2011 NFL Season - A New Game

[tomalak301]

49ers are 8-1!!!!

What a game. For the first time in like 9 years that felt like a playoff game in the Bay Area. The 49ers are contenders, and Jim Harbaugh showed the entire nation tonight why he is Coach of the Year. I'm very excited about this team and am glad they proved me wrong this year. This is a fun team to watch and now the expectation isn't to win the NFC west, it's to get that first round bye. They really are in a position to do great things and it's been a joy to watch.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

WTF? Switching to another game.

And in the meanwhile, I'm in the heart of Dane County, Wisconsin, which undoubtedly has far more interest in the Bears / Lions game, but instead we're stuck with the NO / ATL overtime clusterfuck.

Edit: Oh, fuck, no one told me it was motherfucking Thom Brennaman calling the game. Never mind!

Yeah, well, the Baltimore station showed the meaningless Redskins game instead of the critical Bengals/Steelers game this afternoon. When will these programming assholes realize that NO ONE in Baltimore cares about the Redskins?

Was it a Fox game or a CBS game?

Okay... if anybody on ESPN says that the Phillies are still Super Bowl contenders next week, they need to be fired and blacklisted from sports broadcasting.

The sad thing is the Phillies probably have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl this year than the Eagles do.

Quite true. I guess the two recent victories were flukes. I don't get how we can look so great against the Cowboys and then terrible since then (especially since Dallas has looked good, so it's not like we just beat up on a bad team).

 

[SmoothieX]

I think this will be the week the 49ers get exposed as a decent team in a terrible division rather than a real contender.

Come again?

My wife and I had a quickie at halftime of the early game. But that was a while ago, I'm good to come again.

Check that, I just watched the Pats dismantle the Jets, totally blew my football wad.

 

[Green Shirt]

Yeah, well, the Baltimore station showed the meaningless Redskins game instead of the critical Bengals/Steelers game this afternoon. When will these programming assholes realize that NO ONE in Baltimore cares about the Redskins?

Yeah, there are far more Squealer fans here than Skins fans.

Also, how do the Ravens manage to make shitty teams look good and good teams look shitty? I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Guess the Ravens are shit equalizers.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I think this will be the week the 49ers get exposed as a decent team in a terrible division rather than a real contender.

Come again?

Even without the win yesterday, I'm not sure I understand where Smoothie was coming from with the division comment. Prior to yesterday's game, the 49'rs had only played one division opponent and had won that game. 6 of their 7 wins were against non-division opponents.

They may indeed fade before the season is over, but it's unfair to say AT THIS POINT that they've padded their wins at the expense of a weak division.

 

[Venardhi]

They really only have two more games that I would even give even odds on from here on out., everything else they would be strongly favored. As strange as it seems, they've already faced the biggest challenges of their season. At this point it isn't hard to imagine this streak lasting til the playoffs. The Ravens and Saints should at least make it interesting, though it isn't too late for someone to screw it all up.

 

[tomalak301]

They really only have two more games that I would even give even odds on from here on out., everything else they would be strongly favored. As strange as it seems, they've already faced the biggest challenges of their season. At this point it isn't hard to imagine this streak lasting til the playoffs. The Ravens and Saints should at least make it interesting, though it isn't too late for someone to screw it all up.

Hate to nitpick, but the only time the 49ers might play the Saints is in the Playoffs. They play the Steelers on Monday Night like the third to last week of the season.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

The Broncos are going to screw around, win enough games this year and take themselves right out of draft position for a real quarterback.

I get it, he's a competitor, has passion and fire, blah, blah, blah. He's not a quarterback.

 

[Spider]

The Texans have finally gotten past their BS of the past and have somehow transformed themselves into a contender. I give Wade Phillips as much if not more credit than I do Kubiak.

To go from last to first (statistically) in defense in one season is amazing.

 

[Sheep]

Over/under on Matt Stafford getting fined for yanking D.J. Moore down by the helmet?

We all know Moore's wallet will be lighter and he might even get suspended after he charged Stafford, but I'm hoping the NFL doesn't completely disregard Stafford's bitch move in pulling Moore down by the helmet.

Anyone else think Indy is tanking their season intentionally at this point? They're not just a bad football team anymore, they're unparalleled levels of BAD. Yeah, I get that Manning was the man there and that this isn't exactly the youngest, hungriest team around, but Caldwell and company should have been able to pull out at least one victory so far this season.

 

[tighr]

The Broncos are going to screw around, win enough games this year and take themselves right out of draft position for a real quarterback.

Yes, I agree. How terrible it must be to win games and have a quarterback who is has killer instinct and uses sheer will to lead his team to victories? Just imagine how horrible it will be next year or two years from now when he's had the benefit of an off-season (let alone actual receivers) and gets better as a quarterback, when he screws around and somehow gets his team to 11-5, 12-4, and a playoff spot.

This coming from a Colts fan who is waiting for his team's first win.

