NFL 2008

[Pepsi]

Wow, Patriots are just stinking the place up.

[JStarr]

Looked like an excellent game. I've got a friend who's now ready to totally blow Matt Cassel. Dude's whole fantasy team went to shit when Brady got hurt and Larry Johnson kept playing Smack My Bitch Up...now he's got Cassel, Mewelde Moore, and T.J. Whosyerdaddy throwing up decent points every week and he's about to dig out of last place.

Of course, at this point, Leon Washington can fuck off and die, as he's given my inept opponent this week a glimmer of hope. And is it asking too much for Wes Welker to actually, yannow, SCORE? The catches are great, but a TD would be even better.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Ahaha. Where's your BenJarvus Green-Ellis now?

I can give credit where it's due, Matt Cassel was pretty decent and Jerod Mayo is the sort of player I'd like if he were on any other team, but right now I'm just content with laughing at Bill Belichick and his COACHING GENIUS OMG

[HailtotheYo]

Considering the injuries to the Pats (read Brady/Harrison/their top three backs), I'd tend to give him his credit in coaching that team. I'm not a fan of his by any means, but considering the shit thrown at him early in the season and the fact that last night was a game for sole ownership of the division ? yeah, he's doing a pretty good job.

[CQI13]

You're forgetting Adalius Thomas & the other guy that was inactive for yesterday's game.

And yes, the Ronnie Brown / Cadillac Williams comparisons have ceased, or people just laugh them off as Dragsy said.

[Lowerdeck]

Ahaha. Where's your BenJarvus Green-Ellis now?

I can give credit where it's due, Matt Cassel was pretty decent and Jerod Mayo is the sort of player I'd like if he were on any other team, but right now I'm just content with laughing at Bill Belichick and his COACHING GENIUS OMG

Meh, he had a good week last week, not going to deny that. Running game wasn't really on this week, then again Cassel threw for 400 yards so priorities were elsewhere.

And you're not gonna get an argument with me on Belichick. I've been on the record numerous times about that.

Edited November 14, 2008 by Lowerdeck

[MyKILLv2.0]

Just look at who the Patriots are missing from last year's team either because of injury, retirement, or free agency: Tom Brady, A. Samuels, Rodney Harrison, Junior Seau, A. Thomas, L. Mahoney, and basically the rest of their ENTIRE backfield.

Pretty hard/stupid to bang on the guy for being a bad coach when he has three Superbowl rings, and is going to take a team of basic back-ups and get 10 wins out of them.

[naiwf]

And is it asking too much for Wes Welker to actually, yannow, SCORE? The catches are great, but a TD would be even better.

Welker reminds me of that similarly sized white guy on Texas Tech (Morris?) who basically dives into the ground to avoid contact on a crossing pattern. I know that smaller guys need to pick their spots, but there's a distinct difference between play smart and being afraid to take a hit to get a first down/TD. I think Welker falls into the latter category which is why he has 1 TD this year out of 66 catches, which is almost identical to what he did two years ago (1 TD/67 receptions). He might be the least productive "name" receiver since Me-Shawn Johnson (2001 season, 106 catches, 1 TD)

[Pepsi]

And is it asking too much for Wes Welker to actually, yannow, SCORE? The catches are great, but a TD would be even better.

Welker reminds me of that similarly sized white guy on Texas Tech (Morris?) who basically dives into the ground to avoid contact on a crossing pattern. I know that smaller guys need to pick their spots, but there's a distinct difference between play smart and being afraid to take a hit to get a first down/TD. I think Welker falls into the latter category which is why he has 1 TD this year out of 66 catches, which is almost identical to what he did two years ago (1 TD/67 receptions). He might be the least productive "name" receiver since Me-Shawn Johnson (2001 season, 106 catches, 1 TD)

That is absolutely not true. I've seen pretty much every game the Patriots have played this season and I've never noticed Welker being afraid to take a hit. I think it's more a fact that he's just not getting the opportunity to score. I mean to call him not productive is just plain wrong. This season Welker has the most yards of any Patriots WR. Two years ago he had just as many yards after 16 games then he does now only after 10. He's averaging 10 receiving yards a catch and for 72 receptions that's pretty impressive. Then you look at last year the guy had over 112 receptions for 1100 yards. He's only 400 yards behind where he was last year and that's without Tom Brady or a consistent effective running game.

