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The Oakland Raiders become the Los Angeles Knights. Despite a shaky rebuild and a head-coaching change, a last place roster grows into an elite football team, and the Knights win a Super Bowl in their fifth season. Two years later, they cement their place in NFL lore with a perfect 19-0 season, months before losing their head coach to cancer. FOUR YEARS LATER Despite following up their undefeated season with another championship, there is discontent in Los Angeles. Consecutive seasons without a Super Bowl appearance have left Knights fans unsettled. An offseason with the most roster turnover in ten years gives fans hope—though their patience won’t last. Ron McKenzie mourns the man whose shoes he fills every day. Chet Ripka is a popular fan target for his job as defensive coordinator, but he has graver concerns. Jonathan Maverick, Da’Jamiroquai Jefferspin-Wilkes, Chase Grodd, Briggs Randall, and Zack Grantzinger balance football and family, with the end of their careers closer than the beginning. Adam Javad handles a situation that weaves his personal and professional lives. For Chance Phillips, promotion and termination feel equally likely. AUGUST 2

Thanks, guys. I definitely want to have everything written and edited so it'll be as epic as possible when I publish it. I've been writing like crazy, so I should have some more tidbits SOON.

QUESTION: Would you guys prefer me post the chapters during late summer before the NFL season starts, or in September/October while the NFL is going on? (Keep in mind, Covid very well could cancel or postpone the real season.)

Some TGP traditions never die. Happy birthday, blots.

Hey everyone, a few miscellaneous updates regarding writing, and mostly good news: For the last few weeks, I was worried I would have to tell you all there would be no more KoA. I had a beginning and an end to this new story, but no middle. I couldn't connect it all. This morning, one good brainstorming session later, the middle has been found. So I can now confirm... Knights of Andreas WILL return for exactly eight chapters. This will not officially be Part VII; I'm considering it more of an extended epilogue that will follow the Knights through the 2020 season. It will be titled, "Four Years Later." Only 5 original characters are still on the team by this time (Mav, D-Jam, Grodd, Zack, Randall), so this will be a much more character-focused KoA than we've read in years' past. That said, the characters who are no longer on the Knights may still find ways to enter the story. I'm targeting mid/late July for the debut, which means a trailer of sorts should be hitting this thread shortly. Stay tuned... @Vin @Maverick @BigBen07 @Thanatos @BradyFan81 @Turry @Zack_of_Steel @Cherry @seanbrock @RazorStar @JetsFan4Life @Sarge @DalaiLama4Ever

I still haven't re-watched it, but my thoughts (for the moment) remain the same: thoroughly enjoyable Star Wars movie, its worst flaw being lack of cohesion with the rest of the trilogy. Also I know this is old news, but Trevorov's Episode 9 script sounded awesome. Duel of the Fates is such a great title too!

It's too bad people can't protest police brutality peacefully like, for instance, kneeling during the national anthem. I'm sure that would lead to reasonable discourse and effective change.

GRRM has said he had enough material for 10+ seasons of television. I think D&D should have tapped into some of that, because one of my big problems with season 8 is that there's absolutely nothing happening in Westeros for three-and-a-half episodes outside the Winterfell battle. Some sort of peripheral storylines would have gone a long way.

I was about to type, "Holy shit Ferve, it hasn't been 30 years, calm down," but holy shit it almost has! Got damn we're old. But yeah, I definitely hope George sticks to his guns and writes the books the way he wants to write them. I read somewhere that the manuscripts for WoW and DoS are going to be 3,000 pages...EACH. That must be a typo, right?

Trump is such a selfish crybaby. Mark Cuban said it best: he's the most powerful person in the world, and he's always playing the victim card. Loser.

C'mon, Thanatos...it can't be worse than Dexter, can it? Anyway, my feelings are mostly the same. With the exception of Bran ruling as King, I like where all the characters ended, just hated how they got there. The episode-to-episode pacing is my biggest gripe. They should have stretched the final two seasons into much more than 13 episodes, though I guess I don't know how much additional material from GRRM they could have used. "The Last of the Starks" (8.04) is the worst offender for me. The first half of the episode is pretty great, and then they cram multiple episodes of plot into forty minutes or something. It was just a clumsy, hasty rush to the finish line from a show capable of so much better. That said, I still love and remember fondly the first six seasons, where the show was as good as any drama had been on a bad day, and the most groundbreaking drama ever on a good day. They didn't stick the landing, but it's still one of my favorite shows of all time.

One year later...has anyone's perspective on the final episodes/season(s) changed?

