Official NFL 2012-2013 Thread

[Bridog6996]

Tom was carrying the team - the receivers just weren't catching the ball. Can't remember the last time I saw the Pats drop that many passes.

 

Especially Welker. Astonished at how many very catchable balls he dropped.

 

I've been surprised at that all season with Welker, to be quite honest. The guy is usually a human vacuum, but lately it seems like at least once or so a game he'll miss one that was put right in his bread basket.

 

Well, at least it was relatively close. The Ravens showed up and executed, and the Pats didn't. There's not really much more to it than that. At least hockey is back!

[GovernorSilver]

Both underdogs won today so I don't have a strong inclination on who to root for in the Harbowl.

 

The Ravens' victory looks more impressive with the point differential and the quality of opponent. Impressive 2nd half adjustment by John.

 

OTOH, impressive comeback by Jim's team.

 

The Ravens faced two opponents with running QBs in 2012 and lost to both - however they limited the rushing yds of both QBs (RG3 and Vick). Kaepernick hardly ran today, but the thread of a Kaepernick run opened up lanes for Gore and other NIner backs.

[antimatter]

I am not much of a Ray Lewis fan myself. I gather his teammates love him, but sometimes they must resent that it's always about him.

Anyways, I like Baltimore over SF (slightly). They just beat the Broncos in Denver and then beat the Pats in NE. They weren't supposed to do that. SF on the other hand, is exactly where many thought they would be.

[CEB]

Ravens shut down Welker in September with close press coverage.

 

I don't really care who wins this one. I went to HS with one of the Nevada coaches who coached the QB from San Fran. A good freind's son played WR with Colin. The inside word is he a really good kid off the field.

[Bridog6996]

I was a little disappointed that Brady didn't look for Brandon Lloyd more in the second half when the Ravens were shutting down the short passing game. It could have been the play calling, or that Brady's programmed to look Welker's way almost all the time at this point. Lloyd was getting open though, and he made great plays the few times he got the ball. Usually the Pats are good at finding the hot player/match-up and exploiting the crap out it (see Vereen last week). I think Llyod was that guy yesterday, and they missed it.

[meccajay]

So what happened to that disappearing white suit? Oh yeah, it was *never* found. While you speak with the confidence of someone who was at the scene, every other account I have ever heard speaks with absolutely no confidence about the situation, no matter what the source....

 

Let's hope Ray keeps the knives at home this time. I'd say I have zero respect for the cat, but that would be overstating the situation. Any man who was even implicated in a couple of stabbings who then prances around after football games that pay him untold millions while yelling "No weapon...." deserves everything and anything that's flung at his sad, sorry, worthless piece of shit self.

 

The White suit was something he lied about..hence he conviction. He also told other lies about that night as well. What happened was he got the limo, swung it around near the gathered crowd, and swept up all of his posse, then took them back to the condo they were in and told his people to take there clothes and wash them, in order to destroy evidence in case any of them were implicated. That in itself was pretty bad, but it's not murder. It was later established who the 2 real suspects were, and the DA had to shift his focus or lose the case because no jury was gonna convict Lewis on Murder. Many here in Atlanta critisized DA Paul Howard for going after Ray for Murder in the 1st place after the facts came out, and there was a ton of controversy here in town about how Howard destroyed Lewis's name in order to make his shine. And just to be clear, this was never a black and white issue, or racism in the south, DA Paul Howard is black.

 

As far as Ray Lewis is concerened, Kanker it's fine to not like him...even to hate him. If you want to know the truth, I spent the last 150 years as a Titans fan, so hating Ray Lewis was a great joy of mine for many many years!!

 

Now, he'd kinda become Larry Bird to me. Bird was someone I hated for years as a child due to how he always kicked the crap out of my fav Sixers in those years.. If you said his name, I would spit at your feet! Now I see more clearly just how great Bird was, and I've come to seriously respect who he was and what he did for his team, city, and the state of basketball. Maybe Im soft in my old age, but Ive come to respect Ray Lewis as well. He has become arguably the greatest redemption story in the history of sports... Yes, he's a publicity hound, and he talks too much, dances too much, and prays too much-too loudly-and too vigorously for network televion, and no one likes that about him, but Ray Lewis is the very definition of how someone can drop bad influences and completely turn there life around!! And Ray has maintained that new life-2nd chance with furious consistancy.. which is enough for me.

