Week 1 Open Discussion Thread Football Outsiders

September 08, 2005, 1:14 pm ET This thread is for discussion of action on the field before, during, and after Sunday's contests (plus Thursday night's Oakland-New England game). You can talk about who you think will win or lose before the games start and last-minute news on Sunday morning. Then during the games, discuss strange plays, great performances, and stupid announcers (of which there are plenty). After the day is done, we'll discuss talk the results of the week Sunday night and Monday before our weekly commentary articles appear. Please ask your fantasy football start/bench and waiver wire questions in the discussion thread for Scramble for the Ball. Regular cartoons will begin next week. We're not sure if they'll be in the open discussion thread because we're actually not sure what's going to happen to the open discussion thread -- we're considering splitting it into three threads (AFC, NFC, and interconference) now that the site readership is so high, and there are a few other things that need to be worked out about the specifics about how everything is going to work around here this season. So for this week, one thread. # Woo hoo! Real open threads again! So I posted this in the Loser League thread, but does anyone think I'm nuts for picking Kerry Collins as one of my two QBs in the LL? I'll find out in a few hours, but I have a feeling he's going to continue his schizophrenic trend, and give me a week or two of 1 or 2 points (or less!) and then a few weeks of 15-20 points. I just don't see how Moss's arrival is going to help Collins's ridiculous TD/INT ratio. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 4:57 pm Edit This # No, I don't think you're nuts for taking Kerry Collins. He could have a huge year with that WR group, provided he gets good protection from his OL. On a related note, that point spread for tonight is WAY too high. Woohoo, football's back! Life is worth living! /kidding
//mostly
///Ravens will crush Colts on Sunday :: Fiver — 9/8/2005 @ 5:01 pm Edit This # Wrong way, Fiver. Loser league. :) I expect him to not have a monster year. Or, at least, to mix utterly horrendous weeks inbetween incredibly great weeks. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 5:03 pm Edit This # Who's your other QB? My loser league team is built around Kyle Orton. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 5:12 pm Edit This # Oh, whoops. I breezed right over the “Loser League� portion of you post. Now that I understand what you were really asking, the answer is : yes, you are totally nuts. ;) :: Fiver — 9/8/2005 @ 5:21 pm Edit This # I'm embarrased to say I can't remember. I was thinking about Leftwich or Boller, but I can't remember what I finally chose. I just wanted someone who puts up “mediocre� numbers there, and I'll let Kerry Collins fill in the “suck� weeks. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 5:28 pm Edit This # Kerry Collins might be the only QB in the league who's a legit backup for a regular and a loser fantasy team. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 5:41 pm Edit This # Every site now has its own pointless interactive poll, but PFW is currently running one of the most ridiculous I've seen (linked). Apparently, 30% of its voters think the Raiders are going to win the AFC title. What precisely is the point of running a poll if it produces a result like that? (Should I ask Hosni Mubarak?) Do even 3% of FO readers think the Raiders will win tonight? (NB This is not a poll.) :: ammek — 9/8/2005 @ 6:12 pm Edit This # Here's to the Raiders getting trounced on “Monday Night� Football tonight. As for my team, I've had butterflies all week. The Cowboys are a little scary, but I'm sure Brees and LT will overcome against the team they rooted for while growing up. :: Sean D. — 9/8/2005 @ 6:24 pm Edit This # RE: #7. Don't forget Jake Plummer. His stats for December 2004:
Att 137
Comp 76
TD 3
INT 9
And that includes a game against Tennessee where he had a 124.8 rating. :: Just another Steve — 9/8/2005 @ 8:16 pm Edit This # Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing if the Burger King can cover Stokley one on one. :: Catholic Samurai — 9/8/2005 @ 8:45 pm Edit This # Jake Plummer vs Kerry Collins twice this year… glad I don't have to predict those games. (I'm a Bronco's fan so I can hope, but I'm not going to attempt to predict) I see that 5 WRs are listed as questionable or out on the nfl.com gamecenter preview - Porter & Gabriel for the Raiders and Givens, Davis & Johnson for the Pats - might we have a lot more of a running game in store? (and Brady is listed as probable). :: Tim (UK) — 9/8/2005 @ 8:51 pm Edit This # Does anybody know why the Raiders were chosen to open up the season? I guess two years of Colts vs Patriots on opening thursday would be too much, but the Pats play the Steelers in week 3, couldn't those two games have been switched? :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 8:51 pm Edit This # i'm floundering here. the only other good WRs i have are kennison and wayne, but i can't pull the trigger and start porter tonight against NE. any suggestions? :: jakesmom — 9/8/2005 @ 8:52 pm Edit This # Last year the Pats struggled agianst #2 receivers, so I'd suggest posting FF questions in the scramble for the ball thread. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 9:02 pm Edit This # Pats are at Steelers. I think they wanted to start it in Foxboro. Aside: regardless of whatever anyone else says, I'm gonna miss Michaels and Madden together. Best announcing team in the NFL, bar none. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 9:11 pm Edit This # Suddenly my Kerry Collins Loser League pick doesn't look so good. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 9:19 pm Edit This # I agree on Madden and Michaels. They're the best active compination, which isn't saying much. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 9:19 pm Edit This # The NFL started a thing not long ago where the Super Bowl champ would start the season on Thursday at home. I want to say that they picked the Raiders because they have a large fan base and people are excited about their additions in the off-season. Man, the Raiders just marched down the field for that first score. Just chunks of yards. They can't keep that up. :: mactbone — 9/8/2005 @ 9:25 pm Edit This # Same old Raiders defense. I thought this was 2005. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 9:28 pm Edit This # What's the over/under for total punts in this game? I guess it's 3 or less. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 9:28 pm Edit This # I just have to say that on 1st and goal at the 8, a Charlie Weis offense doesn't call two straight run plays. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 9:31 pm Edit This # Yah, I thought that was odd too - especially when Brady had something like 4 wide open receivers in a row, and had he been a bit more accurate (or not had a receiver cut wrong) they would've had a touchdown earlier. Seems weird to try to run when you've been doing so well through the air. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 9:33 pm Edit This # Already I have to thank the Outsiders staff. Based on the recommendation for him in the book, I drafted Ben Watson as my TE in a 20 team league (it was rediculous, a bunch of teams had 2 TEs, one had 3!). And you were definitely right. Already he has 2 catches for 55 yards, which is a smooth 2.2 points in the stupid scoring system this league uses. :: Zac — 9/8/2005 @ 9:41 pm Edit This # Ah, good old Kerry Collins. “Hmm… Moss is streaking down field, and the safeties are fading towards him. I think I'll throw there!� :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 9:44 pm Edit This # Too Jody Foster:
Maybe a dingo took your baby. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 9:45 pm Edit This # Rushing 3 against Brady seems to be suicidal. Give that guy enough time, and he'll find the holes in your zone. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 9:51 pm Edit This # Raiders run defense looks good, but maybe someone should tell them that that Tom Brady guy can pass pretty well. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 9:52 pm Edit This # B: A Mack truck could find the holes in the Raider defense. Did you see that touchdown play, where one of the Pats slipped? The Raider defender nearest him actually started towards him before fading back towards where the pass was thrown. Raiders defenders look like statues. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 9:54 pm Edit This # Norv Turner kind of killing me here, Collins is my fantasy starter :: nomen — 9/8/2005 @ 9:58 pm Edit This # Aaargh, Brady appears to berate Dillon and the announcers brush it off saying he has the right. Manning appears to berate Wayne last year and everyone in the world screams that Manning is a selfish jerk. On another note, what's the rule on flagrant fouls? During that third down play where Collins threw it into triple coverage, Harrison arrived late and blasted Moss clearly after the ball went by. I can see it not being a penalty but I'd like to know how intentional or late it has to be. :: mactbone — 9/8/2005 @ 9:59 pm Edit This # Wow. The Patriot safties look like they're in the prevent D :: Androo — 9/8/2005 @ 10:01 pm Edit This # Raiders only rush 3 because they can't get there with 4 or 5 or 6. NE has tremendous pass pro. They have had it for years (remember Boomer Esiason laughing about Brady having all day to throw in the 2003 AFC champ game?), If you can't get pressure at all, why waste people who might cover someone? It isn't likely to win, but their only hope going into the game is that Brady go full brain fart mode like he did in losing the Miami game last year. :: stan — 9/8/2005 @ 10:06 pm Edit This # Dear Mr. Harrison, No disrespect intended, but just as a suggestion, you may want to actually try to hit Randy Moss head on after a 40 some yard catch that he bobbled. Just a suggestion. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 10:13 pm Edit This # Dear Pat. Don't Disrespect me. Just a suggestion. :: Rodney Harrison — 9/8/2005 @ 10:14 pm Edit This # Can we pass a rule that no WRs can be compared to Rice untill they have comparable numbers over the first 15 seaasons in the league? :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 10:18 pm Edit This # Me and my 10 brothers are doing a bang up job against the Patriots tonight, aren't we? :: Inanimate Carbon Rod — 9/8/2005 @ 10:22 pm Edit This # RE: #35 Dear Rodney and Pat; No disrespect intended, but I'm going to break your legs. :: Roy Williams — 9/8/2005 @ 10:23 pm Edit This # Isn't inanimate carbon rod redundant? How many animated carbon rods do you see? :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 10:24 pm Edit This # The craziest thing. I thought I was watching an NFL game, then it turned out to be one of those crazy Arena League games where each team scores at least 60 points. I don't know what happened. :: Zac — 9/8/2005 @ 10:25 pm Edit This # Man, I really hope my other Loser League QB sucks. Really wish I could remember who he is, too… :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 10:26 pm Edit This # Hey B, ICR is a Simpsons reference. :: Björn — 9/8/2005 @ 10:27 pm Edit This # Doesn't either team know how to play pass defense? Raiders are just awful. Patriots at least are close to the receivers when he catches the ball and putting pressure on the QB. Also, I thought refs were supposed to call penalties for the Patriots, not against them. Didn't they get the memo? Patriots are killing themselves with penalties, which means they are only up by 3. :: Paul — 9/8/2005 @ 10:27 pm Edit This # Fear Norv Turner's brilliance. Any other coach might've called a pass when you've got 3rd and 18, and you've been carving up the Patriots deep all game. But no, that'd be too obvious. Draw play for 2 yards it is! :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 10:30 pm Edit This # I know it's a simpsons reference, I watched the season 5 DVD recently and used the chance for my meaningless rant. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 10:33 pm Edit This # Pat: Norv Turner must be a genius, why else would teams keep hiring him to revamp thier offenses? :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 10:35 pm Edit This # Ahh, so you were using Internet Sarcasm V 1.0? :: Björn — 9/8/2005 @ 10:36 pm Edit This # Wow, Bellicheck must be a genius. He took a timeout!
Okay, that's enough sarcasm for one night. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 10:38 pm Edit This # B: I know! I'm telling you, there's a deeper reason to that play call. You just wait. Man, that incomplete pass was really close. I don't know what the booth saw to guarantee that it was an incomplete - the only non-fuzzy angle they showed on TV looked like a complete, but it was hard to tell. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 10:38 pm Edit This # God, I hate Jimmy Kimmel. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 10:50 pm Edit This # Guys, I have a question… does anyone know where the DPAR and DVOA projections are for the Burger King (DB-Ravens) and the Diet Pepsi Machine (WR-Patriots) are? I don't see it anywhere on the site! :: Catholic Samurai — 9/8/2005 @ 10:53 pm Edit This # OK, folks, let's take a poll. Patriots running game is worse than we thought, or Oakland run defense has improved, or both? :: Aaron — 9/8/2005 @ 11:08 pm Edit This # Considering the fact that the Raiders were in dime defense and the Patriots still couldn't run, I'd say the Patriots running game is worse than we thought. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 11:09 pm Edit This # Well, it's not like the Oakland defensive line has actually been trying to rush the QB. Maybe they've all been taught to focus solely on Dillon or Faulk. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 11:09 pm Edit This # I'd have to say Oak's run defense has improved. They seem to be cutting off Corey and Faulk as just the right moment. :: Catholic Samurai — 9/8/2005 @ 11:09 pm Edit This # Looks to me that the Patriots' offensive line is great at pass blocking, but lousy at run blocking. :: Travis — 9/8/2005 @ 11:10 pm Edit This # But in all honesty, I think the story of the night thus far is Josh Miller, All-Pro Punter. :: Catholic Samurai — 9/8/2005 @ 11:11 pm Edit This # Aaron: So I think that's a solid “both�. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 11:14 pm Edit This # Gee, maybe they should have given the ball to Klecko instead of Dillon. He made it through that hole untouched. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 11:20 pm Edit This # 14 carries, 19 yards for the Pats' running game. :: Travis — 9/8/2005 @ 11:21 pm Edit This # Woot! Football is back. Anyone seen a defensive back on the field tonight? Kirk Morrison out of SDSU looks good at MLB for the Raiders. Six tackles in the first half, and he's helping their front 7 stuff Dillon. That Brady pass to Tim Dwight for the TD was unstoppable. Gibson played it well enough that if that pass was one foot to the right it's picked for 6. But it wasn't, because Tom Brady is really, really, really good. :: Fiver — 9/8/2005 @ 11:22 pm Edit This # Pat, suddenly your Loser League pick doesn't look so bad. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 11:23 pm Edit This # Ahh, that's the Kerry Collins I know and love! :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 11:23 pm Edit This # Oh, there's Corey Dillon. I was wondering why the Pats had kept him off the field all game. :: Towwb — 9/8/2005 @ 11:25 pm Edit This # Woah! Mark your calendars, folks, Vinatieri has an XP blocked! :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 11:25 pm Edit This # Anyone else get the feeling that this conversation happened at halftime in the Patriots locker room? Belichick: “I would like you guys to please cover Randy Moss.�
Secondary: “They have Randy Moss? Crap! That's what we've been doing wrong!� Seriously, what happened in the second half? Moss hasn't really had a reception. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 11:32 pm Edit This # What happened is they snuck in Troy Brown as a defensive back. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 11:33 pm Edit This # Michaels and Madden are doing a relatively poor job in the booth tonight. First, Madden compliments Harrison for that necktie, which has been illegal for years yet I have no clue why the refs didn't call it. Then, Michaels calling an obvious block in the back a clean block on a return that had two flags. :: Expertise — 9/8/2005 @ 11:35 pm Edit This # It's strange how they insist on showing us all these scenes from Boston when they come back from commercial, even though the stadium is nowhere near any of the landmarks they are showing. They need to show the landmarks of the Foxboro metropolitan area instead. Here's Rodman Ford … Here's exit 8 from I-95 … Here's the Friendly's … Here's the Walpole Correctional Facility … Here's where the Football Outsiders guy went to high school … :: Aaron — 9/8/2005 @ 11:39 pm Edit This # i wonder when collins will start looking at his hurt thumb ala kurt warner… :: Josh — 9/8/2005 @ 11:41 pm Edit This # #68: He didn't compliment Harrison for that tackle. He was just saying that Belichick makes starters play special teams. Both Michaels and Madden seemed a bit surprised that that flag wasn't near the tackle. :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 11:46 pm Edit This # Dangit! Where's the crappy Kerry Collins? Bring back the crappy Kerry Collins! :: Pat — 9/8/2005 @ 11:50 pm Edit This # Aaron: They should show the redwing. :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 11:50 pm Edit This # Does Kerry Collins always throw in that awkward fashion or am I just noticing it now? His throwing motion seems to be all arm, no body. :: Travis — 9/8/2005 @ 11:51 pm Edit This # I guess the way to slow down Moss is to cover him with C Scott (whoever he is). :: B — 9/8/2005 @ 11:55 pm Edit This # Penalties are killing Oakland. Same old Raiders. What's up with the Raiders play calling. Three straight deep balls to Alvis Whitted? We have 12 minutes to go. It's not desperation time yet. Rodney Harrison looks old. His change of direction is really slow. He's still a big hitter, but most of his hits seem to be after the whistle. Seymour is a beast, but you knew this. :: Fiver — 9/8/2005 @ 11:55 pm Edit This # Is it me, or has every tackle that has taken down Deion Branch been around his head or neck? :: Catholic Samurai — 9/8/2005 @ 11:59 pm Edit This # I think he learned the turlte technique from watching the Colts receivers. Watch how quick he drops the the ground, the only thing left to tackle him by is the head. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 12:00 am Edit This # Chad Scott?!?! he couldnt cover a bed with a comforter :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 12:01 am Edit This # though the Burger King is something else. looks like a young Deion wearing Michael Irvin's new suit, except for the whole plastic head thing :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 12:07 am Edit This # Yea, but he couldn't cover the pepsi machine. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 12:09 am Edit This # RE #80: That has to be one of the best commericals so far this football season. It's just fantastic. :: Catholic Samurai — 9/9/2005 @ 12:09 am Edit This # I just want to say I am not suprised the Pats switched to the 4-3. They switched back and forth between the 4-3 and the 3-4 in the Romeo era, so thye know how to do it. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 12:11 am Edit This # RE:82
