NFL Thread - 2009-10

[jmt225]

How about Tom Brady? Have we already forgotten his amazing clutch performances through out the playoffs and his TWO game-winning drives in the closing seconds of the game to win two different Super Bowls? I'll take Brady in a clutch moment over Big Ben every damn time. Every damn time.

Good game last night for sure. Pittsburgh's D played really good, which is good for my fantasy football team.

Tom Brady is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, and the best currently in the game in my opinion, but this is one of those cases of what has he done lately? Last year he was hurt, year before wasn't put into any clutch situations because they were killing everyone and when they finally did get put in one the Patriots lost, and the year before that they lost to the Colts in the AFC Championship game, where Brady didn't play well at all.

Don't get me wrong, I think Brady is overall the better quarterback than Ben Roethlisberger by miles, but if I need one drive to win a game RIGHT NOW, I'm giving the ball to Big Ben over Brady.

 

[TwistofRKO]

Threatens to black out games? It's always been this way. It actually puts an emphasis on the fans, and their loyalty. The Eagles, Giants, Steelers, Packers, and Saints sure aren't having trouble selling their seats, and the economy has an affect on all those areas.

If you have the Chargers, an overwhelming favorite in their division, and they can't sell out THOSE games, why should they get TV perks?

Does it suck for the fans? Yeah, there are a few great fans who can't afford tickets and they can't avoid it, but this is how it's always been.

 

[X]

I think this is bullshit for one reason, and one reason alone--- teams will now be more concerned with filling up seats in their stadium than trying to win games. We're already seeing it with the Lions all but coming out and saying they'll be starting Stafford in Game 1 because they want to sell tickets. What happens if he gets injured? His year is done because the Lions wanted to sell tickets and put someone who isn't ready into a starting position.

While I understand the argument of "fans loyalty", I think it's complete bullshit for these games to be blacked out. It's not good for football, the fans, or the teams. Teams shouldn't have to be worrying about their games being blacked out if they don't sell out their stadium in a week, they should be focused on winning games.

 

[gd]

Great game last night. Just like with most every Steeler game, I never really had the feeling that we were going to lose. Here's what I learned from last nights game.

1. Chris Collinsworth is worse than John Madden and more annoying.

2. The Black Eyed Peas shouldn't ever perform live. Tim McGraw is decent.

3. Stephan Logan is going to be a huge addition to the Steelers. He is the first dangerous kick returner we've had in a long time, probably since Randel El, except for he is better than Randel El. I bet he makes the pro bowl this year.

4. The NFL refs suck. James Harrison gets held on every play, yet Max Starks gets called for holding for pushing a guy and Troy gets called for the most bogus pass interference I've ever seen.

5. Santonio is the guy now. Hines may have had 100 yards, but it was clear the whole game that our number one receiver. He looked incredible last night, he is going to have a huge year. Also, Limas Sweed must be absolute shit. He doesn't even get to see the field while Mike Wallace (who looked good)played more in one game than Limas did all of last year.

6. We have no running game. We shouldn't even bother attempting to run, nothing will come of it. Willie is basically done, Mendenahall doesn't know what he's doing, and Moore is a great 3rd down RB, not really a rusher.

7. Ben was Ben once again. Started out pretty bad, but once he got his head out of his ass, he was awesome. When we had the ball at the end of the game, I had no doubt that Ben was going to drive us down the field. Even though our O-Line is shaky and we have 0 running game, we still pulled it out.

8. Our defense is still dominant. We didn't even play that well, we were down 2 starters, yet we still held them to only 10 points. When we decide to bring the pressure, there is nothing the other team can do. We'll be able to survive with Troy, we have before.

9. Jeff Reed is underrated, even by kicker's standards. I love Skippy.

10. One more thing to make it a nice number. Mike Tomlin is most badass coach in pro sports today. Seriously, no other coach is as cool as him, not even close.

 

[RBH]

LOL, Merriman is too busy beating up women for your team to win a Super Bowl. He is going to get suspended and hopefully it's for a long time. The AFC is the Steelers conference to lose, and the Pats to win if that makes any sense. I believe the NFC goes to the Vikings because they're just solid everywhere.

