2024 Season Notes Wks 7-10

[JWL]

Defense for the Chiefs took an off-day. With this team, you have to wonder whats in store? A bunch of wins and a fizzle-out in the playoffs, or are they destined to three-peat? The networks love established winning stars and can Mahomes turn into another Brady, or can a younger QB finally get his team over the hump?
Could another veteran QB on a different team get hot at the right time?

As a Bronco fan, I don't know how this team is .500. They aren't that talented. I thought they would get smoked today. Something seems fishy (I wonder if the Walmart owners are influencing the other teams into not trying as hard or something. This Bronco team should be 1-8 on paper).

The Broncos have a lot of good defenders who play as a team. This is the opposite of the Jets who have a lot of good individual players who don't play as a team. The Broncos also have a good coaching staff. Bo Nix has played nicely for a rookie. My best guess is they'll finish with 8 or 9 wins and miss the playoffs.

[JWL]

Very impressive way for the 'Burgh to pull things out in DC! The 'W' was very much needed being that Cincy couldn't help us last Thursday. A possible more-than-a-game cushion over Baltimore to go into our meeting with them next week along with the serious toughness of the 2nd-half schedule to come (both Clev games are no shoe-ins either) was surely needed! Losing today would have made things even tougher for we would have been down a half-game instead. My guess is we lose next week but beat them in Baltimore as true rivalries usually go.

But such tough stuff to come! Two games vs Cincy! AT Philly, where we haven't won since '65, and KC on Christmas Day even at home...let's see.

The Steelers had to get out to this kind of great start because their schedule is tough down the stretch. The good thing is they can probably go 3-5 the rest of the regular season and still qualify for the playoffs. It was nice to see Mike Williams score the game-winning touchdown. He was scapegoated by Aaron Rodgers with the Jets. Williams is a guy who seemed nice and didn't make excuses and then he got thrown under the bus. I felt awful for him even though he is getting paid millions of dollars. He made a key catch in a rare Jets win this season but since Rodgers couldn't connect with him on a desperation heave, he apparently had to go. The Jets wanted to give Malachi Corley more playing time after he embarrassed himself by purposefully fumbling the ball before he would have scored a touchdown. Then he talked to the press like it was no big deal and he was not embarrassed by it. Oh, what great fun it is being a Jets fan.

[lastcat3]

DeAndre Hopkins looks like an addition that could put KC over the top for good this year. Now they have a real money guy taking up the spot that Hill left vacant. The blocked kick at the end of the game was awesome. I kept thinking, "They ought to kick on third down in case something bad happens." That was often the thought that the best coaches once used. Sure enough, it got blocked. Great job by the special teams. It's excessively difficult to win 9 straight games. Den/KC is a real rivalry, that's why I think Denver does well in those games - remember they beat KC last year.

The game never should have come down to that last second field goal. That final drive should have been the Broncos running out the clock. There is something pretty fishy going on with KC this season. There have been far too many very timely penalty calls in KC's favor this season for it to be just a coincidence. In Sunday's game on the drive where the Chiefs scored their lone touchdown when they were at around midfield Mahomes got sacked on third down which would have forced them to punt and likely given the Broncos a 14-3 halftime lead. However just after that play ended a phantom flag came out which ended up being defensive holding which gave the Chiefs an automatic first down and prolonged their drive. The announcers didn't have any idea where that flag came from and there was no attempt to go through replays to try to find it. Usually when there is a legitimate penalty they will attempt to look for it. In this situation it was just dropped. There have been instances like that all season long for the Chiefs. THe Bengals get flagged for pass interference on the last play of the game which put the Chiefs well within field goal range. There was a little bit of contact on the play but nothing at all egregious and the receiver still had a good chance to catch the ball. Definitely nothing that should have forced a flag that basically decided the game. There were calls in the Chiefs/Falcons game that highly favored the Chiefs in very timely situations. One that basically took away a first and goal for the Falcons and another call the should have been called against the Chiefs but wasn't that occurred deep in KC's territory.

I'm not saying that the NFL is fixed in that they plan out who is going to win. However it is becoming pretty clear that the league does favor particular teams and players and will do things to give them a slight push to succeed on occasion. It is in the leagues best interest to have the face of the league look really good and to have the team he plays on to do really well. It looks better to have the better teams in the league to be 7-2, 8-1, or 9-0 than it would be for them to be 6-3 or 5-4 like they probably would be if things were being called evenly in games.

This isn't anything new either as this has been going on for decades. THe Patriots were highly favored by the league and the Cowboys during the '90's were as well. However it's just becoming more and more obvious that it is happening because they are having to push these teams along more and more because there is hardly any difference at all between 90-95% of the teams in the league these days.

[7DnBrnc53]

The Broncos have a lot of good defenders who play as a team. This is the opposite of the Jets who have a lot of good individual players who don't play as a team. The Broncos also have a good coaching staff. Bo Nix has played nicely for a rookie. My best guess is they'll finish with 8 or 9 wins and miss the playoffs.

Not really. They have a few good defenders, but not many. Zach Allen and D.J. Jones come to mind. Also, Surtain is vastly overrated.

[SeahawkFever]

The Broncos have a lot of good defenders who play as a team. This is the opposite of the Jets who have a lot of good individual players who don't play as a team. The Broncos also have a good coaching staff. Bo Nix has played nicely for a rookie. My best guess is they'll finish with 8 or 9 wins and miss the playoffs.

Not really. They have a few good defenders, but not many. Zach Allen and D.J. Jones come to mind. Also, Surtain is vastly overrated.

Why is Surtain overrated in your opinion?

[JWL]

The Broncos have a lot of good defenders who play as a team. This is the opposite of the Jets who have a lot of good individual players who don't play as a team. The Broncos also have a good coaching staff. Bo Nix has played nicely for a rookie. My best guess is they'll finish with 8 or 9 wins and miss the playoffs.

Not really. They have a few good defenders, but not many. Zach Allen and D.J. Jones come to mind. Also, Surtain is vastly overrated.

John Franklin-Myers, Riley Moss, Nik Bonitto, Ja'Quan McMillian, and Justin Strnad are all guys on that defense who have played good for the most part. You cannot get to 5-5 with a bad run game and a medioce at best passing attack but I guess there is an argument to be made as to who they beat. If they win two of their next three games and then beat the Colts, they'll have to somehow win one of their final three games to make the playoffs. I'm thinking they won't do it. But, anyway, I think their defense is coached well and the defense plays as a team.

[JameisBrownston]

Surtain is currently the guy you only reluctantly start your Drake Londons and definitely sit your DeAndre Hopkinses against, the one universally feared matchup against WR1s. I don't think he can be called overrated. If fantasy had points per DPI, though, he might not be so dreadful to contend with...

That was one of the most pathetic passing performances I've seen in a long time by the Cowboys on SNF. Less than 2 yards per attempt (!!) from Cooper Rush, and I have had high hopes for Lance but he comes in and doesn't look much better, immediately chucking an arm punt. Trade CeeDee for what you can get for him, and you might as well drop all other Dallas pass catchers. That team has finally hit the bottom. I don't understand the rationale behind giving Rush another game, they might as well use this lost cause of a team to see what they have in Lance over an extended stretch.