The Official *NFL* thread

[SkinnyPupp]

I'll have to think about it for a while.. On paper the Rams should be favored (they are -4 currently).

Bengals have a weak o line and the Rams have Aaron Donald (and Von Miller). If there's one thing that will decide the game, that's it. But it doesn't always work out that way - Burrow eludes Chris Jones several times today.

Burrow is about as solid as it gets without being insanely over the top great. Stafford is solid too but throws some horrendous picks (and pick worthy, if the DB can actually catch the thing - that was a game losing drop possibly) a couple times a game.

McPhearless is clutch, possibly the next Tucker. Gay has missed a couple in the playoffs already.

Will have to think on this for a bit, also see who is healthy and who isn't

[pastarocket]

My pick is the Rams. Home field advantage for the Rams will be HUGE for the Super Bowl.

The Rams defence with Miller and Donald will be a nightmare for Joe Burrow. The Rams defence will shred the Bengals offensive line.

Burrow will have a hard time calling play adjustments when he reads the Rams defence because the fans at So Fi stadium will be so loud.


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[SkinnyPupp]

I'm not sure what the home crowd will be like.. Super Bowl crowds are usually very mixed, unless there's a super power team. Neither of these teams are super power teams, Rams don't have a huge following in LA (look at today's game it was like 50/50 at best) and Bengals fans have been starving for this moment for decades. Last year TB didn't really have a home advantage... Also Burrow won in KC, which is about as loud as it gets, so...

It could be different this time, but history suggests it will be a mixed crowd with a lot of quiet rich people in the stands. It wouldn't be enough to sway my pick anyway

[whitev70r]

I think the two teams are pretty close ... each team has their strengths, weakness, and X factor ... it could go either way but for fun, I'll make a pick closer to the game .. we have 2 weeks of dead space.

Although I'm surprised by the KC and Cincy result, I am glad that another team gets a chance to hoist the Lombardi trophy.

[SkinnyPupp]

No Brady, no Mahomes, no Rodgers.. No Manning, no Ben... no Pats, no Chiefs

It's so nice to have a refreshing matchup for once. Kind of like the 2012 season... That was great!

[SkinnyPupp]

RELIEF

Full 700+ word retirement post here

Obviously Schefter's break was correct, but he didn't want to confirm that way so waited until after championship weekend

Doesn't mention the Patriots or Belichick once



Edit: OK I like Tom now

[whitev70r]

^ hmmm ... how can you not express appreciation to the NE Pats who gave you 6 of those 7 rings? That's just being petty. it's time to let your thing with Belichick go and take the high road TB12.

[pastarocket]

Big bombshell of news about this lawsuit. Wow.

Brian Flores is risking his coaching career with these lawsuits:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nfl/article...ing-practices/


NEW YORK -- Fired Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, suing the NFL and three teams Tuesday over alleged racist hiring practices for aspiring coaches, is alleging the Dolphins offered him $100,000 a game his first season to ``tank'' so the club could secure the top draft pick.

The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court sought class-action status and unspecified damages from the league, the Dolphins, the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants, along with unidentified individuals.

Flores was fired last month by Miami after leading the Dolphins to a 24-25 record over three years. They went 9-8 in their second straight winning season, but failed to make the playoffs during his tenure.

In a statement released by the law firm representing him, Flores said: ``God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals.''

``In making the decision to file the class action complaint today, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come,'' he said.

In a statement, the NFL said it will defend ``against these claims, which are without merit.''

It added: ``The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time.''

The lawsuit alleges that the league has discriminated against Flores and other Black coaches for racial reasons, denying them positions as head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches, as well as general managers.

The lawsuit alleged that Ross then pressured Flores to recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of the league's tampering rules. When Flores refused, he was cast as the ``angry Black man'' who is difficult to work with and was derided until he was fired, the suit said.

Messages left with the Dolphins seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit said the firing of Flores was typical for Black coaches who are not given the latitude other coaches receive to succeed. It noted that Flores led the Dolphins to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2003.

Last week, the Giants disclosed to third parties that they had decided to hire Brian Daboll as their new coach even when they had not yet had their scheduled meeting with Flores, the lawsuit said.

``Mr. Flores was deceptively led to believe he actually had a chance at this job,'' the lawsuit said, adding that he had to endure a dinner with the Giants' new general manager knowing that the team had already selected Daboll.

The lawsuit also cited a message Flores received three days before his scheduled Giants interview from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick telling him he had heard they were naming Daboll as coach.

A message left with the Patriots was not immediately returned.

Text messages that Belichick sent to Brian Flores in error.





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[whitev70r]

^ Interesting, so I wonder if Mike Tomlin is an exception or does he have stories of unfair practices as well. Or Tony Dungy (retired but still a good person to consult with).

