Official NFL 2010-2011 Thread

[MikeT156]

Dan:

 

Yeah, that would be sweet, but I would have a hard time swallowing that the Steelers are the "Best" team in the NFL. They're not. There are other teams that are better, and I know the best team doesn't always win. There are so many things that can change the outcome of a game. Not too many people expected the Jets to beat the Patriots, but there's an example of why the bookies are the ones that make all the money!

 

Mike T.

[Magpel]

The Steelers aren't the best, but they definitely pose a couple of particular challenges for the Jets, namely stout run D and pass. rush.

 

Also, Big Ben, whom I loathe, just doesn't go down, does he? It is amazing how many games they win just because of that.

[GovernorSilver]

ESPN's 2nd look at the previous Jets-Steelers matchup:

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/4247/a-look-back-at-jets-22-steelers-17

 

Since this appears to be a strength vs. strength matchup (two running teams vs. two good run Ds) the game will probably be decided by big plays through the air and/or big turnovers. Big Ben has the experience edge over Sanchez, but Sanchez has a Superbowl MVP (Holmes) and two good complementary WRs, one of whom can be brilliant at times (Edwards). The Jets OL looks in better shape than the Steelers'.

[MikeT156]

I sure hope that Troy is in better physical condition for the game this week. He can make a difference in spooking Sanchez and disrupting his game. Troy was the invisible man this past week. Clark stepped up and filled the void, but we need Troy to have a chance to get a couple of big plays. That would be huge in this game.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[Dan South]

Sanchez is the weak link in the chain. I have no doubt that Rex will put a lot of pressure on Ben, but Dick Le Beau should be able to give the kid nightmares.

 

Rodgers is the best QB left in the hunt, but Ben has that unique magical teflon coating. Defenders just bounce off of the guy.

[Geoff Grace]

Brett Favre thinks Packers 'will win it all'

 

Brett Favre may have left Green Bay three years ago, but he's still got the Packers in his heart.

 

In an e-mail response to ESPN's Ed Werder, Favre said Monday that the Packers are "by far" the best team left in the NFL playoffs.

 

"[Packers QB] Aaron [Rodgers] is the best QB and the receiving corps is the best ever, maybe," Favre said in the e-mail. "But [defensive coordinator] Dom [Capers] and the defense gets the MVP award at this stage."

 

Favre thinks this is the year for Green Bay to win its first Super Bowl since Favre and the Packers beat the New England Patriots in 1997 in Super Bowl XXXI.

 

"I think they will win it all! I hope they do, if you are wondering," Favre said in the e-mail.

Best,

 

Geoff

[ProfD]

I believe the Steelers will win Sunday. Tomlin doesn't want to lose to them again. I agree, LeBeau will give Sanchez a fit.

 

While Big Ben may not have a perfect SAT score, he can play football. The dude has just enough skills and weapons to get past Rex-Revis and the Jets.

 

I thought the Patriots peaked at the right time during the season. It was actually the Packers. Da Bears will have their hands full.

 

Right now, I think the Super Bowl will be the Steelers vs Packers with the cheese hoisting the trophy. Of course, my mind is subject change by Feb 6th.

 

[MikeT156]

I have been listening to ESPN radio and there has been talk in Pittsburgh for quite awhile that Ben is not the most popular guy in the locker room. He has improved in that he hangs with more of the players than he use too, trying to be a team guy.

 

The word is that Ben really doesn't spend enough time studying film and putting the extra time in for an NFL starting QB.

 

Tom Brady has been known to be the first guy there in the morning and the last to leave at night. He's smart, studies film, and is one of the best pocket QB's in the NFL, for years. He's everything Ben is not. He has excellent taste in women too.

 

But the best man or the best team doesn't always win.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[Griffinator]

If it weren't the goddamned Jets, I'd actually be pulling for LT2 to get his ring. He carried the Chargers for nearly a decade, and they threw him out with the trash as soon as he hit 30. He then, of course, proved that he had plenty left in the tank with New York.

[Magpel]

If it weren't the goddamned Jets, I'd actually be pulling for LT2 to get his ring. He carried the Chargers for nearly a decade, and they threw him out with the trash as soon as he hit 30. He then, of course, proved that he had plenty left in the tank with New York.

 

But think about it: can you really root for Big Ben to get back to the dance? I mean, really. If the Steelers win this, Ben will have tied Brady for rings, and will have won 3 in a period in which Brady won 0. Doesn't seem right...

