National Football League

[Alpe d'Huez]

All this talk of Manning and the Broncos, but Drew Brees and the Saints look like the same Saints team that won the SB, with Sean Payton back. Who says coaches don't make a difference?

...what is the worst record to ever win a division?

1@my is right, Seattle at 7-9.

I ask (obviously) because we could see that happen in the NLE this season.

Very possible. Remember Foxxy's SB prediction? That a 7-9 team would win it? All one of these teams needs to do is get healthy and on a roll at the end of the season. The Giants have done that twice, so starting out 0-4 in that division isn't a disaster.

That was an insane touchdown from McCluster for Kansas. Ive watched it about 20 times now and it seems better each time.

It was pretty amazing to see, especially when he imitated Victor Cruz salsa dance in the end zone. I was in a Giants bar when it happened, and the collective groan of seeing it, while the play also essentially broke the Giants back during the game, wow.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

- wonder what Chip Kelly feels like being on the other end of a beat down?

I live in Eugene, and while not a Duck fan by any means (I'm a WA Husky), I don't feel one bit bad for Kelly. Just like Pete Carrol I think he bailed just in time before the NCAA came down with the hammer on the Ducks, serves Kelly right if Philly boos him out of town.

Anyhoo, I'm 9/15 this week, that's about my average.

I actually mainly cared about the Denver game (I picked Denver), I commish a Survival Football league, and this year I would really like to win the virtual trophy. In five years I haven't been able to do it yet, dammit.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

At least you're not a Beavers fan.

In all seriousness, Mike Riley (and Bob DeCoriolis) seem to run a team that's much more on the up and up than rival Chip Kelly ever did.

I can't feel sorry for any NFL coach or veteran making heaps of money.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

-Alpe... I think Foxxy might have said coaches don't make difference. Just kidding.

-Tric Rider & Alpe... the good thing about Corvalis is they have a real nice brew pub / sandwich joint.

I'm a Coug alum, and I'm a Coug and Husky fan. I know, somewhere that's an oxymoron. But I grew up near Tacoma, so have Husky roots. Love those new Husky helmets.

Funny think on Chip Kelly, it was fun watching his face while receiving the beat down last week. Not a happy face. Not the old Oregon sideline look of old.

Interesting thing on Oregon/Cougs... the new Coug AD is the former Oregon AD, Bill Moos. Oregon alums I know speak well of the job Moos did at Oregon. So I'm hoping the recent changes in Pullman are a sign of good things to come. It is definitely an improvement over the former AD/coaching staff. Moos, being a Coug alum and former Coug OLineman (Sweeney years), is prolly a good fit for Pullman.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

newsflash - not major headline, but Matt Flynn reportedly has been moved to #3 on the Raiders QB depth chart. (sigh) Unfortunate for him the Raiders system is not a good fit for him.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

-Alpe... I think Foxxy might have said coaches don't make difference. Just kidding.

-Tric Rider & Alpe... the good thing about Corvalis is they have a real nice brew pub / sandwich joint.

I'm a Coug alum, and I'm a Coug and Husky fan. I know, somewhere that's an oxymoron. But I grew up near Tacoma, so have Husky roots. Love those new Husky helmets.

Funny think on Chip Kelly, it was fun watching his face while receiving the beat down last week. Not a happy face. Not the old Oregon sideline look of old.

Interesting thing on Oregon/Cougs... the new Coug AD is the former Oregon AD, Bill Moos. Oregon alums I know speak well of the job Moos did at Oregon. So I'm hoping the recent changes in Pullman are a sign of good things to come. It is definitely an improvement over the former AD/coaching staff. Moos, being a Coug alum and former Coug OLineman (Sweeney years), is prolly a good fit for Pullman.

Funny, while I was still living in Seattle I bought into the old Husky vs. Cougs rivalry, now that I live in Eugene I actually root for the Cougs myself. The Ducks though, ugh, that's just a hate fest. Especially now that they're on top and Phil Knight is their sugar daddy. And the fans here are insufferable. (I lived in Tacoma for a while, btw., went to Henry Foss HS.)

Anyhoo, I had a really hard time with some of this week's NFL games, but here are my picks anyway.

Cleveland
New Orleans
New England
St. Louis
Miami
NY Giants
Detroit
Kansas City
Seattle
Arizona
Denver
San Diego
San Francisco
Atlanta

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Sugar daddy... now that's funny.

I got a feeling this Josh Freeman saga in Tampa "At Bay" is not over yet with the NFLPA getting involved.

 

[Amsterhammer]

BUF@CLE

Rest to follow...

