The Everything NFL Thread - 2009

[WaterBomb]

The Chargers defense hasn't exactly been slouching either. They are a respectable 12th in the league in total defense, and 10th in pass defense. Their run D is a bit questionable with Merriman constantly hurt, but if they can get him healthy I think they could contend for the AFC crown. I think they could beat the Clots in the AFC champ but I think the Saints would still wreck them in the SB. I doubt they would lose to New England or Pittsburgh (lol) though.

 

[kd24]

chargers dominated dallas, 031ap, dallas scored a garbage td near the end, but i think it was pretty obvious san diego had that wrapped up after stopping dallas on 4th and goal.

that being said, mop is right, san diego is gonna be a much weaker team in the playoffs, where they are going to have a defense that will be proven to be weak (they have taken some serious injury hits this year), a running game that will slow down (lt is old and has a history of getting hurt in the playoffs/late season), and the receiving core is made up of the overrated gates, floyd, and jackson. as long as you match up a good safety along with a cover linebacker against gates, you shouldn't have too much trouble dealing floyd and jackson, as their numbers and ability is greatly inflated thanks to gates being able to tear apart weak defenses.

but come playoff time, it will be strong defenses dominating, and those strong defenses just won't let san diego have one of their 3 receivers tear em up. and that injured and battered chargers defense is going to show.

right now, id still pick vikes > colts in the super bowl, but im starting to lean towards the saints in there. regardless, i don't think both teams will be undefeated if they both made the super bowl.

The Chargers defense hasn't exactly been slouching either. They are a respectable 12th in the league in total defense, and 10th in pass defense. Their run D is a bit questionable with Merriman constantly hurt, but if they can get him healthy I think they could contend for the AFC crown. I think they could beat the Clots in the AFC champ but I think the Saints would still wreck them in the SB. I doubt they would lose to New England or Pittsburgh (lol) though.

the raiders + chiefs twice, the browns, a broncos team that had orton hurt, and some other games really make that defense look better than they are. pitt already wrecked them once, i don't see why it couldn't happen again. if pitt beats gb this week, these last 5 losses will be basically forgotten, unless they don't make the playoffs.

edit:

chris henry dead apparently? that sucks =[

 

[Vapor Trails]

chris Henry dead.... Wow.
Anyway, what do you guys think of the Packers' chances in the playoffs?

 

[WaterBomb]

overrated gates

Only thing I really disagree with. Gates is one of the best tight ends in the league (in my opinion) and I've seen him do great things against even tough defenses. He absolutely owns the intermediate passing zone and has amazing hands.

Also as far as I know the Chris Henry death is a rumor, most articles I am seeing are still saying "badly injured". I wouldn't be surprised to see that change, but for now it's just speculation. That would suck though, two violent deaths of talented football players in the same year is horrible.

 

[HeroMasaki]

Only thing I really disagree with. Gates is one of the best tight ends in the league (in my opinion) and I've seen him do great things against even tough defenses. He absolutely owns the intermediate passing zone and has amazing hands.

Also as far as I know the Chris Henry death is a rumor, most articles I am seeing are still saying "badly injured". I wouldn't be surprised to see that change, but for now it's just speculation. That would suck though, two violent deaths of talented football players in the same year is horrible.

"Badly Injured"? Try "Life Threatening Head Injury". Last I heard (about 5-10 mins ago) he's on life support and his family has been called to hospital. He's not looking good at all and his chances of living are very slim. Lets just hope the guy pulls through though.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

"Badly Injured"? Try "Life Threatening Head Injury". Last I heard (about 5-10 mins ago) he's on life support and his family has been called to hospital. He's not looking good at all and his chances of living are very slim. Lets just hope the guy pulls through though.

Sadly, he didn't. I hate it for his family, his teammates, and especially for his fiance. Here's the story on Sports Illustrated: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/12/17/henry.ap/index.html

 

[yond]

Its to bad for the Bengals to see Chris Henry go. He really bought talent and future to the team. R.I.P :'(

I'm still interested in the Giants though. With three games left against against the redskins , panthers , and vikings i would say their season record will be 9-7 unless they can pull through against the vikings.

the question is, can they grasp wild card? as seen Here they are close.
The packers seems to have the best chance of getting in. being 9-4 with ths steelers , seahawks, and cardinals to look forward too. i would see them going 10-6 in this situation. they might possibly pull off a win against the steelers, but in my opinion the cardinals will beat them.

the cowboys on the other hand have the saints, redskins, and red hot eagles to deal with. where they are going that could be three losses or 2 losses at least.

so this puts the giants in a situation where if they can win against carolina and washington, which they should, then they could have a real shot at getting wild card.

i know it relies on alot of "if's" , but i want some opinions.

