NFL New to NFL - Looking for a Team to Follow

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quotemokc said:
Do you have any friends that have a team? Picking their teams rival is always fun
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That's a good point. My mate follows the Packers so we very rarely match up against each other. I noticed how much fun it would be support a team in the same conference as a friend after we played Green Bay last season.
 
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quotemokc said:
Do you have any friends that have a team? Picking their teams rival is always fun
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Four major upsides to this:
1. Division rivals play each other twice a year and maybe another time if they're good enough to both reach the play-offs
2. The intensity in watching / taking an interest goes BEYOND any other game
3. The Standings.. it's always intriguing how the Divisional match ups pan out even if you get swept
4. The better understanding of the game, players and more importantly your passion will develop rather quickly.
 

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GG said:
The common message in this thread is.....don't decide on a team, just watch games and get to know the teams, their histories, and a team will pick you eventually. And eventually even a few years later it may change. So, like, just watch games of those three teams, at first, and maybe one stands out for you. And as you're watching those three teams, you'll also get to see other teams playing against them. Maybe one of them ends up taking your fancy instead.

Right now for you, it's all about absorbing as much information about those three teams, their histories, and maybe even going on dedicated team forums of those teams hosted in America and getting a feel for the fans, maybe you fit in better with a particular team's fanbase.
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I didn't do this coming from the US into AFL. It was pretty easy to narrow it down to GWS and GC from my perspective though, and then Ablett was the clincher. Get to root for possibly the best player of all time without being a bandwagoner? Count me in.

NM_Mitchell, I'll break this down for you a little bit, starting off with the Redskins obviously being the Collingwood equivalent, so no worries.

Panthers: Very defensive team right now. Maybe not Super Bowl contenders, but very good. Have Cam Newton as the face of the franchise, and he's a pretty cool guy overall. Low scoring, but they have some fun defensive games if you're into that. Most of their core is really young except for their running backs they're paying way too much. Have absolutely NO wide receivers. The division is interesting with the Saints falling off in the next couple years when Brees retires, the Bucs being a wild card, and the Falcons on the rise. Safe bet for decent success in the future, but for the next little bit, their offense is probably not going to be very productive or exciting.

Bucs: Re-making their identity right now. Their last coach served for one year and was a notorious arsehole.
The new coach hasn't played a game yet with the Bucs, but he was fired from the Bears 2 years ago because he had been there forever and they wanted to freshen things up. He's a very good defensive coach, and took the Bears to a Super Bowl, but had a couple bad years and the Bears decided to go a different direction. Definitely lacking on talent. Doug Martin is going into his 3rd season as a starting running back. His first year was incredible, and he put up almost 300 yards against the Raiders, but his second year saw him take a step back before getting injured. Offense is probably going to be weak, with some growing pains, but they drafted Mike Evans who looks to have the makings of being a great jump ball receiver, and Mike Glennon wasn't terrible at QB as a rookie. Defense doesn't have much talent, but Lovie will surely get them playing solidly within a couple years. Not a bad choice.

Raiders: This is a good choice if you're patient. Al Davis ran the team from the 60's until his death in like 2011, and controlled every aspect of the day to day work. For the decade prior to his death, things got bad. The team overpaid bad players and jeopardized the future to try and win now, and it all failed. After his death, Reggie McKenzie took over. He was an ex-Raiders player who made a name for himself finding talent with the Packers, who are famous for finding young players and bringing them up. He immediately fired and cut just about everyone. In the NFL, you still have to pay players you cut based on a few different variables, so for the last two seasons, the Raiders have been fielding garbage teams with half of their budget paying players that weren't even on the team. Coming into this offseason, all that money was paid, and they came into it with the most cap space a team has had in NFL history, essentially 0 players on the roster, and they signed an entire team in free agency. This will be the first season seeing what the new Raiders will look like, so I really have no idea what to expect. McKenzie seems to have the team on the right track though, so it could be a fun rise from nothing to the top.

Really all solid choices. I'd pick based on something arbitrary like who's uniforms you like the most and then see what happens.
 
