2013 NFL Season Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

And the Lions are alone in first place. With Aaron Rodgers down, the division has to be theirs for the taking.

The Lions have been given gifts by the opposing coaching staff in their last two games. First, the Cowboys bizarre play calling gave Detroit the chance to overcome a bunch of turnovers and make a miracle comeback, and then this past Sunday the Bears insisted on playing an obviously ailing Jay Cutler until their final possession. That not only resulted in a two-point loss, but also aggravated Culter's injury so he will miss the next several weeks.

For once Detroit's luck as been all good this year so far. Along with the above gifts, they have avoided the rash of major injuries that have plagued their top division rivals. The Packers, especially, have been ravaged by injuries. Not just Rodgers, but also key contributors Finley, Cobb, Nelson and Clay Mathews are all out (Nelson just got back). The only significant injury for Detroit has been Nate Burleson.

 

[Ockeghem]

It probably won't happen for a variety of reasons, but I wouldn't mind seeing Reed wearing a New England Patriots uniform.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9965883/houston-texans-release-ed-reed

 

[Patrick_S]

Former Raider Tight End Todd Christensen died today, he was only 57.He was pretty good back in the day setting the then record for tight end receptions in a season with 95.

 

[Dheiner]

The Lions have been given gifts by the opposing coaching staff in their last two games. First, the Cowboys bizarre play calling gave Detroit the chance to overcome a bunch of turnovers and make a miracle comeback, and then this past Sunday the Bears insisted on playing an obviously ailing Jay Cutler until their final possession. That not only resulted in a two-point loss, but also aggravated Culter's injury so he will miss the next several weeks.

For once Detroit's luck as been all good this year so far. Along with the above gifts, they have avoided the rash of major injuries that have plagued their top division rivals. The Packers, especially, have been ravaged by injuries. Not just Rodgers, but also key contributors Finley, Cobb, Nelson and Clay Mathews are all out (Nelson just got back). The only significant injury for Detroit has been Nate Burleson.

I'm gonna whine a little bit, cause you missed a couple....Bulaga and Sherrod (Last 2 O-line 1st round tackles) have been out all year. Dietrich Smith (center, just out last week and probably more), Hayward (Last years' Rookie CB, led GB in picks, has played like 1 game), Jones (ILB out most of the year),, Worthy (Last year No 1 pick out most of the year) Other Jones(This years No 1 pick, missed most of the year, so far)....

They have been playing most of the year without their LAST 5 first round picks, due to injury.

 

[Patrick_S]

What were the Lions thinking with the fake field goal?The Raiders actually win a road game with a QB making his fist start. Probably more of a statement on how bad Houston is playing although he Raides D has been a mild surprise this year.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

What were the Lions thinking with the fake field goal?The Raiders actually win a road game with a QB making his fist start. Probably more of a statement on how bad Houston is playing although he Raiders D has been a mild surprise this year.

Being a Steeler fan first, and a Lions fan 2nd, I really enjoyed that call. Asking your rookie punter to run through the Steelers line in wet, rainy conditions instead of tying the game with a FG sounds like a splendid idea to me. Only throwing the ball to Calvin Johnson once in the 2nd half (an interception) after he had 179 yards and 2 TDs in the first half was also a superb decision. I know Pittsburgh made some adjustments in coverage on CJ, but you still need to force a few passes in there. The rest of the receivers are really bad.

I cannot believe how bad the Texans are this year. I expected them to take a step back, but not fall off the cliff!

 

[Walter Kittel]

I cannot believe how bad the Texans are this year. I expected them to take a step back, but not fall off the cliff!

The season has been pretty unbelievable for me. I really thought at the beginning of the season that they had a legitimate shot at improving on last season's fine performance, but they have just imploded. I look at guys like J.J. Watt and Andre Johnson and how incredibly frustrated they must be feeling and it makes me fear an exodus of talent from the team. Of course that depends upon the contract situations I suppose. (Not exactly my field of expertise.) This season cannot end soon enough for the Texans.

- Walter.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Maybe instead of having the Pro Bowl they can stage a Shockingly Bad Bowl between Houston and Atlanta.

 

[schan1269]

Maybe they invite those two to join in with the BCS playoff...to determine if once and for all...No matter how bad the pro team is...they can still beat college....