 

[Vapor Trails]

The packers seems to have the best chance of getting in. being 9-4 with ths steelers , seahawks, and cardinals to look forward too. i would see them going 10-6 in this situation. they might possibly pull off a win against the steelers, but in my opinion the cardinals will beat them.

This is the way I feel about the packers' season.
The Steelers are right now a pushover for anyone (LOL losses to browns,raiders,) but I don't think it's entirely because Polamalu is out.
I think the morale of the team took a hit becuase of the loss to Oakland.
that's what started thier decline for this year.

the cowboys on the other hand have the saints, redskins, and red hot eagles to deal with. where they are going that could be three losses or 2 losses at least.

Well, you have to remember the Cowboys are 'Dreadful in December'.
I think they are going to lose against the Redskins and Saints, but pull of a very unlikely upset victory against the Eagles.

so this puts the giants in a situation where if they can win against carolina and washington, which they should, then they could have a real shot at getting wild card.

I think the Giants are going to get the 2nd wild card spot, behind the Packers. It's really only between Dallas, Philadelphia and the Giants.
Judging by the remaining schedules (and my opinion,), the eagles will win the NFC East, and the Giants will take the 2nd wild card spot.

 

[Warthog]

Cowboys upset the Saints.

in my dreams of course.

I think they beat the Eagles and Skins to get into the playoffs but thats still a stretch. I have faith in them that they will pull it off. Missing Ware will hurt :/

R.I.P. Chris Henry.

 

[YTP]

Eh... good effort Jaguars. So close, yet so far away...

 

[WaterBomb]

The Steelers are right now a pushover for anyone (LOL losses to browns,raiders,) but I don't think it's entirely because Polamalu is out.
I think the morale of the team took a hit becuase of the loss to Oakland.
that's what started thier decline for this year.

Well, I would hardly call the Steelers a "pushover" by any means. 5 of their 7 losses have been by 3 points and come in the last 14 seconds of the game, and the other two were both by 7 or less. In most of those games against the lesser teams the Steelers won the stats battle, but were killed by turnovers and/or defensive mistakes very late in the game. The defense hasn't been playing badly OVERALL, they've just made a select few errors at the worst possible times. In fact, I would say all 5 of those 3 point losses were caused by a single defensive mistake on the opponent's final drive, and they could have all been wins very easily. The ONLY game where I can honestly say the Steelers got outplayed was, funnily enough, this last Cleveland game.

Pushover? Hardly. The Steelers have the #9 offense and #4 defense in the league, which means no game is a given. And given the Steelers' track record against good teams this year (San Diego, Denver, Minnesota), I'd say the Packers won't have an easy time winning this one.

You are correct about the decline of the team's morale though. I think it started before the Oakland game tbh, when they lost back to back overtime games to KC and Baltimore, but it is very apparent that this team has lost its heart (where is Sora when you need him?). I think this loss of morale can be exemplified by their latest loss to Cleveland.

 

[CaptKirby]

"During the Saints-Redskins overtime a couple of weeks ago, I actually heard one of the announcers defend the coin flip by saying, "Well, defense is part of the game, too." I felt like screaming at the television. Really? Does that mean if you won the coin toss in overtime you would elect to kick?"

Wish I had thought to say this myself, Malcom Gladwell making clear that NFL overtime is fucking indefensible and that the "defense is part of the game!!" defense is a crock of shit.

 

[Freeman.]

"During the Saints-Redskins overtime a couple of weeks ago, I actually heard one of the announcers defend the coin flip by saying, "Well, defense is part of the game, too." I felt like screaming at the television. Really? Does that mean if you won the coin toss in overtime you would elect to kick?"

Wish I had thought to say this myself, Malcom Gladwell making clear that NFL overtime is fucking indefensible and that the "defense is part of the game!!" defense is a crock of shit.

i take it you never watched the steelers-ravens game? the only reforming ot needs is getting rid of ties.

