NFL Offseason (cont.)

[Mexal]

AFC NORTH:

Cinci: 8-8. I would give them a shot at a better record and 2nd place but I cringe at the volatile chemistry having TO and Ochochino on the same team is going to create.

I just need to dispell this because I hear the talking heads saying it all the time and quite frankly, it's false. TO and Ocho are best friends. They drive each other to be better. TO has never been a pain in the ass in his first year. TO is 36 years old. Oh and TO just came from the worst team he's played on in Buffalo and caused no problems. TO just wants a shot at winning a championship. He will not cause problems and Chad only caused problems during one offseason which was a few years ago.

That will not be an issue and it certainly won't be an issue that will cause losses.

[Lightning Lord]

I just need to dispell this because I hear the talking heads saying it all the time and quite frankly, it's false. TO and Ocho are best friends. They drive each other to be better. TO has never been a pain in the ass in his first year. TO is 36 years old. Oh and TO just came from the worst team he's played on in Buffalo and caused no problems. TO just wants a shot at winning a championship. He will not cause problems and Chad only caused problems during one offseason which was a few years ago.

That will not be an issue and it certainly won't be an issue that will cause losses.

I swear, reading this, I was 99% certain you were TO and writing in the third person a la Ricky Henderson.

[BLU-RAY]

Gotta say, I completely agree with Mex. I'm shocked that folks are worried about the TOchocinco chemistry thing; that part of the team will be fuckin' fine. I don't know if they have any headcase holdovers from the Cincinnattica years, but those would be more of a chemistry concern if they exist. Regardless, though, I'm not waffling on the Bengals due to chemistry concerns; I'm worried about depth. I think the team will lose a few games due to injury that another team might pull out; and they play a physical style in a super-physical division.

[Mexal]

Gotta say, I completely agree with Mex. I'm shocked that folks are worried about the TOchocinco chemistry thing; that part of the team will be fuckin' fine. I don't know if they have any headcase holdovers from the Cincinnattica years, but those would be more of a chemistry concern if they exist. Regardless, though, I'm not waffling on the Bengals due to chemistry concerns; I'm worried about depth. I think the team will lose a few games due to injury that another team might pull out; and they play a physical style in a super-physical division.

Fair enough. However, we do have more depth this year than we did a year ago. We brought back all 11 starters on defense, signed Adam Jones, traded for Reggie Nelson and drafted Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap and Rodrick Muckelroy. We have so much depth this year that players who were our special teams aces last year were cut to make room for our depth.

On offense, we're a bit thin along the offensive line and I think that is where concern can be found. We have no legit LT replacement and no real back up center. We have loads of depth at WR and we have loads of depth at RB with Scott (star in waiting), Leonard and Peerman. We even have depth at TE with Kelly, Gresham, Coats (who blows at catching but good blocker) and Coffman on the Practice Squad.

This is the deepest team I've seen us have but I do worry about the offensive line depth and QB depth.

[Space Bandito]

Revis signs. Thank God.

Hopefully he is ready to play.

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=5538132

Oh he'll be ready. Ty Law did the same shit. :thumbsdown:

Revis will get paid like Peyton Manning and then go down for the season with turf toe or some shit.

My hope is that Gronkowski runs him over and crushes him like Drago from Rocky 4. Compare the two pics - Gronk Rocky 4

[Mexal]

Ravens signed Housh. Interesting. He'll be pretty solid out of the slot for them. I do worry about their ability to stretch the field but Housh definitely upgrades their offense. Yet another piece for Flacco to play with. Ravens will be good this year.

That being said, really hope they get whooped on by the Jets.

[Jaime L]

Ravens signed Housh. Interesting. He'll be pretty solid out of the slot for them. I do worry about their ability to stretch the field but Housh definitely upgrades their offense. Yet another piece for Flacco to play with. Ravens will be good this year.

That being said, really hope they get whooped on by the Jets.

So much for the rumors of him deciding between the Redskins or Raiders.

Anyway, yeah, another move the chains type pass catcher for the Ravens to go along with Boldin, Mason and Heap. Either someone's going to be transitioned into deeper routes than they're used to or the area 10 yards downfield will be more congested than LaGuardia on a Monday.

[BLU-RAY]

Yep. Also sucks for Housh/Mason owners in fantasy, but anyhow. Could be interesting for the Ravens, at least.

[Commodore]

I find it amusing that we cut John David Booty to sign Matt Leinart.

[Maithanet]

Picks

AFC East:

Miami

New England

New York

Buffalo

I admit, my biases get in the way every year, and this is no exception. I think New England is going to struggle with that defense. I think New York is all Boom or Bust. They have talent, but if a few close games don't go their way (and having qb as your weak spot is a good way to make that happen), then I could see an implosion.