[SkinnyPupp]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

This is a tricky one. I will say that when he was fired despite going like 8-1 in the second half, we heard a lot of "he was difficult to work with" which is often racist gaslighting. But it also could be true! He obviously didn't mesh well with the GM or owner in terms of how to run the team, which QB to use, etc.

An interesting thing is "Tank for Tua" was a real thing

I wonder if David Culley will join this, considering he was just canned after having WAY more success with the Texans than anyone expected

Those texts from BB texting the wrong Brian are outrageous As soon as he realized the fuckup he's like... Sorry.. TTYL. BB.



Crazy huge story to wake up to

[SkinnyPupp]

I always thought the Rooney Rule was racist and humiliating. Here's proof

[mikemhg]

Originally Posted by pastarocket

Big bombshell of news about this lawsuit. Wow.

Brian Flores is risking his coaching career with these lawsuits:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nfl/article...ing-practices/


NEW YORK -- Fired Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, suing the NFL and three teams Tuesday over alleged racist hiring practices for aspiring coaches, is alleging the Dolphins offered him $100,000 a game his first season to ``tank'' so the club could secure the top draft pick.

The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court sought class-action status and unspecified damages from the league, the Dolphins, the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants, along with unidentified individuals.

Flores was fired last month by Miami after leading the Dolphins to a 24-25 record over three years. They went 9-8 in their second straight winning season, but failed to make the playoffs during his tenure.

In a statement released by the law firm representing him, Flores said: ``God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals.''

``In making the decision to file the class action complaint today, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come,'' he said.

In a statement, the NFL said it will defend ``against these claims, which are without merit.''

It added: ``The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time.''

The lawsuit alleges that the league has discriminated against Flores and other Black coaches for racial reasons, denying them positions as head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches, as well as general managers.

The lawsuit alleged that Ross then pressured Flores to recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of the league's tampering rules. When Flores refused, he was cast as the ``angry Black man'' who is difficult to work with and was derided until he was fired, the suit said.

Messages left with the Dolphins seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit said the firing of Flores was typical for Black coaches who are not given the latitude other coaches receive to succeed. It noted that Flores led the Dolphins to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2003.

Last week, the Giants disclosed to third parties that they had decided to hire Brian Daboll as their new coach even when they had not yet had their scheduled meeting with Flores, the lawsuit said.

``Mr. Flores was deceptively led to believe he actually had a chance at this job,'' the lawsuit said, adding that he had to endure a dinner with the Giants' new general manager knowing that the team had already selected Daboll.

The lawsuit also cited a message Flores received three days before his scheduled Giants interview from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick telling him he had heard they were naming Daboll as coach.

A message left with the Patriots was not immediately returned.

Text messages that Belichick sent to Brian Flores in error.





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Water is wet

[SkinnyPupp]

Twitter

Edit; It's real

Twitter

Twitter

[SkinnyPupp]

Shit just got real

Twitter

[SkinnyPupp]

Browns GM responds with FURY

Twitter

“Hue Jackson has never ever accepted any responsibility for our record during that time period,” Haslam said in an exclusive interview. “He’s been masterful at pointing fingers but has never accepted any blame. I have accepted a ton of blame, and rightfully so.

“I can’t think of any individual that I’ve worked with over the past 45 years that I spent as much time trying to help be successful as I did Hue Jackson,” Haslam said. “His third year, when our roster began to pretty dramatically improve, the eight games he coached we were 2-5-1. After Hue was dismissed, we went 5-3.”

“Unequivocally, Hue Jackson was never paid to lose games,” Haslam said. “That is an absolute falsehood. And it’s also an absolute falsehood that I laughed while we were losing. Most people who know me would say, ‘That’s not how Jimmy would react to losing.’

[SkinnyPupp]

Hmm

[SkinnyPupp]

OK prediction time!

I predict that this will actually be a pretty boring, one sided game. Burrow will be running for his life all game, except unlike the Titoons, the Rams don't suck so he won't be winning with 9 sacks.

31-10 Rams

[whitev70r]

K, I will go different just for fun. Seeing as how many games went down to the wire in the previous 2 rounds of playoffs, I'm going to say 21-21 into the 2:00 of 4th quarter and because it's the year of the Tiger ... the Bengals kick field goal to win 24-21.

[pastarocket]

OBJ scores a TD! Rams draw first blood in Super Bowl 56.


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[SkinnyPupp]

Ramsey damn near picked that off in the end zone

[SkinnyPupp]

Rams looking good so far

Worst fear is McVay going into protect the lead mode

[SkinnyPupp]

Oh Matthew

[whitev70r]

Just where I thought it'd be ... close, still anyone's game. Is OBJ out, injured .. or is he still able to play?

Now is nap time. Stupid 45 mins/hr long half time.

[SkinnyPupp]

I can't complain it's going this way! And I doubt we see OBJ again, I think he wrecked the same knee as before

[SkinnyPupp]

Wow he just threw Ramsey down by the face mask and no call