NFL 2010

[Sander]

Yes, lots of injuries, sucks. But this is the NFL, shit turns around quickly sometimes.

you're fucking kidding, right?

When your starting running back (Ryan Grant, ankle), starting right tackle (Mark Tauscher, shoulder), starting inside linebacker (Nick Barnett, wrist), starting safety (Morgan Burnett, knee), top cover linebacker (Brandon Chillar, shoulder) and power fullback (Quinn Johnson, glute) are out to begin with, it's a critical situation.

When your quarterback (Aaron Rodgers, concussion), best offensive option (Finley, hamstring), best pass rusher (Clay Matthews, hamstring), best run stuffer (Ryan Pickett, ankle), best special teams player (Derrick Martin, ankle) and backup tight end (Donald Lee, shoulder) and linebacker (Frank Zombo, knee) all suffer injuries, it constitutes an emergency.

When you consider that Finley and Barnett could join Grant and Burnett on injured reserve, and Rodgers is going to have to pass a series of tests before he'll be cleared to play against Miami next week, it's a full-fledged crisis

season's fucking done.

Injuries happen, injuries suck, injuries are not season-ending. Especially not because most of these injuries are short-term. Even if you lose the next 3 games because of injuries, your season is hardly over. Even moreso because the Bears and Vikings look pretty vulnerable themselves.

 

[UniversalWolf]

Even if you lose the next 3 games because of injuries, your season is hardly over. Even moreso because the Bears and Vikings look pretty vulnerable themselves.

I'm not saying the Packers should give up hope or stop trying, but there's no longer any reason to take risks betting on winning the SB (not that Ted Thompson was going to do that anyway). Stick with the players on the team right now, lean on the young guys so you can see who performs, and protect Rodgers. Win if you can and if not, set the stage for next year.

That said, it's worse than you realize.

I'm actually kind of curious to see what else can possibly go wrong.

...I for one think we have bigger things to worry about than a sports franchise that keeps trying to fuck us in the ass every time it wants a new stadium. Let em go to California and starve at their new stadium.

Yeah, I think that's easily the majority opinion in Minnesota. Somehow the majority opinion always seems to lose out when you're talking about new sports stadiums though.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Logan Mankins is pretty good if you need a guard. I'm sure you could get him for a 2nd round pick.

edit:
Pretty nauseating coverage from ESPN last night.

 

[UniversalWolf]

Logan Mankins is pretty good if you need a guard. I'm sure you could get him for a 2nd round pick.

Actually, we're pretty good at OG. We could use a new C and one more killer OT, though. I'd love to see the offer it would take to pry a 2nd-rounder out of Ted. He might give you a 2nd for Mankins, Welker, Hernandez, and Gronk, but no guarantees.

Finley probably done for the year, rumors swirling about Tauscher and Chillar too. Nice.

Pretty nauseating coverage from ESPN last night.

What else is new?

BTW, I've decided Chris McKendry is a serious challenger to Linda in the frumpiness department.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Yeah, it just pisses me off when there eventually was some actual good football being played (LT, Cromartie, both defenses) but "you know who" gets all the adulation from the booth.
Even Randy Moss looked embarrassed during the TD celebration.
It pains me that nobody can mention that he's the most overrated 2 min QB. Would it have killed someone to mention that instead of the obligatory "oh you gotta watch out when Brett has the ball in his hands in the last 2 minutes".
It sucks to see a bunch of otherwise good football get buried under by these purveyors of insouciant vacuity*.

That being said, I'm hoping no suspension for when him & Moss come to Gilette on Halloween, it would not be the same facing Tavaris Jackson.


That game was a pretty good indicator of why Moss got shipped from here, I don't really believe any of the "malcontent" rumors floating around, and even if true they are mild at best.
(Speaking of which, why isn't there more Gruden/Keyshawn interaction on the MNF pregame show? That's reality TV waiting to happen)

The guy runs one route, he runs it really well, and when you hit on it, it's a TD. Trouble is you have to force feed him these low percentage bombs. He won't go over the middle, I'd love to see his YAC numbers, because he always crumbles at 1st contact, run blocking is nonexistant.
The Patriots (and the Vikes Mon.) need to move the chains, convert 1st downs, put drives together and chew clock to keep their patchwork defense rested.
Obviously you lose a dimension w/o the (sometimes double) coverage he draws, but if the forced long ball results in nothing or INTs, it's not worth forgoing a dumpoff to a slot guy. And it's pretty evident in a conference with Cromartie and Revis, Moss' value takes a precipitous dip. Cromartie has looked great against him MtM. (Whereas I really don't see a tall, gangly CB like Cro being as effective against short, speedy, underneath guys)

Not like Deion Branch is going to set the world on fire, but he's more utilitarian in a dink and dunk offense. I just hope they put an IR clause in the trade, guy is as brittle as they come. Good times w/Branch though. He has a real cocky, mean streak in him too, like that in a WR, his attitude reminds of that little prick Ricky Sanders from back in the day. Big SB games like Ricky too.

edit:

Not sure what Vegas is thinking favoring the Patriots over the Ravens this week.

