NFL Regular Season 2011 Mk.II

[Spring Bass]

First post!

I caught most of that Steelers game, and it was ugly.

[trickster]

My take on Sunday's games:

Eagles look fast. Vick's radar was off. But he was given plenty of opportunity to run. The Rams showed too much respect to Vick the passer.

It's only one game, but the Chiefs are toast. If you let R. Fitzpatrick "go Montana on your ass" and then lay an egg on the offense on top of that, I mean...

Jay Cutler looked pretty good; the O Line was not the disaster that everybody predicted. But it was not great either. Cutler showed pretty good pocket awareness and made plays. The first TD to Forte is a prime example of this. Matty Ice and the rest of the team did not look so cool or explosive.

Detroit played good, for once their miscues did not doom them. NFC north looks like a strong division.

Titans and Jags are boring.

Bengals are not as bad as advertised; hopefully Dalton's injury is not too bad. Their defense is not too shabby.

Loved how the Ravens smacked the Steelers. They will be there in January to compete for a place in the SB. Did anybody see Troy Polamolu? Also James Harrison got pwned by Bryant McKinnie.Loved to see the big scumbag (who might have raped a young college student) struggle with turnovers.

My colts suck; may be we will get the number 1 pick. Also the Texans looked hungry. But then again it's only game one and (it hurts to type this) against a crappy team.

Eli Manning is an elite QB; yeah right, he just got outplayed by Rex Grossman. The Giants are doomed; too many injuries. Not sure what to make of the Redskins.

There is a possibility that McNabb is the worst starting QB of the league. The Vikings replaced Tavaris and it looks like they have downgraded. The Chargers still have problems with their special team. I expect the Chargers to put up big numbers during the season and then fizzle in the playoffs. They are not getting to play the Colts.

Kolb looked pretty good. But Newton looked amazing.

Seattle looked horrid. And somehow the 49ers needed two Ted (motherloving) Ginn Jr TDs to bail them out.

Romo giveth, Romo taketh away. He just self destructed; the Bryant injury (and/or being stranded on the Revis island) was a huge factor. I don't understand how the Sanchize can look like absolute crap for almost a half and then put together an awesome long drive (the one that made the score 10-7 at the end of the 1st half).

[dalThor]

Detroit played good, for once their miscues did not doom them. NFC north looks like a strong division.

Being a long time Lions fan I was waiting for them to choke, especially with the two bad penalties they took late in the fourth which, in the past, would have certainly resulted in a loss. Suh is incredible. I also felt the familiar feeling of doom watching Stafford limp off the field in the 4th. Thankfully it was (reportedly) just a cramp.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

First post!

I caught most of that Steelers game, and it was ugly.

I thought it was rather beautiful. :P

Guess it is a matter of persepective.

[Kosciuszko]

I hope the Rams game was just the result of a young team and a shortened pre-season. I really, really hope that.

[Rockroi]

With regards to Romo, I completely agree with both sides of the discussion: I think Romo has reached the point where he SHOULD have (in theory) won the game for the Cowboys given his talent level, his experience, his effectiveness as a QB, etc. Instead, he actively lost the game for the Cowboys; that pick was just .... terrible. And you get this sneaking suspicion that he's reached the apex of his ability + talent matrix; that he has gathered all the talent he is ever going to acquire and that he has enough experience to use it most effectively (the point is that any more experience Romo gets from this point onward may not keep up with age, injuries etc and more experience does not = loss to physical effectiveness). Hence, you look at he game last night and think: an effective QB wins that game; Romo lost it. Why? (And then his shit-eating smirk after the back-breaking INT does not help the cause).

But as others have pointed out - where is your next QB coming from? Every team knows that they need the great QB to be effective; nobody is parting with theirs anytime soon. Romo is better than what most teams have (and hey- at least you didn't trade for him). The point is that the Cowboys have to build an offense that takes that into account; Romo as the Big Ben-type QB: he has a great arm, won't panic; knows the system, etc BUT you will avoid situations where Romo has to win you the game.

Then again... I THOUGHT that was what was happening last night. Regardless, I think the Cowboys need to make lemonade out of the Tony Romo lemon. Because there is not much else better out there.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room for a moment. The prospect was raised that Indy's potential to suck might actually bolster Manning's legacy. Today was just one game, but Christ, they looked like shit.

Now Kerry Collins fumbled two snaps, so that shouldn't happen again. But they were still really bad.

They looked as bad as everyone had feared; they looked like a team and an organization built around one guy and that guy isn't around. They looked like a team that had no faith in its QB; no faith in its coach; no faith in its D, and everyone knew it. They looked like a team that was beat when the guy got to "... and the rockets red glare...."

Put another way (and really more to the point): over the last 6 seasons, we have all made statements, to the effect, that when the Colts would win a game, we would say, "This game makes me realize more and more that without Peyton Manning, the Colts would be a terrible team." And in all of our mind's-eye we could each picture THAT team: the Colts without Manning. We all knew what we were talking about; we all knew the implication; we all understood the parameters.