 

[kanker.]

mecca - I appreciate and respect your reasoned response, and I've appreciated and respected your contributions period. Still...

 

 

Lewis is indicative of a system that creates a greater level of invincibility in young men than is natural. Young men by their very nature are invincible. First round draft picks in the NBA or the NFL are a whole other level - at least in the MLB, even first round draft picks typically toil in minor league ball before they make the big time.

 

Given Lewis' past, I find it particularly distasteful that he reacts to wins proclaiming "no weapon". No matter what happened that night, even if he had absolutely no direct involvement, he should have more sense, more compassion, more simple humanity to the families of those who were murdered that night than to ever let the word weapon pass his lips publicly. He quite convincingly demonstrates his selfish, immature, spoiled, entitled nature with that particular pronouncement. A simple "God is good" would be *infinitely* more palatable. I also find it particularly annoying that he thinks there is divine intervention in his fucking lowly, stupid ass, pointless-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things football game. He is no more special than Peyton or Tom in the eyes of a supreme being, yet he feels that supreme being interferes in his football games. In essence, he hasn't turned his life around, he just knows when to pour on the crocodile tears and play for the camera.

 

The difference between Lewis and Bird is simple. Bird is, without question, a dick. It is what made him great. It is what makes many players great. It is what made Bird call Magic one off season to ask the very simple question: "What are you doing right now?" Magic's answer was something like "I'm hanging out, having fun." Bird's answer was "Yeah? I'm practicing." Magic changed in that moment.

 

Lewis, on the other hand, put himself in a position no thinking man should ever be in, bargained his way out of it, and then somehow managed to fix his public image by playing hard every Sunday, but he never changed the selfishness that defined his early years as evidenced by his "no weapon" proclamations.

 

Compare that to Randy Moss, who was also a dick. Moss' dickishness only manifested itself on the field when it didn't actually matter in the grand scheme of things. His crocodile arming a pass didn't result in, or obstruct the investigation of, or the death of anyone or anybody. Moss is, quite simply, a bad teammate. Lewis is, quite simply, a bad person who has never truly been accountable for whatever he participated in that night. His crocodile tears are much more reprehensible than Moss' crocodile arms because Moss' arms only affect a stupid game. Lewis' crocodile tears are meant to make him look like some great human being, when in reality he is nothing. He is a spoiled-ass nobody who claims piety all the while flaunting the situation he is eternally linked with through his own "no weapon" proclamations. He deserves any flack he gets. Otherwise, he is simply too stupid, too simple, too out of touch to realize how incredibly offensive his "no weapon" proclamations after winning a stupid football game truly are. He is not worthy of respect. Pity is the best he deserves. Animosity is probably a little more appropriate.

[kanker.]

I gotta say, Shannon Sharpe nails why Belicheat is a punk

 

"There's something to be said about being gracious in defeat. We've seen the New England Patriots five times in the last 12 years be victorious. And we've seen the opposing coaches that lost come out and speak to our Steve Tasker. Coach [bill] Cowher [who was sitting next to Sharpe] did it when they lost. We saw this last week. Bill Belichick makes it very easy for you to root against the Patriots. You can't be a poor sport all the time. You're not going to win every time. And he does this every time he loses. It is unacceptable."

 

Belicheat makes millions every year because of CBS. At the very least, he owes CBS his devotion for the ridiculous amounts of money he gets paid each year. Belichick deserves every bit of disappointment he gets this time of year every year these days.

 

He acts like a loser in defeat. That is his true essence.

[Joe Muscara]

kanker - Do you have an opinion about Big Ben? Just curious.

 

___

 

Why is Bill Cowher always referred to as "Coach" or "Coach Cowher" when other former coaches on TV (Jimmy Johnson, Jon Gruden, Mike Ditka) generally are not?

[HammondDave]

You know, people do change.... Sometimes when someone makes a mistake, they do learn and make a change for the better. Anyone think that Ray Lewis could be a better man than he was before? How about giving him the benefit of the doubt...

