NFL 2012

[crimsonfloyd]

Observations from the games I watched today.

Eagles vs Rams:

Lesean McCoy is criminally underrated. He excels at basically all dimensions of the game.

Vick looked like Atlanta era Vick. Some big plays, but too many incompletions and inaccurate throws. That's not going to cut it.

The Eagles D looks great against the pass and pretty bad against the run. They will do great whenever they have the lead, but I'm concerned about how they will play when behind.

The Eagles offensive line looked much better than expected.

Vikings vs. Chargers:

The Vikings actually have a talented roster and could probably compete for a playoff spot if they had a QB. Unfortunately McNabb is not going to cut it.

Jets vs. Chargers:

Sanchez was wildly inconsistent. I don't trust him.

Romo just doesn't have "it". He's a choker. The Cowboys will never be a real contender with Romo.

The Cowboys defense looks much better than last year, but their lack of depth in the secondary is going to kill them.

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Watch harder. Didn't you say the Steelers were going to miss the playoffs last year? The Steelers are still a better team than the Ravens; the only "hump" they've gotten over is finally beating them once with Roethlisberger actually playing. This game and the game against the Patriots were the two hardest games on the Steelers' schedule for this entire year. I'm not worried at all.

Same thing happened to the Falcons...
Bottom line is the Ravens and Bears physically dominated and the losing teams played way too sloppy. Week 1 is always a mess.

Giants lost to a division rival on the road without Tuck and Osi. We will spank the Redskins when they come to us. Giants will gel but I think it will happen too late, their a .500 team when it comes down to it.

Jets do what the Jets always do. same with Vick.

 

[MasterOLightning]

I was really happy with how the Bears played. Every phase was pretty strong, and even Roy Williams made positive contributions. Atlanta looked kind of bad. They couldn't protect Ryan. I didn't expect the Bears' pass rush to be so good, but Peppers is obviously a monster. Urlacher looked great too. The defense is getting older, but not showing signs of it yet.

The offense was very effective. It seems like people have forgotten that Cutler is really good, but media coverage seems to be putting him as a bottom 10 starting QB rather than a top 10 QB. Guys like Stafford, Freeman, Bradford, and Kolb are getting a lot more buzz than they've earned, while Cutler has done it on the field without a great deal of supporting talent or blocking.

It's just one week, but the NFC North is shaping up to be the best division in football. The NFC South teams were all pretty beatable, obviously, and every division in the AFC has some duds. I think Minnesota will be pretty poor, but the Bears, Lions, and Packers are going to be competitive every week, barring major injuries, which goes without saying.

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Saints defense is terrible. Bears are the Bears, which means, inconsistent. Lions are improved but hardly a top 15 team and the Vikings arent going anywhere with Mcnabb.

Not even close to the best division in the NFL.

NFC East is the best division in football, hands down!

 

[Dak]

Romo just doesn't have "it". He's a choker. The Cowboys will never be a real contender with Romo.

The Cowboys defense looks much better than last year, but their lack of depth in the secondary is going to kill them.

I don't see how anyone except a "Romo-hater" can lay that loss squarely at his feet. The secondary let the Jets out of bad field position 4 times on deep passes. In the fourth quarter the Dallas offensive play calling was horrible. The run game had been getting nowhere all night, while the receivers were torching the Jets secondary. But in trying to run out the clock, they kept leaving Romo with 3rd and longs against Rex Ryan. The INT at the end was Rom's fault for throwing into double coverage, but Bryant also wasn't looking.The play was already busted, only other option was to throw it away.
Given the situation, the oline didn't do terrible, but Romo was running for his life almost every play. I really don't know what "it" you are referring to.
The blocked punt was the game changer. Seen that before. Not Romo's fault. The Cowboys aren't any thinner in the secondary than any other NFL team, they just can't get/stay healthy.

 

[King Richard]

Saints defense is terrible. Bears are the Bears, which means, inconsistent. Lions are improved but hardly a top 15 team and the Vikings arent going anywhere with Mcnabb.

Not even close to the best division in the NFL.

NFC East is the best division in football, hands down!

More like, the NFC East is the most over-hyped division year in and out and only has one title in the past 15+ years.

 

[muzmaze]

I don't know how 'Boys fans can take it. The ultimate Jekyll and Hyde team. Can't recall a team that has as much talent, yet continously pisses games away after solid efforts. And the Jets pull another out of thier asses. Sanchez should have been picked nearing the end...after Romo threw his own horrible pick. What are these guys thinking sometimes?