I couldnt agree more. Thats the type of commercial that should be showed during the Super Bowl. and speaking of the pepsi machine, he can catch alright, but can he throw a block or will he take the play off? :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 12:14 am Edit This # I'm sure when Deion Branch's career ends, and he looks back at everything he did in the NFL, his greatest memory will be of chest-bumping the Diet Pepsi machine in the endzone. …At least that would be mine. :: Catholic Samurai — 9/9/2005 @ 12:15 am Edit This # Norv Turner sure has a revolutionary offense. Who else would have tought of a screen with no eligable recievers? :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 12:16 am Edit This # You guys are missing the best thing about the Burger King ad … the interception is thrown by Drew Bledsoe. :: Aaron — 9/9/2005 @ 12:17 am Edit This # So 4th and 23 you go for it, but 4th and 28 is just silly. I guess they had a 24-27 yard play called or something. :: Trogdor — 9/9/2005 @ 12:18 am Edit This # Boom goes the punt. Gee, I wonder if that one will make TMQ…(along with the fact that they hadn't even walked up to the line of scrimmage when the play clock expired…). T. :: Tarrant — 9/9/2005 @ 12:18 am Edit This # RE #87: What's sadder is that will probably be the most-remembered thing about his tenure in Buffalo. :: Catholic Samurai — 9/9/2005 @ 12:22 am Edit This # Actually, Trogdor, they probably were thinking they could pull NE offsides 5 consecutive times, but 6, well, no chance. T. :: Tarrant — 9/9/2005 @ 12:23 am Edit This # pass play on 3rd and 2 when you're killing the clock? I guess Weiss really did leave his playbook in Foxboro. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 12:24 am Edit This # I dont think it was a matter of us missing the fact that Bledsoe threw the interception, but rather that we all just assumed it was him and didnt bother to comment on it :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 12:25 am Edit This # But in all honesty, I think the story of the night thus far is Josh Miller, All-Pro Punter. Well, that ends that tenure. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 12:27 am Edit This # though i wonder if the Tuna will have nightmares of Bledsoe throwing picks to mascots who then proceed to return them for touchdowns :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 12:27 am Edit This # What kind of throw was that, Kerry? 5 feet above Moss' head? That was closer to being a field goal than a completed pass. T. :: Tarrant — 9/9/2005 @ 12:28 am Edit This # Is it really that amazing that they called PI on the offense on that play? Moss wasn't even going for the ball, and just grabbed his jersey and hauled him down. Are the announcers already mailing it in during the first game? It took until the sixth replay until one of them bothered to mention that Samuel almost caught the ball. Ye gods! :: Trogdor — 9/9/2005 @ 12:36 am Edit This # Trogdor: I dunno. At first, I saw Samuel crashing into Moss (and Samuel thought they called it on him), and it wasn't until they slowed down the last replay that I saw Moss grabbing the jersey. It just wasn't visible from any of the other angles to me. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 12:41 am Edit This # I thought the fact that Samuels was playing the ball and Moss made no effort to catch made it obvious it should be an offensive penalty. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 12:47 am Edit This # Thoughts on the game: 1)The kick coverage was terrible on both sides. 2)Tim Dwight is electric. One of the better returners in the league. 3)Warren Sapp's player profile listed him as a DE. People, this is 2005, not 2004. 4)I enjoyed Tim McGraw's piece they played during halftime (�I like it, I love it….� 5)The Pats OTs ALWAYS get away with a lot of holding, and Harrison always gets away with a lot of borderline hits. 6)Penalties continue to kill the Raiders. With the penalties and that defense, they'll be battling to stay out of the cellar. 7)I was surprised by how quickly Oakland scored on the first drive. Imagine how ugly the game would have been without offseason additions Moss or Jordan. :: Sid — 9/9/2005 @ 12:57 am Edit This # Oakland. Slowest. Special. Teams. Ever. Gosh, did Oakland only put out offensive lineman and overweight linebackers on special teams. That sure is what their coverage looked like. :: Andrew — 9/9/2005 @ 1:02 am Edit This # Was it just me, or did Collins, Dillon, and Harrison look OLD tonight? :: Andrew — 9/9/2005 @ 1:17 am Edit This # L. Jordan
18 carries, 70 yards C. Dillon
23 carries, 63 yards On the surface, it looks like Jordan kicked Dillon's ass. but I tried tracking “rushing wins� Each time a runner gained 4 or more yards and/or picked up a first down, I credited him with a “win.� (This is a simpler version of FO.com's success rate.) I counted 7 wins for Jordan and 9 for Dillon. Which is remarkable, considering that Dillon had 6 carries and only 1 win at halftime. So in the second half he had 17 carries and 8 wins. So with the Patriots ahead and Oakland playing the run, Dillon made a productive play on half his carries. I didn't get a chance to watch the game. Can anyone explain what Dillon and the Pats did to turn things around? :: Vince — 9/9/2005 @ 1:26 am Edit This # good news for steeler fans. joey porter is going to be starting sunday, though staley has been downgraded to doubtful. as if he was going to play anyway. saw the report on Foxsports.com :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 1:32 am Edit This # who should i start on my fantasy team sunday? (choose two) Kevin Jones vs. Green Bay
Rudi Johnson vs. Cleveland
Domanick Davis vs. Buffalo i feel pretty good about it either way. :: kyle — 9/9/2005 @ 1:36 am Edit This # rudi for sure. browns suck :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 1:41 am Edit This # and Jones. Buffalo has a defense, Green Bay…well….doesnt. and thats putting it lightly :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 1:43 am Edit This # yeah, those are the two slotted now, but… domanick davis, you know? he was my first-rounder. i feel stupid for not playing him and playing against matchups in week one. :: kyle — 9/9/2005 @ 1:55 am Edit This # yeah i know how that is man. Davis could do the same as johnson or jones, though. we must not forget that when they were fighting for a playoff spot, the Bills gave up 100+ yards to willie parker, a third stringer. but for this week i myself would start johnson and jones because they arent really going up against a defense, more like an illusion :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 2:01 am Edit This # yeah, i was planning on jones for sure, because green bay just looks clueless against the run and they'll want to keep harrington calm, especially early on. my biggest fear is that johnson might lose some carries to the backups because they will be up on cleveland and just trying to run the clock out. i guess i should be pretty confident this week. he's got bulger, and i've got holt, so that should work out nicely regardless. :: kyle — 9/9/2005 @ 2:14 am Edit This # definately. holt should shred the niners apart, and either way you go with the RB situation you are sure to come out with some nice points. the good thing about the bungles playing the browns is that last year they went out and turned the game into an arena football match, and seeing as neither team really has a good defense, i expect the same thing as last year, maybe not quite so many points, but i dont think they will be able to sit johnson :: Josh — 9/9/2005 @ 2:30 am Edit This # Anyone besides me think the Pats don't look quite as invincible this year? I still think they take the division, but I don't see them making it 4 out of 5. I think the Raiders beat themselves more than the Pats beat them. Numerous penalties, piss-poor playcalling (only 6 rushes in 2nd half even with plenty of time and a reasonably close score, draw on 3rd and 18, going deep over and over to… Whitted?), atrocious pass defense, bad decisions by Kerry Collins (throwing into triple coverage multiple times, should've taken a sack instead of turning over the ball, throwing a screen to… nobody). No surprises really, but I think these things had a larger bearing on the game than anything the Pats did. Brady had a good game, but who doesn't against the Raiders? Their run O and D should be better against a team that isn't a powerhouse in either area. They averaged 2.4 a carry while giving up 4.2. Blocked punt, blocked xp, you didnt see that much last year, especially not against a team as weak as the Raiders. They won the game, but they didn't dominate like I expected them to, especially at home in a much hyped national tv season opener. I think they're going to have a lot of trouble with their road schedule this year, and the home game against Indy looms large. After watching them I really think this is Indy's year in the AFC, and maybe (homer optimism) my Chiefs will make a run too. :: unificationtheory — 9/9/2005 @ 5:35 am Edit This # I think the Pats were determined not to let Randy Moss beat them, and that's why their run defense didn't look all that great. Unless it was an obvious running play, Harrison and Wilson were always playing way back off the line of scrimmage. If you also look back at the game last year with Indy, they had bad run defense there as well. I also think that Branch should have had more catches then he did, but the dude didn't play the entire preseason, so its understandable. :: Catholic Samurai — 9/9/2005 @ 8:06 am Edit This # Re: 19
The defending champ opens on Thursday night at home. This is an example of Peter King's poor fact checking and New England bias. The Thursday opener has happened FOUR times. They were:
SF at NYG (NE def. champs)
NYJ at Wash. (Bucs def. champs)
Ind. at NE (NE def. champs)
Oak. at NE (NE def. champs) They started it in New York for the big market, national spotlight (sound familiar Saints fans?). Then went to Washington - another big market (remember the Jetskins game with Coles and Morton playing for Wash?) Last year was another big market that just happened to be the defending champs at home. Yet Peter King reported it was a game for the defending champs at home and I guess the NFL schedule makers listened. I guess we'll see the next time the Pats don't win. Think they'll open in Carolina? Or go to the big market in Chicago? :: Clarence — 9/9/2005 @ 8:46 am Edit This # Re 112: That sounds like the exact same reason people have been saying the Pats wouldn't win it all for the past two years. They win by taking away a team's strength, and forcing them to carry the load with their weakest links (play calling, qb decision, whatever). This usually results in the other team “beating themselves� through poor play. The fact that the pats can use this strategy effectively against so many teams with different strengths (read they are a very balanced/well coached team) is why they are a very good team, even though they rarely look dominating. :: Ima Pseudonym — 9/9/2005 @ 8:56 am Edit This # Three more comments. Ben Watson is a bull. Why didn't they throw to him more? He just dragged Raiders down the field like they were trying to tackle Andre the Giant. Also, did anyone notice that the “starting lineup� featured two Tight Ends and no Fullback? Did Patrick Pass even play for New England? Lastly, why, why, why did Oakland punt the ball when they were on their own 40 yard line down 16 points with 12 minutes left in regulation? Yes it was 4th and 28, but you must go for it, and FredX showed it can be done. Instead, they just folded like a cheap suit. Its going to be a long season in Oakland. :: Andrew — 9/9/2005 @ 9:33 am Edit This # Patrick Pass is on the Patriots Roster, but I don't think he made the 45 man team. They've been using Dan Klecko as a fullback in power-running situations for a couple years now. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 9:43 am Edit This # Re: #116. As Trogdor pointed out, their decision to punt was made more ridiculous by the fact that they lined up to go for it on 4th and 23, but after the penalty, then decided to punt on 4th and 28. That's a punt that could be the first “Why are you punting?� of the new year. I thought there were fewer than 12 minutes left though. I thought it was like, 8 minutes (getting low enough that the Pats were in run-out-the-clock mode). T. :: Tarrant — 9/9/2005 @ 9:54 am Edit This # Re not going for it on 4th and 28, but going for it on 4th and 23: Don't you see, it's cause Norv Turner is a genius. His thinking is so far beyond us mere mortals we simply can't comprehend his reasoning. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 10:05 am Edit This # I missed part of the first quarter, but from what I saw in the first half, Dillon had very little success running because Oakland frequently played a run-stuffing six-man front (4 DLs, plus their big OLBs at the line). Once the Pats figured out that front, they switched to 5 wide to get those big guys into coverage, and (shock!) Brady found holes in the coverage. After halftime, the Raiders switched to more nickel coverage to take those holes out of their zone coverage, and Dillon ran better. :: Starshatterer — 9/9/2005 @ 10:10 am Edit This # I think the Pats were determined not to let Randy Moss beat them, and that's why their run defense didn't look all that great. They kinda failed if that was their job. Moss was open on play after play in the first half - Collins just kept overthrowing or having to dump the ball away. Something happened at halftime to change that, but in the first half, it wasn't just their run defense which was getting shredded. It was their pass defense, too. I couldn't really tell what changed in the secondary because the D-line was finally getting serious pressure on Collins in the second half. I'm still deeply disappointed in Harrison for missing Moss on that one play. He had plenty of time to get the right angle and hit him, and he just didn't do it. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 10:11 am Edit This # Got a question for the experts. Why doesn't anyone call for a fair catch anymore? Oakland's punt returner almost got dismembered at least twice. What was he/they thinking? I'm honestly curious here. I agree with Andrew on Ben Watson. Intriguing guy. :: selfnoise — 9/9/2005 @ 10:11 am Edit This # B: Dangit, that's my joke! :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 10:12 am Edit This # The reason the first two games as Thursday night openers were because of 9/11 observances (San Francisco was the destination of one of those flights, remember). That may have played a small part in Oakland being picked THIS year. And one of the flights left from Boston, as well. The only team that has appeared on a Thursday opener that was neither a departure or a destination for those planes was Indy last year — and the league took some criticism for that, with the line being that they sold out on the commemmoration for the ratings. The only team that has a 9/11 connection that hasn't appeared yet is the Steelers, fwiw. :: TMK — 9/9/2005 @ 10:14 am Edit This # I thought Madden had his best game in years last night. He was noticing all sorts of line play and blocking, the kind of stuff he did in the '80s but has completely forgotten about in recent years. Somebody tell me: How did Routt get called for unnecessary roughness for his little leapfrog of Branch, but Harrison is allowed to clothesline someone and the officials just let him go on his merry way? :: MDS — 9/9/2005 @ 10:17 am Edit This # MDS: I saw that during the preseason, actually. I was baffled - Madden was actually pointing out linemen who blocked correctly, and ones who blocked poorly (but didn't miss their assignment). Regarding Routt, I was baffled by that. They didn't show the angle that the ref had, so I have to imagine that he grabbed his facemask on the way over and we just couldn't see it. Harrison's clothesline was just terrible, though. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 10:21 am Edit This # #120: SS: The Raiders were still playing nickel (and dime!) coverage in the first half, and the Patriots were still struggling, and they were struggling a bit into the second half as well. I think it's durability - three of the Raiders D-line (Sapp, Washington, and Hamilton) have over 10 years in the NFL each. The other guy (Kelly) is a 2nd year rookie free agent. They just looked slower in the second half. Still strong, but slower. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 10:25 am Edit This # Wasn't the Routt penalty on Branch a 5 yarder? I thought it was called because he touched but didn't grab his helmet. For the Harrison hit, it looked to me like most of the blow was to the chest, not the neck. I think the refs didn't call it because his head didn't snap back, so it didn't look like a clotheline. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 10:29 am Edit This # Nope, 15. Unnecessary roughness. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 10:32 am Edit This # But you are right - it was a blow to the head, not a facemask. My bad. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 10:33 am Edit This # MDS, Pat – I didn't see what exactly Routt did, but the ref called it a forearm to the head, which could have been the case. ABC didn't show a useful replay after I heard the call. Harrison's bordeline-clothesline they did show in slow-mo, and his arm was about at collarbone level — just low enough that it usually wouldn't get called, even against a player with a “dirty� rep like Harrison. Rodney Harrison is very good at knowing exactly what gets flagged, and stopping just short of that. It's part of his charm. ;-) As for the 73-yard TD to Randy Moss — I think Poole and Harrison both simply underestimated his speed. Harrison's angle and Poole's coverage were both decent against somebody not quite as fast as Moss. I don't know when (or even if) either last played against Moss, but Poole and Harrison were with other teams the last time that the Patriots did. Note that they only made that mistake once. :: Starshatterer — 9/9/2005 @ 10:36 am Edit This # By the way, my Kerry Collins Experiment (I need to ask if there's a way I can change my Loser League team's name to “The Kerry Collins Experiment�) racked up 23 points last night, but Collins is still looking schizophrenic. I'll probably grab single-digit weeks from him versus Philly, Buffalo, and maybe even Dallas. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 10:52 am Edit This # Well, Routt definatly hit branch in the head with his forearm. Had he used his hand instead, it would have been a 5 yard hands to the face penalty, I don't know if there's an equivalent for the forearm, or if any forearm to the face is automatic 15 yards. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 10:59 am Edit This # One thing I did notice about Madden/Michaels last night - they spent a lot of time talking about footwork, and how important it is to see how a QB moves on his feet in-game, and how you can tell the quality of the QB just by looking at the feet (accompanied by replays of plays just from the knees down). I don't recall them bringing that up much before - that was at least some useful analysis. T. :: Tarrant — 9/9/2005 @ 10:59 am Edit This # Wow - Peter King's Raiders/Patriots prediction: 30-24, Patriots. Not bad. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 11:02 am Edit This # Pat (#127 )– I didn't record the game, so I can't check. My recollection was that, in likely running downs (1st and 10, 2nd and 5 or less, 3rd and short), the Raiders stacked the beef onto the line early and stuffed Dillon. It wasn't until after Brady had put up about 200 passing yards that the Pats had much success running in those situations. It could have been coincidental — the Raiders' front seven was also tiring by then. In all, the game played out pretty much like I expected. 1-2 big plays to Moss, the Raiders D looking better but not good enough in a 4-3 front, the Pats having too much for the Raiders in the end. That punt block was awful, but not entirely surprising. One knock on Miller coming out of Pittsburgh was that he took too long to get off his kicks. And the Patriots looked shocked, shocked! that someone came after the punt. People looking for chinks to exploit may also remember the fake field goal that worked last year for Cincinatti — do the Pats get complacent on special teams with a late lead? Seems like. Nice tackle by Izzo, though — one blue jersey amid five silver, and he brought down the guy with the ball. :: Starshatterer — 9/9/2005 @ 11:03 am Edit This # I don't recall them bringing that up much before - that was at least some useful analysis. I agree! I'm telling you, when's the last time you heard Joe Theismann say anything even approaching “useful�? As much as I loved hearing how Favre's interception was “just as good as a punt.� :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 11:03 am Edit This # How about the insightful analysis that faking a moon at Lambeau field is a disgrace to football's most sacred site. Although, apparently three turnovers by the home QB in a playoff game there is not a disgrace. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 11:18 am Edit This # I personally just figured that the Raiders DLine was getting tired by the end of the game, and that's why the Patriots. started having success on the ground. Like someone above mentioned, most of those guys are getting old. :: Ray — 9/9/2005 @ 11:19 am Edit This # By the way, how about the schizophreic Oakland special teams? They give up big returns, but then block a PAT. They miss a FG, but then block a punt. DVOA will have an interesting time with it. :: Ray — 9/9/2005 @ 11:26 am Edit This # Who is going to be the first person called for the horsecollar tackle? Watching the preseason, there were a few plays where it appeared to be a horsecollar, but the defensive player grabbed the outside of the jersey. It appears it's okay to grab onto the shoulderpads through the jersey, but if you grab onto them through the neck opening, you'll be penalized. It will be interesting to see if they call it if you grab through the jersey around the neck area… I think Sean Taylor will be the first one penalized for it, but upon review we'll see it was a bad call. :: Matthew Furtek — 9/9/2005 @ 1:31 pm Edit This # Ray, I'm not sure, but I seem to recall that blocks are not computed in DVOA because they aren't good predictors of future success. In other words, the schizophrenic Oakland special teams will show up as “bad.� :: Ferg — 9/9/2005 @ 2:01 pm Edit This # Raiders defense? Improved? They rushed 3, dropped 8 into coverage, and the 8 were beaten nearly every time by just two wideouts! Their young corner, Asomugha, lead the team in tackles, meaning Brady was spending all night throwing to the guy he was covering. :: Andrew — 9/9/2005 @ 2:07 pm Edit This # Pat #132: Gosh, I didn't even think about Dallas having to play Oakland this year. Oh will that be an ugly game of the immobile and slow! :: Andrew — 9/9/2005 @ 2:08 pm Edit This # Tarrant #118: Actually, looking over the play-by-play, they did this twice on consecutive 4th Quarter possessions! 4th QT. 4-10-NE46 (12:09) S.Lechler punts 35 yards to NE 11, Center-A.Treu, fair catch by T.Brown.
