NFL 2011 Season Discussion

[Sam Spade]

Nice pass there, Romo. (had to post it twice)

[Sam Spade]

Obviously the Colts are in a lot of trouble. I'm not sure Collins plays all the games that Peyton doesn't start. I thought maybe they would still compete but if their morale remains this low they're looking at a top 10 pick.

The Colts are far from being the worst team in football and their morale will improve (after all, they do play Jax and Ten this season).  For the Texans, this was revenge.  The Colts knew they stood no chance by halftime, and therefore it showed in morale.  That being said, Jim Caldwell sucks as a coach, and we'll start to see why.

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The Bears are better than people think they are, so long as they stay healthy on D.  Also, the Falcons D is simply not that great.  And Matt Ryan is still not the world-beater QB the Falcons think he is.

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The Chiefs played by far the easiest schedule in the NFL last year (other than maybe the Bucs) and still won a whole host of close games.  Return to earth seems likely.
 

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Yes and no.  Foster is a master at shifting his body as he moves, causing would-be tacklers to simply miss as he hits the hole.  Tate is more of a bruiser who likes to run over people as he hits the hole.  Ward is a speed back.  Foster and Tate hit the holes in the zone block about the same, better than Ward, who quite frankly is more of an in-line traditional back (but highly useful as a change-of-pace).  But Foster's style will allow him about half a yard per carry more than Tate during the season and less damage.  However, on third-and-one, I want Tate.

So, the system, yes.  But the back has to fit the system, and all three do, in their own way.  Besides, the Texans O-line is really good, at least top 10, maybe top 5 - people still remember the David Carr years for some reason.

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I personally think McNabb is over the hill.

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The Giants are going to get killed by injuries and Eli Manning INTs.  Dallas still lacks focus, IMO.  Eagles probably still win the division, but Redskins could be a Wild Card team.  Still expect them to finish 6-10 or 7-9 of course.

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Sure, but I think Bradford is OK.  Amendola is probably lost though.

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Yep.  They still blew the game, of course.

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One game does not a season make.  However, they were dominated on both sides at the line of scrimmage today, and their historic turnover ratio success, well, came back to bite them today.  Also remember that the Ravens have played this game with us before - looking like worldbeaters early in the season, and then missing the playoffs.  We'll see.

[Sam Spade]

Dear Sam,

My Eagles...cockteases again?

Sincerely yours

Perpetually Disappointed.

It seems to be an Andy Reid-broken record, my Iggles friend.  One of the certainties of life as an Eagles fan, along with beating someone else up in the 700 section of Veterans Stadium.

[Sam Spade]

This game looked like a classic Andy Reid special that he turns in a couple of times a year.

In my weekly betting pool, I thought this might be the week for one of those, so I took the Falcons and the points.  One of the other bettors laughed at this pick.  I just sent him a message - "Who's laughing now? I hear dogs barking outside, though."

[Sam Spade]

Defense couldn't hold for the Texans.  Ugh.  Kinda what I feared.

[Sam Spade]

Also, the Bills...

[Sam Spade]

Weekly quick hitter observations:

1) Minnesota might be the best first half team in the league.  Still, impressive comeback by the Lions irregardless.  Matthew Stafford, stay healthy.
2) Tennessee is winning off of Matt Hasselbeck's arm.  One has to wonder how long that can continue.
3) We all know the Browns aren't very good.  But they're getting wins, if ugly.  Same goes for the 49ers, but in that division, they can actually get to the playoffs.
4) Once again, bullmoose88 is so correct.  The Eagles have big problems in the middle of their defense.  The dogs got their revenge today too.  They should run Vince Young out there though - he wins games.
5) Well, Houston should be good enough to win the AFC South, but they're not elite yet.  Granted, the Saints are probably one of the three most dangerous offensive teams out there (Packers, Patriots), but the Texans defense blew that game.  Rather sad.  And yes, the Saints can get back to the Super Bowl, imo.
6) The Pats are going to get killed by their lack of a pass rush and running game (i.e. controlling the lines).  I can't think they win the Super Bowl for that reason. The Bills may well end up 7-9, 8-8, but there is hope there now.
7) Baltimore = Jekyll and Hyde team.
The Jets defense played really bad today, but they only looked good against Jacksonville so far, not Dallas.  The way the Raiders destroyed the Jets on the ground tells us that the Raiders are a team to be reckoned with.  They could well win that division and go far into the playoffs, as they look right now.  Scary.
9) Norv Turner did his best to try and give that game away, didn't I tell you?
10) Seattle is a horrible team.  But they can win three or four games at home (their home advantage is well documented).  Is this enough to keep them out of the Andrew Luck derby?
11) You have to hand it to Tampa Bay - they do just enough to win games.  And winning is all that counts.

