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National Football League

Page 70 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Jun 22, 2009
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on3m@n@rmy said:
:)

11-3 this week helps make up for that one bad week.

My measly 9-5 pales into insignificance in the company of such awesome picking.:eek: ;)

Thanks to MI and Alpe for the, as always, interesting and insightful potted summaries. I always watch the Skins live, but as long as the Nats are still in the playoffs, my primary attention will be on them, which means that I miss the highlights of most other NFL games. I have to figure out when ESPN shows summaries of all games so that I can tivo that show.

I seriously laughed out loud while reading the following. You have been warned!:D

First - http://imgur.com/a/9H0Hv#ucGcH

Then - http://profootballmock.com/?p=5020
 
Now that was funny!

I mentioned the fans cheering Matt Cassell's injury above. But yes, ugly. Lost upon some fans that his OL let him get hammered on that play. Blame goes all around in the NFL, the ultimate team sport.

Week 6 Power Rankings are up:

1. Houston - But they face a huge obstacle with MLB Brian Cushing now out for the year.
2. Atlanta
3. San Francisco
4. Baltimore
5. New England
Stuck at 8 is Minnesota, while Arizona dropped to 10th. The Browns are still last.

We're over a quarter through the season, and this is where things get interesting because you start to look for peaking and trends, and schedules. Who looks like they are good now, but may not be later (Arizona, Atlanta, Houston). And who has softer versus tougher matchups ahead. For example, Arizona gets Buffalo, but then they are @ Min, SF, @GB, @Atl. The Giants are at SF, Wash, @Dal, Pitt. So the next four weeks will be very telling as to who is really good, and who is not.
 
My Week 6 Predix:
PIT at TEN –
OAK at ATL – lock of the week
CIN at CLE – stats favor Bungles, anything can happen in CLE, stats favor CIN
STL at MIA – close call, but stats favor the Fins
IND at NYJ – close call
DET at PHI
KC at TB
DAL at BAL – Raves not impressing right now, but it is d’Boys
BUF at ARI
NE at SEA – so what it’s Brady. It’s a pressure cooker D and stadium
NYG at SF – I almost said NY, and may still change my mind
MIN at WSH –
GB at HOU – loss of crazy MLB to ACL injury is tough, but…
DEN at SD – close call, but I like Broncs offense better

That post was too funny Amster!
 
PIT at TEN – Hass will play better, but CJ has to. Still taking Pitt.
OAK at ATL – Lock of the week, indeed.
CIN at CLE – Cincy needs to win, Browns no OL, poor D.
STL at MIA – Tannehill will struggle, but so will Bradford.
IND at NYJ – Luck continues to improve. Will Tebow play more? (he should)
DET at PHI – Eagles will overcome turnover machine Vick.
KC at TB – Two struggling teams, but KC's weak D helps Freeman.
DAL at BAL – This could be closer than we think.
BUF at ARI – Arizona weak offense, but Buffalo no defense.
NE at SEA – Pats a machine right now, though Seattle D best.
NYG at SF – I think the 49ers will be overconfident here.
MIN at WSH – Even if RGIII plays, they can't stop the Viks offense.
GB at HOU – Even without Cushing, Texans eek out a win.
DEN at SD – Close, but Denver must win, and will.
 
Jun 22, 2009
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PIT at TEN – Have to go with Pitt despite intense dislike
OAK at ATL – Lock of the week across the board, watch Oakland win :-(
CIN at CLE – Cincy gets the edge
STL at MIA – One of these weeks I'll get the Fins right
IND at NYJ – Luck the second lock?
DET at PHI – They'll win despite Vick, alas
KC at TB – Home advantage
DAL at BAL – May not be easy, but can't see the Ravens failing
BUF at ARI – Arizona to bounce back
NE at SEA – Seattle would be a big upset, can't see it
NYG at SF – Close, going for home advantage
MIN at WSH – I know we can't stop their offense but I'm hoping for a miracle
GB at HOU – 6-0 is possible
DEN at SD – Peyton should prevail
 
Alpe d'Huez said:
DAL at BAL – This could be closer than we think.
NE at SEA – Pats a machine right now, though Seattle D best.
NYG at SF – I think the 49ers will be overconfident here.