PENALTY on OAK-R.Williams, Illegal Motion, 5 yards, enforced at NE 11. 4th QT. 4-28-NE39 (7:36) S.Lechler punts 29 yards to NE 10, Center-A.Treu, downed by OAK-R.Riddle. :: Andrew — 9/9/2005 @ 2:13 pm Edit This # Andrew: The line looked better. Sapp does actually fit into a 4-3 better than a 3-4. The only problem is that it doesn't look like they can hold up for a full 4 quarters anymore. Makes sense, considering that 3 of the 4 have over 10 years in the NFL, and the last is a second-year undrafted free agent. They couldn't get any pass rush, though. Not surprising - this is New England. You're going to have to have more physical skill than those 3 have left to get to Brady in time. But they did a great job stuffing the run, in my opinion. The real problem was the secondary and linebackers. They can't play zone - at all. I said this above, but I'll say it again: on one play, a Patriot slipped and fell, and the Raider defender started towards him for a few steps before fading backwards to where the pass was being thrown. They were playing zone, not man - and he was focused on a receiver, not the QB. That's not going to work, and lo and behold, Brady was zipping passes to receivers left and right the whole evening while the defenders just stood like statues. :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 2:22 pm Edit This # Gosh, I didn't even think about Dallas having to play Oakland this year. Oh will that be an ugly game of the immobile and slow! Watch it in Argentina. The few NFL games they play there are played at about 10-20% faster than normal speed. It'll look like a normal NFL game! :: Pat — 9/9/2005 @ 2:23 pm Edit This # The place where I was watching somehow had the volume just low enough that you couldn't pick it up above the bar noise, so I missed out on the usual blathering and Jimmy Kimmel (good) and the surprisingly insightful comments (bad). I like the “fair catch by T. Brown.� It's almost like a tribute to Tim Brown. For most of the first half, the Raiders seemed to be pretty consistent in matching RB depth with play-calling; five yards or closer for a pass, six yards or deeper for a run. Or maybe I just forgot the plays where it didn't work. Didn't work so well in the second half; that was during the I-know-he's-not-open-but-I'm-throwing-it-anyway offense. It'll work much better against a slower and/or less-talented secondary. Vinatieri looked shaky on one of the other PATs as well. Anything going on with him we should know about? I was surprised that the Pats let the Raiders back in the game in the fourth quarter. Not too surprised that the Raiders let themselves back out of the game. Janikowski's missed FG earlier, by the way, was awful, although it did look like he was trying to win a bet by hooking it back through the uprights. :: zlionsfan — 9/9/2005 @ 6:13 pm Edit This # I like Aaron's comment in the book about how he likes his safeties to have smarts/experience and his CB's to have speed/youth. With that said, Who is the best in your mind at Safety? R Harrison
R Williams
B Dawkins
E Reed I can't get enough of Harrison. I love watching his 'smarts' and seemingly being all over the field despite his age (and apparent loss of a step). That miss tackle of Moss though still baffles me. I saw Rodney coming and was expecting him to flatten Randy, welcoming him to the AFC. But instead had my friends laughing at me and my favorite player. :: budman — 9/9/2005 @ 6:37 pm Edit This # RE: 149
why is every pats fan shocked harrison couldn't tackle randy moss? :: charles — 9/9/2005 @ 8:18 pm Edit This # Not a Pats fan at all actually but more of an NFL fan. And my favorite player just happens to be on the Pats. I Like certain players and enjoy watching the nuances of the game (Hence what led me to find this site). No better to watch that right now than with the Patriots. I respect what the Pats have done and their methodical game plans carried out to perfection week in and week out despite the change of personel over the years and everyone always writing them off. Dominating but humble and professional personalities that know their jobs and always seem to be much more prepared than their opponents. To me, easily the best TEAM in all of sports right now. For all the flack they have gotten this year with their coach and LB losses I'd like to see them win SB again while on their way seeing the shock in the faces of their much more physically gifted and usually obnoxiously over-confident opponents (Eagles, BAL, Indy, etc). Now to answer your question, I am shocked because it isn't offen you see one of the leagues best defenders and hitters blow it like that. To at *least* not wrap him up to prevent the score. I think he was in awe of the catch talent ability of Moss himself for a second… Ohh, If I had to pick one the Cowboys would be my favorite I suppose only because of since childhood. And Roy Williams will be next in line after Harrison retires as my favorite to watch. Or Tomlinson. :: budman — 9/9/2005 @ 9:34 pm Edit This # I've never liked Moss much (Packer fan) and I thought he totally punked out on the 2 point conversion. If he doesn't catch it, there is no way Oakland can win… and he didn't even really try for it. I know it was behind him and badly thrown, but what good does it do to flatten Samuel? An INT there is no better than an incompletion. I know he's good, but that doesn't mean he will help his team win…. :: snik75 — 9/9/2005 @ 11:15 pm Edit This # Moss punking out on a last ditch play? The Raiders knew what they were getting into. :: B — 9/9/2005 @ 11:23 pm Edit This # 152 - My guess is that Moss didn't know that the defense getting possession ends the play. Hasn't he spent pretty much his entire career under brain dead coaches who probably didn't bother training the players in those kind of subtle nuances? :: Justus — 9/10/2005 @ 1:32 am Edit This # Fantasy question - give me your opinion - which QB would you cut, assuming you will keep the other all year long - Aaron Brooks or Steve McNair? :: Fantasy Beginner — 9/10/2005 @ 8:58 am Edit This # I'd cut McNair, there's no way he's finishing the season. :: B — 9/10/2005 @ 9:20 am Edit This # Re: 149 That list of Safeties covers a wide range of talents. I don't see how you can call one the best, because Roy Williams and Ed Reed excel at very different things. It depends what you are looking for. Re: Rodney missing Moss, Harrison missed that tackle because he either underestimated Moss's change of direction (supposedly easy to do with his long stride) or he overestimated how fast he was closing on Moss. Probably a combination. Moss recognized Harrison was coming too hard at a bad angle and just cut back. :: Fiver — 9/10/2005 @ 12:51 pm Edit This # Moss recognized Harrison was coming too hard at a bad angle and just cut back. That's not what it looked like to me. Harrison was taking the wrong angle towards Moss while Moss was juggling the ball, and it didn't look like he was running as hard as he could anyway. :: Pat — 9/10/2005 @ 3:48 pm Edit This # I'm not sure that it matters exactly why Harrison missed the tackle on Moss. Moss is really big and really fast, and even catching him with that much ground to make up, much less tackling him, is no gimme even for a very fast safety. That play seems to say more about Moss than about the Pats' secondary, at least to me. :: Starshatterer — 9/10/2005 @ 5:31 pm Edit This # Well, no one said things discussed on here have to matter, Star! :: Fiver — 9/10/2005 @ 6:55 pm Edit This # Dennis Green on Warner:
Either he'll be a star in the league, or he'll be a real fast flame-out. I'm guessing it'll be the second one. :: B — 9/10/2005 @ 7:17 pm Edit This # Who is everyone betting on this week? Cin -3 at CLE sound way too easy to me, which always makes me a little nervous. Is there any reason to think Cinnci won't be able to cover 3 points? I'm thinking the Browns are going to be horrible this year. I'm also liking two other road favorites: ind -3 BAL and phi -1 ATL. Without Jamal at full strength, Boller won't be able to keep Baltimore close, and I'm not buying that the T.O. saga is going to distract Philly. What do you think? :: Jeremy — 9/10/2005 @ 7:34 pm Edit This # #162:
I'm with you on Philly. I've never gambled on an NFL game (other than the occasional playoff pool or novelty stuff like that), but I'm thinking about putting an end to that because of this Philly line. :: DavidH — 9/10/2005 @ 7:48 pm Edit This # I like Chi +6 vs Was cause that's going to be one of those games with a final score of 6-3 :: B — 9/10/2005 @ 8:37 pm Edit This # Well there goes Rodney Harrison playing the disrespect card and its only the first week!! We are gonna be in for a long season if that keeps up :: Josh — 9/11/2005 @ 12:35 pm Edit This # Ugh. I gots to get NFL Sunday ticket. I'm in Wisconsin, within TV access of both Milwaukee and Green Bay. For the early games, (starting in 5 minutes), I can choose from Cincinnati @ Cleveland, Chicago @ Washington, or Tampa Bay @ Minnesota. When are these schedulers going to learn, just because I'm a Packer fan doesn't mean I want to watch the other NFC North teams play. I'd rather see a good game with two teams not from around here more than I want to see Cincinnati @ Cleveland or Chicago @ Washington. :: Zac — 9/11/2005 @ 1:05 pm Edit This # WE HAVE FOOTBALL!!!! Miami v Denver and Arizona v the Giants in the UK. Can I expect much? :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 1:09 pm Edit This # You can expect Gus Ferronte and Kurt Warner to get creamed. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 1:13 pm Edit This # I think there's a football game going on in Cleveland. I can't tell, though, because my retinas have been burned out by all of the radioactive orange. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 1:40 pm Edit This # Jet CB David Barrett is the early frontrunner for the Week 1 Keep Choppin' Wood Award. He let Priest Holmes escape right through his arms for a TD and hasn't been able to cover Eddie Kennison at all. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 1:42 pm Edit This # Looks like Sharper can play in Minnesota, too. Beautiful, beautiful interception. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 1:43 pm Edit This # At least some of you get a choice, I get Cle-Cin and have to like it…. On a more surprising note, the Cle offense actually looks good…the D is just horrible…no D-line at all 3-0 Cle 14:00 left in the 2nd q with Cin threatening… :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 1:50 pm Edit This # OK, Cadillac Williams ain't getting the rookie of the week award this week. I'm not sure he's gained overall positive yardage yet. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 1:52 pm Edit This # #172: Yah, I switched to Min-TB to save my retinas from permanent damage. Both from the orange and from the football. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 1:54 pm Edit This # Early thoughts on Denver @ Miami: Miami's D looks good, Bronocos O not so hot. 3 Possessions 3 punts won't make you happy. The ‘Fins O looks much better than advertised. They can't run for squat, but Frerotte is doing fine and the passing game is moving the chains. On the downside, 3 false start penalties and a fumble lost already isn't the best. Given I thought this game would be over already, I'm pleasantly suprised. :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 1:58 pm Edit This # The Miami O looked horrible in their preseason game at Pit… Dilfer coughs up the ball on a horribly botched 3rd down broken play turned into QB sneak… Can anyone tell me what Pit-Ten looks like? :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 2:01 pm Edit This # Re: CHI @ WSH Orton looks pretty good for a rookie. But he hasn't really been hit yet. His line is giving him decent time against the pass rush by the Skins DLine. Portis has not played well today. He dinged his knee somehow and it's affecting him. Betts has run with more authority between the tackles, which is what the Skins OL seems to do best. They certainly don't excel at pass blocking from what the Bears have shown us. Ramsey to Moss looks like a nice pairing right now. Everything Ramsey threw in the 1st Q was too high, but he has settled down now. Except Ramsey just got clotheslined really badly and looks shaken up. That was ugly. Look for that one on SporstCenter tonight… :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 2:02 pm Edit This # Bears just clotheslined Patrick Ramsey and no penalty was called… blatent blow to the head! What the …. :: Matthew Furtek — 9/11/2005 @ 2:05 pm Edit This # Miami have 2 field goals, 6 points, and 5 false starts. Are the Chiefs hot, the Jets awful, or a bit of both? :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 2:06 pm Edit This # 177
That was a marginal offensive pass interference to call back a Ramsey to Cooley touchdown, followed by a blatent blow to the head… the refs have it out for the Skins. :: Matthew Furtek — 9/11/2005 @ 2:07 pm Edit This # Darn it! I'm in a league where return yardage is worth as much as rushing/receiving yardage (and it goes to the individual player). So I'm starting Dante Hall at WR. So if the Jets score or punt the ball, I get points. So far, their drives have ended with a squib punt, fair caught at the 10, an INT, and a lost fumble.
Ridiculous. :: Zac — 9/11/2005 @ 2:13 pm Edit This # I've only been watching for a few minutes, but Roethlisberger's looked all right. 17-7, Pit, 5:00 left in half one. He hit Randle-el for a 50+-yard TD, but it was a little underthrown. R-E made a nice adjustment to catch it. Last two TEN drives: Chris Brown 35-yard run leads to missed 47-yard FG. Bennett 53-yard reception (BEAUTIFUL ball from McNair), followed by delay of game and Polamolu pick when Bennett (I think) loses a ball on contact in the red zone. Fun fact from announcers: Pitt forced no red-zone turnovers last year. Willie Parker looks really good. Just broke one for 20-plus. :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 2:14 pm Edit This # The cheifs are really playing that well. Thier offense is as good as ever, and thier defense is playing like a legitimate NFL defense. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 2:14 pm Edit This # Willie Parker: 113 all-purpose yards in the first half. Steelers have 1st and goal at the 10. :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 2:19 pm Edit This # Wow. A real game in Miami. Frerotte throws a pick, Denver go down the field, 1st and Goal at the 8. Denver have 4th & goal at the 2 and get stuffed and to add insult to injury, they had 5 attempts due to an offsides penalty on Taylor. :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 2:22 pm Edit This # Denver's RBs have been horrible.
Mike Anderson has 4 rushes for 5 yards, and if you take away Tatum Bell's long run, he has 7 rushes for 6 yards, including being stuffed 3 times at the goal line. Breaking news: Alex Smith is a fantasy monster! No, not the QB, TE Alex Smith of Tampa Bay. He has 3 catches for 30 yards and 2 TDs. :: Zac — 9/11/2005 @ 2:26 pm Edit This # Of course, I had willie parker and randle-el in the loser league….willie parker more for when bettis and staley get back… Cleveland rallied to tie it at 10. The WR corps looks extremely solid. It looked like Brunell came in and promptly threw a called-back pick… :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 2:27 pm Edit This # Jerry Rice is looking shaky on the CBS halftime show. Lots of stuttering, deer-in-headlights look. :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 2:29 pm Edit This # In fairness: Lots of stuttering was an exagerration. He's only spoken once, but he had some trouble getting through it. :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 2:32 pm Edit This # re 188: Thanks for the warning! I love the internet… BtW, if you have any fantasy players playing the browns, start them, period. :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 2:33 pm Edit This # Minnesota's new defense looks awful. After one quarter of adjustments, Tampa has converted 3rd and long what seems like 5 or 6 times in a row, and the receivers seem wide open on all of them. :: andrew — 9/11/2005 @ 2:34 pm Edit This # Must say, Orton looks calm and collected at QB. He has stepped up in the pocket to throw, scrambled when he's had to, and he doesn't get distracted by the pass rush. He's made a couple good throws in the short game that were dropped. Only negative I've seen is that he has not gotten it downfield despite having lots of time to go through progressions behind his OLine. He has overthrown Muhammed twice over the middle. Tommie Harris is playing a disruptive game. :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 2:34 pm Edit This # BTW, Culpepper's “Fumblepepper� nickname is still oh so valid. And Minnesota's offense definitely misses Moss. I'm not of the same opinion as 191 - their defense looks better (not hard, given their state last year) but not “good�. There are holes all over in their coverage, but they're definitely being ballhawks. Reminds me of the Colts, to be honest. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 2:39 pm Edit This # The Chad is competing with him for that title though, he's fumbled the ball 4 times in one half, and threw an interception. Plus missed a shotgun snap, although that might have been the center's fault.
As an aside, why is CBS's sideline reporter wearing a tank top? Better question, why can't the camera on her dip a little lower? :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 2:41 pm Edit This # Looks like SOS(D) - Same Old Seahawks Defense. 200 yards in the first quarter. On the bright side, the Jags have only converted 1 of 3 opportunities in the red/pink zone. They forced field goals on the 5 and on the 23 (mostly-red zone), though they gave up a 30 yard TD pass in the 2nd. What surprises me the most, though, is that this was supposed to be a ground-pounder with the bad weather, but the Jags haven't put together much more than 50 yards running. :: putnamp — 9/11/2005 @ 2:43 pm Edit This # Buffalo just through a TD to the tackle-eligble. 1 yd TD throw to T Jason Peters. :: Zac — 9/11/2005 @ 2:45 pm Edit This # BTW: to whoever last year said that Larry Johnson was “just another college running back�, stuff it. Has he done enough to prove himself yet? Vermeil looks like an idiot for not using him more in the past few years. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 2:46 pm Edit This # Buffalo should keep those uniforms all year. They're almost as cool a throw-back as the Chargers in powder-blue. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 2:46 pm Edit This # My fantasy team is really enjoying the Willie Parker era. 148 total yds., 1 TD. Ben Troupe looks good, to the extent that any Titans look good today. Pit, 27-7, 9:30 in Q3. :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 2:50 pm Edit This # RE:180
The interference call was legit, but my jaw hit the floor on the hit on Ramsey. Perhaps they were ‘Skins fans, as Brunnel looks pretty good so far. Santana Moss is looking like a good pickup, except that his big plays came against. It looks like Betts can run inside, but Portis can't. Is anyone catching a switch off for Chicago when Portis comes out?
Nothing good for Chicago so far except the skins just fumbled away the second half kickoff. :: Johnnyel — 9/11/2005 @ 2:51 pm Edit This # Ack, sorry for the double post… Moss's big plays came against Azumah who is playing with a dinged hip. :: johnnyel — 9/11/2005 @ 2:53 pm Edit This # Matt Jones at Qb is interesting. That was nice too, an end around to Matt Jones, option to Williams. I love when teams are interesting. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 2:54 pm Edit This # the Loser League really makes watching football interesting. I want the Bears to win, but I have Orton and Gage on my loser league team, so I'm psyched when thier pass gets stopped on the 1 yard line. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 2:56 pm Edit This # We suck. Again. :: Seattle Defense — 9/11/2005 @ 3:05 pm Edit This # Meanwhile, I am having a pretty good day. :: Willie Parker — 9/11/2005 @ 3:08 pm Edit This # Ditto :: Titans Defense — 9/11/2005 @ 3:08 pm Edit This # Parker looks REALLY good. ESPN's gamecasty thingy credited him with a 45 yrd run just now. That's 161 on the day, with a 7.3 average so far. Roethlisberger's 9/11 for 218. Then again, I can't see the game, so I don't know if it's YAC or not. Anyone feel like letting me in on that? I need to move to Pittsburgh, I'm stuck watching KC and NYJ… no, actually, I turned the bears on instead. It's that bad. 34-7 PIT now. :: Fnor — 9/11/2005 @ 3:09 pm Edit This # It's the 3rd quarter of Tennessee-Pittsburgh. Total number of punts: 1. Tennessee has turned the ball over twice, and missed a field goal. Steelers have scored on every drive. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 3:10 pm Edit This # Hey, you know, I think my knee feels pretty good! Wanna put me in, Coach? Coach? :: Duce Staley — 9/11/2005 @ 3:11 pm Edit This # The Steelers have scored on all 6 possessions: 4 TDs, 2 FGs. :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 3:11 pm Edit This # Parker looks REALLY good. Keep in mind the Titans bought their defense for a buck and a quarter down at the Jiffy Lube. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 3:11 pm Edit This # Oh, come on, Pat, give TEN some credit. They were able to bargain down to a buck and a dime. :: Fnor — 9/11/2005 @ 3:18 pm Edit This # Fnor: The sad thing? They would've taken a dollar. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 3:19 pm Edit This # I have that ackward, most of my players are playing later in the day, yet still watching my fantasy stats and getting killed feeling going on. Watching that deficit increase. Hopefully Baltimore's D isn't that great, :) :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 3:20 pm Edit This # Breaking news: Alex Smith is a fantasy monster! No, not the QB, TE Alex Smith of Tampa Bay. He has 3 catches for 30 yards and 2 TDs. I believe the 2005 Anquan Boldin Memorial Award has been claimed. :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 3:20 pm Edit This # Well, I was going to say that Orton looked better than I expected, but he just threw up a mid-game hail mary to the outside and then a tipped interception at the goal line, so… nah. :: Fnor — 9/11/2005 @ 3:21 pm Edit This # Possible upset in Miami. Miami TD, 13-3 up and Denver are down to the bare bones at Corner. Bailey out, Walls out, and Foxworth? the rookie CB gave up a huge pass interference penalty on the TD drive. Miami have also begun to run the ball a little better. I didn't see this coming :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 3:22 pm Edit This # Oh, and foxsports.com has the worst fantasy tracking stats. They are great, show everything really nicely, allow complex scoring systems. But every time I update, the scores change wildly. It's like it randomly decides how much of each game it'd like to put together at any time. i wonder if you have to pay a fee for it to not be completely random. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 3:22 pm Edit This # Well, I think the crowning of Carolina may have been a bit premature. What the heck is going on there? :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 3:23 pm Edit This # Miami Dolphins currently have 35 pass attempts and 26 rushing attempts in a close game. Is that standard for Saban? And who is that wearing the Frerotte jersey? :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 3:38 pm Edit This # Chicago's O-Line has just self-destructed with three consecutive false starts. Ouch. :: johnnyel — 9/11/2005 @ 3:40 pm Edit This # Mike Nugent watch: He's 0-2 on field goals. Not sure how long either was. :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 3:41 pm Edit This # Man, the Jets MUST get rid of Paul Hackett. What's that? Oh, he was already fired? Sorry, couldn't tell. :: Luigi — 9/11/2005 @ 3:42 pm Edit This # Followed by a 10-yard sack, johnny. I was just about to write something about how I was impressed by them, because up until there they were doing a good job blocking. What a mess. I still like Orton, though. He got rushed, and patted the LB's butt. He doesn't seem to be scared, and he has enough guts to take some risks (not all wise, but he still will). :: Fnor — 9/11/2005 @ 3:44 pm Edit This # Great drive by the Bears until three consecutive False Starts from their OLine knocked them out of Figgie range. Could be the game right there. Derrick Johnson is having a Rookie of the Year-type debut for KC. :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 3:45 pm Edit This # Anybody watching the Seattle game? What's the drop situation looking like there? :: Old James — 9/11/2005 @ 3:49 pm Edit This # Redskins v. Bears was way too close for my comfort. Ramsey was 6 of 11 for 105 before knocked out by injury, and the obligatory 1st quarter interception. Brunell 8 of 14 for 70 yards. Moss had nearly 100 yards… how did Coles do? It's prolly better to compare YAC to YAC… Looks like the game has been sealed… too close for comfort. 3 turnovers (1 controversial), but the other 2 were in our side of the ball. :: Matthew Furtek — 9/11/2005 @ 3:59 pm Edit This # It looks like despite all the Shanahan posturing to the contrary, Tatum Bell is the starting RB there. Or did Anderson get hurt? Also, regular Philadelphia gripe: they're showing CHI-WAS and PIT-TEN here, because they figure we're interested in regional games rather than, you know, interesting ones. :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 4:01 pm Edit This # Adam, Anderson got the start, but hurt his ribs early in the 1st. That is the least of the Broncos worries. Their D has caused Miami no real trouble, and their O has been AWFUL. :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 4:04 pm Edit This # It's over in Miami. Plumer just had a 4th and 10 Hail Mary picked off by Travis Daniels. Either Miamis D is the 85 Bears in Disguise, or Denver have a real problem. Speaking of the 85 Bears, Sky are using Shaun Gayle (DB on the 85 Bears) as the Studio analyst, and he's pretty good :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 4:12 pm Edit This # Is it bad to root against the Saints? I'm not a Carolina fan, so am i required to root for New Orleans? :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 4:13 pm Edit This # Hell froze over, pigs are flying, and Kansas City has a defense! I just hope the injuries don't pile up by the end of the season. Anyone watching the game will agree with me that Vermeil should start Larry Johnson next week. :: Patrick M — 9/11/2005 @ 4:14 pm Edit This # Mike Anderson had a ribcage injury early in the first quarter. All of Bell's rushing has been off the bench. :: BHW — 9/11/2005 @ 4:17 pm Edit This # And its over in Minnesota, as Daunte has a tipped pass picked off and then Cadillac Williams goes 71 yards on 3rd and 1. Actually he should have fallen down but I won't fault him. :: andrew — 9/11/2005 @ 4:18 pm Edit This # Interestingly in my knockout league we have half the poeple out in week1, as Denver and Minnesota were very popular picks. If San Fransisco can pull the upset we're down to 2 people. :: andrew.apold — 9/11/2005 @ 4:19 pm Edit This # BTW, Ashley Lelie has had an awful game, dropping passes and committing penalties. With Rod Smith being about 738 years old, this is going to be a real problem if Lelie doesn't get straightened out. :: BHW — 9/11/2005 @ 4:19 pm Edit This # Wow! Look at this clock-killing drive by the Bengals late in the 4th Q… Cincinnati Bengals begin at 3:49
1-10-CIN 48 (3:49) R.Johnson right guard to CLV 47 for 5 yards (B.Russell).
