NFL 2009 Regular Season Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

What an embarrassing loss for the Dolphins. The Colts only have the ball for about 15 minutes the entire game and the Dolphin defense cannot even hold up for that very short period of time. Looks like Miami is back to their old ways after the promising season last year.

 

[Patrick Sun]

ESPN's sportcenter had fun with the Dolphins inept hurry-up offense at the end of the game. Even pee-wee football teams would have been better in a hurry-up offense.

 

[Hanson]

Redskins lose to the Lions!

Redsins officially the "Most Demoralized" team in the NFL. And the kicker? Haynesworth left the game with an injury after he sacked Stafford. That's right, Haynesworth is so out of shape he hurt himself getting a sack. BTW, the Lions whipped them from the start and had the lead throughout. It was not a fluky win by any stretch.

Someone on the Redskins board said it best -- in response to the thread entitled "paper bag status acheived!" (referring to the paper bags the fans wear on their heads out of shame), someone answered, "another loss like that and we'll be at plastic bag status."

 

[ThomasC]

That is the best Bengals game I have ever watched.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Jim Zorn is now officially a "dead man walking" in D.C. I wonder if he'll make it to next week's game without getting fired after losing to the Lions following a very unimpressive home win against the terrible Rams?

 

[DavidJ]

Just wanted to stop by and give a "whoo-hoo" for the LIons ending the losing streak. Now Michigan and Detroit have bettered their win totals from last year.

 

[Ockeghem]

That was a fun game to watch (Lions - Redskins). This win is very important to the franchise, and it showed. I loved what the coach did after his team won and went into the locker room. That was classy and wise, IMO.

The Detroit Lions? "You cannot stop them; you can only hope to contain them."

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Ockeghem

Speaking of which, there are certainly more very bad teams in the NFL than I remember in a long time during this era of NFL parity. Oakland, Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City and Washington are all worthy of the #1 pick in next year's draft, but only one will win the booby prize.

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Scott Merryfield ">[/url]




You should be able to post this at least a couple of more times this year, Scott. After all, the Rams and Cleveland are also on the home schedule.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Scott Merryfield
Speaking of which, there are certainly more very bad teams in the NFL than I remember in a long time during this era of NFL parity. Oakland, Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City and Washington are all worthy of the #1 pick in next year's draft, but only one will win the booby prize.

Don't forget Tampa Bay. I'm a huge Giants fan and they are very good, but that Tampa defense is dying without Kiffin. Or playmakers. And that may have been the worst offensive display in 10 years. It was truly an offensive display.

Oakland is a QB away from being a competent team. Their defense is actually pretty good and they can run the ball, but Russell may be the worst QB in the NFL. The fact that he has two rookie starting WR's who are lost out there doesn't help at all.

There's going to be a mutiny in Cleveland soon. The players absolutely HATE Mangini. Then again, that's what they said about the Giants in Coughlin's first year.

Does any team miss one player as much as the Steelers miss Polamalu? That defense just can't get it done without him, and no team is going to win consistently without a running game and a dominanting defense. The Steelers currently have neither.

I know they lost to Peyton Manning and all, but that Colts defense has no business shutting down the Cards to 10 points. Looks like all you need is a pass rush to stop their offense. After you knock Warner down a few times, he starts spraying passes all over the field. There was one point in the beginning of the 4th Q he was knocked down 12 times. Did they even attempt a running play?

DeSean Jackson is the best WR in the NFC East. Hands down. He may also be the stupidest -- he punctuated his TD catch with an endzone flip landing into a split. The thing is, he had to get a cortizone shot for a sore groin that almost sidelined him, and he was throwing up so much on the sidelines after the celebration that he had to miss a portion of the game. All that talent and rocks in your head. Such a waste.

Teams that look unstoppable right now: Giants, Ravens, & Saints. Teams that look unstoppable but aren't: Colts, Vikings, & Jets.

I may die from paroxysms of laughter if the Cowboys start their new stadium 0-2. Go Panthers! Take a page from the Giants defensive playbook and keep Romo in the pocket and don't let him step up. He is mistake prone when he stays contained. If Barber does not play (and all indications are that he won't), I predict Felix Jones will get hurt taking up the slack and will miss at least a few games. There were a few plays in the Giants game where he was really slow to get up -- on routine tackles. That guy is made of glass or something.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo Does any team miss one player as much as the Steelers miss Polamalu? That defense just can't get it done without him, and no team is going to win consistently without a running game and a dominanting defense. The Steelers currently have neither.

When is he scheduled to return?

 

[Hanson]

I believe it was a 6 week injury, so depending on Polamalu's constitution (and the Steeler's desperation) week 6 or 7. He's trying that platelet rich therapy that's gaining ground in the NFL, where they draw blood, concentrate the platelets and then spot inject the platelet rich blood in the injured area. Supposedly, the platelets are high in healing factors, so platelet concentrated blood in theory will speed up healing. Sounds about as sound as magnet therapy to me.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Yes, I forgot to add the Bucs to my list of awful teams. I thought I was missing a team. Leftwich has been demoted to 3rd string.

I am not sure the Saints are "unstoppable". I think we need to see their defense play for a few weeks before we anoint them.

I agree that the Steelers really miss Polamalu. The Bengals are improved, but the Steelers still let them move the ball more than you expect from a Pittsburgh defense. The running game looked a little better, though. It appears that Willie Parker may finally be getting healthy.

The most surprising 0-3 team has to be Tennessee.

How can Russell only have 21 passing attempts when the Raiders trailed Denver almost the entire game? It sounds like he was terrible (61 yards passing, 2 interceptions), but I would have expected more passing attempts.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Scott Merryfield

I am not sure the Saints are "unstoppable". I think we need to see their defense play for a few weeks before we anoint them.