Dal/Bal: agree it could be close.
NE/Sea: this is actually a very interesting matchup and should be fun to watch. I hope so.
NYG/SF: 9er confidence crossed my mind too, not to mention NY has the edge at QB. But this may come down to revenge... who plays meaner/nastier.
 
While the whole world of Lance and Johan come crashing down like the twin towers, I thought I'd comment on something more serene. Couple comments on the game last night:
- Matt obviously is not the long term solution for the Titans, but despite his mistakes he can still get it done when it counts, when time is running out and the chips are on the line. That's part of what makes him a great backup to Locker.
- Chris Johnson, Titan RB... he's a good looking back until you watch close. He does way too much dancing around in the hole to be a great back. Dang! Some of those holes his OL created were so big, what in the world is he dancing and stutter stepping around in the hole for? HIT THE HOLE HARD!. If he just ran straight through the holes he would easily have had well over 100 yards rushing (he had 91).
- Pitt defense just is not getting it done, allowing QBs way more time in the pocket than they are accustomed to giving. Maybe they can get it back when some of the injured return... Troy for example.
 
Not a good week for the week 6 predictions by me (6-7 so far), but at least the teams that matter to me got wins. But I don't feel so bad as many of the experts did not fair so well either (worst was prolly Golic at 2-12 :eek:, and many others not much better).

Amsterhammer... Spent part of the weekend down around Forest Grove in Oregon, which is kind of a rural farming community. Must be quite a Belgian or Dutch community down there with the likes of some of these road names: Dierickx Rd, Vandehey Ln, Verboort Rd.
 
Back to 5-8 this wacky week. The one hunch I was right on was NYG over SF. I just felt the 49ers coming off whipping two weak teams would be way overconfident, and the Giants are playing solid.

However, what was I thinking in picking turnover machine Vick's Eagles over the hungry Lions? If Pete Caroll were the Eagles coach, Nick Foles would be the Eagles starter.

RGIII back on ROY track, and a super big win over Minn.

...While Luck back to rookie levels. But it was really Indy's D that collapsed against a desperate Jet team.

Nice to see the Browns get their first win, and Weeden play well.

Props to Ryan Tnnehill and the fins. Poised to make a playoff run.

Super win for the 1st place Seahawks (read that again). I'll again state what a great draft pick Bruce Irvin was. While somewhat of a specialty player, that guy is a playmaker. Wilson continues to learn too.

Had it not been for Palmer, the Raiders would have beaten the Falcons, who are vulnerable.

Embarrassing loss for Arizona. When does Skelton get healthy?

Finally, the real Green Bay Packers came to play, and did they ever. Exploiting the Texans loss of Cushing, and playing aggressive defense.

This weeks power rankings should be interesting. I think Atlanta sits on top, but the Giants could be #2, over Baltimore. Chicago moves up by happenstance.
 
Good comments there Alpe.

Speaking of whacky, the KC - Bucs game had some whacky plays, but don't know if they will be on any game highlights.

Texans did miss Cushing, but I don't know if he would have made enough of a difference. Texans defense was stunting this way and that, but most were too slow developing to cope with Rogers quick trigger gun. Rogers had the ball out of his hand many times before the Tex-D could get close.

Nicely done by Skins and RGIII. (Skins being one of my teams)

Dallas and Eagles are left wondering.

Yeah, I noted the 3-way tie for 1st in the NFC West. But head-to-head Seattle would be behind the Cards cos of the Seattle lost to Arizona.

By the end of the season Wilson may be getting serious consideration for ROY. And note I said consideration, not that he'd actually win it. This kid is getting better and more confident. So far Seattle has not asked him to do too much, and have asked the running game to play a bigger role. But against the Pats, Seattle did not generate much rushing offense. So they opened up the play book a little bit more. For one reason or another, that caught the Pats D off-guard, and Seattle wideouts got behind the safeties. As Seattle starts to open up the play book for Wilson, Seattle should be less predictable. That will help Wilson, who's up to the challenge of getting better... and should.