 

...Which to me brings up a funny part of our thinking. We think of Ben Roethelisberger as a two ring QB, select company, and yet he was horrific in that first game, certainly the worst performance ever by an SB-winning QB and among the worst by any SB QB ever, winner or loser (alas, worst probably belongs to my boy Kerry Collins.)

The Referee in that game had to come clean in public because the bad calls were keeping him awake at night even still...and yet, for all that, Ben is still a two-ring QB, and we project him that special quality of an exceptional winner and consider him somehow more clutch than Peyton Manning or Brett Favre.

[Dan South]

Ben isn't a Brady or a Manning or a Staubach. He's more like Favre or Bradshaw, like a big kid endowed with spectacular athleticism, ironclad toughness, and outrageous fearlessness and audacity. Many times we've seen the frustration of defeat on Peyton's face, and this past weekend we saw it on Tom's. Think of the last time you saw that look on Brett or Ben's face. It doesn't happen very often. These guys are Optimists. They BELIEVE that they are ALWAYS in the game, and they play with abandon, with no reserve whatsoever. That's what makes them contenders, competitors who are in it until the final whistle. That can count for as much as a golden arm and sometimes counts for more.

 

Tom Brady has been known to be the first guy there in the morning and the last to leave at night.

 

His GF must be off traveling to a lot of model shoots. :-)

 

 

[MikeT156]

Yeah, Tom's lifestyle has changed since he hooked up with Gisele. Hmm...I wonder why?? So he spends more time with her and the family, wouldn't you when you compare it to spending ALL your time in a smelly locker room? Any change in his work ethic didn't seem to hurt his ability to win football games.

 

Bens advantage is his size. He does have the knack for putting the ball in the end zone when it really matters in championship games. No, he's no Brady, but Brady can't do what Ben can do either. I'd say Brady is a more accurate passer and has more gray matter. Different types of players, but both of them get the job done the way they know how.

 

I certainly don't love Ben, but he's still the Steelers QB. I'd rather have him than the other QB's we've had since the Bradshaw days. Its too bad that the Steelers have to wear his baggage.

 

I agree with Scot about LT2. I would be pulling for him if he got to the SB. Too bad he plays for the Jets now. The way the Jets run their organization isn't popular in my corner, the players trash talk and their coach is a big mouth. But that's the Jets.

 

I have no love for New England, but they are slipping down the list of teams I dislike.

 

 

 

Mike T.

[Griffinator]

No, he's no Brady, but Brady can't do what Ben can do either.

 

Yeah, I was thinking that when I watched Brady try and duck that one pass rusher - Ben would have shook the guy off after he ducked under him and probably completed a pass afterward.

 

I agree with Scot about LT2. I would be pulling for him if he got to the SB. Too bad he plays for the Jets now. The way the Jets run their organization isn't popular in my corner, the players trash talk and their coach is a big mouth. But that's the Jets.

 

Exactly. I have little use for a coach who not only allows, but encourages his players to talk trash, and does so himself.

 

If they actually get to the SB, they're going to be one of those teams that loses because they get so wrapped up in the pregame hype and trash-talking they lose focus on the field.

 

I have no love for New England, but they are slipping down the list of teams I dislike

 

Hate BB all you want, but the Pats, especially now sans Moss, really are a lovable blue-collar kind of team, and really always have been. The sullen sleeveless hoody-clad one is a very hate-able character, but the guys who work for him are really a bunch of no-nonsense, let's get out there and get the job done type of guys - and the ones that get fat heads and start acting like prima donnas find themselves on a plane headed somewhere else (Ty Law, Asante Samuel, Richard Seymour, Randy Moss, the list goes on and on)

[MikeT156]

by Griffinator:

 

Hate BB all you want, but the Pats, especially now sans Moss, really are a lovable blue-collar kind of team, and really always have been. The sullen sleeveless hoody-clad one is a very hate-able character, but the guys who work for him are really a bunch of no-nonsense, let's get out there and get the job done type of guys - and the ones that get fat heads and start acting like prima donnas find themselves on a plane headed somewhere else (Ty Law, Asante Samuel, Richard Seymour, Randy Moss, the list goes on and on)

 

Scot, let me get one thing over to you on this subject, I DO NOT HATE the Patriots. The Patriots have owned the Steelers on the field in the last decade and it pisses me off. That's not New England's fault, its the fault of the coaches and the players that wear Steelers uniforms. Bill Cowher choked on numerous occasions while he was coaching the Steelers and that's why he got the nick-name "Choker". I like Mike Tomlin much better. The Steelers have been intimidated in their own stadium on several occasions when NE came to town. How many times have the Steelers been embarrassed by New England? Its just a simple case of jealous of one's competitor when the competitor always gets the best of you. I can't fault NE for being better than my team.

