Week 2

[Boo Khaki]

Shades of Dave Narey v's Brazil here, but I'll take it

[Boo Khaki]

Well the Raiders subreddit is entertaining tonight. At least three threads calling for McDaniels to be fired already, the same writing Chandler Jones off as a bum, and most amusingly, several references to 'Carrbage'.  Next three are @Titans, v's Broncos, @KC, so it could get really ugly really quickly.

[Bully Wee Villa]

13 minutes ago, Boo Khaki said:

Shades of Dave Narey v's Brazil here, but I'll take it

Yep.

[Bully Wee Villa]

I did think we might still be in the game at half-time. Should have known better.

[Boo Khaki]

Don't think the rain is going to help the Bears this week. 

[Bully Wee Villa]

They need to stop Prime Time-ing these games. 

[Swarley]

Fuxake what a day. Humped by the 49ers and 2 (two) in the Pick 'Em comp. This is going to be a long season.

[Slacker]

Decided to just watch the Bucs-Raiders game on Sky instead of finding a stream for the Dolphins, but once they gave the update that the Dolphins had tied it I had to scramble for one. What a comeback, delighted for Tua. 

Some crazy stats:

 

[Savage Henry]

8 hours ago, Boo Khaki said:

That sucks for Lance, and I can understand why SF are trying to develop a player they see as an upgrade on JG, but I genuinely believe they'll win more games in 2022 with JG under Center than Lance.

I agree, but only because people seem determined for Trey Lance to be a bust. The knives have been out for him since day 1.   JG seems to be a good guy, but he does get a much easier ride generally. 

[Nightmare]

6 hours ago, Boo Khaki said:

Well the Raiders subreddit is entertaining tonight. At least three threads calling for McDaniels to be fired already, the same writing Chandler Jones off as a bum, and most amusingly, several references to 'Carrbage'.  Next three are @Titans, v's Broncos, @KC, so it could get really ugly really quickly.

Hard to disagree with the first two right now. Not so sure Carr can be blamed too much yesterday even if he had a disappointing week 1.

For an offensive “mastermind”, Josh McDaniels has just coached two very bad games. Really, really worrying.

[Illgresi]

8 hours ago, Boo Khaki said:

That sucks for Lance, and I can understand why SF are trying to develop a player they see as an upgrade on JG, but I genuinely believe they'll win more games in 2022 with JG under Center than Lance.

It's easy to say that as Jimmy is a known quantity, but Lance has a much higher ceiling overall. I was looking forward to watching Lance develop as the season went on, in the knowledge that being practically a rookie, it might limit how far we can go.

I think with Jimmy in we can probably safely say we're heading deep into the playoffs again. I'm not convinced he has the arm talent to win the superbowl, but at the very least we have the best defence in the league which should serve us well if they stay healthy. That's what makes it all the more saddening about Lance, as it would have been the perfect season to bring through a new QB.

[O_Kahn]

Kyler Murray was just incredible last night. 

[peasy23]

[Boo Khaki]

34 minutes ago, O_Kahn said:

Kyler Murray was just incredible last night. 

Depends on your perspective really. He ought to be incredible for the money they are paying him, and he did make plays with his legs, but on the whole he was still sub-par as a passer. He made the throws when it counted though so fair play to him. His arm needs to become more consistent on an every down basis. Similar deal with Lamar Jackson, although Jackson clearly still has issues with the mental side of playing QB because they are still giving him simple progressions and running a really vanilla passing game.

Seems like more and more teams are happy to take the trade-off for a guy who is a bit ordinary as a pocket passer if they are a threat to run the ball, which is fair enough, but it's still first and foremost a passers league and I think if you are average at best then you are not going to dominate on a long-term, consistent basis they way the very best passers do. I think it's telling that we're still waiting for a single Superbowl to be won by a QB who fits that archetype, and I don't count Mahomes because he is primarily a passer who excels outside of the pocket, rather than a guy who takes off at every opportunity and foregoes his reads. I also think that even with the added protection QB's get nowadays, these guys careers will inevitably be shortened as their athletic ability diminishes post-30. Even Randall Cunningham was a much better QB once he learned to curb his instincts, and stay in the pocket and progress through his reads, but he actually had the mental ability to do that inherently, whereas I have my doubts about a lot of these modern 'dual threat' guys because they are essentially athletes playing QB, rather than QB's who just happen to be athletically gifted.

[lichtie23]

I still don’t rate Kyler Murray 

[O_Kahn]

I don’t think the Cardinals are going anywhere in the long term, but in isolation the second half was unreal. It does make you wonder where that Kyler was in the first game and a half this season. Mind you, Tua’s performance in the 4th Q even more unexpected.

Pleased and surprised to see NYG start with 2 wins, though the fact it’s their first time over .500 in 6+ years is an embarrassment. 

[Boo Khaki]

Giants are a weird franchise. They historically have 1-2 year spells where they are completely dominant and win the SB, then everything else is total mediocrity. Very little in between. They were even like that pre-Free Agency, so it's not just the modern thing of natural peaks and troughs as contracts get fat and talent declines.

[jagfox]

The closest to a run/ pass mix QB that has won the super bowl is Russell Wilson and Steve Young was pretty mobile for his era. 

[Boo Khaki]

Young was sort of a development of the scrambler type Elway was and Favre was over the early part of his career. The 9'ers used to give him options on boots and rollouts a lot, and he was extremely effective when he did take off, but I don't recall them using him as a true dual-threat type the way they do now with designed QB draws, R/P options etc.

Funnily enough, Doug Williams also used to run in a bit in his Tampa years, so perhaps it was something about playing on that awful team in the 80's that forced QB's to learn how to use their legs. It might have been common in the USFL as well because Warren Moon was also a bit of a scrambler when he first came to the NFL. Doug Flutie won everything in the CFL and was a genuine dual threat, although I think that's something that's easier up there because of the different ruleset.

I think Michael Vick and even Kordell Stewart would have more effective careers nowadays because the changes to the passing game are forcing defenses to defend more of the field, it's easier to complete passes than ever so their deficiencies wouldn't be exposed so badly, and younger coaches are more in tune with how to use these guys as and every down and distance QB and exploit their rushing ability. Vick had a huge arm, but he struggled with most of the same things Lamar Jackson does pre-snap, progressions, and the odd pass outside the numbers that is miles off the mark. 

[Swarley]

The closest to a run/ pass mix QB that has won the super bowl is Russell Wilson and Steve Young was pretty mobile for his era. 

The LOB won the Super Bowl, Wilson was just a bit part player.....