**OFFICIAL Week 9 Game Thread, Sponsored By the novel, Push, the inspiration for Precious

[Chinook]

i dont know what that means but i will trust that it is demoralizing

[spurraider21]

figured baltimore was running away with the AFC-N... surprised to see Pitt has won 3 straight. up to 4-4 now

[Chinook]

Nice win. The Pats passing on Lamar for Sony ing Michel will go down as one of Belichick’s worst decisions.

Thanks. A lot of teams were rumored to want him. I don't know if Bill was worried Brady'd run Jackson out of town or something.

[Mark Celibate]

Wow... 15 pages for this week's Game Thread, season high for 2019. And you know what's great? We still have MNF tomorrow night... featuring the Cowboys. Should be awesome.

Over/under 30 for number of GarrettBot jokes?

[Millennial_Messiah]

figured baltimore was running away with the AFC-N... surprised to see Pitt has won 3 straight. up to 4-4 now

Steelers have a surprisingly easy backend schedule, so don't be surprised if they go 10-6 or so and earn a wild card birth.

[Spurtacular]

[Chinook]

i hear you. edwards did have a TD today (ingram came off the field after his 50+ yard scamper to catch his breath). i dont have an issue with spelling him when needed, but he doesnt have the workload to justify as much relief as they are giving him. edwards hasn't been nearly as effective as ingram this year, and before today, ingram's screen game usage had been virtually non-existent to this point, something he was fantastic at with new orleans. even when kamara emerged as a weapon in the 2017 season, ingram put up 50 catches.

when the ravens picked him up, i thought in this offense, he'd be used a lot more creatively. he's still on pace for over 1100 rushing yards, so i might be being a bit harsh, but it catches my eye every time i watch a ravens game. ingram is already 30, and unless you're counting on a frank gore career, he probably doesnt have more than 2-3 serviceable seasons left in him, and the guaranteed money in his contract wont go beyond that anyway. might as well use him.

I think Ingram was there to be a dependable jack-of-all-trades guy with a great track record. Edwards and Hill are both young backs, and the team has had a few flashes in the pan like West and Allen disappoint after having great opening seasons. Having Ingram means the offense doesn't give away what it's doing. If it's Hill, you think they're passing, Edwards, running. Ingram, you don't know.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Over/under 30 for number of GarrettBot jokes?

I'll take the under until I see it, but I'd love to. Don't think they lose to the ty Giants though. The Jets one they took for granted (might be the worst team in the NFL tbh) but the Giants are a division opponent and the Garrett teams historically get up for those (outside of winner take all week 17 matches).

[Millennial_Messiah]

I think Ingram was there to be a dependable jack-of-all-trades guy with a great track record. Edwards and Hill are both young backs, and the team has had a few flashes in the pan like West and Allen disappoint after having great opening seasons. Having Ingram means the offense doesn't give away what it's doing. If it's Hill, you think they're passing, Edwards, running. Ingram, you don't know.

and what, in the world happened to Alex Collins? He was supposed to be the second coming of Ray Rice for the Ravens 2 short years ago, then he fell off the face of the earth?

[Chinook]

figured baltimore was running away with the AFC-N... surprised to see Pitt has won 3 straight. up to 4-4 now

Yeah, they've squeaked out a couple of games. That the remaining match-up with Baltimore is in MD is a real boon.

I didn't think the Browns were going to be good this year, but it's crazy how bad they are. I will never question Tony Dungy's HoF status again, because Tampa is pretty much Cleveland South, but for about a decade, they were a top team. Now that they're fully past the Dungy era, they're right back to being awful no matter how many good/great players they get or who their coach is.

[Chinook]

and what, in the world happened to Alex Collins? He was supposed to be the second coming of Ray Rice for the Ravens 2 short years ago, then he fell off the face of the earth?

Yeah, that second year was terrible for him. Fumbled, lost confidence. The life for a fringe roster guy is crazy. The same thing could have befallen Edwards this season had the Ravens counted on him to be the bell-cow. That's why they got Ingram. He was cheap enough to where they could afford him even if Gus had played well, but you knew Mark wasn't going to disappear. He's been even better than expected, but I think ideally they want Hill to become the main threat out of the backfield (besides Jackson of course).

[Millennial_Messiah]

Yeah, they've squeaked out a couple of games. That the remaining match-up with Baltimore is in MD is a real boon.

I didn't think the Browns were going to be good this year, but it's crazy how bad they are. I will never question Tony Dungy's HoF status again, because Tampa is pretty much Cleveland South, but for about a decade, they were a top team. Now that they're fully past the Dungy era, they're right back to being awful no matter how many good/great players they get or who their coach is.

The Browns putting up a 40 burger in Baltimore and crushing the Ravens on their home turf was weird.

[Chinook]

The Browns putting up a 40 burger in Baltimore and crushing the Ravens on their home turf was weird.

