Expert Poster

It's still so early. It's like trying to get a read on the best teams in baseball after 20 games (1/8 of the season) in a 162-game season. You'll have some teams that are obvious contenders (Patriots, Chiefs-->Dodgers, Astros), but other teams that will emerge later, as well as teams that start hot but will flame out. We didn't look like world beaters after 2 games in 2016. The Saints started 0-2 in 2017, with two double digit losses. Even the Patriots have had some rough Septembers in the past relative to their expectations.

I think he's saying we *could* win the NFC South at .500, not that we will. Or that's how I interpreted it.

Their chances of success really aren't different than other plays. It's a matter of timing and execution. We executed it perfectly at a time when the Eagles were being overly aggressive and susceptible to it.

This is my fear as well. Teams are routinely able to come back against us after facing double digit deficits, but when we get down by more than a score, it's game over. The same seems to hold true in terms of our seasons. Last year it looked like maybe we had turned a corner after the 1-4 start, but then we promptly got embarrassed by an average Browns team and the season once again went up in smoke. And obviously there's the second half to 2015, the SB collapse, Dolphins 2nd half collapse, etc.

There wasn't really much positive to take away from the game itself. Week 1 games are typically the most anomalous in terms of predicting how a team will do on the season, though. Patriots have laid plenty of eggs in early season games over the years (though not this year). I think the Browns are overrated, but they won't regularly lose by 30 points to teams like the Titans. And we won't regularly be down 28-0 in the 3rd quarter. As fans, all we can do is hope that the correctable things get corrected, and we do a better job of masking our weaknesses than we did today--because today they all stuck out like sore thumbs. If that happens, this could still be a good team and we could look back at this game as an outlier and a rallying point. Falcons fandom has taught me never to be too optimistic, but that's gotta be the hope...because again, the game itself didn't leave us with much to be excited about.

He definitely does not have a good grasp for the appropriate times to go for 2. We've gone for 2 way too early at times, but elect not do so at other times when we actually need to, like in the playoff game vs. the Rams a couple years ago when he chose to kick the extra point to go up 13 in the 4th rather than try to make it a two touchdown lead. Afterwards, people dismissed it since we won anyway, but those are the types of decisions that will cost you games at some point, so it's foolish to dismiss them.

His offenses in TB performed fairly well. He's not Shanny, but if we have competent line play and let DK run his offense, he will get results. I'm concerned that those are big IFs though.

Kirk Cousins threw 10 passes all game. The Vikings treated us like a powerhouse college team treats the cupcake FCS school they pay to beat into submission at the beginning of the season: Get a big lead, then coast from there. An NFL game where the outcome is never really in doubt is a blowout.

You believe it's all a conspiracy. Cool. But just realize that you haven't proven anything. All you've shown is that you view league events through the prism of a conspiracy theory and you retrofit all moves to align with that theory. I'm sure you would have another conspiracy explanation if two other teams had won the lottery. Did you ever stop to consider that the TEAMS involved in trades like the Young-Doncic one wanted the trade for their own reasons? Mavs wanted Doncic but were picking too far down. Schenk valued Young over Doncic anyway and took advantage of Dallas's desire for a protege to Dirk by securing a future pick. And most of your historic examples make no sense. Magic was from Michigan. Larry Bird was from Indiana. Charles Barkley is from rural Alabama.

Yeah, good thing he blocked that trade so that Chris Paul is still in New Orleans...

The NBA likes televising it the way they do because it builds suspense. They literally have a 90 minute lead-up on ESPN for a process that could be wrapped up in seconds. If they reveal the live process, interest fizzles out after the first few picks. The teams have representatives monitoring the process, so the rigged angle only works if you think all the front offices in the league are conspiring to rig it. And if that's the case, then the draft itself is rigged too. After all, we never get to the actual picking of players. All we see is the commissioner come out and announce who the player is. Could all be fixed by the league, right?! They also don't televise league meetings and officiating meetings. Rigged!!!! /sarcasm

You do realize that two teams were going to get those spots regardless, right? There's not a team in the league that had better than 7-1 odds in the Zion sweepstakes. The reality is people think the lottery itself is a system ripe for rigging so they will rationalize reasons for why the NBA "rigged" it regardless of the results. Knicks get the #1 pick? Rigged. Knicks don't get the #1 pick? Rigged, since the Knicks will get Durant anyway. Lakers or Bulls get the #1 pick? Rigged. Neither Lakers or Bulls gets the #1 pick? Rigged, since they are large market teams who don't need the #1 pick anyway. Hawks get the #1 pick? Rigged to create a Trae-Zion duo. The draft is not rigged. It's a sheer game of luck with the probability set out beforehand, but people who don't understand this go out and do things like bet on the Knicks to get the #1 pick at implied odds of 30% when the actual math shows they had a 14% chance.

So now you're actually arguing that the league is altering the trajectory of field goal kicks?

They've reached an entirely new level of butthurt. I can only imagine how bad it would be if this had happened to them in the Super Bowl instead.

Saints also win if the Rams' kicker doesn't make that kick in regulation to send the game to OT. Do you think the kick was rigged?