From where I sit, I see a team that can destroy you through the air and then, if you try to shut down the passing game, can hit homeruns on the ground. And when Bell heals up, they'll have two homerun hitting RB's like Carolina, only they have better receivers and a much, much better QB. McNabb or not, that Eagles offense with DeSean Jackson is pretty deadly, and the Saints blew them away.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Remember last year when DeSean Jackson in the Cowboys game dropped the ball on the 2 yard line, before actually entering the end zone, because he wanted to go ahead and start his end zone celebration to let us all know how good he is. He had rocks for brains at Cal, and it seems he will never learn.

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo




From where I sit, I see a team that can destroy you through the air and then, if you try to shut down the passing game, can hit homeruns on the ground. And when Bell heals up, they'll have two homerun hitting RB's like Carolina, only they have better receivers and a much, much better QB. McNabb or not, that Eagles offense with DeSean Jackson is pretty deadly, and the Saints blew them away.

Hanson,

I have been scratching my head over that game (Eagles - Saints) in Week 2 for several days. I think it was the arguably the most surprising result of that week. I realize McNabb is a very good quarterback, but still, I was very surprised by that score (48-22). It wasn't unlike the Patriots - Cowboys game of 2007, except that I believe there was more of a running game. The Eagles don't often play that badly -- or was that really the reason? Another explanation could be that the Saints are that good.* I think I will have to see how New Orleans handles the Jets in Week 4, and then the Giants in Week 6. If they win those two games relatively handily (i.e., no Denver - Cincinnati endings, in other words), then I will gladly hop on this bandwagon.

Concerning tonight's game, I can't see any way that the Panthers come away with a victory. No way. But that doesn't mean I would mind being wrong.

Does anyone have the early spread on next week's Ravens - Patriots game? I would not be surprised if the Patriots were home underdogs -- how often has that happened in the past three or four years, excluding when The Franchise (= 'The Legend' in our home) took over for Tom Brady last year? I am thinking that the Ravens would be at least two point favorites at this point, and maybe 2 1/2, since a push guarantees very few winners.

*This is somewhat difficult for me to accept. I still have memories of Tom Dempsey, Steve Ramsey, and (later) Archie Manning etched in my Saints consciousness. (That shining moment, 19-17 over the Lions, did not wipe away their horrendous record for that year.) This means that I can't really believe that the Saints could ever be that good. That being said, seeing the Saints battle in the post-season would be a treat for me. I do hope they are that good. And I hope they defeat both the Jets and the Giants.

Have a peek at the Lions record that year -- not too shabby.

http://football.about.com/library/weekly/bl_nflstandings1970.htm

 

[Hanson]

The scenario for Panthers victory (all doable):

1) Run the ball!
2) Protect Delhomme and allow him to get the ball to Steve Smith (who will be open ALL DAY)
3) Don't let Felix Jones run for a 76 yd TD
4) Contain Romo in the pocket

I think the absence of Barber will affect that ground game, since he's the rare workhorse back who can get loose for big gains. Jones is fragile and they must limit his touches and Choice is just an average RB and won't reel off 20 yard scampers like the other two. So they will pass more than they did in the Giants game, and if they can keep Romo from getting out of the pocket or stepping up in the pocket, he won't be any more effective than he was last week.

I think whomever gets up by two scores first will win, but I can definitely see Carolina winning this game.

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

The scenario for Panthers victory (all doable):

1) Run the ball!
2) Protect Delhomme and allow him to get the ball to Steve Smith (who will be open ALL DAY)
3) Don't let Felix Jones run for a 76 yd TD
4) Contain Romo in the pocket

I think the absence of Barber will affect that ground game, since he's the rare workhorse back who can get loose for big gains. Jones is fragile and they must limit his touches and Choice is just an average RB and won't reel off 20 yard scampers like the other two. So they will pass more than they did in the Giants game, and if they can keep Romo from getting out of the pocket or stepping up in the pocket, he won't be any more effective than he was last week.

I think whomever gets up by two scores first will win, but I can definitely see Carolina winning this game.

I'd love for the Panthers to win this game. The ESPN line is currently 6 points -- and I think Dallas will cover that. I don't know if the Gold Sheet has it any differently. We'll see. In all of my years (around forty) picking the card, I've only won it a handful of times.

 

[Ockeghem]

Why didn't the Panthers run the ball last night? Even the announcers were emphasizing this point in the third and fourth quarters. It seemed as though Carolina was in desperation mode from the start of the second half.

 

[Hanson]

Ah, hell -- 4 minutes to go, trailing by 6, and the Panthers couldn't mount a go ahead drive. Thanks for breaking the wrong way out of your route, Steve Smith -- way to leave your QB out to dry.

BTW, should we be calling the New York Giants Steve Smith the "other Steve Smith" anymore?

2009
Steve Smith, CAR
Rec Yd TD
15 190 0

Steve Smith, NYG
Rec Yd TD
23 277 2

vs Dallas
Steve Smith, CAR
Rec Yd TD
4 38 0

Steve Smith, NYG
Rec Yd TD
10 134 1

Well, I got one thing right in my prediction -- Felix Jones is fragile. New is that he can't "loosen his knee", another way to say it's locked up. That's a symptom of a meniscus tear. That could be a season-ender.

http://home.comcast.net/~hanson68/caps/jonesglass.jpg">[/url]
A toast to Felix Jones' durability!

Oh BTW, the Redskins are releasing a new helmet logo. The design was leaked online after the loss to the Lions: