NFL (since 2016)

[crystal falace]

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

[southbankbornnbred]

"I'm not sure I'd know what to do, and how to behave, if West Ham and/or the Jets were any good!"

[southbankbornnbred]

"The Sack Exchange were legends. That was one heck of a front four. But I know which team you're referring to, Grumpster, it was Rex Ryan's best defensive era, inspired primarily by the peerless Darelle Revis, when the team went to back-to-back AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010. They did beat a lot of good sides in play-offs, contrary to popular opinion, including Manning's Colts and Brady's Patriots - but lost both Championship games and never made the Super Bowl. Then the team lost its direction and never regained it! Ryan was a brilliant defensive mind, but had nothing to offer offensively. Sanchez bombed after his first two promising seasons and we've struggled at QB ever since. Darnold promises to reverse that, but they need to get the kid a decent offensive coach and some targets - or he'll end up on a big scrapheap of ex-Jets play-callers. The Jets are a little like West Ham: big support in a big city, and historical under-performers. One Superbowl win in franchise history, way back in 1969, ain't good enough for a team with the kind of following that it has in Gotham. Like Cleveland, the club's owners have made a succession of poor choices and bad decisions - but that's a situation we've all long recognised at WHU! Still, it's all fun and games..."

[Far Cough]

People like Dick Butkus wouldn't last five minutes in today's game

[Far Cough]

"Yeah it's become soft, it's the NFL covering their arses against future lawsuits Bunch of poofs now"

[Grumpster]

"When we all started watching the sport, it was a bloody hard game and some of the positions had very short career spans. Still tough, but I do worry about some of the rules they keep bringing in, as the sack exchange probably wouldn't have had the same impact now. The one where they're penalised for not releasing the QB straight away and aren't allowed to fall onto them at all is bollocks. Whole point of a sack is to also let them know about it and don't want them getting too protected like keepers are. Contact sports should be kept as such."

[Far Cough]

"I loved that defense, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons, Mark Gastineau and Abdul Salaam, really put the hurt on opposition QBs"

[ooooh Morley Morley]

You'd think that with a constant run of high picks in the draft over the years teams like the Jets and Browns could get out of this decade (and then some) long slump. Who does their scouting? Stevie Wonder?

[Grumpster]

"That was before my time, I meant about 10 years ago when they were making the play offs purely on their D. And then losing the play off straight away when playing better teams as they couldn't score shit."

[Far Cough]

"""Was a period when they had a really good defence"" The New York Sack Exchange?"

[Grumpster]

"The Jets have been really shit for years now. Was a period when they had a really good defence which got them a couple of trips to the play offs, but I can't remember the last time they were challengers in any shape. I wouldn't even remember their decent defence if it weren't for the fact that one of my mates supports them. In fact for a massive city, both their teams are currently gash :o)"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Surely that's the end of the road for Todd 'wet cardboard' Bowles at the Jets? Walloped 41-10 at home to the Bills. That might be as bad as it gets. It's the Bills' biggest away win since 2011, and they did it with Matt Barkley at QB - the very definition of a journeyman QB - behind centre. Jets now 3-7 and their young QB, Darnold was injured and missed the game. They have a bye week coming up, and I'd be surprised if Bowles is still around IF there is a potential HC on the market who the GM likes. If there isn't, they might just let the team tank the remainder of the season and pick up high picks in the 2019 draft under a new HC. Bowles is utterly uninspiring. He sounds like a depressed Foghorn Leghorn. I'm really not sure how he inspires confidence in his players. In the last few weeks, he has openly admitted that his own coaching 'stinks'. Time for a new man at the helm - whether that is mid-season or at the end of term."

[Grumpster]

"Yes Cough, Chicago away next up for them as the late Sunday night game."

[Far Cough]

I suppose the Vikes had a bye week then?

[Far Cough]

Joe Montana for me but I have heard Johnny Unitas was special

[Takashi Miike]

"brady has the rings, so im not sure brees career matches up but brees has played with inferior teams for much of that time. for me, elway is the greatest"

[Takashi Miike]

"i hope the saints win it, if the redskins don't. i love payton's play calling and the way he uses players, i do worry though about their lack of receivers, especially if thomas gets injured"

[LeroysBoots]

Is Brees more of a GOAT than Brady ? At 39 he looks like he has a couple more years in him

[Grumpster]

"I know superbowl winners have mainly been built on having a decent defence over the years, but fuck me the Saints, Rams and Chiefs can score for fun. Anything can happen in one off games, but struggling to see past the Rams or Saints at the moment, with the Chiefs defence being a little too atrocious. Bit of luck we'll end up with 2 of them facing off in the big one and we can just have a massive shoot out!"

[Takashi Miike]

"we did well to keep the bucs to 3pts, just a shame the pats fucked up my bet. not sure how they could lose to that titans team but its just shows how week to week it is, the browns also beating the falcons"

[AKA ERNIE]

Go Bears looking good this season

[Grumpster]

13th straight TD game for that slut Gurley.

[southbankbornnbred]

"Just picking up on the gossip surrounding Cleveland's decision to sack Haley (OC) as well as the out-of-his-depth Hue Jackson (HC) - it seems that Haley went into the meeting with the general manager thinking that he would be given the job on an interim basis and, instead, was himself sacked. It is mystifying. Haley and Jackson were never exactly close - and it is evident that one (Haley) was far more talented than the other. Haley didn't exactly pull up any trees when he led Kansas, but he would have been a decent fit, at least for the interim, in Cleveland - particularly in giving stability to Mayfield in his crucial early years. Like I say, there is now a decent OC sitting on the sidelines. Somebody will snap him up quickly. In the meantime, my feckless Jets are tanking again. This could well be it for Todd Bowles, who inspires as much confidence wet cardboard right now. The Jets have a tricky decision to make - Bowles and his staff may already be hindering the development of Sam Darnold at QB. So far, Darnold's looked more like Butt-Fumble Sanchez than the man who's going to turn the franchise around - although his coaches haven't exactly surrounded him with talent on offence. But if the Jets fire Bowles, which looks increasingly likely, they run the risk of further hindering a talented young QB. Timing, and the choice of OC etc, is going to be key. I'm not sure that Haley is the Jets' GM's kinda' guy - so the solution to these two problems is not as straightforward as it may appear from this post."

[crystal falace]

Yeah you're definitely set up to play with a lead with that rushing game and not really built to come from behind with Smith and the passing attack. If Smith can't have a good game this week against that Bucs defence then he never will.

[Takashi Miike]

"yes, sadly if we get behind we're fucked Conner was the lad in college who i backed to win the heisman trophy, i lost track of him and hadn't realised he was out for a year with cancer. he always impressed me when playing for Pittsburgh uni"

[crystal falace]

"Steelers are starting to look scary again with that offence, be interesting to see what they do when Bell comes back as I think a lot of players have made it clear they'd rather have Conner in there. Crazy stat I just heard today, during all of the Redskins games this season there has not been a single lead change so whoever scores first has never lost the lead in every game they've played."