NFL 2011

[ghost]

Roids, dammit.  Has to be. 

[Cyrrex]

So the Colts are no longer the runaway favorite in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.  Tied with the Rams and Minnesota.  There is no way they deserve to strike QB gold a second time in a row, so I am really, REALLY hoping they don't get the #1 pick.  Fuck the Colts.  I like Peyton Manning a lot, but I am otherwise very tired of this whole organization.  They deserve a few bad years.  Let Minnesota get him.  I'd like that, for some reason.

[Trippy]

Not sure how the tie breakers work but I would say right now it's the Rams who are now the front runners for the number one pick overall. They play the Steelers and Niners. The Vikings play the Redskins and Bears, and the Colts play the Jaguars.

[HaemishM]

Would the Vikings pick Luck with Ponder on the roster? He may not be as highly rated as Luck, but Ponder has looked decent on a very very bad team with no wideouts worth mentioning (Harvin has been in and out of the lineup and is very injury prone).

[01101010]

Would the Vikings pick Luck with Ponder on the roster? He may not be as highly rated as Luck, but Ponder has looked decent on a very very bad team with no wideouts worth mentioning (Harvin has been in and out of the lineup and is very injury prone).

Maybe, maybe not, but the trade value on that pick is more than worth it.

[ghost]

Why would the Rams pick Luck?  He's no better than Bradford.

[Trippy]

I never said they would.

[Paelos]

I'm intrigued by the Jacksonville v. Indy game next week. I'm wondering which team will more effectively throw the game without throwing the game.

[ghost]

I never said they would.

It would be interesting to watch them make the choice though.

[Johny Cee]

I never said they would.

It would be interesting to watch them make the choice though.

In a QB driven league, shouldn't whoever has the top pick swipe up the hottest prospect in years even if they just want to use him as trade bait to shore up the rest of their line up?  The dirty MtG player/trader in me says swipe the highly hyped prospect while speculation is up, trade him away for a pile of solid players to shore up your team.

Isn't the only reason not to pick Luck alienating your present QB?  Really, if that QB's name isn't one of the top 3/4, do it.


Am I missing something screwy with trade rules/draft rules/salary cap rules?  I like watching football, but don't really give a shit about trades, personalities, off season, or whatever.  I just like watching good football games.

[ghost]

I never said they would.

It would be interesting to watch them make the choice though.

In a QB driven league, shouldn't whoever has the top pick swipe up the hottest prospect in years even if they just want to use him as trade bait to shore up the rest of their line up?  The dirty MtG player/trader in me says swipe the highly hyped prospect while speculation is up, trade him away for a pile of solid players to shore up your team.

Isn't the only reason not to pick Luck alienating your present QB?  Really, if that QB's name isn't one of the top 3/4, do it.


Am I missing something screwy with trade rules/draft rules/salary cap rules?  I like watching football, but don't really give a shit about trades, personalities, off season, or whatever.  I just like watching good football games.

Well yeah, they wouldn't take some shmoe and leave luck sitting.  A trade would be there, of course.  I don't think the trades in the NFL for draft picks are quite the big deal they are in the NBA.  I don't think they would necessarily get equal value for the trade.

[Tannhauser]

How can you not keep Manning?  I say trade away that first pick for some obscene deal that nets you more playmakers.  We've seen the Colts without Manning, they need more talent at least on offense.

[Ingmar]

Sanchez, you are SO BAD.

[Trippy]

Well yeah, they wouldn't take some shmoe and leave luck sitting.  A trade would be there, of course.  I don't think the trades in the NFL for draft picks are quite the big deal they are in the NBA.  I don't think they would necessarily get equal value for the trade.

The Giants traded two 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick to the Chargers to get Eli Manning.

[ghost]

Well yeah, they wouldn't take some shmoe and leave luck sitting.  A trade would be there, of course.  I don't think the trades in the NFL for draft picks are quite the big deal they are in the NBA.  I don't think they would necessarily get equal value for the trade.

The Giants traded two 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick to the Chargers to get Eli Manning.

That's not a good example of what I'm talking about.  You don't see high level draft picks dangled as often in the NFL as part of trades for existing, high level players like you do in the NBA.  And even draft day trades like that aren't as common.

Edit:  And by this I mean trades for players like Amare Staudemire or Chris Paul.  You just don't see players of that caliber traded very often in the NFL. 

[Tannhauser]

Detroit leads San Diego 17-0, go Lions!

[Paelos]

Giants played well enough for Sanchez to completely self-destruct. The USC QB curse rides again.

Dallas saw that the Giants won and decided to not even show up against Philly because it doesn't matter. That and Romo hurt his hand in the first fucking quarter.

[Tannhauser]

Lions are in the playoffs for the first time since 1999!  Truly, the dark reign of Matt Millen is over!

[Trippy]

Edit:  And by this I mean trades for players like Amare Staudemire or Chris Paul.  You just don't see players of that caliber traded very often in the NFL. 

The NBA doesn't have a franchise player tag like the NFL does.

[Paelos]

Good job Lions! I am happy to see a UGA quarterback finally have some success at the next level.

[Johny Cee]

Giants played well enough for Sanchez to completely self-destruct. The USC QB curse rides again.