 

[zastomito]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtCxAtwqAj4

Dead on.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

...(I lived in Tacoma for a while, btw., went to Henry Foss HS.)

Jeez. Small world. Curtis HS.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Weekly predictions. A lot of great matchups this week.

BUF@CLE - Don't look now, but Browns in first place! Hoyer out for season, but Weeden looked sharp in 2nd half.
NO@CHI - Saints roll to 5-0 on Brees arm.
NE@CIN - Pats so injured, Wilfork out all year, Ridley out, Gronk and Amondela still out. Still, match-up favors NE.
DET@GB - Offense vs. Offense. After last week's sideline arguing, look for a stellar day from Rodgers.
SEA@IND - Bruce Irvin back for Seahawks. But their D couldn't stop short game of Houston for 3Q, so...
BAL@MIA - Ravens can't afford lose this one, though they might.
PHI@NYG - Dud of the week.
JAX@STL - Second dud of the week.
KC@TEN - If Locker were playing, Titans had a chance.
CAR@ARI - Intriguing match-up.
DEN@DAL - Cowboys tired of all the Peyton talk? Let's see them stop him.
HOU@SF - Both teams need a win after tough losses.
SD@OAK - Perfect feast for on fire Rivers.
NYJ@ATL - Lock of the week, especially with Jets receivers out.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Jeez. Small world. Curtis HS.

You're not one of my former BFs (providing you're a dude) I used to put eyeliner on back in the 80s, are you? He went to Curtis.

Anyhoo, Huskies are playing Stanford today, I think we're in a lot of trouble here.

Sorry for derailing this thread to college football, Alpe d'Huez, you seem like a sweetheart. Feel free to cut me off at any time.

I've got my Monopoly money on the Rams this week in Survival Football, btw., hope they can pull it off.

 

[Amsterhammer]

BUF @ CLE - previously posted
NO @ CHI - I expect the Brees machine to keep rolling
NE @ CIN - They're 4-0 without convincing
DET @ GB - Cheeseheads to roar back
SEA @ IND - Should be great to watch, Seattle just too good
BAL @ MIA - Could go either way, both need to prove something
PHI @ NYG - Are they paying people to come to this? First win.
JAC @ STL - Home banker
KC @ TEN - New look Chiefs to keep rolling here
CAR @ ARI - Cards at home for me
DEN @ DAL - I'm so looking forward to this destruction!
HOU @ SF - Must be another home banker
SD @ OAK - Last chance, Chargers. Could be dire to watch.
NYJ @ ATL - These Jets are too lame

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

You're not one of my former BFs (providing you're a dude) I used to put eyeliner on back in the 80s, are you? He went to Curtis..

Let's just clear this up right now. Eyeliner? H311 NO! Wrong time period too. In the year of my HS graduation this hit was released: Layla - Derek & the Dominoes So if your are old as dirt, I'm older than dirt (just taking care of the music tread here too).

Anyway, I like Amsters picks (Alpe's too but for one). The only Amster picks I would deviate from (and I'll stick my neck out a little bit) are:
BAL @ MIA - home team banks win
HOU @ SF - Texans stung too badly last week to let this slip away

 

[Amsterhammer]

The Giants appear to be even worse than anyone thought.

 

[Amsterhammer]

What a game! As a long time Cowboy hater, the manner of their eventual defeat was all the sweeter.

Incidentally, this result comes on top of what has been the most perfect day of sports results for me ever. Both my soccer teams played really well and won, then the Ravens just managed to do it, and of course the biggest result was not having to watch the Skins this week.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Wow, that Cowboys loss was something. Classic Romo. If you tried to script it out beforehand you couldn't have written it any better. Broncos don't look unstoppable, but that offense sure is something to watch.

Saints go to 5-0. They don't look unstoppable either, but they do look solid, and motivated.

KC is now 5-0. Not the hardest schedule, but these wins build confidence.

Cincy's win over NE showed that the Pats offense, not defense, needs help. Can they trade for another receiver? Bengals tied for 1st with Browns.

Packers didn't score that much, but their defense was impressive against the Lions.

Seattle's defense needs to take a look into the mirror. That was a tough game against the Colts, but two weeks in a row now the Seahawks gave up too many yards, and points.

Don't look now, but Arizona is 3-2.

Vikings pick up Josh Freeman. They now have three mediocre QB's. Ponder, Cassell and Freeman.

Great win for the Raiders after all the talk this week about how great Philip Rivers was again.

I have to admit I think the 49ers are in a good position. Two bad looses to two good teams (Sea and Indy) may have taken some pressure off. They looked stellar against the Texans. They handled the Aldon Smith issue well and will get him back, they'll also get Crabtree back late in the season.

