THE... OFFICIAL 2015 NFL SEASON Thread

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I'm gonna post this for future reference..

The ballad of Rex Ryan is a tragedy.

A tremendously likeable coach – and a good one at that – Ryan has inspired undying loyalty and adoration from fans and players alike at each of his NFL stops. In Baltimore, Ryan was so beloved, the Ravens declined to promote him to head coach for fear he would become too chummy with his players. After spending 2008 as John Harbaugh's defensive coordinator, Ryan finally received his shot with the Jets, which began with back-to-back runs to the AFC title game before lurching off a cliff in agonizingly slow motion.

Upon arriving in Buffalo, Ryan found an instant connection. The people of Western New York are largely blue collar and wear their hearts and affection for the beloved Buffalo Bills on their sleeves. After the franchise cycled through coaches every few years for the better part of two decades, Ryan represented the potential for meaningful, long-term change. Most importantly, the Bills' fans and players liked Ryan – a major step up from the paranoid and dictatorial ways of former coach Doug Marrone.

At his introductory press conference, Ryan promised fans he would end the Bills' 15-year postseason drought, and he would do it this season. After the Bills demolished the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, Ryan appeared well on his way. Buffalo's defense, the most talented unit he's coached in his NFL career, was swarming and unrelenting against the Colts and his decision to pick relative unknown Tyrod Taylor as the team's starting quarterback appeared prescient. If only Ryan could secure a win over the hated New England Patriots, the Rex hysteria would reach a fever pitch, not only in Buffalo, but across the league.

The win, along with the newfound freedom in Buffalo, opened Ryan up like a belt buckle on Thanksgiving. Ryan and the Bills sauntered into Sunday's game against New England with the swagger of an unbeaten prizefighter. The official team store even sold inflation pumps, an idea Ryan no doubt supported, even if he was unaware of it.

But the talk, like it has many times in the past, fell flat. The Patriots dropped a 40-burger on a baby-soft Bills defense, and for the most part bottled up Taylor and Buffalo's offense until a late spree made the final score, 40-32, appear much closer than the game actually was. It was Ryan's 10th loss in 14 games against the Patriots since becoming a head coach and his eighth since 2011. Ryan marked the Patriots as the team to beat upon his arrival in both New York and Buffalo; again, he was schooled.

When it was over, Ryan trotted out one of his familiar tropes from New York, taking the blame for the loss and admitting he was "outcoached" by Bill Belichick. While it was utterly true – Rex's defense looked unprepared for New England's up-tempo offense for the majority of the game – it also obscured the fact that Ryan's Bills set themselves up to fail throughout the afternoon, thanks in large part to the sins of their teacher.

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Ryan is an emotional man and he coaches, often, from his heart instead of his head. He identifies with his players not as pieces on a board, but as friends and even family members. That attitude, led to a frathouse environment in the Jets' locker room, where discipline was lacking and players lacked accountability.

In his final year in New York, no less than five players, including team leaders Demario Davis and Nick Mangold, publicly spoke about the team's work ethic and poor practice habits. Quarterback Michael Vick admitted to not preparing for games and gave up his practice reps to third-string quarterback Matt Simms in the week before an embarrassing loss to the Chargers in which Vick appeared utterly uninterested.  Meanwhile, both quarterback Geno Smith and safety Calvin Pryor were late to meetings, with Pryor eventually acknowledging he didn't take his job seriously in his first year. Despite this admission, Pryor continued to see starter's reps for the majority of the season.


Ryan's teams in New York were also among the most penalized in the league, something he's carried over to Buffalo. Through two games, the Bills lead the league with 25 penalties for 253 yards. On Sunday, the Bills committed penalty after penalty, particularly in the first half and almost always at the worst possible time — look no further than the illegal block on the Patriots' first punt of the game, a hold on a kickoff two series later and two unnecessary roughness penalties on the same punt on the next drive. In between those calls, Ryan tried to challenge a play was that not able to be challenged and, if successful, would've still left the Bills in fourth-and-9 at that own 29-yard line.

But the most egregious failures, the ones that actually cost the Bills points that could've changed the entire outcome of the game, came in the final minutes of the first half.

