NFL 2011

[UniversalWolf]

I'm not to worried about the defense. I think it was more a matter of Brees being an excellent QB than any lapse from the Pack. Room for improvement? Sure.

Apparently McCarthy said Tramon Williams has a shoulder bruise and called it a positive medical development. Nothing torn, broken, or ruptured. That wrenching his arm took looked extremely painful.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Jesus. SO many blow-outs already!

 

[McCabbe]

Indeed...

 

[UniversalWolf]

I think Indy has a legitimate chance of winning the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. Prolly between them and KC.

 

[Nology5890]

KC already has Stanzi. He just needs a chance to mature and play.

And I never thought I'd say this, but I think unless we kick New England's ass tomorrow, Miami is going to be the red-headed stepchild locked in the cellar of the AFC East.

 

[Brother None]

...there isn't a franchise in the world retarded enough to pass on Andrew Luck because they Ricky fucking Stanzi on the roster, don't be ridiculous.

Good weekend. Lotta upsets, lotta blowouts, I like it. Not a lot of great football. Baltimore-Pittsburgh was the shit though.

 

[Sander]

...there isn't a franchise in the world retarded enough to pass on Andrew Luck because they Ricky fucking Stanzi on the roster, don't be ridiculous.

But they don't just have Stanzi, they also have <s>Tyler Palko</s>Calabaloo!

Few thoughts:

Bucs looked completely unprepared. Pass coverage was especially disconcerting. The offense looked like horseshit early on. I have no idea what they were trying to do there, but it sucked. Stuff needs to get fixed.

The end of the Bwoys-Jets game was the battle of the incompetent quarterbacks. Hilarious.

Browns disappoint. Again. Colt McCoy was supposed to be good, right?

Chiefs looked horribad. Todd Haley may just be the first coach to be fired this year.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Luck's enshrinement in Canton isn't exactly fait accompli.

the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

Oh no you di'int.

And I never thought I'd say this, but I think unless we kick New England's ass tomorrow, Miami is going to be the red-headed stepchild locked in the cellar of the AFC East.

Fins always play the Pats tough at home. But you do realize, that by beating the Pats, you'd just be helping Rex. Fins/Jets has more animosity than Fins/Pats.
Maybe we'll get a Albertus Magnus sighting tonight.

Pats need to get their ass in gear, longest title drought in town at 7 years. WTF kind of incompetent half-assery is this? Unacceptable.

Todd Haley may just be the first coach to be fired this year.

I'd say Coughlin, but the Giants are too smart/classy an org. to fire him mid-season. Giants are fucked this year, and Reese dropped the ball big time in free agency. Devastating injuries already.
This is the Coughlin retirement tour. Poor Giants.


Isn't there something inherently wrong with rooting for the Jets, in NYC on 9/11? That's like if the Hiroshima Carp renamed themselves the bombers and had a home game on Aug. X?

Jersey Sports Fan is back - love this clown:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE1GwKlnL4w[/youtube]

Serendipity - I plugged in an old TV while working in the basement.
Was set to second audio - just stadium mics - no Joe Buck whatsoever! Best kept secret evar!

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

WTF? Chung just sacked Henne...

...

...and then shoved him. Directly in front of a ref. Like, a foot away. And no call. And they're in MIAMI. Bellichizz have everybody paid off these days or what?

Weekend 1 thoughts:

Bal v. Pit -

Holy shit was this not what I expected. But you have to love seeing a rapist lose a SuperBowel and then get raped themselves in game one directly after. As many turnovers as points scored. God, that was funny as shit.

Atl v. Chi -

Geez. Seriously, Dirty Birds? 12 fucking points? Jesus, how did we ever lose to this team (aside from Rodgers fumbling in the fucking endzone GAH!) again? Anyway, I'm conficted. Part of me wants to think "Bah, who cares we did even better against 'em last time we saw 'em" but the other half of me is thinking "Shitfuck is the Bears D actually that serious?" I mean, they looked good. Not 1985 good, but good.

Cin v. Cle -



I just want those lil' plain an' non-stripey orangehelmets to get a good team sometime soon.

Ind v. Hou -

Two teams you couldn't pay me to give a single flying fuck about. Well, except for me hating the fuck out of Manning and his stupid fucking face on his stupid fucking commercials and his stupid fucking attitude toward his own teammates when things aren't going his way. So yeah, fuck him and good riddance and lol at your team relying on you so heavily.

