NFL News

[froot loops]

I don't think the Eagles are anything special,

Look at the beginning of 2021 Lion schedule, it was an impressive gauntlet. The two easiest games on that schedule in the run up to the Philly game was on the road in Chicago and Minnesota.

Niners
at Packers
Ravens
at Bears
at Vikings
Bengals
at Rams
Eagles

[Nick Pappageorgio]

FTR….I’m not running to Vegas to get the over on wins.

I guess my major point is that when I look at the schedule I see a lot of teams in flux who don’t quite have their shit together (so a bit like the lions). So I see a lot of “winnable” games on the schedule before we even start talking Any Given Sunday.

A couple of very big “if”s here….but QB play and Pass rush. If those two things can get even into the average range…they’ll win more than 6 games.

The back 7 is obviously a mess right now….but the lions are playing a bunch of teams with middling QBs next year, if the lions get a pass rush going those QBs are going to make mistakes (and I think the Lions will add another player to the secondary before the season starts).

The table is set for the Lions to be the breakout team in ‘22….now all they have to do is play to (above) their potential.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

I will add that reading the blurb about Jamaal Williams saying:

”I don’t give a fuck (about hard knocks)…I don’t care. I just want to play football. I want to win a Super Bowl — this year.”

That sort of shit gets me pumped….17-0 baby!

[Futureshock]

44 - 6

[Futureshock]

Jerry Jeudy will be held overnight in domestic violence incident

Posted by Mike Florio on May 12, 2022, 6:56 PM EDT

Getty Images

Although Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy faces only misdemeanor charges, he’ll spend the night custody after being arrested for second-degree criminal tampering with a domestic violence enhanced.

Via Mike Klis of 9News.com, Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown said at a press conference that the incident involved the mother of Jeudy’s one-month-old daughter. There was no physical contact. The tampering charge stemmed from the removal of property.

Jeudy will be held overnight. He’ll appear before a judge on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. local time.

The arrest happened late this morning.

[Futureshock]

LARams gonna get the smack down


Bills at Rams kicks off the 2022 NFL schedule

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 12, 2022, 6:08 PM EDT

Getty Images

The Bills will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams in the first game of the 2022 NFL schedule.

The schedule is being released tonight, and the NFL has announced that Bills-Rams is the opener on Thursday, September 8 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Rams are the traditional hosts of the first game of the NFL season. The Bills are expected to be Super Bowl contenders this year, so their meeting is one of the marquee games of the 2022 NFL season.

The full NFL schedule will be released in a couple of hours.

[Futureshock]

Patriots great Gino Cappelletti dies at 89

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 12, 2022, 3:49 PM EDT
Getty Images

Gino Cappelletti, an original member of the Boston Patriots and one of the greatest players in the history of the American Football League, has died at the age of 89.

A wide receiver, defensive back and kicker, played all 10 of the AFL’s seasons before it merged with the NFL, and never missed a game in those 10 seasons. With 1,100 points scored, he was the leading scorer in the history of the AFL, and in 1964 he was named the AFL’s Most Valuable Player.

Despite a good college career as a quarterback at Minnesota, Cappelletti wasn’t chosen in the 1955 NFL draft, and he then joined the U.S. Army and played some minor league football, and he easily could have never had a professional football career.

But when the AFL came along, Cappelletti tried out for the Patriots, and he made an immediate impact. At first, he played on defense, and his efforts included a three-interception game as a rookie. After his first season he switched over to offense, and over the course of his career he caught 292 passes for 4,589 yards and five touchdowns.

All the while, Cappelletti was one of the best kickers in football, leading the AFL in field goals three times. He retired after the 1970 season.

Upon retirement, Cappelletti worked in broadcasting, and the was the Patriots’ radio commentator for seven years before a three-year stint as the Patriots’ special teams coach. He then returned to the broadcast booth before retiring in 2012.