With the Patriots facing third-and-8 on their own 22-yard line and 4:50 remaining, defensive tackle Marcell Dareus burst through the Patriots' line to sack Brady for a loss of seven yards. Ralph Wilson Stadium was raucous, until a defensive holding penalty on rookie cornerback Ronald Darby erased the play and gave the Patriots a first down. New England drove down the field, eventually settling for a field goal and killing 2:50 off the clock.

After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Bills started with the ball at their own 20-yard line. Buffalo, trailing 24-13, had three timeouts and 2:18 on the clock – more than enough stoppages and more than enough time to make a run trimming the deficit to three. Instead of playing aggressively, the Bills stuck to Ryan's conservative tendencies. Roman called four runs and five passes, three of which went for less than nine yards. Ryan's horrible game management skills also surfaced. By the time the Bills called their first timeout, Buffalo had gained just 26 yards and burned 1:27. Then, on third-and-14 from New England's 46 and 16 seconds left, Taylor's inexperience stung Buffalo. The former sixth-round pick rolled out of a clean pocket and into pressure. Instead of scrambling out of bounds, preserving the chance at another play or even gaining ground for a possible field goal attempt, Taylor hurled the ball off his back foot while fading to his left. It was picked off with roughly 10 seconds left and the Bills entered the half with no points and no momentum.

It was a classic example of a game Jets fans experienced time after time over the past five years. The gutsy talk in the leadup giving way to a restrained approach in crunch time, the penalties coming in waves and always at the worst time and a defense that's seemingly unable to stop the same Patriots attack it's faced twice a year for over a half-decade.

Ryan's likeability often hides his flaws, especially early in his coaching tenures, but eventually the cracks show. As fun and bombastic as he can be, a smile can only go so far in the NFL.

I haven't been onboard with the hiring of Rex Ryan as our head coach and this seems to sum up my doubts about his coaching abilities rather well

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Alright! Lets see how the rest of Week 3 goes

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Panther pull out the Win against the Saints and are Still Tied for first in the NFC South with the Falcons after they beat the Cowchips in D

And what was the deal with the Rams turf catching on fire Pyrotechnics?

The Eagles got their first win

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The Eagles got their first win

Barely, the offense still looks crappy, it was special teams and the defense that really won the day.  That punt return for a TD by Sproles was great.

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So far my Bills are literally 'squishing' the Fish 27-0

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And the Bills squished the Fish 41-14..
I can't believe we couldn't get that late game on CBS! Instead we had to watch the Bears get shutout by the Seahags 26-0

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Really

NFL to investigate Ed Hochuli's 'not old enough' comment to Cam Newton

1h ESPN


CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Referee Ed Hochuli could be subject to discipline if it is proved that he told Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton he "wasn't old enough" to get a call in Sunday's 27-22 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

"We would do an investigation, see if anybody was miked in the area, and we've had situations in the past where an official said something inappropriate to a player and we've disciplined them," NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told the NFL Network on Monday. "So there is a process in place, and we would have to go through that process to see if we could pick up what was actually said."


    NFL must combat mere perception that Ed Hochuli is playing favorites

    The NFL has no choice but to take a thorough look into whether Ed Hochuli said Cam Newton wasn't "old enough" to earn a roughing call.

Blandino said he spoke with Hochuli and that the referee was "adamant" that he did not make that comment.

"He told me that he said, 'The difference is you were running,'" Blandino said. "I think when you look at the tape it does look like Ed did say that ... at one point. You can't see everything that Ed says, but he's adamant he didn't say it, and I think that's where we are right now and we're just going to kind of move on from there."

Newton, 26, thought a penalty could have been called early in the fourth quarter when he was hit hard near the out-of-bounds marker by defensive tackle Tyeler Davison after throwing an incomplete pass.

When the two-time Pro Bowler asked Hochuli about the call, Newton said he was told, "You're not old enough to get that call."

"I looked at him like: 'Jesus! I didn't think you had to have seniority to get a personal foul or anything like that,'" Newton said.

Blandino supported Hochuli's decision not to throw a flag on the play.

"Cam was outside the pocket and he threw the ball on the run, so there are different protections for a quarterback that is running outside the pocket versus in the pocket," Blandino said. "Outside the pocket you don't get the two-step protection, and so when you look at the play, Cam threw on the run, there was some contact, it wasn't late and it wasn't a foul."

The NFL will look into alleged comments made by Ed Hochuli to Panthers quarterback.

