National Football League

[on3m@n@rmy]

I can see you are a "Defense-Guy", while i am a "Offense-Guy"...

It would be a sweet loosing season for ATL. You with the Landis-TdF-Avatar and 25 Euros doubled up for me.

don't never calculate on the juvenile forces until the proper process of incubation has been fully materialized.... meaning: don't count your chickens before the eggs are hatched. I'm counting on seeing your new Lance avatar.

I do like 'D', but I also like a really good run offense with all the blocking schemes and action. For instance, zone blocking requires linemen to improvise as the play develops, as opposed to strict assignments.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Bucs fan, eh? Too bad all 3 of those teams (TB, NO, ATL) have to be in the same league because I like them all. But it would be nice to see TB or ATL have a go at the SB this year.

Yup Bucs fan all my life, and I feel the same way. As a football fan, I totally respect what all three of those teams are doing and like many players on each team, but as a Bucs fan I'm always rooting against the division rivals....especially Carolina (one team I cannot stand).

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

The Skill-Level is sooo high, that often luck is the difference between millions of dollars and working in a supermarket like Warner did.

This was something Brock mentioned. That the difference between the top NFL team and bottom was amazingly small. He held up two fingers about a quarter inch apart. For example, a few years ago when Detroit was 0-16 and Alabama (NCAA) was unbeaten in college there was musings they should play. I asked him about this and he said Detroit would win easily. Like one of those 56-3 games. Said Alabama could get lucky on a turnover or something like that, but they would struggle to get first downs and be faced with a lot of 4th and 14 situations. While Detroit would have moved the ball fairly easily down the field and scored, at least a FG, on probably every posession. And Detroit was horrible that year. Considering Brock played in the NFL for 12 years, including a SB and in a few Pro Bowls, and was a head coach at Army, I'd think he would know.

As an aside, if someone gets wise and looks up games from the early 70's when the NFL did have exhibition games against NCAA teams, he said forget about that. The NFL guys never played hard, never blitzed, and played a lot of back-up players. It was even less important than pre-season games.

If Manning is smart...otherwise he risks paralyzation. One more wrong hit and his spine cord may will narrow to serious damage.

You don't know that for certain. Of course any player could get hurt like that, but we don't know that he won't have a full enough recovery that he could safely play. I do expect him to miss the entire season though. The money issue you may be correct on.

I'll offer some predictions in a couple hours...

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Okay, here's some thoughts on the season. I already predicted I think the Packers in a repeat, this time over the Jets. I won't list the full standings, but some division winners and comments:

AFC:

East: Jets 12-4. I think the Pats are overrated, but still good, and should win 10 or 11 games. I like the Jets passion, age, coach.

North: Pittsburgh and Baltimore 11-5. Steelers are getting older, but still have a great team. Baltimore should contend and has a fairly easy schedule. Ray Lewis is getting older too, but still a great leader. Keep an eye on Colt McCoy in Cleveland. Cincy will struggle to win 4 games, but Andy Dalton looks like a leader and future NFL QB to me.

South: Tennessee or Houston at 10-6. This could be a competitive division though with Manning out.

West: San Diego 12-4. Don't read too much into that. I think they'll lose in the playoffs. Huge ? for them is Bob Sanders. IF he stays healthy, look out. KC should finish about 10-6.

NFC

East: Philadelphia 11-5. People are infatuated with them, but they are undersized, and have several average players at key positions. Dallas will contend here.

North: Green Bay 14-2, repeat in SB. I'm hoping Detroit can finish 10-6 and get a WC, it all depends on Stafford's health, and if the D can gel. 8-8 may be more realistic.

South: New Orleans 12-4. I like TB as a WC here at 10-6. Atlanta may finish 10-6, but I don't see them winning the division. Cam Newton will have a tough year but show promise.

