NFL 2013

[Paelos]

Saying "guys it happens all the time, why bother" is such a horeshit thing to say.

Reality sucks. I mean honestly, you want me to say you're right? You're right, it shouldn't be that way. But it's human nature, and refs aren't robots. It's not going to change in the NFL, NBA, or NHL. They swallow the whistles late.

[sickrubik]

You don't need to teach anyone here about "reality", that's my point.

[Mithas]

I always view bad calls as things that are bound to happen. Any team that lets the game come down to one bad call should have executed better earlier in the game to not let that happen.

[ghost]

You don't need to teach anyone here about "reality", that's my point.

He's a CPA.  That's the only part of his job that he can enjoy.

[Paelos]

Replay in most sports has eliminated a lot of the bad calls, too. We're down to arguing over the ones that are usually supremely subjective.

[Surlyboi]

And now for something completely different...

NFL team logos reimagined as soccer team logos.

I particularly like the Bills and the Seahawks.

[ghost]

No matter how you slice it, the Bengals have a shitty color scheme and graphic design.

[Paelos]

The Falcons one is about a million times better than the current logo.

[ghost]

They're almost all better than the current logos.

[Nevermore]

The Tampa one belongs on a liquor bottle. 

[Sjofn]

No matter how you slice it, the Bengals have a shitty color scheme and graphic design.

See, I liked the Bengals one. The Giants one is pretty fugly ... although I tend to hate anything that puts way, way too much emphasis on the red part of the Giants uniform. They're Big Blue, goddammit, not Big Red. So maybe I'd like it better if it was at least on a field of blue or white instead of red. :P

[ghost]

I've always hated orange and black as a team color scheme and I really, really hate the tiger print helmets.  It just looks trashy to me, not clean like the Cowboys logo or the Giants logo (I'm talking actual, out on the field NFL logos, not these).

[Malakili]

Replay in most sports has eliminated a lot of the bad calls, too. We're down to arguing over the ones that are usually supremely subjective.

I look at it this way, if they had not picked up that flag I don't think very many people at all would have been arguing uncatchable.  Uncatchable is usually like, he threw the ball 10 feet over everyone's head into the stands, not, he was 5 yards away and being interfered with.

 As for the logos, I don't really like the Giants one that much, but I could live with it!

[Paelos]

The Cowboys one doesn't work for me, but that's because the Cowboys one we have now is too iconic for me to want a change.

[ghost]

The Cowboys logo was badass.  Actually, most of them were very good. 

[Segoris]

While I'm not a fan of a lot of the logos now, I wouldn't want most of the ones on that link either. The Buffalo one would have worked better for STL with some minor adjustments, and the BAL one was cool, while the NYG and 49ers ones were the worst in the bunch

[Paelos]

Paelos Week 11 Power Rankings:

1 - Denver
2 - Seattle
3 - New Orleans
4 - KC
5 - Carolina
6 - Philly
7 - Pats
8 - Indy
9 - Cincy
10 - Detroit

Basically anything after #5 is a crapshoot. There are a lot of 6-7 teams right now that I think are disasters if they face anybody real.
 

[HaemishM]

Philly is not higher than the Pats, no matter who is or isn't catching passes in New England. I'm not even sure they are better than Indy or Cincy or Detroit.

[shiznitz]

The Payoff Machine is interesting.  Id set to Offensive, the Chiefs lose their next 5 and the Charges take their playoff spot.  If Defensive is selected, the Chiefs are the #1 seed.  This isn't surprising but goes to show that it is WAY WAY too early for the Playoff Machine.

[Paelos]

I don't buy the Patriots at all, but they are going to win their easy division and get to the playoffs. The Patriots have one good win, against the Saints, and even that was in NE. On the road, they would be ground into dust by New Orleans.

I don't buy Indy at all, but they will sleepwalk to a division title. Honestly, they have Houston AND Jacksonville in their division. It's like Christmas for them all year long. Yet, they have too many consistency problems and keep getting themselves into bad situations early. Against better teams, they will not be able to keep coming back. While they have two good wins (both at home), they have 3 baffling losses against teams that don't have winning records.

