NFC North / NFL Thread 2018-19

[DegenerateDish]

Every time they showed Patricia last night, he had a look of utter confusion, like he had no idea what the hell to do. I'm not even talking when they were down big. Early on, he just looked shell shocked.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Florence is going to mess with a lot of NFL games. 

[SaveOD238]

Florence is going to mess with a lot of NFL games.

Looking at the schedule, there's not many games in the path of the storm.  Colts@Redskins for sure, but I don't think we'd see games in Cincy, Pittsburgh, or Tennessee affected since they're too far inland.  Panthers@Falcons has a dome.

College football could get wrecked though, especially since there are a ton of east coast teams and they play a day closer to the projected landfall on Friday.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Looking at the schedule, there's not many games in the path of the storm.  Colts@Redskins for sure, but I don't think we'd see games in Cincy, Pittsburgh, or Tennessee affected since they're too far inland.  Panthers@Falcons has a dome.

College football could get wrecked though, especially since there are a ton of east coast teams and they play a day closer to the projected landfall on Friday.

Cincy is Thursday night so I think they are clear.  If Atlanta impacted it will be more the fans, travel. CNN just said Flo is projected to just stall over the Carolinas for 48 hours so it won't be a fast mover.  I originally heard Pittsburgh would be impacted Sunday but that looks less likely now. Tenn might be in play but seems safe for now.

[Holy hell all time]

Play any games that could potentially be hit by the storm on October 1, ai'na?

[Jockey]

Every time they showed Patricia last night, he had a look of utter confusion, like he had no idea what the hell to do. I'm not even talking when they were down big. Early on, he just looked shell shocked.

NFL.com's Mike Garofolo reports Lions veterans were "griping" about new coach Matt Patricia during training camp.

[tower912]

Much of the Detroit and Michigan based media were reporting on players griping about the new coach.

[MU82]

The Panthers have IRed both starting OTs, including a second-team All-Pro. Offensive line was the weakest position group coming into the season, so this really hurts. Plus, one of the best TEs in recent football history is out indefinitely. Injuries suck!

If they can somehow find a way to keep Cam in one piece, and with the way the defense plays -- best front-7 in football IMHO -- my lads can still have a very fine season. The 2 OTs could come back at midseason if they are healthy enough, and the Panthers are not putting Olsen on the IR hoping he'll be back eventually.

Did I say that injuries suck?

[4everwarriors]

Crean sucks

[mu03eng]

Much of the Detroit and Michigan based media were reporting on players griping about the new coach.

Amazing how quickly he's lost the locker room....super excited for those two wins. 

[SaveOD238]

The Panthers have IRed both starting OTs, including a second-team All-Pro. Offensive line was the weakest position group coming into the season, so this really hurts. Plus, one of the best TEs in recent football history is out indefinitely. Injuries suck!

If they can somehow find a way to keep Cam in one piece, and with the way the defense plays -- best front-7 in football IMHO -- my lads can still have a very fine season. The 2 OTs could come back at midseason if they are healthy enough, and the Panthers are not putting Olsen on the IR hoping he'll be back eventually.

Did I say that injuries suck?

Can someone explain to me why the IR in the NFL requires players to be out 8 weeks before they can return.  That's HALF the season.  In MLB the DL is only 10 days (or 1/16th of the season) and even the 60-Day DL is only 1/3 of the season. 

An 8-week IR means teams are very hesitant to put players on the IR, so mildly injured players remain on active rosters, and team depth charts get shortened.  That decreases the quality of play, increases the likelihood of more injuries, and decreases the number of players with NFL contracts.  I find it hard to believe a 3- or 4- week IR wouldn't be approved by the NFL and NFLPA...so why hasn't this been done?

[Spotcheck Billy]

Teams are lucky now that they CAN return 2 players from IR after 8 weeks, they even upped it to 2 players.

[GGGG]

Can someone explain to me why the IR in the NFL requires players to be out 8 weeks before they can return.  That's HALF the season.  In MLB the DL is only 10 days (or 1/16th of the season) and even the 60-Day DL is only 1/3 of the season. 

An 8-week IR means teams are very hesitant to put players on the IR, so mildly injured players remain on active rosters, and team depth charts get shortened.  That decreases the quality of play, increases the likelihood of more injuries, and decreases the number of players with NFL contracts.  I find it hard to believe a 3- or 4- week IR wouldn't be approved by the NFL and NFLPA...so why hasn't this been done?

Previously placing a player on IR meant they were out for the remainder of the year so this is actually improved.  I believe the provision to bring one or two back started within the last couple of years.