West: Arizona 10-6. St. Louis will challenge them though. Either team may win division with 9-7 record. SF will win about 6 games, curious to see if or when Kaepernick plays. Seattle will struggle to win 4 games.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

South: New Orleans 12-4. I like TB as a WC here at 10-6. Atlanta may finish 10-6, but I don't see them winning the division. Cam Newton will have a tough year but show promise.

Fair assessment. The Bucs have a tougher schedule and Josh Freeman is very much on the radar this year, so it will be difficult to make the playoffs, but I think they can do it this year.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

South: New Orleans 12-4. I like TB as a WC here at 10-6. Atlanta may finish 10-6, but I don't see them winning the division. Cam Newton will have a tough year but show promise.

Fair assessment. The Bucs have a tougher schedule and Josh Freeman is very much on the radar this year, so it will be difficult to make the playoffs, but I think they can do it this year.

 

[Anonymous]

South: New Orleans 12-4. I like TB as a WC here at 10-6. Atlanta may finish 10-6, but I don't see them winning the division. Cam Newton will have a tough year but show promise.

The division went 0'fer the first week, but you are right, Newton showed some promise...to say the least. He beat Manning's rookie start record. The kid is a player.

 

[ggusta]

The division went 0'fer the first week, but you are right, Newton showed some promise...to say the least. He beat Manning's rookie start record. The kid is a player.

Win or lose, at least Newton now makes the Panthers watchable. Something that the team has not been for a couple of years.

 

[Amsterhammer]

I couldn't believe my luck today when I discovered that my ESPN America channel was offering a double header of both my teams!

I was even more thrilled as the evening progressed and I first saw the Ravens rip the traditional enemy Steelers a new one! Not such a surprise that the Ravens won, but the manner of their victory sure was!

Biggest win ever against the Steelers, 35-7.

Most points ever against them.

First time in 238 games that they gave up 7 turnovers!

Their frist opening day loss in 8 years.

The first time ever that their turnovers equalled their points total.

And then, kind of like desert, I got to watch the much maligned and totally unfancied Rex Grossman throw over 300 yds (would have been even more if several receivers hadn't dropped some perfectly thrown long balls) as he led the serious underdog Redskins to a comfortable 28-14 win over a very poor Giants team. Eli will be a very unhappy Manning tonight, though not as unhappy as his bro' will be at the thrashing the Colts took in Texas.

I couldn't have asked for a better day of sport on this opening day, a fine way to end an otherwise somber day of reflection.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Ravens demolition of the Steers, while only week 1, sent a message. I don't think anyone outside of the Baltimore locker room saw that coming.

I think Foxy (and I) were wrong about Rex Grossman. Redskins looked good, but the Giants looked bad.

San Diego did all they could to lose to the Vikings. Special teams still awful. At least Bob Sanders didn't get hurt.

Nice win for the Lions over TB.

Newton did look terrific, even if Carolina lost. Will make the Panthers worth watching this year.

Andy Dalton looks like the real thing as well in Cincy. Bad loss for Cleveland. They looked surprisingly out-coached.

Buffalo going into KC, who had won 7 of 8 at home, and flattened them. Who expected that?

Seahawks looked predictably bad.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

Pretty much everyone I expected to win lost, except for the Eagles. Newton looked good, but he wasn't exactly playing a stellar defense.

As for my team, at least all the other NFC south teams lost

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Well I have not gone back to count how many predictions I got wrong, but I think I'll bypass that step and just go hide under a rock for a while. Even though the Ravens, SD, Cards, and a few others held up for me.

Everyone was wrong about Rex Grossman and the Skins I would guess.

Tampa's cannons misfired, but actually I was not too surprised by Detroit.

Buffalo flattened KC at KC. Who expected that? Nobody.

Seahawks looked bad, but they have a few bright spots on defense... mostly the secondary (Chancelor at SS, Browner at 6'4" and RCB, and Thomas at FS). Plus they got a few key stops that kept them in the game. Not enough offense... 37 yards total in the first half. And special teams sucked, even for a bad Seattle team.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

LMAO....

