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How do you think I feel? We are talking Kaepernick again on this forum for Gods sake.  I been ignoring it all here. We gave up almost 50 points to the RAMS, the worst offense in the league last year.

 

Okay here you go, Miami Heat preview with their incredible new versatility. 

 

https://allucanheat.com/2017/09/11/miami-heat-team-versatility-will-contribute-2017-18-success/

 

After yesterday, that's bound to happen...Kaepernick is at least an upgrade to Tolzien...hate to say it, but Tolzien shouldn't have started...but I'm not sure it would've lessened the pain even if Luck played, cause these QB's can't play on defense...

Brisset looked OK I am hearing from some people who seen the game...They say he got a TD on the board. 

I have to root for the Heat this year as my Miami team since I don't trust the Dolphins to go far with JEFF GEORGE at QB. 

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I don't think the Pats are done yet. They got fat and happy for the opener but this next game in NO is the big test IMO for BOTH the Saints/Patriots.

 

Cries of the Pats demise is still way way too soon. 12-4 might be their lowest.

 

Still not sure why people are so shocked they lost bad to the Chiefs. Chiefs are no joke.

The Pats are going to kill the Saints next week....

I know NE's defense has regressed, but if you're watching this, you can see our play calling against Minnesota is atrocious...we might lose in a shoot out at best putting 30-35 points on the board. I can see this being a game where Brees puts up Marino numbers and shreds them up, and then we lose cause our defense is so bad. 

and pay close attention how the Saints defense can't do anything without drawing a bunch of flags...I'm sure the Pats will easily get down the field, since you can always count on our scrubs to grab facemasks and drag them to the ground and get flagged for it. 

But at least Carolina and Atlanta get to open with cupcakes!!! Even if the Saints some how turn it around, we're not going far cause we don't have the easy clean schedule they have. I am taking Carolina to win the NFC South anyway. Their schedule is so easy, I don't see how they can't win it. 

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Even if the Pack lose to Atlanta they will be fine. 

 

I still think Atlanta looked very very shaky against a very poor Bears team just like we did last season when we hosted Chicago.

They'll be fine until playoffs come...you know how it's going to end...it is the same story every year...

I'm starting to feel bad for Rodgers, cause I don't think it's all him...If you saw what I seen yesterday, that was just bad...no running back...who starts a wide receiver as a running back and expects things to be OK? I can't believe they didn't replace Lacy with anything...

Yesterday, they could not do any play action at all cause it's so predictable when you have a wide receiver as a running back. 

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Doesn't matter what the Vikings do anyway, GB already won the division before the season started. Rodgers is the NFL God.

Until they run into a team who can score constantly and keep him shut out for a half like Atlanta and Seattle did....

I don't trust GB at all right now...They're still using a wide receiver as a running back. They cut Lacy and literally replaced him with nothing...Once they run into a team who can score at will, and has a decent defense, they're done...

I'm not even mad tonight....I've had a bad feeling for months now about this.

Minnesota is no joke...I had a bad, bad feeling about this game...It says a lot that Atlanta and Carolina got to open with cupcakes on the road who they had no problem with. We opened with the Vikings who are usually strong early in the season, and then fun for us, we get NE next week...

And I've had to listen to everyone lecture me for MONTHS about how Adrian Peterson is so awesome and is some how going to rush for 1,000 yards with us. "But Gary, he's a Hall of Famer!! Gary, he'll play great against his former team!!"

Trends prove otherwise....they even showed the stat before this game of awesome running backs playing against their former team and playing terrible. Emmitt Smith had negative yardage when he played his former team. Thurman Thomas couldn't even rush for 30 yards in his last year...I tried to tell people that the Vikings would shut him down...

Saints homers have been getting on my last f'ing nerve the past few months with their sudden love affair for this guy, which really disturbs me cause they're defending child abuse now and basically making him sound like a model citizen (SR forums have went that low to defend Peterson), and I can't help but remember when we used to sit around and laugh at him for fumbling all those times in the NFCCG. They went from laughing at him, to defending child abuse in a complete .360 spin in a span of a few months....Don't feel sorry for us right now...this fan base had it coming....

Oh and our defense... All hype and they still give up a TD in just 4 freaking plays....

