NFL Thread: Bengals win the Super Bowl

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Ahhhh...Cutler's attitude. Everyone in Denver acted shocked by it. I'm like, have they never been around high school/college quarterbacks before? Most of those guys are pricks. Like this is something new all of a sudden? I remember when I worked at Blockbuster in Fort Collins. Bradlee Van Pelt would come in with Cecil Sapp, and Van Pelt, Mr. "Down-to-Earth", was a huge asshole.

Trading Marshall is also stupid. Fuck it. I'd say look at the head coach. Marshall never had problems with the team until he came along--and Shanahan was hard as hell on Marshall because of the legal issues. But he was fair too. Cutler never had trouble either. It appears to me we had a third prick enter the scene, and the third one had to prove he had more power than the other two.

[BLU-RAY]

Rock, go redo whatever ritual it is you perform to get those divisional rankings, and change something so Tampa isn't 2 in the NFC South.

[Mexal]

I have to say, I love when the Bengals backups are better than another team's. It feels good. At least we can do something right.

Bring on Denver in week 1. 1-0 baby!

[Lord O' Bones]

Double post.

I mean Cowboys suck.

[Lord O' Bones]

I have to say, I love when the Bengals backups are better than another team's. It feels good. At least we can do something right.

Bring on Denver in week 1. 1-0 baby!

Bengals backup: J.T. O'Sullivan

lollolollollollollollollol!!!11

Sorry.

[DanteGabriel]

Rock, go redo whatever ritual it is you perform to get those divisional rankings, and change something so Tampa isn't 2 in the NFC South.

Yeah, Tampa's going to be a mess this year. Who do they even have at QB?

[Rockroi]

lol. Well I think they are going to prove you wrong. Wrong hard. Wrong suck. Wrong fast. Your whole basis seems to be you don't like Jerry Jones, you don't like Wade Phillips, and you don't like Tony Romo.

You know? I can live with that as the basis of my criticism … considering those were the three people I mentioned in my post… I could have gone on but like most Americans I really do not have taht much time for the Cowboys.

But from football sense, Jerry rid the team of jackasses and added talent in Keith Brooking, Igor Olshansky, and a good backup QB in Jon Kitna.

By that same token, you could say that Jerry brought the jackasses in in the first place (okay, random reason I like Jerry Jones: He and his wife are huge contributors to the Library of Congress’ Jefferson Library Collection- in fact the project is basically theirs).

... and did you just give kudows to Jones fro bringing in a backup QB? Right before you are about to sing Romo's praises? Really?

Wade is a jellyfish but his record in Dallas is 21-10.

My issue here is that the Cowboys are 21-10 not because of Wade but in spite of him. He looks lost out there sometimes.

Tony Romo does struggle in December and the playoffs and will deserve that rep until he does otherwise. But his career stats: 81 TD's, 46 int's, 63.6 % completion rate and a QB rating of 94.7.

You’re right. Thankfully it’s not like Romo lost any significant Wide Receivers in the off season…. Wait…

I don't know whether this is revisionist history or, rather than trying to think originally, you decided to rely on cliches.

I will give you this: Saying Rex Grossman is a sucky QB is 100% cliché…. Again, I wonder why?

Rex Grossman was a QB of Pro Bowl caliber. It was only for half a season, sure, but for that half a season (in which he led the Bears to the Super Bowl - nevermind what he did in that game, he was the QB who led the team there) he was everything the Bears upper management thought he would be.

What. Jaime. Said.

I will only add that while he was QB for the Bears he actively made them worse. Its hard to overstate this.

Rock, go redo whatever ritual it is you perform to get those divisional rankings, and change something so Tampa isn't 2 in the NFC South.

Nah, I’ll keep it. They almost made the playoffs last season. I just think the other teams in that division are headed for problems. Or its the meth…

[Jaime L]

Question for Dub:

So, when the Jaguars move to LA (they had like 7 people in the stands last night)...will you be switching teams? Might be your only out considering Al Davis' mother lived to 162 or something absurd like that. I mean, if you don't catch this boat..there won't be another one for a long time. And you'll be left, screaming at your volleyball: "Wilssssssooonnnnnnnnnn! Wade Willllllsssssssssssssssoonnnnnnnn!"

Yeah, Tampa's going to be a mess this year. Who do they even have at QB?

Byron Leftwich.

I mean Josh Freeman too, but from what I saw of him in the preseason think it could get ugly if he plays.

