The NFL season is back tonight, which means we need to get accustomed to sleep-deprived mornings in the office and random utterances of American sports jargon from our own mouths, thanks to getting brainwashed by Joe Buck on a Sunday night.
Michael Carlson joined us on OTB AM this morning to whet the appetite and here’s some of the big things we spoke about.
Le’Veon Bell’s Day Off
Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell not showing up to Steelers practice has been one of the stories of the week, leading up the start of the new NFL season. He doesn’t want the franchise tag for another year, probably due to the fact that the possibility of injury is pretty high. That being said, Michael Carlson said feeding his kids may require more than $14.5million per annum and who are we to judge how much those dinners cost?
Either way, Steelers fans are not happy. Especially not this one.
Tonight at 5 and 6, we give you a breakdown of the Le'Veon Bell holdout: Why this is happening, the latest we could see Bell return and sports will have the reaction from inside the locker room.
Here's a taste of how one Pittsburgher, Debbie Cromlish, feels. pic.twitter.com/KwG6qlebFA
— David Kaplan (@DKaplanWTAE) September 5, 2018
If you drafted him in your fantasy football team, all we can do is send you our commiserations, and a LOL on behalf of the rivals in your league.
Is this the most open NFL season in years?
Mike Carlson tried his best to sell the AFC as a deep conference this morning, but he couldn’t get away from the idea that the NFC is the one loaded with teams that could win a Super Bowl.
“Any team that makes the playoffs in the NFC is probably going to be a good shot to go through” he said. “You’ve probably got five, maybe seven teams that could be in contention to go all the way and the AFC is maybe not so strong and when you get past New England and Pittsburgh and Jacksonville, you’re wondering. There are questions about every team.”
“Even successful teams have made big moves. You think of Minnesota signing Kirk Cousins from Washington and then Case Keenum has thus gone to Denver.”
Which rookies could be 2018’s breakout stars?
Unsurprisingly, there’s only name coming to Mike Carlson’s mind here: Saquon Barkley (we were shocked it wasn't Josh Allen, tbh). According to Carlson, Barkley would be considered a generational talent, were it not for the fact that recent running back rookies have been pretty amazing lately.
“He’s in that Leonard Fournette / Ezekiel Elliott kind of mould” Carlson told us. “He’s big, he’s fast and he’s got good hands... the Giants have gone all-in on trying to get Eli Manning one last shot at the playoffs. Odell Beckham is back for them and that makes a huge difference, obviously.”
We’ve also got to mention Shaquem Griffin here. He’s been named to start for the Seahawks in week 1.
UCF Alumnus Shaquem Griffin Featured in Nike NFL Ad https://t.co/3PAeBcKDZ6 pic.twitter.com/PVtH5XjbcS
— UCF Knight News (@UCFKnightNews) September 4, 2018
Are the London Jaguars on the way?
The possibility of a NFL franchise based in London has been touted for some time, now. The London games are getting better – in quality and popularity – so, does Mike think the idea is getting ever closer to reality?
“Most British fans, European fans already have their favourite NFL team and their team loyalty is very strong" he says. "So, the question is if that would transfer automatically to a London team? I don’t think it would. Therefore, would you be able to sell season tickets to eight games?
“The NFL sees ‘small-market Jacksonville, huge-market London’ and, by association, Ireland, England, half of Europe and that’s something they think they could work on.”
And... the Buffalo Bills have named their QB 1
Of course, predictions are pointless and hot takes have been shoved in the freezer because we can already see the future: Buffalo Bills, your 2019 Super Bowl Champions.
In the biggest news of the week, the 2019 Super Bowl Champions have named their starting quarterback for their championship-winning season. His name is Nathan Peterman and he’s better at American Football than you.
QB 1. 👀 pic.twitter.com/Z834FlGUl0
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) September 3, 2018
Isn't that the most beautiful thing you've seen all day? He can actually throw the ball to his own teammates this season.
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