NFL 2015 Week Won cont: Return of the Honeybadger.

[BLU-RAY]

I don't think she's complaining about them being bad - she's complaining about them being incompetent, squandering better opportunities than most franchises get, and being unable to either learn from mistakes or have a sound organizational process. I think that's fair, although it took more than that for me, and once Incognito gets cut I'll be back on with the Bills. I have to wonder whether I'm the weakest link, though, given that I was rooting for the Colts during that debacle yesterday.

[Fez]

I'm pretty sure I'd mentioned this before, but I'd forgotten again until this morning when I was looking at the Jets schedule for the season, these are the games in London this year:

 

Jets @ Dolphins- Oct. 4

Bills @ Jags- Oct. 25

Lions @ Chiefs- Nov. 1

 

That's right, every AFC East team except the Patriots has to play a game in London this year. That's a really stupid scheduling imbalance.

[Maithanet]

I'm pretty sure I'd mentioned this before, but I'd forgotten again until this morning when I was looking at the Jets schedule for the season, these are the games in London this year:

 

Jets @ Dolphins- Oct. 4

Bills @ Jags- Oct. 25

Lions @ Chiefs- Nov. 1

 

That's right, every AFC East team except the Patriots has to play a game in London this year. That's a really stupid scheduling imbalance.

Meh, anytime you can get a road game at a neutral site seems like a win, so the only real losers are the Dolphins, Jags and Chiefs. 

[ugh already]

I don't think she's complaining about them being bad - she's complaining about them being incompetent, squandering better opportunities than most franchises get, and being unable to either learn from mistakes or have a sound organizational process. I think that's fair, although it took more than that for me, and once Incognito gets cut I'll be back on with the Bills. I have to wonder whether I'm the weakest link, though, given that I was rooting for the Colts during that debacle yesterday.

 

It just seems to me that a team that was one game away from the Super Bowl last year isn't suddenly on skid row because they lost their opener.  

[SkynJay]

 
It just seems to me that a team that was one game away from the Super Bowl last year isn't suddenly on skid row because they lost their opener.  

My team won yesterday but you wouldn't know it if you listened to the radio today.

[Jaxom 1974]

 
 
 
 
Clay Matthews is really getting short-changed here.  He made a hell of a play to make that interception but because Jay Cutler threw it it's just apparently all Jay Cutler's fault.  I wouldn't worry about the interception so much as how Cutler played completely mediocre but is being praised for that mediocrity.  
 
Hell, I'd say that interception wouldn't have mattered at all were it not for Aaron Rodger's amazing ability to put the ball exactly where it needs to be at exactly the right time as well as the eyes in the back of his head that lets him just effortlessly slide out of the way of defenders bearing down on him.  If I believed in religious mumbojumbo I'd say that Aaron Rodgers has "sold his soul to the devil" type of quarterback prowess. 

Was it mediocre play? A conservative game plan? A little of both?

Cutler is who we think he is, but the victory is, for the most part, he bought into whatever Fox was selling. And with a strong-ish run game, Cutler helped keep the Rodgers of the field for chunks at a time.

[Rockroi]

I'm pretty sure I'd mentioned this before, but I'd forgotten again until this morning when I was looking at the Jets schedule for the season, these are the games in London this year:

 

Jets @ Dolphins- Oct. 4

Bills @ Jags- Oct. 25

Lions @ Chiefs- Nov. 1

 

That's right, every AFC East team except the Patriots has to play a game in London this year. That's a really stupid scheduling imbalance.

 

 

THE ACROSS-THE-LAKE-GATE!!!!!

I'm kidding.  

 

 

I do agree that there does come a point where a team does NOT deserve their fans, and I think a good example of that would be the Raiders.  

 

Okay... just stay with me here ... I'm ... I'm about to defend Raider fans.  And not ironically.  

 

The Raiders are, statistically, one of - if not THE - worst franchise of the 21st Century.  Since their return to Oakland in 1995, the Raiders have only had three above .500 seasons, (2000, 2001, and 2002); They’ve gone 8-8 five times, 5-11 three times, and 4-12 six times.  They have drafted such incredible people as Phillip Buchanon (#17 overall... his Wikipdedia lists under "Awards"... Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (2002)); Robert Gallery (#2 overall), Fabian Washington (#24), Michael Huff (#7), Darren McFadden (#4), and, of course, Jabba the Hutt Jamarcus Russell (#1 overall).  Russell was such a terrible pick that it was one of the major reasons teams pushed for the rookie salary cap.  That's how big of fuck-ups the Raiders are -- they make it so 31 other teams have to protect the Raiders from themselves.  

