NFL 2011

[Draegan]

If Eli and the Giants WR's can play as well as they did this week, they have a shot of staying in the game with the Pats.  That will also depend on whether or not we can get to Brady also on defense.  Giants do lead the league in sacks, so there is a shot.  Too bad I'll be traveling and I'll miss the game.

[HaemishM]

I barely got to see any football this Sunday because I had to go into goddamn work. Fuckers.

However, what I did see should bring tears all around.

Rothliesberger looked very good, but holy shit is that New England defense very very bad. They have no pass rush, and as a result, their secondary, which isn't very good anyway, looks terribad. The first two Steelers drives were Heath Miller getting the ball over the middle while wide fucking open. It's like the entire defense was the main character from Memento without the magic markers and homicidal tendencies - complete amnesia from play to play. The Steelers should have been up by a lot more points than they were in the end. Also, Wes Welker apparently didn't bother to show up.

HOLY SHIT, the Cowboys look fucking terrible. Just atrocious. How did this team win 3 games? I had to just fast-forward during the 3rd quarter it was so bad. Romo's arm did not seem to be listening to his head, like he was going through some massive seizure or his arm got possessed or something. This guy is NOT this bad a QB, and I can't even say it was down to the defense or coverage or the sacks. He was getting hit a lot, his guys were covered but his throws were just bad bad bad. The Cowboys defense looked just as inept. Every single first half throw Vick made the receiver was WIDE OPEN. The middle of the field was full of spaces where I receiver just walked into the open area and caught a laser pass.

The NFC East is going to be crazy this year. None of these teams are consistently good and when they are bad, they are "AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH GET IT OFF MY FACE IT'S EATING MY EYEBALLS" bad. The Eagles and the Giants are the only ones I think can really challenge for the division but are so wildly inconsistent... it's a goddamn tossup. The Redskins getting blanked by a bad Buffalo defense? The Giants unable to run the ball? The EAGLES leading the league in RUSHING? The Cowboys... I don't even know what to say about the Cowboys. That team's talent level is easily 2 or 3 wins better than what they have in the standings.

The NFC South is just as wide open. None of those teams are playing their best week to week. I watched a bit of the Saints game and they were awful, especially their defense. Carolina might actually have the ability to pressure this division with a win streak. That shouldn't be happening.

San Fran has the West won. How the fuck did Arizona give up a 24-6 lead in two quarters to a Ravens team that couldn't throw a TD pass to save their lives? Seattle's Pete Carrol experiment continues to provide the LULZ.

Tim Tebow. 18-39 with 1 INT, 1 TD, 7 sacks and 3 fumbles? I cannot say enough how STUPID it was to pick this guy in the first round, pay him first round money and then start him in his second year on a team this bad. That's not saying he can't be better, but throwing him into this clusterfuck 2nd year? BEYOND RETARDED. You will slow any progress towards respectability this kid has by the hits his confidence has to take from getting facerolled like this. Fuck it, if you have no confidence in Orton, throw Claussen into the first. After all, he's supposed to be your #2. How bad does he have to be if TEBOW is the better option?

[Paelos]

If Eli and the Giants WR's can play as well as they did this week, they have a shot of staying in the game with the Pats.  That will also depend on whether or not we can get to Brady also on defense.  Giants do lead the league in sacks, so there is a shot.  Too bad I'll be traveling and I'll miss the game.

I think the Giants can win that game barring stupid turnovers. The NE Defense will keep them from going anywhere in the playoffs. It's just soooooooooooooooooooo bad.

[ghost]

Romo's confidence has been blown.  You can see it in his eyes.  He's done as an NFL quarterback.

[sickrubik]

Tim Tebow. 18-39 with 1 INT, 1 TD, 7 sacks and 3 fumbles? I cannot say enough how STUPID it was to pick this guy in the first round, pay him first round money and then start him in his second year on a team this bad. That's not saying he can't be better, but throwing him into this clusterfuck 2nd year? BEYOND RETARDED. You will slow any progress towards respectability this kid has by the hits his confidence has to take from getting facerolled like this. Fuck it, if you have no confidence in Orton, throw Claussen into the first. After all, he's supposed to be your #2. How bad does he have to be if TEBOW is the better option?

(Broncos fan stepping in.)
First, fuck Tebow and fuck that hype. The amount of echo chamber silliness that went on with him/is going on with him is ridiculous. He'd be a great RB or TE, but a QB? No. I don't even think it was too early... he just does not seem to have the instincts to play in the pro game. That being said, I think it speaks much more to the OC (McCoy) that Orton and Tebow were doing THAT bad. Plus, especially now with Llyod gone, no one that is elite. Of course, it's hard to be elite when your QB is overthrowing you by 10-15 yards.