Ten v. Jac -

Man. You thought I couldn't care less about the last two teams? You were god-DAMN wrong! These are two teams I care less about than the previous two. I mean, neither even existed when I was a kid. Fuck these n00b teams and their relentlessly and perpetually boring-assed teams. And you know what? While I'm at it can I just say I'd laugh my ass off if a camera suddenly panned to Jack Del Rio on fire? God that would be amazing.

Buf v. KC

Holy shit again! Man. Buffalo, eh? Right on. I love seeing old-school teams who've been shitty for a long time play great games. Here's to hoping they win their division. Go Buffalo!

Phi v. StL

Guh. I was honestly hoping the Rams might at least give them more of a fight just to shut the media up with their "Dream Team" nonsense. Vick will wear out and fail half-way through the season. I promise you all. And fuck him. If he does they should put him in a room with dogs who haven't been fed for a week and smear raw meat on him. Fuck him.

Det v. Tam

Sorry Sander, but while I was sorta pulling for TB to keep GB on top...I'm actually kinda stoked on the ol' rusty Lions having a good season for once in my lifetime. Remember how Barry Sanders was the best thing that ever fucking happened to any sport ever? Well, yeah. I do. And I'm stoked to see the Lions win a game on a pretty up and coming team.

Car v. Ari

Fuck you Cam Newton, chill out. My team gotta play you next week and we was expectin' a pretty yawnful afternoon. Fuck you, man. Come on you dumb rookie. Chill out, just chill out.

Min v. SD

Heheh. Fuck off, 'Queens. Keep losing. Sorry, Nabbernuts, I loved ya as an Eagle but now I hate you and your previous team. You'll all die painfully during every minute of this season. Welcome to the bottom of the NFC North, fellas. Too bad ol' Turncoat McGee is too old and shattered for ya. Also: I am just never, ever going to be convinced of Rivers and SD and their supposed relevance.

Sea v. SF

How could a game with this kind of score have been this boring? I can't even th----zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

NVG v. WAS

Damn! Rex friggin' Grossman? Seriously? Haha. Ok. That's kinda cool, actually. I wouldn't mind seeing another competitive 'Skins team. Right on. Cheers, ugly color jersey brothers!

Dal v. NYJ

How can two teams who look so shitty not both lose? Jesus I want both teams to die in a plane crash involving both of their team planes.

EDIT: Oh, man. I just heard Gruden apologize for "using an inappropriate word and I hope nobody was offended by that word...etc" and it was awkward AS FUCK. Did anybody catch what it was he said?!

 

[Brother None]

It was Jaws. I think.

Also... seems like that ole Tom Brady is pretty good at this here game of football.

PS: and Seabass has a good leg on him.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Shoving and cursing during a football game? How uncouth.

Was that the Patriots new d-line or did the killer whales escape from the Sea-World?

PS: and Seabass has a good leg on him.

That was pretty amazing. Watching Raiders games is usually a painful experience; stupid, sloppy football.

 

[Nology5890]

...there isn't a franchise in the world retarded enough to pass on Andrew Luck because they Ricky fucking Stanzi on the roster, don't be ridiculous.

Good weekend. Lotta upsets, lotta blowouts, I like it. Not a lot of great football. Baltimore-Pittsburgh was the shit though.

Should Indianapolis have drafted Peyton Manning, then Tom Brady because they did horrible that first year? Granted, I'm an Iowa homer, BIG-TIME, but Ricky Stanzi and Tom Brady had very similar experience through college. It's why Pioli gave the go-ahead to draft him. There have been comparisons done on the subject.

Also, Chad Henne looked good today. I'm surprised that he had some wheels. Post-script, obligatory "Fuck the Patriots".

 

[Sander]

Should Indianapolis have drafted Peyton Manning, then Tom Brady because they did horrible that first year? Granted, I'm an Iowa homer, BIG-TIME, but Ricky Stanzi and Tom Brady had very similar experience through college. It's why Pioli gave the go-ahead to draft him. There have been comparisons done on the subject.

Every late-round QB pick is compared to Tom Brady by fans, and it almost never amounts to anything.

I mean, there's a reason why the kid fell to the fifth round, and it's not like he's shown anything in preseason to make you believe he's going to be any good. Yet you're suggesting that the Chiefs will pass up on the best quarterback prospect to come out of college in years only because they drafted some scrub in the fifth round? That's just ignorant.