[Sam Spade]

So pissed at that last play of the first half.  Texans, what are you thinking?

[Sam Spade]

Well, the Texans spotted the Steelers 2 TDs and still won.  Steelers really aren't very good this year, but it really pisses me off.

[Sam Spade]

Boy, if there was a way to blow a game, the Eagles are so very close to mastering it.

Tony Romo would like to have a word with you

The AFC East really does have questionable QBs this year (haven't they always, recently)

[Sam Spade]

Weekly observations:

1) The Cowboys are actually a pretty good defensive team.  But the game will always rest on Tony Romo's shoulders so long as they can't run the ball.  Still, gotta hand it to Detroit again for hanging in.
2) Nice job, Eagles.  The 49ers this season are just playing conservative ball - and they have the type of defense to do that - just gotta wonder when they play actually good teams whether that's enough (considering Alex Smith and all).
3) The Redskins also have a pretty good defense.  But we still haven't seen them play a good team yet either.
4) Maybe the Titans are good and Matt Hasselbeck is well, back.  I've seen bigger shockers, but I'm starting to believe.  Of course, the Browns are simply not that good.
5) Andy Dalton has actually played quite competently so far and the Bengals defense has looked pretty good.  It takes them out of the Andrew Luck derby though, and I don't see how they get to the playoffs.  Bills have to understand that if you win by the sword (passing game), you die by it too.
6) The Vikings really do know how to blow games.  And why is McNabb still in the league?
7) The Texans should have won by 20, but a win is a win.  That is, unless Andre Johnson is gone for the season (which it doesn't appear so).  They've just got to make sure this doesn't happen when they play a good team.  Meanwhile, as I told about everyone paying attention, the Steelers just aren't very good this year.  Ben isn't going to survive the year at this rate.
The Chargers pull together another unimpressive win.  Yawn, Norv, yawn.
9) Green Bay is simply the best team far and away right now, but their style is such that they could lose a playoff game to a team that can get to the QB.  Much like NE in 2007.
10) As usual, Belicheck has his guys pull it all together after a loss.  The Pats D is still a problem, though.  Meanwhile, the Raiders fall back down to earth.  I still expect Norv to give them a shot at winning the division.
11) The Ravens O looked awful, but the Jets looked worse.  The Jets always seem to pull this stuff for a four-five game stint every season yet make the playoffs, though.  And the Ravens do the same thing, and don't make the playoffs.  Fortunately, this year they don't have to worry about Pittsburgh, I think.

[Sam Spade]

You've got to be impressed with the way Vick gives away the football.  Also, what gives with the Giants - Jekyll and Hyde team, and they're lucky to be in the game.

[Sam Spade]

Drive-by Thoughts:

