Brought to you by P Manning NFL: Super Bowl Edition Redux

[Sivin]

That's how Brady has been the past 5 years in the playoffs: mediocre.

Very Peyton-esque if you ask me. One man does not make a team, that's why the Patriots haven't won a superbowl in 7 years. And it's a damned miracle that the Colts won even one.

[trickster]

The ageing Ravens defense is still the 3rd best defense in the league. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed might be ageing but the rest of the defense isn't that old.

Hmm, not entirely disagree with you. Given that the Ravens are not that good offensively, their defense has to be great, being very good will not cut it. Ngata did not play that well this year; if it was some sort of injury and he can come back next season as the force cira 2010; they could still be good. However when you take out two first ballot hall of famers, your D will suffer. With a couple of pieces your Bengals could pass the Ravens (the only reason I am not including them on my list is because they ARE the Bengals :) ).

[Howdyphillip]

With this loss, the Patriots are now tied with the Bills and Vikings for the most big game losses in Superbowl history. 4 times your hearts have been broken. When I heard this, I started to feel sorry for you, but then I saw a picture of Tom Brady sitting on the ground with his legs outstreched, looking like someone just ran over his dog, and I just had to smile...

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Sports/pages/Tom-Brady-injury-causes-NFL-to-reconsider-season-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html

[Mexal]

Hmm, not entirely disagree with you. Given that the Ravens are not that good offensively, their defense has to be great, being very good will not cut it. Ngata did not play that well this year; if it was some sort of injury and he can come back next season as the force cira 2010; they could still be good. However when you take out two first ballot hall of famers, your D will suffer. With a couple of pieces your Bengals could pass the Ravens (the only reason I am not including them on my list is because they ARE the Bengals :) ).

What you meant to say is that Ngata didn't play well based on his own standards but compared to the other DTs in the league, he still played pretty well. Not as good as Atkins (had to throw in the Bengals plug) but better than 80% of the others :)

I just checked the Pro Football Focus ratings and funny enough, Lewis played at a pretty high level (#5 ranked ILB), especially in run defense (better than last year anyway). He also wasn't a massive liability in pass defense. Reed definitely took a dip in play this year. Anyway, my point is the defense is still good and I doubt it'll slow down that much in years to come. They'll keep drafting players who will step up, just like the Steelers do.

As for the Bengals, we're not good enough to be on that list yet. We have talent (Atkins, Dunlap, Nelson) but not enough playmakers. Maybe in a year or two depending on how that talent develops.

[awesome possum]

The Bengals are definitely in the right position to make noise for a good portion of the upcoming decade. The wealth of picks from the Palmer trade alone (if used wisely) combined with the further maturation of Dalton and Green should be enough to help them at least rise to the same level as the Steelers and Ravens, if not beyond for a little while.

[Lord O' Bones]

Come on Mex, how can 49ers/Bengals 3 NOT happen?

[Mexal]

The Bengals are definitely in the right position to make noise for a good portion of the upcoming decade. The wealth of picks from the Palmer trade alone (if used wisely) combined with the further maturation of Dalton and Green should be enough to help them at least rise to the same level as the Steelers and Ravens, if not beyond for a little while.

My biggest concern is that we'll never rise to the level of where we need to be with Lewis as our head coach. I think he's a fantastic talent evaluator and players love to play for him but his game management is among the worst in the league. He'd be much better as our GM.

Picks will be huge. Two first rounders at 17 and 21 could really sure up some holes. Unfortunately, they're not easy picks. If DeCastro is there at 17, it is, but I doubt he will be. Same with all those mocks giving us Richardson. They're easy. But if neither of them are there, they'll have to make a decision on choosing a OG that isn't first round material, a corner (Kirkpatrick, Jenkins, Gilmore) or a RB (Miller, Wilson, Martin). And honestly, none of those picks are surefire picks. They could just as easily make a terrible decision. I can't wait.

What I'm hoping is that after this year, Lewis decides to move on and Gruden takes over as HC. I think he could really put us over the top.

Come on Mex, how can 49ers/Bengals 3 NOT happen?

It will. It has to. I just rewatched the 1987 catch by Rice. We need retribution for that.

[Ku.]

I very sad. :frown5:

[Ku.]

If he would have let them score earlier they would have had 2 minutes on the clock and probably would have scored easily and not given Eli a chance for a comeback, Belichick would have added to his genius status. Instead he only decides to do it when they have 58 seconds left.

[Lord O' Bones]

I may just start calling people Ku's if they are wrong about something and still come back to play.

Like I already call people Zadok's when they talk shit and disappear.

[Tempra]

Don't know if I can agree with this. Though I would like to.

Also, you left off the Packers and Bills even if you were to group them in the 2nd tier.

