2020 Miscellaneous NFL News

[Fear The Chorizo]

Why the hell would the Vikings go for it instead of making it an 8 point game?

 

Analytics says they made the right call based on the percentage of converting a 4th and short alone...not that I agree with analytics at that stage of the game

[HiAndTight]

Why the hell would the Vikings go for it instead of making it an 8 point game?

 

Analytics says they made the right call based on the percentage of converting a 4th and short alone...not that I agree with analytics at that stage of the game

 

 

I get the analytics, but you have a chance to go up 8...

[Fear The Chorizo]

Why the hell would the Vikings go for it instead of making it an 8 point game?

 

Analytics says they made the right call based on the percentage of converting a 4th and short alone...not that I agree with analytics at that stage of the game

 

 

I get the analytics, but you have a chance to go up 8...

 

I'm with you 100%

[MrTPlush]

I guess I don’t care if the Seahawks win or not. Playoff seeding isn’t a huge deal with no fans. I suppose I’d prefer Green Bay, but hardly a tragedy to go elsewhere with Rodgers.

 

We just have to take care of business and get the #1 or #2 seed for the bye week...that is what really matters. Seahawks winning at least greatly helps us in winning the division.

 

I probably would have preferred a Seahawks loss, but it is really early to be wishing for certain teams to lose/win.

[yourout]

Not that is would have made a difference but that was not a fumble.

[HiAndTight]

I guess I don’t care if the Seahawks win or not. Playoff seeding isn’t a huge deal with no fans. I suppose I’d prefer Green Bay, but hardly a tragedy to go elsewhere with Rodgers.

 

We just have to take care of business and get the #1 or #2 seed for the bye week...that is what really matters. Seahawks winning at least greatly helps us in winning the division.

 

I probably would have preferred a Seahawks loss, but it is really early to be wishing for certain teams to lose/win.

 

 

Only one team gets the bye this year. 7 playoff teams.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I guess I don’t care if the Seahawks win or not. Playoff seeding isn’t a huge deal with no fans. I suppose I’d prefer Green Bay, but hardly a tragedy to go elsewhere with Rodgers.

 

We just have to take care of business and get the #1 or #2 seed for the bye week...that is what really matters. Seahawks winning at least greatly helps us in winning the division.

 

I probably would have preferred a Seahawks lose, but it is really early to be wishing for certain teams to lose/win.

 

Seahawks are no juggernaut, I actually think the Rams are the best team in that division this year. San Fran is too injured and the Seahawks aren't a very good defensive team - the Russel Wilson show always gives them a shot, though.

 

Just so you know, the way the playoffs are structured this year with adding a 7th team in each conference, only the #1 seed in each conference gets a 1st round bye.

[HiAndTight]

 

Seahawks are no juggernaut, I actually think the Rams are the best team in that division this year. San Fran is too injured and the Seahawks aren't a very good defensive team - the Russel Wilson show always gives them a shot, though.

 

Just so you know, the way the playoffs are structured this year with adding a 7th team in each conference, only the #1 seed in each conference gets a 1st round bye.

 

Not at all. The Packers actually match up very well with them. Teams who don't have good centers tend to get abused by Clark(Which he did last year vs Seattle).

 

And the Rams, for all the criticism they were taking last year for trading for Ramsey and some of the other moves they made, they look really good.

 

But Seattle's just the more immediate threat to HFA and the Vikings aren't really a threat to anything. Though I do enjoy seeing them lose in the worst way possible.

All you can do is root for what appears to be the most likely now. So many things are going to change between now and the end of the year(assuming there is one).

 

Th 49'ers went from being the big threat that everyone thought the Packers should be building to beat(myself included) to getting blown off the field vs Miami in week 5...and by the end of the year, they may be the most dangerous team in the playoffs again. They will get healthier.

[nodakfan17]

Damarius Randall was signed to the Seahawks practice squad on September 30. That feels like something that could bite the Packers in the butt come January.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Damarius Randall was signed to the Seahawks practice squad on September 30. That feels like something that could bite the Packers in the butt come January.

 

I don't know ... I'm all for the Seahawks employing another terrible defender in their swiss-cheese secondary.

[homer]

Why the hell would the Vikings go for it instead of making it an 8 point game?

