NFL (since 2016)

[crystal falace]

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

[southbankbornnbred]

"Personally, I think Bell should have signed a lot sooner even than today's (missed) deadline. But regardless of what we think about his actions over the deal he did not get, he is a superb running back and the market for him next year will be big: if he decides not to retire. He's 26. He's had a year off to rest his body, without injury - a rarity. He's a three-time Pro-bowler. He's one of the top five running backs in the league. Pittsburgh could franchise tag him again in 2019, out of spite, but they'd be shooting themselves in the foot because it would hit them for over $20m. So I think we can assume he's not a Steeler any longer! There will be a big market for him, providing that teams will give him the long-term deal he seeks. Somebody will over-spend on him, and he is certainly talented enough to offer value regardless of the price. Providing, that is, all of this year's nonsense hasn't scrambled his mind/focus."

[Takashi Miike]

"Bell hasn't signed the franchise tag, so won't be playing this year. not sure if he's now on the market for next season but im sure some team will want the cսnt"

[southbankbornnbred]

"FC - I know what you mean: the Vikes seem a bit cursed. They've regularly produced strong teams, yet can't seem to get their hands on the big trophy. I remember the Vikes in 1998 being a team that should have won the Super Bowl, but you lost to Atlanta after 'that' decision to take overtime and not go for the win in the Championship game. That was a feckin' good Vikings side in 1998 - I loved Randall Cunningham and, I think it was Randy Moss's debut season. I just remember them scoring what felt like a billion points every week. Cousins makes you competitive this year, though. It's win or bust - but you've got a job on your hands with those revitalised Bears."

[Far Cough]

"southbankbornbred, at least you have won a Superbowl, my team the Vikings have been to the big dance 4 fucking times and lost them all"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Yeah, they managed to keep Unitas relatively quiet - although he didn't start for the Colts. He was getting on a bit by then, and shared the QB duties for the Colts. The other guy (forgotten his name: Morrall?) threw three interceptions and by the time Unitas entered the fray, the Jets were running the game - to the surprise of pretty much everybody."

[Far Cough]

It must have been a good game for the Jets to keep Johnny Unitas quiet

[southbankbornnbred]

"Yep, Shula's Colts were overwhelming favourites for the title. But Joe had other ideas. Although, in reality, the game became a defensive affair and we won it narrowly with some brave defensive calls/pressure. A good offense has been a rarity in the history of the Jets. They say that offense wins you games and defense wins you championships. I can tell you that is NOT true in our case: we've had some of the best defenses ever assembled and yet the team won scoot because the offense was so shit! ;-)"

[Far Cough]

That must have been Don Shula's Baltimore Colts?

[southbankbornnbred]

Far Cough - yep! That's when Joe quite literally 'promised' to win the game against the highly-fancied Colts - and did so. Joe is a fecking legend!

[southbankbornnbred]

"TM, I'm not sure Rex knew what he was doing at all with the offense/QB situation. What emerged was not by design, it was more likely default. He was such a defensive specialist, and knew almost nothing about running an offense. His one big play was to agree to draft up in 2008 to take Sanchez. He didn't even rate Sanchez that highly, but he thought that he was ""OK enough"" to win with provided that his usually excellent defense held up (which it always did). So they overspent trading up to take an ""OK enough"" QB in 2009. In fairness, it threatened to work - Sanchez's first two seasons were the back-to-back AFC Championship games. Then his form and confidence fell off a cliff and that was that. Rex didn't know what to do after that, at least offensively, and mucked around with Tebow etc."

[Far Cough]

southbankbornnbred 5:40 Mon Nov 12 Was that Super Bowl win with Broadway Joe?

[southbankbornnbred]

"Remember, this is the franchise which passed over Dan Marino in the 1983 draft - in favour of Ken O'Brien (who was actually quite good, but not in Marino's class). They later (1995) infamously passed over Warren Sapp in favour of a tight end by the name of Kyle Brady. Even the non-Jets crowd inside the hall that night were telling the Jets to draft Sapp! The world could see it was the right choice - and they opted for a guy who flunked. That's the Jets in a nutshell. But I love 'em."