Lumping them with the Bills is a bit harsh. The Redskins are a very solid tier 2 team with three super bowl wins, and Belichik is just below Joe Gibbs as fourth best coach of the past 25 years.

[ICE CROW]

Im not gonna sit here and pretend that i thought the game was great just cus it was the Super Bowl, The Super Bowl party i was at every single person there was so fucking bored by this game we all started stopped watching and starting playing poker. Yea the last 4 minutes were ok a hell of a fucking catch, that fuckery with the Pats letting the Giants score and the fact the Giants were trying to not score. i understand the strategy behind what both teams are doing but what the fuck, i would have been happy if i had died without seeing a grown fucking man bend down and ever so gently fall in the end zone like that.

[Lord O' Bones]

Eh?

I lumped them together as great teams. You lumped them together by forgetting them.

ETA: Sidenote: How many superbowls has the AFC won in a row now?

Bueller? Stego? Bueller? Stego? Bueller? Stego?

[Sivin]

I may just start calling people Ku's if they are wrong about something and still come back to play.

Like I already call people Zadok's when they talk shit and disappear.

I was a Ku, now I'm back to being Sivin. I support this decision, Bonesy.

[Kalbear]

And though I was wrong about the Broncos, I have been proven right (for now) about the Patriots.

Yes, your prediction of the Pats losing by 14 came very close to being true, along with the 21-point deficit the Pats were down by. This is much akin to Stego predicting a Pats blowout of the Ravens and them winning by 3 and him crowing about how right he was.

It wasn't that great a game. There were only a couple of plays that made you go wow - the Manningham catch, maybe the safety (for non-performance related reasons), maybe the int. It lacked the pow factor that the previous 3 superbowls had, and probably even the 4th. No big returns for TDs, no crazy ints, only one truly great catch, no ridiculous sacks. It was just a well-matched game between two teams that weren't particularly flashy and weren't going to go nuts.

I think that with Gronk the Pats win that tonight. I also think that it wouldn't have taken much for the Pats to win tonight without gronk; a dropped pass here, a fumble recovery there (the Giants recovered both of their fumbles). It really wasn't that dominant of a Giants win. But it also wasn't that surprising; the Pats made more mistakes than the Giants, the Giants played conservatively and took chances when they felt safe, and it paid off.

[Sivin]

Yes, your prediction of the Pats losing by 14 came very close to being true, along with the 21-point deficit the Pats were down by. This is much akin to Stego predicting a Pats blowout of the Ravens and them winning by 3 and him crowing about how right he was.

Oh, sorry. I wasn't referring to my pre-game pick. I was referring to my claim that the Patriots will not win another Superbowl with Tom Brady. (Hence the "for now".)

[Kalbear]

Also, while the Pats have 3 superbowl wins they all came within 4 years of each other. They've been to the superbowl 5 times in the last 10 years. That's a lot more impressive to me than the Cowboys' dynasty (as a ffranchise the Cowboys might be better, but the 90s Cowboys isn't as good dynastically as the Pats are).

And wow, 7 superbowls.

Oh, sorry. I wasn't referring to my pre-game pick. I was referring to my claim that the Patriots will not win another Superbowl with Tom Brady. (Hence the "for now".)

ETA: sorry, I get confused sometimes by all the things you predict and then claim awesomeness on. It's very hard to keep track.

[Ku.]

They're winning next year, bro. It's already been confirmed. Woodhead will be Super Bowl MVP.

[Starkess]

So many chances to win that game.

But we didn't. :cry:

I sat on my couch and sobbed for a few minutes (my poor bf didn't know what to do except get me kleenexes and give me hugs) and then realized that was pretty silly as it is in the end only a game.

But still. Did it have to be to the Giants again? :bang:

And Wes, I still love you.

[Kalbear]

They're winning next year, bro. It's already been confirmed. Woodhead will be Super Bowl MVP.

I thought you said that Tebow was winning next year and this was Brady's last shot? Or was that something else? It's all so confusing, these crazy predictions that are so awesome. Stego, you've really outdone yourself.

I kind of feel bad for the pats because this really did mean more for them. For the Giants this is...well, it's not a dynasty. This is another underachieving team in the regular season getting hot and then winning a couple close games in a row. Which is great, but when you think of all-time great teams do any of the Giants teams from this decade spring to mind? Does the oft-almost-fired Tom Coughlin make you go 'wow, what a great coach'? They're a very good team, and I think one of their biggest strengths is that they are not reliant on one player to carry them - but they're also not all that sexy or interesting. If the Pats had won we'd be talking about them as the best team in the superbowl era - or at least having that debate. With the Giants winning we're getting...i don't know. The dumb argument about Eli being better than Peyton?