You can't just look at his TD's with Welker.

[MyKILLv2.0]

Typically smallish / softish wide outs struggle in the end zone. I say that, because I can't remember Brandon Stokely or Dallas Clarke catching a lot of TDs in the red zone with the Colts, or even Shaun McDonald and Az Hakim with the Rams back in the day. Most of the time, when teams get down in the red zone, they either run the football more, or look for match ups at the end spots, which typically are taller wide recievers.

...though, typically I hate to see wide outs crash to the turf to aviod a hit. Slot guys I will give a small break too, but when I see guys like Marvin Harrison repeatidly over and over drops to the ground to aviod a hit, I find it aggrivating and showing a lack of toughness. Hines Ward is the same size as Welcher, Harrison, Holt, ect, and not only does he seldom drop to the ground, but he is one of the most aggressive wide outs in the NFL.

[JStarr]

You can't just look at his TD's with Welker.

You certainly well can in the fantasy leagues. Calvin Johnson has more points on half the catches.

It's like a RB tandem with Welker and Moss. Welker does all the work to get the team down the field, and Moss gets to vulture the TD's. Bleh.

[Plankton]

This week in football

-The Giants now lead the NFL in every meaningful rushing category, including yards (1,520), average per attempt (5.15) and average per game (168.9). In fact, you have to go all the way back to the 1954 49ers, a team that fielded two Hall of Famers in the backfield (Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny) to find a team that ran the ball as effectively with so many different players as the Giants do.

-With a win over the Jets Thursday night, Bill Belichick would have joined the list of 10 winningest coaches in NFL history, knocking Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs out of the No. 10 spot.

-The Bears (an original NFL team from 1920) and the Packers (who joined the NFL in 1921) meet for the 175th time this Sunday, making it the most-played regular-season rivalry in NFL history. The Bears hold an 89-79-6 edge in the series. Believe it or not, they’ve met just once in the playoffs – a western division tiebreaker after both teams went 10-1 in the 1941 season.

-Kurt Warner has completed 70.62 percent of his passes this year, which puts him on pace to rewrite the single-season record set by Cincinnati’s Ken Anderson back in the strike-shortened 1982 season (70.55 percent).

-With 462 yards of total offense against the Jets Thursday night, Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel easily surpassed the top mark his predecessor Tom Brady had produced in his Hall of Fame career (412 back in 2002).

I heard on ESPN yesterday at work that Cassel's going to be a free agent in the off season. With Derek Anderson (probably) going to a different team too, it will be an interesting off season.

[alldaws1]

It'll be interesting to see which QB goes where for sure. The only teams I can think of who would be reaching out for a new starter would be Detroit, San Francisco and maybe Minnesota. I would have said the Chiefs but Thigpen seems to be progressing nicely now he's had a few games on the trot. Tampa Bay, Chicago and Arizona would be in the mix if they didn't re-sign their starting QBs but I can't imagine Orton and Warner not getting new contracts. Jeff Garcia could be left out in the cold, I guess.

[Plankton]

Detroit still hasn't given up on Drew Stanton being their future starter, so I don't expect them to be hunting around for anything more than a backup. San Francisco will definitely be looking, and I think Minnesota would be stupid not to. A guy like Derek Anderson may be prone to taking too big of risks, but the Vikings don't need a guy who will lift the team on his shoulders, they just need someone who is a legitimate deep threat (which Anderson is) so that it opens up their running game for Adrian Peterson. I think the candidate fits the bill, so if they don't go for him, I'd be surprised.

Chicago will probably shop around for a backup, but Orton has just about locked up another year as a starter. And even if Warner retires after this year, Arizona will probably be willing to start Leinart, so they'll be looking for a backup at most.