Da Bears with the mad Prof (Martz) destroyed ATL. Wow, i couldn´t ask for more. ATL 1 down, & "my" team wins big time.
Big Rape & SB-Cheat PIT lost; superb

The rest comes later. I´ve got to recover from the last few days. The NFL opening week "forced" me to drink more beer than the whole summer... I am just drunk for now.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

LMAO....

Da Bears with the mad Prof (Martz) destroyed ATL. Wow, i couldn´t ask for more. ATL 1 down, & "my" team wins big time.
Big Rape & SB-Cheat PIT lost; superb

The rest comes later. I´ve got to recover from the last few days. The NFL opening week "forced" me to drink more beer than the whole summer... I am just drunk for now.

Don't remind me. If ATL keeps this up I will have to start preparing my new avatar thing.

What a night game between big D and the Jets. I'm not a fan of either team really, but I am more of a fan of underdogs. And with the NYJ down 2 TDs late in the game I could not resist a chance to cheer for the Jets. It was a game of big plays, and the Jets really just made 1 more big play than Dallas... the blocked punt that was returned for a TD by the Jets, and then the final interception of a Romo pass by the Jets' Revis. Wild and crazy.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I sure am glad I'm not a Dallas fan. If I were, I would consider slitting my wrists about now. That was one of the more ugly losses I have ever seen. Dallas had never lost while winning a game by 14 points in the 4th quarter. Never. They were something stupid like 214-0-1. What makes it worse is that they had the ball on the Jets 1 and a chance to put the nail in the coffin when Romo fumbled. They still had a chance though, but that blocked punt really put the Jets back into the game. Amazingly enough, they still had a very good chance to win after that and were heading for the win, until Romo threw that awful pick. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I sure am glad I'm not a Dallas fan. If I were, I would consider slitting my wrists about now. That was one of the more ugly losses I have ever seen. Dallas had never lost while winning a game by 14 points in the 4th quarter. Never. They were something stupid like 214-0-1. What makes it worse is that they had the ball on the Jets 1 and a chance to put the nail in the coffin when Romo fumbled. They still had a chance though, but that blocked punt really put the Jets back into the game. Amazingly enough, they still had a very good chance to win after that and were heading for the win, until Romo threw that awful pick. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

In jest, I'm sure you could find some Dallas fans who would offer to help Romo out with that. The Romo fumble on the 1 yd line (reminiscent of the Romo botched snap vs. Seattle), the ugly interception, not to mention another botched snap in this game when near the end a shotgun snap bounced off his chest. Still, Romo stood up and took the blame (http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/6960364/dallas-cowboys-qb-tony-romo-mistakes-surprise).

But it wasn't all his fault (e.g. the blocked punt for a Jet TD). You might even fault the coaches for letting Dez Bryant stay in the game with some injury to his leg that made him completely ineffective. My Grandma could have covered him.

 

[Anonymous]

Pretty much everyone I expected to win lost, except for the Eagles. Newton looked good, but he wasn't exactly playing a stellar defense.

As for my team, at least all the other NFC south teams lost

You could have stopped with "Newton looked good" because if I remember correctly, other teams played other teams with bad defenses yesterday, and none of their QB's threw for more yards than Cam. He also broke the record for yards by a rookie QB's in their first game. He also tied for the most yards thrown in a single game by a rookie QB in their first SEASON. So your extra information is pretty irrelevant in terms of significance.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

You could have stopped with "Newton looked good" because if I remember correctly, other teams played other teams with bad defenses yesterday, and none of their QB's threw for more yards than Cam. He also broke the record for yards by a rookie QB's in their first game. He also tied for the most yards thrown in a single game by a rookie QB in their first SEASON. So your extra information is pretty irrelevant in terms of significance.

True but keep in mind we're talking about the fourth worst defense in the NFL, so really only three teams played worse defenses.

Id say his stats are irrelevant; the only one that matters is the score.