The team we pictured in our heads was the 2011 Manning-less-Colts. MY position, hence, has been reinforced: while its only one game, if the season continues on this trajectory we have to stop including the Colts as one of those "flagship" NFL teams. They are not. A properly run flagship team does not deteriorate to that level. A friend of mine made an astute observation: Its not like the Colts were THAT good last year anyway; we are watching the collapse of a team that was not just dependent by one guy, but one that was "propped up" by one. But Manning was so good that you could white-wash all those imperfections: the not-so disciplined #1 WR; the front-running defense; the "blah" running game; the comatosed head coach; etc.

Therefore, in my opinion the Colts we saw on the field last week were, to quote a phrase, "were who we thought they were." I really do not see it any other way.

Oh, and look on the bright side Cowboys and Colts fans ... and least you aren't the Vikings. That ... that shit is just horrible,

[Reposado]

I hope the Rams game was just the result of a young team and a shortened pre-season. I really, really hope that.

Well two weeks ago everyone was crowning the Eagles the best team in the history of football. Obviously that was an overreaction, but I think the Eagled will be very good. Given that, the Rams looked better than a bunch of other teams.

Resuming some notes from the other thread, I agree that Romo is a very good quarterback and after he shredded the Jets defense for 50 minutes, it is unfair that all the focus is on a few plays. Roethlisberger played horrendously all day and does not get the negative attention Romo does.

The Cowboys will be fine, Romo will be fine. Sure I'd rather have Rodgers, Rivers, Brady, maybe Brees(declining), Manning(worried injury is really serious) or Vick but that's about it.

[Fez]

I don't understand how the Sanchize can look like absolute crap for almost a half and then put together an awesome long drive (the one that made the score 10-7 at the end of the 1st half).

As someone who's been watching Sanchez playing for over 2 years now, believe me I know. It's the most frustrating thing about him by far. He has these flashes of being an absolutely fantastic QB, and what's more they are particularly frequent in the post-season and the 4th quarter, but they are surrounded by long stretches of absolute shit with occasional mediocrity. He really does only seem to thrive under pressure.

[awesome possum]

That loss has really gotta hurt Cowboys fans. The pretty damned good team that many knew had been in Dallas for years nearly dominates the most over-hyped team in perhaps the history of the league for three quarters, only for the Dallas team that the league has seen for the last several seasons to show up in the 4th quarter and throw the game away. Damn.

[Fez]

That loss has really gotta hurt Cowboys fans. The pretty damned good team that many knew had been in Dallas for years nearly dominates the most over-hyped team in perhaps the history of the league for three quarters, only for the Dallas team that the league has seen for the last several seasons to show up in the 4th quarter and throw the game away. Damn.

Not sure you can call a team "the most over-hyped", even of the year, when they've reached the AFC Championship game the past two years in a row; particularly when you've got the current Rams and Lions bandwagons going. And it was the Eagles, who actually are pretty good, who were getting the most hype by far this preseason.

[Selmy]

So who's looking forward to the Pats tonight?!

[Zadok]

As someone who's been watching Sanchez playing for over 2 years now, believe me I know. It's the most frustrating thing about him by far. He has these flashes of being an absolutely fantastic QB, and what's more they are particularly frequent in the post-season and the 4th quarter, but they are surrounded by long stretches of absolute shit with occasional mediocrity. He really does only seem to thrive under pressure.

This has been true in the past but I don't think it was the case last night. Sanchez had no time at all to throw in the first half. For 44 pass attempts, one "holy shit who is he throwing to?" is pretty good for Sanchez, unfortunately that one got run back to the 1 yard line. It would be interesting to see Sanchez's stats in the no huddle/2 minute drill type situations though, because he does seem to excel more when Brian Schottenheimer is removed from the equation.

[Reposado]

As someone who's been watching Sanchez playing for over 2 years now, believe me I know. It's the most frustrating thing about him by far. He has these flashes of being an absolutely fantastic QB, and what's more they are particularly frequent in the post-season and the 4th quarter, but they are surrounded by long stretches of absolute shit with occasional mediocrity. He really does only seem to thrive under pressure.

Well he tends to do well facing prevent defenses, when the Cowboys rushed three and got no pressure, he moved it down the field easily. It's a pressure situation, but its the opposite of pressure coming from the defense.

[Fez]

This has been true in the past but I don't think it was the case last night. Sanchez had no time at all to throw in the first half. For 44 pass attempts, one "holy shit who is he throwing to?" is pretty good for Sanchez, unfortunately that one got run back to the 1 yard line. It would be interesting to see Sanchez's stats in the no huddle/2 minute drill type situations though, because he does seem to excel more when Brian Schottenheimer is removed from the equation.

