Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati
Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New England and Philadelphia
How things turned out last night after a great, tough and hard played game was embarrassing and the franchise has just brought another black mark on the product they put on the field and organization. Yes, now I will finally admit it to myself that the Browns team I fell in love with many, many years ago is in Baltimore. I don't know what damage control ownership and front office can really do to bring the rest of the NFL to believe that the great city of Cleveland and their fans deserve a franchise. There was culpability on both sides in what happened and not a great example for all those young kids watching and aspiring to become NFL players like their so-called heroes who they idolize. Hope the NFL makes sure there is a lot of security for Browns fans for the next game in Pittsburgh. Seething emotions just got out-of-hand and fortunately outside of the concussion hits no one else was seriously injured. I think Freddie Kitchens will be gone and maybe the whole coaching staff and the best disciplinarian HC hired to reeducate these players on how the "GAME" of football should be played. jmho
I've watched the replay three times now and certainly not condoning Myles actions. He just completely lost it, period. But, I feel he was edged on Steelers' QB reaction to his being taking down in a perfectly legal sack. What I saw was Myles hugging Rudolf's body and pulling him down as they hit the ground and at that point while on his back, Rudolf looked like he was reaching up and trying to pull Myles' helmet off him and at that point I don't know why the official who was watching all this didn't intercede immediately on the interaction between the two, like an NHL linesman would have until things cooled down or time expired. Another thing I question about the action I saw was why did Rudolf bother to try to get involved in the fracas when teammates Pouncey and DeCastro intervened and not just stay away and let coolers heads take control but, instead while hiding behind his big OL men he went looking like he wanted to take on Myles and then Myles lost it (composure) and conked him and luckily it wasn't with enough force to cause serious injury. Totally wrong, no question but, I think what I saw without any bias that there was culpability on both parties in melee that ensued and I hope that will be taken into consideration when the NFL and Commissioner do there reviewing and judgment on final punishment coming to all concerned. jmho
If Mason would have just went down and stayed down on the legal sack there wouldn't be any trouble and 8 seconds the game was over. The sack hit wasn't vicious at all but in my perception but; I don't know if there was any verbal language that shouldn't have been used between the players that could have incited more anger.
I'm reading all these comments on web sites and the only punishment yet to be mentioned for the vilified
culprit that hasn't been suggested yet by all the "Pittsburgh" fans who we all know are perfect angels and personification of "grace" in the NFL being........'Crucify him!' Crucify him! Meanwhile in the background there was nothing but calm and peace makers doing their best to get things settled. Yeah sure! I agree as it should be and Myles admits it with what I believe with true remorse; the book should be thrown at him for his actions albeit, there were other actions that deserved scrutiny and assessment for punitive actions and they weren't just on the Browns. Again............I can't see why poor little Mason Rudolf went after Myles and tried to retaliate when he knew if he stood toe to toe with Myles he wouldn't like where he ended up in the melee. If he didn't want this to accelerate stay out of the altercation and melee and let his team-mates take care of Myles. In other words, if he had stayed out of it.................I firmly believe that cooler heads would have prevailed eventually as most the Browns realized it was a mismatch and Myles should have just gotten off Mason and walked away, ignoring Mason's attempt at trying to remove Myles helmet.
I understand because of the large audience who unlike us old hockey fans use to seeing violent action like was shown at the end game why the backlash was so extreme and if you don't have experience with dealing with these situations; you don't know there is always, always, two sides to incidents and no one person is completely to blame. Back in day.........of leather helmets there were a lot of hidden assaults going on between teams in the interior lines that fans didn't see. Dirty stuff hidden but never brought out in those days because they didn't have the cameras to expose them but the game went on and players were seldom if ever suspended. Nature of the beast in those days and a job was a job from many.
Your analysis, Stabber, is pretty much spot on.
My feeling is Myles did indeed deserve a suspension - but was too harshly penalized in light of Rudolph basically getting off scott free. What's done is done at this point - but once again, Park Ave. certainly has a biased view of reality when to doling out disciplinary measures to those in the 412.
I'd love to see it just to mix things up, get some different teams playing against each other. I may be in the minority here, but as much as I hate Pittsburgh and Baltimore, I love hating those teams. The Bengals, I feel a kinship for them as much as I dunno why that is, maybe it's because Paul Brown founded both teams. I love the idea of a Erie-Bros division w/ the Bills and Lions man get one of us awful teams in to the playoffs every year. FWIW I am 100% in team Myles with the whole helmet incident. Dude was instigated against and frankly if you're gonna nearly own a dude with his own helmet you're a level of BAMF that stupid rich kid QB could have learned the hard way real fast that he wasnt to be messed with. That would have been unfortunate because we'd have lost Garrett for sure. As is, he's learned and humbled I'm sure. It was not an incident we were used to seeing from him and I hope that it doesn't affect his edge so to speak on the field in the future.
