ILNFL 2015 Preseason and Predictions thread

I think it is about time for a thread about the upcoming season.

Anyone new going to be any good?

What teams are going to improve?

Which teams are going to suck?

Who will be the first coach fired?

Who will be the big rookie?

Will such [x] QB Elite be or not? Will it matter?

Vikings will make the playoffs this year

Browns will win six games or less.

many many concussions

if seahawks o-line performs then they'll be in the super bowl again, and of their rookies lockette will do well for them, as will frank clark.

rookie rb ameer abdullah will be good for the lions, but they'll not have as good a season as last year - way harder schedule + lost suuuuuuuuuuuuuh

jfc preseason is a fucking clown car to watch

predictions wise:
iggles will either kill everyone or be one of the worst teams in the league, there will be no mediocrity

despite this preseason garbage I'm seeing bills will get the wildcard I think

there really aren't any sleepers though. a few demonstrably bad teams will be less bad but they aren't going anywhere, and a few ehhh teams will become bad, playoff berths will be mostly the same

this is kind of what i expect from our hatcats

https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/634531053990973440

let me talk a little more about what i expect from the hatcats this season

wpgc (dc radio station) facebooked a post saying watch this tmz video where dan snyder does the wobble at this bowling event with rgiii

so i thought THIS COULD BE HILARIOUS/AWESOME and i clicked and sat through the stupid ad and closed the popups and there's a minute long video where the wobble is playing and snyder bowls and then just kind of waves his arms in the air sort of in time to the music

i read the comments and people are like lmao... i didn't see him wobble.... that's not right.... 0-16

i didn't think they'd find new ways to disappoint us, but here we are

lol

Vikings will make the playoffs this year

agreed. they seem to be getting overlooked right now but if AP is anything like what he's been in the past they're going to be a powerhouse. think NFC North will be something like:

GB (13-3)
Minnesota (11-5)
Detroit (7-9)
Bears (4-12)

i hope the bears are as bad as i think they will be
though i was bummed out they hired john fox

interesting storyline for me is just how bad the niners are going to be. i think seattle takes a step back and green bay are the nfc big dogz. i guess nfc dark horse is minnesota, or else dallas or eagles. those two teams are such a mystery, they both seem like a collection of players that shouldn't work but they will both land winning records i think.

seems to be a gathering sense that indy is favored to be the stand out team in the afc. my prediction is that the afc will have to be p crappy for the colts to stand out. but that is a possibility. if i had to pick someone i would say maybe the ravens but whoever it is is going to have to step up, and of course depends how NE fares without cornerbacks.

will either of pittsburgh or cincy actually be good? maybe, probably not. afc dark horse the bolts??

could see the chargers taking a WC spot for sure. don't really think the seahawks will be worse tho, especially given the divisional competition

interesting storyline for me is just how bad the niners are going to be.

They will be the most depleted team I think I've ever seen. They're basically an expansion-level team in 2015. Seattle and Arizona will both beat them twice, and St. Louis might (St. Louis is still a mystery to me).

I'd think the Vikings are on the way up. It's all on how much Bridgewater improves and I would think having Petersen in the backfield would improve their offense. Minnesota's had some talent on defense for a couple years and Zimmer is a pretty good defensive coach.

I'd say a bit less than the Niners is where are the Saints going to end up. They were a pretty bad 7-9 last year and I don't know that they really have gotten enough new talent. I think it possible it could be the beginning of the end for Payton and Brees.

Nfc south not very strong (correct me if I'm wrong), don't expect much from tampa or carolina, don't really know what's going on on atlanta

i think i could believe any record for any of the nfc south teams between 4 and 9 wins

elsewhere: https://twitter.com/AaronNagler/status/634934642995503104

MY PREDICTIONS

nfc east
dallas
philadelphia
nyg
washington

nfc north
green bay
minnesota
detroit
chicago

nfc south
atlanta
carolina
new orleans
tampa

nfc west
seattle
arizona
st. louis
san francisco

minnesota and arizona for wildcards, green bay over dallas for nfc

afc east
new england
miami
buffalo
nyj

afc north
pitt
baltimore
cincy
cleveland

afc south
indy
houston
jacksonville
tenn

afc west
denver
san diego
kc
oakland

baltimore and miami for wild cards, pitt over indy for afc

green bay over pitt in super bowl

me picking pitt there is more me thinking new england's not right back in the super bowl but i can't see them losing the afc championship so that means two other teams are and i can't see indy making the super bowl yet? i remember thinking pitt would do more in the playoffs last year but can't remember why i thought that.

sheesh, Jordy Nelson may be out for the season, kinda changes the NFC picture a bit

Eh...Nelson's good but the dude throwing it is the bigger thing. I think it would be worse to lose a top O-lineman or pass rusher.

it hurts for sure but Rodgers will get the ball to whomever's out there to catch it, pretty much

NFC East- after a few years of kinda mediocre football the east is kind of interesting. I got to hand it to Dallas on their draft last year as they really cemented their o-line as quite good. Those guys stay healthy and productive, that part of their club could be good for a few years. Philly is hard to figure, they will either fly or fall and I'm going to have to wait and see how it goes as I think it could go either way. Washington is a grease fire and I don't think improving this year. Giants could be decent but their defense is pretty thin these days.

