NFL - The Thread, '08.

[TwinkieGorilla]

cleveland's actually got a severely injured team right now...i didn't think they looked horrible as much as i thought the 'Boys looked really goddamn good. the dogpound's got some definite work, but i predict they'll be at the top of their division by the end of the season.

 

[Brother None]

Injured or not, Cleveland's D just wasn't there. To an incredible extent of not-there-ness.

I still can't take Cleveland seriously as a playoff contender with a D like that. Not in the AFC North, where no one looks even vaguely capable of threatening the Steelers.

Also, the Seahawks made me cry manly tears of despair. I wish the D had shown a bit more muscle, but man was the offense bad. The whole WR-fiasco was predictable and I think it's a tribute to Hasselbeck's pro bowl status how he still managed to get a TD in despite the rain and really having only one WR in his whole receiving corps, but man the new-look rushing attack looks awful. Really really awful. How funny will it be if we drop Jones and Duckett before the end of the season and end up with a dual attack of Morris and Forsett?

Patriots are well and truly fucked. Their D is aging and won't hold up to the pressure now that their offense is gone, and Maroney doesn't have what it takes to carry any offense. They should count their blessing they have Sammy Morris, expect him to become the pivot of the offense for the next couple of weeks/months while the QB problem is sorted.

Two rookie QB starts, two rookie QB wins. Ryan looked sharp out there. Flacco less so, but he did what he had to do.

I'm curious to see how Atlanta holds up. This was Detroit so not much of a test, I think we'll see them collapse to their expected form somewhere down the line. Lots of upsets this week, tho'

Holy shit @ rookie running back. I never really believed in Bush and his hype and I think AP might be looking down the barrel of a very short NFL career (who knows, tho'), but this RB draft now looks like one of the best in recent history.

Jonathan Stewart, 10 carries 53 yards 5.3 ypc
Felix Jones, 9 carries 62 yards 6.9 ypc TD - first NFL carry is a touchdown
Chris Johnson, 15 carries 93 yards 6.2 ypc
Matt Forte, 23 carries 123 yards 5.3 ypc TD - 50 yard TD in his rookie game
Kevin Smith, 16 carries 48 yards 3 ypc TD

We'll see how they hold up, but that's not a bad opening line. Especially considering more than one of these are on terrible offenses (Forte, Smith).

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

The football gods are punishing us for Belichek's hubris.

In all those frigging blowouts last year by 30 point margins, you couldn't give Matt Cassel a few reps at the end of the 4th quarter could you? Noooo. Guy hasn't started a game since HS.

and Maroney doesn't have what it takes to carry any offense. They should count their blessing they have Sammy Morris,

and Lamont Jordan and Kevin Faulk, that's a deep backfield.
Moss draws double coverage, Welker in the slot, Ben Watson across the middle, pro-bowl O-line, and most importantly Bill Belichek - the bar has certainly been lowered, but this is still a dangerous team.
Still got Drew Bledsoe on speed dial?

But yeah, they're defense has been getting gassed in the 4th quarter since the Colts beat them in the '06 AFC Championship.
Rodney Harrison couldn't run my grandmother down if there was a syringe full of HGH at the finish line.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Forte really looked good last night, eh? go bears! (i shouldn't be saying that....them being the Pack's most villainous rivals, but i kinda love 'em for that reason too. plus, "Sweetness" was my hero as a kid.)

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

plus, "Sweetness" was my hero as a kid.)

Me too, I even had a pair of Roos back in the day.

 

[Brother None]

The football gods are punishing us for Belichek's hubris.

In all those frigging blowouts last year by 30 point margins, you couldn't give Matt Cassel a few reps at the end of the 4th quarter could you? Noooo. Guy hasn't started a game since HS.

Dude I so hate this attitude. There was nothing wrong with the Pats "running up the score" last year. There was something wrong with teams unable to stop them. Not the Pats fault. The rest of the league sitting about crying "they were mean to us" is just pathetic.

But no, let's sit this record-breaking QB who is in the hottest form of any QB in history to give the back-up guy some reps because...er...Bellicheat hates records?

Bleh. Last year was fantastic. Too bad we won't see a repeat.

and Lamont Jordan and Kevin Faulk, that's a deep backfield.

