NFL Discussion Forumtable: 2007

[Mecca 0]

I guess because they made the playoffs last year.

 

Well, when it's pretty much understood that Brodie Croyle is going to start that should tell you it isn't the same team anymore. Frankly they shouldn't have made the playoffs last year, they lucked in and really didn't deserve it, and I'm a fan of the team.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I notice the only people who picked the Packers ahead of the Bears, or at least pegged the Bears to miss the playoffs are Packers fans...

 

This is not to say I disagree however, as I don't see Bears making the playoffs either.

[Broward83 0]

Texans go 8-8 this year.

[Red Baron 0]

Seattle isn't going to win the NFC West.

 

AFC

 

1. Colts

2. Chargers

3. Pats

4. Ravens

5. Criminals (Bengals)

6. Broncos

 

NFC

 

1. Cowboys

2. Bears

3. Niners

4. Saints

5. Seahawks

6. Eagles

[Guest •]

I notice the only people who picked the Packers ahead of the Bears, or at least pegged the Bears to miss the playoffs are Packers fans...

 

This is not to say I disagree however, as I don't see Bears making the playoffs either.

Moreover, the justification is "well it's a crappy division so somebody has to win, and the Bears won't because they lost the Super Bowl." Seattle backed into the playoffs after losing the Super Bowl, so we can drop that whole thing now. While it is a crappy division, the Packers still won't be the beneficiaries of it over the Bears. I just have to go into in-Lovie-we-trust mode here and have faith in his ability to rebuild the defense without Briggs, and the offense without Jones. I think there are still a lot of great pieces on the Bears, as well as a great coaching staff/front office that has been streamlined, unified, and locked in long-term. VX, why do you think the Bears aren't hungry to win, in fact, not as hungry as the Niners and Buccaneers? I can't see them being complacent with their status while the fucking Buccaneers play with a purpose.

 

Anyway, I'm disobeying myself by writing all this, because there happens to be a pennant chase going on right now that I should be giving my undivided sports attention to. It's not Bears time yet.

[Red Baron 0]

So how long until Rex Grossman gets benched, traded or cut?

[Guest •]

Don't ask me, I'm just a fan. He won't get traded because he has no value. He won't get cut because that's stupid. I think the meatheads will be calling for Brian Griese and Kyle Orton (he reminds me a lot of Johnny Unitas) by halftime of Game 1 irrespective of performance, but I do think he'll be benched at some point down the line if he costs us a big win.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

He'll show enough consistency to get an extension on his contract, and then completely go down the toilet.

[Mike wanna be 0]

Carolina's due again this year, due to the "One year of being one of the best teams in the NFL, one year of getting everyone injured and sitting around 8-8 with third-string players" that they've had for the past 4, 5 years. In as the #5 wild card.

 

#6 wild card...I'm going with San Fransisco in the 2006 Giants mold of "everybody's mediocre, they just happened to be at the top of the tiebreaker listing".

 

New Orleans is the #1 seed, Dallas surprises with #2, Chicago takes #3 and Seattle once again sits at #4.

 

In the AFC...

Jets steal the division from the Patriots, but the Pats take the #5 seeded wildcard.

Indy wins their division only because the rest of their division isn't good enough to take it from them, but they're playing on wild card weekend. #3 seed for them.

San Diego wins their division again, pulling away from #6 seeded Denver in the final few weeks.

Somebody gets arrested from the Bengals, someone important (i'm thinking Ocho Cinco, personally) and this screws them up to the point where Baltimore takes the division from under them late in the season.

[Guest •]

Chad Johnson seems like the kind of guy who acts like a dumbass in games and stuff, but is serious enough about his career that he'll avoid doing the serious shit off the field. Carson Palmer has a good head on his shoulders too.

 

AFC

1) New England

2) Indianapolis

3) Denver

4) Cincinnati

5) Pittsburgh

6) New York

 

NFC

1) Chicago

2) New Orleans

3) Philadelphia

4) San Francisco

5) Steve Smith

6) Green Bay

[Guest Vitamin X]

I notice the only people who picked the Packers ahead of the Bears, or at least pegged the Bears to miss the playoffs are Packers fans...