 

[Malcolm R]

Maybe instead of having the Pro Bowl they can stage a Shockingly Bad Bowl between Houston and Atlanta.

Not an entirely bad idea. Pit the two worst teams in the league against each other to see who is truly the worst of the worst. Whoever wins the game (which, I guess, would end up being the second-to-worst team) is awarded the #1 draft pick.

It would probably result in a better football game than the Pro Bowl, since the draft pick would be up for grabs and no one would want to lose and be definitively labeled the "worst NFL team of the year."

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Maybe instead of having the Pro Bowl they can stage a Shockingly Bad Bowl between Houston and Atlanta.

Yeah, Atlanta's demise has been even more surprising than Houston's. They just got blown out by Tampa, who just last week won its first game. The Texans, though, do still have two chances to equal that low, as they have yet to play division cellar rival Jacksonville yet. I just checked, and one of those games is actually a prime time Thursday night game. I'lll be going to bed early that night.

 

[Patrick Sun]

ATL would lose a match-up against the Texans, the Falcons are pathetic this year.

Basically the Falcons lost both starting wide receivers (Julio is out, Roddy is gimpy), plus the linebacker play is suspect, the D-line doesn't even hurry QBs, and the offensive line is truly offensive in their lack of blocking, compound that with a gimpy Steven Jackson, and a lot of penalties, it's been a wasted season all-around.

 

[Walter C]

Even though the Eagles relaxed a little too much in the end, they finally won a home game, and 1st place in the division! And to think, this was suppose to be a season of tanking.

And Andy Reid loses his first game as Chiefs head coach, and I think, the first time he has lost after a bye.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Even though the Eagles relaxed a little too much in the end, they finally won a home game, and 1st place in the division! And to think, this was suppose to be a season of tanking.

And Andy Reid loses his first game as Chiefs head coach, and I think, the first time he has lost after a bye.

That division is so bad this season that a team could be in "tank" mode and still win the division!

 

[Patrick_S]

Been reading other NFL forums, got to love the irony of Pats fans bitching about a bad call costing them the game.

 

[Malcolm R]

I'm something of a Pats fan, but I don't really think it was a bad call. There's no way Gronk was going to catch a ball that was intercepted five yards in front of him, even if he wasn't interfered with.

If the Pats had cared to play better during the other 59:55 of the game, they wouldn't have had to count on the judgment of the officials in the last 5 seconds.

That said, there are many cases each week where the officials DO enforce interference penalties on obviously uncatchable balls. I think the key here is the interception. If it was not intercepted, they likely would have got the penalty and had one more play from the 1-yard line. So I blame Brady more than the officials.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

It was a terrible call. If you look at the video, it's very clear that the reason Gronk was 5 yards away from the ball was because Kuechly pushed him there. When Kuechly initiated the contact, Gronk was closer to where the ball was coming than Lester (who caught it) was.

No argument about them playing better for the other 59:57, though.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I did not see the play, but the idea of whether a ball is "uncatchable" is always tough. You cannot just go by how far away the receiver is from the pass, because who is to say that the interference wasn't the reason the player was so far away. From that 2nd photo Aaron posted, it sure looks like the Panther defender is severely impeding Gronk's pass route.

It sounds like it was quite a game. Too bad these prime time games end so late -- they are past my bedtime, so I never see them.

 

[Jacinto]

Tough call to make. Even if Kuechly had not grabbed Gronk, he still had inside positioning on him, meaning Gronk would have had to fight through Kuechly and Lester to get to that pass. Look at Lester -- he's watching Brady the entire time and already moving forward while Gronk is just starting to slow down from running toward the back of the endzone. There is absolutely no way Lester is not the first to the ball regardless of what happens behind him. Had Brady put the pass high for his monster of a TE, Gronk would at least have had a play at the ball, and if he hadn't caught it, interference would have no doubt been called. Putting it where he did, though, there was no way the ball was making it past Lester. Was there contact? Plenty. Could Gronkowski have gotten to the ball without the contact? Not in my mind.

 

[RobertR]

Brady admitted he underthrew the ball because he was afraid of throwing it out of the end zone. It would seem very unlikely that Gronk could have come back to the ball and caught it, given all the defenders around him.