I'm pretty surprised the video of what happened inside the elevator hasn't managed to have been leaked by now. Part of me thinks its because whatever did happen wasn't damning enough one way or another.

<font color=goldenrod>Don't look now but the New York Football Giants are on pace for 24-0! :eek: :shifty:

Anyway, onto the game itself. The running game seemed to be an improvement from last year straight away. I liked what I saw out of Jennings and especially Andre Williams in the first quarter when the starters were in. Williams is that much more important this year with David Wilson's NFL future extremely questionable. I had read only like 30% of the Ben McAdoo playbook had been installed, mostly runs, and it showed. Not much at all to talk about in the passing game as they stuck to routine dump offs an such, but I do see that they're focusing on implementing a quick release passing game. Between that and a having a better O-line I think Eli won't be getting swarmed on nearly every pass play.

First string D seemed pretty crisp for this early in the preseason. Again not much to go off of but I did love the moves they made in the offseason and it's nice to finally have some depth in the secondary, so here's hoping they can get through preseason healthy.

Oh and I was pumped that the one big pass play from the Giants was a bomb of a TD to Corey Washington. I tried taking a guess at the 53-man roster on the Giants message board and was one of the few to pick him for the team. The Giants WRs are undersized and while that isn't everything, if the big 6'4" kid can have a big preseason he'd be a guy to mix in, plus I'm not sure he'd clear waivers for the practice squad.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>And there it is. Bengals sign Andy Dalton to a 6-year, $115 million extension.

Nice investment in mediocrity there, Cincy.</font> :y:

Dalton is so fucking bad

Management must have Dalton in fantasy.

Giants RB David Wilson shut down for the season, maybe career.

<font color=goldenrod>I feel so bad for Wilson, but it's for the best. Can't really mess around with neck injuries.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>Giants are placing Wilson on injured reserve rather than him formally retiring so that he can still be paid for this season. Nice.</font>

Lol. Amazing. They even paid him a year early.

WHATEVER GUYS

Andy's gonna prove you all wrong and win 800 Super Bowls and you'll be all like "I was so wrong and Supreme Olajuwon was so right" and your friends will be like "Who the f is Supreme Olajuwon?" and you'll be all like "Oh just this guy at the wrestling message board I post at" and they'll be all like "You post at a wrestling message board? That's pretty gay" and you'll be all like "Nah it's a pretty chill place" and they'll be all like "why would you post about football on a message board for wrestling" and you'll be all like "Well it's a wrestling message board in the sense that it's run by a wrestling website and most people there are wrestling fans, but we talk about other stuff too" and they'll be all like "Oh word? Are there any other interesting features about it" and you'll be all like "Yeah sometimes we give each other colored dots depending on how much we like or dislike a post" and they'll be all like "Dude we can't hang out anymore" and then you'll be all like "Damn I have no friends. None of this woulda happened if I just respected Andy Dalton's game."


Just wait. You'll see.

I hope he does well because I like the team they are building. It is just crazy how much certain organizations pay to keep their average/better than average quarterback.

Joe Flacco at least won a Super Bowl, and he could win another one.

NFL betting starts in Delaware tomorrow, definitely going to put a few bucks on the Ravens to win the "pro football championship" since they're around 40-1 right now.

might drop $5 or $10 on the Cardinals at 55-1, but they do have the problem of the Super Bowl being in Arizona..

Has the "host team" made the superbowl ever? What is the protocol there?

The 49ers played SB 19 at Stanford and the LA Rams played SB 14 at the Rose Bowl, those are the closest but no team has played the SB in its home stadium.

the bigger "curse" is the fact that the last team to host the SB and even make the playoffs was the 2000 Buccaneers.

I think the issue of being in a really good division is going to be more of a problem for Arizona than any coincidental nonsense like that.

ugh hate saying "really good division" when talking about NFC West

I was hoping ARI would "sneak in" and grab a playoff spot last year.

Still hope that happens. The further Kaepernick is from the Superbowl the better. Can't stand him.

I haven't quite fully gotten into football mode yet. Don't even know what's going on right now. Haven't looked at betting odds for teams. Have to lay some CHEDDA down once season gets close to starting.

