2015 NFL Season Thread

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

I was reading an article that said that Mariotta hadn't signed his contract yet because it has a clause in it that he can't surf during the season or during the off-season.  Apparently, since he is from Hawaii this is a bit of a deal breaker for him. 

^ Yeah. I suppose he wanted to try and keep the extent of it a secret for as long as he could? Of course, showing up with 9 fingers whenever the hell he does show up would be a dead giveaway.....but yeah...this will bode poorly for a long term contract with the team I suspect. Unless JPP mans up and says my bad and takes a lower contract then he wants/expects. But I doubt it.

And WOW! Two in one weekend?! Boy...what a bad day for digit news...

^ Oh JPP!

Well the article I initially read the explosion didn't cause him to lose fingers...this seems to be a choice by him to help the healing process. But this is a true yikes moment.

And this does help explain why he is refusing to talk to/meet with the giants doctors. But it does make me a bit nervous for his future with the team.


Edited by Man With Hat - July 08 2015 at 23:03

^ Wha?! JPP...what are you doing...

Had my heart broken too many times when they were the Oilers, and it's continued on through the years.