HarleyQuinn

I need Minnesota or Denver to win to take Week 1.

Patriots are supposedly bringing in Chris Simms today to evaluate him... wonder if they do sign him, does he eventually start or just play backup to Cassel?

Bah... I was *this* close to upsetting the #3 team You're welcome on the #1 spot, Ig.

Bucknell defeated Duquesne 48-42. QB Connor Dixon of Duquesne threw for 429 yards and 6 TD. John Jenkins Award: Arkansas State b. Texas Southern 83-10... yeesh. Bobby Reid was 3/12 for 53 yards and 1 TD vs. 2 INT. Ran for 27 yards. Ryan Perriloux Watch: Won 45-18 over Alabama A&M. Threw for 138 yards and 2 TD, ran for 35 yards and 1 TD. #21 South Dakota State slaughtered #14 Youngstown State 40-7. Kyle Minett ran for 123 yards and 2 TD. #5 Montana held off #11 Cal Poly 30-28. For CP, Jonathan Dally threw for 248 yards and 2 TD. For M, Andrew Schmidt ran for 148 yards and 1 TD.

"This f'n game is over!" Just missed...

Man... a lot of these I-A schools are surviving near upsets from I-AA schools at the last second. Arkansas Colorado State Colorado (Won 31-24 by scoring 17 in the 4th quarter)

3:52 in the 4th, Eastern Washington is now up 24-17. Sac State choked 23-20 Loss.

New Hampshire held on and "upset" Army 28-10 easily. #4 UMass also barely held off Holy Cross in a shoot out 45-42. UMass scored 24 points in the 2nd half. Scores of note: Eastern Washington is leading Colorado 21-14 in the 3rd. Virginia is kicking Richmond's ass 3-0 in the 3rd... oof. Also Colorado State is barely leading Sacramento State 14-13 in the 3rd quarter.

New Hampshire is currently leading Army 21-10 with about 5:46 left in the 3rd on ESPN Classic.

The thing that concerned me about Campbell but should get better as the year goes on was his decision making. It just seemed like he was taking 2 seconds longer than he needed to when deciding to throw the ball. I remember a few routes where the pass was incomplete where I was thinking, if he had thrown it even 1 second earlier he could've had a completion and possibly a decent gain. If you're holding the ball for 5-6 seconds (Brady tends to do this at times too but is lucky in that he often gets stellar protection) sooner or later the rush will get to you. Given the fact that the West Coast is predicated on timing routes, I'd be worried if in 3-4 weeks Campbell is still struggling in getting the ball out quickly. I'm always reminded me of the "clock" in a quarterback's head where they have roughly 3 seconds to get the pass off and I think Campbell needs to develop a quicker mental clock if the Redskins want success in the passing game. I also noticed he has a wind up in his throwing motion, which may be hurting him in terms of the timing of the offense. It actually reminded me of Byron Leftwich.

A couple things I noticed about the game.. The Redskins time management was horrendous. You need to spike the ball quickly, Campbell so what do you do? Stand at the line and wait 3-4 more seconds then snap and spike. I'm not even touching the 1st half finish. Eli was making a lot of risky throws and just as easily could've had 2-3 INT on the night. I know Carlos Rogers dropped 2 INT. Seems like Eli is back to his last season form... big throws and picked off tosses that get overlooked when he throws his 30+ yard TD.

I still think Seattle is overrated to that extent in part because they seem to play "down" to their opponents' level, especially on the road. Until they can overcome this, I'm gonna ignore them in terms of any NFC Title game appearance let alone SB appearance. What's most striking is that they are just horrible on the road and if they keep finishing with records at 9-7 and 10-6, they're gonna keep getting road games and bouncing out of the playoffs. They've finished at 9-7 or 10-6 in each of the last 5 seasons, except 2005. 2007: They lost 4 games on the road. They won 2 of their road games by 5 points or less. 2006: They lost 4 games on the road. They won 3 of their road games by 3 points or less. 2005: They lost 3 games on the road. They won 3 of their road games by 6 points or less. No surprise that they lost the Super Bowl on the road at a neutral site (Shoddy refs or not). 2004: They lost 4 games on the road. They won 2 of their road games by 4 points or less. For 2008, you can almost guarantee that they'll lose 3-4 road games and maybe 2 home games. That immediately leads to a high end 11-5 record or 10-6 record.