 

[tighr]

Anyone else think Indy is tanking their season intentionally at this point? They're not just a bad football team anymore, they're unparalleled levels of BAD.

It is so bad, that there is no way its on purpose.

Fire Caldwell.
Fire Polian (both of them).
Force Irsay to sell the team.

Move it to LA so I can go to the games again

 

[Venardhi]

They really only have two more games that I would even give even odds on from here on out., everything else they would be strongly favored. As strange as it seems, they've already faced the biggest challenges of their season. At this point it isn't hard to imagine this streak lasting til the playoffs. The Ravens and Saints should at least make it interesting, though it isn't too late for someone to screw it all up.

Hate to nitpick, but the only time the 49ers might play the Saints is in the Playoffs. They play the Steelers on Monday Night like the third to last week of the season.

My bad, had the Saints on my mind from the game earlier in the day. I did mean the Steelers.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

The Broncos are going to screw around, win enough games this year and take themselves right out of draft position for a real quarterback.

Yes, I agree. How terrible it must be to win games and have a quarterback who is has killer instinct and uses sheer will to lead his team to victories? Just imagine how horrible it will be next year or two years from now when he's had the benefit of an off-season (let alone actual receivers) and gets better as a quarterback, when he screws around and somehow gets his team to 11-5, 12-4, and a playoff spot.

He won't. How effective will Tebow be once teams have a couple of weeks of tape to study? Can't throw for a shit, makes things happen with his legs and heart.

He is what he is, and what he is isn't an NFL QB.

This coming from a Colts fan who is waiting for his team's first win.

I can't believe Indy hasn't won at least one yet. It's mind boggling that Manning has that much effect on the team. He doesn't play defense or special teams.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I can't believe Indy hasn't won at least one yet. It's mind boggling that Manning has that much effect on the team. He doesn't play defense or special teams.

Maybe he switched uniform #'s and played defense. That might explain the neck injury.

Otherwise you're right, no explanation why they can't win a single game. The rest of the team obviously has no pride at all.

 

[Kirby]

The Broncos are going to screw around, win enough games this year and take themselves right out of draft position for a real quarterback.
I get it, he's a competitor, has passion and fire, blah, blah, blah. He's not a quarterback.

I love the Litton cartoon, but I disagree with drafting a 'real' quarterback. Unless you're getting Andrew Luck, and the Broncos have already won enough games to take them out of the 1st round draft hunt, I think they're better off staying with Tebow.
I was 14 when the Broncos traded for Elway and I remember he didn't come out looking like John Elway right away. Sure he could pass, but he made a lot of mistakes as well. At least Tebow hasn't lined up behind the wrong guy yet.
I'd say give Tebow a little time to see how he does after next season. Because of the strike, the new coaching staff couldn't do anything with him during the off season. I'd love to see him have another full year after this and let Elway work with him over the course of this next off season.
At least the games are fun to watch when he's in. He's still a better option than Orton.

 

[tighr]

It's mind boggling that Manning has that much effect on the team. He doesn't play defense or special teams.

He does play defense and special teams:

For every scoring drive Manning leads, that's time the defense doesn't have to be on the field, and points on the board for the Colts. For every 3rd down Manning converts, that's a punt the Colts don't have to cover.

 

[Yoda]

I always figured Manning meant a ton to his team. And hey, sometimes teams with great QBs even will regress for a year or two. But I think the Colts seriously have embraced Suck for Luck. A guy like that should end up on a real perennial loser to help right the franchise. That's the whole point of a draft. 0-10 Colts? Shady. I get the feeling I'll be cheering against them for the next 15 years.

I've cheered for the Bears for two weeks in a row now. I'm pretty sick of it! They actually look like a pretty good team now. And this is coming from a person who thought that the Bears were shit last year despite getting home field advantage...

I don't know about the 49ers. Football Outsiders has been high on them pretty much since the early part of the season, so I assume they're not a fluke. But all I see of them is the Frank Gore stat line for my fantasy team (WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THIS WEEK?!?). Oh, and the only other thing I've caught was when Harbaugh declined a penalty that would've resulted in a first down in order to take the 3 points on a field goal against Dallas. That's such a mind-numbingly stupid decision I have a hard time taking the guy seriously. They may get home-field advantage, but I think the Packers will beat them on any field.

The teams I'm worried about are New Orleans, who can match the Packers punch for punch, and to a lesser extent the Bears, who usually come up with a decent plan to slow down our passing offense.

 

[Spider]

The Colts are tanking it. Period.

I've been watching them for years beat up on my Texans. This stuff about Manning being so important even the defense can't play without him is crap. Sure, the team is built to play with a lead, but the Colts have had an average to much better than average defense for a long time now, and for them to all of a sudden become worse than just bad because a NON-defensive player goes down is bullshit. The Colts are not that bad, they've just given up for the season, thereby actually making them that bad. Believe me, if the Colts really wanted to win, they would have notched up a few already.

 

[Skywalker]

I think the Colts were trying earlier in the season, but after the Saints game they just threw in the towel.