I don't really buy Cincy, but they can get in the playoffs even if they lose 3 in a row. They are already talking about how their QB may not be the long term answer. Don't be fooled by the yards (remember the opponents too), look at Dalton's rating. Would you invest big money in Andy Dalton? With all the big named receiver talent, and good offensive line play, why is Cincy struggling to put away a terrible AFC North? They should be leading that dumpster fire by 5 games, and already clinched by now.

I sort of buy Detroit, but only because of their offense. Their defense will kill them in the playoffs because it can't stop teams from putting up 30 points. And not even good teams, the Steelers just put up 37. I mean, what? How they hell do you let that happen? If you can't pass on the Lions this year, you should fire your QB and your receivers, because you are terrible.

The reason I do buy Philly is they figured it out mid-season. They figured out the QB, they figured out the running game, and they figured out the defense. They have some tough games left against Detroit, Chicago, Arizona, and Dallas, but they get most of those at home. They also get a cupcake game against a Vikings team that can't find it's ass with both hands. If they can go 3-2? I think they win the East at 9-7.

[Nevermore]

I have McCoy on my fantasy team so trust me, Philly figured out the running game on day 1. 

[sickrubik]

The Payoff Machine is interesting.  Id set to Offensive, the Chiefs lose their next 5 and the Charges take their playoff spot.  If Defensive is selected, the Chiefs are the #1 seed.  This isn't surprising but goes to show that it is WAY WAY too early for the Playoff Machine.

I dunno, that logic seems to work for the Chiefs/Chargers. The chargers have a better offense than the Chiefs. The Chiefs just have a much much better defense.

[Sky]

If the Pats beat Denver (next week or in the playoffs) it will be entirely because Denver gave the game away.  NE just doesn't have the personnel to outplay the Broncos.

One reason I like the Patriots is they have a great system that develops talent and can slot in a lot of personnel...but yeah. Too soon, too much.

/unpopularopinionpuffin

[HaemishM]

I don't buy the Patriots at all, but they are going to win their easy division and get to the playoffs. The Patriots have one good win, against the Saints, and even that was in NE. On the road, they would be ground into dust by New Orleans.

The reason I do buy Philly is they figured it out mid-season. They figured out the QB, they figured out the running game, and they figured out the defense. They have some tough games left against Detroit, Chicago, Arizona, and Dallas, but they get most of those at home. They also get a cupcake game against a Vikings team that can't find it's ass with both hands. If they can go 3-2? I think they win the East at 9-7.

You ding the Pats for an easy division but don't factor that into the Eagles? /boggle

This Eagles team is one head shot to Foles away from having MATT BARKLEY as their starting QB. And I'm not sold on Foles yet because of that Dallas game - he was TERRIBAD and Dallas' secondary is pretty not good. Against a good defense, Foles is going to get eaten alive. The difference between the Eagles and the Pats is Tom Brady. The Pats shouldn't have won that game in New Orleans except... Tom Brady. The Eagles only home win this season is against Washington - who is fucking terrible.

I would probably agree with you about Cincy, and yes, Indy's consistency is an issue. But I'll take a team with Tom Brady or Matthew Stafford over Nick Foles any day of the week.

[sickrubik]

This Eagles team is one head shot to Foles away from having MATT BARKLEY as their starting QB.

We need to stop using this as an argument for ANY team. Look at the Pack. Imagine what would happen with the Broncos. A lot of the top tier teams would immediately sink without their star QB.

[Paelos]

You ding the Pats for an easy division but don't factor that into the Eagles? /boggle

I ding the Pats because I believe if they played the Eagles on a neutral field, they'd lose. They have one of the worst running defenses in the league. Philly would pound them to pieces.

[sickrubik]

For what it's worth, NE has only given up four rushing TDs.

