Okay so I know nobody in here cares about the Falcons except for me, but why are they consistently playing the annual game in New Orleans on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, AND during a primetime broadcast??? The people who make up the schedule are ALWAYS setting the Falcons up to lose their road game against the Saints. This will be the 2nd straight year ( and 4 of the last 5 years ) that the Falcons will play in New Orleans on a primetime night. With the Saints losing their first 2 games, I don't think my Falcons have a chance in this game...again...just like last year. How about we play the game in Atlanta on primetime? That's only happened once in the last 7 years SMH

Its a bunch of bull and I can't stand it! The fans will all be hopped up on emotion because of the anniversary of Katrina, which will more than likely make them play better. I hope the Falcons can go in there and break everyone's heart this year...but I seriously doubt that will happen.

MattyIce : You're not being set up for failure. If you can't go out and win a road game in the NFC South, you don't have any business winning anything.

Those players don't really care about Katrina. The fans don't really care about Katrina. Katrina won't have any serious impact on the football game as a motivator for either side. I don't know anyone from New Orleans but I find it hard to believe they would remember the horror that was Hurricane Katrina by whipping themselves into a frenzy for a Saints game. Maybe they do and, okay, there's some crowd noise.

When you're the Saints and you're giving up something like 500 yards a game on defense, you're beatable, no matter what the situation is.

Anyway, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29th. It's not like it was even in September.

MattyIce : I'm not sure how that even factors into how the game is played. Its just like when the NFL seems to always have the first Sunday of the season revolve around 9-11. Just a marketing gimmick

Both the Saints and the Falcons have horrible defenses to start the season. I figure that factors more into the game than anything else.

Jordanv78 : I'm going to take it a step further. You said the Saints and Falcons have horrible defenses to start the season.

I'm going to take it a step further and say the New Orleans secondary is perhaps the most atrocious defense ever put together in the history of the NFL since the merger occurred. I mean, those guys are simply bad. The schemes are bad, the disguises are bad, the blitz packages are bad. They're literally spending about $45.21 total on salaries for the corners and safeties.

Matt Ryan should have a field day. He won't need to hand the ball to anyone because he's busy stretching the field and going deep. Atlanta won't even need a tight end because the receivers are going to be running circles around that defense.

Ghostbear1111 :
Jordanv78 :

Please don't get mad at me when I say this and I understand its all just a matter of opinion.

Ghostbear...I respect anyone's opinion, really I do. But I couldn't disagree with you more. The players may not care about Katrina since the team is different from back then. But the fans don't really care about Katrina??? I mean, are you freakin serious??? Of course they care about Katrina! That's what this game is primarily for...for remembrance of "the horror that was Hurricane Katrina" and all its victims. And guess what'll happen? It will "whip themselves (the fans and players) into a frenzy" for the game. Katrina will play a HUGE factor in this game, and it will only provide more motivation for the Saints. Its happened almost every year since 2005, and I don't see how this game will be any different. And as far as the date...Katrina happened at the end of August yes, but this game is the 10th anniversary of the game that was played in San Antonio after Katrina.

And Jordan...I agree its probably a marketing gimmick, but its still unfortunate for the Falcons. It doesn't matter how horrible the defenses of both teams are, or what their record is. The Saints could be 0-15 and the Falcons be 15-0 going into New Orleans...I still wouldn't give the Falcons a chance. Not when everyone's all hopped up on emotion. The Saints have ALWAYS played the Falcons very tough at home during primetime. I just wish it can be the other way around once in a while.

MattyIce : I think those types of things are way more hyped up than the really are. I don't think too many players on either team are that invested on that occasion any more than any other date. Except for some of the older players that might have been around.

That's similar to believing that a goat or a black cat is the reason why the cubs have sucked and not won a championship for 110 years.

Omg, the sky is falling, Bengals allow Trevor Siemian to throw 4 TD's and they commit all sorts of ridiculous penalties. I was feeling so good at the beginning of the game when they finally got the running game going for the first time all season, and then their defense plays like crap the rest of the way. Thursday night is a must win. If they lose against the Dolphins, this season's pretty much over.

I was going to post this earlier, but I've been so angry since the game ended, and just didn't feel like it.

