Official NFL 2010-2011 Thread

[kanker.]

you can't deny the talent and, if nothing else, "presence" that he brings to the field.

You can't deny the talent, but the presence? Not quite sure what that is with Moss. He plays when he wants to play. The rest of the time he alligator arms very catchable balls that could change a game, he gives up on plays, and doesn't block. No team needs that presence, and that's what you get with Moss. You can't have the talent without the BS with Moss.

[Dave Bryce]

I can't even enjoy watching the Cowboys lose this year. It's like rooting for the lions to eat an injured gazelle.

Not sure gazelle is quite the appropriate image...

 

dB

[richwhite9]

I can't even enjoy watching the Cowboys lose this year. It's like rooting for the lions to eat an injured gazelle.

Not sure gazelle is quite the appropriate image...

 

dB

 

Or the Lions.....11/21 is the Lion's test for the golden arches....

[Bridog6996]

you can't deny the talent and, if nothing else, "presence" that he brings to the field.

You can't deny the talent, but the presence? Not quite sure what that is with Moss. He plays when he wants to play. The rest of the time he alligator arms very catchable balls that could change a game, he gives up on plays, and doesn't block. No team needs that presence, and that's what you get with Moss. You can't have the talent without the BS with Moss.

 

I agree to a certain extent, but what I mean by "presence" is that he changes the other team's game just by being there. You have to double-team him, which inevitably leave holes elsewhere. The second you try one-on-one coverage, he'll burn you. I saw it game in and game out during his time on the Pats.

 

I'd honestly love to hate the guy, but after seeing him play so much, I'm actually not convinced that his doing some of those things wasn't an act to lull defenders to sleep. There were a million times you'd see him lazily jogging a route one minute, then next thing you know he's wide open halfway down the field. More than likely, I'm wrong, but it's tough to tell sometimes whether he's dogging it or just making it look easy.

 

Anyway, there are plenty of teams out there for which he'd be an extremely valuable asset, if you can get him to shut his mouth. Belichick seemed to be the only coach who was able to accomplish that for any length of time.

 

[antimatter]

 

I would absolutely love it if Moss cleared waivers and ended up coming back to New England, where the Pats would only have to pay him the league minimum, with the rest of his contract still on the Vikings' tab. That would poetic on so many levels.

 

That would be too funny. With all the hugs going on Sunday between the Pats and Moss, I could see this happening. A free draft pick from the Vikings?

[antimatter]

What's up with the McNabb benching? I've heard the cardio reasoning, which is pretty bizarre. I'd love to hear from the Skin's fans. Doesn't seem like a lot of love for Donovan at this point. At .500, they're still contenders, and I can't see Grossman as being the guy there. Or is he?

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

What's up with the McNabb benching? I've heard the cardio reasoning, which is pretty bizarre. I'd love to hear from the Skin's fans. Doesn't seem like a lot of love for Donovan at this point. At .500, they're still contenders, and I can't see Grossman as being the guy there. Or is he?

 

They worked out JaMarcus Russell today. Good luck with that!

[MikeT156]

They were talking about that on Sports Center last night. Keyshawn Johnson said that McNabb is fat and out of shape. He hasn't been working out and his play shows it. Do you remember the side-line rant that TO layed on McNabb when he was playing for the Eagles? He said that McNabb got tired in the second half of the SB and it was because he was fat and out of shape. You'd think with making that much money that McNabb would exercise??

 

 

Mike T.

[GovernorSilver]

They were talking about that on Sports Center last night. Keyshawn Johnson said that McNabb is fat and out of shape. He hasn't been working out and his play shows it. Do you remember the side-line rant that TO layed on McNabb when he was playing for the Eagles? He said that McNabb got tired in the second half of the SB and it was because he was fat and out of shape. You'd think with making that much money that McNabb would exercise??

 

 

Mike T.

 

I guess Shanahan wasn't lying then when he said McNabb lacked the cardio conditioning for a 2-min. drill.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

Tuesday Morning (Keyboard) Cornerback -- Week 8

 

I predicted a rough week with our Pick 'Em Pool in week 8, at the midpoint of the regular season. Little did I know that I'd personally have one of the roughest weeks of all! It was an odd week all around. Most of the spreads were in the 2-4 point range. And overall, it's not been an easy season to make predictions, with plenty of underdogs getting unexpected wins, and more parity in the league than I would have anticipated.