 

Their ownership was- almost literally - on life-support for 10 years, they had a revolving door of terrible- and I mean FUCKING TERRIBLE head coaches.  Seriously, since Gruden left/was fired/ shot-out-of-a-cannon, here are their coaches:

 

Bill Callahan (15-17, .469)

Norv Turner (9-23, .281)

Art Shell (2-14 .125)

Lane Kiffin (5-15, .250)

Tom Cable (17-27, .386)

Hue Jackson (8-8, .500)

Dennis Allen (8-28,.222)

Tony Sparano (interim, 3-9, .250) 

Jack Del Rio (0-1)

 

So many guys on that list have one thing in common: they were never head coach of any other team other than the Raiders.  

 

The players are usually terrible, often signed to bloated contracts and every now and then they sign a corpse like Trent Richardson. They are perpetually irrelevant, mail who halves of seasons in, play on what looks like a dirt-lot, and their ownership - constantly- threatens to move the team.  

 

"But the kids love us."  -Dr. Peter Vehnkman (Bill Murray), Ghostbusters.  

 

But they have some of the most loyal, crazed, passionate home bound shut ins and pedophiles fans out there.  They fill the stadium, cheer like nuts, follow the team, pay the $$$ for the merchandise and get shat on like Danny Thomas' coffee table.  

 

If, as a Raiders fan, ANY of them said , "You know what?  fuck this team, fuck this stadium, this ownership group, and these fucking terrible pl....- HOLY SHIT, IS DEREK CARR STILL ON THIS TEAM!!! Holy GOD we suck!" IF those people said "Until the Raiders can put some effort, thought, and dedication into this team, I am DONE"  I would have no problem with that for all of the foregoing reasons.  

 

 

If that's the case for some Colts fans, so be it, but I do not think they are there yet.  Yes, there is notorious in fighting between the GM and Pagano, but other than that?  That team tries, they have Luck, they had Manning, they have had a SB and an appearance in the last 10 years; they went to the AFC Championship game; they get good players, they have a GREAT coach.  Their ownership at least tries to draft well, they get good talent and retain good talent.  I mean, you could even make an argument that their actions during Deflategate show that, as an organization, they care about everything that goes an and are willing to at least complain about it.  Are they perfect?  No- they traded a #1 pick for Trent Richardson, their owner is ... just terrible and they may have screwed up this past draft by not taking a DT #1.  

 

But there is no great sin undermining all of it; their is no lack of effort, dedication or intelligence.  They are a fine organization who do things with an eye on success.  

 

If I were a fan of the Colts, while it may not be be perfect, its better than 66% of the league right now and that's something to stay with. At lest for now.  

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Ha, I've been a Skins fan my entire life. But, I just can't say I'm done. They are horrible, have a awful owner, the QB situation is atrocious, I could go on and on. But, I cannot bring myself to drop em and pick up some other team for a year or two. Or longer, we'll probably suck until Snyder sells or dies. Pony Queen, your complaints are child's play, be glad your not Skins fan.


And, I'm sure there are other teams that can complain more than a skins fan. i.e., Browns, Jets, Bengals.,....

[Guest]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I heard this morning that Romo dropped back 45 times, was pressured 6 times, and was hit 0 times.  Absolutely unreal if true and would make it even more amazing that Dallas needed a game-winner with 13 seconds left.

[Howdyphillip]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I heard this morning that Romo dropped back 45 times, was pressured 6 times, and was hit 0 times.  Absolutely unreal if true and would make it even more amazing that Dallas needed a game-winner with 13 seconds left.

All of this is absolutely true, and if it wouldn't have been for turnovers, this game could have easily been the biggest blowout of the day. 

[BLU-RAY]

Heh, ninja'd by Howdy, but I was going to say, if they hadn't turned the ball over three times, that game would've ended 45-13 or something. It was some blooper-reel shit for a while.

[sperry]

Still can't believe they were allowed to just get a free first round draft pick.  They needed to put Collins in the Supplemental Draft.

[Maithanet]

And, I'm sure there are other teams that can complain more than a skins fan. i.e., Browns, Jets, Bengals.,....

I think that 20+ seasons of failure, the name controversy and loathsomeness of the owner are rapidly pushing the Redskins into the upper reaches of the NFL franchise misery index.  Yes, we won 3 Super Bowls, but the last one was in 1991.  No fan under 30 can even remember that game.  Since then we have won the division twice (1999 and 2011), won three playoff games (1992, 1999 and 2005), and reached the 11 win mark or made the NFCCG exactly zero times.  In contrast, we have had 11+ losses 8 times in that period. 