Leave it to Kenny Vacarro to constantly cheap-shot guys left and right, draw pass interference penalties and yet he's STILL on this team....oh and Saints fans will defend him if you dare say he's overrated...

Well, we tried....

Need something to get excited about since this will be yet another year of 7-9 by the looks of things. 

Off topic on this but IT in Cleveland, wow...He might actually be done. I saw a media report earlier that his injuries are far worse than we originally thought. I'm starting to think Boston really did fleece the Cavs...unlike NE fleecing the Saints!!! Omggggggg hearing the complaints about Cooks last night was hilarious. 

Yes, I've been watching the live coverage. It brought back a lot of painful memories of Katrina. 

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I saw some live videos of when the storm hit the islands a few days ago and it looked like something out of a horror movie with the sounds and the wind. And when you said a hurricane like Katrina can't be described, you were not kidding. It's hell on Earth. 

Hell on Earth is literally how it felt...

What I told you about the winds and stuff, I cannot properly describe that...It's a sound that can't be captured by any audio recording device...You never forget it when you hear it either. 

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Did you see those winds? 185 mph. It MADE CARS go in the air.

Yeah, I saw that too. That happened with Katrina too...#1 reason you do NOT get on the road if you are staying...Katrina was around 185-195 mph winds. 

Miami is going to get ravaged and I feel so bad for them...I don't know why I love that city, but I do...I want to root for the Dolphins and Heat this year after all this...The Dolphins are going to be my AFC team this year. 

Meanwhile - this crap right here really pisses me off....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/06/sir-richard-branson-is-riding-out-hurricane-irma-in-the-wine-cellar-on-his-private-island/?utm_term=.e6526d582c83

People are dead. People are losing everything, but they're going to cry tears over a freaking billionaire who bragged a few days ago that he was going to stay cause nothing could take out his underground bunker. 

Makes me SICK....

This has depressed me all week....

Harvey brought back some bad memories but this? I have been having nightmares over it...

I feel so terrible for them..The islands, and then Florida itself...Miami is going to get ravaged, god this sucks...I hope the people who are brave enough to stay like I did during Katrina make it OK...This thing is a monster...It looked like it could become a monster over a week ago when it scared me. 

Florida's worst hurricane in the past was Andrew. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew

Irma was double the size of Andrew when I seen in the Miami news a few days ago.

Wow, great game. Very defensive...

I like these kind of games a lot. All field goals, no TD's, no big OMG WOW offensive plays. You rarely ever do see defensive slug fests games like this anymore in the pass happy NFL that favors offense. The Jets/Packers 2010 game also comes to mind here. 

Manning had a rough game here and many will point to his stats as being ugly, but he did everything to get the win. I don't think it's fair to really talk about his ugly stats here as if it's negative. Favre used to have games like this often, where the stats would be ugly but all that matters is coming off with that win. 

Joseph Addai with some nice plays. I always liked this guy and felt he was a bit underrated as a back. 

RIP Steve McNair. Good QB, likable person off the field and I think this may have been his last playoff game. 

I liked how the Colts defense played in this game. The commentators constantly mention how bad their run defense is, and yet they focused on shutting down the run entirely. 

I had forgotten how good that Ravens team was in 2006. I didn't even know they went 13-3, and I saw some articles online that had fans arguing that it was a much stronger team than the 2012 unit. Kinda reminds me of the 2007 Packers being overall better than the 2010 team. 

We just got hammered with the left over deteriorated tropical storm part of Harvey the past few days. Nothing but rain for 3 days now, some roads are flooded but nothing really too severe. My internet got knocked out most of yesterday so I kept the computer off and didn't get to watch this game just yet. 

Will be watching tonight and get back to both of you on it. 

I remember when Dick Vermill went to K.C. and the big time media pundits were all screaming OMG over that offense, and they lost every playoff game to the Colts. 

Vermill is one of the most overrated coaches to ever win a SB, and I'll argue anyone over that. That 1999 Rams had the most historically weak schedule of a SB winner ever. That year, the NFC West completely fell to pieces when Steve Young retired from a concussion and had THREE teams who won less than 6 games. That was 6 easy games for the Rams to run up their stats and scores. 

