Author: Nick

Von Miller's appeal to NFL for $11,567 fine for Key & Peele act could well be based on "It was only two pumps!'' https://t.co/61KTUKyxSM

— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) October 2, 2015

In anticipation for this weekend’s matchup with the Vikings, it’s another opportunity to thank Al Davis for ensuring that the Broncos have only had to face Adrian Peterson once every four years. (Last week, we could say the same for Calvin Johnson!)  There’s little doubt that he is a rare physical talent that doesn’t come around very often.  If you watched any of Peterson’s play at Oklahoma, or even his high school highlights, you would have known that he had special talent.

If you’ve watched any LSU football this year, you’ll also know that their star running back Leonard Fournette is the early Heisman candidate, and he is receiving praise from experts as respected as Gil Brandt on the levels of Peterson.  This, naturally, has raised the question of whether players like Peterson or Fournette could play in the NFL at a younger age.  Peterson, for his part, said with an aura of confidence that he could have.

While Peterson may have been right or wrong, he should have still had the chance to enter the NFL early if he so desired.  And so should Fournette or anyone else.

Continue reading Adrian Peterson Should Have Had The Chance To Enter The NFL Earlier

An accolade well-deserved:

For the first time in his career, DeMarcus Ware is named his division’s [sic] Defensive Player of the Year [sic].

After turning in 3.5 sacks and a league-leading 11 quarterback hits through the first three games of 2015, outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month.

I’ve been on the record, as several others have been, that this would likely be Ware’s last season in Denver due to salary cap constraints and the young acquisitions of Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett.  I’ve also felt that Ware surely knows that this could be the plan, and that a player of his caliber would step up to the plate to try scramble that plan.  Only time will tell, but so far Ware is proving his worth on the field much like Marshawn Lynch did for Seattle last year.

If you watched last night’s barbecue of Kansas City at Lambeau in a 38-28 Packers victory that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests, you likely got the takeaway that Aaron Rodgers is rightly the defending NFL MVP, tossing five touchdowns–several of those against a choice foe of Peyton Manning’s in Marcus Cooper.

But the metrics of Pro Football Focus paint a different picture, as the title of this thread suggests.  Knowing that this would be a controversial finding, PFF wrote an article explaining this grade.  The core of the explanation comes down to two arguments:

• Three of Rodgers’s five TDs passes were judged to be the result of exceptional play by Randall Cobb instead of by Rodgers.
• Rodgers earned two negative plays with a fumble lost (but it was nullified by a Chiefs penalty) and a dropped interception to Josh Mauga that, in their judgment, possibly should have been a pick six.

I’m going to reserve my own comment until a possible later time to think over the arguments and counter-arguments (and suffice to say, there are plenty of the latter).  In the meantime, if you’re looking for something from PFF that satisfies your Broncos fandom, I would recommend this article that explains the perpetual ceiling that the Chiefs will have with Alex Smith as their starter.

I think it’s safe to say that, after last night, neither Broncos nor Lions fans have much good to say about referee Jeff Triplette and his crew.  Thankfully, we have an objective metric for this crew’s struggles–it had four calls on the field overturned.

So since this is a current hot topic here, I thought I’d open the floor broader. Are there any officials you particularly like or dislike?

Via Kyle Meinke of MLive:

The Detroit Lions quarterback was brutalized by the Vikings defense in a 26-16 loss, and underwent X-rays at TCF Bank Stadium after the game. A day later, coach Jim Caldwell is declining to say whether anything’s broken.

[…]

When asked whether he would play Sunday night against Denver, Caldwell said: “We’ll see. Like I said, he’s very, very sore. There’s no question about that. He was hit far too many times.”

Meinke notes that “far too many times” translated into one sack, eight official hits and two unofficial ones.  Given the play of the Broncos’ pass rush so far, Stafford could be in for another rough outing even if he does play.  Something to certainly keep an eye on.

“Don’t Call Me Underrated“, written directly by Harris at The Players’ Tribune, recently founded my Peyton Manning confidante Derek Jeter:

There’s a huge stigma to going undrafted. Not a lot of people talk about it, but there is. For a guy who’s drafted, and in particular drafted high, you’re allowed to make so many more mistakes. People want you to succeed, and any shortcomings you have are viewed as temporary. An “adjustment phase.”

When you’re undrafted, you just don’t have that same margin for error. You have to go above and beyond — and then above and beyond that.

I’m not sure if Harris has the persona that TV executives are looking for, but if this article is any indication the written form could be perfect for him.

It’s been evident for quite some time that the NFL does plenty of nonsensical things.  The disciplinary policy is the one that’s getting the most face time currently, but it’s far from the only one.  However, as the title implies, there’s something lurking that’s been bugging me enough to the point that I need to call the NFL out on it.

It regards daily fantasy football.

Continue reading The NFL Inconsistency Few Are Talking About