 

Analytics says they made the right call based on the percentage of converting a 4th and short alone...not that I agree with analytics at that stage of the game

 

 

I get the analytics, but you have a chance to go up 8...

 

I see both sides but 1) they were getting like 5 - 6 yards a carry 2) you get three inches you win the game and 3) you get three inches and Russ doesn't get the ball back

[CheezWizHed]

Do analytics take into account...the Vikings?

 

But if the Seahawks were going to win, that was the perfect way to see the Vikings lose.

 

Russel Wilson reminds me of Favre in many ways. He can make a bone-headed play to take them out of the game (i.e. his interception), but if you give him another chance, he can carry the team, too.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Do analytics take into account...the Vikings?

 

But if the Seahawks were going to win, that was the perfect way to see the Vikings lose.

 

Russel Wilson reminds me of Favre in many ways. He can make a bone-headed play to take them out of the game (i.e. his interception), but if you give him another chance, he can carry the team, too.

 

I hate watching games where I have a strong rooting interest in both teams losing. I loved that the Seahawks looked atrocious in the first half, but it was tempered by the fact that they were losing to the Vikings. That the Seahawks managed to not look like a terrible, lackluster football team for about a 5 minute stretch, and that was enough to win, was extremely annoying, until you realize that it was against the once again paper-champion Vikings.

 

The Vikings are sitting at 1-4, and now with their best player nursing what looks like is going to be a nagging groin strain, that is going to be a rough valley to climb out of. But they are reaping what they sew. They needed to pick an o-lineman or another CB in the first round this year, and they picked a WR, simply because they dumped a perfectly good one for no real reason. They are getting all they deserve.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I guess I don’t care if the Seahawks win or not. Playoff seeding isn’t a huge deal with no fans. I suppose I’d prefer Green Bay, but hardly a tragedy to go elsewhere with Rodgers.

 

We just have to take care of business and get the #1 or #2 seed for the bye week...that is what really matters. Seahawks winning at least greatly helps us in winning the division.

 

I probably would have preferred a Seahawks loss, but it is really early to be wishing for certain teams to lose/win.

 

Only one bye week, plus, in January there *may* be some fans, particularly in WA which is progressing better than most of the country. A loss to Minnesota would have also been a common game with the Packers, so it was significant.

 

I think the fans will be inconsequential, but I guarantee the Packers would rather be at home and in their facilities all week. Today though, I don't see an NFC team that can beat the Packers. That includes Seattle, which I think *could* beat them, but we'd have to mess something up. That defense isn't better than ours and everything runs through one guy over there.

 

If SF can get right, they are scarier to me.

[nodakfan17]

In defense of the Vikings (yikes, I can’t believe I’m saying that), their salary cap situation was (and still is) atrocious. They couldn’t afford to re-sign Diggs anyway. Trading Diggs for a 1st rounder and using that extra pick to replace Diggs with Jefferson actually seems prudent.

 

Just how dire is their cap situation? OTC pegs them with $300K of remaining cap space in 2020 and -$8 million (that’s negative) cap space in 2021.

[homer]

I think I've said this before but I love, love, love the fact that more teams are going for it on 4th down. Take analytics out of it and it just creates so many more interesting and exciting moments during the course of a football game.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

In defense of the Vikings (yikes, I can’t believe I’m saying that), their salary cap situation was (and still is) atrocious. They couldn’t afford to re-sign Diggs anyway. Trading Diggs for a 1st rounder and using that extra pick to replace Diggs with Jefferson actually seems prudent.

 

Just how dire is their cap situation? OTC pegs them with $300K of remaining cap space in 2020 and -$8 million (that’s negative) cap space in 2021.

 

I don't know. Zimmer is an old school, ground-and-pound HC, and Thielen is a legit #1. Spending valuable draft capital on a #2 WR on a team who's game plan every week is to ram Cook and Mattison into the line 40 times seems like a waste to me.

 

I agree on their cap situation They painted themselves into a corner with some terrible contracts, that obnoxious Cousins deal the worst of them. I think the Vikings have probably missed their window. They might flutter around .500 for the next couple years, but they are looking at a full-on rebuild, probably sooner rather than later. But if we aren't careful, they may just Viking their way into Trevor Lawrence next spring.

