NFL 2008

[CQI13]

So Miami could beat them then? They have a +7 TO margin, so they certainly play mistake free football for the most part. Whether they could or couldn't is immaterial until they play each other. I mean, the Dolphins SHOULD have and COULD have beaten the Jets. But they didn't, so it's a loss.

[JStarr]

Minnesota/Jax/Indy were ALL picked to be top/playoff teams this year. Cincy was supposed to do some damage as well. None of them have panned out. Again, there's now way of knowing that until the season starts.

The Colts get no love from me because I've looked ahead. Their schedule plays into EXACTLY what I was talking about with the "top teams beating each other up." Three of their next four are against the Pats/Chargers/Steelers with road trips to Pitt and SD. Oh by the way the newfound offense of the Texans is their other game there. They'll got 2-2 at best which will give them six losses going into the last five games. Oh by the way they end the season with Jacksonvill and Tennessee. Good luck. It's possible very, VERY possible they go 1-3 over the next four and are all but done then and there.

I'm confused. Are you psychic or not, King? If you can make that second statement with a straight face just hours before making the first, then tell me who I should bet on to win Best Supporting Actor in February. Which is it, do you KNOW they're gonna go 2-2, or is there NO WAY OF KNOWING?

The Titans are running smack into the same kind of skepticism that the Tampa Bay Rays had to deal with all baseball season. "When are they gonna fold?" The Rays didn't, and they've got the three-day wait to finish a World Series game to prove it. The Titans will have to do the same exact thing, and until they do, they'll just keep having to prove themselves. The Giants had that same skepticism when they started last year's playoffs. The Steelers had it three years ago starting as a 6 seed. Like I said before, very few guys on that team have really been big contributors in the heat of the postseason, and the ones who have haven't done it RECENTLY. Tennessee can run the table for all I really care, I'm not giving any dap until they're hoisting that silver trophy. At that point, I will enter this thread and own what I said. Just as long as you're prepared to own everything that you've said these last two days if they take a dive...or if the Colts get off the canvas and mount one fuck of a major rally. Deal?

[HailtotheYo]

The difference there, is that exactly ZERO games had been played against 7 games having been played. Before a single kickoff, no you don't have any way of knowing what's going to unfold. After 7 games, yes you can make assumptions, predictions, and forecasts because you've got something to actually go on. Before the season I'd have thrown Indy out there as a top 3 tem in the league, let alone the AFC. Now ? Pffft. There's a HUGE difference between those two instances. Clever spin though J, clever indeed.

And WOAH, let's reign those horses in big boy. I haven't come out and said that the Titans are my pick for the Super Bowl. I'm merely playing the Devil's Advocate here to everyone that is shitting on the Titans despite the fact that they're 7-0 and even statistically rank with the "best" teams in the league. The Super Bowl talk was all to illustrate points I was making in reference to discussion brought up by others. For the Titans to be substantiated all they have to do is get past their first game of the playoffs. They don't HAVE to win the Super Bowl or else be a failure in terms of this discussion. If that's the case, then they're just as good as every single one of those NFC teams being mentioned that don't hoist the trophey.

But what the stuff I posted says to me is that if they play a team with an efficient offense that doesn't turn the ball over, they aren't a good enough team to compete offensively.

And what that says to me is that you give absolutely ZERO credit to the Titans D and Special Teams. Clearly they ARE good enough offensively at this point to not only compete, but be the best team in the league. There's a REASON the offensives they've played have turned the ball over.

And as I've said time and time again, comparing this Titans defense to the Ravens Super Bowl defense is dumb. The Ravens defense was so far beyond this Titans defense it's not even funny. The Ravens defense had no give, they would smother you from the opening of the game until the end. This Titans defense is good, but it's not Ravens good. It's not even the best defense in the NFL THIS SEASON.

Oy Vay, is it too much to ask for someone (outside of J) to actually read what I'm writing rather than infer what isn't there ? No, it isn't dumb to compare the Titans D to the Baltimore D in reference to the fact that both units are what drove the team. Perhaps I should have kept it in terms of the teams in general (although I did bring up that point) so as not to confuse anyone. It doesn't matter whether or not it's as good as that Ravens D. It matters that it's good enough that the Titans are 7-0. So what if it isn't ranked first ? It's producing the best results in the league. And actually, the ARE FIRST in scoring D. You know, the one that matters in terms of what your "shitty" offense has to do in order to win. And that shitty offense is 10th in the league in scoring. Hmmm look at that.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Oy Vay, is it too much to ask for someone (outside of J) to actually read what I'm writing rather than infer what isn't there?

You want him to accept that there is another good defense in the league other than Pittsburgh's? How dare you sir.

Really, this whole discussion has descended into semantics ("i meant this" "no you didnt" "yes i did" "no you didnt and i meant this") and should be hastily Yeller'd out of existence.

[JStarr]

Yes, we need more discussion about how Mike Singletary always has been and always will be THE FUCKING MAN.