And finally, the Giants suck. They just suck. And Eli has been exposed. He looked no better than Tim Tebow. The NFC East is so weak, a 6-10 team could win the division. But it won't be the Giants.

 

[pedaling squares]

Good call on that Indy-Seattle game. I really thought that Seattle would take that one.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Instead of SF vs Texans Sunday night, it should have been Dallas vs Denver. No slap in the face to SF, but that's just how both games played out. I expected more out of Houston though. Speaking of mirrors, how about Schaub?

And speaking of Seattle & mirrors, I agree the D needs to shape up and play a full 60 minutes. But the OLine also needs to take a look in the mirror! Okay, they are missing 3 starters including 2 pro-bowlers. But I hate to see Wilson having to run for his life all the time. Then how about special team linemen who allowed the blocked field goal that Indy scooped and scored on? I won't blame Jon Ryan for failing to make the tackle. It all starts up front. But take away that faux pas and Hawks win that game.

Denver also has one of the easiest schedules. That plus the way they are playing is a script for a Super Bowl appearance.

Freeman likely will not be starting very soon until he learns the Vikes offense. I don't like the move for either party.

SD is predictably unpredictable. Amazing.

Props to Cincy.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Raiders released Matt Flynn. Which really was doing him a favor. He will get picked up. Tampa, NY Jets, Jacksonville, Cleveland (Houston? NY Giants?!) they all need a QB who can step in and maybe play in a few weeks. Matt is an accurate passer, but not very mobile, so whatever team he ends up on better be able to block!

This means Raiders have three young QBs. Terrell Pryor who is now without question the starter, having played a few good games in a row. Matt McGloin a rookie from Penn State who played well in the pre-season, and rookie Tyler Wilson who didn't play well in the pre-season (by his own words), and is a ways from being an NFL starter, but has a lot of potential.

Another shout out to Pryor. He did what many other questionable college QBs couldn't do in adapting to the NFL. He changed his attitude before it was too late (Brady Quinn), and his throwing motion and playing style before it was too late (Tebow). He's now 9th in passer rating, ahead of Stafford, Luck, Wilson, RG3, Smith, Brady, Kaepernick, Flacco... He's everything Jamarcus Russell wasn't and that puts a big smile on this Raiders fan.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Feel sorry for Matt Flynn on the one hand. But you are right that releasing him now is really doing him a favor. Besides Tampa, Jets, Jax, Cleveland, how about the Vikes?

On Pryor, love it when players keep the mouth shut, work hard, stay out of trouble, and then go get results.

What?! The Jets over Falcs? Matt Ryan stats look good, but check out Geno Smith's: 16/20 comp/attempts, 199 yards, 10.0 ypa, 3 TD, 0 INT, 147.7 rating.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That was an awesome win for the Jets. Rex coached to win and made some bold calls. And Geno really stepped up last night, especially considering he had no name receivers to throw to most of the night. Don't look now, but the Jets are 3-2 and a game out of first!

The Falcons on the other hand are better than 1-4, but I just don't see them catching the Saints. It would take a huge improvement, a big streak over their fairly soft schedule (that they can't overcome yet anyway), and some key losses by NO. Atlanta may be hard pressed to make the playoffs, even with that talented team.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

When I think of that Dallas loss, I think of poor Jerry Jones. Yeah, right. Like I care there.

It's a long season yet, but I'm just looking at the standing and visualizing who will be wild card berths in the playoffs... I don't see the Falcs taking the division now, so they would have to get a wild card. That will be tough to do and they may need help, like some other teams misfortune with injuries and so on. It looks like NFC West and North have the inside track to both wild cards, and maybe the NFC East if one of them cranks it up (Dal, Phil, Was, & not Giants).

 

[The Hitch]

Just finished watching Jets vs Falcons. OMG That was such an awesome game.

The underdogs going into an early lead then the favourites slowly clawing back, getting back with just enough time for the underdogs to work their way up for the far out field goal.

Amazing.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

This is maddening (msn.foxsports.com/matt-schaub-confronted-at-home-by-idiot). The bozo fan who confronted Schaub at his home is a Loser and needs to get a life. How would he like it if every time the bozo made a mistake on the job (and I'm betting he makes lots of them) his neighbors berated him and posted his screw ups all over the internet? If this game is all the bozo has for enjoyment in life he has absolutely no hope. It's obvious he's got no class, and probably has serious self esteem issues to go to that length to make himself feel better.

NFL news:
- NFL is looking into playoff expansion for 2015 (link)
- NFL adds 3rd London game in 2014 (link). The Jags, Falcs, and Raiders will host games in London. The opponents have not yet been determined.