1) Tennessee reengages my previous doubts about their success, but this game was lost at the defensive end not on offense.  Pittsburgh, in order to even think about making the playoffs, must return to the run game, especially straight-ahead running.
2) Carolina is losing a lot of close games.  If Cam Newton can keep healthy and put his head on a bit straighter (i.e. improve completion percentage), Carolina will be a team to reckon with in the future.  New Orleans yet again proves today why they are a Super Bowl contender.
3) And the Texans prove why they are not.  Raiders won this one on special teams though (and probably Al Davis grit - I would have never bet against them after they lost him); they lost the battle on both sides of the ball though.  Texans had a lot of injuries today that they better hope are not serious, otherwise, they'll be 3-3 going to Tennessee.
4) The Bills are for real and the Eagles are not.  Of course, Andy Reid may well run off 11 in a row before he finally gets fired next year. (100 points to anyone who gets this reference - it's really obscure)
5) Minnesota finally played the second half today.  Sorta.
6) One has gotta wonder if Indianapolis is just starting to throw games to get Andrew Luck.  They are definitely in the driver's seat now after today's collapse.  Of course, getting Luck isn't going to change their godawful defense, but, well...
7) You see, the Giants impress you, then they do something like today.  Eli played like he was still in high school.
Tampa Bay is an example of a team that overachieves.  But sometimes after Monday night games, you put up efforts like today.  I really questioned the 49ers in preseason, but they're only a Tony Romo miracle effort (the good miracles) from being 5-0.  Next week, we'll see what they're really made of, but they're clearly much better than anyone else in that division (not saying very much), although Alex Smith still leaves a lot to be desired.
9) Another day, another unimpressive win from Norv.  How you do almost let Tim Tebow engineer a 16-point comeback in the last 9 minutes of a game?  Well, if it's Norv Turner, we know the answer.
10) New England has to return to the ground game in order to beat teams like the Jets.  Meanwhile, are the Jets ever going to fire Brian Schottenheimer?
I normally do eleven, but there's really nothing of interest for me to say about CIN-JAC except "look, Cincy is above .500, and Andy Dalton has some clutch ability."

[Sam Spade]

Chargers pulled off a classic choke job.

Well, it's Norv, what do you expect?

Quick hitters of this week (missed last one):

1) This week was really a character win for Atlanta, you have to hand it to them.  They have to continue to keep pace in that division.  Meanwhile, it is understandable that Detroit is going to come back to earth a little.  Some of those earlier wins this season, they simply were given to them.
2) So, Miami's in good running for the Andrew Luck derby.  As for Tebow, he looked awful out there, miraculous end notwithstanding.  Don't kid yourself.
3) So, after blowing it at Baltimore and Oakland the two weeks before, and everyone in Houston saying, "here we go again", today was simply an utter domination of the Titans at all levels.  Nothing else can be said.  It is still rather obvious that Houston is the best team in the AFC South, whether they will have the best record is another issue of course.  The rest of the season, after all, is not murderer's row.  The loss of strong safety Manning will hurt.  Meanwhile, Chris Johnson?  Enough said.
4) How long before Mike Martz gets restless, and tries to change the Bears from that winning rushing focus in their offense.  You know it's killing him.  Meanwhile, Josh Freeman has to start, one day, to learn to play in other quarters than the 4th.
5) Norv, Norv, Norv.  Saving another team's season is really your greatest talent, eh?
6) He's still taking too many sacks, but play like Cam Newton's today is the real deal.
7) Look here - Pittsburgh is 5-2 and in the middle of things again.  The cream puff part of the schedule is done now - let's see what happens in the next couple of weeks.
So, Carson Palmer looks a little rusty, eh?  Btw, if McFadden is lost for any length of time, they'll be in serious trouble.  And look here too, Kansas City is now only a game out of first.  And next week is San Diego, then home against Miami and Denver.  Not dead yet, eh?  Of course, they face a real murderer's row after that, so they'd better win all three.
9) DeMarco Murray - wow.  Of course, it is the Rams, but if Dallas has a real rushing attack, then Tony Romo can be reduced to doing something he can't screw up - handing off the ball.
10) Green Bay is still the best team in the league.  But they're always going to be vulnerable against teams that can get to the QB.