 

The Patriots looked scared of the Ravens. Check out TM's article HERE . They knew that the last team they wanted to face where the Ravens. Were it not for a dropped TD pass and a missed chip shot field goal, the Ravens would have beaten the Patriots last year, and had already beaten them this year in the regular season.

 

I was not surprised.... That entire team is overrated. They play in a very easy division and were not "battle tested" like the Ravens were. Buffalo, Miami,...the Jets? Nothing like playing the Steelers and Bengals twice a year.

[Joe Muscara]

I hope Ray Lewis has changed. I hope what I'm seeing is a "new man." (I never heard him say "no weapons" but I don't watch all that stuff pre- and post-game.) Similarly, I hope Big Ben has changed. I don't know if he did anything, but at the very least, he was getting himself into bad situations.

 

I enjoy watching football, but I readily admit that it makes guys think they're supermen and invincible as kanker says. Many of them need to learn the difference between on the field and off. I appreciate those that do.

[CEB]

You know, people do change.... Sometimes when someone makes a mistake, they do learn and make a change for the better. Anyone think that Ray Lewis could be a better man than he was before?

 

Jerry Sandusky (voice of the Ravens NOT the convicted child molester from Penn State) was on WSCR Chicago last night and putting forth your thesis as fact. Plus discussing the all things Raven related.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

Hello. What is this football game you speak of here?

[SHaka40]

Lewis' crocodile tears are meant to make him look like some great human being, when in reality he is nothing. He is a spoiled-ass nobody who claims piety all the while flaunting the situation he is eternally linked with through his own "no weapon" proclamations.

Not to belabor the point (nothing wrong with just agreeing to disagree of course) but c'mon. You honestly think that Ray Lewis is quoting scripture to subliminally flaunt or taunt victims of a crime that he didn't even commit? I can be pretty cynical, but even I would have never thought to connect those dots in a million years!

 

But back on topic, this should be a great game. There are so many storylines. Obviously, there's the Harbough Bowl first and foremost. Ray Lewis' last game (and I wouldn't be surprised if it's Ed Reed and/or Randy Moss' last game too). It's also kind of fitting that perhaps the greatest middle lb of all-time is going against the best middle lb in the world today for the championship. Sort of a passing of the torch, although in terms of talent that was done a few years ago. And on a personal note, I'm torn. I'd like to see Reed, Suggs and the vets that weren't there in 2000 get a ring, and I'd like to see Lewis go out the right way (this would be Michael Jordan hitting the game-winner against Utah...minus his stint with the Wizards). But I'm a Vikings fan first and foremost. I was never even into football much until Randy Moss started tearing up the league as a rookie. So I'd love to see him get a ring before he's done too. Whichever team wins though, it should be an extremely physical, evenly-matched game. So we all win in that regard.

[Phil Aiken]

I gotta say, Shannon Sharpe nails why Belicheat is a punk

 

"There's something to be said about being gracious in defeat. We've seen the New England Patriots five times in the last 12 years be victorious. And we've seen the opposing coaches that lost come out and speak to our Steve Tasker. Coach [bill] Cowher [who was sitting next to Sharpe] did it when they lost. We saw this last week. Bill Belichick makes it very easy for you to root against the Patriots. You can't be a poor sport all the time. You're not going to win every time. And he does this every time he loses. It is unacceptable."

 

Belicheat makes millions every year because of CBS. At the very least, he owes CBS his devotion for the ridiculous amounts of money he gets paid each year. Belichick deserves every bit of disappointment he gets this time of year every year these days.

 

He acts like a loser in defeat. That is his true essence.

 

Or....you could take the word of his opposing coach:

 

The postgame conversation on the field with Bill Belichick ... Harbaugh: "I'll treasure that conversation forever. Before the game, we talked, and he said maybe we should just skip the postgame handshake because it's such a circus. I said I didn't know; I thought we should do it, it's just the right thing to do. And we did. He was so classy, so gracious. Complimentary about how we played, about our game plan, about how tough it is to play us. I told him how much we pattern our organization around theirs, how much we study them.''

 

[GovernorSilver]

I told him how much we pattern our organization around theirs, how much we study them.

 

I think this is one of the reasons the Ravens have been so competitive vs. the Patriots in recent years. I don't quite buy the "scared" thing. I do buy the idea that the Ravens patterned themselves after the Pats - that's more likely factor in their ability to beat the Pats in their own house.

