NFL 2015-2016

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Shyftyy said:
This was fantastic, thank you! Amazing to look at the things that were legal back then. Helmet to helmet(chinstrap) hits, horse collar tackles, all those blind side hits on the QBs.
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Definitely. Also the fact that these things were not just legal, but were the elements that the NFL highlighted, advertised and encouraged.
 
Phil said:
Seems to me like there's a number of different versions, yeah. Obviously I went for the cheapest one.
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Feels wrong to say you went for the cheapest yet it still cost you £70! That's American football for you though.
 
Love this thread. This is always the first one I check when logging on to the caf now. Some great contributors in it. And its nice to have some level headed NFL discussion rather than the fan-boy crap you get elsewhere.
 
I've not been keeping up with the whole Brady saga I'll admit, but just read a brief article about the court case.

Apparently Brady is insisting that the charge of him cheating must be dropped? He'll agree to lower penalties so long as they are imposed only for failure to cooperate rather than for having actually broken the rules.

This seemingly as some kind of image damage control exercise, which is farcical when it's so clear he knew about the ball pressures being low. Does he really think that people are going to suddenly believe he's innocent?
 
Rado_N said:
This seemingly as some kind of image damage control exercise, which is farcical when it's so clear he knew about the ball pressures being low. Does he really think that people are going to suddenly believe he's innocent?
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Why is it so clear? Give me some examples because I haven't seen anything to suggest he knew about it.
 
I personally think he must have known about it. I haven't read everything about this, so don't have any actual evidence for this. Which you could argue doesn't make it the strongest opinion!

My take is that he would have noticed that the balls were under-inflated. If you spend your life throwing a ball that is inflated between a fairly slim margin, then you will notice if it is different to normal. Obviously this does not get into whether he orchestrated it, but I am sure he benefited from it.

Incidentally, it seems funny that this has become such a big deal. I remember reading about Phil Jackson always checking the basketballs before the Chicago Bulls played their games - apparently the Lakers were renowned for over-inflating their basketballs when playing at home. This was done not only because Magic preferred the higher dribble you get from a more inflated ball, but also because it meant missed shots would rebound further - which would help facilitate their fastbreak, uptempo style of play. Conversely, he said that teams like the Detroit Pistons would under-inflate balls, as it meant missed shots would stay closer to the rim, which helped them as they were a physical team and enabled them to control the rebound battle. It would also slow down the more athletic teams, such as the Lakers. Magic even said that some Pistons had needles in their waistbands when they played to deflate balls on the fly!

EDIT - Found the source of the quote:

But they're hardly the only basketball team in history to fiddle with the air pressure in basketballs. It's because of their tactics that Jackson used to carry an air-pressure gauge with him when he coached the Bulls, according to Sam Smith's landmark book The Jordan Rules. It wasn't uncommon for Jackson to discover interesting things:

"Like that night in Miami in the 1989-90 season. Jackson always tests the poundage in the game balls before the game. The balls that night in Miami were well below the required 7.5 to 8.5 pounds. An innocent oversight? Unlikely. With a softer ball players can't dribble as fast and the game slows. It was what a less talented team like Miami wanted against a running team like the Bulls. Jackson got the balls pumped up and the Heat were deflated.

It works the way other, too; Jackson has caught the Lakers trying to sneak balls with 15 to 17 pounds of air into the game. Why? Magic Johnson likes a high dribble, and a livelier ball results in long rebounds that key the kind of fast break the Lakers love to use, especially at home."
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Would love to see the difference between a ball inflated to 8 pounds and one to 17 pounds!
 
Anderson's Cat said:
Why is it so clear? Give me some examples because I haven't seen anything to suggest he knew about it.
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I'm on my phone at work so can't really be arsed searching, but all the stuff from the report made it clear enough to me.

Eboue posted a lot of snippets in this thread.
 