[Sam Spade]

Quick hitters:

1) The Giants almost let Miami do what Seattle did a few weeks ago, win a game they shouldn't have.  Miami, quite frankly, has just been unlucky in their losses.  Unfortunately, their schedule gets really scary now.  They could go 1-15, frankly.  Maybe that's what they want, though.
2) Another uninspiring win from the Texans, though the Jaguars were never really in it.  Probably the same thing happens next week.  A win is a win, though.
3) Well, if there's a win Baltimore had to have, it was this one, with the traveling to rejunvenated Pittsburgh next week.  Thank goodness for them that Kevin Kolb really sucks.  Of course, this game should never have been close anyways.
4) When the Saints offense is not working, they'll always have problems cause their defense pretty much sucks.  Of course, when the Saints offense is working, they can beat anyone, which is the reason why everyone will be afraid of them come playoff time.
5) It is already quite obvious that Ponder, though raw, is clearly an upgrade from Mr. all washed up.  That being said, Cam Newton lost this one with his fumbles.  But those are the gambles you have to take with him for now.
6) Will Chris Johnson be cut this week?  I would.
7) Repeat after me, Tim Tebow is not an NFL QB.  It would be greater than most of Jesus' miracles to turn him into one.
Washington is done as a team.  Probably Shanahan too.  The key mistake - getting McNabb last year.
9) Another ugly win for San Fran.  Another ugly game from Colt McCoy.
10) The Steelers have really turned their season around.  The O-line is protecting Ben (somewhat) and the D is playing aggressive once again.  That being said, I don't understand why New England got away from the run.  Pittsburgh has had real trouble there all year.  Of course, it would have helped if they would have had the ball on offense.

[Sam Spade]

Quick hitters (Week 9)
1) DeMarco Murray is the real deal, and quite frankly, in order for Dallas to make the playoffs, they can't rely on Tony Romo to do it all.
2) So the Colts are really the odds-on favorite for Luck, now.  As a Texans fan, this should make me nervous, but then again, the Colts are going to need more than just a new QB to win given the state of their defense.
3) The Jets completely demolished the Bills, and it wasn't even as close as the score indicated.  Quite frankly, it was like this game was being played last year, not with what has happened this year.  The Bills got beaten up at the line of scrimmage completely.  And look now, a three-way tie for first in the AFC East.
4) Yea, so the Texans are definitely the favorites in the AFC South now.  Cleveland looks much worse than even I expected.  And when you have two RBs who put over 100yds, you don't need much of a passing game.
5) Yes, the 49ers win ugly, but they are winning, even if its over another bad team in Washington.  Basically, the only games the 49ers play that they can lose are the Giants and Steelers at home, and the Ravens on the road.  The rest is AFC West hell.  I wouldn't be surprised if they end up the #2 seed when all is done, actually, with that schedule.
6) That first win for the Dolphins was only a matter of time, as they've been competitive in most every game this season.  This loss for the Chiefs should have been expected too after last Monday's crazy game.  Should have picked it that way, and almost came close to doing it.
7) Cincinnati continues to prove that they will have to be reckoned at some point because their D is respectable and Dalton makes good decisions out there.  Yes, I'm looking at you Pittsburgh and Baltimore, they still play you twice this year.
Oakland has always had problems with Denver (back in the old days at least) because they couldn't stop the run.  Today was the same deal.  How can you make Tim Tebow look competent out there? Well, ensure that he only throws a few times a game.  Btw, Willis McGahee continues to never get any credit out there, but I remember in Baltimore, they'd always revert back to him when they really needed yards.
9) Real, real impressive win by the Jints, though Eli nearly lost it, and then won it back in the end.  I just can't see the Pats as a top-tier team any more, when they lose battles on both lines of scrimmage as regularly as they do now.
10) The Chargers really had a chance to take this one, but once again - nice job, Norv.

[Sam Spade]

5) Yes, the 49ers win ugly, but they are winning, even if its over another bad team in Washington.  Basically, the only games the 49ers play that they can lose are the Giants and Steelers at home, and the Ravens on the road.  The rest is AFC West hell.  I wouldn't be surprised if they end up the #2 seed when all is done, actually, with that schedule.

Jints have too tough a schedule in my book.  Saints, I guess, but they have the habit of choking some games, and they've got to face Atlanta, who could well challenge them for the division.  Don't see how Green Bay is not the #1 seed, of course.

I expect that they will. Who else could?

[Sam Spade]

He'll be an FA.

He's talented, but right now Maclin is the better receiver.

[Sam Spade]

Quick hitters (Week 10)

1) So Indy will win the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.  Question is: Is he the real deal, and how does he help their godawful defense?
2) What the hell is Mike Smith thinking?  It's one thing going for it on 4th and a foot at your own 29, it's quite another to call a handoff to your running back up the middle.  QB sneak anyone?  Fire him, now.
3) Another week, another completely dominating win by the Texans.  And the best record in the AFC for now going into the bye.  With most of the season without Andre Johnson.  I gotta admit, they look for real out there.  As such, I'm scared.  That being said, they have three games left against their crappy division (@Jax, @Indy, Ten) and three games outside (@Cin, Atl, Car).  These are all winnable games.
4) Pittsburgh continues to do enough just to win games, but that's all that really counts, especially in a big division game like this.  They can't run the ball, but they got a couple of turnovers today.  Of course, two of their three losses were against the Ravens, so they may end up getting screwed in the end (the other against the Texans, of course).
5) Philadelphia is dead.  There's no excuse for what happened today.  Of course, I say this and the Giants and Cowboys will collapse.  Doubtful.
6) John Fox has his game plan down to a tee with Tebow at QB.  Run the ball everytime, except for the QB bootleg fake where Tebow runs it, and the occasional deep pass every game.  Maybe they should run the wishbone or some option too.  Of course, this won't work most of the time, but against the Chiefs...
7) Dallas has games like this, then games where they blow these leads, then games where they come back from these types of deficits.  It's the saga that is Tony Romo.  But what a difference a running game makes.  Meanwhile, Buffalo got a bit lucky at the beginning of the season, didn't they...
Baltimore sure does play down to their competition, don't they.  Their losses this season - Tenn, Jax and Seattle.  And they should have lost to Arizona.  You know the reason why, today is good example - they get behind, they completely abandon the running game.  Let's see, Seattle scored their first touchdown to lead 7-0 with 8:48 left in the first quarter, recovered a fumble on the kickoff and kicked a field goal with 5:26 left in the first quarter.  Prior to this point, Baltimore ran the ball 4 times.  After this touchdown (last 54:32 of ballgame), Baltimore ran the ball 8 times, two of which were Flacco running out of passing plays.  They did lose the turnover battle too, but still...  Food for thought for Ravens' fans.
9) Yes, the 49ers are for real, especially since they're going to get a bye and a home game, barring collapse.  How they beat the Packers, I have no clue, but they can sure get there...
10) Jay Cutler doesn't have to be a star for Chicago to win.  He might be starting to figure that out.  Which reminds me, Chicago is a team to be reckoned with.  What this game proves is that Stafford and the Lions are still young.  I still like the "dirty" football they play from time to time. 

[Sam Spade]

Nice job, Jets.  Why rush a guy who can't throw the ball?  This just baffles me to no end.

Btw, Denver's defense is pretty good, but when is Brian Schottenheimer going to get fired (having asked that for at least 5 years now)?

[Sam Spade]

God how I hate Philadelphia fans.

That being said, Jints better start performing better because Vince Young was Tim Tebow before Tim Tebow was cool (and in a ghetto way too).

[Sam Spade]

God how I hate Philadelphia fans.

That being said, Jints better start performing better because Vince Young was Tim Tebow before Tim Tebow was cool (and in a ghetto way too).

I logged on specifically in the hopes of reading a deriding comment from you about Norv Turner

No reason to beat a guy who's down as far as he is.  Besides, this is a game the Chargers shouldn't have won anyway - the Bears simply are a better team, especially on D.

[Sam Spade]

You fuckers don't believe me about Vince Young?  Well, here's your proof...

[Sam Spade]

You fuckers don't believe me about Vince Young?  Well, here's your proof...

For some reason the Eagles have had an unusual amount of success with backup quarterbacks...its almost as if they remove the crazy from their gameplan.

If Vince Young is their starting QB, Eagles could make the playoffs.  Neither will probably occur, but Eagles fans need to understand that.

[Sam Spade]

This is the time when our record is really going to annoy fans. The rest of the schedule isn't bad (then again, those are exactly the games we find a way to screw up) but running the table is obviously such an uphill battle. This team should be 8-2 at worst right now. It really pisses me off.

...whining Philadelphia fans...

[repeat ad nauseum]