After this season, he'll likely be THE FUCKING MAN (without a job), but for now, I choose to bask in the glow of his badassness...and hope that just maybe, this will help Vernon Davis get his dreadlocks untangled from his anal hair.

[NobBe Nobbs]

So, I heard that Mike Singletary has regained his mantle as THE FUCKING MAN.

[HailtotheYo]

Be - while it will probably shock you to read as much as it did for me to write this. You're absolutely right, how dare I ?

On the Mike Singletary front ... he has always been the fucking man. I loved his rant after the game and love that he told Davis to go to the fucking showers if you're going to be a bitch. His quote "I'm from the old school" was the jolt that is needed in more places than just SF. Ahhhhhh, something worth a fuck in the NFL again. Now, if he'd only get Ronnie Lott to be his D-Coordinator

[naiwf]

As for records, people say so and so has beaten teams with a combined record of 10-17 (or whatever it happens to be). But they don't say anything about what those teams were at the time this team played them. Obviously the first game can't be taken into consideration, since they would be 0-0 at the time.

That stat includes the record of the teams in question at any given week you're using it. For example, the Steelers have lost two games to teams that are 10-4 and have 5 wins over teams that are 13-23. Even if you remove the outcome of the games in question it shows that the Steelers have managed to beat teams that are below .500 quite consistently (as those teams would be 13-18) and struggled with the NFC East teams (who are 8-4 without the Pittsburgh wins). It doesn't really matter if Cincy was 0-6 or 0-2 when they faced Pittsburgh, it just matters that Cincy REALLY sucks and a victory over them should be expected.

[livid]

Obviously it depends on how they do for the rest of the season, but I actually think Singletary will be back as the head coach. However, if they have a chance to get somebody like Pete Carroll, they'll probably go in that direction but I doubt they'll be able to get him or anybody else that is a "big name". If they end up having to go the coordinator route, I don't see how they wouldn't just stick with Singletary because at that point, he'll have some games behind him and hopefully has shown that he's good for the job.

I like Vernon Davis but Singletary was completely in the right and if VD is truly buying into what Singletary's dishing out like it seems he is (judging by his public comment regarding the situation but who knows how true that could be), he could end up being a lot better than he has so far. Plus with a different QB (thank god. I was on the JTO bandwagon for awhile and he does make plays, he just makes more mistakes) he might get targeted a bit more.

But I wonder, if Singletary does stay, where Martz will be going because I doubt that Singletary would want to run an offense like that; they need to put more emphasis on Gore and the running game instead of saying that he'll run the ball and then only give Gore 10 carries.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm not gonna quote anything, but remember, the Titans are a penalty away from having a loss to the Ravens. That's what happens when they go up against a strong defense, and there are a few of them in the AFC and they are bound to meet one if they end up making it all the way to Tampa.

Oh, and might I add, against most other teams that game would have seen the Ravens getting beaten senseless.

With that thinking every game this year could be different. Saying " they were a penalty away" is dumb, because that could possibly happen in any game.

Exactly. That is 100% homer logic, which we have all been guilty of at some point or another and probably all will be again. I did this once all throughout one of the Bengals' 8-8 seasons where after every loss I picked one big play the defense let happen, or one dumb penalty, or one dropped pass that "shouldn't" have happened and said that they should have won. I told myself that they were the better team and should have one more win in their record. At the end of the 8-8 season, I pretty much had them calculated somewhere around 14-2. It's terrible logic, because they did commit that penalty, or let that big play happen, or drop the pass. The NFL is a very competitive league and sometimes it comes down to a play or two, but the better teams are the ones that don't make those few crucial mistakes.

I bolded that for a reason. I was hardly being a homer, I was simply saying that was the Titans worse performance this season and it also happened to be the Ravens 2nd worse performance (I try to forget about Indianapolis). Obviously we committed a dumb penalty and made mistakes that the Titans than took advantage of, but we shouldn't have even been in the position to commit a dumb penalty to lose. My point is that the Titans don't look unstoppable, nobody in the NFL does of course. But I'm not a believer in the Titans as being one of the best of the best this year. They have looked good, they have good halves, and sometimes even good quarters which have put them into this position. It's one of those seasons when things are going their way, but things going your way only gets you into the playoffs. Once there, it does come down to who the best all-around team is, and the Titans are far from that.

[MyKILLv2.0]

Obviously it depends on how they do for the rest of the season, but I actually think Singletary will be back as the head coach. However, if they have a chance to get somebody like Pete Carroll, they'll probably go in that direction but I doubt they'll be able to get him or anybody else that is a "big name". If they end up having to go the coordinator route, I don't see how they wouldn't just stick with Singletary because at that point, he'll have some games behind him and hopefully has shown that he's good for the job.

I like Vernon Davis but Singletary was completely in the right and if VD is truly buying into what Singletary's dishing out like it seems he is (judging by his public comment regarding the situation but who knows how true that could be), he could end up being a lot better than he has so far. Plus with a different QB (thank god. I was on the JTO bandwagon for awhile and he does make plays, he just makes more mistakes) he might get targeted a bit more.

