The NFL Thread 2016: New England Patriots Win Super Bowl LI

[MTZehvor]

noname2200 said:

amp316 said:
I'll join if there's an open spot just to troll the Packers for their PED usage.

Bears fans have to get their entertainment somewhere, I suppose.

MTZehvor said:

...you can be perfectly ready to start the season without playing the first few series in three or four ultimately meaningless games. College football does fine without it.

Disagree. The first game or two are traditionally against cupcakes for a reason.

Perhaps it once was, but that mindset is changing in a hurry. Opening weekends have consistently been getting more and more stacked as time has progressed. This year has four opening week Top 25 matchups, #5 LSU playing what might as well be a road game in Lambeau against Wisconsin, #16 UCLA traveling to Texas A&M, #2 Clemson going to Auburn, and #10 Notre Dame playing at Texas. In other words, that's basically half of the Top 25 teams playing either against a ranked team or at a Power 5 school. By the end of Week 2, only six of the current Top 25 teams will not have met that description.