NFL 2009 Regular Season Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

Baltimore will definitely be a tough matchup for the Chargers, but that is nothing to be ashamed about. I think the Ravens have an excellent chance to get to the Super Bowl this year. Flacco should be even better this season, and the defense is still one to be feared.

I also thought it was inevitable that the Pats would win after recovering the fumble. Brady was in a groove, they had two minutes, three time outs and great field position. It would have been shocking if Buffalo had stopped them. With three time outs and the two minute warning left, an onside kick would not have been a smart move, so I wouldn't call that a brilliant decision, just the most prudent one that any smart coach should make. Of course, there are some dumb coaches out there...

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Steve_Tk

I would be shocked if the Chargers were not the underdog next week. I may have spoken too soon about chargers "easily" winning their division and the patriots lacking competition in their own division. I still think the chargers will win their division, but superbowl bound (as so many have said) doesn't appear to be so after last nights game. But, it was only game one, 15 more to go.

I have always taken that SB talk with grains of salt and now I use boulders of salt when I hear the talk. They only ray of hope I see is that under Turner this is a notoriously slow starting team and we still won the game. If we go 2-2 in the first four, it will be a good start.

Scott, as for Cromartie, he has a ton of talent and had a wonderful rookie year that has yet to be built upon. If he keeps it up, he might be available. I hope I have to eat humble pie about him soon.

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angell I have always taken that SB talk with grains of salt and now I use boulders of salt when I hear the talk. They only ray of hope I see is that under Turner this is a notoriously slow starting team and we still won the game. If we go 2-2 in the first four, it will be a good start. Scott, as for Cromartie, he has a ton of talent and had a wonderful rookie year that has yet to be built upon. If he keeps it up, he might be available. I hope I have to eat humble pie about him soon.

Johnny, I could see the Chargers having a good year (maybe even 11-5). Rivers is a very good quarterback. And from my limited (meaning I don’t know all that much about San Diego ) perspective, I think he’s a good team leader. Still, it would be good to have LT injury-free for a year, not only for the Chargers, but for the league. This kind of thing must be very tiring/frustrating for fans of the Chargers. Did anyone see no. 13 for the Bears the other night? I can’t recall his name without looking it up, but that guy ran like lightning. He’s not very big at all. He reminded me in some ways of the former punter for the Raiders, Ray Guy. His speed really surprised me. And I don’t think I’m the only one it surprised.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Ockeghem




Johnny,
I could see the Chargers having a good year (maybe even 11-5). Rivers is a very good quarterback. And from my limited (meaning I don’t know all that much about San Diego ) perspective, I think he’s a good team leader. Still, it would be good to have LT injury-free for a year, not only for the Chargers, but for the league. This kind of thing must be very tiring/frustrating for fans of the Chargers.

I agree, Rivers is top-flight. Stat-wise, I think he was the number one rated QB last year. Oh, do I agree it would be nice to have LT injury free and back in top-form. I am becoming very worried we'll never see that again.

 

[Hanson]

Okay, this isn't that important, and it's almost a week later, but it finally dawned on me why there was a direct snap called to the upback on that 4th and 8 play. I had an epiphany at lunch I wanted to share.

The normal call is, if the upback counts 12 men on the field, quicksnap to the upback. The initial criticism was that the 5 yd penalty would have just netted a 4th and 3 and they would have to kick again. Someone else suggested later, why not just quick snap to the punter and play out the kick?

The reason (as far as I can figure) is that since they are going to get a rekick anyway, might as well snap it to the upback and maybe gain enough for the first down considering the element of surprise. If you can't get it, well no harm no foul since the 12 men on the field penalty would result in a rekick. Kind of like the "free play" when the defense jumps offsides -- the QB looks downfield to air it out since any INT will be called back anyway.

Of course, the upback that night counted 12 instead of 11, so they lost the ball on downs. So don't criticize the guy for making the call. Criticize the guy for not being able to count.

 

[Jim_F]

Exactly. The announcer blew it.

The reason (as far as I can figure) is that since they are going to get a rekick anyway, might as well snap it to the upback and maybe gain enough for the first down considering the element of surprise. If you can't get it, well no harm no foul since the 12 men on the field penalty would result in a rekick.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Is Reggie Bush playing? I haven't head a thing about him.