 

[UniversalWolf]

That game was a pretty good indicator of why Moss got shipped from here, I don't really believe any of the "malcontent" rumors floating around, and even if true they are mild at best.

I don't blame the Pats for trading him. If he wasn't happy, then the Vikings' Moss is not the same Moss the Pats would have had for the rest of the season anyway. He's perfectly capable of not giving a full effort.

Still, they could have paid him and he would've been happy.

Looking at Tampa's schedule for the rest of the year -- they might actually end up with a decent overall record. Not many tough games left.

Actually this year has been sort of disappointing from a quality-of-play standpoint. Most of the teams that were supposed to be good (New Orleans, GB, Dallas, Minnesota, San Fran) haven't been that good, and lots of teams that aren't very good have better records than they deserve. The Jets are decent, but they haven't wowed me at all. The Steelers and the Ravens are also good, but I really don't see any one team that looks like everything is clicking.

 

[Sander]

Yeah, it just pisses me off when there eventually was some actual good football being played (LT, Cromartie, both defenses) but "you know who" gets all the adulation from the booth.
Even Randy Moss looked embarrassed during the TD celebration.
It pains me that nobody can mention that he's the most overrated 2 min QB. Would it have killed someone to mention that instead of the obligatory "oh you gotta watch out when Brett has the ball in his hands in the last 2 minutes".
It sucks to see a bunch of otherwise good football get buried under by these purveyors of insouciant vacuity*.

That being said, I'm hoping no suspension for when him & Moss come to Gilette on Halloween, it would not be the same facing Tavaris Jackson.


That game was a pretty good indicator of why Moss got shipped from here, I don't really believe any of the "malcontent" rumors floating around, and even if true they are mild at best.
(Speaking of which, why isn't there more Gruden/Keyshawn interaction on the MNF pregame show? That's reality TV waiting to happen)

The guy runs one route, he runs it really well, and when you hit on it, it's a TD. Trouble is you have to force feed him these low percentage bombs. He won't go over the middle, I'd love to see his YAC numbers, because he always crumbles at 1st contact, run blocking is nonexistant.

Moss certainly dislikes contact but I don't know that I'd say he only runs one route, I've seen him run all the routes I think. I think the idea that he runs only one route stems from usage: he's just a lot more valuable when he runs that one route over and over again than if he runs different routes.

Not sure what Vegas is thinking favoring the Patriots over the Ravens this week.

Yeah, that's a mystery to me too.

Looking at Tampa's schedule for the rest of the year -- they might actually end up with a decent overall record. Not many tough games left.

That's the weird thing - if we lose all the games we're supposed to lose (Ravens, Saints2x, Falcons2x) we still have 7 more very winnable games (Rams, Cardinals, Panthers, 49ers, Redskins, Lions, Seahawks). Win all those games, which isn't out of the question, and you're looking at a 10-6 record.
Still, even if the Bucs make the playoffs they'll probably fly out in the first round.

Actually this year has been sort of disappointing from a quality-of-play standpoint. Most of the teams that were supposed to be good (New Orleans, GB, Dallas, Minnesota, San Fran) haven't been that good, and lots of teams that aren't very good have better records than they deserve. The Jets are decent, but they haven't wowed me at all. The Steelers and the Ravens are also good, but I really don't see any one team that looks like everything is clicking.

The Ravens and Steelers both look really good, with the Steelers probably looking better given the fact that they've been without their starting QB for all this time. And the Falcons have looked really good too, though they need to find another pass play than "Roddy White catches out route".

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Moss certainly dislikes contact but I don't know that I'd say he only runs one route, I've seen him run all the routes I think. I think the idea that he runs only one route stems from usage: he's just a lot more valuable when he runs that one route over and over again than if he runs different routes.

Sure, as long as Brady has that uber-weapon, there is an inherent allure to overuse and rely on it. That's the whole problem. If Tom Brady was capable of treating Randy Moss just like Troy Brown, Deion Branch or David Patten, there would be no dueling press conferences. If being targeted once in the Miami game on a key play for a touchdown in the most complete win the team has played since he arrived was satisfactory, then Randy would not be in Minny with good ole No. 4-skin.

