NFL Week 13

[The Niggardly King 0]

Ok, that's a fair point. But Cassel is 26/27 (not sure which). Ryan is only 23. Who's not to say that when Ryan's Cassel's age, he'd be even better, and in fact, a legitimate star on his own? And don't forget, the Falcons are Ryan's team to keep for the long term. It's not like Michael Vick will waltz back in and take the job. The very second that light flashes green in the New England trainer' room, Cassel's on the bench.

 

You mean Cassel is playing for the Chiefs or Vikings...

[The Niggardly King 0]

Hey, Rex is going to be another guy out there on the market. If David Carr and Joey Harrington can get chance after chance after chance, then surely someone will pick up Sexy Rexy and make him a backup. Leftwich might have earned another look, too. It's going to be a crowded free agent market at QB next year, I think.

 

With that big arm of his, could he possibly get a decent deal as a backup with the Raiders?

 

He does have that BIG ARM

[devo 0]

Brady Quinn's been shut down for the year.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8850902...-rest-of-season

 

Ah, to be a Browns fan.

[cabbageboy 0]

The Browns probably should have given Anderson the rest of this year, then gone to Quinn full time next year.

 

Here's something to ponder about the Patriots: Is it 100% surefire that we'll see Cassel moved instead of Brady? Belichick isn't exactly a sentimental sort, so if he thinks Brady's knee isn't going to ever be right again would he want Brady traded and then go with Cassel as his starter?

[MFer 0]

The Browns probably should have given Anderson the rest of this year, then gone to Quinn full time next year.

 

Here's something to ponder about the Patriots: Is it 100% surefire that we'll see Cassel moved instead of Brady? Belichick isn't exactly a sentimental sort, so if he thinks Brady's knee isn't going to ever be right again would he want Brady traded and then go with Cassel as his starter?

They discussed this on ESPN First Take (also mentioned that Warren Moon said on a radio show it could happen). I don't know, I just can't see it but stranger things have happened before.

[2GOLD 0]

 

Isn't Cassel a free agent? Well that pretty much answers your question if he is. Bill will already have one quarterback locked up and unless Cassel wins the Super Bowl, I don't see New England tossing an offer his way. And if he wins the Super Bowl, his asking price will be more than the Pats have before they would be able to find someone to take Brady and his contract.

 

Brady will be the Pats quarterback next year unless Cassel wins the Super Bowl and Brady's knee becomes questionable.

[Wally Balls 0]

1. How do you feel about the Dallas/Detroit tradition? How would you change it, if at all?

 

Don't care. It won't be an issue when Detroit becomes semi-good again.

 

2. Are there ten QBs in the league -right now- that you would take over Matt Ryan? If so, who? If not, does that blow your mind? Where do you rate him?

 

Umm...Let's see. 1. Brady, 2. Romo, 3. Brees, 4. Peyton, 5. Eli, 6. Favre, 7. Warner, 8. Cassel, 9. Jay Cutler, 10. Jason Campbell (yes I said it) and fuck it, I'd take Vince Young over him too. The Falcons are a good team all around. I think Matt Ryan is getting way too much credit. He's good, but I'd like to see what he does next season.

 

3. Who is the best player in the AFC west?

 

I still have to go with Tomlinson, regardless of this year.

 

4. Where does Donovan McNabb play next season?

 

Something tells me he has a good stretch of games and he stays in Philly for at least one more season.

 

5. Why does Seattle suck so bad? It can't all be Hasselback, but I really don't know.

 

Maybe just a bad year. Look at SD and GB last year. They were playing great, hell the Lions went 7-9.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I have tickets for the Packer game, I have to work (though I haven't called in in over 3 years) and all of my top 3 choices to go with me are busy or poor (15 bucks an hour = poor apparently)

 

So any body want to go with? 12 hours of drinking with Brody!

[Fökai 0]

Does anyone remember how cut-and-dry the offseason was when Bledsoe left? Was this a foregone conclusion, even after Bledsoe won the AFC Championship game for them?

 

Serious question; I honestly don't remember. If Cassel makes a deep run into the postseason, and I'm talking Super Bowl, we may have something here.

[Just John 0]

I think Bledsoe's futility in 2000 and the first couple of games in 01 under Belichick's system made the decision pretty easy once it was clear Brady was on the rise. Bledsoe was well past his prime his anyway, whereas Brady still has a few good years left right now. There has been nothing to indicate Brady was declining, only that he was getting better with more talent being put around him, so there's a huge difference between the Bledsoe situation and this one. Right now, the only concern with Brady is his knee, but didn't Carson Palmer come back from a similar injury and play pretty well? I couldn't see any reason to hop off the Brady train, especially when Cassel's gonna get some big FA offers after the season.

 

Although, it would be funny to watch all the Patriot/Brady haters in another city embrace him if he did get shipped out.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Umm...Let's see. 1. Brady, 2. Romo, 3. Brees, 4. Peyton, 5. Eli, 6. Favre, 7. Warner, 8. Cassel, 9. Jay Cutler, 10. Jason Campbell (yes I said it) and fuck it, I'd take Vince Young over him too. The Falcons are a good team all around. I think Matt Ryan is getting way too much credit. He's good, but I'd like to see what he does next season.