The respectability came from the people sucking at the teet of christian ethical values bullshit and not any actual hope for being awesome in the pro game. The Tebowners are STILL making excuses for him.

THE BEST PART? We've now ruined any trade value out of either QB. WOO. It's going to be a long, long season. I am going to be very drunk many times this season.

BTW, You mean Quinn, not Clausen... Quinn is also very terrible.

EDIT: I also humbly submit that being sacked is the new "Tebowing".

[Outlawedprod]

I also humbly submit that being sacked is the new "Tebowing".

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d823a4c8c/article/lions-defender-calls-tebow-a-joke-following-decisive-victory

[WayAbvPar]

Seattle's Pete Carrol experiment continues to provide the LULZ.

Agreed, provided that LULZ means 'causes me to scream obscenities at my television'. God I hate that fuckhead. The good news is more and more of the fanbase is coming around to my viewpoint.

[Paelos]

No, no. Accepting a guy who was on the run from the law was obviously the best decision.

[ghost]

He was shitty the first time.  I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to hire him again for the NFL.  He'll be fired within 2 years, I suspect.

[HaemishM]

He was shitty the first time.  I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to hire him again for the NFL.  He'll be fired within 2 years, I suspect.

This. I never understood why Seattle hired him other than the name. His college career masked a seriously bad NFL record, but you had to know someone would take the chance on him. Welcome to Spurrierville, Petey. Population: You.

Brady Quinn, that's right. Can he possibly be WORSE than Tebow? I can't imagine he could.

[Paelos]

He was shitty the first time.  I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to hire him again for the NFL.  He'll be fired within 2 years, I suspect.

For who? Who in their right mind would take that job, honestly?

It's like a cancer on your resume (no offense to Way). I mean after Holmgren, Mora, and Carroll, it's going to be known as where coaching careers go to die.

[Trippy]

The Seahawks went to Super Bowl XL (2005 season) with Holmgren.

[Paelos]

And Holmgren can't get a coaching job now. He's president of the Browns or something. Tell me that's not a fate worse than death.

[Trippy]

He was shitty the first time.  I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to hire him again for the NFL.  He'll be fired within 2 years, I suspect.

This. I never understood why Seattle hired him other than the name. His college career masked a seriously bad NFL record, but you had to know someone would take the chance on him. Welcome to Spurrierville, Petey. Population: You.

Peter Carroll's NFL coaching record before he was hired by the Seahawks wasn't that bad. In 4 seasons his teams basically won half their games and they went to the playoffs 2 years.

[WayAbvPar]

Re: Holmgren-
You think he couldn't coach the Browns if he wanted to? He is running the entire team. His wife urged him to retire from coaching because of the incredibly long hours. He could have any number of jobs in the NFL if he wanted.

[Draegan]

And Holmgren can't get a coaching job now. He's president of the Browns or something. Tell me that's not a fate worse than death.

Holgren wanted to play the front office and get away from the Head Coach grind.  If he wanted to, he could get a head coaching job in a heart beat.

[01101010]

And Holmgren can't get a coaching job now. He's president of the Browns or something. Tell me that's not a fate worse than death.

WHY MUST YOU HURT ME? 

Bad coaches, bad draft picks, bad fans, but fucking awesome stadium. So we got that going for us.

[Trippy]

Romo's confidence has been blown.  You can see it in his eyes.  He's done as an NFL quarterback.

They need to develop that running game to take the pressure off of him. Murray was a stud in the Eagles game too but they gave up on the running game way too soon.

[sickrubik]

Hard to not give up on the Running Game when you're more and more behind. It went 14-0 pretty quickly and just got worse from there.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, to be fair, they tried the running game, but anytime they had to pass the ball in the first half, Romo threw a goddamn brick. When you're down 21-0 and haven't had 5 first downs, you give up the run pretty easily. Of course, with the gashes Murray had been putting up and the lack of defense the Cowboys exhibited, I'd have been tempted to run just to keep the damn ball away from Vick and Shady McCoy.

[ghost]

I don't think it has anything to do with him getting pressure.  He's gotten a reputation as a scrambler and guy that can get out of trouble.  He's lost whatever mental mojo he used to have in that department and that's killing his game. 

[Fordel]

That Chiefs/Chargers game was about 5 times more entertaining then I ever thought it would be.


Something like 10 turnovers that game?

[Paelos]

And SD just turned it over again.

Thanks Rivers, without your help I wouldn't have crushed Haemish in fantasy this week! 