 

I recognize that a few other teams have been worse, but several terrible teams would probably be disqualified for having a brief moment of success since 1992.  The Raiders have been awful, but they were really good from 2000-2002, with three straight division wins and an AFC championship.  Likewise the Bucs (1997-2002), Lions (1993-95), Jags (1996-99), Jets (2008-2010), Rams (1999-2001), Bills (1992-1999), Bengals (2011-present) all at least had periods of optimism and multi-season success. Really only the Browns can exceed the Redskins in sustained futility.

 

The Browns can also match the Redskins in the loathsome owner index, although they have nothing like the distracting name controversy to provide extra gasoline to the tire fire. And frankly, "only the second worst NFL franchise of the past 20 years!" isn't much of a rallying cry. 
 

 

Still can't believe they were allowed to just get a free first round draft pick.  They needed to put Collins in the Supplemental Draft.

Yeah, that was ridiculous.  It's like the NFL just forgot why they have the draft in the first place. 

[Lord Hanna]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I heard this morning that Romo dropped back 45 times, was pressured 6 times, and was hit 0 times.  Absolutely unreal if true and would make it even more amazing that Dallas needed a game-winner with 13 seconds left.

He was definitely hit a couple times while being pressured, i remember one of them Romo took a while to get up and everyone in my house was freaking out.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Maithenet, yes the struggle is REAL! I was alive to see our last two SB's, and remember them.....fondly. You summed our struggles since 91' very nicely. I will add that this RGIII saga has been very close to pushing me away from the NFL altogether. A smart team would cut him and deal with the financial loss. We are not getting those picks back, its over with. At this point, just seeing him standing on the sidelines makes me want to throw something at the TV. I think he's a decent player and might have a chance to revive his career elsewhere. Just ain't happening in D.C..

[dbunting]

To everyone complaining about Collins, your team CHOSE not to take him, he was in the draft, no need for another one when he was already in one. Don't hate Dallas because they acted quickly and gave him a player favorable contract, which from rumors is what other teams wouldn't do. If your team had offered him a better contract he would be on your team.  Besides, he hasn't done anything yet.

[Maithanet]

Maithenet, yes the struggle is REAL! I was alive to see our last two SB's, and remember them.....fondly. You summed our struggles since 91' very nicely. I will add that this RGIII saga has been very close to pushing me away from the NFL altogether. A smart team would cut him and deal with the financial loss. We are not getting those picks back, its over with. At this point, just seeing him standing on the sidelines makes me want to throw something at the TV. I think he's a decent player and might have a chance to revive his career elsewhere. Just ain't happening in D.C..

The RG3 saga effected me on a personal level that I never would have thought possible about an athlete I've never met.  I know I've posted about it before, and I don't want to just rehash it, but he's like the embodiment of why we can't have nice things.  If he'd been drafted by a well run team, I firmly believe he would still be right with Luck and Wilson as the next generation of great NFL quarterbacks.  But I think he is too far gone - it is hard to imagine he could ever get his confidence back.  Even if he can, his olympic athleticism is gone for good - Colt McCoy looks more athletic than him these days. 

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

The RG3 saga effected me on a personal level that I never would have thought possible about an athlete I've never met.  I know I've posted about it before, and I don't want to just rehash it, but he's like the embodiment of why we can't have nice things.  If he'd been drafted by a well run team, I firmly believe he would still be right with Luck and Wilson as the next generation of great NFL quarterbacks.  But I think he is too far gone - it is hard to imagine he could ever get his confidence back.  Even if he can, his olympic athleticism is gone for good - Colt McCoy looks more athletic than him these days. 

LOL, yep its depressing.

[Maithanet]

To everyone complaining about Collins, your team CHOSE not to take him, he was in the draft, no need for another one when he was already in one. Don't hate Dallas because they acted quickly and gave him a player favorable contract, which from rumors is what other teams wouldn't do. If your team had offered him a better contract he would be on your team.

This is not correct.  There is very little that any team can do in terms of unrestricted free agent contracts, and any contract he was going to sign was going to be really similar.  Yes, Dallas gave him a good contract (by UFA standards), but he could have gotten a similar contract almost anywhere.  He wanted to sign with Dallas, so he did. 

[dbunting]

@Maithanet, you are missing my point. He was available to be drafted... any team could have drafted him in first 3 rounds but chose not to. Your team would have looked smart if they had taken a flier on him in round 2 or 3 instead of the 18th best LB or whoever.