NFL WEEK ONE

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

EFFECTIVE RUNNING GAME!

 

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

NO TURNOVERS~!

 

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

SENSIBLE PLAYCALLING!

 

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

MIKE BROWN SURVIVED A WHOLE GAME!

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

C'mon, Czech, I feel like dancin'!

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Well I guess I got my prediction wrong. The Bears did not in fact play the Colts close.

 

edit: I'll join in on that dance. After being the ONLY optimistic Bears fan on this board in a long time...

[KingPK 0]

Can we say that the days of "AFC rulz, NFC droolz!" are over? It just seems like the conferences have gotten much much closer in quality over the past two seasons.

[Kinetic 0]

Having not seen anything of the Bucs game other than the last two minutes, I'm a little confused by the stat line. Garcia threw 41 passes in a close game? It's not like we were playing from behind or anything. And Earnest Graham averaged 9 yards a carry, yet he only ran the ball ten times. Huh? Still, you can't be too discouraged about being in position to win a game when you give up almost 350 yards through the air on the road to a good team.

 

I'm mildly worried about Atlanta after today.

[Guest דניא&#15]

PK, weren't you one of the bigger proponents of AFC supremacy over the years? I remember you and Leo clashing over this.

 

Because of my diminished expectations for the Bears this season, I never really memorized the schedule. Who's next for the Beloved? UH OH! Panthers. However, no stevesmithstevesmithstevesmith.

[KingPK 0]

I was, but it just seems like the AFC "powers" (NE, Indy and the like) have regressed a little bit and the NFC is starting to catch up. The interconference battle was pretty even last year and I don't think that was a one-year thing. I think an NFC team has a pretty good chance at taking the Super Bowl without needing to pull off the greatest upset of all time.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Some thoughts for discussion:

 

With the three big AFC dogs (Indy, New England, and San Diego) looking pretty vunerable today, when was the last time the AFC looked this WIDE open?

 

Without Brady, the Pats are going to look awfully pedestrian this season. The rest of the AFC East, off of the slate of games I've seen (thank god for NFL Sunday Ticket) looks to be much improved. I think we may have a new AFC East champion this year.

 

It looks like the Bears finally have an offense to go with that defense. Pending tommorows Packers-Vikings game, I think the NFC North is going to be brutal this year.

 

Is it too early to say that the Falcons could possibly challenge for a wild card spot this year?

 

What the hell happened to the Jaguars today? I also thought Houston wouldn't roll over and die so early.

 

Its safe to say that the Rams and Bengals will be vying for the number one pick in the draft this year.

 

Who the hell will win the NFC West?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

PK, weren't you one of the bigger proponents of AFC supremacy over the years? I remember you and Leo clashing over this.

 

Because of my diminished expectations for the Bears this season, I never really memorized the schedule. Who's next for the Beloved? UH OH! Panthers. However, no stevesmithstevesmithstevesmith.

 

Hey Carolina looked decent today, but I wasn't sure if it was the team themselves or the fact they were playing a team that for three and half quarters acted like they didn't want to tackle anybody. The Bears obviously loves to hit, so we'll see.

[KingPK 0]

Some thoughts for discussion:

 

With the three big AFC dogs (Indy, New England, and San Diego) looking pretty vunerable today, when was the last time the AFC looked this WIDE open?

 

Without Brady, the Pats are going to look awfully pedestrian this season. The rest of the AFC East, off of the slate of games I've seen (thank god for NFL Sunday Ticket) looks to be much improved. I think we may have a new AFC East champion this year.

 

It looks like the Bears finally have an offense to go with that defense. Pending tommorows Packers-Vikings game, I think the NFC North is going to be brutal this year.

 

Is it too early to say that the Falcons could possibly challenge for a wild card spot this year?

 

What the hell happened to the Jaguars today? I also thought Houston wouldn't roll over and die so early.

 

Its safe to say that the Rams and Bengals will be vying for the number one pick in the draft this year.

 

Who the hell will win the NFC West?

 

Again, Week 1 is almost never an indicator of what will happen throughout the season. The AFC East is pretty wide open, though in this today's NFL you can't really be sure of anything, a lack of predictability I'm actually starting to find a little annoying.

[Kinetic 0]

I'm already getting a 2006 Dolphins/2007 Saints vibe from the Browns. Is there any good explanation for why this team is scheduled to play FIVE primetime games this year?

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

My thoughts on the day:

 

* I have never seen a fake field goal, and this was the first safety I remember watching live (though Sunday Ticket is probably to blame for that).

* I may renege on my Thursday comment of "Indy's being overlooked, aren't they?" Peyton looked nervous a lot.