Here's my take on the next power rankings top 15:
1. last week #2. Falcons..........6-0 overall record
2. last week #7. Giants..........4-2
3. last week #1. Texans..........5-1
4. last week #4. Ravens..........5-1
5. last week #3. 49ers..........4-2
6. last week #5. Patriots..........3-3
7. last week #6. Bears..........4-1
8. last week #12. Packers..........3-3
9. last week #8. Vikings..........4-2
10. last week #9. Cardinals..........4-2
11. last week #16. Seahawks..........4-2
12. last week #11. Eagles..........3-3
13. last week #10. Steelers..........2-3
14. last week #21. Redskins..........3-3
15. last week #13. Cowboys..........2-3

and in the cellar:
32. last week #30 KC. Chiefs..........1-5

I don't see the Pats and Packers, both having 3-3 records, below any of the teams below them just yet, even if the teams below may have better records.
 
The only disagreement I might have is that I see Chicago two places higher. Atlanta heads into the bye week, but returns against the Eagles.

Reports are that Ray Lewis suffered a triceps tear, and is out for the season. Ladarius Webb also tore his ACL and is done. With Suggs out until at least December, that is a lot of holes to fill.

I actually think the Giants are playing better than anyone right now. Eli is playing mistake free, their receivers are catching everything, and despite not being ranked high in points or yards, their defense is one of the best in the NFL.

The other team, or player, on fire was Rodgers. He seemed to really want to silence his critics. Tired of people writing them off. Considering he's threw six, count em, six TDs against the Texans says something.

The Seahawks are calling out Brady and the Pats today. Calling their offence a gimmick. Their defense seems very confident right now. And why shouldn't they be? I also like the way Wilson is adapting, growing. He's had one bad game, and some average games, but he's played well the rest of the time, and continues to improve. Jon Gruden was completely right about him during the draft. If you look at rookie QBs right now, he would have to rank behind only RGIII (who needs to run less, but said so himself). The other rookie who has played well is Tannehill, proving me (and many others) wrong. I like the way the kid gets rid of the ball, and doesn't get rattled. Luck has been too inconsistent and made too many rookie mistakes, as has Weeden, who is on a very poor team.

I'm flustered as to just how bad KC really is. You look at them position by position on offense, and they should be very good, the weakest link would be Cassell. But they were built to be a running team, and a damned good one. But they can't produce, couldn't protect Cassell (now hurt), and can't defend the pass. With Quinn in there, they could go 2-12.

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but when are the Eagles (and sports media) going to stop protecting and believing in Michael Vick? After 6 games he is still ranked 26th in passing, 24th in completion percentage, 5th in ints, 1st in fumbles, and 4th in sacks, despite being a mobile QB and "athletic". He is playing for probably the most talented team in the NFL, and lead them to a 3-3 record, with one of those wins (Balt) debatable because of replacement ref calls. It could easily be argued that he singlehandedly cost the Eagles all three of their losses, and can hardly be credited with any of their wins. And it's not just a few untimely mistakes the way he media makes it seem. Like if he just makes some minor adjustments he'll be great. The guy simply isn't any good anymore, if he ever really was outside of a few great highlight plays. As I alluded to above, it would have made more sense for the Eagles to do what Seattle did, and start rookie Nick Foles, who outplayed Vick in the pre-season (yes, with the first team as well) and showed excellent poise in a lot of playing time. He would probably led them to at least a 3-3 record, and have six NFL starts under his belt and be on his way. The obstinate decision to gamble blindly on Vick because its fun watching him scramble will ultimately cost Andy Reid his job, and rightfully so.

If Vick leads them deep into the playoffs, feel free to dig up this post and tell me what a stupid, clueless idiot I am.
 
The whacky week of NFL just ended whackier. Down 24-0 in the 2nd half, Broncos do a smack down on the Chargers and win 35-24. Manning was great, the Orange Crush D was great, and Rivers might as well have been playing for Denver. Without Rivers/Chargers implosion, Denver may not have pulled out the victory. Still, it was another great Mount Rushmore (credit to Trent Dilfer for that label) performance by Manning.

So, I feel for any East Coasters who missed out on this finish.

