Training camps have begun.
Aaron is throwing passes to Jordy and our new 6'3" corners run like gazelles and leap like kangaroos but they still can't stop the "A" team.
Meanwhile, at other grounds, the eighth greatest quarterback of all-time (and the one with the most rings) contemplates life in his 40s and the rest of us hope that his O-line finally breaks down.
The early power rankings are
Pats
Falcons
Pack
Steelers
Cowboys
Seahawks
Raiders
Chiefs
Giants
Broncos
Texans
Titans
Dolphins
Bucs
Lions
Ravens
Panthers
Cards
Colts
Washington
Vikings
Eagles
Bengals
'Aints
Chargers
Bills
Jags
Rams
Bears
Jets
49ers
Browns
I've bolded the first 12, if only because, notionally, the best 12 would make the playoffs. However, since 6 make it from each conference, there's a real chance your team can be outside the top 12 and still make the playoffs.
As we know, teams that just scrape in can (and do) win the Superbowl, so it's a good competition.
Of course, if your team is really bad, the question is always are they not quite as bad as the three other teams in their Division, because you make top 4 in the playoffs just by finishing the season ahead of the 3 other teams in your Division.
The official 2017 NFL thread
And today's pre-season round one results:
Pack 24, Eagles 9. Rodgers came out for the warmup, got the crowd excited and then went off looking for a bagel
Dolphins 23, Falcons 20
Vikes 17, Bills 10
Just for a laugh, Jags 31, the reigning Superbowl Champs 24
Ravens 23, Washington 3
Broncos 24, Bears 17
Browns 20, 'Aints 14
Pack 24, Eagles 9. Rodgers came out for the warmup, got the crowd excited and then went off looking for a bagel
Dolphins 23, Falcons 20
Vikes 17, Bills 10
Just for a laugh, Jags 31, the reigning Superbowl Champs 24
Ravens 23, Washington 3
Broncos 24, Bears 17
Browns 20, 'Aints 14
Pre-season round 2 results so far:
Ravens 31, Dolphins 7
Bills 16, Eagles 20
Bucs 12, Jags 8
Vikes 13, Seahawks 20
Panthers 27, Titans 34
Chiefs 30, Bengals 12
Colts 19, Cowboys 24
Washington 17, Pack 21 (Rodgers 6 for 8, 37 yards and a TD in a brief appearance)
Jets 6, Lions 16
Pats 23, Texans 27
Bears 24, Cards 23
Broncos 33, 49ers 14
Rams 24, Raiders 21
The Falcons lead the Steelers 13:3 early in the third and the 'Aints play the Chargers later this morning.
Ravens 31, Dolphins 7
Bills 16, Eagles 20
Bucs 12, Jags 8
Vikes 13, Seahawks 20
Panthers 27, Titans 34
Chiefs 30, Bengals 12
Colts 19, Cowboys 24
Washington 17, Pack 21 (Rodgers 6 for 8, 37 yards and a TD in a brief appearance)
Jets 6, Lions 16
Pats 23, Texans 27
Bears 24, Cards 23
Broncos 33, 49ers 14
Rams 24, Raiders 21
The Falcons lead the Steelers 13:3 early in the third and the 'Aints play the Chargers later this morning.
Well, here we are - day 1 of the 2017 season. Chiefs at Pats kicks things off at 10.30 am AEST. Tampa Bay at Miami has been postponed.
Today's game is on Australian FTA TV. If you want to follow the scheduling and FTA availability of the other games, a revamped NFL TV Guide is here:
https://ussportsdownunder.com.au/austra ... l-tv-guide
So, Monday, it's up at 3 am Melbourne-time for Philly at Washington, followed by the (seriously) best match-up of week one - Seattle at Green Bay (6.30 am), then the Giants are in Dallas at 10.30 am.
Today's game is on Australian FTA TV. If you want to follow the scheduling and FTA availability of the other games, a revamped NFL TV Guide is here:
https://ussportsdownunder.com.au/austra ... l-tv-guide
So, Monday, it's up at 3 am Melbourne-time for Philly at Washington, followed by the (seriously) best match-up of week one - Seattle at Green Bay (6.30 am), then the Giants are in Dallas at 10.30 am.
