NFL WEEK ONE

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

I'm certainly not feeling the Browns winning the AFC North this year. That said, at no point in the preseason did they look as awful as they did Week 1 against the Steelers last year so it's not totally hopeless.

 

In other words, I have no fuckin idea what's going to happen.

 

Wild card, my friend, wild card! Who's starting QB week 1? Hasn't been much between Anderson and Quinn from what I've seen.

 

Based on the local radio shows, it looks like Anderson will be fine by Week 1. They were saying if the last preseason game was a regular season game, he probably would've started. The QB debate hasn't really been at the forefront the last couple weeks due to Quinn's mediocre play in the preseason.

 

Just finished watching 2 eps of "The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame . . ." on ESPN Classic. Ernest Byner's fumble and Art Modell moving the team were the subjects. Nothing like an hour of that to bring down a homer Clevelander.

 

Ah right, hopefully Edwards is back up and running some good routes after his sliced foot, other then that, I think we'll be about the same as last year (defense included). You think they'll offload Quinn this season for a few draft picks?

 

[Mike wanna be 0]

So Chad Ocho Cinco is not recognized as such by the NFL as of...right now.

 

Quandary: Would it be as hilarious as I think it would be for the Bengals to trade him to a team that's already got an established player wearing #85 (say, the Chargers)?

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I don't understand why he changed his name to "Chad Ocho Cinco" instead of "Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco" or something. Either way, even if he were traded to someone with an established #85, he'd probably just buy it off them.

[Guest דניא&#15]

I don't care. I love it. Stick it to the man.

So Chad Ocho Cinco is not recognized as such by the NFL as of...right now.

They have to, though. It's his name. Same as when Lew Alcindor changed his name to something that sounded funny.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

The Seahawks are pretty banged up and the Bills are at home so I think they take it but after how last year's opener went who knows.

[MFer 0]

Lions signed Rudi Johnson. I don't know how much he has left in the tank, but he's still a better option than Tatum Bell. A backfield of Kevin Smith/Johnson/Marcus Thomas sounds a lot better than Smith/Bell/Cason or Calhoun.

[Brett Favre 0]

With the next forceout, or non forceout rule, you'll be allowed to spear someone that's like 5 yards away from the sideline out of bounds, and it will count as an incomplete because his feet didn't touch the ground.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

With the next forceout, or non forceout rule, you'll be allowed to spear someone that's like 5 yards away from the sideline out of bounds, and it will count as an incomplete because his feet didn't touch the ground.

 

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).

[WCS 0]

With the next forceout, or non forceout rule, you'll be allowed to spear someone that's like 5 yards away from the sideline out of bounds, and it will count as an incomplete because his feet didn't touch the ground.

 

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).

Yeah, couldn't that count as forward progress being restricted and as such the receiver would be down?

[Mike wanna be 0]

We're going to have to wait to see somebody launched out of bounds to know, because I think as long as they don't get two feet down and they aren't 'carried' out of bounds then it's incomplete.

 

EDIT: And Joe Flacco earns the Ravens starting job not by stellar preseason play, but because everyone else they have is out; Smith's bad tonsils and Boller with a potentially surgery-requiring shoulder issue.

[NoCalMike 0]

Well how does this rule come into play on catches in the endzone? Because I can think of plenty of times where I've seen WRs catch balls in the back of the endzone and get pushed out while they were in the air, but it is ruled a TD due to a forceout.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I would imagine it would be ruled not a catch.

 

This probably means we're going to see a bit more smash-mouth, run the ball into the endzone football at the goal line, which could be pretty awesome.

 

Or it could mean more bad PI calls in the secondary, which would suck.

[NoCalMike 0]

More WRs pushing off in order to try and get seperation I would imagine.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

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.

[bob_barron 0]

What's the site to see what games each part of the country is getting?

[devo 0]

http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/

[migoli 0]

I'll be doing my picks in the KKK Thread, but I'll comment on these discussion questions.

 

 

 

1. What team will suffer a catastrophic injury in week one?

The Chargers.

 

2. How well will an injured Shawne Merriman perform against what's certainly going to be a stiff running attack from Carolina?

See Question #1.

 

3. Will a Favre-free Green Bay continue last season's success against a highly-rated Minnesota team?

Minnesota is overrated and losing McKinnie hurts. Also the Packers will be fired up for this one after what happened in the off-season. There might be rough waters ahead for the Pack, but they should take this game and it might be easier than people think.

4. Will the Giants without Osi put enough pressure on Washington to hold court at home?

No. Campbell has looked pathetic in the pre-season, but this is still a talented team that still made the playoffs last year despite the tragedy they went through. New York happened to get hot at the right time, and now have lost their two best pass rushers to retirement and injury. I have the Redskins heading to the playoffs and the Giants playing golf in January and it starts on Thursday.

 

5. Which team will make a statement in the NFC south? New Orleans or Tampa Bay?

Saints. History suggests it. Since the creation of this division, no team has won it in back to back years and I don't believe Tampa can either with the key members of their passing game one step away from retirement. New Orleans has problems on defence as always, but for now they are healthy on offence and there is just too much firepower there for Tampa to handle.