[Rhom]

Question for Dub:

So, when the Jaguars move to LA (they had like 7 people in the stands last night)...will you be switching teams? Might be your only out considering Al Davis' mother lived to 162 or something absurd like that. I mean, if you don't catch this boat..there won't be another one for a long time. And you'll be left, screaming at your volleyball: "Wilssssssooonnnnnnnnnn! Wade Willllllsssssssssssssssoonnnnnnnn!"

Interesting. I hadn't heard that the Jags were a candidate to move. Is this just speculation on your part, or is it a real possibility?

Also, if the NFL starts getting teams moving all over the country again after their hard work realigning things several years ago... I would think Goodell would get pissed. New Orleans in the west and Arizona in the east again!

Byron Leftwich.

I mean Josh Freeman too, but from what I saw of him in the preseason think it could get ugly if he plays.

And they just fired their offensive coordinator. Man, I feel bad for Coach Jags... things have not gone his way ever since he interviewed for that Jets job.

[DanteGabriel]

Byron Leftwich.

Yeah, I don't think Tampa's finishing second in the division.

[Rockroi]

Yeah, I don't think Tampa's finishing second in the division.

Alright fine.... bump them to 4th and everyone else up one slot... this is not fun....

[DanteGabriel]

Alright fine.... bump them to 4th and everyone else up one slot... this is not fun....

... And this is why I don't post predictions, I just monkey around with other people's predictions. ;)

[awesome possum]

What. Jaime. Said.

What Jaime said makes sense, after the 2006 season. At the beginning of the season, the Bears chose Grossman for a reason, and he went on to prove them correct for the next two months.

Your snide line about how the Bears choosing the guy they picked to be their franchise QB to be their starter as some kind of joke is just that, a joke. Grossman would later on become a joke, yes. But at the beginning of the 2006 season, there was a reason he was named starter. And it wasn't because Kyle Orton was that much worse. It was because Grossman had the potential to be a great QB... potential that was only realized for half a season before it went up in smoke. Doesn't change the fact that it was there.

[Trebla]

You know? I can live with that as the basis of my criticism … considering those were the three people I mentioned in my post… I could have gone on but like most Americans I really do not have taht much time for the Cowboys.

By that same token, you could say that Jerry brought the jackasses in in the first place (okay, random reason I like Jerry Jones: He and his wife are huge contributors to the Library of Congress’ Jefferson Library Collection- in fact the project is basically theirs).

... and did you just give kudows to Jones fro bringing in a backup QB? Right before you are about to sing Romo's praises? Really?

My issue here is that the Cowboys are 21-10 not because of Wade but in spite of him. He looks lost out there sometimes.

You’re right. Thankfully it’s not like Romo lost any significant Wide Receivers in the off season…. Wait…

…

I'm sure you are well aware that QB's get hurt all the time. The Cowboys were held hostage when Romo got hurt last year by Brad No-Arm Johnson who could not throw the ball more than 10 yards. Jon Kitna can be very effective over 4 to 6 games. He's mobile and still has a good arm.

I can't argue too much about Wade. He DOES look lost sometimes. On the other hand Bill Parcells was the sideline general yet he was clueless about hoe to run the 3-4 in today's NFL. His 3-4 was archaic. Line up the same everytime. No stunts. Just don't give up a play. He was embarrased by Sean Payton who crushed the Cowboys throwing to a friggin' Fullback for 4 scores because Dallas never adjusted.

Wade's 3-4 is disguise, speed, mixing it up. It's no surprise DeMarcus Ware, Bradie James, and Jay Ratliff have had their best seasons with Wade. The Achilles heel of the D has been the secondary, including the reasons they gave up those two huge runs last year to Baltimore. Players taking bad pursuit anglesHopefully they fixed them this year. We'll see

I will not defend Jerry Jones other than say again that he got rid of the idiots that he brought in. I didn't agree when he brought in TO, Tank, or Pacman. I was sickened.

Look again at my previous post as to why they won't miss TO. I'll add to it that Roy Williams has looked superb in camp. He is their possession receiver. Miles Austin will be the deep threat. Patrick Crayton and Sam Hurd the intermediate.

[Gold Storm]

Is it just me, or has the quality of QB play and QB gone down in the past couple of years. The good QBs are great; but there is a big drop off from the top 10/12 to the rest of the starting QBs. Is it because college offense does not translate to the NFL or have defenses gotten better and know how to defend the pass better.

[DanteGabriel]

Is it just me, or has the quality of QB play and QB gone down in the past couple of years. The good QBs are great; but there is a big drop off from the top 10/12 to the rest of the starting QBs. Is it because college offense does not translate to the NFL or have defenses gotten better and know how to defend the pass better.

Funnily enough, Trent Dilfer has a column on ESPN ranking the league's QBs, and here's what he opened up with:

Forget fantasy football for a minute and let's deal with a little reality.