* I can't believe Atlanta scored 34. I don't follow college football, but Ryan looked good and he was entertaining to watch. The same of Reggie Bush, who I never saw play at USC, but understand it was pretty different from New Orleans.

* I don't know who to pick between NE-NYJ next week.

* I had a feeling Buffalo would come out strong. I didn't see them winning, and I certainly didn't see them scoring 35.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The Bears smelled blood and Peyton knew it. That's why he looked nervous. Even as bad as the overall team is/(was, hopefully), the Bears' defense is never one that a quarterback scoffs at.

[Guest Vitamin X]

The interconference battle was pretty even last year and I don't think that was a one-year thing.

 

It hasn't really been the case for the past couple years, no. And the NFC actually won the interconference record last year, and that's including the Patriots' 16-0 in there, which of course never happens.

 

I just got back in, and thankfully my plane had DirecTV on it for free so I was watching football all day today. Some thoughts..

 

The Bears looked fucking SICK. I'm honestly scared of that team if they can keep it up; I'm not sure if Indy just got back to having a terrible defense or what, but Forte looked like a slower but stronger Adrian Peterson out there, and Madden made a good point during the broadcast in saying that Mike Brown's injuries were caused by all the blitzing he had been doing, so now they're keeping him back in coverage doing what a safety should be doing.

 

Favre looked like Favre, of course, which made that Jets-Dolphins game bittersweet for me to watch, and it's going to hurt especially if Rodgers doesn't throw for at least 200 and 2 TD's tomorrow. Fun fact, that game was FULL of ex-Packers from the Sherm era- Favre obviously, but Bubba Franks, Ahmad Carroll, even old #3 TE David Martin was catching TD's from Chad Pennington. Kind of weird (and extremely dorky on my part) to recognize that. I was cheering for Miami in the end, because I really like Chad Pennington and feel almost a bit like he got hosed in New York, so I want to see the Fins succeed. Ricky Williams looked pretty good as well, but anything that team does in the air is entirely Pennington.

 

The Steelers also, btw, are the class of the AFC. I know Jeff Saturday is out and all, and that Manning is super rusty from not having even practiced in preseason, but the Colts are due for a bad season sometime soon and their defense was torn to shreds by the Bears who, even with a supposedly legit offense, I don't think I would still put up there as a seriously great offense or anything. That leaves the Steelers, who looked really good today. In the NFC, I'm really curious to know how good the Eagles are going to be. That was a really good performance by McNabb and as TSM's Official McNabb Hater, I actually have to say I've never seen him throw the ball as well as he has today, and that's really scary. They might challenge Dallas for the NFC East, but then again they WERE playing the Rams, so we'll see how that goes.

 

Oh, and Brady going down- bwahahahaha.

[CanadianChris 0]

* I can't believe Atlanta scored 34. I don't follow college football, but Ryan looked good and he was entertaining to watch.

Michael Turner had a lot more to do with that. I'll be interested to see what he does against an actual defence.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I'm not drawing any big conclusions from yesterday's games. There are fifteen more games for a reason.

 

San Diego and Indy will rebound. There are too many talented players on those teams to underacheive significantly.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

What struck me about Atlanta's performance was their overall dominance on the ground.

 

Turner ran for 220 yards but Jerious Norwood also ran for 93 yards (6.6 YPC).

 

I think Atlanta's offense could surprise some of the better defenses this season and if they protect Ryan like Pittsburgh did with Roethlisberger (Run heavy with 15-20 pass attempts a game) then I can see Atlanta snooping around the wild card spot.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I don't. That division is going to be a real tough number this season. New Orleans and Tampa Bay are both playoff caliber, and I'm feeling Carolina this season, too.

 

Atlanta's going to take a step forward, but there's no way they're running over everybody like that.

 

Also, I saw a lot of question marks on that defense, too.

[sfaJack 0]

Plus Atlanta played the Lions.

 

THE LIONS.

 

They haven't been good since 1957.

[CanadianChris 0]

Given how everyone said Atlanta was going to plumb new depths of awfulness this season, just hanging around .500 would probably be a successful season for them.

[MFer 0]

Plus Atlanta played the Lions.

 

THE LIONS.

 

They haven't been good since 1957.

Don't worry, the Curse of Bobby Layne will be over soon and then...ah forget it

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

Kind of under the radar what with the Brady injury, but Vince Young has a torn MCL that is expected to sideline him for 2-4 weeks. Good timing, because they're against the weakest stretch of their schedule up until week 8, where it gets pretty salty until the end of the season.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

But as bad as VY has seemed to regress, I don't know if him being out a month helps the team. Yeah they'll win some games but I have to wonder about how they'll play when he comes back. How well-liked is VY on that team in relation to the credit for whatever success they have?

