NFL

[TheJackson]

Think i will give the Jaguars a miss next year and go for the Jets/Dolphins game instead.

A fine choice sir!

[ThomThomDrum]

Jets Dolphins will sell out in record time I reckon. A proper divisional game in the UK? Anyone interested in NFL in Europe hoping to go to Wembley next year will be ear marking that game for sure

[LondonTom]

A fine choice sir!

As a Pats fan, it does leave me in an odd place on to support on the day though!

[TheJackson]

Great win over the Bills last night in front of a sold out(!!!!!!) Sun Life Stadium crowd.

[TenInchToenaiIs]

Great win over the Bills last night in front of a sold out(!!!!!!) Sun Life Stadium crowd.

There were quite a few empty seats from TV shots

[TheJackson]

It was an officially sold out game, thing is, our stadium seats are orange and one of our colours is orange. So when people where Fins orange shirts etc. they look like empty seats!

http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/article-1/Dolphins-Bills-Game-Officially-Sold-Out/94b7d111-45de-4b70-9fee-b1c713409f84

Edited November 14, 2014 by TheJackson

[ThomThomDrum]

Sold out and actual attendance in NFL games are two very different things. Only the Packers and another team (that I can't think of) report actual attendance. There is plenty of history of block booking of tickets to prevent TV black outs in the NFL and Sold out doesn't really tell a full story. Either way big crowds in Miami is a new development.....

[TheJackson]

Either way big crowds in Miami is a new development.....

My point exactly

[LondonTom]

Patriots surely heading for the Super Bowl, will easily get home field advantage in the playoffs now.....might even win if Gronk stays fit

http://nfl.cpl.delvenetworks.com/player/carousel/bleacher.html?channelId=de89a8aeb3e422bac4eb48567f10ebd0&channelListId&mediaId=a5598f3581c244159d694f663c03b593

Edited November 17, 2014 by LondonTom

[TheJackson]

I hope Brady chokes at the last minute and Gronk gets injured again.

Fucking stupid afc east.

[LondonTom]

Choking is a Peyton trick

[TheJackson]

In all seriousness though (and genuinely not cause im fed up of the patriots winning afc east, honest) does anyone else think divisions should be mixed up once in a while?

Might be being a bit stupid here, but I cant see a reason why this shouldn't be done.

[atomised]

I think it'd be good to mix it up a bit, maybe every 5 years or so could work

[ThomThomDrum]

Things get mixed up in divisions when dominant QBs retire/move on. Brady has simply had a really long run at it. Thats they way it goes in the NFL. A coach/QB combo like they have is lethal and if the QB stays healthy they dominate unless the other teams in the division can strike it lucky and draft an elite QB. But they are so rare that two or more in one division has a low chance of occurring. I dont like the idea of "mixing" up the divisions. I think they should stay as true as they can as the game develops. I would hate to see rivalrys meaning less

Brady will retire one day and the AFC East will be wide open again...............

Lets not forget the Dolphins had second pick in the draft in 2005. They could have got Aaron Rodgers.............That would have made the Pats less dominant the last 10 years me thinks................

Edited November 18, 2014 by ThomThomDrum

[ThomThomDrum]

Double post

Edited November 18, 2014 by ThomThomDrum

[Wooderson]

Didn't the 9ers pick Smith over Rodgers? Insanity.

[TheJackson]

Didn't the 9ers pick Smith over Rodgers? Insanity.

You say that, but sometimes you never know. Wasn't Brady himself a really late pick? I'm sure I read Sherman was a very late pick too.

EDIT: Just seen Brady was pick #199

Double edit: And Sherman the 5th. 49ers obviously saw more in Smith than they did Rodgers at the time, just like teams saw 198 better players than Brady at the time of his draft. Sometimes you never know the true quality of what you're getting.

Edited November 18, 2014 by TheJackson

[kemosabe]

Stupid saints managed to cock up again... American Football is no fun unless your winning

[LondonTom]

Brady will retire one day and the AFC East will be wide open again...............

Brady will never retire!!!

The whole division/league something is still something I stugggle with getting about the NFL So I wouldn't be opposed to shuffling up the division or changing it.

I'd guess if they go ahead with London franchise if thats an expansion team they will shuffle things about, or even if they move another team they are going go into AFC East.

I'd rather just have the two conferences, you could then do something like 8 inter conference games each season, with every other season reversing home and road games

[TenInchToenaiIs]

Jimmy Garappolo will continue the honoured tradition of destroying the AFC East

[TheJackson]

I'd guess if they go ahead with London franchise if thats an expansion team they will shuffle things about, or even if they move another team they are going go into AFC East.

This is one of the things I don't understand if London had a franchise, 33 teams split in fours would not work it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out, has there been an explanation yet as to what would happen to the shape of the league if London got its own franchise?

Edited November 18, 2014 by TheJackson

[ThomThomDrum]

The funny thing about the 9ers passing on Rodgers is that he is from San Fran, was a massive 9ers fan as a kid and Mike McCarthy was coaching there at the time..... Roll on 5 years later he and Rodgers win a Super Bowl together at GB. Rodgers was expected to go early in 05. Nearly the whole league skipped him. Thus there is a lot of teams regretting that miss. Brady went into the Draft not expecting a high pick so that situation is slightly different The whole league passed on him a few times including the Pats. No one expected Brady to be that good. The Packers knew what they were getting in 05 with such a steel that they drafted Rodgers even with Farve still playing well for GB.

[ThomThomDrum]

Double post

Edited November 18, 2014 by ThomThomDrum

[LondonTom]

This is one of the things I don't understand if London had a franchise, 33 teams split in fours would not work it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out, has there been an explanation yet as to what would happen to the shape of the league if London got its own franchise?

Nah just massive speculation really, most seem to assume it would involve adding in an LA franchise if they expand or maybe some sort of 17th game to help even things out.

[TheJackson]

There wouldn't need to just be one other new franchise, there'd have to be two whole new divisions. You cant have 34 or 36 teams, you'd need 38 with the way the league is formatted right now. In which case, how would playoffs work? I know there's been arguments already that more teams should be eligible for playoffs, but it all gets a bit confusing when just a single new franchise is talked about.

I just don't see how it would work with how it's all set up right now.

EDIT: I suppose you could have 36 and shrink each division to 3 teams? but that'd be shit.

Edited November 18, 2014 by TheJackson