[nodakfan17]

If you take the Diggs trade as a WR swap for Jefferson (on a rookie deal), then it seems prudent. If you step back and question if drafting Jefferson was the best use of the draft capital they acquired from trading Diggs, then I agree, it begs the question.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Spending valuable draft capital on a #2 WR on a team who's game plan every week is to ram Cook and Mattison into the line 40 times seems like a waste to me.

 

Cook has shown that if he's part of a game plan that makes him a bellcow back and he gets a ton of touches, he's going to get banged up and injured. He's fantastic when he isn't overused, so it's key MN has the balance throwing the ball, too. Jefferson looks the part of a frontline NFL receiver once he develops, so I don't fault the Vikings for picking him instead of trying to draft based on perceived need 2/3 of the way into Round 1.

 

The Vikings' biggest problem is they can't figure out how to put together a decent offensive line that can pass block. They've spent high draft picks, overpaid in free agency, tried it all - and it never seems to work.

 

Specific to the Vikes' cap situation and cap forecasts based on league revenue issues due to COVID, it's going to be even worse. IIRC, the NFL and players association agreed to a flat cap in 2021 with a floor of $175 million in effort to spread out revenue losses over the next 3 seasons. You can pretty much book next year's cap will at or closer to the $175 million floor due to revenue limitations of this season, which puts teams hovering around negative cap space or with limited cap carryover budget based on this season's $198 million in even worse straits. Had they not done that, next year's cap would have likely been closer to $130 million.

[tmwiese55]

Definitely should've went for that 4th and end the game with a guy like Wilson on the other side. if he goes to the wide open hole one hole to the right it's a TD, but he just had straight ahead for the 1st in his mind, which you can't blame him for.

 

If you want to analyze mistakes the one was MN going for 2 with about 4 mins left in the 3rd q when they scored down 8. I thought at the time it was too early for it as there is going to be more scores in the 4th. If they'd taken the 1 pt they could've kicked the FG at the end to go up 9.

 

Another thing I was thinking when it looked like SEA would lose. With no fans would GB really even want homefield in the playoffs and have to play in that cold? My gut went to as long as there was no or very few (like say 5k) fans in Seattle/SF/LA or wherever I think I'd rather play the game in better weather. Problem of course is we have no idea what fan rules will be like 3-4 months from now.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Another thing I was thinking when it looked like SEA would lose. With no fans would GB really even want homefield in the playoffs and have to play in that cold? My gut went to as long as there was no or very few (like say 5k) fans in Seattle/SF/LA or wherever I think I'd rather play the game in better weather. Problem of course is we have no idea what fan rules will be like 3-4 months from now.

 

Agreed - especially because I think it's likely at some point the NFL season is going to need to take a 2-3 week break in the schedule to reset positive case counts across the league, which would push playoffs well into January/February. I'd be totally fine with the Packers playing road playoff games in comfortable climate stadiums - which would be virtually anywhere compared to Lambeau in January. There won't be full stadiums anywhere 3-4 months from now - I could see 50% capacity in places, but not max crowds that create a true homefield advantage.

[nodakfan17]

The Steelers are 4-0 for the first time since 1979. That’s a modest surprise considering how successful they’ve been as a franchise (really for the last 50 years).

[CheezWizHed]

So if you wanted to compare a team with WR talent and a poor OL to a team with good OL and shallow WR talent, I think the Packer/Vikings comparison shows how a strong OL elevates those around them. Now, of course, you want both... But I think the Vikings would've been better off drafting an OL instead of Jefferson.

 

Personally, I feel bad for Cousins. I like they guy, but he has his flaws. The Vikings are paying a good QB excellent-QB money and it is killing them.

[adambr2]

They should have honestly put in a league-wide bye this year, maybe even two, say in Weeks 7 and 14. I understand that would have extended the season by 2 weeks but you can just take out the bye after the conference championships and you're only pushing the Super Bowl back by a week.

 

They could have scheduled COVID makeup games in both Weeks 7 and 14. They would have had so much built-in flexibility. This rescheduling 9 games thing isn't sustainable, they're eventually going to run out of byes to use. At the very least 2 byes per team would have been better. The NFL has done fairly well handling COVID but it's an odd choice not to give themselves more built in flexibility and instead have to adjust everything on the fly. They had plenty of time to figure this out.

[PinaMadness]

Even Saints fans are starting to figure out that Taysom Hill is not an NFL quarterback.

 

BTW Bulaga is missing his second straight game due to injury.