So, the Chiefs stopped the Pats' winning run in their expected undefeated season at 0. 42 points last the Pats says the defence needs to do better. Steelers, Pack also won their opening games. Next Sunday night's (Monday morning for us) Packers game at Atlanta will go a long way to shaping the NFC, by the very early looks of things.
Other winners in week 1 were Bills over Jets, Falcons over Bears, Ravens in a shut-out over the Bengals, Lions over the Cards, Raiders over Titans, Eagles over Washington, Rams pumped the Colts, Jags (yes, the Jags) over the Texans, Panthers over 49ers, Cowboys over Giants, Vikes over the Saints, Denver over the Chargers. Bucs and Dolphins is postponed to week 11.
The Thursday Night Game (10.25 am Friday, our time) today is Texans at Bengals.
Here's an interesting analysis of And Dalton's round one outing for the Bengals. It is fair to say that he needs to get better, and very quickly:
http://www.espn.com.au/nfl/story/_/id/2 ... bad-week-1
Here's an interesting analysis of And Dalton's round one outing for the Bengals. It is fair to say that he needs to get better, and very quickly:
http://www.espn.com.au/nfl/story/_/id/2 ... bad-week-1
So, Atlanta will have home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. Pack 23, Atlanta 34. Meanwhile, the Cowboys were systematically dismantled by the Broncos, 17:42.
In other results, the Texans 13, Bengals 9;Cards 16, Colts 13; Pats beat the 'Aints 36:20; Vikes 9, Steelers 26; Bear 7, Bucs 29: Bills 3, Panthers 9; Titans 37, Jags 16; Browns 10, Ravens 24; Jets 20, Raiders 45; Dolphins 19, Charges 17; Washington 27, Rams 20; 49ers 9, Seahawks 12; Lions 24, Giants 10.
Next round's FTA games in Australia are Texans at New England (3 am Monday, AEST), Bengals at Green Bay (6.25 am) and the Raiders in Washington at 10.30 am.
Even at this early stage you can probably put a line through the Jets, Bengals, Browns, Chargers, Bears, 'Aints and 49ers for the playoffs. There are questions about the Colts and the Giants but they appear to be in weaker divisions, so there's still some reasonable prospect they could make the playoffs, if they come good.
In other results, the Texans 13, Bengals 9;Cards 16, Colts 13; Pats beat the 'Aints 36:20; Vikes 9, Steelers 26; Bear 7, Bucs 29: Bills 3, Panthers 9; Titans 37, Jags 16; Browns 10, Ravens 24; Jets 20, Raiders 45; Dolphins 19, Charges 17; Washington 27, Rams 20; 49ers 9, Seahawks 12; Lions 24, Giants 10.
Next round's FTA games in Australia are Texans at New England (3 am Monday, AEST), Bengals at Green Bay (6.25 am) and the Raiders in Washington at 10.30 am.
Even at this early stage you can probably put a line through the Jets, Bengals, Browns, Chargers, Bears, 'Aints and 49ers for the playoffs. There are questions about the Colts and the Giants but they appear to be in weaker divisions, so there's still some reasonable prospect they could make the playoffs, if they come good.
The Rams won the Thursday night game against the 49ers 41:39.
I do have to ask - I didn't realise that the 49ers had replaced Kaepernick with Brian Hoyer, lately of the Cleveland Browns - how did this happen? The nearest he's been to a starting NFL standard QB was watching Tom Brady from the sidelines for three seasons at New England. The guy has 46 career TDs and 29 INTs.
I do have to ask - I didn't realise that the 49ers had replaced Kaepernick with Brian Hoyer, lately of the Cleveland Browns - how did this happen? The nearest he's been to a starting NFL standard QB was watching Tom Brady from the sidelines for three seasons at New England. The guy has 46 career TDs and 29 INTs.