While looking at the Waivers list I realized Redman wasn't claimed. Which is good for the Steelers. When Parker goes down with an injury again, they'll IR him and pick up Isaacs contract. Which is good because he knows how to score, and he showed it throughout training camp and the pre season.

I also believe my Steelers got better with the addition of Logan and McDonald. McDonald is a clutch receiver who runs precise routes and has good hands and always knows where he is on the field.

Logan is something we've been missing for years, he's a threat on every kickoff and punt return becuase he can hide behind the lineman. With the McDonald addition I believe our sack total will decrease because we have three reliable hands who are capable of being the underneath guy.

Looking forward to Thursday and Go STEELERS!!!!!!!!

I didn't know you believed in guilty until proven innocent...everyone knows that Tequila is a drunken moron and its easy to believe that the charges were dropped.

Regarding the Steelers, I don't pick repeats. It doesn't happen anymore and I would have picked the Pats but thats too easy especially given the fact that SI jumped all over that. So the last logical conclusion is the Chargers who have a healthy team this year and a bidding star in Rivers....

The Vikings? LOL Brett Farve will go down within 2 months and they have no one behind him.

 

[TwistofRKO]

Those aren't under the same umbrella. Most owners have a group in place to focus on the on-field duties anyways. I would be skeptical if more than 2-3 teams were focusing the majority of their attention on solely selling out the stadium. The owners though? Yeah, they need to focus on sell-outs. That's their profit. $75 for a ticket, $15-30 for parking, $10 for food, and money on merchandise. It's a business and the owners demand profit.

I don't agree with the Stafford example, either. He was more or less forced into the starting role with Culpepper being injured, and I don't think the idea of selling tickets had much of an impact. A rookie QB isn't a big enough draw to sell thousands of more tickets, and that's supported by the Lions not having good ticket sells in spite of Stafford starting.

And to address a completely different thing, most games aren't blacked out if it's a small amount of tickets remaining unsold. The NFL almost always grants extensions to ticket deadlines and usually the broadcasting station will buy the remaining tickets in such an event the small amount of tickets aren't sold.

There isn't really much a fan can do to affect on-field performance, but this is a scenario where fanhood is being measured, and as a great Philadelphia Eagles fan I take pride in that.

 

[NSL]

If you have the Chargers, an overwhelming favorite in their division, and they can't sell out THOSE games, why should they get TV perks?

The Chargers shouldn't have any problems selling tickets, yet they do, because the economy sucks. Playing rivals like the Broncos should easily sell out that game, and since Los Angeles still doesn't have a team, they should be packing in fans from there. Playing the Raiders should help with that. They're in a "large market" area of the country, even if San Diego itself isn't one. With guys like Gates, Rivers, LT, Merriman, Jammer, and all the other great players, they should be packing the stadium.

They're not stuck with empty seats because people don't want to see them. They're stuck with empty seats because people can't afford them.

 

[The Dewbliners]

I heard about this, and thought, "Damn, now I won't be able to watch the Bengals". See, we only have ONE GAME (that being this Sunday), that's sold out, or even remotely close. Wanna know how they even got that one game? Kroger (grocery chain in the area), Mike Brown, and a handful of others had to buy the last couple blocks of tickets.

That said, this is a silly policy in todays economic climate. I usually have season tickets to PBS, and had to give them up this year, because my group and I couldn't afford them. I imagine it to be same nation wide. I say the NFL should swallow their pride, and allow non-sellouts to be broadcast. I mean, they're already paying for the time, why not get your money's worth? Am I right?

 

[NSL]

Damn...The Bengals? While I really want to say "No one wants to see them anyway", I do know that they have a pretty solid fanbase, and that they have some damn good players. I don't know how I'd react if the Giants were blacked out. Luckily, even when they play a "weak" team, they're still big enough to attract a few thousand fans, and fill the empty seats.

I'm sure more games will sell out. Games against the Steelers and Ravens should be guaranteed sell-outs, and without looking at the schedule, you're bound to see some others. You'll also have the road games where the other team sells out.