I am not a fan of realignment, but of rescheduling.
Right now the playoffs are determined more by the strength of your division than the strength of your team. NE is prime example, averaging over 5 wins a year in that week ass division...they only needed win 4-5 games out of division to get the playoffs, and 6 to get a bye.
I would like to see it cut down to a single game during season against each divisional opponent, alternating home games between teams, and the number between 1 and 2. (3 games)
Than I would like to see you play 2 full divisions in the same conference (8 games).
Finally, a full division in the other conference (4 games) and a corresponding finisher in another division in the other conference. (1 game).
16 games, with 11 evenly distributed across your own conference, and 5 against the other conference.
It would provide much more evenly matched schedules across the league, and not penalize teams (like the Browns) that have annually tough divisions.
For me, like not to poo-poo on OP's idea because Stabber, my heart loves it (I love messing with divisions in sports games) but my gut also feels like it would be the worst division in football. How much Browns/Bills, Browns/Lions, Browns/Bengals can we really stomach? Dude DF, that's actually a really smart way of lookin at it. I agree the 2x divisional opponents hurts us (but should also inspire us to you know, be better lol) but the league is looking for those storylines and those "rivalries" right so diminishing that, well lets say perhaps like its' a rolling schedule so you always play the same division two seasons in a row, but cycle with one of the other ones (more AFC v NFC matchups w/ this formula). Could make compelling superbowl matchups with two teams that have now become bitter combatants due to regular season familiarity.
Weakest division.......agree but, I'm hoping now that we have a more experience and astute FO, that with a couple of years of good draft picks, the Browns and new divisional rivals would soon catch up. Also, in regards to parity, I would like to see the NFL review or eliminate the compulsory reward pick system. I hate seeing the stronger get stronger on that basis.😆 jmho Here's a link and I hope it works as I haven't been around here in a long while. It has to do with my feelings about these compensatory picks rewarded in off-season by NFL to usually the stronger teams for their losses in FA.
https://www.the216sports.com/forum-1/nfl-draft-hub/compensatory-picks-help-the-rich-get-richer
It's summer, it's COVID-y out, and I'm bored. Let's have some fun here... If we were to look at the modern NFL, throw all caution to the wind, and do a soccer-style promotion/relegation experiment, add a dash of geography, what might realignment look like? Let's try, for funsies: Premier East NE BAL PIT PHI Premier West SEA SF LAR KC Premier Central TEN IND GB MIN
Premier South ATL NO DAL HOU Second East NYG NYJ WAS BUF Second West DEN OAK LAC AZ
Second Central CLE CIN DET CHI Second South JAX CAR TB MIA This is a realignment that could really work on a number of levels. By moving to four regions with eight teams, then aligning them yearly based on record, you achieve parity by retaining the classic home/away within the division, then playing an additional home/away with premier division within your region. This would result in 6 games in your tier, 6 games in the other tier, and then only 4 (or 5) games that could rotate based on record. That way, each team in the second tier has a fair chance to "move up", i.e., make the playoffs, by playing the majority of its games vs. peers and regional peers. The key would then be deciding how to schedule the remaining 4 or 5. Random draw could be fun, or a weighted system based on previous year's results, similar to the current structure. Overall, these regional groupings that ignore AFC/NFC boundaries would be pretty awesome. You'd restore all Texas teams to the same region, and all Florida teams, as well. You'd also bring the entire great lakes region together (minus BUF, which has to stay in the East, being east of CLE/CIN but west of PIT, unfortunately), which would open up some amazing new possibilities, like a GB/CLE rivalry, and a CLE/CHI rivalry, both of which feel far more natural in this era than a BAL/PIT rivalry. Not to mention, DET, CIN and CLE would be far better off together, where at least one would have the chance to outshine the other two. As it stands, CLE and CIN have just been fodder for PIT/BAL while DET has been beaten down by GB, CHI or MIN every single year. All in all, these new geographic groupings would be a major improvement over the current outdated AFC/NFC model.
Well done, damajuki! I mentioned this idea quite a while ago but didn't go into the depth you have have achieved. Mine, was mostly focused on getting the AFCN alignment corrected as you have done. I'm going to nominate you for the next NFL comish......look out Roger.😎 I might consider switching LAR and Denver then u would have KC establishing a rivalry with Denver and Rams and Chargers building one in their group. jmho
N.B. There is a caveat in your plan though, where you break-up some long standing rivalries i.e. GB vs Bears. Hard to avoid, I guess.😥
Great idea damajuki! I remember as a young 👦 in 1968, we moved to England for Dad's job. I was quickly absorbed into the ⚽️ scene there. The excitement generated every year at the end of the year as to which teams would be relegated and which would be promoted was palpable. Gave a new dimension to the year.