He runs one route with unprecedented dominance (and I don't even see that against guys like Cromartie).
Here's the issue with Moss that no one wants to mention (because the hair fights have more legs, or public is just so shallow?).
Simply put, the Randy Moss offense has a style. That style is capable of beating a certain kind of team. Capable of beating that kind of team worse than we've ever seen in the history of the NFL. It is also weak against a certain kind of team. Those teams tend to be tough, physical defensive teams. Unfortunately the kind of team it is weak against is exactly the kind they will face in the playoffs (Ravens, Steelers, Jets).

The Tom Brady offense circa '01-06 did not come with a style or a ratio, it came with one principle and a game plan. The principle was to throw to the open man. The game plan changed week to week based on the opponent. It had no ego. Their dominant trait was smart situational football and they seemed to have the mental advantage in almost every contest. Championships came.

The Pats came into this season intending to take the offense back to where it was, and they weren't sure if Randy would be able to handle it. Whether it be because of his immaturity, ego or contract status, they knew Randy's support was dicey. But they gave it shot. Then the press conference happened after Game 1. Then the atrocious second-half performance happened in the Jets game. Then came the Miami dustups. Questions answered. They actually played it pretty well. They had Minnesota in their back pocket and Deion Branch on the radar from the start. They were probably prepared to go to the trade deadline later this month, but the bye week made more sense so the pulled the trigger. Good luck, Brett.

Similar, but more parallel point at Cold, Hard Football Facts:
http://coldhardfootballfacts.com/Ar...ort:_Brady-Moss_statistical_death_spiral.html

Not sure what Vegas is thinking favoring the Patriots over the Ravens this week.

Yeah, that's a mystery to me too.[/quote]
There can't possibly be enough NEP homers in America to feed half of that action. I don't even think Gillette is really such a hostile stadium to visit in the milder months. Belichik at home after a bye most have a pretty good success rate.

Looking at Tampa's schedule for the rest of the year -- they might actually end up with a decent overall record. Not many tough games left.

I like them at least cover against the Saints tomorrow, maybe win outright. Victory there could gain them a lot of respectability.

Actually this year has been sort of disappointing from a quality-of-play standpoint. Most of the teams that were supposed to be good (New Orleans, GB, Dallas, Minnesota, San Fran) haven't been that good, and lots of teams that aren't very good have better records than they deserve. The Jets are decent, but they haven't wowed me at all. The Steelers and the Ravens are also good, but I really don't see any one team that looks like everything is clicking.

You said it, NFC is a mess, there's going to be 9 or 10 teams in contention for wildcard spots at this rate. AFC seems to have a firmly established aristocracy (Steelers, Jets, Ravens) and 2nd tier contenders (Pats, Colts, Texans, Titans, Chargers...Chiefs???).

The Ravens and Steelers both look really good, with the Steelers probably looking better given the fact that they've been without their starting QB for all this time. And the Falcons have looked really good too, though they need to find another pass play than "Roddy White catches out route".

[/quote]
Ravens would be my pick to go all the way this year, but Flacco can be exposed in a bad, bad, bad way. Steelers are always in it, I don't know about BRoth though. He's definitely a step up from Charlie Batch (not a bad working backup QB), but I think this is a guy that has been protected by the Steelers since day 1.


Dude, U-Dub I just turned this game on, your Badgers are melting down. WTF mang?\
edit: always fun the see #1 dethroned and the BCS system shaken up.

 

[Brother None]

Surely Manning is a whiny QB pampered by rules, while Brady is a TRUE MAN who would never abuse the rules

Ahem

 

[Sander]

Well, that Bucs team looked a lot more like the team I saw for most of last year. Except the QB play was fairly good.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Surely Manning is a whiny QB pampered by rules, while Brady is a TRUE MAN who would never abuse the rules

Ahem

Not very much football in that article, is there? Not much of anything really. I'm glad he brought much needed attention to the vast NBA/NFL referee collusion conspiracy going on. :tin foil hat time:

 

[Brother None]

Not very much football in that article, is there? Not much of anything really. I'm glad he brought much needed attention to the vast NBA/NFL referee collusion conspiracy going on. :tin foil hat time:

Chris Chase is a golf writer who knows dick about football.

That doesn't negate the fact that you're QB is a whiny rules-whore.

 

[UniversalWolf]

Dude, U-Dub I just turned this game on, your Badgers are melting down.

That was a nice win, although I think THE Ohio State University was overrated at number 1 overall. One of the few big games over the past couple of years when the Badgers haven't shot themselves in the foot. When they don't screw up, they have a great style of play for putting games away late, because they just pound the ball over and over and over. Some decent NFL prospects on that team, too.


