The Official 2016-2017 Football Thread

[haunted]

Concerning records set by legends, it would make sense to have regular season records v playoff records. They already separate bowl game records.

The system is broke technically by ESPN's and the playoff committee's standards. The semifinals are always blowouts. The #2 and 3 seeds never have close games. The ratings for the semifinals were at a record low(for orange/fiesta/cotton bowl standards) and they dipped farther this year. They're losing money, so either someone sucks at seeding bowl games and playoffs or the #2 and 3 team aren't ever close in skill. That's assuming the system isn't broken. There's another explanation, and that's that the big 10 is far weaker than media and the committee portray them to be and a lack of playing outside their conference(particularly the sec and acc) gives the committee the pretext to 'objectively' overrate them. I'm not a fan of an 8 team playoff either, but assuming they're going to keep doing that with the big 10(the big 12 plays no one outside their conference either as a whole) it actually would be an improvement to the current situation. Better match ups, better games, and just the fact that they add more spots statistically decreases the chance of them fucking a team and a quarter final round would put any questions to rest on who should be in the top 4.

So it's mainly a lack of conferences playing each other and the committee using that as a pretext to suck the dicks of "blue blood" programs. That's the problem.

[haunted]

It sticks out to me as a fan of North Carolina. NC played a big 10 team and an sec team last season. ACC teams seem to make the effort, next year for nc its sec and PAC. Then, to see unc put up more points on the said big 10 opponent than ANYONE in their conference/schedule, away game for nc, makes me think. I'm not passing total judgment but It's something like this "Hmm, unc just destroyed this team by 40 points and Ohio state beat them by 7, maybe Ohio state isn't quite as good as they're portrayed "

My father in law supports 2 college teams, Alabama and Ohio State. I'm sure he loves the current system. He's also a New England fan, lol.

[Sgt. Dick]

My father in law supports 2 college teams, Alabama and Ohio State. I'm sure he loves the current system. He's also a New England fan, lol.

 

[haunted]

Damn. Mitch trubisky just declared for the draft. Projected as overall #1 pick, i hope Cleveland passes on him. But then either Chicago or San Francisco will pick him up. Ugh.

[haunted]

Notre Dame's qb will now transfer to nc after their abysmal season.

[haunted]

Florida state beat Michigan. 3 ACC teams beat Florida state in the regular season(Louisville, nc , and Clemson ). Clemson v Alabama is an actual game, although I'm sure bama will pull it off. All signs point to the ACC and SEC being the top two conferences and the big 10 being overrated. Or maybe I'm just biased a tad

[|iR|Focalor]

Was a good game, but the first 3 quarters were still kinda average... except for the hits Bama was laying on the Clemson players, especially qb Watson, I mean GAWD DAYUM, they were trying to KILL his ass! First half of the 4th quarter was kinda average too. But that last half of the 4th... shiiiiiit, that was awesome. Thought surely Bama had it in the bag when Hurts went scampering into the endzone. But then I looked and saw how much time was left on the clock and said, "Yeah, might shoulda slid at the 5yd line and bled the clock more, you mighta just fukt up, Mr. Hurts." And sure enough, Clemson came back to burn em.

If I was a die hard Tide fan, I'd be highly pissed about that pick play for the Clemson winning TD not getting called for offensive pass interference or whatever. That was dirrrrrrty, man. The guy was throwing a chop block at the Bama defenders knees before the ball ever left Watsons hand. Had they been NFL caliber officials and not the inept keystone cops that the NCAA always employs, I think that play probably WOULD have drawn a flag against Clemson.

Oh well. Alabama wins it every odd numbered season though. They get another one next year. Seriously, check the records, Bama has won it all every other year for probably the last 8 or 10 years. Kinda freaky.

[haunted]

Yup it was a good 4th quarter. And yes that was offensive pass interference but it's obvious why it wasn't called. I remember the head referee(and probably others) at the coin toss were big 12. Big 12 schools do that exact shit on every drive, they enter the stadium knowing it's not going to get called. The PAC let's it slide too but not as bad. I'm less familiar with the other conferences, just the ones where it's super blatant. The ACC would call that uhh I bet 80% of the time at least. The sec is at least as strict with it I assume.

So yeah as a tide fan I'd be pissed too obviously, but that not getting called IS half-way normal in college.

[haunted]

Here's your quintessential Alabama fan: http://247sports.com/Bolt/Angry-Alabama-fan-punches-TV-after-loss-to-Clemson-50441629

Good call by the refs

[Sgt. Dick]

The playoff games were a mixed bag for me yesterday.

