NFL Regular Season 2013 - Week 1 - Flacco throws his first INT, declared "Not Elite."

[Independent George]

I know they did. They also had an awful coaching staff. The talent is there, the scheme/coaching was not. That and their offense was so bad that the defense was always on the field.

I agree. You could see it in the games - they have an awful lot of talent on both sides of the ball, but they couldn't overcome their coaching and QB, and gave towards the end of the season.

[Mexal]

true to some degree. im just not sure if that talent is all the espn constantly says it is.

the offense will be better too, and that will help the defense as well. theyve upgraded from teh worst coach and worst qb to a mediocre coach (well not last year, probably second worst) and mediocre qb. we will see how far that takes them

We forget what Andy Reid has done just because of his last few years. He's not a mediocre coach.

As for the defense, they are ridiculously talented, regardless of what ESPN says. Tamba Hali and Justin Houston are really talented pass rushers. Brandon Flowers is a legit top 5-7 corner. Eric Berry has all the talent in the world to be a dominant safety though I do think he was overrated last year as he came back from missing 2011 season with a knee injury. And I've always been a fan of Derrick Johnson. Add in an improving Dontari Poe and you have the makings of a really good defense. As I said, lots of talent there.

[Maithanet]

We forget what Andy Reid has done just because of his last few years. He's not a mediocre coach.

As for the defense, they are ridiculously talented, regardless of what ESPN says. Tamba Hali and Justin Houston are really talented pass rushers. Brandon Flowers is a legit top 5-7 corner. Eric Berry has all the talent in the world to be a dominant safety though I do think he was overrated last year as he came back from missing 2011 season with a knee injury. And I've always been a fan of Derrick Johnson. Add in an improving Dontari Poe and you have the makings of a really good defense. As I said, lots of talent there.

Yeah, and these past few years the Eagles seem pretty dysfunctional (and certainly don't have a quarterback) so I give him credit for holding things together there as long as he did. He made the Eagles perennial contenders for about 8 years, something they had never managed before, and might not be able to do again anytime soon.

[Reposado]

there's really three possibilities that could be true.

1. the probowlers aren't all that great.

2. they have 4-5 outstanding defenders and the other 6-7 starters are just garbage

3. they do actually have a ton of talent that was not utilized by the coaching staff.

any of those could really be true. and my money says that its some of each.

i dont forget what any reid was. i was always a supporter of his. sure, he cant manage the clock worth a damn, but he did everything else. but the guy that weve seen the last few years is likely the guy that kansas city is getting. any reid from 2007 is not walking through the door. mediocre at best right now.

i think if things go well, they have the makings of a mediocre defense. which would be a huge improvement for them.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

I always find myself defending Skip Bayless and then he goes and does stupid shit like picking the Cowboys to beat the Giants by three touchdowns.

[DanteGabriel]

I always find myself defending Skip Bayless

Why would you do that in the first place? He is garbage. He is the Honey Boo Boo of sports pundits, which don't start out with a high mental bar to begin with.

[DaarioKnowsBest]

I suspect Stephen A and Skip are purposefully comedic. They say stupid shit but it makes good TV, I love when a current player joins the panel and smacks them down.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Why would you do that in the first place? He is garbage. He is the Honey Boo Boo of sports pundits, which don't start out with a high mental bar to begin with.

I find him to be an intelligent and passionate sports fan. I can appreciate that he has the "courage of his convictions". He's biased as hell but he doesn't really try to say otherwise.

[Maithanet]

Why would you do that in the first place? He is garbage. He is the Honey Boo Boo of sports pundits, which don't start out with a high mental bar to begin with.

Yeah, he is terrible. Anyone who can make Stephen A. Smith the more watchable of a tv duo is really going to great lengths to be terrible. Here's the Onion.

[Mexal]

I find him to be an intelligent and passionate sports fan. I can appreciate that he has the "courage of his convictions". He's biased as hell but he doesn't really try to say otherwise.

Seriously? You find him to be an intelligent sports fan? Good lord man. I'm not sure I can take anything else you say seriously anymore.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Seriously? You find him to be an intelligent sports fan? Good lord man. I'm not sure I can take anything else you say seriously anymore.

you can't take a lot of his stuff on first take seriously. I've read a lot of his articles from the 80's and he knows his stuff.

[Mexal]

you can't take a lot of his stuff on first take seriously. I've read a lot of his articles from the 80's and he knows his stuff.

That's all fine and dandy but we're not talking about Skip Bayless from the 80's. We're talking about Skip Bayless from the 2010's and he's fucking horrendous. Maybe he was great then but he's a parody of himself now.

[Ser Hippie]

Bayless might have been an intelligent writer at one point, but he descended into total hackery before he even joined ESPN. As a Bay Area sports fan, I knew he was an idiotic blowhard before that, and was shocked to see him moving up in the journalistic world (insert ESPN quality joke here).

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Well, I disagree but that's fine. He's definitely not on Jaws level of analysis, but he probably thinks he is. And Skip is definitely not worse than Mike Greenburg. The only things worse than a Cowboys fan and a Steelers fan is a Jets fan.

[Mexal]

Well, I disagree but that's fine. He's definitely not on Jaws level of analysis, but he probably thinks he is. And Skip is definitely not worse than Mike Greenburg. The only things worse than a Cowboys fan and a Steelers fan is a Jets fan.

The only thing worse than all three is a Tebow fan.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Just realized in the same league I have D. Thomas, I played Peyton last night. I'm down but Thomas final stats made up most of the ground.

[Reposado]

That's all fine and dandy but we're not talking about Skip Bayless from the 80's. We're talking about Skip Bayless from the 2010's and he's fucking horrendous. Maybe he was great then but he's a parody of himself now.

i still haven't decided whether skip is an act or not.

60% he is playing a character and nothing he's said in the past few years, he really believes

40% chance he is the dumbest pundit on the planet

id like to think that noone could believe the stuff he claims to, but the water pistol pete saga, and the fact that you cant get on the show without agreeing to not bring up certain things, kinda leads me to believe otherwise.

Bayless might have been an intelligent writer at one point, but he descended into total hackery before he even joined ESPN. As a Bay Area sports fan, I knew he was an idiotic blowhard before that, and was shocked to see him moving up in the journalistic world (insert ESPN quality joke here).

if there was a point where he descended into hackery, it was certainly before he attempted to out troy aikman

[Littlefingers In The Air]

The only thing worse than all three is a Tebow fan.

Hey! Tebow is a great guy and could be a hell of a third string back up in the CFL! You show some damn respect!

[Mya Stone]

The only thing worse than all three is a Tebow fan.

No way, The worst thing is a person who cheers on teams and players PURELY for their fantasy teams. I never do this. Ever.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

I only watch other NFL teams that aren't the Browns/Eagles for my fantasy team, barring the Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football games.