 

[jmt225]

I don't know why all of the sudden this is now a discussion with the news media? All my life they've been blacking out Saints games. All my fucking life. A black out game hasn't happened since Brees and Bush came to the team, but it happened ALL THE FUCKING TIME throughout my childhood, and it used to piss me the fuck off. I remember one time the Saints played the 49ers (when Deion Sanders was on the team) on Monday Night Football, and THAT game was blacked out. Seriously, what the fuck? I'm still pissed about that one! lol

But yeah... like I said, this is nothing new, so why is it such a hot topic right now? I really don't understand. I know it's fucked up, but it's the way it's been in the NFL for as long as I can remember, and it's only now being brought up as something fucked up to do to fans? Confuses me.

 

[Cone Stold Steve Austin]

(sorry guys but im prolly gonna make this post more related to the other NFC North teams than DET lol)

i think DETs wins this yr will come against WAS (week 4), STL (week 8), CLE (week 11) so i guess my prediction for them would be 3-13

i would say between 4-12 & 6-10 but for once the NFC North is actually deep this yr as GB, CHI, & MIN all have a great chance at reaching the Super Bowl (GB with rodgers and the addition of the 3-4 defense; MIN with adrian, that top 5 defense, & some guy named favre; CHI actually has a franchise QB for the first time in like 40-50 yrs in jay cutler) so my point is that DET wont win any division gms (0-6) by having to play those 3 teams twice a yr but this is the NFL & even the lions could sneak a win against one of their nfc north foes

 

[Theo Mays]

I don't like the Steelers, but they played some fantastic ball on Thursday and are looking like they could be a real force once again this year. I'm interested in seeing how well they play if Polamalu is out for a good chunk of time. But the Steelers, despite my dislike for them, are a really good football team.

But I want to talk about the Titans. They may have lost the game, but boy did they really impress me last night. People said their defense would struggle without Albert Haynesworth (who is a bit overrated IMO) and boy are they wrong. That defense is one of the best in the league. They get decent pressure and get good pursuit on the ball. They also have a pretty good secondary to go with their fantastic line. Their defense sort of reminds me of the NYG, the year they won the Super Bowl. I think people are gonna have to watch out for those boys in Tennessee.

 

[Baller]

Ben Roethlisberger made the D-Line look good, as he holds the ball for way too long but then again you give credit to the secondary for their doing their job.

Both teams look impressive and both are going to be playoffs teams and I wouldnt be surprised if they finish 1-2 in the AFC.

 

[Theo Mays]

Yeah Ben does tend to hold on to the ball too long, but I think the Titans D-Line will play well all season. Jason Jones and Jacob Ford should come into their own, Kearse and KVB are good vets, and Tony Brown is a pretty underrated DT. But it wouldn't surprise me to see these two square off again in the AFC championship. Can't wait for Sunday. Any of you guys see any upsets happening. While it may not be a huge upset, I think the Jets are gonna defeat the Texans. Mark Sanchez (I just don't like him), I can see being a Matt Ryan type this year.

 

[TwistofRKO]

The Chargers shouldn't have any problems selling tickets, yet they do, because the economy sucks. Playing rivals like the Broncos should easily sell out that game, and since Los Angeles still doesn't have a team, they should be packing in fans from there. Playing the Raiders should help with that. They're in a "large market" area of the country, even if San Diego itself isn't one. With guys like Gates, Rivers, LT, Merriman, Jammer, and all the other great players, they should be packing the stadium.

They're not stuck with empty seats because people don't want to see them. They're stuck with empty seats because people can't afford them.

And the teams with great fans aren't struggling with the same economy? Chargers fans historically suck, that's why their tickets are still available.

ESPN ranked the best fans last year, and while it should be taken with a grain of salt, they were 22nd.

Even the Browns sell-out every year, and they have only been a threat 2 years since their re-introduction to the NFL.

 

[Christian Battlez]

Yeah Ben does tend to hold on to the ball too long, but I think the Titans D-Line will play well all season. Jason Jones and Jacob Ford should come into their own, Kearse and KVB are good vets, and Tony Brown is a pretty underrated DT. But it wouldn't surprise me to see these two square off again in the AFC championship. Can't wait for Sunday. Any of you guys see any upsets happening. While it may not be a huge upset, I think the Jets are gonna defeat the Texans. Mark Sanchez (I just don't like him), I can see being a Matt Ryan type this year.

Big Ben does hold onto the ball too long even he has admitted this but you gotta blame Tennessee for only rushing four down lineman late in the game and allowing Pittsburgh to pass all over. Pittsburgh's O-Line is shit and the fact that Ben held up pretty well after being sacked four times early on is proof that they miss Haynesworth. If they don't send someone besides their traditional line they will be in trouble without him.

Jets are without Calvin Pace and Shaun Ellis both with suspensions. If Schaub is active I expect the Texans to pull it out. If not I don't trust there backup and will go with the Jets. No real upset picks too early in the season to expect anything of an upset everyone is 0-0. Cept Pitt and Tennessee.

 

[Nev]

Really looking foward to the Packers-Bears game this sunday. I hear a lot people predicting about a score of something like 41-35. I think it`ll be a huge surprise how low scoring this game will be this sunday, haha. Both of their defenses have been playing great under their new systems and I don't see Aaron Rodgers easily throwing bombs over Lovie Smith's schemes. Overall, I say both defenses are about even and the Packers offense slightly has the advantage seeing how swell they've been looking in the preseason. Packers win.

I don't see any other meaningful upsets. I can see my Giants team starting 0-2, probably. But unlikely.

 

[CH David]

Bears vs. Packers tonight boys. I know most of you probably couldn't give two shits about it, but this is the longest and most storied rivalry in football. This should be a great game. To be honest, and I'm not just saying this as a Bears fan, I don't get why the Packers are getting so much hype. I'm guessing it is because their defense was bad at the end of last season, and they brought in Dom Capers to shore up the 3-4. That has to be it, because even with Rodgers, Grant, and the receivers, you can't do anything if your defense sucks. So I'm guessing that is why. If their defense has improved as greatly as everyone is probably speculating, then by all means, this will be a great game, and they should definitely have a better season than the 6-10 that they had last year.

But it all continues today after Thursday.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I am interested in this game to see how Cutler and Rodgers do this season. Aaron handled himself with class last season during the Favre fiasco and he put up great numbers but his defense and running game were nonexistent. I believe they will be better and possibly contend for the division or wild-card. It's time for Cutler to shut his mouth and play big because he hasn't in his career. He threw a lot of interceptions year and collapsed in the home stretch to miss the playoffs. The Bears should be better but their defense isn't getting any younger and I see them either going 9-7 or 10-6 and possibly missing the playoffs again.

 

[Theo Mays]

I'll definitely be watching my two rivals in GB/Chi tonight, should be an awesome game. Cutler's first game as a Bear, Rodgers 2nd season, will he keep up the good work? How will the 3-4 defense work for the Pack, and will the Bears defense return to glory?

 

[NSL]

I don't know why all of the sudden this is now a discussion with the news media?

It's a big hot-button topic because for a long time, it was only a handful of teams, and a handful of games that were ever blacked out. Now, there's roughly a third of the league in danger of having games blacked out, and unlike past years, most of those games aren't close to being sold out.

I know, and I'm sure everyone else knows, that this has been a problem for a long time. It's just a little more national now, instead of being a regional problem.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Expect a very huge NFL Week 1 review to be forth-coming in the following days. Until then, a quick self-favored report on Carolina is this.

Horrid. If I could stop at that, I would. But my bigger issue is all the morons and idiots (yes, you are) that believe Carolina's season is over at 0-1, just because Delhomme tossed another 4 INTs and lost a fumble. Let's get something straight.. bad games happen. Two in a row, separated by a season.. (last game, last year, first game, this year) yeah, thats a bit much. However, it happens.

If you don't believe me, look at Favre's career. Anyone who doesn't believe bad games happen, can look at the soon to be Hall of Famer's career and see that even the "best" have them. Peyton Manning threw 4 INTs against the Pats a couple times, but no one is claiming he's awful. Now, albeit Delhomme will never be a Favre or a Manning, the point is.. he isn't awful, just because he's had some bad games.