Sure, Morris is just the most talented of the lot. Lamont will get his short yardage carries, tho', expect plenty of rotation, but Morris is the only one with that extra something out of the whole pool.

Moss draws double coverage, Welker in the slot, Ben Watson across the middle, pro-bowl O-line, and most importantly Bill Belichek - the bar has certainly been lowered, but this is still a dangerous team.

Oh yes. It also does not blow the AFC East "wide open" as some would have it. The Jets are still a mediocre team with a horrible defense and an unreliable, aged QB. The Dolphins are nothing. The only one who could make a serious break for it is the talent-heavy Bills, with their run-first manage-second offense and great D (kind of like the Bears)

I wonder how much they'll protect Cassel. Honestly, "just throw it to Moss" isn't very tough for any QB, so that'll still work, but Welker as a slot receiver is going to take some serious hurt in his (fantasy) value. Maybe Watson will climb, inexperienced QBs love to lean on the TE.

Still got Drew Bledsoe on speed dial?

Oh God.

Here I was hoping never to see Bledsoe again ever.

Forte really looked good last night, eh?

Yip. Bears look like a serious threat again, with one of the best Ds (Indy might not have been in top form, but they got humiliated), please-don't-make-any-mistakes-ok Orton and Forte/Peterson making a very good RB pair (Forte alone could carry this offense, but Peterson is a prime back-up).

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Dude I so hate this attitude.

It's not the running up that bothers me, it's not giving your backup the opportunity to take reps when you have golden opportunities, so that when you're starting QB goes down your backup isn't a total greenhorn. Especially when your backup hasn't started a game since high school.
Why not give your backup a chance to run it up while the getting is good?
Cassel is the backup to the stars!
Cassel may have potential - but in the limited reps he's had he's looked like shit. He didn't lead one scoring drive in the 4 preseason games. He barely hung on to his job, most folks around here think Guiterrez is the better back up.
And as far as Sims and Rattay coming in for tryouts this week, they were talking about bringing those two in last week before Brady even got injured. Just waiting for them to get cut. Shows you how faith they have in Cassel.

Sure, Morris is just the most talented of the lot. Lamont will get his short yardage carries, tho', expect plenty of rotation, but Morris is the only one with that extra something out of the whole pool.

As pure runners yes, but Faulk is a nasty 3rd down/utility back/pass blocker/all rounder. Guy takes a pounding.

 

[Brother None]

It's not the running up that bothers me, it's not giving your backup the opportunity to take reps when you have golden opportunities, so that when you're starting QB goes down your backup isn't a total greenhorn. Especially when your backup hasn't started a game since high school.

Well it's a choice you make. Brady was in the perfect groove with his receiving team. Don't you want to avoid any possible risk of disturbing that groove in any way?

Besides, I can't remember the other ultra-reliable QBs - Manning with the Colts and Favre with the Pack - giving their back-ups a lot of reps.

*checks*

Well 'k Sorgi gets quite a few reps. But Rodgers and Cassel have roughly the same number of attempts on their name right now (though obviously Rodgers is going to catch up), and Rodgers was even planned to be prepped for the future.

It's not like Cassel lacked any reps this off-season.

As pure runners yes, but Faulk is a nasty 3rd down/utility back/pass blocker/all rounder. Guy takes a pounding.

Aye. Between him and Lamont they'll really be able to wear Ds down, which is good for them.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

did A. Peterson II play last night? i thought it was a bloke named Jones as second chair to Forte.

 

[Brother None]

Kevin Jones, dude. Not expecting much from him, he'll just get injured.

I'm not sure if Some Days Peterson was even playing. I'm just sayin', he's a really good back-up RB.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

c'MONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN PACKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

leaving in about 10 minutes. bntest may want to ban me for the night if they lose.

 

[Maphusio]

There isn't enough alcohol to drown my sorrows...

yeah dude. you guys kinda got...well, fucking slaughtered. and by....Buffalo???

Yeah we did. Bad officiating aside, we still suxored. Some serious adjustments need to be made before game two... Serious.

 

[Brother None]

There was bad officiating? Nothing I could see.

