NFL 2013

[sickrubik]

The actual article is linked in the article you linked, fyi.

http://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-gangster-in-the-huddle

[K9]

Rolling Stone never fails to impress with the quality of it's journalism. Perhaps this piece is a little sensational in parts, but it feels pretty comprehensive. Thanks!

[K9]

[sickrubik]

Is there something more to this or is it just truly a gif of Bayless being his usual dumb self?

[Mithas]

That gif makes me hate him more.

[sickrubik]

That gif makes me hate him more.

Unpossible.

[K9]

Is there something more to this or is it just truly a gif of Bayless being his usual dumb self?

The latter

[HaemishM]

He has such a Doucheface.

[sickrubik]

http://Apparently Broncos need a team sponsored driving school.

[taolurker]

Billboard for Broncos

[sickrubik]

The NFL policy won't change until at least it's nationally legal.

By the way, the broncos players haven't had a problem with drinking this offseason, that's the staff. :P

[Nebu]

The NFL policy won't change until at least it's nationally legal.

I doubt it will change then either.  I'd bet that the players will just have a clause in their contract that prohibits its use. 

[sickrubik]

How I'm celebrating the return of football tonight.

[Trippy]

It's still too hot for football.

[sickrubik]

HERE WE GO

[JWIV]

Oh good. The Ravens just took out half of their own starters because it's clownshoe time, and Peyton is just going to throw bombs all night to some guy who used to play basketball and is now TouchdownJesus.

[Mithas]

That pretty much sums up the game. Manning is on my fantasy team hooray!

[Nevermore]

By my calculations, Manning is on pace to throw 112 TDs this season. 

[Nebu]

Guess which QB has the larger salary.  Go ahead... guess.

[Paelos]

Of course I had to draw Manning week 1. Of course.

Fuck me.

[shiznitz]

Flacco's contract was ridiculous and he will prove it this year.  The Ravens won the Super Bowl because they had a well-balanced team with talent in many key positions. That doesn't exist this year and paying your QB a billion dollars doesn't fix that.

[Bungee]

Guess which QB has the larger salary.  Go ahead... guess.

Well, everytime in the past when they tried to rely on Mr. Elite, the guy fell flat. It's still the RBs and especially Rice that carries this offense. Cameron didn't want to acknowledge that and that's why they ultimately fired him. Seriously, look at just how many times Flacco dumped it off to Rice and he worked his magic.

[Nebu]

Flacco's contract was ridiculous and he will prove it this year.  The Ravens won the Super Bowl because they had a well-balanced team with talent in many key positions. That doesn't exist this year and paying your QB a billion dollars doesn't fix that.

This.  Flacco doesn't deserve the salary he commands.  He's not an elite QB... not even close.

[MrHat]

Let's not forget:

[HaemishM]

Yep, and anyone paying any attention knew that Flacco was a decent QB with a good team. Now he's a decent but inconsistent QB with no receivers and a weaker defense. How many times did he throw an accurate pass and it get dropped? Quite a few times. I guess it sucks knowing your leading receiver got traded to the team you beat in the Super Bowl because you wanted to be considered an elite QB. Douchebag. I look forward to the Ravens struggling to make the playoffs. The AFC North is Cincy's to lose unless Pittsburgh finds the fountain of youth or Cleveland is possessed by the spirit of a team that is not in Cleveland. The Ravens got substantially weaker on defense, their best receiver is in San Fran and their best TE is on IR. Denver was able to stuff Ray Rice's running and get the lead and that was all she wrote. Not challenging that Welker dropped pass was a big turnaround in the game, but then getting your punt blocked inside your own 20 didn't help either.

Denver is the clear favorite in the AFC. New England is the only team I see that's even close to challenging them, and once Amendola gets hurt, they got NOTHING for Brady to throw to. Not that he's ever needed a wideout to be good for them to succeed but still. The only other team close to these two is Houston and I'm not sure they have enough quality in depth if a few of their starters get hurt.

[sickrubik]

My takeaways from last night.

If we're going to post that GIF, let's post this one:



Both plays came close to seriously injuring star players from both teams. Trevathan, before that, played lights out ball.