And that brings the results of my week-6 predictions up to 7-7. Yay.

Other news:
- Ray Lewis is done for the year with a torn triceps. There is some talk this may end his career. After all, he's got a kid (high school class of 2013) heading to "The U" next year to play football (ESPN Link) (Baltimore Beatdown Link). But most think he will be back next year.
 
Jun 15, 2009
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Manning did another comeback. Yeah sure, as always. One man alone did a wonder again.
I am tired of that stuff. Tired of those "to good to be true" american hero BS. Especially after the Pharmstrong meltdown.

W/o seeing the game*, solely looking at the stats and story, it seems it was a TEAM effort by the D forcing 6 (?) turnovers, WR´s catching balls, the OL protecting the QB to throw the ball, a maybe Prevent-Defense** by SD, and so on...

* I have the feeling i am done with NFL football. I don´t know what´s wrong with me, but so far i am not infected at all by football hype this year. It just don´t feel right. Like it was back in 1990 when i stopped watching cycling for 7 years. To top it off, now the Nike gangsters & Liestrong sponsor a college game. And nobody cares. What a arrogant, decadent way of living. Don´t you US citizens feel disgusted sometimes. Is there any morality left?

** You know guys, the only thing that prevent defense does, is preventing you from winning (long ago quote by an unknown NFL-Player). ;)

So guys, hope i didn´t disturped the party too much. But i had to say those things. They are swelling inside me for long. It was time to get them out.

May i´ll be back, may not. I´ll post sometimes here, will have my beers at the sportsbar, but i don´t think i am involved much to watch games. Last week almost all the time we talked at the bar instead of watching the games, so i completely missed the RG3 injury for example...
 
I did stay up and watch that game. Wow what a comeback/collapse! I actually shut it off when it was 24-0. I checked back just before bedtime and saw it was 24-14 and watched the rest. I have to wonder what kind of speech Norv Turner gave the Chargers at halftime to get them to roll over like that?!

Yes, it was a tem effort, and big props to the defense, but to me that was vintage Manning. Watching him engineer some of those drives was something special to watch. Like I said before, it's like having a coach on the field.

I don't know why anyone would want to abandon the NFL? This year has been quite exciting, with many unpredictable results and a lot of parity. Half the teams in right now seem to be 3-3!

I don't think Ray Lewis is done either. This year, yes. Next year he'll give it another shot. The Ravens have been superb at filling holes from missing players, but Lewis is one of those holes you dont fill. He's not the player he was 10 yers ago, but his leadership is second to none. The bright side for Ravens fans is that Suggs is going to start practice soon. So he should be back sooner than I thought.
 
Jun 15, 2009
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Alpe d'Huez said:
I don't know why anyone would want to abandon the NFL? This year has been quite exciting, with many unpredictable results and a lot of parity. Half the teams in right now seem to be 3-3!

You know it, the game is great. But NFL made it a kindergarten joke. Fantasy football on front page, hypocrisy on violence (pretenting to do something, yet their hi-lites almost all the time include illegal hits), strike last year, lock out this year, Beli-Cheat then, Bounty now. Greed here and there, and half america is suffering. For now that´s enough for me. I might be back, who knows...
 
Jul 14, 2009
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I could not believe what I was witnessing. Rivers was rattled in every way. I think the two motion penalties called on him placed something in his head that he just couldn't shake . I felt like the defensive coordinators for SD softened up coverage to the point where Manning was throwing the ball on screen pass patterns that could have been picked or tipped by a defensive back that was not giving a 5 to 8 yard cushion.

Denver deserved to win the game.Eddie Royal and Pill Rivers both looked like they were the 12th Denver man on the field at any given time. Also very confused as to why the Chargers with such weak special teams do not just hire a kicker that can bang it out the end line on every kickoff and eliminate the floundering foolish mistackles or just plain misses.

SD had a long tradition of having a 3rd down back that could come in and either accept a short run or pass role in order to make the conversion. The current schemes involve double teams at the line of scrimmage with two additional guys in the back field holding their blocks so long that they are useless as receivers for the majority of the plays.

