NFL 2011 Regular Season Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[RobertR]

at the Broncos finishing 2nd. They'll finish last in the West regardless of who plays QB.

I think they should start Tebow and settle the question of how good he is once and for all. I'm tired of the debate. No one thinks Orton is a QB to build a team around.

 

[Patrick_S]

My pick is more an indictment of San Diego slipping than the Broncos being good. This is the 2nd weakest division in the league -- behind the NFC West -- so it will not take much to finish 2nd.

Still an incredibly poor pick since the Broncos were 4-12 last season and finished in last place four games behind the next team. They have not done enough to think they will be much better then cellar dwellers again this year. I figure it will be a contest between them and the Raiders for last but I would give the edge to the Broncos being the worst of those two teams.

 

[Johnny Angell]

AFC West 1. Chiefs -- best of a weak division 2. Broncos -- will finish lower if Tebow plays QB 3. Chargers -- will they finally fire Norv Turner? 4. Raiders -- new coach, same team

Let's see, Turner won 2 playoff games his first year, 1 his second year, 0 his third year, and didn't make the playoffs his 4th year. Despite this definite trend, Charger management is apparently satisfied. His real strength is as an offensive coordinator and he's never going to be a championship head coach. But since management is satisfied with not winning it all, I'd say they are never going to fire him. There's talk this is a do-or-die year for him, but that's not the trend of management in SD. They fired MartyS after a 14-2 season, not because he couldn't win a playoff game, but because he wouldn't do as he was told. Having said that, I think the chargers have improved themselves in the off-season and have the talent to win the West again. Special teams can't be that bad again, can they?

 

[Malcolm R]

AFC West 4. Raiders -- new coach, same team

Same owner, too.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Still an incredibly poor pick since the Broncos were 4-12 last season and finished in last place four games behind the next team. They have not done enough to think they will be much better then cellar dwellers again this year. I figure it will be a contest between them and the Raiders for last but I would give the edge to the Broncos being the worst of those two teams.

The pick may be a stretch, but "incredibly poor"? That would be picking the Bengals to win the Super Bowl. Anyway, my viewpoint is that the Raiders will be horrible, so the Broncos just need to beat out the Chargers for 2nd place, and San Diego has gotten worse every year under Turner (as Johnny pointed out). Oakland lost three of their best players to free agency -- Asomugha, Zach Miller, and Robert Gallery. They also have the worst starting QB in the division, now that Denver is not trading Orton.

 

[Ockeghem]

Well, the Lions made some good moves after they received word that M. Leshoure would be out for the year. I don't know all that much about either Harrison or Bell, but from what I'm hearing this morning, they will be welcome additions to the roster. Now if the Lions could solidify that offensive line, they'd be in relatively decent shape for the start of the season. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6846542/detroit-lions-sign-jerome-harrison-mike-bell

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It's really a shame about the Leshoure injury. Achilles injuries are career-threatening, so this young player could possibly be done before his career ever got started. Neither of the running backs are word beaters, but Mike Bell should be able to fill in for the role that Leshoure was slated for -- inside running presence and short yardage. He's a decent blocker, too, so he can help in pass protection. Harrison has been a tease his entire career -- he had a 275+ yard game against the Chiefs once, but has either been hurt or inconsistent. He's smaller, so would probably be considered as more a backup for Best instead of a replacement for Leshoure. As you said, though, everything depends on the offensive line. Their top three tackles have all been hurt at the start of training camp, and there is not much depth at any of the OL positions.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I watched a little of the Pittsburgh - Philly preseason game last night, and was surprised by the condition of Byron Leftwich. I remember him as a slow tub of goo during his time in Jacksonville. Last night he looked trim and fit, and seemed to move better in the pocket. Did he finally decide to get in shape, or his my memory of him with the Jags distorted (I didn't see them play very often)?

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott, I watched about a half of that game as well. The Redskins looked much better than they did last year, but it's really tough to gauge since this is the pre-season. BTW, your favorite quarterback -- Batch -- was out there for a time!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I didn't know Batch was still with Pittsburgh. I always liked him when he was in Detroit. Charlie was a smart QB who just didn't have the physical skills to be a full-time starter. He's one of the QB's I always wanted to do a Frankenstein type of experiment with -- putting his brain in Scott Mitchell's body. Mitchell had all the physical tools to be a fine QB, but there was a huge void between the ears.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Raiders selected Terrell Pryor in the 3rd round of today's supplemental draft, giving up their 3rd round pick in next year's draft. A couple of comments:

1. With Matt Millen gone, I figured the only GM dumb enough to waste anything more than a late round pick on Pryor would be Al Davis. Way to go, Al!
2. Based on the rookie scale used to sign picks from April's draft, Pryor would be expected to get a four-year deal at $2.36 million, including a $591,000 signing bonus. I honestly do not know how he will handle the pay cut from Ohio State!