2-5-CLE 47 (3:06) R.Johnson left guard to CLV 39 for 8 yards (O.Roye).
1-10-CLE 39 (2:23) R.Johnson left guard to CLV 34 for 5 yards (A.McKinley).
2-5-CLE 34 (2:12) R.Johnson left guard to CLV 28 for 6 yards (Andra Davis, B.Russell).
1-10-CLE 28 (2:00) R.Johnson left guard to CLV 22 for 6 yards (B.Russell). PENALTY on CIN-Bo.Williams, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at CLV 28 - No Play.
1-20-CLE 38 (1:55) R.Johnson left guard to CLV 36 for 2 yards (B.Russell).
2-18-CLE 36 (1:48) R.Johnson left guard to CLV 32 for 4 yards (O.Ruff, O.Roye).
3-14-CLE 32 (1:40) R.Johnson right guard to CLV 26 for 6 yards (O.Ruff, Andra Davis).
4-8-CLE 26 (:54) (Shotgun) C.Palmer pass to C.Perry to CLV 20 for 6 yards (Andra Davis, B.Pool). Takes guts to run it in the same spot over and over like that, but if it's working, why stop? Cleveland's D might be worse than we thought. :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 4:21 pm Edit This # Browns fans can take comfort in the fact that the D Line they exported to Denver sucked like Divine Brown, so they haven't lost anything… :) :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 4:25 pm Edit This # My God, upsets a plenty in the first week, although not any with the Top 4 (NE/PHI/PIT/IND) so far. KC over NYJ, TB over MIN (hey Aaron, your TB pick looks good now!), MIA over DEN, NO over CAR. Granted, you can't really have upsets in the first week, but something tells me that a bunch of people who picked Carolina for the Super Bowl are shaking their heads. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 4:25 pm Edit This # Re:#232
Anyone watching the game will agree with me that Vermeil should start Larry Johnson next week. Actually, I like the alternating drives thing they've been doing this half (maybe the whole game? I'm not sure). If they keep that up, doesn't much matter who “starts.� :: DavidH — 9/11/2005 @ 4:26 pm Edit This # Cleveland's D might be worse than we thought. I'm sorry, someone thought Cleveland's D would be good? :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 4:26 pm Edit This # Re:#239
KC was favored by 3 over NYJ in the last lines I saw. Also, as a KC fan, I'm glad the Chiefs didn't get a shutout. They played decent, but not well enough for a 0. Jets had tons of dropped passes and unforced errors, and probably should have had more like 10/13 points. A shutout might have gone to the D's heads a little. :: DavidH — 9/11/2005 @ 4:29 pm Edit This # BTW, Ashley Lelie has had an awful game, dropping passes and committing penalties. With Rod Smith being about 738 years old, this is going to be a real problem if Lelie doesn't get straightened out. Bring back Jerry Rice! :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 4:30 pm Edit This # I love Brandon Jacobs. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 4:39 pm Edit This # Let's start talking about FFL over-reactions and justified reactions of the week. Larry Johnson will be scooped up in whatever leagues he isn't already (few), and so will The Other Alex Smith. A lot of people will start believing in Gus Frerotte. They're wrong. They'll also seriously consider the Chiefs D. People will panic on all Minnesota offensive players, and Andre Johnson owners have already leapt off the nearest bridge. :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 4:45 pm Edit This # “and Andre Johnson owners have already leapt off the nearest bridge. � I'm trying to find a long enough rope in the house to hang myself with right now. Thankfully, I look like a genius with Willie Parker, so I'm still doing well. :: Rocco — 9/11/2005 @ 4:47 pm Edit This # The Cowboys must've been watching the chicago/washington game. On 2nd and 2 we see holding, false start, false start, holding, and holding on consecutive plays. Yikes. :: Johnnyel — 9/11/2005 @ 4:50 pm Edit This # Rocco, be sure to not use too much rope, or you'll end up hitting the ground. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 4:51 pm Edit This # “and Andre Johnson owners have already leapt off the nearest bridge. � What about Culpepper owners? :: zip — 9/11/2005 @ 4:52 pm Edit This # Roethlisberger was 9 of 11 for 218 yards and two touchdowns, for a perfect passer rating. What is interesting is that the same stats with only 138 yards would also have been a perfect passer rating. That says something exceptional about his yardage. Keep that in mind when people say “well he only threw eleven passes.� :: Israel — 9/11/2005 @ 4:55 pm Edit This # YOU CAN'T DESTROY EVIDENCE! :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 4:58 pm Edit This # I must say I'm enjoying the “red zone channel� free preview. Not sure I'm gonna shell out an additional $100 for it every week, but it makes a nice way to watch the action… :: andrew — 9/11/2005 @ 4:59 pm Edit This # HER FATHER IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY! (Sorry; I still find that funny.) :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 5:11 pm Edit This # Just one man's rankings: 1) HIS FATHER IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY!
2) YOU'RE RISKING A PATIENT'S LIFE!
3) YOU CAN'T DESTROY EVIDENCE! :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 5:13 pm Edit This # What is YOU CAN'T DESTROY EVIDENCE from? They are all pale imitations of the hallmark of the genre, from 24: WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?!?! :: BHW — 9/11/2005 @ 5:15 pm Edit This # Someone please tell carroll for the defense of the packers to stop playing pattie cake with the receivers down the field. yuck. :: Shane S. — 9/11/2005 @ 5:32 pm Edit This # “You can't destroy evidence� is from the new Fox show Bones. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 5:37 pm Edit This # I love Karlos Dansby! :: Denny Green — 9/11/2005 @ 5:38 pm Edit This # Could we see another upset in san fran? :: andrew — 9/11/2005 @ 5:39 pm Edit This # My Broncos-Dolphins observations: Why in hell did the Broncos go for it on 4th and goal in the second quarter? They're playing the Dolphins…are they worried about falling behind to the point they're going to need every point possible? And why, if going for it on fourth down, do you run Tatum frickin Bell up the middle. It's Tatum Bell. Up the middle. And it had failed twice on first and second down. I know Mike Anderson's out, but that should mean you shift around your playcalling to the strength of the players you've got in. The Broncos offensive play-calling throughout the game was pretty atrocious. It's a credit to the Dolphins' D as well, but it looked like the Broncos told the Dolphins' D each play right before they ran it. Right after the announcers got done talking about how Gerard Warren was a new man and led all the D-line sprints in camp, Gerard Warren gave up and barely jogged after a retreating O-line with Gus Frerotte rolling away in his own endzone and nobody open. He probably wouldn't have gotten the sack, but if he'd pressured the away side of the line in any way, there was a chance someone on the other side of the line could have broken through and gotten a safety, or pressured Frerotte into throwing an INT, instead of just an incomplete. Jake Plummer is one of the most perplexing players in the game. He makes a decision like throwing the ball away on 3rd and goal early on, but then on 1st and 10 with under ten seconds left in the first half he aims at his running back and throws hard before the back, still behind the LOS, is ready. At first I thought it was a total miscommunication and that Plummer had screwed up again, but then I realized that he had meant to throw an incompletion to stop the clock and that he had thrown it at his back because he was still inside the tackle box and would have been penalized 15 yards if he'd just thrown it away. So he threw it away by throwing it at a player. Pretty heads-up play on his part. The Broncos kickoff specialist is pretty bad. He was kicking low and short. Ronnie Brown looks pretty good but the O-line doesn't seem to know how to run block. You have to give a lot of credit to the Broncos linebackers and the secondary. They had no pass rush all day. That's bad against the Dolphins O-line. Frerotte had all day, it's just that half the time he hurried when there was nobody close to him and the other half of the time the pass was a little off or the receivers dropped the ball. The Randy McMichael “Whoops, I just fell down on the goal line, looks like you'll sack my quarterback, but now I just caught the touchdown pass� play was pretty sweet, even if it wasn't intentional. The Broncos triple-teamed the touchdown machine Jason Taylor and must not have realized that a human being can coordinate his arms and legs to actually get back up after slipping. There were a few drives where the Dolphins would pass a few times and the balls would bounce off of completely wide open receivers' hands, and then finally a play in which someone would catch the ball would happen and get a big gain. But they dropped a heck of a lot of spot-on Frerotte passes. Jake Plummer looks dorky with a mustache. :: Basilicus — 9/11/2005 @ 5:40 pm Edit This # I'm sorry, someone thought Cleveland's D would be good? No, everyone thought they'd be awful. And that's what's scary. :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 5:45 pm Edit This # And in more bad news, I have Stephen Jackson…and Mike Martz is about to forget about the run with SF leading. Mike Martz's chair is getting hotter and hotter. :: Rocco — 9/11/2005 @ 5:49 pm Edit This # Speaking of Bones, how many weeks till the remains under investigation are a vampire? :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 5:55 pm Edit This # Anyone know of a memory scrubbing device? The thought of the Bears/Redskins game will haunt me all week. What a revolting display. Shane: From what I have seen Carroll isn't doing anything other CBs do. But he has a rep so he's a marked man. I don't what he can do to change that any time soon. I really enjoyed watching the Vikings trip all over themselves earlier today. Culpepper a great qb but any team that has Mike Tice as a coach needs to be punished for that fact. The guy is all about people skills. Which while important in the coaching profession you can't make a career out of being Mr. Sunshine. I understand that impresses Peter King but players need a coach who can help them win, not just provide back rubs. :: NFC Central Freak — 9/11/2005 @ 5:55 pm Edit This # I'm just amazed that the hairdressers of Bones haven't been sued for copyright infringement by the hairdressers of Cold Case. :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 5:58 pm Edit This # Who is announcing the Arizona-NYG game? Because the younger-sounding, ex-player-sounding guy is really, really getting on my nerves. He reminds me Joe Th. but his voise isn't as shrill. :: DavidH — 9/11/2005 @ 6:01 pm Edit This # yeah i understand what you mean. it's giving me flashbacks to T. Buckley…�pass interference, number 27 on the defense…� :: Shane S. — 9/11/2005 @ 6:02 pm Edit This # Have I mentioned how much I like Brandon Jacobs? :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 6:09 pm Edit This # There's the Kurt Warner I know and love. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 6:11 pm Edit This # That says something exceptional about his yardage. Keep that in mind when people say “well he only threw eleven passes.� Oh, I can't imagine anyone would say that Roethlisberger had a bad game. They'll again point out Tennessee bought their defense for a buck and a dime at the Jiffy Lube. Seriously, I think that game says far more about Tennessee's defense than Roethlisberger's skill. I think Craig Krenzel could've put up those numbers. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 6:14 pm Edit This # I know it's early, but looking at Jacobs, it might be time to reconsider the “Jacobs won't take goal line carries away from Barber� school of thought. Jacobs looks an absolute beast. And if anyone is watching the 49ers can they explain it for me? :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 6:14 pm Edit This # I get it. The Cardinal Center is playing is first game ever. Enough already. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 6:18 pm Edit This # Re:#270
And if anyone is watching the 49ers can they explain it for me? I'm not watching, but here's a start:
“Mike Martz� :: DavidH — 9/11/2005 @ 6:18 pm Edit This # I meant (edits didn't come through for some reason): I get it. The Cardinals' center is playing in his first NFL game. Enough already. Why Bill Maas needs to mention this every other play, I don't know. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 6:20 pm Edit This # Is Green Bay watching its season be carried off the field? Could be. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 6:22 pm Edit This # ugh. and now javon walker is down. :: Shane S. — 9/11/2005 @ 6:22 pm Edit This # Oh, sorry, for those who aren't watching GB: Javon Walker just got injured - holding his ankle, or near it - and carried off the field. :: Pat — 9/11/2005 @ 6:23 pm Edit This # How do the Giants leave Fitzgerald open on the goal line? Half of Warner's completions have been to Fitzgerald. Of course they're going to look to him at the goal line. The “Patriots draft a soda machine� commercial is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 6:24 pm Edit This # Interesting call in New York. 7 Minutes left in the 3rd, Arizona get in to make it 19-21. Arizona go for 2 and Fail. Contender for “What the Martz?� Perhaps? :: James, London — 9/11/2005 @ 6:25 pm Edit This # Re: #270 Basically the Rams's special teams has managed to:
- Pick up the opening kickoff when it was about to out of bounds and start at the 1-yard line
- Given up a 75-yard punt return TD
- Given up a surprise onside kick by the 49ers And they haven't capitalized on red zone opportunities (three field goals), but it's easier to rag on their pathetic special teams. :: Marcus — 9/11/2005 @ 6:26 pm Edit This # Pat (269) - Let's see how Boller does against the Titans' defense next week - or Bulger the week after. :: Israel — 9/11/2005 @ 6:27 pm Edit This # For the Saints “home� game in Jersey next week, I really hope the NFL does the right thing and buses in any refugee who wants to see the game for free. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 7:08 pm Edit This # Detroit just scored to take what will be a 17-3 lead over Green Bay. I am officially calling that matchup. :: Zac — 9/11/2005 @ 7:15 pm Edit This # I quite liked the soda machine commercial, actually. The part at the end where they pat it on the back and a pepsi pops out sold me. :: Fnor — 9/11/2005 @ 7:52 pm Edit This # Yea, but if the guy in the Burger King mask was covering him, he never would have made that play :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 7:59 pm Edit This # How is it that I've been reading about the NFL during the preseason for the last 3 or 4 weeks, and right now in the Fox postgame show is the first time I'd heard that Minnesota lost their offensive coordinator to Miami? :: DavidH — 9/11/2005 @ 7:59 pm Edit This # Okay, had some time to think back over how the Vikings bungled their game. The single biggest thing was that the Bucs d-line manhandled the reshuffled vikings offensive line. With Birk gone they plugged and shifted and started a rookie, all of which went awful. Culpepper was mostly doing 3 step drops, and those with pressure. Even when there wasn't pressure he showed the effects of expecting it. It improved a little when they pulled Johnson, but it was still evident they had problems. Next, no running game. This is one area where they will miss Moss. Tampa did not have to make moss the focus of their defense. Michael Bennett looked clueless, Moe Williams was the only one that showed anything and even that wasn't much. Third, Culpepper as a result of these things just had a bad day. Fourth, they did get robbed on that penalty calling back the first of Wiggin's two touchdowns (I had him in my fantasy league too, alas). But that stuff happens all the time, if they'd played better that wouldn't have mattered. Fifth, I guess overall their defense was somewhat improved, though in the second quarter it looked porous. After that they shut down the bucs again, but the damage was done. Ah, well. I still don't think Tampa's that good. This reminds me of the year they lost at home on opening day to the Panthers when Carolina lost their last 15 games. We'll see how this plays out, but right now no one in the division looks like they have it together, so that's something. :: andrew — 9/11/2005 @ 8:07 pm Edit This # #285 - I know i mentioned it on some threads here. Basically McCombs wouldn't guarantee any salaries beyond this year, and Miami offered Linehan a 3 year deal paying him more than Tice makes now. I think he's a big loss. Miami looked good. :: andrew — 9/11/2005 @ 8:09 pm Edit This # who was going to tell me that Bledsoe doesn't like using his tight end? (come on Colts, I need 40 points.. plus whatever James gets for the other guy. Gulp) :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 8:09 pm Edit This # Yeah, Bledsoe never threw the ball to the guy in New England, what was his name, Ben something? (And yes, I drafted Witten earlier than I probably should have this year, what's your point?) :: Devin McCullen — 9/11/2005 @ 8:42 pm Edit This # GameCenter was saying Sorgi threw the first few passes. That can't be right, right? Gamecenter has been screwing up all day. They keep listing the wrong players and then correcting it. Earlier, they claimed MIke Rucker recovered a Delhomme fumble, when it was actually an OL. :: Sid — 9/11/2005 @ 9:06 pm Edit This # ESPN's Sunday Night Telecast is more unwatchable than ever before right now……….. :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 9:19 pm Edit This # All the geniuses who predicting St. Louis to blow out San Fran forgot the golden rule to remember when betting on NFC West games:
Almost always pick the home team.
NFC West teams play at 150% at home and 50% on the road. Plus, I always thought Rattay didn't get a fair shake. I thought drafting Alex Smith #1 overall was as stupid as it gets. Rattay isn't bad. They should've traded down for whatever they could have gotten. I said it then and I'll say it now.