“My heart aches after learning of Gino Cappelletti’s passing this morning,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. “For the first 51 years of this franchise’s history, Gino contributed as an all-star player, assistant coach and broadcaster. You couldn’t be a Patriots fan during that era and not be a fan of Gino’s. The Patriots have had many iconic, fan-favorite players over the years. Gino was the first. I remember watching him play in 1960 and throughout his career. He was one of the AFL’s biggest stars, becoming the first Patriots player to earn league MVP honors and retiring as the league’s all-time leading scorer. He became the second player in franchise history to earn Patriots Hall of Fame induction and I will always believe he deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

[froot loops]

LARams gonna get the smack down


Bills at Rams kicks off the 2022 NFL schedule

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 12, 2022, 6:08 PM EDT

Getty Images

The Bills will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams in the first game of the 2022 NFL schedule.

The schedule is being released tonight, and the NFL has announced that Bills-Rams is the opener on Thursday, September 8 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Rams are the traditional hosts of the first game of the NFL season. The Bills are expected to be Super Bowl contenders this year, so their meeting is one of the marquee games of the 2022 NFL season.

The full NFL schedule will be released in a couple of hours.

Acknowledge the Superbowl champs and kings of LA.

[chemiclord]

Just a salty Raiders fan that LA didn't want.

[Futureshock]

Acknowledge the Superbowl champs and kings of LA.

Well, LA does have more bandwagon fans then most cities, but as soon as they are not champs, the city will revert back to their Silver and Black Raider loving selves. You do know there are parts of LA you'll die for wearing a Rams Jersey?

[Futureshock]

Report: “Bad blood” between Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger

Posted by Mike Florio on May 12, 2022, 1:07 PM EDT

Getty Images

When the Steelers beat the Browns on the final Monday night of the 2021 season, the differences between Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethliberger and Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield couldn’t have been more stark. They apparently had one very important thing in common.

Neither was thrilled with his team.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was this question during a Wednesday chat: “Is there bad blood between the Steelers and Big Ben with how his career ended. Was he ready to retire or was it a Troy [Polamalu] type situation where he was forced into it?”

Said Dulac: “I would say it’s very very safe to assume that.”

That’s a strong statement. And it’s surprising. Some think that, a year ago, the Steelers were ready to move on. Some believe that the team specifically crafted an offer on a reduced deal with the goal of it being high enough to avoid insulting him but low enough to keep him from taking it. Then, he accepted what was a $5 million reduction in what he was due to make.

It was clear last year that Roethlisberger wasn’t the guy he once was. Mobility had allowed him to extend plays throughout his career. That mobility was virtually non-existent during the final season of his career.

To his credit, Roethlisberger learned how to color within the shrunken lines. However, it wasn’t good enough to justify another season.

The rest of the league knew it, too. His name never came up during the offseason quarterback carousel, which ultimately entailed an insufficient number of available veterans.

It’s up to the Steelers and Roethlisbeger to mend fences, or not. They’ve been through too much to not at least try to see eye to eye.

[Futureshock]

Kayvon Thibodeaux notices a post-draft shift: “The narrative for sure changed”

Posted by Mike Florio on May 13, 2022, 4:07 PM EDT

USA TODAY Sports

Life has changed dramatically in the past two weeks for Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux. In many ways.

One thing that has changed is the attitude toward him.

“The narrative for sure changed,” Thibodeaux told reporters on Friday. “If you notice, everybody thinks I’m a good guy now, and it’s all funny. Which is hilarious to me because I’ve been the same guy this whole time.”

It’s no surprise. The process of picking over any and all actual or perceived flaws of draft picks ends after the process of picking players ends. It’s one of the realties of the draft industrial complex. Months of obsession with minutiae with a specialized slice of media, all of which becomes forgotten as soon as draft ends and the players get thrown into the same blender with all other players in the league. From that point on, the media pays attention to only a handful of them.

One of them is Thibodeaux, given the things said and written about him before the draft. It clearly bugged him. And it should have. Especially since there’s a chance that some of the things being said regarding attributes that possibly would cause him to fall out of the top 10 were likely planted by teams that desperately wanted him to fall out of the top 10, so that they could draft him.

[chemiclord]

In the end, all the smoke meant little. DEs went 1-2-5 which was pretty much expected. Would Jacksonville have taken him #1 without all the drama? Maybe? But I doubt it.

[jaadam4]

Im sorry I still have no idea how Walker was drafted over
Hutch or Thibs. It’s bizarre to me

[chemiclord]

Jacksonville fell in love with a physical freak that could attack from any position on the line of scrimmage.

Which, yeah, if he develops the skills to go along with his physical attributes, that's what could happen.