Here's a quick discussion question... Based off last season, will we see more of a passing extreme? Tom Brady in his 1st 8 games as we all know was insane (30 TD vs. 2 INT... are you kidding me?). What I personally didn't realize was how successful other quarterbacks were in stretches too and not only that but their teams as a result. I'm curious if seeing the numbers/success will mean that more teams will be throwing it 35+ times a game knowing that their QBs can rip apart a secondary. Drew Brees (Week 12-17): 160/235 (68.1%) for 1691 yards and 13 TD vs. 4 INT. Saints went 3-3 during that stretch. Averaged 39 PA. - Lowest rating was 75.1 and had a QB Rating over 103.9 from Week 12 - 15. Brett Favre (Week 8-12): 131/178 (73.6%) for 1641 yards and 13 TD vs. 2 INT. Packers went 5-0 during that stretch. Averaged 36 PA. - Lowest rating was 100.1 in Week 9. Kurt Warner (Week 12-17): 158/246 (64.2%) for 1884 yards and 16 TD vs. 11 INT. Cardinals went 3-3 during that stretch. Averaged 41 PA. - 5 games over 83.9 QB Rating with back to back games of 106.7 and 105.9. Tony Romo (Week 9-14): 137/187 (73.3%) for 1670 yards and 19 TD vs. 5 INT. Cowboys went 6-0 during that stretch. Averaged 31 PA. - His lowest rating was 102.5 in Week 12 during that stretch. Ben Roethlisberger (Week 13-16): 72/117 (61.5%) for 778 yards and 9 TD vs. 2 INT. Steelers went 2-2 during that stretch. Averaged 29 PA. - 3 games over 86 QB Rating and a 158.3 in Week 17. Eli Manning (Week 10-15): 123/232 (53.0%) for 1390 yards and 6 TD vs. 8 INT. Giants went 3-3 during that stretch. Averaged 39 PA. - 3 games over 72 QB Rating including a 3rd season high of 100.7.

Adam Vinatieri Bart Starr

I think people are sleeping on Seattle partly because their division isn't that good and the fact that they probably won't do much in the playoffs anyway. Maurice Morris (in games that he had 10+ carries) went 113 carries for 462 yards (4.09) but he only had one game with more than 20 carries (28-87 against SF...). I'm not sold that he can be a feature RB and he has two backups in Jones and Duckett making the team essentially a RBBC. Duckett should be a good goal line back but he's been an enigma given the size (3.1 YPC in 2005 after a 4.9 in 2004). Julius Jones is essentially another Maurice Morris but not nearly as impressive. He's the very definition of a backup RB who should be good but like Duckett, has been enigmatic throughout his career. Matt Hasselbeck, as you mentioned, has back issues but he's probably the most underrated QB in the NFL. They don't have much depth at WR. Bobby Engram and Deion Branch are both injured and they lost Ben Obomanu to IR. Now they're stuck with Nate Burleson and three young players in Courtney Taylor, Logan Payne, and Jordan Kent. Burleson's a good #2 WR but it remains to be seen if he can handle the #1 role and it remains to be seen if the young guys can step it up and make plays until Engram/Branch get healthy. They're limited at TE (John Carlson, Will Heller, and Jeb Putzier) which is usually a strong feature of their team. Carlson is an adequate receiver & blocker but Putzier can't block and Heller's been a back up. As for their defense, it is solid for the NFC but it's not nearly as good as most teams. They had 8 games where they allowed 20+ points and seem to be up and down like a yo yo during the season. They allow 21 points one week, 3 the next, and 21 again after that. They also lost to "easy" wins in Arizona (23-20), Carolina (13-10), and Atlanta (44-41 in W17 with nothing to play for) last year and it remains to be seen if they can win the games that they should win while doing well against the top tier teams. Outside of 2005's 13-3 record, they've never been "dominant" W/L wise and are the equivalent of the New York Giants. Good team that with the right amount of luck, can surprise and fight for a SB but won't consistently be in the NFC Title picture year in and year out.

The biggest I-AA games... Nice to see that a lot of them are airing on TV. #15 New Hampshire @ Army (Airing on ESPN Classic) #20 The Citadel @ Clemson (Airing on ESPN 360) #7 Eastern Washington @ Colorado #3 Richmond @ Virginia (Airing on ESPNU) #14 Youngstown State @ #21 South Dakota State #5 Montana @ #11 Cal Poly

Am I the only one who thought Jackson was solid? The guy was 24 years old and led his team to an 8-4 record when he played. These factors are positive IMO... #1: Completed 58.2% of his passes at only 24 years old with a solid enough 6.5 YPA. This with, let's be honest, a crappy set of wide receivers who really haven't been upgraded that much. #2: He also can scramble as he had a 4.8 YPC with 260 yards with his feet. #3: He had a very good ratio with 9 TD vs. 12 INT. While the totals may look low, keep in mind that he was 24 years old starting after finishing college from a I-AA school (Not even one of the better ones either). #4: From Week 11 - Week 17 (7 Games) he had a QB Rating of 82.95 with 120/184 (65.2%) with 1311 yards and 7 TD vs. 7 INT. He definitely has what it takes to be a great quarterback. If you saw the early games in the season, he was as pitiful as Terry Bradshaw but he really came on in the 2nd half.