The thing with Green Bay is that they look unbeatable in October then the injuries pile up and they are pretty middling by playoff time. It's happened before a couple of times that way. Defensive injuries have done them in a couple of seasons in the recent past.

Rodgers is just so damn efficient. That dude is at another level in some ways. I think the Packers would be a plus nowhere without him.

Those TD to interception numbers are just sick sick sick. The guy is a sniper. Green Bay has a defense or a running game and they are a Superbowl contender.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RodgAa00.htm

yeah i picked green bay purely because i didn't want to pick dallas and figured attrition and bad luck would finally take seattle down a peg. tbh if the super bowl was a rematch i wouldn't be shocked at all (and would be pleased, the super bowl was awesome). i have to think all this nonsense will hurt the pats initially at least but barring a huge injury they should take the east easy and i could see belichick having them on some sort of vengeful warpath by the end of the season.

they won't go 16-0 and run up the score in those insane ways a la that post spygate team but even if brady is suspended the full four they have the division on lock and can at least win their first playoff game, not sure if they're a lock for AFC championship tho

mostly due to defensive deficiencies

Pats and Colts both have benefited from being in divisions full of clubs that outside of them are yo yos. Houston could be decent, but I'd be surprised if Tennessee or J-ville makes a step forward, although you would think after 4-5 seasons the Jags would have to have some talent drafting where they do. Jets are a grease fire. Miami is hard to figure being good, they seem destined for mediocre. Bills have some talent but their QB position is a void.

Bills have some talent but their QB position is a void.

Rex took a worse team than the current Bills to the playoffs two years in a row with Sanchez. If he's got it in him, he can get there with Cassel or Manuel.

how much does the jordy nelson loss affect GB?

guessing not too much bc of randall cobb, but who knows

I'd imagine one thing about Nelson is that he knows the offense and Rodger's tenancies, but it seems that other clubs with big passing games often are able to replace wide outs and Nelson for a long time really was the slot guy. Rodgers is so accurate, it might not matter that much except in key situations and the loss of experience. I'd say losing any key offensive line man would be a bigger problem or at least harder to replace. Teams often catch lightning in a bottle plugging guys in there. Didn't Cobb kinda start originally getting more involved in the passing game after Donald Driver got hurt or someone else? He was returning balls from the start of the season, but I kind of remember it maybe going down like that.

It seems that clubs with shitty to mediocre passing games lose a big target and they really get sick. The Jets and Niners have had recent examples of this.

tampa looks extremely frisky

jj watt, on the texans philosophy:

"the philosophy of this fuckin' squad is off the field we're good-ass dudes, we're nice fuckin' guys."

you can imagine what the on-field philosophy is.

so IK has other er, bizarre incidents in his life http://deadspin.com/report-i-k-enemkpali-got-catfished-by-a-guy-under-a-bl-1726811697

“Enemkpali stated that he felt that he was being ‘set up’ for a robbery of some type,” the police report states. “Enemkpali stated that fearing for his safety, he then struck the subject in the blanket. Enemkpali stated that after he struck this person, their voice changed to that of a male. Enemkpali stated that he then left the residence through the window.”

https://twitter.com/ChrisBurke_SI/status/637781926196170752

jfc

O_o

lol dickhead

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/08/30/a-testy-john-harbaugh-went-off-on-ravens-sideline-reporter/

Seems reports that RG3 is out as the starter in Washington and his time on the club might be getting short. I got to figure Jay Gruden won't make it through the season unless they surprise and win some games.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-swamp-the-state-of-the-nfl-in-washington-d-c/

i like charlie pierce's writing about politics and sports alike generally and this is a good rundown of the dumpster fire the washington hatcats have become, but this one graph was like uhhhhhhh wait a second

Again, I say, why are Roger Goodell and all his minions wasting so much time trying to hang Tom Brady by his thumbs over something as inconsequential as air? One of his teams is turning into a gang fight, and over the one serious issue that the league has bungled for almost its entire existence. That’s the real dent in The Shield.

bro i think u just answered your own question, like it's right there

(not to mention that irrespective of the truth, untruth or in-between of whatever happened in deflategate or whether we should care, even the smartest boston writers still remain incredulous that anyone could ever accuse touchdown tom of anything, as if there were existing laws in effect mandating that such accusers would be immediately, publicly flogged)

Judge is going to come back and say that Tom can play in the first 4 games, but he has to quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars in those games

that'd be hilarious bc he'd get sacked literally every snap, I think spiralli and CAD might crawl into a windowless room and scream obscenities for four consecutive weekends if that happened

I drafted Brady as my QB2 in FAntasy behind Brees on the hopes he's not suspended for 4!

This is pretty hagiographic for a Taibbi piece, but it's hard not to love Luck:

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/andrew-luck-the-natural-20150902

quick look reveals "Just 25 years old, he's the NFL's most complete QB" which is not how i imagined finding out that a-rog has retired. i am curious what taibbi has to say tho despite my general antipathy.

i cannot work up the interest to care abt luck

Can A-Rog do this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9PFJI_t5I