 

Also, BB is not Mr. Congeniality, but so what? That's his personality. And I agree that he sends guys packing, no matter who they are or think they are, when their baggage exceeds their value on the field. He runs the organization as a business, because that's what it is.

 

At one time I thought that Robert Kraft was an asshole, but "upon further review" that's not the case. NE runs a tight ship and has been the envy of the NFL for over decade or more. They can't always win all the time because of the salary cap, free agency, injuries, and head-case players, but they certainly have been a good representative of Boston and NE.

 

I just wish we could be competitive against them consistently. Until that happens, I am always going to get my dander up when we play New England, and always be aggravated when we lose.

 

The Patriots have nothing to be ashamed of this season, its tough to beat everybody you play, win the SB by 3 touchdowns and live happily ever after. If that were the case, NFL football wouldn't be as popular as it is. Every team has a chance and any team that lets their collective guard down or is full of themselves for even one game will get their heads handed to them.

 

I was disappointed that the NE lost to the Jets, because I dislike the Jets and Ryan a lot more than New England. My boss said the same thing, "In order to be the best, we have to beat the best". The Steelers have not been the best this season and I don't like it.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[Magpel]

I've never hated BB--as a Giants fan, how could I? I think he is misunderstood, and I find him to be a sympathetic figure. Nor Brady for that matter--always a big fan of that guy on and off the field. There have been Pats that have pissed me off over the years, Rodney Harrison probably foremost among them but also Bruschi and more recently Wilfork (thug) and Merriwether (headhunter extraordinaire). So what? I can find guys like that on any team, except for Harrison who was a special kind of dirty, rivaled only by Dawkins in his own era.

 

I think most of the distaste people have for the Pats is cultural, perhaps coming from the fans more than the organization itself. It is this assumption of singularity and dominance for a team that is seven years removed from their last title. It is time to face up to the fact that the Pats are now "just another" perennial playoff team and, with 0 playoff wins in the last three seasons, not even at the top of that list.

 

As of right now, their dynasty is exactly the equivalent of the Johnson/Switzer Cowboys but with a longer release time, as it were, yet the fans seem to act as if it is so, so much more. They may well be the model franchise of the cap age, but their actual achievement has more in common with Gibbs' 'Skins than the Walsh and Seifert 'Niners.

 

So, IMO, in sum, Pats "hatred" has less to do with the inarguable success of a long-tenured HC/QB combo than with their fans' exaggeration thereof. And that's why Sunday was so very very sweet.

[GovernorSilver]

If it weren't the goddamned Jets, I'd actually be pulling for LT2 to get his ring. He carried the Chargers for nearly a decade, and they threw him out with the trash as soon as he hit 30. He then, of course, proved that he had plenty left in the tank with New York.

 

It could be that LT2 was saving the contents of his "tank" for a post-Chargers career, while he was still in his last year as a Charger. He was after all the starting tailback in the NFL's #31 ranked rushing offense in 2009, running behind the same group of blockers that in 2010 led the way for a #15 ranked rushing attack.

 

I'm still fond of the guy and what he did for SD. Looks like he benefitted from the change of scenery.

 

OTOH, the 2nd round pick SD gets from NYJ will drop in value if the Jets make the SB. I'm a bit torn between that and my fondness for LT2. I'm also not a fan of Antonio Cromartie, though Rex Ryan has done a good job of hiding Cromartie's weaknesses (unreliable vs. the run, takes plays off) with his schemes.

[MikeT156]

Magpel:

 

The one place where I have to disagree with you is about Sunday's loss by Patriots was "very very sweet". I'd say that I really didn't care for the way the Patriots exulted themselves when they beat San Diego on the Chargers field some years ago, but most of the players on that team are gone anyway.

 

I dislike the Jets much more. I never cared for players that shoot off their big mouths, trash talk, and feed the media hype. Leave it all on the field. And that includes my team, the Steelers. I don't care for Ben because of his behavior off the field. I think he should be in jail because that's were rapists belong. Too bad the authorities were unable to gather enough evidence to prosecute him, but we're stuck with him.

 

You do have a point about the fans carrying Patriot's hate further than what is warranted, they haven't won a title in 7 years. However, I do believe they will again, sooner rather than later.

 

 

cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[ProfD]

The league parity is becoming more apparent with each passing season. With perennial winners like the Pats and Colts, expectations are high. But, they either fail to show up and/or seem to lose at the most inopportune time. Any given Sunday.