I-AA Rankings 1. App State 2. North Dakota State 3. Richmond 4. Massachusetts 5. Montana (Up from #8 despite not playing a game) 6. Delaware (Up from #9) 7. Eastern Washington 8. James Madison 9. Northern Iowa (Down from #3) 10. McNeese State 11. Cal Poly (Up from #14 after upsetting San Diego State) 12. Southern Illinois 13. Wofford 14. Youngstown State 15. New Hampshire 16. Georgia Southern 17. Elon 18. Western Illinois (Up from #25 after nearly upsetting Arkansas) 19. Eastern Illinois 20. The Citadel 21. South Dakota State 22. Central Arkansas 23. Villanova 24. Eastern Kentucky (Down from #20) 25. Harvard The teams on the outside looking in: Furman, Sam Houston State, and UC Davis

You'll be part of one of the hotter "rivalries" in the NFL with the Browns/Steelers which always makes for a great game atmosphere regardless of how well the Brownies do. You're also part of a fun division that features smash mouth defense from Baltimore and an exciting offense similar to Cleveland from Cincinnati. Cleveland fans still hate Baltimore since that's where the original team moved to so you have that bitter feud too. This year the Browns have a good schedule to follow. They play a Dallas team in week 1 that's trying to emulate the mid 90's team but with more passing (thanks to Jason Garrett as Offensive Coordinator), they play Pittsburgh in week 2 at home in what'll be the usual dog fight, away at Baltimore in week 3, the reigning SB Giants in week 6 (at home on ESPN. Should be a charged atmosphere), at home for Baltimore in week 9, at home to face Indy's explosive squad in week 13 (Probable playoff implications by then), and finally at Philadelphia in week 15 on ESPN to possibly cement a division win or wildcard berth.

I'd also expect the number of fade passes to drop (personally, I despite them... unless you have a Randy Moss/Plaxico Burress/Marvin Harrison, your success rate ain't gonna be better than 2/10 on those tries) and that's a waste of a play IMO when you basically have 3 shots. It wouldn't shock me if we see more play action roll out passes and such, basically passes where a receiver/TE has some room to move around rather than a fade pass where the receiver either has to make an insane catch and hope he doesn't get shoved or the QB leads the receiver too far and the QB has to hope the receiver can drag his feet. The Pats tend to run a lot of play action at the goal line (i.e. any Vrabel TD catch or most Watson TDs there) and I'm surprised more teams do the fade/run/run route rather than say the run/play action or play action/run idea. Hell... Joe Montana's infamous NFC Championship throw was a roll out to his right. Imagine if they had just gone for the corner fade there instead.

If a guy's leaped up, caught the ball, and hit hard enough to be drilled all the way out of bounds without both feet hitting the ground than maybe he didn't deserve that catch... In seriousness, I think there's a brief addition to the rule that an opponent can't "carry" his opponent out of bounds (I assume to prevent the above scenario from happening I.E. a defender tackling and 'lifting' the opponent until they're out of bounds).

Gotham Keepers... Interesting that I finished 1 Tie behind 5th Place and am keeping only three drafted players. - 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis (Round 8) - 3B Mark Reynolds (Round 14) - OF Carlos Quentin (Undrafted - Free Agent) Round 20? - OF Ryan Ludwick (Undrafted - Free Agent) Round 19? - SP Ricky Nolasco (Undrafted - Free Agent) Round 18? - CL Jonathan Papelbon (Round 1)

Patriots: 38 in an easy blow out. Washington at N.Y. Giants (3.5) (3.5) Detroit at Atlanta - "Upset" Special I guess (1.5) Cincinnati at Baltimore (1.5) Seattle at Buffalo (3.5) N.Y. Jets at Miami Kansas City at New England (16.5) Tampa Bay at New Orleans (3.5) St. Louis at Philadelphia (7.5) Houston at Pittsburgh (6.5) (3.5) Jacksonville at Tennessee (4.5) Dallas at Cleveland Carolina at San Diego (9.5) (2.5) Arizona at San Francisco Chicago at Indianapolis (9.5) Minnesota at Green Bay (2.5) (3.5) Denver at Oakland

Great... another high ranked team I gotta upset. THURSDAY South Carolina at Vanderbilt FRIDAY Navy at Ball State SATURDAY Georgia Tech at Boston College BYU at Washington Cincinnati at Oklahoma Mississippi at Wake Forest Air Force at Wyoming West Virginia at East Carolina Texas A&M at New Mexico California at Washington State South Florida at UCF Northwestern at Duke Minnesota at Bowling Green Miami at Florida Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Cincinnati/Oklahoma game? 56 Tiebreak #2: How many total yards (passing + rushing) will Florida's Tim Tebow have against Miami? 340

Cal Poly also upset San Diego State 29-27 on a 21 yard FG with 0:00 left on the clock. Nice... QB Jonathan Dally went 12/20 for 220 yards and 1 TD and had 17 carries for 40 yards and 1 TD. RB James Noble and RB Ryan Mole combined for 23 carries for 173 yards and 1 TD. WR Ramses Barden went 7/161/1.