 

Winning the "Redemption Is Sweet" award, GovernorSilver (who only made half his picks in the last couple of weeks) grabbed the top spot this week with 9 points. He was the only one of us to take Buffalo over KC (winning on points), and one of only three to take Detroit, San Diego and New Orleans. Oddly enough, he also lost on some unpopular bets, taking Cincy and Minnesota, or else he'd have done even better! Hats off to the Gov.

 

The inimitable Geoff Grace and dB both secured 8 points. Dave had a particularly nice run, with only one loss in the first seven games of the day. I'm kind of shocked he took Seattle on the road over the Raiders... perhaps that was some reverse-jinx betting of some kind. We then had a big batch of guys with 7 points, including kanker, saku, ProfD, Magpel, richwhite9, and griffinator. Like the Gov, Magpel nabbed surprise W's with Detroit and SD. Nicely done, all!

 

In the less-nice zone, we had antimatter and me with just five points. I was doing so badly that I had just one win in the first eight games, but that's the kind of week it was. Poor Mid Life Crisis picked just three winners this week, and it looks like Jay has stopped making picks at all. Come back, Jay! We miss you!

 

Divisional Musings

 

NFC East: What the hell happened to this division? Apart from the Giants at 5-2 (who had a bye week), the Eagles and Skins look about as mediocre as can be. The Eagles also had a bye week, but the poor Cowboys are the worst I've ever seen them. As someone said, I can't even take pleasure in their misery at this point.

 

NFC North: Favre. Moss. Favre. Moss. Favre- oh, sorry, got hung up on the 24-hour news cycle of the apparent only two people in the NFL. Favre will apparently continue to not allow Tavaris Jackson to play despite his body parts dropping off over the field like a leper. Moss, at the time of this writing, is on the waiver wire after being a complete locker room cancer (with a coach the whole team apparently hates). I really can't summon any feelings for the Vikings at all. I was happily surprised to see Green Bay shutting out the Jets, and Detroit upsetting Washington. But still, I don't see any champions coming from this division, at least this year.

 

NFC South: Quietly, it seems three fairly strong teams are rising from the South... Atlanta (5-2), Tampa Bay (5-2), and the Saints (5-3) all have some potential.

 

NFC West: If Seattle could win less sporadically on the road, I'd call them a contender in the wacky NFC. But they got stuffed by the Raiders' defense last weekend. Important win for the Rams (4-4) over a terrible Panthers team, though they're facing the Niners next week in a division match. Don't bother thinking about Arizona until they get a QB... they're missing Warner badly.

 

AFC East: If forced at gunpoint to pick the best team in the NFL at this moment, I'd have to begrudgingly say it's the New England Patriots. Love them, hate them, or otherwise, the strength of Belichick's coaching and the team's collective talent makes them tough to beat. The Jets are still nothing to scoff at, though. I'd say Miami still had a shot, but they do tend to fade the later the season goes.

 

AFC North: I continue to see strong play from both the Steelers and the Ravens. Both are looking at wins in week 9 as well. Do not overlook these two teams that are avoiding hoopla while winning games.

 

AFC South: The Texans blew it with a MNF loss to the Colts. Terrible defense. That game will come back to haunt them as we get down to the nitty-gritty of the season, as will Tennessee's loss to San Diego.

 

AFC West: Welcome to topsy-turvy land, where a Raiders-Chiefs game would have been meaningless a year ago but now has big repercussions over the rest of the season. San Diego has got to make a coaching change... they're losing games (or barely winning them) based purely on bad planning and preparation.

 

That's all for this edition of the Keyboard Corner TMC. I'll leave you with the statement that if Moss ends up on the Pats again, I'll finally have proof that Belichick sold his soul to Satan awhile back, and apparently is getting good return for his investment.

[ProfD]

They were talking about that on Sports Center last night. Keyshawn Johnson said that McNabb is fat and out of shape.

Actually, Keyshawn's comment was that Shanny's explanation made it sound like McNabb was either 'dumb' or 'out of shape'.