Well, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how the Raiders' defense responded this weekend after giving up 1000 yards over the last 2 games. Needless to say, Marcus Mariota is not yet an elite quarterback like Matt Ryan, or a Hall of Famer like Drew Brees, but the Raiders did a pretty good job overall shutting him down. He wasn't able to do much and threw two picks as well, which was great. The Raiders' offense obviously could have played better, but hey, they got the W, and that's all that really matters. They had to do it in typical Raiders fashion (keeping it close until the end so the fans can have heart attacks), but I'm happy that they pulled this one out. It would have been a tough pill to swallow to lose 2 out of 3 very winnable games.  

gamerforlifeforever : I was watching the Bengals vs Broncos game on TV while following others on NFL.com and I turned the TV on right when it was 17-22 in favor of the Broncos with about 6 and a half minutes left to play. I was honestly like "here it is, Dalton's gonna pull it out", and on 3rd down that dude missed the catch! I was like "that dude needs to be cut immediately!" and they zoom in and I see it's #18. I was shocked to see someone of AJ Green's caliber drop such a point blank easy catch without any contact from a defender either. I'm sorry dude, it must be a tough loss. (I don't mean to provoke you or anything, just wanted to let out my thoughts on the end of that game). 

Trevor Siemian looks like a good quarterback, and I was impressed with his long strike to Demaryus Thomas that put the Broncos up 29-17. He'll be a tough out come week 9 when the Broncos head to Oakland, but I'm more concerned about how Derek Carr and co. will handle the Broncos' defense. 

I have to admit, I was pretty surprised to see Siemian toss all over the Bengals. I knew that they had major issues stopping the run, but didn't think they would allow 4 passing TDs to a QB like that. Their struggles so far are not a surprise to me though as I figured they were going to have a rough season.

Moving on to other notes for the Sunday games.

I can't believe I saw Fitzpatrick throw 6 INTS. Their offense was looking decent for the first couple weeks but had a rude awakening. After the 3rd INT I figure you would change things up a little... they really couldn't get anything going.

Cards are showing the issues that I was mentioning in my offseason thread. Palmer is at the end of his career, and their defense has shown holes at times. Hard to figure out what the Bills are at this point.

Surprising to see how good the Eagles have played. Sure the first two games were cupcake opponents in my Bears and the Browns, but they showed their have not only an offense that doesn't mistakes, but also a pretty solid defense as well.

Who else is surprised about the Ravens 3-0 start as well?? I Jags really played poorly this week, showing that Bortles still has days where he can implode. I felt this last win for the ravens was more about how Poorly the Jags played than how well the Ravens did.

Well thankfully the Bengals kept their season alive by beating the Dolphins 22-7 on Thursday Night Football. I was worried after Tannehill threw that 74 yard TD pass to Kenny Stills, but thankfully the Bengals defense completely shut them down after that. A.J. Green had a monster game, but the thing that really stood out tonight was the fact that the Bengals had to settle for 5 field goals and only had one touchdown when this clearly should've been a blowout. I really hope Tyler Eifert will be able to come back next week, because besides Green, he's the only other red zone threat on the team. Still, a win's a win, so I'm happy.

So crazy week 4 huh? Although I know that injuries affect every team every year, I have to say that the amount of injuries to top talent in the NFL so far this season has been pretty crazy. Especially for those of us whom play fantasy.

A few things that stood out to me this week.

1. Who would've thought that the Rams would be 3-1 right now??? Especially when you look at their offensive stats to start the season. Pretty crazy.

2. I figured the Panthers would have a drop off this year, but getting lit up like that from the Falcons?? Crazy. I mean you figure after Julio had 170 yards at half, that you would star to double and triple team him and let one of the other scrubs at WR beat you.

3. 13 teams are 1-3 right now. Including a couple teams that people thought would contend.

4. The Pats getting shut out at home. Hasn't happened in over 20 years. Not surprising given the QB, but still stands out.

5. The Steelers proved that they are really hard to beat when playing their game and one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the NFL.

6. The Raiders playing as well as they did on the road, traveling east. A slot where most west coast teams struggle, especially against a team that was playing well. Although I never really thought the Ravens were as good as their record indicated.

What did you guys think?

All I have to say about this season so far... is DAMNNNNN Dak Prescott and Ezekial Elliot!

Seriously, I didn't have any f***ing expectations for this season when Romo went down, but now, I'm beginning to think we can succeed without him entirely.

One thing about Dak that's really impressed me is how accurate he's been. He's letting Elliot get a lot of carries, so he doesn't have counting stats like TDs, passing yards, or such under his belt, but he's 6th, almost top 5 in completion percentage.

The names above him on that list?

Matt Ryan, who might be the best QB in the NFL this year, believe it or not. Look at how much yardage he's getting on each pass, how accurate his throws are, and how many TDs he's already thrown! Would NOT be a stretch to say he's an early MVP contender. No shame in being behind him.