The Rams are a superior team, but this is the NFC West. If you forget that, you're foolish. Especially when two NFC West teams play each other. :: Sid — 9/11/2005 @ 9:22 pm Edit This # My god, the Ravens O is terrible. They didn't think it was necessary to block Feeney on that play. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 9:51 pm Edit This # This game is absolutely entertaining though. I'm so psyched. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 9:57 pm Edit This # If the Giants victory was a tribute to 9/11, does that mean the Jets are un-American cause they lost? :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 10:11 pm Edit This # My opponent this week has both Manning and Harrison on his fantasy team, while I'm done for the week. I was very pleased with the first half. Keep it up Ravens! T. :: Tarrant — 9/11/2005 @ 10:11 pm Edit This # That's so disturbing. Right at the end of the half, I said aloud to myself here at home, “the irresistible force and the immovable object.� Then those are the first words out of Chris Berman's mouth. Something wicked this way comes… :: Tim — 9/11/2005 @ 10:11 pm Edit This # That's so disturbing. Right at the end of the half, I said aloud to myself here at home, “the irresistible force and the immovable object. They always explain this game this way. Did last year too. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 10:17 pm Edit This # My favorite comment by the Three Stooges Tonight was when one of them (Can't remember if it was Moe, Larry, or Curly) made reference to the “unspoken words� someone had with someone else. I shouldn't have insulted the Three Stooges like that…………… :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 10:18 pm Edit This # Also, Kyle Bawler still sucks and Jonathan Ogden is getting used and abused by Dwight Freeney………. :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 10:21 pm Edit This # For all the changes on the offensive side of the ball–new Receivers, new Co-ordinator, new QB coach–the Ravens offense is still a vortex of suckitude. It's an insult to the memory of Sid Gillman. I've never before seen such an outstanding defensive effort be so completely sabotaged by the ineptitude of their own offense. Oh wait, that's right. I saw it at every Ravens game last season. Nevermind. :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 10:21 pm Edit This # I've been listening to this game on mute, and the guy doing the closed captioning commited suicide rather than transcribe the three stooges. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 10:24 pm Edit This # is it just me or is Manning horrible when he has to run or is pressured? Man, what a bad day to have stover on the ol' fantasy team… :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 10:32 pm Edit This # I love listening to announcers talk about a 40 yard field goal as if it's a sure thinjg and then have the kicked blow it. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 10:33 pm Edit This # The Giant victory was a tribute to great special teams play. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 10:34 pm Edit This # The Ravens have easily outplayed the Colts, but penalties at the worst possible times, dropped passes, dropped INTs, and missed FGs have derailed them. :: Sid — 9/11/2005 @ 10:43 pm Edit This # What the Ravens need is receivers who are 8 feet tall, so they can catch all of Boller's overthrows. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 10:47 pm Edit This # The sheer number of terribly timed penalties are killing the Ravens. That illegal hands to the face, the multiple offsides, false starts, etc. It doesn't matter how good your defense is if you're giving away multiple free first downs on 3rd and X. T. :: Tarrant — 9/11/2005 @ 10:48 pm Edit This # The vaunted Ravens D can't stop a team on an evening home opener. Yeah, they are a playoff team for sure. Maybe Ray Lewis should hump the air carrying an American flag before games more often. :: Larry — 9/11/2005 @ 10:54 pm Edit This # Boller's hurt. Maybe they can replace him with a real QB. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 10:57 pm Edit This # Has there always been a 30 second delay in the video, Im trying to escape the Stooges with the radio guys and its out of sync? :: SJM — 9/11/2005 @ 10:59 pm Edit This # Doesn't Wright know he's supposed to throw the ball 5 feet over his receiver's heads? :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 11:01 pm Edit This # Larry, if you bothered to watch the game, you would see that Manning and friends have been totally stuffed all game. The Ravens D held Manning to 3 points up until the end of the 3rd Q, which no one but the Pats have done in the last two years. Yes, at that point they started to give up plays, but being on the field for 45 consecutive minutes would leave any defense worn out. :: Fiver — 9/11/2005 @ 11:03 pm Edit This # I must say, it was good to see Stephen Alexander dropping critical passes for the Broncos today, rather than the Lions. Is it (even remotely) possible that Matt Millen is becoming a good judge of when to let players walk? (cf. Alexander, Streets, Az-Zahir Hakim, Mikhael Ricks, Stockar McDougle.) :: bobstar — 9/11/2005 @ 11:04 pm Edit This # hey, with wright and taylor they almost have an offense… I hope they go back to their previous offense before they meet the steelers… :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 11:04 pm Edit This # How is Wright doing so well against the ferocious Indy pass rush? Are they tired? Baltimore's O-line has always been bashed for being weak in pass protection. :: Sid — 9/11/2005 @ 11:08 pm Edit This # The Ravens have easily outplayed the Colts easily? I don't know what game you're watching. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 11:11 pm Edit This # Stover is a kick-bricking machine… kudos to anyone who has him in loser league… :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 11:14 pm Edit This # How is Wright doing so well against the ferocious Indy pass rush? He is getting about the same time as Boller did. He's just making his throws because he's a better QB. Are they tired? Same time… and there was just a sack. Baltimore's O-line has always been bashed for being weak in pass protection. I've never thought they've been bad. I thought it was a weak reasoning by the announcers to justify Boller's bad play, and the Colts having decent pressure. But the Raven's have had decent pressure too. The difference is that Manning always steps to the section where the new pocket is located. Boller backs up. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 11:14 pm Edit This # Anyone have insight the SNF team won't be able to come up with? Like… has Stover been fighting leg injuries? Is there wind in the stadium? Or is Stover just a gawd awful kicker all the sudden? Would be interesting to wake up tomorrow to find that Baltimore has traded some nice defensive player for idiot kicker. But then again, that's just a fanboi's pipe dream :) :: IzzionSona — 9/11/2005 @ 11:15 pm Edit This # A strong vortex of suckitude is perhaps the best description of the Ravens Offense that I have ever seen. The self proclaimed offensive Guru looks like he's ready to plotz in his pants……… :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 11:15 pm Edit This # Well, that was a dumb penalty on the Ravens. :: B — 9/11/2005 @ 11:19 pm Edit This # I just hafta comment on this… anyone else notice in that Guiness commercial with the suntan lotion that the smart guy was chugging the suntan lotion at the end, and not the beer? :: IzzionSona — 9/11/2005 @ 11:20 pm Edit This # Game over. Pathetic. :: Sid — 9/11/2005 @ 11:28 pm Edit This # I just saw that the Braves/Nationals game had the same exact score that the Bears/Persons game had. So does everyone think that too many teams were getting credit for last year or was this a fluky weekend? Some scores were very lopsided this week. :: mactbone — 9/11/2005 @ 11:35 pm Edit This # Thankfully I'm a homer, go Colts D on the fantasy team! Sharp as a fox! :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 11:38 pm Edit This # Watch this hit. HELLO! Now that's some good analysis. :: Al — 9/11/2005 @ 11:40 pm Edit This # Wright continues to attempt to kill the QB controversy. Are there any sites that carry live pressure stats (hurries, knockdowns, sack, etc.)? I really want to see the Boller/Wright difference. Freeney is scary. :: Androo — 9/11/2005 @ 11:40 pm Edit This # good to know I had the ‘Sunday Stud' on my loser league team… I seriously thought he was gonna get stuffed… :: Stiller Fan in Cle — 9/11/2005 @ 11:42 pm Edit This # as a FOX :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 11:46 pm Edit This # Painful. Just painful. :: Adam — 9/11/2005 @ 11:46 pm Edit This # What's Billick trying to prove? I hope the Colts take another turnover to the house. :: mactbone — 9/11/2005 @ 11:51 pm Edit This # I can only think that he knows we have penalties in our Fantasy league at 400 yards, and reads FO. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 11:53 pm Edit This # not that they could make 400 in that time. I'm too happy for the start of the season, and a first colts win. heh. although they did just screw up my shutout. :: Nathan — 9/11/2005 @ 11:54 pm Edit This # What's Billick trying to prove? I hope the Colts take another turnover to the house. Come on, aren't you listening to the Stooges? Points are one of the tiebreakers for the playoffs, you gotta squeeze in all the scores you can get, even if you already lost. …Right. How often do points actually come into consideration and kept a team out of the playoffs? It seems like head-to-head, common opponents, division, and conference records are usually enough. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 12:03 am Edit This # I couldn't believe they actually tried to say that Baltimore is trying to score because of playoff tiebreakers. I know that they are trying desperately to find SOMETHING to say so people don't change the channel, but *come on*. How about, Baltimore is trying to score just to make it respectable? Or to not have the embarassment of letting the Colts of all teams shut them out? Or to see how the backup QB handles the position? T. :: Tarrant — 9/12/2005 @ 12:11 am Edit This # It actually makes sense to me. Give your guy as many throws as possible, in the hopes that he might actually figure something out. I mean, they'd already lost, and they know they have a decent running game. Give him some extra throws, I say. Or what, they might lose MORE? ;P :: Fnor — 9/12/2005 @ 12:21 am Edit This # Billick's use of the timeouts seemed bush league to me. I think that shot at the endzone on third down was a message to say the game is over, what are you doing. And the look PM gave Billick was priceless. I'm sorry, but a worthless TD in garbage time is more embarassing than being shutout. :: Jason — 9/12/2005 @ 12:33 am Edit This # My thoughts on the day…
Denver was absolutely putrid today. This game probably wasn't even as close as the score indicates. Miami receivers dropped a lot of good, on-target passes.
You know it's football season when you see the return of the Shanahan grimace.
Oh, and as someone else said, Jake Plummer looks ridiculous with that mustache. Like a washed up B-movie actor (or cheap porn star?).
Does anyone else think Kurt Warner and Nick Saban could almost be related? I acidentally called him Kurt Saban the first time I saw him with the headset on, walking up and down the sidelines.
One annoying note on this game: the announcers obviously don't read FO, as they were drooling over Bailey all game (and talking about how teams rarely choose to throw to his side of the field. At least pretend to check the facts, guys). And how about all the other teams that lost on opening night? The rams, jets, panthers, chargers, vikings, packers, and cardinals are all on the wrong side of .500 and most of them looked bad in getting there. All these teams were the picks of the so-called experts as playoff contenders. Many were thought to be playing against patsies. Of course, you only have to look back to the Patriots-Bills opener of a few years ago to remember to avoid revising your super bowl pick just yet. I can't close without mentioning the best football injury of the season thus far: the AP reports that Kyle Boller left the Colts-Ravens game with a hyperextended right toe. :: Red Lightning — 9/12/2005 @ 12:51 am Edit This # RE:330
As a Steeler fan myself, i must wonder aloud, why would you doubt a Steeler running back behind that line?? You could stick someone like curtis enis behind that line and im sure he would gain at least 100 yards a game :: Josh — 9/12/2005 @ 12:58 am Edit This # though parker did do alot of work himself… :: Josh — 9/12/2005 @ 12:59 am Edit This # “How is Wright doing so well against the ferocious Indy pass rush? He is getting about the same time as Boller did. He's just making his throws because he's a better QB.� Wright? A better QB? Wright is atrocious. He always looks better than Boller at first because he'll throw over the middle no matter how much coverage there is and then after about two drives the defense says hey he'll throw into coverage and then he throws 501 picks. I actually thought Boller looked pretty decent. The primary flaws in the Ravens offense were that Gatorarms Moore was allowed to play in the NFL, penalties, and crappy line play (how about that one where Lewis got absolutely hammered by Freeney, coming untouched in the backfield on like the Ravens 10). He certainly wasn't a worldbeater but if the rest of the team shows up, he doesn't have to be. The high point was the sack where Wright got stripped. I could see the Colts defender coming all the way across the field at Wright like molasses, I started hearing the Jaws theme as I knew a fumble was coming. :: johnd — 9/12/2005 @ 1:09 am Edit This # RE:343
either way, they both suck :: Josh — 9/12/2005 @ 1:19 am Edit This # re: #339 Jason, I competely agree. I can't believe the announcers didn't understand either the throw to the end zone or the look Manning gave the Ravens bench. Clearly, PM and the Colts were PO'ed at Billick for calling useless TO's. :: Purds — 9/12/2005 @ 1:23 am Edit This # I know this is sacrilege here, but I rather like the ESPN crew. They have good voices, especially Mike Patrick, and the things that they say that are dumb are not that obviously dumb. I'm betting those of you complaining most loudly about them are from Philly or New York or New England, where you never have to listen to Brent Jones or Steve Tasker, like I do when I watch Texans games. They can't identify the players by number, they can't pronounce the players' names, and they have a tremendous amount of factual error sprinkled throughout the telecast, when they're not too busy talking about their heydays. The ESPN guys are, by a wide margin, the lesser of evils. :: Tim — 9/12/2005 @ 1:28 am Edit This # I don't get this. Why are the colts pissed? “OH MY GOD THEY ACTUALLY SCORED HOW DARE THEY?!� If you're putting in scrubs, sure, they might score. That's why you're putting scrubs in. I maintain that if I were an owner, if my coach were busy worrying about how “lame� the opposing QB, no matter who he is, thought you were, or how “embarassing� the end of the game was, he'd be fired. Right after the game. He's not there to be embarassed, he's there to do whatever he can to work on his team. Does that mean having your backup QB get some extra throws, maybe a TD to give him a little more experience? Heck yeah, it does. Or they could, you know, grind the clock down, hang their heads, and say “well, at least Peyton Manning didn't give us any funny looks!� I simply fail to see how that helps anything. :: Fnor — 9/12/2005 @ 2:19 am Edit This # 347: And when they had 5 minutes left in the game and ran Edge up the middle three times over and over, on 2nd down Manning could have just done a play action and hit Harrison for 7. It's called not being a douchebag for no reason. The “scoring� drive by the Ravens, if you want to call it that, was done solely so Billick didn't have to answer questions about being shut out. Lord knows Wright has enough experience that one more shot at throwing a pick isn't going to help him. I wish after the timeout on the first knee the Colts had stayed on the field and driven the ball all the way down for a TD. :: johnd — 9/12/2005 @ 3:23 am Edit This # Hang on. You're actually saying you would have preferred that they stop playing? Wow. I've never heard of someone being pro-kneeldown before. :: Vince — 9/12/2005 @ 3:37 am Edit This # The Ravens didn't want to hurt their computer rankings by getting shut out. :: Al — 9/12/2005 @ 7:25 am Edit This # I must say, it was good to see Stephen Alexander dropping critical passes for the Broncos today, rather than the Lions. Is it (even remotely) possible that Matt Millen is becoming a good judge of when to let players walk? (cf. Alexander, Streets, Az-Zahir Hakim, Mikhael Ricks, Stockar McDougle.) It's hard to call anyone who has led a 14-34 team during a tenure a “good judge of talent.� Unless, of course, you're the Ford family, in which case you give him a 5 year extension. :: Nate — 9/12/2005 @ 8:47 am Edit This # a decade after such things happen, they'll run some statistic about how often a team has had a shut out, and no mention will be made of times averted due to garbage time scores. :: andrew — 9/12/2005 @ 9:22 am Edit This # I don't like the pro-kneeldown argument. At all. At what point do you give up? The Ravens, realistically, had about as much chance of winning at the beginning of the 4th quarter as they did at the end. So why didn't they kneel out their first possession of the quarter? Because kneeling is all about politics. Sure, it's nice for a winning team to run up the middle, but there's also a tactical advantage in that they're a) not risking turnovers as much and b) running down the clock. Sure, “being nice� factors in a bit, but if they were just being really nice guys, why wouldn't they kneel it too, and give the poor defense a rest? And yes, I do believe a couple of throws in garbage time did help. It always helps a backup QB to get a TD, they have something to look to the next time they come in and blow it, instead of just turning into a complete (as opposed to just partial) head case. Extra throws against a real defense, albeit a backup squad, also help, and the recievers get some extra touches, too. But apparently all that is unimportant next to showing Indianapolis that they really, really were beat and daddy please don't hit me anymore? :: Fnor — 9/12/2005 @ 9:34 am Edit This # Well, the Colts defense was obviously as horrible as ever. 401 yards! They're not going to be ranked any higher than 29th again this year. :: Traditional Stat Retard — 9/12/2005 @ 9:41 am Edit This # Anyone notice the Pepsi Machine scores against the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS? :: Dan — 9/12/2005 @ 10:11 am Edit This # No, all I noticed were the great hands.
Still can't wait for the matchup with the Burger King though. :: Kami — 9/12/2005 @ 10:19 am Edit This # What is it with the Pats and embarrassingly bad commercials? Last year, it was the Visa guy playing football against a bunch of trees and this year it's the Pepsi machine. :: GBS — 9/12/2005 @ 10:21 am Edit This # once again, one of the very few advantages of living in peru during football season is watching the ESPN sunday night game with the Spanish-speaking announcers. well, that and i don't have to endure the stupid commercials. :: kleph — 9/12/2005 @ 10:54 am Edit This # “The Ravens, realistically, had about as much chance of winning at the beginning of the 4th quarter as they did at the end.� they didn't have a realistic chance at the beginning of the game. so, why didn't they kneel on the very first play? gave up 401 yards. i think they went into a very soft zone. they decided to give up all the short yards that Baltimore wanted. colts managed to get interceptions, sacks, fumbles, and even a score out of the approach. baltimore was bush league late in the game. peyton will have that toss to the end zone come back to haunt him later this year when people decide he likes to run up the score for the record book. and, of course he is an a-hole. just check out the film for the nasty look he sent to the baltimore bench. my bet is a solid middle of the league rating (13-19–closer to 19, lol) for the colts d. interesting day. looks like a lot of clubs trying to help sort out who gets home field early. :: sully — 9/12/2005 @ 11:05 am Edit This # OK, let's assume that Philly wins tonight. So - take the Big Four from last year - NE/PIT/PHI/IND. Assume they all win. Now, for everyone else, take the team with fewer wins last year, and have them win. For ties, take home field. You would've missed BUF/HOU, WAS/CHI, and CIN/CLE, and that's it. Bizarre. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 11:27 am Edit This # When did Corey Simon's first name become “Run Stuffing Machine�? His only solo play (the first of the game), was tackling Jamal Lewis 9 yards beyond the LOS. :: Andrew — 9/12/2005 @ 11:38 am Edit This # You should have seen the look Trent Green gave Herm Edwards after the Jets dared to score a TD with a less than a minute left to avoid getting shut out by the Chiefs. You mean Trent DIDN'T do that? And that the Chiefs weren't complaining about how bush it was for the Jets not to give in? They actually expected their opponent to keep fighting to the last tick, even against such a CLEARLY superior team as the Colts, er, Chiefs? But then again, I keep forgetting that Brian Billick is the only egotistical coach in the NFL, so obviously it was all for his benefit. Then again, Peyton's used to bailing out in big games, so maybe he hasn't learned how to act with class — STILL. :: TMK — 9/12/2005 @ 11:46 am Edit This # Because I don't see anyone else bringing it up…. Anyone else astounded by the stupidity of Marty Schottenheimer at the end of the Dallas-SD game? Down by 4, about a minute left in the game, one timeout, and the Chargers have first and goal from around the seven. They still have Tomlinson. So of course, they call four straight pass plays, the last of which is the game-icing interception in the end zone. I could practically write a section of TMQ in my head over that. I didn't see KC at all, but if what people are saying about Denver is true, I think we can rename the AFC West the “Does anyone want to win this?� Division. :: Rick "32_Footsteps" Healey — 9/12/2005 @ 11:48 am Edit This # TMK #362: Why the difference between the Chief and the Colts you note? Well, the Chiefs had just honked a field goal with 2:49 left in regulation, and thus turned over the ball on downs to the Jets, who then marched up the field to score for pride. The Colts on the other hand, had just recovered the ball via a fumble with 1:41 left in regulation and were trying to be gentlemanly about ending the game by taking a knee and not running plays which might run up the score, when Billick decided to be a jerk and call time-outs once he realized the Colts were just trying to run out the clock, so he could get the ball back in an obviously lost game. See, if you'd actually pay attention to what was happening in the games, you'd understand why Manning and Dungy were upset. The situtations were entirely different. :: Andrew — 9/12/2005 @ 12:08 pm Edit This # So it was all right for the Jets to march down the field and score “for pride,� but not the Ravens. That they had to use timeouts to get the ball back is immaterial. The reason for trying to score at the end of a lost game is the same, and you said it. By that line of thinking, the Jets should have just run out the clock, not tried to score. But the Ravens aren't allowed to do that? Puh-lease. If Dungy and Peyton are that upset, they need to get over themselves. I'd have been more upset if the Ravens, Jets and Packers (who tried, but couldn't score) had just given up the ghost and sat on the ball. That's a sure sign of a dog team. :: TMK — 9/12/2005 @ 12:18 pm Edit This # TMK: I agree with you, but for the Chiefs'part I do really believe they merely wanted a type of token win (i.e., the shutout) for a defense that's really trying to prove something. I don't think they were at all balking at the idea that the Jets would want to score, they just wanted to stop it. :: Steven Cummings — 9/12/2005 @ 12:25 pm Edit This # Rick 32: I'm no longer astounded by Marty's endgame stupidity, it's par for the course. But I find it interesting that he benched Gates as a disciplinary action and ended up losing by 4 points. Think maybe having a pro-bowl tight end to throw to in that situation would have helped a little? :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 12:30 pm Edit This # If the Cheifs/Colts really wanted a shutout, they should have stopped the Ravens/Jets. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 12:33 pm Edit This # #362,364,365,366:
I was going to point out that Herm Edwards called a time out in the last minute of that game, except now I think maybe I'm imagining it, because I can't find reference to it anywhere, and I don't see any place in the play by play log where he would have done it. I think I'm going crazy… #363:
KC yesterday looked like they wouldn't mind taking the West. #349:
If the game is over, and neither team has any kind of shot at winning, I'm pro-kneeldown. It effectively ends the game quicker. Technically the game isn't over earlier in all cases, but you can safely turn the channel without missing something. This is similar to basketball, where I am opposed to the “foul the other team even though you are down my 10 with 8 seconds left� strategy. #lots of different posts:
That Pepsi machine commercial really sucks. The Burger King commercial, on the other hand, is very, very creepy for some reason. I feel like they should not be able to stick BK in the middle of actual game footage and make it look so realistic. It's like they're practicing some kind of evil magic. But I like it anyway. #367:
He didn't exactly “bench� Gates. As per league rules, Gates was suspended for 3 games because he didn't show up to camp after the team required him to or something weird like that. The team didn't realize at the time what they were doing, and tried to get the league to make an exception, but the NFL wouldn't do it. (I'm sure someone else can explain this better, I haven't been paying that much attention to the Chargers.) It may have been Marty's fault for all I know, but I don't think it is what he intended to happen when the process first started. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 12:34 pm Edit This # Football teams are supposed to keep fighting to the end. It shows heart. Expecting the Ravens to just fold up was bush league. :: Ray — 9/12/2005 @ 12:36 pm Edit This # Re:363
I was watching the end of that game and thinking the exact same thing. What has happened to Marty since he left KC? Does he have that little faith in LT inside the 5? I don't think that's it, but to not even play-action on any of the throws was downright stupid. He should know that even with his tendencies, the sprint option rollout to the right would've scored easily. I think it's a case of a coach being too smart for his own good. :: Justin — 9/12/2005 @ 12:38 pm Edit This # #337
Agreed, the tiebreaker argument is ridiculous. I posted this elsewhere, but I'm gonna say it here too: ***
Not only is point differential behind head-to-head, conference record, division record (where applicable), and record in common games, it is also behind strength-of-schedule and strength-of-victory for God's sake. If the Ravens making the playoffs this year or not depends on their point differential, I will literally eat my shorts. You can bookmark this thread, too, so you know where this claim is. Not gonna happen. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 12:55 pm Edit This # Ya ya, Jets and Ravens and blah blah same thing blah blah– The Colts had already injured the Ravens' first quarterback, and on the previous two possessions returned an interception for a touchdown, then sacked Wright for a fumble.