Dallas saw that the Giants won and decided to not even show up against Philly because it doesn't matter. That and Romo hurt his hand in the first fucking quarter.

I R DUM.  Didn't realize football was on today.

Sorry Paelos.  Doesn't this just keep the Giants/Dallas neck and neck so that their last game is for all the marbles, or am I missing something? 

Hopefully this kills the "Fire Coughlin" push.  Yah, yah...  bad in second half of the season and dropped a huge amount of games in a row.  It was a nightmarish schedule, and along with the turkeys, his team put up some good games against top flight competition...  in a rebuilding year.


Also, looking at the box scores?  WTF happened this week???  Those are some bizarre fucking stats.

[caladein]

Edit:  And by this I mean trades for players like Amare Staudemire or Chris Paul.  You just don't see players of that caliber traded very often in the NFL. 

The NBA doesn't have a franchise player tag like the NFL does.

Also, the contract structure is completely different.

If an NFL team trades a player who signed a contract with a salary bonus, the remaining cap obligation from that signing bonus (which is amortized over the length of the contract) immediately counts against the original team's cap.  As an example, if you trade a player one year into a five year deal that had a $20 million signing bonus, you would be out $16 million in cap room in the coming year.

[Slayerik]

Lions looked like a playoff team today. The roar? RESTORED

[Ingmar]

Giants played well enough for Sanchez to completely self-destruct. The USC QB curse rides again.

Dallas saw that the Giants won and decided to not even show up against Philly because it doesn't matter. That and Romo hurt his hand in the first fucking quarter.

I R DUM.  Didn't realize football was on today.

Sorry Paelos.  Doesn't this just keep the Giants/Dallas neck and neck so that their last game is for all the marbles, or am I missing something? 

Hopefully this kills the "Fire Coughlin" push.  Yah, yah...  bad in second half of the season and dropped a huge amount of games in a row.  It was a nightmarish schedule, and along with the turkeys, his team put up some good games against top flight competition...  in a rebuilding year.


Also, looking at the box scores?  WTF happened this week???  Those are some bizarre fucking stats.

Dallas losing didn't matter, because the Giants won. Just a quirk of the tiebreaker system basically.

[Trippy]

It did matter if they wanted to fight for a wild card spot but apparently they didn't care.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, I think Dallas is so far behind on the wild card tiebreaker count that really all that matters is the NFC East title. Or they just threw their season away potentially. They looked completely inept. Of course, the Giants really didn't look much better. They got some really big plays but for the most part, their game was terrible. They can't run for shit against even a mildly competent team. And of course, the Jets could run ok but Sanchez self-destructed in his usual ways.

[Trippy]

Dallas had the tiebreaker against Atlanta because Dallas had the better conference record.

[Paelos]

Dallas had the tiebreaker against Atlanta because Dallas had the better conference record.

It was NFC East or bust. There's absolutely no way the Falcons were going to lose to Tampa in their last game. Have you guys seen Tampa? I'm pretty sure they are paying fans to take their place on the sidelines.

[HaemishM]

Seems kind of fucking stupid to hang your hat entirely on beating the Giants in the last game. Yes, the Bucs have been playing like Down's Syndrome babies, but Atlanta hasn't been the model of high-level consistent play either. They could very well go in and lay an egg against both New Orleans and Tampa, no matter how unlikely that is. I think Dallas may end up regretting that choice, because I honestly think New York is going to beat them again, especially considering the Giants will be playing at home and Romo's status with the hand might be questionable. Garrett has made some decisions that are awful easy to criticize this year.

[Chimpy]

This game is infuriating so far. God damn the Packers defense is terrible.

[WayAbvPar]

Did you hear them talk about the stat where the Pack has given up more total yards than they have earned on offense, and yet is 15-1? That is one terrible defense that gets turnovers and big plays to mask its futility.

[Chimpy]

Did you hear them talk about the stat where the Pack has given up more total yards than they have earned on offense, and yet is 15-1? That is one terrible defense that gets turnovers and big plays to mask its futility.

Yeah I heard that.

I watched the packers play Oakland and in that game their defense played about a million times better than they did last night. Hopefully their D will get their heads on straight for the lions/playoffs.

[HaemishM]

Oh yeah, if the Pack wasn't 1) so good at getting ahead of teams on offense and 2) so good at getting INT's because the opponent has to throw the ball due to being down 14-0 in the 2nd quarter, their defense would be killing them. Kind of like the Colts defense has been the last few years. The weird part is that the defense is actually filled with some talented guys, they just have been giving up a lot more plays this year than last. They really need another pass rusher besides Matthews but losing Cullen Jenkins without really replacing those sacks is where they've fallen down.

Good thing they have an MVP QB and several MVP caliber wideouts.

[Malakili]

Did you hear them talk about the stat where the Pack has given up more total yards than they have earned on offense, and yet is 15-1? That is one terrible defense that gets turnovers and big plays to mask its futility.

I feel like this is the direction the league is heading though.  Big Plays on defense are becoming more important than plain old solid defense because its so damned hard for anyone to stop anyone with the current rule set which is clearly offense favored.   When the Saints won the Super Bowl they were very much like the Packers are this year.

[Paelos]

Drew Brees. Record-setter.