The Panthers were penalized for a late hit on 34-year-old Saints quarterback Luke McCown earlier in the game, but McCown was inside the pocket. That McCown got the call and Newton didn't added to Newton's confusion.

"It's one thing to be frustrated in a situation where you see a personal foul on the opposing quarterback get called," Newton said. "And then for me, when it's something around that same range and for that flag not to be called, I'm ticked off, really."

Newton capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to go with two passing touchdowns. But he still was upset about the hit.

"If he would have said he missed the call, that is one thing," Newton said. "But for his response to be what it was and I'm not old enough to get that call ... Geez!

"So heaven forbid he gets any rookies or they're gonna have a long day, man."

Blandino understands there is a perception that veterans such as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning get more calls than others, but he doesn't see that.

"That's not what we teach," Blandino said. "We don't teach who the player is. It's what's the posture is and was it a violation. I know there is a perception out there, but that's not certainly the direction that we're giving our officials."

But if Hochuli is found to have said what Newton claimed, discipline could follow.

"Any official could be disciplined if they say something inappropriate, and we do not teach that the number of years a player is in the league is going to determine whether a foul is called," Blandino said. "It's the posture that he's in and was there a violation.

"So saying something to that effect is certainly something that is not appropriate. Again, Ed is adamant that he didn't say it, and that's where we are."

Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Monday he was not interested in discussing Newton's comments and the no-call.

"I've heard them,'' Rivera said. "It was addressed by him yesterday and the league has addressed them, so we're going to leave it at that and move forward."

Rivera has suggested in the past that Newton, 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, may not get calls other quarterbacks get because of his unique size.

"I'm not going to address what was specifically was said,'' Rivera reiterated. "But certain situations, certain circumstances for a guy, the perception, the way it looks, could be different.''

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BREAKING!

The Carolina Panthers are trading for Bears pass rusher Jared Allen.

Report: Bears trade Jared Allen to Panthers

25 minutes ago


Jay Glazer of Fox Sports is reporting that the Bears have traded defensive end Jared Allen to the Carolina Panthers.


Allen, 33, came over to the Bears in 2014 from the Minnesota Vikings. The five time Pro Bowler had a decent season in 2014, but was off to a rough start so far this year.


Glazer is also reporting that the Bears will receive a 6th round pick for Allen.

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Awesome! I'm watching the Bills game in Mexico vs the Giants

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And the Eagles still suck, if it wasn't for Sproles we would have nothing for the highlight reels this season.

Small bright spot, Bradford managed to get some long passes on target, so maybe that will start to improve things.

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Panthers go to 4-0 and into their Bye week, Bills go to 2-2 Hate that I watched that

Been watching the highlights of Sundays games on NFL.com.. Lot of big plays and team upsets

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Well I missed everything in Week 5 (was driving to Acapulco ) and I see the Bengals upset the Seahags at home Hopefully my Panthers can do the same next week
Bills squeaked by in Tennessee

[MartyS (Gromit)]

 Bradford tossed 2 end zone interceptions early in today's game, that seemed to wake him up, he was pretty good the rest of the game.

Hard to judge the game since the Saints seem to be a really terrible team this year.

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Hard to judge the game since the Saints seem to be a really terrible team this year.

Yeah I'm rather stunned by the Aints this year
I expect a house cleaning in the offseason

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eport: Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman arrested

    24/7 Sports - 7 hours ago


Bellevue (Wash.) police have arrested Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman on investigation of vehicular assault and hit and run, according to a report out Thursday morning by the Seattle Times.

Coleman is currently being held at the King County Jail, per the Times.

Coleman, who is the third deaf player in NFL history and the first to play offense, is in his fourth NFL season. Coleman has played in all five games this season and has one carry for two yards.

UPDATE: The Seahawks have announced that Coleman has been suspended indefinitely from the team, pending further information.

UPDATE 11:30 a.m. PT: Per Jon Humbert of KOMO News, Coleman's agent says Coleman may have fallen asleep at the wheel when driving home from the Seahawks facility.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m. PT: More on the incident from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, including a photo, can be seen. Witnesses claimed Coleman either walked or ran away from the scene of the accident in his bare feet. A police dogs tracked him down and the police picked him up two blocks away from the accident. Coleman's attorney said he believes Coleman may have suffered a concussion in the accident.