I have that Baltimore/Indy game in my possession but haven't watched it yet. I have a bunch of games I got my hands on this past month, and I'm trying to watch them in order of the year so I don't get myself confused jumping from year to year. 

Jules asked me a while back to watch the AFCCG from 1995, and I haven't been able to find it yet. I do have the 1995 Steelers/Packers game though and the Steelers/Cowboys SB from that year. 

Check Youtube from time to time, and it's good to snag old games. 

I was thrilled this morning to come across this game. The oldest football card I own is a 1976 Topps Drew Pearson card. No idea what it's worth, but my dad hung onto that card forever just due to the hail mary game. 

I think I am going to roll with Seattle as a safe pick...I trust them a hell lot more than I do GB even though they're a team that is regressing...The Packers can't even beat them in a playoff game where Wilson easily give them 5 interceptions. That's why I have no faith in GB...If not for Atlanta, we would still be talking about that 2014 NFCCG as the perfect choke job...

I've felt for the past 2 years we were going to get a Seahawks/Pats SB rematch. I am probably totally wrong, but it just feels like a safer pick. 

The Saints aren't contenders even if they do have a good season. My gut tells me the saints go 10-6 or 11-5 and I am usually very negative about their chances...This team just feels so much better to me right now, I don't know what it is. But the Panthers concern me cause they're so unpredictable and usually when they're under the radar, that's when they have that special 11-5 season where they come out of nowhere and take it. 

The Giants are another team that is hyped up like GB every year, and I don't see it happening for them either. Their best player is a baby who completely loses his mind the minute a corner can play physical with him....Coughlin isn't there anymore, so any wish that Odell matures and stops imitating Andre Rison, Terrell Owens and Steve Smith, that ain't gonna happen...Odell will be the death of that team, and I don't feel sorry for them at all.

Seattle and GB are safe picks cause they play in god awful divisions. This will be yet another year a mediocre Packers team wins the NFC North cause it's the new AFC South, and Seattle will cruise to an easy division win since no one in the NFC West is competent to give them issues except the Rams who will probably sweep them and still go 6-10.

I am never picking Green Bay to win again. Not after 2014 when they had a gift wrapped playoff game handed to them vs Dallas, then a week later put up the greatest choke job ever in an NFCCG game. This is a team that can't even win when the other QB gifts them 5 interceptions...

This past off season, their defense got worse...That's usually what costs them in the playoffs every year besides Rodgers getting outplayed by other QB's. I don't trust the Packers at all...Only way they get in is if the entire NFC regresses, and they have some year like 2010 where they get a perfect match in every playoff game. 

This happens every year though...GB is the favorites every summer and it always ends the same way with a big epic blow out. I knew that whole week leading up to the NFCCG that Atlanta was going to beat them to pieces...I could just feel it. 

You can't jinx the Saints. The first quarter of their schedule is brutal...If they come out 1-3, they're done. 

Carolina worries me more than anything cause that team is absolutely unpredictable...When you think they're going to be awful, they'll surprise you. All signs point to them regressing but they're so unpredictable. 

I haven't made any picks yet...I like to go through every team's schedule and look them over when I make divisional picks. 

I think you jinxed Dallas if anything. 

I loved Dallas last year...Dak Prescott was a real stud and this kid is going to be a superstar. I don't understand the hate he gets from people cause Dak does not have any real flaws with his mechanics, foot work or throwing motion. He could end up being a real generational talent given how great he has been so far. 

Problem with picking Dallas to go that far is that they're starting 4 rookies in the secondary, and I don't think they're going to have the experience with them. when the Saints and Packers start a bunch of rookies like that in their secondary, they're in the bottom of the league on pass defense. 

I might pick them to win the East cause they have the most stable offense...I think they are OK without Ezekiel Elliot simply cause I believe in Dak and I think this kid is going to surprise us. But that defense is a great concern. Starting rookies out there rarely ever turns out positive for a secondary. 

A few months ago I had NE repeating but now I'm not really sure....After the Brandin Cooks trade, and then losing Edleman, I'm not sure they're going to repeat. It's so hard to win a Super Bowl in the NFL, and last year the Pats did benefit quite favorably from a historically weak year. The last time the NFL had a really weak year like that was 2008, which a Steelers team won who barely got through their weak schedule. 