So when the Colts got the ball back, they decided to just kneel it down and finish, but noo, Billick wants to call timeouts and throw his offense out there again. It was -NOT- the same situation as the Jets, by any stretch. And the idea that the Colts were whining is retarded. Seriously. :: Kami — 9/12/2005 @ 1:10 pm Edit This # Reading ESPN Page 2's “Take 2″ section, and saw this “prediction� from Scoop Jackson: “Tampa Bay will have the same record as Kansas City by Week 8.� WTF? Are they going to both be good, both be bad, or both be mediocre? It'd be one thing if he said TB would have the same record as New England, or Cleveland, but KC? I'm confused. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 1:13 pm Edit This # The Mike Martz award this week CLEARLY has to go to Mike Martz for his challenge of the opening kickoff (where the Lambs' return man cleverly caught the ball in bounds at the one yard line and stepped directly out of bounds there). 1) What on earth was he challenging??? 2) Given that the play stopped right there, assuming he somehow “won� this challenge, what on earth did he expect to gain? To have the refs ask everyone to go stand where they were when he stepped out and restart the play from there? I mean, really, does he do this just to be perverse? Doesn't anyone on the staff have the job of saying, “we have nothing possible to gain from this challenge even if we win, coach, so let's just move on…�???? :: HLF — 9/12/2005 @ 1:18 pm Edit This # BTW, that play was on the game's OPENING KICKOFF. Geesh. :: HLF — 9/12/2005 @ 1:20 pm Edit This # Maybe he thought it was a touchback? I didn't see it. Sounds pretty dumb to me. :: Kami — 9/12/2005 @ 1:23 pm Edit This # I recall Martz also tried to challenge something strange near the end of the game too (during a time where he couldn't challenge - last two minutes - but he threw the flag anyway). For some reason, I can't remember what it was he was challenging, but I recall it was one of those “Umm, Mike? That one was pretty damn obvious,� moments. T. :: Tarrant — 9/12/2005 @ 1:36 pm Edit This # There was some talk of a challenge to the interception at the end of the game (which would have recreated the situation behind the eponymous award) - but then the commentators pointed out that it would be an official review. :: Martzenheimertice — 9/12/2005 @ 1:47 pm Edit This # Has anybody done any regressions and analysis to come up with a better fantasy stat predictor than the one the fantasy sites use. They just seem to use a moving average with a couple bump up in points for people moving from backup to starter(running back). When Cadillac Williams was predicted to have 3 fantasy points I realized their analysis was way off and that there was some missing variables in their formulas :: Jeremy — 9/12/2005 @ 2:26 pm Edit This # Regarding the STL-SF game. Semi serious questions:
Is returning a kickoff to the 1 yard line a new NFL record?
Is calling a challenge before a single play from scrimmage has been run a new NFL record? Only a Mike Martz team could lead to such a bizzare situation 5 seconds into an NFL game. :: MrBobMan — 9/12/2005 @ 2:34 pm Edit This # Jeremy: This site projected Cadillac Williams to rush for 1100 yards and 8 TDs over the course of the season, is that the kind of projection you're looking for? :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 2:47 pm Edit This # #381: OK, can anyone else explain this thing better? The game was only available here at the end, so I couldn't see it. Does anyone have any idea what Martz was challenging? The fact that he stepped out of bounds? I thought the play was blown dead, though - which means you can't challenge it. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 2:53 pm Edit This # I think Martz was trying to challenge reality. Which makes sense, because as Pat demonstrated in the Projections thread, it's reality that's screwed up. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 3:01 pm Edit This # Nice win by the Cowboys over a quality opponent on the road! :: Vic — 9/12/2005 @ 3:07 pm Edit This # I was watching that part of the game (the Lions game hadn't kicked off yet), and I still couldn't figure out for the life of me what he (Martz) was challenging. Does anyone know? :: HLF — 9/12/2005 @ 3:24 pm Edit This # Can someone explain to me why Philly is only favored by a point at Atlanta? Is home field that big of an advantage for Vick? Philly spanked them in the playoffs last year without T.O. Losing Corey Simon should hurt the Eagles run D, but I don't see that making enough of a difference. I'm thinking that the Vick-hype is bringing out the stupid money on Atlanta. Any arguments for why Atlanta can win this game? :: JeremyP — 9/12/2005 @ 3:47 pm Edit This # I didn't see the Rams game but, based solely on what I read here, I would assume Martz was challenging that his return man had stepped out of bounds BEFORE touching the kicked ball. If so, the Rams would have been awarded the ball at the 40 yard line or wherever the spot is for an out-of-bounds kick. :: GBS — 9/12/2005 @ 3:53 pm Edit This # My only thought about Martz could be that maybe he thought that Johnson was out as he caught it instead of going out? Would it even matter? Is it still a penalty if the opposing player is out of bounds while he catches it? :: Fnor — 9/12/2005 @ 3:54 pm Edit This # If the player is out of bounds when he catches it, he would be considered out of bounds. Then the kicking team gets a penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds, and the receiving team get the ball on the 40. Some team managed to pull this off last year, the kick returner planted one foot out of bounds, leaned in bounds and caught the ball. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 4:04 pm Edit This # #390 I think they ought to change the rule somehow so that what you're describing can't happen. If the kick wasn't going to roll out of bounds, then it shouldn't be penalized. Maybe BOTH of a player's feet should have to be out of bounds when he contacts the ball in order for it to count as an out of bounds kickoff. One foot in, and he has just given his team possession of the ball at the yardline where he stepped out. That ought to eliminate those cheap plays. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 4:10 pm Edit This # Losing Corey Simon should hurt the Eagles run D, but I don't see that making enough of a difference. Why do people keep pushing this? Simon isn't a run stopper. He was a pass rusher. The Eagles run defense was porous with Simon as a DT until Trotter came back in to plug up the middle. Simon's too small to be a run stopper - he can easily get moved around. But he's elusive and quick enough to get by someone. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 4:22 pm Edit This # If the player is out of bounds when he catches it, he would be considered out of bounds. Then the kicking team gets a penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds, and the receiving team get the ball on the 40. Some team managed to pull this off last year, the kick returner planted one foot out of bounds, leaned in bounds and caught the ball. OK, so challenging the ruling there made a bit of sense. But Martz should've bashed his kick returner over the head for even bothering to pull this crap. Risking getting field position at the 1 to possibly get it at the 40? C'mon! This is ludicrous! Take it at the 20, and don't risk a safety. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 4:26 pm Edit This # #367 - While I understand the argument that Gates' presence might have helped, I don't think it was necessary. Schottenheimer was in a great position to win that game without Gates (who's on my fantasy team, no less, so I naturally was cursing SD for that suspension for my own selfish reasons). He just refused to take the most likely avenue to victory. :: Rick "32_Footsteps" Healey — 9/12/2005 @ 4:50 pm Edit This # But Martz should've bashed his kick returner over the head for even bothering to pull this crap. Risking getting field position at the 1 to possibly get it at the 40? C'mon! This is ludicrous! Take it at the 20, and don't risk a safety. Granted that it was a boneheaded play, it's worth pointing out that both of the Rams' starting returners were out that game. :: Scott de B. — 9/12/2005 @ 4:50 pm Edit This # DavidH: The rule is a side-effect of the receiver needing two feet in bounds to catch a ball, so I don't see how the NFL can do that, unless they make out of bounds different for kicks than for anything else. One of the best plays in the NFL is watching a reciver try to get both his feet down in bounds as he stretches to catch a ball that's on it's way to the sidelines. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 5:02 pm Edit This # Corey Simon too small? He looked HUGE last night. Regarding SD end-game. I thought that was wierd too as LT had already picked up not 1 but TWO 3rd and 6s earlier in the game. I think PHI/ATL spread is as close as it is because PHI has started pretty slow the last couple years. :: Phil P — 9/12/2005 @ 5:09 pm Edit This # Corey Simon too small? He looked HUGE last night. As Aaron said, Simon's an improvement because “average� is an improvement on “suck�. This means that this helps the Colts, but doesn't hurt the Eagles. They wouldn't've done it if it would've hurt them. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 5:21 pm Edit This # As someone mentioned earlier, Simon's only solo tackle was on the first play — 8 yd gain for Jamal Lewis. Why the Ravens stopped running the ball in the 3rd quarter is a real mystery — you would think the surest way to handle guys like Freeney, Brackett, et al., would be to run right at them, particularly behind drive blockers like Ogden and Mulitalo. But Fassel was a genius playcaller in New York, right? :: TMK — 9/12/2005 @ 5:38 pm Edit This # #396: Yeah, I'm definitely not suggesting they change the two feet in bounds rule in general. But there's got to be something they can do about the kickoffs. Maybe create a new rule that says if a kicked-off ball touches an out of bounds player on the receiving team before it touches the ground out of bounds (or an opposing player), then the receiving team gets possesion at the spot of contact. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 6:03 pm Edit This # I don't know, I think the risk of ending up with a 1st and 10 from your own 1 is disincentive enough to try that sort of thing. Especially since, Like B said, changing the rule would require making an entirely new rule, or a big exception. :: Fnor — 9/12/2005 @ 6:44 pm Edit This # Oh, suggestion for Aaron (which he'll probably never see): Instead of splitting the open threads by NFC/AFC/Interconference, is there a possibility of splitting them up by time period? i.e. “early game, afternoon game, evening game, Monday Night game� (or evening+Monday Night game). It'd keep the number of comments down, but it would still allow people to see comments on all the games without refreshing two threads. Less load, and all. :) :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 7:15 pm Edit This # Aaaahhhh … now we know why the line was Atlanta -1 … Because the powers that be in Vegas paid a Falcon to start a fight with Trotter and get him ejected, thereby decimating the Eagles' run D. With the line set at -1, everybody is putting their money on the Eagles, and Vegas will take all of it when the Falcons run all over them. Can anybody say “200 rushing yards?� :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 8:45 pm Edit This # I can't believe I'm saying this, but … I agree with Michael Irvin. I didn't see any punches thrown by Trotter; it looked to me more like Trotter was preemptively grabbing the Falcon so he couldn't throw any more punches. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 8:56 pm Edit This # On that note, Pat, why not just make two big stories (�threads�), but make the comments themselves threaded, ala slashcode or phpnuke? Since this is all homegrown, you could make separate main comment threads/subjects under the main story. So, since any posts about that game would be under the main comment thread/subject for that game, you could collapse/expand and load each game's thread on demand. That would cut down on the number of digs you'd have to do, and give the whole thing some nice organization. Just a thought. :: Fnor — 9/12/2005 @ 9:28 pm Edit This # Memo to Mike Vick: a player with Brian Dawkins a step behind him is not open. I'm wondering how many times it'll take him to learn that? :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 9:33 pm Edit This # DavidH, the conspiracy theorist in me agrees with you. Maybe I've just smoked too much pot, but that whole things seemed staged. From the fight, to the announcers' breathless reaction and “we have a man in the middle of it� response, to the second incident that looked good for the cameras but didn't amount to anything. It all looked like the WWF. I figured it was a scripted move designed to boost ratings, but your angle is much more pleasing to the tinfoil hat-wearing child within. Maybe it's just because these guys have grown up watching the WWF and the attention ploys of their peers turned sponsorship $$$, so that's how they think the game should be treated. :: Fiver — 9/12/2005 @ 9:37 pm Edit This # Paying a guy to start a fight? A page out of the Bellicheck playbook, but he only used it to fire up his own team in practice, never on game night. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 9:43 pm Edit This # Memo to ABC:
If you're going to try and convince me Vick is better out of the pocket, you should leave off the passer rating stat, it doesn't help your case at all. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 9:48 pm Edit This # The legend of Jeremiah Trotter, run-stopper, is growing before our very eyes. :: Blue Elm Tree — 9/12/2005 @ 9:55 pm Edit This # How many times has Madden mentioned that the Eagles should just “Keep Choppin' Wood�? :: Trogdor — 9/12/2005 @ 10:11 pm Edit This # #410 I thought the big complaint at this site was that everyone was building up Cory Simon like he was some kind of awesome run-stopper, when their run D didn't really improve until Trotter was playing. Are you saying Trotter is bad against the run? I don't know enough about the Eagles to make a decision on either of them, so I'm up for an education, if you're down with providing me one. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 10:11 pm Edit This # DavidH: See #392. For some reason people think that Simon was a huge part of their run D. He wasn't. He's a pass rusher more than a run stopper. That weakness in the middle means you need to have linebackers who can stop the run, and that's Trotter. Until he gets thrown out of a game by a moron CB who decides to pick a fight with him, and he tries to keep him at arms length. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 10:14 pm Edit This # Anybody else's ABC just drop? Is this a national problem or just my podunk town (New York City)? :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 10:15 pm Edit This # Trogdor: I don't think I've ever been so fired up for them to shut up about Owens and McNabb and just cover the freaking game. Then again, it might have something to do with the fact that I'm emotionally invested in the game. Maybe. God, I miss Jeremiah Trotter. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 10:17 pm Edit This # That unneccesary roughness on Lewis looked like BS to me. Maybe it was late (I couldn't really tell), but it was push. This is Michael Vick, not Drew Bledsoe. :: Zac — 9/12/2005 @ 10:19 pm Edit This # What Hall of Fame are Michaels and Madden in? It's not the Pro Football Hall of Fame, at least not yet. I think Hubie's a little confused. :: mactbone — 9/12/2005 @ 10:19 pm Edit This # Pat: Right. So then #410, which I was responding to, doesn't make a lot of sense. Unless he is saying that we are overestimating Trotter's run stopping abilities as an overreaction to the media's overestimation of Simon's runstopping abilities. Over. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 10:21 pm Edit This # DavidH:
What Pat said. Trotter is considered the run-stopper on the Eagles. When he got to start last year, the run defense improved quite a bit. Today he was thrown out before the game began and now Atlanta has been running with relative ease against the Eagles (over 5 ypc so far). :: Blue Elm Tree — 9/12/2005 @ 10:23 pm Edit This # DavidH: My ABC is fine, apparantly you need to move out of NYC and into a real city ;) :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 10:24 pm Edit This # It took awhile but I think I can tell what happened on the fumble. As Walker hits the ball with his right hand, Vick starts his throwing motion and hits Walker's left hand. It all depends on what the refs see but it looks like it should definitely be a fumble. Also, Kearse should've fallen on it as soon as he missed the ball - lucky the Falcons didn't recover. :: mactbone — 9/12/2005 @ 10:25 pm Edit This # Can we please have a single QB fumble without a mention of the tuck rule? Please? The rule actually comes into play roughly once ever. Every fumble is not a tuck rule fumble. We don't need to be reminded of that game every twelve seconds. Thanks. Madden is a Senior Committee finalist for the Hall, which basically means he's in this year. For Michaels, I'd assume he's in some broadcasting Hall or something. That “late� hit on Vick was total BS, by the way. :: Trogdor — 9/12/2005 @ 10:29 pm Edit This # What I said made perfect sense to me at the time, but I guess it is kind of confusing wording. I meant his legend is growing in a positive way, as in “Trotter is becoming a legendary run-stopper in Philly�. Reputation would have been a better word to use than legend. Sorry for the confusion. :: Blue Elm Tree — 9/12/2005 @ 10:35 pm Edit This # #421: Yup, that's exactly what happened. Walker hit the ball before Vick started throwing. Therefore, it's a fumble. Vick can't create a forward pass without control of the football. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 10:35 pm Edit This # #413,420: My bad. I think I figure out why I was confused. I thought you were being fecetious, BET. I'm pretty sure we're actually all on the same page as far our opinions of Trotter and Simon. By the way, I just want to say that ESPN.com's GameCast feature sucks horribly. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 10:36 pm Edit This # Of course Vick can, he's superman. He could simply run so fast he changes the rotation of the Earth, making the all move forward.