I watched most of Seattle @ Chicago yesterday, and I have to say, the Seahawks looked pretty good. They don't have the talent yet to be a contender, but they played very methodically and didn't make many mistakes. Okung smothered Peppers so Hass was able to run the offense very effectively. I also thought Forsett looked very good (just as I did when I saw him play last year). I think he's the new Warrick Dunn.

I'm predicting a 7-9 or a 6-10 record for the Pack. The silver lining is that GB could get a high enough draft pick to get another good OT in the draft.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

ohowihateohiostate

edit:
Holy fucking knee-jerk overreaction to legal hits Batman.

Yet,
It's all good to have a network violate the integrity of the game by having them influence on field coaches decisions, which, result in players being put at unnecessary risk just to appease the FF crowd and milk every penny out of the sponsors!
Protect the shield eh? That's some integrity there.

Can you imagine someone from ESPN asking Bill Belichik to call more timeouts so they can play more Geico commercials?

I love it. Maybe we can get the refs involved in shaving some points off of blowouts to keep the gambling audience more engaged too! Can't have those 4th QTR Extenze ads go unwatched.

Wow, at least they're not tinkering with the integrity of the game without deliberating long and hard on things (has it been 48 hours?). I love this 'change the rules every week in reaction to what just happened' trend. Can we get a retroactive Flowers PI amnesty rule too? Or wait, that doesn't make money, it's just an admission that makes the officials look inept. Not good for protected image of refs and doesn't make money I think we'll sit on that one for a while. Wouldn't want to rush into any hasty decisions now would we?



"Devastating Hits". Yeah...and? Correlation with more passing much? Shitty QBing much?

No No NO, let's ignore the fact that we expanded too big and can't develop more than a dozen competent QBs who don't understand how not to hang his WR out to dry (Kolb). Let's give them another crutch and another crutch and another crutch to prop up these bush league hurlers (did you see that QB clinic last night?).

Can we not stop this and make the inevitable jump right to flag football already? That's where it's going to be in a few years.

Picture Jared Allen at the LOS "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi. Ready or not, here I come. I going to snatch those brightly colored strips of fabric from your special little garter belt there. Watch out. Grrrrr."

Why don't they cut the disingenuous bullshit and just say "hey, we want to make as much money as possible, if we have to violate the integrity of the game to appease sponsors and shoe horn ads in, or make rules up on the fly so as not to disturb our new female demographic because that's market share we want to exploit."

If you care about player safety and not money, why move to 18 games. Nobody - fans, players, coaches is asking for that. Just owners and the league.

More profit, less overhead!

That's the problem, you have football decisions being made by business men for the wrong reasons and under the guise of "player safety" and "giving the fans what they want." Blow it out your ass.
When you start making college ball look pure, unadulterated, and uncompromised by money in comparison, that's hard to do

 

[Brother None]

I could care less about the timeouts.

The hit on DeSean Jackson was a spine-breaker but it was perfectly legal. The two hits James Harrison duked out were in no way or form remotely legal.

Tired flag football spiels or no, a lot of this "IT'S THE NFL BABY" rah-rah is ignoring that mis-perception. It's not about hard hits, and that's what the media have wrong. Correct them on that. Don't rah rah about the NFL being A MAN'S GAME, where man means you have to be drooling into a cup by age 40, point out that rules can only adjust the extent to which player intend harm on the field, not to the actual results.

Let's give them another crutch and another crutch and another crutch to prop up these bush league hurlers

That's the problem, you have football decisions being made by business men for the wrong reasons and under the guise of "player safety" and "giving the fans what they want." Blow it out your ass.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eW1ywbn6m0[/youtube]

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Notice only receivers got hurt and mostly because their QBs are too stupid not to throw across zone coverage. So lets handicap the actual playing of football even lower to accommodate more inept passing. Because passing > more scoring > more money! And that's what rules the NFL.

It's not about what happened on the field, it's about how the NFL looks and that's why they overreacted and handed out $175,000 worth of fines out of nowhere and "re-emphasized" (is that still the euphemism) the rules.

Some sponsor got bent out of shape and Goodell had to feed the media jackals.

Same thing with the timeouts, compromising the game is OK when it makes more money! Even if the only audience left was wagerers. Yes, we will pander to gamblers but then publicly pretend they don't exist so as not to appear as if the game is compromised. Which it already is, in an attempt to appeal to gamblers. :bonk:

Don't even bring up player safety when they are going to an 18 game season and won't pay for the old timers who played when all this stuff was fair game.

Intent? So what. If Meriweather had the intent but missed does he still pay $50K?

