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NFL Thread: 2025-26 Season
- Thread starter adjectivenoun
- Start date
The Seahawks scored enough points to win on the first kickoff.
not making it to the ccg after mahomes leaves is an embarassment. i'd have thought i'd be content - the stagnancy of this team has already turned me off over the years, and this conforms to my read on the team being spiritually weak as you note, but i'm somehow still mad typing this, that the Energy surrounding this iteration of the team has been so wasted. it's just sad and upsetting to see something like that go to waste lol. one or both of management and allen need to go. my heart says allen but any permutation that satisfies the criteria is something i can understand. running it back again would signal a team so used to basement dwelling, it's satisfied with a legacy of being owned by actual sb competitors
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I don't think it can be Allen. The OT record and brutal turnovers in this game are both causes for concern, but he also really can be Superman. He basically dragged the Bills past Jacksonville with nothing but a few IOU's as receiving targets; there are only two or three other quarterbacks in the league who can match his heroics when he's on. I think it's got to be McDermott. He's supposed to be a stodgy, defensive-minded coach, but his teams consistently pull up to these big games with poor discipline and defensive meltdowns. Every regular season, he vanquishes a new boogeyman, and it looks like he's finally turned a corner, but he always crashes back down in January. They've changed everything else; it's time to look at the head coach.
This is going to sound absolutely ridiculous, and it is, but I think both Josh Allen and Sean McDermott are the problem. I think they’re both holding each other back, see. I’d like to see these two split up if only to see how they each perform in a different situation in their respective roles, but the way McDermott’s been utilizing this offense has been suspect in the postseason for a long time now and while Buffalo’s lack of a true WR1 has been a problem for the past few seasons, I also particularly blame Josh for some of the individual moments that have occurred on the field over the past handful of seasons.
he can be but when the superman instances result in 0 chief victories and 0 post-chief meaningful victories, i gotta question their magnitude when it matters
like im not really disagreeing with you here, maybe a new coach can not only fix existing issues but also help allen be better too
but gosh this team just feels so broken
as i've noted before, the josh allen era bills were 0-5 in playoff games that are not wc or ravens. that now becomes 0-6. if one doesn't think the ljax ravens are good – the ljax ravens with zero post-wc wins ever – that is grisly.
i will go to my grave calling the bengals the second best afc team of 2015-2025
This one isn't fully on the coach, but I also think part of the problem is that they let Diggs scare them out of having a true WR1. The whole "everybody eats" thing just doesn't work against great defenses in the clutch when you don't have a true WR1 who can get open and make those big catches. This is a bad time for me to be using them as an example of what to do right, but look at the Lions. They go for unselfish receivers who are willing to block and go for long stretches without being fed, but when it's clutch time, St. Brown is the WR1, and a guy like St. Brown probably comes down with Allen's big throw and wins them that game. There's a balance that the Bills aren't hitting because they don't feel like they have to.
What a sensational game, and the Bears lost? It's a beautiful day.
I knew it was possible to stifle the comeback machine because the Lions did it. Carve that 2-0 matchup into fucking stone.
I knew it was possible to stifle the comeback machine because the Lions did it. Carve that 2-0 matchup into fucking stone.
You know, maybe it’s a good thing that the NfL has conferences after all, because if you were to combined the AFC West and the NFC West into one super-division, here are the results you would get. You would get the Broncos, Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, 49ers, Raiders, Rams, and Seahawks. Five of those teams made the playoffs this season and three of them are now making appearances in the Conference Championship round that reminds me suspiciously of the 2013-14 season. (The only difference between the two is that the Rams would be taking San Francisco’s place.) But it gets worse. Let’s take a look at some statistics going back to the start of the West’s dominance in 2018:
Since 2018, all of the following had happened:
Since 2018, all of the following had happened:
- The AFC West title winner has made the conference championship every season (the Chiefs went 5-2 during their stretch of games)
- The NFC West is guaranteed their fifth conference championship in eight seasons, and has accounted for eight out of 16 possible NFC Championship appearances during this time frame
- Pending this postseason’s results, the AFC West and NFC West have combined for nine out of sixteen possible conference titles (counting this year’s NFC West matchup) and at least four Super Bowl titles- a win by either division this year or a Patriots loss to Denver would make it five
- In total, the West divisions claim 31 playoff births, 15 of which were Wild Card births; for comparison, South teams only have four and one (this year’s Texans) since 2021 in particular. One more and you could make a whole 32-team league with just 2018-2025 West playoff teams
- I just found this after I posted: they also combine for eight out of 16 possible 1 Seeds in the playoffs and and additional four 2 Seeds, three 3 Seeds, and only one 4 Seed
Well, they fired him, so we'll see if I'm right about this. I think he was the coach Buffalo needed when he was hired, but it's time to move on. Still a shame.