 

This is not to say I disagree however, as I don't see Bears making the playoffs either.

 

I don't know about the Bears not making the playoffs, it depends on their schedule, as I think they could easily be one of the wildcard teams. The reason why you see those picks being made by Packers fans is because we know more about the state of our division than the other guys picking who just see last year's results and repeat them for this year, which never really makes for accurate predictions. It's like a lot of people's hard-on for KC- they're not making the playoffs this year, as that one Chiefs fan even put it up there.

 

I notice the only people who picked the Packers ahead of the Bears, or at least pegged the Bears to miss the playoffs are Packers fans...

 

This is not to say I disagree however, as I don't see Bears making the playoffs either.

Moreover, the justification is "well it's a crappy division so somebody has to win, and the Bears won't because they lost the Super Bowl." Seattle backed into the playoffs after losing the Super Bowl, so we can drop that whole thing now. While it is a crappy division, the Packers still won't be the beneficiaries of it over the Bears. I just have to go into in-Lovie-we-trust mode here and have faith in his ability to rebuild the defense without Briggs, and the offense without Jones. I think there are still a lot of great pieces on the Bears, as well as a great coaching staff/front office that has been streamlined, unified, and locked in long-term. VX, why do you think the Bears aren't hungry to win, in fact, not as hungry as the Niners and Buccaneers? I can't see them being complacent with their status while the fucking Buccaneers play with a purpose.

 

Maybe it's Lovie, or maybe it's Rex, but the challenge of repeating the success you had last year with getting to the Super Bowl seems a lot more daunting with everyone else catching up, the Bears letting their defensive coordinator go and several pieces of the team holding out or defecting to other teams, on both sides of the ball. The Buccaneers will play hard because 1. they have good coaching, but haven't had the talent around the ball since their super bowl win, 2. They essentially take the Falcons' place in the NFC South since who knows what'll happen with them, 3. They had a good draft and overall good offseason, and have resolved their QB troubles with the signing of Jeff Garcia. Since they'll have a chance, and since the Packers are the only team in the North to have gotten better (except at running back, which is their Achilles heel at this point) instead of worse, the Bears will be in much more of a fight this season to repeat the success they had last year- and don't forget the much tougher schedule as well.

 

Although, I'll leave it just as open a possibility that the situation is reversed and that the Packers instead will be the one fighting for a wildcard, but I think they're more likely to catch that spot than the Bears if they were in the same situation.

 

Also, FUCK, I shouldn't have forgotten about the Bengals in the AFC North. That might be a rough fight between them and the Steelers, who I still think make a bit of a comeback this year.

 

Edited to make this post kinder and gentler.

[Guest •]

As for the change at defensive coordinator, that's supposed to be an upgrade for the Bears, since it's one of Lovie and Angelo's guys rather than Jauron's, so theoretically, everyone's on the same page now.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I don't think that I'm ready to make full predictions yet, but at this point, I can't find many reasons to think that the Bears have been surpassed in the NFC. They should still have an amazing defense and special teams. That wins a a lot of ballgames. SF looks like they are going to make the leap. The rest of the conference is going to be a lot "meh."

 

As for the AFC, I think New England has clearly surpassed Indy as the class of the conference. I'm on the Denver bandwagon for the West and I fear that SD is going to disappoint everyone this year.

[Guest •]

Aw, Leo edited his post. His pimp hand was heavy there.

[tominator89 0]

Apparently, LeCharles Bentley passed a physical allowing him to resume football activities. That's incredible.

 

Also, Keenan McCardell signed with the Texans.

[Guest •]

Speaking of Denver, if I have to watch like thirteen or fourteen Broncos games in the late game slot again this year, I'm crackin' skulls. At least Jake Plummer is gone, though.

[Mike wanna be 0]

NFC

1) Chicago

2) New Orleans

3) Philadelphia

4) San Francisco

5) Steve Smith

6) Green Bay

I laughed, but it's so not true.

