2015 NFL Season Thread

Well, it officially begins tonight with my Steelers against De-flatriots (sorry, could not resist...hopefully it is over with as it was all over blown).  I think Brady will be out for bear and with our pot head running back, great center, and our #2 receiver all of them out, I don't have a good feeling about the game tonight.

Well, Pittsburgh had a legitimate chance to win, but really choked that one away. If you think about the 13 points they blew with the 2 missed FGs and that wide open TD the receiver missed...at one point (and not in garbage time) Pitt would've been leading! But it's not about what you could've done, and they also shot themselves with stupid mistakes. I thought Ben played quite well, Williams is still a great back, and the wideouts had some impressive moments! But as a team...I was quite unimpressed. 

Edited by JJLehto - September 11 2015 at 00:59

JJLehto wrote: Well, Pittsburgh had a legitimate chance to win, but really choked that one away. If you think about the 13 points they blew with the 2 missed FGs and that wide open TD the receiver missed...at one point (and not in garbage time) Pitt would've been leading! But it's not about what you could've done, and they also shot themselves with stupid mistakes. I thought Ben played quite well, Williams is still a great back, and the wideouts had some impressive moments! But as a team...I was quite unimpressed.  Especially on defense. Not sure if they were playing soft, or just lacked talent, but they pretty much let the Pats walk all over them. The forgetting to cover Gronk certainly was a lowlight  The vaulted Steelers defense looks like a wet bag now.  Pats were exactly what I expected: Efficient and deadly. Rarely wowed, but performed near perfection.  Gronk is unstoppable, he's like the JJ Watt of offense ya can't really do much about him and hope to limit the damage. Given Brady's rough 2013 and early '14, then epic rebound lining up with Gronk's health...I think he may be the legit team MVP! Brady holds it together but Gronk is the spark that gets it all going.

The Steelers defense has been bereft of talent for years. They were 30th in DVOA last year and needed to bring back 50 year old woman beating James Harrison just to get some semblance of a pass rush.

I don't think the game was really so close. The game flow towards the end made the score that way of course, but maybe I'm being too harsh in that respect. It's nice to see Gronk come out dominating after the Steelers talking all week about having their gameplan to shut him down.

Yikes, our secondary.  Probably asking too much of Butler, and Bradley Fletcher is (which as a Philly area resident I could have told you way beforehand).  Wasn't enamored of our defensive front either, they weren't holding the edge too well all game.  Steelers could definitely move the ball, they ended up with what, 450 yds?

Well, they have a whole season to improve, but they don't advance too far in the playoffs with the defense as it's currently executing.

Patriots defense (& offense) always gets better through the year as the new players lock into the system. For game 1 with a SB hangover against a good team I was quite impressed. A fit Gronk makes a huge difference.

Padraic wrote: Yikes, our secondary.  Probably asking too much of Butler, and Bradley Fletcher is (which as a Philly area resident I could have told you way beforehand).  Wasn't enamored of our defensive front either, they weren't holding the edge too well all game.  Steelers could definitely move the ball, they ended up with what, 450 yds? Well, they have a whole season to improve, but they don't advance too far in the playoffs with the defense as it's currently executing.

Looked like Butler played very well to me. Brown is just a special kinda of receiver. It's hard for anyone to man up with him. I remember him biting on a double move for the ~20 yard reception down the left sideline and missing a jam on a ~10 yard reception from the slot but other than that he seemed to mostly be in good position. There was the helmet catch in which he had perfect coverage, the rub route where he drove hard but was just a second late to the ball, and the last TD catch he was in great position but the throw/catch were perfect. I assumed he was just a guy who made a great play in a high leverage moment, but he seems very talented to me based on this game.

Equality 7-2521 wrote: Padraic wrote: Yikes, our secondary.  Probably asking too much of Butler, and Bradley Fletcher is (which as a Philly area resident I could have told you way beforehand).  Wasn't enamored of our defensive front either, they weren't holding the edge too well all game.  Steelers could definitely move the ball, they ended up with what, 450 yds? Well, they have a whole season to improve, but they don't advance too far in the playoffs with the defense as it's currently executing. Looked like Butler played very well to me. Brown is just a special kinda of receiver. It's hard for anyone to man up with him. I remember him biting on a double move for the ~20 yard reception down the left sideline and missing a jam on a ~10 yard reception from the slot but other than that he seemed to mostly be in good position. There was the helmet catch in which he had perfect coverage, the rub route where he drove hard but was just a second late to the ball, and the last TD catch he was in great position but the throw/catch were perfect. I assumed he was just a guy who made a great play in a high leverage moment, but he seems very talented to me based on this game.

Yeah, I'm being too hard on the kid.  He did play well.  But the pressure is high, everyone's going to be testing him and throwing in his direction.  I was actually bothered more by the run defense.

Ready for Monday night Pat?  :)

Equality 7-2521 wrote: JJLehto wrote: Well, Pittsburgh had a legitimate chance to win, but really choked that one away. If you think about the 13 points they blew with the 2 missed FGs and that wide open TD the receiver missed...at one point (and not in garbage time) Pitt would've been leading! But it's not about what you could've done, and they also shot themselves with stupid mistakes. I thought Ben played quite well, Williams is still a great back, and the wideouts had some impressive moments! But as a team...I was quite unimpressed.  Especially on defense. Not sure if they were playing soft, or just lacked talent, but they pretty much let the Pats walk all over them. The forgetting to cover Gronk certainly was a lowlight  The vaulted Steelers defense looks like a wet bag now.  Pats were exactly what I expected: Efficient and deadly. Rarely wowed, but performed near perfection.  Gronk is unstoppable, he's like the JJ Watt of offense ya can't really do much about him and hope to limit the damage. Given Brady's rough 2013 and early '14, then epic rebound lining up with Gronk's health...I think he may be the legit team MVP! Brady holds it together but Gronk is the spark that gets it all going.  The Steelers defense has been bereft of talent for years. They were 30th in DVOA last year and needed to bring back 50 year old woman beating James Harrison just to get some semblance of a pass rush. I don't think the game was really so close. The game flow towards the end made the score that way of course, but maybe I'm being too harsh in that respect. It's nice to see Gronk come out dominating after the Steelers talking all week about having their gameplan to shut him down.

Matthew Stafford and the Lions look like they're already in mid-season form.  Jumping out to a lead early and then shutting down COMPLETELY.