I expect Brady could have a drop off in production reaching 40. 

This article has made me think about this often. 

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/tom-brady-will-be-bad-eventually/

The writer does have a great point when he mentions Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. Peyton was 39 and Favre was 40 and they had career seasons, then had a massive drop off the next year. Brady is coming off a year where he set a record for the TD/INT ratio. 

He makes a good point too that Brady being out 4 games probably helped him cause towards the end of 2015, he had declined going into the postseason. 

I'm not entirely positive NE is going to repeat....Problem is, who else??? Pittsburgh absolutely don't play these guys tough, so only way to pick the Steelers is if they some how avoid them like they did in 2008 and 2010.

Saints would've held San Diego to zero points if Nassib don't throw a pick six in classic Saints fashion - pitching a shut out and then backup QB throws a 100 yard pick six...Only the Saints would do that. 

I don't want to get too excited yet cause it's only preseason but this team is looking a hell lot better than the last 3 years. And it's amazing to see the Saints defense actually pummel QB's and make life miserable for them. So far in 3 preseason games, we've got monster hits on all 3 team's QB's with Houston's Savage and Watson taking some beatings. 

We have to win that first game against all odds...I always feel better if we start 1-0 cause the possibilities are endless, and we haven't experienced that in a few years now. We have to beat Minnesota...cannot lose to that crappy team. 

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Speaking of the Pats, the Edleman loss is HUGE, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Thats Brady's #1 receiver and wing man. Thats the guy who makes the big clutch catches in big games and who keeps drives going every single week. He is a bigger key then Gronk.

They lose the SB without Edleman. Who else is going to make that wild circus catch that could've and arguably should've been intercepted on the last drive of the 4th quarter? 

Brandin Cooks isn't going to fill that role either. The minute they take him out of the slot, they're going to see exactly why the Saints wanted to get rid of him so bad. He's a slot receiver and nothing else. Randall Cobb is seriously the best comparison. 

I'm glad we didn't trade for Malcolm Butler cause he has been getting absolutely torched in preseason, and I didn't want him anyway cause he got owned by Julio Jones in the SB...All those big catches Julio had was Butler covering. The Pats did a better job when they had other guys around him. 

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I know our backup QBs looked decent vs. Pittsburgh so maybe now we can beat the Rams.

What worries me is Wade Phillips' defense which is bound to be improved with the Rams. 

But omg, seriously...you cannot lose to Jared Goff. He is bad...very bad. I know people are saying he looks better in preseason but anything is an improvement over him last year. He still don't throw the football like an NFL QB. 

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I agree Lonzo don't seem so bad lately and he loves Lebron apparently. I also think in my gut I know a pass first PG like Lonzo with the skill set he has would appeal big time to veterans like Lebron/Paul George.

Lonzo's passing is probably going to be what makes him effective in the long run cause his shot form needs a lot of work, but I've been thinking he probably can be a very effective player just by passing...I admit, I go hard on this kid cause the hype train is so annoying and his dad is the biggest jerk in all of sports right now. It seems like every other week, LaVar does something new that is disgusting. 

Lonzo has done a good job though so far making HIMSELF likable since summer league...At this point, it really is his dad who makes everything sour. If the dad wasn't in the picture right now, things would be just fine...Lonzo has become so quiet this summer, but it's daddy Ball who is cussing out female referees, getting them thrown from games, going in the media and running his mouth, saying outrageous offensive things, etc. 

You are probably right though, cause LeBron had that kind of passing going on in Miami and he was such a more relaxed player. That's really the main difference between Miami and Cleveland besides Miami playing MUCH better defense...Wade would pass the ball so much, and LeBron didn't have to focus all his time setting everyone up like he has to do with Cleveland. 

Personally though, if I am in the Lakers camp, I wouldn't want to chase these aging stars. I think they should focus on their youth and building them up and keep drafting well...That's pretty much what Golden State did, that was a whole project with the drafting and spending years to develop their main stars. The Lakers do have some decent young talent. Ingram is going to be a beast in the next few years, and Zubac showed good signs last year and became a bit of a fan favorite. 

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I hope both of you are right in that he stays in Cleveland or that he SHOULD at least. Going to be an interesting year of basketball thats for sure!!!

