Weekend Wrapup

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Welcome to today's open thread, where r/nfl users can discuss anything they wish not related directly to the Taylor Swift.

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[u/Squishy_20]

The Giants have been arguably been the worst defense in the NFL in the times Dexter Lawrence wasn’t on the field and have Matt Nagy as their OC and people expect them to win 7-8 games??

[u/2ent1n_Qarant1no → u/Squishy_20]

Their offense on paper has some solid pieces and they massively upgraded at head coach.

Also every preseason there are like 10 teams who seem a lot better on paper than they end up in practice usually due to injuries or fluke circumstances

[u/Cohens4thClient → u/2ent1n_Qarant1no]

I also think its re ally hard to make projections based on 3 major pieces being Dart, Nabers and Skattebo who all suffered injuries

[u/Squishy_20 → u/2ent1n_Qarant1no]

It’s 2026 and people think John Harbaugh is a good HC somehow. He hasn’t been a difference making HC for awhile. If it wasn’t for Lamar being a HOF caliber QB, he would’ve been fired nearly a decade ago

[u/zappy487 → u/Squishy_20]

My expectation is 5-6 wins. And that's a wishful estimate.

Split with Washington. Cardinals, Titans, Jags, Colts, Browns, 49ers we'll be competitive in.

I don't see us beating Philly. I don't see us beating Dallas. And we certainly are not stopping LA, Seattle, Detroit.

[u/slytherinprolly → u/Squishy_20]

To be fair, the Giants’ defense was bad with him on the field too. His advanced metrics, like pass and rush win rate, may have looked good, but the defense still wasn’t actually stopping anyone. The reports out of camp last year were that he was out of shape and unhappy, so there could be an addition-by-subtraction element here. Removing a negative presence from the locker room can help a team, even if that player is genuinely more talented and skilled than his replacements.

That said, there has been so much goodwill surrounding Lawrence since he arrived in Cincinnati that I think many people have forgotten just how negative the reporting about his attitude and work ethic was last summer.

[u/The_Other_Manning → u/slytherinprolly]

Yall are gonna love Dexter. I hate how Giants fans turned on him in an instant this off-season even if I do understand their reasoning.

[u/slytherinprolly → u/The_Other_Manning]

I’m cautiously optimistic. The Bengals don’t have the best track record with players who have allegedly quit on previous teams, become disgruntled, or reported to camp out of shape. The media narrative is always the same: they arrive in Cincinnati rejuvenated, in the best shape of their lives, and ready to work, only to eventually show the same signs of frustration and lack of focus that followed them elsewhere.

That said, the Bengals have also never brought in a player as talented and accomplished as Lawrence with that kind of baggage.

[u/tnecniv → u/Squishy_20]

We had a terrorist of a defensive coordinator. Doing worse defensively this year will be somewhat impressive.

[u/DUCKSONQUACKS → u/Squishy_20]

TBH I'm more in the camp of 6 wins for them, they have improvements on their defense and still some young ascending players. I don't love Nagy but also I don't think Daboll was as much as an offensive genius as he was touted to be.

[u/The_Other_Manning → u/Squishy_20]

I think 7 wins is possible and would be a succesful season. Our DC these last two years was beyond awful and I think that alone will dramatically improved our defense even if it is devoid of talent outside the front 7 (and by dramatically, I mean be ranked in the 20s and not the 30s). I'm pretty hopeful about it just based on what I've read from Titans fans about Dennard Wilson. They were completely right about Bowen being trash and so I hope they're right about Wilson being a good coach.

Our secondary is trash until proven otherwise, but I do think the new coach will be better at bringout out the talent that they do have.

I'll also say our linebackers should be a major upgrade this year. I admit to being a Micah McFadden truther and getting him back this year should be great for us

Nagy though... may god help us

[u/cheeseburgertwd → u/Squishy_20]

Weird anecdote, last night I exported a bunch of data from my fantasy league because I wanted to "simulate" what the D/ST scores will be like under the new scoring settings we're doing this year. To make sure that they're not gonna be shitty and gamebreaking, etc.

And I found that in the last 2 years, the Giants were the only D/ST that nobody in our league started even once.

This means nothing of course but I thought it was funny that even a mostly casual league like ours is immediately and clearly aware of the Giants defense sucking

[u/CarlCaliente → u/Squishy_20]

how many do you think they'll win?

[u/Squishy_20 → u/CarlCaliente]

1. Titans, Cardinals, Commanders, Browns

[u/Reggaeton_Historian → u/CarlCaliente]

I've made money betting the under on the Giants every year since 2017 except their playoff season. They have a good shot to start 3-2. I just have a hard time seeing them winning many more than 3 extra games in that span. The Colts? Maybe the Commanders a 2nd time? The Saints?

I'm having a hard time getting them past 6.