He helped lead Carolina to a 12-4 record last year, and also helped them reach the Superbowl in 2003. Hes a manageable QB, so long as he doesn't get rattled early. The problem he had in this game was the first two turnovers, in a row.

When Delhomme lost the fumble, followed by the punt return for a TD - Delhomme felt rattled, which lead to his first pick. Which lead to more. Thats his biggest downfall, that I see. Delhomme being rattled is Delhomme being thrown off balance. He feels like he has to try even harder, to fit the ball into tight coverage, or to a specific person. He loses focus, and thus the game.

Add onto that, that our Offensive-line wasn't able to stop Philly's Defense from breaking through and our Running game (minus the opening drive) being shut down.. and you have an all around loss. Steve Smith was shut down, Williams & Stewart both only had 70 yds combined. So an offense which was featured to be one of the best this year, to post only 10 points.. yeah, its horrid.

On the plus side, our Defense was talked about as being one of the worst in the league coming into this year - and I felt like, given the situations they were put in, they did a good job. Better than expected.

In the coming week, we face Atlanta. I honestly WANT Delhomme to get one more chance. If he has another horrible outing, then we should either sign FA - Jeff Garcia, or look for a possible trade. At this point, a trade for a quality QB could be almost impossible. However, Cleveland and Carolina have always had a great relationship through tradings and I could see Delhomme for Derek Anderson happening.

Do I want Derek Anderson? Fuck no. I'd much rather sign the guy who couldn't make the Raider's squad, Jeff Garcia. But the fact is.. if Delhomme continues to throw away games (literally) then he will be thrown away, himself. I'm sure. I still have faith in him, despite a lot of people not.

On a side note, while I can not stand Jay Cutler - he threw 4 INTs tonight, and albeit the Bears lost. I highly doubt they're thinking about cutting or trading him away. They're in all likelihood still overjoyed to have him.

Also - McNabb paid for being stupid and trying to continue running up the scoreboard. Broken ribs, and likely to miss a game, or at the very least be less valuable. Should've just threw the ball to someone, or away in general.

 

[NSL]

Here's your chance to name who you think should be MVP for the NFL's opening week. Use whatever criteria you like, just don't spam!


Looking at numbers alone, I'd have to go with either Drew Brees or Reggie Wayne, because they both had huge days, and probably won't have another game like that this season. My problem with Brees' day though, is that he was playing the Lions, and sadly, you have to take that into consideration. And, while Wayne had a huge day, his team barely earned the win over a team they should have beaten by more than 2, especially with Manning at QB.

So, who does my vote go to? The man that single-handedly carried the Minnesota Vikings to a victory over the Browns. No, not Favre. Adrian Peterson. Not only did he run for 180 yards, but he also scored three times, and made the big plays. With Favre only throwing "downfield" a handful of times, they needed the running game to be big, and because of AD, it was.

 

[NSL]

Today the news came down that Brian Urlacher would miss the rest of the season, following surgery on his wrist that he injured Sunday night.

Let's face it. Even after acquiring Cutler, and finally getting a decent ground game with Forte, the Bears still relied on their defense to win their games. Outside of their TE, they don't have much going on at WR for Cutler to throw for 300 every week, while still expecting Forte to run for 100, and catch 5 passes. Urlacher missing the season leaves a huge hole in their defense, and I don't know who they have, or can get, to fill that hole.

I'm not saying their finished, and will go 4-12 on the season, but I think this takes them out of contention for the division title, and drops them down to a more reasonable 7-9 or 8-8, and maybe a shot at a Wild Card spot if they squeak out 9 wins.

 

[Big Sexy]

I hate to say this after only one week, but it looks more and more like the NFC North is going to be a two team race. The Bears have lost Brian Urlacher for the season and he is by far the best player on their defense. Combine that with the fact the Bears offense isn't very good and it looks like Green Bay and Minnesota are just better teams. As a Lions fan I don't like any NFC North teams, but I have the greatest dislike for the Bears so for me this is a good thing.