Drafting a QB in the fifth round means they thought "Eh, why not, let's give it a shot" not "HERE'S OUR QUARTERBACK OF THE FUTURE". If they thought highly of him, they would have taken him in the first round.

It's almost as stupid as the Tebow chants.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Also, Chad Henne looked good today. I'm surprised that he had some wheels. Post-script, obligatory "Fuck the Patriots".

Nothing like a visit from the Patriots defense to pep up young, mediocre QBs. They laid some pretty nice shots on him though. Pats D still sucks, but at least they hit people. So nice to have dead weight like Butler, Banta-Cain and Meriweather gone, and Bodden back.

Every late-round QB pick is compared to Tom Brady by fans, and it almost never amounts to anything. I mean, there's a reason why the kid fell to the fifth round, and it's not like he's shown anything in preseason to make you believe he's going to be any good. Yet you're suggesting that the Chiefs will pass up on the best quarterback prospect to come out of college in years only because they drafted some scrub in the fifth round? That's just ignorant.

Drafting a QB in the fifth round means they thought "Eh, why not, let's give it a shot" not "HERE'S OUR QUARTERBACK OF THE FUTURE". If they thought highly of him, they would have taken him in the first round.

Yeah, not every late round pick is a "diamond in the rough", but it just highlights how imprecise scouting, drafting and coaching are. It's not an exact science by any stretch of reason.

I could say the same things you just said about Brady, there's many rightfully valid reasons why he dropped to 199 (scrawny and slow, not a great arm), he was never drafted and groomed to be the next franchise QB. The only reason he ever got to start was because Mo Lewis hit Bledsoe so hard his insides ruptured. His whole NFL career is a random mistake, not a well-planned, systematic, linear development. Random variables shape sports in a big way.

Same with Matt Cassel, he has no right to start NFL games based on his pre-NFL resume. He doesn't even have a college resume. He's a starting NFL QB now if Brady never got hurt? I wouldn't bet on it.

Look at the Eagles QB situation the last few years with McNabb/Kolb/Vick. There was no plan, or if there was, there was a new one every week. They were making it up as they went along based on who was hot and who was not.
Coaching and scouting is a nebulous, mistake filled, risk-inherent endeavor. They don't know what they're doing all the time, but when they find something that works, they keep doing it.

And for every Peyton Manning that achieves their upside (almost nobody except him), how many can't miss picks like the Leafs, Klinglers, Stouffers, Mirers, A. Smiths (Akili and Alex), Leinart etc. get shot down in flames? I'm not even bringing in the 'athletic' Tebow/VYoung/Newton/JaMarcus types. Coaches and scouts often have their heads up their ass, and even when they don't, there's too many factors to possibly predict how these kids will react to every aspect of NFL life.

Have ye not seen The Brady 6 yet man?

 

[Sander]

The fact that there are busts and booms at all levels doesn't negate the fact that first-round quarterbacks succeed much more often than late-round quarterbacks. As in, late-round quarterbacks practically never succeed while first-round quarterbacks succeed about 50% of the time.

Expecting anything other than suckage out of late-round QB is foolish.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

I'm not sure where you get that number, or what you consider success (David Carr? Kyle Boller?). But 50% sucks for the risk involved, the money, the investment in time, and the opportunity cost, given that every other position is less risky and that you don't need a 1st round all-pro QB to win. You better make damn sure he's a pro-bowl level QB or it's a whiff that takes years to recover from.

You can build a solid team around a serviceable, late-round QB and still win - I'm thinking Mark Rypien for some reason.

 

[Sander]

I'm not sure where you get that number, or what you consider success (David Carr? Kyle Boller?). But 50% sucks for the risk involved, the money, the investment in time, and the opportunity cost, given that every other position is less risky and that you don't need a 1st round all-pro QB to win. You better make damn sure he's a pro-bowl level QB or it's a whiff that takes years to recover from.

You can build a solid team around a serviceable, late-round QB and still win - I'm thinking Mark Rypien for some reason.

50% is as good as it's going to get. That's roughly the success rate of first-round quarterbacks.

You can't build a team around a serviceable quarterback and expect to win anything. All you can do with a serviceable quarterback is hope to build a team around him that's so good his limitations don't stand in the way of a championship. But even that is rare. And then you're stuck with gambling on expensive first-round prospects at other positions, with success rates that aren't considerably higher.

Besides all that, how many late-round quarterbacks even turn into serviceable quarterbacks in the first place? One in ten, if that?