 

 

 

Well if they were 8-8 last year with a QB in his first full year, adding a elite DE and speedy WR, improved safties once Williams gets back and Peterson with a whole year to his name and GB losing a HOF QB I just don't see how Minnesota can be seen as "overrated"

[AlaskanHero 0]

Lions signed Rudi Johnson. I don't know how much he has left in the tank, but he's still a better option than Tatum Bell. A backfield of Kevin Smith/Johnson/Marcus Thomas sounds a lot better than Smith/Bell/Cason or Calhoun.

From what I heard, he looked good during the spring practices, having put on more muscle so he could just run over people, but he tweaked his hamstring at the beginning of Training Camp, which is pretty much why he got cut. He wasn't able to perform. Personally, I think he still has a bit left to offer and I would have liked to at least have seen what he could've done this season before dropping him.

 

And since you're a Lions fan, maybe you can give me some info on Frank Davis? He's a Guard we picked up off waivers after being cut from the Lions and I'm curious about what he has to offer.

[MFer 0]

As far as Frank Davis goes, he simply made too many mental mistakes during the preseason and that's why he got cut. I was disappointed because I thought he had the potential to be a good player after finally getting healthy. Unfortunately I didn't get to see him on the field much but maybe a change of scenery will do him good. Another thing is that he didn't seem to adjust to the Lions' new zone blocking scheme, so may the Browns' system will fit him better (he's huge at 6'3", 329).

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well if they were 8-8 last year with a QB in his first full year, adding a elite DE and speedy WR, improved safties once Williams gets back and Peterson with a whole year to his name and GB losing a HOF QB I just don't see how Minnesota can be seen as "overrated"

 

A speedy WR? Who? Jared Allen is a good addition, but that defense is getting old and they just weren't that good. Tarvaris Jackson is hobbled and he is awful.

 

Sure, GB lost a HOF QB, but the dude has also cost the team many wins, particularly in the playoffs, with his interceptions. The only thing Green Bay has to fear with Minnesota is Adrian Peterson, since our defensive line looks really weak right now.

[bob_barron 0]

Thanks FOX for giving us Eagles v. Rams! Should be a three-hour highlight reel!

[Kinetic 0]

A speedy WR? Who?

 

I'm pretty sure he meant Bernard Berrian.

 

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

A speedy WR? Who?

 

I'm pretty sure he meant Bernard Berrian.

 

He does run but he doesn't catch.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yeah he's speedy but he's not even worth mentioning. He got released from the freakin Bears, for christ's sake. If any team in this league needs good players at WR, it's Chicago.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I've seen nearly every pro game he's played in, and will say he's not an NFL-caliber #1 WR by any definition. He's good by Bears standards.

 

I don't know how much Minnesota paid the guy, but he's going to get exposed this season, bigtime.

[King Cucaracha 0]

So, new NFL convert here. After years of intermitently watching NFL games and trying and failing to get into it, watching the Superbowl finally won me over this year.

 

Since I've got no connections to any US city or state I figured I'd stick the names of all the teams in a hat and just pick one, so I've at least got someone to follow. And I ended up with the Cleveland Browns. Which works out pretty well for straight off since we get the Dallas game live this weekend. Anyway, point is I'm still new to... well, virtually everything. So anyone care to give me a nice, dumbed down rundown of what to expect?

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Homer-ism aside, the Browns can be fun to follow. Their offense is pretty explosive. Their defense likes to give up as much as the offense scores and the team is usually good for some overall wackiness. Plus, coach Romeo Crenell cuts some of the dryest promos you'll ever see.

 

They haven't defeated their "rival" Steelers since 2003 despite playing them twice a year so that's something to keep an eye on.

 

Here's NFL Network's Top 10 Cleveland Browns plays of 2007 ---- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=selT99D_ZZo...feature=related

[JHawk 0]

Homer-ism aside, the Browns can be fun to follow. Their offense is pretty explosive. Their defense likes to give up as much as the offense scores and the team is usually good for some overall wackiness. Plus, coach Romeo Crenell cuts some of the dryest promos you'll ever see.

 

They haven't defeated their "rival" Steelers since 2003 despite playing them twice a year so that's something to keep an eye on.

 

Here's NFL Network's Top 10 Cleveland Browns plays of 2007 ---- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=selT99D_ZZo...feature=related

 

Agreed. Odds are at least half the season's game come down to the final play, and half of those have some kind of unusual finish. Hell, one finish last season led to a change in replay rules for this season.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

So, new NFL convert here. After years of intermitently watching NFL games and trying and failing to get into it, watching the Superbowl finally won me over this year.

 

Since I've got no connections to any US city or state I figured I'd stick the names of all the teams in a hat and just pick one, so I've at least got someone to follow. And I ended up with the Cleveland Browns. Which works out pretty well for straight off since we get the Dallas game live this weekend. Anyway, point is I'm still new to... well, virtually everything. So anyone care to give me a nice, dumbed down rundown of what to expect?

 

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.

[cabbageboy 0]

Just wondering if Steve Smith is still suspended for the Chargers game? I only ask because I am trying fantasy football for the first time and the guy I'm facing has Smith starting, but I do believe he's suspended.