[Takashi Miike]

"id give Rex a bkt of credit for trying to implement a college type QB situation with different styles of player, something Payton in New Orleans has mastered with Brees and Hill, it's just a shame Ryan had mediocre players in that position"

[southbankbornnbred]

"OMM, you must recall the Jets' cursed high-profile draft failures? There was a period when the franchise had a succession of high draft picks and wasted almost all of them (Revis was a refreshing and legendary exception). I give you Vernon Gholston!"

[southbankbornnbred]

"I'm not sure I'd know what to do, and how to behave, if West Ham and/or the Jets were any good!"

[southbankbornnbred]

"The Sack Exchange were legends. That was one heck of a front four. But I know which team you're referring to, Grumpster, it was Rex Ryan's best defensive era, inspired primarily by the peerless Darelle Revis, when the team went to back-to-back AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010. They did beat a lot of good sides in play-offs, contrary to popular opinion, including Manning's Colts and Brady's Patriots - but lost both Championship games and never made the Super Bowl. Then the team lost its direction and never regained it! Ryan was a brilliant defensive mind, but had nothing to offer offensively. Sanchez bombed after his first two promising seasons and we've struggled at QB ever since. Darnold promises to reverse that, but they need to get the kid a decent offensive coach and some targets - or he'll end up on a big scrapheap of ex-Jets play-callers. The Jets are a little like West Ham: big support in a big city, and historical under-performers. One Superbowl win in franchise history, way back in 1969, ain't good enough for a team with the kind of following that it has in Gotham. Like Cleveland, the club's owners have made a succession of poor choices and bad decisions - but that's a situation we've all long recognised at WHU! Still, it's all fun and games..."

[Far Cough]

People like Dick Butkus wouldn't last five minutes in today's game

[Far Cough]

"Yeah it's become soft, it's the NFL covering their arses against future lawsuits Bunch of poofs now"

[Grumpster]

"When we all started watching the sport, it was a bloody hard game and some of the positions had very short career spans. Still tough, but I do worry about some of the rules they keep bringing in, as the sack exchange probably wouldn't have had the same impact now. The one where they're penalised for not releasing the QB straight away and aren't allowed to fall onto them at all is bollocks. Whole point of a sack is to also let them know about it and don't want them getting too protected like keepers are. Contact sports should be kept as such."

[Far Cough]

"I loved that defense, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons, Mark Gastineau and Abdul Salaam, really put the hurt on opposition QBs"

[ooooh Morley Morley]

You'd think that with a constant run of high picks in the draft over the years teams like the Jets and Browns could get out of this decade (and then some) long slump. Who does their scouting? Stevie Wonder?

[Grumpster]

"That was before my time, I meant about 10 years ago when they were making the play offs purely on their D. And then losing the play off straight away when playing better teams as they couldn't score shit."

[Far Cough]

"""Was a period when they had a really good defence"" The New York Sack Exchange?"

[Grumpster]

"The Jets have been really shit for years now. Was a period when they had a really good defence which got them a couple of trips to the play offs, but I can't remember the last time they were challengers in any shape. I wouldn't even remember their decent defence if it weren't for the fact that one of my mates supports them. In fact for a massive city, both their teams are currently gash :o)"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Surely that's the end of the road for Todd 'wet cardboard' Bowles at the Jets? Walloped 41-10 at home to the Bills. That might be as bad as it gets. It's the Bills' biggest away win since 2011, and they did it with Matt Barkley at QB - the very definition of a journeyman QB - behind centre. Jets now 3-7 and their young QB, Darnold was injured and missed the game. They have a bye week coming up, and I'd be surprised if Bowles is still around IF there is a potential HC on the market who the GM likes. If there isn't, they might just let the team tank the remainder of the season and pick up high picks in the 2019 draft under a new HC. Bowles is utterly uninspiring. He sounds like a depressed Foghorn Leghorn. I'm really not sure how he inspires confidence in his players. In the last few weeks, he has openly admitted that his own coaching 'stinks'. Time for a new man at the helm - whether that is mid-season or at the end of term."