No it wasn't all his fault (Wayne Hunter got beat bad a few times) and having Sanchez throw 44 times is just asking for trouble to pop up from time to time, but he did not look good quite a few times; even in the 4th quarter with that fumble and the almost INT right before the field goal. But then there are those times where he looks like a top-10, maybe top-5 QB, such as that drive right before half. So frustrating.

Well he tends to do well facing prevent defenses, when the Cowboys rushed three and got no pressure, he moved it down the field easily. It's a pressure situation, but its the opposite of pressure coming from the defense.

Yeah that's what I meant. Pressure as in the game situation, not as in what exactly the defense is doing. When the defense actually does bring pressure it usually seems to work, he seems to have very bad awareness of the pass rush.

[Rockroi]

So who's looking forward to the Pats tonight?!

Obviously, I am, but now with a sudden deal of trepidation. Yes, its only one game, but I am now resolved that the Jets will be sticking around. Their QB responds well to pressure; they have studs on D, and the coach knows his shit. I want to eat glass than admit any of those things. They are not "going away." Therefore, the Patriots have to "fend off" of the Jets and game-in, game-out fight to stay atop the AFC East. And that's not the half of it. If the Pats win the AFC East, the Jets are the wild card. Well, so what? They have proven they can win in the playoffs on the road (they have yet to even PLAY a home playoff game under Rex Ryan). Meanwhile the Pats are 0-2 home playoff games.

I'm not scared of the Jets, per se; I think I am justifiably concerned over a well-proven, battle-tested team, their good coach and the horse-shoe jammed up Mark Sanchez's ass.

Now, with that said, I think the Pats can beat the Jets on a consistent basis, but its not a game I look forward to. Regardless, the Pats have to, suddenly - I think, make a statement game that they are ust as effective as any other team in the NFL. IF the Pats are to still be considered an elite NFL team they have to win tonight going away- by like 14+ points. I think they can do that.

[Selmy]

Jeez think you might be overreacting a bit. The Jets barely bit a pretty shitty Cowboys team.

I'm really just more curious to see the Pats retooled defense and see if Haynesworth plays.

Supposedly after cutting down rosters, the Pats had more cuts picked up by other teams than anyone else. Pretty interesting I thought.

[Mexal]

And the Bengals will not be going 0-16! Hope Dalton is ok as I think the defense an running game with Dalton at qb is good enough for at least 5 wins.

[Bronn Stone]

I thought both Dallas and the Jets looked like pretty good NFL teams. The game had a 'big game' atmosphere and both QBs made boneheaded plays at times, but barring further major injuries, I'd be shocked if either of those teams ended up outside the playoffs.

Minnesota on the other hand looked dreadful. I am a Donovan McNabb fan. But since 'Campbell's Chunky Soup is thick enough to eat with a fork, but use a spoon to get every drop', that means you have a spare fork lying around that you can stick straight in Donovan - because he is done.

Probably too much setup for the joke, but I'll live.

[Kalbear]

<p>I think that Rockroi won't be able to wipe the grin off his face after tonight's game. Just wait. I expect the Pats to make us wonder why anyone else would win the division. Heck, they'll make us wonder why they don't dominate in other sports too. Brady could make a good 3-pointer, right?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Cutler's overthrow on the reverse TE screen was embarrassing, but otherwise he made good decisions and I like the game calling against an aggressive defense. That bodes somewhat well. He was fairly accurate and reasonable with throws too. The real reason for optimism is that as far as i can tell the Bear defense improved from last year instead of declined like we thought they would. They looked sharp and hungry, and along with the Ravens are probably the only two good defenses in the league at this point in the season. That'll change as defenses get more reps (defenses need more reps to gel than offenses do) but for the first few weeks they should look very strong.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>As Rock is loathe to give props to the Jets, I'm loathe to do this but it's correct: I wouldn't be surprised if the Pats put up 50 tonight. I'd say it's a coin flip. At least 40.</p>

[awesome possum]

Not sure you can call a team "the most over-hyped", even of the year, when they've reached the AFC Championship game the past two years in a row; particularly when you've got the current Rams and Lions bandwagons going. And it was the Eagles, who actually are pretty good, who were getting the most hype by far this preseason.

Well, over-hyped according to the head coach at least, who blows so much smoke up the world's collective ass about the Jets that you'd think the team is capable of not just winning everything but curing all of the world's ills while doing so.

Jeez think you might be overreacting a bit. The Jets barely bit a pretty shitty Cowboys team.

The team suddenly got fairly shitty in the fourth quarter, but the first three quarters before that looked damned good.

The real reason for optimism is that as far as i can tell the Bear defense improved from last year instead of declined like we thought they would.

I still think the secondary will be a huge weakness, but that doesn't matter as long as the front four is getting consistent pressure. When the defensive line is getting to the QB so much so that the team doesn't even need to blitz (I think there was one or two nickel back blitzes but otherwise all the pressures and sacks were just the regular front four rushing), the secondary can be a weakness. I'll probably change my tune about that in the next two weeks if/when they get lit up by Brees and Rodgers.