[Griffinator]

I gotta say, Shannon Sharpe nails why Belicheat is a punk

 

"There's something to be said about being gracious in defeat. We've seen the New England Patriots five times in the last 12 years be victorious. And we've seen the opposing coaches that lost come out and speak to our Steve Tasker. Coach [bill] Cowher [who was sitting next to Sharpe] did it when they lost. We saw this last week. Bill Belichick makes it very easy for you to root against the Patriots. You can't be a poor sport all the time. You're not going to win every time. And he does this every time he loses. It is unacceptable."

 

Belicheat makes millions every year because of CBS. At the very least, he owes CBS his devotion for the ridiculous amounts of money he gets paid each year. Belichick deserves every bit of disappointment he gets this time of year every year these days.

 

He acts like a loser in defeat. That is his true essence.

 

Or....you could take the word of his opposing coach:

 

The postgame conversation on the field with Bill Belichick ... Harbaugh: "I'll treasure that conversation forever. Before the game, we talked, and he said maybe we should just skip the postgame handshake because it's such a circus. I said I didn't know; I thought we should do it, it's just the right thing to do. And we did. He was so classy, so gracious. Complimentary about how we played, about our game plan, about how tough it is to play us. I told him how much we pattern our organization around theirs, how much we study them.''

 

Eh, Kevin will take any excuse to hate on the Pats.

[KenElevenShadows]

Yes.

 

??

 

Hate the Pats that much, do we?

 

Regardless, the Brady era is coming to a close in NE. Tom can't carry the team the way he used to, and we just don't have the playmakers anymore, the people we used to depend on to turn the game when we needed it.

 

I thought Brady still played well, but a better team around him would help. Brady's still one of the top QBs in the league.

 

And yeah, sorry, nothing personal, but I'm not a huge Patriots fan, and they've been enough Super Bowls anyway. I'm a Bears fan. I grew up in Illinois, and it's in my blood, just as the Boston teams are in yours.

[KenElevenShadows]

I gotta say, Shannon Sharpe nails why Belicheat is a punk

 

"There's something to be said about being gracious in defeat. We've seen the New England Patriots five times in the last 12 years be victorious. And we've seen the opposing coaches that lost come out and speak to our Steve Tasker. Coach [bill] Cowher [who was sitting next to Sharpe] did it when they lost. We saw this last week. Bill Belichick makes it very easy for you to root against the Patriots. You can't be a poor sport all the time. You're not going to win every time. And he does this every time he loses. It is unacceptable."

 

Belicheat makes millions every year because of CBS. At the very least, he owes CBS his devotion for the ridiculous amounts of money he gets paid each year. Belichick deserves every bit of disappointment he gets this time of year every year these days.

 

He acts like a loser in defeat. That is his true essence.

 

Or....you could take the word of his opposing coach:

 

The postgame conversation on the field with Bill Belichick ... Harbaugh: "I'll treasure that conversation forever. Before the game, we talked, and he said maybe we should just skip the postgame handshake because it's such a circus. I said I didn't know; I thought we should do it, it's just the right thing to do. And we did. He was so classy, so gracious. Complimentary about how we played, about our game plan, about how tough it is to play us. I told him how much we pattern our organization around theirs, how much we study them.''

 

I don't know very much about Belichick at all, but like a lot of people, he's probably rather complex. He doesn't seem warm and fuzzy, and he's generally not very funny, and he has some prickish behavior, so the press sometimes skewers him, but I doubt he's a bad guy.

 

What I do know is that the guy is a good coach, and that he's lucky that he's also got a great QB in Brady, and the two of them together are lethal. The Pats didn't have the greatest team this year, and they still managed to make it to the AFC Championship.

 

[KenElevenShadows]

You know, people do change.... Sometimes when someone makes a mistake, they do learn and make a change for the better. Anyone think that Ray Lewis could be a better man than he was before? How about giving him the benefit of the doubt...

 

One can always hope. You hope Vick is better, Armstrong is better, etc.

[GovernorSilver]

Jim Harbaugh also has a reputation of being not-a-nice-guy. However, as long as he keeps delivering results, his job is safe.

