After the Bears game, I’m pretty close to giving up on the Seahawks. Or, I find watching them–specifically, the offense–too painful. I’m pretty convinced Brian Fleury is not a good OC, and that’s really caused me to distance myself from the team. I did watch them against the Cardinals, but I haven’t really changed my mind. I will say that the run game is pretty physical, and if the offense can get first downs, the run game has the potential to really wear down defenses. But the passing game seems really bad, and I tend to think this goes back to Fleury. Players seem rarely wide-open, and many of the passes seem to be require pinpoint passes to make completions.

Raiders@49ers

I actually started this thread to complain about the Raiders. Kubiak and his coaching staff really seemed to be turning the team around, even when they lost. No so yesterday, as the Raiders played like the team I’ve been long familiar with–namely a defense that is sieve, and boneheaded plays. Two stand out that I want to mention: 1) the defense intercepts Purdy, putting the Raiders in good scoring position. A few plays later the Raiders fumble and give it back to the 49ers. 2) I think on the next possession, the Raiders stop the 49ers 4th down conversion, and, again, put the Raiders offense in scoring position. Once again, the Raiders fumble, this time at the goal line.

I didn’t and don’t expect them to beat a team like the 49ers, but these type of mistakes are inexcusable. The Raiders turned the ball over five times. For perennial losing teams, I believe in the adage that before such a team starts winning, they have to stop doing things that cause them to lose. Going by this game, the Raiders haven’t done that yet.

I’m stoked that the Seahawks traded for Quentin Nelson. The 49ers also traded for DeForest Buckner, which is not great, but the line of scrimmage battles between SEA, SF, and LAR are going to be epic (at least on paper).

49ers@Falcons

Good running by both teams. The coaching of both Stefanski and Ulbrich have been very good and impressive, especially the latter. I’m glad the Niners lost.

Power rankings

49ers, Rams, Seahawks:

Jaguars, Bengals, Chiefs, Patriots, Cowboys, Ravens, Bills, Bears, Broncos

Vikings

Continue reading “2026-2027 NFL Week 5”

Cowboys make a big trade for Joey Porter Jr. Do you like the move, Don?

So far it seems like Kubiak has turned the Raiders around. It’s not just being 3-0, but the way the team has played, especially on offense. They’re executing, playing clean, and have reduced boneheaded mistakes. They look way better on ST as well. The defense has looked OK, but I feel like they will be exposed, especially against the run.

Having said that, if they can contain the Chiefs run game, I think they have a legitimate shot to beat the Chiefs. The Chiefs aren’t and haven’t been a team that will dominate a lot of opponents. On the contrary, I think a lot of teams can play the Chiefs close. The Raiders could be one of those teams tomorrow.

The Chargers have looked awful, but their defense did generate 5 turnovers against the Bills offense. If the defensive improvement is real, this might be more of a game than I first assumed. The Chargers really have to turn things around on offense, though, and while that’s possible, it would be kind of surprising. (I think they should lean heavily on the run game, instead of leaning on Herbert.)

Will have some power rankings soon.

With regard to the ATL-GB game, what happened to the Packers defense, especially their run defense. That was not good.

This a thread to discuss discuss general NFL topics, not necessarily specific to this season.

I thought this discussion on Mike Sando’s article on Special Teams (ST) was really interesting, especially regarding the reasons some teams are better at this than others.

Continue reading “2026-2027 NFL Regular Season”

Lions@Bills

The Bills have a good offense, possibly one of the best NFL offenses, but they made it look a little too easy too often. If the Lions defense doesn’t improve significantly, I don’t think they have a defense good enough to win the Super Bowl.

I have similar feelings about the Bills defense.

Two other observations:

1. The Lions OL seems a little shaky. Against the pass rush, they looked a little overwhelmed at times. (The LG stood out a bit in this regard.)
2. Josh Allen is an incredible talent. His arm strength, size and running ability are on par with Cam Newton in my view. But there are still times where he’ll do something questionable that can get him in trouble, or out of sorts. With regard to the latter, I’m thinking of the few possessions at the end, where he and the offense just seemed a little sloppy.

Patriots@Seahawks

Darnold getting hurt on the first series and not coming back in was sickening. I have zero faith in Drew Lock, although he made enough plays to give them a chance. Still, if the Maye didn’t have 3 INTS, the Hawks probably lose this game. (The last two INTs were really bad.)

The Seahawks penalties were frustrating, especially since their offense seemed pretty vanilla. Also, they had trouble getting in the play. My feeling is that this is on Brian Fleury, the new OC. Last year, the offense did a good job of playing clean and getting to the line of scrimmage quickly. I’m hoping it’s just growing pains for Fleury.

I feel very fortunate that the Hawks came away with the win.

Thoughts on the 2026 NFL draft. What does your team need?

Raiders: RT, OG, DT, edge, CB, S, WR

Seahawks: OG, edge, DT, CB