AFC North:

Baltimore

Cincinnati

Pittsburgh

Cleveland

Baltimore looks really strong. Chemistry may be a problem with all those new wideouts, but I think they'll piece something together. I want Cincy to do well, and they have a good, but not great team. Pittsburgh will probably start in a hole this season, so their margin for error is pretty small. Dangerous if they make the playoffs though. Cleveland is in a tough division.

AFC West

San Diego

Oakland

KC

Denver

The Denver experiment is officially over. Good riddance. Oakland and KC are both better, but not enough to make the playoffs. SD wins the division with a middling record.

AFC South

Indy

Houston

Tennessee

Jax

Indy always strong in the regular season. Houston and Tennessee will both contend for wild card spots, with Houston finally getting over the hump with a healthy year. Jacksonville also plays in this division.

NFC East

New York

Dallas

Washington

Philly

I am surprised how few people think the Giants will be good. I don't know where that idea came from. If their defense had been middle-of-the-road, that team would have made the playoffs last year. This year, their defense will be better than middle of the road. Dallas is once again going to fail to live up to expectations. Washington and Philly will both be decent teams, but with too many tough games to make the playoffs.

NFC North

Green Bay

Minnesota

Detroit

Chicago

I think Favre coming back was a terrible idea for both him and the Vikes. GB will outlast them, and Rogers is just better at this point. Detroit is going in the right direction. I'm less certain about that for Chicago.

NFC West

San Fran

Seattle

Arizona

St. Louis

Super weak division. San Fran should go 5-1 within, which boosts them to the automatic home game, which they will lose. The rest are just a jumble.

NFC South

New Orleans

Atlanta

Carolina

Tampa

Better division than people expect, with the bottom feeders capable of upsets and the top two both contenders. New Orleans has the experience and wins the division, with Atlanta on their heels.

[davos]

Interesting picks Davos. A tad more unconventional than usual.

We know that every season produces its share of surprises. When making predictions like this its a lot more fun to try to figure out where the conventional wisdom is going to be wrong than to rehash what everyone else is saying.

I think there's been a tipping point on Rogers and a belief that they've improved their O-Line that's driving the Packers hype. But from what I've seen the hype is mostly just suggesting that they will win the division as opposed to saying that they'll win the Super Bowl.

I've heard more than one talking head and more than one magazine taut them as a potential Superbowl team. A lot of folks are expecting them to win the division. I think there are enough reasons for concern that its not quite time to crown them as the NFC North favorites yet. I also don't think that Minnesota is going to slip as much as a lot of folks are expecting. I'm calling for the Packers to win the division and have an excellent season. I also think they are going to be in a real race with the Vikings most of the season. I could honestly see the Pack being a year away from being as good as some people are predicting.

I just need to dispell this because I hear the talking heads saying it all the time and quite frankly, it's false. TO and Ocho are best friends. They drive each other to be better. TO has never been a pain in the ass in his first year. TO is 36 years old. Oh and TO just came from the worst team he's played on in Buffalo and caused no problems. TO just wants a shot at winning a championship. He will not cause problems and Chad only caused problems during one offseason which was a few years ago.

Sorry, I'm still not convinced. Both players have gigantic egos. They maybe friends off the field but if one or the other aren't seeing a lot of balls come their way or if the team hits a rough stretch I'm not so sure there won't be issues. I'm also not sure of the wisdom of having two star quality wide-outs wih such similar styles on the same team. Its not like one is a deep route specialist and one is a possesion receiver so they would compliment each other rather than compete for catches. I would like to be wrong. Cinci fans have gone through years of heart ache and I would like to see their team have some real success.

[Starkess]

Really not excited about the Revis news. :thumbsdown: He is entirely too successful at shutting down Moss. And with the state of our defense, well, we need our offense to be as good as possible.

Still, gotta get through Week 1 first. Bengals aren't exactly a team to sneeze at, but I think the Pats got this one. Home turf and all.

[Stego]

TO just wants a shot at winning a championship.

If that were true, he would not have signed with the Bengals.

[Trebla]

TJ Houshmandzadeh signs with Baltimore

wow...very interesting move. Rumors had Oakland and Washington being the front-runners to sign him. Both are very weak at receiver. Baltimore has Boldin and Derrick Mason but Donte Stallworth is out until October. I think this also may be about the absolute trainwreck of injuries Baltimore has in the secondary. I bet the feeling is they will need to score some serious points until their secondary heals up.

I think it is a very good pickup especially since they got him for under a million dollars.

[davos]

time to put this thread to rest. Opening a new one.