 

IMO, Shanny would have been better off explaining that McNabb was yanked for throwing that last INT. That would have made a helluva lot more sense.

 

Regardless how the Shanny's feel about McNabb's work ethic or game preparation, the Skins record would be a lot worse without McNabb. His knowledge and skill were definitely responsible for 3 wins easily.

 

Grossman, Beck and working out Russell doesn't sound like a coaching staff that has a clue when it comes to a QB.

 

I know Shanny crashed and burned in Denver. I thought he would embrace a chance to reassert himself in the NFL. Now, I can only hope that he isn't losing the team.

[MikeT156]

IIRC Shanny crashed and burned in Denver because he wanted to be the GM as well as coach. Not a lot of people are successful trying to do both jobs. But, as Bill Parcels once related to the Press, "If they want me to cook, I need to have a say in the ingredients". Or something like that. Bill Cowher wanted a hand in the ingredients too, but not as a GM. However, he had some great players when they were winning SBs.

 

For most of Shannan's successful years he had in Denver, John Elway was his QB. But you may be correct that they don't have a clue about QB's. Any team that picked Bubby Brister as their starter must be smoking something.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[kanker.]

AFC South: The Texans blew it with a MNF loss to the Colts. Terrible defense.

Terrible defense or Manning beginning to cement another MVP?

[Dave Bryce]

They worked out JaMarcus Russell today. Good luck with that!

OMG. Too funny. They better stock up on their Codeine syrup...ummm, I mean Purple Drank.

See, I told you there was reason Philly let McNabb stay in the division.

Shanahan trying out Russell to replace McNabb. Man...you can't write stuff like this...

 

dB

[GovernorSilver]

AFC South: The Texans blew it with a MNF loss to the Colts. Terrible defense.

Terrible defense or Manning beginning to cement another MVP?

 

Based on what I've been reading from a Texans fan on another forum, I'm gonna go with "terrible defense". He's been talking about his team all season - loves the occasional pass rush, laments the secondary play.

 

The Chargers will once again field a WR corps composed of veteran Patrick Crayton and a bunch of kids who began the season on the practice squad (one was even cut altogether). They shouldn't pose as much of a challenge to the Texans' secondary. The Bolts for once did not fumble the ball last Sunday - they'll need to keep hanging onto the rock for a chance to beat Houston. Keeping special teams blunders to a minimum would also help.

[Dan South]

I can't even enjoy watching the Cowboys lose this year. It's like rooting for the lions to eat an injured gazelle.

Not sure gazelle is quite the appropriate image...

 

dB

 

Okay then, a mangy, three-legged wildebeest being harassed by hyenas?

 

Rodney voice: Tough crowd! Tough crowd!

 

Better yet, just call the Cowboys what they are: road kill!

 

 

[kanker.]

Merriman waived

[Griffinator]

IIRC Shanny crashed and burned in Denver because he wanted to be the GM as well as coach. Not a lot of people are successful trying to do both jobs. But, as Bill Parcels once related to the Press, "If they want me to cook, I need to have a say in the ingredients". Or something like that. Bill Cowher wanted a hand in the ingredients too, but not as a GM. However, he had some great players when they were winning SBs.

 

Worth noting: Pittsburgh only had one year of "winning SBs" under Cowher - so "winning SBs" is in and of itself a contradiction in terms when discussing Cowher. My stepdad was a Steelers fan for years - until Bill Cowher came along and managed to bungle opportunity after opportunity to win the big one - then he got sick of watching it, and swore off loyalty to any club.

[Griffinator]

AFC South: The Texans blew it with a MNF loss to the Colts. Terrible defense.

Terrible defense or Manning beginning to cement another MVP?

 

I'm going to go with awful offensive playcalling on the part of the Texans - Kubiak kept trying to call pass plays when it was obvious that Foster was gashing them virtually every time he got the ball. If he had just handed the rock to Foster every down, not only would the Texans have covered, but the score they were trying to get at the end of the game likely would have been for the game, not just to get close enough to try an onside kick...

[Magpel]

AFC South: The Texans blew it with a MNF loss to the Colts. Terrible defense.

Terrible defense or Manning beginning to cement another MVP?