 

Uhh no Rivers? He's certainly better than Cassel, Campbell and Young. Probably even with Cutler.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Yeah... I loathe Rivers, but he's certainly put himself into the Top 10 this year.

[Mike wanna be 0]

1. How do you feel about the Dallas/Detroit tradition? How would you change it, if at all?

I say make Dallas play Detroit every year in snake format for stadium & time (i.e. DAL@DET 4pm this year, DAL@DET 12pm next year, DET@DAL 12pm in 2010, DET@DAL 4pm in 2011).

Make the other CBS/FOX & NFL Network games flex games announced at the start of November, to quell the "We want to know ahead of time if we get to spend Thanksgiving with our families or playing football" crowd.

 

2. Are there ten QBs in the league -right now- that you would take over Matt Ryan? If so, who? If not, does that blow your mind? Where do you rate him?

Considering 12 QBs have better QB ratings than him, minus 3 that haven't played in all 11 games going into Week 13, I have to give him credit. In a one-game situation right now I wouldn't take him as a top-10 quarterback, but as a face-of-the-franchise, 12-season QB I would probably take him #1.

 

3. Who is the best player in the AFC west?

I'm going way out on a limb and giving the honor, for this season only, to Tyler Thigpen. He QBs a 1-10 team, sure, but for god's sake he's at least keeping them pseudo-competitive. Can you say any of the other QBs with Thigpen's 'supporting cast' could have kept that team competitive?

 

4. Where does Donovan McNabb play next season?

He either goes to Minnesota and starts, or he goes to Tennessee to try to mentor Vince Young, as while Collins has been good he's too old to be a long-term solution and they've got #3 overall money tied up in Vince.

Maybe the Rams, Bears or Lions take a stab at him as well, but two of those three are going to be bad enough to warrant taking a QB in the draft rather than gambling on an aging free agent.

 

5. Why does Seattle suck so bad?

152 yards per game through the air will do it for you. The Raiders get more passing yards, for god's sake. On top of that, they're 31st in pass defense. They lead the NFL in tackles, which shows you just how long that defense is spending on the field.

Mediocre run game + bad pass attack + inability to stop the pass = can't make a comeback when you fall behind, can't keep the opposing offense off the field by running out the clock, and you can't hold the lead if by some miracle you actually have a lead in the first place because your pass defense can't stop anybody.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah... I loathe Rivers, but he's certainly put himself into the Top 10 this year.

 

Assuming you do like San Diego, how can you like San Diego and not like Rivers? His personality embodies the general attitude of the team, LT non withstanding (and LT has gotten a bit more obnoxious since this team transformation).

[The Niggardly King 0]

His passes will often leave our receivers getting killed. There's a reason why we have so many big fucking receivers... probably more so than the rest of the NFL.

 

He has great accuracy, good mobility, and is a fucking tough player. But the velocity on his throws that leaves guys getting killed, combined with his tendency to somehow go retarded during key situations and somehow lose his pocket awareness is quite fucking frustrating to watch.

 

But he has stepped it up tremendously, even though he still throws up dead ducks. But I'd rather have a guy with great accuracy like him than someone who can throw lasers with shoddy accuracy.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

That's the one thing I hate about Rivers. His throwing motion makes me cringe.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Now that the last 2 weeks have established that fighting is perfectly acceptable in Goodell's NFL I think we should start having a showdown every week. My suggestion this week would be returning champion Matt Light taking on James "The Hitman" Harrison. I guess Light wouldn't be able to use his trademark hair pull in that fight, though, and would have to look out for the suplex:

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Bears? Yes. Chicago the city? Yes. Lovie Smith? No.

 

That's Chicago's season in a nutshell, no matter what the context. Well put.

 

I settled on Philly for McNabb's future for just that reason..where's the guy going to go? I don't think it'll be Chicago, and don't especially want the guy. Do I think he's a better QB than Orton, though? Absolutely. I just get a bad taste in my mouth when someone with a history of injuries comes to the Bears, a team with enough of their own injury problems.

 

Matt Cassel is going to be an interesting case next season. That maybe is where San Francisco makes sense to me. Young team, with an established running threat? Bet they'd like a QB who's having a good year by being well-prepared and healthy. Most importantly: He's not losing them games. McNabb's pricetag is going to mean he'll be heading to a team for a short period of time, that's looking to try to go for it, and no one really sticks out that's like that. Minnesota? They're neck and neck in a really middling division. I think it would be a terrible decision on their part. If they want to spend money, spend it on more defense and guys that can run block with 8-9 guys in the box. Cassel makes more sense to me there, too. He'd be much cheaper, and theoretically produce in a simple play-action based passing game. Teams that play the Vikings have to gameplan against the run.