Also, an amazing stat. 'Boys have never (up until lastnite) lost a game in thier history when having atleast a 2TD lead in the fourth quarter.

 

[King Richard]

Don't be naive. Week 1 is notorious for being uncharacteristic. The game was far from representative of either team. The performance that most closely mirrored reality in that game was Ray Rice. The Ravens do not force 7 turnovers a game, and the Steelers to not have 7 giveaways in a game. This game can basically be thrown out as an aberration. Meanwhile the Ravens I'm sure are acting like they won the super bowl because they finally beat Ben Roethlisberger when he wasn't playing with concussion symptoms, when in reality there are 15 more games, including a rematch in Pittsburgh.

Of course today was disappointing as hell, but mostly because of how uncharacteristic it is. It's just one of those games that start to get out of hand early and don't let up. Roethlisberger stupidly started to force the issue. His two interceptions to Ed Reed were as pathetic as any throws I've ever seen him make. The second one especially was right to him. But it's already in the past and is only one game. Next week is a home game against the Seahawks. The ship will be righted quickly.

You may be right, but this isn't the first or second time that the Steelers have come out completely flat after a Super Bowl appearance. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend. They're entering trend status atm.

 

[muzmaze]

Yup. Yes its only one game. But if the Steelers handed out the ass kicking...then probably a different tune.

 

[skeptik]

I don't believe in the super bowl hangover. It's a bunch of shit, really. In 2006, Roethlisberger had a bad motorcycle accident and an appendectomy and wasn't healthy at all the entire season, and probably shouldn't have even played. In 2009, they went 6-2 to start the season and then hit a really bad skid when injuries to Polamalu and Aaron Smith caught up with them. The only connection either had to do with making a super bowl appearance was that Roethlisberger turned into a cocky asshole and was riding around on his motorcycle without a helmet. When he was slightly healthier toward the end of the season (including following sustaining a concussion in week 7), they finished 6-2.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

Hahahahaha. Dolphins are sending 3-4 guys. And Brady has all fucking day.

 

[The Heartbreak Kid]

Shhhuuuttt uuupppp

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Aww, someone butthurt over Grossman showing up Eli?

Yes, yes I am.

but Homo chokes! ....homo....chokes...

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

Oh and uh after watching tonight, maybe, um, I'm wrong about the whole offense/defense debate.

 

[muzmaze]

Center Dan Koppen was injured and could be lost for a lengthy period of time. Without my butt-boy Koppen...the Pats don't deserve to win anything this year damn it!!!

Brady took a shit in the lockeroom after the game and threw another Td while he was at it.

 

[King Richard]

Oh and uh after watching tonight, maybe, um, I'm wrong about the whole offense/defense debate.

We know.

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

yea fu

7:32 4th
ball on 25
3rd down play, overthrows Marshall in endzone

At the beginning of the replay of the overthrow. I'm certain Jaworski said "shit, you have to get rid of the ball just a split second quicker" talking about Henne.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

I don't see how anyone except a "Romo-hater" can lay that loss squarely at his feet. The secondary let the Jets out of bad field position 4 times on deep passes. In the fourth quarter the Dallas offensive play calling was horrible. The run game had been getting nowhere all night, while the receivers were torching the Jets secondary. But in trying to run out the clock, they kept leaving Romo with 3rd and longs against Rex Ryan. The INT at the end was Rom's fault for throwing into double coverage, but Bryant also wasn't looking.The play was already busted, only other option was to throw it away.
Given the situation, the oline didn't do terrible, but Romo was running for his life almost every play. I really don't know what "it" you are referring to.
The blocked punt was the game changer. Seen that before. Not Romo's fault. The Cowboys aren't any thinner in the secondary than any other NFL team, they just can't get/stay healthy.

Look, I'm not a Romo hater- well I am, insofar as I'm an Eagles fan, but objectively I like his game. He's accurate, has good arm strength and is actually pretty athletic. However, he is mistake prone and lacks a killer instinct. He cannot close out games.

I'm not blaming the whole loss on him. Obviously the special teams deserves blame for the blocked punt. However, Romo had three huge blunders in the 4th quarter. He fumbled on the goal line, he threw a interception into double coverage and he bobbled the snap on the second to last play, essentially ending their hopes of getting into field goal range. On the whole, three massive mistakes that were the difference in the game.

 

[Dak]

Um, that bobbled snap was because he hadn't called for the snap. The center was on his first start.
He also had the ball tucked for the fumble. Can't do anymore.

 

[Matt]

Romo's kinda like Brett Favre.

Except that even now, Favre is probably better than him