Wow, that's like catching a 100 mile/hour fastball going 60 miles/hour. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 10:38 pm Edit This # It's back! It's back! And I will be in the living room! :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 10:46 pm Edit This # Come on, B, that was the best maybe-catch I've seen in a long time! GameCast this year is much, much better than what they had last year. Last year it was at least 5 minutes behind at all times, had to refresh the entire page to get the stats you need, and the drive markers often didn't work at all. Maybe I'm just anti-spoiled? Oh my dear god why is Jimmy Kimmel still doing football things? Why, lord, why? :: Fnor — 9/12/2005 @ 10:46 pm Edit This # Tim McGraw and Jimmy Kimmel! I sure home Kimmel makes fun of me again, that was pretty cool last time. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 10:46 pm Edit This # Boy, whatever happened to defense. Both teams over 6 yards per play. Yikes! Oh, and DavidH, that was clearly my error on 410. Now that I re-read it, that post does sound kind of stupid (like I am belittling Trotter). :: Blue Elm Tree — 9/12/2005 @ 10:47 pm Edit This # Akers 0-for-2. Things just aren't going the Eagles' way. :: MDS — 9/12/2005 @ 10:48 pm Edit This # It's been a bad week for kickers. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 10:49 pm Edit This # Stover and now Akers? Although they were long attempts… :: Sid — 9/12/2005 @ 10:49 pm Edit This # Did the Falcons steal thier two-minute playbook from the Eagles? :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 10:52 pm Edit This # 430 should say whatever happened to *run* defense, with both teams at over 6 yards per play (or yards per carry) :: Blue Elm Tree — 9/12/2005 @ 10:52 pm Edit This # blah blah blah random obscure pop culture reference no one but me will find funny blah blah blah terrell owens and mcnabb blah blah blah random gay joke Hey man, I'm funny, even though I'm about as deadpan as that guy from the Geico commercial. Watch my desparate attempt at a late night show for ABC! :: Jimmy Kimmel — 9/12/2005 @ 11:06 pm Edit This # Fiver: You haven't smoked too much; although perhaps just enough to write a treatment for a Big Lebowski follow-up. Yeah, really. These guys are professionals. They know what they're doing. It's the bobblehead babblers who pretend not to know what's going on. Or do they? Name another industry that's rippled with superstars who show no restraint, little taste or tact, and performers who break down and show their actual emotions regardless of professional norms as part of the publicity package…oh, no! Is NFL part of the entertainment industry? :: Gaius — 9/12/2005 @ 11:12 pm Edit This # #428 I guess it's not HORRIBLE. But it's not useful for following the game play-by-play unless you are constantly watching it, because the only play it ever gives any details about in the bottom left corner is the most recent one. Sure, you can see the lengths of individual ones if you click the period tab, and then the drive that has th eplay you want, but you get no information about it other than a little colored bar on the field. I think if they just added a play-by-play feed, I'd be cool with it. That might have been rambling, but I don't care. No time for editing in a commercial break. :: DavidH — 9/12/2005 @ 11:14 pm Edit This # Do you guys have a problem with the NFL.com Live GameCenter? It lists play by play for the current drive. :: Zac — 9/12/2005 @ 11:18 pm Edit This # Is that why McNabb and Owens don't get along, cause Owens stole McNabb's rug? :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 11:19 pm Edit This # McNabb is a great QB, but he makes some dumb descions sometimes. He's lucky that last heave wasn't picked. :: B — 9/12/2005 @ 11:30 pm Edit This # The Eagles need to run the ball more. 14 touches isn't enough for a talent like Westbrook. :: Zac — 9/12/2005 @ 11:43 pm Edit This # I love Ed Reed, but for my money, Brian Dawkins is the best safety in the league. Interception, 2 sacks, and he knocked a touchdown pass out of Crumpler's hands. And again, Vick tries to throw to a guy who Dawkins has single covered. :: Pat — 9/12/2005 @ 11:55 pm Edit This # #439 NFL.com GameCenter is great. Not flashy, but who cares. :: DavidH — 9/13/2005 @ 12:07 am Edit This # McNabb needs to run more. :: B — 9/13/2005 @ 12:31 am Edit This # Comments on the game: 1) When did the Eagles dump Akers for Stover? Those two shanks were the game right there. 2) Big Load Duckett really didn't look very impressive tonight. 1 5 yd run and 7 runs for 10 yards total? no wonder Mora refused all 4th and 1 attempts. 3) Andy Reid forgot he can run the ball again. 13 rushing attempts in 60 plays? And why deactivate Ryan Moats in favor of Reno Mahe (why is Mahe still playing in the NFL - is it a Mormon thing with Reid?) 4) Vick can single handedly win or lose every game for Atlanta. He had some of the most amazing throws I've seen, and then some of the most boneheaded. He still can't throw to his wideouts. He is unbelievably fast and made the Eagles Defense, which is supposedly a speed defense, look embarassing at times. 5) McNabb's pride about not being a running QB is hurting the Eagles. He had running lanes and never moved fromt he pocket except when being crumpled in a sack. 6) The Eagles defense was ferocious. And that was without Trotter! 7) The Eagles will miss TE Chad Lewis more and more as the season goes on. 8) It didn't look like the Eagles were missing Corey Simon at all. 9) How is it no one can tackle Warrick Dunn? Is he just too small? 10) Why don't Mora and Vick try more throws to Dunn? These should be 75% completion type throws and could help their passing game. Instead, Vick throws downfield into coverage a lot. :: Andrew — 9/13/2005 @ 8:50 am Edit This # Overall just a sloppy, sloppy game by the Eagles offence. Stupid penalties (how many penalties for illegal formation?), stupid turnovers (at least his backwards pass wasn't to an OLineman!), and no consistancy. The defence gave them every chance they could have possibly wanted in the fourth quarter to get a TD (including the ball in Falcons territory!) and they just couldn't capitalize. Personally, I'm putting this one on McNabb. Maybe that spearing hit early in the game hurt him more than it initially seemed. But I'll be damned if this game wouldn't have turned out differently if he had tucked and run those times when he sat in the pocket for WAY too long and got sacked or turned the ball over. As an Eagles fan, I'm much more disappointed than worried. We should have won this game. :: Ray — 9/13/2005 @ 8:52 am Edit This # Re 411: Madden himself later on indicated that the Eagles simply weren't learning that they'd have to throw past the first-down marker to make it, as tackling had been good on both sides. So, while he used the phrase “Keep Choppin' Wood� in a positive light earlier on, perhaps he has indicated the Eagles offense as a good candidate for the award. :: Steven Cummings — 9/13/2005 @ 11:47 am Edit This # From the Patriots game, I came away very impressed with Asante Samuel and again satisfied with the ability of Randall Gay. The play where Gay stayed to the outside of Moss because he had help inside was so composed and the one where he bearhugged and rolled the running back inbounds at the end of the game to keep the clock running was as beautiful as his induced fumble at the Super Bowl. He's a bright football player. Also, I was suprised to see how well the oversized Willie McGinest was able to cover Moss. I can't remember him making a play in coverage before this season. In the alarming department, I was shocked to see how slow Corey Dillon appeared. Where was that devastating burst, the one that makes it seem like he's running with ten inch metal spikes? He had in preseason it looked like but maybe that shows how slow preseason is played at. Against Oakland he looked awfully heavy-legged, he couldn't get to the hole quickly enough nor could he break tackles like he did last year. His acceleration reminded me of Antwoin Smith and considering that Dillon fumbles more and blocks worse than Smith does, Dillon needs to be a top-notch back to have value. He is on the wrong side of thirty so I'm worried. :: Kite — 9/14/2005 @ 3:40 am Edit This # Also from the Patriots game: the pass defense improved when Tyrone Poole was removed from the lineup. I don't think he played in the second half after committing a holding penalty and giving up Moss's long touchdown in conjuction with Harrison. The run defense got better when the Pats went to the 4-3 and Seymour was stuffing the middle. That man is just a beast when he's attacking guards and centers, driving his long body into them and bending them backwards. When he was a rookie, he was great at nose tackle, an instant impact player who immediately improved the run and pass defense and was as important a player as any in the Pats first SB run. When he's rushing from the DE position I've always thought he doesn't get pressure consistently and teams can neutralize his run defense by running away from him. :: Kite — 9/14/2005 @ 3:57 am Edit This # I'm going to do the stand up thing here. Someone has to do something about saving jamal Lewis' career, and Dammit, if I have to be that person, so be it. Because I'm surprised ray Lewis hasn't done it yet, and I wouldn't blame him if he had, I'm going to do it, I'm going to kill Kyle Boller. I don't care if Wright threw 4 ints and fumbled 12 times, he moved the football through the air, which is more than I can say for Boller. How does this guy get chance after chance, throwing balls high, out of bounds, sure he ahd a decent completion percentage, but averaged less than ten yards per completion, forget about yards per attempt. Second observation, Michael Vick is a bum. Has been for years, will be for years to come. Congratulations, you managed to put up 14 points on a team whose defense was minus its best player. He made one good throw early on the deep ball, which admittedly was nice, and then proceeded to throw picks and fumble deep in Eagle territory like he bet on the game. Akers cost them this game…he never misses, strange, but ichael Vick had nothing to do with that win, that was defense, McNabb being hurt, and Akers. Finally, and boy was i wrong about this, until they put the game into management mode in the second half, J.P. Losman looked really sharp, and has a freaking cannon, I liked what I saw…I'll take field goals, because the bills D wont allow more than 21 points all year, I don't know how Houston put together that TD drive amidst their constant failure, and I love how JP and the Bills responded with a TD of their own. :: Ryan Carney — 9/14/2005 @ 3:46 pm Edit This # Ryan: You might have missed it, but in the other thread somebody suggested that Ogden porpusly pushed Tripplet into Boller, twisting his ankle and knocking him out of the game. This is good news, cause it'll save Jamal Lewis and you won't have to go to jail. Of course, if the trial is in Baltimore, you wouldn't get convicted but you'll save on lawyer fees. :: B — 9/14/2005 @ 5:31 pm Edit This # Unfortunately, the “FO Notes� thread that points to the Week 1 total DVOA rankings and commentary does not have comments enabled, so I'll put them here: 1) Love the commentary… hee hee hee… 2) Tampa Bay: Holy Man, Batsh*t! -26.9% Offensive DVOA (rank 23rd) and -94.4% Defensive DVOA (rank 2nd) and 2.5% Special Teams DVOA (rank 13th) for a net of 70.0%. The Bucs just refuse to look ordinary when it comes to DVOA. :) Thanks to Aaron and anyone else that contributed to getting out those numbers for us under trying circumstances… :: CaffeineMan — 9/14/2005 @ 8:20 pm Edit This # This will be an interesting thread to review in week 17. :: NF — 10/3/2005 @ 2:25 am Edit This

Comments

454 comments, Last at 03 Oct 2005, 3:25am Woo hoo! Real open threads again! So I posted this in the Loser League thread, but does anyone think I'm nuts for picking Kerry Collins as one of my two QBs in the LL? I'll find out in a few hours, but I have a feeling he's going to continue his schizophrenic trend, and give me a week or two of 1 or 2 points (or less!) and then a few weeks of 15-20 points. I just don't see how Moss's arrival is going to help Collins's ridiculous TD/INT ratio. No, I don't think you're nuts for taking Kerry Collins. He could have a huge year with that WR group, provided he gets good protection from his OL. On a related note, that point spread for tonight is WAY too high. Woohoo, football's back! Life is worth living! /kidding
//mostly
///Ravens will crush Colts on Sunday Wrong way, Fiver. Loser league. :) I expect him to not have a monster year. Or, at least, to mix utterly horrendous weeks inbetween incredibly great weeks. Who's your other QB? My loser league team is built around Kyle Orton. Oh, whoops. I breezed right over the "Loser League" portion of you post. Now that I understand what you were really asking, the answer is : yes, you are totally nuts. ;) I'm embarrased to say I can't remember. I was thinking about Leftwich or Boller, but I can't remember what I finally chose. I just wanted someone who puts up "mediocre" numbers there, and I'll let Kerry Collins fill in the "suck" weeks. Kerry Collins might be the only QB in the league who's a legit backup for a regular and a loser fantasy team. Every site now has its own pointless interactive poll, but PFW is currently running one of the most ridiculous I've seen (linked). Apparently, 30% of its voters think the Raiders are going to win the AFC title. What precisely is the point of running a poll if it produces a result like that? (Should I ask Hosni Mubarak?) Do even 3% of FO readers think the Raiders will win tonight? (NB This is not a poll.) Here's to the Raiders getting trounced on "Monday Night" Football tonight. As for my team, I've had butterflies all week. The Cowboys are a little scary, but I'm sure Brees and LT will overcome against the team they rooted for while growing up. RE: #7. Don't forget Jake Plummer. His stats for December 2004:
Att 137
Comp 76
TD 3
INT 9
And that includes a game against Tennessee where he had a 124.8 rating. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing if the Burger King can cover Stokley one on one. Jake Plummer vs Kerry Collins twice this year... glad I don't have to predict those games. (I'm a Bronco's fan so I can hope, but I'm not going to attempt to predict) I see that 5 WRs are listed as questionable or out on the nfl.com gamecenter preview - Porter & Gabriel for the Raiders and Givens, Davis & Johnson for the Pats - might we have a lot more of a running game in store? (and Brady is listed as probable). Does anybody know why the Raiders were chosen to open up the season? I guess two years of Colts vs Patriots on opening thursday would be too much, but the Pats play the Steelers in week 3, couldn't those two games have been switched? i'm floundering here. the only other good WRs i have are kennison and wayne, but i can't pull the trigger and start porter tonight against NE. any suggestions? Last year the Pats struggled agianst #2 receivers, so I'd suggest posting FF questions in the scramble for the ball thread. Pats are at Steelers. I think they wanted to start it in Foxboro. Aside: regardless of whatever anyone else says, I'm gonna miss Michaels and Madden together. Best announcing team in the NFL, bar none. Suddenly my Kerry Collins Loser League pick doesn't look so good. I agree on Madden and Michaels. They're the best active compination, which isn't saying much. The NFL started a thing not long ago where the Super Bowl champ would start the season on Thursday at home. I want to say that they picked the Raiders because they have a large fan base and people are excited about their additions in the off-season. Man, the Raiders just marched down the field for that first score. Just chunks of yards. They can't keep that up. Same old Raiders defense. I thought this was 2005. What's the over/under for total punts in this game? I guess it's 3 or less. I just have to say that on 1st and goal at the 8, a Charlie Weis offense doesn't call two straight run plays. Yah, I thought that was odd too - especially when Brady had something like 4 wide open receivers in a row, and had he been a bit more accurate (or not had a receiver cut wrong) they would've had a touchdown earlier. Seems weird to try to run when you've been doing so well through the air. Already I have to thank the Outsiders staff. Based on the recommendation for him in the book, I drafted Ben Watson as my TE in a 20 team league (it was rediculous, a bunch of teams had 2 TEs, one had 3!). And you were definitely right. Already he has 2 catches for 55 yards, which is a smooth 2.2 points in the stupid scoring system this league uses. Ah, good old Kerry Collins. "Hmm... Moss is streaking down field, and the safeties are fading towards him. I think I'll throw there!" Too Jody Foster:
Maybe a dingo took your baby. Rushing 3 against Brady seems to be suicidal. Give that guy enough time, and he'll find the holes in your zone. Raiders run defense looks good, but maybe someone should tell them that that Tom Brady guy can pass pretty well. B: A Mack truck could find the holes in the Raider defense. Did you see that touchdown play, where one of the Pats slipped? The Raider defender nearest him actually started towards him before fading back towards where the pass was thrown. Raiders defenders look like statues. Norv Turner kind of killing me here, Collins is my fantasy starter Aaargh, Brady appears to berate Dillon and the announcers brush it off saying he has the right. Manning appears to berate Wayne last year and everyone in the world screams that Manning is a selfish jerk. On another note, what's the rule on flagrant fouls? During that third down play where Collins threw it into triple coverage, Harrison arrived late and blasted Moss clearly after the ball went by. I can see it not being a penalty but I'd like to know how intentional or late it has to be. Wow. The Patriot safties look like they're in the prevent D Raiders only rush 3 because they can't get there with 4 or 5 or 6. NE has tremendous pass pro. They have had it for years (remember Boomer Esiason laughing about Brady having all day to throw in the 2003 AFC champ game?), If you can't get pressure at all, why waste people who might cover someone? It isn't likely to win, but their only hope going into the game is that Brady go full brain fart mode like he did in losing the Miami game last year. Dear Mr. Harrison, No disrespect intended, but just as a suggestion, you may want to actually try to hit Randy Moss head on after a 40 some yard catch that he bobbled. Just a suggestion. Dear Pat. Don't Disrespect me. Just a suggestion. Can we pass a rule that no WRs can be compared to Rice untill they have comparable numbers over the first 15 seaasons in the league? Me and my 10 brothers are doing a bang up job against the Patriots tonight, aren't we? RE: #35 Dear Rodney and Pat; No disrespect intended, but I'm going to break your legs. Isn't inanimate carbon rod redundant? How many animated carbon rods do you see? The craziest thing. I thought I was watching an NFL game, then it turned out to be one of those crazy Arena League games where each team scores at least 60 points. I don't know what happened. Man, I really hope my other Loser League QB sucks. Really wish I could remember who he is, too... Hey B, ICR is a Simpsons reference. Doesn't either team know how to play pass defense? Raiders are just awful. Patriots at least are close to the receivers when he catches the ball and putting pressure on the QB. Also, I thought refs were supposed to call penalties for the Patriots, not against them. Didn't they get the memo? Patriots are killing themselves with penalties, which means they are only up by 3. Fear Norv Turner's brilliance. Any other coach might've called a pass when you've got 3rd and 18, and you've been carving up the Patriots deep all game. But no, that'd be too obvious. Draw play for 2 yards it is! I know it's a simpsons reference, I watched the season 5 DVD recently and used the chance for my meaningless rant. Pat: Norv Turner must be a genius, why else would teams keep hiring him to revamp thier offenses? Ahh, so you were using Internet Sarcasm V 1.0? Wow, Bellicheck must be a genius. He took a timeout!
Okay, that's enough sarcasm for one night. B: I know! I'm telling you, there's a deeper reason to that play call. You just wait. Man, that incomplete pass was really close. I don't know what the booth saw to guarantee that it was an incomplete - the only non-fuzzy angle they showed on TV looked like a complete, but it was hard to tell. God, I hate Jimmy Kimmel. Guys, I have a question... does anyone know where the DPAR and DVOA projections are for the Burger King (DB-Ravens) and the Diet Pepsi Machine (WR-Patriots) are? I don't see it anywhere on the site! OK, folks, let's take a poll. Patriots running game is worse than we thought, or Oakland run defense has improved, or both? Considering the fact that the Raiders were in dime defense and the Patriots still couldn't run, I'd say the Patriots running game is worse than we thought. Well, it's not like the Oakland defensive line has actually been trying to rush the QB. Maybe they've all been taught to focus solely on Dillon or Faulk. I'd have to say Oak's run defense has improved. They seem to be cutting off Corey and Faulk as just the right moment. Looks to me that the Patriots' offensive line is great at pass blocking, but lousy at run blocking. But in all honesty, I think the story of the night thus far is Josh Miller, All-Pro Punter. Aaron: So I think that's a solid "both". Gee, maybe they should have given the ball to Klecko instead of Dillon. He made it through that hole untouched. 14 carries, 19 yards for the Pats' running game. Woot! Football is back. Anyone seen a defensive back on the field tonight? Kirk Morrison out of SDSU looks good at MLB for the Raiders. Six tackles in the first half, and he's helping their front 7 stuff Dillon. That Brady pass to Tim Dwight for the TD was unstoppable. Gibson played it well enough that if that pass was one foot to the right it's picked for 6. But it wasn't, because Tom Brady is really, really, really good. Pat, suddenly your Loser League pick doesn't look so bad. Ahh, that's the Kerry Collins I know and love! Oh, there's Corey Dillon. I was wondering why the Pats had kept him off the field all game. Woah! Mark your calendars, folks, Vinatieri has an XP blocked! Anyone else get the feeling that this conversation happened at halftime in the Patriots locker room? Belichick: "I would like you guys to please cover Randy Moss."
