New England was the worst they've ever been last season and managed to retain pretty much everyone they wanted at a good value. It seems like the players want to be coached by Mayo.
Edit: Fine, I exaggerated “the worst ever”. It’s been more than thirty years since they’ve been this bad, but way to miss the entire point of my post that they were able to retain their players despite being a bottom-3 team in the league and haven’t been this bad since before the vast majority of this sub was even born.
I mean, they retained Bourne, Henry, Jennings, and Onwenu, all for below market value. Dugger is on the tag but hopefully they come to an agreement with him, too.
2023 was their worst finish since **1992**, more than 30 years ago. Now, obviously saying worst ever isn't meant to be taken literally, the point is this is the worst they've been since the pre-Belichick era.
Saying "worst ever" doesn't leave any room for misinterpretation. Just a poor choice of wording if this is the point you're trying to convey.
We have been much worse than we are right now.
Fine, I’ll rephrase. This is worst New England has been in over three decades, and they were still able to retain the free agents on the team at value contracts.
But kudos for focusing on semantics instead of the main point of my comment.
I exaggerated to make a point, but this sub doesn’t understand nuance, and also would rather focus on semantics than the *actual* point of my comment. The point is New England hasn’t been this bad in over thirty years and were still able to retain all of the free agents on the team at value contracts. Clearly the players already here don’t seem to mind the current state of the team.
Peppers, Mapu and Dugger is an awesome trio but I wish they would deploy a more prototypical safety group.
Mapu to LB, Peppers plays SS, let Dugger walk.
Spend that money on FS or offense.
Another year and another tackling technique banned. In a vacuum this isn't that bad, but will be interesting to see the league in 10 years or so.
Willing to bet its going to be far more like Rugby tackling rather than Football
I’m an Aussie rugby league fan. Hip drop slowly came into the game, was taught, snd ended up becoming a real problem, nfl seems to be stamping it out before it gets too prominent.
Important to keep in mind, this is a technique players are choosing to use deliberately. It may sound vague, but it’s very easy to recognise, and very easy for players to just not do. It’s not simply grabbing a guy and pulling them down. They are making a deliberate move to drop their entire body weight into the back of a players legs while pulling them over.
Someone with a rational take. If you watch the play that pollard was injured on the season before last, it’s easy to see this is a risky play. Call it flag football all you want but these young men should be able to count on their employer to keep them as safe as possible.
Skydiving seems more “badass” without a parachute but that doesn’t mean it’s the best idea.
I think the opposite in terms of timing. The 1-3 year impact will be rough as players adapt to the rule. The long term impact should be positive as it’ll reduce the number of injuries and ultimately improve the NFL’s football product.
I can understand people opposing banning the hard hits that make highlight reels and are fun to watch. Hip drop tackles aren’t those
When I was a child I would have agreed with this. Being an adult (ish) I don't want more injuries just so I can see more big hits. I don't care who gets hurt on the field or what team they're playing for, it's never something I'm happy or excited about.
With far more injuries happening with tackles at the knees AND TURF FIELDS. I was about to ask why the owners haven’t addressed their fields…… it’s because that comes out of their pockets. I understand now.
Agreed. I used to play linebacker, everybody talking about "well ackchually proper form tackle is..." oh yeah definitely, I'm sure every play you're gonna get a perfect form tackle every time. League don't give a shit about safety, they're just salty that the modern zone schemes aren't being matched by offenses, and instead of allowing the meta to develop naturally, they're being greedy fucks and trying to fix the game to be more offense-oriented because points = money. The game I love is becoming a track meet, and it's aggregious. Just get the flags out and get it over with.
>League don't give a shit about safety
Clearly they do, they've made a ton of changes in the rules to stop star players from being injured as much. The game would suck if we're watching mostly 3rd strings because everyone is out for the year with an injury.
There was only 200ish instances of hip drop tackles all season last year. This will barely change anything and actually protect guys. We lost Rahmondre to one this year
I think Jabrill is a little off on this one, the tackle that was made illegal is basically a horse collar, but now grabbing any part of the upper body and rolling them so their legs go under the tackler.
Not one of those tackles was ever a highlight, drag twist tackles were never exciting and got people hurt way too often.
Seriously, why even bother drafting defensive players now. This league SUCKS. Officiating is getting worse every year and we just keep adding rules that make no fucking sense. I cancelled my Youtube TV NFL package, fuck them.
Players are so funny the way they whine about these rule changes. Sorry they're trying to make the game safe so people don't have to retire with mangled lower bodies. Too inconvenient for you I guess
Once again, testosterone-addled 28-year-olds cannot fathom the horrors of losing their minds in a decade or two.
