NFL 2012 Season Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Dan Reeves was asked which of the 3 QBs he would have drafted in 2012, and he went with Andrew Luck because RGIII ran too much, and would get hurt in the long run. Shananhan will have to revamp RGIIIs running in 2013 if he wants him to play with 2 good legs in the play-offs.

 

[schan1269]

Like the Seahawks use Wilson. I actually think Wilson throws a better ball.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Dan Reeves was asked which of the 3 QBs he would have drafted in 2012, and he went with Andrew Luck because RGIII ran too much, and would get hurt in the long run. Shananhan will have to revamp RGIIIs running in 2013 if he wants him to play with 2 good legs in the play-offs.

That is the issue with any mobile QB in the NFL. While it's tougher for a defense to game plan against, it exposes your most valuable player to a lot of extra hits. I fear for Russell Wilson when he's running around, too, especially considering his size. I'm not sure that small body can take the abuse of 280lb linebackers and 300+lb linemen pounding on him so much.

 

[Patrick Sun]

With the running QBs making the defense look bad, it makes you wonder if they get in some extra smushing activities when they finally tackle them.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Guys like Russell Wilson and RG3 will learn soon enough to stop all the scrambling. Because if they don't, they will constantly be getting injured. Just ask Michael Vick.

 

[Malcolm R]

Wilson doesn't just scramble, he also blocks after passing the ball. There were a couple of times last weekend when he passed the ball, then streaked past his receiver to throw a block down field. Very impressive, but not sure if I was the coach that I'd want my QB potentially getting hurt by becoming an extra blocker.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Dallas has fired DC Rob Ryan. Considering all the injuries on defense, I thought he was doing a good job. Ryan was not the problem in Dallas.

 

[RobertR]

Dallas has fired DC Rob Ryan. Considering all the injuries on defense, I thought he was doing a good job. Ryan was not the problem in Dallas.

But firing him does give people the impression the team is "doing something" to improve itself. Giving such an impression seems important.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The Eagles interviewed Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly for their HC opening. What are the chances this is just a ploy by Kelly to get a contract extension out of ND, like Les Miles recently did at LSU?

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott, Although Brian Kelly (with the exception of his seventeen-year position early in his career) seems to like three-year stints, I believe he will stay put. I don't know if this is a contract-related (either an extension or money or both) ploy on his part, but I suppose it could be. I think he should at least go through the interview process (just to see what an NFL interview is like) whether or not he intends to take an NFL head coaching position. One talk show host I was listening to this morning remarked that some people just like to get their names in the paper as often as they can due to their egos, and he counted Kelly among those of this ilk. I don't follow Brian Kelly's goings-on so I don't know much about his mindset. But as his team was recently blown out in their most important game by Alabama, maybe he believes he has reached the pinnacle in the college ranks?

 

[Patrick_S]

I hope "Toast" Bailey enjoys his Pro Bowl. The way he was covering today I think mentally he was already playing the Pro Bowl game.

 

[Ockeghem]

Wow. What a great, gritty win by Baltimore today. I picked Denver to win the game, but as I wrote in my post above, I really wanted the Ravens to win this game for selfish reasons. Now I'd better be careful for what I wished for, and that the Patriots don't look past Houston tomorrow night. Goodness, could the Ravens actually go all the way this year? I would not have thought this possible after they dropped to 9-5 (from 9-2) just a few weeks ago.

 

[Jim Mcc]

OH, how I LOVE to see the Packers lose !!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I still do not see Baltimore going all the way. Denver turned the ball over too much, and gave up too many big plays. I doubt that will happen next week against the Pats or Texans. It looks like Harbaugh's critics were silenced last night. He took a lot of criticism for his benching of Alex Smith for Kaepernick, and the young QB really shined last night. In off the field news, big surprise -- Brian Kelly is going to get a raise and extension at ND, so he is no longer interested in the NFL (until next year, of course ).

 

[Ockeghem]

Well, my picks were spot on for Saturday's games. One home team won, and one road team won. Ooops. Seriously, I know that just about anything can happen in the NFL, which makes just about every game so appealing to me, whether it's the regular season or the playoffs. As for Sunday's games, I have no confidence in Atlanta's ability to win in the playoffs, until I actually see it happen. Does anyone really think that the Falcons -- should they defeat Seattle -- have any chance against the 49ers juggernaut that showed up last night? I don't. But I do think that the Seahawks have at least a shot at it if they defeat Atlanta. In my opinion, defense cannot be overestimated in the NFL, and especially not in the playoffs. The 49ers, Seahawks, and Ravens have good-to-excellent defenses. New England's defense got a lot better this year compared to last, but it's not up there with the aforementioned three teams. And neither is that of the Falcons. As far as the Houston - New England game, I've been hoping that the Patriots could remain in Foxboro and not have to travel for any of their games leading up to New Orleans. This will occur if they take care of business against the Texans. Assuming that this happens, I still won't be one bit surprised if they somehow lose to the Ravens in the ensuing weeks. Such is the wonder of the NFL. The results often leave me scratching my head, and the best and most consistent teams throughout the season do not always win the Super Bowl.

