NFL 2008

[livid]

He did put in O'Connell.

[naiwf]

Some of the talking heads on TV were saying the Pats were still one of the favorites in the AFC last week because of San Diego's slow start, Peyton being hurt and all of the "talented players" on the team rallying behind Cassel. Objectively speaking they played a bad game last week against another overrated team and are getting blown out by a horrible team this week that lost to the Jets in week 1. The AFC East is really, really bad.

The Bengals just walked down the field on the vaunted Giants defense. Our secondary is still the drizzles and we may just lose a game where we had about 7 sacks and a ton of pressures.

[TGC]

But on a happy note, GO BEARS!

[Maxx]

Wait, whats that? The Dolphins took Pennington out and are just running the ball to finish up the game? My god, thats.....well thats a fucking classy thing to do.

Good job Miami, way to play the game with respect even against a team that doesn't deserve it.

[VerbalPuke]

It's funny, the stat line for the Falcons/Chiefs game looks similar to the Lions/Falcons game. Both Atlanta running backs have had good games, Matt Ryan has been efficient, and Roddy White has done well for himself. Even if the Falcons aren't a great team this year, at least they seem to be able to win games they are supposed to win. I'd love to see that over here.

[Lowerdeck]

Wait, whats that? The Dolphins took Pennington out and are just running the ball to finish up the game? My god, thats.....well thats a fucking classy thing to do.

Good job Miami, way to play the game with respect even against a team that doesn't deserve it.

If you remember last year, Matt Cassel was the one in the fourth quarter feeding it off to Laurence Maroney when it was way out of hand

Then again, the Pats problems were with the run today. Among other issues.

[Blaze09]

Yeah, the Pats are screwed this year. If they let Ronnie Brown just run all over them like this, Buffalo is winning the East.

I shut off the TV in the third quarter, this is awful to watch. Cassel sucks, bring in Gutierrez already Belichick you fucking prick.

It could be worse, you could have been watching the Lions

[IAceI]

Gayle's Big Gaybears

Week 3 Team

QB: Philip Rivers (yet to play)

RB: Michael Turner (104 yards, 3 TD's)

RB: Marshawn Lynch (83 yards, 2 TD's)

WR: Jerricho Cotchery (yet to play)

WR: Brandon Marshall (in play)

TE: Tony Scheffler (in play)

K: Josh Brown (in play)

Def: NY Giants (currently in play, 6 sacks)

So yeah, i'm off to a good start and am optimistic I'll have a good finish.

Edited September 22, 2008 by IAceI

[TheArsenal]

I'm late.

Instead I will post about my disappointing Giants - only beating the Bengals in Overtime.

Edited September 21, 2008 by TheArsenal

[naiwf]

Bullet dodged. My blood pressure can drop back to normal now. Carson Palmer needs to go to a real team if he ever wants to make the playoffs again.

[IAceI]

The Bengals were much improved this week to be fair. They're still not that good but they're better than they have been the first two weeks. It's sort of bitter sweet, they're good enough to finish closer to 7-9 or whatever, but two horrible opening games sees them at 0-3.

On the flipside they're not actually horrible, but obviously they're season is more or less over now and they should get a generous draft pick while not being as bad as some of the teams around them.

I'm a massive Palmer fan, so I'd love to see some success on him. But I do think the Bengals can produce some good performances this season, they'll win a handful of matches or so.

[LL!]

Bullet dodged. My blood pressure can drop back to normal now. Carson Palmer needs to go to a real team if he ever wants to make the playoffs again.

What's that make the Giants who had trouble against a fake team?

[naiwf]

The Bengals were much improved this week to be fair. They're still not that good but they're better than they have been the first two weeks. It's sort of bitter sweet, they're good enough to finish closer to 7-9 or whatever, but two horrible opening games sees them at 0-3.

On the flipside they're not actually horrible, but obviously they're season is more or less over now and they should get a generous draft pick while not being as bad as some of the teams around them.

I'm a massive Palmer fan, so I'd love to see some success on him. But I do think the Bengals can produce some good performances this season, they'll win a handful of matches or so.

The problem with the Bengals is that they will almost always finish out of the playoffs because they have just enough talent to win about 6-9 games every year. Winning that number of games also makes sure they can't get a top 5 or so pick because there are always a couple of teams who win 2-5 games, and even if they could get a high pick they wouldn't have enough many to pay Palmer, Ocho Cinco, Whosyourmama, a premium draft pick and a decent team elsewhere. They need to break up that trio because they're never going to win a title with all three. Shedding some payroll and picking up a future draft pick or a lesser player is the best way to go. They've got a franchise QB in year 5 already (he'll be 29 years old in December) which means they've only got about 3 or 4 more prime years left in addition to this lost season, and if they can't get anything to happen with him in that time they'll just go back to being the Bungles.

EDIT: That makes the Giants 3-0 and locked into at worst a first place tie in the best division in the league since the only NFC East losses have come from teams IN the NFC East so far. I'll take a bad win over a well played loss every week. With Dallas, Philly and Washington all looking good this year that's the only way we'll be able to make the playoffs. It's possible that 10 wins won't be enough in this division so a loss to Cincy at home would have been devastating.

Edited September 21, 2008 by naiwf

[Plankton]

The Bengals were much improved this week to be fair. They're still not that good but they're better than they have been the first two weeks. It's sort of bitter sweet, they're good enough to finish closer to 7-9 or whatever, but two horrible opening games sees them at 0-3.

On the flipside they're not actually horrible, but obviously they're season is more or less over now and they should get a generous draft pick while not being as bad as some of the teams around them.

I'm a massive Palmer fan, so I'd love to see some success on him. But I do think the Bengals can produce some good performances this season, they'll win a handful of matches or so.

Their major problem is pretty clear the lack of protection and blocking Palmer and Perry get. Not saying the defense is great, but it's improving. I think with guys like Hall, Rivers, and Odom performing well and progressing, the future doesn't look bleak for the defense, although I'd like to see them get a good, young DT. I know it's the typical fan thing to say, "Next year they're going to be great," but they're not in a situation where they need to completely rebuild, so the expectations should be rightfully high.

That being said, just about every team in history has had to work around and win despite deficiencies in their team's lineup, so their performance is still disappointing and there's no real acceptable excuse. But I think if they invest in some players who could severely improve the O-line, they will be a much, much better team. Palmer and the receivers are good, but it's unrealistic to expect them to make something work when Palmer's getting that much pressure on just about every play.

EDIT:

and even if they could get a high pick they wouldn't have enough many to pay Palmer, Ocho Cinco, Whosyourmama, a premium draft pick and a decent team elsewhere.

Agreed. They drafted to WRs high this year, so it looks like they are looking beyond the TJ/Johnson years already, which is fine by me, because their money could be of better use elsewhere.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Plankton

[Toe]

Buffalo only started to get it together offensively in the last quarter of the game, and that was enough to win. The Bills have a passing game, and Marshawn Lynch is just a brawler. They have a shot at 4-1 or 5-0 going into the bye week.

[IAceI]

I think the Bengals are going to have a decent enough pick without being too high up. They're improving but as said, they have no protection, but at the same time I've checked out their schedule and here's what they're facing;

vs. Browns

@ Cowboys

@ Jets

vs. Steelers

@ Texans

vs. Jaguars

vs. Eagles

@ Steelers

vs. Ravens

@ Colts

vs. Redskins

@ Browns

vs. Chiefs

That's not a nice schedule in the slightest. I think having to play the NFC East (which is what the AFC North and NFC West (haha) have to do this year) is always going to be a down point, and I'm not sure how Cleveland will fair against anyone else. The only real 'wins' I'd give them now would be the Chiefs.. and maybe the Texans? They'll win more obviously, because NFL isn't played on paper but I'm just saying. They can take solace from the fact they came and played hard against the Giants, so they do have the ability, but I think they're a rebuilding squad who need some good protection. They have the QB, RB and WR, they need that protection to help up front - and if they're defence is improving then thats a good sign.

I think they suffer from being second fiddle to the Steelers, so they have to rely on the wild card usually. Thats a distant dream now because they're out of the hunt now at 0-3 and this season is just about saving face obviously. Good luck to them, I like Palmer, he's one of my favourite players but I think it's going to be a little while before we see anything special out of the Bengals. Maybe longer if we're to expect a decent play off run anytime soon.

[Plankton]

Yeah, this division has a really tough schedule, so only one team is making the playoffs. Unless the Browns win today, the Steelers have this one claimed. Even though Flacco looks pretty good for a rookie and the Ravens' defense is great, it's a bit much to expect them to do better than Pittsburgh. Similarly, although I think the Browns and Bengals are better than they've played, it would be incredibly difficult to catch up to a 2-1 or 3-0 Steelers when you are starting out 0-3. Crazier things could happen I suppose, but even though the Steelers have the hardest schedule in the NFL, they are way too consistent to drop the ball as long as their major players stay reasonably healthy.

[IAceI]

Is Tony Scheffler dead? I'm pretty sure he's playing but he hasn't got a catch in the first half.

I have fantasy points with Brandon Marshall, but I'd like a TD from Scheffler or something to give me a few more... Where is he?

Edited September 21, 2008 by IAceI

[Cactus Drags]

I'm just going to start headbutting the wall now, it'll save me time come next weekend. Chicago needs new coaching.

[Vendetta]

What a great game between Chciago and Tampa. An abosulte defensive slug fest. LOL at Trueblood raping that defensive lineman and then Tillman getting called for unesscary roughness.