2007-2008 NFL season discussion thread (1 Viewer)

[Patrick_S]

Washington over Arizona
New Orleans over Atlanta
Baltimore over Buffalo
Dallas over Minnesota
New England over Miami
NY Giants over San Francisco
Tampa Bay over Detroit
Tennessee over Houston
Raiders over Kansas City
Cincinnati over NY Jets
Philadelphia over Chicago
Seattle over St. Louis
Pittsburgh over Denver
Indianapolis over Jacksonville

 

[Bob_Chase]

This is my primary concern. Where he used to stick and wrap a guy, he's now delivering a glancing blow. I have to do everything in my power not to put my foot through my new plasma.

Secondary is his complete inability to defense the pass.

As much as I hate to say it, I think this is the area that needs to be addressed in next years draft.

 

[Malcolm R]

New England 42 - Miami 7 at halftime. Should NE refuse to play the second half? Just imagine the outcry if they score any more points.

 

[Brandon_T]

 

[ZacharyTait]

What the hell was that?!? I've never seen an onside kick like that!

 

[Brandon_T]

That was a pretty creative onside kick by Tampa Bay. Nice to see the Lions getting Calvin Johnson involved more on the offense. It is pretty amazing to see how big he is when he is next to other players. Did you see the stiff arm he put on the Tampa linebacker during his end around touchdown run? He is going to be pretty good I think.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Having seen Calvin Johnson play his collegiate ball at Georgia Tech for many years (basically propping up the Tech offense and Reggie Ball), I knew he was a can't-miss prospect (he's a "big" 6'5", not skinny), and I wonder if the Raiders regret not drafting Calvin, and then settle for a "lesser" QB pick.

 

[Brian Perry]

The Bears pulled one out today...Griese leads a remarkable 97-yard TD drive with 1:30 to go and no time outs.

There was a ruling that helped the Bears earlier in the game that is puzzling me. The Bears snapped the ball but it zipped right past Griese and the Eagles chased it down for an apparent turnover. The referee gave the ball back to the Bears and stated that if the QB never touches the snap, it is a false start penalty and the play is dead.

Is this a new rule? I've seen countless snaps that go over the QB's head (in the shotgun position), and they always result in a mad scramble for the ball. I've never seen them call the play dead.

 

[Brandon_T]

That is curious Brian. I have never heard that one before either, but then I am no official to be sure. I couldn't believe when I saw that the Bears pulled ahead at the end there. Nice victory! The rematch between the Lions and Bears should be a good one.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The same thing happened to the Falcons (the ball sailed over Joey Harrington's head in shotgun formation, and Warrick Dunn chased it down for a loss on the play). No idea why the ref ruled the hiked ball to Griese as a dead ball.

 

[Mike Williams]

Chuck, are you sure you're not talking about Roy Williams. Darren Woodson couldn't have pulled up on Shockey in game one this year, since Woodson retired two seasons ago and became a frequent voice on NFL Network.

 

[Shane Martin]

Not when they gave Roy a bunch of cash this past Offseason. Hamlin is doing an OK job at FS but I think the future at that position is still Pat Watkins.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I've never heard of such a rule. That sounds very strange.

There was another strange call regarding the "tuck" rule in the Detroit - Tampa game. Garcia was attempting a backwards pass -- i.e. a lateral -- when the ball slipped loose and hit the ground. Detroit recovered the ball and it was ruled a fumble on the field. However, instant replay overturned the ruling, with the official stating that the QB's arm was going forward.

Well, since he was throwing the ball backwards, it seemed logical to me (and the announcers) that the tuck rule would not come into play. Evidently, that's not the case.

 

[Brandon_T]

I think the officials got that one wrong as well. Yesterdays game was not one of the better ones in terms of officiating this year for Lions games. I've watched that Calvin Johnson run a couple of times and he just never looks to be going very fast, he has such long strides its just different watching him.

Nice to see Priest Holmes on the field again, even if he isn't the same, never like to see a guy have to retire because of injury.

 

[Dheiner]

What I was confused about was what made Hoculi remove a minute from the Eagles-Bears game.

 

[Brandon_T]

The Giants are third in total points at 187, the Cowboys crush that with 227 total points and the Patriots are first with a sick 279 and only 120 points allowed. St. Louis, Buffalo and San Francisco don't have that many points..combined. Brady is on pace to break the TD record by week 13 or 14 they were saying. Just an amazing year.

The Lions showed yesterday that they can now run the ball with the Kevin Jones/TJ Duckett combination. Hey, only two more wins the rest of the way for them to meet Scott's expectations! Seriously though Scott, what will it take for you to think that they are an improved team this year, or for you to feel that they are going in the right direction? I personally think Marinelli is a good coach and with some more talent he could actually lead them to the playoffs next year!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Brandon,

I want to see them win a game that they have not been able to in the past -- such as the road trips to Philly and Washington. They have another opportunity this week to convince me at Chicago. While the Lions won yesterday, they were not overly impressive. Tampa gave that game away, between the fumbled snaps/handoffs (those were not turnovers forced by Detroit's defense) and poor special teams play. I expect Detroit to lose to the Bears next weekend.

While I like the coaching staff, my lack of optimism is due to the talent on the roster, not the talent of the coaching staff. Millen's had seven years to accumulate players, and there are very few play makers on this team -- Calvin Johnson, Roy Williams, Ernie Sims and maybe Kevin Jones. Both lines are mediocre at best, and the secondary is terrible.

If Marinelli had some better players, I would feel better about their future. I simply have no confidence in Millen's ability to acquire those players, and Millen's not going anywhere. This year alone the team had four picks in the first two rounds of the draft, and only one of those four players (CJ) has contributed at all. And it's hard to give Millen credit for that pick, since Johnson was the #1 rated talent in the draft.

Regarding the Patriots, they look about as unbeatable as any NFL team I can remember. It's pretty amazing that they are doing this with almost no running game.

At the other end of the spectrum, Miami looks to be very capable of being the first team to go 0-16 in a single season (Tampa's winless season was during the era of 14 game seasons). They may have lost their only offensive weapon in Ronnie Brown yesterday to a knee injury.

 

[Malcolm R]

It's my understanding that the difference is that the QB was under center, and not in the shotgun position. Not sure why that makes a difference myself, but that's how I've seen it explained in a couple places.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It's not just yesterday's game, Paul. New England's offense has been almost unstoppable in every game so far this season, including against two quality teams in San Diego and Dallas. Add to that a solid defense and they've been a juggernaut so far. I know the Chargers had some problems early in the season, but I think some of it was their very difficult early schedule.

The only game that's been remotely close was the Pats - Cowboys game. Every other game has been a blowout. Their schedule does get tougher from here, and I do not expect them to go undefeated -- that's almost impossible to pull off. But they have been scary good so far.

As a Steelers fan, I hope New England burns out before the playoffs, but I just do not see that happening -- barring crucial injuries, of course.

 

[Shane Martin]

Ronnie Brown is done for the season. The Dolphins may hit an 0-fer this year.

The NFC East still looks tough despite Phillys troubles. Philly is always tough even though their offense looks like total ass this year.

I guess at Philly after the bye, Tank Johnson should be allowed to play. We'll see how well he plays. I think he'll do fine in the 3-4.