It's disingenuous, it's hypocritical. It's all good when it fills the coffers of the NFL with corporate dollars.

I guess you can buy full colored framed glossies of all those hits too! They still selling Point of Impact? Tatum's Assassin still on shelves (in the interest of fairness he never really killed anybody, only permanent paralysis). Can we take Ronnie Lott out of the HOF now? I hope I'm spared having to hear the Bednarik/Frank Gifford story anymore with stars in their eyes.

Why does Harrison, who was not flagged for anything get the biggest fine? Read between the lines.



As far as Brady, I don't really feel compelled to defend his manhood. Brady hate says more about the speaker than the subject, and is usually the best indicator that the Patriots are doing things well.

Oh and Deion Branch called, he left some jewelry in his old locker. He'd like it returned, but no rush since it's the closest the Seahawks will ever get to seeing one.

 

[Brother None]

A bunch of fines is an overreaction? Out of nowhere? They've been fining for these hits for ages now. Suspensions, that would've been out of nowhere.

Commish jawwing about suspending for first-time offenders worries me. But his arbitrary fucking bullshit powers are easily one of the biggest problems in the NFL today.

Intent? So what. If Meriweather had the intent but missed does he still pay $50K?

Way to not get it. The point is people are focused on results. If something bad happened as a result of the play they will automatically assume foul play. That's not really the way it works. Once they understand that we might get somewhere

It's disingenuous, it's hypocritical.

Who cares.

As far as Brady, I don't really feel compelled to defend his manhood. Brady hate says more about the speaker than the subject, and is usually the best indicator that the Patriots are doing things well.

I didn't question his manhood. But I am absolutely eating it up how you have absolutely no valid reaction to him being a little bitch about QB-supporting rules. Keep dancing, puppet. Or just admit your QB is no better than PeyPey.

Oh and Deion Branch called, he left some jewelry in his old locker.

What, his gold jacket. As delusional as they come. Par for the course for your region, I hear

 

[Sander]

Don't even bring up player safety when they are going to an 18 game season and won't pay for the old timers who played when all this stuff was fair game.

They've expanded the pension plan and are actively working to find and help those ex-players that are now struggling. This is very recent, and has come after Gay Culverhouse campaigned heavily for years on end. But they have started doing more for ex-players.

As for the 18-game season, what? They can't try to make the game fundamentally safer, but expand the season at the same time? This isn't about reducing injuries, it's about being smarter with head injuries.

Intent? So what. If Meriweather had the intent but missed does he still pay $50K?

That's the stupid part: that Meriweather got fined the same amount Robinson did. He should've been fined the most, easily.

It's disingenuous, it's hypocritical. It's all good when it fills the coffers of the NFL with corporate dollars.

Of course it is. But does it matter? Do we really need to care what the motive is, as long as the result is good?

I guess you can buy full colored framed glossies of all those hits too! They still selling Point of Impact? Tatum's Assassin still on shelves (in the interest of fairness he never really killed anybody, only permanent paralysis). Can we take Ronnie Lott out of the HOF now? I hope I'm spared having to hear the Bednarik/Frank Gifford story anymore with stars in their eyes.

Why does Harrison, who was not flagged for anything get the biggest fine? Read between the lines.

There's no need to read between the lines as the NFL itself made clear why: he's a repeat offender.

As far as Brady, I don't really feel compelled to defend his manhood. Brady hate says more about the speaker than the subject, and is usually the best indicator that the Patriots are doing things well.

I guess the same doesn't go for hating on Peyton.

 

[UniversalWolf]

The Dunta Robinson hit on Jackson was perfectly clean and legal. Absurd that it would result in any kind of fine, or even a penalty.

The 18-game season idea is a crass money-grab by the league. It's bad for the players and bad for the game as whole. Combined with selling pictures of the fined hits on the NFL website, it makes the management look like a bunch of arrogant, fraudulent jerk-offs, which they are. They're concerned about the health and safety of the players to the extent it impacts the profit margin, and that's it.

It's fun to see how badly they gaffed on this. Punches a temporary hole in the NFL's relentless propaganda machine.

 

[Brother None]

Combined with selling pictures of the fined hits on the NFL website

This being made into a story is complete sewer journalism. The picture seller is a third party and even a cursory glance discovers the process is automated. The fact that this was made into a story speaks of the fraudulant whorish nature of game journalists, not the NFL.

Also I doubt this punched much of a hole in the wider public's perspective, it's not like the NFL particularly cares about the dying breed of old-school fans.

PS: didn't the "extend to 18" arguments all apply to "extend to 16" too? Shouldn't we then go back to 14?