There was a lot of talk leading up to this game that Baltimore's Defense actually got BETTER in the offseason while question marks abounded about the power of the offense. In some parts their D DID get better, as their secondary play was phenomenal, keeping everything locked down. Unfortunately, playing man coverage with Welker, and a giant of a human being in Julius Thomas spelled disaster.

Neither team ran the ball well, but I was much happier with Moreno than I had been in a long time. Dude is the starter until he fucks up or Montee Ball comes into his own. Hillman is the CLEAR #3 back.

We don't miss Dumerville at all, especially the pay. Last night? $8M for Doom equalled one sack, while the $1.5M for Shaun Phillips produced 2.5 sacks. Admiteddly there will be that much more opportunities for sacks when the team is playing from behind, but it still makes me feel better.

I LOVE DRC. LOVE. Completely shut down his side of the field. Really, I love what I saw from the Broncos D completely. The adjustments they made in the second half really came to fruition and they played fast and hard.

Also, GOD DAMMIT DECKER.

[MrHat]

I LOVE DRC. LOVE. Completely shut down his side of the field. Really, I love what I saw from the Broncos D completely. The adjustments they made in the second half really came to fruition and they played fast and hard.

Also, GOD DAMMIT DECKER.

Was just talking with my bud about the adjustments in the second half.  They played really great and DRC played amazing.

[HaemishM]

Denver's defense is just solid even without Von Miller. Hell, their front 4 was shutting down most of the running game in the first half. All it took was the Broncos getting a lead and their secondary could just do their thing. Torrey Smith is really the only danger on that receiver corps and he is WILDLY inconsistent.

Speaking of stupid plays, WTF was Welker thinking on that fumbled punt return? Why would you even think about catching a punt at the five fucking yard line? Let it bounce. Such a rookie mistake.

[Tannhauser]

Aw yeah, NFL Is baaaack!  God, Denver looks invincible, but we all know what happened to them last year, so I'm not crowning them Superbowl champs just yet.

Good to see Manning razor sharp, I really hope the best for him, he's not got a lot of game years left.

I hope the Titans beat the Steelers, but the Titans defense in the preseason gives me a sad.  So probably not.

[jgsugden]

I am a little surprised that so many people are lauding Denver so much.  They played well, but how many of those points were a result of ridiculous breakdowns by the Ravens defense / special teams?   Manning and the Broncos (outside a few guys that were off their game) are a serious top 5 team this year, but come on... this game shouldn't change anyone's perceptions of the Broncos.

As for Joe Fuck-hole, that contract was right up there with Barry Zito, A-Rod and JaMarcus Russell in terms of worst contracts.  They should have let him go to another team and traded for Alex Smith.  That would have allowed them to resign their defensive talent (which they apparently could still use), build the run game back up and do what they did in the Dilfer years - run and defense combined with safe QB play.

[sickrubik]

You still have to be a good team to capitalize on the other teams bad performance and you can say "Team A played well" while still saying "Team B played poorly".

But, the broncos were a second half team last year too. They defer because they'd rather make the adjustments at half time and come out slinging. The perceptions leading directly into the game was the big worry about how good the pass rush (and the defense as a whole) would be without Dumerville, without Von Miller, and without Champ Bailey. Additionally, the Run D was not that great last year.

So, speaking as a fan of the team, last night changed my perceptions greatly, especially on the Run D aspect of it.

[Nebu]

I am a little surprised that so many people are lauding Denver so much. 

Who in the AFC can give Denver a run?  New England with no WR?  Old-Man-Pittsburgh?

We like Denver because the AFC has fuck all as competition. 

[Tannhauser]

Ah, football season again!  That precious time of the year your team is undefeated, well most of them.  I think the AFC will be more contested than you think.  Houston, New England and Cincy, yes Cincy have legitimate shots.  

Edit:  Oh good start Titans, good start I say!

[Segoris]

Charles Tillman, the Bears' 2nd best WR....

[sickrubik]

Charles Tillman, the Bears' 2nd best WR....

At this point, he's their 1st best WR.