Eh, it was like the opposite of the KC loss. Like in the Chiefs game, Baltimore had a chance to win at the end, but it really wasn't close. With Cleveland, it was a blow-out, but that's only because the Ravens melted down at the end trying to chase the lead. The biggest reason why the Ravens lost was because the guys they were playing (Peanut, Young and Jefferson chiefly) sucked at covering over the middle and in general played really undisciplined ball. They've been way better recently because the new guys (Fort, Bynes Clark) are able to play their positions and not make wholes with undisciplined play.

I'm not trying to say the Cleveland game didn't matter, but it's definitely a different team now than it was when they played in Week Four.

[spurraider21]

I think Ingram was there to be a dependable jack-of-all-trades guy with a great track record. Edwards and Hill are both young backs, and the team has had a few flashes in the pan like West and Allen disappoint after having great opening seasons. Having Ingram means the offense doesn't give away what it's doing. If it's Hill, you think they're passing, Edwards, running. Ingram, you don't know.

imo thats the real value of an every down/all purpose back. its not that they're getting 28 touches, its that defenses dont get queues. its also why the freeman/coleman backfied in atlanta worked so well. neither one was getting 28 touches, but neither one of them gave away the play call by their being on the field. same thing this year with breida/coleman in SF. its also why its refreshing to see the pats run the ball with james white every now and again

[spurraider21]

[spurraider21]

have to give props to the ravens for going all-in on lamar. they designed their entire offense around him, both personnel and scheme. other teams would have tried to mold lamar to fit their system. last year they made the switch midseason and were ultimately limited because they couldnt install a brand new offense.

[FrostKing]

Just saw highligts on SC. Ravens are obnoxious ghetto showboaters. Very unlikable team. They'll get bounced in the playoffs like always and in the media per par.

[spurraider21]

chicago has lost 4 straight and their rest of season schedule is pretty rough. that could turn out to be a damn good first round pick we're getting from them. tbh i wouldnt have guessed that the bears pick would be better than ours this soon after the mack trade

[Will Hunting]

imo thats the real value of an every down/all purpose back. its not that they're getting 28 touches, its that defenses dont get queues. its also why the freeman/coleman backfied in atlanta worked so well. neither one was getting 28 touches, but neither one of them gave away the play call by their being on the field. same thing this year with breida/coleman in SF. its also why its refreshing to see the pats run the ball with james white every now and again

To your point, it's still way too much of a giveaway depending on when Michel/White are on the field. Michel is also such a ty receiver that when they try to pass with him on the field it hurts their offense. The only benefit to the RBBC approach is that you can argue it keeps the running backs fresh, but that's grossly outweighed by the benefits of a three-down all purpose back.

[benefactor]

have to give props to the ravens for going all-in on lamar. they designed their entire offense around him, both personnel and scheme. other teams would have tried to mold lamar to fit their system. last year they made the switch midseason and were ultimately limited because they couldnt install a brand new offense.

I'm so ing glad O'Brien figured this out about Watson before it was too late. He was horribly stubborn and wanted run the plays he wanted to run instead of playing to Watson's strengths. The short passing game is not only keeping Watson clean, it's setting up the run. He's also getting much more creative with misdirection.

In the first four weeks Watson was sacked 18 times. In the past five he's only been sacked 7. He was sacked only once yesterday and that's with two starting offensive linemen out. Whatever Watson said to him after the Carolina loss apparently stuck.

[Chinook]

To your point, it's still way too much of a giveaway depending on when Michel/White are on the field. Michel is also such a ty receiver that when they try to pass with him on the field it hurts their offense. The only benefit to the RBBC approach is that you can argue it keeps the running backs fresh, but that's grossly outweighed by the benefits of a three-down all purpose back.

There are times when you don't care if the other team knows that it's run or pass. Gus being bigger might make him better in short-yardage situations. Hill being a dynamic play-maker might make him more effective in third-and-long. It also helps that Jackson is such a good runner that he can do well in any formation and that their TEs are also such good receivers. That means that even if one of the other backs is out there, you don't know what play it is.

[spurraider21]

To your point, it's still way too much of a giveaway depending on when Michel/White are on the field. Michel is also such a ty receiver that when they try to pass with him on the field it hurts their offense. The only benefit to the RBBC approach is that you can argue it keeps the running backs fresh, but that's grossly outweighed by the benefits of a three-down all purpose back.

is michel at least decent as a pass protector? because you can just have the other 4 eligible guys go out as pass catchers if he can function as a 6th blocker

[spurraider21]

about as good a game as he has played since gruden took over. and this with a backup center who delivered multiple bad snaps throughout the game (some in the highlights). they've quietly been one of the better offenses in the league for the past month or so.

[Darth_Pelican]

Dak

[Millennial_Messiah]

Quack gives the Giants the ball at the five yard line, defense bails his ass out big time so the Cowboys only give up 3. What a start. Quack is a got.