What is everyone's pick for most exciting game this weekend? It doesn't have to be between contenders. Just what you think will be the most exciting game to watch.

 

[Ockeghem]

Johnny,

I think the Cowboys - Giants and Patriots - Jets games could be very exciting. I'm picking the Cowboys and Patriots to prevail. That being said, there are several other games that look to be very interesting this weekend.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Ockeghem

I think the Cowboys - Giants and Patriots - Jets games could be very exciting.

I agree both look good. I interested in the Pats/Jets. Like to see how the rookie Sanchez(?) qb does against the patriots.

 

[Ockeghem]

Johnny,

Well, we know that at least one player wants to 'embarrass' the Patriots, as in not only defeat them, but make them look really bad. That's what ESPN reported a couple of days ago. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Bryan X]

Pittsburgh has 3rd and 1 and goes into the shotgun formation. What's that say about their confidence in the running game/offensive line? If they want to meet expectations this year, they're going to need to address this glaring weakness.

 

[Ockeghem]

Congratulations to the Jets for a well-planned (and esp. well-executed) gameplan. They showed me a lot out there today. Much of this credit goes to Ryan, who IMO showed a lot of class during the post-game news conference.

The Lions looked oh so good in the first half of their game today. My son and I were cheering their every play, and for a while there, they looked like they had a fairly strong defense, especially against the run. But then....

 

[RobertR]

It's nice to see Denver finally display a strong defense after so many years of defensive cluelessness under Shanahan. I'm feeling better about McDaniels as a coach. The team still needs a quarterback, though.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If the Lions lose next week at home to Washington, it will be time to start the countdown to the next record for ineptitude -- Tampa Bay's 26 consecutive losses. Detroit is now at 19 straight and counting...

I missed the game today (decided to play golf instead). It sounds like Stafford struggled again, based on the conversation on the radio while driving home from the golf course.

I was surprised to see that Cincy beat Green Bay. What happened there?

I caught the very end of the Chargers - Ravens game. I'm sure that Johnny enjoyed that running play call on 4th and 2 at the end of the game. What the heck was San Diego thinking with that call?

NBC is making a big deal about the attendance in Dallas being 101,000 (an NFL record). What's the big deal? That's a small crowd at the Big House in Ann Arbor.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

BTW, I heard this morning that last night's attendance for the Cowboys game was 105,000. Still, Michigan gets more than that when they play Eastern Michigan.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Capacity at the new Cowboy stadium is about 111,000 - which would be a new attendance record if that many people could actually afford tickets in that stadium.

 

[Steve_Tk]

It is a big deal because NFL stadiums have seats, and it has 80,000 seats. The GA dome has 71250 and doesn't have all that standing room. It's easy to squeeze in more people in bleachers.

Can't believe Romo threw three picks, that lost them the game, not the Giants last drive.

 

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by Scott Merryfield

I was surprised to see that Cincy beat Green Bay. What happened there?

The Packers lost Chad Clifton (left tackle) in the 3rd quarter. That helped Antwan Odom; he got 5 sacks on Rodgers (4 after Clifton was hurt). Also, Cedric Benson ran for 100+ yards.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Scott Merryfield

In their defense, they won the previous week on a Sproles run up the middle. However, what #$%$#$% where they thinking. Surely they had to know the Ravens would look for that? Your QB has a career day and you run on 4th down? Your QB has a career day and the defense can't hold the Ravens to under 40 points?

BTW, I didn't watch the game I just knew with all those injuries and with the way they played the week before, they would lose. What a team...they could easily be 0 and 2 or 2 and 0. I guess I should be grateful for 1 and 1.

The Jets QB just may...may be the real deal. 2 games do not a career make. I enjoyed the Cowboys/Giants game, specially the end. Jeez is that a big HD screen? The economy is in the toilet but we can build a billion dollar stadium?

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angell



The economy is in the toilet but we can build a billion dollar stadium?

Not so much "we", as the NFL, Jerry Jones, and, unfortunately, local Texas taxpayers.