I guess when your favorite team hasn't had a bad quarterback in 20-odd years, you can claim that drafting a first-round quarterback is foolish.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Shoving and cursing during a football game? How uncouth.

You fucking retarded? Oh wait. Duh.

My point was that it was IN FRONT OF A REF AND DREW NO FLAG WHICH IS SURPRISING CONSIDERING HOW MUCH THE NFL HAS BEEN PAMPERING QUARTERBACKS THESE LAST FEW YEARS YOU STUPID FUCKING SHIRTUCKFAILFUCK.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

This is really something worth getting upset over. A guy, outweighed by 35 pounds, pushes another dude, who doesn't budge or even notice he got pushed and no flag is thrown. Outrageous.

You can't build a team around a serviceable quarterback and expect to win anything. All you can do with a serviceable quarterback is hope to build a team around him that's so good his limitations don't stand in the way of a championship. But even that is rare.

Bucs much? Brad Johnson is the quintessential serviceable QB and that team won a SB. Roethlisberger wasn't even serviceable on his 1st SB victory. Ravens/Dilfer. Strong D and running game can carry a serviceable QB all the way.
Terry Bradshaw is like the patron saint of the serviceable QB who's carried by his team - all the way to 4 rings.

There's not one, hard and fast way to build a championship team, and you certainly don't need an elite QB to go all the way. Especially not if the rest of the roster is skimped on to sign the elite QB. There's 32 teams and only 6 elite QBs in the world. Somebody has to start serviceable QBs, somebody's scheme has to be based on having a game manager. Teams that play elite D and play "ground and pound" have done quite well, and continue to win at the highest level.

Look at the Jets with Sanchez - 4 playoff wins in 2 years, 2 over Manning at home, one over the 14-2 Pats. Right there, strong team that wins despite a weak QB who is asked only not to fuck things up completely.

I guess when your favorite team hasn't had a bad quarterback in 20-odd years, you can claim that drafting a first-round quarterback is foolish.

I'm pointing out the murky, error-prone process that is scouting, drafting and player development. When you have a shot at a sure thing like Manning, Elway, Aikman or Luck you take it. They are once in a franchise QBs. Any jerk-off could draft them. Watch the Brady 6, there's a whole lot they do not and can never know about who will and won't be a successful NFL QB.
I'm not endorsing Ricky Stanzi either.

 

[Sander]

Bucs much? Brad Johnson is the quintessential serviceable QB and that team won a SB. Roethlisberger wasn't even serviceable on his 1st SB victory. Ravens/Dilfer. Strong D and running game can carry a serviceable QB all the way.
Terry Bradshaw is like the patron saint of the serviceable QB who's carried by his team - all the way to 4 rings.

There's not one, hard and fast way to build a championship team, and you certainly don't need an elite QB to go all the way. Especially not if the rest of the roster is skimped on to sign the elite QB. There's 32 teams and only 6 elite QBs in the world. Somebody has to start serviceable QBs, somebody's scheme has to be based on having a game manager. Teams that play elite D and play "ground and pound" have done quite well, and continue to win at the highest level.

Look at the Jets with Sanchez - 4 playoff wins in 2 years, 2 over Manning at home, one over the 14-2 Pats. Right there, strong team that wins despite a weak QB who is asked only not to fuck things up completely.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying it's very, very hard to build a team around a serviceable quarterback. A lot harder than building a team around a good quarterback.

Look at the Colts. What do they have outside Peyton? Not a whole lot, yet he makes them good. Then look at all the teams that have pretty good teams but never could make it work because their quarterback wasn't good enough. Baltimore for the past 10 years, for instance.

If you have a serviceable quarterback, almost everything else on your team has to be very, very good for the team to be able to compete for a championship. But if you have a good quarterback, you can neglect other pieces of your team pretty easily.

I'm pointing out the murky, error-prone process that is scouting, drafting and player development. When you have a shot at a sure thing like Manning, Elway, Aikman or Luck you take it. They are once in a franchise QBs. Any jerk-off could draft them. Watch the Brady 6, there's a whole lot they do not and can never know about who will and won't be a successful NFL QB.
I'm not endorsing Ricky Stanzi either.

Of course they don't hit all the time, but it's still easily the best way to find a good quarterback. Finding quarterbacks at all is pretty damn hard.

I don't think that makes it a bad investment in terms of money, though. If Sam Bradford lives up to his hype, then his contract was super, super cheap. That's the aspect people tend to forget when talking about high draft picks.