NFL Week 5

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yeah Ben, you'll have plenty of time to meet girls on the internet now...

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America]

Maddox will be back next week, probably. He's not hurt that bad.

[KingPK]

Man, if Ben is out, the AFC is WIDE open now. And no, I'm still not completely buying the Colts yet.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America]

I hope to God it's just a sprain, but I don't think it's gonna happen. That was a nasty hit, and his knee buckled.

[Guest *KNK*]

Man, if Ben is out, the AFC is WIDE open now.  And no, I'm still not completely buying the Colts yet.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Cincinnati has no excuse to not win the AFC North, if Ben is out.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America]

NFL Live just reported that the Steelers are saying it appears to be a bone bruise and a hyperextended MCL, with an MRI forthcoming tomrrow morning. They also said the ligaments appear to be intact.

 

Steelers fans go to bed tonight praying for their QB, because if that test comes back bad, we're fucked.

[Kinetic]

If Big Ben isn't out for the season, Pittsburgh is all right. It's not like Maddox is a total scrub, and the defense and running game alone should win them a few games. A little further into the season, a 6-10 week sort of injury might be debilitating, but with it coming this early I'd say they're still in a good position. If he's out for the season, they're fucked just in the sense that they can't compete with the elite AFC teams with a second-string QB.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I agree completely with Kinetic. It's not like Pittsburgh's game is all about the pass, nor has it ever been during Cowher's time there, except very, very briefly during Kordell Stewart's, what, two or three good seasons?

 

Steelers would be fucked if they lost some of their big boys up front, but Big Ben? It's a bit of a downgrade, but they'll be alright. Outside of the Colts, the AFC HAS been a wide-open race. To me, Indianapolis reminds me A LOT of the 1996 Packers, having the #1 defense to go with a #1 offense, finally overcoming the playoff struggles suffered in the past with an MVP quarterback at the helm, with noone else in the conference really looking to serve up as any real stiff competition. Indy has a great shot of going at least 13-3 at worst, and I think Philadelphia's loss yesterday at Dallas proves just how overrated the Eagles are (or maybe how underrated perhaps the teams in the NFC East and South are..).

 

Five weeks into the season, and there's a few things I'm almost pretty damn sure of:

1. San Francisco is the worst team in football, but a couple good drafts later and with Mike Nolan at the helm, the Niners will- eventually- be alright.

2. The representative for the Super Bowl out of the NFC will come out of the East or South division.

3. The Patriots, more than likely, will not become the first team to three-peat Super Bowls, however they'll probably make the playoffs as a wildcard if anything.

4. You can pencil in the AFC North's division race being between Pittsburgh and Cincinatti, just like the AFC South will be between Indianapolis and Jacksonville, with Cleveland playing possible spoiler in the North (but more than likely finishing below .500)

5. Going off #4, there won't be any wildcards coming out of the AFC West, and probably not out of the NFC West or North either.

[Kahran Ramsus]

1. San Francisco is the worst team in football, but a couple good drafts later and with Mike Nolan at the helm, the Niners will- eventually- be alright.

 

Houston Texans. They haven't been able to do anything. The Niners have been lousy too, but at least there are some glimmers of hope there.

 

3. The Patriots, more than likely, will not become the first team to three-peat Super Bowls, however they'll probably make the playoffs as a wildcard if anything.

 

They'll win the division, if only because Miami, New York & Buffalo aren't any good.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'm almost positive what we saw out of the Dolphins-Bills game this past weekend was an aberration. The Dolphins are a lot better than they look, and they're the only team in the division that's shown that they can actually consistently beat New England. New York might make a surprising run, especially with their defense. I just somehow think this will be the year everything will catch up with the Patriots and not repeat as division champs once again..

[Sass]

Hey, I could see Miami taking their division. They're not like godawful or anything.

[Guest Vitamin X]

They commited just 3 penalties shy of the NFL record this past Sunday, in a crucial divisional matchup. They're a good enough team to win the division sure, but they're young, somewhat inexperienced, and undisciplined, and New England has the edge on them in all those categories, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see it come down between those two.