And yeah, Tampa Bay is such a toss up. Who knows what QB they'll be interested in by the off season? I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rams looking either. And depending on Hasselbeck's health, the Seahawks might be as well.

The way I see it, the teams that should be aggressively searching for a QB are San Francisco and Minnesota, with Tampa Bay being a big possibility as well.

[naiwf]

That is absolutely not true. I've seen pretty much every game the Patriots have played this season and I've never noticed Welker being afraid to take a hit. I think it's more a fact that he's just not getting the opportunity to score. I mean to call him not productive is just plain wrong. This season Welker has the most yards of any Patriots WR. Two years ago he had just as many yards after 16 games then he does now only after 10. He's averaging 10 receiving yards a catch and for 72 receptions that's pretty impressive. Then you look at last year the guy had over 112 receptions for 1100 yards. He's only 400 yards behind where he was last year and that's without Tom Brady or a consistent effective running game.

You can't just look at his TD's with Welker.

Receptions and yards do not equal points. You can't win games without scoring which is why using yardage as the way to rank teams on offense and defense is retarded. I'll take a guy who has 60-70 catches for 900 yards with 8+ TDs over a guy with 100-120 catches for 1100-1200 yards with only 3-6 TDs every year. Welker is a glorified part of the running game. A top receiver mixes in a TD every 8-12 receptions. In his entire career he's caught 274 passes, and has all of 10 TDs, while Anquan Boldin has caught 10 TDs this season, and he even missed a couple of games due to injury.

[Pepsi]

That is absolutely not true. I've seen pretty much every game the Patriots have played this season and I've never noticed Welker being afraid to take a hit. I think it's more a fact that he's just not getting the opportunity to score. I mean to call him not productive is just plain wrong. This season Welker has the most yards of any Patriots WR. Two years ago he had just as many yards after 16 games then he does now only after 10. He's averaging 10 receiving yards a catch and for 72 receptions that's pretty impressive. Then you look at last year the guy had over 112 receptions for 1100 yards. He's only 400 yards behind where he was last year and that's without Tom Brady or a consistent effective running game.

You can't just look at his TD's with Welker.

Receptions and yards do not equal points. You can't win games without scoring which is why using yardage as the way to rank teams on offense and defense is retarded. I'll take a guy who has 60-70 catches for 900 yards with 8+ TDs over a guy with 100-120 catches for 1100-1200 yards with only 3-6 TDs every year. Welker is a glorified part of the running game. A top receiver mixes in a TD every 8-12 receptions. In his entire career he's caught 274 passes, and has all of 10 TDs, while Anquan Boldin has caught 10 TDs this season, and he even missed a couple of games due to injury.

Okay, but the point right there is that Welker is used differently then Boldin. They do not use Welker as a deep threat or a TD Machine. They use Welker because he is the kind of the guy who will consistently make catches and get yards.

Edited November 15, 2008 by Snow White and the 7Ups

[HailtotheYo]

That's starting to sound like it's falling into the "goalline" back scenario. Perfect example was last year with Texas A&M. Mike Goodson was by far the better back. He had the yardage/ypc and everything else, but Lane got the TD's because he got the carries near the goalline thanks to be 280+. So then that makes him a better back ? Going by the TD/Carry ratio that you're using then Lane is hands down better, but that is absolutely not the case.

Welker gets the catches and yardage because he creates mismatches all over the field. He opened up so much for Moss last year it was ridiculous. He's as reliable as you can get with the hands, and can play all but 2/3 positions on the field. Yes, of course he's limited on a short field because he's a guy that utilizes space. Once you start getting in the red zone/inside the ten, that space isn't there. Of course you're going to look for a Moss/big WR in that instance. But, Welker usually is a huge part of getting them there. How can you dock the guy for playing his role perfectly ? His job isn't to "score" in the Pats offense. I mean, it's HIS fault every time they don't put up points ? No sir.