 

[fatandfast]

thanks Chargers for making my hair thin further. A win is a win but come on, same to you Jets lets get it done early. I think the Giants and Steelers should combine teams just to lessen the disappointment ..Lions with a win? wow

 

[Anonymous]

thanks Chargers for making my hair thin further. A win is a win but come on, same to you Jets lets get it done early. I think the Giants and Steelers should combine teams just to lessen the disappointment ..Lions with a win? wow

First effing play of the first effing game of a brand new year and what do they do? I swore ath the TV for a moment then turned it off, went out and mowed my lawn.

Came back for the 4th quarter though

 

[Anonymous]

True but keep in mind we're talking about the fourth worst defense in the NFL, so really only three teams played worse defenses.

Id say his stats are irrelevant; the only one that matters is the score.

I'd say that the loss was in no way due to him, and to ignore those fantastic stats is stupid. I am going to guess that had you proffered a prediction prior to the game regarding his performance, it you would have been far off the mark...

If you endured the season we did last year as a fan, the score matters, but it is significantly assuaged by the performance of Newton.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I'd say that the loss was in no way due to him, and to ignore those fantastic stats is stupid. I am going to guess that had you proffered a prediction prior to the game regarding his performance, it you would have been far off the mark...

If you endured the season we did last year as a fan, the score matters, but it is significantly assuaged by the performance of Newton.

Now it all makes sense. I should have known from your location you're a panthers fan. With that being said, we can expect many little disagreements throughout the season . I'm a Bucs fans and have endured many seasons just like the panthers last year.

I didn't have any expectations for him yesterday. I don't even care. There are only two times this season where I will care how he plays: @tampa and @carolina. All I was saying in my original post is perhaps his stats were a bit inflated considering he was playing the fourth worst defense in the league. Fans will get a better look at how good he is when he plays a real defense. I will say he did exactly what he should have done against a **** poor defense, which is rip them apart.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I don't care who they played, or if he has a mediocre season after this, that was one hell of a performance by Newton. All the criticisms against him, all of them, turned out to be bunk. People saying he could only really run, that he had poor accuracy, that he wasn't smart enough to make key, fast decisions, that he wasn't a true leader. There were even some people saying he would be a bust and barely be better than JaMarcus Russell. He completely blew all of those out the water and was the NFL player of the week, even in a losing cause if you ask me. It took Aaron Rogers a couple years to adapt his style from college to the pros. A lot of people think Tim Tebow will never be able to do it as so far he hasn't been able to at all. Newton did that in one game. One game!

In tonight's games I think the Broncos will beat the Raiders in a close game, and I think the Patriots-Dolphins game will be closer than people expect.

Chiefs all-pro safety Eric Berry was injured in the 1Q of their blowout loss to the Bills and is out for the season with a torn ACL. Huge loss for them.

 

[Boeing]

Go Rams and Take La Russa with you

 

[Anonymous]

Now it all makes sense. I should have known from your location you're a panthers fan. With that being said, we can expect many little disagreements throughout the season . I'm a Bucs fans and have endured many seasons just like the panthers last year.

I didn't have any expectations for him yesterday. I don't even care. There are only two times this season where I will care how he plays: @tampa and @carolina. All I was saying in my original post is perhaps his stats were a bit inflated considering he was playing the fourth worst defense in the league. Fans will get a better look at how good he is when he plays a real defense. I will say he did exactly what he should have done against a **** poor defense, which is rip them apart.

Things are coming into focus quite clearly now.

Well, I will say that I hate Tampa less than Atlanta. I absolutely detest Atlanta. The defense attorneys in town love the Atlanta games because they always get to represent out of town dirt bags from Atlanta who come here, get too drunk, and act like fans of the Atlanta Falcons act. I am being completely serious too, they actually look forward to the games. I am sure it is the same there. Dirtiest team in the NFL, and biggest dirt bags for fans in the NFL...bad combination.

Well, it might not have been a great defense, but 420 yards is pretty good in the NFL regardless. I for one was surprised by his play. I expected him to look awkward and lost. Regardless of the level of defense he faced, he did not look either.