Jimmy Garoppolo, who is easily the most talented backup in the NFL. I can't wait for Tom Brady to retire so I can stop hating the Patriots so much. This kid is a legit talent, and while I'll still be irritated by them, they won't have a total douche for a QB.

Eli Manning, who will not keep this up, because he's Eli Manning, and lol.

Blaine Hoyer, who is helped massively by the fact he's thrown less than 100 attempts.

and Derek Carr, one of my favorite QBs in the NFL, who has been very good this year. He's clearly a short passer, but in today's game, that's a valid tactic.

Essentially, of the five QBs ahead of Dak in passing percentage, one is probably the MVP, one is a backup, one is Eli Manning, and one hasn't thrown basically any passes.

I'm not saying Dak is going to be a star, quite yet, but there's a lot to like in his game. He also appears to be gaining a lot of momentum and confidence in his arm, week by week.

Definitely looking forward to the Dak era, an era where our starting QB isn't 100% injured 100% of the time.

tornadocam : As a Browns fan myself (they're the last of three teams I root for), I think they're going to beat the Patriots this week, because Cody frikkin' Kessler is the next Brady, and Brady is now old, and Crowell will be league MVP. [/sarcasm]. In all seriousness, the Browns not only can go 0-16, but they will. They have a tough schedule, and there's no one that they can feasibly fend off. I think that the entire AFC North, is solid. The Ravens defense is good, the Bungals are strong all around, and the Steelers are dominant besides their secondary. The front seven is great. I think the Ravens are going to manage to go 5-1 or 6-0 in the AFC North though, and go into the playoffs 10-6.

While I agree that the Vikings are good, and very, all around, winning with Adrian Peterson performing worse than ANY BACK IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE BY FAR, not even breaking 1.6 yards a carry, without him, they're in a good spot. He's old. Their defense is a tank, but I can almost guarantee that they won't win the division for a variety of reasons.
1: You don't give Matthew Stafford and the Lions defense nearly enough credit. Calvin was the greatest in the league, but he didn't single handedly win every game.
2: Like you said, Green Bay is Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers is easily an MVP contender now that he has a receiver who isn't a no name. His entire core, besides Nelson, would suck outside of the Pack. 
3: Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers at edge rusher. Say what you will of Von and Demarcus, Clay Matthews is a more terrifying name than either of them.

Cardinals: Despite their slow start, I think that this is because of them being favored heavily over even the Patriots to take home the Lombardi. This is a wake up call for them, and honestly, while Palmer is above average, he's a system QB, and hasn't performed well anywhere else. Their backup will do fine. They will make the playoffs, but I think Seattle wins the division.

Panthers: They could legitimately be in trouble. I love Cam, but like I've been telling everyone, he had a career breakout season, and he'll never have it again. Their defense is good, but Cam Newton made it look better due to holding onto the ball. They should make the playoffs, but I think that New Orleans will give them a run once that new D of theirs kicks in.

My picks for all the divisions.
AFC South: Colts if they can get it together, but otherwise, Titans. The Jags are still the Jags, and Osweiler is the worst QB in the division. Without Watt, the Texans have nothing, and I can argue this with anyone. 
AFC North: Ravens, possibly Steelers depending on divisional matches between the two.
AFC East: Patriots. Brady is about to light up the entire National Football League. My pick over the Cardinals, Seahawks, Saints, or Panthers in the Superbowl.
AFC West: Broncos. I had little faith in the defense to preserve its dominance, but they've only gotten better, and Von Miller is playing like a League MVP.
NFC North: Packers. They started out slow, for them, but the Vikings dominance can't beat them out again. The Packers have a shootout offense and a very good defense.
NFC South: Panthers if they can get back on track, Saints otherwise. Despite the Falcons appearing good, they have an incredibly tough schedule, and the Saints have Drew Brees, the best QB in the league, matched only by Brady.
NFC West: Seahawks. The Cardinals might pull it off, but their slow start may have doomed them, and Seattle won a super bowl not too long ago.
NFC East: A toss up, honestly. These are four very equal teams, but Cowboys or Eagles. Wentz, Dak, and Zeke all came in beasting.

What a joke. This has to be the worst game I've seen in the Andy Dalton/A.J. Green era. The defense hasn't been able to stop the Cowboys offense at all, the offense can't get anything going, and the only time they actually had a chance to score came when Morris Claiborne got that pass interference called on him, and they still couldn't do anything. The sky's falling in Cincy now.

Other NFL thoughts: I'm not surprised at all with how well Brady did today. Honestly, I thought he'd get at least 2 more TD's.