Secondary: "They have Randy Moss? Crap! That's what we've been doing wrong!" Seriously, what happened in the second half? Moss hasn't really had a reception. What happened is they snuck in Troy Brown as a defensive back. Michaels and Madden are doing a relatively poor job in the booth tonight. First, Madden compliments Harrison for that necktie, which has been illegal for years yet I have no clue why the refs didn't call it. Then, Michaels calling an obvious block in the back a clean block on a return that had two flags. It's strange how they insist on showing us all these scenes from Boston when they come back from commercial, even though the stadium is nowhere near any of the landmarks they are showing. They need to show the landmarks of the Foxboro metropolitan area instead. Here's Rodman Ford ... Here's exit 8 from I-95 ... Here's the Friendly's ... Here's the Walpole Correctional Facility ... Here's where the Football Outsiders guy went to high school ... i wonder when collins will start looking at his hurt thumb ala kurt warner... #68: He didn't compliment Harrison for that tackle. He was just saying that Belichick makes starters play special teams. Both Michaels and Madden seemed a bit surprised that that flag wasn't near the tackle. Dangit! Where's the crappy Kerry Collins? Bring back the crappy Kerry Collins! Aaron: They should show the redwing. Does Kerry Collins always throw in that awkward fashion or am I just noticing it now? His throwing motion seems to be all arm, no body. I guess the way to slow down Moss is to cover him with C Scott (whoever he is). Penalties are killing Oakland. Same old Raiders. What's up with the Raiders play calling. Three straight deep balls to Alvis Whitted? We have 12 minutes to go. It's not desperation time yet. Rodney Harrison looks old. His change of direction is really slow. He's still a big hitter, but most of his hits seem to be after the whistle. Seymour is a beast, but you knew this. Is it me, or has every tackle that has taken down Deion Branch been around his head or neck? I think he learned the turlte technique from watching the Colts receivers. Watch how quick he drops the the ground, the only thing left to tackle him by is the head. Chad Scott?!?! he couldnt cover a bed with a comforter though the Burger King is something else. looks like a young Deion wearing Michael Irvin's new suit, except for the whole plastic head thing Yea, but he couldn't cover the pepsi machine. RE #80: That has to be one of the best commericals so far this football season. It's just fantastic. I just want to say I am not suprised the Pats switched to the 4-3. They switched back and forth between the 4-3 and the 3-4 in the Romeo era, so thye know how to do it. RE:82
I couldnt agree more. Thats the type of commercial that should be showed during the Super Bowl. and speaking of the pepsi machine, he can catch alright, but can he throw a block or will he take the play off? I'm sure when Deion Branch's career ends, and he looks back at everything he did in the NFL, his greatest memory will be of chest-bumping the Diet Pepsi machine in the endzone. ...At least that would be mine. Norv Turner sure has a revolutionary offense. Who else would have tought of a screen with no eligable recievers? You guys are missing the best thing about the Burger King ad ... the interception is thrown by Drew Bledsoe. So 4th and 23 you go for it, but 4th and 28 is just silly. I guess they had a 24-27 yard play called or something. Boom goes the punt. Gee, I wonder if that one will make TMQ...(along with the fact that they hadn't even walked up to the line of scrimmage when the play clock expired...). T. RE #87: What's sadder is that will probably be the most-remembered thing about his tenure in Buffalo. Actually, Trogdor, they probably were thinking they could pull NE offsides 5 consecutive times, but 6, well, no chance. T. pass play on 3rd and 2 when you're killing the clock? I guess Weiss really did leave his playbook in Foxboro. I dont think it was a matter of us missing the fact that Bledsoe threw the interception, but rather that we all just assumed it was him and didnt bother to comment on it But in all honesty, I think the story of the night thus far is Josh Miller, All-Pro Punter. Well, that ends that tenure. though i wonder if the Tuna will have nightmares of Bledsoe throwing picks to mascots who then proceed to return them for touchdowns What kind of throw was that, Kerry? 5 feet above Moss' head? That was closer to being a field goal than a completed pass. T. Is it really that amazing that they called PI on the offense on that play? Moss wasn't even going for the ball, and just grabbed his jersey and hauled him down. Are the announcers already mailing it in during the first game? It took until the sixth replay until one of them bothered to mention that Samuel almost caught the ball. Ye gods! Trogdor: I dunno. At first, I saw Samuel crashing into Moss (and Samuel thought they called it on him), and it wasn't until they slowed down the last replay that I saw Moss grabbing the jersey. It just wasn't visible from any of the other angles to me. I thought the fact that Samuels was playing the ball and Moss made no effort to catch made it obvious it should be an offensive penalty. Thoughts on the game: 1)The kick coverage was terrible on both sides. 2)Tim Dwight is electric. One of the better returners in the league. 3)Warren Sapp's player profile listed him as a DE. People, this is 2005, not 2004. 4)I enjoyed Tim McGraw's piece they played during halftime ("I like it, I love it...." 5)The Pats OTs ALWAYS get away with a lot of holding, and Harrison always gets away with a lot of borderline hits. 6)Penalties continue to kill the Raiders. With the penalties and that defense, they'll be battling to stay out of the cellar. 7)I was surprised by how quickly Oakland scored on the first drive. Imagine how ugly the game would have been without offseason additions Moss or Jordan. Oakland. Slowest. Special. Teams. Ever. Gosh, did Oakland only put out offensive lineman and overweight linebackers on special teams. That sure is what their coverage looked like. Was it just me, or did Collins, Dillon, and Harrison look OLD tonight? L. Jordan
18 carries, 70 yards C. Dillon
23 carries, 63 yards On the surface, it looks like Jordan kicked Dillon's ass. but I tried tracking "rushing wins" Each time a runner gained 4 or more yards and/or picked up a first down, I credited him with a "win." (This is a simpler version of FO.com's success rate.) I counted 7 wins for Jordan and 9 for Dillon. Which is remarkable, considering that Dillon had 6 carries and only 1 win at halftime. So in the second half he had 17 carries and 8 wins. So with the Patriots ahead and Oakland playing the run, Dillon made a productive play on half his carries. I didn't get a chance to watch the game. Can anyone explain what Dillon and the Pats did to turn things around? good news for steeler fans. joey porter is going to be starting sunday, though staley has been downgraded to doubtful. as if he was going to play anyway. saw the report on Foxsports.com who should i start on my fantasy team sunday? (choose two) Kevin Jones vs. Green Bay
Rudi Johnson vs. Cleveland
Domanick Davis vs. Buffalo i feel pretty good about it either way. rudi for sure. browns suck and Jones. Buffalo has a defense, Green Bay...well....doesnt. and thats putting it lightly yeah, those are the two slotted now, but... domanick davis, you know? he was my first-rounder. i feel stupid for not playing him and playing against matchups in week one. yeah i know how that is man. Davis could do the same as johnson or jones, though. we must not forget that when they were fighting for a playoff spot, the Bills gave up 100+ yards to willie parker, a third stringer. but for this week i myself would start johnson and jones because they arent really going up against a defense, more like an illusion yeah, i was planning on jones for sure, because green bay just looks clueless against the run and they'll want to keep harrington calm, especially early on. my biggest fear is that johnson might lose some carries to the backups because they will be up on cleveland and just trying to run the clock out. i guess i should be pretty confident this week. he's got bulger, and i've got holt, so that should work out nicely regardless. definately. holt should shred the niners apart, and either way you go with the RB situation you are sure to come out with some nice points. the good thing about the bungles playing the browns is that last year they went out and turned the game into an arena football match, and seeing as neither team really has a good defense, i expect the same thing as last year, maybe not quite so many points, but i dont think they will be able to sit johnson Anyone besides me think the Pats don't look quite as invincible this year? I still think they take the division, but I don't see them making it 4 out of 5. I think the Raiders beat themselves more than the Pats beat them. Numerous penalties, piss-poor playcalling (only 6 rushes in 2nd half even with plenty of time and a reasonably close score, draw on 3rd and 18, going deep over and over to... Whitted?), atrocious pass defense, bad decisions by Kerry Collins (throwing into triple coverage multiple times, should've taken a sack instead of turning over the ball, throwing a screen to... nobody). No surprises really, but I think these things had a larger bearing on the game than anything the Pats did. Brady had a good game, but who doesn't against the Raiders? Their run O and D should be better against a team that isn't a powerhouse in either area. They averaged 2.4 a carry while giving up 4.2. Blocked punt, blocked xp, you didnt see that much last year, especially not against a team as weak as the Raiders. They won the game, but they didn't dominate like I expected them to, especially at home in a much hyped national tv season opener. I think they're going to have a lot of trouble with their road schedule this year, and the home game against Indy looms large. After watching them I really think this is Indy's year in the AFC, and maybe (homer optimism) my Chiefs will make a run too. I think the Pats were determined not to let Randy Moss beat them, and that's why their run defense didn't look all that great. Unless it was an obvious running play, Harrison and Wilson were always playing way back off the line of scrimmage. If you also look back at the game last year with Indy, they had bad run defense there as well. I also think that Branch should have had more catches then he did, but the dude didn't play the entire preseason, so its understandable. Re: 19
The defending champ opens on Thursday night at home. This is an example of Peter King's poor fact checking and New England bias. The Thursday opener has happened FOUR times. They were:
SF at NYG (NE def. champs)
NYJ at Wash. (Bucs def. champs)
Ind. at NE (NE def. champs)
Oak. at NE (NE def. champs) They started it in New York for the big market, national spotlight (sound familiar Saints fans?). Then went to Washington - another big market (remember the Jetskins game with Coles and Morton playing for Wash?) Last year was another big market that just happened to be the defending champs at home. Yet Peter King reported it was a game for the defending champs at home and I guess the NFL schedule makers listened. I guess we'll see the next time the Pats don't win. Think they'll open in Carolina? Or go to the big market in Chicago? Re 112: That sounds like the exact same reason people have been saying the Pats wouldn't win it all for the past two years. They win by taking away a team's strength, and forcing them to carry the load with their weakest links (play calling, qb decision, whatever). This usually results in the other team "beating themselves" through poor play. The fact that the pats can use this strategy effectively against so many teams with different strengths (read they are a very balanced/well coached team) is why they are a very good team, even though they rarely look dominating. Three more comments. Ben Watson is a bull. Why didn't they throw to him more? He just dragged Raiders down the field like they were trying to tackle Andre the Giant. Also, did anyone notice that the "starting lineup" featured two Tight Ends and no Fullback? Did Patrick Pass even play for New England? Lastly, why, why, why did Oakland punt the ball when they were on their own 40 yard line down 16 points with 12 minutes left in regulation? Yes it was 4th and 28, but you must go for it, and FredX showed it can be done. Instead, they just folded like a cheap suit. Its going to be a long season in Oakland. Patrick Pass is on the Patriots Roster, but I don't think he made the 45 man team. They've been using Dan Klecko as a fullback in power-running situations for a couple years now. Re: #116. As Trogdor pointed out, their decision to punt was made more ridiculous by the fact that they lined up to go for it on 4th and 23, but after the penalty, then decided to punt on 4th and 28. That's a punt that could be the first "Why are you punting?" of the new year. I thought there were fewer than 12 minutes left though. I thought it was like, 8 minutes (getting low enough that the Pats were in run-out-the-clock mode). T. Re not going for it on 4th and 28, but going for it on 4th and 23: Don't you see, it's cause Norv Turner is a genius. His thinking is so far beyond us mere mortals we simply can't comprehend his reasoning. I missed part of the first quarter, but from what I saw in the first half, Dillon had very little success running because Oakland frequently played a run-stuffing six-man front (4 DLs, plus their big OLBs at the line). Once the Pats figured out that front, they switched to 5 wide to get those big guys into coverage, and (shock!) Brady found holes in the coverage. After halftime, the Raiders switched to more nickel coverage to take those holes out of their zone coverage, and Dillon ran better. I think the Pats were determined not to let Randy Moss beat them, and thatâ€s why their run defense didnâ€t look all that great. They kinda failed if that was their job. Moss was open on play after play in the first half - Collins just kept overthrowing or having to dump the ball away. Something happened at halftime to change that, but in the first half, it wasn't just their run defense which was getting shredded. It was their pass defense, too. I couldn't really tell what changed in the secondary because the D-line was finally getting serious pressure on Collins in the second half. I'm still deeply disappointed in Harrison for missing Moss on that one play. He had plenty of time to get the right angle and hit him, and he just didn't do it. Got a question for the experts. Why doesn't anyone call for a fair catch anymore? Oakland's punt returner almost got dismembered at least twice. What was he/they thinking? I'm honestly curious here. I agree with Andrew on Ben Watson. Intriguing guy. B: Dangit, that's my joke! The reason the first two games as Thursday night openers were because of 9/11 observances (San Francisco was the destination of one of those flights, remember). That may have played a small part in Oakland being picked THIS year. And one of the flights left from Boston, as well. The only team that has appeared on a Thursday opener that was neither a departure or a destination for those planes was Indy last year -- and the league took some criticism for that, with the line being that they sold out on the commemmoration for the ratings. The only team that has a 9/11 connection that hasn't appeared yet is the Steelers, fwiw. I thought Madden had his best game in years last night. He was noticing all sorts of line play and blocking, the kind of stuff he did in the '80s but has completely forgotten about in recent years. Somebody tell me: How did Routt get called for unnecessary roughness for his little leapfrog of Branch, but Harrison is allowed to clothesline someone and the officials just let him go on his merry way? MDS: I saw that during the preseason, actually. I was baffled - Madden was actually pointing out linemen who blocked correctly, and ones who blocked poorly (but didn't miss their assignment). Regarding Routt, I was baffled by that. They didn't show the angle that the ref had, so I have to imagine that he grabbed his facemask on the way over and we just couldn't see it. Harrison's clothesline was just terrible, though. #120: SS: The Raiders were still playing nickel (and dime!) coverage in the first half, and the Patriots were still struggling, and they were struggling a bit into the second half as well. I think it's durability - three of the Raiders D-line (Sapp, Washington, and Hamilton) have over 10 years in the NFL each. The other guy (Kelly) is a 2nd year rookie free agent. They just looked slower in the second half. Still strong, but slower. Wasn't the Routt penalty on Branch a 5 yarder? I thought it was called because he touched but didn't grab his helmet. For the Harrison hit, it looked to me like most of the blow was to the chest, not the neck. I think the refs didn't call it because his head didn't snap back, so it didn't look like a clotheline. Nope, 15. Unnecessary roughness. But you are right - it was a blow to the head, not a facemask. My bad. MDS, Pat -- I didn't see what exactly Routt did, but the ref called it a forearm to the head, which could have been the case. ABC didn't show a useful replay after I heard the call. Harrison's bordeline-clothesline they did show in slow-mo, and his arm was about at collarbone level -- just low enough that it usually wouldn't get called, even against a player with a "dirty" rep like Harrison. Rodney Harrison is very good at knowing exactly what gets flagged, and stopping just short of that. It's part of his charm. ;-) As for the 73-yard TD to Randy Moss -- I think Poole and Harrison both simply underestimated his speed. Harrison's angle and Poole's coverage were both decent against somebody not quite as fast as Moss. I don't know when (or even if) either last played against Moss, but Poole and Harrison were with other teams the last time that the Patriots did. Note that they only made that mistake once. By the way, my Kerry Collins Experiment (I need to ask if there's a way I can change my Loser League team's name to "The Kerry Collins Experiment") racked up 23 points last night, but Collins is still looking schizophrenic. I'll probably grab single-digit weeks from him versus Philly, Buffalo, and maybe even Dallas. Well, Routt definatly hit branch in the head with his forearm. Had he used his hand instead, it would have been a 5 yard hands to the face penalty, I don't know if there's an equivalent for the forearm, or if any forearm to the face is automatic 15 yards. One thing I did notice about Madden/Michaels last night - they spent a lot of time talking about footwork, and how important it is to see how a QB moves on his feet in-game, and how you can tell the quality of the QB just by looking at the feet (accompanied by replays of plays just from the knees down). I don't recall them bringing that up much before - that was at least some useful analysis. T. Wow - Peter King's Raiders/Patriots prediction: 30-24, Patriots. Not bad. Pat (#127 )-- I didn't record the game, so I can't check. My recollection was that, in likely running downs (1st and 10, 2nd and 5 or less, 3rd and short), the Raiders stacked the beef onto the line early and stuffed Dillon. It wasn't until after Brady had put up about 200 passing yards that the Pats had much success running in those situations. It could have been coincidental -- the Raiders' front seven was also tiring by then. In all, the game played out pretty much like I expected. 1-2 big plays to Moss, the Raiders D looking better but not good enough in a 4-3 front, the Pats having too much for the Raiders in the end. That punt block was awful, but not entirely surprising. One knock on Miller coming out of Pittsburgh was that he took too long to get off his kicks. And the Patriots looked shocked, shocked! that someone came after the punt. People looking for chinks to exploit may also remember the fake field goal that worked last year for Cincinatti -- do the Pats get complacent on special teams with a late lead? Seems like. Nice tackle by Izzo, though -- one blue jersey amid five silver, and he brought down the guy with the ball. I donâ€t recall them bringing that up much before - that was at least some useful analysis. I agree! I'm telling you, when's the last time you heard Joe Theismann say anything even approaching "useful"? As much as I loved hearing how Favre's interception was "just as good as a punt." How about the insightful analysis that faking a moon at Lambeau field is a disgrace to football's most sacred site. Although, apparently three turnovers by the home QB in a playoff game there is not a disgrace. I personally just figured that the Raiders DLine was getting tired by the end of the game, and that's why the Patriots. started having success on the ground. Like someone above mentioned, most of those guys are getting old. By the way, how about the schizophreic Oakland special teams? They give up big returns, but then block a PAT. They miss a FG, but then block a punt. DVOA will have an interesting time with it. Who is going to be the first person called for the horsecollar tackle? Watching the preseason, there were a few plays where it appeared to be a horsecollar, but the defensive player grabbed the outside of the jersey. It appears it's okay to grab onto the shoulderpads through the jersey, but if you grab onto them through the neck opening, you'll be penalized. It will be interesting to see if they call it if you grab through the jersey around the neck area... I think Sean Taylor will be the first one penalized for it, but upon review we'll see it was a bad call. Ray, I'm not sure, but I seem to recall that blocks are not computed in DVOA because they aren't good predictors of future success. In other words, the schizophrenic Oakland special teams will show up as "bad." Raiders defense? Improved? They rushed 3, dropped 8 into coverage, and the 8 were beaten nearly every time by just two wideouts! Their young corner, Asomugha, lead the team in tackles, meaning Brady was spending all night throwing to the guy he was covering. Pat #132: Gosh, I didn't even think about Dallas having to play Oakland this year. Oh will that be an ugly game of the immobile and slow! Tarrant #118: Actually, looking over the play-by-play, they did this twice on consecutive 4th Quarter possessions! 4th QT. 4-10-NE46 (12:09) S.Lechler punts 35 yards to NE 11, Center-A.Treu, fair catch by T.Brown.
PENALTY on OAK-R.Williams, Illegal Motion, 5 yards, enforced at NE 11. 4th QT. 4-28-NE39 (7:36) S.Lechler punts 29 yards to NE 10, Center-A.Treu, downed by OAK-R.Riddle. Andrew: The line looked better. Sapp does actually fit into a 4-3 better than a 3-4. The only problem is that it doesn't look like they can hold up for a full 4 quarters anymore. Makes sense, considering that 3 of the 4 have over 10 years in the NFL, and the last is a second-year undrafted free agent. They couldn't get any pass rush, though. Not surprising - this is New England. You're going to have to have more physical skill than those 3 have left to get to Brady in time. But they did a great job stuffing the run, in my opinion. The real problem was the secondary and linebackers. They can't play zone - at all. I said this above, but I'll say it again: on one play, a Patriot slipped and fell, and the Raider defender started towards him for a few steps before fading backwards to where the pass was being thrown. They were playing zone, not man - and he was focused on a receiver, not the QB. That's not going to work, and lo and behold, Brady was zipping passes to receivers left and right the whole evening while the defenders just stood like statues. Gosh, I didnâ€t even think about Dallas having to play Oakland this year. Oh will that be an ugly game of the immobile and slow! Watch it in Argentina. The few NFL games they play there are played at about 10-20% faster than normal speed. It'll look like a normal NFL game! The place where I was watching somehow had the volume just low enough that you couldn't pick it up above the bar noise, so I missed out on the usual blathering and Jimmy Kimmel (good) and the surprisingly insightful comments (bad). I like the "fair catch by T. Brown." It's almost like a tribute to Tim Brown. For most of the first half, the Raiders seemed to be pretty consistent in matching RB depth with play-calling; five yards or closer for a pass, six yards or deeper for a run. Or maybe I just forgot the plays where it didn't work. Didn't work so well in the second half; that was during the I-know-he's-not-open-but-I'm-throwing-it-anyway offense. It'll work much better against a slower and/or less-talented secondary. Vinatieri looked shaky on one of the other PATs as well. Anything going on with him we should know about? I was surprised that the Pats let the Raiders back in the game in the fourth quarter. Not too surprised that the Raiders let themselves back out of the game. Janikowski's missed FG earlier, by the way, was awful, although it did look like he was trying to win a bet by hooking it back through the uprights. I like Aaron's comment in the book about how he likes his safeties to have smarts/experience and his CB's to have speed/youth. With that said, Who is the best in your mind at Safety? R Harrison
R Williams
B Dawkins
E Reed I can't get enough of Harrison. I love watching his 'smarts' and seemingly being all over the field despite his age (and apparent loss of a step). That miss tackle of Moss though still baffles me. I saw Rodney coming and was expecting him to flatten Randy, welcoming him to the AFC. But instead had my friends laughing at me and my favorite player. RE: 149
why is every pats fan shocked harrison couldn't tackle randy moss? November 8, 1:26pm ET

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November 8, 10:45am ET

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