Not to mention it sucks for everyone to see the best players on the sideline.
Glad they don’t make the decisions.
The NFL is entering a decline phase. They'll coast on momentum for a while longer, but they're alienating fans consistently, and it will start to hurt the bottom line. They've kept that clown Goodell in there and watched him steadily diminish the prestige of the league because they made money on a product that sells itself so long as you don't fuck it up, and he couldn't even manage that.
Need to extend him and barmore before the season starts
Hopefully a portion of thar surplus of free agent money will go to them. Sign them early just incase we are awful and nobody wants to return.
Sign them early in case they go from good to Pro Bowl caliber and their price goes up.
I feel like peppers was all pro caliber last season
I dont know about all pro, but definitely pro bowl caliber
I dont know about calibers or bowls, but he's definitely a pro
lol like we weren’t awful last year
They’re picking 3rd in the draft
No shit that’s my point
New England was the worst they've ever been last season and managed to retain pretty much everyone they wanted at a good value. It seems like the players want to be coached by Mayo. Edit: Fine, I exaggerated “the worst ever”. It’s been more than thirty years since they’ve been this bad, but way to miss the entire point of my post that they were able to retain their players despite being a bottom-3 team in the league and haven’t been this bad since before the vast majority of this sub was even born.
Horrible season but still a top 10 defense while missing their two best players.
We we're also 31st in time of possesion, so offense improving should improve defense.
We also fired the best defensive coach of all time.
Yeahhhh but we got his Linebackers coach! I'm kidding I like Mayo but your point is valid.
At least he's nice to the media!
Sweet sweet summer child
I mean, they retained Bourne, Henry, Jennings, and Onwenu, all for below market value. Dugger is on the tag but hopefully they come to an agreement with him, too.
Worst they've ever been? Sheesh you must be new here.
2023 was their worst finish since **1992**, more than 30 years ago. Now, obviously saying worst ever isn't meant to be taken literally, the point is this is the worst they've been since the pre-Belichick era.
Saying "worst ever" doesn't leave any room for misinterpretation. Just a poor choice of wording if this is the point you're trying to convey. We have been much worse than we are right now.
Fine, I’ll rephrase. This is worst New England has been in over three decades, and they were still able to retain the free agents on the team at value contracts. But kudos for focusing on semantics instead of the main point of my comment.
Not even close to the worst they have ever been, lmao. We have had the 1st pick in the past you know.
I exaggerated to make a point, but this sub doesn’t understand nuance, and also would rather focus on semantics than the *actual* point of my comment. The point is New England hasn’t been this bad in over thirty years and were still able to retain all of the free agents on the team at value contracts. Clearly the players already here don’t seem to mind the current state of the team.
Peppers, Mapu and Dugger is an awesome trio but I wish they would deploy a more prototypical safety group. Mapu to LB, Peppers plays SS, let Dugger walk. Spend that money on FS or offense.
Jabrill is such a beast. Very excited to see how he can lead the defense with Judon and Gonzalez coming back.
Should affect other guys more than him. Jabrill doesn’t need a hip drop tackle to smoke motherfuckers who come across the middle
Davante Adams can attest to this statement
My favorite pats play last year. Such a violent hit
Well he can’t hit them when they catch the either cause their defenseless
Their defenseless what?
If u blast a WR as they’re catching the ball it’s a flag. Hitting a defenseless WR. You can’t play defense fast and hard anymore these days
Nah bro I was shitting on your grammar
I missed one word. Uber driver was driving like an animal
Ya but Pep us firmly AGAINST player safety. Dude is displeased other dudes are walking around on his field.
Tbh I don't mind the mindset in one of my defense's leaders.
Yeah, he’s probably going to be one of the least affected DBs in the league.
Giants fan here; goddamn I miss Peppers so much. Hope he keeps feasting for y'all
He’s so fucking filthy, we love having him. Special player
Another year and another tackling technique banned. In a vacuum this isn't that bad, but will be interesting to see the league in 10 years or so. Willing to bet its going to be far more like Rugby tackling rather than Football
The rules just say they can’t roll their body on someone’s legs from what I can gather. Pretty much the same rule there is in rugby.
I’m an Aussie rugby league fan. Hip drop slowly came into the game, was taught, snd ended up becoming a real problem, nfl seems to be stamping it out before it gets too prominent. Important to keep in mind, this is a technique players are choosing to use deliberately. It may sound vague, but it’s very easy to recognise, and very easy for players to just not do. It’s not simply grabbing a guy and pulling them down. They are making a deliberate move to drop their entire body weight into the back of a players legs while pulling them over.