 

[dmiller68]

I still think the Seahawks have two major issues....


We need a QB! Although I think Charlie maybe the best option we have at this point.

We need a healthy O-Line! I'm sick of injuries!

 

[Dheiner]

Is anyone here interested in fantasy football?

 

[DavidJ]

Is anyone here interested in fantasy football?

I think someone tried to get a league going last year, but didnt get enough responses. I'd be game if we got the numbers for an HTF league.

 

[dmiller68]

I would play in anther league if one gets setup.

 

[DavidJ]

Michael Warner has set up a league. http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/314317/htf-fantasy-football#post_3845197

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The regular season begins tonight! After going through the entire preseason, I decided to alter my preseason predictions a little (hey, it's my thread, so it's my rules ) NFC North 1. Packers -- still the best in the division 2. Bears -- could finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th 3. Lions -- still one more good offseason away. Running game is a concern 4. Vikings -- headed in the wrong direction NFC East 1. Eagles -- going for broke with all the acquisitions. Still have weakness at LB and OL, so backing off Super Bowl prediction 2. Cowboys -- moving them ahead of NY 3. Giants -- too many preseason injuries 4. Redskins -- a disaster NFC South 1. Saints -- tough to pick the top 3 in this division 2. Falcons 3. Bucs 4. Panthers -- better than last year, but play in tough division NFC West 1. Rams -- going against my theory of young teams being at a disadvantage 2. Seahawks -- 2nd place by default 3. Cardinals -- keep losing players from Super Bowl team. Unproven QB. 4. 49ers -- Poor Jim Harbaugh Wildcard: Falcons, Cowboys AFC North 1. Steelers -- have questions on OL 2. Ravens -- purged numerous veterans 3. Browns -- 3rd by default 4. Bengals -- another disaster AFC East 1. Patriots -- added enough to stay ahead of NY 2. Jets -- still a bridesmaid 3. Bills -- 3rd by default 4. Dolphins -- yet another disaster in the making AFC South 1. Texans -- the Colts have to not win the division eventually 2. Colts -- team getting older. Manning injury kills their playoff hopes 3. Titans -- moving above Jax 4. Jags -- release starting QB just before 1st game again! AFC West 1. Chargers -- win a weak division despite Norv due to talent 2. Broncos -- will finish lower if Tebow plays QB 3. Chiefs -- preseason may not mean a lot, but KC looked awful 4. Raiders -- new coach, same team Wildcard: Jets, Ravens Super Bowl: Saints over Patriots #1 draft pick: Redskins, beating out Cincinnati and Miami

 

[Ockeghem]

Well, a couple of surprises the first two weeks of the NFL season. I thought the Ravens would go to 2-0, but one never knows in the NFL. I think the Lions will be 10-6 this year (my son thinks they'll be 11-5). They have some tough games ahead of them, but they're looking good, and more importantly, I think they believe in themselves (and in Schwartz). The Pats looked okay the first two weeks. I don't like their defense, but I am hoping that it gets much better as the season moves forward. A battle of two 2-0 teams next week (New England at Buffalo) will be interesting.

 

[Malcolm R]

The new "score replay" rule just got more bizarre this week with the nonsensical review of the final interception in the Buffalo-Raiders game (which was clearly an interception), and the non-review of the Sproles scoring play in the Saints game where every TV replay shows he clearly stepped out of bounds before the goal line. If they're going to be that inconsistent and bizarre in deciding what gets reviewed and what does not, Coaches should still have the ability to challenge scoring plays that they feel should be reviewed if the "replay official" does not ask for the review.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I thought the chargers 2 TD loss to NE accurately places them in the league. NE is 1st tier and sd is 2nd tier. "So it is written. So let it be done." As for the scoring replay, the announcers have been saying it is required, not optional. It's new so maybe there's a kink or two to work out.