But I wonder, if Singletary does stay, where Martz will be going because I doubt that Singletary would want to run an offense like that; they need to put more emphasis on Gore and the running game instead of saying that he'll run the ball and then only give Gore 10 carries.

I'm thinking Singletary has a great chance of keeping the job unless as you pointed out someone huge like Carroll, Cowher, Holmgren, ect wants the job. I say this because they gave Singletary the shot OVER Mike Martz, who was brought in by the new GM, whom you would have thought would want "his guy" running the show. Their confidence in Singletary to take over the team with Martz available shows you how much they wants Singletary to succeed.

Edited October 30, 2008 by MikelSweeten

[HailtotheYo]

Pete Carroll wants nothing to do with the NFL anymore ... and seriously why the fuck would he leave USC ? That'd be more idiotic than Saban leaving LSU when he did .... don't even say money, don't do it.

[Evil Chase K]

Seeing as how the Rams are going to be forced to interview a minority candidate before they can name Jim Haslett their head coach, I think it's safe to say that Singletary will be kept on in San Francisco. They'd have to interview him before they interview any of the coaches you named Mikell (none of which would have any interest in the job whatsoever), and passing him up for someone else if he even remotely turns the team around will be looked at with great scrutiny.

[Evil Chase K]

Figured I'd ass...er...add this to the Singletary discussion.

SINGLETARY SHOWS HIS ASS, LITERALLY Posted by Mike Florio on October 30, 2008, 12:36 p.m. There is plenty of skepticism in league circles regarding the potential effectiveness of 49ers coach Mike Singletary’s decision to use his first postgame press conference to berate unnamed members of his team.

As one league insider observed, “I just don’t think coming out that strong was the right approach. Especially with a team as untalented as the Niners are. The minute he says the wrong thing or does the wrong thing, he’s lost the locker room.”

Based on reports that surfaced recently in Arizona, there’s another “thing” Singletary supposedly did on Sunday that some players might deem to be just plain “wrong.”

Per Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic and Mike Jurecki of XTRA 910, Singletary’s halftime speech to the team included the fledgling head coach dropping his pants, showing the players his bare ass, and pointing to it, apparently as a visual aid to display Singletary’s belief that the team was getting its ass kicked. (Hey, it beats the hell out of studying film.)

According to the reports, Singletary then addressed the team for three or four minutes with his pants around his ankles.

Frankly, we’re not quite sure what to make of it. The locker room is a universe unto itself. It’s a place where motivation might flow from a tree stump and a sharp ax. Or a dead turkey in a locker. Or a banana in the tailpipe.

Still, if Singetary is doing this kind of stuff during the first game of his career, he’ll soon be pulling a Bob Knight with a fistful of two-ply Charmin. And then it’s only a matter of time before Singletary is crapping in a grocery bag.

[CQI13]

I can't wait for NFL Film's THE 2008 SF 49ERS SEASON.

And what's the big deal? He didn't name names. They know who they are. And the only reason they mentioned Vernon was because that was an in-game incident. Seriously, they are getting paid great money. People go through worse for much less money.

[Evil Chase K]

I think the criticism comes from the fact that Mike Nolan wasn't hard on his players like that and if Singletary pushes too hard they could quit on him and think that they just have to get through this season before getting a new coach next season.

I don't agree with that sentiment, but from what I've gathered that's the point some people were trying to make.

[MyKILLv2.0]

If Singletary is retained as coach... I know where Hard Knocks is going next year. HA

[alldaws1]

I think the criticism comes from the fact that Mike Nolan wasn't hard on his players like that and if Singletary pushes too hard they could quit on him and think that they just have to get through this season before getting a new coach next season.

That's why I like Singletary's approach. Mike Nolan wasn't hard on his players and look where it got them. It's time for a new approach and I think they have the potential to be a decent team. Get a good QB at the helm and Mike Martz can make that offense into something decent, then with Singletary in control the defense will surely improve and they've got one hell of a linebacker to centre it around in Patrick Willis.

[Evil Chase K]

I think the criticism comes from the fact that Mike Nolan wasn't hard on his players like that and if Singletary pushes too hard they could quit on him and think that they just have to get through this season before getting a new coach next season.

That's why I like Singletary's approach. Mike Nolan wasn't hard on his players and look where it got them. It's time for a new approach and I think they have the potential to be a decent team. Get a good QB at the helm and Mike Martz can make that offense into something decent, then with Singletary in control the defense will surely improve and they've got one hell of a linebacker to centre it around in Patrick Willis.

I totally agree. When one approach doesn't work, why not try the opposite? Motivation means a lot. In his waning years before retirement, Chuck Noll's teams were mediocre at best. Bill Cowher came in and showed a new passion, and fire, and wasn't afraid to yell and spit and scream and it translated to instant success.

Sure there was already a core there, but it could be the same for Singletary. Sometimes all it takes is a kick in the ass to get a team moving.

[HailtotheYo]

Around here we have a word for people that cand handle what they deserve.

Pussy.