 

IMO, Belicheck is a helluva HC and his demeanor is perfect for the game. I also dig the Pats as an organization. Win or lose, they appear to be a team moreso than a bunch of drama queens. With several high draft picks, they're right back in the mix next year.

 

I certainly wish my Skins would take a few pages from the books of winning teams in order to restore this franchise to some type of glory. Allen and Shanny get another year or so to make it right.

[Griffinator]

If every team did like the Pats did, free agency salaries wouldn't get so completely out of control every offseason. It's the fault of knuckleheads like Snyder, Jones, and Mum-Ra Davis that D-Linemen get north of $10M a year.

[Bridog6996]

http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/jetsgamenewspaperheadline.jpg

[Joe Muscara]

I had that happen once. It hurts just thinking about that jumphead.

[kanker.]

Jimmy Johnson uses Extenze when his jumphead goes

[kanker.]

Big Ben gets arrested when he goes jumphead

[Griffinator]

Big Ben gets arrested when he goes jumphead

 

Especially when his barllskdjf are involved.

[Dan South]

I have no animosity toward the Pats. Except for Spygate, they have been a class organization and have been very effective at winning football games for the past ten years or so. Would sports fans be better served if Dan Snyder owned this team? Or Jerry Jones?

 

I have no animosity toward Belichick. He's extremely focused on winning, but that's a requirement of his job. Would you prefer that he be more like Norv Turner or Wade Phillips? Or Tom "Fists Of Fury" Cable?

 

I have no animosity toward Brady. When he has open receivers, no one playing now or in the history of the NFL can compete with the guy. To their credit, the Jets did and amazing job of closing down his targets.

 

I have no animosity toward the Jets or Rex. I didn't like his cranky old dad very much. At least Rex seems like he be a fun guy to have a drink with. And if someone can't take a bit of trash talking in stride, that person really isn't cut out for a career in professional sports.

 

The Steelers aren't the best? Bill Parcells says that you are what your record says you are. The Steelers are in the Top 4, and they only have to be "the best" for 120 minutes. That's why they play the game.

[MikeT156]

by Dan South:

 

The Steelers aren't the best? Bill Parcells says that you are what your record says you are. The Steelers are in the Top 4, and they only have to be "the best" for 120 minutes. That's why they play the game.

 

I love Bill Parcels, and he does have a point. BUT, who did the Steelers beat in the 12-4 record? The only playoff teams were Atlanta, 1st game of the season 15-9. Baltimore, we beat twice and lost once. Playoff teams we lost to were Baltimore 17-14, New Orleans 20-10, New England 39-26 (we were blown out in this game and the final score is not an indication of the way that game went) And the Jets 22-17.

 

No team can help who is on their schedule, but the Steelers have not been a dominating teams this year, even Steelers players have said that.

 

I realize there is parity in the league and only so much talent to go around. I suspect the age of the Steelers is showing, and although they have some younger players in the line up, as a team, the Steelers are not really all that good. Sure, a lot of teams would love to be 12-4, I am not dissing the Steelers record. However, I don't believe this is a great Steelers team.

 

If we win on Sunday, I will be very happy. Just as much so because I would like to stuff a shoe down Rex Ryan's big mouth, and have our fans flip the Jets players the bird when they walk off the field.

 

Maybe I've lost my sense of humor in my old age, but I hate show boaters, braggers, and poor sportsmanship. I would have no problem with our fans flipping the Jet players the bird if we win as a payback for their behavior to New England fans.

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[Griffinator]

The thing about having to scratch and claw to win games, Mike, is that you never have to worry about guys thinking they don't have to give 100% to win the game.

 

One of the reasons the Pats were so effective in the playoffs during their three SB winning seasons was that they never once believed they were miles better than their opponents. They knew every game was a dogfight, and they had to bust their asses to win each time.

[MikeT156]

Scot:

 

That's true, most of the NFL teams are close in talent. I'm just underwhelmed by the Steelers this season. Getting blown out by the Patriots the way we did, and then the collective stupidity of our team leaving a live ball sitting on the field and giving the Ravens a free touchdown tells me that the Steelers aren't all that good and they aren't all that smart either.

 

But ultimately, the last team standing deserves the Lombardi Trophy. The winning team has to earn it with their blood.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

I've come to the conclusion that I have no freaking idea who's going to win this weekend.

 

Discuss.

[Griffinator]

Hard to choose when the Lakers aren't playing, eh Jeff?