In the early game, I was surprised by how easily Atlanta won.  I thought Seattle had a good chance of winning that game.

The late game went as I thought, NE won easily.  The only surprise in that game was that Houston was in the game at halftime (thanks to 10 points off 2 NE turnovers).

I think both games today could be good.  I won't be surprised if GB beats Dallas and the Steelers beat KC.

[|iR|Focalor]

In the early game, I was surprised by how easily Atlanta won.  I thought Seattle had a good chance of winning that game.

I had been ignoring all the Falcons games up until the last 2 weeks of the regular season when I was astounded to learn that not only were they going to the playoffs but they were also gonna be the #2 seed and get a wildcard round bye. But honestly... they look like probably one of the best teams if not "THE" BEST team of all the remaining teams. Matt Ryan's having a great year passing, he's got protection out front FINALLY after getting relentlessly clobbered the past few years, they're run blocking and running the ball for plenty of positive yards, they're mixing up the plays good (50/50 with run or pass), the defense is decent I guess (not incredible, but they get the job done most of the time), they're putting up over 30 points in most games which you MUST be able to do to outscore the other guy and win. It all good... oddly enough, cuz I didn't see this coming. I thought they'd be horrible this year with all these no-names they have on the team. Anyway. What I see from most other teams is a majority of passing because they can't run effectively. Green Bay can't really run. New England can't run much either.

So as much as I wanted Atlanta to suck this year, I mostly expected them to beat Seattle. And I gotta say, I like their chances against Green Bay too. Rodgers is a badass scary good QB, but I think Atlanta can handle them. The biggest thing is PENALTIES. It KILLED Kansas City tonight. But Atlanta seems to have their shit together in that area moreso than anyone else left. They rarely commit penalties. And they seem small and insignificant to the outcomes of games, but they are NOT. Look at the stats. Whoever gets more penalties 9 times out of 10 loses.

Most people expect Brady will carve up the Steelers next week. I would not bet money on that though. Like the Falcons, the Steelers are running the ball well with Leveon Bell. I expect New England to lose unless Pittsbooger screws themselves with penalties.

As much as I don't wanna see it happen, I'm thinking the Falcons will beat the Steelers to win the Superbowl. I want Atlanta to finally win one, but if they do, then they'll NEVER fire GM Thomas Dimitrov, and we will never get lucky enough to get back to another one until long after I'm dead and gone.

So if I'm right and they DO win it all, I'm gonna party my ass off and enjoy the shit out of it, and try to lock away fond memories, cuz fuck knows it'll be last one ever.

If the Cubs win a World Series the same time the Falcons win a Superbowl... book of Revelation shit right there, son. Gird yer loins, the end is possibly nigher than we initially thought.

[Sgt. Dick]

If the Falcons win the SB, Foc will buy season tickets for next year in their new multi-million dollar stadium 

[haunted]

That's a valid point foc but it's not really so much the running game that will decide Pitt NE. Pitt needs to actually SCORE touchdowns. No tom Brady isn't going to carve them apart but they ARE going to score touch downs. I wouldn't bet against NE although I hope they do lose.

Atlanta is looking great and I wasn't so surprised with the Seattle game either. But Green Bay is on a crazy streak clutching out games right now. They're finding a way no matter what. Im way more comfortable betting on NE than either team in that game.

[|iR|Focalor]

New England vs Pittsburgh: The more I think about it, yeah, you're probably right. NE has probably been posting higher scores per game than Pittsburgh has. Running the ball well with Bell will probably help them not get completely shut down by NE's defense, but I'm not sure they'll be successful enough to win. Hard to predict though. Pittsburgh's defense is playing kill-the guy-with-the-ball New Orleans bounty style defense lately. It's had an effect on opponents offensive capabilities later in games. But it looks like not only has NE posted highers scores per game on average, but the average margin of victory is probably larger too. And NE already beat them once by 11 pts back in Oct.

The 2 Div Championship games should be good, probably better than the Superbowl will be, although it'll be tough to top last weekends games.

I'm prepared to be let down by the Falcons, but hopeful that they'll prove me wrong.

[Sgt. Dick]

I would love to see NE lose, but they always piss me off and win so I can't get excited about the Steelers having a chance. 

Atlanta is playing really good and the Packers are finding a way to pull out each game so I don't know how to judge this game.  I am going to go with the Packers because they always let Foc down.