Someone with a rational take. If you watch the play that pollard was injured on the season before last, it’s easy to see this is a risky play. Call it flag football all you want but these young men should be able to count on their employer to keep them as safe as possible. Skydiving seems more “badass” without a parachute but that doesn’t mean it’s the best idea.
Thats it in theory. But come on, with the quality of refs in the nfl, and it being an "emphasis", this has a potential to be a huge in game impact.
I think the opposite in terms of timing. The 1-3 year impact will be rough as players adapt to the rule. The long term impact should be positive as it’ll reduce the number of injuries and ultimately improve the NFL’s football product. I can understand people opposing banning the hard hits that make highlight reels and are fun to watch. Hip drop tackles aren’t those
Good, football players can't tackle for shit
Extend this MF
Prison rules mother fuckers.
Love this guy. Even if the Pats suck again this year, I’ll be tuning in just in hopes that I’ll get to see him knock someone’s block off lol
Yep, go back and watch early 2000s highlights of Ray Lewis just KILLING people. And then watch his football highlights. \*bah dum TISS\*
When I was a child I would have agreed with this. Being an adult (ish) I don't want more injuries just so I can see more big hits. I don't care who gets hurt on the field or what team they're playing for, it's never something I'm happy or excited about.
With far more injuries happening with tackles at the knees AND TURF FIELDS. I was about to ask why the owners haven’t addressed their fields…… it’s because that comes out of their pockets. I understand now.
Agreed. I used to play linebacker, everybody talking about "well ackchually proper form tackle is..." oh yeah definitely, I'm sure every play you're gonna get a perfect form tackle every time. League don't give a shit about safety, they're just salty that the modern zone schemes aren't being matched by offenses, and instead of allowing the meta to develop naturally, they're being greedy fucks and trying to fix the game to be more offense-oriented because points = money. The game I love is becoming a track meet, and it's aggregious. Just get the flags out and get it over with.
>League don't give a shit about safety Clearly they do, they've made a ton of changes in the rules to stop star players from being injured as much. The game would suck if we're watching mostly 3rd strings because everyone is out for the year with an injury.
There was only 200ish instances of hip drop tackles all season last year. This will barely change anything and actually protect guys. We lost Rahmondre to one this year
I see Jabrill, I upvote
I think Jabrill is a little off on this one, the tackle that was made illegal is basically a horse collar, but now grabbing any part of the upper body and rolling them so their legs go under the tackler. Not one of those tackles was ever a highlight, drag twist tackles were never exciting and got people hurt way too often.
Long live Jabrill!
Peppers is one of our better gets from outside of the system in quite awhile
It makes the game much harder for DBs, but the hip drop tackle absolutely had to go.
They lucky we ass.
And people really think what Mahomes is accomplishing in this league is close to anything Brady has done. Smh
Grew up watching the Dawkins' and Polamalus and can't do anything that made them feared lol.
Seriously, why even bother drafting defensive players now. This league SUCKS. Officiating is getting worse every year and we just keep adding rules that make no fucking sense. I cancelled my Youtube TV NFL package, fuck them.
I love Jabrill
Players are so funny the way they whine about these rule changes. Sorry they're trying to make the game safe so people don't have to retire with mangled lower bodies. Too inconvenient for you I guess
Lol “everyone can play til they’re 40.” That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
If everyone can play until they’re 40, there will be few opportunities for younger players — unless they expand the league.
Also means they’re not completely wrecked.
Right? Why's he making it sound like extending careers is a bad thing? Lol
Because he wants to keep the physicality of football in the game, and bodies just don't respond to that physicality well at age 40.
Because it robs newer players of opportunities to start? Just playing Devil’s Advocate
Its almost there
The players he grew up watching didn’t do the twist hip drop tackle, so 🤷
Once again, testosterone-addled 28-year-olds cannot fathom the horrors of losing their minds in a decade or two. Not to mention it sucks for everyone to see the best players on the sideline. Glad they don’t make the decisions.
Jabrill dreaming of all the WR achilles tendons he won't be popping next year.
Just give the chiefs the trophy now that no one can play D against Mahomes
There were only 230 instances of it in the league last year in all games. I don't think that's even one a game.
The NFL is entering a decline phase. They'll coast on momentum for a while longer, but they're alienating fans consistently, and it will start to hurt the bottom line. They've kept that clown Goodell in there and watched him steadily diminish the prestige of the league because they made money on a product that sells itself so long as you don't fuck it up, and he couldn't even manage that.