I think "conduit" is the right word. For the Dems, this election isn't really about Joe Biden becoming President (sorry, Joe). It's just about getting a more stable, liberal guy in the Oval Office who isn't Donald Trump. And perhaps also as a transition to expand the far-left policies, but that will take some time.

Also key for Biden is his VP pick because whoever it is, should Biden win, becomes the nominee in 2024. Biden is only serving one term. Yes, I know we've mentioned this but it's worth saying again.

I think if (it's a big "if") companies are willing to let employees who are severely at-risk (old, pre-existing conditions) work from home, we should be ok. Honestly I'm just sick of the political back-and-forth from Washington. Trump just wants to open the economy to boost his re-election chances, Democrats just want to moan about the statistics to make Trump look bad, Republicans just want to attack Democrats to prevent Trump from looking bad. And even worse, so many people just eat this shit up.

I think we definitely made a big mistake by not shutting things down sooner, but what's done is done. The situation, as a whole, has given me renewed faith in federalism, since the state/local governments have done a good job managing outbreaks in their areas regardless of what the directive from Washington is. Now we have to somehow walk that fine line of re-opening between having the economy be impacted for too long vs. having the virus kill more people unnecessarily. I still think we won't see fans in sports arenas until 2021, at least.

Ooh, I like this offseason thread too! MVP: Carson Wentz. Obviously. OPOY: Carson Wentz. I guess Zach Ertz is a contender, but do TEs ever win this award? The Eagles spread the ball around too much. Miles Sanders is a long shot but not impossible. DPOY: Fletcher Cox. All 4 starting defensive linemen are in play, but Cox is best among them and has the best reputation. OROY: Jalen Reagor. Obviously. DROY: K'Von Wallace. Injuries would have to force him into the starting lineup, but he has more instant-impact potential than Davion Taylor. CBPOY: DeSean Jackson. He spent most of last year injured. I don't think he would win even with a big year, but he's our best candidate. Pro Bowlers: Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, Fletcher Cox. The optimist in me adds Miles Sanders, Brandon Graham, and Jake Elliott.

Division by division predictions, with a lot of sucky QBs. The Patriots are mediocre but grind their way to an ugly division win, something like 9-7. The Bills fail to capitalize because Josh Allen sucks. The Ravens aren't as special as last year but still one of the 2-3 best teams in the AFC. Philip Rivers leads the Colts in the South, the Jags get the #1 overall pick, and the Texans unravel. Bill O'Brien gets fired. Mahomes is still Mahomes. The Broncos surprise but fall short of expectations because Drew Lock sucks. Eagles and Cowboys both underachieve and duel for the East. Eagles win because Dak Prescott sucks. Packers cruise to a division win because no one else in the division is close. Tom Brady is old, so the Bucs absolutely suck. Saints cruise. 49ers take a step back, Seattle re-claims the West. Rams last in the division because Jared Goff sucks.

Sorry DJT but you've been just as thoroughly brainwashed by outlets that cater to your beliefs.

I still expect plenty of fluctuation in the polls between now and the fall, but I'm definitely comfortable decreasing Trump's status from "firm favorite" to "weak favorite." I agree that the aggressive re-opening will likely make him look bad, though I also agree Biden's VP choice is pivotal, since she will be the Democratic nominee in '24 should Biden win. I see no way an 82-year-old Biden runs for re-election.

So who's ready to visit a world where Covid-19 doesn't happen and the 2020 NFL season will undoubtedly start on time? My plan is to roll this out some time this summer so that it's over before the real-life season starts (if it does). As I mentioned before, this is a quality-over-quantity approach. The current outline is 7 chapters, and I'd be shocked if it ends up more than 8. By 2020 there are only a few of our characters still on the Knights anyway, so that allows for a deeper, more character-driven approach than in the past. I'm also trying to get the word count down. Near the end of Part VI I was pushing 6,000 words with each chapter. I'm going for the 4500-5500 range this time around. So, hang in there, everyone. I'll once again ask Vin for fire up the SOON picture, even though he did it a few posts back... @Vin @Maverick @BigBen07 @theMileHighGuy @Thanatos @BradyFan81 @Zack_of_Steel @Cherry @RazorStar @seanbrock @Sarge

I think they'll mix him in similar to Taysom Hill in terms of number of snaps. Maybe the way they do it is a little different. But they drafted him to be a QB. We just have a bigger need for backup because Wentz can't stay healthy.

Most of the Philly beat writers are so bad only Skip Bayless could make them look better. I put zero stock into that tweet.

I've never had to think more deeply about a draft pick than the Eagles taking Jalen Hurts, but I genuinely believe it is a very ahead-of-the-curve decision.