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LicoriceAllsorts said:
Redskins are surely not the Collingwood equivalent, I'd say more on the Raiders or Cowboys path... But if you're from the US then you'd know
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There's a big controversy going on about the Redskins name right now, and the owner, Dan Snyder, is defending the hell out of it. There's a huge campaign to try and make the name seem not-racist (redskinsfacts.com) despite the National Congress of American Indians and s**t tons of others coming out and saying it's racist. A lot of their supporters are jumping ship, and the ones who are staying are basically American bogans, so that's who'd I call the Pies equivalent. The Raiders are more like a Brisbane. Their reputation in general has kind of faded away with all the losses, and the organization is completely different than it was top to bottom even 5 years ago. Most of the Raiders sort of bad boys of the NFL image is from the 70's and 80's, which was a long time ago in a different league. The fans are largely obnoxious assholes, but they tend to be the stabees rather than the stabbers. Same sort of story with the Cowboys. Absolutely dominant through the 90's, and picked up a massive bandwagon following. They became known as America's Team. Lately, they've just been known for being mediocre and finishing 8-8. Fans are terrible because they tend to be people who don't follow the sport closely and just expect wins like they did in the 90's, so they attack Tony Romo, a QB who has been very good for them for years and is coming near his retirement, and treat him like s**t instead of the worst secondary in the entire NFL when they lose. I think the Raiders would be closer to a Collingwood than the Cowboys, but those days are kind of gone. There's not really any sort of statement you're making if you become a Raiders fan.
 
GG said:
It's a perspective. Remember we've got that AFL to nfl team comparison thread.
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Having divisions makes it harder to have one team that is most hated. Each team in the league has a big rivalry whereas in the AFL there is only a handful that have one on the scale of the NFL
 
LicoriceAllsorts said:
Having divisions makes it harder to have one team that is most hated. Each team in the league has a big rivalry whereas in the AFL there is only a handful that have one on the scale of the NFL
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Why I say it's perspective. Many AFL teams can fit an nfl team and vice versa.
 
NM_Mitchell said:
looking for a team, i've decided to chose between the panthers, raiders or buccaneers, anyone got a suggestion?
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Go the Bucs - just been going through a bit of a rebranding (new coach, no uniforms etc).

Plus the new uniforms and helmets are badass.
 
Shupe said:
Go the Bucs - just been going through a bit of a rebranding (new coach, no uniforms etc).

Plus the new uniforms and helmets are badass.
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You really think so? With that massive logo on the side? I liked their old ones better.
 

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Bucs would be best bet for immediately being a team who will be fun to watch and who will win more often than not. Perhaps even win the NFC South this year. Of special interest will be watching the freakish Mike Evans at WR in his rookie season. The best player in last years draft.

Panthers will be competitive and win games but more boring as they hardly have any receivers/rbs.

Raiders are more likely to be still needing another two years of rebuilding in the draft before being a regular winner of games.
 
GG said:
Bucs would be best bet for immediately being a team who will be fun to watch and who will win more often than not. Perhaps even win the NFC South this year. Of special interest will be watching the freakish Mike Evans at WR in his rookie season. The best player in last years draft.
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Not even the best receiver! Sammy Watkins is scary good. He will be fun to watch, especially with Vincent Jackson on the opposite side. Two very very big receivers. Which is handy, because it seems like that's what McCown needs to not suck.
 
GG said:
I don't mind Watkins. But Mike Evans is special.
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Too slow to be anything really really great, imo. Should be a fantastic possession receiver though, especially on deep one on one's and in the red zone. Clowney is for real probably the best prospect since Luck. I was drooling watching him at the combine.
 
volkerball said:
Too slow to be anything really really great, imo. Should be a fantastic possession receiver though, especially on deep one on one's and in the red zone. Clowney is for real probably the best prospect since Luck. I was drooling watching him at the combine.
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Clowney will be interesting to watch. He has all the physical tools, and landed in a perfect spot in Houston with offenses having to contend with JJ Watt, Cushing, etc. Clowney cant have it any easier to make a big splash. I have my doubts about him, so it'll be interesting to see if he does or does not.

Watkins will explode no doubt. But I really disagree with your pov of Evans. So we shall see!!

I also think Watkins Clemson buddy, Martavius Bryant will be a gun at Pittsburgh, almost immediately, maybe 4 weeks in and then start clicking
 
GG said:
Clowney will be interesting to watch. He has all the physical tools, and landed in a perfect spot in Houston with offenses having to contend with JJ Watt, Cushing, etc. Clowney cant have it any easier to make a big splash. I have my doubts about him, so it'll be interesting to see if he does or does not.

Watkins will explode no doubt. But I really disagree with your pov of Evans. So we shall see!!

I also think Watkins Clemson buddy, Martavius Bryant will be a gun at Pittsburgh, almost immediately, maybe 4 weeks in and then start clicking
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I wouldn't say I'd be surprised if Evans turned into a top 5 receiver. Just think it's somewhat unlikely. But yeah, time will tell. He'll be a fun one to watch. I don't know Bryant, but the Steelers could sure use some help at wide out. I hope they don't get it because death to all Steelers inshallah.
 
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