So - with that in mind, GO BIG OR GO HOME.....
If we are going to change things, let me propose 2 concept changes to the NFL.
First - use a split season concept like done in minor league baseball ⚾️. In each half of the season, everyone must play 3 of their 6 division games and 2 of their cross conference games. Go to an 8 team playoff format. Division Winners of both halves of the season receive byes. If too many teams qualify, the first week is used as play in games to get to 8, and the second week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl is eliminated.
My second proposal is for realignment to reduce travel within the division. Some traditional rivalries go by the wayside, but other new ones are built. In the end, I only have 2 teams switching conferences, and 4 teams switching divisions within conference.
Here is your new NFL ala Brooksie:
AFC EAST:
New York Giants (from NFC East)
New York Jets
New England Patriots
Buffalo Bills
AFC NORTH:
Cleveland Browns
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts (from AFC South)
AFC SOUTH:
Miami Dolphins (from AFC East)
Atlanta Falcons (from NFC South)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (from NFC South)
Jacksonville Jaguars
AFC WEST:
Kansas City Chiefs
Denver Broncos
Las Vegas Raiders
Arizona Cardinals (from NFC West)
NFC EAST:
Washington
Philadelphia Eagles
Baltimore Ravens (from AFC North)
Carolina Panthers (from NFC South)
NFC NORTH: (too perfect - no changes reqd)
Detroit Lions
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
NFC SOUTH:
Dallas Cowboys (from NFC East)
Houston Texans (from AFC South)
New Orleans Saints
Tennessee Titans (from AFC South)
NFC WEST:
Seattle Seahawks
Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Chargers (from AFC West)
San Francisco 49ers
Thoughts?
I couldn't emotionally handle a re-alignment because I have been waiting so, so long to watch us consistently beat up on Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati.
Basically since the return, all three have been high-quality teams who consistently build winners. As Dawgfan mentioned, New England have greatly benefit from being in a division which boasts some questionable organisations. We are their direct opposite, being surrounded by quality teams which hand us six difficult games each year.
Winning against this division is the ultimate validation of success, and a giant middle finger to the rival fans and players who have absolutely loved kicking dirt on our name.
Fortunately, I've been there and seen it happening back when the Paul Brown teams were the kings of the hill so to speak. It was glorious. What an organization of great football thinkers and talented players. Oh! as they say the old days were great but, the nights were better.😏 Crikey! it's getting past my bedtime; think I will go have a cup of hot chocolate and hit the sackeroo.😴
Brookster...I love the re-alignment. One added benefit the NFL should consider is the increased travel amongst division rival fans. Having all the teams so close would definitely increase the likelihood of rival fans making the trip to their opponents fields.
I also like the idea of a split season, evenly balanced with rivals. It would keep teams and their fans "in the running" for more of the season...especially teams that have injury issues early but come on late (Browns a couple of times), or teams that got injurred late and fell off (again, Browns come to mind).
I don't see it happening...but fun to think about.
Great point, DF about the divisional travel. In our case, Indianapolis is a hell of a lot closer than B'Mo. And the average IQ of the fan base is much higher too.
I too like the division travel point. You want full stadiums? Make it easy for fans, as many are about to figure out here in 2020 that watching a game at home on your big screen TV, in your own chair, with your own beer, and your own bathroom, with no traffic/travel headaches, isn't a bad way to do it.
But make all games (for the AFCN anyway) drive-able? You're talking RV's and tailgating out the wazoo. And, if say Indy is having a down year and the stadium is starting to get less full, but Cinci or Cleveland is doing well (somebody has too), the rival fans will get butts in the seats, and season ticket holders who are getting disinterested will be able to more easily sell their tickets.
I'm 2.5 hours from CLE, but only 2 hours from Lucas Oil ... and that's a great place to watch a game. I'd head there in a heartbeat.
And as mentioned above, look no further than the NFCN as your template. The entire country knows how much those teams hate each other, and it's still nationally interesting, and great theater.
In C'bus, Ocon? My brother lives in Dublin.
And to your NFCN comment, I work with a die hard Bears fan. Want to piss Craig off? Just start talking about how great the Packers are.......
He'll need to double up on his BP meds. I am still pissed at the Bears for how they castrated the design of Old Soldier Field. That was a NATIONAL landmark. Rightfully so, after the castration, it was removed from the National Registry of Historic Places.