I personally think the Patriots are going to take the AFC East again in 2026 since they don’t seem like they’ll lose as much as some of the other AFC contenders in the upcoming offseason, but 2026 isn’t the year I’ve got my eye on if I’m an AFC East fan. 2027 is. I have genuine reason to believe the New York Jets- yes, those Jets, statistically the worst team of the 2020s so far, can have a historic bounce-back year akin to what the Patriots did this season.
Herein lies the problem, though. You’ve got New England who we’ll have to see if they can sustain, the Jets who could be a serious threat starting in 2027, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Miami gets better when they inevitably decide to move away from Mr. Concussion at QB over there. Where does that leave Buffalo? They’ll have a second-place schedule in 2026, which isn’t a bad pull, but they’ll still have to play the Patriots twice, the Ravens, Chargers, and Texans, without a head coach who, for all of the Bill’s mishaps in the playoffs, has at least been very consistent in the regular season. The problem for Buffalo aside from new competition replacing the old (and that’s assuming the Chiefs don’t bounce back at any point) is that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Just as likely that Sean McDermott was the problem is the possibility that they sorely regret firing him when the Bills’ downfall inevitably begins soon.
Coincidentally, the Bills’s best championship windows have all happened in roughly 30-year intervals. This doesn’t mean anything. I just find it funny. You had them win back-to-back AFL titles in the 1960s, the infamous “four-peat” during the early 1990s, and now their inability to get over the hump in the early 2020s. What really sucks is that had the Super Bowl premiered just a year earlier in 1965-66, the Bills would actually have one singular Super Bowl appearance to their name… though they would have played Vince Lombardi and the Packers, so they likely would have lost that game. I guess Buffalo will just have to wait until the 2050s to be considered relevant again.
The Lions are hiring Drew Petzing as the new OC. I have no fucking clue who that is, so I'm gonna wait until I see next year's offense to say anything definitive, but being fired by the Cardinals does not inspire confidence in me.
The last college-specific thread got literally zero posts, but that was titled specifically for the 22-23 season. I personally don't mind if you post here or make a general thread for college football tbh.
The 2025 Los Angeles Dodgers are the most overrated North American major league sports championship-winning team at the very least in my lifetime (born July 2002), and I don’t think it’s a particularly close debate.
-from a post I just dropped in Smogoff a few minutes ago
What I didn’t specify in that post is the idea that some of this year’s contenders could possibly join the Dodgers in that conversation. My Seahawks and the Rams are my top two remaining teams by estimated potential (pretty must just taking strength of record relative to who they’ve played and will play later) and both AFC teams I think are pretty overrated in their own right. The Patriots have a league best 16-3 record including playoffs at this time and the AFC’s best point differential, but their strength of schedule being as weak as it has been needs no introduction at this point and they’ve definitely had one of the easiest AFC paths in a long time coupled with a young QB and first-year head coach both lacking championship experience. I’d also say they have the worst defense of the four remaining teams other than maybe the Rams, but Mike Vrabel’s made it work so far. Meanwhile, Denver’s schedule has been slightly better and they have a veteran head coach in Sean Payton, but their point differential has been very underwhelming for a 14-win team and Bo Nix doesn’t quite give “Super Bowl QB” vibes yet with his inconsistent play even though I’ve been higher on him than most. They’re like Houston if they had a better offensive line and more sacks, but I’d still rank their defense below Houston and around the same level overall as my Seahawks. Not to mention their only playoff win so far, as they were the 1-Seed, was a game against a mentally collapsing Buffalo Bills organization that had to go to overtime.
What’s more, every time in NFL history two teams from the same division have faced each other in the conference championship round (most recent occurrence was last season, actually, and 2021-22 before that), the winner of that game has gone on to win the Super Bowl. In-division conference championship games have given teams like the Rams in 2021-22 a significant mental advantage and confidence boost the competition, and I think the same can happen again here.