 

edit: Ahhh here it is. A "NFL Rumor" by CBSSportsline-

 

As the Titans celebrated a season-opening victory over the Jaguars, much of the focus was on quarterback Vince Young. According to the Tennessean, there is a debate whether Young quit on the Titans before the injury to his knee. After throwing his second interception, Young headed to the sideline amid a chorus of boos and Kerry Collins began taking snaps before Fisher came over and appeared to gesture for Young to take the field. (updated: 09/08/2008)

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I wasn't suggesting that it helps the team, just that it's less damaging than if he'd been hurt during their divisional stretch+Green Bay and Pittsburgh towards the end of the season.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I know, and I wasn't saying you suggested it. I was saying that if VY went out at any point, and the backup quarterback played well enough, I don't see how they'd want him back when he's ready to come back. It seems to me that he's losing a lot of support in Tennessee for whatever reasons. It's sort of like if the injury gives the Titans a chance to preview their success without VY, and I'm not sure that's something that his fans want.

[cabbageboy 0]

Let's have a look at how I did in predictions:

 

WAS @ NYG 7:00 PM: I know the Giants have a ton of injuries and sucked at home last year. But the Redskins don't do much for me either way. NYG by 13. (Not quite as much, but a solid win. 1 for 1)

 

Sun, Sep 07 Time (ET)

1:00

DET @ ATL: Oh geez, who knows what to expect. Detroit's crappy D is a decent first opponent for Matt Ryan, so I'll say he does well enough for the Falcons to win. ATL by 4. (Wow, I had the win correct but actually underestimated the Falcons. 2 for 2)

SEA @ BUF: I've never been thrilled with the Seahawks, and while I doubt the Bills as well I do think they can hold serve at home. Buffalo by 7. (Another beatdown, Bills look pretty good thus far. 3 for 3)

NYJ @ MIA: I know the Dolphins may well be improved, but until they win a few I can't really pick them to do much. I'll take Favre and Co. by 10. (Was 6 instead of 10, decent win. 4 for 4)

KC @ NE: Regardless of whether Brady is hurt or whatever this should be a beatdown. Pats by 17+. (Wow. With Brady hurt the Pats are going to struggle this year. Didn't really cover here, but 5 for 5 in W/L)

TB @ NO: Hard to know the status of this one with the hurricane and all. I'll take Tampa by 6. (Bah, should have taken the Saints at home. 5 for 6)

STL @ PHI: The Rams can't be as awful as they were last year, can they? That said, I'll buy into the moderate Eagles hype at least for this week. Philly by 9. (Ugh, just a beating. 6 for 7)

HOU @ PIT: I actually kinda like the Texans and if they stay healthy feel they could be a surprise team in the AFC. So I'll go with the upset here, Texans by 3. (Okay that was a batshit crazy pick. Steelers look really good. 6 for 8)

JAC @ TEN: Jacksonville is a team that just doesn't astound me, while the Titans tend to look ugly but somehow win in the end. Vince Young makes just enough plays for TN to win like 13-10. (Nailed this one. 7 for 9)

CIN @ BAL: I have no idea who the Ravens are even starting at QB. Bengals are a dubious team but I'll reluctantly say Cincy by 6. (Gee, and Palmer is my fantasy QB. Thanks! 7 for 10)

 

4:15

DAL @ CLE: The Browns may well come back down to earth this year and the Cowboys need to make some semblance of an opening week statement. Dallas by 14. (Beatdown. 8 for 11)

CAR @ SD: Isn't Steve Smith suspended? Even with a solid running attack I can't see it happening for Carolina here, even with Merriman banged up. SD by 12. (Surprise of the weekend. Really good win for the Smith-less Panthers. 8 for 12)

ARI @ SF: Kurt Warner will produce decent results as long as he can stay upright. Who knows how long that will be though. Who knows what this O'Sullivan guy will do....all of these games have question marks it seems like. Arizona by 10. (Got this one exactly right. 9 for 13)

 

8:15

CHI @ IND: Manning should be back, might be rusty for a quarter or so, and then the beatdown will commence. Colts by 17. (Wow the Colts looked bad and rusty, Bears looked really solid. 9 for 14)

 

[The Niggardly King 0]

Hey guys... that Forte guy on the Bears... he looks to be fucking great.

 

Chargers always kind of look like shit the first few weeks since they started their run of one of the top AFC teams.

 

Holy fuck, I can't believe how many people picked Seattle to make the Super Bowl and represent the NFC this year.

 

The Bills could potentially win 10 games this year... never thought that would happen.

 

Oh fuck... the media is comparing Forte's debut with Sweetness and Sayer's debut. I know he looked great, but are they really going to compare him to Hall of Fame backs after one game?