Not like the Superbowl, which was TOTALLY STOLEN FROM US.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!


brett who??? AARON FUCKING RODGERS THAT'S WHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!


eheheheh. anyway, if it wasn't for three billion fucking penalties on the pack o-line including the brilliant Driver touchdown, it would've been an even bigger win.

anyway, Rodgers looked excellent...no doubt.

 

[Brother None]

brett who??? AARON FUCKING RODGERS THAT'S WHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyway, Rodgers looked excellent...no doubt.

Toldya.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

really, though. that was a helluva "first ever start in NFL", no? i think he's rated up in the top 4 of all time rookie starts???


really...i've been drinkin' and just celebratin'....but they showed some stats about rookie starts...and his percentage was 81.(something)

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

It was a very solid start. No turnovers, looked comfortable, plenty of support around him.

That Raiders game was atrocious. I doubt they could win in the CFL. Was just flipping through channels and heard Ditka announcing the game "You can't make chicken salad with chicken (you know what)"

edit: Al Davis should be wheeled into a nursing home. "Yes Mr. Davis, we know, 'just win baby', 'longball', just drink your OJ, it almost time for your nap"

editx2:

The biggest problem here in New England is that the regular season is completely superfluous.

Wake me up for the playoffs.

Well, I guess I got my wish for an exciting season. Making the playoffs would have to be considered a success at this point.

 

[Maphusio]

There was bad officiating? Nothing I could see.

Not like the Superbowl, which was TOTALLY STOLEN FROM US.

The Superbowl had no officiating issues...

...Oh wait, maybe it did.

As for the Seattle Vs Buffalo officiating, I'm refering to... Trent Edwards to Evans 28 yard pass that wasn't. Holmgren threw the red flag, but no ref noticed. Buffalo then scored their first TD.

In the 2nd half Sims gets a holding call (that was not holding according to the sports casters) and the Seahawks find themselves at 2nd and 20... Lastly I can't quite recall the play but there was a pass interference on a very large pass to a Buffalo WR that put them in the red zone.

With that said, we could only take back one touchdown from Buffalo, not enough to matter. Ultimately, Seattle did not come to play.

Holmgren has made some adjustments today. He (thank god) nixed Ryan Plackemeier. I was really disappointed with Ryan even before Josh Brown left... One would think given his experiences with Josh that he would be something of substance. This last game he looked just awful. While Seattle's supposed secondary kicking team (now primary) REALLY came through in the pre-season.

Unfortunately, Forsett was kicked as well. I wish they could have hung onto him, I think he could have beat out T.J. Tucket or MoMo given the chance.

Lastly Kent whom also did not look good this last game was cut... This leaves... really no WR for Seattle. But, as of 30 minutes ago they signed Billy McMullen whom last played in the 2006 season... That seems odd... I'll have to do some research. Maybe this will be like the 2006 season when they signed on Pete Hunter (a border patrol officer)!

Those of you that remember, Pete, whom was on his couch while Seattle was in the playoffs was signed up for the rest of that season. He completely destroyed... It must have hurt Rex Grossmen when he was intercepted twice by a border patrol agent.

Then again, this must have been pretty humiliating as well

I asked Pete why Seattle let him go last year, he unfortunately did not know and was a bit disappointed over the whole ordeal. Of course the Seahawks refused comment. I think it had to do with his days in Dallas. He refused to play other positions, to be more versatile, he just wanted to play that one position, that was probably the defining reason for letting him go. Either way, in my book, he is one of my heroes.

 

[Brother None]

Border Patrol agent? I thought he was an insurance agent? Or was that another guy? The CB that joined the team late, right?

Billy McMullen does not sound like the kind of support the Seahawks need.

 

[Maphusio]

Border Patrol agent? I thought he was an insurance agent? Or was that another guy? The CB that joined the team late, right?

Billy McMullen does not sound like the kind of support the Seahawks need.

Well he was an insurance agent just passing his border patrol agent class... Yes, I guess you need to pass some classes for that...

I'm weary of McMullen due to the fact that he has not played for a while. Given that, I don't see Seattle making a stupid decision so he must have impressed them. Then again, its not like they have a plethora of WR's to choose from. I guess we will see what this weeks game brings... That Injured reserved list keeps looking more and more daunting.