<font color=goldenrod>I just have a hard time seeing a 3rd team coming out of the NFC West. They'll be beating the crap out of each other all year. Seattle and SF are the far safer bets to get to January, though.

I think 2 teams are coming out of the North. Packers and Bears both look like they should have really good offenses and the Lions seem to be a bit of an enigma that could go either way.</font>

Someone can tell me the Lions will go 5-11 or 10-6 and I won't think they're crazy. I have no gauge on them.

Yep, that's the Lions. They're a textbook "good-bad" team. They're not quite on the level of your Clevelands or Jacksonvilles, but nowhere near competent enough to be considered an actual threat to do anything. They could just as easily fluke themselves into a playoff spot but they don't have a solid enough core/foundation to really do anything with it.

Maybe things will be different with the new coaching staff but I'm not holding my breath.


And don't get me wrong, being mediocre and in limbo is certainly a much better place to be than constant cellar-dwellers, so even though the next few years will ultimately be fruitless, at least it's not pure misery to watch.

first parlay of the season

Ravens -1.5 vs 49ers
Redskins -1.5 vs Patriots
Colts +3.5 @ Jets
Seahawks -1.5 @ Broncos

only wagered $25 cause I'm not completely a degenerate gambler.

Also, how about that Jerry Jones?

lol betting on preseason

I've won a couple preseason bets, its not that hard.

I think betting on pre-season is the definition of a degenerate gambler.

Lol

4real

STD is the worst

I mean, I have a buddy that would bet on WNBA games, so I've seen the depths of depravity.

I just don't think I could muster up the willpower to watch more than 10 minutes of a preseason game that even involved my Lions

If you're betting on the preseason, there's a group for that Droford

<font color=goldenrod>Could never imagine betting on the preseason. That's ridiculous.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>I do usually watch the entierty of Giants preseason games, though. It's not a top priority like it is with a regular season game, but if I'm home I'll definitely watch to see how the new guys perform and see what unknowns can end up impressing enough to make the roster. It's especially interesting this year as the new offense should (theoretically) come together more as the preseason moves on.

I can't help but have a nice chuckle though when there's an undrafted rookie who will have a monster preseason and the fans will then clamor for them to make the team only for them to get upset when the player ends up being inactive nearly every week (Victor Cruz in 2010, Adewale Ojomo in 2012, etc.) Corey Washington might be that guy this year. They impress enough to make the team but if they can't contribute on special teams they are really just on the 53 to develop them for the next year or two when there might actually be an opening on the depth chart.</font>

I like watching the preseason because the guys on the bubble are usually busting their asses to make the team

<font color=goldenrod>The NFC East should be a tight battle again as per usual. 9 or 10 wins should get it done. Most everybody is picking the Eagles to steamroll through it but with how tight the divisional games tend to be I really think any of the 4 teams have a shot. Nothing would surprise me.</font>

I feel the same way. I don't think the Eagles will surprise anyone this year. Could easily see any of the 4 teams taking that division.

that's because they usually play the browns at least once
Its the Cowboys year..if they can't win the division this year, it won't happen with Garrett and Romo.

I only bet $25, which is nothing. 10x that would be degenerate

<font color=goldenrod>Yeah. I totally get why everybody thinks the Eagles will have the best offense in the division after last year, but it's not a sure thing. The thought of McCoy and Sproles both coming out of the backfield is pretty terrifying, but I'm not ready to christen Foles as the next big thing just yet. I'd need to see what he does with a full season after people have had a year to study him and the Chip Kelly offense.

Will probably just pick the Giants once I get around to posting predictions. If it's this close of a race I'd feel like a bit of a dick picking against my team.</font> :o

I just think that once teams figure out how to stop their screen/bubble pass game, the rest of their offense will fall apart. Especially without Desean there to take the top off the defense. Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin shouldn't put too much fear into peoples' eyes.

And yes @Droford I agree, re: Cowboys' window this season. I don't think there's a true runaway in the division. If they aren't going to do it this year then I don't think they ever will.

Ravens offense looking good. Defense not so much but they held in the red zone.