Looks like after this week, the Vikings will be the only remaining undefeated team, which I don't think anyone saw coming after Teddy Bridgewater went down.

The Ravens have lost 2 in a row. It's clear at this point the only reason they started 3-0 was due to how weak their schedule was at the start. It'll be interesting to see how bad Steve Smith's ankle injury is, because if he's out for awhile, that'll seriously hurt their chances of making the playoffs.

We knew it would happen sooner or later, Carson Wentz threw his first INT, and their time as an unbeaten has now come to an end.

gamerforlifeforever :

At least you got to watch it. I wanted to watch my Cowboys, but CBS decided I should see this stupid Bills/Rams game instead :/

This is why I can't get into football. I can't watch the games I'm interested in unless I pay extra, which I am not doing.

A few thoughts on the afternoon games of week 5.

1. The Chargers keep finding new ways to lose. I mean that snap hit the holder right in the hands. Not sure how you fumble that.

2. The Broncos finally showed some of their weaknesses. Mainly their O Line is horrible and they can't run or really score all that well.

3. The Bengals are about what I thought they would be without Jackson. If Green doesn't have career days, they don't really have a good chance to win. Especially since the defense is having a down year too.

4. The Ravens show they had no business being considered as among the leagues best...still though they had a chance to win that game if dude doesn't shovel pass it out of the endzone on that should have been defensive touchdown. Instead he gave the Skins 1st and 10 on the 20 lol

5. The Bears had chances to win, but really they are among the leagues worst so far. Sure not as bad as the Browns, but certainly not good so far. The Colts are bad too. Really the whole AFC south is a joke.

6. Not really sure what to think about the Cowboys. They are solid though playing smart football. Hard to count them out if they stay fairly healthy. "Zeke" is a beast. Although the Bengals looked them look good today, I feel the Cowboys biggest hole is their defense, and it can be taken advantage of.

7. Steelers good, Jets bad...very bad.

8. Hard to tell what the Bills are all about. Certainly, McCoy is showing that he's healthy and back to near peak performance. Been very solid. Offense has been decent enough to keep teams guessing since firing the OC and despite injuries, and the defense has gone back to being solid as well. Rams really aren't as good as their record would indicate. Bad decision by Fish to go for it on Fourth down with that fake punk run play on 4th and 5. Horrible play call.

9. Vikes played well enough to dominate the game from start to finish, although they weren't tested against a bad team. They are good, but not THIS good.

10. Pats good, Browns worst in the league.

So, as a Titans fan, I was watching the game, and all season I've been hearing "Kendall Wright will be one hundred percent, and that will be a game changer for the Tennessee Titans." Now, of course, my first thought was, "This is a guy who couldn't rack up five hundred yards in ten games, and that was when we had a more pass oriented offense because we could not run the football."

Then he got 133 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions.

Maybe now Mariota will stop throwing an interception  a game, am I right? 

Nah, he'll still throw a pick a game.

So far I will say it was pretty amusing watching the Vikings and the Eagles combine for 5 turnovers in the FIRST QUARTER of that game. Everyone talking about how both teams are great at taking care of the football but in this game so far neither team seems to want to hang on to it!

As far as my Bears go, it's still going to be a long season, which is what I was expecting for the most part, although I do admit that I expected to see some improvement on the defense going into year 2 of this regime. The offense is about what you would expect with a banged up line and Hoyer at QB. Depending on when/if Cutler can come back, the Bears probably wind up with a top 5 pick, which I'm fine with. Just hoping they can draft a good QB and move on.

With regards to the Pack, you have to be concerned with how they look. Certainly Rodgers hasn't looked like himself and their wins are against sub-par opponents. Sure their defense has been banged up, but their offense doesn't seem equipped to hid the defensive deficiencies as much. At least at this point. It's only week 7 so a lot of football to be played still.

I'm not sure what Kessler was thinking to end that game in London. Driving to possibly win and he tear drops it right to the defender in the end zone... Pretty funny if you aren't a Rams fan

I meant to mention this earlier, but I still can't get over how amazing that catch was by A.J. Green at the end of the first half in the Browns game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS4Z6LEryvk

If the Bengals can win in London against the Redskins this week and the Ravens can beat the Steelers next week, the Bengals will be back in the playoff hunt and the AFC North will be up for grabs.


As for that Sunday Night game, I still can't believe both the Cardinals and Seahawks kickers missed those chip shot field goals in overtime. If any game deserved to end in a tie, that one did. If you can't make a field goal under 30 yards long, you don't deserve to win football games.