West Ham Online

"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."

"Sorry, folks, been away working for a couple of days. Irons - take your point. Others - the Jets/Chiefs mismatch coukld quite easily end in that sort of score. Although - betting wise - that is a huge disparity. As somebody mentioned, The Idiot Gase has handed over offensive play-calling to our OC. But it is the OC who worked with Gase in Miami, so don't get your hopes up to high. In handing over the play-calling on offense, Gase has effectively acknowledged that he's getting sacked at some point. He already doesn't call plays on defense (Williams does really). So he's basically made himself unemployed during games. Although Jets fans will barely notice the difference! The only debate with Gase now is WHEN he goes. Many fans, and a few Jets franchise insiders (according the New York papers) now want him to hang around for the remainder of the season and see out a 0-16 record (which looks like a strong possibility, given our run-in against AFC West sides). I'm not convinced that anybody coming in mid-season would turn the side into winners anyway. The roster is fucking awful. The dilemma, for me, is simply about getting the best HC in as a replacement and overhauling the franchise from top to bottom. Nobody can really start on that until Black Monday."

Interesting stat if you want to bet on who going to get a penalty. Net yards from penalties New Orleans Saints - -318 Next worse team (Baltimore) - -99 ... Chargers - +129 Raiders - +169

Yeah I'm not going near it. Way too big a handicap for me.

"hermit, I'd be wary of that bet. it looked like gase had handed the play calling to one of his co-ordinators and they instantly looked a better/happier team, so as good KC is - it may be a big lead to get back watching the skins/cowboys game, dalton got hit early in the second half with a late tackle to the head (helmet come flying off). the challenge by out LB bostic was bad enough, but it was the non reaction by his team mates that was most shocking. usually a challenge like that will provoke a reaction, it shows how toxic the atmosphere is in dallas"

"Just checked the odds on KC vs NYJ this week. Kansas are 1/16 to win. If you want the handicap, they are giving the Jets a 20 point start. I don't think I've seen anything like that"

"Southbank Yes, Elway was great his entire career. But Davis went lights-out for a year and a half, including those two playoff runs. And they got their line together and their defence. And then they won the Super Bowl twice. Not until then. They were not fancied in 1997. (They still make that top100 list) But when people knew what they could do, they certainly were in 98. It was great team not an average one plus Elway. Was my point. Miike You make my point a bit. Those Broncos team had less HoFers ( I think I mentioned them all) than a lot of other great teams but any writer I have acknowledges the strength of the whole team."

"the HOF is a popularity contest, it proves nothing. numerous Redskins with multiple super bowl rings still haven't been recognised (Charles Mann 3), yet they couldn't wait to throw a jacket at Ray Lewis a year after eligibility. Elway's the best QB I'll ever see and the one i'd depend on if my life depended on him scoring a TD, he was magical"

"Dallas, Packers, Niners and Steelers were all more heavily fancied to win the Superbowl before the 1997 season. Regionally, others too. Denver weren't particularly fancied going into that season. They'd gone 13-3 the previous year, but had been 8-8 and 7-9 before that. People locally were talking about Elway's career going unrewarded. They finished second in their division during the 1997 regular season, behind the Chiefs. But exploded going into the Wild Card game and play-offs."

"Just to give some other people's opinion: When the NFL did that 100 best Teams of all time, only two of Montana's and one of Brady's rank above the 1998 Broncos. (of the guys mentioned)"

"southbankbornnbred 12:23 Tue Oct 27 Elway will always rightly be in the GOAT discussion. But to say ""decidedly average"" probably glosses over the fact that he had the running back with #2 and #3 rushing yards in the playoffs - all time - in his two Superbowl wins. And Davis is MVP for the whole year in '98 with a top ten all-time season yards. Zimmerman is his HoF tackle for the first Superbowl. Neil Smith was slowing down but could still first the quarterback. Trevor Pryce essentially took over for him in '98. Bill Romanowski was scary, and was there both year and a pro-bowler in '98. Steve Atwater was perennial pro-bowler. Shannon Sharpe is a HoFer. I would say he had a better team around him than some of the others in that discussion, when they won their rings."

"Elway is the GOAT, in my personal opinion. Brady and Montana have the rings. Brees and Manning have the numbers. Rodgers has the highlights reel. But Elway could do everything, and even led a decidedly average side to two superbowl wins. If you had to put your mortgage on one QB to take you 99 yards downfield with two minutes of a game remaining, it would be Elway. ""The Drive"" is a thing of beauty, coming as it did when it did, on the muddiest of pitches. That took balls bigger than any other QB had."

"I certainly agree. It was a few years later than I found the Saints on a high school jazz band trip and he became one of the Dirty Birds. But shamefully, as a kid there was nothing more late 80s/early 90s cool than stuff like this. https://vault.si.com/vault/702288#&gid=ci0258bfec3014278a&pid=702288---cover-image"

"I liked Bo Jackson but Neon Deion got on my nerves with his showboating into the end zone, have a bit of respect and take a look at one of the best maybe even THE best RBs of all time, Barry Sanders"

Neon Deion Sanders also played a lot of baseball. Him and Bo were right in the era of me being a kid and saving my money to buy Sports Illustrated every week I could. So I can remember them being on multiple covers.

"Yes, Elway had a bullet of an arm"

"I reckon Michael Jordan could have made it in the NFL, possibly as a WR"

So yeah just the one summer https://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/10608/remembering-john-elways-summer-of-baseball He's no Bo Jackson. Hah.

Takashi Miike 4:53 Mon Oct 26 He was drafted and played the summer in the Yankees' farm system. Outfielder I believe.

bit harsh not including elway who probably had the best arm of the lot and had offers from pro baseball teams coming out of college

"Interesting topic amongst the commentators in last night's Saints game (for me at least). Say what you want about baseball but apparently it produces NFL quarterbacks. Especially at the shortstop position. In no particular order: Garoppolo Mahomes Rodgers Brees Wilson Roethlisberger Matt Ryan Stafford Goff Murray and every Pro Football Hall of Fame QB since sometime in the '70s ""ì other than Terry Bradshaw and Jim Kelly ""ì so people like Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Dan Fouts, Warren Moon, Troy Aikman, Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning all played shortstop at a competitive level. Probably why I never made it as NFL QB (or lineman). I hated baseball (and could not throw my way out of a wet paper bag.)"

The Cowgirls got so many picks and players out of the Walker deal that it feels like they're still drafting off the back of it! It felt like I was still reading about fresh Walker-related drafts and picks years later. It's like the Carrick deal...

"Cowgirls/Vikes-type trade. What a fucking trade that was, I bet the cowboys were laughing their Texas size arses off"

"Yep thought we'd closed out against the Cards, but they came back well. Lot of mistakes on both sides late on. Lockett's ability to find space and to get his feet grounded is uncanny. He's not that tall, not phenomenally quick, and not really a unit - and yet his figures are right up there. That DK Metcalf chase back, as falace said below, was stunning."

Was a good game for me as I had Lockett in fantasy. (Made up for the fact that I followed most of the media and picked the wrong Mostert backup to start.)

crystal falace 2:23 Mon Oct 26 Wilson had an uncharacteristic stinker in the 4th quarter and OT. I'll forgive him it this once given the number of times he's won us a game when we've been playing shit