2021 NFL Season

[SeaBreeze341]

The 102nd season, which will see the return of pre-season games & fans, is slated to begin on Thursday, September 9, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.  That’s five weeks from today, and as mentioned, the preseason gets going.  That starts tonight with the Hall of Fame Game featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers & the Dallas Cowboys, who will also be apart of the opener for the regular season against the Buccaneers.  The home team/champs winning percentage is at least 80%.  Other games scheduled in Week one include 13 Sunday games on Fox & CBS including a CBS/Fox game of the week at 4:25 PM Eastern.  Week One will wrap up with two primetime games: one on NBC with Sunday Night Football (16th season) and on Monday on ESPN with MNF (16th season and 52nd overall).  Currently, it is scheduled to conclude on Sunday, February 13, 2022 in Los Angeles.  For the 16th time since 2004, the season will begin with the defending champions hosting another opponent, and I believe it’s the first time the first game of the season is being played at the same venue the last game of the preceding schedule was played at (definitely in the past 17 years).

Unlike last year, the cause for concern is minimal, if it’s even there to begin with.  Outside of the shuffling of several games, they still managed to play all 269 games, a major win.  Right now I don’t expect any issues, and I think that they’ll get all 285 played this season, and on time.

On a related note to the game total, this season features the debut of a 17-game schedule, and fortunately it’s AFC vs NFC.  It’s the first change of that type since 1978.  As a result, everything will get pushed back, including the postseason, which remains at 14 teams (second season for that).  They avoid a Superbowl / Valentines Day conflict this year.  However, it’ll be a possibility in 2027, but they’ll likely get to 18 games by then

[Ccook]

The Atlanta Falcons start their campaign with a preseason tilt against Tennessee next Friday. Did they draft the right people to keep Matt Ryan from getting sacked? Or someone who could fill Julio Jones' cleats?  Coin flip, Ouija board and star alignment says Atlanta will finish 8-9. (Now watch me be horribly wrong. Again. See you in January!)

[Ccook]

Battle of the B-squads last night and the Titans prevail, 23-3. A.J. McCarron and Feleipe Franks, looking for the backup QB spot for Atlanta, combined for only 52 yards on seven completions.

[SeaBreeze341]

Even when there's no football, business is boomin' in the NFL


Jaguars cut Tim Tebow

Jamal Adams is getting paid.  He'll be with the Seahawks for a long time


No surprise with the former star QB and league QB turned TE.  Tim probably did it a bit too late (as in a decade or so late).  Tebow will be fine

Seattle was going to tag Adams in '22 & '23 without this.  No winners if that played out.  They need each other (Jamal more since money is a good thing)

[Ccook]

Elsewhere, the Pats cut Cam Newton, A.J. McCarron is out for Atlanta for the season with an injury, and Jameis Winston will be the starting QB for New Orleans.

[moneygamelover]

Cam Newton had a bad year last year. Couldn't throw the ball down the field and his accuracy was so bad *redacted*. Personally, I think father time has caught Cam Newton early. He'll get a chance to get picked up by another team but maybe not as a starter. Houston maybe since Deshaun Watson won't be playing this year with all the legal stuff hanging over him. The days of sitting and learning are a thing of the past. In this era of the NFL highly drafted quarterbacks play right away and the success of Justin Herbert last year makes it even more likely highly drafted rookies will see the field. Mac Jones may well be the long term answer in New England.

I believe this is the second time you've been told not to make that comment. I've seen plenty of females who are just as capable if not more than men at sports, so you'll leave your sexist comments out of this and any other discussion.

[Ccook]

Dak Prescott and Tom Brady got the season off to a roaring start, almost going toe to toe (Prescott 3 TDs/1 INT/403 yds, Brady 4 TDs/2 INTs/379 yds) with the Buccaneers prevailing 31-29.

[Archviler]

It was a pretty good game, stayed up late to watch it. Makes me want to see my Washington Football Team play on Sunday even more now. Football season's back!

The current name of the football team in our nation's capital is "Washington Football Team". It may be dumb, but the former name is deeply offensive to indigenous persons and thus has been retired, and as such they should not be referred to by said former name.

[moneygamelover]

It was a GREAT season opener. Despite the loss, the Cowboys should be encouraged by how well Dak both played and moved around. He looked pretty healthy to me. And I don't expect much out of the NFC East so a division for the Cowboys is a reasonable goal.

When the Cowboys took the lead at 1:24, I know the Buccaneers were still going to win. That's what happens when you have Tom Brady. Brady's 585 career passing touchdowns are an impressive all time record, but man, how great is Gronk too.  When he's at his best, there's no one like Gronk as far as tight ends go. I give the Buccaneers a good chance at repeating. No Super Bowl champion has repeated since the 2004 Patriots, but the Buccaneers brought back all 22 starters and Brady and Gronk are more settled into being Buccaneers while still having plenty left in the tank.

Excited to watch my Cardinals on Sunday, but I'm honestly expecting a loss as I don't see any way we stop Derrick Henry. In fact, I think Henry has a puncher's chance to become the first non quarterback to win regular season MVP since Adrian Peterson in 2012.

[Archviler]

It was a pretty good game, stayed up late to watch it. Makes me want to see my Washington Football Team play on Sunday even more now. Football season's back!

The current name of the football team in our nation's capital is "Washington Football Team". It may be dumb, but the former name is deeply offensive to indigenous persons and thus has been retired, and as such they should not be referred to by said former name.

*redacted*

If that's not acceptable to you, please ban me.

Don't threaten me with a good time, buddy! Goodbye.

[Superballer]

It was a GREAT season opener. Despite the loss, the Cowboys should be encouraged by how well Dak both played and moved around. He looked pretty healthy to me. And I don't expect much out of the NFC East so a division for the Cowboys is a reasonable goal.

 


Perhaps, but they'll probably have to earn it, with both Washington and Philadelphia looking a bit more optimistic themselves at the moment.  It's likely true we shouldn't expect much from the division this year, but it's also wide open, which counterbalances to a degree. 

[moneygamelover]

YES!!! My Cardinals are 1-0 after dominating the Titans on both sides of the ball in a 38-13 as Kyler Murray threw 4 touchdown passes, 2 each to DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk, while running for a 5th himself. Meanwhile, the defense held Derrick Henry to 58 yards and Chandler Jones had 5 sacks. Great win to start the season! GO CARDINALS!

[SeaBreeze341]

So much for going 285-0!


Strongly considered picking Arizona.  It's super early and Tennessee isn't bad, except they were.  The West travel to East for a 1 PM game had me settle for the Titans.  The Cardinals are going to be great but they will have a tough road with a tough division.  Plus, they have a likely Superbowl winner if not contender in Cleveland for their 17th game

[Ccook]

The Falcons embarrassed themselves in front of the home crowd, 32-6 against Philadelphia. They simply become inept when they get to the red zone. Too many penalties and horrible pass defense. Gonna be a long season.

[JarodJGames]

Washington has one long season ahead of themselves. The defense was kind of rusty at home against the Chargers, but they did manage to keep the score Close most of the game.