 

Thanks for the input from both of you about all of this. I have to head to bed early tonight now.

Have a good night, Jules. I'm about to head off myself...105 on the heat index today.  Is fall coming soon? Will be so happy when this brutal summer is over, it's too hot right now... I'm tired out tonight after seeing my doctor, it's too hot lately to be riding around for hours in a car that is having air conditioner problems. 

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I also hear there is such turmoil between Lebron and Dan Gilbert which is something we don't know about as fans. We don't know the truth. Someday I am hoping the truth can come out a bit with what is really going on since Kyrie was reportedly threatening not to even show up for training camp with the Cavs. I got no idea what happened there.......

Dan Gilbert is solidifying himself as one of the worst owners of modern day of all successful sports teams. I cannot stand this man to the point he makes me thankful that Tom Benson is still alive, and that's saying a lot cause I have never liked Benson ever. 

I believe when it's all said and done, long after LeBron has retired, people will look back and realize Gilbert was the main issue in all of this... I still swear that he's lucky as hell that Lebron came back after that big letter he wrote...I give LeBron credit there, cause there is no way in hell I would've forgave Gilbert for that. 

There isn't another owner in sports right now who could be luckier and less deserving of a ring than Gilbert...

I cannot see LeBron dealing with LaVar Ball in L.A. 

It's a good thing Lonzo has made himself likable so far, cause his dad is only getting worse and this is going to become a huge problem as the season rolls over. No other team had any interest in Lonzo whatsoever besides the Lakers, which I'm sure LaVar Ball has something to do with that...No one wants to deal with him. 

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I wish he could go to a team that was better but that would take another Miami Heat situation which is what I think people imagine the Lakers can do with the cap space they have next offseason.

This is why I can't buy into those rumors. Everything with the Lakers is a bunch of "What ifs"....Everything has to go right for them, and they're playing such a risky game with everything that all it will take is one negative move and it's all going to backfire and collapse on them. 

There is going to be so much pressure on Lonzo Ball's shoulders that I'm starting to feel sorry for the kid, and then there is the PG trade thing which still isn't a for sure thing...

At least with the Miami Heat, they were a team in complete rebuild and had been an average mediocre team for years at that point. Pat Riley lived up to his word though to LeBron that he would build a team around him quickly.

Many people forget that when that Heat team was assembled, they weren't the favorites right away. The Celtics were still favorites coming off a Finals loss, and I clearly remember going into that year and everyone thought it was going to be Celtics/Lakers in the Finals again. There was many question marks on the Heat in year 1, and it wasn't really until 2012 with the addition of Bibby and improved chemistry did they finally become an awesome team. 

IMO the Heat hype train did not really become for real until after Christmas and when we got to see them vs the Lakers and Celtics. The Heat made the Lakers look so old and slow, and it was absolutely shocking since they were the defending champs. I believe that was the moment everyone realized this was going to be an awesome team. 

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The Lebron thing is odd though since he has never said a word about his future either. Word is he would not guarantee he would stay with the Cavs which is why Gilbert did not pull a one year trigger deal on Paul George.

 

I got no idea what Lebron does. I can see him leaving though but it also depends on this years current Cavs do as well.

 

I can say this, Lebron probably is tired of going to the finals and losing. And the current roster they got isn't beating GS. And their current roster may not beat other teams out west either.

This happens every year....Back in 2015, they were already trying to say he was going back to Miami all cause he took his kids down there for the summer and because he still likes to train and work out there. 

I still think LeBron probably stays cause he got guilt tripped so badly over leaving Cleveland the first time and he's clearly said it multiple times he wants to stay home there. IMO I think LeBron is going to retire in the next 3 years cause he's been playing basketball pretty much his entire life. He went into the NBA at 18 years old, and I think he's eventually going to focus on other things with being a father and raising his kids. 

I just realized Kyrie going to Boston is going to really throw gasoline on the fire of "LeBron to the Lakers" rumors since that rivalry is so big. 

I still have a feeling LeBron might stay in Cleveland...I'm not sure he goes to the Lakers cause Magic Johnson just got them in serious trouble with tampering with Indiana to get Paul George, which still isn't a for sure thing....and Lonzo Ball's shot is still god awful. The Lakers hype thing looks like it's going to crash and burn hard.