[naiwf]

That's starting to sound like it's falling into the "goalline" back scenario. Perfect example was last year with Texas A&M. Mike Goodson was by far the better back. He had the yardage/ypc and everything else, but Lane got the TD's because he got the carries near the goalline thanks to be 280+. So then that makes him a better back ? Going by the TD/Carry ratio that you're using then Lane is hands down better, but that is absolutely not the case.

Welker gets the catches and yardage because he creates mismatches all over the field. He opened up so much for Moss last year it was ridiculous. He's as reliable as you can get with the hands, and can play all but 2/3 positions on the field. Yes, of course he's limited on a short field because he's a guy that utilizes space. Once you start getting in the red zone/inside the ten, that space isn't there. Of course you're going to look for a Moss/big WR in that instance. But, Welker usually is a huge part of getting them there. How can you dock the guy for playing his role perfectly ? His job isn't to "score" in the Pats offense. I mean, it's HIS fault every time they don't put up points ? No sir.

Goal line backs are the most overrated aspect of any offense in the NFL since they're useful about 10-15 times a season and get stuffed at least half of those times.

What you're failing to grasp is that Welker NEVER gets double teamed and is often covered by a lead footed safety or LB, so the fact that he hasn't been able to break a tackle and score more than once in 66 catches this year makes him the definition of an overrated "name" receiver. In his career his TD catches are for 6, 11, 35, 12, 14, 16, 2, 3, 2 & 6 yards which means almost all of his TD catches came inside the red zone where a guy like Moss commands double if not triple coverage. A speedy wideout with single coverage on every snap he takes should fall backwards into at least 5 TDs a season if he gets his hands on anywhere from 65 to 110 passes.

[gunnar hendershow]

That's starting to sound like it's falling into the "goalline" back scenario. Perfect example was last year with Texas A&M. Mike Goodson was by far the better back. He had the yardage/ypc and everything else, but Lane got the TD's because he got the carries near the goalline thanks to be 280+. So then that makes him a better back ? Going by the TD/Carry ratio that you're using then Lane is hands down better, but that is absolutely not the case.

Welker gets the catches and yardage because he creates mismatches all over the field. He opened up so much for Moss last year it was ridiculous. He's as reliable as you can get with the hands, and can play all but 2/3 positions on the field. Yes, of course he's limited on a short field because he's a guy that utilizes space. Once you start getting in the red zone/inside the ten, that space isn't there. Of course you're going to look for a Moss/big WR in that instance. But, Welker usually is a huge part of getting them there. How can you dock the guy for playing his role perfectly ? His job isn't to "score" in the Pats offense. I mean, it's HIS fault every time they don't put up points ? No sir.

Goal line backs are the most overrated aspect of any offense in the NFL since they're useful about 10-15 times a season and get stuffed at least half of those times.

What you're failing to grasp is that Welker NEVER gets double teamed and is often covered by a lead footed safety or LB, so the fact that he hasn't been able to break a tackle and score more than once in 66 catches this year makes him the definition of an overrated "name" receiver. In his career his TD catches are for 6, 11, 35, 12, 14, 16, 2, 3, 2 & 6 yards which means almost all of his TD catches came inside the red zone where a guy like Moss commands double if not triple coverage. A speedy wideout with single coverage on every snap he takes should fall backwards into at least 5 TDs a season if he gets his hands on anywhere from 65 to 110 passes.

Welker would never work as a #1 wideout. He's great as a member of a passing game, and is definitely a good complement to someone like Moss. Defenses basically go "We'll give Wes 5-10 yards, and hope our guy can cover him well. We'll put our best guys on Moss to keep us from a TD." He's putting up the numbers he is because he has a guy like Moss on his team. Football's a team sport, after all.

[Lowerdeck]

Philly and Cincy had a tie game, first one in six years.

Cincy's kicker missed a 47 yard field goal with about eight seconds left which would have won the game.

And Brian Westbrook did real wonders for my fantasy team this week... damn it all.