NFL

That is another good observation.

Whenever a play is over the refs set the ball at either the left or right hashmark, depending on which one the play ended closest to - if the runner was tackled outside of the hash marks on the play.

If the runner is talked inside the hash marks thry place the ball in the middle of the field.

The much wider harsh marks in college benefit the offense because the wide flank is about 2/3 the length of the field and a team with far superior speed can really exploit the wide side of the field by outrunning the defense and turning the corner.

The NFL has the very narrow hash marks so the ball is always placed pretty much in the center of the field no matter what.

The wide hashmsrks in college can create a bad angle for field goals.

If they can, a team will do a short running play and tell the running back to go down in between the hash marks so the ball will be centered and the kicker a better angle.

Now we just need the first female crew chief.

It works both ways. Touchdown passes are counted for the QB even when he made a poor throw but the receiver made a brilliant catch. Touchdown runs are counted for the Running back even though the offensive line opened a whole so large he ran through it completely untouched by the defense.

I think you are correct that behind closed doors the stats are not looked at purely in black and white. They definitely watch every minute of game film during team meetings and players are called out for errors that contributed to plays that broke down on either side of the ball.

Official stats are nice for fantasy football, contract negotiations and TV pundits to talk about. In the team meeting room they keep their own, more relative stats.

I'm afraid I curl a lip at the GOAT. That belongs to Montana. And I don't care what the stats say. Brady is a cheat.

Anyway, I shall most likely watch it cos I love to watch Mahones. He is just a joy.

And the NFC seriously need to sort themselves out. The standard, compared to the AFC, is abysmal. Obviously not every team is crap but, on average, it's not great.

DeShaun Watson has officially asked to move. Everybody is suggesting places for him to go to. Giants, Jets, Dolphins, Saints, the list go on. What do you think?

He should definitely give his agent a pay rise and bonus.

His agent got him a GREAT contract that allows him to unilaterally demand a trade and he also have final approval which team he gets traded to. A team like the Jets may offer Houston a much better trade package but Watson can kill the deal if he doesn't want to play for the Jets.

If a deal cant be worked out to everyone's satisfaction, Watson can simply sit out the year with no contractual ramifications.

No one wants that though so he has no doubt given Houston a list of teams he is willing to be traded to.

As Miranda pointed out Watson is fresh into a very expensive contract.

So any team that trades for him has to not only have attractive draft picks and possibly players to trade to Houston, they also have to have ample salary cap room to be able to afford to pay him.

Its one reason its very rare to see young QBs at the top of their prime being traded.

Either teams draft rookie QBs who are on cheap 5 year rookie contracts or they pick-up grey beard veteran QBs in the twilight of their careers and willing to take rather small money contracts to play mentor for a season or two.