[Paelos]

True, but they have allowed 70% TDs in the red zone in their last 3 games, and the major point about the running game is it keeps Tom Brady on the sidelines where he can't be Tom Brady. NE gives up tons of yardage on the ground, and that eats clock.

[sickrubik]

True, but they have allowed 70% TDs in the red zone in their last 3 games, and the major point about the running game is it keeps Tom Brady on the sidelines where he can't be Tom Brady. NE gives up tons of yardage on the ground, and that eats clock.

If they're short runs. I'd be more trusting in that information when it comes to TOP. The amount of yards doesn't mean much without the context of Avg yards per play vs the NFL or Time of Possession. Philly isn't exactly a grind the clock type of rushing team.

[Paelos]

Philly has the lowest time of possession in the league. They run everything fast since that's the offense, and they score fast. It's the one question I have about that style of team, can they adapt late into a 5 minute close out a game team?

NE is like 24th in TOP, and 24th in yards per run. They give up 4.3 a play.

[Tannhauser]

I don't buy the Patriots at all, but they are going to win their easy division and get to the playoffs. The Patriots have one good win, against the Saints, and even that was in NE. On the road, they would be ground into dust by New Orleans.

I don't buy Indy at all, but they will sleepwalk to a division title. Honestly, they have Houston AND Jacksonville in their division. It's like Christmas for them all year long. Yet, they have too many consistency problems and keep getting themselves into bad situations early. Against better teams, they will not be able to keep coming back. While they have two good wins (both at home), they have 3 baffling losses against teams that don't have winning records.

I don't really buy Cincy, but they can get in the playoffs even if they lose 3 in a row. They are already talking about how their QB may not be the long term answer. Don't be fooled by the yards (remember the opponents too), look at Dalton's rating. Would you invest big money in Andy Dalton? With all the big named receiver talent, and good offensive line play, why is Cincy struggling to put away a terrible AFC North? They should be leading that dumpster fire by 5 games, and already clinched by now.

I sort of buy Detroit, but only because of their offense. Their defense will kill them in the playoffs because it can't stop teams from putting up 30 points. And not even good teams, the Steelers just put up 37. I mean, what? How they hell do you let that happen? If you can't pass on the Lions this year, you should fire your QB and your receivers, because you are terrible.

The reason I do buy Philly is they figured it out mid-season. They figured out the QB, they figured out the running game, and they figured out the defense. They have some tough games left against Detroit, Chicago, Arizona, and Dallas, but they get most of those at home. They also get a cupcake game against a Vikings team that can't find it's ass with both hands. If they can go 3-2? I think they win the East at 9-7.

I agree with all of this except Philly.  The sample size on Foles isn't enough yet for me to jump on his bandwagon. They do stand an excellent chance of winning what is probably the worst division in the league right now.  Like you said, they have three or four tough teams to play yet.

[01101010]

I agree with all of this except Philly.  The sample size on Foles isn't enough yet for me to jump on his bandwagon. They do stand an excellent chance of winning what is probably the worst division in the league right now.  Like you said, they have three or four tough teams to play yet.

The AFC North is on line 2, they'd like a word with you.

[Paelos]

If Houston loses to Jacksonville in Houston, they should be investigated for throwing the football game.

[Mithas]

I always thought it was just the NFC East that was awful. I was wrong. The NFC North is just as bad. Christian Ponder looked like Joe Montana today.

[Paelos]

I think this entire season is awful tbh. So many key injuries to teams, and several QBs going through the sophomore slumps.

We have basically two great teams. Seattle and Denver. Then you have a second tier of teams that are good but flawed in several places, like KC, Carolina, and the Saints. Then you have this utter mismash of crap that will win divisions because they are so awful: Indy, the Patriots, and Cincy. The rest is just ugly football with one team that will probably emerge in 3 weeks.

What makes it even funnier to me is that I can see Denver and Seattle easily losing in the first playoff game they play. They have one part of their game that's exploitable.