 

Well, having watched the younger Manning destroy that pathetic secondary, I think it is the former. But yes, Peyton is still the most valuable player in the league every week. No contest.

[GovernorSilver]

Merriman waived

 

Sadly, his legacy as a Charger is that of a guy who hasn't been the same since he got busted for performance enhancers. I'm hearing similar complaints now from a Texan fan about Brian Cushing (who was similarly busted). He could pull a Seau/Harrison and bounce back strong with a new team, but I don't recall those guys accumulating so many ailments in a such a short time.

[Bridog6996]

Looks like the Titans claimed Randy Moss and the Bills claimed Merriman.

[sakari lindhen]

here's the report about Titams amd Moss

[GovernorSilver]

Jeff Fisher did live with Fat Albert for a while - the same guy that Shanahan struggled to control at times. He's surely more capable of handling Moss than Childress. I wonder if Kenny Britt's injury is worse than the Titans have reported to date.

 

Good luck to Merriman in Buffalo.

[Bridog6996]

Over/under on when Childress gets the boot? I say it'll happen before the season ends. It really does seem like just a matter of when at this point.

[MikeT156]

by Griffinator:

 

Worth noting: Pittsburgh only had one year of "winning SBs" under Cowher - so "winning SBs" is in and of itself a contradiction in terms when discussing Cowher. My stepdad was a Steelers fan for years - until Bill Cowher came along and managed to bungle opportunity after opportunity to win the big one - then he got sick of watching it, and swore off loyalty to any club.

 

Yep, when Cowher won ONE SB, you are correct. Cowher had some pretty good teams, but lets face it, New England was better.

 

I can appreciate your step dad's frustration, I got pretty frustrated with Choker too. The ONE year his Steelers were able to win the SB, they had to win all their playoff games on the road. No one, and I mean NO ONE ever expected that. I remember watching all those playoff games that season, especially when the Steelers played the Colts. They had beaten the Steelers earlier in the season, but the Steelers Defense put the putty on Manning, and the Colts lost. Then the trip the Denver for the AFC Championship game, the Denver fans had already booked their flights to the SB, and Denver had already beaten New England, so it was a shoe in, so they thought.

 

Such is life in the NFL. Besides having a good team, you can't have a lot of injuries come playoff time. And you need to have a bit of luck and hopefully some blind officials making calls in your team's favor in order to win a SB.

 

Watch out for New England again this season.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[BP3]

What's up with the McNabb benching? I've heard the cardio reasoning, which is pretty bizarre. I'd love to hear from the Skin's fans. Doesn't seem like a lot of love for Donovan at this point. At .500, they're still contenders, and I can't see Grossman as being the guy there. Or is he?

 

They worked out JaMarcus Russell today. Good luck with that!

 

The dangers of having the head coach's son as OC is biting Shanny in the ass. I'm sick and tired of the square peg/round hole coaching that has plagued DC for over a decade. Will Mike fire Kyle? No. Will he screw the team because of his ego and his son. Yes.

[Magpel]

Page 3? This thread sank to page 3? Come on.

 

Colts/Iggles is the marquee game this week. Baltimore/Miami is big, too.

 

My Giants have a tremendous opportunity to get on the fast track to a bye today. Seattle is beat up and not just at QB, where Charlie Whitehurst will be making his first career start. Qwest Field, however, has always been a nightmare for the Giants.

 

And in an inexplicable development, I find myself pragmatically rooting for the Cowboys to beat the Packers, as I look at the NFC playoff race. Of course, if the Pack heap disgrace upon disgrace and humiliate the 'Boys, that's be fine too.

[Geoff Grace]

Well, there's this:

 

Roy Williams: We Can Win Nine Straight Games

 

I'm still picking the Pack for today, however. Speaking of Green Bay:

 

Packers activate Bigby; Harris still on PUP list

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[antimatter]

I can't trust the Cowboys enough to take them, even with the 8 points. It would certainly add to their bizarre season though if they pulled an upset, but I really believe they've quit.

The 8.5 points in the Atlanta/ Tampa game doesn't show too much appreciation for the 5-2 record of the Bucs. I can only assume they'll be riding the 'no respect' thing into the game. Crazy this NFC.

With that, Go Giants!