[Draegan]

Novak kicked me into a victory this week.  Woot.

[kaid]

Re: Holmgren-
You think he couldn't coach the Browns if he wanted to? He is running the entire team. His wife urged him to retire from coaching because of the incredibly long hours. He could have any number of jobs in the NFL if he wanted.

I am pretty sure if he showed interest in being a coach again tons of teams would grab him. He got two different to superbowls on three occasions and has overall very good win loss records. There are a lot of hapless teams that would love him to come coach for them I just don't think he wants to do the coaching role at the moment and is doing more of the higher managment stuff.

[Paelos]

So we should say that coaching for the Seahawks broke his will to coach? I'm fine with that.

[HaemishM]

Goddamnit. The Fucking Chargers. I'm beginning to re-evaluate my take on Rivers vs. Rothliesberger. He isn't carrying this team, and this team is SOFT SOFT SOFT. Soft as the goddamn Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Their receivers/tight ends are either nicked up or just not performing, and Rivers is forcing things. They only game they've won against a team with a winning record was their home game against KC and that was when KC was very very bad, and they still only won by 3 points. Rivers has been a turnover machine this year. The penalties this team has committed in the last two games are staggering. There are only 2 teams with losing records on their schedule for the rest of the year. They have 2 games against Oakland, Buffalo, Baltimore, Green Bay and Chicago as winning teams, and if they manage 3 wins out of that list, I'll be surprised. They should beat the Jags and Denver since both games are at home and both teams suck it. So their best case scenario, IMO, is 9-7. That might win the Western Division, but it'll be close.

KC is looking a lot better, at least defensively. They still have 2 games against Denver and one against Miami, but the rest of their schedule is just as brutal as San Diego's - Pittsburgh, New England, Green Bay, Chicago, the Jets and Oakland. 4 of those games are winnable (Chicago, Oakland, Jets and New England, though the last two are iffy). 9-7 or 10-6 are more likely than winning 11 games. Oakland has Denver, Minnesota and Miami as should wins and Green Bay, Chicago, Detroit, KC and San Diego as tough games - you'd expect them to win against San Diego since the Chargers can't stop the run and the Raiders can run well. Depending on how Palmer does and how McFadden's injury heals, they could win 4-6 games down the stretch, leaving them anywhere from an 8-8 to a 10-6. That division is actually going to be a race. If I had to pick anyone based on current form to win it, I'd nod to KC because of how bad San Diego is playing on the road.

[WayAbvPar]

So we should say that coaching for the Seahawks broke his will to coach? I'm fine with that.

As I said before, it wasn't really his decision. I get the impression from listening to him that he would be just as happy coaching until he died in the film room one lonely night, but his wife shoved him out the door. The pity is he is a much better coach than he is a personnel director imo.

[Cyrrex]

And his Seattle years were pretty successful, all things considered.  I think it was really only his last season that was a letdown.  The man can coach.

On Rivers:  Something is wrong with him, in my opinion.  What is happening with him right now does not mesh with what we've seen from him over the last many years.  Hidden injury?  Psyche issues?  Don't know, but something just isn't the same.

[Bungee]

On Rivers:  Something is wrong with him, in my opinion.  What is happening with him right now does not mesh with what we've seen from him over the last many years.  Hidden injury?  Psyche issues?  Don't know, but something just isn't the same.

Whatever issues he has, maybe not playing for my fantasy team EVER again will cure this.

[Bunk]

I know exactly what's wrong with Rivers - I took him in the first twenty picks in my pool.

I took Cutler as a backup around the sixth or seventh round, and he's out performed Rivers in 80% of his starts.

[HaemishM]

That makes me /sadf.

Yeah, I'm benching Rivers this weekend for Andy FUCKING Dalton. Rivers is going against Green Bay while Dalton is taking on Tennessee. I just have no confidence that San Diego can perform against a good team, even with as many passing yards as Green Bay has been giving up. The Packers ARE making turnovers, and he's been real proficient at handing those out like candy this year.

[WayAbvPar]

I don't know...Tennessee is tough on D, while GB is pretty terrible, and Rivers will be playing from behind all game long. He could roll up a bunch of garbage time points.

[Bunk]

Well shit, I've got a choice of Rivers going in to Greenbay, or Cutler going in to Philly on Monday night.

Not that it matters, Calvin Johnson is on a bye this week, so half my point production is gone anyways.

[Paelos]

Hooooooooooosh to the Raaaaydaaaaaaaaaahs

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501623_162-20128957/t.j-houshmandzadeh-moving-to-oakland-raiders/