ILNFL 2015 Preseason and Predictions thread

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