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."

[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."

[Grumpster]

"Yes Cough, Chicago away next up for them as the late Sunday night game."

[Far Cough]

I suppose the Vikes had a bye week then?

[Far Cough]

Joe Montana for me but I have heard Johnny Unitas was special

[Takashi Miike]

"brady has the rings, so im not sure brees career matches up but brees has played with inferior teams for much of that time. for me, elway is the greatest"

[Takashi Miike]

"i hope the saints win it, if the redskins don't. i love payton's play calling and the way he uses players, i do worry though about their lack of receivers, especially if thomas gets injured"

[LeroysBoots]

Is Brees more of a GOAT than Brady ? At 39 he looks like he has a couple more years in him

[Grumpster]

"I know superbowl winners have mainly been built on having a decent defence over the years, but fuck me the Saints, Rams and Chiefs can score for fun. Anything can happen in one off games, but struggling to see past the Rams or Saints at the moment, with the Chiefs defence being a little too atrocious. Bit of luck we'll end up with 2 of them facing off in the big one and we can just have a massive shoot out!"