[KingPK 0]

I think Bledsoe's futility in 2000 and the first couple of games in 01 under Belichick's system made the decision pretty easy once it was clear Brady was on the rise. Bledsoe was well past his prime his anyway, whereas Brady still has a few good years left right now. There has been nothing to indicate Brady was declining, only that he was getting better with more talent being put around him, so there's a huge difference between the Bledsoe situation and this one. Right now, the only concern with Brady is his knee, but didn't Carson Palmer come back from a similar injury and play pretty well? I couldn't see any reason to hop off the Brady train, especially when Cassel's gonna get some big FA offers after the season.

 

This. Cassel's had a good year, but he has some problems: he still holds on to the ball too long at some points and he cannot throw a deep ball to save his life (he's missed a wide open Moss 5 or 6 times this year). If I were the Pats I'd try to sign him now to a short contract (1 or 2 years) and shop him for some draft picks in the offseason, but that would only happen if Cassel or his agent were complete idiots.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Tennessee to try to mentor Vince Young, as while Collins has been good he's too old to be a long-term solution and they've got #3 overall money tied up in Vince.

 

Hey, there's that team ready to make a real stab with a big free agent QB. I think this is the answer, now.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

1. How do you feel about the Dallas/Detroit tradition? How would you change it, if at all?

I don't really care one way or another. I like having the three games though as opposed to two.

 

2. Are there ten QBs in the league -right now- that you would take over Matt Ryan? If so, who? If not, does that blow your mind? Where do you rate him?

Right now, yes. In no particular order: Warner, Brees, Rivers, Cutler, Rodgers, Favre, Romo, Manning, Manning II and Roethlisberger. I would definitely take those ten above Ryan. I'd place him somewhere in the next tier with the likes of Campbell, Collins, & Cassel, among others. He has been a big upgrade for the Falcons though who haven't had a real quarterback since Chris Chandler.

 

3. Who is the best player in the AFC west?

Tony Gonzalez. He's just lighting it up right now. 696 Receving Yards & 6 TDs despite being crippled by having no QB for half a year. Extremely impressive for a player many thought was washed up. He's a first ballot HoF having one of the best seasons of his career.

 

4. Where does Donovan McNabb play next season?

Tampa Bay. They are good team with a coach that loves veteran QBs and happens to be a feud with his current one. Garcia might retire, and if not, he's a free agent anyways. He will be gone. So will McNabb, who's clearly worn out his welcome in Philadelphia. This is just a perfect scenario for everybody involved, at least until the Eagles finish 5-11 next year with Kolb at QB.

 

5. Why does Seattle suck so bad?

Age, injuries and a lameduck coach. They had no chance this year.

[CanadianChris 0]

1. How do you feel about the Dallas/Detroit tradition? How would you change it, if at all?

I think it's kind of cool that they have the Thanksgiving tradition. I could take it or leave it, though, especially with the addition of the NFLN night game.

 

2. Are there ten QBs in the league -right now- that you would take over Matt Ryan? If so, who? If not, does that blow your mind? Where do you rate him?

Let's see...I would take these guys immediately over Ryan:

 

Tom Brady (when healthy)

Peyton Manning

Eli Manning

Drew Brees

Tony Romo

Ben Roethlisberger

Philip Rivers

Jay Cutler

Donovan McNabb

Kurt Warner

Brett Favre

 

So that's 11, 10 if you don't count Brady. It's very close with Ryan, though. He's learned the system well, which shouldn't be surprising since he came from BC, where they have a pro-style offence. The offensive line is light-years beyond where it was last year, which is a big contributing factor.

 

I didn't include Palmer because I don't think he'll ever be right again after that knee injury.

3. Who is the best player in the AFC west?

Healthy right now, it's Nnamdi Asomugha, hands down. Shawne Merriman and Champ Bailey could give him a run for his money when they're healthy.

 

4. Where does Donovan McNabb play next season?

Geez, who knows. The Kolb experiment went so badly that they might be scared to get rid of McNabb, although Kolb was set up to fail. Barring that, he might end up in Chicago or San Fran.

 

5. Why does Seattle suck so bad?

Injuries, mostly. Bad luck and a overall sports malaise in the city are probably contributing factors, too.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Still Fly and I have the exact same picks this week, both here and on my bar pools, save one.

 

Washington's gotta feel the heat a little bit with as many as seven teams realistically vying for Wild Card spots. The Giants got a good, well-earned win last week to officially take the throne as football's best team. I'm not saying they're going to rest on their laurels, but I see the Skins coming out with a little more ooomph.

 

[MFer 0]

Glad to see the Lions playing like the Lions right off the bat.

[KingPK 0]

........

 

Wow. Just........wow.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

"You said they weren't booing before.. well they're booing now."

 

"They were getting warmed up."

[Kinetic 0]

The 2008 Lions might be the worst NFL team I've ever seen. And we've still got three more quarters of this shit! Gah.

[naiwf 0]

I'll one up you and say that the 2008 Lions ARE the worst NFL team I've ever seen.

 

[KingPK 0]

Since most of us probably weren't around when the Buccaneers first started in the league, that's a pretty accurate statement.

[2GOLD 0]

 

So, let's analyze what has been working this year for the Lions.....well, their punter is getting plenty of experience.

And they forced a fumble! See, it's all coming together! This team is turning it around...oh wait, penalty, nevermind they still suck.