I believe that there used to be a four game minimum IR back in the 1980s, but teams were limited in the number of players they could activate from the IR in a given year.   I think they did away with that when they went to the weekly active and inactive rosters that are announced pre-game, which grew overall roster sizes.  I think the thought was that the "inactive" list was meant for people with less than season ending injuries.

[DegenerateDish]

You can just simply make someone inactive each week from the 53 if they are injured in the short term. Placing someone on IR means they are not part of your 53 each week, but count against your cap. Generally speaking, if you're on IR, something is really wrong with you. I can't recall where a player was put on IR with an iffy injury. It helps against roster manipulation I suppose, and it in theory increase more jobs because a player on IR doesn't count against your roster limit, so thereby you can bring in a street FA and they can be part of your roster.

[MU82]

Once upon a time, there were far fewer restrictions on the IR. In addition, NFL players had the worst collective bargaining agreements in all of the major sports, and therefore the worst salaries/contract terms. So teams would just stash players on the IR who they didn't want to cut -- kind of like NBA teams used to do big-time in the 1980s and 1990s (and still some today).

Eventually, the NFL ended this practice by saying, "If you put a guy on the IR, he's done for the season." Teams had to be damn sure about it, and it stopped all IR-stashing situations.

But that was too restrictive and, as sultan said, the most recent CBA lets each team activate up to 2 players per season after 8 weeks on the IR.

To me, that still seems restrictive. Maybe let them activate 2 players after 4 weeks and 2-4 players after 8 weeks? Most teams wouldn't abuse it, and it would let more players come back from the IR without having to be carried on the 53-man active roster.

[mu03eng]

I think the IR/roster limitations should be looked at again in the context of not rushing players back from injury. There is no doubt a health and wellness aspect of the NFL that needs to be addressed, especially with the current awareness of concussions, and it would make sense to look at how the NFL roster rules impact our long term treatment issues especially when bounced against the cap.

[GGGG]

I think the IR/roster limitations should be looked at again in the context of not rushing players back from injury. There is no doubt a health and wellness aspect of the NFL that needs to be addressed, especially with the current awareness of concussions, and it would make sense to look at how the NFL roster rules impact our long term treatment issues especially when bounced against the cap.

I guess.  But that's exactly what the inactive list is for.  To give players who are short-term injured a place to be "stashed" from week to week.

[rocket surgeon]

Every time they showed Patricia last night, he had a look of utter confusion, like he had no idea what the hell to do. I'm not even talking when they were down big. Early on, he just looked shell shocked.

  jim caldwell-

[SaveOD238]

I guess.  But that's exactly what the inactive list is for.  To give players who are short-term injured a place to be "stashed" from week to week.

The problem with the inactive list is that it doesn't allow teams to add players to the 53 to replace them.

[GGGG]

The problem with the inactive list is that it doesn't allow teams to add players to the 53 to replace them.

But that's because game rosters are set at 46 - and have been 45 or 46 for decades.

The reason they created the expanded rosters to 53, along with the seven inactives, was to create a place to stick players who are injured for the short-term.  If more than seven players fit that description, they just move them to permanent IR after awhile. 

I'm not saying it's the best system, just stating how the NFL got there.

[GB Warrior]

You can just simply make someone inactive each week from the 53 if they are injured in the short term. Placing someone on IR means they are not part of your 53 each week, but count against your cap. Generally speaking, if you're on IR, something is really wrong with you. I can't recall where a player was put on IR with an iffy injury. It helps against roster manipulation I suppose, and it in theory increase more jobs because a player on IR doesn't count against your roster limit, so thereby you can bring in a street FA and they can be part of your roster.

Teams do use IR to game the bottom of the roster. They can stash talent if said talent is comfortable waiting til next year for their shot OR gets healthy later on and is released with injury settlement and resign them a but later on (IIRC, there's a waiting period).

But as a general rule, the NFL rules do a decent job that you're only IR'd if you have a major injury.

[jsglow]

Teams do use IR to game the bottom of the roster. They can stash talent if said talent is comfortable waiting til next year for their shot OR gets healthy later on and is released with injury settlement and resign them a but later on (IIRC, there's a waiting period).

But as a general rule, the NFL rules do a decent job that you're only IR'd if you have a major injury.

I think the Packers did that with the long snapper last year.  They had a injury settlement than then resigned him after 4 weeks or something.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Little off topic, but this is the first time I haven't played fantasy football in years, and I've never been happier.

[Jockey]

Little off topic, but this is the first time I haven't played fantasy football in years, and I've never been happier.

I quit last year and feel the same way.

[MU82]

Little off topic, but this is the first time I haven't played fantasy football in years, and I've never been happier.

I ran a league from 1987-93. When I decided it was too much work, I played in somebody else's league for 2 years. Then I decided if I wanted to bet on football, I'd just bet on football.

It was a great decision. Don't miss it one iota.