At first I thought he was guilty, but as a Pats fan I've followed this pretty intensely over the last few weeks as it makes a big deal to the upcoming season, but if Judge Berman can't find anything to prove that Brady was guilty of (awareness) tampering with the footballs then that's pretty concisive. Plus the Wells report that Eboue seemed to side with so impressively has more holes than Swiss cheese.

Here's a few of Judge Berman's quotes.





 
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Worst part is it'll mean no more Carlson I'd expect. The best pundit NFL wise by far.

Also I hadn't even realised that Sky Sports have been showing NFL Redzone. Was on this past weekend but hadn't realised. The schedule:

  • Pre-season RedZone: Sunday 23rd August at 12.30am - Sky Sports 1 HD
  • Pre-season RedZone: Sunday 30th August at 12.30am - Sky Sports 3 HD
  • Pre-season LIVE game: Houston Texans @ New Orleans Saints - 9pm on Sunday August 30th - Sky Sports 3 HD
Not sure if that had been mentioned in here and I'd missed it. Also, the week one Sky Sports schedule:

  • New England Patriots v Pittsburgh Steelers Thu 10 Sept Midnight
  • Chicago Bears v Green Bay Packers Sun 13 Sep 5.30pm
  • Denver Broncos v Baltimore Ravens Sun 13 Sep 9pm
  • Dallas Cowboys v New York Giants Mon 13 Sep 0.30am
  • Atlanta Falcons v Philadelphia Eagles Tue 15 Sep 0:05am
  • San Francisco 49ers v Minnesota Vikings Tue 15 Sep 3:15am
 
JP77 said:
Gradkowski is having surgery on Tuesday so not too surprised we made a move for a QB. Vick probably the most qualified but I'm not convinced he's the best fit at backup QB. I'll take it though.
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Don't think Vick is all the way washed, he might prove to be a decent backup, besides look at the player's he will be throwing to.
 
No NFL on Channel 4 sucks. Carlson is easily the best NFL analyst on UK TV & I prefer the relaxed, easy going nature of Channel 4's coverage compared to Sky.
 
I hate Sky's coverage. Game Pass for me is the only way to really enjoy it. Easily worth the €145 or so. The blackouts suck but a mate of mine says Hola will sort that problem out.
 
Just ordered Game Pass for the season.

A good thing about being over in the Netherlands is no blackouts for any games :)

I had Game Pass for a few years a couple of years ago - I didn't realise you could download games onto your phone / iPad. I have a 30 minute train ride twice each day, so should be able to get through a number of games during the week with the condensed versions! I always watch the full game of the Niners, but will probably watch a few others, such as the Texans (because of Hard Knocks).
 
This is the best thing about Norway when it comes to the NFL (They only show the playoffs). They show the original commentary because they know they can't commentate as well as the Americans can. In the Netherlands (7 years ago since I lived there) they used to explain the rules of the game every single down in the middle of the night. At least the Norwegian panel only shows up at half time.
 
Phil said:
Anyone watch the Hard Knocks premiere on sky sports? They should have just called it.. JJ Watt..Knocks.

Or something more clever.
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I have watched the first 3.

The problem with Hard Knocks is they focus on very average teams. The teams from the playoffs dont have to do it, nor do the worst few.

The Jets with Rex one a few years back was good. Atlanta last year was yawn. Still worth watching.
 
Ok predictions time

EDIT: Just noticing that this is almost exactly how it finished last year, meaning I know SFA.

AFC East
New England
Buffalo
Miami
New York

AFC North
Pittsburgh
Cincinatti
Baltimore
Cleveland

AFC South
Indianapolis
Houston
Jacksonville
Tennessee

AFC West
Denver
Kansas
San Diego
Oakland

NFC East
Philadelphia
Dallas
New York
Washington

NFC North
Green Bay
Chicago
Detroit
Minnesota

NFC South
New Orleans
Atlanta
Carolina
Tampa

NFC West
Seattle
Arizona
St Louis
San Fransisco
 
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