NFL 2014 - 2015 Season Thread

Wombat

Trakanon Raider
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Anyways, what's up with the Bengals? Seems like nobody's really talking about them despite being a really solid team.
The "neutral" summary would be:
Their success seemed to come from their OC and DC, and not the HC, and now both of them are gone.
They might not have lost much, but they were already a paper tiger last year compared to the likes of the Broncos (who added a bunch on defense) and the Patriots (who almost certainly fixed an offense derailed by prison/injuries).
They play in a division with two recent Super Bowl winners and can't assume the division will remains theirs (and what little hope they have in the playoffs goes right out the window as a wildcard).
 

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
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Losing Zimmer sucks, but I'm pretty confident the defense won't lose much of a step. Losing Gruden probably made the offense better - especially with Hue Jackson taking over. That dude made Jason Campbell look like a starting caliber QB while the #1 target was a TE.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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Highest paid contract in history for a defensive player?

50+ mill GUARANTEED
Maybe, kinda.

The Redskins gave Albert Haynesworth a contract that was 7 years, and up to 115 mil if incentives were met. They were not met, because he was a lazy, lazy SOB. But that one *could* have ended up being bigger. It was upon first glance. Of course, JJ wont' ever see that whole 100 mil, not even half of it will be guaranteed. Alberts had like $40m guaranteed.
 

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
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The "neutral" summary would be:
Their success seemed to come from their OC and DC, and not the HC, and now both of them are gone.
They might not have lost much, but they were already a paper tiger last year compared to the likes of the Broncos (who added a bunch on defense) and the Patriots (who almost certainly fixed an offense derailed by prison/injuries).
They play in a division with two recent Super Bowl winners and can't assume the division will remains theirs (and what little hope they have in the playoffs goes right out the window as a wildcard).
I don't understand the "I don't know anything about the Bengals" opinion that we were a coordinator driven team. Our offense was stale, predictable and completely predicated on the talent on the field simply beating people. Turns out when you have a bruiser back, a scat back, a top3 WR and a competent QB the offense kind of runs itself. We weren't outsmarting any teams on offense last year. We just beat them.

This extends to losing our DC as well. Our defense was nothing strategic. We played Cover 1/2 almost all the time. Similar to having dominate talent on offense we had a very good (even with Atkins injured) defensive line. These were the only people rushing the QB most downs. And they got there. Zimmer was extremely conservative and, again, not out thinking himself or the other team. He just put his players in the spot to make plays. And they did. Zimmer was a leader of men not some through the roof football IQ guy who is irreplaceable. We now moved our linebackers coach into the role and all reports indicate he has the defense buying into what he is selling as well. Our linebackers love the guy and it seems like the other positions are warm on him as well. I'm not happy to see Zim go but I also don't think we lost someone who is irreplaceable.
 

Disp_sl

shitlord
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Maybe, kinda.

The Redskins gave Albert Haynesworth a contract that was 7 years, and up to 115 mil if incentives were met. They were not met, because he was a lazy, lazy SOB. But that one *could* have ended up being bigger. It was upon first glance. Of course, JJ wont' ever see that whole 100 mil, not even half of it will be guaranteed. Alberts had like $40m guaranteed.
I bet J.J. will see just about all of it. It looks like it's an extension past his current + first round tender, so he's actually signed for 8 more years including this one ($4.5mil this year, $9.5mil next, then the 6 year extension kicks in). The dude lives his life for football, and he's a once in a generation talent. Hell, he has more sacks in 3 seasons than Haynesworth had in a 10+ year career.
 

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
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I bet J.J. will see just about all of it. It looks like it's an extension past his current + first round tender, so he's actually signed for 8 more years including this one ($4.5mil this year, $9.5mil next, then the 6 year extension kicks in). The dude lives his life for football, and he's a once in a generation talent. Hell, he has more sacks in 3 seasons than Haynesworth had in a 10+ year career.
Kind of a bum comparison to compare their sack figures. Albert was a DT where Watt is the rushing up LB in the 3-4 where the entire purpose is to create a gap for him and to have him run at the QB.
 

Disp_sl

shitlord
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Pretty sure Watt plays a lot on the interior line/DT during passing plays. He's like Justin Smith on the 49ers (also a 3-4 defense), not Aldon, who is their 3-4 rush LB.
 

Joeboo

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JJ Watt = Jared Allen. Their stats are amazingly similar in their first 3 seasons starting(I say that because Jared didn't start as a rookie until a few months into the season, he was such a low draft pick)

JJ Watt first 3 seasons starting:
36.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 182 tackles

Jared Allen first 3 seasons starting:
34 sacks, 8 forced fumbles, 168 tackles

The good news for JJ Watt fans, after that Jared Allen has still averaged 14.25 sacks per season over the next 6 years. Defensive linemen that don't get fat and lazy can stay pretty productive well into their 30s.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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It was pretty fun watching Hard Knocks when the Falcons when to Houston for a scrimmage and all the offensive linemen were shitting their pants about having to block Watt. Watching film afterwards the coach was like "Well, you lost, but it was JJ Watt".
 

Gravy

Bronze Squire
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JJ Watt = Jared Allen. Their stats are amazingly similar in their first 3 seasons starting(I say that because Jared didn't start as a rookie until a few months into the season, he was such a low draft pick)

JJ Watt first 3 seasons starting:
36.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 182 tackles

Jared Allen first 3 seasons starting:
34 sacks, 8 forced fumbles, 168 tackles

The good news for JJ Watt fans, after that Jared Allen has still averaged 14.25 sacks per season over the next 6 years. Defensive linemen that don't get fat and lazy can stay pretty productive well into their 30s.
J.J. is a fucking stud. I don't see him slacking off after a fat contract like Haynesworth. Basically, I'm agreeing with you. I wish Watts was a Chief.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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JJ Watt = Jared Allen. Their stats are amazingly similar in their first 3 seasons starting
Yeah, but can JJ Watt kill an elk with a spear?

rrr_img_75311.jpg
 

Grimmlokk

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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/r/nfl's power rankings are out. I don't think anything here is too shocking.

Official Week 0 /r/NFL Power Rankings : nfl
8-8 for the Steelers is a fair prediction, but the blurb is retarded.

"Steelers fans were intensely hopeful that last year's momentum would be carried into the next season with a clean slate, but the contradictions continue. Will Ben progress calling his own plays? Will it matter if his teammates are not serious about winning? Additions in coaching and defense leave room for optimism, although last year's issue was people being serious and playing as a unit. On paper, this team is better than the realistic pessimism demands them to be seen at the moment."

What the fuck is all that psychobabble shit?
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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J.J. is a fucking stud. I don't see him slacking off after a fat contract like Haynesworth. Basically, I'm agreeing with you. I wish Watts was a Chief.
I wish Allen would have remained a Chief, but the draft picks that we got for him resulted in Jamaal Charles. So...tough call.