 

My Chargers had a super nice guy as head coach once. He's back in Oregon State where he belongs.

[CEB]

Get Jim away from football and he is a super cool dude. I don't know anything about John.

 

They say both take strongly after their dad Jack.

 

Bears should have probably hired Jack. Jim says Dad still knows the most about coaching than anyone else in the family.

[Bridog6996]

If you think you have Belichick pegged and know what he's all about, you should probably watch the "A Football Life" documentary about him. I think you can find it on Youtube, although it may be just clips.

 

 

[ProfD]

I didn't expect the 2nd half of both championship games to result in neither the Falcons nor Patriots scoring another point. Good halftime adjustments by the 49ers and Ravens.

 

The 49ers versus Ravens Super Bowl (Harbowl) should be a good game. I hope the Ravens defense has enough gas left in the tank to hang with the 49ers offense.

 

The Ravens' offense has been playing very well lately. Caldwell's playcalling was a little too predictable in previous games but he mixed it up well during the during the 2nd half of the championship game.

 

While the 49ers appear to be balanced team on both sides of the ball, it's hard to predict which team will show up. I don't know if we'll see the 49ers that were blown out by Seattle or the team that crushed the Packers.

 

Either way, the Super Bowl should be an entertaining affair. I just hope both teams show up for all four quarters.

[GovernorSilver]

It'll be interesting to see what the Ravens do to try to stop all the things Kaepernick can do out of the Pistol formation - his run threat opens up holes for Gore and James, as well as play-action. I've been reading some articles on the Pistol and there's some misunderstanding about it. It's definitely not the same as the option formations of the 40s. It's doesn't even require a running QB - the inventor of the Pistol says even Eli Manning could operate out of it.

 

It'll also be interesting to see how the Niner D does vs. Raven's passing game. The Falcons shredded that D for a good portion of the game.

 

 

[GovernorSilver]

It'll be interesting to see what the Ravens do to try to stop all the things Kaepernick can do out of the Pistol formation - his run threat opens up holes for Gore and James, as well as play-action. I've been reading some articles on the Pistol and there's some misunderstanding about it. It's definitely not the same as the option formations of the 40s. It's doesn't even require a running QB - the inventor of the Pistol says even Eli Manning could operate out of it.

 

It'll also be interesting to see how the Niner D does vs. Raven's passing game. The Falcons shredded that D for a good portion of the game.

 

 

[meccajay]

Yeah Gov, whats great about the "new" Pistol is that you can run conventional offense or even Read Option out of it.

 

One of the reasons Seattle has been so uncontrollable is due to how hard it is to scheme defense against what might be coming at you! It's going to be interesting to see if the DC's of the league are going to be able to turn the Read Option into a fad offense or not, much like they did to the Wild Cat. I don't think it will be as easy to do this for the Pistol O.

[ProfD]

I do think DC's will solve the riddle of the Pistol formation. It starts with making better use of athletic LBs.

 

Fortunately, RG3, Kaepernick and Wilson have shown the ability to drop back, read coverage and pass with accuracy.

 

Cam Newton might be in trouble if he doesn't learn how to better read coverages before DC's figure out the Pistol.

[GovernorSilver]

I do think DC's will solve the riddle of the Pistol formation. It starts with making better use of athletic LBs.

 

The Pistol hides the RB behind the QB to make it harder for the LBs to guess what the RB will do.

 

Just as the Pistol emerged from the college ranks to take the NFL by storm, the defense(s) against the Pistol may also emerge from the college ranks. The Pistol was born in Nevada, which is a WAC school. In the WAC and MWC conferences, one system of defense that is common is the 3 3 5, which was developed to stop the spread offense and give mid-major schools a chance vs. major conference opponents who have a size advantage (most dramatically displayed by Utah vs. Alabama in the Sugar Bowl). Instead of 3 or 4 LBs and 4 DBs, you have 5 DBs and 3 LBs - more speed, more exotic blitzes, and even less predictability than the 3-4. That's one system I could see NFL defensesd borrowing from in the near future to counter the Pistol.

[antimatter]

MLB All-Star game: In the 1934 All-Star Game played at the Polo Grounds, Carl Hubbell set a record by striking out five future Hall of Famers in succession: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin.

 

NFL Pro Bowl: :idk