Denver played very soft and would have given Rivers 5-10 yard passes all night long had he only been able to complete them. This game will be used as a how come news real when the team moves to LA
 
fatandfast said:
I could not believe what I was witnessing. Rivers was rattled in every way...

Sorry bout that loss fatandfast. Welcome to my world, or former world. That is as a Seahawk fan over recent years have witnessed many a squandered game, albeit by teams inferior to the current SD team.

I will comment more later, but heard that Rivers QB rating in the second half was 0.1 or 0.2. A QB rating of negative something (e.g. -0.5) means the QB was essentially playing for the other team. His QBR of ~0.1 shows technically speaking just how close he was to playing for the other team.
 
Jun 22, 2009
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on3m@n@rmy said:
Here's the closest link I could find to the 0.1 QBR I mentioned above: http://espn.go.com/nfl/qbr/_/type/player-game/group/6/order/false

Good NFL.com article here on what ailes Phillip Rivers: Philip Rivers' poor play a product of...

Rivers is in the doghouse as far as I'm concerned. He was the only QB this weekend to not wear any pink, which made his collapse against Peyton all the more satisfying for me, especially as the Bronco's win boosted my pick score to an amazing six.:rolleyes:

RG3 was wonderful to watch again, I was literally jumping up and down and screaming when he ran for the longest TD ever by a Skins QB!

I'm gutted about Ray Lewis and really hope this doesn't mean the end of his career.

I'll be back with this week's magic picks later today.
 
Amsterhammer said:
Rivers is in the doghouse as far as I'm concerned. He was the only QB this weekend to not wear any pink, which made his collapse against Peyton all the more satisfying for me, especially as the Bronco's win boosted my pick score to an amazing six.:rolleyes:

RG3 was wonderful to watch again, I was literally jumping up and down and screaming when he ran for the longest TD ever by a Skins QB!

I'm gutted about Ray Lewis and really hope this doesn't mean the end of his career.

Rivers did not wear pink? I did not notice. I did notice the cheerleaders wearing pink! :D

RG3 and other rookie QBs should be fun to watch for a loooooong time with any luck (no pun intended).

Ray Lewis has said he wants to watch his son, who will be a freshman at the U of Miami next year, play out his college career. Odds are he will redshirt, meaning he can't play the Fall season of 2013, but can start playing the Fall season of 2014. That would leave next season open for papa Ray to play.

That said, Ray also does not want to end his career by way of injury in the midst of a season (as reported by ESPN's Mike & Mike in the morning show). Odds are he really wants to return, and the door is open for him to do so this season (NY Times Link).

So, I don't think we have seen the end of Ray Lewis (either later this year or next year), who's a lock for a first ballot entry to the HOF in 5 years following his retirement.
 
My picks for week 7:
SEA at SF - I’m really not biased.
TEN at BUF - 2 bad defenses, but home field and offense edge to BUF.
CLE at IND - Home team and Indy offense "TCOB, and workin overtime".
GB at STL - Lock of the week.
ARI at MIN - Alternate lock of the week? Feel bad for Larry Fitzgerald.
WSH at NYG - Great matchup, though defenses lacking.
NO at TB - Should be a lock but could go either way.
DAL at CAR - Dallas defense should secure this win.
BAL at HOU - BAL defense hurting more than Houston’s.
JAC at OAK - Crummy game of the week.
NYJ at NE - NE stinging from last week spells doom for JETS.
PIT at CIN - Does PIT OL injuries spell doom for Roth?
DET at CHI - ? Might change mind here.

Just to make us all feel better, last week's results from a few of the ESPN experts:
- Golic....3-11
- Ditka....4-10
 
I'm just here.

Foxxy's right, greed is out of control in the USA. So is pride, which is good to a point but a fault in excess. But for me, I just look at the purity of the game and ignore (for the most part) all of those things talked about that fall into the category of "business" within the NFL. Nothing can match game day. That's where all the "business" is put aside and it's just mano o mano. That's where you find a bunch of kids running around for the fun of it, just like in HS or grid kids. That's that place my mind goes.

So, hope Foxxy sticks around if he can stomach it. Always liked his perspective, and we need it sometimes to keep our perspective.
 

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