2025-2026 NFL Season Thread

[Bigdog]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Tough day for Jerruh.
Zeke gets the ban hammer and Roger gets his extension!

It will be interesting when the new cba comes around, I have to imagine one of the sticking points will be Roger himself.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

It's such an easy fix to make Thursday night football better for at least a large portion of the season. Make it a rule that for weeks 6-12 that the Thursday night games will feature teams that had byes the previous week. I won't advocate getting rid of Thursday night games because without it the NFL Network would lose a ton of revenue since they couldn't charge high carriage fees, but making it so teams had byes would improve the games and cut down on injuries.

I’m not a big fan of Thursday night games. The NFL seemed to hum along quite nicely, for decades, just airing Sunday and Monday night. I wouldn’t mind revisiting that. As for player injuries, I’m not 100% sold on the short rest theory. As an example, hockey players play just a physically demanding game(perhaps even more so) as football with 4x the schedule. These guys aren’t dropping because of short rest. I would need to see more study on the subject, if it exists. I suspect it has more to do with how hard these guys push the limits of what their body can endure outside of the game. Given enough time/stress anything on the planet can succumb to catastrophic failure.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Bigdog

It will be interesting when the new cba comes around, I have to imagine one of the sticking points will be Roger himself.

Maybe so, but for now the bulk of the owners have spoken. They like Roger taking the bullets for their actions.

[Hatter]

Originally Posted by rickah88

I’m not a big fan of Thursday night games. The NFL seemed to hum along quite nicely, for decades, just airing Sunday and Monday night. I wouldn’t mind revisiting that. As for player injuries, I’m not 100% sold on the short rest theory. As an example, hockey players play just a physically demanding game(perhaps even more so) as football with 4x the schedule. These guys aren’t dropping because of short rest. I would need to see more study on the subject, if it exists. I suspect it has more to do with how hard these guys push the limits of what their body can endure outside of the game. Given enough time/stress anything on the planet can succumb to catastrophic failure.

O and D lines are in heavy collision battles for half the game. Hockey players don't go through that level of abuse and also have the benefit of reduced leg stress due to being able to skate rather than run.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Hatter

O and D lines are in heavy collision battles for half the game. Hockey players don't go through that level of abuse and also have the benefit of reduced leg stress due to being able to skate rather than run.

They still sprint in skates but yeah there's more protection. Why they allow more severe hitting in hockey than in football and have longer seasons.

[BizCat]

I still think hockey is way tougher than football.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Hatter

O and D lines are in heavy collision battles for half the game. Hockey players don't go through that level of abuse and also have the benefit of reduced leg stress due to being able to skate rather than run.

Skating takes a much larger physical toll than running. Not to mention the hits are even harder because you can skate faster than you can run. Also no boards in football.
All that aside, both sports are physically demanding. So how can hockey players play upwards of 80 games per season, not to mention a minimum of 16 more games for the two cup teams, and NFL players only 16, minimum 3 games for the Championship teams, and not have as many injuries it seems?
Is it because NFL players, in an attempt to gain an edge, are reducing the protective gear too much? Off season programs between the two sports?

[Batman1980]

Football has a lot of unnatural movement, just like basketball, probably why it lends itself more to injuries than other sports.

[Ironhorse75]

Originally Posted by rickah88

I’m not a big fan of Thursday night games. The NFL seemed to hum along quite nicely, for decades, just airing Sunday and Monday night. I wouldn’t mind revisiting that. As for player injuries, I’m not 100% sold on the short rest theory. As an example, hockey players play just a physically demanding game(perhaps even more so) as football with 4x the schedule. These guys aren’t dropping because of short rest. I would need to see more study on the subject, if it exists. I suspect it has more to do with how hard these guys push the limits of what their body can endure outside of the game. Given enough time/stress anything on the planet can succumb to catastrophic failure.

It's not just the rest, it's the time for preparation as well.

Haven't looked at the stats but in years past TNF had proven to be the most susceptible to blowouts and all around sloppy play.

[Batman1980]

Sounds like Dez practiced today and was moving around well. I would still hold him out this week as a precaution. If we can't beat Atlanta without Dez and Zeke then we don't deserve to go to the play-offs.

[dcowboy7]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

It's such an easy fix to make Thursday night football better for at least a large portion of the season. Make it a rule that for weeks 6-12 that the Thursday night games will feature teams that had byes the previous week. I won't advocate getting rid of Thursday night games because without it the NFL Network would lose a ton of revenue since they couldn't charge high carriage fees, but making it so teams had byes would improve the games and cut down on injuries.

But then the teams in the other wks without a bye would say its not fair for them.

Originally Posted by rickah88

I’m not a big fan of Thursday night games. The NFL seemed to hum along quite nicely, for decades, just airing Sunday and Monday night. I wouldn’t mind revisiting that.

As mentioned NFLN needs to carry live games to get $$ fees.

[kidkash]

Originally Posted by Batman1980

Sounds like Dez practiced today and was moving around well. I would still hold him out this week as a precaution. If we can't beat Atlanta without Dez and Zeke then we don't deserve to go to the play-offs.

There are a lot of teams who can’t win without two of their best players. Without them I’d give the advantage to Atlanta.

[bipbop13]

I think even having Fri. or Sat. night football would help some. Also include the teams who have had a bye week. Don't know what the logistics would be, but an extra day or two before the marquee game could only help.

[dcowboy7]

Originally Posted by bipbop13

I think even having Fri. or Sat. night football would help some. Also include the teams who have had a bye week. Don't know what the logistics would be, but an extra day or two before the marquee game could only help.

Cant - there is a law with congress to protect high school & college football so there is no fri/sat football from sept thru 2nd wk in dec.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by kidkash

There are a lot of teams who can’t win without two of their best players. Without them I’d give the advantage to Atlanta.

Dez isn't that special and we have good backs behind Zeke

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by Batman1980

Dez isn't that special and we have good backs behind Zeke

Having "good" backs rather than having Zeke out there will make these next 6 games a serious challenge. Just having Dez on the field allows for many options that would other wise not be there.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by Batman1980

Dez isn't that special and we have good backs behind Zeke

I don’t know man, Dez is a pretty darn good receiver.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

I don’t know man, Dez is a pretty darn good receiver.

Must be why Dak has a 50% completion percentage throwing to Dez and almost 70% throwing to everyone else. Also, Alf and Run DMC aren't Zeke but behind this line they should still be productive. Margin of error definitely slimmer the next 6 weeks though.

[kidkash]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

I don’t know man, Dez is a pretty darn good receiver.

I agree, he might not be top five but he is not garbage. Plus who else is under him. Beasley? I mean those are some thin options. Dallas seems like they are fighting for a wild card spot so they better beat the falcons cause the NFC is stacked.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by kidkash

I agree, he might not be top five but he is not garbage. Plus who else is under him. Beasley? I mean those are some thin options. Dallas seems like they are fighting for a wild card spot so they better beat the falcons cause the NFC is stacked.

Beasley isn't an outside receiver, the back-up outside receivers are Brown and Butler. Not the best options but we do have Witten, Williams, Beasley and our other TEs.