 

[Steeler]

the problem i have with OT is that you can't argue that the team that wins the coin toss doesn't have an advantage. and to have an advantage from something like the luck of a coin flip...doesn't sit well with me.

of course, you are going to have cases where the other team wins the game. you can cite any one game where that happens (hello freeman) but that can hardly even be called an argument. :\ winning the coin toss doesn't guarantee you victory, that's obvious. but it gives you an advantage. in overtime, you are playing to score points before your opponent. playing offense first is an advantage.

 

[YTP]

WHO DAT?
WHO DAT?
WHO DAT TEAM GUNNA BEAT DEM SAINTS?
COWBOYS!

 

[Shinryu]

WHO DAT?
WHO DAT?
WHO DAT TEAM GUNNA BEAT DEM SAINTS?
COWBOYS!

Cowboys are still a bunch of fucks who are gonna drop the last few games and miss the playoffs.

Oh well, Colts still have a shot at being perfect, if they choose to.

 

[moot]

i have only one thing to say: what the fuck, brees

 

[Tdawg FTW]

Cowboys are still a bunch of fucks who are gonna drop the last few games and miss the playoffs.

Oh well, Colts still have a shot at being perfect, if they choose to.

lol.................
Colts also played 3 teams with winning records...and the jaguars and Broncos hardly count as "good" teams

 

[YTP]

Cowboys are still a bunch of fucks who are gonna drop the last few games and miss the playoffs.

Oh well, Colts still have a shot at being perfect, if they choose to.

The Cowboys have already made the playoffs iirc.

 

[Steeler]

no, YTP, but they are close. they need to maintain their lead over the giants because NYG holds the tiebreaker against them.

 

[Vapor Trails]

Broncos hardly count as "good" teams

LOL what?
Broncos were one of the best, and still are.
Oh, the Packers lost to Pittsburg by one point.(36-37) CRAP.
Why the defense was really bad (484 throwing yards for Big Ben) I have no idea.

 

[HeroMasaki]

LOL what?
Broncos were one of the best, and still are.
Oh, the Packers lost to Pittsburg by one point.(36-37) CRAP.
Why the defense was really bad (484 throwing yards for Big Ben) I have no idea.

Cool loss to the Raiders and 8-6 record bro.

Also Big Ben had 500+ yards (3 TDs no INT)

I still think the Boys will miss the playoffs.

 

[WaterBomb]

Cool loss to the Raiders and 8-6 record bro.

Heeeeey losing to the Raiders apparently doesn't make you bad, because the Steelers, Bengals, and Eagles all lost to them as well :D.

Also I don't even know with the Steelers anymore. Predicting a Steelers game is like predicting a tornado's path 3 years in advance -_-

 

[YTP]

Woo go Falcons! Stealing the playoffs.

My first time getting a good look at Mark Sanchez. Don't see what the hype was all about. Brady Quinn v2 maybe lol.

That Bengals vs Chargers game was really good. So much emotion showed by Chad OchoCinco.

 

[WaterBomb]

This sounds crazy, but to me the Steelers don't seem like such a long shot for the 6th seed anymore. Yeah, their conference record is bad, but that won't matter if the team they've already beaten is the team they're tied with. If Pittsburgh beats Baltimore and Miami in their final two games they'll be 9-7. This scenario effectively eliminates Miami from the hunt because they'd be 8-8 at best. The Jaguars I also feel will fall short due to a game against New England next week. They CAN win this game, but I don't think they will, giving them their 8th loss and putting them inescapably below a 9-7 Pittsburgh. Denver, though it is 8-6, faces a tough game against Philly next week. If they lose there and fall to 7 losses, they would be doomed if it came down to a tiebreaker with Pittsburgh as they lost the head to head. The rest of the teams in the hunt are either already below Pittsburgh in the standings (Houston, Tennessee), or already have absolutely no chance in hell of winning their last two games (Jets vs Colts and Bengals lol). So that leaves me with the entirely possible scenario of Pittsburgh ending up tied with Denver for the final wild card slot, which would go to Pittsburgh in a tiebreaker. I don't think it's a stretch to predict the Jaguars losing to New England and Denver losing to Philly. If those two things happen next week along with Pittsburgh beating Baltimore, it puts them in the driver's seat to grab the 6th seed with a victory over Miami in the final week.

Of course, there are many things that could horribly derail this scenario, but shit I still have hope!