 

[Jacinto]

Thoughts from the Broncos/Ravens game: Definitely the coldest game I've ever sat through -- and it went to second overtime! Incredibly unfocused, sloppy game by the Broncos. There was a symphony of bad plays, bad calls, and bad playcalling that doomed this team last night. Change any one or two of those and the home team wins. I knew the Broncos were going to lose by the attitudes of the defense when they were on the sidelines (my seats are behind the bench in the lowest section). They were smiling, laughing with each other, patting each other on the back. There was absolutely no intensity or focus in their behavior. No captain pulled them together and gave them a tongue-lashing for blown plays and stupid penalties -- nothing at all like that. It's one thing to behave like that when your team clearly has a game in-hand, but they were never up by more than 1 score the entire game. When they forced Baltimore to punt in the last few minutes of the 4th, they came off the field and passed out hugs to each other and congratulations as though the game was over now that Manning had the ball back. Well, guess what, the offense didn't pick up the necessary second 1st down to ice the game (due to weak execution and way too conservative playcalling for playoff football), so they had to head back out on the field after already celebrating their win. We all saw what happened after that. Lone bright spot was Holliday's return game; absolutely nuts in the stadium for those returns. Has a team ever scored 2 special teams touchdowns at home in the playoffs and lost before? Pathetic. Hats off to the Ravens for making the most of every chance they got, but those opportunities only existed because the Broncos did not have their collective head in the game. Packers/49ers: Missed the entire first half due to the running time of the Broncos game and traffic getting home from the stadium. Kaepernick was electric. Loved how aggressive Harbaugh's gameplan was (I hope you learned something John Fox). Packers looked alright, but they just couldn't match the power of the 49ers. Looking forward to the two games today; sometimes playoff football can be more enjoyable (certainly more objective) when your team isn't playing!

 

[Johnny Angell]

One of the db's involved in that successful Hail Mary, Rahim Moore, was quoted in my morning paper as saying "The loss, it was my fault. I got a little too happy." Jacinto, that confirms your observations. BTW, ESPN's NFL Sunday Countdown noted that Peyton has more first game playoff losses (8) in the SB era than any other QB. You seldom see this mentioned, but it can't be avoided. For all the regular season success, for all the times in the playoffs, Manning often does poorly in the post season. BTW, I caught it before submitting, auto correct changed Jacinto to Macintosh. Go figure. This game reminded me of the chargers in he playoffs. Making plays that should win the game, but finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. You can argue that the Ravens won the game, but I think it was on a silver platter for the Broncos to win, and they blew it. I was rooting for them, BTW.

 

[Ockeghem]

I went 1-3 this weekend (4-4 overall). I was very surprised that the Falcons won their game. They almost let it slip away, but they hung on (they 'didn't flinch') and managed to win a big one. I am happy for them and their fans. I don't know how they will fare against San Francisco next weekend. Thankfully for the Falcons, they will be playing that game at home. I believe that the Seahawks would have given the 49ers a better game, but maybe I'll be wrong next weekend. The Seahawks were the only undefeated team at home this season. If they ever get a first-round bye, watch out. They are formidable so long as they are not playing away from home, where they were only 3-5 during the regular season. Their rally today was quite impressive to see, even though it fell just a bit short. My picks for the AFC and NFC Championship games are in boldface: AFC Championship Game: Baltimore at New England (Regardless of who wins this game, I will be rooting for the winner to win the Super Bowl this year) NFC Championship Game: San Francisco at Atlanta

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Considering that the last two seasons I was 50/50 in the first two rounds with my predictions, it should have been obvious that I would go 1-3 last weekend after going 3-1 the first week. Atlanta really dodged a bullet with that last second field goal, recovering from one of the biggest choke jobs in NFL playoff history. If the Seahawks play calling and clock management were better in the first half, they would have won the game anyway. I am taking the 49ers and Patriots this weekend.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott, I'm picking New England and San Francisco as well, but I will not be one bit surprised if the Ravens defeat New England this weekend. They match up really well with the Patriots, and have a very good game plan when playing them. Right now, the 49ers are favored by 3.5 points over the Falcons. This is the largest deficit for a 'home dog' in thirty years in the playoffs according to a sports program I'm listening to currently. New England is favored by 9.5 points over the Ravens. I feel this is much too generous, and I believe that the Patriots - Ravens game will be much closer than that.