NFL 2018 Season Thread

[SlowwHand]

San Antonio.

[Ben Kenobi]

Green Bay is a special case.

[Ben Kenobi]

Interesting, career adjusted value:

Currently not in the hall:

Manning, Brady, Lewis, Favre, Brees, Tomlinson, Peppers, Harrison, Moss.

and then to the greatest not in the hall - Ken Anderson. Who is currently tied with Philip Rivers.

http://apolyton.net/showthread.php/210149-NFL-2016-Season-Thread/page7

[Ben Kenobi]

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/career_av_career.htm

not sure why editing isn't working, but whatever.

[Demonbinder]

R.I.P. Buddy Ryan. Architect of the best defense ever and was also coach of defense when Jets pulled upset in SBIII. Chicago will never forget that he helped to get our only Super Bowl win. He was quite the character.

[SlowwHand]

Best Defense is arguable.
Top 5, I could concur.

When is Fantasy draft?

[rah]

Yeah, arguing the "BEST" has always seemed silly to me. Especially across different eras.
One of the best, I'll go with.

[-Jrabbit]

When is Fantasy draft?

Typically, we start the draft in mid-August - about 3 weeks before the first regular season game.

Last year, we didn't start until Aug. 23 and still finished by Sept. 1. (That was an 8-team league, so the draft was very fast.)

Since we had so much trouble getting even 8 teams together last year, it couldn't hurt to start getting organized. For that, we need Commish Koyaa to activate the league.

[Zopperoni]

Ryan was definitely one of the more influential defensive coaches in the game. Back when I still played Madden, I ran a modified, modernized version of the 46 defense as a base defense.

RIP Coach Buddy Ryan

[Ben Kenobi]

I suppose I have to defend my title.

[rah]

Some memories from the paper this morning.

On his relationship with coach Mike Ditka while with the Bears: “We hardly ever spoke. I'd just put the game plan
on his secretary's desk and she'd put it on his desk. Not that he understood much of it.”

When Ryan was defensive coordinator with the Houston Oilers, he punched offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride
on the sideline on national TV. Ryan had a chance to publicly apologize the next season, but instead he
doubled down, saying, “Kevin Gilbride will be selling insurance in two years.”

On Eagles running back Earnest Jackson: “Trade him for a six pack; it doesn't even have to be cold.”
In “Mudbaths and Bloodbaths,” a book on the Bears-Packers rivalry, former Packers offensive tackle
Greg Koch said Ryan kicked him in the stomach after a play landed out of bounds. “If I could have gotten
to him, I would have killed him,” Koch said.

In the first game back from the players' strike in 1987, the Eagles faced the Cowboys, who had embarrassed
them during one of the strike games. Ryan, coaching the Eagles, didn't forget. With the Eagles ahead 30-20,
three kneel-downs would have run out the clock. On third down, Ryan had quarterback Randall Cunningham
fake a knee, get up and throw deep to Mike Quick. Referring to Cowboys coach Tom Landry, Ryan said,
“He opened the can of worms, I closed it.''

During the 1990 season, Ryan bragged that his Eagles would so badly beat up the Redskins in a Monday night
game “they'll have to be carted off in body bags.” The Eagles defense scored three touchdowns in a 28-14 victory
and knocked nine Redskins out of the game, including two quarterbacks.

“QBs are overpaid, overrated, pompous bastards and must be punished. ...

A quarterback has never completed a pass when he was flat on his back.”

Ryan was not a fan of Bears rookie William “Refrigerator” Perry, famously calling him “a wasted draft choice.” During training camp before the 1985 season, Ryan said, “He's an overweight kid and a hell of a nice kid, but you know, I got twin boys at home that are nice kids, and I don't want 'em playing for me.”

Ryan was accused of having his Eagles try to injure Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas, whom Ryan had cut in
Philadelphia earlier in the season. His reaction: “Why would I try to hurt a kicker who can't kick?''

On his team's roster cuts with the Eagles: “It was so easy my wife could have made them.”

On his philosophy about locker-room turmoil: “Dumb guys sulk and pout. You never see smart guys pout. ...
The good players always react the way they should.”

On observers trying to simplify the 46 defense: “Some say the 46 is just an eight-man front.
That's like saying Marilyn Monroe is just a girl.”

[ColdWizard]

Seemed like he was doing well the second half of last season. Guess he likes drugs more.

The Dallas Cowboys' defense has taken another hit in a difficult offseason. This one feels familiar.

Rolando McClain was suspended 10 games Thursday for violating the NFL's policy against substances of abuse, the league announced Thursday. McClain was also suspended four games for violating the same policy to start the 2015 season.

The Cowboys' defense has a bus full of questions entering the season, including three suspended starters. The league also announced defensive end Demarcus Lawrence's previously reported four-game suspension has been upheld. Fellow pass rusher Randy Gregory is also suspended four games to start the year. On top of that, linebacker Sean Lee is coming off knee surgery and third-round pick Maliek Collins broke his foot during offseason workouts. Restricted free agent signing Benson Mayowa, a defensive end, recently underwent knee surgery.

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli could move Anthony Hitchens to middle linebacker, with Kyle Wilber or Andrew Gachkar entering the starting lineup.

This continues what has been a rocky career for McClain. Selected No. 8 overall by the Oakland Raiders in the 2010 draft, McClain has struggled with motivation. The Raiders suspended him for conduct detrimental to the team after kicking him out of practice in 2012 before subsequently releasing him in 2013. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail in 2012 after being found guilty on charges of assault, reckless endangerment, menacing and wrongful discharge of a firearm. He also was once arrested for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, although those charges were eventually dropped.

McClain briefly retired in 2013 when he was a member of the Baltimore Ravens, missing the entire season. He returned to the field in 2014 following a trade to the Cowboys. Owner Jerry Jones took a chance on McClain and has mostly been rewarded over the last two seasons with solid play as the team's starting middle linebacker. But there were signs that the relationship was already fraying this offseason.

Cowboys.com writer Bryan Broaddus wrote that Cowboys coaches were "not happy" with McClain after he skipped voluntary work this offseason. The team drafted Jaylon Smith from Notre Dame in the second round, with the plan to have Smith take over at middle linebacker in 2017 when he's healthy. McClain re-signed with the Cowboys on a one-year, $4 million contract this offseason.

There is no guarantee that McClain will have a starting job (or a job at all) when he is eligible to return to the team. No matter how the Cowboys choose to line up early in the season, they will be missing a lot of key players. It is getting harder to imagine McClain being on the roster in 2017.

Link

[ColdWizard]

Charles Tillman retires.

[Demonbinder]

Charles Tillman retires.

What a great cornerback for the Bears. He should make their Ring of Fame, but doubt voters will put him in Hall.

[SlowwHand]

AFC needs to fear Raiders.
They're about to make their presence known.