2012 NFL Season

[Universal]

Apparently having an 'elite' QB is over-rated. Both of the better quarterbacks got knocked out. Having better overall teams is more important. I don't think Texans are getting by The Patriots tho. They are pretty matched as teams outside of the passing game and unless Brady and the offense stinks up the place, they aren't losing.

Seahawks/Falcons is going to be exciting tho.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Universal

[gunnar hendershow]

Remember when we were all told for years the spread option wouldn't work at all in NFL and teams should just look towards pocket passers and not mobile hybrid types? I think it's safe to say this season, punctuated by Kaepernick today, has shown that if you have an accurate-enough QB you can run the spread option as you would run an I-Form or Five Wide set. Dom Capers' scheme looked like something straight out of the stone age going against the 49ers system.

If I'm an AFC team I hope to meet Atlanta in the Super Bowl, stopping Wilson or Kaepernick is looking like a tall order. At least the Falcons play a traditional style of offense for which teams are more naturally prepared.

[VerbalPuke]

Hey, so much for me predicting Denver was going all the way, sorry Meacon. And sorry midget, I picked the Falcons also, so I hope I didn't jinx you.

Denver and Baltimore was a great game, but I too can't understand why they pissed out at the end of the 4th quarter, its the fucking playoffs, play to win. It was a very Detroit Lions like decision.

[mystikz]

That feel when all the teams you want to win lose in the playoffs and are out.

Gonna be even worse if the Texans lose.....

Edited January 13, 2013 by mystikz

[Red Devil-Taker316]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAdko0eCEAIQ3CV.jpg:large

Manning congratulating Lewis.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Red Devil-Taker316

[gunnar hendershow]

That perfectly shows the respect the two have for each other.

[OGpistolpete]

Feel like Manning is the last of guys with great class, I mean it was Manning vs. Lewis all night, and for him to wait for Lewis outside of the Ravens locker room to congratulate and wish him good luck is true class. I bet both of them know they're from their own era of football and are icons of a generation of football. They're the last of a lot of players they've known their entire career who have already called it quits.

Edited January 13, 2013 by SKA

[Plubby]

That perfectly shows the respect the two have for each other.

Unless Peyton is telling him to go take a flying leap

[naiwf]

Apparently having an 'elite' QB is over-rated. Both of the better quarterbacks got knocked out. Having better overall teams is more important. I don't think Texans are getting by The Patriots tho. They are pretty matched as teams outside of the passing game and unless Brady and the offense stinks up the place, they aren't losing.

Seahawks/Falcons is going to be exciting tho.

It's been 10 years since a team won the Super Bowl without an "elite" QB. I wouldn't say it's overrated at all. Other than Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer, every QB that's won in the last 20 years (Aikman x3, Young, Favre, Elway x2, Warner, Brady x3, Roethlisberger x2, Peyton, Eli x2, Brees & Rodgers) is a Hall of Famer or will at least merit consideration when they retire.

[gunnar hendershow]

If anything's changing it's the number of QB's who are good in the NFL. Nobody's going to put Flacco on a level with Manning or Kaepernick on a level with Rodgers, but the gap between that echelon of truly elite QB's and the echelon of middle-of-the-league QB's isn't as wide as it was even 10 years ago. Case in point, Joe Flacco came close to 4,000 yards and had he stayed in for the whole game in week 17 likely would have eclipsed it. His career QB rating is better than Aikman and in the last 4 years of his career he's thrown for more yards than Aikman ever did in a single season. Nobody's going to say he's a better QB than Aikman. There's just more talent at the position than ever before. It means elite QB's aren't just going to lose to fellow elites, they're going to lose to middle-of-the-pack QB's.

[SeanDMan]

It's almost as if football were a team sport, determined not by one player against another player, but rather by the collective efforts of a team of players working together to overcome their opposition.

[Maxx]

More like Colin Raperrick, on account of the way he forcefully assaulted the Packers.

Right?

[The Buscher]

I can't see the Patriots losing to the Texans today - but I really hope they do. I don't want the Patriots to make it to the Super Bowl. Only 3 AFC teams (Pats, Steelers, Colts) have made it in the past decade. It gets boring after awhile always having the same teams in there.

[Universal]

I think the Texans could win, but so many things have to go right for them and so many things have to go wrong for the Pats. It could happen and it might, but if The Texans and The Pats go into this at their best, Pats have the upper hand. The way the Texans normally play does not bode well for them when it comes to the match ups. Even the strength of the defense (who are tied with the Patriots with points allowed) isn't much better (if at all) given the Pats lead the league in forced turnovers. Also, Texans strength is the pass rush and Brady rips teams apart when you blitz him. Patriots are solid against the run and Schaub isn't even as good as Flacco when it comes to passing and they only have 1 real elite weapon in Andre Johnson who may get shutdown or limited.

So I'm not saying it's impossible, but what we know about both teams and their capabilities it's going to a tough match-up for the Texans. The Patriots lose against tough aggressive defenses (The Jets 2 years ago, The Giants, Seahawks, 49ers, Ravens). The Texans are good but they aren't quite there yet.

[GoGo Yubari]

Well, soccer's a better sport anyway. Later, dudes!

[Dan]

Barring a huuuuuuge comeback it's gonna be

Atlanta vs San Francisco

New England/Houston vs Baltimore

[gunnar hendershow]

1pm east coast starts are just poison for west coast teams. I can understand not being able to avoid them in the regular season, but when 3 out of 4 playoff games start at 4pm EST or later it really shouldn't wind up that the one 1pm start has to belong to a team from the west coast flying back east.

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, if 10am/1pm starts in the playoffs could go away forever that would be rad.

[DMN in the House]

If anything's changing it's the number of QB's who are good in the NFL. Nobody's going to put Flacco on a level with Manning or Kaepernick on a level with Rodgers, but the gap between that echelon of truly elite QB's and the echelon of middle-of-the-league QB's isn't as wide as it was even 10 years ago. Case in point, Joe Flacco came close to 4,000 yards and had he stayed in for the whole game in week 17 likely would have eclipsed it. His career QB rating is better than Aikman and in the last 4 years of his career he's thrown for more yards than Aikman ever did in a single season. Nobody's going to say he's a better QB than Aikman. There's just more talent at the position than ever before. It means elite QB's aren't just going to lose to fellow elites, they're going to lose to middle-of-the-pack QB's.

The disparity in numbers has a lot to do with rule changes too. The NFL has made a concerted effort to up the passing in the league.

[naiwf]

If the Falcons find a way to lose this game, they'll never be taken seriously.