Superbowl hangover
Giants: Cadaver Manning plays like he's been autopsied
NFC South:
Saints: Because I like Drew Brees
Falcons: Because I like Julio Jones
Panthers: Because Cam Newton annoys me
Bucs: Because Jameis Winston is an ass
NFC North:
Packers: Aaron Rogers is Aaron Rogers
Vikings: Kirk Cousins is not Aaron Rogers
Lions: Matt Stafford is not Aaron Rogers
Bears: Mitch Trubisky is neither Kirk Cousins nor Matt Stafford
NFC West:
Rams: Run the ball, play defense, yadda yadda yadda
Niners: Jimmy Gsus
Seahawks: Can Russell Wilson play DB?
Cardinals: Yeah....
AFC East
Patriots: Because Dolphins, Jets, Bills
Dolphins: Lots of okay on this team
Jets: Hope floats
Bills: Just gave Paxton Lynch a tryout for fuck's sake
AFC South
Texans: Healthy and balanced
Jaguars: O will hurt the D
Titans: Vrabel discovers the Patriot way only works when exposed to the contaminants in Boston area water
Colts: Lucky but not good (yet)
AFC North
Steelers: Ray Lewis is still retired, Andy Dalton still sucks, and the Browns are still the Browns
Ravens: I don't know why.
Bengals: 200 yards of personal foul penalties per game under the new tackling rules...
Browns: Last because the Raiders aren't in this division
AFC West
Broncos: Good D, at least average QB, rookie of the year candidates on both sides of the ball, and my orange colored glasses
Chargers: Because they good
Chiefs: Mahomes throws 20+ TDs AND 20+ picks
Raiders: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL spells Gruden
broncos fan, eh?
but for realsies, i'm glad demarcus ware got a ring with y'all..