-from a post I just dropped in Smogoff a few minutes ago
What I didn’t specify in that post is the idea that some of this year’s contenders could possibly join the Dodgers in that conversation. My Seahawks and the Rams are my top two remaining teams by estimated potential (pretty must just taking strength of record relative to who they’ve played and will play later) and both AFC teams I think are pretty overrated in their own right. The Patriots have a league best 16-3 record including playoffs at this time and the AFC’s best point differential, but their strength of schedule being as weak as it has been needs no introduction at this point and they’ve definitely had one of the easiest AFC paths in a long time coupled with a young QB and first-year head coach both lacking championship experience. I’d also say they have the worst defense of the four remaining teams other than maybe the Rams, but Mike Vrabel’s made it work so far. Meanwhile, Denver’s schedule has been slightly better and they have a veteran head coach in Sean Payton, but their point differential has been very underwhelming for a 14-win team and Bo Nix doesn’t quite give “Super Bowl QB” vibes yet with his inconsistent play even though I’ve been higher on him than most. They’re like Houston if they had a better offensive line and more sacks, but I’d still rank their defense below Houston and around the same level overall as my Seahawks. Not to mention their only playoff win so far, as they were the 1-Seed, was a game against a mentally collapsing Buffalo Bills organization that had to go to overtime.
What’s more, every time in NFL history two teams from the same division have faced each other in the conference championship round (most recent occurrence was last season, actually, and 2021-22 before that), the winner of that game has gone on to win the Super Bowl. In-division conference championship games have given teams like the Rams in 2021-22 a significant mental advantage and confidence boost the competition, and I think the same can happen again here.
Did anyone happen to see that post I just sent, like, five minutes ago and just deleted? No? Cool. Let’s keep it that way because, without getting into the details of the post I just deleted, there’s too much for me to still be happy about and a surge of negativity never helped anyone.
Let me put it this way. If Sam Darnold and my Seattle Seahawks can win the conference championship and make the Super Bowl, then certainly I can overcome a brief mood swing, right? For the first time since 2014-15, we make the Super Bowl, and…
…oh. Yeah, that’s the one thing I don’t like. Of all the teams, why did it have to be them? I don’t need any reminders of the inevitable- you can call me a fake fan if you want but I refuse to listen to anything Tom Brady has to say on the postgame broadcast. You’re telling me Brady was set to broadcast for my Seahawks right after the Patriots also made their first appearance since his tenure? This league is not being the scripted allegations.
Let me put it this way. If Sam Darnold and my Seattle Seahawks can win the conference championship and make the Super Bowl, then certainly I can overcome a brief mood swing, right? For the first time since 2014-15, we make the Super Bowl, and…
…oh. Yeah, that’s the one thing I don’t like. Of all the teams, why did it have to be them? I don’t need any reminders of the inevitable- you can call me a fake fan if you want but I refuse to listen to anything Tom Brady has to say on the postgame broadcast. You’re telling me Brady was set to broadcast for my Seahawks right after the Patriots also made their first appearance since his tenure? This league is not being the scripted allegations.
Just enjoy the ride, man. Whatever happens, you made the Super Bowl, and 30 other teams didn't.
You know what? You’re right. Thank you. I needed to hear that. And here’s the thing, right. You’re a big Lions fan, so I know you know what you’re talking about.
On a separate note, the game actually was really good and enjoyable. There’s something about watching your favorite team succeed that just puts a person in a good mood even if a place like Discord makes me want to crash out more often than not. Sam Darnold’s looked extremely comfortable these past two games and the offense, while the absence of Charbonnet was felt, hardly missed a beat when it mattered most. It wasn’t always pretty but the back-and-forth was super entertaining and for what it’s worth, I can respect the Rams for making us work for the win.
…actually, there is one more thing I just remembered. I just won a bet I placed with nobody in particular. I told my coworkers I would order a Seahawks-themed cake for the Super Bowl should we be able to make it there, so now I owe our family an ice cream cake. They’re lowkey expensive but at least these taste really good.
I like this script a lot, first-half shutout and we get Marshawn back? Count me in!
Pats offense looking kinda sorry this postseason and their defense is looking pretty amazing but I think the Seahawks are gonna give them hell. Calling Sam Darnold 2 TDs and over 250 yards, JSN 100 yards and a TD, and defense holds pats below 20. Please Sam Darnold save us I don't wanna see the pats win another super bowl 