[Guest]

Vick was ordered by the NFL not to report to training camp.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I'm just going to make a few predictions.

 

Niner become the #1 seed in the NFC

 

Giants get squashed by the Saints in the playoffs

 

Chargers make it to the AFC Championship

 

Da Bears won't be back in the Soup

 

The Steve Smiths featuring Kris Jenkins, DeAngelo Williams, and guest starring David Carr win the Soup.

 

Maurice Jones-Drew is your NFL MVP

 

The Mighty Quinn wins Rookie of the Year, passes for 2500+ yards, scores 20 touchdowns, and gets the Brownies into the playoffs as a weak wild card that get squashed.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Vick was ordered by the NFL not to report to training camp.

 

That's showing Vick! Isn't that when he's due in court anyways? Well the first day...

[Guest Vitamin X]

From reading the report on ESPN.com, it's essentially an indefinite suspension until the league reviews the dogfighting charges against him.

 

EDIT: Also, the best part of this whole thing aside from Vick possibly never playing football again (I've had a personal vendetta since January 2003) , will be... this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX9HRMDvZ_0

 

Let it sit in. It starts to get particularly good around the 5:13 mark, but if you have the time, watch the whole thing for dramatic effect.

[Ripper 0]

EDIT: Also, the best part of this whole thing aside from Vick possibly never playing football again (I've had a personal vendetta since January 2003)

 

 

Just let it go man....let it go.

 

 

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Same here, the Falcons were one of the teams I liked in the 1990s, but ever since they grabbed Vick in the draft, I just downright hated them. Though I know that as a budding Charger fan, I should be happy since it got us LT and Drew Brees.

[Ripper 0]

Same here, the Falcons were one of the teams I liked in the 1990s, but ever since they grabbed Vick in the draft, I just downright hated them. Though I know that as a budding Charger fan, I should be happy since it got us LT and Drew Brees.

 

 

So you liked the god awful, never win anything, out of playoff contention teams of the 90's?

 

I did too, but you know, I stuck around when they started winning.

 

I saw a comment today that said "maybe now the falcons can get a real QB and get back to their winning ways"

 

That made me laugh for about a hour and a half.

 

 

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I liked them for Jamal Anderson, who only shined for a few years. I was excited both as a Bears fan and a sorta Falcons fan when they upset the Vikings in 98 to go to the Super Bowl. That rocked. I know Vick is an "exciting" playmaker and all that, but they have obviously done nothing to build around him and relied on him too much to do stuff. He's not good enough for the team to be "Michael Vick and the Falcons", but would have been better in "The Falcons with Michael Vick", if that makes sense.

 

BTW, being 8-8 every season doesn't constitute a winning way, and if it does to you, well... I'm sorry for you.

[Ripper 0]

you got two bad seasons and two good ones to point at for his career.

 

That is a much better percentage than anyone else in the francshise history.

 

I think people underestimate how much this team sucked for so many years. They made the playoffs 5 times in the last twenty years. Vick was the QB on TWO of those teams.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I know this, but it seems that you're using their long history as losers as a justification that the Falcons are doing well now. Isn't the point of each season to do better than everyone else EVERY season? The Bears only had three winning seasons in the past decade or so, but if they plummetted to 3rd place in the division for a few years in a row, I certainly wouldn't be saying "Well we were good for a while there. Its ok!"

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Correlation does not equal causation. I don't think the two good years were solely because Vick was the QB. He's an okay quarterback (top 12-15 in the league) but the team succeeded through a fantastic running game (which Vick is a part of) and a very good defense. It's not like he was so special that Atlanta can't recover.

[Ripper 0]

It would help if they weren't 5-11 in that year with the exact same defense following the year they went to the divisional playoffs when Vick missed most of the year. And 4 of those wins came when Vick was back at QB.

 

They have one 1 game in the last 5 years when he didn't play.

 

But I dont' want to start a another Vick is underrated rant, but he really really is. And I think it is due to him being obsensely overrated by ESPN coming out of college and after his first year as a starter and that contract.

 

 

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Just let it go man....let it go.