Never in the history of the NFL has the league asked more from its quarterbacks. The demands have grown exponentially even in the past 10 years. The responsibilities quarterbacks must handle today -- protection adjustments, run-game decisions, audible packages and solving defenses that evolve each week -- deserve another level of analysis.

[Jaime L]

So much for re-establishing the K-Gun in Buffalo. Turk Schonert was fired today.

A league source tells us that the Bills have dumped offensive coordinator Turk Schonert, ten days before the team's season opener on Monday Night Football against the Patriots.

The move isn't completely shocking, in large part because we've been softened up for it a bit by the abrupt reassignment of Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and the sudden dismissal of Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

But the Bills' offense struggled in the preseason, and coach Dick Jauron likely realized that, if he didn't find a way to turn things around quickly, it would be Dick Jauron getting the shoe along with Schonert, and everyone else.

It's surprising to me how many OC's have gotten the axe based on preseason alone. And right before the start of the season no less. It's like you spend the entire offseason with one plan and then minutes before it becomes time to perform..you scrap it for something else. I know Buffalo has had an awful preseason...but man, I kinda liked the idea of the no-huddle offense on paper. And I wanted to see how it looked with TO, Evans and Lynch all playing. Ahh well.

Sorry, Bluray.

[Gold Storm]

Funnily enough, Trent Dilfer has a column on ESPN ranking the league's QBs, and here's what he opened up with:

Forget fantasy football for a minute and let's deal with a little reality.

Never in the history of the NFL has the league asked more from its quarterbacks. The demands have grown exponentially even in the past 10 years. The responsibilities quarterbacks must handle today -- protection adjustments, run-game decisions, audible packages and solving defenses that evolve each week -- deserve another level of analysis.

I did not think about that, in college most of the of the adjustments and audibles and whatnot are sent in by the sidelines. The greats like Manning the elder and Brady shine while others whom do not take it as seriously get eaten up.

[King James]

But at the beginning of the 2006 season, there was a reason he was named starter. And it wasn't because Kyle Orton was that much worse. It was because Grossman had the potential to be a great QB.

Ummm...no. Name one Florida QB that ever made an impact in the NFL. Grossman was chosen because he was the best of a bad bunch.

[Rockroi]

What Jaime said makes sense, after the 2006 season. At the beginning of the season, the Bears chose Grossman for a reason, and he went on to prove them correct for the next two months.

Your snide line about how the Bears choosing the guy they picked to be their franchise QB to be their starter as some kind of joke is just that, a joke. Grossman would later on become a joke, yes. But at the beginning of the 2006 season, there was a reason he was named starter. And it wasn't because Kyle Orton was that much worse. It was because Grossman had the potential to be a great QB... potential that was only realized for half a season before it went up in smoke. Doesn't change the fact that it was there.

I'm really not buying what you are selling.

Rex Grossman was a very bad QB for a very long time. His "potential" was that he could throw a long ball. My comment (which you have sucked the fun out of, thanks) was that AT SOME POINT there was a choice between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton. And that point was not JUST in 2006 but constantly afterwards- they looked at Rex being absolutely horrid and decided NOT to start Orton (for a time anyway). Do you remember Rex's performances?

While earning a passer rating of at least 100 in seven games, he earned a sub 50 rating in five games during the latter portion of the season. Grossman concluded the season’s final month with a 64.4 passer rating, including a zero rating during the season’s finale game against the Packers. Do you remember the Packers game? In case you didn't, Grossman completed 2 of 12 passes for 33 yards with three interceptions—two of which were returned for touchdowns—a lost fumble and a 0.0 passer rating in a humiliating 26-7 loss.

Now, again, if that was just one bad game, okay, you got me, it does not make a whole career. But consider how TERRIBLE he was down the stretch (in 2006) and then how atrocious he was in 2007 when he wad a QB controversy with Kyle Orton... who is terrible.

Here is a graphic of Rex's QB rating that season- the season you are praising:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rgrossmanstats2006.png

Okay, he reached 0. That's mindbogglingly enough, but did you remember the Week 13 ... 1.3 rating?! I wish I was kidding. Its true, he did improve later with that 24 QB rat day, but who's counting!

My point is simple: Kyle Orton was such a great QB that when Rex was busy destroying his team's chances at making any hay in late 2006 or at all in 2007, they actually got Brian Greise (seriously? What are we doing when that's what you have fallen to?) INSTEAD of having the prospect of letting Ortoin start- which he was forced to do anyway. That's how bad Kyle Orton is. Yes, he's worse than Rex Grossman and his stellar 1.3 and 0.0 days.